EA and developer Maxis today officially highlighted the follow-up to the popular The Sims 3 at Gamescom. The Sims 4 did not yet get a release date, and will be coming to PCs sometime in 2014, and pre-orders are already being taken.

During its announcement, Maxis focused on the sims themselves as a big differentiator for the new game. The new sims in Sims 4 were described as “smart” and “intelligent, emotionally aware beings.” Players can now control sim emotions more intimately, using their god-like powers to manipulate the sims’ fragile egos. Even the way a building is decorated can influence the emotions of sims. Sims can also be individually tailored, right down to their facial structure. Maxis described the face editor in Sims 4 as “like playing with clay.”

For those who enjoy creating dream houses more than playing with the emotions of sims, Maxis stated that it will be “easier and faster” to create buildings and decorate them. The ability to drop fully-decorated rooms into a building is also now available.

EA released two different trailers for The Sims 4 at Gamescom. The first is a partially live-action video that shows the new Sims arriving in a bewildered city.

The second is an in-depth look at the gameplay of The Sims 4 narrated by a producer at Maxis. It covers the game’s new tools, the sims themselves, and a demonstration of the game’s new emotion gameplay: