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Fine-tune the hair on your chinny-chin-chin in The Sims 4 Create-a-Sim demo

Just some of the faces available in The Sims 4.

There’ll be an aspect of The Sims you like best. Perhaps it’s building houses held up only by glass panes and willpower. Or maybe it’s building people.

That’s what the Create-a-Sim demo for The Sims 4 is all about – designing humans. Deciding on the cut of their jibs, deigning to pick their outfits, and determining their fatal flaws.

I tried running The Sims 4’s Create-a-Sim demo on my PC, but was met by a black screen thanks to a resolution error. That’s hopefully not a representative preview of the full game.

Luckier puppeteers than I have been experimenting with sim assembly options, and have discovered that it’s possible to pick a haircut for every occasion. A stylish afro for parties, and a practical buzz cut for swimming.

Sliders are available to adjust weight and fitness, as well as ears, eyebrows, chin, nose bridge, nostrils, mouth, cheeks, jaw, eyes and pupils. Posture is a new one – you can give your sim a slouch by dragging on their spine. And then share your, ah, work in the Sims 4 Gallery or on Facebook.

I remember in The Sims 2 you could twist poor sims’ faces into perma-gurns. But since then the tools have got more sensible and less Saints Row. For better or worse, do you think?

The Sims 4 is out on September 4 in the US, and a day or two later elsewhere. But soon.