lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW NOTE: The letters above are used for formatting purposes only. If the letters aren't even with each other, then you're in for a bumpy ride. TTTTTTT H H EEEEEE SSSSSSS IIIIIII M M SSSSSSS T H H E S I MM MM S T HHHHHH EEEEEE SSSSSSS I M M M M SSSSSSS T H H E S I M M M M S T H H EEEEEE SSSSSSS IIIIIII M M M SSSSSSS 333333333333333333333 3 3 3 3 3 333333333333333333333 3 3 3 3 3 333333333333333333333 FAQ/Guide by Arachnidkid Version 0.3 Email: arachnidkid12(at)yahoo(dot)com _______________________________________________________________________________ Copyright/Other Info: This FAQ is copyright (c) 2009 by Arachnidkid (Jesse Zhao). All information contained in this guide is completely original unless noted otherwise in the "Credits" section. Similarities between this guide and others are fully accidental. If you have any questions related to the guide, then feel free to email me (my email is located at the top of this document, just replace the at and dot with their respective symbols). This document may be printed for personal use ONLY. Under no circumstances should you sell or commercially reproduce any part of this document. If you wish to use any part of this FAQ in an FAQ of yours, please email me first and I will be more than willing to oblige as long as it is not for profit. Email me about: -Questions regarding the game -Clarifications or additions for the guide -Corrections about the guide -CONSTRUCTIVE criticism about the guide -Spelling errors/other minor details Do NOT email me about: -Flaming -Complaints about the game/EA -Bugs that have no known fix -Information that is already located in the guide. -Whether or not you can run this game on your computer. If you email me about those five things, then I will not bother replying to your email. Anything else, however, and I will be glad to help you. Closing comments about this guide: Obviously, this guide is not yet complete. Therefore, I will have some marks above each guide denoting areas that are not complete (and therefore may have slightly inaccurate information/speculation/ none at all). Any help there would be greatly appreciated, as well. _______________________________________________________________________________ =================== |Table of Contents| =================== 1. Version History [VH1] 2. Introduction [INTRO2] 3. Create-A-Sim [CREATE3] 4. Build/Buy Modes [BUILD4] 5. Wishes, Moodlets, and More: A Sims' Life [LIFE5] 6. Skills to Pay the Bills [SKILLS6] 7: The Daily Chores: Your Sims' Careers [CAREERS7] _______________________________________________________________________________ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | Version History [VH1]| /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Version 0.1 (6/23/09) - Submitted to GameFAQs. Version 0.2 (6/29/09) - Finally, an update! Sorry for the wait, guys. This update includes a fair amount of wishes, a not-so-fair amount of moodlets, and all of the Lifetime Happiness traits. The headings have been improved, and Lifetime Wish information has been completed. A credits section has been added. Unfortunately, I did not get to adding to the traits section. There's always a version 0.3, though! Version 0.25 (7/8/09) - Another update, this time including half of the Skills section and a completed traits table. Some proofreading changes, minor edits to various sections, etc. Version 0.3 (7/11/09) - Well, aside from enjoying free (tiny) slurpees, I got down to finishing the skills section. Career next. Version 0.4 (7/24/09) - 4 careers down, 6 to go. I was out of town for a week and I forgot to save the document and the computer crashed, so I had to restart the whole section due to me not using Ctrl+S. I suppose I learned my lesson, though. Version 0.5 (12/01/09) - Wow, been a while. Finished the careers section and managed not to get carpal tunnel. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | Introduction [INTRO2]| | /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// So, for those of you who might be wondering - what is Sims 3? Sims 3 is, as the name might imply, the third installment of a series of 3 overwhelmingly popular simulation games. In the Sims, you control a number of characters - referred to as 'Sims' - and direct them through their daily chores. This includes eating, sleeping, flirting, working, and an endless list of other day-to-day activities. Failure to keep up with these daily chores can result in a grumpy Sim, and possibly even death. The Sims 3 has an incredible level of customizability (even more so than Sims 2). In the Create-A-Sim mode alone, you can explore almost every aspect of the human anatomy and change it to your liking. You can also almost design your own furniture - it is possible to change the color and even texture of any piece of furniture. This makes things like brick tables and bamboo bookshelves possible. The combinations of this method are endless. The neighborhood has receieved a drastic upgrade, as well. No longer will you see the dreaded loading screen within the neighborhood. The Sims neighborhood is now completely seamless, with the only loading screen being at the beginning of the game. Each Sim will have its own unique personality. They will have different 'lifetime goals', which are basically what they want to be when they grow up. Some want to be a rock star, others just want to break peoples' hearts. Their traits also have a direct bearing on their personality. Anglers will get short-term wishes to do things like catch five new fish or level up their fishing skill. Your Sim can explore a variety of different careers, from criminal to law enforcement to science. Each will have a different schedule, operating hours, and possibly a reward at the top of each career. Along the way, you will receieve 'opportunites' to complete which will either boost your performance a little in your job or give you a monetary reward. Another great innovation of the Sims 3 is the moodlet. Each moodlet will either improve or worsen your mood. For example, being hungry will give you the 'Very Hungry' moodlet, which decreases your mood. Having eaten a good meal, on the other hand, will increase your mood. These new additions and the return of the best from older Sims versions combine to bring you The Sims 3. Without further ado, let's get started with the guide. _______________________________________________________________________________ /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | Create-A-Sim [CREATE3]| /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | ====================== |1. Basics | |2. Hair | |3. Looks | |4. Outfits | |5. Personality | |6. Finishing Touches| ====================== This is the mode that you will enter if you're starting a new game of Sims. In this mode, you will be able to create a Sim - or an entire family - and change it to your liking. When you open, there will be five tabs to choose from - Basics, Hair, Looks, Clothes, and Personality. Note that you can also choose from a list of pre-made Sims to play. ******** |Basics| ******** In this panel, you will find several of the key characteristics of your Sim. You can determine its gender, height, name, and much more. Please note that gender has absolutely no effect on what you do in the game other than your clothes and appearance (same-sex relationships are possible). You also can determine the age of your Sim from these six: toddler, child, teen, young adult, adult, and elder. Be aware of the fact that if you create a Sim that is not yet a young adult, then you will have to create parent(s) along with it. The slider that looks like a color gradient can change the skin tone of your skin. The left end will give a lighter skin tone, the right end will give a darker one. The last two options determine the size and muscularity of your Sim. The top one modifies the weight of your Sim. The left end will give you a skinnier Sim, whereas the right one will give you a heavyset one. The bottom option will determine how muscular the Sim is. NOTE: A Sim can gain/lose weight depending on how much it exercises. ****** |Hair| ****** This panel will allow you to change the hairstyle and color of your Sim. You have a variety of hairstyles to choose from - pick the one you like best. If you find none of them appealing to you, you can simply opt to wear a hat. After picking a hairstyle, you can pick the color. You can either choose a preset color to your hair, or you can pick a dye scheme and customize it to your liking. Female Sims have the option of choosing various accessories to attach to their hair. The next thing to do in this panel is to change the eyebrows of your Sim. Again, you can pick a preset color and shape for your eyebrow. You can also choose a custom color for your eyebrow. Checking the 'use root color' option for your Sim will use the root color of your hair as the color of your eyebrow. The other option you can do here is change the length of your Sims' eyelashes. The left end will give you a shorter eyelash; the right end will do the opposite. The final option is only availible on males. It is facial hair. Much like the regular hair, you can choose from several different styles (or none at all) and choose the color as well. *Note*: Clicking the lock on the top right will allow you to use different hairstyles for different outfits. ******* |Looks| ******* There are several different options in this category. It gives you the option to do a broad edit of the Sim and choose from preset areas of the face (much like the hairstyles), or you can really get down to editing specific features of your Sim to make him/her that much more attractive. There are six different parts of the face that you can edit, which will be detailed below. {Head and Ears} Here, you can choose how you want the head and ears of your Sim to be shaped. There are a wide array of preset options here for you to choose from; however, if you click the magnifying glass, you get to edit several smaller, more subtle regions of your Sim's face. {Eyes} In this panel, you choose different broad options for the eyes and its color. You can click the magnifying glass to reveal more options and you can change the color with a color wheel by clicking the paintbrush. {Nose} You can change the broad shape of the Sims' nose, or like every other option, click the magnifying glass to bring up a new set of options (bridge, tip, and nostril in this case). {Mouth} Change the shape of the mouth (it comes with a magnifying glass that lets you access and freely adjust the shape of the upper and lower lip separately). {Topical Details} This is a relatively simple option. Freckles will change the amount of freckles on your Sims' face (based on the amount of checkmarks you have) and beauty marks will give you either 0, 1, or 2 moles/pimples/whatever. {Makeup} Last but not least, there is makeup. There are several subcategories to this section. The first is eye shadow. You can change the amount of eyeshadow that was applied via the pictures that will be shown, as well as the color. Next is eyeliner. You can change the thickness and color of eyeliner here. The Sims' blush is next. You can change how obvious the blush is as well as its color. Lipstick allows you to change the color and application of the lipstick. Finally, the costume makeup can let your sim look like a clown, animal, etc. Note that males and females both have the same makeup options. ********* |Outfits| ********* There are five different outfits that you will have to modify and customize (or leave the way they are, if you really want to). These outfit categories are Everyday wear, Sleepwear, Formal wear, Athletic wear, and Swimwear. You will also get a career uniform that you cannot modify if you choose a career. Note that different options become available to different ages, so if you like an outfit on one teem Sim but can't seem to find it on an Elder one, that's why. You can change the shirt, pants (or both, which is like a dress or something similar), shoes, and accessories. Accessories include eyeglasses, rings, watches, wristbands, and the like. Similar to the hair and makeup, you can change the color scheme and texture of any object in this section by pressing the paintbrush located in the lower right conor. ************* |Personality| ************* {Traits} This is perhaps the most important section of all in the creation of your Sim. The first thing you will want to change are the traits. You can assign two traits to a baby, three traits to a child, four to a teen, and five for a young adult and up. More trait slots are unlocked if your child Sim ages up well (more on that later). Otherwise, they will be chosen randomly for your child. Note that some traits are not compatible with certain ages; you will simply have to wait (an example of this being a toddler with the Flirty trait). A list of traits is below, with a short description of how it will influence your Sim (if I know it). Note that this table is definitely a work in progress. I also realize that its ASCII/organizational style is horrid, which is another item on my to-do list. For now, though, bear with me. For faster movement through this section, Ctrl+F the particular trait you're looking for. --WARNINGS-- *Areas in parentheses are unconfirmed/merely speculation. --NOTES-- -Traits that have something to do with skills (this includes Artistic, Athletic, Charismatic, Green Thumb, Genius, Handy, Natural Cook, and Virtuoso) will increase in these skills faster than normal. They also start with the level 1 book. -Some traits conflict with each other, such as Mean-Spirited and Schmoozer, Slob and Neat. A Sim will not be able to have two of these traits together. These traits are generally very obvious opposites. *=============================================================================* |TRAIT NAME |DESCRIPTION | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Absent-Minded |Your Sim will be more forgetful. | |Ambitious |Your Sim will move up in career faster. | |Angler |Your Sim will be a better fisher than his peers. | |Artistic |Your Sim will produce more masterpieces in art. | |Athletic |Your Sim will enjoy and be better at exercise. | |Bookworm |Your Sim will get a positive moodlet for reading and | | |also enjoys writing. | |Brave |Your Sim will not shy away from burglars, will get a | | |positive moodlet around ghosts, and will be unafraid | | |to fight fires. | |Can't Stand Art |Your Sim will get negative moodlets around art. | |Charismatic |Your Sim is naturally very charismatic. | |Childish |Your Sim will do childish things like make faces in | | |the mirror. | |Clumsy |Your Sim will drop things often..such as engagement | | |rings. | |Commitment Issues |It will be harder for your Sim to propose/accept | | |marriage. | |Computer Whiz | | |Couch Potato |Your Sim will sleep more but their Comfy moodlet is | | |more effective. | |Coward |Your Sim will get a negative moodlet from ghosts. | | |Basically the opposite of Brave. | |Daredevil |Your Sim will be able to do extreme activites. Like | | |extreme showering. Intense, mirite? | |Dislikes Children |Your Sim will be grumpy around children. | |Easily Impressed |Your Sim will respond positively to bragging. | |Evil |Basically, you can attach an evil prefix to your | | |everyday actions. You will do well as a Criminal and | | |you can get the Fiendishly Delighted moodlet when | | |other Sims are suffering. Your Sim will not get a | | |negative moodlet in the dark. | |Excitable |Your Sim will cheer at simple things. | |Family Oriented |Your Sim will be better at socializing with their | | |family and will be better at teaching the toddler | | |their life basics (walking, etc). | |Flirty |Your Sim has a set of 'flirty' social options and is | | |more successful at it. They can give an Amazing | | |Massage rather than just a regular one. | |Friendly |Your Sim will find it easier to make new friends. | |Frugal |Your Sim will find deals more often and will be | | |unhappy after buying something too expensive. | |Genius |Your Sim is...a genius. They will be smarter than the| | |average sim. | |Good |Basically, the opposite of Evil. Good and evil Sims | | |will have a hard time getting alone with each other. | |Good Sense of Humor |Your Sims' jokes will never fail. | |Great Kisser |Your Sims will give a positive moodlet after kissing.| |Green Thumb |Your Sims will be a better gardener than their peers | | |and can talk to plants. | |Grumpy |It's harder to fill your Sims' Fun bar. | |Handy |Your Sims are a natural mechanic. They will always | | |successfully repair things. | |Hates the Outdoors |Your Sims will gain a negative moodlet upon being | | |outdoors. | |Heavy Sleeper |Your Sims will sleep through disturbances such as | | |fires and loud speakers, etc. | |Hopeless Romantic |Your Sims will receieve more drastic mood changes | | |from romantic situations/breakups. | |Hot-headed |Your Sims will be angrier and their moodlets are | | |affected accordingly. | |Hydrophobic |Your Sims will avoid the water whenever possible and | | |have a negative moodlet around it. | |Inappropriate |Your Sims can go through others' trash and do not | | |have the Apologize social option. | |Insane |Your Sims will wear random things to events, do | | |randp,things, and...basically, act insane. They get a| | |positive moodlet when around ghosts. | |Kleptomaniac |Your Sims will steal objects from others' home after | | |they are invited over. It must be after 7 PM for this| | |to occur. | |Light Sleeper |Your Sims will always wake up when a burglar is | | |around. | |Loner |Your Sims does not mind being alone (gets a positive | | |moodlet). | |Loser |Your Sim will lose a lot, but gain a better mood | | |bonus from the Winner moodlet. | |Lucky |Your Sims can sometimes get a positive moodlet every | | |day. They also have a lower chance of encountering | | |burglars and other misfortunes. | |Mean-Spirited |Your Sim will always win fights but will tend to use | | |mean socials. | |Mooch |Your Sims will be able to mooch money and food from | | |other local Sims. | |Natural Cook |Your Sims will be a gifted chef and won't start | | |kitchen fires. | |Neat |Your Sims will receieve wishes to clean the house and| | |hate messy things. | |Neurotic |Your Sims will be able to Share Worries with others | | |tor elieve their stress and can Freak Out to get the | | |Tranquil moodlet. They hate seeing ghosts. | |Never Nude |Your Sims will wear swimwear into the shower. | |No Sense of Humor |Your Sims can't tell jokes and react poorly to them. | |Over-emotional |Moodlets will have a more drastic effect on your | | |Sims. | |Party Animal |Your Sims will always throw great parties and | | |everyone that was invited will attend. | |Schmoozer |Your Sims will be much better at complimenting and | | |sucking up in general. | |Slob |Your Sims won't mind a mess and can dig through trash| | |cans. They will also create messes more quickly. | |Snob |Your Sim will be harder to impress and will want to | | |buy expensive things more often. | |Technophobe |Your Sims will hate technological things. | |Unflirty |Your Sims don't care for romantic socials. | |Unlucky |Your Sims will encounter more misfortune in their | | |life and can sometimes get a negative moodlet upon | | |wakingup. However, the Grim Reaper will bring you | | |back to life if your Sim dies from an unlucky fire, | | |electrocution, etc. | |Vegetarian |Your Sims will become ill upon eating meat, but will | | |also live longer than most Sims. | |Virtuoso |Your Sims will be skilled musicians and sing in the | | |shower. | |Workaholics |A workaholic gets a positive moodlet at work and a | | |negative one at home. They also get wishes to work | | |from home. | *=============================================================================* [SPECIAL TRAITS] These special traits can only be unlocked by having the baby of a Sim in a particular profession. Note that I may have not unlocked/be aware of all of them yet. -Pyromaniac- Requires: Firefighter parent Effect: Your Sim can light things on fire and loves the fire. -Spotless- Requires: Maid parent Effect: Your Sim will not make messes. -Pizza Appreciator- Requires: Pizza Delivery parent Effect: Your Sim will gain a positive moodlet upon eating pizza. -Can Apprehend Burglar- Requires: Police parent Effect: Your Sim can arrest a burglar. -Can Salute- Requires: Military officer parent Effect: Your Sim can salute. -Rocker- Requires: Rockstar parent Effect: {Lifetime Wishes} A lifetime wish is a wish that will grant a very high amount of lifetime happiness points (more on that later). These will also grant a long-lasting moodlet buff. The following list of Lifetime Wishes will eventually include all the possible wishes a Sim can have. For now, however, be content with most of them. :P --WARNINGS-- *The amount of lifetime points associated with each wish will not be included (for now). They may be added in a later update. -Become a Creature-Robot Cross Breeder -Reach Level 9 in the Science Career. -The complexity of circuitry and oddity of organics perenially perplex the scientific community. Your Sim must have excellent Handiness expertise and enough experience with gardening and fishing to know what organic beings need to thrive when fused with machines. -Presenting the Perfect Private Aquarium -Have at least 13 different species of Perfect Fish in Fishbowls -The ultimate fishermen can reel in incredibly majestic fish; so large they're practically bursting out of their scales. Truly dedicated fishermen spend hours casting and re-casting until the fruits of the deep blue are caught. Your Sim can create an amazing private aquarium by catching the most magnificent fish for a private collection. -Living in the Top of Luxury -Have a Household Net Worth of 100,000 Simoleons -A life of extreme wealth is one of comfort and privilege, but also one of fulfillment. It's important to feel the rewards from one's hard labors! If your Sim owns a fabulously furnished home and has enough money to truly live a lap of luxury, satisfaction will be had. -The Perfect Garden -Plant and grow 8 different species of Perfect Plant -The most delicious fruits and vegetables are harvested from a perfect plant. Perfect plants grow from only the best seeds, which drop from the branches of generation spanning plants that have been well tended to and well loved. Only fanatically patient outdoorsmen can plant such a garden. -Illustrious Author -Master the Writing Skill -Master the Painting Skill -The arts of the masters delight Sims from every walk of life. However for each successful artist there are dozens of has-beens and failures whose books and canvasses pain all who can see. Your Sim can write and paint towards a lifetime of artistic success, but it won't be easy. -Heartbreaker -Be the Girl/boyfriend of 10 different Sims -Why settle for a long term relationship or monogamy when there are so many attractive Sims out there? YOur Sim can find a lifetime's enjoyment by seeing many different Sims. Such a romantically nomadic lifestyle is all well and good if your Sim's many former lovers can be kept at a reasonably safe distance, lest jealousy rear its vengeful head. -Master of the Arts -Master the Painting Skill -Master the Guitar Skill -The carefully clasped brush of the artisan can paint images that incite the humorless to laugh and the inarticulate to eloquence. The addition of skills with the stringed guitar can make your Sim the envy of the community. Success isn't a given, but is a reward that results from ingenuity and a touch of luck. -Become an Astronaut -Dogfight your way to the top of the pack to become an Astronaut in the Military Career. -Astronauts are incredible pilots that have endured years of rigorous athletic training. They are the elite. An astronaut's thirst for adventure is quenched only by daring space missions where interstellar encounters and an astronaut's innate ability to tinker make them the stuff of legends. -Professional Author -Earn $4000 a week in Royalties -While some write as a purely creative outlet, the best and most persisten writers can make quite a healthy living as authors. Royalties don't grow on trees, so your Sim must be willing to push through years of lousy checks to earn enough to live comfortably. -Become a Master Thief -Reach level 10 in the Thief branch of the Criminal Career. -Lightning quick reflexes (honed at the gym, of course) and impeccable teamwork will take your Sim far, but only the most cat-like thieves will reach the rank of master Thief. The path of thievery begins with the local crime organization and leads to the pilfering of the world's jewels! -Jack of All Trades -Reach level 5 of 4 different careers. -Being tied to a single job isn't for everyone, especially those who enjoy learning new things and finding adventure behind a new desk. Your Sim will be a jack of all trades, or at least 4, by climbing halfway up the corporate ladder of 4 careers. -The Emperor of Evil -Reach level 10 of the Criminal Career track (Evil branch). -Your Sim can one day become the leader of the most diabolical organization in the world. Strong evil office relationships are a must, as is possessing enough athletic ability to stop the interferences of nosy government spies. Evil vigilance is a must! -Hit Movie Composer -Reach level 10 in the Music career track (Symphonic branch). -The Role of the composer is at times simple as a dainty decrescendeo and others as complex as the most bombastic finale. The composer must be well liked by the musicians of the symphony, a master of music, and one who truly understands logic to grasp the science of sound. -Rock Star -Reach level 10 in the Music career track (Rock branch). -The path of rock appeals to many a young Sim, but the perilous journey is completed by few. Your SIm must join the music career, survive the early years of rock survitude, and master the guitar to become the greatest rock star the world has ever known. -Surrounded by Family -Raise 5 Children from Babies to Teenagers -For family focused Sims, the joys that pitter and patter about on two legs make all the struggle and hardship of parenthood worthwhile. A house full of children can mean a tight budget, little personal time, and few luxuries, but there's always somebody to play with or something new to teach. -Golden Tongue, Golden Fingers -Master the Charisma Skill -Master the Guitar Skill -Kindly spoken words and softly strummed strings are the fastest way to a Sim's heart and an excellent way to make friends. Charisma is a highly social endeavor, whereas guitar is for those who love learning and performing music. A Master of both is an irresistible charmer without peer in the social world. -Super Popular -Be Friends with 20 Sims -Popularity isn't just a grade school desire, but a sign that the community enjoys the friendship of your Sim. Unselfish socialization is quite the worthwhile pursuit. Know that the social landscape is also dotted with the boring and the rude, a hodgepodge of society's best and worst individuals. -Gold Digger -See Ghost of Wealthy Spouse -There are many paths to acquiring wealth, though some are more devious and selfish than others. Gold Diggers seek to marry the incredibly wealthy and yearn to see the 'hopefully' premature demise of their spouse. It's the only way to really enjoy the money - alone and rich with the spouse six-feet under in the packyard. -World Renowned Surgeon -Reach level 10 in the Medical career track. -Your Sim must be able to make logically brilliant, split-second decisions at the operating table with only a hearbeat to spare. Only the greatest surgeons defeat disease, and in doing so cause the viruses to truly know fear. The medical profession is only for incredibly dedicated Sims who are mentally above the rest. -Star News Anchor -Reach level 10 in the Journalism career track. -Late breaking news will frequently fall from the skies and be prime for the plucking by journalists worthy of reporting the greatest stories of the decade. Great charisma and an epic level of literary eloquency are required to succeed in the fast-paced field of journalism. -The Culinary Librarian -Learn Every Recipe -There is a vast array of recipes to prepare for hungry guests and famished family members. By mastering the cooking skill and perusing the bookstore for recipes, your Simc an become a walking library of culinary expertise. -Celebrated Five-Star Chef -Reach level 10 of the Culinary career track. -Bustling kitchens filled with fiery stoves and flamin' hot dishes are in store for Sims desirous of the Five-Star Chef epithet. Your Sim will need to run the dangerously spicy culinary gauntlet by building relationships with the kitchen staff and developing cooking skills on par with the best chefs in the world. -Forensic Specialist: Dynamic DNA Profiler -Reach level 10 in the Law Enforcement career track (Forensic branch). -Special Agents in the field require the best data to apprehend criminals and only the finest analytical minds will suffice. After all, criminals only leave so many useful clues, making the work challenging. Students of logic with a knack for painting make the best forensic analysts. -Perfect Mind, Perfect Body -Master the Logic Skill -Master the Athletic Skill -Seeking personal perfection through rigorous mental and physical training is a noble goal that guarantees a lifetime of challenge. Your Sim may one day stand on the peak of physical Sim achievement, but not without much sweat and mental strain. -Swimming in Cash -Have 50,000 Simoleons in Household Funds -Simoleons fuel the world and for some fiscally-minded Sims, personal happiness as well. Scrimping and saving to live in an efficient home, working hard at work, and succeeding at lucrative personal side projects will allow your Sim to swim in the metaphorical pool of money. -Become a Superstar Athlete -Reach level 9 of the Athletic career track. -Championship jerseys are earned and worn by athletes known by their fans and teammates as Superstars. Earning a jersey means developing the utmost athletic perfection and a tight bond with teammates, thus fostering victory even when the game seems lost. -International Super Spy -Reach level 10 in the Law Enforcement career track (Special Agent Branch). -The forces of justice and order need champions to foil the nefarious plans of those who would do the citizenry harm. Only Sims in peak physical condition who use logic to solve troubled situations and look smashing in evening wear need apply at the Police Department. -The Tinkerer -Master the Handiness Skill -Master the Logic Skill -Logic and Handiness are natural bedfellows (personal comment: o.o lolwut), partners of invention and discovery. Logic leads to great finds like eerie nebulas, whereas handiness unlocks interesting household improvements. These can be a part of your Sim's future, though toying with electricity is never entirely safe. -Chess Legend -Master the Logic Skill -Becoming a Grand Master in Chess -Logic is cold and calculated - an impenetrable fortress that cannot be undermined by passion-filled banter. Chess is the battleground for those who adhere to logic. A Sim who can both master the path of logic, and reach the coveted rank of Chess Grand Master will forever be enshrined in memory. -Leader of the Free World -Reach level 10 in the Political career track. -The Leader of the Free World must be a passionate and charismatic politician who is always able to raise immense campaign funds. It is an unenviable position that must constantly adjust to unexpected problems. The world needs great leaders...potentially, like your Sim. -CEO of a Mega-Corporation -Climb the corporate ladder to become a CEO in the Business Career. -Your Sim will need to enter the Business Office to become a purveyor of profits and margins that make the board members smile. Your Sim must successfully schmooze co-workers and the ever-present boss to ascend the corporate hierarchy. -Renaissance Sim -True scholars are not satisfied with mastering a single subject, or mediocrity spread amongst a variety of topics. There are many physical, menta, and creative pursuits from which to choose. Reach the top level of several skills to become a Renaissance Sim. ******************* |Finishing Touches| ******************* And finally, you can make the last needed changes to your new Sim. You can decide your Sim's favorite food, music, and color. Just click for a menu that will allow you to pick from a variety of different options. You can also change the pitch of your Sims' voice and its type (three options). Lastly, if you plan to make more than one Sim and thus create a Sim family, you will have to edit the family tree. Just click and drag to create relationships between Sims. Adult+adult makes a marriage, child+child makes siblings, and adult+child makes parent+son/daughter. Confirm your choices and move on to the next step - creating a home for your new Sim(s)! /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | Build/Buy Modes | /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | =============== |1. Build Mode| |2. Buy Mode | =============== After creating your Sim or moving, then you will have to pick a lot with a pre-built house or a completely empty one. Pre-built houses come in two forms - furnished and unfurnished. Furnished homes, while costing more, will come with everything your Sim will need to live a comfortable life and settle down in his/her new home. An unfurnished home will let you start from scratch in terms of interior decoration and the like. A completely empty lot will cost the least but will also make you set up the house from its foundation up to its roof. If this is your first Sim, it would generally be wise to choose a cheap house rather than trying to create a huge mansion - after all, you have limited funds to begin with. ************ |Build Mode| ************ Choosing a completely empty lot and building a house from its foundation up is where I will spend the most time on. After buying your lot and accessing build mode, you will find several options that you will have to sift through. First, you will want to take a look at the buttons on the right, which include: --NOTES-- Things enclosed in brackets are hotkeys. Hand Tool (the big glove) [H] Create Style (the artist's palette) [R] Eyedropper Tool (the eyedropper) [E] Sledgehammer Tool (the hammer) [K] Day/Night Toggle (the yin/yang) [L] Indoor Placement Grid On/Off (the 3x3 grid) [G] Undo (arrow pointing left) [CTRL+Z] Redo (arrow pointing right) [CTRL+Y] The Hand tool is the one you will be using most. It will let you place your floors, walls, plants, etc. The Create Style option will allow you to create your own style for any object in this mode (much like the Create-a-Sim option). Liked a style you created? Use the Eyedropper Tool to copy this style onto another object. If you've made a wrong choice, use either the Sledgehammer tool to delete it or the Undo button to go back to a previous condition. To ensure that all of your rooms have sufficient lighting, use the Day/Night Toggle. The Indoor Placement Grid On/Off toggle will help you decide where objects will 'snap' to when you place them. I find that having it on helps me tremendously. Lastly, if you end up deciding you liked something you undid, press the redo button to go back. The other set of options in this mode are the actual parts that make up your house. These include: Create Pool Gates Fences Columns Arches Fireplaces Walls Wall Coverings Windows Roofs Doors Stairs Floors Foundations and Decks Trees Flowers Rocks Shrubs Ponds Terrain Paints Terrain Tools ********** |Buy Mode| ********** After you've built up your house/bought an unfurnished one, it's time to make your Sim's house actually liveable. Hit F2 or press the sofa and lamp to access Buy Mode. Note that there are two options to sort by - Room and Function. Sorting by Room gives you these subcategories: Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Living Room Dining Room Study Kids' Room Outdoors Sorting by Function gives you these subcategories: Plumbing Appliances Surfaces Comfort Electronics Entertainment Lighting Decor Storage Kids Vehicles /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | Wishes, Mood, and More: A Sim's Life | /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// | ======================= |1. Wishes | |2. Moodlets | |3. Lifetime Happiness| ======================= As a short introduction, this section will include (eventually) your Sim's lifetime rewards/happiness, wishes, moodlets, tricks and tips, etc. This section will, no doubt, end up being very extensive. Obviously, I can't discover every wish and every moodlet in the game (but I will try my best) - so feel free to email me! ******** |Wishes| ******** Everyone has a wish, even Sims. These Wishes can range from chatting with a fellow Sim, to getting a promotion, to seeing your child graduate! There are countless wishes to fulfill for your Sim; they will appear in the bottom middle of your screen as a little icon. The icon will have something to do with the wish that your Sim has made up. To accept the wish, just left click. To reject it, right click the wish. Bear in mind that the wish will eventually go away over time if it is simply left there. So click those wishes! Wishes are stored in a 'queue' if your Sim suddenly decides to barrage you with a wave of wishes. Click the arrows to the left and right to scroll through your Sims' wishes. Once accepted, the wish will move towards the bottom four slots and occupy an empty one. These wishes can now be completed at your leisure (they will not disappear over time). Each wish will grant a certain amount of Lifetime Happiness points (more on that later). The harder the wish is to complete, the more points you will earn. The wishes should be read as follows: Name of Wish Description of Wish Difficulty Rating (out of 5) Lifetime Happiness Points Personal Comments/Prerequisites (if applicable). ~See Graduate~ Your Sim can't wait for someone to graduate from school. Life post-graduation is full of excitement and new adventures! Graduation comes to all Sims eventually, it just takes time and dedication. Difficulty: 1/5 +1000 points This is a very easy wish; once you receieve it, simply keep it till your Sim graduates. This requires a teenage child. ~Improve Skill~ Learning is an exciting pursuit many Sims enjoy. Your Sim wants to improve a skill so that they can do more things with the knowledge! Practice the skill untill your Sim gains a level. Difficulty: 2-3/5 +500/750/1000 points The amount of points receieved for this varies with your skill level. ~WooHoo with ~ WooHoo is a lot of fun! Your Sim wants to WooHoo with someone special. Difficulty: 2.5/5 +350 points I want to WooHoo with someone special too! In all seriousness, though, this wish is pretty simple. Just get your romantic interest to view you as 'extremely irresistable' and offer to WooHoo with him/her. Requires a romantic interest. ~Serenade with Guitar~ One of the best reasons to learn the guitar is the romantic advantages it provides. Your Sim wants to woos omeone with a guitar serenade. Difficulty: 1/5 +350 points Requires the guitar skill. ~Become Best Friends with ~ Best Friends always laugh at your jokes and, when needed, will offer a shoulder to cry on. Your Sim dreams of having a Best Friend, but it'll take time and dedication. Difficulty: 2.5/5 +850 points ~Find a Rock~ Valuable meteorites, gems, and metals can be found throughout the town, but only if your Sim has sharp eyes! Your Sim wants to find a rock, so look in every nook and crevice. Difficulty: 2/5 +400 points ~Put in Fish Bowl~ Sims like to catch fish and put them in a fish bowl to cherish forever... assuming the fish is fed. Your Sim wants to catch a fish and put it in a fish bowl. Difficulty: varying +250 points (for Put Salmon in Fish Bowl) The difficulty of this varies based on the fish your Sim wants to catch. Requires Fishing Skill. ~Catch ~ Your Sim hopes to spend some time at the beach/lake with a fishing rod in hand to catch several fish. Difficulty: varying +450 points (for wish Catch 15 Anchovy) The difficulty of this varies based on the fish and number of fish that your Sim wants to catch. ~Hug Amorously~ Sometimes a friendly squeeze isn't enough. Your Sim dreams of hugging someone amorously to set the mood for romance! Difficulty: 1.5/5 +275 points Requires Romantic Interest ~Catch an Insect~ The town is full of all sorts of creepy crawlies to catch! Your Sim wants to find a butterfly or beetle to call their own. Look around to start a bug collection. Difficulty: 2/5 (with no Collection Helper) +400 points This task is made trivial with the assistance of a Collection Helper. ~Throw a Party~ Your Sim feels the need to par-tay! It doesn't matter what kind, people just need to show up in the mood for fun! Throw a party using the phone. Difficulty: 1/5 +300 points ~Prepare a Meal~ Your Sim has a hankering to cook something and wants to start preparing it right away. Get the right ingredients from the supermarket and start cooking! Difficulty: 1.5/5 +300 points Requires Cooking Skill (and associated materials) ~Work at Home~ Your Sim can't get enough of work, and wants to put in some overtime on the computer. Difficulty: 1/5 +150 points Requires Workaholic Trait. It also has the nice side effect of increasing your work performance. Also requires a computer. ~Visit the Neighborhood Pool~ The town pool is just a splash away from refreshment and fun for your Sims! Your Sim wants to visit the pool. Have your Sim call some friends and meet up at the pool! Difficulty: 1/5 +250 points ~Chat with ~ Sometimes it's nice just need to talk and listen. Your Sim wants to find someone for a nice chat. Difficulty: 1/5 +150 points ~Paint~ There's something satisfyingly soothing about painting on the easel. Your Sim wants to do a little painting. Difficulty: 1/5 +250 points ~Learn Skill~ Your Sim seeks to learn something new to enrich and enlighten! Have your Sim take an interesting class in town to perhaps pick up a new skill! Difficulty: 2.5/5 +500 points ~Kiss ~ Romance is in the air, and your Sim wants some. Pucker up! Difficulty: 1.5/5 +325 points Requires a romantic interest. ~Make Out with ~ Sometimes, it's just time to make your move. Your Sim thinks now is that time. Difficulty: 1.5/5 +300 points Requires a romantic interest. ~See Game at Stadium~ It's time to root, root, root for the home team! Your Sim hopes to see a game at the local stadium - quickly, before the season ends! Difficulty: 1/5 +300 points ~Buy a ~ If you don't have something, that's why you need it! Your Sim wants to own something new. Difficulty: 1/5 +400 points ~Give Friendly Hug~ Sometimes a hug is the best way to show that you care. Difficulty: 1/5 +275 points ~Play a Game with ~ Games are a great way to pass the time and playfully prove one's dominance over friends and family. Your Sim wants to play a game with someone! Difficulty: 1/5 Requires a game. Grow The produce is in season and your Sim is eager to begin planting. Plant some seeds, watch them grow, and enjoy the harvest! Difficulty: 2-3/5 Requires gardening skill. The difficulty varies based on how difficult the plant is to grow. Stay on the Honor Roll for 3 Days Your Sim wants to remain on the honor roll for a few days, but it won't be easy! Keep your Sim in a good mood and make sure all the homework is completed in time. Difficulty: 3/5 +1000 points Upgrade Objects Household objects can be upgraded by handy Sims to have new functionality and "improvements." Your Sim wants to upgrade several objects around the house. Difficulty: 4/5 (at max) +1500 points (at max); 15 objects Requires Handiness skill. Be Mean to Sometimes it's fun to hurt someone else's feelings. Your Sim wants to try ou t a mean social on someone. Difficulty: 1/5 +250 points Meet Someone New There's a town full of interesting Sims for your Sim to meet. Your Sim wants to meet someone new! Difficulty: 1.5/5 +300 points ********** |Moodlets| ********** A moodlet is a miniature effect on your Sim based on a variety of conditions. They include things from being tired to being rejected, and each will have a certain impact on your Sim. Although some may be only a very small modification to your Sim's overall mood, these small changes (whether positive or negative) will add up to have a tangible effect on your Sim's life. The overall mood bar gives you a quick overview of how your Sim is doing. If the green bar goes above the bottleneck, then your sim will accumulate Lifetime Happiness points as time passes. Moodlets can be positive, negative, or neutral. Neutral moodlets usually are a warning for a negative moodlet that will be coming soon if nothing is done. They also last for varying amounts of time. Some environmental moodlets will last forever until the problem is gotten rid of. Of course, if it is a positive environmental moodlet, then you will want to keep the objects that are causing this to happen. The following moodlets will be organized in positive, neutral, and negative effects. Having an 'elated' mood (above the bottleneck) not only requires your Sim to have all his/her needs met, but also requires you to go the extra mile for environmental bonuses or other situational bonuses (such as going to the spa or living near the beach). However, the accumulation of lifetime happiness points is surely worth the extra trouble. Having a negative mood can also impact how you perform in regards to your career. With a better mood, you will work better and be able to advance in your job position more successfully. The opposite happens when you have a negative mood. The six needs that will have to be kept up with your Sim are: Hunger Bladder Social Energy Hygiene Fun Make sure that you keep up with these six needs. There will usually be a neutral moodlet to warn you of a negative moodlet to follow in terms of negative moodlets resulting from needs. Note that some needs can be removed or slowed in their progression (more in the 'Lifetime Happiness') section. The negative moodlets for these six also have different 'levels' - a mild and a severe one. This will tell you, at a glance, how urgently you need to tend to that particular need. Moodlets should be read as follows: Name of Moodlet Description of Moodlet Duration of Moodlet Effect on Mood How to obtain/Special Requirements {POSITIVE MOODLETS} ~Feeling Lucky~ Today is your Sim's lucky day. Who knows what good will happen? 23h +5 Requires Lucky trait ~Great Kiss~ Great Kissers give amazing smooches. 3h +15 Requires Great Kisser trait to give this moodlet to others. ~Flattered~ Compliments are quite flattering! 3h +10 Requires a compliment from another Sim ~Intrigued~ Juicy gossip satisfies eager ears! 3h +10 From Gossip with another Sim ~New Friend~ Meeting someone new and hitting it off well enough to call them your friend is spiffy! 8h +20 Requires New Friend ~Honor Student~ Hard work and a nose to the books pays off with the satisfactory acceptance into the Honor Roll. 2d +25 Requires entering the Honor Roll ~Fulfilled~ The satisfaction of having a wish come to fruition feels great! 6h +15 Requires a completed wish ~First Kiss~ A Sim's first kiss can leave them glowing for a long time. +40 1d Requires First Kiss ~Newly Engaged~ With a ring on the finger, vows and true love aren't far behind. +50 1d ~Entertained~ is having quite a good time and is keeping stress down. +25 varies up to 6 hours Based on Fun Need; first level ~Having a Blast~ is having so much fun it's almost criminal. Varies Based on Fun Need; second level ~New Friend~ Meeting someone new and hitting it off well enough to call them your friend is spiffy! +20 8h Requires making a new friend ~Good/Great/Amazing Meal~ Yummy! You enjoyed that meal more than the standard fare. Varies based on quality of dish Varies Requires a good cook to make the meal ~Had a Nice Nap~ Having a great, refreshing nap may be just enough to hold back the onset of sleep. +10 5h ~Likes Work~ Work isn't quite the daily grind for everyone. Bring on the overtime! +10 Lasts as long as Sim is working Requires workaholic trait. ~Squeaky Clean~ Experience the clean sensation of practicing personal hygiene! +40 7h After showering/bathing ~Pumped~ If Sims work out long enough, they get pumped. Workouts are even more effective while Sims are pumped. +15 4h After exercising ~My Love!~ Sims in love swoon and flutter about like fools oblivious to the world around them. +20 Increases while around new spouse Requires presence of a new spouse ~Pregnant~ The wonder of creating new life makes pregnancy an exciting time for most Sims. +20 Lasts until birth Requires pregnancy ~It's a Boy!/Girl/Twins!/Triplets!~ [Boy]: Bouncing baby boys are delightful additions to any family! [Girl]: Gurgling baby girls are delightul additions to any family! [Twins]: Wow, your Sims were lucky enough to have twins. Double trouble! [Triplets]: Three babies! Hope your Sims wanted a big family. +80 1d Requires birth of boy/girl/twins/triplets {NEUTRAL MOODLETS} ~Hungry~ Your Sim's a wee bit peckish. The stomach growling isn't far behind. Warns you of a low Hunger Bar ~Has to Pee~ Your Sim needs to go. Like, "go". Warns you of a low Bladder bar ~Baby is Coming~ Uh oh! The water has broken, contractions have started, and the baby is on its way! Get the mother to a hospital soon or sit tight until the baby arrives! Upcoming Birth ~Tired~ Get your Sim to bed soon, to avoid the wrath of the truly tired. {NEGATIVE MOODLETS} ~Grungy~ Yuck! That layer of grime growing might mean it's time for a bath or shower. -5 4h First stage of a low Hygiene bar ~Smelly~ Sims don't like to stink. More importantly, Sims don't like other Sims that stink. -10 Lasts until shower or bath Second stage of a low Hygiene bar ~Tired~ When Sims get too tired, their mood begins to go south. -40 3h First stage of a low Energy bar ~Exhausted~ At this level of sleep deprivation, even the floor looks like a good bed for this Sim. -50 Lasts until sleep Second stage of a low Energy bar ~Very Hungry~ Gnawing hunger is not a good feeling for Sims. Feed regularly to avoid. -40 24h First stage of a low Hunger bar ~Starving~ Allowing Sims to starve is quite cruel! Get some food immediately to avoid an unnecessary death. 24h until death Second stage of a low Hunger bar ~Lonely~ Communication is a must for Sims. A quick chat will fix things right away. -15 14h First stage of a low Social Bar ~Desolate~ When Sims get really, really lonely, they need to talk to somebody. Anybody. -50 Lasts until socializing Second stage of a low Social bar ~Strained~ could stand a few hours of fun to iron out the stress. -15 Increases up to 2d before going to next level First stage of a low Fun bar ~Stressed Out~ is in desperate need of some entertainment. The daily grind has ground the enjoyment of life to a halt! Lasts until your Sim has fun Second level of a low Fun bar ~Stuff Taken~ Sims like their stuff, and when someone grabs it, they take it quite personally. 1d From seeing a burglar ~Really Has to Pee~ The bladder situation has gone from bad to worse, find a bathroom soon! 30m Only stage of a low bladder bar ~Lost a Friend~ The loss of a friend hurts, but can be rectified by giving them a call and rekindling the friendship. -25 From losing a friend **************************** |Lifetime Happiness/Rewards| **************************** What's the point of doing all the work required for keeping your Sim elated and granting his/her wishes? Well, here it is! Lifetime rewards, which are purchased with lifetime happiness points, are gifts to your Sim that allow them to do things an ordinary Sim couldn't. For example, a Sim with a Steel Bladder will never have to pee, and a Sim with the Long Distance Friend reward will never lose friendships due to neglect. The following is a table of lifetime rewards, their costs, and effects. *=============================================================================* |NAME OF REWARD|POINTS| EFFECT | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Discount Diner|5k |Restaurant meals will be on the house. Tips and tax | | | |included! | |Office Hero |5k |Your inter-office conversations will be more effective | | | |than ever! Co-workers will love talking to you. | |Fast Metaboli-|5k |Watch your body shift and change before your very eyes | |sm | |with a fraction of the effort! A more immediate new | | | |you! | |Observant |5k |Discover the traits of others twice as quickly! | |Complimentary |5k |You'll be added to the exclusive list at the community | |Entertainment | |theatre and can get into all upcoming events free. | |Professional |5k |How cool would it be to be able to watch TV at work | |Slacker | |without the boss caring? | |Speedy Cleaner|5k |Eliminate household grime and villainous soap scum | | | |doubly quick! | |Never Dull |10k |Sims love listening to you talk and will never get | | | |bored when you repeat social interactions! | |Opportunistic |10k |Earn greater rewards and bonuses for finishing | | | |opportunities! | |Bookshop Bar- |10k |Books at the bookstore will carry a hefty discount, | |gainer | |resulting in great savings for you! | |Haggler |15k |Store clerks fear the sight of you and will throw | | | |discounts at your feet to expedite your passing. | |Dirt Defiant |15k |Personal hygiene concerns and frequent bathing rarely | | | |trouble the Dirt Defiant! | |Mid-life Cri- |20k |Not happy with who you are? Pick new traits to become | |sis | |the Sim genetics failed to create. | |Super Green |20k |If you want to grow the best, most vibrantly delicious | |Thumb | |and organically superior plants, you simply must go | | | |Super. | |Body Sculptor |30k |The Body Sculptor device will give you the exact body | | | |shape you desire...within a few percentage points. | |Acclaimed Au- |30k |Earn bigger royalty checks for every book written... | |thor | |assuming you're a writer. | |Extra Creative|30k |The finest paintings are created by those who are not | | | |only creative, but Extra Creative. | |Collection |40k |The Collection Helper is an invaluable tool that helps | |Helper | |collectors identify collectables as well as find them | | | |in Map View. | |Food Replica- |50k |The Food Replicator speeds up meal prep by duplicating | |tor | |dishes perfectly...more or less. | |Moodlet Mana- |60k |The Moodlet Manager eases the mind and removes | |ger | |troubling thoughts...most of the time. | |Teleportation |75k |The Teleportation Pad reduces your transportation costs| |Pad | |by 100%...within a reasonable margin of error. | *=============================================================================* \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Skills to Pay the Bills [SKILLS6] \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | ================== |1. Athletic | |2. Charisma | |3. Cooking | |4. Fishing | |5. Gardening | |6. Guitar | |7. Handiness | |8. Logic | |9. Painting | |10. Writing | ================== Skills have always been a part of Sims - and this one is no different (although handled differently, if you've played other Sims games). They are crucial to maintaining a job and earning promotions, or they can act as moneymakers themselves. Writing and painting can fetch a decent amount of money comparable to the level 10 position of each career. The ten skills are: Athletic, Charisma, Cooking, Gardening, Fishing, Guitar, Handiness, Logic, Painting, and Writing. You'll notice that some skills have been renamed and some skills have actually been taken from expansion packs of the Sims 2 (namely, Gardening and Fishing). In order to learn a skill, you will have to do one of several things. First, you can simply read the associated book which can be found in either the library or bookstore. You can also take the class, which will cost a fair amount of money if you are just starting out - 400 Simoleons, to be exact. You can also use publicly provided equipment such as the neighborhood gym, chess boards, or grills. Once you have obtained the skill, you will immediately obtain a skill journal as well. This skill journal will allow you to complete various challenges that will give your Sim special properties in regards to that particular skill (these will be detailed later). It will also provide miscellaneous information about that skill such as pages written, plants harvested, etc. ========== |Athletic| ========== Feeling the need to build some muscles or lose some of that extra fat? Take the Athletic skill and your weight problems will be solved. This skill can be increased through a variety of techniques. You can either go to the gym to workout or opt for the more expensive, yet convenient route of buying exercise machines at home. This includes dancing to a stereo or running on a treadmill. Reading a book on exercise will also achieve the same thing. This skill is required for the Sports career. There are two different varieties of workouts - Strength and Cardio. Strength workouts will make your Sim more muscular, whereas Cardio will make your Sim slimmer. Try to find and maintain the proper balance between the two. As you increase this skill, you will unlock more options for your workouts, as well as have more stamina to do your workouts, meaning more time until you get the Fatigued moodlet. Eventually, you will even be able to train others' Athletic skill. The last perk for the Athletic ability is that you will have a higher likelihood of winning in a fight as your Athletic skill increases. The different options, which will be described later, are unlocked as your Sim increases his/her Athletic skill. Much like your job, it will decide how long you will be able to do the workout until you get Fatigued, and how quickly it will increase your Athletic Skill. [LEVEL 1] You gain the ability to jog to places. While jogging, you will increase your Athletic ability, don your Athletic outfit, and it will be recorded in your skill journal. You earn the Don't Break a Sweat option for working out in addition to the default workout option. This will give the same amount of points as a normal workout but will decrease the decay of your Hygiene need. [LEVEL 3] You will be able to gain the Pumped moodlet after working out, which will give you a 15 moodlet bonus. You earn the Good Pacing option for working out. This will allow you to workout for longer periods of time with normal increases to your Athletic skill bar. Note that this will also return the decay of your Hygiene need bar to normal. [LEVEL 5] Your running speed will drastically increase. You unlock the Push Self option for working out, which will increase the speed at which you increase your Athletic ability. You will also lose weight or gain muscle more quickly. However, the next morning, you will have the Sore negative moodlet which is a 10 point decrease to your Mood. This can be waited out (6 hours) or simply solved with a massage. [LEVEL 6] Your Sim can now be other Sims' coach on the exercise machine. The Sim receiving the coaching will lose weight/gain muscle more quickly as well as increase their Athletic ability more quickly. [LEVEL 7] You earn the Quick Burst option, which will allow your Athletic bar to increase even more quickly. However, you will notice a marked increase in the speed of decay of your hygiene need and earn the Fatigued moodlet more quickly. You will also become Sore after doing your workout. *Levels 8-10 have no new options/perks.* ~~~~CHALLENGES~~~~ You have three challenges in your Athletic skillbook to fulfill. These challenges will give you special perks in terms of athletics. I recommend that you do your best to fulfill these challenges, becaues the reward at the end is worth it more often than not. [BODY BUILDER] You will have to do 60 hours of strength workouts, which will allow you to perform strength workouts for as long as you want without gaining the Fatigued moodlet. [Fitness Nut] Basically, this is the same as Body Builder except for in terms of cardiovascular exercises. Perform 75 hours of Cardio workouts and you will be able to do them for as long as you wish without gaining the Fatigued moodlet. [Marathon Runner] The last of the Athletic challenges, this requires you do run 500 kilometers. The reward for completing this feat is an extended lifetime (exact amount unknown). ========== |Charisma| ========== Charisma, the art of talking. If you find yourself desperately in need of friends or want to delve into the Politics career path, then this skill is what you need. It will allow you increase your relationship status with others much more quickly, as well as have an initial boost in terms of relationship due to enhanced greets. At the peak of this skill, you'll be picking up girls (or guys) left and right with Irresistable greetings. The new socials that you unlock through this skill are also very nice and can provide a nice boost in your relationship status with others. Sims with the Moocher trait will be able to mooch more food/money out of others with a higher Charisma skill. The Talk to Coworkers/Suck Up to Boss options at work will also be much more effective. There is only one way to learn this skill (aside from taking classes or reading its appropriate book) - practicing in front of a mirror. Gaining this skill is different from most others. In order to increase your Charisma level, not only will you have to practice with other Sims/in the mirror, you will also need to have a certain amount of friends to level up. This means no holing up in your room with a book on Charisma - go out there and talk to some real Sims! The friend requirement for each level will be listed under the detailed information for each level. NOTE: 'Friends' does not equal Family Members. That's cheating. Also, please note that Sims with the Charismatic trait will get additional socials in the Charisma skill upon starting. [LEVEL 1] No friends required, just learn the skill. You will have unlocked a Friendly Greeting, which is...well, basically, a friendly greeting. You will also have unlocked the Charming Introduction, which is handy for when you use it right when you meet a Sim. The amount of relationship points scales with the level of your Charisma skill, so at level 10, this social will bump you up almost (?) to friend status. [LEVEL 2] 2 acquaintances required in order to get to this level. Here, you unlock the Amusing greeting, which other sims will consider a Funny greeting. Nothing else is new here. [LEVEL 3] You'll need 3 acquantainces in order to reach this level of the skill. You unlock the Interesting greeting, which other sims will consider as Impressive. You also can now use the Get to Know social. With this social, you'll be able to discover the traits of others at a much higher rate. Just like the Charming Introduction social, this will scale with level. [Level 4] Requires 4 acquantainces, and unlocks the Flirty (Romantic) greeting. [LEVEL 5] Here, you unlock the final social of the Charisma skill - Smooth Recovery. I must say, I have found relatively few uses for this skill even while actively searching for them. It is meant to be used when you say something inappropriate in the situation so you can recover the conversation, but it seems to never pop up as an option. However, if the need comes up, this social can be a potential lifesaver. You need six friendships for this level. You also get an Affectionate greeting (Romantic). [LEVEL 6] Eight acquantainces, Funny Greeting. [LEVEL 7] Moving right along. Ten acquaintances, Impressive greeting. [LEVEL 8] The acquaintances you need to advance is picking up, as is the time to level. 15 acquantainces, Hilarious greeting. [LEVEL 9] 20 acquantainces, greeting. [LEVEL 10] You'll need to maintain 25 relationships with others for this final level. The Long Distance relationship helps tremendously when trying to advance. You'll unlock the Irresistable greeting, which makes a Sim instantly perceieve you as being Extremely Irresistable. This will allow you to woohoo right off the bat (kinky). ~~~~CHALLENGES~~~~ You'll have five challenges to complete in this skill area. I found these challenges to be easier than the rest - whether because there are five of them, or they just couldn't come up with better ones, I don't know. But most of these challenges are freebies. [Celebrity] You will need 25 acquaintances to complete this challenge. Obviously, this is the easiest challenge to complete - to reach level 10 of the Charisma skill, you will also need 25 friends! Having this challenge completed will allow you to begin at Friend status with other Sims. [Everybody's Best Friend] You will need 10 Best Friends for this challenge. This challenge is also fairly easy; just keep in touch (or have the Long Distance Friendship/Super Friendly perk). You will be able to skip the Good Friend level and go straight into the Best Friend level after Friend level. [Comedian] This is a tedious challenge to complete. To complete this challenge, you will need to have successfully told 100 jokes. The reward is that your jokes will never fail (same as Good Sense of Humor trait). [Personable] In this challenge, you will have to learn a total of 50 other Sims' traits. This may seem like a lot, but once you look at it, it's a trivial number. If you have 25 Sims that are your friend, you can easily discover two traits each with the Get to Know social. Once this challenge is completed, you will be able to learn other Sims' traits at a quicker rate. [Super Friendly] You need 20 friendships to finish this final achievement. Note that it is much, much easier to attempt this challenge after you have completed the Celebrity challenge. This will give you a headstart in getting more friends. The Long Distance Friendship lifetime happiness reward will help enormously as well. However, you may want to think against it because the reward renders it obsolete - it stops ALL friendship decay. That's right, ALL - not just slowing it down. This is by far the most useful reward for this skill path. ========= |Cooking| ========= Well, you simply can't live without cooking. (You also can't go into the Culinary career path without cooking.) At least one Sim in your household will have to know this skill if you don't want to eat out every day or have peanut butter and jelly 24/7. Eating a well-prepared dish will grant you a fantastic positive moodlet. Of course, cooking requires ingredients. You can either buy these ingredients from the Supermarket, or you can have them magically appear in your fridge. Obviously, having them magically appear in your fridge is the most convenient route - however, the supermarket will often have sales that will cut down the money you spend on cooking. If you find yourself in need of Simoleons, then make sure you buy your ingredients from the supermarket. Sims with the Frugal trait will also want to take advantage of these deals. Be aware that not all foods can be cooked any time of day (which I find slightly ridiculous). You will only be able to cook certain foods based on what time they are normally eaten (such as Waffles for breakfast). Be warned, however! Your Sims will, more often than not, inadvertently start house fires during their first few attempts (and failures) at cooking. Installing a fire alarm before trying to cook your first dish is highly recommended. Please note that Sims that are Natural Chefs cannot start house fires when cooking. As the level of your Sim's Cooking skill increases, so does his/her dish quality. Their chance to start fires while cooking will also decrease. Higher quality dishes grant better mood boosts upon eating them, and also will fill up the Hunger bar more quickly. Poorly prepared food can even result in a negative moodlet. Vegetarians will have tasty vegetarian alternatives to their normally meat-based foods, such as Tofu Dog or Veggie Burgers. Cooking also is unique in that some recipes must be bought (although some is automatically learned) - not everything is handed to you on a silver platter. Recipes can be bought at the bookstore. Please note that each recipe can only be used ONE time. Like a book, you will also have to 'read' them - they are not instantly learned. I will organize this section differently from the rest, since cooking does not give any real benefits for leveling up, other than what was already listed and new recipes. Instead, I will list each recipe learned, as well as their cost and ingredients. ---NOTES--- L - Learned Automatically, A - Acquired. If the 'Lv.' box is left blank, the recipe is acquired upon starting cooking. The ingredients for Baked Angel Food Cake and Ambrosia cannot be bought at the grocery store - you must find them on your own, through gardening or fishing. Ambrosia is a rather special food - it will actually reset your Sims' age to the beginning of his current age sector! That is to say, if your Sim is about to die, and you eat Ambrosia, your age will go back to the beginning of Elder. Please note, however, that the recipe costs 12,000 Simoleons and the recipes are a pain to gather. Ambrosia also provides a very hefty mood bonus - once you prepare a Perfect Ambrosia, I suggest that you buy a Food Replicator with your Lifetime Happiness points and replicate it. *=============================================================================* | Name of Recipe |Lv.|L/A| Ingredients |Total Cost| |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Autumn Salad | | L |Lettuce |$5 | |Waffles | | L |Egg |$11 | |Mac & Cheese | | L |Cheese |$8 | |PB & J | 1 | L |Apple (lolwut?) |$6 | |Hot Dogs | 1 | L |Links |$8 | |Pancakes | 1 | L |Apple |$6 | |Ratatouille | 1 | A |Tomato |$5 | |Goopy Carbonara | 2 | L |Onion |$11 | |Grilled Cheese | 2 | L |Cheese |$8 | |Cookies | 3 | A |Egg |$11 | |Fish and Chips | 3 | A |Anchovy |$5 | |Spaghetti | 4 | L |Tomato |$5 | |Sushi | 4 | L |Anchovy |$5 | |Fruit Parfait | 4 | A |Apple, Grapes |$12 | |Stu Surprise | 5 | L |Lettuce (x2) |$10 | |Cheesesteak | 5 | A |Cheese, Steak |$38 | |Hamburgers | 6 | L |Onion, Patty |$35 | |Cobbler | 6 | A |Apple, Egg |$17 | |Key Lime Pie | 7 | L |Egg, Lime |$25 | |Eggs Machiavellian| 7 | A |Egg, Watermelon |$25 | |Grilled Salmon | 8 | L |Garlic, Potato, Salmon |$48 | |Tri-Tip Steak | 8 | A |Lettuce, Potato, Steak |$46 | |Dim Sum | 9 | L |Anchovy (x3) |$15 | |French Toast | 9 | L |Apple, Egg |$23 | |Stuffed Turkey | 9 | A |Lettuce (x2), Roast |$40 | |Lobster Thermador |10 | L |Bell Pepper, Garlic, Lobster |$66 | |BakedAngelFoodCake|10 | A |Egg (x2), Flame Fruit |N/A | |Ambrosia |10 | A |Death Fish, Life Fruit |N/A | *=============================================================================* ~~~~CHALLENGES~~~~ The cooking challenges are very useful in terms of time management. They are fairly simple to complete, although you will have to actively put time into them. The rewards, however, are well worth it. [Star Chef] This requires you to prepare 50 meals - simple if your Sim is the only chef in the household. This should occur naturally as you skill up in Cooking. You will be able to squeeze better moodlet bonuses with this challenge, as it will improve the quality of your dishes. [World Class Chef] This is another challenge that is basically the second tier of the Star Chef challenge - you will have to create 75 dishes. Any dish will do, and once completed, you will be able to cook faster than a normal chef. [Menu Maven] With this, you will have to learn all the recipes. This is a simple, yet time- consuming challenge. About two days of intense recipe-learning will be enough to complete this challenge. You will be able to create food of higher quality once this challenge is completed. ========= |Fishing| ========= Fishing is another skill in what I consider to be a triangle of skills - cooking, fishing, and gardening (although I only consider it to be a triangle because of Ambrosia). Fishing can be a decent (not fantastic, but decent) source of money at higher levels, and higher quality fish will make higher quality recipes. As your fishing skill increases, you will be able to catch a higher variety of fish, use different kinds of bait, and catch bigger and better fish. To learn fishing, you can read, take classes, or just go out there and do it yourself. To actually fish, it is best to find a pool of water where fish are splashing. This will yield the highest quantity of fish. Note that you can set the game on pause and go scouting for good fishing areas yourself. The social that tells you the data for a fishing area can be used without the presence of your Sim. It will tell you how many fish you can expect to find as well as the different fish you have already discovered. Going to the bookstore and reading fishing books is highly beneficial for this skill. You will be able to learn a fish's favorite bait, which will up the chance of you catching that fish. (Or you could reference the table for free. :P) There are very few concrete rewards for leveling up; therefore, this section will be designed much like the Cooking one. However, there are a few. At level 3, you will be able to use bait. Obviously, bait will increase the variety and quality of your fish. Higher quality bait equals higher quality fish. After you have caught the fish, you can do a variety of things with it. Obviously, you can cook it and eat it. You can also sell it or even use it as fertilizer for your garden. Please note that you should NOT use a Death Fish as fertilizer; it will automatically kill the plant. You can also put it in a fishbowl for a nice environmental bonus. The better quality the fish, the higher the environmental bonus. The last thing, and possibly most useful, is you can put it in a manmade pond. Although counterintuitive, having ten of the same fish in a pond will allow you to catch as many as you wish in the convenience of your backyard. Refer to the following table for all your fishing needs. --NOTES-- As before, if Lv. is left blank, it means you can catch it from the start. Deathfish can only be caught in the midnight hours (around 12 AM). *=============================================================================* | Name of Fish |Lv.| Location | Favorite Bait | Rarity | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Minnow | |Lakes, Oceans |Apple |Very Common| |Anchovy | |Oceans |Tomato |Common | |Goldfish | 1 |Lakes |Lettuce |Common | |Alley Catfish | 1 |Lakes, Oceans |Cheese |Uncommon | |Jellyfish | 2 |Ocean |Grapes |Common | |Rainbow Trout | 2 |Lakes |Egg |Common | |Red Herring | 3 |Lakes, Oceans |Hot Dogs |Common | |Tuna Fish | 3 |Oceans |Onion |Common | |Piranha | 4 |Lakes |Watermelon |Uncommon | |Tragic Clownfish | 4 |Lakes, Oceans |Bell Pepper |Uncommon | |Siamese Catfish | 5 |Lakes, Oceans |Minnow |Common | |Blowfish | 5 |Oceans |Potato |Common | |Salmon | 6 |Ocean |Lime |Common | |Black Goldfish | 6 |Lakes |Goldfish |Common | |Shark | 7 |Lakes, Ocean |Red Herring |Uncommon | |Swordfish | 7 |Ocean |Anchovy |Common | |Angelfish | 8 |Lakes, Ocean |Alley Catfish |Uncommon | |Vampire Fish | 8 |Graveyard |Garlic |Rare | |Robot Fish | 9 |Sci. Facility |Piranha |Rare | |Lobster | 9 |Lakes, Ocean |Tuna |Common | |Deathfish |10 |Graveyard |Angelfish |Very Rare | *=============================================================================* ~~~~CHALLENGES~~~~ The fishing challenges are very tough. However, you only need to complete two of them. Expect to spend a fair amount of effort on the two. [AMATEUR ICHTHYOLOGIST] For this challenge, you will need to catch every type of fish availible in the Sims (which makes you not so much an amateur ichthyologist as an expert one). Deathfish are the hardest to catch. In order to catch a Deathfish, you will need to first catch an Angelfish for bait (use an Alley Catfish as bait for the Angelfish). Go to the graveyard around 12 AM and fish there to find a Deathfish. This will allow you to catch bigger fish. [COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN] For this challenge, you will need to have caught a whopping 350 fish total. After completing this challenge, you will be able to catch fish at a much faster rate. =========== |Gardening| =========== Gardening is the final skill in the triangle, along with fishing and cooking. With this skill, you will be able to transform your backyard into a miniature farm. This skill is great for both making money and overall usefulness. The Money Tree, for example, will produce cash rather than fruits or vegetables. Life Fruit will extend your life expectancy by one. These are only some of the benefits to taking this skill. To learn Gardening, you will need to either take a class, read a book on gardening, or go out there and plant something yourself. As you level up, you will be able to plant better and higher quality plants. However, this is not the only factor that contributes to a Perfect plant - you must take the time to toil over your garden and tend for them carefully. You will also be able to tend to your garden more quickly as you level up. The four types of seeds are common, uncommon, rare, or specia. Seeds can be bought from EverFresh or you can hunt for the rarer ones scattered around your town. I tend to find the best luck around the science facility. To actually tend for your plants, you will have to water, weed, and fertilize them. Only after doing this will you produce the highest quality plant. If you already have seeds in your inventory from planting other seeds, make sure to only plant the highest quality seed you have (artificial selection). A special note regarding the Money Tree - this is a very high-maintenance plant that you MUST tend to. If you forget, it will explode into a wad of bills, which is never fun. [LEVEL 1] Keep tending your plants - make sure you water them generously. [LEVEL 2] You can now weed your plants. This is crucial for producing higher quality plants. [LEVEL 3] This is a big level for you. At this level, you can fertilize your plants. Being able to fertilize your plants means that you will be able to produce plants of a higher quality than before. The quality of the fertilizer has a direct impact on the quality of the plant, so keep that in mind as you decide which fertilizer to use. Note that if a Sim in your household has the Fishing skill, then you can use the fish that you have caught to boost your plants. DO NOT use Deathfish as fertilizer; it will instantly kill your plant. [LEVEL 5] You can now plant uncommon seeds, which can be found in various places around the neighborhood. The Collection Helper lifetime reward helps tremendously while hunting for uncommon (or rare/special) seeds. [LEVEL 6] This only applies if your Sim has taken the Green Thumb trait. If you do have this trait, you will be able to revive a dying plant at a fairly high success rate. This is a great help if you forget to tend your garden for a time and your plants begin to die off. [LEVEL 7] You can now plant rare seeds. ~~~~CHALLENGES~~~~ There are three challenges here. They are fairly difficult, although not overly so. [Botanical Boss] With this challenge, you will have to create 75 Perfect quality plants. These can be any plants, from Apple to Death Flower. Obviously, it would be easier to create a Perfect quality Apple. Quantity is better than quality (well...you know what I mean) here. The reward for this is that you will never, ever have to worry about your plants dying...LIKE A BOSS. [Master Farmer] For this, you will need to harvest 650 plants total. Although this number may seem staggering at first, it actually isn't that much when it comes down to it. If you level up without books/classes and only do gardening, you should be well on your way to finishing this challenge. After completing this challenge, you will have to water/weed your plants less often. [Master Planter] The last of the three challenges, this challenge makes you plant ALL of the different types of plants. Not an easy task by any means, due to the wide variety of plants in the game. However, after completing this challenge, you will have to weed your plants much less often. _______________________________________________________________________________ Special addition regarding the 'Green Thumb' trait: (thanks to Jackson Tjota) Hi, With the Green Thumb trait, the individual seems to be able to plant something that is 1 step better quality than its seed or fruit. e.g. if he/she has Nice Quality grapefruit and chooses to plant it, the grapevine planted will be at a Very Nice quality. e.g. if the individual has an Outstanding Quality apple, when he/she plants it, voila! a Perfect apple tree! to speed things up, I'd suggest to DISPOSE the plant right after the first 2-3 resulting harvests (instead of waiting for it to go to a Barren state) then re-plant them straight away. this, of course, speeds up your garden upgrade, and achieving the Perfect Garden is very much possible, not just for "fanatically patient outdoorsmen" _______________________________________________________________________________ ======== |Guitar| ======== This is a very straightforward skill. Learn the guitar, play it to level up. As you level up, you get better at playing the guitar and can earn minimal amounts of cash through playing for tips. However, if you wish to go into the Music industry, then you will need to take this skill (preferably to level 10). Like most other skills, this is learned through books, classes, or actually playing the guitar. As you level up, you will learn more songs and unlock new options with your instrument. Make sure you place the guitar in your inventory rather than having it lay around in your house - that way, it is much more convenient to pull out and play whenever you want to. Playing the guitar around other Sims will improve their social standings with you. The higher the level in guitar, the better your social impact will be on other Sims with the guitar. [LEVELS 1-4] In these levels, you won't be doing much other than practicing your guitar and getting your way through these beginner stages. You will learn 2 basic songs per level (automatically) during these levels. [LEVEL 5] Here, you will finally be able to perform real songs. These songs will boost your social standings with other Sims. You also unlock the ability to Play for Tips, which can earn some pocket change for your Sim. The higher your guitar level, the more tips you will earn. You can also Serenade a romantic interest with your guitar, which will increase your social standings with him or her. [LEVELS 6-10] Now, you can perform songs without fail and will continue learning new songs till level 10. SHEET MUSIC (bought from bookstore, one time use only) Yes Ma'am, I Do - Level 5 Flamenco Fever - Level 6 A Perfect Moment - Level 7 Improvise Here and Now - Level 8 Dream Escape - Level 9 ~~~~CHALLENGES~~~~ The guitarist challenges are relatively simple to complete, although there is one in which I still am unaware of the completion requirements. [Master Guitarist] This is one of the easiest challenges in the game. It is basically a duplicate of the Menu Maven challenge, but you only have to learn 5 songs. This should take less than a day of focused learning to complete. You will learn a new song after completing this challenge. [Money Maker] This challenge is another simple, but time consuming one. Simply go to the park for a few days in a row, pull out your guitar, and start playing. It helps to be a higher level (or even in the Music career path), since this will give you more tips. You need $5000 in tips to complete this challenge, and after doing so, you will earn a new track. [Guitar Star] This is currently a 'broken' challenge. If anyone knows how to complete it, please email me. It asks for you to perform 10 times at parties and venues, but performing 10 times does not seem to fulfill the requirements. Doing 10 concerts as a Rock Star also will not satisfy this challenge, nor will performing at 10 parties in different areas of the town. It is speculated that you need 10 opportunities (given at random times?) to complete this challenge; however, I have not done this challenge yet. Again, if anybody knows how to complete this challenge or can confirm that it is truly broken, then please email me. The reward is more tips from playing (and according to the description, a higher payoff from concerts). =========== |Handiness| =========== Breaking things is never fun, especially when they are electric. Rather than wasting your money and calling in a repairman to do the work for you, have a Sim pick up the Handiness skill and repair it for free! Having a Sim with the Handiness skill can also give you valuable bonuses to items such as a self-cleaning toilet, or speakers that are wired to play throughout the whole house. As you level up in this skill, you will have a lower chance of electrocuting yourself when trying to repair items, as well as unlock new and better upgrades to your electrical appliances aorund the house. Watch out, though - if you electrocute yourself, you will get a nasty negative moodlet called Singed (and your Sim will look like a freak, too). Do not attempt to do anything concerning electrical appliances until this moodlet has faded away. If you're electrocuted with the Singed moodlet, you'll die. To actually learn this skill, you can either take a class or buy/borrow a book, or try repairing something yourself. Please note that unlike most other skills, the do-it-yourself approach is actually quite risky in that you can electrocute yourself while doing so. To develop this skill, you can tinker with your appliances (don't try this in real life), read a book on the subject, or simply go around repairing broken items. At level 3 of this skill, you will be able to make useful repairs to your items. At level 10, you will get a membership offer to a guild which will make everything in Build Mode 25% off. Very useful. The following is a table (sick of them yet? I know I am :P) of all the objects that can be upgraded. ---NOTES--- I am fairly sure that I am missing a few upgrades in this table, as I have not yet extensively explored this skill. If anyone could email me things that I have missed, it would be greatly appreciated. *=============================================================================* |Item to be Upgraded|Level| Effect of Upgrade | Effect of Failure | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------| |Shower | 3 |No Cold Shower moodlet |Puddle | |Dishwasher | 3 |Quiet Dishwasher |Noisier Dishwasher | |Stereo | 3 |Wider Range for +Moodlet|Singed/Electrocution | |Anything Dirty | 3 |Self-cleaning |Must be cleaned again | |Stove | 4 |Fireproof |Stove catches fire | |Coffeemaker | 4 |Auto-makes coffee |Singed/Electrocution | |Trash Compacter | 6 |Higher capacity |Singed/Electrocution | |Shower | 6 |Better showers, +Moodlet|Puddle | |Things that break | 6 |Unbreakable |Singed/Electrocution | |Fireplace | 7 |Auto-start Fireplace |Fire | |Stove | 7 |Better food quality |Stove catches fire | |TV | 7 |More channels |Singed/Electrocution | |Stereo | 8 |Better +Moodlet |Singed/Electrocution | |Stereo | 8 |Wire to entire house |Singed/Electrocution | |Computer | 8 |Fun bar increases faster|Singed/Electrocution | *=============================================================================* ~~~~CHALLENGES~~~~ There are the standard three challenges. Although they are far from impossible, some can be very annoying/tedious to complete, since they rely on objects breaking in order to fulfill their requirements. If you are unlucky, then your objects can go for a fair while before breaking so you can fulfill this challenge. [Electrician] After having repaired 10 electrical objects, you will never be electrocuted by an appliance again. [Plumbing] After you have repaired 10 objects that require plumbing, your objects that require plumbing will be made unbreakable. [Tinkerer] This is the easiest out of the three challenges to complete. You will need to have completed ten UNIQUE upgrades on your appliances. This means that a Self-Cleaning upgrade on your stove and on your shower will only count as one upgrade total. ======= |Logic| ======= Logic, the art of being...smart. Logic can help you in a variety of ways, as well as earn a bit of cash on the side. Naturally, Genius Sims will find it easier to pick up this skill than others. In order to learn this skill, you can read or take a class, but you can also look through the telescope or play a game of chess. When you begin, you will be able to Solve the Unsolvable (sometimes fails) and earn some Simoleons through this option. Note that you must have a computer to do this. The Logic ability will also allow you to play chess. Please note that chess is not something you will win with only logic - much like in real life, practice makes perfect and you will not become a Chess Grandmaster unless you practice first. Note that child Sims will complete their homework at a faster rate if they are working on their Logic skill. [LEVEL 1] At level 1, you will be able to stargaze thorugh a telescope and Solve the Unsolvable. [LEVEL 3] Here, you can actually search for previously unknown celestial bodies through your telescope. This will also permit you to earn a little bit of extra pocket money, but don't count on it as your main money-maker. [LEVEL 5] Now, you can actually talk about the celestial bodies you've discovered. If you name a celestial body after an actualy Sim, then talking to them about it is a tremendous relationship booster. You can also tutor other Sims (only child through teen). You can tutor them in anything except for Athletic and Charisma. Tutoring is faster than actually having them read a book on the subject, so you should preferably tutor when possible. Please note that you can only tutor someone if their knowledge in that skill is lower than yours. [LEVEL 10] You can now tutor any age range in skills. Previous requirements still apply. ~~~~CHALLENGES~~~~ Four challenges this time. They are fairly time-consuming or difficult to complete, so be prepared. [Grand Master] You need to become a grandmaster in chess in order to fulfill this challenge. This is done by merely beating everyone that stands before you in a ranked match. After finishing this challenge, you become twice as fast at leveling up in Logic (so finish this challenge as early as possible!). [Celestial Explorer] You will need to discover 20 celestial bodies with your telescope to complete this challenge. This simply requires hours standing behind the telescope in order to find more celestial bodies. Be prepared to be there for a while if you have bad luck. You will then unlock a social that allows you to talk about space with other Sims. [Teacher Extraordinaire/Skill Professor] The reason I put these together is because they are basically carbon copies of each other, except for Teacher Extraoirdinaire requires 20 hours of tutoring other Sims, whereas Skill Professor requires 30. They both have the same reward - you will be twice as effective when tutoring. If you complete both challenges, you will be four times as effective when tutoring. These are VERY useful challenges to complete. ========== |Painting| ========== This skill is one of the two skills that can actually substitute for a career (the other being Writing) and make a decent living for you. The way this works is that as you level up, you will be able to paint better pictures (marked by different prefixes). This is a very straightforward skill; as such, I will not go very in-depth about it. To actually learn this skill, you can only take classes or buy an easel and paint yourself. That's right, there are no books to be found for this skill. As you 'practice' painting, your paintings will be worth very little. However, at level 5, you will be able to Paint rather than Practice, although I haven't noticed a difference between the two. You will also be able to paint Still Life paintings. However, at level 6, you will be able to paint a Brilliant work of art, which receives a decent bonus to the amount of money that the painting goes for. At level 7, you will be able to paint a picture of another Sim. You will, obviously, need another Sim (any will do) to be present to do this type of art. Once you hit level 8, you can paint a scene you've memorized from the town. But level 9 is where painting really becomes a moneymaker. You will be able to paint Masterpieces at that level, which receieve a massive boost in how much money you can sell it for (3x the normal value, to be exact). There are several factors that go into determing how much money your painting goes for. First off, is if it is a Brilliant/Masterpiece painting. These will give you bonuses to the value of the painting. Secondly, the size of the canvas - small, medium, or large - plays a factor into how much it is worth. Third, the age of the painting determines its worth. Rather than devaluing as the painting gets old, it will increase in value as time passes by. Eventually, that painting you did of stick figures back at Level 1 can be worth a pretty penny. Lastly, if your Sim has died, then the value of the painting will increase. Once your Sim is reaching the end of his/her elder life, turn him/her into a painting machine. Crank out as many paintings as you can, and sell them after he/she has died for moolah. Worth noting is that if you have bought the Creative lifetime happiness reward or have taken the Artistic/Perfectionist traits, you will have a higher chance of creating Masterpieces. ~~~~Challenges~~~~ The standard 3 challenges, but not the standard difficulty. I found these challenges to be much harder to complete than normal, mostly because of the luck that goes into them. The perfectionist/artistic/extra creative boosts will really come in handy here. [Brushmaster] This is, by far, the easiest challenge to complete. Simply do 35 paintings - value or type doesn't matter - and you'll be able to paint at a much faster rate than normal. [Proficient Painter] This requires you to paint an incredible 6 Brilliant paintings. All I can say is good luck with your drawings. The reward, however, is well worth it - you will be able to paint Brilliant/Masterpiece paintings at a higher rate. [Master Painter] Hopefully, if you're lucky, you will have gotten this challenge while going for the Proficient Painter one. If not, however, you'll have to spend more time toiling over the easel in hopes of creating 5 Masterpieces. This will increase the value of any future paintings that you choose to create (if you're not sick of the skill yet, that is). ========= |Writing| ========= Last, but not least, is Writing. This skill goes hand in hand with Painting as the two moneymaking skills of the Sims 3. However, unlike painting, it is quite an extensive skill (be prepared for more tables). To learn this skill, you must read a book, attend a class, or simply write. Note that you need a computer to write (nope, no pen an paper for you. Sorry!) As you level up, then you will acquire more and more genres to write about. Higher level genres = more Simoleons for you. Speaking of money, money through writing is earned in a different manner than normal. They are paid in royalties, which come over a course of time rather than all at once. Royalty amounts are decided by genre level and level of writing. Below is a table of all genres (note that there are some special genres, which will be discussed later) and their corresponding trait and level. Like in the Painting skill, Masterpieces can be written at level 10. Writing a Hit will give you 2x royalties; Best-Sellers 3x royalties; and Flops 1/2 royalties. --NOTES-- Painting skill must be level 6 or higher to write a Children's Book. Sims with a Good Sense of Humor can write Humor book sat level 2. Hopeless Romantics can write Romance songs at level 5. Fiction - 0 Non-fiction - 0 Science Fiction - 1 Trashy Novel - 2 Drama - 3 Children's Book - 3 Humor - 5 Historical - 6 Mystery - 8 Romance - 10 There are also several 'hidden' genres that have special requirements to unlock. Autobiography - Requires 3 biographies written Fantasy - Requires 3 Science Fiction novels written Satire - Requires 3 Humor novels written Vaudeville - Requires 3 sci-fi, drama, humor, romance, and mystery novels written ~~~~Challenges~~~~ You have the standard 3 challenges here. [Prolific Writer] You need to write 20 novels in your writing career to satisfy this challenge. This will increase the likelihood of you writing hits and best-sellers. [Specialist Writer] You will need to write 5 novels in any genre, which will increase the likelihood of you writing hits and best-sellers in that genre ONLY. I would recommend that you do it in either the Satire or Romance genre, since they have the best pay vs. pages or total size of pay, respectively. This stacks with the Prolific Writer bonus. [Speed Writer] This is probably the easiest if you take up Writing as your job. You need to earn $15,000 Simoleons in royalties, and it will let you write all of your novels at an increased pace. Always useful. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ The Daily Chores: Your Sim's Careers [CAREERS7] \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | | | ====================== |1. Business | |2. Criminal | |3. Culinary | |4. Journalism | |5. Law Enforcement | |6. Medical | |7. Military | |8. Music | |9. Politics | |10. Sports | |11. Science | ====================== How would you live without a job? The Sims are the same way - without a job, you simply can't survive. (Well, you could, but that's more of a challenge game than an actual game of Sims. And you could make all your money from painting/writing...but you get the picture.) There are several careers that your Sim can delve into, and some even have two different branches to the career that you can choose from. Each career goes up to 10 levels, and if the career branches, it will occur at level 5+. Level 10 will usually unlock a new perk in your career, such as the ability to sign autographs for big bucks (athlete/rock star). You can go about your job different ways. If you want to advance quickly (but at the cost of your Fun bar), you can opt to Work Hard, which will increase your career bar substantially. You can also take it easy or put in a normal amount of effort. There are other options you can pick from in your career, but they are different for each. If you have a career in mind, it would behoove you to pick relevant traits, and/or lifetime wishes. The traits will aid you along the path to becoming the top of your career, and the lifetime wish will provide you with extra incentive to do so. For example, a rock star with the Virtuoso trait and Charismatic trait (and obviously the Guitar skill) will find it easier to get to the top because two of the 'requirements' that enhance the speed of your career advancement are your relationship with fellow band members (Charismatic) and your skill in the guitar (Virtuoso). As such, it helps tremendously to plan ahead when first creating your Sim. In general, to ensure that you level up in your career the fastest, it is helpful to take both the Workaholic and the Schmoozer traits, because they will help you work harder/suck up to your boss more. Obviously, each job will have its own trait that will ease the pain of getting to the top of your career, but that is a general rule of thumb if you want to create a Sim solely devoted to working. At level 10 in your career, the fun still doesn't stop. If you continue to work hard and earn 'promotions', they will take the form of nice, fat pay raises. This means that you can continue to increase the amount of money you earn even after you have maxed out your career path. The following is an in-depth list of all careers, in alphabetical order ('cause I'm OCD like that). These sections will be fairly long (since there's a lot of information to include)...so, prepare yourself! Please note that the hourly pay is calculated BEFORE any pay raises. Carpool arrives one hour before work starts, so be prepared at least 30 minutes beforehand unless you plan on driving yourself. ========== |Business| ========== The typical job in business. Standard five-workday week (for a while, at least) and the normal requirements for promotions. If your Sim aspires to be the average Joe (while still making good amounts of money at level 10), this is the job for you. The five options you have for working are as follows. {Meet Coworkers} This will allow you to meet (not necessarily build relationships with) your coworkers. This is a fairly important option, as the later levels in this career path will have Relationship with Co-workers as a requirement for promotion. {Chat at Water Cooler} This is where you actually build relationships with coworkers that you have already met. Again, be sure to use this once in a while, because the later promotions will hinge on whether or not you have a good relationshipo with your coworkers. {Suck Up to Boss} Basically, it does what it says. This is very useful for the earlier levels, where your relationshiop with your boss is one of the main requirements listed for promotion. But once you hit level 9, this requirement disappears entirely and you will no longer have to utilize this option (since you're your own boss. If you hate yourself, well...I can't help you with that, sorry.) {Power Work} Work harder in exchange for a faster decay of your Fun bar. If you want to do this and be able to last for the entire work day, come to work with a maxed out Fun bar or have the Workaholic trait. You will gain work performance much faster with this option. {Hold Meetings} This option is only availible when you are equal to or greater than the Division Manager level (Level 6+). Attending these meetings will become crucial to your job performance levels. Note that meetings take priority over job work, so it is in your best interest to do meetings during work hours so you won't have to waste extra time. Here are the ten career levels: [Coffee Courier] Schedule: M, T, W, TH, F Times: 8AM-2PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $27/hr Weekly Pay: $810/week Pension: $40/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship With Boss [Filing Clerk] Schedule: M, T, W, TH, F Times: 8AM-2PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $35/hr Weekly Pay: $1050/week Pension: $50/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship With Boss [Report Processor] Schedule: M, T, W, TH, F Times: 8AM-2PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $46/hr Weekly Pay: $1380/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationshiop With Boss, Relationship With Coworkers [Corporate Drone] Schedule: M, T, W, TH, F Times: 8AM-2PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $59/hr Weekly Pay: $1770/week Pension: $90/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers [Department Head] Schedule: M, T, W, TH, F Times: 8AM-3PM (7 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $76/hr Weekly Pay: $2660/week Pension: $130/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationshipo with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers [Division Manager] Schedule: M, T, W, TH, F Times:8AM-3PM (7 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $99/hr Weekly Pay: $3465/week Pension: $170/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers, Meetings Held [Vice President] Schedule: M, T, W, TH, F Times: 8AM-3PM (7 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $128/hr Weekly Pay: $4480/week Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers, Meetings Held [CEO] Schedule: M, T, TH, F Times: 8AM-2PM (7 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $239/hr Weekly Pay: $5736/week Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Boss, Relationshipo with Coworkers, Meetings Held **Perks**: A limo will drive you around everywhere now. [Chairman of the Board] Schedule: M, T, TH, F Times: 8AM-2PM Hourly Pay: $287/hr Weekly Pay: $6888/week Performance Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Coworkers, Meetings Held [Power Broker] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: M, T, TH Times: 8AM-11AM (3 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $316/hr Weekly Pay: $2844/week Performance Requirements: Mood, Relationshipo with Coworkers, Meetings Held Notes: Well, wow. You may be shocked and/or baffled by the astonishingly crappy pay that this level 10 job gives you. However, meetings are what makes this job worth it. They can be scheduled whenever (including during work), so if you want to, you can hold meetings for the entire day and earn around 700-800 Simoleons for each meeting. A meeting lasts only for around an hour and a half, so doing meetings will actually earn you more than your normal base pay. Obviously, though, pay raises will make simply working more efficient than holding meetings during work hours. YOu will also have a ========== |Criminal| ========== If your Sim is a shadier type than the average neighborhood resident, then a life of crime through the Criminal career may be the one that is appealing to you. To get hired, just visit the Outstanding Citizen Warehouse Corp. Plan on your Sim working at night rather than in the day. This career branches into two different careers at level 5: Thief and Evil. Both have different requirements for promotion, perks, etc. that will be detailed in their respective sections. As a criminal, you will never be robbed (obviously). You can also bring home various objects while at work. However, you can also be arrested while working and be stuck in prison for one day. For this job, you will need to take up the Athletic skill. The higher, the better, as it is a requirement for promotion. If you plan on going into the Evil Career, then you will also need the Logic skill. For this job, you have seven options (some have requirements to be unlocked) for work: {Work Hard} It does exactly what it says it will do. You work harder for an increased gain in your career bar in exchange for an increased rate of decay for your Fun bar. Come to work with a maxed Fun bar if you want to be using this option. {Take it Easy} Basically, the opposite of Work Hard. You will see your Performance meter improve very slowly, but your Fun bar will not decay as quickly (if at all). Good for when you come to work stressed or are about to receieve a promotion. {Practice Illicit Activities} You need to have the Athletic skill for this. It will increase your athletic skill (albeit fairly slowly) while at work. {Do a Side Job} This is a way to earn some extra cash. You will earn money from this 'side job', as well as being paid for your normal work hours. The cash isn't anything to write home about, but it's decent. {Meet Accomplices/Conspire With Accomplices} If you read the Business section, these two are basically the same (which is why I combined them into two). Meeting Accomplices will allow you to meet your fellow coworkers, which will be come a requirement for promotions in later job positions. Conspiring with Accomplices, on the other hand, will improve your relationship with coworkers that you have already met. {Grovel to Leader} This option lets you garner favor with your leader. This is unlocked in the Evil branch only; your relationship with your boss is unimportant to promotions in the Thief career. The following is an in-depth list of all job positions. [Decoy] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 10AM-4PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $17/hr Weekly Pay: $510/week Pension: $30/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics [Cutpurse] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 10AM-4PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $24/hr Weekly Pay: $720/week Pension: $40/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics [Thug] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 9PM-3AM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $32/hr Weekly Pay: $960/week Pension: $50/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics [Getaway Driver] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 9PM-3AM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $40/hr Weekly Pay: $1200/week Pension: $60/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with Accomplices [Bagman/Bagwoman] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 9PM-3AM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $52/hr Weekly Pay: $1560/week Pension: $80/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with Accomplices [Con Artist] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 9PM-3AM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $63/hr Weekly Pay: $1890/week Pension: $90/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with Accomplices ~~~~CAREER BRANCH~~~~ Now, you have the decision to choose between two subcareers of the Criminal path - you choose either the Thief path or the Evil path. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. A full analysis and comparison of the two careers will follow after the complete descriptions. **Evil Career** [Henchman] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9PM-3AM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $109/hr Weekly Pay: $3270/week Pension: $160/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with Boss [Evil Sidekick] Scheudle: M, T, W, TH, F Times: 9PM-3AM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $142/hr Weekly Pay: $4260/week Pension: $170/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with Boss, Logic [Super Villain] Schedule: M, T, TH, F Times: 9PM-2AM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $240/hr Weekly Pay: $4800/week Pension: $230/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with Boss, Logic Notes: You get a cool-looking limo to drive you around everywhere. [Emperor of Evil] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: M, T, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $420/hr Weekly Pay: $6300/week Pension: $300/day Promotion Reqruiements: Mood, Athletics, Logic Notes: You get an Aura of Evil surrounding your Sim. Other Evil Sims will be attracted to you, Neurotic, Loser, and Cowardly Sims will run from you, and Good Sims/Sims in the Law Enforcement traits will instantly take a certain hatred towards you. **THIEF CAREER** [Safecracker] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 9PM-2AM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $96/hr Weekly Pay: $2400/week Pension: $120/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with accomplices Notes: You can now Sneak around, allowing you to rob various objects in other Sims' homes without waking them up. [Bank Robber] Schedule: T, F, S, Su Times: 9PM-2AM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $122/hr Weekly Pay: $2440/week Pension: $120/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with Accomplices Perks: You will receieve a piece of art that provides a massive environmental bonus to whatever room you choose to place it in. [Cat Burgler] Schedule: T, F, S, Su Times: 9PM-1AM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $225/hr Weekly Pay: $3600/week Pension: $180/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletics, Relationship with Accomplices Notes: Limo! [Master Thief] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: T, F, S Su Times: 9PM-1AM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $525/hr Weekly Pay: $8400/week Pension: $400/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athletic Skill, Relationship with Accomplices Notes: You get a Fox statue upon reaching the pinnacle of thievery. This statue will provide an enormous environmental boost while at the same time giving you an I Am the Best positive moodlet every time you interact with it. Very useful. ==ANALYSIS OF JOB BRANCHES== So, which to choose? Thievery or world domination? In the end, it's all up to you. However, I'll do some number analyses right here for you if it all boils down to the money/perks. I will say straight up that the Thief path is better than the Evil path from an objective point of view. A Master Thief will receive $8400 a week (assuming no missed days), whereas an Emperor of Evil will only receieve $6300 weekly. The pension of a Master Thief will also yield more cash than the pension of an Emperor of Evil. Furthermore, it takes more effort to level up in the branch of Evil because of the increased requirements: you will end up needing 2 skills mastered rather than just 1. The perks of the Thief branch outweigh the perks of the Evil branch. The painting, statue, and Sneak are priceless in terms of usefulness. Lastly, the Thief branch is better for building relationships with other Sims than the Evil one. Relationship with Accomplices (involves multiple Sims) will allow you to befriend more people than just one (Relationship with Boss). That's not to say that the Evil branch is entirely useless, however. This branch has fewer work hours/days you have to go to work. Although you work for longer periods of time in the Evil branch, you only do it for three days as opposed to the four for the Thief branch. This can come in handy if you are trying to develop other skills on the side. The sheer coolness factor of the Aura of Evil is also something worth considering. TL;DR Version: -THIEF +More Money +Better Perks +More relationships +Easier to level up -Evil +Coolness factor +Less workdays ========== |Culinary| ========== This is yet another career option for you to take (also in The Sims 2). Don't go into this career expecting to make a lot of money (I'll tell you right now that you make a measly $4200/week at the Level 10 position). However, the perks are well worth it and it will force you to level up your Cooking skill, which is always nice. If you have another Sim that's a moneymaking powerhouse, then you should consider taking up this career path for the other one. Be warned that the hours here can be kind of obnoxious, based on what career your other Sim has chosen. You can pick up this career at either the Bistro or the Diner. Here are the six options you will have at work. {Work Hard} You will work harder, which will result in greater job performance gains. This increased growth comes at the cost of your Fun bar. {Take it Easy} This is basically the opposite of working hard. You will see a marked slowing in your Performance meter gains, but your Fun bar will either not decay at all or do so very slowly. {Meet Coworkers/Hang out with Coworkers} Meet Coworkers allows you to meet your fellow coworkers, which is essential for promotions in this career path. Hanging out with your coworkers, on the other hand, develops relationships with your currently known coworkers. This also is needed to succeed in the Culinary career. {Practice Cooking} Obviously, this is necessary for your job. Practice your cooking skill and level it up, and get paid to do so! Very useful when you don't want to waste time around the house developing this skill. {Suck Up to Boss} Your relationship with your boss is always important for this career. Choose this option from time to time to improve how your boss sees you, because it will influence whether or not you will be lucky enough to get that promotion. There are no career branches here. [Kitchen Scullion] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $25/hr Weekly Pay: $750/week Pension: $40/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking [Spice Runner] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $32/hr Weekly Pay: $960/hr Pension: $50/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking [Vegetable Slicer] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $39/hr Weekly Pay: $1170/week Pension: $60/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking, Relationship with Boss [Ingredient Taster] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $47/hr Weekly Pay: $1410/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers Notes: You will now occasionally find free meals in your inventory after you leave from work. [Line Cook] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 3PM-8:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $84/hr Weekly Pay: $2310/week Pension: $110/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers [Pastry Chef] Schedule: M, T, F, S, Su Times: 3PM-8:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $108/hr Weekly Pay: $2970/week Pension: $150/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers. Notes: You get a free food processor at this stage in your Culinary career. [Sous Chef] Schedule: T, F, S, Su Times: 3PM-8:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $124/hr Weekly Pay: $2728/week Pension: $130/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers [Executive Chef] Schedule: T, F, S, Su Times: 3PM-8PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $150/hr Weekly pay: $3000/week Pension: $150/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers [Chef de Cuisine] Schedule: F, S, Su Times: 3PM-8PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $201/hr Weekly Pay: $3015/week Pension: $180/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking, Relationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers [Five-star Chef] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: F, S, Su Times: 3PM-7PM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $350/hr Weekly Pay: $4200/week Pension: $200/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Cooking, RElationship with Boss, Relationship with Coworkers Notes: This is the final level of the Culinary career, and the fantastic perk you receive here makes the low pay of this final job worth it. You receieve the MinusOne Kelvin Refridgerator, which will never let your food decay/spoil. Also, you will get a positive moodlet while you are around the fridge. ============ |Journalism| ============ Journalism is a new career introduced in the Sims 3. Its pay is not fantastic money, but it is quite an interesting path to take should you choose to do so. If you have extra time after work, you can actually pen your own novels because Journalism requires Writing as one of its requirements for promotion. You will also have to write reviews, stories, etc. about the latest events in Sunset Valley/Riverview. You will also need the Charisma skill to actually get some juicy news to write about. This job has very typical work hours (morning to mid afternoon ish), but they are shorter than normal. Which is good. You'll have six options for working here. {Work Hard} The usual 'work hard at your job' option. Your performance levels will increase sharply, but expect your Fun bar to decay much more quickly than normal. {Take It Easy} The opposite of Work Hard. Exchange job performance for a slower decay of your Fun bar. {Practice Writing} Because writing is a required skill for the Journalism career, this option gives you the opportunity to level up your Writing skill while at work. You'll also get paid for doing so. {Discuss Latest News} This is the option that will allow you to meet (not necessarily become friends with) your coworkers. {Hang with Coworkers} This will build your relationship with coworkers that you currently are acquaintances with. Use the Discuss Latest News option if you don't know any of your coworkers in the first place. {Suck Up to Boss} Last, but not least, sucking up to your boss is always a good thing to ease your way through the promotions in this career. You will build your relationship with your boss, which in turn will help you get promoted. There aren't any career branches in this career. [Paper Boy] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 8AM-2PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $38/hr Weekly Pay: $1140/week Pension: $60/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing [Automated Spell Checker Checker] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 8AM-2PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $44/hr Weekly Pay: $1320/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing [Freelance Writer] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 8AM-2PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $50/hr Weekly Pay: $1500/week Pension: $80/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing, Stories and Reviews Notes: Here, you will have to start actually writing stories and reviews. You type them up on your computer after having talked to Sims around town or visited hot spots such as a restaurant, theatre, or stadium. [Professional Blogger] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 8AM-12PM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $76/hr Weekly Pay: $1520/week Pension: $80/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing, Stories and Reviews [Anonymous Source Handler] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 8AM-1PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $97/hr Weekly Pay: $2425/week Pension: $120/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing, Stories and Reviews, Charisma [Investigative Reporter] Schedule: M, w, Th, F Times: 8AM-1PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $126/hr Weekly Pay: $2520/week Pension: $120/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing, Stories and Reviews, Charisma [Weather Man] Schedule: M, w, Th, F Times: 8AM-1PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $151/hr Weekly Pay: $3020/week Pension: $150/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing, Stories and Reviews, Charisma [Lead Reporter] Schedule: M, w, Th, F Times: 8AM-1PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $189/hr Weekly Pay: $3780/week Pension: $180/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing, Stories and Reviews, Charisma [Editor-in-Chief] Schedule: M, w, Th, F Times: 8AM-1PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $236/hr Weekly Pay: $4720/week Pension: $230/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing, Stories and Reviews, Charisma [Star News Anchor] Schedule: M, w, Th, F Times: 8AM-12PM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $383/hr Weekly Pay: $6128/week Pension: $300/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Writing, Stories and Reviews, Charisma Notes: You can now tell Intriguing News Stories to other Sims, which will boost your relationship status with them by a fair amount. ================= |Law Enforcement| ================= Upholding the law in Sunset Valley (or Riverview). Going to bed knowing that you protected the Sims of your community. Money. If any two of the three things listed above appeal to you, then you've found the right job. Well, you don't get as much money as some of the other jobs - but you get my point. If you choose to delve into the Law Enforcement career, expect average work hours and average salaries. You'll have six work options while working at your office. {Work Hard} Work harder: faster Fun bar depletion accompanied by faster promotions. {Take it Easy} The opposite one as above: slower Fun bar depletion (or Fun bar increase) accompanied by slower promotions (or a decrease in job performance). {Chat with Partner} This option allows you to chat and build relationships with your one and only coworker. It will also help you along in your career path. {Build Independent Case} As it says, you build an independent case. Although it lowers job performance, you may end up getting a bonus as a result of your hard work. {Use Workout Facility} This will build your Athletic skill, assuming you've already learned it. This is necessary to advance in one of the career branches of Law Enforcement (more on that later). {Suck Up to Boss} Strangely, not really necessary in this career. It's nice to choose for the sake of building relationships, though. [Snitch] Schedule: M, T, w, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $40/hr Weekly Pay: $1200/week Pension: $60/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic [Desk Jockey] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $47/hr Weekly Pay: $1410/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Relationship with Partner [Traffic Cop] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $55/hr Weekly Pay: $1650/week Pension: $80/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Relationship with Partner, Reports Written Notes: You can now catch burglars without being brave/other associated traits. Congratulations; your home will now be burglar-free! You write reports on your computer of various people you encounter. Exposing Criminals will boost your job performance. You can do this by either getting to know them or rooting through their trash cans. [Patrol Officer] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $73/hr Weekly Pay: $2190/week Pension: $100/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Partner, Reports Written [Lieutenant] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $85/hr Weekly Pay: $2550/week Pension: $110/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Partner, Reports Written ~~~CAREER BRANCH~~~ The Law Enforcement branch splits here into two groups - Forensics and Special Agent. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages, which will be explained more fully in an analysis at the bottom of the job level descriptions. **Forensics Career** [Wiretap Reader] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $143/hr Weekly Pay: $4290/week Pension: $200/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Partner, Reports Written, Logic Notes: You get a free laptop at this point. It's the best on the market, so knock yourself out! [Crime Scene Technician] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $167/hr Weekly Pay: $5010/week Pension: $230/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Relationship with Partner, Reports Written, Logic [Sketch Artist] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $224/hr Weekly Pay: $4480/week Pension: $220/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Reports Written, Logic, Painting [3D Crime Scene Modeler] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $264/hr Weekly Pay: $5280/week Pension: $260/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Reports Written, Logic, Painting [Dynamic DNA Profiler] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $397/hr Weekly Pay: $7940/week Pension: $380/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Reports Written, Logic, Painting Notes: You can now Run a Forensic Analysis on your computer. It's good for a bit of extra money on the side. **Special Agent Career** [Vice Squad] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $138/hr Weekly Pay: $2760/week Pension: $140/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Reports Written, Athleticism, Relationship with Partner [Undercover Specialist] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $163/hr Weekly Pay: $3260/week Pension: $160/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Reports Written, Athleticism, Relationship with Partner [Special Agent] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $193/hr Weekly Pay: $3860/week Pension: $190/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Reports Written, Athleticism, Relationship with Partner Notes: Well, you get the joy of being continuously on-call, now. Always be prepared for calls, and try not to let your mood dip too low. On the bright side, working hours are going to start to decrease soon. [Triple Agent] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-1PM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $284/hr Weekly Pay: $4544/week Pension: $220/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Athleticism, Reports Written [International Super Spy] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-1PM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $426/hr Weekly Pay: $6816/week Pension: $330/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Athleticism, Reports Written Notes: Well, apart from the massive jump in pay, you get two more bonuses for reaching the final level of the Secret Agent branch. First, you get to tell an impressive story about your super spying to others, which will give you a nice bonus in relationship status. The other is slightly more interesting - you can conduct raids on the Criminal Warehouse. Having a good mood, logic level, etc. will all contribute to your chance of a successful raid. There are three possible results: failed, good, and successful. A failed raid will have a negative impact on your mood. A good raid will net you a fair amount of money, and a successful one will give you even more. A word of warning: If you're running an unpatched version of the Sims, do NOT conduct the raid if you're interested in joining the Criminal Career. It will mess up the warehouse and ruin your ability to join it. ==ANALYSIS OF JOB BRANCHES== Well, there you have it. International super spy or dynamic DNA profiler? The choice is ultimately up to you, but let me give you some pointers for those who are struggling with the decision. The Forensic branch is good for the Sims who have a busy family and/or social life; i.e. paint/write/etc. on the side. Obviously, painting is one of the requirements necessary for the Forensic branch, but the Forensic branch also has more predictable, stable work hours. It also gives you more money without having to do too much outside of your job. You'll be able to stay up late into the night finishing that painting or soothing your child without having to worry about being called up suddenly into work with terrible moodlets up. The laptop is nice, too. On the other hand, the international super spy has a lot more potential for Simoleons. You have less working hours, so that frees up your time for side activities, as well. But if you don't plan to use these extra hours to conduct raids, then the job isn't worth it - you'll need to gain approximately 1100 Simoleons weekly in raids for this job to trump the Forensic branch. You also have the misfortune to be continuously on-call, so you'll have to worry more about your mood than a Forensic Sim. TL;DR Version: Forensic +Stable working hours +Higher pay +Laptop -Less potential pay Secret Agent +Short working hours +Higher potential pay -Less pay -On-call ========= |Medical| ========= Alright, before you go and decide to join this career, let me tell you one thing: you'll need to be prepared. And I mean it. This is, in my opinion, one of the hardest careers to handle in the game, especially if you're looking to develop hobbies outside of it. Your Sim will most likely be stressed once it gets home, so I recommend you take the Workaholic trait. Not only this, but you have out-of-work readings as well as being on-call to deal with on top of anything else in your life. On the bright side, you can rake in the Simoleons at level 10 of the career. You have 6 options during work (pasta with a healthy serving of copy because I'm a lazy bum): {Work Hard} You will work harder, which will result in greater job performance gains. This increased growth comes at the cost of your Fun bar. {Watch TV in Ready Room} This is basically the opposite of working hard. You will see a marked slowing in your Performance meter gains, but your Fun bar will either not decay at all or do so very slowly. {Chat With Medical Personnel} Talk to your co-workers, build relationships, etc. etc. Necessary to advance in your job. {Do Boss's Paperwork} Not really necessary, but you can do it to relieve some stress/replenish Social bar. {Sleep in Ready Room} Sleeping! That's something you won't be getting if you opt into this career. Luckily, there's a work option that allows for this - take advantage of it after being on-call all night (but don't do it too much, or your job performance will suffer). {Suck Up to Boss} Again, not really necessary. Do it while you're lonely/stressed out. {Play Golf} Finally, a respite! This is unlocked at level 10 and will allow you to relieve some of that accumulated stress with minimal impact on your job performance. (You'll get paid, too.) But obviously, don't abuse this option or your job performance will inevitably decrease. There are no career branches in the Medical career. [Organ Donor] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $22/hr Weekly Pay: $660/week Pension: $40/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic [Bed Pan Cleaner] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $25/hr Weekly Pay: $750/week Pension: $40/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic [Paramedic] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $28/hr Weekly Pay: $980/week Pension: $50/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic [Medical Intern] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-7PM (10 hour workday) [author's note: :o!] Hourly Pay: $33/hr Weekly Pay: $1650/week Pension: $80/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Medical Journals Read Notes: Well, this isn't really a perk so much as it is an annoyance. You get your pager now, which mean's you'll be on-call at all times. Take care of your mood! Also, you'll periodically receive medical journals that you need to read to up your chances of promotion. And lastly, you can give medical advice to pregnant women. [Resident] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-6PM (9 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $78/hr Weekly Pay: $3510/week Pension: $170/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Medical Journals Read Notes: You now get bragging rights about your job, which will boost relation- ships and you can give Good Medical Advice. [Trauma Surgeon] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (7 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $105/hr Weekly Pay: $3675/week Pension: $200/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Medical Journals Read [Gene Therapist] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $78/hr Weekly Pay: $3840/week Pension: $190/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Medical Journals Read [Infectious Disease Researcher] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $210/hr Weekly Pay: $4200/week Pension: $200/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Medical Journals Read [Neurosurgeon] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-5PM (8 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $225/hr Weekly Pay: $7200/week Pension: $350/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Medical Journals Read [World Renowned Surgeon] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $2400/hr Weekly Pay: $9600/week Pension: $460/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Logic, Medical Journals Read Notes: Golf option unlocked, described above. ========== |Military| ========== Welcome to...the Air Force/NASA. You won't get much action on the ground (or on water, for that matter); rather, you'll work in fighter pilots and even a spaceship. If you like the idea of working one shift a week, then this is the job for you. It gives you plenty of time for hobbies and skills, but bear in mind that with less working hours comes less Simoleons. So I advise that you utilize that free time wisely and level up skills such as painting or writing - in other words, jobs that give you a decent amount of money on the side. There are four options and no career branches. Copypaste again to save myself from carpal tunnel. {Work Hard} You will work harder, which will result in greater job performance gains. This increased growth comes at the cost of your Fun bar. {Goof Off} This is basically the opposite of working hard. You will see a marked slowing in your Performance meter gains, but your Fun bar will either not decay at all or do so very slowly. {Hang Out with Fellow Soldiers} Talk to your co-workers, build relationships, etc. etc. Necessary to advance in your job. {Suck Up to Superior} Necessary to advance; after all, your boss determines if you're ready to promote or not! [Latrine Cleaner] Schedule: M, T, W, F Times: 7AM-2PM (7 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $40/hr Weekly Pay: $1120/week Pension: $80/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism [Mess Hall Server] Schedule: M, T, W, F Times: 7AM-3PM (8 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $44/hr Weekly Pay: $1408/week Pension: $100/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism [Grunt] Schedule: M, T, W, F Times: 7AM-3PM (8 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $49/hr Weekly Pay: $1508/week Pension: $110/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Handiness [Squad Leader] Schedule: M, W, F Times: 7AM-2PM (7 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $94/hr Weekly Pay: $1974/week Pension: $150/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Handiness, Relationship with Boss [Flight Officer] Schedule: M, W, F Times: 7AM-2PM (7 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $108/hr Weekly Pay: $2268/week Pension: $170/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Handiness, Relationship with Boss [Wingman] Schedule: M, W, F Times: 7AM-1PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $145/hr Weekly Pay: $2610/week Pension: $190/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Handiness, Relationship with Boss [Fighter Pilot] Schedule: M, W, F Times: 7AM-1PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $167/hr Weekly Pay: $3006/week Pension: $220/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Handiness, Relationship with Boss [Squadron Leader] Schedule: M, W, F Times: 7AM-1PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $192/hr Weekly Pay: $3456/week Pension: $250/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Handiness, Relationship with Boss [Top Gun] Schedule: M, W, F Times: 7AM-12PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $265/hr Weekly Pay: $3975/week Pension: $290/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Handiness, Relationship with Boss Notes: You can now show off your jet to members of the general public in your neighborhood. This will provide a decent boost in relationship (especially romantic ones), but will negatively affect job performance if caught. [Astronaut] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: M Times: 7AM-1AM (18 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $334/hr Weekly Pay: $6012/week Pension: $150/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Handiness, Relationship with Boss Notes: Well, you can obviously see that you have a fairly easy schedule except for one 18 hour workday. You can also show off your spaceship to other Sims, which gives a huge boost in relationship (again, especially romantic ones) with the risk of getting caught and lowering job performance. ======= |Music| ======= Lights! Camera! Action! Yeah, on top of being a rockstar, you also can choose to be a Hit Movie Composer. Pretty neat. It has fairly awful pay at the start, but the Simoleons you earn quickly build up as you advance in the ranks. There also isn't that much you need to do, and the Rockstar job is has a very, very flexible schedule (more on that later). You will also tend to work later hours than a typical job. There are six available working options. {Work Hard} You will work harder, which will result in greater job performance gains. This increased growth comes at the cost of your Fun bar. {Slack Off} This is basically the opposite of working hard. You will see a marked slowing in your Performance meter gains, but your Fun bar will either not decay at all or do so very slowly. {Chill Out with Band/Musicians} Talk to your co-workers, build relationships, etc. etc. Necessary to advance in your job. {Meet Band/Orchestra Members} Meet new co-workers. Nothing much to say here, except for the fact that you need to choose 'chill out' in order to actually build relationships with them. {Study Music Theory} Very useful. It gives you Logic and Guitar skill increases at the same time. {Practice Performance} This lets you practice for a performance so that it goes more smoothly. There is one career split here, at level 5 - Rock and Symphonic. [Rabid Fan] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $21/hr Weekly Pay: $630/week Pension: $30/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar [Roadie] Schedule: M, T, Th, F, S Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $25/hr Weekly Pay: $750/week Pension: $40/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar [Stagehand] Schedule: M, T, Th, F, S Times: 4PM-10PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $30/hr Weekly Pay: $630/week Pension: $50/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Band Members [Band Manager] Schedule: M, T, Th, F, S Times: 4PM-9:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $48/hr Weekly Pay: $1320/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Band Members [Music Talent Scout] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 5PM-10:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $57/hr Weekly Pay: $1254/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Band Members ~~~CAREER BRANCH~~~ The Law Enforcement branch splits here into two groups - Rock and Symphonic. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages, which will be explained more fully in an analysis at the bottom of the job level descriptions. **ROCK BRANCH** [Lyricist] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 6PM-11PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $97/hr Weekly Pay: $1940/week Pension: $100/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Band Members, Concerts Note: Do concerts at the theatre; the more you do, the better off your job performance will be. They last 4 hours each. [Backup Vocalist] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 7PM-12PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $126/hr Weekly Pay: $2520/week Pension: $120/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Band Members, Concerts [Lead Guitarist] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 7PM-12PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $126/hr Weekly Pay: $2520/week Pension: $160/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Band Members, Concerts [Pop Icon] Schedule: T, F, S Times: 9PM-1AM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $286/hr Weekly Pay: $3432/week Pension: $200/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Band Members, Concerts [Rock Star] *LEVEL 10* Pension: $350/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Concerts Notes: Well, I suppose I should explain. No work hours? No pay? This job is quite an anomaly. You are in charge of your own schedule; you determine how much you work and how many Simoleons you make. You can hold concerts at either the Stadium or the Theatre; I recommend the Stadium because it gives you more Simoleons (although obviously, you'll be working longer). Not only this, but you can also hold autograph sessions. You can do them anywhere you want, although I recommend that you choose someplace with a denser population. These two factors combined will give you more than enough Simoleons, if you bother to put in enough effort. ~~~Symphonic Branch~~~ [Quartet Member] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 3PM-8:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $85/hr Weekly Pay: $1870/week Pension: $90/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Orchestra members [Orchestra Member] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 3PM-8:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $111/hr Weekly Pay: $2442/week Pension: $120/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Orchestra members, [Orchestra Lead] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 3PM-8:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $144/hr Weekly Pay: $3168/week Pension: $160/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Orchestra members, Logic Notes: You now get free admission to the theatre. [Conductor] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 3PM-8PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $144/hr Weekly Pay: $4120/week Pension: $200/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Orchestra members, Logic Notes: At this level, fans will be able to Worship you. Use it to improve your relationships. [Hit Movie Composer] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 1PM-6PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $361/hr Weekly Pay: $7220/week Pension: $350/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Guitar, Relationship with Orchestra members, Logic Notes: You get a high-quality stereo for reaching this level of the Musical career. ==ANALYSIS OF JOB BRANCHES== Choices, choices, choices. Obviously, these two jobs are basically as different as two job branches can get. It all boils down to personal preference and how you act as a person. If you're the type of person who needs set deadlines and penalties to get things done, the Symphonic Branch is the one for you. On the other hand, if you prefer to take things easy but can still get them done, the Rock branch is good for you. The Rock branch has the potential for much more money than the Hit Movie Composer - but you'll have to utilize all the concerts in the region, as well as maximize your profits through autograph sessions. The Symphonic branch also has better perks. You'll be Worshipped and you'll get a free stereo, which will provide a decent boost in mood (and you can also dance to it, which raises your Athletic skill). But you'll also have to develop your logic skill to succeed here, something you don't have to do in the Rock branch. TL;DR Version: Rock +Flexible schedule. Very flexible. +Less promotion requirements -Requires a certain degree of self-motivation Symphonic +Better perks +Stable salary -More promotion requirements ========== |Politics| ========== Politics. The art of debate, and more importantly, the art of bsing your way through tight situations. Like in real life, you will need a certain amount of charisma and contacts to survive here. Your campaigns will need donations. Slowly but surely, you'll work your way up the political ladder to become the leader of the Sim world. There are five work options here. {Work Hard} You will work harder, which will result in greater job performance gains. This increased growth comes at the cost of your Fun bar. {Chat with Co-workers} Talk to your co-workers, build relationships, etc. etc. Necessary to advance in your job. {Meet Co-workers} Meet new co-workers. Nothing much to say here, except for the fact that you need to choose this option in order to actually build relationships with them. {Propose New Course of Action} You will take time off your job to do a side task. It will decrease job performance but, if done correctly, will pay off in increasing relationships with your boss/co-workers and also increase your job performance. There are no career branches here. [Podium Polisher] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $85/hr Weekly Pay: $720/week Pension: $40/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma [Ballot Counter] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $31/hr Weekly Pay: $930/week Pension: $50/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma [Campaign Intern] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-4PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $33/hr Weekly Pay: $1155/week Pension: $60/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma [Yesman/Yeswoman] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-3PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $85/hr Weekly Pay: $1350/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma, Relationship with Boss [City Council Member] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-2:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $68/hr Weekly Pay: $1870/week Pension: $90/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma, Relationship with Boss, Campaign Funding Notes: Campaign funding is something unique to this job. You go around to friends (but not family) and ask for donations. This is a positive social. It's best to use it on rich people, since they will tend to give larger amounts of money. Frugal Simoleons will be more unwilling to part with their Simoleons. The friendlier they are, the more likely they are to give you a larger donation (if any at all). You will also receive options to get this money illegally while at work. If you're confident you won't get caught, go right ahead; but if you are caught, you'll be fired. So watch out! Yet another way to get funding is to throw a Campaign Funding party. If all goes well, you will receieve a certain amount of Simoleons once it ends. [Local Representative] Schedule: M, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-2:30PM (5.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $91/hr Weekly Pay: $2002/week Pension: $100/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma, Relationship with Boss, Campaign Funding Notes: You now can give an Inspirational Speech to other Sims, which will boost their mood and your relationship with them. [Mayor] Schedule: M, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM(5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $130/hr Weekly Pay: $2600/week Pension: $120/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma, Relationship with Boss, Campaign Funding [Governor] Schedule: M, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $160/hr Weekly Pay: $3200/week Pension: $160/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma, Relationship with Boss, Campaign Funding [Vice President] Schedule: M, W, F Times: 9AM-1:30PM (4.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $267/hr Weekly Pay: $3605/week Pension: $180/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma, Relationship with Boss, Campaign Funding [Leader of the Free World] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: M, W, F Times: 9AM-1:30PM (4.5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $423/hr Weekly Pay: $5710/week Pension: $280/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Charisma, Relationship with Boss, Campaign Funding Notes: You now get the Aura of Leadership, which can give you the Celebrity moodlet. Other Sims will also wave at you. ===================== |Professional Sports| ===================== Perhaps there's nothing better than the rush of victory and hearing the cheers of your dedicated Sims from the stands. If this appeals to you, then the Professional Sports career is a good one to pick. You are playing soccer (football for non-Americans) and it will, to be sure, be a very demanding career. On top of keeping your Athletic skill in shape, you'll also need to monitor your game record carefully, as that will affect your job performance. This job also has later working hours than your typical 9-5 job. There are five working options here. {Slack Off in Locker Room} This is basically the opposite of working hard. You will see a marked slowing in your Performance meter gains, but your Fun bar will either not decay at all or do so very slowly. {Chat with Teammates} Talk to your co-workers, build relationships, etc. etc. Necessary to advance in your job. {Meet Teammates} Meet your teammates so you'll actually have some to chat with. {Work Out in Gym} This is a great option to pick - you will be able to develop your Athletic skill while being paid and increase your job performance! {Prepare for Game} It's important to prepare for your games if you want to win higher percentages of them. There are no career branches here, even though it would make sense (branching into different sports, anyone?) [Rabid Fan] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, S Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $13/hr Weekly Pay: $390/week Pension: $30/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism [Snack Hawker] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, S Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $13/hr Weekly Pay: $750/week Pension: $60/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism [Toddler Sports Coach] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, S Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $33/hr Weekly Pay: $990/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism [Minor Leaguer] Schedule: M, T, F, S Times: 3PM-9PM (6 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $43/hr Weekly Pay: $1032/week Pension: $80/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Relationshiop with Teammates [Rookie] Schedule: M, T, F, S Games: W, Su Times: 3PM-8PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $77/hr Weekly Pay: $1540/week Pension: $110/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Relationshiop with Teammates, Game Record Notes: Well, you'll start playing games now (the days you have games are highlighted in red on your career schedule). Winning gives you the Winner moodlet and increases your job performance, so try to win all your games. Your family will also get in the stadium free while you are playing a game. [Starter] Schedule: M, T, F, S Games: W, Su Times: 3PM-8PM (5 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $134/hr Weekly Pay: $2680/week Pension: $200/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Relationshiop with Teammates, Game Record [Team Captain] Schedule: M, T, F, S Games: W, Su Times: 3PM-7PM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $201/hr Weekly Pay: $3216/week Pension: $230/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Relationshiop with Teammates, Game Record [League MVP] Schedule: M, T, F, S Games: W, Su Times: 3PM-7PM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $241/hr Weekly Pay: $3856/week Pension: $280/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Relationshiop with Teammates, Game Record [Superstar] Schedule: M, T, F, S Games: W, Su Times: 3PM-6PM (3 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $385/hr Weekly Pay: $4620/week Pension: $330/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Relationshiop with Teammates, Game Record [Sports Legend] Schedule: M, T, F, S Games: W, Su Times: 3PM-7PM (4 hour workday) Hourly Pay: $462/hr Weekly Pay: $5544/week Pension: $230/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Athleticism, Relationshiop with Teammates, Game Record Notes: You can now hold autograph sessions at various locations around the city. These are good for earning you a decent chunk of Simoleons; sign as many people you can to maximize your profits. ========= |Science| ========= Last, but not least, is the Science career. This has average pay (and naturally, average working hours) but requires a fair amount of input in terms of skills. Scratch that: a lot of input in terms of skills. To succeed, you will need to simultaneously level your Gardening, Handiness, and Fishing skills. Take this career only if you are very dedicated. There are six work options. {Work Hard} You will work harder, which will result in greater job performance gains. This increased growth comes at the cost of your Fun bar. {Relax in Speciman Closet} The opposite of Work Hard; increase your Fun bar but decrease your job performance rating. {Hang Out with Fellow Scientists} Talk to your co-workers, build relationships, etc. etc. Necessary to advance in your job. {Meet Fellow Scientists} Meet new co-workers. Nothing much to say here, except for the fact that you need to choose this option in order to actually build relationships with them. {Assist Boss with Research} Entirely useless. Choose it if you are bored or just need to replenish your Social bar. {Do Independent Experiment} You will take time off your job to do a side task. It will decrease job performance but, if done correctly, will pay off in increasing relationships with your boss/co-workers and also increase your job performance. There are no branches in this career. [Test Subject] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-2:30PM (5.5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $44/hr Weekly Pay: $1210/week Pension: $60/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening Notes: You will occasionally come home with assorted collectables. Check your inventory periodically to see if you've got any. [Lab Tech] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-2:30PM (5.5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $53/hr Weekly Pay: $1457/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening [Useless Contraption Manipulator] Schedule: M, T, W, Th, F Times: 9AM-2:30PM (5.5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $63/hr Weekly Pay: $1732/week Pension: $70/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening [Fertilizer Analyst] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $97/hr Weekly Pay100/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening, Handiness [Carniverous Plant Tender] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $117/hr Weekly Pay: $2340/week Pension: $120/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening, Handiness [Aquatic Ecosystem Tweaker] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-2PM (5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $140/hr Weekly Pay: $2800/week Pension: $140/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening, Handiness, Fishing [Genetic Resequencer] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-1:30PM (4.5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $187/hr Weekly Pay: $3366/week Pension: $150/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening, Handiness, Fishing [Top Secret Researcher] Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-1:30PM (4.5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $224/hr Weekly Pay: $4032/week Pension: $200/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening, Handiness, Fishing Notes: You get a 'special' seed that grows into one of the following 'special' (and very useful) plants: Flame/Life Fruit, Money Tree, or Omni Plant. [Creature-Robot Cross Breeder] Schedule: M, T, F Times: 9AM-1:30PM (4.5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $269/hr Weekly Pay: $3631/week Pension: $180/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening, Handiness, Fishing [Mad Scientist] *LEVEL 10!* Schedule: M, T, Th, F Times: 9AM-1:30PM (4.5 hr workday) Hourly Pay: $404/hr Weekly Pay: $5454/week Pension: $260/day Promotion Requirements: Mood, Gardening, Handiness, Fishing Notes: You can now 'Do Science to It' to any object and has two possible results: good or bad. Good results include making the object suddenly play music, giving it a positive environmental moodlet, or giving it a handiness upgrade (which is randomly selected). Negative results include lighting the object on fire, electrocuting any Sim that touches it, or simply disappearing. It also may give off a negative environmental moodlet. It's a very interesting social - in my opinion, it's one of the only redeeming qualities of this arduous career. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Credits \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ And last, but certainly not least, is the credits section! Here, I will express thanks to users and others who have helped me in the creation of this guide. So, let's begin! Electronic Arts, for actually publishing and developing this game. CJayC, the creator of GameFAQs, for actually creating somewhere people could see this FAQ. You, for reading the guide! Jackson Tjota for the gardening tidbit. And lastly, if you didn't catch it at the top, my email is arachnidkid12(at) yahoo(dot)com. Remove the words in parentheses, replace with appropriate symbols, yadda yadda. This FAQ should only appear on: www.gamefaqs.com <- LATEST VERSION. www.gamesradar.com www.cheatplanet.com /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ The next update should hopefully include: -Miscellaneous information (hired Sims, relationships, points of interest, etc etc). -I may set the framework for a Sims 3: World Adventures FAQ down and submit it there. Or I may not.