Sims 3 - tips, discoveries, and discussion

[Vigil80]

Thought I would start a thread for sharing info about this neat game. There's quite a few odds and ends that could easily go unnoticed, and this seems like the spot to share. There's some good info over in the review post already.

To get us started, here's some things I found.

-The laptop can be used from your sim's inventory, but not (currently) upgraded from there. To upgrade a laptop, it has to already be sitting on a tabletop. Could be a bug, might get fixed.

-I haven't been able to use the laptop while at the park or similar public places. The options are greyed out, with the error popup "not usable at this lot." This definitely seems like a bug, since it defeats the purpose of the laptop being "portable," and I see NPC sims with their laptops out at community lots all the time.

-Sims don't wake up when they're supposed to 100% of the time. It's a good idea to get an alarm clock just for good measure. No need to set a time, just activate it and it automatically goes off before work. My sims haven't overslept often, but often enough that it bugged me.

-If you have a "brave" sim who attacks burglars on his own, the recovered items get placed in the household inventory, in the buy menu (f2). I saw no notice for this, so the first couple of times I mistakenly thought my sim was chasing off the burglar but still losing his property.

-Some actions have timers, and can be adjusted. Watch for grip ridges on the activity icons that can be dragged to change the time spent on an activity.

I wouldn't mind some tips on keeping a fit sim. My little guy has almost mastered athleticism, but he still manages to stay chubby most of the time.

[Ink Asylum]

- Be sure to check the Special tab when you click on another Sim to interact with them. Many of the personality traits have options which show up in unique tabs rather than the regular ones.

- Becoming a work-from-home artist is easier than ever. You can get a part time job to make ends meet and spend the bulk of your time working on the writing and painting skills. Paintings sell like they always do, and books get you weekly royalties.

- Look for community lots like the Theater and Stadium to have their spotlights on, indicating a special event like a concert is active.

- Your Sim will have a lot of books in their inventory if they read a lot. You can tell them to put them back on the shelf or sell them right from the backpack. You can see if you've already read them just by clicking on them and seeing if the option is "Read book" or "Reread book"

[Farsight]

To stay slim, eat less (art mimicks life!). Sims get fat from eating when they aren't hungry.

Gardening is the key to immortality. If that resembles real life, it's a very well-kept secret.

[Ink Asylum]

Yeah, you can be heavy and muscular in the game, as well as scrawny and out of shape. Muscles depends on exercise and weight depends on food, I would guess. Eat only when you're really hungry.

[Wraith]

I don't have the game yet, but subscribed to the thread.

Anyone have a sim die yet?

[Matthias]

I completely skipped over Sims 2 when it came out (basically because it was $50). Do you think this is worth the $40 discounted price from GoGamer? Also do the Mac and PC versions coming together, like a Blizzard game?

[Ink Asylum]

Did you enjoy the Sims 1? The Sims games are definitely love it or hate it. If you enjoy the Sims type of gameplay this is well worth $40.

[Wraith]

Originally Posted by Matthias

Also do the Mac and PC versions coming together, like a Blizzard game?

Yep.

From the Sims 3 support site:

The physical retail package available at most major electronics stores, which includes a DVD disk, is compatible with Mac. If you wish to purchase a digital copy of the game for your Mac, however, you should not use the EA Store. Since the EA Store uses the EA Download Manager to distribute digital downloads, and the EADM is not Mac-compatible, you will need to purchase a Mac-friendly digital download from a different retailer.

We recommend getting your Mac-compatible digital copy of The Sims 3 from Game Tree Online. If you would like to proceed to purchase The Sims 3 for Mac from Game Tree Online, follow this link (you will be re-directed to the Game Tree site).

[Goronmon]

Damnit, you guys are making me want to pick this up. I enjoyed the first, but grew tired of the tedium that took up most of the day like going to the bathroom, washing hands, showering, etc.

[Vigil80]

Originally Posted by Goronmon

Damnit, you guys are making me want to pick this up. I enjoyed the first, but grew tired of the tedium that took up most of the day like going to the bathroom, washing hands, showering, etc.

Not only have these things been reduced, but there are perks your sims can get which reduce the need to eat, shower, and go to the bathroom even more. Or there's one that makes meals at restaurants free. Either way, your sim may never have to cook again.

My sim eats and uses the bathroom about 1.5 times a day. Which is even a drag sometimes because I bought all this food for the fridge...

[Matthias]

Originally Posted by Ink Asylum

Did you enjoy the Sims 1? The Sims games are definitely love it or hate it. If you enjoy the Sims type of gameplay this is well worth $40.

Yeah I really liked the first Sims (except for the tedious stuff, but as you guys have repeatedly said, that's been reduced). Initial price of Sims 2 and then the flood of expansions kept me waiting on a purchase. I was just about to look into finally buying the game when I heard about 3.

I may have to pick this up then. My sister absolutely loves the game too, so I imagine I can get my mom to purchase it, with the dual OS compatibility.

[Wraith]

The 1up review and a number of Amazon reviews mention bugs and performance issues. Any CoGers seeing this?

[Vigil80]

The worst issues I've encountered so far were textures popping in when I zoomed across the landscape quickly, and sims legs bending in odd ways when they struggle on the treadmills.

After several hours, I have yet to encounter any crashes or other, more serious technical problems. I have all graphical settings turned on and maxxed, except for edge smoothing and high detail lots, which are at medium/middle settings. Framerate is good, and slowdowns while locations load are minor. 1280x1024 resolution.

WinXP SP3
Intel Core2Duo 3.00ghz
4gb (3.25gb) RAM
GeForce 8800GTX

[Wraith]

XP Pro, C2D 2.2GHz, 2GB, 7900GTX 512MB. I should be ok.

I'm sure if I tried it on my Macbook, it'd choke & die (while the fan runs @ 100% the whole time).

I just ordered from GoGamer, should have it next week.

[Vigil80]

So who's tried the eat-less, bathe-less, or pee-less perks yet? I'm wondering how they function. A sim that never needs to eat would never get fat, but wouldn't he also miss the beneficial moodlet from having a good meal? Same for bathe-less sims and the "squeaky clean" moodlet?

Also, here's something else to watch out for. If you have a smoke detector which is set off by a fire, but a brave sim in the house puts the fire out before the fireman arrives, the fireman will nail you with a $500 fine for wasting his time.

I guess the lesson is that brave sims don't need smoke detectors or burglar alarms.

[Wraith]

Here's a few things that bugged me in Sims 2, wondering if they've changed at all in 3:

• Seems whenever you had guests over, someone would always walk in on someone else in the bathroom. I wished Sims could lock the door when they're on the can.
• I read that there's no more "Comfort" or "Environment" bars to manage. Does lighting matter anymore? In Sims 2, sims would always lose environment points in poorly lit areas. "Auto" lights always seemed like they wasted power, and they never turned on during the day.
• Is pathfinding any better? And do sims still get "stuck" in a chair when someone's standing too close to them?

[Camel]

Originally Posted by Goronmon

Damnit, you guys are making me want to pick this up. I enjoyed the first, but grew tired of the tedium that took up most of the day like going to the bathroom, washing hands, showering, etc.

Trying to cram all these little things into the day was always my favorite part. I thought it was HILARIOUS when my Sim would have to go to the bathroom, but would then pass out in the yard and pee himself because he was too tired to make it back to the house. My Sims always had such dysfunctional lives...I never once played in a house with more than one person, because I could barely keep one person alive and happy.

[Vigil80]

Originally Posted by Wraith

Here's a few things that bugged me in Sims 2, wondering if they've changed at all in 3

I'm not positive on these, I'll look out for them when I play tonight.

One thing I can say is that comfort and environment have been removed, and thank goodness. Those were the two I always had the most trouble with. Now a comfortable or well-decorated spot just gives positive moodlets. I have yet to see negative moodlets for comfort and environment, except for one caused by garbage and trash.

[Aggort]

Originally Posted by Wraith

Here's a few things that bugged me in Sims 2, wondering if they've changed at all in 3:

• Seems whenever you had guests over, someone would always walk in on someone else in the bathroom. I wished Sims could lock the door when they're on the can.
• I read that there's no more "Comfort" or "Environment" bars to manage. Does lighting matter anymore? In Sims 2, sims would always lose environment points in poorly lit areas. "Auto" lights always seemed like they wasted power, and they never turned on during the day.
• Is pathfinding any better? And do sims still get "stuck" in a chair when someone's standing too close to them?

To answer your first question, I haven't run into any issues aside from one bug, but that had nothing to do with my PC rather just game programming, I'm sure they'll patch it and patches are VERY simple!

I'm fairly certain you can keep your door locked, but I haven't had that problem yet, so I am not sure. Comfort and Environment are indeed gone. I haven't noticed an issue with lighting outside of the fact that I don't think my Sim enjoyed reading in the dark. I wasn't sure wtf he was doing. Pathfinding is greatly improved!

[JayK47]

To you guys on the fence on whether to buy or not, this is the best Sims ever. So if you like Sims even a little bit, you should pick this up. If not right this second, maybe when the game is on sale for $30 or so.

Thanks for the tips guys. Keep them coming.

There are a lot of things that you can do. It feels like I have only touched the surface. I like how you can ask someone if they are single, dating and so on.