Hi - recently I started playing The Sims on my PC … (yes, I know I’m about 4 years behind the times) … I know there have been lots of previous SD threads, and I looked through them, but I can’t find answers to my questions.
So please bear with me … I can’t register with the Maxis site forums because it’s my S/O’s game and he registered it a long time ago and can’t remember his password etc.
My big problem is finding friends for my Sims - I build them beautiful, fun houses (thanks to the $$ cheat) - and people start to come over - but they leave because they’re tired and want to sit down … HOW DO I MAKE THEM SIT DOWN? I’ve tried having my Sim start conversations and when the signs are looking good for a friendship, I send my Sim to the couch in the hopes that the new buddy will follow … but no luck!
Also … I’ve downloaded some wallpaper, objects, etc - and put them into my Sims Download folder - but once I start the game, they’re not there. How do I get them from my Download folder into my game?
I’m not the greatest at computers, but my S/O is, so if someone helps me out, he can get it working for me.
I’m hoping there is a Sim lover or two out there who can help me get rolling …
Maybe put a tv in front of a couch? Or a table with chairs next to a buffet table, (or just food). Also if you have a nice toilet, that will raise their comfort level.
There are a lot of broken objects for the sims on the internet they don’t work or will not show up. But just to be sure, make sure you put objects in your Downloads or Objects folder, (in game data: C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\GameData). Put your floors in the Floors folder, wallpaper in the Wallpaper folder and skins in your Skins folder.
It’s been a while since I loaded up the Sims, but I recall that it helps to have an activity going on that involves sitting like playing chess or watching TV. Have your Sim start, then there should be a “join” option on the visitor. Then they’ll both start doing it and have a conversation at the same time.
Thank god - this thread is much different then I thought it was going to be. Thought there was some weirdo who wanted to have sex on the sims - was about to tell them to get lost.
That shot from Sims 2 looks great - didn’t even know they were working on a sequel
I tried them out last night - the Downloads now work - and I put in a hot tub, which seems to count as an “activity” … if my guests look tired, I put my Sim in the tub, and have the guest “join” the Sim. Seems to be working …
Any other suggestions from Sim Fans? (Guess that sounds better than Sim-Lovers)
I had more success getting friends from the other end, as it were. I would play as the friend to be and wait for my character (the one with the fab house), let’s call him Bob, to come over. Then I would monopolize Bob’s time until Sim A and he were friends. Then I would do the same for the rest of the house (or until someone collapsed). Then I went back to playing Bob, and a few phone calls and an invite every couple of days worked nicely. It is actually the only way that I could make friends in that game. Wonder what that says about me?
Also, there is a bug in some (or is it just one?) of the lots, where the Sims will not sit down to watch television. You can get a patch for this, and also for the lot where sinks don’t work.
I’m glad you’ve got them working now, but for future reference the only things that can go in the download folder are objects and .far files (.far files are objects too, they’ve just been modified.)
You’ve just found the sims, and the Sims 2 is coming out the second half of the year Check out www.thesims2.com for screenshots and FAQ/chat info.
I, too, have just recently started playing the Sims, though in my case I waited all this time until I could find it on a bargain rack. (-: I find it moderately enjoyable, but not quite lived up to it’s initial hub-bub.
The difficulty that I have is handling lonely Sims. In either the case of a single Sim, or the one Sim in a crowded household who has the odd work shift, my Sim quickly gets so depressed that it becomes impossible to do anything with it. Also happens if I have one stay-at-home Sim where everybody else works. The only solution I’ve found is to make sure that no Sim is ever alone, at any time, i.e. make sure that I have two Sims staying at home, or that every Sim has a buddy who works the same shift. Trying to call friends over just doesn’t work out… any ideas in this vein?
I might get the sequel. But I hope it fixes some of the problems in the original. Specifically, I hope it’s a little more real-world. I mean, come on, how many of us get so wrapped up in making dinner that we forget we need to go to the bathroom and make an oopsie on the floor? Or set used plates on the floor between a sink and a table? Or set the house on fire the first time we use a stove, because we haven’t studied cooking? I don’t even give my Sims a stove until the entire household has three points in cooking skills each (they seem to do fine without one at all, anyway).
I’d definitely like to see Sims with a greater sense of responsibility. I’m tired of having to nag them three times every single day to get out of the pool when it’s time to go to work.
First off, I think my suggestions only apply if you have the expansion packs at least up to House Party, or you’ve bought The Sims Double Deluxe (which includes the first two expansion packs). It’s been so long since I played the original game I can’t remember what was included in the expansion packs and what wasn’t.
If you don’t have those and for some reason don’t want to get them, go to The Sims website and download all the objects that will work with your version; some of them really help. But I strongly recommend the expansion packs. At least Hot Date and Unleashed, which add the most in terms of gameplay. The Sims is the only franchise I can think of where the expansion packs aren’t just shovelware or more of the same; they really do make an effort to enhance and improve gameplay with each one.
It should be easiest to keep your stay-at-home Sim with high motives across the board, including social. First of all, the expansion packs (and the Deluxe and Double Deluxe versions) add an option to the phone that you can choose to talk to another sim instead of inviting them over. If you don’t have that, and you really don’t want to get the expansions, then go to the website above and make sure you’re patched to the highest version. That one addition helps with social a lot.
I’m not sure why calling friends over “doesn’t work out;” if they just refuse, try calling again and see if their answer changes. It’s semi-random. You can (again, with the expansions) also choose to have your single sim head over to the downtown or old town area by using the phone to call a cab, and there are plenty of other sims to talk to there. Another option is to just build a house and fill it with friendly Sims that don’t have jobs. You don’t even need to “play” that house, just create a family, move it into a lot, and then go back to your “main” family. Your new Sims should come to visit, and then you can invite them over whenever your stay-at-home Sim is low on social. If you have House Party, you can throw a party at your house and have bunches of neighborhood Sims come over; odds are good that your lonely one will get along with at least one person there.
If all else fails, just have your lonely sim pounce on the worker sim as soon as he/she gets back from work, and keep doing socials until it makes a difference.
To each his own, I guess. One of the most common complaints about the game is that it’s “boring,” that there isn’t enough to do with your sims. So if they were more autonomous, you’d just end up with a fishtank instead of actually playing the manage-your-time game.
Personally, I’m definitely buying the sequel. It looks so good, the Sims in particular. It’s going to require a pretty powerful computer, though, so now’s the time to upgrade. Everybody reading this thread should be aware that it’s rumored that Maxis is going to release the Create-a-Sim part of the game for free before the actual game release, as they did with the first version. If The Sims 2 Create-a-Sim is like what I’ve seen, it’s incredibly cool and a hell of a lot of fun, a game within itself.
They seem to, but you’ll find that it helps a lot because cooked meals raise the Hunger motive more quickly, giving you more time to work on the other motives. What I do is I never place a stove without a fire detector directly over it. It’ll still catch on fire occasionally, but the fire department will come very soon. As long as you don’t have your house designed really badly, they’ll run in, put out the fire, and you’ll get insurance money back that’s more than the cost of the stove in the first place. I only give one sim in the household cooking skill, and train them to level 1 immediately. Then, if any of the other sims try to prepare anything, I just cancel that action for them and have the one who knows how to cook make the meal.
You’ll also get party crashers, exactly who depends on how good the party is. If everyone’s bored, a mime will show up but if the party’s really good you get Drew Carey.
Wow! Thanks for the run-down! I can tell I’ve definitely met a die-hard fan!
You pegged it, I have the original, plus “Livin’ Large”. Unfortunetely, I’m pretty sure that’s going to have to be it, until I get a new 'puter (been due for awhile, and it takes half my disk-space just to run the Sims titles that I have). Yes, I do have the “talk” option on the phone - will try that more often.
No, I admit that having a single Sim call other Sims over sorta works sometimes, but the cards seem to be stacked against it. Either your favorite person is at work, or when they come over, the bachelor Sim is grumpy from half it’s other needs not getting met, etc. Really, it’s more of a “newbie” issue on my part. As I get better with the game, I’m confident that I’ll be able to figure it out.
But I’ve made considerable headway! Recently, I got two Sims to fall madly in love, through manipulations that would make Machiavelli blush! It was funny, because I had a very outgoing female start falling for an indifferent male. I learned to have the “less attracted one” make all of the advances. I also worked to get them on the same cycles, so they’d be awake at the same time, eat dinner together, etc. And I tried raising her charisma several points, so he’d like her more. It worked, but it also made all the other males in the house like her more! That was dicey, but I pulled it off, steering everybody in the “right” directions…
So, with time, the game is opening up for me. I finally see what the hype is. It’s like a big soap opera that you control! It is a fascinatingly different kind of game - and I took to all the other Sim (every version of SimCity, RTC, etc.) games like anything, so I guess I’ll give this one more of a chance.
For me, the expansion packs and a subscription to the Sims Resource were totally worth the cost. Making magic has a spell that nets you between 5,000 and 10,000 simoleons so you don’t need other money cheats. I think the key for happy sims is raising their skill levels. Good cooking is especially important.
I had the same problem with my Sim friends to be, they would stay awhile, then complain about something (is there a site somewhere that explains those thought bubbles? I have a hard time figuring out what they mean) and then leave. So I cheated. As soon as the two Sims are in the house I went into build mode and took the door away. Didn’t work every time, sometimes the one Sim would just complain more.
Not exactly but it’s implied. I believe the need a special bed, the heart-shaped one. I haven’t tried it yet but word is that bed gives the Play in Bed option, the couple will fool around under the covers.
