Unleashing the Sims in my house

Cafe Society
1

Well, my copy of The Sims has just arrived, meaning I will be retreating from society for a while.

I look forward to finding all the little fun quirks that go along with the game, but I was wondering if anyon had any pointers, things to look for, etc to try out.

2

You can sell your full garbage can for $30, the same amount it costs to buy a new (empty) one. Real timesaver when your Sims are overscheduled but you cant afford a maid.

3

Don’t lose the jewel case. If you do and you need to reinstall the game, you won’t have the install code.

4

Oh God, where to start…

First thing you must do is go to the official site at http://thesims.ea.com (I think that’s right) and download the 1.1 patch; this fixes several bugs, such as allowing you to add virtually unlimited custom walls & floors. You will also want to look under “Get Cool Stuff” and download EVERYTHING that doesn’t require an expansion pack!

Better yet, might as well go out and buy Livin’ Large right now, it adds all sorts of cool stuff and allows you to have more than one neighborhood. (The other 3 packs can wait for now.)

Some tips & tricks:

  • Press Ctrl-Alt-C will bring up the “cheat box” in the upper left corner. The most important cheat you will need is “rosebud”, which adds $1000 to your bank account every time you type it. Other cheats include “move_objects on” (allows you to move & delete stuff that normally can’t be picked up, such as sims who get stuck in doorways); “prepare_lot” (refreshes the lot, another good fix for stuck sims); “grow_grass 100” (immediately turns all the grass green); and “water_tool” (allows you to add water)

  • If you want your sim families to start with skill points, create them as children first, then choose “Edit This Sim” (before finalizing the family, of course) and change them to adults.

  • Pay bills for free like this…once your sim picks up the bills, pause the game and buy enough stuff until their money balance is LESS than the bill amount. Then sell everything back after your sim puts the bills in the mailbox and you hear the “ka-ching” sound.

  • NEVER DELETE YOUR MAILBOX!!

  • Did I mention, never delete your mailbox?

  • If you need extra friends for a job promotion but there aren’t enough sims in your neighborhood, you can create a family of eight sims with very high Outgoing/Playful/Nice points, move them into an empty lot with nothing but a table and a phone. Then wait for them to visit your other sims to make friends with.

Oh, and try to sleep at least once every two or three days. :wink: My first Sims session lasted about two weeks straight. No joke.

5

Ah, the newer copies of the game come with the patch. I got my copy at Christmas and it was patched already.

And definitely download the fun stuff. I’m really glad I downloaded the telecom patch. And the guinea pig. And the lights. You get the idea.

jessica