Firefighter, Levels 5-10

By erika on 8/27/10 3:11pm
Add Comment

I have to admit, I really lost patience with the Firefighter career track long before my Sim got to level 10.  One problem with the way that jobs work in Sims 3 is that you can't get promoted until you go to work.  And the higher you climb the career ladder, the fewer days you work, and thus the longer it takes before you can get back in to get promoted.  

In The Sims 2, once you had all the boxes ticked so to speak, then boom: promoted.  This is how so many of us got all those great career rewards!  You max out all of your Sim's skills, make a bunch of friends, then start a new job.  Almost immediately, your Sim is promoted to level 6 or whatever, and you get the reward.  Quit that job, start another one, lather rinse repeat.

Not so with The Sims 3!


Read more >

Firefighter, Levels 1-5

By erika on 8/18/10 2:45pm
Add Comment

Firefighter is one of the last Ambitions professions for me to try out.  I was putting this one off because I had heard that it requires a lot of work on the part of the player.  

I tend not to be a very "hands on" player.  I often prefer to sit back and watch what happens.  You get a lot of really interesting, unpredictable, oddball stuff happening.  (Plus I get a lot of knitting done!  True story: I finish about one pair of hand-knit socks a month just while playing Sims 3.)

The right traits are essential to creating a successful firefighter.  I knew when my Sim was born what his destiny would be, so I raised him right - which let me choose all of his traits.  After doing a bit of research, I went with Athletic, Handy, Brave, Friendly, and Daredevil.


Read more >

Games Sims Play

By erika on 8/12/10 11:18am
Add Comment

While you're playing your Sims, your Sims play games, too.  But not all games Sims play are equal !

Video Games
There are a whole host of ways your Sim can play video games.  And they do seem to love them!  Your most efficient option is to buy a computer, which gives you a lot more functionality for your Simoleons.  Since a computer can not only play video games, it can also be used to check real estate, find your Sim a job, write novels, and many more options.

However, the video game console gives your Sim a boost to their Social need, if they play against another Sim.  


Read more >

How To Have A Sims 3 Bake Sale

By erika on 8/9/10 1:13pm
Add Comment

Every child I've had in The Sims 3 has eventually had a wish first to buy a bake sale table, and next to earn money selling baked goods.  The first few times I attempted this, I had terrible luck!

My luck changed with a combination of finally getting the knack of it, and I think some bugs getting fixed in a patch.  I used to set my kid out at the table, only to stand there for hours on end without a single customer. 

Suddenly now when I set out the table and staff it, adult Sims come flocking.  I'm pretty sure this is something they fixed in the game, and not due to a change I made in my gameplay.


Read more >

I Can't Refurbish Salvaged Items!

By erika on 8/5/10 4:26pm
Add Comment

If you have played an inventor with the Ambitions expansion pack for very long, you may have seen them have a wish to "repair a salvaged item."  If you couldn't figure out how to do that - you're in good company!

Inventor Sims often cruise the junkyard looking for scrap and treasure.  While you're there, you may notice some seriously scruffy-looking items.  A washing machine with scorch marks, or a busted and blackened coffee table.  (Most of the broken items at the scrap yards seem to have been discarded after a fire.  Maybe you should have made a Firefighter Sim instead!)


Read more >

5 Things To Do In Town

By erika on 7/29/10 2:13pm
Add Comment

One of the things thDoop Dee Doo...Doop Dee Doo...at plagues me during game play is the "Stir Crazy" moodlet for my unemployed Sims.  (Don't get me started on their use of the word "crazy," let's just keep moving, shall we?)  

Sims seem to go stir crazy after only a few days without leaving their home lot.  Maybe it's a week.  At any rate, it seems like every time you turn around, I've got a stir crazy Sim.  (Note: the Hates the Outdoors trait results in a Sim who never gets Stir Crazy.) 

But what to do to scratch their itch to leave the house?


Read more >

The Sims 3's Appalling Portrayal of Mental Illness

By erika on 7/28/10 11:50am
3 Comments

As long as we're airing The Sims 3's dirty laundry, can we talk about its depiction of mental illness?  I think the polite word to use in this situation is "problematic."

There are two traits that cover mental illness.  The first is "Insane," which is about as problematic as you can get. 

A Sim with the Insane trait:


Read more >

Immortality in The Sims 3

By Anonymous on 7/27/10 2:06pm
1 Comment

One of the things about The Sims 2 that is in many ways different from The Sims 3 is that individual sims can have their aging turned off. Or so this is what it seems. In the Sims 3, EA seems to have decided that it would be a nice idea if Ghosts (and soon Vampires) gave birth or fathered a Sim that is a Ghost (Or Vampire). In this case and scenario there is a problem. If the mechanics of The Sims 2 were to keep up, a ghost baby would never age so we come to EA allowed aging for Ghosts so at the very least Ghosts can have children.

Read more >

Cant follow your sims into town buildings

By Anonymous on 7/22/10 5:36pm
Add Comment

the thing i missed about sims 2 game is that you can not only create a business building and go inside the buildings in town, this sims 3 is different, the building looks cool but you cant watch them or interreact with them when they go to town and go inside a building? why is this? any answeres for me out there.

"Where'd Everybody Go?" - Story Progression in Sims 3

By erika on 7/22/10 2:36pm
Add Comment

One of the huge changes between Sims 3 and Sims 2 was the introduction of Story Progression.  You probably noticed this first when one of your child Sims' childhood friends grew up, too.  Or when one of your adult Sims' friends grew old and died!  Or if you switch playable families then come back to your first family only to find there have been pregnancies, marriages, deaths - the usual trials of life.

In Sims 2, time stopped for everyone outside the family you were playing.  If you always played the same household (as I did), this created a weird scenario where generations of your Sims would be born, grow up, grow old, and die - all while the neighbors and family friends remained unchanged.   

One side effect of this was memorizing and learning to love your NPCs.  It was always nice to see a new generation of Sims get purse-whipped by Mrs. Crumplebottom!  Another side effect is that you could literally kill off every other Sim in town, leaving your own Sims to repopulate the entire neighborhood.  (Several challenges revolved around this scenario, including Last Sim Standing and various Apocalypse challenges.)


Read more >