The Sims Hints and Tips

djboddington · 2 June 2022 14:09

THE SIMS – HANDY HINTS & TIPS FROM THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Each kid in the family counts as a tax credit, your bills are 10% lower for each kid in the family. 4 kids = 60% (100% – 40%) of the regular tax bill.
Once you have a good pile of cash you can earn a nice living by just buying and selling the expensive artwork (buy low, sell high).
Make rooms on the larger side to allow them to hold more objects down the line.
You can build outside stairways to save on interior space. Just make sure the top landing for the staircase falls on a valid second floor tile.
You can build elevated walkways around your lot using the columns and floor tool.
You can use the flooring tool to entice your Sims to prefer certain routes outside. They will try to stay on a floored path if it’s not too far out of their way (a useful trick for keeping them out of the flowerbed.
Sims prefer rooms with interesting shapes (rather than boxy, rectilinear ones).

Move in single people to your neighbourhood. Get them to move in or marry another of your Sims… they bring their money with them!

Invite neighbours to do fun things with you (like watching TV, getting in the hot tub or playing pool.) They will only do most of those things if you’re doing them first.
Likewise, neighbours will leave if they don’t get enough comfort. To help them, invite them to do something where they’ll be sitting, like eating, playing chess, or watching TV.
Don’t spend personality points on neatness. It’s cheap to get the maid to clean up after your Sims.
To avoid neat Sims washing their hands constantly, don’t buy a sink.

If you have a TV or Radio in your bedroom be sure to turn it off before your Sim goes to bed or he’ll have trouble sleeping.
Buying a burglar alarm can protect you from losing property AND you can gain reward money when the crook is caught.
If your Sim is a bad cook, consider buying a microwave instead of a stove.
Hire a maid if you don’t like to spend time cleaning up the house.
Hire a repair guy to do routine upkeep on your household appliances before they break down.

If you don’t like the original “skin” (clothing) you picked for your Sim, buy them a dresser and they can change into any clothes you want.
Sims will try to find a counter to prep food on when you tell them to cook dinners. Make sure there is a counter near the fridge so they don’t walk all over the house looking for a counter.
The Couch Potato Strategy: Don’t buy beds…buy expensive recliners and sofas. Not only can you use them for sitting comfort, but you can also use them to sleep on.
Couple them with TV’s and you get comfort and fun at the same time. Invite guests over and you can ask them to watch TV with you so you get social points while receiving comfort AND fun at the same time!

Here’s an interesting way to subtly “tilt” the game by distorting time, one person at a time.
If you point to the selected person while they’re walking, they will speed up.
If you point to an unselected person (or a visitor) while they’re walking, they will slow down.

Applications:

You can follow the selected person around with the cursor to make them more efficient!
If a hot babe comes over, and two wild and crazy guys are racing over to her for some one-on-one social interaction, you can give one guy the advantage by slowing the other guy down.

Rationale:

The “real” reason for this feature is to make people easier to select for social interactions: they slow down when you point at them, so they don’t slip out from under the mouse as fast.
The slowing down when you point at deselected people was such an interesting way to subtly effect the game, that we decided to make it speed up when you point at the selected person too (since you don’t need to click on the selected person).

Purchase critical furnishings before you design your house. That way you won’t run out of money and not be able to purchase a source of food and hygiene.
To have more career choices for my Sims early in their lives, I’ll purchase the cheap computer so they can search the Internet for jobs. Then I’ll sell the computer back quickly before it looses too much value.