Complete Guide - Guide for The Sims: House Party

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         T H E  S I M S  &  L I V I N '  L A R G E  &  H O U S E  P A R T Y
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                             The Sims (PC, Mac) &
                        The Sims: Livin' Large (PC, Mac) &
                           The Sims: House Party (PC)

                              The Complete Guide


                                 May 16, 2001
                                  Version 6.1

                      Written by:  Dan Simpson
                           Email:  [email protected]


                                Email Policy:
                                ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
         If you are going to email me about this game, please put
         The Sims as your email subject as well as the version number
         that you are looking at.  So your subject line should read "The Sims
         (6.1)" or just "Sims, 6.1" or some such.  Also please realize
         that I am not hiding cheats or any other information, i.e.
         everything I know about The Sims is in this guide.

         If you see any mistakes, or have anything that you want to add
         please email me!  I will, of course, give you full credit for
         your addition, and be eternally grateful to you.

         Before emailing me with a question, be sure to check out the
         Frequently Asked Questions section.


______________________________________Notes____________________________________
The most recent version of this FAQ can be found at:
   http://www.gamefaqs.com/
   http://www.cheatcc.com/
   http://www.gamewinners.com/

Den nyeste norske versjonen kan finnes på:
   http://www.danielthesim.cjb.net

La versione Italiana della mia FAQ si trova a
   http://www.nonsologiochi.it/

If you wish to translate this FAQ into another language, just email me
telling me about it, and where it will be located (the URL).  You still have
to give me credit for writing the FAQ, though.

In case you cared, The Sims has broken the SimCity 3000 sales record for the
first month of sales.  SimCity 3000 went on to be the best grossing game of
1999 (it didn't sell the most copies, RollerCoaster Tycoon did that, SC3K
simply pulled in more dollars due to a higher cost-per-sale average), so we
can safely assume that The Sims will be one of the top games of 2000!  It
already sold 1 Million copies!  If you haven't bought it yet, what are you
waiting for?

There are now TWO Expansion Packs out now for the Sims!  Check out section
1.2 Information on the Expansion, Livin' Large for an introduction to
the Expansion Pack as well as section 1.3 Information on the Second Expansion,
House Party.

Be sure to check http://www.thesims.com/ every Thursday for a game update!

Updates so far (can be downloaded, also included with Livin Large):

      Cuckoo Clock
      Moose Head Decoration
      5 New Skins
      5 New Houses
      Wall Lights
      Slot Machine
      Guinea Pig (Pet)
        Note:  With the Guinea Pig, if you fail to keep its cage clean, your
               Sim may catch a disease from it!
      New Plants
      New "Physical" Skins
      "Elwood" Skin
      MTV Skins
      Topiaries (Hedge Animals and such)
      Flowerbeds
      Jukebox (actually at http://www.rankit.com/sims/simsoffer2.html)
      The White House
      Two New Trashcans
      Glowing Flamingo
      Art Studio, a tool to create custom Wall Hangings

    Upgrades not included with Livin' Large

      Jack O' Lantern
      Turkey Dinner
      Cookies
      Telecom Upgrade (Sims can call each other to say "hi")

      AND

      A complete Game upgrade to The Sims version 1.1 (not needed if you
        have Livin' Large)

      A patch to Livin' Large 
        (http://thesims.ea.com//us/getcool/gamepatch/LLpatchindex.html)

This FAQ looks best in Courier New at about 9 points.

This Document is Copyright 2000-2001 by Dan Simpson
The Sims is Copyright 2000 by Electronic Arts

I am not affiliated with Maxis, Electronic Arts, or anyone who had anything
to do with the creation of this game.  This FAQ may be posted on any site so
long as NOTHING IS CHANGED and you EMAIL ME telling me that you are posting
it.  You may not charge for, or in any way profit from this FAQ.
_______________________________________________________________________________


__________________
What's New in 6.1:
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    Created section 9.3 Let the Kids GROW UP which links to a program that
    brings your SimKids to adulthood.

  For a complete Version History, check out the Final Words Section at the end
  of the FAQ.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  i.)    What is The Sims?

  1.)    Getting Acquainted
         1.1)   Understanding Your Sims
                1.1.1)   What a Sim Wants/Needs
                1.1.2)   Why A Sim Does What He Does
         1.2)   Information on the Expansion, Livin' Large
                1.2.1)   Multiple Neighborhoods
                1.2.2)   Cockroaches
                1.2.3)   The Grim Reaper
                1.2.4)   Genie in a Bottle
                1.2.5)   The Chemistry Set
                1.2.6)   The "Love" Bed
                1.2.7)   Beejaphone Guitar
                1.2.8)   Woodworking Table (or the Work-at-Home career)
                1.2.9)   Madame Blahbatfry Crystal Ball
                1.2.10)  Servo
                1.2.11)  Horrowitz "Star Track" Backyard Telescope
                1.2.12)  The Tragic Clown
                1.2.13)  Voodoo Doll
         1.3)   Information on the Second Expansion, House Party
  2.)    Creating a Family
             a.)  Creating a Sim
             b.)  Of Neatness and Maids
         2.1)   The Bachelor Sim
                2.1.1)   The Bachelor Gets Married
         2.2)   The Full House (8 Sims)
  3.)    Building a House
         3.1)   Building a Better House
         3.2)   Who Needs Walls?
         3.3)   Housebuilding, Especially on a Budget
  4.)    Furnishing a House
             a.)  Lighting and Lamps
             b.)  Decorations
         4.1)   Cooking (or, a Meal fit for a Sim!)
                4.1.1)   Food Strategies
         4.2)   Room Rating
         4.3)   Alternative to Alarm Clocks
         4.4)   Who Needs a Trashcan?
         4.5)   Sims' Interaction With Objects
         4.6)   Moving Trash Yourself
         4.7)   The "Cluster" Method
  5.)    Of Friends and Lovers
             a.)  Socializing
             b.)  Marriage and Moving In
         5.1)   Befriending Mean Sims
         5.2)   Carrying on Multiple Romances
         5.3)   Maintaining Relationships the Easy Way
         5.4)   Sending your Sim Out of the House!
         5.5)   Creating Friends the Old Fashioned Way
         5.6)   How to Befriend SimKids
         5.7)   Sim Personalities and Compatibilities
         5.8)   Getting the Desired Interaction
  6.)    Working (and Not)
             a.)  Quitting
             b.)  Job Events
         6.1)   The Jobs Chart (a.k.a. the Career Paths)
                6.1.1)   Livin' Large Careers
                6.1.2)   Alternate Job Chart
         6.2)   Abusing the Carpool
                6.2.1)   Early Morning Social Call (while Abusing the Carpool 
                         no less!)
         6.3)   Quitting for Fun and Profit
                6.3.1)   Job Hopping Analysis
         6.4)   Job "Shifts"
  7.)    Running an Efficient Household
         7.1)   Working the Pause
  8.)    Expanding the House
         8.1)   Building that Second Story
                8.1.1)   The "Flying" Second Story
                8.1.2)   The Balcony
  9.)    Babies and Children
                9.0.1)   Baby Tips
                9.0.2)   Baby Personality Matrix
         9.1)   Children and School
         9.2)   What Kids Do
         9.3)   Let the Kids GROW UP
  10.)   Everything Else in the Neighborhood
         10.1)  Death and Ghosts
         10.2)  Did you Know?
  11.)   Cheats & Tricks
         11.1)  Deleting Trash (and Bills too!)
         11.2)  Paying only Every Other Bill
         11.3)  The Newbie Trick
         11.4)  Washing Dishes Faster
         11.5)  Deleting your Characters, and resetting their Mood
         11.6)  How to Max out all the Personality Stats
         11.7)  Starting a Sim with random Job Stats
         11.8)  Speeding up your Sim
         11.9)  Better Personalities through Chemistry (Livin' Large)
         11.10) Sell the Rocket Explosion
  12.)   Customizing Your Game
         12.1)  Changing the Radio Station Music
         12.2)  Skins
                12.2.1)   The "Nude" Patch
         12.3)  Setting up Multiple Neighborhoods
         12.4)  Download Surprises
         12.5)  Playing Without the Sims CD
         12.6)  Creating your own Objects
         12.7)  Custom Interface Graphics
  13.)   Known Bugs
  14.)   Getting the Most from "The Sims"
  15.)   Wish List

  Frequently Asked Questions
  Livin' Large Frequently Asked Questions

  Final Words...


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i. What is The Sims?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Sims, simply put, is the People Simulator from the creator of SimCity.
  So, what is a People Simulator?  Well, you get to run the lives of everyone
  in a neighborhood (not all at once, of course).  Taking on one "family" at a
  time, you try to guide them to success in life, love, and the workplace.  
  Left to their own devices, the Sims tend to simply tread water (i.e. they 
  live without a goal), and that is where you come in.  I like to think of the 
  player as the Sims' ambition, their goals in life, if you will.  You are that 
  little voice in their head that tells them to study Mechanics, or to take a 
  shower, in order to get that promotion.  Without you, their ambition, the 
  Sims will tend to lounge around, fulfilling only their most immediate desire,
  without any eye on the future.

  Sim (noun) :  A simulated person in a Maxis game.  Ex:  The Sim went to
                SimCity to buy a bagel.

  Updates to The Sims:

    There are several new downloads available at the Official Site
    (www.thesims.com of course!).  These aren't any great Patches, but are some
    neat new objects and skins.  Maxis promises that every Thursday that they
    will have some cool new thing on the site, and therefore every Thursday is
    called SimDay.  So far they have had 9 downloads:  a Slot Machine, a Cuckoo
    Clock, a Moose Head, 5 Warrior Skins, 5 Houses, New Plants, Wall Lights,
    new Physical Skins, "Elwood" Skin, MTV Skins, Topiaries, Flowerbeds, a
    Guinea Pig, the White House, Two New Trashcans, a Glowing Flamingo, a tool
    to create custom Wall Hangings, Turkey Dinner, Jack O'Lantern and a 
    Jukebox.

  Mini-Review:

    This is the first time a review of mine will be found in my FAQ.  I just
    felt that I needed to express my opinions on the game in a more
    editorialized fashion than the normal FAQ sections allow.

    I have been looking forward to The Sims since I heard about it back in
    November.  I couldn't quite put my finger on why this game sounded good to
    me, but I was certainly intrigued.  Controlling people's lives?  Sounded
    (strangely) like fun.

    After having played it non-stop since I bought the game, I can sum up my
    experience in one sentence:  One of the most strangely addicting and
    compelling games I have ever played.  I haven't played a game this much
    since Rollercoaster Tycoon, and that was back in April '99.  That's almost
    a year.  I have stayed up many a night until 1 or 2 am, and only going to
    sleep then so that I could get up the next day and play some MORE Sims!

    In The Sims you take control of a family of Sims and try to guide them
    through life.  Along the way you develop friendships, work your way up the
    career ladder at work, and try to keep your Sims fed and happy.  You can
    sit back and watch the Sims interact with each other, or you can take a 
    more active hand and FORCE them to do your bidding.  You can even shut off 
    their Free Will.

    Personal interactions between the Sims is often the most amusing part of 
    the game.  Watch as someone will shoo another Sim out of the bathroom so he 
    can take a leak.  Or as a Sim attempts to give another Sim a back rub, but 
    is pushed away.  Then there are always the Sims who like each other... a 
    lot, and start getting passionate.

    I also really enjoy the differences between the Sims.  One may be very 
    neat, and like to clean up messes, and another may be extremely mean, and
    prone to get into fights.  Very interesting variety.

    All in all I really enjoyed this game, and give it a 9.5.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Getting Acquainted
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Welcome to the crazy world of The Sims.  I'm assuming that you have gone
  through the first Tutorial, and if not, then you probably should.  It teaches
  you all of the basics of the Sims and their needs.  Once you have finished
  with that little tutorial, save it and go back to the Neighborhood.

    Note:  There is a neat little trick that one can do with the Tutorial, 
           check out section 11.3 The Newbie Trick for details.

    Note:  There is only one neighborhood!  Therefore there is also only one
           Save Slot.  Of course, there are lots of houses in the neighborhood,
           so do you really need more than one save slot?

  The first thing you should know, is that you control the entire neighborhood.
  Not at the same time, but one house at a time.  When you aren't directly
  controlling a house, NOTHING HAPPENS THERE.  It's like they are in stasis.
  They can be called over to your current house (assuming you've met them), but
  they won't actually do anything.  They'll be exactly as you left them when 
  you go back to them.  So, if you play one house, then switch to another, then
  switch back to the first, it will be as if nothing has happened.  If house 1
  was eating breakfast, they'll still be doing that when you get back.

    Note:  There is ONE exception to the "nothing happens while you're away"
           rule.  And that is Relationships.  If you have the Sims in your
           current house flirt with the Sims from the other house and their
           relationship improves, then that will carry over.

  Another thing to know at the Neighborhood level is that the people you put in
  the neighborhood are the only ones you can be friends with.  That is, there
  are no "random Sims" wandering about.  Since your Sims require the 
  friendships of lots of other Sims (some careers require that you have lots of 
  friends)that means that you will have to work on the Neighborhood as a whole, 
  rather than single-mindedly working one house. (more on this in section 5. Of 
  Friends and Lovers)

    Free Will:  A quick little note here on Free Will.  You CAN turn free will
                off if you'd like to take full control of the Sims.  With only
                one or two Sims under your command this is an easy thing to do.
                However, once you get up to 5 to 8 Sims, then it can get very
                difficult to control all of their separate actions at once.
                Free Will is useful to some extent--the Sims will do things 
                that are quite beneficial to themselves, such as cleaning up 
                the house, or talking to the neighbor.  Although you should 
                know that the Sims aren't very efficient in what they choose to 
                do.  Suppose that you need to improve both Hygiene and Comfort.  
                The best choice (if you have the Time) is a bath.  Well maybe 
                the Sim wants a shower.  Or what if the Sim takes the bath just 
                as the carpool pulls up.  Therefore you can't totally give over 
                to free will.  But neither should you destroy it and control 
                their every move.

                Sims WILL ignore your commands if what you're telling them to
                do seems contrary to what they need most.  A starving man won't
                go play basketball (or at least, is far less likely to!).

  Well on we go!  Click on the Create a Family button to get things going.
  (You could, of course, play the Goths, or the Newbies, but you will need to
  create a new family to start filling in the Neighborhood)

  The following subsections deals with the Sims themselves, and why they do the
  things that they do.

    Note:  Throughout this FAQ I often refer to Sims as "he" or "him".  This is
           a fairly arbitrary choice of gender, basically because I myself am
           male.  This is not because all Sims are male, I just refer to them
           that way.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1  Understanding Your Sims
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Even if you don't have Freewill turned on (and you don't HAVE to, check the
  Game Options) you should understand a few things about your Sims.  What they
  like, why they like it, etc.  For example, why does a Sim choose what they
  do on their own?  Why do they stop doing it when they do?

  In the first subsection we'll talk about the 8 motives (or as I prefer to 
  call them, Needs) and their effect on your Sim, then in the next subsection 
  we'll talk about the reasons behind your Sim's actions, and how to better 
  control them.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1.1  What a Sim Wants/Needs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Each Sim has 8 Needs that constantly need to be met.  And at most you can
  satisfy 2 or 3 needs at a time.

    Note:  The Hot Tub CAN satisfy up to 4 needs at a time, depending on 
           whether there's more than one person in the Hot Tub.  Also, Sims 
           will stay in the Hot Tub until all 4 of those needs are filled. 
           (these Needs are Hygiene, Comfort, Fun, and if someone else is in 
           with them, Social)

  Also realize that the needs are weighted differently.  That is, Hunger counts
  for more than Room does, although both count when computing mood.  So, your
  Sim will try to satisfy Needs based on the most serious Need first, which
  may not be the Need that needs the most work done on it.

  The Needs: (in no particular order)

    Hunger -- fairly self-explanatory.  Satisfying hunger can be done mostly at
              the fridge.  In a pinch you can also call the Pizza delivery guy
              (under Services on your phone), but that isn't nearly so
              satisfying as a good home cooked meal.

              The following factors go into how satisfying, and therefore how
              much of the Hunger Need is filled, a meal is:

                - The Type of Fridge you have, the better the more satisfying
                  the meal.
                - The Type of Preparation surface used.  A food processor here
                  is best, followed by a bare counter, then by using the 
                  surface on a dishwasher/garbage compactor.  So don't count on 
                  the surface of the dishwasher, as it makes less appealing 
                  meals.
                - The type of cooking implement used, again the better the
                  equipment, then the better the meal will be.
                - And the skill of the cook comes into play here.  The more
                  cooking skill points your Sim has, the better the meal.

              If you have the best in all 4 of the above categories, then you
              can and should let your hunger rating drop lower than you would
              if you didn't.  Otherwise you are wasting all those nutritional
              points by eating a great meal when you only needed a good one.

              For more information check out section 4.1  Cooking (or a Meal
              fit for a Sim).

    Room --   How appealing the room you are in is.  This is covered in depth
              in section 4.2  The Room Rating.

    Social -- Sims are social creatures, and need companionship.  Some Sims
              (the High Outgoing Sims) need Social more than others.  (i.e.
              their Social rating will drop faster than the less outgoing Sims)
              The "High Level" interactions, kissing, hugging, etc., have a
              better effect on this than merely talking.

              The best way to keep Social satisfied is to socialize at least
              once a day.  Work your way up on other Sims relationship charts,
              dance with them, tell jokes, etc.  Do that and you should be just
              fine.

    Bladder - Just use the toilet before this one hits Pure Red (empty) or you
              might pee on the floor.  Not only that, but having this little
              "accident" cuts into their other Needs too, such as Hygiene.
              Your sims will need to "use the facilities" after drinking coffee
              or eating a meal.

                Note:  Non-neat Sims won't flush automatically after using the
                       toilet, so you will have to make sure that they do it,
                       or the toilet could clog up.

    Energy -- Two ways to get Energy up, sleep, and Coffee.  Sleep is the 
              better solution, and the better the bed (or couch in the case of 
              naps) the more Energy you get back in less time.  If you fail to 
              get to sleep or drink some coffee before your Sims' Energy bar 
              hits Pure Red, then he will collapse on the floor and sleep 
              there.  THIS IS NOT GOOD!  Your Sim will wake up with NO Comfort, 
              and far less Energy than if he had slept in a bed.  So before 
              Energy gets too low, send the Sim to bed!

                Note:  Espresso is better than Coffee, but takes longer to
                       drink.

    Comfort - A gauge on how your Sim is FEELING.  Low comfort is similar to
              how you would feel Sore after exercising.  Comfort is a Need that
              you should never bother with on its own.  You can always increase
              Comfort while doing something else, for example, while eating
              your Sim sits on a chair, or while watching TV he sits on a 
              couch.

                Note:  The Best Toilet also increases Comfort.  Also the main
                       reason to get the top of the line Tub (not the hot tub)
                       is because it helps Comfort as well as Hygiene.

    Hygiene - How clean your Sim feels.  This naturally decays throughout the
              day, but is also decreased by using the toilet without washing
              your hands, or accidentally peeing your pants.

    Fun --    And lastly there is Fun.  A bored Sim is an unhappy Sim.  Keep
              your Sim entertained by having him read the Paper, a Book, or
              Watch TV, Dance to the radio, etc.

  There are some activities that help out 2 or more of the Needs.  Some of 
  these are:  Sitting in the Hot Tub (Hygiene, Comfort, Fun, Social), the 
  Hygeia-Matic Toilet (Comfort, Bladder), Eating while Sitting with Others 
  (Social, Hunger, Comfort), Dancing with a Guest (Fun, Social), Joking with a 
  Guest (Fun, Social), etc.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.1.2  Why A Sim Does What He Does
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Why do some Sims like to watch TV and others like to read a book?  Why does
  one Sim like cartoons and another the horror channel?  Why does your Sim
  STOP doing a certain activity even though he still hasn't filled that Need?
  And why do they keep doing an inefficient activity when there are better
  objects to fill that need around?  Let's find out!

  Here's where we get into the PERSONALITY of your Sims.  (We won't actually
  be CREATING our Sims for the moment, we're just looking at them first so you
  can know what you're dealing with)  Just like people, every Sim has his own
  personality.  One Sim may be a happy little go-getter, while another is a
  slob who can't shut up.  Obviously then, not all Sims are going to like doing
  the same things.

  The Personality Types:

    Neat, Messy  -- Neat Sims are like little Maids, they clean up not only
                    after themselves, but others too.  They also wash their
                    hands after using the Toilet, and after eating with their
                    hands.  They do the dishes, they take out the trash, and
                    are generally nice to have around.  Messy Sims are the
                    opposite.  They don't wash their hands, they don't do
                    dishes.  They also tend to leave puddles when using the
                    shower.

                    0-2 Slob: So I occasionally leave a pizza box or two
                              lying around, and I don't mind the flies buzzing
                              all over. Why clean up when everybody else is
                              willing to do it?

                    3-7 Occasional Cleaner: When it comes to cleaning up, I
                              have a few basic rules. I flush when I'm done,
                              throw away my own junk, and take out the trash
                              now and then.

                    8-10 Neat Freak: I'm known to wash a dish as soon as I've
                              finished eating. The trashcan's barely full 
                              before it's taken out. The paper is recycled as 
                              soon as I've finished reading. And the house is 
                              always spotless whenever I'm about.

    Outgoing, Shy - Outgoing Sims crave conversation with other Sims.  As
                    discussed in the last section, their Social Need will drop
                    like a rock if they don't have some friends over to chat
                    with.  They're more likely to have the Higher Level social
                    interactions pop up, and react better when someone does one
                    on them (for example, they are less likely to push a hug
                    away).  Shy Sims still need Social, but on a smaller scale.

                    0-2 Shy: Being self-conscious and introspective, I don't
                             have a great need to be social. It's hard for me
                             to meet new people and make friends.

                    3-7 Member of the Crowd: I'm a little reserved, and it 
                             takes me a while to warm up to new people. You 
                             won't see me in the middle of huge crowds at 
                             parties, but I won't be sitting quietly in a 
                             corner either.

                    8-10 People Person: I am an extrovert. I love to talk to
                             everyone. I crave social interactions. Basically,
                             I'm a social animal.

    Active, Lazy -- The Active Sim wants to go out and play some Hoops, or do
                    something other than sit around watching TV.  They Dance,
                    they Swim, and enjoy moving around.  Lazy Sims are your
                    couch potatoes.  Their Comfort score will drop faster than
                    for active Sims (to reflect their overwhelming desire to
                    sit).  Lazy Sims also have troubles getting out of bed.

                    0-2 Lazy: Is there anything worse than getting out of bed
                              in the morning? Who needs ambition--a warm couch
                              and a good TV show is all anyone needs.

                    3-7 Laid Back: Though not always on the go, I am somewhat
                              motivated. Though I tend to linger a little too
                              long in a nice cozy chair, I won't be caught
                              sitting there all day either.

                    8-10 Energetic: Some say I'm a live wire. Some say I have
                              ants in my pants. Either way, it just means that
                              I'm always on the go and anxious to get there.

    Playful, Serious -- Playful Sims like to play around with other Sims (i.e.
                    jokes) or with games (Pool, Computer, Pinball).  Serious
                    Sims are your bookworms.  They also like Newspapers.

                    0-2 Serious: Sims who spend their time joking around just
                                 irritate me. Don't they understand that their
                                 frivolous folly is meaningless? So much more
                                 fun can be gained by reading a good book.

                    3-7 Amused: I laugh at good jokes, dance if there are other
                                 people on the floor, and like to play games.
                                 Generally, I like having fun, but I don't go
                                 overboard.

                    8-10 Life of the Party: When I'm not telling jokes, I'm
                                 laughing at them. I've never seen a game I
                                 didn't want to play. That's why everyone knows
                                 the party is always at my house.

    Nice, Grouchy -- This mostly effects how well your Sim will interact with
                    others.  Remember the old saying "Doesn't play well with
                    others", well that's the Grouchy Sim.  I refer to them as
                    the Mean Sim as they like to insult, tease, taunt, and 
                    brag.

                    0-2 Mean: Everything makes me mad, especially when someone
                              says I have a temper. If everything wasn't always
                              broken, or other Sims weren't always bothering
                              me, I probably wouldn't have to blow my stack so
                              often.

                    3-7 Easy-going: While some Sims can get on my nerves a
                              little, overall I'm pretty good-natured.

                    8-10 Compassionate: I like giving hugs and compliments. I
                              love making friends with everyone. If everyone
                              were more like me, the neighborhood would be a
                              nicer place.

  Following your Sims' personality type will make them happy, but may make
  others unhappy. (i.e. the Mean Sim insulting people)  So try to work within
  the boundaries of personality, but don't let it run their lives.

  Best Fun Objects Based on Personality:

    Playful -- Aquarium, Computer, Doll house, Guinea Pig, Piano, Pinball, Pool
               Table, Train Set, TV (Cartoons), VR Glasses  -- INTERACTIVE
               Objects

    Serious -- Newspaper, Book, Chess Table, Looking at Paintings

    Active --  Basketball, TV (Action), Pool, Radio

    Lazy --    TV (Any Channel!), Computer

    Outgoing - Hot Tub, TV (Romance)

    Mean --    TV (Horror)  

      Note:  Train Set, Toybox and Playground are for kids only, but playful
             Sims seem to enjoy them more. (broadstrong)

  For a more thorough look at Sims and their interactions with various Objects
  check out section 4.5.

    Tip:  Holding the mouse pointer over a CONTROLLED Sim speeds his movement.
          Holding it over an UNCONTROLLED Sim slows him down. (broadstrong)

          Check out section 11.8 for more information on this.

  Now let's actually create that Sim Family!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2)   Information on the Expansion, Livin' Large
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  This is a cursory explanation about the Expansion Pack for The Sims, Livin'
  Large.  This section summarizes everything in the Expansion Pack, and then
  lists where you can find more information on each subject.  For example, the
  new careers are listed in section 6.1.1.

  First and foremost, Livin' Large is an Expansion Pack for The Sims.  It is
  NOT, I repeated, NOT something that you can download for free.  You must go
  to a store and purchase it.  Try Walmart.  Or Target.  Or Babbage's/Software
  Etc.  The suggested retail price of Livin' Large is $29.95.

  Dozens of new situations and objects:

    Alien abductions
    Roach infestations
    A chemistry set
    Genie in a lantern
    Fortune telling crystal ball
    Exploding garden gnome
    Holiday decorations

  Five new career paths featuring 50 new jobs:

    Musician:       subway musician, piano tuner, wedding singer, lounge singer
                    and more
    Sloth:          golf caddy, convenience store cashier, lifeguard and more
    Paranormal:     Tarot card reader, UFO investigator and more
    Journalism:     game reviewer, weatherman, TV show host and more
    Game industry:  beta tester, game designer, programmer and more

  New architecture and decor:

    Castle: Build the perfect creepy setting for the neighborhood mad scientist
    Vegas:  Outmoded but not cheap aesthetic, such as clashing colors and odd
            decor
    Retro:  A revival of the 50s-60s "mod" craze, upscale and chic, with
            graceful curves and a minimum of ornamentation

  The next information here came from Computer Gaming World, courtesy of Joseph
  Peitler. (Computer Gaming World issue 192, July 2000, in the read.me section,
  there is an article about the Sims Expansion Pack, titled THE SIMS: LIVIN'
  LARGE.  Here are some items that MIGHT appear in the game coming out in the
  Fall.)

    New objects that have deeper repercussions:
    - An antique lamp that inhabits a genie (but be careful, wishes can 
      backfire when you get stuck with an incompetent mystical being)
    - A new workbench to make gnomes (but a low mechanical skill will result in
      lawn ornamentation that basically functions as a proximity mine)
    - A crystal ball (to predict a Sim's future)
    - A voodoo doll (to torment other Sims)

    New characters:
    - Space aliens (that can abducts Sims)
    - A Tragic Clown (who shows up and performs disastrous tricks and never
      leaves)
    - The Grim Reaper (who you can bargain with for the life of your perished
      Sim)

        Sean from Maxis mentioned the Grim Reaper in the recent chat:

          The current design of the grim reaper is that he shows up 
          occasionally when people die. If you make the right bargain with him, 
          or win a little game, you can come back from the dead...but with..uh, 
          some... uh, drawbacks of course.

  There was recently a chat with the designers, and Wendy Zupack summarized 
  some of the major points:

    - In the Pack, there will be a vibrating bed where the naughty Sims will be
      able to 'Play With' each other.  This, of course, produces babies.  Also,
      it decreases energy and other needs severely, while increasing social
      (duh).

    - There will be about 125 new objects added, including objects now 
      available as downloads from TheSims.com

    - There will be many more objects to increase Skills, such as an electric
      guitar for Creativity and telescope for Logic (Beware, the telescope
      brings on aliens!).

    - There will be more 'sets' of furniture, such as a dining table that might
      go with counters and chairs.

    - Wallpaper, flooring and furniture will have increased compatibility.

    - There will be vacations for all the working Sims.

    - The chemistry set and getting abducted by aliens both alter Sim
      personality, either temporarily or permanantly.

    - There will be triple the number of doors and windows (there are stained
      glass windows, boomerang-shaped windows, etc.)

    - It has been released!  Check out the next few sections for more 
      information.  [ and it will cost $29.95 USD ]

    - New Items List:

       = Egg-shaped chair
       = Velvet Sofasauras Funk sofa
       = Wood burning stove (perfect for those log cabins!)
       = Coat of Arms (for the medieval people out there)
       = Stainless steel table set
       = Guinea pig painting
       = Tiki lamps
       = Head in a jar on pedestal
       = Ceremic elephant end table
       = Vibrating bed
       = Black velvet painting
       = Electric Guitar
       = New piano
       = Instruments of torture (not working implements of torture)
       = Suit of Armor (the most expensive decorative item at §15,000 each)
       = Throw Rugs (extra decoration)

  To cure guinea pig disease, buy the "Forgotten Guinea Pig" painting and
  hang it up. Your sim should be cured within a day. (JediPika88)

  The party balloons has a chance of attracting 1 neighbor every 30
  minutes. Once all the balloons are popped or you have five neighbors, no more
  come. It does not work late at night. (JediPika88)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.1  Multiple Neighborhoods (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  One of the most common fan Utilities is the Neighborhood Manager that allows
  a user to create more than one Neighborhood.  Now with the Expansion,
  Livin' Large, everyone can create up to 5 unique Neighborhoods.

  When the game first loads up you will be at the original Neighborhood Screen.
  In the top left corner is a number with a LEFT and RIGHT arrow by it.  If you
  click the right arrow it will take you to Neighborhood 2, left to 5, etc.

  These new neighborhoods exist completely separate from one another.  That is,
  you can't have Sims from one neighborhood visit another.  And of the new
  neighborhoods, only the 2nd neighborhood starts with houses and Sims already 
  in it.  The others are completely blank.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.2  Cockroaches (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  One of the more annoying additions in Livin' Large (well, they can't all be
  happy fun new gadgets) are the cockroaches.  They appear in a little swarm, 
  and need to be Sprayed.  Roaches usually appear when there has been a mess 
  for awhile -- even an unmade bed counts as a "mess".  To prevent them from 
  appearing, then, you must keep everything clean.  Cockroaches will kill the 
  Room rating.

  Also Roaches can walk through walls, go under any object, and generally make
  a nuisance of themselves.

  Getting rid of Roaches requires having a Sim click on the Roach, then select
  the Spray option.  There are a number of quirks with this action, however.
  
    One:  the Spray command MUST be the ONLY thing in your Sim's action Queue.
          So you can't set them to Spray after they do something else, Spraying 
          must be the ONLY thing that they are set to do.  
    
    Two:  if the Roaches move after you click them, then the Spray option 
          vanishes, and you must re-click the roaches.

    Three: If you start Spraying roaches, and there are more than one swarm of
          roaches around your property -- even if they are outside your house
          -- your Sim will seek and destroy EVERY roach group that he can
          find.

  Maids will sometimes clean out the Roaches for you, but not all the time.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.3  The Grim Reaper (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Before Livin' Large, when a Sim died, he was dead.  Nothing could be done
  about it (short of simply not Saving the game).  Your Sim was gone.  Not
  anymore!  Now when your Sim dies, Death will come for him in the form of
  the Grim Reaper that we all know and love.

  When Death comes, anyone else in the family may go up to Death and [Plead]
  with him to not take the dearly departed away.

  At this point, Death can do three things:

    1. Ignore your Plea, and take your dead Sim anyway.  You still get their
       remains as a Tombstone or Urn, though.

    2. Play you in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors and you win.  The Sim is 
       brought back to life, and Death goes on his merry way.

    3. Play Rock-Paper-Scissors and you LOSE.  He might take pity (or not) and
       bring the Sim back.  But as a zombie.

  Hey, it's better than nothing!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.4  Genie in a Bottle (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  One of the new Miscellaneous Objects in the game is a plain brass lamp.
  Anyone who has seen "Aladdin" (or any other cartoon dealing with Genies)
  will immediately recognize this as a Magic Lamp.

  To get to the genie, select the lamp and [Clean].  It also has a very minor
  effect on Fun when [Viewed].  The genie can be used ONCE PER DAY. (every
  night at 12:01 a.m., he can be used again)  
  
    Note:  Before ever using the genie, I'd be sure to have a Fire Alarm in
           each room of your house.  You can check out why under "Bad" for FIRE 
           and LEISURE.

  The genie will make you choose between two things, and then he will "act."
  Each choice that he gives you has both a GOOD and a BAD effect.  For example,
  choosing Money (from Love or Money) can give you either BILLS or a POT OF
  GOLD.  Here are the choices:

    Love    - Good - Summons forth a neighbor, who will immediately fall in 
                     love with your Sim
            - Bad  - Ruins a relationship that you have
                                   -- or --
    Money   - Good - Gives you a Pot of Gold worth between §1141-2918 (well
                     that's what I've gotten)
            - Bad  - Gives you three bright red, nearly-due bills


    Friends - Good - Teleports someone there, and now they like you MORE
            - Bad  - Teleports a friend there, and they're now angry at you
                     (my person went down to -75 on the relationship-meter)
                                   -- or --
    Family  - Good - Anyone living with your Sim has their relationship with
                     your Sim improved
            - Bad  - Creates a "family crisis" where another family member will
                     like you less (usually it just subtracts about 20 points
                     from their relationship, so if it was 100 it might now be
                     80)


    Fire    - Good - Improves your Sim's Comfort and Social Needs
            - Bad  - Starts an actual fire in your Sim's house
                                   -- or --
    Water   - Good - Summons a fountain (for your Sim to play in, no doubt)
            - Bad  - Floods the house (about 8-12 "water" spots on the floor)


    Work    - Good - Gives a +1 to 3 different Skills (Logic, Body, Mechanical,
                     etc.)
            - Bad  - Deletes some of your Sim's Skills (for example, a Sim with
                     4 Cooking skills will have only 2 after this)
                                   -- or --
    Leisure - Good - Gives your Sim the Big Screen TV or another Leisure Item
            - Bad  - Sets one of your "leisure" items on fire (I've had
                     everything from the "love bed" to the good toilet burn up)


    Earth   - Good - Summons forth three indoor plants
            - Bad  - Summons five dead plants, which can't be deleted, though 
                     your Sim can throw them away (an interesting side-note is
                     that if the "move_objects" cheat is activated, these
                     plants can be deleted in furnish mode for full price!)
                                   -- or --
    Air     - Good - Summons forth about a dozen pink flamingoes on the lawn
            - Bad  - Plagues your house with lots of cockroaches


  The chance of getting a BAD effect to a GOOD effect SEEMS to be about 3 to 2.
  (so on average, every 3 bad events will be followed by 2 good effects)  This
  naturally makes using the Genie a VERY risky proposal!  Here are the choices
  that I would choose to minimize your risk:

    Fire or Water:

      Water (if the Fire burns something large, such as a bed, you won't get 
             the fire extinguished before it destroys the item!)

    Love or Money:

      Money (early in the game this makes a great deal of sense, a pot of gold
             can net you almost §3000, and your 3 bills will add up to 
             considerably less)
      Love (late in the game this makes more sense, you probably have a lot of
            friends and a lot of money, therefore you won't need more money)

    Earth or Air:

      Earth (the plants sell for more than the flamingoes, PLUS it's easier to
             clean up dead plants than it is to get rid of cockroaches)

    Work or Leisure:

      I have never had Work do anything beyond zap my skills, so I have to say
      Leisure, despite the Fire risk.  Hopefully it will be something small and
      easy to put out.

    Friends or Family:

      Family (this one has almost no risk at all!  Losing about 20 points with
              someone you LIVE WITH is all too easy to fix, and occasionally it
              will actually improve your relationships!)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.5  The Chemistry Set (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  One of the best new items in the expansion is the wonderful Chemistry Set.
  (Called the Concoctonator)  Its primary purpose is to improve your Sim's 
  Logic (it isn't fun).  However, once you [Make a Potion], you can then
  [Drink Potion], and depending on the COLOR of the potion you get a variety
  of neat side effects:

    Blue Potion -  The most common type of potion.  This will completely 
                   fulfill THREE of your Sim's Needs randomly.  One time this
                   potion will fill up Energy, Hunger and Fun, while another
                   time it will fill in Social, Bladder and Hygiene.

    Dark Green  -  Creates an Evil Clone of your Sim.  By "Evil Clone" it means
                   that this Sim is your exact duplicate.  This means that this
                   Clone may not actually be evil.  If your Sim is a jerk (low
                   Nice), then this Clone may be a really nice guy.  You can't
                   get rid of a Clone, but eventually they just fade away.
                   Evil clones will ruin your Sim's relationships with other
                   Sims.

    Yellow      -  Permanent Reverse Personality.  Yep, your Sim will have 
                   their entire personality flip-flopped.  If you had 3 Nice,
                   you will now have 7.  If you had 10 Neat, you will now have
                   none.  There is a really cool trick involving this potion,
                   see "Tip" below.

    Purple      -  Turn your Sim into a monster.  Monsters just don't listen to
                   you!  I had one that painted a picture (he didn't gain
                   Creativity, but I sold the picture for §166, and this was at
                   a mere 3 Creativity!).  Monsters also tend to wake up
                   sleeping Sims if in the same room.  Monsters don't lose Need
                   points.  If they were halfway hungry when they became a
                   monster, that's where they'll be later.

                   Worse of all, monsters also have a tendency to break most 
                   things they use!  Plus they seem to want to use (break)
                   everything in the house!

                   This effect eventually wears off.

    Light Green -  Ruins all of your Sim's Needs except Room, such that they'll
                   all have a mere sliver of green.

                   If this one happens to you, you have to very quickly work
                   on EVERY Need your Sim has all at once.  I would do it in
                   this order:

                     Energy (a quickie coffee to keep them up long enough to
                            eat)
                     Hunger (get them food, STAT! If possible, eat with a
                             family member, but you don't have time to call
                             anyone)
                     Bathroom (actually let them pee their pants, this only
                              worsens Hygiene, but it was nearly empty anyway)
                     Energy (get them to sleep)
                     Hunger (when they wake up they need to eat again, and
                             if you can, get some friends to eat with you)
                     Bathroom (in the toilet this time)
                     Hygiene (shower or bath)
                     Fun & Comfort (have them watch TV with a family member or
                                   friend)
                     Social (have them Hug anyone they meet)

                   And that should be that.  It took me about 16 hours to
                   resuscitate a Sim this way.

    Orange      -  Turns your Sim invisible.  Therefore other Sims can't
                   interact with that Sim.  However, your invisible Sim CAN
                   interact with the other Sims.  This potion has the shortest
                   effect of all of them.

    Red         -  Causes your Sim to fall in love with someone in the 
                   neighborhood.

    White       -  Cures your Sim of sickness.  10:1 odds that this will appear
                   when your Sim is sick (JediPika88).

  And, of course, the Chemistry Set can always explode in your face!

    Tip:  Once the potion is created, there are two ways to get rid of it.
          First you can just drink it.  This isn't always desirable, if say,
          the potion is a bad one.  Second, you can sell the Chemistry Set and
          buy a new one.  This will lose you some money as your chemistry set
          will have depreciated.  Well there is a neat little cheating way to
          get around this.

          Activate the "move_objects on" cheat. (Press CTRL-SHIFT-C, then type
          "move_objects on" without the quotes)  Now before you drink the
          potion, SAVE THE GAME.  Then drink the potion.  The bad effect hits
          you.  Go into FURNISH mode (F2), click on your Sim, and press DEL.

          Go back to LIVE mode (F1), and click on your Sim's portrait to bring
          her back.  Since the Sim is brought back from the last save, she'll
          be exactly as she was before drinking the potion.

          This does NOT work very well for the MONSTER effect, as if you delete
          the Monster, your Sim will never return!

          This tip also works well for the Genie effects, such as when he
          blasts away your skills.

    Tip:  The Chemistry Set is one of the most fun objects in Livin' Large, and
          there is one fun thing to try with it.  Create a Sim and give her
          NO PERSONALITY AT ALL.  Then use the Chemistry Set until you get a
          YELLOW, or Personality Reversal Potion.  Drink it and you will have
          the ULTIMATE PERSONALITY.  Sweet.  Takes awhile but it works!

    Rob Sevening has another idea to remove unwanted Potions:

      Another easy way (without cheating) to get rid of an unwanted potion is 
      to invite one of your Sim's friends over to your house.  Make sure there 
      is no food for the friend to eat because the first thing friends look for 
      when they come over is something to eat.  Anyway, once the friend arrives 
      have your Sim greet them and do nothing else.  The friend will walk 
      directly to the potion set and drink the potion regardless of what type 
      it is.  This has worked for me every time I wanted to purge a potion.  If 
      it is the nasty green potion, the friend will leave immediately!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.6)   The "Love" Bed (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  There is a big cheesy red bed with a giant red heart.  This bed allows your
  Sims to finally do "it".  Have one Sim get in the bed (under the [Vibrate]
  command).  They'll strip and get in the bed.  Then have another Sim (one who
  is in Love with the other Sim, naturally) go to the bed and do the [Play in
  Bed] command.  They will then proceed with gettin' it on.  It is both Fun and
  a Social activity. (naturally!)  On the downside, it pulls down every other
  Need you have quite dramatically.

  The [vibrate] feature costs §20.  There is also the [Relax] feature which
  improves a Sim's Comfort like no other.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.7)   Beejaphone Guitar (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The new Guitar is both fun and it improves your Creativity at the same time.
  Plus as a group activity, two people can share in the fun.  Sometimes, 
  however, the second person (the "watcher") will Jeer the person playing.
  This is usually caused by the first person being a horrible guitar player.
  The better the Creativity level, the better the chance that anyone [Watching] 
  will "rock out".


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.8)   Woodworking Table (or the Work-at-Home career) (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The KraftMatic Woodworking Table doesn't COST money, it MAKES money. (You
  still have to buy it, but it will soon be rakin' in the dough for you!)

  Used to increase Mechanical Skill while creating yard Gnomes.  There is a
  slight chance that the police will fine you §500 (saying that kids can smell
  the fumes miles away).  In any event, once a Gnome is completed it can be
  sold, (only through the Furnish F2 function) and the more Gnomes you make,
  the more money you get per Gnome.

  The rate at which Gnomes are produced is a little slow at first, but as you
  progress and your Mechanical Skill gets higher they take less and less time.
  Also the later Gnomes sell for more money.  So, your first Gnome will sell
  for a measely §1, while your last Gnome will sell for §100.  About every 3
  to 4 Gnomes, the price rises by §1, and at every Mechanical Skill Increase
  the price rises by about §10.

  Lawn Gnomes do NOT appreciate in value like artwork (not the stuff you paint,
  but the stuff you buy).  So if it would sell for §2 when you made it, it will
  still sell at that rate in 100 SimDays.

  The max price per Gnome is §100, which you will get when your Mechanical
  Skill gets maxed out.  Once that happens you are making a Gnome every
  20 minutes (from the time the Block of Wood is put on the table, to the time
  that the Gnome is put on the ground).  Therefore you can make 3 Gnomes an
  hour, for §300/hr.  If you were to have your Sim work at the table for 8
  hours you could make §2400 a day.  Of course, the table is very stressful
  for your Sim, and their Needs will drop while working on it.

  Gnomes also are decorations and improve the Room rating slightly.

  If a Gnome is kicked, it might explode! (I had a Sim turned into a Monster.
  First thing he did was kick a Gnome, it exploded knocking him on his butt.)
  The ONLY way to get a Sim to kick a Gnome is through Free Will.  You can't
  force them to kick a Gnome.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.9)   Madame Blahbatfry Crystal Ball (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Madame's Crystal Ball is the other method to improve your Sim's personality.  
  What it does is it gives you a riddle.  You must have your Sim do what the 
  riddle says, and you will have a permanent Stat increase. (such as 
  Playful +1)  If it says to "seek pleasure", have some fun and become more 
  playful.

  To gain your stat increase, simply do what you are told, and it will happen
  naturally.  No more work required. (some info below from JediPika88)

    "be more clean" (have a clean house)          -  +1 Neat point
                    (have a dirty house)          -  -1 Neat point
    "just enjoying yourself" or "fun not frown" (have fun)  -  +1 Playful point
                             (no fun)             -  -1 Playful point
    "be nice" (improve a relationship by 20)      -  +1 Nice point
              (don't be nice)                     -  -1 Nice point
    "befriend the neighborhood" (10 hours with 
               other Sims in your house)          -  +1 Outgoing
    "active" (have a low comfort score)           -  +1 Active

  And of course, sometimes it has no effect. (Possibly because you didn't fail
  to meet its objectives, but didn't succeed either)

  It takes 24 hours from the time you first look into the Crystal, to
  when it adjusts your Personality.

    Note:  If you "Delete" your Sim (see Cheats & Tricks below) it will also
           reset your Crystal Ball objective.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.10)  Servo (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The most expensive item in the game -- §15,000 -- is the robotic butler,
  Servo.  He can do just about anything, cook, clean, repair.  In order to
  function, his Pod must have one empty square in front of AND behind it.  Then
  simply [Turn On] and he'll patrol your house looking for things to do.  Once
  he runs out of tasks, he returns to his Pod.

  Servo puts on different "hats" depending on the job he is about to perform.
  He wears a brown cap if he wants to repair something, a little maid's cap to
  clean and a Chef's Hat when he prepares a meal.  If you see him wandering
  around in the Brown Hat (for repairing) then you can assume that he WANTS to
  repair something, he just can reach it.  Find what it is (it's probably a
  burnt out Wall Light), and clear the obstacle out of Servo's way so that he
  can fix it.

  To get Servo to COOK for you, simply click on his Pod again once he is
  already out and about, and select [Serve Food].  Be warned, Servo is NOT a
  good cook, and his meals are only slightly more satisfying than a mere SNACK.

    Note:  Servo's meals may be unsatisfying to your Sims, but they are FREE
           and you can have him toss out LOTS of meals quickly.  These meals
           are the equivalent of a Pizza slice.

  Servo MUST be [Turned On] EVERYTIME you want him to work.

  One of the promotionals Maxis made prior to the release of Livin' Large
  intimated that Servo might "rebel" against his human oppressors.  I have not
  confirmed whether this exists or not.

  So in the end, is Servo worth it?  No, not really.  Even if you have the
  money, a Maid and a Gardener are better bargains.  A maid will cost you
  usually only §10 a day, and a gardener is only §10 every 3 days. (we'll
  assume that you repair your own items)  At these rates, it would take 1127
  days of owning and operating Servo before he becomes cost efficient vs. the
  human help.  Even if we doubled the Maid and Gardener rates (to §20 a day,
  and §20 every three days respectively) it would still take over 563 days
  before Servo is worth the money.  Plus he has the annoying drawback that you 
  must activate him EVERY time you want him to do something.  In that time, you 
  could probably do the thing you were turning him on to do!  If Servo 
  automatically sensed a mess, or something to repair, went out and cleaned it 
  all on his own, then he would be worth it.

  Rob Sevening has this to say about Servo:

    I've noticed that when my family has friends over and my robot is finished 
    with his chores he will sometimes approach one of the visitors and interact 
    with them.  Sometimes he will entertain them (juggling act) or sometimes he 
    will dance with them.  He has never done it to any member of my family only 
    to visiting friends.  Another thing was he only interacted with the exact 
    same friend every time she was over.  It was though he grew some 
    'attraction' to that particular Sim.

  Servo may attempt to interact with a Sim if his social score is low. 
  (JediPika88)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.11)  Horrowitz "Star Track" Backyard Telescope (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Increases a Sim's Logic Skill with only a slight chance of getting abducted 
  by Aliens.

  Getting abducted by Aliens will mess up your Sim's personality.  This hasn't
  happened to me yet, so I can't say anything more specific about it.

  Rob Sevening had his Sim's adbucted:

    I don't use the telescope anymore because it seems every single time I've 
    had my Sims use the dang thing they get abducted.  No aliens are ever seen, 
    but they get 'beamed' up in purple beams of light.  My family members then 
    'grieve' at the spot they were abducted.  They cry for a few minutes then 
    continue on with their business.  The longest I've ever been gone was about 
    12 hours.  The Sim then reappears in a random spot (usually near the 
    abduction point) with a picture of an alien in their conversation box.  
    Each time their personality was apparently randomized (no pattern found) 
    never to return to normal.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.12)  The Tragic Clown (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Tragic Clown will only appear in houses that have his portrait hanging
  on their walls.  Then the occupants must be sad, look at his portrait and he 
  will appear and attempt to cheer you up.  Too bad that he is so depressed 
  himself, else he might actually be ABLE to cheer you up.  As it stands, he 
  manages to make matters worse!

  He does a variety of tricks (all of which fail miserably), but mostly just
  wanders around your house crying, coughing, sneezing, and just generally
  getting everyone down.

  There are bunches of interaction options with the Clown, but the only one
  that seems to make my Sims happy were [Insults].

  There's nothing YOU can do to get rid of him, he simply has to leave on his
  own.

    Tip:  Having trouble getting the clown to appear?  Try this.  Make potions
          with the chemistry set and try to get the light green (The one that
          makes you tragically unhappy yourself), then look at the clown's
          portrait.  This guarantees nothing, but the clown loves a good
          tragedy!

  JediPika88 has this to say about Clowns:

    The tragic clown appears when the family's average motive drops below -20.
    Do not try to trap him, if he cannot get somewhere he makes a hole, goes in
    and pops up somewhere else. To get rid of him, get the family's motives up 
    to 25. He will then leave. Or you can put his painting above a fireplace, 
    remove smoke alarms, then light it. When the painting catches on fire, so 
    will the clown.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.2.13)  Voodoo Doll (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Used to beat up someone from afar.  Can't see that it has much point, other
  than pure annoyance.  It can only be used on someone currently in the house,
  and cannot be used on children.

  I can't see much of a purpose to this item, except for sadistic pleasure.

  If the voodoo doll victim is in the same room as the one using it, they
  will attempt to slap the user. (JediPika88)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.3  Information on the Second Expansion, House Party
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  I wasn't terribly satisfied with House Party, as an expansion.  I just felt
  that it didn't add enough to the Sims to justify the cost.  Ah, well.

  What's New:

    3 New Neighborhoods (6-8)
    Many new objects
    New Characters (The Caterer, the Mime, the Raver, Drew Carey, 
      "Entertainer")
    Parties - which are started by clicking the phone and selecting "Throw 
              Party"

  A few things to know:

    1) Good parties are expensive.  First you need to buy just about every 
       party object in the game (which requires a large house to start with),
       then you need to hire a caterer to feed the group.  The quality of the
       party can be measured by who shows up, if you get the Mime, your party
       stinks, if you get Drew Carey, you probably have a good party.

    2) The "Entertainer" (or, Stripper, if you want to be accurate) that pops
       out of the big cake will flirt with members of the party who are around.
       This can create a LOT of havoc in their lives!  I saw one female 
       "entertainer" kiss about 4 different men before leaving, each one had
       their girlfriend in the room at the same time.  Result was a lot of
       jealousy (and one completely ruined romance).

    3) Mimes steal things.

    4) Party crashers break things.

  If you want additional information on House Party, I would suggest checking
  out James Paterson's FAQ on House Party.  This can also be found at
  http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/30989.html


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Creating a Family
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Ah, your first family (besides the Newbies).  Unless you created a family
  earlier that failed, and now you want to find out what you did wrong.  Either
  way, we're going to create a Sim Family!  Nothing fancy, mind you, just
  something to get started with.

  We're going to create two Sims for this family.  Two is, in my opinion, the
  best number to start with.  It isn't so hard to control as, say, eight, and
  is infinitely better than just having one as having an extra person gives you
  a great advantage over having just the one.

  What we're essentially going to do is to divide the tasks that our two family
  members are going to have.  One person is going to get a job, and the other
  is going to take care of the house, cook, clean, and be the primary socialite
  You really don't need to employ both people at this stage of the game.  This
  strategy really helps in the mornings when one person has to get ready for
  work (shower, toilet, etc.) the other cooks breakfast.  When the worker goes
  off to work, the other one stays home, cleans up, and meets the neighbors who
  will all drop by (not all at once).  Then later in the game, this Sim will
  call up those neighbors and try to make them into Family Friends.  Also your
  stay at home Sim can answer the phone (which may be a Reward or another
  beneficial Event), pay the bills, etc.

      a.  Creating a Sim

          So now we need to create some Sims!  Two, in fact.  The stats that 
          you can give them effect what the Sims want to do, not what you will 
          make them do.  So a low Neatness isn't all that bad if you are going 
          to be forcing them to clean up anyway.  Of course, if you are a more
          passive Sims player, (you don't plan on telling them EVERY LITTLE
          THING that they should do), then SOMEONE should have a high Neatness.
          Plus it's nice when the Sims will automatically clean the table after
          eating.

          Try to keep your Sims distinctive and different.  The stay at home
          Sim needs to be outgoing, nice, and playful, while the worker Sim
          needs to be active and outgoing.  Beyond that keep the stats somewhat
          average.

          Note:  If you keep a stat blank (that is, empty), then that person
                 will be the opposite of that stat.  So if he or she has no
                 Nice, then that person will be mean, and prone to piss others
                 off.  That makes getting friends difficult!

          Another thing that stats effect is what type of recreation they most
          enjoy.  Inactive people love the TV, while more active would like
          Dancing or other more interactive entertainment.

          Note:  You don't need to use up all of the Stats points while 
                 creating a Sim, in fact, you could use NO stats points at all 
                 and make a surly, messy, lazy, mean, introverted Sim!

      b. Of Neatness and Maids

         One alternative to Neat Sims is to hire a Maid.  This way you can 
         avoid using ANY neat points to spend them elsewhere, and still have a
         wonderfully clean house.  At most the Maid will cost you §70 a day,
         which isn't all that expensive.  Plus the Maid is quite attractive!  
         If you DO hire a Maid, then you don't really NEED a stay at home Sim
         (although I'd still recommend it for the Socializing aspect).

           Note:  There are more consequences of having a Messy Sim than one
                  would think.  When the messy Sim gets out of the shower, he
                  ALWAYS leaves a little "puddle".  Also, he NEVER flushes the
                  toilet.

           Warning:  If you fail to pay for a Maid, or a Gardener, they will
                     "Blacklist" you, that is, they will refuse to come back
                     and work for you.  This isn't a permanent problem, they
                     "forget" about it after 5 days, but it can be annoying.

                     Can't wait that long?  You could just move out and back
                     in.

  For now we don't want anymore than these two adult Sims.  Once your family is
  finished, you cannot add new members by simply creating them...  The only way
  to get new Sims is to Marry them, ask them to Move In (between Same Sex
  couples, either as friends or lovers), or to have a baby.

  Now let's build them a house.  (or if you'd rather not build your own house,
  there are several already in the neighborhood)

  (The following 2 sub sections are alternative ideas to having 2 Sims, the
  first having to do with having just one Sim, and the second to having an
  Arkload of Sims, 8!)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1  The Bachelor Sim
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  When I say "Bachelor" I mean any Sim who is living alone, not just male Sims.
  I have said that your first Family of Sims should probably be 2 Sims, well
  here are a few different ideas on how to play.  The first being the Bachelor.

  The tricky thing about the Bachelor is that you have no one to help you.
  There is no stay at home Sim.  So your Bachelor must get a job, and while he
  (or she, but for the purposes of this section, the Bachelor is a he) is at
  work, you can't socialize (you can even watch as all your neighbors drop by,
  and leave, because there's no one to greet them), nor can you clean up or 
  have a meal ready when he gets home.  So the real problem here is TIME.  You 
  simply never seem to have enough to Socialize, Work, and Improve your Skills.

  So here are a couple ideas to having a good Bachelor:

    1.  Pick a job with decent hours.  By this I mean stay away from the career
        tracks that demand a lot of your time.  I should suggest the Military
        career track as it has good starting pay and fairly steady hours.  Also
        the Military requires the LEAST amount of Family Friends, and doesn't
        require ANY until Level 5.

        Note:  The best way to pick and choose your Career is to use a 
               computer.  If you can't really afford a computer, buy it before 
               you buy the rest of your things, use it quickly to get a good 
               job, then sell it before it has been 24 hours.  If you sell 
               before that, you get all your money back!

    2.  Hire a maid.  This way your Bachelor can live like a slob, and not 
        care.  This frees him up to hit the exercise machine, or call a date.  
        The maid costs §10 an hour, and has a working hours of 10:00 am to 
        5:00 pm, for a maximum of §70 a day.  However, if she runs out of 
        things to clean she leaves then.

    3.  Build a smaller house, and use the extra money to buy a better bed,
        fridge, etc.  Since you will have less time to do things (having no one
        to help you) you will need the better things to be more efficient!

    4.  Go to work every other day (depending on how much money you need).  In
        the first few levels of your job, you will probably want to go everyday
        because you need the money.  But at the higher levels, you need TIME
        more than anything, so skip a day.  As long as you don't skip two days
        in a row, you will be fine.  Use that day to improve your skills, make
        some friends, etc.  You won't get paid or promoted, but it won't hurt
        your chances of getting promoted either.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1.1  The Bachelor Gets Married
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Your Bachelor Sim can't stay a hermit forever, he eventually will fall in
  love, and want someone to move in or marry him.  However, there is a better
  way than simply having him marry someone.

  Here's the idea.  Your Bachelor Sim works fairly far up the career ladder,
  possibly to the top without getting married.  He's putting career before
  relationships, only socializing to Gain Friends or Maintain Friendships for
  work.  Once he is at or near the top of the ladder, he will be rich, and
  very likely talented as well.  He'll have a great paying job, and lots of
  skills.

  Why not then, get your BACHELOR HIMSELF to move out?

  Here's what I mean.  Say you're starting up a new family.  Wouldn't it be
  nice if you had someone who had a nice high paying job?  Well that's 
  precisely what you should do!  Marry the bachelor from the OTHER SIM.  That 
  way he will move out of his house, bring all his assets with him, PLUS he 
  will keep his great job.  This is a great way to help out Beginning Sim 
  Families.  If his net worth was §28k, then that family will gain that much 
  when he is married into the family.

  Sweet deal!

  Note:  Once you've moved your Bachelor out in this fashion, his old house 
         will remain EXACTLY AS HE LEFT IT!  Which might make it an ideal house 
         to have another Bachelor move into, as it would be cheaper (due to 
         Item Value Degradation) than buying it all new.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2  The Full House (8 Sims)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Starting your first game with 8 Sims would be a little crazy.  Just keeping
  up with ONE Sim's needs is hard enough, much less 8 Sims who all need the
  same things.  Plus the most difficult thing about starting out with an 8
  Sim Family is simply getting them all into a furnished house using only the
  20k that you start with.  I would normally just advise you to start with a
  small family, then build up from there, adding members by marriage or child
  birth.

  However, there is a good way to start out with 8 members.  Don't build any
  special house, except having a longer bedroom.  Stick in at least 4 beds in
  here.  If you have any children, place as many 2 person beds as you have
  children.  The bedroom will resemble a military barracks, but there's nothing
  to be done about that yet.

  Make sure there are at least 3 different Fun things for the Sims to do, or
  they will all fight over their limited Fun items.  A radio, bookcase, and a
  TV should be enough.

  Now get all but one adult Sim jobs.

    Tip:  Before fully furnishing your house buy the cheap computer and use 
          that to get your Sims jobs.  This will give you the choice of 3 
          different jobs for each Sim.  Then once they all have jobs, sell the 
          computer.  If you sell it within 24 hours of buying it, you will get 
          a full refund.

  With everyone working, you should get quite a lot of money, especially if any
  of them get promoted.

    Tip:  If you start to get overwhelmed with these Sims, use the PAUSE 
          feature then decide what your Sims should do, then UNPAUSE.  Remember 
          I did advise starting with only 2 Sims, a much more manageable 
          number.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Building a House
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Our objective with building the house is to create a livable area and have
  enough money left over to actually put THINGS in the house.

  Here's our objectives:  We need a good sized house (not large), with three
                          rooms (living room/kitchen/dining room, bathroom, and
                          one bedroom).  The Sims don't require their own
                          private bedrooms, and will do quite fine in a
                          "communal" bedroom. (where everyone sleeps in the
                          same room)

  We're going to start the house a minimum of 2 or 3 squares away from the
  nearby sidewalk.  Now we create the Living Room/Kitchen.  A good size for 
  this is a smallish rectangle, about 11 x 6 squares.  Build the entrance door 
  near the mailbox and trashcan.  Now off to the side of the house build a 
  4 x 4 room to be your bathroom.  You don't need any larger at the moment.

            ------------
            |          |                   Key:
            |          |
            | Bedroom  |                   e - Door      -- - wall
            |          |                   Tr - Trash    == - sidewalk
            |          |
  ----------------e-------------           Note:  Two horizontal characters
  |                    |       |                  is one "square" of SimLand.
  |                    e Bath  |                  So -- is one 1 x 1.
  | Kitchen            | room  |
  |                    |       |           Note:  To build a "square", hold
  |           Living   |--------                  down the shift button while
  |             Room   |                          building a wall outwards.
  -----------e----------

  =======================
             Tr

  As you can see, this is a very small type of house, but is perfectly suited
  for two people.  This is a "basic" house, and as your family grows you will
  need to add to it.  Notice that there isn't a wall between the kitchen and 
  the living room.  This is quite intentional to aid in the parties that you 
  will be throwing here!  The open space allows people to move about more 
  freely, and to prevent people from running into each other.  Also note that 
  this leaves space to the left of the Bedroom which is ideal for building 
  another room, be it a new bedroom, or an entertaining room, or even just an 
  outdoor pavilion.

  Once the basic floor plan is done, we need to apply wallpaper to the outside
  of the house, and to each room individually.  The last few wallpapers in the
  list are specifically for the outside, and aluminum siding is cheap (§7).

    Note:  To apply a wallpaper to every available surface, hold down the SHIFT
           key, then click.  If you're doing this to the outside, it won't
           affect the inside, and if you are wallpapering the interior of a
           room, then it will only wallpaper that room.

  For the kitchen I would use the Deep Jade or the Tuscany Tin (§6).  The 
  living room you can do separate from the Kitchen if you want, although you 
  can't use the SHIFT function if you do, as they aren't really separate rooms.  
  In the bathroom I would go with a "Too Turquoise" (§6).

  Now we need to add flooring (can't have your Sims living on bare grass).  
  Both the kitchen and the bathroom have their own matching floor sets (if you 
  chose Tuscany, the best flooring would be the Il Perrinni Italliante tile 
  (§20)).  In the bedroom I would go with the simply Blue Carpet, it's cheap, 
  and effective.

  Windows:  Each room needs quite a number of windows to keep the room bright
            and happy.  This effects one of the Sims' eight needs, that of 
            Room.  So place windows around each room until it is as bright as 
            it can be.  Don't forget this!  Also, when you start furnishing a 
            house, you need to place Lamps for when it gets dark.

            Which window you pick is entirely up to your individual preference!

  Note:  Don't bother with a second story yet, as you don't need it, and you
         probably can't afford it!  See the section on Expanding the House 
         below for more information on Second Stories.

  Tip:  A backdoor is a very useful thing to have, as it allows your Sims
        another way in or out (if the main entrance is blocked), and can 
        provide for a nice patio outside as well.  Try putting in a flamingo in 
        the backyard, just for fun.  Also the neighbors seem to like it.

  Alternate Floor plan 1:

            ------------
            |          |                   Key:
            |          |
            | Bedroom  |                   e - Door      -- - wall
            |          |--------           Tr - Trash    == - sidewalk
            |          e       |
  ----------------e----- Bath  |           Note:  Two horizontal characters
  |                    | room  |                  is one "square" of SimLand.
  |                    e       |                  So -- is one 1 x 1.
  | Kitchen            |       |
  |                    |--------           This alternate version moves the
  |           Living   |                   bathroom up 2 squares and builds a
  |             Room   |                   door into the bedroom.
  -----------e----------

  =======================
             Tr

  Alternate Floor plan 2:

             ----------
            /          \                   Key:
            |          |
            | Bedroom  |                   e - Door      -- - wall
            |          |--------           Tr - Trash    == - sidewalk
            |          e       |
  ----------------e----- Bath  |           Note:  Two horizontal characters
  |                    | room  |                  is one "square" of SimLand.
  |                    e       |                  So -- is one 1 x 1.
  | Kitchen            |       |
  |                    |--------           This alternate version cuts the
  |           Living   |                   square corners to be diagonal.  This
  \             Room   /                   helps Room rating, and looks more
   ----------e---------                    attractive.

  =======================
             Tr

  Now that we have a house, we need to buy things for the house!

  But first some ideas on Better Houses (i.e. Richer).


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1  Building a Better House
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Not to be confused with Section 7. Expanding the House, this section deals
  with building a house with more money to start with.  After all, sometimes
  it's easier to start over than to keep adding onto a current house.

   --------------e---------------
  /           e     e            \            Key:
  |  Bedroom  ---e---    Bedroom |
  |   One    /       \    Two    -----------    e - Door      -- - wall
  |          e Bath  e           |         |    Tr - Trash    == - sidewalk
  |          | Room  |           |   Pool  |
  -----e-----|       |-----e-----|   Hall  |  Note:  Two horizontal characters
  |          \___e___/           |         |         is one "square" of SimLand
  |                              e  Hottub |         So -- is one 1 x 1.
  | Kitchen            Living    |         |
  |                     Room     |\        /    Notice just how much larger
  |                              | ---e----     this house is than the previous
  \                              /              models.  Also, it makes the
   ------e-------------e---------               attempt to "round out" every
         +             +                        room to improve Room Rating.
         +             +
         +             +                        This is a very large and
  ================================              spacious house, but designed to
             Tr                                 keep most everything "close by"
                                                Notice particularly the amount
                                                of doors that lead into the
                                                house.

  Why two bedrooms?  When you have a baby, place the baby, plus one caregiver
  to spend the night in their own bedroom.  Then when the baby wakes up and
  needs attention, only one of your Sims will have to be awakened by it.  Plus
  this allows you to do separate Socializing (you know, kissing other people
  than your wife).

Alternate 1:  The Second Story
                                               Key:  e - Door     -- - Wall
  Floor One:                                         SS - Stairs  + - Path
                Pool and Hot Tub Outside             Tr - Trash

  /------e--------------e-------------e----\   This house keeps the first floor
  |             SS               |  Bath   |   very spartan and uses half the
  |             SS               e  Room   |   space for an outdoor pool and
  | Kitchen     SS     Living    |         |   spa area.  The Stairs lead up to
  |             SS      Room     |\        /   a Second Story, which will
  |             SS               | --------    contain 2 bedrooms, a bathroom,
  \                              /             as well as an extra room, for
   ------e-------------e---------              fun.
         +             +
         +             +
         +             +
  ================================
             Tr

  Floor Two:

  /----------------------------------------\   You could always leave the
  |          |  SS  |            |         |   "Extra" room wall-less and have
  |          e  SS  e            e  Extra  |   it be a balcony.
  |  Bedroom |      |   Bedroom  |         |
  |          ---e----            |\        /
  |          e bath e            | --------
  \          | room |            /
   ------e-------------e---------


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2  Who Needs Walls?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Thinking about this logically (and we Sims players are nothing if not 
  logical) there is only one thing Sims need privacy for, and that's going to 
  the bathroom.  They don't seem disturbed when they sleep in a room with other
  people (though they do seem to mind being put into the same bed with a 
  stranger).
  
  So, if all you need walls for is a bathroom, then why not simply save on 
  money, and ONLY build walls around the bathroom?  Walls are expensive!  Save
  your money for something really cool, like that Hot Tub!
  
    Note:  Well this strategy seems really cool on the surface, but there is a
           bit of a downside.  No one can sleep in the same room as an active
           TV or radio.  Which means that everyone will have to sleep at the
           same time.  In other words, if Sim Bob is on the nightshift and
           Sim Betty is on the dayshift, they'll overlap, and one will want to
           sleep while the other wants to watch TV.  Other than that it works
           great.
           
    Note:  This strategy works best with a Bachelor Sim, for reasons stated in
           the previous NOTE.
           
  A more extreme version of this is to build ONLY the 2x1 bathroom, and have
  no house at all.  This really saves on money as walls aren't cheap, but has
  some odd drawbacks, such as your Sim refusing to get out of the shower if
  even another Sim wanders by the lot, or your Sim getting stuck in the 
  bathroom because another Sim wants to use it.

  However, it makes a great starting Bachelor house (although it looks very
  Hillbilly), if you intend to have this Bachelor get married into another
  household later.
  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.3  Housebuilding, Especially on a Budget                        (from Seeker)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Build Mode items, unlike Buy Mode items, depreciate as soon as you leave 
  Build Mode and only that once.  With this in mind, it is very wise to have a 
  Sim who can lose money (usually just for this purpose, a shill) build homes, 
  then be evicted and then populated with the Sims you wish to have in that 
  house.  This will amount to a savings of approximately one-third versus the
  pre-depreciation value, more if you are not a very careful house designer and 
  have to delete and recreate walls, windows, or other items.  That house that 
  would cost your regular Sims about $16,000 to build now can be yours for just 
  under $10,000.

  I don't believe this works with items such as staircases and fireplaces, but 
  it will with walls, windows, doors, wallpapering, floors, and (most likely) 
  pools.  Be sure that you don't outfit the house with Buy Mode items and then 
  evict the shill, because you will kick yourself when you have to do it all 
  over again.

  Feel free to add as much flora as you wish from the Build Mode as well, it 
  has no effect on the property value other than raising your Yard score.  In 
  fact, any item that can only be disposed of does not raise the cost.  So go 
  ahead and add as many trees, shrubs, flowers, and topiaries as you like with
  your shill.

  Always make generous uses of corners, it not only increases your room scores, 
  it also saves money on building the house ($70 for a corner as opposed to 
  $140).  For a little extra added effect, on interior corners do a diamond 
  pattern instead of a straight intersection.  It costs the same and boosts 
  room score.  It looks very good where four rooms meet.  All of this can be at 
  the cost of space however.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Furnishing a House
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  We're going to build things based on the Sims' Needs, with the most pressing
  needs first.  We'll start with Hunger (the only Need that your Sims can Die
  of) and furnish the Kitchen.

  Kitchen Objects you Need:

    Refrigerator (§600 for the Llamark)
    Cooking Appliance (§400 for the Dialectic Free Standing Range, stove)
    Empty Counter
    Dish Cleaning Apparatus (either a Sink or the Fuzzy Logic Dishwasher, §650)
    Fire Alarm (§50)
    Food Processor (§220)
    Trashcan (or if you can afford it, a Trash Compactor)

  Here's what I did.  At the left end of the Kitchen is a 6x long wall.  At the
  top I put a Dialectic Range, then a Fridge, then a Counter (if you did the
  Jade walls and floors, then do the Jade counter top, otherwise just keep it
  cheap!), then a counter with a Sink, and another blank counter.  This leaves
  one square left in the bottom corner, but we'll use that later when we have
  more money.  (By moving the Counter with the Sink to the corner, and filling
  that hole with a Dishwasher)  Finally on the empty counter place the Food
  Processor.

    Note:  When someone cooks a full meal it will go like this, they will take
           the food out of the Fridge, and stick it into the food processor
           (or onto a counter if you don't have one, but the food processor
           adds more Food value to the meal), then from there onto the stove,
           and from the stove to the counter where it is finished.

    Tip:  Be vigilant with who makes the meals!  Every Sim when they get hungry
          will go to the fridge to get a snack or to make a quick meal.  But
          you should let only the person with the most Cooking skill cook, and
          then have them SERVE the meal.  This creates 8 portions for only
          §20 which is very cost effective.  Plus the higher cooking skill
          reduces the chance of Fire and increases the Food Value.

  Now 2 squares away from that stuff place a Card Table (§95).  Around it place
  4 Chairs (the cheapest chair works fine, §80).  Make sure the chairs face the
  table.
  
    Tip:  One good way to place the chairs is to put all the chairs in the
          corners, like this:

                    Ch      (not to scale)
                  Ch .....
                     .....
                     ..... Ch
                        Ch

          What this does, is keeps the other corners not touched by the chairs
          completely free for your Sims to put things on like the mail, and for
          YOU to put things like Lava Lamps (§80) on.  The Sims will be eating
          closer together, but they don't seem to mind.  This table is a 2x2
          table, so how does this work with the longer Parisian table?

                    Ch          (also not to scale)
                  Ch ..... Ch
                     .....
                     .....
                  Ch ..... Ch
                        Ch

          This table is longer, and can hold more chairs.  I recommend the
          above pattern with the Parisian, as you fit more people, but keep the
          same amount of Places for Sims to Drop things (like Gifts from other
          Sims) or for you to put things (like radios).


  Onto the Bathroom.

  Bathroom Objects you Need:

    Toilet (§300 for the Hygeia-O-Matic)
    Major Hygiene Item (§640 for the SpaceMiser Shower)
    Bathroom Sink (§400 for the Andersonville sink)

  The placement of these objects isn't so tough, just put them in the corners,
  making sure that they face the right direction.  If you have the money, I
  would suggest also putting a Medicine Cabinet in above the Sink.  However,
  the Medicine Cabinet isn't as useful as a plain mirror placed in the living
  room.  (Mirrors are used to improve the Charisma Skill)  This is because
  other Sims like to use the bathroom, and you don't want to hold them up while
  you make a speech to a mirror.  We want the shower right now because it is
  cheaper, and more time efficient.  Plus we're saving up for that REALLY good
  bathtub! (The Hydrothera)  Once you get the money, you definitely want that 
  good tub!

  However, you will still want that shower.  Nothing beats the quick shower,
  plus your Sim won't always need a full bath.

  Pressing onward to the Bedroom.

  Bedroom Objects you will Need:

    1 Bed for each Person (in this case 2, Spartan Bed, §300 each)

  You won't spend too much time in the Bedroom, so you don't need too much more
  than that.  Don't worry about the Room rating much either, so don't worry
  about lighting or decorations.  One thing that you might want in the bedroom
  is an End Table with an Alarm Clock on it.

    Note:  Alarm Clocks do need to be set by your Sims before they can be
           effective.  The alarm goes off 2 hours before your Sim has to be
           to work.  If you want more time than that to get ready, you can
           always manually waken your Sim.  Although, if you get a Sim up 
           before he or she is fully rested (full energy bar) they will stomp 
           about a bit trying to wake up.

    Tip:  The first beds that you can get aren't very efficient at getting your
          Sims their Energy.  So as soon as humanly possible get that really
          expensive (and worth it!) bed.

  And finally the Living Room.

  Living Room Objects you will Need:

    1 Couch (Contempto is §150)
    Television (Monochrome is §85, Trottco 27" is §500)
    Bookcase (§250 for the Cheap Pine)
    Desk/Table (Mesquite Desk/Table is §80)
    Radio (Down Wid Dat Boom Box is §100)
    Phone (could also put this in the Bedroom, although it wakes them up!)
    Security Alarm

  Have the Television placed by one of the walls, and have the couch face the
  Television about 2 squares away, and put the Bookcase next to the TV by the
  wall, so that your Sims can read and sit on the couch.  Now on another wall
  place the table and place the Radio on it.  Place the Phone on the wall 
  behind the radio, and the Security Alarm anywhere on the wall.
  
  Tip:  Placing the TV 2 squares away from the couch is more important than it
        might at first seem.  Why is that?  Well suppose a Guest Sim decides to
        watch TV, but there's no more room on the couch, they'll stand right in
        front of your Sim on the couch.  But now your Sim wants to go to the
        bathroom, but now there's a Sim in the way!  You'll have to wait for 
        that Sim to move on his own before your Sim can get anywhere. (or you
        could just use the move_objects cheat, see the Cheats section below)

  Note:  All appliances, computers, etc., can break down and need to be
         repaired.  You can either repair them yourself (and maybe get
         electrocuted and killed) or call the Repairman who charges you §50 per
         hour.  Until you get your Mechanical skills up (via reading) you
         should probably just call the experts.

  Note:  An alternative to placing the Security Alarm in the living room is
         to put it outside.  Then the Thief doesn't even have to enter the 
         house to trip the alarm.  There's more on burglars in the Section 
         Everything Else in the Neighborhood.

    a. Lighting and Lamps

       Now that we've adequately furnished the house (I say adequate, because
       once you get money, you'll want to replace your shoddy items with better
       ones, like your little monochrome TV for a HUGE Plasma TV), you will 
       want to start filling your house with Lamps.  I would place 1 lamp in 
       the bathroom, and 1 in the Bedroom, and a lot in the Living 
       Room/Kitchen.  Keep the lamps spaced out to keep the lighting in the 
       room even.  (Say, 3 to 4 squares apart)

       Check out the Sims website (http://www.thesims.com) to download the new
       Wall Lamps, which are placed on the walls rather than on the floor, in
       the same way that the Fire Alarm attaches to the wall.

         Note:  Lights can burn out, and need to have their bulbs replaced.
                BEWARE!  Your Sims can get electrocuted by doing this!  There
                isn't a good chance of it (maybe 1 in 5), but you may want to
                call a repairman.

    b. Decorations

       The other way to pump up the Room value is to put decorations into a
       room.  And the easiest of the decorations to place, are the Paintings.
       Since these go on the wall, they don't take up any space, and unlike
       plants, they don't require water.

       Most decorations also have a Fun value, which happens whenever someone
       looks at it.  For example, you can have your Sim check out a painting.
       Also the better objects (such as the Plasma TV) also have a positive
       effect on the Room.

       Use Decorations to get the Room rating up, not only for your Sims, but
       to help the Mood of visiting Sims.  That helps you make friends!  You
       know the old saying, a happy Sim is a friendly Sim.

       More on the Room rating in that section below (Room Rating).

  I know your house seems rather Spartan (you even have the Spartan beds, no
  doubt!), but this is just the starter equipment.  As you go along, UPGRADE!
  Replace that fridge as soon as you can, as well as the Range.  These will
  help alleviate your Sims' hunger rating better.  Also replace those Spartan
  beds with better ones.  If you get your 2 Sims to like each other enough, you
  can get a 2 person bed, and get them into it.  I would also definitely get
  rid of that couch the first chance you get, and also get rid of the cheap
  lights in favor of the top of the line lights.

  Generally you spend a good deal of the game replacing your old junk with the
  better stuff.

  Let's make some friends...


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1  Cooking (or, a Meal fit for a Sim!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  But first, let's look a little deeper into the realm of Cooking for Sims.  As
  I have said a number of times, we want the Stay at Home Sim to be our Cook,
  and therefore they should spend a good deal of time Studying Cooking.
  Whenever they have a spare moment, they should grab that book and study until
  they get all the way up to 10 Cooking Points.  This helps in two ways:  One,
  they are far less likely to burn down the house (unless using the Grill), and
  they prepare more satisfying meals.

  Beyond simply helping the Cook become a better Chef, you can also improve
  your equipment, and how you prepare the meals.

  Let's start with the equipment.  The first step in cooking is the
  Refrigerator, and, no surprise here, the better the Fridge, the more
  satisfying the meals (the more it satisfies the Hunger Need, that is).  The
  next piece of equipment is the Preparation part, which can be either just a
  countertop, or the Food Processor.  The Food Processor is about twice as good
  as a mere countertop, and is faster to boot, so getting one of those is quite
  valuable.  Then comes the cooking implement, from Microwave (the worst) to 
  the Gas Range (the best).  Finally you have to set the meal down on an empty
  counter top to serve the meal. (only necessary if you ARE doing a SERVE, if
  you are merely HAVING dinner this is skipped)
  
    Note:  To keep things moving efficiently, you should arrange the kitchen
           appliances in order of use, so place the Fridge, then next to it
           have the Food Processor on a Counter, then the Cooking Range, and
           finally a blank counter.  Why?  Saves time, and every second counts!

    Note:  If a step along the meal preparation chain is broken (say you have
           no preparation surface, or your range is broken, etc.) then you will
           get a different (and less satisfying) meal.  If you don't have a 
           prep surface or food processor you end out with a Can (or cans) of 
           Beans.  If you prepare it, but have no way to cook it, then you get 
           a salad.  These results ALSO occur if you have the item, but can't 
           get to it.  So if another Sim is in between your Cook and the Stove, 
           you could end out with Salad.

  Next is how you prepare the meals.  There are 4 basic options at every meal:
  Snack, Quick Meal, Have Meal, and Serve Meal.  I would heartily recommend
  doing ONLY "Serve Meal"s and having them cooked ONLY by your best Chef.  Then
  the meals will be very effective at removing hunger.  This requires that you
  constantly check your other Sims when they get hungry as they will want to
  have Snacks or Quick Meals.  It's much more cost efficient to have just the
  Big Meals (Serve Dinner, Serve Breakfast, etc.)

  Other Options:

    If you have no way of preparing your own meals, you can always call for
    pizza (§40).  It also takes some time for the pizza to arrive, and it isn't
    very satisfying.

    Also you can use a Grill to grill up some food.  This isn't so satisfying
    and can cause a fire (if something is too close to the grill).

    Both these options do make for some good socializing, however.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1.1  Food Strategies
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  This section is from Mark Hissett

  When you prepare a meal (fit for 6) the plate will remain fresh for about 8 
  hours.  However you can prolong this.  When you take plate of food off the 
  main dish, it will last 8 hours in itself.  So if the main dish is 6 hours 
  old and you take a plate off.  That one plate will not get flies above it for 
  approximately 14 hours.  So, one thing you might want to try is to make a 
  meal (that is not going to get all eaten of course) and after 6 or 7 hours.  
  Take a plate off one at a time.  Do not eat them.  Just cancel the action 
  after they have taken the plate.  They will probably put it on the floor.  
  Now that food will last another 8 hours.  When your sims get home from a hard 
  days work, and your homemaker sim needs a bit of rest.  You can control the 
  sims to take that food and eat it.  Also, guests do not eat food that has 
  already been dished out.
 
  Well aside from that, 6 plates takes up a lot of room.  And so does chocolate 
  and brownies.  In the build or buy mode you can move plates of food (the main 
  dish as well).  If you hover the food over the fridge, it will allow you to 
  "put the food in the fridge."  When you move the fridge any food inside will 
  remain inside.  I am not sure if there is a limit to how many dishes you can 
  put in or not.  Guests can take food that they have brought or take off the 
  main plate, but again, they will not eat food already dished out.  A couple 
  downsides to this are, snacks and meals cannot be made from that fridge.  The 
  fridge also does not give anymore time for the food to go rotton.  Another
  thing I am unsure of is when flies begin swarming the plate, if room value 
  goes down.  To get food out of the stocked up fridge, you will need to hover 
  the cursor over the middle of the fridge, so that the fridge does not light 
  up, this will give you the option to take plate or clean up.  Pizza cannot go 
  in the fridge.  I am not sure if the little vases of flowers can or not 
  either.
 
    Tip:  If you are busy busy in the morning getting sims off to school and 
          ready for work.  Make breakfast (though it will be called dinner, 
          unless made after 12:00 AM) around 10 or 11 the night before.  The 
          food will last then from 6 to 7.  A prompt sim should be up by at 
          least 6.  And the food is ready for them to enjoy.
 


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2  Room Rating
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The Room Rating is influenced by quite a number of things, but we'll boil it
  down to the essentials.  One, is how well lit the room is.  This is 
  influenced (in the day) by windows, and in the night by Lamps.  Two, is what 
  is in the room that improves it, such as decorations.  Three, is what is in 
  the room that degrades it, such as garbage and messes.  And four, the size of 
  the room, the larger the better.

  In the early part of the game you probably can't afford the mighty
  Torchosterone lamp (the best lamp in the game, as it improves Room rating two
  ways, by being a Lamp, and by being a Decoration), but as soon as you get
  some steady cash flow, start replacing your old lamps with the good ones.

    Tip:  In the beginning of the game, only buy a few lamps.  It will be dark,
          and your room rating won't be so great, but you will save money (all
          objects degrade in value over time) so that you can buy the better
          lights later.  Also the good lamps tend to need less bulb
          replacements.

  All the good objects also have a Room rating attached to them.  Things like
  the Plasma TV, the good couches, etc.  Therefore, once you have all the neat
  gadgets in your living room, do you really need some art deco piece?

  The Outside Room rating is probably the most important, at least as far as
  your Job goes.  It's probably already well lit, and large, so the only two
  things that you can do to improve it are to keep it clean, and add some
  decoration.  A fountain and some flamingoes would go well out there.  Plus 
  you could put a fireplace out there if you really wanted to.

    Note:  Keep in mind that if you let something go to Pot (such as a flower
           dying, or fish dying, a computer breaking, etc.) then it will pull
           down the Room Rating just like trash.  After all, if you can't use
           the object as it was meant to be used, it's not much more than 
           trash!

    Tip:   The Fireplace has the best Room Rating (when lit anyway) of 
           anything.  HOWEVER, it can cause things (such as objects, or Sims) 
           to catch on fire, and should be placed well away from anything!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.3  Alternative to Alarm Clocks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  As anyone who has had to wake up to an alarm clock might say, it isn't the
  most pleasant feeling.  Yet the alarm clock is the only way to get your Sims
  up in time for work.  Or is it?

  Sims tend to sleep until their Energy Bar is full, then they also tend to
  keep on sleeping until an alarm clock goes off, or you wake them up.  So you
  could just wake them up as soon as you notice their Energy bar full green (or
  at any set time that you want, although Sims take longer to get up if they
  aren't fully rested), but I prefer this little trick.

  If the Sim is sleeping, but is fully rested, he will tend to keep on sleeping
  until he has a reason to get up.  Simply add something to his Queue (such as
  using the Toilet) and once his Energy bar fills up, he will wake up and start
  working on his queue.  This way your Sim gets to be fully rested.  This is a
  little more dynamic than simply waking your Sim with an alarm clock 2 hours
  before the Carpool arrives.
  
  Mark Hissett has this to add:
  
    A well rested sim will sleep to 6:00 AM.  That means, if a sims energy bar 
    is green at 4 or 5 AM, they will not automatically wake up until 6.  If you 
    tell them to do something while they are asleep, they will automatically do 
    it, as soon as their energy bar is full, which may be earlier than you 
    intended.  A not so well rested sim will wake up anytime after 6, as soon 
    as their energy bar is full, or if you wake them up, or if the alarm goes 
    off.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.4  Who Needs a Trashcan?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  There are 3 forms of waste management in The Sims:

    1.  Your outside trashcan.  This is part of the Lot when you buy it, and
        you can neither move it, nor sell it.  This trashcan is here to stay.

    2.  A standard trashcan.  This holds trash, and can be put anywhere you 
        want.  When it fills up with trash (it doesn't take long!) it will take
        down the Room Rating until someone takes out the trash.

    3.  And finally there is the Trash Compactor, which not only can it hold
        more Garbage (because it compacts the garbage), but when it gets full,
        it does not take down the room rating, because the garbage is self-
        contained.

  However, you can probably get away with NOT HAVING A HOUSE TRASHCAN at all.
  You can never get rid of the First type of trashcan, so why should you buy
  any more trashcans?

  Here's what I'm talking about.  There are only THREE MAIN types of trash
  (there are more than 2 types, but you won't come across the others often),
  Snacks, Newspapers, and Gifts.  Consider for a moment that the place most
  likely to need a trashcan is the Kitchen area, which is notably near the
  exterior trash anyway (well it should be, it is in my designs).  Therefore 
  the walk outside to the trash isn't much longer than that to go outside.  The
  important thing here is that we SKIP A STEP.  If you don't have an interior
  trashcan, you NEVER HAVE TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH.

  For a different, i.e. "cheating", tactic on this, see section 11.1 Deleting
  Trash (and Bills too!).

  TheReaper86 has a slight different take on this:

    About the "who needs a trash can" thing:  instead of buying a small Trash
    Can only to take THAT trash to the outside one...OR simply taking it to the
    outside trash, you can just use the CTRL+SHIFT+C cheat and use the 
    "move_objects on" code and move the outside trash into the kitchen -- the 
    only place you ever need one anyways.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.5  Sims Interactions with Objects
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  You may wonder why a Sim will go painting for fun when he doesn't need the
  Creativity, and he Needs more Fun than he can get out of painting.  Part of
  the reason is that when Sims choose what they are going to do, they pick 
  their most pressing need (Hunger being the greatest Need, then the rest based 
  on how Red they are), and checking the room for the best objects.  Once they
  have an idea of the best objects in the area, they'll randomly pick one and 
  go to it.

  So it isn't entirely a random process, it's just not an entirely educated
  process either.  After all, Sims do get bored of watching TV, they need more
  than just one source of Fun.

  So, if your Sim needs some Fun, he'll take stock of the area, find all the
  available sources of Fun, and pick one.  They usually limit their choices to
  the better objects, so the more better objects you have, the better chance
  that they will pick at least one good object instead of going to something
  less than preferable.

    Note:  This Randomness doesn't seem to apply to Guest Sims (Sims who you 
           have invited over), they always seem to know what they want and
           use the best available method to get it.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.6  Moving Trash Yourself
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  You, the player, can pick up any object while in build mode, including dirty
  dishes, trash, bills, and other things.  What does this mean to you?  Read
  on!
  
  Red Phoenix sent me this:
  "While in Build mode, you can move any object that's currently not in use.  
  You can get this ability to do lots of micro-management.  For instance, 
  before you can afford a maid, you can help your Sims with clean up.  Gather 
  all of the dishes and stack them next to the sink.  Or gather trash and place 
  it next to a trash can.  If you're really cheap and lazy, you can create a 
  garbage pit at the side of your house where you can throw your trash."
  
  If you do create a garbage pit, make it in a small enclosed space that has no
  doors.  You will be able to move things in and out, but no one, thankfully,
  will be able to go in there.
  
  Also, you could just DELETE the garbage (see section 11.1 Deleting Trash and
  Bills too! This trick DOESN'T work with Livin' Large installed) instead.
  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.7  The "Cluster" Method
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  So, what is the "Cluster" Method?  My latest attempt at efficiency!  Here's
  the idea:  Keep a cluster of objects around the mailbox/trashcan.

  That's the jist of it, anyway.  Here's a more detailed explanation.  Build
  your house about 3 squares away from the sidewalk, with your door being close
  to the mailbox/trashcan.  Pave a little walkway from your door to the 
  sidewalk.  Now on one side of the walkway, place a cheap desk, facing the
  walkway.  When you get the mail, your Sim will place the Bills on this desk,
  instead of walking who knows how far.

  On the other side of the table place a standard phone.

  On the opposite side of the walkway place an Easel, a Mirror, and a chess set
  with a chair (or two).

  Now when you call another Sim over to your house, you have a few things that
  you can do while waiting for them to actually arrive!  So, call someone, then
  start working on your Charisma (using the Mirror), or play some Chess, or
  whatnot.

    Tip:  If a Guest Sim arrives with an Object, such as candies, flowers, or
          whatnot, cancel AFTER they have given it to you, and your Sim looks
          for a place to put it (if you don't, it will possibly end up on your
          desk, candies likely end out in your kitchen), and your Sim will drop
          it there.  However, it's very close to your garbage can for easy
          disposal.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Of Friends and Lovers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Your Sims are going to need some friends in The Sims.  Not only to keep your
  Sims from going insane (Social being one of their 8 Needs), but also to
  advance in certain job fields you will need a certain number of friends.  
  (for example, on the political career track, to become a Senator you need 14
  friends, and mayor requires 17!)

    Note:  Your Sim does not personally need to be a friend with someone, as 
           long as SOMEONE in your family is friends with them, that is enough.
           In other words you only need family friends, not personal friends.

  When you first move into your house, various people from the neighborhood 
  will come by and chat with you.  Make sure to greet them!  They might not 
  come back if you don't.  Once that new Sim is greeted then that person is 
  "known" and at any time, you can call them on the phone to get them to come 
  over. (unless they are working at that exact moment, but you can call them 
  before or after work)

    Note:  Yeah it sounds stupid but, the Sim you are calling also needs to
           have a phone for this to work.  I mention this because you might 
           want to create a large 8 person family, stick them on a vacant lot, 
           and befriend them.  If you want to do that, at least build one wall 
           with a phone attached to it!

  Once greeted, this neighbor Sim will start working to fulfill his or her
  needs, just as your current Sims do.  If there is food out, and they're 
  hungry they'll eat it (but they can't fix themselves any food, not even a 
  snack).  If they have to go to the bathroom, they'll go (but they can't 
  shower, or take a bath).  Mostly, however, what they want to do, is to 
  socialize!

    a. Socializing

       When you first start socializing with someone, keep it simple.  Just 
       talk.  As your relationship gets better (10+ or so... depends on the
       Sim), start complimenting them, and telling jokes.  Avoid doing anything
       else for awhile.  Also, if they try to do something too intimate to you,
       and your "rating" (click on the Relationship button to see the number
       rating of how much you like them.  By the way, they also have a number
       for you, and they may not be the same number...  You might love them, 
       and they might not care for you!) is not very high, you may want to 
       cancel their action.  So if you see "Be Hugged" by someone you just met,
       you may want to click it to get rid of it.

         Note:  Negative reactions to social interactions (eg. crying after 
                being slapped) will increase the social Need, but decrease
                relationships.  Seems that bad interaction may be better than
                no interaction at all. (Winston Jen)

       As you get to know someone (40+) you want to start dancing, and hugging.
       Dancing is not considered sexual, and doing it is not coming on to them.

       And as you get even higher (70+) you may want to start flirting, and
       maybe even kissing!  This all depends on where you want this 
       relationship to go.  Although you can be in love with EVERYONE in the 
       neighborhood (except children), you probably won't want to.  It makes 
       parties awkward if you are in love with everyone there.  Someone might 
       want to kiss you, and if you are in love with everyone in the room...

    Tip:  If you hear the "bad" music (meaning usually that something is going
          wrong, it sounds like a bad trumpet) and you just flirted with 
          someone (or kissed, hugged, or danced with them), then you probably 
          just flirted with someone's significant other!  Check your "queue" to 
          see if someone is going to slap you, and if so, click it to stop 
          them. (Pause the game, if that helps)

          So how do you come onto someone else's significant other?  Go into an
          empty room (if none are available, go outside), and Call Over that
          Sim that you like.  Then flirt away!

          By the way, it doesn't matter if you hug them (or kiss them...) or if
          they hug you, their significant other will still get mad.  Although
          maybe not at you...

    Tip:  (from Nick Yowler)  There's another exception to the rule about 
          calling a Sim over to your house and nothing happens during their 
          timeline.  If you can get them to join you in a game of chess (for 
          example), and you get them to play long enough, then their logic 
          points will eventually go up.  This also carries over to their house.  
          So I suppose if you wanted you could call them over and enhance their 
          skills without wasting time back at their place.

    b. Marriage and Moving In

       When you get someone higher up on the Relationship-O-Meter, you will get
       the option to ask them to marry (propose) or move in with you.  Whether
       they say yes is based on their mood, and their opinion of your Sim.

       Getting someone to marry/move in with you is simply a two stepped
       process.  First you must get them to love you.  This is built up
       gradually.  Start out with a friendship, then gradually work up to love. 
       (Getting them in love with you is not necessary for Move Ins)  Once you
       believe that they love you enough, now you have to work on their Mood.
       Sims will only marry you if all their needs are being met, and are 
       therefore happy enough to marry.  As such, you will want to feed him or
       her, entertain them, and generally keep them comfortable and happy.
       Propose, and they're in!
       
       When a Guest Sim (anyone you call over) comes to your house, their Needs
       are usually in an atrocious state.  They are hungry, bored, and need to
       talk a LOT.  This counter will reset every time you invite the Sim over,
       so if you fail to get them to marry your Sim in one sitting, you will
       have to start all over the next day.
       
         Note:  If your Sim is turned down, the other Sim will give a reason,
                such as "We don't talk enough." (which means, that their Social
                Need needs work)  They give what they think is the thing that
                would help their mood out the most, saying "We don't talk 
                enough" tells you that you need to work on Social a lot, but
                that might not be the only thing that they need, merely it is
                the most pressing Need.

         Note:  Moving In is only between Same Sex couples, whether they are
                lovers, or just roommates.

       Whenever someone is brought into the family through marriage or moving 
       in, they not only bring any children they have with them, but if they 
       are the only member of their family, they will sell their old house, and
       bring that money plus the cash they had on hand to their new family.

         Warning:  When someone joins the family, they can no longer be
                   considered a family friend!  Although they remain a close
                   personal friend (and possibly a lover) they are no longer
                   counted in the Family Friend count. (Although they ARE
                   counted as such in the Neighborhood, if you hold the mouse
                   over their house)

         Note:  So, you had someone marry you, and they were the last in their
                family, and so sold the house.  Well the house is still in the
                neighborhood, and furthermore, it is in EXACTLY the same
                condition as it was when the person left it!  So if someone new
                moves into it, they might find dirty dishes!

  All relationships wither over time, and as such, you need to constantly keep
  on socializing with your family friends to make sure that they STAY family
  friends!

    Tip:  When working to maintain a relationship, you needn't work as hard at
          it as when you were building the relationship.  So call the Sim over,
          talk a bit, maybe give a hug or two, then once the Rating is back up,
          tell them to go home.  Then move onto the next Sim...

  Social Activities:

    Talking -- usually the most successful for simply improving the rating.
               This one also happens, to a lesser degree, when two Sims are
               doing the same thing, such as both watching TV or eating dinner.

    Compliment -- depending on how much they like you, and what type of person
                  they are, the Sim you compliment will likely be impressed by
                  this.  They might, however, take it the wrong way.  (best if
                  done over 10)

    Entertain -- adults juggle dice; kids play with yoyo.  Increases Fun and 
                 Social.  Best for 30+ or so, but not quite good if the other 
                 party is not so playful (3-4 bars or less), especially around 
                 30 or so. (from broadstrong)

    Tickle -- an activity that increases Fun and Social, but only best for good 
              friends (75 or more) and the other party should be quite playful.
              (from broadstrong)

    Give Gift -- gives a nicely wrapped present.  Will only appear when
                 relationship reaches 40 or so.  Seems like the other party 
                 will ALWAYS accept.  (from broadstrong)

                 EvilDave2 points out that:  Sims that you have relationships 
                 with will NOT always accept gifts. In fact, in this 
                 relationship with my lady sim and Bella Goth, Bella ALWAYS 
                 took the gift and crushed it underfoot! Talk about paying 
                 someone to hate you! It affects relationships about -10 to -20 
                 points. Also, this is strange since my sim's personality was 
                 compatible with Bella's.

    Joke -- depending on how playful the Sim is, and how much they like you,
            this will help your relationship.  Best if used over 10.  Also
            increases both of your Fun ratings

    Hug -- a better social activity, best between good friends, and lovers.  
           Can make the other Sim's lover(s) jealous, though.

    Back Rub -- increases the Sim's comfort level, and helps socialization.
                Also will increase jealousy.

    Dance -- increases Fun rating, and makes others jealous.  Best if used only
             between good friends (40+ or so).

      Note:  There are two ways of dancing with someone.  One is to click on
             the Sim and select Dance, and the other is to wait for someone to
             dance by the Radio, and then click on the radio and click Join.
             The second one will help Fun, but won't help Social (but they're
             less likely to turn it down!).

    Flirt -- for when you want the relationship to go further.  Use this on
             friends to make them lovers.  Best if used over 80.  And you
             guessed it, makes other Sims jealous!

    Kiss -- the ultimate sign of affection!  Also the most likely to get 
            someone slapped, if either of the kissing Sims is already attached.

    Others:  Brag, Tease, and Fight

      Joseph Peitler sent me this:

        I discovered another speaking action that a sim can use.  When a sim 
        starts flirting with sim mate 1 and is seen by sim mate 2 (that's when 
        you hear the trumpet sounds of the "Woody Woodpecker" theme), that sim 
        can over and "apologize" to sim mate 2 after the damage is done.  It 
        doesn't eliminate all the negative relationship points, but it does get 
        rid of sim mate 2's negative reactions, such as slap, shove, and fight.

      broadstrong sent me this:

        More Social Interactions - Joining Interactions
        This comes in one of three types - Watch TV (TV only), Listen (piano 
        only) or Join (everything else that allows Social Activity, except 
        playground and guinea pig).  Click on the Sim the active Sim wants to 
        join with, then choose this action.  Note that for the piano, if the 
        listener doesn't like the music, the relationship points drop!

        [Ed. Note:  The more Creatively Skilled your Sim is, the better he will
        play the piano, and the more likely the other Sim will enjoy their
        playing.]

  Note:  So, can Sims get into homosexual relations?  Yes, but only if you make
         them.  They won't seek it out on their own.  But it's just as easy to
         get 2 same sex people together as two of the opposite sex together.

  One final thing here.  What do you do when you want someone to Move OUT?  
  Well you could kill them (there ARE ways...), but if you're less bloodthirsty 
  than that, here's what you can try.  Load up another household somewhere, 
  with another family that you aren't too likely to play often, and who has 
  room for one more.  Call up the person that you are trying to get rid of (or 
  if they just moved into the neighborhood, wait for him or her to come 
  around).  Then socialize the Sim until you can get them to move in with you.  
  Now they've left your first Sim family and joined a new one.

    Note:  Sims may also pack up and leave if they get into a fight.  At which
           point they disappear forever.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1  Befriending Mean Sims
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Just a quick note on how you should go about making friends with a mean Sim.
  The mean Sim tends to like to Taunt, Brag, and Insult the other Sims.  This
  makes them happy (and gives THEM a better opinion of YOUR Sim, but makes YOUR
  Sim hate them).  But it won't ever get them any friends, which is where you
  come in.

  In any social situation with a mean Sim, just keep an eye on your Sim's
  Queue to check for "Be teased", "Be insulted", etc.  Whenever any of these
  pop up, just cancel them.

    Tip:  Keep social interactions with Mean Sims simple (just Talking) until
          they start to like you.  Once they like you, they are far less likely
          to be mean to you.  So after your Sim is done talking, PAUSE, talk
          again, then UNPAUSE.  Allow no other interaction to take place.

    Tip:  Another way to avoid mean actions is to enter Group Interaction.  
          Have the Mean Sim eat dinner with your Sim, or watch TV.  This grows 
          their relationship slower, but safer.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2  Carrying on Multiple Romances
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Your Sim(s) can fall in love with anyone and everyone.  Sims are rather easy
  about who they fall in love with, all they have to have is a pulse.

  However, things start to get really sticky when one Sim is having relations
  with multiple other Sims.  You know what I mean, Jealousy.  When a Sim sees
  her boyfriend kissing someone else, she tends to react badly.  She might slap
  someone, or stalk off, or even get into a fight.  You could completely lose
  someone's friendship this way.  They might even leave the game if provoked
  enough (via fighting that is).

  Yet the "romantic" actions are very common at the high levels of a 
  relationship.  You can't very well go without hugging a friend, can you?  In
  fact, as you get closer to 100 in relationship points, you start losing the
  basic things, such as Talking, Telling Jokes, and Compliment.  Which means,
  that the only way to maintain good relations, is to Hug, Kiss, and Flirt.

  But how to avoid that thorn of jealousy?

    - First off, never EVER do your socializing outside where everyone can see
      you.  This does not include areas that are hidden behind a fence.  Sims
      can tend to wander the neighborhood, and what if the husband of the girl
      you are kissing wanders by?

    - Second, if you are having many people over, and you THINK that 2 of them
      may already be romantically "linked", then go into an unoccupied room, 
      and do a CALL OVER to get the right Sim in that room.  Bedrooms work 
      great for this.  Once the Sim is alone with you... well...

    - Third, try to avoid falling in love with 2 people who are already in 
      love.  These love triangles are just begging for trouble.  Even if you 
      aren't caught in the act, you might catch THEM in the act which is just 
      as bad.

  With just a little careful planning, your Sim can pretty much have it all!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3  Maintaining Relationships the Easy Way
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Every relationship your Sims have will naturally degrade by 2 points every
  day.  That means that no matter how in love with you they may be, they'll
  eventually fall out of it if you don't call them up for a visit.  Therefore
  before too long, they won't even be your Family Friend any more (although you
  will get a phone call reminding you to socialize with them before that 
  happens).

  So, obviously your Sim has to keep working on his current friends to keep 
  them as friends.  Now, you COULD just wait for that phone call to invite them 
  over, then wine, dine, dance, and kiss them; or you could call them over when 
  they are at about 70 relationship points.

  Once the Sim is over, talk to them once, compliment them once, then hug them
  until they hit 100, and then Ask them to Leave.  Once they're gone, find the
  next lowest relationship, and call that Sim over.  You can probably work on
  3 Sims a night, and 1 in the morning (call after 6:00 am, see 6.2.1 Early
  Morning Social Call).

    Note:  Maintaining a 70+ relationship is a lot easier than starting from 0
           and working your way up.  Therefore you need take less time doing 
           it.  And as such, I like to Ask them To Leave.  Why?  So you can 
           cleanly work on the next Sim.  You could just leave the first Sim 
           alone, but this works better without interference (see the last 
           section).


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.4  Sending your Sim Out of the House!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  So, you can't actually go to another Sim's house while playing as one Sim.
  But there is another way, you can simply go back to the Neighborhood screen
  (save first), and then play one of your neighbors, and have THEM call your
  first Sim.
  
  Red Phoenix sent me this:
  "You don't have to wait for your friends to come to you.  You can go to them.  
  Go to your neighborhood selector and choose another house.  Then call up the 
  Sim you are working on and invite him or her over.  Then, bombard the Sim 
  with social options.  This works great with large families.  The Sim you've 
  invited can interact with three or four other Sims and boost his relationship 
  rating.  An extra bonus to this technique is that it doesn't cost the Sim and 
  time or energy.  When you go back to the original Sim's house, no time will 
  have passed."
  
  Note:  You are NOT in control of your original Sim, you now control a 
         different family.  That means that you might not be able to even get 
         your first Sim to come over, and lord knows he might not get along 
         with these Sims.
      

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.5  Creating Friends the Old Fashioned Way  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Some jobs require a LOT of friends.  In fact, if you are playing your first
  family of Sims, your neighborhood will be rather sparse, and you will need to
  start new Families just so your first one has a few people to talk with.
  
  Red Phoenix sent me this:
  "If your Sim is in dire need of new friends, create a large family of new 
  Sims and move them onto a lot.  You don't have to worry about completely 
  outfitting a new house, or building any house at all.  Just give them a 
  phone.  Without a phone, you can't call the new Sims and invite them over."

  What this amounts to is creating a Family specifically to be used by a Sim
  who you like more.  Fun!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.6  How to Befriend SimKids
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  If you've ever tried befriending a Sim Kid, you may have noticed that as the
  night gets going, their parent will come and collect the kid.  This cuts the
  time short that you could use to befriend the kid. (you could just avoid this
  altogether by not HAVING any kids in the neighborhood, but where's the fun in
  that?)
  
  Red Phoenix sent me this:
  "Having good relationships with neighborhood kids can be tough for the 
  working adult due to narrow window of social time between school hours and 
  the eight o'clock curfew.  But there's a way around this.  If a kid is 
  visiting and the kid's parent comes over to collect the kid, ignore the 
  parent.  Don't answer the door and keep the kid occupied.  Eventually, the 
  parent will go away and you keep the kid well past midnight."
  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.7  Sim Personalities and Compatibilities
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  This section comes to us courtesy of Mike Fenton.

  Sims are described by a "zodiac" label that gives you an idea of their 
  SimFate.  Here's how they are numbered (in the tables below):

    1 "Aries"
    2 "Taurus"
    3 "Gemini"
    4 "Cancer"
    5 "Leo"
    6 "Virgo"
    7 "Libra"
    8 "Scorpio"
    9 "Sagittarius"
   10 "Capricorn"
   11 "Aquarius"
   12 "Pisces"


  Compatibility
  -------------

    Compatibility is a measure of how well Sims can socially interact. 
    Generally speaking, Sims that share similar traits tend to get along, as 
    long as they avoid competitive behaviors.

    Sims that have the exact same personality have similar interests, but 
    mutually-exclusive activities can cause problems. Sims who share too many 
    activities can crowd each other or become obstacles to each other.

    Sims that have exactly opposite personalities rarely share interests, so 
    their chances for interactions are minimal.

    Sims that are the most compatible tend to have the best ability to adapt 
    to give-and-take roles in their interactions.  For example, one tends to 
    prefer starting a conversation or leading a dance or telling a joke, and 
    the other prefers to be lead.


  Sims compatibility chart (++ most compatible, -- least compatible)
  ------------------------

          1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9  10  11  12
    -----------------------------------------------------------
    1         ++   ++   --             --
    2    ++             --        --   ++
    3    --                       ++                 --      ++
    -----------------------------------------------------------
    4    --   ++   --                       ++
    5              --   ++                       ++  --
    6         --             --                  ++      ++
    -----------------------------------------------------------
    7                   ++        ++        --               --
    8                        ++        --                --  ++
    9                                  --   --       ++      ++
    -----------------------------------------------------------
    10         ++   --        --                          ++
    11                             --        --   ++  ++
    12    --        ++        --             ++
    -----------------------------------------------------------


    Mutual compatibility or lack of compatibility is convenient in that it
    gives you an idea of how difficult a relationship is to maintain between 
    the Sims.  An Aries-Taurus relationship is easy, but a Taurus-Virgo 
    relationship is a bit of a challenge.

    Oppositely compatible is odd in that it gives you an ideal match one way
    that really stinks the other way.  For example, Aries is most compatible 
    with Gemini, but Gemini is least compatible with Aries.

    Mutually compatible:  Aries-Taurus, Gemini-Pisces, Scorpio-Pisces, 
    Capricorn-Aquarius.

    Mutually least compatible:  Aries-Cancer, Taurus-Virgo, Gemini-Capricorn,
    Leo-Capricorn, Libra-Scorpio, Scorpio-Aquarius.

    Oppositely compatible:  Aries-Gemini, Cancer-Taurus, Virgo-Aquarius.


  Default personality scores
  --------------------------

    There are over 8,800 combinations of scores that total 25 points. These are 
    the scores that appear if you just click the name of the sign.

           Neat  Outgoing  Active  Playful  Nice
      ------------------------------------------
      1      5       8        6       3       3
      2      5       5        3       8       4
      3      4       7        8       3       3
      ------------------------------------------
      4      6       3        6       4       6
      5      4      10        4       4       3
      6      9       2        6       3       5
      ------------------------------------------
      7      2       8        2       6       7
      8      6       5        8       3       3
      9      2       3        9       7       4
      ------------------------------------------
      10     7       4        1       8       5
      11     4       4        4       7       6
      12     5       3        7       3       7
      ------------------------------------------

  Sorted in order of social relevance (Outgoing, Playful):

           Neat  Outgoing  Active  Playful  Nice
      ------------------------------------------
      5      4      10        4       4       3
      7      2       8        2       6       7
      1      5       8        6       3       3
      ------------------------------------------
      3      4       7        8       3       3
      2      5       5        3       8       4
      8      6       5        8       3       3
      ------------------------------------------
      10     7       4        1       8       5
      11     4       4        4       7       6
      9      2       3        9       7       4
      ------------------------------------------
      4      6       3        6       4       6
      12     5       3        7       3       7
      6      9       2        6       3       5
      ------------------------------------------

  Personalities high on this list are the most rewarding but the most 
  demanding.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.8  Getting the Desired Interaction
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Most of the time, your Sims will just want to Talk, even though that isn't 
  the best thing in terms of getting a better relationship going.  In fact, 
  most the time you want your Sims doing things such as Hug, Joke, or Kiss to 
  get a good relationship in the quickest amount of time.
  
  But often (especially when you first meet someone) you won't get the same
  choice two times in a row.  For example, you talk to someone, then joke, but
  then the only option you get is to Talk again.
  
  Well, Jon Mars has a little trick about this:
  
    "One of the tactics that I have employed to increase the efficiency of my
    Sims' interaction with other Sims has been to simply queue up a bunch of
    behaviours then delete the alternate behaviours so that they will only
    actually complete the ones I want them to. Example: Queue Talk, Joke, Talk,
    Joke, Talk, Joke... then go and cancel all the Talks... the end result is
    that my sim will just Joke all the time (or whatever behaviour I desire
    them to do). Generally I just do this on the fly, but pausing the game may
    be easier for others to implement. If done properly you can raise a
    relationship from 0-100 in half the time."

 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Working (and Not)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  One Sim per household should definitely stay home.  Any others should then
  try to find a job.  To keep things interesting, I try to get each Sim on a
  different career track.  So one Sim may be on the Law Enforcement track, 
  while another takes the business track.

    Note:  The starting pay of each career track has nothing to do with the
           final pay.  The starting pay for the business track is low, but the
           final pay is high (§1200).  Politics starts out relatively well, but
           ends out somewhat low (§750).  A full list on these pays can be 
           found in the next section 6.1 Career Tracks below.

  I have already discussed the importance of why you leave someone home (to
  socialize with the neighbors, of course!), another good reason is that when
  you first start out, you really don't need the money that badly.  As long as
  all your needs are met, your expenses will be low.  You have a §40 per day
  bill on food (assuming you do a "serve breakfast" and "serve dinner") and
  likely around §200 to §300 in bills every 3 days.  Most jobs start out around
  §200 a day, and you should be able to get quickly promoted to around §300 or
  so before the bills come.  So money won't be crucial.

  Depending on the job you take, you'll need to increase your "stats".  Things
  such as Creativity, Body, Logic, etc. are needed to advance past the most
  entry level jobs.  And some jobs don't require some stats, researchers don't
  need to develop their body, and so forth.  To find out how much stat 
  increases you need to get the next promotion, click on the Jobs button.  The 
  first few skill points are relatively easy to get, a short time studying will 
  get you your first cooking point, for example.  But the later stat points may 
  take a LOT longer.

  SimSkills:

    Your Sim has 6 Skills that may need improving to get a job.  These are:

      Cooking -- Study Cooking at a bookshelf to improve.  Useful to prevent
                 kitchen catastrophes, and many jobs require at least 1 point
                 for the higher levels.

      Mechanical -- Study Mechanical on a bookshelf to improve.  Useful in that
                 now your own Sims can repair broken items rather than that
                 expensive repairman.  Most useful in the military and 
                 scientist career tracks.

      Logic --   Play Chess on a chess set, you can do this alone or with 
                 others to also improve your social skills.  Logic doesn't help 
                 you out around the house, however.  Used in the scientist 
                 career track, although most career tracks require a little bit 
                 of logic.  With Livin' Large I prefer to get my Logic through
                 the Chemistry Set, after making the potion, you can drink your
                 reward.

      Charisma -- Practice a Speech in front of any available mirror.  No
                 practical use around the house.  Used in the Entertainment and
                 Political career tracks mostly, but again, most career paths 
                 need some Charisma.

      Body --    Work out on that exercise machine to improve.  You can also
                 try swimming, but this never worked for me.  Used in the
                 military and law enforcement tracks, but most require at least
                 one point here.  Also you can Swim in the pool for Body, but
                 it takes 4x as long in the pool as on the Machine.

      Creativity -- Play the Piano or Paint a Picture (which can then be sold,
                 starting out at a mere §5, but eventually going up to §166,
                 also at that point your Sim will actually LOSE Fun by 
                 painting!) to become more creative.

    Note:  When the Carpool arrives, your Sim will automatically add the "Go to
           Work" item to his or her queue of things to do.  However, in many
           cases, this Sim will not cancel what they are currently doing (at
           least until they "finish" doing it), so you may need to cancel that
           thing for them so they get to work on time.  You have until an hour
           after the Carpool shows up to get inside the car to get to work on
           time.

  There are 3 things need to get a promotion at work.  One, is to make sure you
  have all the right stats at the right levels; two, is to make sure that you
  have enough family friends; and lastly you have to be in a good Mood to get
  a promotion.  Happy Sims are productive Sims.  Again, everything you'll need
  to know about this can be found in the Jobs button.  It also has a 
  description of how well you are working (bad, average, good, excellent) which 
  is based on your Sims' mood.  Below that will be how many Family Friends you 
  need (if it isn't there, then you have already met that requirement!), and to 
  the right are all the stats.

    Note:  You can sometimes miss one day of work, but missing two in a row is 
           a guaranteed firing.  You can miss alternating days of work, but you
           will miss out on a lot of money that way.  Also, the night shift
           tends to be more strict about missing shifts, and may fire you on 
           the first missed shift.

    Tip:  If you need a lot of friends for a promotion (the politics career
          track especially), then create an 8 person family, and wait for your
          Stay at home Sim to come over to socialize.  Get each of the 8 to
          talk to this Sim at least once, then go back to your original Sims.
          Now you have a lot of people that you can call up!


    a. Quitting

       So, that new career as a Scientist just isn't working out.  Or maybe, 
       you just want to try out something else.  Well there are several ways to 
       quit your job.  As we saw in the above note, you can just stop showing 
       up to work.  They'll get the hint.  Or you can just check the paper and 
       take the job from there (it will warn you that doing so will get rid of 
       your first job).

         Warning:  If two Sims are sharing a carpool, and one of them gets a
                   new job at a different time, then that carpool won't show up
                   for EITHER person!

       I would also assume that if you did your job very poorly, or got caught
       doing something really bad at work (see "Job Events" below), you may 
       also get fired.

       How you quit depends on your goal from it.  If you just want to stay at
       home and be lazy, then by all means, just skip work.  If you really are
       tired of your career path (maybe you'd rather be an actor), then just
       take that waiter job.

         Note:  Whenever taking a different job, you always start out at the
                lowest rung on the ladder.  So don't just quit to see what the
                other jobs are like.  That's very inefficient.

                Although, if your Skills are high enough, jumping to a new
                career may be quite profitable!  (see Section 6.3 Quitting for
                Fun and Profit)

    b. Job Events

       Every once in awhile, a major event will happen to your Sim at his or 
       her job.  These events are quite random as to when they happen, and they 
       only happen once.  These are usually just little things like, "Taking a 
       Bribe" or "Scandal".  They will often give you a choice, which amounts 
       to doing the right or wrong thing, and if you do the wrong thing you can 
       get caught.

       Some other job events are less good vs. evil, such as the actor in the
       remake.

       In any event, these Events have 2 outcomes, a good one (whatever it
       was succeeded perfectly) and the bad one (it failed miserably), and
       depending on the severity of the choice, you get rewarded or punished.
       Some punishments are rather severe (your family leaves you) or just
       annoying (a fine, or loss of stats).  But the rewards may be worth the
       risks...

       There is another type of random job event, and that is the Job Swap,
       where you are fired from your Level 10 job and given a Level 6 (or so)
       Job in another Career.

       Mark H. Dove sent me this about it:

         Here it is. I reached the top of the career ladder with my guy, he
         became a General, and I was very satisfied about that result, then, 
         once all of a sudden one day when he came back from work I got a 
         message about a random event that was about something like: "Military 
         downsizing:  You've been fired due to excess personnel in the base, 
         but because of your high ranking postion and your knowing of military
         strategies you easily find a job as a Swat Team Leader".  So my 
         military career (level 10) automatically changed (and I had no way to 
         choose if to accept it or not) to the Law Enforcement Career (Level 
         6).  It also happened to me other times from Level 10 Business Tycoon 
         to Level 6 Politcian, from Level 10 Law Enforcment to Level 6
         Entertainment.

         But remember it does happen JUST if you reached the top of the career
         ladder.

       This may actually end out good in the end, as some careers have much
       better final pay, which you can see in the Job Chart in the next 
       section.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.1 The Jobs Chart
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Note:  When I say "To Get Promoted" that is what you must work on to get to
         the next job level.  So in Politics at the Intern Level it says that
         you need "+2 Charisma", that is you need that much of that stat to
         get to the next level, Lobbyist.

    Career                         Hours               Wage   To Get Promoted

    Politics:
               Campaign Worker    9:00 am - 6:00 pm    §220      --
               Intern             9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §300    +2 Charisma
               Lobbyist           9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §360    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               2 Family Friend
               Campaign Manager   9:00 am - 6:00 pm    §430    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               4 Family Friend
               City Council Mem.  9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §485    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               6 Family Friend
               State Assembly     9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §540    +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               9 Family Friend
               Congressperson     9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §600    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               11 Family Friend
               Judge              9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §650    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               14 Family Friend
               Senator            9:00 am - 6:00 pm    §700    +3 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               17 Family Friend
               Mayor              9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §750      --

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 0
                             Mechanical -- 0
                             Charisma   -- 9
                             Body       -- 5
                             Logic      -- 7
                             Creativity -- 5

    Entertainment:
               Waitress           9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §100      --
               Extra              9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §150    +2 Charisma
               Bit Player         9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §200    +2 Body
                                                               2 Family Friends
               Stunt Double       9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §275    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               4 Family Friends
               B-Movie Star       10:00 am - 5:00 pm   §375    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               6 Family Friends
               Supporting Player  10:00 am - 6:00 pm   §500    +2 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               8 Family Friends
               TV Star            10:00 am - 6:00 pm   §650    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               10 Family Friend
               Feature Star       5:00 pm - 1:00 am    §900    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +3 Creativity
                                                               12 Family Friend
               Broadway Star      10:00 am - 5:00 pm   §1100   +2 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +3 Creativity
                                                               14 Family Friend
               Superstar          10:00 am - 3:00 pm   §1400     --

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 0
                             Mechanical -- 2
                             Charisma   -- 10
                             Body       -- 8
                             Logic      -- 0
                             Creativity -- 10

    Law Enforcement:
               Security Guard     12:00 am - 6:00 am   §240      --
               Cadet              9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §320    +2 Body
               Patrol Officer     5:00 pm - 1:00 am    §380    +2 Mechanical
                                                               1 Family Friend
               Desk Sergeant      9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §440    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Body
                                                               2 Family Friends
               Vice Squad         10:00 pm - 4:00 am   §490    +1 Cooking
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               4 Family Friends
               Detective          9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §540    +1 Charisma
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               6 Family Friends
               Lieutenant         9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §590    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               8 Family Friends
               SWAT Team Leader   9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §625    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +2 Creativity
                                                               10 Family Friend
               Police Chief       9:00 am - 5:00 pm    §650    +2 Charisma
                                                               +3 Logic
                                                               +2 Creativity
                                                               12 Family Friend
               Captain Hero       10:00 am - 4:00 pm   §700      --

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 1
                             Mechanical -- 4
                             Charisma   -- 6
                             Body       -- 7
                             Logic      -- 10
                             Creativity -- 5

    Business:                                                
               Mail Room          9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §120      --
               Executive Asst.    9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §180    +2 Mechanical
               Field Sales Rep.   9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §250    +2 Charisma
                                                               1 Family Friend
               Junior Executive   9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §320    +2 Logic
                                                               3 Family Friends
               Executive          9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §400    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +2 Creativity
                                                               6 Family Friends
               Senior Manager     9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §520    +1 Charisma
                                                               +2 Body
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               8 Family Friends
               Vice President     9:00 am - 5:00 pm    §660    +1 Charisma
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               10 Family Friend
               President          9:00 am - 5:00 pm    §800    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +2 Creativity
                                                               12 Family Friend
               CEO                9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §950    +2 Charisma
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               14 Family Friend
               Business Tycoon    9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §1200     --

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 0
                             Mechanical -- 2
                             Charisma   -- 8
                             Body       -- 2
                             Logic      -- 9
                             Creativity -- 6

    Life of Crime:
               Pickpocket         9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §140      --
               Bagman             11:00 pm - 7:00 am   §200    +2 Body
               Bookie             12:00 pm - 7:00 pm   §275    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               2 Family Friends
               Con Artist         9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §350    +2 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               3 Family Friends
               Getaway Driver     5:00 pm - 1:00 am    §425    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               4 Family Friends
               Bank Robber        3:00 pm - 11:00 pm   §530    +1 Cooking
                                                               +2 Body
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               6 Family Friends
               Cat Burglar        9:00 pm - 3:00 am    §640    +2 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +2 Creativity
                                                               8 Family Friends
               Counterfeiter      9:00 pm - 3:00 am    §760    +3 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               10 Family Friend
               Smuggler           9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §900    +1 Cooking
                                                               +2 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +2 Creativity
                                                               12 Family Friend
               Criminal           6:00 pm - 12:00 am   §1100     --
                Mastermind

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 2
                             Mechanical -- 5
                             Charisma   -- 7
                             Body       -- 6
                             Logic      -- 4
                             Creativity -- 8

    Medicine:
               Medical Technician 9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §200      --
               Paramedic          11:00 pm - 5:00 am   §275    +2 Mechanical
               Nurse              9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §340    +2 Body
                                                               2 Family Friends
               Intern             9:00 am - 6:00 pm    §410    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               3 Family Friends
               Resident           9:00 pm - 4:00 am    §480    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               4 Family Friends
               GP                 10:00 am - 6:00 pm   §550    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               5 Family Friends
               Specialist         10:00 pm - 4:00 am   §625    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               7 Family Friends
               Surgeon            10:00 pm - 4:00 am   §700    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               9 Family Friends
               Medical Researcher 9:00 pm - 4:00 am    §775    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               11 Family Friend
               Chief of Hospital  9:00 pm - 4:00 am    §850      --

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 0
                             Mechanical -- 6
                             Charisma   -- 6
                             Body       -- 7
                             Logic      -- 9
                             Creativity -- 4


    Military:
               Recruit            6:00 am - 12:00 pm   §250      --
               Elite Forces       7:00 am - 1:00 pm    §325    +2 Body
               Drill Instructor   8:00 am - 2:00 pm    §350    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Charisma
               Junior Officer     9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §450    +1 Cooking
                                                               +2 Body
               Counter-Intell.    9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §500    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               1 Family Friend
               Flight Officer     9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §550    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               3 Family Friends
               Senior Officer     9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §580    +3 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               5 Family Friends
               Commander          9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §600    +3 Mechanical
                                                               +3 Body
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               6 Family Friends
               Astronaut          9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §625    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Charisma
                                                               +2 Body
                                                               +3 Logic
                                                               8 Family Friends
               General            9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §650      --

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 1
                             Mechanical -- 10
                             Charisma   -- 7
                             Body       -- 10
                             Logic      -- 9
                             Creativity -- 0

    Pro Athlete:
               Team Mascot        12:00 pm - 6:00 pm   §110      --
               Minor Leaguer      9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §170    +2 Body
               Rookie             9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §230    +3 Body
                                                               1 Family Friend
               Starter            9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §300    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               3 Family Friends
               All-Star           9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §385    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               5 Family Friends
               MVP                9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §510    +1 Cooking
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               7 Family Friends
               Superstar          9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §680    +1 Cooking
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               9 Family Friends
               Assistant Coach    9:00 am - 2:00 pm    §850    +1 Cooking
                                                               +2 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               11 Family Friend
               Coach              9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §1000   +1 Cooking
                                                               +3 Charisma
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               13 Family Friend
               Hall of Famer      9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §1300     --

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 4
                             Mechanical -- 2
                             Charisma   -- 9
                             Body       -- 10
                             Logic      -- 0
                             Creativity -- 3


    Science:
               Test Subject       9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §155      --
               Lab Assistant      11:00 pm - 5:00 am   §230    +2 Logic
               Field Researcher   9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §320    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               1 Family Friend
               Science Teacher    9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §375    +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               3 Family Friends
               Project Leader     9:00 am - 5:00 pm    §450    +2 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Creativity
                                                               4 Family Friends
               Inventor           10:00 am - 7:00 pm   §540    +2 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               5 Family Friends
               Scholar            10:00 am - 3:00 pm   §640    +1 Cooking
                                                               +2 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               7 Family Friends
               Top Secret         10:00 am - 3:00 pm   §740    +1 Mechanical
                Researcher                                     +2 Logic
                                                               +3 Creativity
                                                               8 Family Friends
               Theorist           10:00 am - 2:00 pm   §870    +1 Cooking
                                                               +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +3 Creativity
                                                               10 Family Friend
               Mad Scientist      10:00 am - 2:00 pm   §1000     --

               Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 2
                             Mechanical -- 8
                             Charisma   -- 5
                             Body       -- 0
                             Logic      -- 10
                             Creativity -- 10

    Xtreme:
                Daredevil         9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §175      --
                Bungee Jump Inst. 9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §250    +2 Body
                                                               1 Family Friend
                Whitewater Guide  9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §325    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Body
                                                               2 Family Friends
                Xtreme Circuit    9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §400    +1 Cooking
                 Pro                                           +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               3 Family Friends
                Bush Pilot        9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §475    +2 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Body
                                                               4 Family Friends
                Mountain Climber  9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §550    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +2 Charisma
                                                               +3 Creativity
                                                               5 Family Friends
                Photo-Journalist  9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §650    +1 Mechanical
                                                               +1 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +1 Creativity
                                                               7 Family Friends
                Treasure Hunter   10:00 am - 5:00 pm   §725    +2 Charisma
                                                               +2 Logic
                                                               +3 Creativity
                                                               9 Family Friends
                Grand Prix Driver 10:00 am - 4:00 pm   §825    +1 Cooking
                                                               +3 Charisma
                                                               +1 Body
                                                               +1 Logic
                                                               +2 Creativity
                                                               11 Family Friend
                International Spy 11:00 am - 5:00 pm   §925      --

                Final Stats:  Cooking    -- 2
                              Mechanical -- 6
                              Charisma   -- 8
                              Body       -- 8
                              Logic      -- 6
                              Creativity -- 9


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.1.1  Livin' Large Careers (Livin' Large ONLY)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  This list isn't finished yet.  As it stands, only the Paranormal career is
  filled in.  All the others are started, but it will take some time to
  complete this chart.  When it is completed, I will also add the appropriate
  information to the next section (Alternate Job Charts) as well.

  Hacker Career:
                Beta Tester       9:00 am - 5:00 pm    §120        --
                Support Tech      8:00 am - 4:00 pm    §150     +2 Mechanical
                Web Master        6:00 pm - 2:00 am    §200     +1 Mechanical
                                                                +2 Logic
                Hacker           12:00 am - 9:00 am    §240     +1 Mechanical
                                                                +2 Logic
                                                                2 Friends
                Security         10:00 am - 7:00 pm    §400     +4 Creativity
                 Consultant                                     3 Friends
                Game Designer     2:00 pm - 11:00 pm   §610     +2 Charisma
                                                                +1 Logic
                                                                +2 Creativity
                                                                5 Friends
                Internet         10:00 am - 8:00 pm    §800     +2 Charisma
                 Entrepreneur                                   +2 Logic
                                                                +1 Creativity
                                                                6 Friends
                Software CEO     10:00 am - 7:00 pm   §1100     +1 Mechanical
                                                                +2 Charisma
                                                                +1 Logic
                                                                +2 Creativity
                                                                8 Friends
                Venture          11:00 am - 8:00 pm   §1300     +2 Mechanical
                 Capitalist                                     +2 Charisma
                                                                +2 Logic
                                                                +1 Creativity
                                                                8 Friends
                Information      11:00 am - 8:00 pm   §1550        --
                 Overlord

                Final Stats:  Cooking    --  0
                              Mechanical --  7
                              Charisma   --  8
                              Body       --  0
                              Logic      -- 10
                              Creativity -- 10


  Paranormal Career:
                Psychic Friend    6:00 pm - 12:00 am   §100        --
                Conspiracy       11:00 pm - 5:00 am    §130     +1 Charisma
                 Theorist                                       +2 Creativity
                Tarot Card Reader 5:00 pm - 11:00 pm   §200     +1 Charisma
                                                                +2 Logic
                                                                1 Friend
                Hypnotist        10:00 am - 4:00 pm    §300     +1 Logic
                                                                3 Friends
                Medium            8:00 pm - 2:00 am    §375     +1 Charisma
                                                                +1 Body
                                                                +1 Logic
                                                                5 Friends
                Douser            6:00 am - 3:00 pm    §480     +1 Mechanical
                                                                +2 Charisma
                                                                +1 Logic
                                                                +1 Creativity
                                                                6 Friends
                Police Psychic    6:00 pm - 2:00 am    §600     +1 Charisma
                                                                +2 Logic
                                                                +1 Creativity
                                                                10 Friends
                UFO Investigator 11:00 pm - 6:00 am    §810     +2 Charisma
                                                                +1 Creativity
                                                                13 Friends
                Exorcist         10:00 am - 3:00 pm   §1000     +1 Mechanical
                                                                +2 Charisma
                                                                +1 Body
                                                                +2 Logic
                                                                +2 Creativity
                                                                17 Friends
                Cult Leader      10:00 am - 4:00 pm   §1200        --

                Final Stats:  Cooking    --  0
                              Mechanical --  2
                              Charisma   -- 10
                              Body       --  2
                              Logic      --  9
                              Creativity --  7

  Musician:
                Subway Musician   3:00 pm - 8:00 pm    § 90        --
                Piano Tuner       9:00 am - 4:00 pm    §120     +2 Creativity
                Wedding Singer    9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §190     +3 Creativity
                                                                2 Friends
                Lounge Singer     8:00 pm - 4:00 am    §250     +2 Mechanical
                                                                +1 Creativity
                High School Band  7:00 pm - 2:00 am    §320     +3 Mechanical
                 Teacher                                        +1 Creativity
                                                                5 Friends
                Roadie           11:00 am - 8:00 pm    §400     +4 Body
                                                                +1 Creativity
                                                                8 Friends
                Backup Musician  12:00 pm - 9:00 pm    §550     +2 Charisma
                                                                +1 Body
                                                                +2 Creativity
                                                                9 Friends
                Studio Musician  11:00 am - 6:00 pm    §700     +5 Charisma
                                                                +2 Body
                                                                12 Friends
                Rock Star         5:00 pm - 2:00 am   §1100     +3 Charisma
                                                                +1 Body
                                                                +4 Logic
                                                                15 Friends
                Celebrity        10:00 am - 3:00 pm   §1400        --
                 Activist

                Final Stats:  Cooking    --  0
                              Mechanical --  5
                              Charisma   -- 10
                              Body       --  8
                              Logic      --  4
                              Creativity -- 10


  Journalism:
                Typesetter        4:00 am - 12:00 pm   §120        --
                Game Reviewer    11:00 am -  6:00 pm   §200     +2 Creativity
                                                                1 Friend
                Tabloid Writer    9:00 am -  3:00 pm   §230     +2 Charisma
                                                                2 Friends
                Papparazzi        5:00 pm -  1:00 am   §340     +2 Logic
                                                                +2 Creativity
                                                                2 Friends
                Newspaper         3:00 am - 10:00 am   §420     +1 Charisma
                 Reporter                                       +1 Body
                                                                +1 Logic
                                                                +1 Creativity
                                                                4 Friends
                Meteorologist     5:00 am -  1:00 pm   §510     +3 Charisma
                                                                +1 Body
                                                                6 Friends
                TV Reporter      12:00 pm -  8:00 pm   §660     +2 Charisma
                                                                +1 Logic
                                                                9 Friends
                Investigative    10:00 am -  5:00 pm   §850     +1 Charisma
                 Reporter                                       +3 Body
                                                                +1 Logic
                                                                +1 Creativity
                                                                11 Friends
                National News    11:00 am -  8:00 pm   §975     +1 Charisma
                 Anchor                                         +3 Logic
                                                                +2 Creativity
                                                                14 Friends
                Talk Show Host   11:00 am -  5:00 pm  §1200        --

                Final Stats:  Cooking    --  0
                              Mechanical --  0
                              Charisma   -- 10
                              Body       --  5
                              Logic      --  8
                              Creativity --  8

  Slacker:
                Golf Caddy        5:00 am - 10:00 am   § 90        --
                Convenience      10:00 pm -  3:00 am   §110     +2 Body
                 Store Clerk                                    1 Friend
                Life Guard        9:00 am - 3:00 pm    §150     +2 Charisma
                                                                2 Friends
                Record Store     12:00 pm - 5:00 pm    §180     +2 Charisma
                 Clerk                                          4 Friends
                Party D.J.       11:00 pm - 4:00 am    §220     +3 Mechanical
                                                                6 Friends
                Projectionist     6:00 pm - 1:00 am    §280     +2 Mechanical
                                                                7 Friends
                Video Editor     12:00 pm - 6:00 pm    §350     +3 Charisma
                                                                +1 Body
                                                                10 Friends
                Freelance        12:00 pm - 5:00 pm    §400     +1 Charisma
                 Photographer                                   +3 Body
                                                                12 Friends
                Personal Tour     2:00 pm - 7:00 pm    §450     +2 Charisma
                 Guide                                          +3 Body
                                                                15 Friends
                Professional     10:00 pm - 2:00 am    §600        --
                 Party Guest

                Final Stats:  Cooking    --  0
                              Mechanical --  5
                              Charisma   -- 10
                              Body       --  9
                              Logic      --  0
                              Creativity --  0


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.1.2  Alternate Job Charts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  I realize that the above chart isn't the most user friendly of charts 
  (although it looks fine to me) and I realize that it does have an annoying
  flaw in it.  So here are some Different Styles of charts that contain roughly
  the same information.

  Most of these charts compare all the jobs, rather than show you all the
  information for a particular career path. (since that information can be 
  found in the previous section)

  The Money Chart Comparison:  (allows you to simply compare Pay of each job at
                               each level, Sorted by Final Pay)

                               a * indicates that this is a Livin' Large career

                                         Career Level
    Career      |    1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9      10
    ----------- |  ------------------------------------------------------------
    *Hacker     |  §120  §150  §200  §240  §400  §610  §800 §1100  §1300  §1550
    Entertainer |  §100  §150  §200  §275  §375  §500  §650  §900  §1100  §1400
    *Musician   |   §90  §120  §190  §250  §320  §400  §550  §700  §100   §1400
    Athlete     |  §110  §170  §230  §300  §385  §510  §680  §850  §1000  §1300
    Business    |  §120  §180  §250  §320  §400  §520  §660  §800   §950  §1200
    *Journalist |  §120  §200  §230  §340  §420  §510  §660  §850   §975  §1200
    *Paranormal |  §100  §130  §200  §300  §375  §480  §600  §810  §1000  §1200
    Crime       |  §140  §200  §275  §350  §425  §530  §640  §760   §900  §1100
    Science     |  §155  §230  §320  §375  §450  §540  §640  §740   §870  §1000
    XTreme      |  §175  §250  §325  §400  §475  §550  §650  §725   §825   §925
    Medicine    |  §200  §275  §340  §410  §480  §550  §640  §700   §775   §850
    Politics    |  §220  §300  §360  §430  §485  §540  §600  §650   §700   §750
    Law Enf.    |  §240  §320  §380  §440  §490  §540  §590  §625   §650   §700
    Military    |  §250  §325  §350  §450  §500  §550  §580  §600   §625   §650
    *Slacker    |   §90  §120  §150  §180  §220  §280  §350  §400   §450   §600


  Hours Worked Per Day Chart Comparison: (shows the number of hours that your
                                         Sim will work at each level per day,
                                         sorted from lowest final to highest)

                                          Career Level
     Career      |    1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9     10
     ----------- |  -----------------------------------------------------------
     Science     |    6     6     6     7     8     9     5     5     4      4
     *Slacker    |    7     5     6     5     5     7     6     5     5      4
     Entertainer |    6     6     6     7     7     8     8     8     7      5
     *Musician   |    5     7     6     8     7     9     9     7     9      5
     *Paranormal |    6     6     6     6     6     9     8     7     5      6
     Athlete     |    6     6     6     6     6     6     7     5     6      6
     *Journalist |    8     7     6     8     7     8     8     7     9      6
     Business    |    6     7     7     7     7     7     8     8     7      6
     Crime       |    6     8     7     6     8     8     6     6     6      6
     XTreme      |    6     6     6     7     6     6     6     7     6      6
     Politics    |    9     6     6     9     6     7     6     6     9      6
     Law Enf.    |    6     6     8     6     6     6     6     6     8      6
     Military    |    6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6     6      6
     Medicine    |    6     6     6     9     7     8     6     6     7      7
     *Hacker     |    8     8     8     9     9     9    10     9     9      9


  Hourly Wage:  (this is for the 10th level only!  Sorted from best hourly wage 
                to the lowest hourly wage)


     Career      |     Final Wage          Final Hours       Final Hourly Wage
     ----------- |  -----------------------------------------------------------
     Entertainer |       §1400                 5                 §280 / hr.
     *Musician   |       §1400                 5                 §280 / hr.
     Science     |       §1000                 4                 §250 / hr.
     Athlete     |       §1300                 6                 §217 / hr.
     *Paranormal |       §1200                 6                 §200 / hr.
     Business    |       §1200                 6                 §200 / hr.
     *Journalist |       §1200                 6                 §200 / hr.
     Crime       |       §1100                 6                 §183 / hr.
     *Hacker     |       §1550                 9                 §172 / hr.
     XTreme      |        §925                 6                 §154 / hr.
     *Slacker    |        §600                 4                 §150 / hr.
     Politics    |        §750                 6                 §125 / hr.
     Medicine    |        §850                 7                 §121 / hr.
     Law Enf.    |        §700                 6                 §117 / hr.
     Military    |        §650                 6                 §108 / hr.

     Note:  This is just another way of deciding which job ends out being the
            best.  You can see that Science and Entertainer are incredibly
            good, Science being only 4 hours a day (from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm) 
            and Entertainer bringing in the most total money.
            
            
  Final Stats:  (this is for the 10th level only!  Sorted from the Career that
                requires the least stats, to the one with the most)
                
                
     Career      | Cook   Mech   Char   Body   Logic   Create   Friend   Totals
     ------------|-------------------------------------------------------------
     *Slacker    |    0      5     10      9       0       0       15   =   39
     Athlete     |    4      2      9     10       0       3       13   =   41
     Business    |    0      2      8      2       9       6       14   =   41
     *Hacker     |    0      7      8      0      10      10        8   =   43
     Politics    |    0      0      9      5       7       5       17   =   43
     Medicine    |    0      6      6      7       9       4       11   =   43
     Crime       |    2      5      7      6       4       8       12   =   44
     Entertainer |    0      2     10      8       0      10       14   =   44
     Law Enf.    |    1      4      6      7      10       5       12   =   45
     Military    |    1     10      7     10       9       0        8   =   45
     Science     |    2      8      5      0      10      10       10   =   45
     *Journalist |    0      0     10      5       8       8       14   =   45
     *Paranormal |    0      2     10      2       9       7       17   =   49
     XTreme      |    2      6      8      8       6       9       11   =   50
     *Musician   |    0      5     10      8       4      10       15   =   52

     Note:  The lower the total here, the better, as that means that it takes
            less time to get to the 10th level in that Career.

  Marcel VanDalfsen has a few charts of his own:

    When I was looking through the alternate job charts (sec 6.1.2),
    specifically at the final skills chart, I realized another way of
    sorting the data.  ->  the amount of time to build those skills.
    This does not depend linearly on the skill levels! (eg. it is
    quicker to build four skills to lvl 3, than to build two skills
    to lvl 5).

    The amount of time it takes to build any particular skill is:
        T = 0.5*(n)*(n+1)     [with T in sim-hours]
    that is:
         skill  time       skill  time      skill  time
           0      0          4     10         8     36
           1      1          5     15         9     45
           2      3          6     21        10     55
           3      6          7     28

    These numbers of course don't take into account trait/skill
    accelerators (eg. outgoing -> charisma)

    So, if the level 10 careers are then sorted by this category
    (excluding friends category of course) in order of # of sims-hours
    to build those skills:
      Politics     :  103
      Business     :  108
      Crime        :  113
      *Slacker     :  115
      Athlete      :  119
      Medicine     :  125
      Law Enf.     :  130
      *Paranormal  :  134
      *Journalist  :  142
      Entertain.   :  149
      Xtreme       :  162
      Science      :  164
      *Musician    :  171
      *Hacker      :  174
      Military     :  184


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.2  Abusing the Carpool
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  If you have an alarm, it will go off 2 hours before the Carpool is going to
  arrives to pick you up.  The carpool itself arrives an hour before your shift
  at work is actually set to begin.  This is a fact that we can abuse!

  You don't need to get into the carpool until it is just about ready to leave.
  In fact, if you are even on your way just before your shift begins, the 
  carpool will wait for you!  So, if you get into the carpool the second it
  arrives, you are essentially losing ONE WHOLE HOUR of time that you could
  be spending doing something constructive, like eating, or playing chess to
  get that last logic point for that promotion.

  In other words, don't leave for work until the last possible moment!

  This gives you essentially 3 hours between when the alarm gets you up, and
  when you get to work.  It also makes my earlier idea of not using an alarm
  clock a little more realistic.  Even if you get up a little late, you'll 
  still have time to use the toilet, shower, and probably eat as well.  Then 
  spend the rest of the time fulfilling other needs (such as Fun and Comfort by 
  watching TV) or by building Skills.  Or do both and play Chess.

  GamemaniaX sent me this:
  
    "EXPANDED CARPOOL ABUSE (BUG?!)
    I think this bug is similar to the carpool bug written in your faqs. I got 
    2 sims.  SimA got an 9:00 AM carpool and SimB  got an 10:00 AM carpool. I 
    was busy working on SimA with his hunger and bath. When I finished all 
    that, I realized  that SimA is already late  for work (10:03)! The funny 
    thing is, the car still didn't move a bit! Probably the 10:00 AM
    carpool is "stacking" into the 9:00 AM carpool. Stragely enough, I put SimA 
    into the car.  It works!  Yet the car still isn't moving. I began working
    on SimB and put her into the car to work. And, finally the car take both
    Sims to work! This is excellent considering that SimA now got an extra 1 
    hour to fiddle with before going to work!

    "The side effects I noticed from this bug is that it effects your Sims work 
    performace. Even though I got level 4 mood, the game still stated that I 
    only got an average performace for my work. Probably because the game 
    thought that the Sims didn't go to work since he already missed the
    carpool. Also, I didn't got promoted even I have fulfilled all necessary 
    requirements for promotion. HOWEVER, this can be  neutralized if 
    you take your "late" Sims to work ON TIME the next following day."

  broadstrong had this to add:

    Note:  When the "stacking of carpools" occurs, the carpool for the later 
           time (10AM) will not come, maybe because the earlier (9AM) carpool 
           had not left!  So the player MUST direct the Sims (in the later 
           carpool) to work.  However, for this stacking to work, at least one 
           person for the earlier carpool must get in before the time is up.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.2.1  Early Morning Social Call (while Abusing the Carpool no less!)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Some of the other Sims have jobs, just like your current Sims do.  You
  probably know what these jobs are, as you probably gave them to these other
  Sims.  Well, during the day they are probably at work, so if you were to call
  them, you would get the Machine telling you that they are at work.  The usual
  solution to this problem is to simply call them after they get off work.

  But another idea is to call them as soon as you get up.

  The brilliance of this idea is even more evident when playing as a bachelor.
  Your Sim gets up in the morning, goes to work, then has a little bit of time
  to socialize, gain skills, and keep up with his own needs.  Well, what we CAN
  do is to help him out by starting socializing in the morning.  He gets up,
  calls someone, then continues getting ready.  He Greets the guest Sim, then
  Serves Breakfast.  While they are both eating, then both socialize.  After
  eating your Sim could watch TV with the other Sim, or maybe they could just
  talk.

  Since we have about 3 hours to work with (due to the last strategy, Abuse the
  Carpool), your Sim have plenty of time to improve his relationships!

  broadstrong had this idea:

    My Sim has a 8 AM carpool.  On one day, the family invited a guest (whom I 
    know has a 9 AM carpool) over.  Well he was at the doorstep before 9 AM.  
    Now the funny thing --  The time was already 9.03AM, but the 8 AM carpool 
    is still there!  Probably it "noticed" the guest with the 9 AM carpool and
    "decided" to wait for him to get in.  With this trick, my Sim has one more 
    hour to catch the carpool!  This is another reason to invite guests over 
    early in the morning.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.3  Quitting for Fun and Profit
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Here's a neat little idea to try if you are sick of your job.  Assuming that
  you have fairly high skills, your Sim would find it pretty easy to jump up a
  new career ladder, right?  And at each promotion level your Sim is given a
  Promotion Bonus which is equal to 2x the time of the salary that they are
  being promoted to.  That is key.
  
  So say, your Sim, Bob, is a Superstar in the Entertainment track.  There is 
  no hope for him to ever get promoted since he is at the Apex of his career.
  Well why not start over?  Since Bob already has a lot of stats from getting 
  this high in the first place, he will JUMP rather quickly up several other
  career ladders!
  
  Ideally if you could get him back into Entertainment, he would rise very 
  quickly.
  
  And at every single promotion you get your Promotion Bonus.  And if you chose
  a new Career wisely (similar stats), you could get promoted EVERY DAY.  Quite
  the bonus!
  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.3.1  Job Hopping Analysis
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This entire section is from Andrew Harms.

  After reading the bit in your FAQ about "job hopping", I decided to find out
  exactly how much you benefit from it. (as well as some other misc. stats)
  I created a spreadsheet and got data for going from lvl 1-8 and 1-10, as
  well as allowing you to specify how often you get promoted.

  How often you can get promoted turns out to be the most important factor. In
  the Military track, if you get promoted every day, you more than triple your
  earnings if you go all the way to lvl 10. ( for a daily avg of 1952.00 ) If
  you only get promoted every other day, the benefits are significantly less.
  The most realistic timeframe is probably 2 promotions every 3 days.
  
  Given the 2/3 promotion rate:
  Military benefits the most (not quite double), and Entertainment actually
  loses 80 per day. (for lvl 10)
  
  For the most part, the higher the lvl 10 pay is, the less you gain.

  These charts show the number of friends required for lvl 8 and 10 of each
  career, the average daily pay for lvl 8 and 10, and the benefit recived for
  restarting the career as opposed to just staying at lvl 8 or lvl 10. The
  second column in the daily average shows how much you earn per friend that
  you must maintain.

1 day avg pay
 ( 3(sum of lvl 1-Y pay) + ((sum of lvl 1-Y pay)/Y)(((days for promotion)-1)*Y)
=
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Y*(days for promotion)


promoted 1 out of 2 days                                              Career
                 # friends     1 day avg 8       1 day avg 10        Benefit
        
            lvl 8  lvl 10    pay   /friend     pay    /friend   lvl 8   lvl 10

Entertainer   10     14     787.50   78.75    1130.00   80.71  -112.50 -270.00

Athlete        9     13     808.75   89.86    1107.00   85.15   -41.25 -193.00

Business      10     14     812.50   81.25    1080.00   77.14    12.50 -120.00

Crime          8     12     830.00  103.75    1064.00   88.67    70.00  -36.00

Science        7     10     862.50  123.21    1064.00  106.40   122.50   64.00

Xtreme         7     11     887.50  126.79    1060.00   96.36   162.50  135.00

Medicine       7     11     898.75  128.39    1044.00   94.91   198.75  194.00

Politics      11     17     896.25   81.48    1007.00   59.24   246.25  257.00

Law Enf.       8     12     906.25  113.28     995.00   82.92   281.25  295.00

Military       0      8     901.25  901.25     976.00  122.00   301.25  326.00



promoted 2 out of 3 days                                              Career
                 # friends     1 day avg 8       1 day avg 10        Benefit

            lvl 8  lvl 10    pay    /friend    pay    /friend    lvl 8  lvl 10

Entertainer   10      14    918.75   91.88    1318.33   94.17    18.75  -81.67

Athlete        9      13    943.54  104.84    1291.50   99.35    93.54   -8.50

Business      10      14    947.92   94.79    1260.00   90.00   147.92   60.00

Crime          8      12    968.33  121.04    1241.33  103.44   208.33  141.33

Science        7      10   1006.25  143.75    1241.33  124.13   266.25  241.33

Xtreme         7      11   1035.42  147.92    1236.67  112.42   310.42  311.67

Medicine       7      11   1048.54  149.79    1218.00  110.73   348.54  368.00

Politics      11      17   1045.63   95.06    1174.83   69.11   395.63  424.83

Law Enf.       8      12   1057.29  132.16    1160.83   96.74   432.29  460.83

Military       0       8   1051.46 1051.46    1138.67  142.33   451.46  488.67

Some other stuff:
  here's a chart of how much you earn per friend you have to maintain.
  
                   lvl 10 pay    pay/friend
    Entertainer        1,400       100.00
    Athlete            1,300       100.00
    Science            1,000       100.00
    Crime              1,100        91.67
    Business           1,200        85.71
    Xtreme               925        84.09
    Military             650        81.25
    Medicine             850        77.27
    Law Enf.             700        58.33
    Politics             750        44.12
    
    

Unrelated stuff: I've noticed that people with high Active stats walk faster
than those that are less Active.

  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.4  Job "Shifts"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  This section is from RD Saunders and Joseph Peitler (Livin' Large jobs)

  I found that after reaching the top position of each career choice you are 
  able to be transfered to a new career (most of the time to a 5,6,7 ranked 
  job). I found it is possible to go in circles and end up in the same job 
  again with all the bonuses and going therough all the careers.

  I made this to show the circle or careers. It shows the starting job and 
  career and why your sims changes (the reason or excuse given) and the new job 
  and career of your sim.

    - Medicine    Chief of Hospital   -> (your advanced medical knowledge) 
                  ->    Inventor, Science
                  
    - Science     Mad Scientist       -> (you drink a magic potion)
                  ->    Criminal Mastermind, Crime
                  
    - Crime       Criminal Mastermind -> (want to become a clean businessman)
                  ->    Executive, Business
                  
    - Business    Business Tycoon     -> (your burnt out at the top)
                  ->    All Star, Athlete
                  
    - Athlete     Hall of Famer       -> (you've finished with your career)
                  ->    Mountain Climber, XTreme
                  
    - XTreme      International Spy   -> (your intelligence)
                  ->    Counter-Intelligence, Military
                  
    - Military    General             -> (military downsising)
                  ->    SWAT Team Leader, Law Enforcement
                  
    - Law Enf.    Captain Hero        -> (you start to captain hero TV show)
                  ->    TV star, Entertainer
                  
    - Entertainer Superstar           -> (want to do something with your fame)
                  ->    Congressperson, Politics
                  
    - Politics    Mayor               -> (a scandal forces you to resign)
                  ->    Intern, Medicene

    - Musician    Celebrity Activist  -> Getting in touch with your inner self
                  -> Medium, Paranormal

    - Hacker      Information Overload-> Your infomation is inaccurate
                  -> Newspaper Reporter, Journalism

    - Journalism  Talk show host      -> Need to "stop and smell the Roses" 
                  -> Freelance Photographer, Slacker

    - Paranormal  Cult Leader         -> Want a jobs with less exposure.  
                  -> Jr. Executive, Business
  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Running an Efficient Household
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The most difficult aspect of the Sims is managing all your Sim's time.  Since
  each Sim has only 24 hours in the day, 8 major needs, promotions, 
  socializing, and whatnot, you have to be fairly efficient in how you do 
  things.  It should be noted that the Sims themselves are not especially 
  efficient in how they decide to do things.  A Sim who has a nearly Red 
  bladder Need, may sit down to read a book, when his Fun need is still mostly 
  Green.

  Generally you want to fulfill your Sims' needs on a Need basis.  Whichever 
  they need most, you have them do first.  There are, of course, many 
  exceptions.

  For example, you should use the toilet after eating, not before.  You should
  shower after using the toilet.

  Anyway, since I advised you to create two Sims, I'll do a rundown of how
  their first few mornings should go:  
  
    I'll call the two Sims, Worker, and Homer.  When you first appear at your
    house, you'll already have a Newspaper, and another one will be coming 
    along at 9:00 AM.  Have Worker look for a job, and if you want to, take it.  
    If it is still before 8:00 AM, the car pool will be picking Worker up at
    that time (assuming you didn't take a night job).  Send Worker off to work.

    Now Homer will be home alone.  Have him Study up on Cooking so that he can
    fix a feast when Worker comes home.  One or two points here is all you need
    (although you should keep at this until you have all the points!).  Now
    your neighbors are going to start dropping by.  Cancel the Cooking Lessons,
    and go out to greet them.  Once greeted, the neighbor becomes a Guest in
    your house, and will eat food if you have already prepared it, watch your
    TV (if it's already on), etc.  This neighbor should be very chatty, so just
    let your Sims talk for a bit.  At this point, it is more important to greet
    new Sims, than to work up relationships with Sims already there, so if
    someone new comes to the door, go greet them.

      Note:  If you have two or more Sims around when other Sims come to the
             door, make sure that ALL of your Sims have talked to the new Sim
             at least once.  This is most important if you ever take control
             of the other Sims' house, and need to get him some friends.

    In the early days of your neighborhood, there won't be that many people for
    you to socialize with, so you will have to start new families soon.

    Worker comes home, and watches TV to get his fun rating up.  While he is
    doing that, Homer Serves Dinner (always do Serve Dinner!  It costs only 2x
    as much as "Have Dinner" and feeds 6!), and then the two sit around the
    table eating and chatting.  Also any guests in the house will eat with you,
    and Socialize as well.

      Note:  Although they are talking here, their relationships only improve 
             by a mere point or two.

    After dinner, Worker goes to improve some Stat to help get promoted, while
    Homer talks to the Guest Sims.  Before going to sleep, both Sims go to the
    bathroom.

    The next morning, Homer gets up at 5:00 AM to Serve Breakfast.  Worker 
    stays in bed until his Energy rating is all the way back up, and as soon as 
    it is he jumps out of bed, and goes to take a shower, eat breakfast, and 
    maybe watch some TV before the Carpool arrives.

      Note:  The 5:00 AM breakfast gives your stay at home Sim plenty of time 
             to prepare the breakfast so that it is ready for the other Sim(s) 
             when they get up.  Since the first Sim isn't going to work, he 
             doesn't need to worry about lack of energy.  What I did usually is 
             let the game run on fast mode (speed level 3) until 5 AM, then I 
             paused it (press either 'p' or the key left of the 1 button), 
             clicked on the Sleep icon to cancel it (top left corner), and 
             click on the Fridge and Serve Breakfast.  I wake up most Sims like 
             this.  Pause, then order them to do something, then unpause for 
             them to do it.

             Of course, if you simply give a sleeping Sim something to do,
             then they'll wake up automatically and do it (as soon as they
             feel "rested" of course).

    Once Worker is at work, Homer takes a shower, goes to the bathroom, and
    fulfills his needs.  Once that's done he picks up that Cooking book and 
    works on that for awhile, hoping that some new neighbors might drop by.  If
    they don't, he picks up the phone and calls the Sim who is close to 
    becoming a Family Friend.  That Sim comes over (or blows you off with an 
    excuse), the two chat for a bit, and the Guest Sim smelling food, goes over 
    and eats some breakfast.  Homer joins him.

      Note:  Since Homer got up early, he might need a nap.  Usually I would 
             wait for my working Sims to get home before sending my Stay At
             Home to sleep, then I would get that Sim up in time to fix dinner 
             and Socialize some more with the neighbors.

    They continue socializing until you get a new Family Friend.  At this 
    point, keep going until the relationship is at 100.  At some point here, 
    Homer is going to need to clean up the table, and get rid of what remains 
    of the breakfast (it has undoubtedly spoiled by now).

    Worker comes home and studies some more for a promotion.  Homer takes a 
    small nap, and gets up to make dinner.  The two Sims (three if you still
    have a guest) eat and talk.  After dinner everyone watches TV and talks.
    Finally everyone goes to sleep.

  That was just a sample of how to run things efficiently.  It featured a
  staggered approach to getting ready in the mornings, one Sim got up at 5, the
  other a little later.  The first Sim made breakfast, while the other did some
  things in the bathroom.  This is also how you do things when you get more 
  Sims (although you will probably need to build a second bathroom).

  Remember, you aren't just fulfilling Needs, you're also advancing these Sims
  in their lives.  Work on Stats for promotion, have them practice speeches in
  front of the bathroom mirror, or play chess to work on their logic. (chess is
  also Fun)  Bear in mind that Sims will work on their Stats forever if you let
  them, so keep an eye on their Needs, and cut short their Statbuilding if they
  need to go to the bathroom or something.

  Also keep in mind that you CAN hire Maids, Gardeners, and even call for a
  Pizza if you want to.  These services cost you a little (Maids are §10 an
  hour), but they can help out if you are getting overwhelmed.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.1  Working the Pause
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Part of running an efficient household is to know when to pause the game.  If
  you were to watch me playing The Sims, you would see that I pause the game a
  lot.  And unless you're playing just one Sim, you are going to need to pause
  quite a bit.

  Here are the basics of when to pause and how often to pause your game.

  - Pause Whenever you need to decide what your Sims are going to do.

    This is fairly simple.  While you are thinking of what your Sims should be
    doing, you should pause the game.  Once paused, you can look around at all
    their various stats, moods, and whatnot, and decide what would be the best
    thing for them to do right then.  Ex.  Your Sim comes home from work, you
    pause it to think of what he should do first.

    Note:  Don't just give your Sim ONE thing to do, give him several.  He will
           then simply go from one activity to another.  For example, have him
           use the toilet, then take a shower, then serve dinner.

  - Pause in Social Interactions

    There are two really good times to do this.  The first is when you are just
    starting out with another Sim to avoid them doing something that your Sim
    won't like (such as them trying to Hug you, and your Sim rejecting them,
    that will drop your relationship, so you need to cancel it).  So, I will
    simply pause after they finish what they are doing, then have them do 
    something SAFE (such as talk).  The other time this comes in handy is when
    you are carrying on an affair, you will want to pause to make sure they
    don't kiss you while the wife is around.

  This all has to do with TIME EFFICIENCY.  Since your Sims never seem to have
  enough hours in the day to do everything they need to do, those precious
  moments they lose while you are deciding what they should do are costly.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Expanding the House
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Well your Sims are doing quite well, you have gotten some promotions, you 
  have a bit of money now, and you want to spruce up your house.  Who can blame 
  you?  The first thing you should probably do is to replace your 
  Not-Top-Of-The-Line kitchen appliances with better ones.  Get rid of the 
  cheap Fridge and Range for more expensive versions.  These help satisfy your 
  Sims hunger better.  Generally you will want to replace your cheap crap with 
  expensive stuff.  Don't go overboard and spend all your money at once (you 
  might have to pay bills, or something).

  If you succeed in getting someone to Move In or Marry you, then you have to
  find a place for them to sleep, which may mean expanding the entire house (or
  could just mean replacing a Spartan Bed with a Two Person Bed).  But as the
  game goes on, you definitely need to expand the house.

  Here's the house as I designed it earlier:


            ------------
            |          |                   Key:
            |          |
            | Bedroom  |                   e - Door      -- - wall
            |          |                   Tr - Trash    == - sidewalk
            |          |
  ----------------e-------------           Note:  Two horizontal characters
  |                    |       |                  is one "square" of SimLand.
  |                    e Bath  |                  So -- is one 1 x 1.
  | Kitchen            | room  |
  |                    |       |           Note:  To build a "square", hold
  |           Living   |--------                  the shift while building a
  |             Room   |                          wall outwards.
  -----------e----------

  =======================
             Tr

  And here are a couple improvement Ideas:

  Idea 1:  Mega Bedroom

  ----------------------
  |                    |                   Key:
  |                    |
  |      Bedroom       |                   e - Door      -- - wall
  |                    |                   Tr - Trash    == - sidewalk
  |                    |
  ----------------e-------------           Note:  Two horizontal characters
  |                    |       |                  is one "square" of SimLand.
  |                    e Bath  |                  So -- is one 1 x 1.
  | Kitchen            | room  |
  |                    |       |           Note:  To build a "square", hold
  |           Living   |--------                  the shift while building a
  |             Room   |                          wall outwards.
  -----------e----------

  =======================
             Tr

  Idea 2:  Mega Bedroom, Move Bathroom, Add Den


  ----------------------
  |   Bedroom          |                   Key:
  |     ---------      |
  |     | Bath  |      |                   e - Door      -- - wall
  |     e room  e      |                   Tr - Trash    == - sidewalk
  |     |       |      |
  ---e------e-----e-------------           Note:  Two horizontal characters
  |                    |       |                  is one "square" of SimLand.
  |                    e  Den  |                  So -- is one 1 x 1.
  | Kitchen            |       |
  |                    |       |           Note:  The Den would have a Desk for
  |           Living   |--------                  a computer, as well as
  |             Room   |                          a Piano, etc.
  -----------e----------

  =======================
             Tr

  And, of course, you could always build some stairs and add a second level.
  Remember on the second level that people can't go up there until there is a
  floor.  And you can only build walls out one square past the walls on the
  first story.  Whatever else you stick on the second story, I would definitely
  place a bathroom.

  Also as I previously mentioned, a great deal of expanding your house is to
  replace your old furniture and objects with bigger shinier models.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.1  Building that Second Story
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  There isn't all that much to building a second story.  As long as you can
  fit those stairs in your house somewhere, you can build the second story.

  Once the stairs are built, switch to the Second Story view.  Notice how there
  is nothing here, but the area directly above the walled area is marked.  That
  is where you can build.  The buildable area extends out one square from the
  first story's wall, in case you want to build out a little.

  You will probably just want to build your walls directly above the first
  story's walls.  Make sure to wallpaper the outside and inside.  Decide what
  you are going to do with this story, and build interior walls appropriately.

    Tip:  I would recommend building a bathroom upstairs, at least.  This way,
          anyone up there won't have to come down to use the facilities, and
          it gives you another bathroom in case the first gets "busy".

    Note:  If you want to build out a balcony that isn't directly above an
           already walled area, there are two ways to do it.  The first is the
           standard Balcony idea (see 8.1.2) and the second is the "Flying"
           Balcony Idea. (see 8.1.1)

  To finish the second story, make sure to build a flooring.  Without a floor
  no one can go up there!

    Note:  For walls, fences and barricades (on the second storey) above the 
           staircase, these can only be built from the third square (counting 
           from the staircase landing on the second storey) onwards.
           (broadstrong)


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.1.1  The "Flying" Second Story
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Based on a strategy from http://thesims.xtremesims.com/ (David Phillips)

  There is a way around the "Pillar Limitation" as discussed in the previous
  section.  Here is what we're going to do.  Say you want to build out a
  true balcony, one that doesn't have any first story rooms below it.  The only
  way (until now) to do this was to build a Pillar under every square that you
  wanted to build on.

  First, do what you would normally do to build a balcony.  That is, place a
  pillar everywhere you want to build on.  Then build the second story room,
  floor, walls, whatever.  Just make sure that it is finished.  Now go back to
  the first story, and DELETE all the pillars.

  You will now have a True Balcony!  If you want, you can leave a pillar or two
  for aesthetic reasons.

  You can even do this without having a First Story, so that you have nothing
  but stairs down there, then a fully "flying" second story.  It's great!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.1.2  The Balcony
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following correction comes from Christopher Scatliff:

When building a balcony, you don't need to put pillars under *every* square.
Every pillar supports a 3x3 area, but these buildable floor squares don't
appear until there is a floor square next to them.

Therefore, your pillar pattern can be every 3rd square:

        XXXXXXXXX
        XOXXOXXOX
        XXXXXXXXX
        XXXXXXXXX
        XOXXOXXOX
        XXXXXXXXX

(O = pillar, X = empty)

As you can see. those six pillars will support a balcony of area 6x9!  But
that floor area won't become apparent until you actually put the balcony
floor in place.

Of course, you could just use the "flying balcony" strategy, too...


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Babies and Children
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  You can start any family with children, but you can't start them with a baby.
  There are only two ways to get a baby, lots of kissing of the passionate 
  sort, or Adoption.  I'll deal with adoption first.  The way adoption works is 
  that they will call you and ask if you want a baby.  This can happen to 
  either gay couples or singles (as they can't produce children on their own).  
  You are given the choice of taking or rejecting it.
  
    Note:  Adoption can also happen to opposite sex couples (man-woman), but
           isn't so common. (from Keri)

  As for the natural method, simply have a guy kiss a girl a lot (or visa 
  versa, it doesn't matter who kisses whom) and the option will come up "Would 
  you like to have a baby?"  No, you don't get to see them have sex.  The baby 
  just appears, magically.  The sex and personality are set at birth, you have 
  no control over that.  You do get to name the baby, though.

  Now that you have the baby, you have to take care of her for 3 days.  72 
  hours exactly from the moment you got her.

    Tip:  The best time to get a baby would probably be in the morning, as when
          the baby becomes a Child, they have perfect Energy, and you don't 
          want perfect energy late at night.  Not with school the next morning!

    Tip:  Children are a TAX CREDIT, which is a deduction in Bill Payments.
          How much?  About 10% off of Bills per child.  So if your bills were
          §310 before having a kid, after it will be about §279. (assuming you
          haven't bought anything, nor had anything stolen/sold/broken, and
          that depreciation was small/nonexistent)

          Naturally the most you can get off is 70% (you can only get 7 kids,
          you NEED at least one adult).

  A baby is a huge responsibility.  But you didn't need me to tell you that.
  You have only 3 things you can do with the baby, Feed, Play and Sing (to
  sleep).  The baby will be resting quite comfortably when suddenly "WAH!"  The
  baby will cry out.  Anyone sleeping in the area will be awakened (I'd
  recommend sleeping ONE and only ONE person with the baby, and rotating who
  gets to do it, so no one Sim loses too much Energy).  Then you have to figure
  out what the baby wants (impossible).  Usually I would just do each option
  once from Feed to Play to Sing.  If that didn't put the baby to sleep, I'd
  feed again and Sing again.  That almost always works.  If it does, the baby
  will go back to sleep... only to wake up in a few hours bawling.

    Note:  If you fail to take proper care of the baby, she will be taken away
           by the Social Workers.  Shame on you!

  As you can see, having someone home at all times is CRUCIAL here, not just
  recommended.  This is another place where it really helps to have left 
  someone home all along.  But if you didn't, just have different people miss 
  work different days to care for the child.  Sorry, there is no "day care" or 
  "baby sitter" for you to call.  What I did, is I used my stay at home Sim to 
  care for the child until the first person got off work, then Sim 1 would go 
  to sleep and Sim 2 would take over tending over the baby.  Make sure you have
  something constructive to do while the child sleeps, so maybe you should move
  the Chess set to the room that has the baby (or something like that).

  After 3 full days, the baby goes *poof* and becomes a Child.  Children can
  sleep with any adult in the household, if you can't afford to buy her own
  bed.  Children have only one responsibility, and that is School.  They have 
  to go everyday at 9 AM and come back everyday at 3 PM.  Furthermore they have 
  to study to keep their grades up (you can study at any bookcase or computer).

    Note:  One side effect of good grades is that Grandparents can give money
           for good grades.  At the A+ level, I got §100.

  At this point you probably should buy a Toybox for the child so she can play
  with the toys.  And as you can guess, they like to watch Cartoons on TV as
  well.

  Finally children can also Play with other children, where they will just 
  start running amok.  And no, children never grow up.
  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.0.1  Baby Tips
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  This tip comes from Joseph Peitler:
  
      When the female sings and plays with the baby, her fun bar goes up.  It 
      has no effect whatsoever when the male does it.
      
  This tip comes from Mark Hissett:
  
      Have a baby when a few guests are over (just kiss a lot).  The guests 
      will be able to play with the baby then.  I find it easier that way, 
      because my sims are happy, and the guests are happy (usually).  After a 
      day or so, its much harder to get company over (me speaking that is), 
      because your sims aren't feeling so well rested, and the baby is only not 
      crying if its asleep.  So it won't interact much with neighbors.  
      However, as said above, the little simkid will get a better chance at 
      outgoing points if neighbors are over at the time of birth.  And they 
      all come in and clap too. 

  These tips come from broadstrong:

    If a couple (man and woman) is eager to have a baby, can try this: the 
    Houseworking Sim call someone at 3 something (preferably 3 to 3.30 pm) to 
    invite someone over (make sure he agrees, or it may not work).  The Working 
    Sim comes back from work at around 3 or 4 pm.  When you know that the 
    invited guest is approaching (about 4.15 to 4.30 pm by then), the couple go 
    for a passionate kiss (prior to this, can also have Hug, Back Rub if player 
    wants)!  If lucky enough, either there will be a phone call asking for 
    adoption, or one of them will ask for a baby.  Click "Yes" and the baby, 
    crib and all, will appear!  This worked for me 70% of the time and ALL the 
    babies in my neighbourhood come through this fashion, really!  Wonder if it
    is because that 4 something timeframe is a "magic" time for babies to 
    appear, or because visitors appear (get a baby to appear so there is more 
    difficulty in entertaining BOTH baby and visitor).  I wonder if this will 
    work for other timing, though.

      Note:  In your FAQ, it was stated that adoption is less common in 
             man-woman couples.  I beg to differ.  For my neighbourhood, I get 
             more phone calls for adoption than someone asking for a baby.

    Want to know if the baby is asleep?  Here's a way: Once the Sim starts 
    putting the baby back, place the mouse cursor on the crib, and click once 
    (can also see the type of cursor).  If further options (the Sim's face with 
    actions surrounding him) come up, this means the baby is awake!  Be 
    prepared to tend to it further.  If nothing comes up, the baby is asleep, 
    leaving his (or her) family members alone for 6 hours.  Be warned, though.  
    I have seen babies crying BEFORE the 6 hours is up!

    Apart from the fun of seeing the Sim playing with the baby, "Play" is 
    actually useless.  The baby is awake throughout and the motives will drop 
    fast.  Feed-Feed-Sing is a sure and fast way to care for the baby and let 
    it sleep.  Of course, with sufficient time (and Mood!), one can try all 
    sorts of combinations and play with the baby as wanted.

    Editor's Note:  Actually the "Play" option does make a difference in how 
                    your baby's personality will turn out.  As of right now, I 
                    don't have any stats on this, but I may get some in the 
                    future.

  broadstrong sent in an update:

    An update to my "70% sure way of getting a baby":-
    Seems like this trick won't work if the couple is kissing in any room other 
    than the first room from the front door (ie. living room).  I wonder if 
    this still works if the first room is not a living room.

    Where will the baby (crib and all) appear?  For babies born by birth, they 
    will appear just beside the spot where the couple does the kissing.  For 
    adopted babies, they will appear in the room where the phone call is being 
    picked up.

    How to determine if the next baby is a boy or girl?  Seems like this rule 
    prevails --- if there are more boys than girls, then the baby is a girl; 
    otherwise there will be a baby boy.
    (Conclusion: The SimNation prefer boys.)
    (P.S. It would be fun if there can be twins or even triplets.)

  It was earlier reported from Joseph Peitler, that you could not move the Crib
  once it had been placed.  This was incorrect, you can move the Crib in either
  furnish or build modes (F2 or F3).  One thing to do with the Crib, to help
  make sure that you baby isn't taken away by the County Social Workers, is to
  move the Crib into whatever room your Sim happens to be in at the time.
    (modified from a tip by Jordan Edmonson)
    
    Note:  Also, Joseph Peitler wrote that you can't move the baby crib.  This 
           is not true.  It's the same as if you're trying to move a bed: if 
           someone's sleeping in it, you can't move it.  Also, if someone has 
           the bed in their queue bar and you try moving it, you can't.  The 
           same goes with the baby crib.  If the baby cradle is not in anyone's
           queue bar, you can move the cradle by going to buy or build mode and
           clicking on it. (from Keri)
  
    Important:  Have a Sim at home at ALL TIMES!  This doesn't mean that you
                have to have an unemployed Sim stay home, just make sure that
                at least one Sim is home.  If one comes home, the other one is
                now free to go to work.  What you might want to try is to have
                (if you have 2 Sims) them go to work every other day, one day
                the first stays home, then the next, the other stays home.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.0.2  Baby Personality Matrix
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The following research comes from Lynelle Foulk:

    I think I have figured out how the baby personality points are
  determined.  I've experimented with 18 Sims babies.  (Whew! What a lot of
  sleepless Sims' nights!)  I did this because my first Sims babies didn't
  have personalities that seemed to relate to their parents.  I wondered why.
  Plus, I wondered why the children that the babies turned into rarely had
  exactly 25 points.  A few had less.  Most had more than 25 points.  I
  didn't know why kids should have more than the 25 allowed for the parents.
  Then suddenly, my babies-turned-to-kids' personalities started looking more
  like their parents in the numbers.  It took me a long time to figure out that
  the program's algorithm for determining the baby's points must have changed
  when LL was added. Luckily, my family albums told me when the babies were
  born, and I had written down the date that I'd registered LL, so I knew when
  it was installed.  I could easily see the dividing line between pre-LL babies
  and post-LL babies.

  I experimented with Sims who had the reversed personality efffect and who
  then ended up with 10 points for every trait.  Their kids ended up with
  identical personality points -- all 10's.  I tried a couple with 0 in every
  trait.  (Those mean and nasty folks!)  I would have expected a 0 in every
  trait, yet the kid had a 5 for Playful.  The baby had not been played with.
  Then it dawned on me that kids were said to be playful in the manual --
  because that's mostly what kids do is to play.   And this meant that the
  program wasn't going to produce a kid with a Playful score of less than 5.
  
  
    Note:  You can have a kid with less than 5 Playful, but this is possible 
           only with a User-created kid, who was never a baby.

  This is the way I think the algorithm works.  There seem to be only 3
  possibilities for scores for each of the traits.  Either the baby will match
  the Mom, or it will match the Dad, or it will be a truncated average of the
  two.  So, for example, if Mom has a Neatness score of  3, and Dad has an 8,
  then Baby can have only 3 possible results: 3, 8, or 5 (the truncated average
  of 3 and 8).  The baby cannot have any other scores inbetween, like a 4, 6,
  or 7.  This seemed strange until I started thinking how easy it would be to
  write the program with only the three possibilities. (Select a random number
  between 1 and 3, with the 3rd being the "average".)  It would only have
  taken a few more code lines to make the "in-between" scores possible, I
  believe.  But there was no reason to do so.  This was variation enough.  This
  is the way that all the traits seem to be done, except for Playful.  And
  there, a 5 is added to the three possible numbers.  If that results in being
  greater than 10, then it just becomes a 10. And this explains why each baby
  has a different total of points.  Imagine the extra work for the computer to
  keep trying the random possibilities until they added up to 25.  In some
  cases, it might have been impossible.  So, it was easier to allow the kids as
  many points as were necessary.  My baby with the least points 21 is seemingly
  not too different from the one with 37 -- just some little subtle
  differences.  I think the balance is what counts, not the total number of
  points.

  I had kept records of 17 babies, and this had proven true in every case.  I
  did an experimental baby, trying to be sure that the parents were quite
  different, and seeing if there were any "inbetween" scores, and it didn't
  happen on this 18th kid.

  Here's how my experimental 18th kid went: ( I don't think I can do a chart in
  e-mail, so will just put the points on a line.)

  Mom: 3, 7, 5, 2, 8
  Dad: 8, 2, 5, 3, 1

  Baby... could have had:
  Neat      3, 8 or 5 --- This time it was a 5. (Average)
  Outgoing: 7, 2, or 4 -- This time it was a 4. (Average)
  Active:   5, 5, or 5 -- And it was a 5!  (A no-brainer for the computer!)
  Playful:  2 (+5 extra), 3 (+5 extra), or 2 (+5 extra).  It was a 7 (either
            like Mom or average).
  Nice:     8, 1, or 4.  Turned out to be a 4.  (Average)

  Looking over my other Sims baby records, sometimes the baby took after only
  one parent, but most times it was a combination of one trait like Dad, one
  like Mom, one average, etc.  I think that part had to be entirely random.

  I think that all of these points are determined at the moment of birth.  That
  I say because I raised the same baby twice.  I saved the program immediately
  after naming the baby -- as fast as I could hit Enter for the name, and hit
  Pause for the action.  I went through the three days and then checked the
  resulting child's personality points, recorded them, and then Quit without
  saving.  I started back up where I'd saved the program and raised the same
  kid again.  The results were identical in personality points, but not in
  head/skin.  I came to the conclusion that this meant that it was all "nature"
  and not "nurture" that determined the points.  Playing with the baby didn't
  affect the results.   It's nice for the emotional effect upon the game player
  to watch the parent and siblings and friends playing with the baby, but it
  doesn't change those baby points, according to what I could determine.

  Also, it isn't exactly 72 hours for the baby to turn into a child.  It's
  close to 72 hours, but can vary at least as much as half an hour.  I found
  that the crying pattern of babies seemed different, even when I used the same
  pattern of "Feed, sing, feed, sing" with them.

  Apparently, the skills points assigned to the kids is just totally random.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.1  Children and School
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Kids have to go to school everyday from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.  Skipping a day
  will drop their Grade one whole letter (say from A to B, or from B+ to C+).
  If the child Sim (or SimKid if you will) goes to school everyday in a good
  mood, their grades will naturally increase.  The other way to increase the
  child's grades is to have them Study.  They can study either on a computer or
  with a book, it makes no difference.  After a period of time, they will
  increase their grades.  This period of studying is small for the low grades,
  and large for the high grades.  It's therefore easier to improve from a D to
  a C than it is from a B to an A.

    Note:  As I noted earlier, you can randomly get §100 gifts from 
           grandparents with an A+.  Also with an A+ you don't have the option 
           to study anymore.  What would be the point?

  So what happens if you don't have good grades?  Your Sim gets shipped off to
  a military school!  Plus your family has to pay §1000 for tuition (but 
  thankfully you only pay this once, and they never ever bother you again).

    Tip:  Therefore to get rid of any troublesome child (i.e. a lazy one), just
          let his or her grades slip to an F, and away they go!
          
  Apieper sent me this:
  
    Regarding the section of kids and getting good grades... I always get $100
    for good grades too. I don't think it goes higher, and I'm pretty sure it
    only happens at the A+ level.  And a friend of mine pointed out that
    studying is optional. Attending school for one day raises your grade by
    three points (from B- to A-, or from F to D+) and studying raises it one
    point.  So if you go to school every day you don't need to study. I think
    it's important to add that children are far more likely to cause a mess in
    the shower or tub than adults.  (Ed. Note: Although "Messy" adult Sims will
    make messes as well)

  broadstrong sent me this:

    Apieper's kid tip has an error.  Attending school for one day (in a good 
    mood) raises only one grade point (B- to B, B+ to A- etc), so studying at 
    home do helps in grade increase, though it is quite time consuming.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.2  What Kids Do
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Kids are a lot like the Adult Sims, except for the fact that they don't have
  jobs, and therefore don't need Skill Points.  They also never need to gain
  Friends as it doesn't help them any.  (although a parent could use them as an
  extra agent of socialization)

  So, once a Kid gets up to an A+ and has satisfied all of her needs, what IS
  she going to do?

  Since you aren't trying to get them up the Career Ladder, and getting them
  good grades is absurdly easy, I would just leave kids alone, and let their
  free will take them where it will.

    Tip:  Two kids together will almost always start running around Playing
          together.  So if there are other kids in the neighborhood, call them
          over.  Or you could always have a second kid.

  The following tips come from broadstrong:

    It is much better to have kids later on than to create them in the Family 
    Screen.  Kids (and adults too) created this way can use only 25 bars 
    maximum for personality.  Kids born through adoption or birth have more 
    bars available (easily 30+ bars), so it is possible for these kids to have 
    8+ for two or even three of their personality bars.  Too bad they can't 
    grow into adults.

      Note:  I don't think kids will get their personality from parents.  For 
             my game, the Jones family (one of those available as Maxis 
             download) are outgoing but very inactive, yet their child (by 
             birth) is an introvert, but quite active.

    "Play" is just about the best social interaction for kids; it increases Fun
    and Social motives TO THE MAXIMUM; kids CONTINUE to play even when both 
    motives are full; ANY kid would accept to play, even serious kids; play 
    sufficiently long and relationship will really go up.  They do need a large
    enough amount of space to play, which can exclude some rooms.

  Joseph Peitler sent me this:

    Simkids are not a waste of space.  They can make a lot of friends for your 
    sim family while adult sims are busy doing other things, such as cooking, 
    working on their skills, or sleeping after work.  One thing I noticed is 
    that alarm clocks doesn't go off for the sleeping simkid.  Is this a glitch 
    or has this happen to anyone else?  Also, since simkid don't "love", they 
    can't go to the bathroom with another sim without being "shooed off" or 
    shooing them off.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9.3  Let the Kids GROW UP
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  As far as I know, this is the only way to get your Simkids to grow up.  What
  is involved is downloading a little program from:

    http://compsimgames.about.com/games/compsimgames/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?
    site=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.home.net%2Fsandshifter1%2Findex.html

    (one line, so make sure that "offsite.htm?site=" is together)

  Or the direct download link:

    http://web.one.net.au/~meskers/Growup.htm


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Everything Else in the Neighborhood
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Your house can be burglarized.  During the night, the game will slow down to
  the slow game speed, and a PIP will show the burglar coming your way.  If you
  have alarms, the second he enters the house, the police will be called.  But
  if he's clever, he'll just grab one thing and run, and may get away with it.
  So if you see a burglar, here's something to try:

    - Wake up your Sim.
    - If possible, call the police BEFORE the burglar enters the house to get
      the police here sooner.
    - Now here's the fun part, since the burglar runs on the same pathfinding
      algorithm as the rest of the Sims, you can "bump into" him, and he'll
      stop cold.  So if he's trying to go out the door, and you are in the
      doorway, he'll have to stop and wait for you to move!

    Note:  Anything stolen by the thief can't be returned to you, but you do
           get partial reimbursement from the Insurance Company.  Plus if he
           is captured you also get a §1000 reward!

    Tip:  Place burglar alarms on the OUTSIDE of your house, the burglar will
          be caught before he has a chance to steal anything!

  Joseph Peitler has this to add about Burlgers:

    The more sims you have in your family house, the less chance your house 
    would likely be burglarize.  One house had 8 sims and after 100 days, their 
    house was broken into only once.  While the houses that had 1 to 3 sims got 
    broken into 3-4 times in less than 70 days.

  broadstrong sent these tips:

    Tip:  Burglars come when everyone present in the house is sleeping, so they 
          come at night.  But I had one instance where the burglar came in the 
          MORNING!  (It should be noted that that time, the father was away to 
          work, the kids had left for school and the mother was still sleeping)

    Tip:  Burglars TEND TO plunder the less well-to-do households, perhaps 
          thinking that they could not afford the burglar alarm.  My Valentino 
          (available as Maxis download) house never got burglarized so far 
          (about 20 days passed by) even though there are only Rudy and Julia 
          inside.

  Sims who don't know their way around the kitchen, not only cut themselves or
  burn themselves a lot while making a meal, may also cause a Fire to break 
  out.  Once the fire has started, your alarm (if you have one) will go off.  
  If you don't have an alarm, call the Fire Dept.  You can try to extinguish 
  the fire yourself, but ... you can die from the flames!

  The character § can be typed by pressing and holding ALT, then on the number
  pad pressing 0167.  This is the character for "Simoleon" the monetary unit of
  the Sims.  If you want to see something bizarre, check out the Money bag on
  the CD case, and on the instruction manual.  You will see the symbol § on
  both, but on the CD case, for some reason, it is backward!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.1  Death and Ghosts
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Death can come to the Sims in a couple ways.  One, they can starve to death.
  This one is fairly easy to avoid, as when the Hunger bar gets low, it doesn't
  deplete as fast, and even when it gets to completely red, your Sim won't die.
  Give it a few days, and they will, however, so get them some food.  The other
  way for them to die is in a fire that they are either trying to extinguish, 
  or merely got caught in.  Another way for them to die is to have them Drown 
  in your Swimming Pool.  This occurs when they run out of energy in the Pool.
  This can only happen if you remove the ladder out of the pool while they are
  swimming, otherwise they'll just get out before they drown.  When they die,
  the Sims leave a Tombstone (you can readily see these by playing the Goth
  household), and furthermore, they will HAUNT the living!  So don't let the
  Sims die.
  
  Another way to kill a Sim would be to stick a fence (or a wall) around him,
  and wait.  I did this once, and it was rather depressing to watch as the
  Sim first went Insane, then died of hunger. 

    Note:  Ghost Sims (or SimGhosts if you will) usually do their haunting at
           11 pm.  It is random as to whether they will do it or not, but if
           you have enough graves (see the Goth house) it will probably happen
           every night!

    Note:  Where the Sim dies determines their "marker".  If they die outside,
           they leave a Tombstone, inside an Urn.  The living members of your
           household then have to "mourn" the marker for 24 hours.  That is, of
           course, after they have finished what they were already doing (so
           they will watch TV until satisfied, then go mourn).  After that you
           can mourn at your leisure.

  Death is one of the few ways to get rid of a Sim for Good.  So, if you have
  just plain too many Sims in your family, or you married a Bum or something...
  Well you get the idea.  Although this is HIGHLY amoral! (good thing morality
  isn't a Need!)

    Tip:  One way to fortune is to marry a bachelor, take all their money, then
          "bump them off".  Two good ways to kill them, wall them up somewhere
          and let nature take its course, or remove the ladder in a pool.
          Bloodthirsty, but effective.  Maybe you should even name your
          murderous little Sim the "Black Widow" or something.

  Well you've had your fun with the Ghost spooking your Sims, and now you want
  rid of that Ghost.  Well you can just sell their Tombstone/Urn for §5, or
  destroy the house and they'll never pester you again.  Or if you like the
  ghost, but don't like the hauntings, you can just move your bedrooms to the
  second story since Ghosts can't climb stairs (probably since they'd go right
  THROUGH the stairs!).

  Joseph Peitler had this to add:

    Dead Sim Walking

    It takes a lot longer to kill a sim by isolate and starve him off then it 
    is to drown him.  On a full stomach, it takes 4-5 days for the hunger gauge 
    to reach zero and red and another 1-2 days for him to die from. It is even
    longer if it is a visiting sim, although I don't know you can actually kill 
    a visiting sim that way (you can drown them).  Drowning is quicker, by it 
    doesn't show any devatating effects like screaming or gurgling sounds the 
    way a starving sim before he dies.  The most disturbing death of a sim is 
    from a flu by a GPV (Guinea Pig Virus), because even with energy and hunger 
    gauge at halfway, the sim could die when you least expect it.

    It doesn't matter where a sim dies, if you move he's "death marker" outside, 
    it becomes a tombstone.  Move it in a house, it's a urn.  But suppose you 
    want the urn outdoor?  Place the urn on any desk/table/counter (no end 
    table), then move the table out of the house.

    Joseph Peitler has this to add:

      The ghosts come out after every two days, after 11:00 PM (mostly 
      12AM-1AM) and go back around 6AM or sooner.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10.2  Did you Know?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  After 100 days of your Sim living in their house (to check how long they have
  lived there, click on their money, and in the corner it will say "Days since
  Move In"), you get the option of getting little messages about the people who
  made this game.  I have included only the first one here (there are a lot of
  them!), the rest you'll have to see for yourself!

    Will Wright -- Game Designer

      Will first thought of "The Sims" shortly after the original SimCity.  It
      took this long for technology to catch up with Will's vision.  In the
      Maxis offices we have a mock-up design for the original idea of The Sims.
      Though the technology is far more advanced, the actual game does not vary
      much from this prototype.  Will makes wicked Excel sheets, and likes to
      zip around the Maxis offices on a bright red electric scooter.

      Fun Fact:  Will purchased a couple of real pink flamingo lawn ornaments
      for the team so we could properly model both the complex 3D shape of the
      birds and the physics and emotional algorithims needed for kicking them.

  Joseph Peitler sent in a list of the other "Did you Know" people:

    1.   Will Wright
    2.   Rana Ryan
    3.   Jeff Charvat
    4.   Charles London
    5.   James (Jamie) Doornbos
    6.   Patrick Buechner
    7.   Chris Trottier
    8.   Luc Barthelet
    9.   Patrick J. Barrett
    10.  Eric "Bo Bo" Bowman
    11.  Don Hopkins
    12.  Trevor Perrin
    13.  Alex Zvenigorodsky
    14.  Robi Kauker
    15.  Eric "Chin" Chin
    16.  Eric "Irk" Hedman
    17.  Jami Becker
    18.  Michael "Mike" Lawson
    19.  Melissa Bachman
    20.  Timle Tourneau
    21.  Sean Baity
    22.  Paul Wilkinson
    23.  Roxy Wolosenko
    24.  Claire Curtain
    25.  Bob King
    26.  The Sims testing team-guided by Jami, Gabe, and Etienne
    27.  Jim Mackraz


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Cheats & Tricks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  The following Cheats come from http://www.gamewinners.com/

    To bring up the Console to enter the Cheats into, press CTRL-SHIFT-C.

    Warning:  Try to avoid using the move_objects cheat to delete things like
              mailboxes and carpools.  If you delete a Mailbox, sure you can't
              get bills, but it screws up the game (in mine Guest Sims could
              arrive, but couldn't be greeted!!).  Also if you delete the
              carpool, you can't go to work.  Ever.

              Also, if you delete a Sim, they will revert to the state they 
              were in when you last saved it.  So if you got a lot of Skills, 
              then delete your Sim, they'll lose all that.
              
              I have an idea about how you could get your Mailbox/Carpool back
              if you deleted them:  Import a new house from somewhere (usually
              http://www.thesims.com/) and install that into the game.  That
              should work.  Or you could just uninstall the game then
              reinstall.

    I've divided the cheats into two categories, those that I KNOW work, and
    those that probably don't.

    Cheats that work:

    - 1000 Simoleons (unpatched game version)                  klapaucius
    - 1000 Simoleons (patched game version & Livin' Large)     rosebud
    - Create moat or streams                                   water_tool
    - Display personality and interests                        interests
    - Move any object                                          move_objects

    Cheats that probably don't work:

    - Add new family history stat to the current family        hist_add
    - Appends the route destination list to AllRoutes.txt
      every time a route is found                              write_destlist
    - Architecture tools automatically set the level as
      needed                                                   auto_level
    - Automatically import and load indicated FAM file         import 
    - Automatically load indicated house, no questions
      asked                                                 house 
    - Check and fix required lot objects                       prepare_lot
    - Completely flush app to VM file when running Windows NT  flush
    - Crash game                                               crash
    - Create shrunk_text_#.bmp files              shrink_text  
    - Create-a-character mode                                  edit_char
    - Draw all animation frames disabled                     draw_all_frames off
    - Draw all animation frames enabled                      draw_all_frames on
    - Draw colored dots at each person's origin                draw_origins
    - Dump entire memory to core_dump_[date:time].txt          core_dump
    - Dump selected person's most recent list of scored
      interactions to a file                                   dump_happy
    - Dump selected person's motive contribution curve
      to a file                                                dump_mc
    - Enable debug flag to show outcome choice dialogs
      for social interactions                                  debug_social
    - End sim logging                                          sim_log end
    - Execute "file.cht" file as a list of cheats              cht 
    - Floorable grid disabled                                 draw_floorable off
    - Floorable grid enabled                                  draw_floorable on
    - Force an assert for testing                              assert
    - Log animations in the event log window                   log_animations
    - Map editor disabled                                      map_edit off
    - Map editor enabled                                       map_edit on
    - No tutorial object generation when tutorial house 
      is loaded                                                tutorial off
    - Prevent web browser crashes                              browser_failsafe
    - Preview animations disabled                              preview_anims off
    - Preview animations enabled                               preview_anims on
    - Programmer stats                                         tile_info
    - Quit game                                                quit
    - Read in behavior tuning constants from Tuning.txt        #import
    - Rebuilds entire control panel/UCP from scratch           rebuild_cp
    - Refresh the BMP_ resources for all people whose
      IFF files are writable                                   refresh_faces
    - Rematch dependent textures and regenerate bitmaps 
      for all user characters                                  refresh_textures
    - Restore tutorial                                         restore_tut
    - Rotate camera                                            rotation <0-3>
    - Routing debug balloons disabled                         route_balloons off
    - Routing debug balloons enabled                          route_balloons on
    - Run series of random operations on unhoused families    fam_test 
    - Save currently loaded house                              save
    - Save family history file                                 history
    - Say "plugh"                                              plugh
    - Say "porntipsguzzardo"                                   porntipsguzzardo
    - Say "xyzzy"                                              xyzzy
    - Selected person's path displayed                         draw_routes on
    - Selected person's path hidden                            draw_routes off
    - Set event logging mask                                   log_mask
    - Set free thinking level                                  autonomy <1-100>
    - Set game speed                                      sim_speed <-1000-1000>
    - Set grass change value                                edit_grass :
      Set grass growth grow_grass <0-150>, 150 is brown grass
    - Set lot size                                             lot_size 
    - Set maximum milliseconds to allow simulator       sim_limit 
    - Set time of day (unpatched game version)                 set_hour <1-24>
    - Set z offset for thought bubbles             bubble_tweak 
    - Sets the neighborhood directory to the path               
    - Sets up the borders of the lot with non-editable
      flag. Requires rotation                     lot_border    
- Sets whether menu items appear for in use objects allow_inuse - Show memory view window in debug builds of the game memview - Start sim logging sim_log begin - Swap the two house files and updates families swap_houses - Ticks disabled sweep off - Ticks enabled sweep on - Tile information displayed tile_info on - Tile information hidden tile_info off - Toggle allowing visitors to be controlled using the keyboard visitor_control - Toggle assets report report_assets - Toggle automatic object reset feature auto_reset - Toggle calls to PeekMessage within sim loop sim_peek - Toggle camera mode cam_mode - Toggle display of unavailable interactions in person control menus all_menus - Toggle music music - Toggle object compression in save file obj_comp - Toggle quaternion transformations quats - Toggle sound log window sound_log - Toggle sounds sound - Toggle web page creation html - Total reload of people skeletons, animations, suits and skins reload_people - Trigger sound event soundevent - Write out an RTE file every time a route is found write_routes - Write out behavior tuning constants to Tuning.txt #export This was sent in by Nancy Beck: I (actually, my son) found 2 quicker ways to make money with the cheat. One is when you are typing all the !;!;! add a wrong symbol at the end and just hold the enter key. It will come up saying no such cheat, but will still add the money. Just back space over the wrong symbol at the end and enter to get rid of the window. Another way is to type klapaucius; ; and just hold the enter key...it too will add all the money. This was sent in by Mandy Falco: Another way to get a bunch of money - after typing the "klapaucius" cheat, *do the "!;!;!;!;!;!;!" except fill up the command line until it starts clicking at you (it should end on an "!".) Now copy what you typed and hit enter. you should get around 130,000 simoleons. Since you copied it now you just keep pasteing in your new code and before you know it you will have one simoleon short of 10 million. :) This comes from broadstrong: Water Tool Cheat: The water tool cheat works only in build mode. To remove the water created with this, use Ctrl-click (just as other objects in Build mode). Clicking any Build mode button disables the water tool. ____________ Easter Eggs: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ There is only one easter egg that I know of. Insert the game CD and let the autoplay screen come up. Once it's up, click the Maxis logo in the lower left of the window to open up a picture of Will Wright with Sims crawling all over him. (from Mikey Griffiths) ___________________ Trainers & Editors: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ There is currently only one trainer that I know about, a Money trainer, which can be found here: http://thesims.xtremesimz.com/cheat-description.shtml There is also an Editor for the game, which can change your Sim's Stats, such as their Mechanical Skills, or whatnot: http://people.atl.mediaone.net/jharry/simedsetup.zip Here's another one: http://simed.gameeditors.com/ And another Character Editor here: http://www.geocities.com/tsedit/ And no, I haven't tested any of them, and therefore know very little about them. _______ Tricks: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The old "Marry them for their Money" trick: One way to get a bunch of money is to get the last person of a household to marry into your family. Then they bring over all the money they had, plus the money they got from selling their house. So, what you should do is to simply create a Sim, put him in a cheap house (a Wall with a Phone will be sufficient!) and then wait for your Family of Sims to come by. Once he has met them, switch back to that Family and begin the process to get him (or her) married into the family. You can do this as often as you want, until your family is up to 8 members. The old "Use it then return it" trick: If you buy something, and decide that you don't really want it, then as long as you get rid of it (in Furnish mode, click on it then press DEL) the same day as you bought it, you'll get the full money back. Great for getting rid of those impulse buys. Also useful if you want to buy a computer for the purposes of Job Hunting, but don't need a computer just yet. The old "Use it while it's being repossessed" trick: If you manage to use an object at the same time as it is being repossessed, you will get money for that object, as if you had sold it. It sure beats just LOSING the item! The old "Job Switching" Trick: Many career paths use similar skills. For example, both law enforcement, and military require much the same thing (Crime as well). So if you want to suddenly... switch careers you will be able to jump up another career ladder quite easily! And at each promotion you will be given a Bonus... You can see where I'm going with this. So switching careers MAY be quite beneficial! The following tricks come to us from Kyrre Aalerud: 1: A little trick to get rid of garbage: Throw the garbage-can away! This actually works! If the garbage-can is new, then you will get §30 for it, and a new one costs the same! 2: Also, I couldn't find anything about getting rid of children... I only know of this way: have them do lousy at school, or not go at all. This will send them to military school and out of your hair. Killing everyone in the neighborhood (for Sadists, I suppose) by Dan Vernon: If you are a real sadist, and you want to kill off an entire Sim neighbourhood, read this. For maximum effect, have a family of 8. Buy a brand new lot, and build a house with a 3-4 tile gap all the way around it. Build a swimming pool all around (use klapaucius if the money's getting short) and put a diving boardgoing in (from pavement to pool) and a ladder coming out (pool to front door). Get all your family inside and wait for the neighbours to arrive... They'll dive in and come inside, socialize with your Sims and then when they want to go home, attempt to leave. This is where it gets fun! The neighbours will swim around until they've run out of energy, and then, they will DROWN! Repeat until entire neighbourhood dies (try all this after making a large neighbourhood that went wrong). Then put all but one (an adult) of the house Sims into the pool and sell the ladder! Watch them all drown and then, using the move_objects cheat, move all the tombstones into the lonely Sims bedroom. Then make a space for him to get out (to go to work) and wait for 11 pm! There are sometimes several ghosts (it's very odd when they try to swim underneath furniture!) in the night and they howl and wake up Sims (which is the downside of this really....). Empty Trash Can Trick, from Broadstrong: When the trash can is full, empty it, then cancel the action. There will be a pile of mess around the Sim. Click on the pile and select "Clean Up". The Sim throws the trash back nito the trash can, but the trash can IS NOT FULL! (or you could just try the Trick in the next section) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.1 Deleting Trash (and Bills too!) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Following Trick comes from Shyguy982: I always find it hard to juggle keeping my Sims happy, socializing, and cleaning. Well, I solved the cleaning agenda, which made it a whole lot easier for me to concentrate on the other aspects of the game. While in purchase mode, you can pick up dishes. On the bottom of the screen it says they can't be sold or deleted. Which is false. In order to dispose of these nuisances in a timely fashion, simply pick it up, place it over another object such as a plant or couch. Somewhere it cannot be placed onto. Then simply hit the escape key while it's hovering over the object. Bingo! Gone for good. It makes cleaning your house a snap, and it gives you extra time to do whatever needs be. Also, this trick works on bills too! Yes, you can hover them over other objects, and hit escape, thus deleting your bills in the process. And don't worry, they don't come back to haunt you. I've played for several months without having paid a bill, and never had a thing repossessed! I hope you can pass along this info. It's a terribly sneaky cheat, but it makes things a whole lot easier. And please give credit, it you decide to post it on your FAQ. Thank you, and if ya can give me an email, and let me know if they worked as well for you as they have for me. Thanks. Editor's Note: This Cheat does NOT work once Livin' Large is installed! If you try to delete something with LL installed, the Bill will simply reset to where you picked it up from. There is still the 'move_objects on' method of deleting bills, however. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.2 Paying only Every Other Bill ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I found the following cheat at http://strategyshrine.gamereactor.net/ Paying the Bills Simply keep a bill, unpaid, until the mail carrier delivers the next set. When your flag is up (your mailbox being full of-- what else, more bills), pay the first one (i.e., bring it out to the mailbox.) When you do this, the newer bills disappear. Using this cheat, you will only have to pay every other bill, instead of every one. (sent in by Jesper Thiesen) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.3 The Newbie Trick ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes, we all remember the Newbies, those crazy cats from the Tutorial. But there is a really neat little trick that one can do with them, if one pays attention. Here's the crux of the trick: While the tutorial is going, the Newbies Needs drop very very slowly. In other words, you can safely ignore most everything and have them do whatever you please. This works ONLY SO LONG AS THE TUTORIAL is running, and stops once the tutorial does. So as soon as Betty Newbie pops in, do no more of the tutorial. But what will one do with these Newbies? Build their skills! And since their Needs don't fall (well, not exactly, check the following NOTE), you can build skills at the Ultra Speed to get them up to perfect skills. Note: Although Needs don't drop on their own, they will drop if you start exercising, or while at work. However, this drop is considerably smaller than what one would experience by just normally standing around the house, and can be eliminated quickly by a quick nap, sleeping in a bed, or by Coffee/Espresso. Using this trick, one can quickly get some Super Newbies! Mandy Falco sent me this: "When you are cheating the Newbie mode to max out all your skills be aware that it takes about 24 sim hours for your sims to regain all their energy back." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.4 Washing Dishes Faster ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh sure, you COULD just delete the dishes (see the above trick), but suppose you don't want to, there is a way to just do the dishes a little faster. Mandy Falco sent me this: "Washing dishes faster - as soon as your sim starts washing dishes tell him to quit or make him do something else and the dishes disappear." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.5 Deleting your Characters, and resetting their Mood ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You may have noticed that any time you move your Sims into a new house, their Mood is set at a default level, which has most Needs at full green, except for a couple (such as Fun) which are only down a little. What use is this? Well, first off, any time you move your Sims into a new house, their Mood resets to the default level. So if you feel like getting full energy without the work, just move them into a new house. But there is an easier way. Before doing this, save your game (see the warning below) Use the move_objects cheat, and go into the Furnish mode. Now select your Sim, and press delete. Your Sim will be pulled out of the game. Now go back to Live mode, and click on your Sim's portrait to bring her back. Warning: Your Sim will essentially be loaded out of your last save game, so all her stats will be what they were when you last saved it, so before you delete your Sim, SAVE THE GAME!! Now you have your stats back, and no time has passed! If you don't gain any stats since you saved last, don't bother saving, it won't help you any. Note: Relationships are not effected by this trick. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.6 How to Max out all the Personality Stats ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section is from http://geocities.com/simdiscussion/index.html How to create max stats and skills: To max out skills, you need to do 2 things first, backup your Neighborhood file and get a Hex Editor (I used Cygnus which I downloaded from softseek.com). Now go into the Characters folder and there should be files names userXXXXX (on a side note you can rearrange which families and houses certain sims are in by altering these files, thus you can instantly move a sim from one family to another), open a userXXXXX file in notepad and scroll to the bottom, the name of the sim should be there somewhere, make note of which sim is associated with which userXXXXX. Now open up your Neighborhood file in the Hex Editor, use the find feature to locate userXXXXX (whichever you want to alter) in the file, once you find it select it and everything for a few lines after, making sure the selection starts right before the 'u' in userXXXXX. Now cut this section out and paste it into a new blank file, if you notice it counts of by tens on the left: 00000000 00000010 00000020 ect. Thus on row 2 (00000010) the sets of two characters are numbered 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 1A 1B 1C 1D 1E 1F. Ok you need to alter pairs of these to E8 03, and the pairs are NEAT: 16 17 OUTGOING: 18 19 ACTIVE: 1C 1D PLAYFULL: 1E 1F NICE: 20 21, and for skills COOKING: 26 27 MECHANICAL: 28 29 CHARISMA: 2A 2B BODY: 30 31 LOGIC: 34 35 CREATIVITY: 36 37. After you are finished altering the file insert it back into the neighborhood file exactly where you took it out. Save the file and that's about it. There is an Editor that will do this for you, check out the Cheats section above. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.7 Starting a Sim with random Job Stats ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here's an odd trick to try. (modified from http://go.to/simuniverse/) Create a new family at the neighborhood level. Now create a SimKid, choose his stats, but don't bother with the skin, and click "Done" on the Kid. Now click the Edit button for the Kid, and change him from a Kid to an Adult. You can change the skin all you want, but I think that you can't change the stats. Now when you play this family, you have to click this Sim's portrait to make him appear, and once he does, he will already have several Stats filled in randomly. Mine had about 8 Charisma, 2 Cooking, etc. A neat little trick to try! Note: This Sim will also be considered to have a "job", but this job gives you no money, so you probably will not want to keep it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.8 Speeding up your Sim ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section is pretty much from broadstrong. Here's how to Speed up/Slow Down a Sim: Holding the mouse pointer over a CONTROLLED Sim speeds his movement. Holding it over an UNCONTROLLED Sim slows him down. And here are some strategies that utilize this trick: a) Speed up the Sim to save time. This is especially crucial for long-distance walking, getting to work on time, skills training (body for example) or non-active Sims who seem to walk slower. b) Slow down the Sim, not to waste time, but to help the other Sim get a desired interaction (social or itemwise), avoid "jealousy" (and the awful trumpet sound) and hence lowered Relationship scores, and more importantly (for me), to avoid collisions of the Sims or blockage of doorways. c) Slow down the burglar so that he is captured before stealing anything! Yes, I have tried it and it works (I must admit it is very cheap though)! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.9 Better Personality through Chemistry (Livin' Large ONLY) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is also discussed in a TIP in the Chemistry Set section above. The Chemistry Set has 8 distinct potions that can be created on it. Some help you, some turn you into monsters, and the YELLOW one flips your Sim's personality. This leads to one of the spiffiest new tricks in Livin' Large. 1.) Create a Sim, but give her NO PERSONALITY AT ALL. That's right, not one point spent on anything. No nice, no neat, nothing! 2.) Move this Sim into a vacant lot/house, and buy a Chemistry Set. Now have her [Make Potion] until she comes up with a Yellow potion. This could take a LONG time. My Sim got 8 Logic points before making a Yellow potion. 3.) Drink the Yellow potion, and your Sim will go from having NO PERSONALITY, to have the ULTIMATE PERSONALITY. That's right, full 10's in every category! Sweet! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11.10 Sell the Rocket Explosion ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From Alex Pinkney: My friend Ben discovered a way to make huge amounts of money, taking next to no time, and having fun at the same time. Buy the fireworks, and launch a rocket. Wait until you can see the rocket coming downwards. Go into buy mode and you can sell the rocket/explosion for §2300!!! This method is guilt free because you don't even need to use the move_objects cheat! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. Customizing Your Game ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Within these next couple of subsections are the various ways that you can customize The Sims, including the Nude Patch. (heh) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.1 Changing the Radio Station Music ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Changing the Radio Station Music: (from http://www.thesims.com/) In case you were wondering, you CAN have the Sims listen to YOUR music, rather than the default music. Go to: C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\Music\Stations And you will see 4 folders: Rock, Country, Latin, and Classica (not Classical, just Classica). Now place any MP3 or shortcut to an MP3 in these folders and that song will play when they play the radio! And, no you can't add new stations. You can, however, add as many songs as you want to each station. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.2 Skins ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You can download Skins for your Sims (think different outfits and heads) at almost any of the Websites listed below in the Final Words... section. If you are interested in creating your own Skins, I would suggest this link: http://www.simzonline.com/features/19990602/ Located at http://www.simzonline.com/ this feature is a comprehensive look at how you can create your own skins. I would also recommend downloading several other programs from http://www.thesims.com/, such as FaceLift and SimShow. FaceLift: http://www.thesims.com/us/getcool/faces/index.html SimShow: http://www.thesims.com/us/getcool/skins/index.html There are other programs at the official site, which you may be interested in. broadstrong sent me this: Besides the obvious skins in the game, these things are skins too, namely:- (a) Blanket and milk bottle for the baby (b) Costume for the toydoll (toydoll from the toybox) (c) Paint for the toycar (toycar also from toybox) (d) Wrapping Paper for the gift (under "Give Gift" option) However, by default, all these are green. Coasters (http://members.xoom.com/CoastersSims/) and SIMply Dariene (http://members.xoom.com/baschdar1/simdex.html) (two very good fan sites I recommend) have the customized skins for all these stuff. (Latest: Coasters got more new stuff) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.2.1 The "Nude" Patch ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Well somebody finally got around to getting around the pixellated censoring that occurs whenever your Sim does something "naughty" (such as going to the bathroom). It should be noted that this isn't anything great as Maxis never really intended for the Sims to be seen in the buff, and therefore they didn't put any detail into it. You can find the patch here: http://superturbo.com/sims/ All the instructions that you will need are in the ZIP file on that site. What you do when you get it is to unzip it, and place the files in your SKINS directory, which is probably something like: C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\UserData\Skins Note: This does NOT work for children, and furthermore, it is not anything that would be considered "pornographic." In other words, you don't really get to "see" anything. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.3 Setting up Multiple Neighborhoods ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I vaguely covered this in the FAQ for a few versions, and decided it needed its own section. There are actually two ways to do this. One is the Do-It-Yourself method, and the other is the Download-A-Program method. The first method is really simple. This is best done BEFORE you have done any work on your neighborhood! In your Game Directory (which is probably c:\program files\maxis\thesims\) is a directory called UserData. Right Click on this, and select COPY. Now go back out to the Maxis directory, and do a CTRL-V to paste (or click the Edit menu and choose Paste, also you can place this directory anywhere). You now have a copy of your neighborhood. Now rename the folder to UserData2 and move it back to TheSims directory. Now to switch between neighborhoods, simply rename UserData to UserData1 and UserData2 to UserData. The second method is to download this program: (Neighborhood Watch) http://www.simzonline.com/files/tools/neighborhoodwatch.zip and run it! This file is from http://www.simzonline.com/ a great site for your Simming needs. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.4 Download Surprises (thanks to Joseph Peitler) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here is the list of all the current downloads: (http://www.thesims.com/) Cuckoo Clock Moose Head Decoration 5 New Skins 5 New Houses Wall Lights Slot Machine Guinea Pig (Pet) New Plants New "Physical" Skins "Elwood" Skin MTV Skins (which includes "Elwood") Topiaries (Hedge Animals and such) Flowerbeds Jukebox The White House Two New Trashcans Glowing Flamingo Wall Light AND A complete Game upgrade to The Sims version 1.1! What you may not know is that some of these downloads are not all that they appear to be, some have Trojan Horses in them. No, not computer viruses that could kill your computer, but rather they have other game effects that you may not be aware of. Here is a list of all the hidden effects that I know of: (some info here is from broadstrong) Slot Machine -- carries a mini-patch on it that fixes some bugs. If you want to keep all of the cheats intact (such as the set_hour cheat) then install this instead. It isn't as complete, but should help. Also, has a hidden money cheat (or money spinner, maybe). Play it when fun is low; there is a greater chance to win! Great especially when the bid is 100 Simoleons. Guinea Pig -- The worst one of all, this one carries with it the PLAGUE. Literally, this Guinea Pig comes complete with a Virus. There are two things that can make a Sim sick. One is when you don't keep the cage clean and when the Sim plays with it and gets bitten. Keeping the cage is easy, especially if you have a maid, because she can clean it for you. If your Sim gets bitten once when the cage is clean, it will have no effect. However, if he gets bitten more than once, even when the cage is clean, the Sims will get sick. The more bites the Sim gets, the sooner he gets sick, the longer the sickness remains and the more chances your Sim will die. After bitten, the Sim might get sick around 1 or 2 days. However, if he comes accross a sick Sim and catches it, he will get sick in less of a day. Especially if he got bitten before then. In order to avoid all this don't buy the guina pig, unless you are really tired of your Sims. If you wish to buy it, here are a few warnings: keep the cage clean and don't play with so much. The more you play it, the more chances of getting bitten. If the Sim does get sick, isolate him in room immediately, so he won't walk around. (from Joseph Peitler) One thing about the guinea pig -- the best (or maybe only) time to play with it is when it is awake, otherwise it will bite the Sim (but of course, which animal or human likes to be awakened rudely?). (from broadstrong) Moose Head -- This one isn't so bad. The antlers on the moose head will "droop" depending on the total "family mood" of the house. So if everyone is feeling bad, the anters will droop quite a bit. Cuckoo Clock -- it "cuckoos" at 12am, 6am, 12pm and 6 pm, waking up adults, and only adults, in the room. Since it sounds at 6am, it can be used as an alarm clock (but I never tried it because I never used the alarm clock). Party Balloons -- No doubt they will attract all your neighbours and start a party, but as time goes, the balloons will burst, leaving a pile of mess that brings the Room rating straight down, and gives work for someone (maid or Sim) to do. But I see from somewhere that the mess can be sold! Not confirmed though. Topiary/Coped Flowers -- The topiaries and coped flowers have a flower bed, which may act as a pathblock. Sims bumping into it will stop short and pause before moving on (just like Sims bumping into other Sims). This is time-wasting and energy zapping. (broadstrong) Turkey Dinner -- Sims from all over the neighborhood flock to your house to partake of the feast. Yet often, they ignore the turkey and won't eat it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.5 Playing Without the Sims CD ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are likely several very good reasons why you might want the Sims game CD to be out. Maybe you don't like swapping in CD's all the time, or maybe you are on a computer that doesn't have a CD-ROM (such as a laptop where you have to swap devices in and out). I'm not here to judge! Anyway, here's a site that offers a new Sims.exe for those of you who don't want to have your game CD in all the time: http://sgn.simgames.net/thesims/addons/ Warning: If you use this "altered" EXE file, you will likely end out unable to install Livin' Large properly. When you get Livin' Large you will then have to uninstall the game, then reinstall it before you can put in the Add-On. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.6 Creating your own Objects ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Everyone wants to be able to create their own objects, maybe a new couch, or a new fridge. An ultimate TV perhaps, that has more than 3 channels. Well, there are a couple of Editors that allow just that. Warning: These editors can cause havoc with your game! There have been reports where objects created with these editors cause the game to crash, burn and other nasty things. That said, enjoy! The first Editor is Blueprint by Bil Simser: http://www.simbabes.com/blueprint/ And the second Editor is SimTransmogrifier by Don Hopkins: http://www.simzonline.com/thesims/files/tools/simtransmogrifier.exe Maxis has also released a tool to create custom wall paintings (in case you don't like that sad clown) called the Art Studio: http://www.simzonline.com/thesims/files/tools/artstudio.exe ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12.7 Custom Interface Graphics ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.stas.net/frankensim/sanctum/extras.html This is the only site I know of that has new Interface Graphics for The Sims and Livin' Large. Not only does it have replacement graphics (to get rid of that Blue interface), but it also has instructions on making your own interfaces. Also there are new start up screens for Livin' Large. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13. Known Bugs ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apieper sent me these: Repairmen can't walk up or down hills to repair things, only to repossess things. So if your entire house is elevated below or above the sidewalk (I know one lot starts out like this, lot 2 I believe), and you call a repairman, they will just stand in place for 8 hours, bill you, and leave. If a sim "Sam" is watching TV on a couch, and another sim "Stanley " tries to interact with them, then Stanley will simply stand in front of Sam waiting for Sam to stop watching TV. However, Sam will be blocked from standing up, because Stanley is standing in front of them. Even if you cancel Stanley's "interact with Sam" action, Stanley won't be able to move. They will be stuck doing nothing for a few hours - possibly missing work, or urinating on themselves. Similarly, if a Sim, "Escher" is painting and another sim "Dopey" is standing behind him trying to interact with him, Dopey will block Escher again. However, this time Escher will be able to stop painting, and he will occupy the same square as Dopey, so that neither of them can move under any condition. The only way to resolve this situation is to evict everyone in the home. Not done yet! If you have guests, and they are swimming in your pool, you can't ask them to leave, or even to stop swimming. They will swim and swim and swim, sometimes until they just climb out of the pool and collapse in front of the pool ladder. If there are any sims in the swimming pool when the pool ladder is blocked, they will all die. If you have an angled wall on top of a carpet, you can't remove the carpet without removing the wall. Oh! And a HUGE glitch. If you delete any picture in a scrapbook, then the caption for the picture is automatically overwritten. So overall, the sims isn't a very glitchy game as long as you avoid having houses with any hills, couches, chairs, paint sets, and don't use your photo album. _______________ The "Twins Bug" ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Catty Burton sent me this: I've got something really weird to tell you, and hopefully we will be able to solve this problem I have. I decided to have a baby, after having one already. When the baby changes into a Sim kid, there are TWO of them! Weird, but it gets stranger. One is a real person, that you can control and make do things. But the other, acts like a guest and you can't make him do anything or interact with him (nothing happens when I click on him). The twins can even interact with each other, and the Friendships signs come up (though the other twin isn't in the relationship bar). This has happened almost every time I give birth to a baby (because I start back from a saved game), is this a glitch? I'm going to experiment with this, see what happens when the controlled sim is sent to military school or dies. I'll give you a report on that. And this kid, he's a Cancer, but when he was born, he has nothing on his personality. I mean nothing, no blue slots, and he is the worst of every category. Isn't there some way you can use those 25 personality points? Knowla sent me this: Catty Burton was published on your faq (thanks for all the info by the way) saying that she experienced having twins every time the sims had babies. I had that problem too, it's always with the little wizard kids for my game. Anyway all I had to do was evict the family from the house and when I moved them back in, the two kids were re-loaded and became "as one" again. Be careful though, because sometimes when you move the family out, and you move back in the game automatically sells all your furniture and you have to do that over again. moonshine sent me this: I also play The Sims and happen to have downloaded your Walkthrough. It was the greatest! I wrote to you regarding one of the known bugs you featured in the walkthrough, the one sent by Catty Burton. The same thing happened with me: I was playing the Snooty Patooty family (downloaded from http://www.thesims.com) and as I was painstakingly taking care of the baby, the weirdest thing happened. A boy appeared on my front lawn, just before the baby cradle turned into a boy, who happened to look exactly like the one who appeared by the front lawn. The boy from the lawn behaved like a guest, only I couldn't ask him to leave. I was able to control the other Simkid though. Like Catty's case, the kid had no personality stats (nice, playful, etc.). Since I read about it in your walkthough, I decided to conduct an experiment of my own. I walled-off the "guest Simkid" but I let the other one live on. The game became annoying since the walled-off kid constantly tried to play and talk with its twin. I had to cancel all his attempts since I was trying to get rid of him. Then, I quit the game and restarted it again. The weirdest thing happened! The walled-off Simkid and its twin somehow traded roles - the walled-off Simkid was the one who could be controlled while the other Simkid acted like a visitor. I decided to go out of the game again (always saved it before quitting) and reload the game. This time, both traded roles AND moods. The free Sim now had the all-red mood. I decided then to kill off both of the Simkids...I made the free Simkid (this time he no longer behaved like a guest) swim and removed the ladders afterwards. When he drowned, the walled-off kid was still there! I decided, for the last time, to save the game, exit it, then come back once more. At that point, the walled-off Simkid had also disappeared. And moonshine also sent this: I downloaded a house from http://www.mallofthesims.com (from Seth Nickerson's Olympian Architecture) -- it's a house for lot 3 (greek estate). I was able to create a family and moved them in. While I was playing my new family, some neighbors came by but since the house was a bit too big, it took forever for my stay-home sim to get to the door and greet the visiting Sim. Before I was able to do so, they have already left. At 3PM, the working Sim and the kids came back from work and school and I was startled that the carpool and school bus kept on honking their horns (like how they are in the morning while waiting for the sims to catch their rides). I paused my game and saw two of those sims who earlier visited the house stuck at the edge of the lot. Eventually Jeff Pleasant moved to let the carpool and school bus pass. I tried to greet the sims but for some unexplanable reason, I couldn't. There came a point that the help screen flashed the message Jeff Pleasant is hungry...is going home...but he just wouldn't go away. Then out of nowhere, Montgomery Goth appears and my sim was able to talk to him. When I asked him to leave, he said goodbye but wasn't able to go home. || ________________ || / \ || /_ _\ || | | || |______________| ||XX (they got stuck here!) ===================================================== If you know anything about this (solution and stuff), please tell me about it. I also heard that a friend of mine encountered the same problem (in her game, 7 sims got stuck in the same place!) but I'm not sure if this also happened in lot 3. broadstrong had this to say about that: How far was the house from the roadside pavement? If the house is VERY NEAR (two squares or less, with pillars, fences etc in between), visitors can get stuck even at the doorway or at pavements. Maximus house (Maxis download) is one very fine example. That's why it is better to leave three or four squares apart, and don't place too many things at the frontside (basically, don't create a front porch unless you have enough space for one). broadstrong had more to say about the Twins Bug: About the twin bug, I also encountered it! It happened in the Hatfield house (another Maxis download). That time, the crib was in the kids' bedroom, and Jeff Pleasant, an invited guest, was nearing the doorstep. At 5 pm, after Billy Hatfield had fed the baby and put her back into the crib (but I know the baby was not asleep), a SimGirl appeared in the room! I could not recall if I saw twins, or whether I paused the game before the "other twin" can appear, but I checked that that SimGirl had NO BLUE BARS for personality (on seeing that, I felt somewhat chilly)! I reloaded the house (without saving), and this time the crib was in the living room, no guest was invited, and by the time Billy fed the baby, it was not yet 5 pm and he gets to sing to the baby. After singing, the baby-to-kid animation went on as usual, and now the family has a normal kid (except that she has no outgoing bars, but the bars were well distributed in the other four personalities). As said, there were three differences between these two cases:- (1) The crib was in the living room the second time but it was in the kids' bedroom (not the first room) initially. (2) There were no guests, as opposed to Jeff Pleasant visiting. (3) The baby was still awake when the "twin" appeared, but seems to be well tended the secong time round. I don't know if these differences matter in the appearing of the "twin", but it can't be mere coincidence, can it? It also seems that playing with the baby too often can lead to this, because "Play" leaves a lag time of an hour or so before the baby cries (if it is effective). Joseph Peitler sent me this: Here are three glitches I recently saw: This one is similar to the ones Aaron Pieper described, but not as bad. Sim"Jim" was working out, while the visit sim "Tim" was walking towards him, to speak to him. I cancelled Jim workout order, but not before Tim was standing over him, blocking the workbench exit. You know the character finishes his workout, his arms drops and he says "WHEW!" Well, Jim was doing that 5 times before Tim moved away to a distance. He was a visitor, so I couldn't control him at that time. 2. One of the floor lamps burned out, so I made my character call the repairman. He came over, touch the lamp and got electrocuted. Thanks for the patch, he didn't die (there is a joke in there, somewhere). He finish it and went on as usual. It was funny seeing him light up like a Christmas tree, though. Eric Chapman had this to add: "Hey, I was reading your FAQ and saw the note about the repairman being electrocuted and not dying after the patch. Well, it happened to me BEFORE I patched. And yes, he died. The photobook entry says "NPC Repairman has been electrocuted" and now whenever I call for a repairman, his ghost shows up! This is a GOOD thing! Why? Cause he can still fix things just like before, but because he's a ghost, he can walk through walls, people, whatever to get to the broken item. He just shows up, makes a quick bee-line to the broken item, fixes it, and makes another straight line through the walls and furniture back out. This saves money too, if you have alot of repairs to do in a crowded house, as less time is spent wandering around trying to get from point to point." 3. I have 8 sims in a household. One works at night. Four starts work at 8, the last three at 9. When 8 o'clock carpool arrived, the four got to work with no problems and the work pictures showed up on their face photos. When the 9 o'clock carpool arrived, the first one went at 9:30, the second one at 9:45. I had trouble getting the third one out of the swimming pool (It seems that I had to click on the "get out" order before the "go to work" order, because she kept swimming and swimming, ignoring the "go to work" order). By the time she went towards the car, it was 10:10, the car went off. When that happened, ALL OF THE SIX PEOPLE WHO WENT TO WORK MAGICALLY APPEARED IN THE READING ROOM OF THE HOUSE WITH THEIR WORK PICTURES GONE. This is not the first time it happened. It seems that whenever any one sim misses work, the other sims who work the same or close to it job time, who is already at work appears back home. This also happens to my other 2 sims in a different house (in the bathroom, this time), but not as much as the 8. I got the version 1.1 patch when this happened. The bad news is those 6 sims won't get paid, even though they went to work. If this happens again, I'll see if I can make them miss work the next day to see if they get fired. See if I can make them miss work twice and not get fired using this glitch. An update to the glitch about 8 sims going to work and suddenly appearing back in the house. This mostly happens when a sim is already in his work clothes and misses his car pool. The car will stay there until around 10 minutes after the departure hour (even a bit longer if the sim is already on the street and on command to "go to work"). Also, If the sim get delayed or "bumped" into standing still, delaying him from going to the car, the car will leave. If he still has the command, he will go to the street where the car was and then disappears. Then, he will reappear back in the house in his regular clothes, If he was wearing work clothes at that time. This also happens if you sent your sims to work, then save within a "sim" hour and went into another house, where they ask one of the working sims to move in or purpose and he said yes. When you go back to the working sims' house, you would find that all the working sims appear in a room except for that one sim that moved out. Mark Hissett sent me these: Some possible bugs (I think). After a fire this one girl I had, she cleaned some dirty dishes with flies. Next thing I know, she has flies circling around her. Her hygiene bar is about 75% green, and they still don't come off after a shower. I don't believe they ever did leave her. In the buy or build modes, you can move dishes and such. If you take the brownies someone has brought over (I am not sure if it works for all food items) and place it under the fridge, it will actually go into the fridge, when you move the fridge, the food moves with it. One problem this causes, is that you can't make meals or anything. You can eat the food, as well as take it out. It is quite the problem when 3 or 4 dishes are under there and they have to wash them. One thing I am unsure of is if the food goes rotten. I don't recall any flies in the fridge, but they dishes were not in there long anyway. It would be cool if the food lasted that way. I will have to see if it works for meals, so they last longer than 6 or 8 hours. Headless Sims This happened to me once, and apparantly happened so someone else as well (Ashley Baker). What happened is I had Betty Newbie move in with another one of my families, which already had someone with that head. Nothing happened until I saved it, left, and came back later. Then her portrait at the bottom of the screen was just black. No more picture of her, just a black square. This happened to Ashley as well, but with the Pleasants: "I have got the 'plesant' family (comes with the game), in a house. I don't know why, but the 'man' (forgot his name) of the family has no head, when you choose the family member, nor when you chose what house in the neighborhood screen. I have not deleted anything from the skins folder. His head appears to be normal, when 'playing' the game (when you can see all of the body, in the main 'bit' of the game). Weird!" Pathfinding Follies from broadstrong: Sims will take routes with the least doors, so between a short-cut through the house and a long way around the house (for example from backyard to frontyard), the Sim will choose the latter! Also Sims rather prefer to walk on pathways than bare grassland. Sims would rather walk in an L-shape manner than to walk diagonally (but the diagonal route is shorter!). Both actions can really waste a lot of time and energy. As an illustration, Maximus house has a layout something like this (only partially shown):- ------------ | | | | R | | O | | A | -d----------- D | SSSS | D ROOM | ------------------------- Legend: D- main door (facing road) d- door (not facing road), SSSS- stairs --- & | are walls Note: Pavement all around the house Q: If a visitor rings the bell at main door and a Maximus had gone down the stairs, will he go to the main door directly through the room to greet the visitor? A: NO! (Surprised?) The Maximus will go out from the other door (door d), and WALK ALONG THE HOUSE (up-left-down in this case) to reach at main door and greet visitor then (Visitor could have left by then). I think it's because the Sim would rather walk on the pavement than on the indoor floor. Sims only care about the "best possible" path without caring if other Sims are in the way. So to be safe, leave TWO squares (three for really paranoid players) free around any object, structure (whatever thing) for walking, and for objects that don't have social interaction, place them by the wall. Only objects having social interaction (playhouse, pool table etc.) needs to be placed in free space. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 14. Getting the Most from The Sims ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This section is devoted to getting more gameplay out of The Sims, an excellent game, but one that people can get bored of after awhile. Why? Because there's no way to win, and only so many things to do. But with a few of these ideas, you'll be able to play this excellent game forever. 1. Don't cheat! Cheating takes out the challenge from the game, which can drastically decrease the amount of long term enjoyment that you will get from The Sims. 2. Do the complete opposite of what you normally do. If you created a male Sim, create a female. If you did a Bachelor, do 3 or 4 Sims to start with. Be creative in how you build your house. Make it a giant Octagon with doors everywhere, or a triangle with no doors at all. If you created an Outgoing Neat Sim, create an Active Nice Sim. Or maybe you could try making the Old Coot Sim, who has NO STATS WHATSOEVER! How's that for a challenge? Just TRY to have him make a few friends! The possiblities are endless, play around with it a little! Don't just play to succeed, play for the fun of it. 3. Watch someone else play. Let your little sister try her hand at a the game. Not only will you be watching virtual people, but you'll be watching someone else watching virtual people! How existential is that? Then have your Sims interact with your Sisters seems and see how they get along. 4. Don't play to succeed. Fail. Watch your Sims run around without your supervision, see how far they get. Keep them unemployed and watch the bills pile up. Let the Repo man come. Let your Sim die if you want, just don't enjoy it or anything, that would be sadistic. 5. Don't cheat! Cheating is great when you just want to mess around, but when you use it in order to buy the best of everything, you get tired of the game quicker. If you have to actually work to get those things, you'll value it more than if you just cheated to get it. And if you are going to cheat, don't give yourself too much money, or you'll take out most of the fun of the game. I'm serious! A lot of this game involves working for money, and if you don't need money for anything, you've just rendered a lot of the game pointless. So don't cheat, if you do, you'll feel cheap in the morning. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15. Wish List ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are just some ideas for what should/must be included in any further expansion or sequel for The Sims. If you have your own Wishes, just email them in. 1. Ability to take your Sims out of their house. This could be to go to a store (perhaps you actually have to go pick out your furniture?), to another Sim's house, or to work. In any case, these would add a lot of new depth to the game. And potentially unbalance the game and make it less fun, but hey, I'm not a game designer, I'm sure they could work around that. 2. More Careers, and which Job you have carries over into your Sim's daily life. Yeah, we need more jobs. How about the Computer Nerd career track? Start out as a lowly data entry geek, and work up to some sort of Bill Gates figure. Furthermore, your job should affect your Sim's life in more ways than just their hours, and pay. For example, if you have a Law Enforcement Sim, and your house is getting burglarized, your Cop Sim could arrest the criminal. Or you had a criminal Sim, and a Cop Sim living together, they wouldn't get along so well. You get the idea. 3. More things to do with houses. Third stories, basements, secret tunnels (to the batcave!), whatever. Or maybe even "alternative" houses, such as Oriental Style, Ancient Style, Caves, Huts, and whatnot. 4. Ditch the carpool, get your Sim their own car! Think of how this game would be expanded if you could build your own garage, and put in it, your very own car! You'd have to make payments on the car for a certain amount of time, and then the car would be yours. (Or it could be bought outright like furniture) Then when you went to work, you'd just take out the family car, and drive off to work under your own power. 5. More types of social interactions. How about two Sims being able to talk while on the couch, not watching TV or anything, just sitting and talking. Or maybe making out on the couch. Or how about large conversations? Three or four people having an animated discussion on politics (not in a hot tub, just them talking). 6. Aging! Yes, babies grow up to be kids, but why not kids to adults? Or adults into old people? Think of the logistics of having to take care of a feeble old man! As things stand now, there just isn't enough for kids to do, and getting them to become adults, would help things out immeasurably. Maybe they should go to college for awhile, then when they come back, they're all grown up. (like on TV where a character leaves for awhile) 7. Treat clothes as separate objects. This would require you to have a utility room (or hire a laundry service). Old clothes would lie scattered on the floor like garbage and neat Sims would groan and pick up dirty clothes and put them into the hamper. Sims would need to "change" clothes to keep their hygiene level good just like actual people. They would need to pick up dirty clothes to keep their room scores high (add this to the list of chores for the maid). An ambitious programmer at Maxis might treat the "skins" as separate from the mesh objects for clothing objects. Now, there's a wish! (from Mike Fenton) 8. Pets! (not just fish and guinea pigs) Pets would be a nice addition, I think. Not just dogs and cats, but other things as well, such as turtles, snakes and lizards. Imagine then if one Sim's pet snake got out and bit another Sim. Why that Sim would never forgive him! (thanks to James Wardle) 9. Dynamic Sim Personalities Right now your Sim's personalities are set at the beginning and don't change during the game. Well what if that Sim's experiences in SimLife could radically change their personality? Suppose one Sim has an experience so traumatic that she no longer is so nice? Imagine if an Outgoing Sim gets beaten a lot, then they might lose some outgoingness as they lose trust in other Sims. Or if a mean Sim has an act of kindness done to him that makes him a little less cranky. 10. COMPUTERS Can someone please convice Maxis to make more use of the computers? Why not CHAT through computers! Whoa! That should be more hell efficient than calling them over! Better yet, make the computers have multimedia option! Combine TV and Hi-Fi to make an excellent computer. AND why not make the computers a fun filled group activity (on-line multiplaying option!), provided that the Sims have you want to play with got a modem. How about advancing mechanical skills trhough computers? Business Sims (or other computer related jobs) must fiddle around with computers before they can be promoted. (from GamemaniaX) broadstrong sent me these wishes: What I hope for:- (i) Stats to tie up with everyday life, such as:- (a) High Body can render more immunity to the Guinea Pig Virus. (b) High Charisma makes social interactions more successful. (c) High Logic renders the Sim better "AI", will make better decisions under Free Will. (d) High Body + High Creativity allows the Sim to do things like jump over couches or go under tables, thus avoiding being trapped in crowded places. (e) High Mechanical + High Creativity renders the Sim to be a "handyman", able to perform tasks like adding a flipping board to turn a rectangular desk to a square table, or changing the upholstery to increase the comfort of chairs and couches (how's that to program in a game?!) (ii) More interactions with NPC (Repairman, Maid, etc) More options possible for these characters, such as getting a tip or two from the Repairman (maybe increasing Mechanical stat!). (iii)Weather Changes How can everyday be a fine, sunny day? Maybe at daytime, it could be so cloudy that the rooms are less well-lit (decreasing Room), or the day could be so rainy that the barbecue is cancelled. or so windy that the cinders from the fireplace spread further than normal. Well, things like that. Maybe under Build mode there can be an extra item -- canopies (the retractable type even). (iv) Transportation System SimCity 3000 has trains, subways and bus network; why can't The Sims have these? Why must there be "the very own car", when you need to buy the car, maintain it and build a garage just for it? Taking the public transport system would be much cheaper, though like the carpool you cannot be late also. (v) Twins (or even triplets or quadruplets) In the real world, there are twins, so in the Sims, why can't twins (identical or fraternal) appear? Tending to one baby is tough enough; try taking care of two (or more)! That would be a challenge! Or perhaps there can be special objects for babies only (such as cots, baby toys, milk bottle etc.). (P.S. I hope somebody from Coasters has seen this FAQ and design new skins for the baby crib. The green colour...sucks somewhat.) =============================================================================== Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) =============================================================================== If you have a question that wasn't answered by one of the Frequently Asked Questions above, please feel free to email me: [email protected] Q: Is The Sims going to be released on the Mac? A: Yes, it already was. Q: Is there any way to skip the intro, where the Sims logo is on a blue screen and the phrases are scrolling by at the bottom? A: Nope! This is The Sims equivalent of the "Now Loading..." screen, and therefore cannot be skipped! "So just what is the program doing when 'Reticulating Splines,' 'Inserting Chaos Generator,' and 'Balancing Domestic Coefficients' flash across the bottom of your screen? Absolutely nothing, actually. 'They're inventions of (Creator) Will Wright's imagination,' says a Maxis spokesman. Speaking of the SIMS, expect Maxis to release an expansion pack this fall..." (from INCITE PC # 7, June 2000, thanks to Joseph Peitler) Q: Is there any way to alter a Sim's biography after once you're out of the Family Creation screen, or am I stuck with what I wrote initially? A: Yes there is! From Page 40, Paragraph 1 of the Game Manual: "...If you click and hold on a character, the character's bio which you composed in the Create a Sim window [or Maxis did] appears. If you think the bio needs a little refreshing, just Control-Click on the character in question, and get that bio in an editable dialogue box for your red-pen pleasure." (Thanks to Andrew Tate for pointing this out to me!) Q: Can I switch a Sim's skin after I've created them, or will my Sim just wear the same exact clothes for the rest if his digital little life? A: Your Sim can change their clothes by buying a Dresser/Armoir. Once you have the Dresser, then select it, and do a "Change Clothes". There is one downside to this, your Sim will simply change to the NEXT Body Skin (there is no way to change the Head Skin). So if you want to change to something specific, you may be at it for awhile. And if you change your mind, and want to go back to the first skin, well... that will take even longer! Q: The Sim I called asked me to come over to their place, is there a way for me to do that? A: No. What the Sim you called really meant was "I don't want to see you right now." And they were just being diplomatic about it. Anything they say that doesn't result in them coming over is a refusal. Q: If I create two Sims in my first home, are they automatically considered married? A: No. The "family" is just a grouping of people in one house. They don't have any "relationship" until the game starts. Whether they become good friends, or lovers, or get into a fight, is up to them (and to you). Q: You mention in your guide that I shouldn't bother making friends for SimKids, since they don't need them to advance in their job field or anything. Does it work the other way around; can my adult Sim befriend a SimKid to help with that promotion that he wants? A: Although Kids don't need Family Friends for any particular reason (as long as their Social is high, who needs friends!), they can be counted for other people's Family Friends counter. So if SimBob befriends SimKid1, he still gets +1 Family Friend. Q: How long does it take for a SimBaby to grow into a SimKid? A: 3 full days. So exactly 72 hours after the baby arrives, he/she will *poof* into a child. Q: So, a SimBaby grows up to be a SimKid. Does a SimKid grow up to be a SimAdult? What about a SimAdult growing up to be a SimOldPerson? A: Doesn't happen. The only Sims who grow up are Babies who become children. Your Kids will never grow up and provide you with an income, nor will your adults need to be placed in a nursing home. Q: Can you take custody of a kid from a neighbor the same way you ask a neighbor to move in/propose? A: You can't take the kid directly, but there is a way to get a kid. Suppose that SimBob is courting a Sim who lives alone with a kid. He asks her to marry him, then she arrives with not just herself, but brings the kid along as well. Q: I know that a sim must ask a visiting sim with any kids to Move in/Propose in order to adopt the sim kid. But suppose the kids DON'T have any Sim adults? Can a simkid ask any adults to move in if he has no parents? A: No, they can not. They do not have the option to move in/propose with other kids or adults, nor can adults ask a visiting kid to move in with them. In other words, no adults can adopt any older sim kid in the neighborhood. This could be bad if all the sim parents die, leaving the kids to fend for themselves. This means they'll spend the rest of their "lives" eating pizza and potato chips and getting money only from "grandpa" and selling their artwork. Q: Sometimes when a sim walks into a room, any lights in there automatically turn on and when he leaves they turn off. Yet, in other rooms, he had to manually turn the lights on. Why is that? A: If the room has no windows, and it is still daylight, the Lights won't come on automatically, which is very annoying if you have a room in the center of your house. Also Lava Lamps don't turn on automatically. I suppose everything else is a bug, or possibly even a Sim Equipment Failure (similar to a light breaking, not a bug). Q: When I ask someone to marry me, they always say no. What can I do to get them to FINALLY say yes? A: Well beyond being stubbornly persistent (and why not?), you have to realize that the Sim you are wooing has Needs just as any other Sim, even though you can't see their Need meters. Why is this important? Because a Sim must be in a good mood to accept Marriage (or Moving In), and Mood is based on the 8 Needs. So make sure your SimLover has eaten, had some fun, talked to your other Sims, and is comfortable before popping the question. Beyond that just keep asking them until they say yes! Q: This marriage isn't working out. My SimWife gets jealous when I kiss all the other girls. Can I get divorced? A: No, there is no divorce! If you simply want to "play the field", then just make sure to have your Sim do all of his romancing in another room than any of his other love interests. But if you want that Sim OUT, then there are ways... You can have that person Die (see the Q below for more info on that), or you could get that Sim to get married to someone else. Simply start up another home, and romance that Sim until you can get them to marry you. They move out of the first house, and in with the new Sim. Q: The "Propose"/"Move In" option never seems to come up, what can I do to encourage it? A: The only reason that those options will never come up is if the two Sims already live in the same house, i.e. if they started out in the same "family", then they can't get married. Why? Marriage is only an "event", it merely serves the purpose of getting a new Sim into the house. After that, there's no special purpose to marriage, and the two married Sims will act just like two Sims in Love who already lived together. Mark Hissett has this to add: There are a few ways to encourage [the propose option]. First of all you must be good friends with the person, or good lovers. And your sim must be in a good mood as well. If they are hungry or need some social, then the pie thing won't include the propose/move in. Q: My Sim keeps making "ouches" while preparing Dinner. Can they be wounded permanently from this? A: Not from the actual preparing of the meals, but they can die if a fire breaks out while cooking the food. To prevent such occurrences, have your Sim read some Books on Cooking. Also build a Fire Alarm nearby. It can't prevent Fires, but it will call the Fire Department for you. Q: I'm trying to get rid of this Table of mine, but the game keeps saying that it is "in use", which it clearly is not, nor is there anything on top of it! How can I get rid of it? A: First off, this is a bug, and as such, it may be prevented (I haven't tested this) by downloading the patch off of the official site. If you already have this problem, you may have to have your Sims move out to get rid of the table. You don't have to bulldoze the house, if you don't want to. Another thing to try would be to use the move_objects cheat, and then delete the table. I haven't tested this as this bug hasn't happened to me. (see the Cheats section for more info) To use the move_objects cheat, press CTRL-SHIFT-C, enter in "move_objects on" (without the quotes) into the little command line, then go to Furnish mode, click on the table, and DELete it as normal. This strategy should be used for any object that mysteriously stays "in use" even though it isn't. Q: My Sim put a bag of chips down, and now I can't get rid of the chips! I can't eat them, I can't throw them away, what should I do? A: As in the last problem, you can either move out and back in, or try the move_objects cheat. (see the Cheats section for more info) Also install either the Slot Machine or the Patch from the Official site, these will allow you to clean the mess up. Q: Some neighbors seem to be "stuck" on my property. I can’t talk to them or anything. What do I do? A: First, try going into Buy mode and moving things out of their way - they might be trapped behind objects. If they are outside, make sure they are not blocked by plants or hedges. Neighbors who are already outside and trying to leave won’t cut through the house to get home, so you’ll have to manually make sure they can reach the sidewalk from where they are. If they are inside, in a room with an outside door, make sure they can reach it. Just like when they’re outside, they won’t change rooms in order to get around an obstacle. If they have a clear path and still won’t move, you’ll have to do something more drastic: 1) Hit Control-Shift-C to bring up the cheat window. 2) Type "move_objects on" 3) Go to Buy mode. Select the neighbor and hit delete. Don’t worry, they’re not dead. Think of it as throwing them off your property. 4) Hit Control-Shift-C to bring up the cheat window. 5) Type "move_objects off”. -- from http://www.thesims.com/ Q: My Sim keeps getting strange phone calls, including one that implies that (s)he is going to die soon! Is this just the developers playing with my mind, or am I about to have an ex-Sim? A: Wouldn't that be weird? But luckily it isn't going to happen. The only ways that your Sim can die are through YOUR own negligence. In fact most the incoming phone calls are completely meaningless. So, if they aren't telling you something important, such as a Friend about to lose interest in you, your Sim getting fired if they skip work again, or your Sim gaining an inheritance, you can safely ignore the call. Q: My Sim is Sick! What should I do? Can he die? A. First quarantine the sick Sim to prevent contagion. Next make sure that your Sim is well rested. Don't go to work or school while sick, just stay home and rest. When up, go drink some coffee, but don't do anything strenuous. And YES YOU CAN DIE! So take sickness seriously. Q: I want to expand my house, how do you remove walls? A: In the Build Mode press and hold CTRL, then click and drag the mouse across the wall that you wish to remove. Q: I saw on The Sims website that somebody had a garage with a car inside it. How did they get a car? A: You can fake it, but you can't really get a car. Here's what they did. First they built whatever structure that they would use to house the cars, using the standard house builder. Then, they activated the move_objects cheat (by pressing CTRL-SHIFT-C, then typing in move_objects on), wait for the carpool to show up, then go into the Furnish mode (F2), and pick up and move the car into the garage. It won't stay there, it will drive off eventually, but it will at least look like you have a car in the garage for a bit. You can actually download cars as normal objects from this website: http://simsplus.homesims.com/ Although you still can't drive them. Q: I want to move my Sims into a new home, will they keep all of their money? A: Yes. Also their previous house will be sold along with everything in it (at current market value, e.g. all objects depreciate with time and use). This value is called the "Net Worth". You can see all the families' Net Worth at the Neighborhood screen. This basically is the amount of money they would have if they moved out of their house. Q: I ran out of money, and couldn't pay the Maid/Gardener, and now they refuse to come back even though I have the money now. What do I do? A: You've been blacklisted, my friend, and there's only one way out of it, and that is to move out of your house. So go to the neighborhood screen, Evict your Sims (the bulldozer icon) and have them move back in. Or you could use this as your chance to move into a larger house, but I suspect you wouldn't be able to afford it (if you couldn't afford a Maid!). Note: Blacklisting ends after 5 days and the Maids/Gardeners will then work for you again. Q: Ok, everyday the Repairman shows up, does absolutely nothing useful, and just won't leave! I tell him to go away, but he just returns again later! What do I do? A: This usually happens when the Repairman is called, and he finds a burnt out Wall Light. However, if this wall light is being partially blocked, by a table, or a chair or something in front of it, the Repairman can't fix it! But, he'll really want to fix it, so he keeps hanging around hoping that you'll move the table/chair/obstacle so that he can do his job. Q: All my Sims only have 20,000 to start with, so how do I get them into the nice big shiny homes? A: Evict your Sims when they get rich enough to get a new house (use the bulldozer Icon in the Neighborhood screen, then click on the appropriate house to evict. It also asks if you want to bulldoze that house, that's up to you) then go back to the Select/Create a Family screen and select the Sims that you just evicted. Now you can move them into any house that they can afford. Make sure that they still have enough money to furnish the house, as most houses on the block come empty. Q: If Sim1 married Sim2 and moved into 2's house, what will happen to Sim1's photos? A: Sim1's photos will disappear when he moves in with sim2's house and change his last name to his. Q: I don't like my neighborhood, is there a way to reset it to how it was before I mucked it up? A: Uninstall and reinstall the game. Then you might want to make a copy of the UserData folder (found in TheSims directory, c:\program files\maxis\thesims\userdata). Then if you ever want to play a different neighborhood, or just play with a blank neighborhood, simply move the copied folder back. Q: There is a marking on the lower right corner of one of my character's face photo. A red plus with a circle around it. I got it when both of my characters reached the final job levels. What does it mean? A: I've seen this come up two different times (neither of which were the one that you describe). The first is when you Right Click on the portrait, it will then Zoom in on the Sim, and put in the Red "Crosshairs." Then if the Sim wanders off, then the game will keep that Sim on the screen. The other time I've seen this is when you use the move_objects cheat to delete a Sim, they're portrait will have the Crosshairs on it, click on the portrait and the Sim reappears. Q: Is there a Demo? A: No. Q: Is this game worth getting? A: Yes. Q: How do we kill our Sim? A: Well that is rather morbid of you, but there are several ways to "off" a Sim. You can have them fight a fire, they might catch on fire themselves and die a horrible death. Or you could starve them to death. And finally you can also have them get electrocuted by having them try to fix an appliance (or even changing a light bulb) without any mechanical know how. I think a Sim has a 1 in 5 chance of dying per light bulb with no mechanical skill points. Q: What happens to Dead Sims? A: Their remains will "remain" with you forever! You can place the remains inside your house (as an Urn) or outside (as a tombstone). Either way, that dead Sim will every once in awhile roam around HAUNTING THE LIVING AS A GHOST! Spooky! It's a random chance as to whether that Dead Sim will haunt each night at 11:00 pm. If you have Livin' Large installed, when a Sim dies, your other Sims get a chance to win back the life of the departed Sim. They must beat Death in a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors, if they win, the dead Sim returns to life. Q: What happens to the rest of the Departed Sims' Family? A: They have to mourn (if they know about the death, that is) for the poor Sim for awhile, then they can mourn at any time by going up to the remains. Beyond that, they aren't much affected by it. Q: Can you kill off the maid, repairman and the gardener? If you lure them into a room or pool and remove the way out, will they die the same as a regular sim? A: I've tried, but the Maid just managed to appear outside of my trap. Several times. I would build a wall around her, but as soon as I went back to LIVE mode, she just ... popped out of it. Joseph Peitler has this to add: "One of the floor lamps burned out, so I made my character call the repairman. He came over, touch the lamp and got electrocuted. Thanks to the patch, he didn't die (there is a joke in there, somewhere). He finished it and went on as usual. It was funny seeing him light up like a Christmas tree, though." Q: My Sims' Mood is fine until they get outside, then it plummets (due to the Room rating)... what's wrong? A: When this first happened to me, it was because I hadn't bothered to recycle the newspapers that had been arriving everyday (they stop being delivered after 6 days of you not picking them up). Once a new paper arrives, then the old one turns to trash, and trash has a horrible effect on Room. Also you may want to decorate the outside. Place some flowers, flamingoes, hedges, and whatnot. If you place flowers, be sure to water them, or those will take the Sims' Room rating down. Q: My Sim is going to work everyday, has all the requirements for a promotion, but doesn't ever seem to get it. What's wrong? A: Once all the requirements are met, all you need is mood! If your Sim goes to work a surly grouch, he won't get promoted, but a happy fun loving Sim always gets the good jobs. Q: Can my Sim get demoted for being in a Bad Mood? What about if he loses some family friends, or a stat is dropped? A: Yes, Sims can get demoted for being in a bad mood. One could suppose that being in a bad mood caused their work to suffer, and that got them demoted. And no, you don't get demoted if you lose some family friends, or you have a stat dropped. Q: My Sim got fired, can I get another good high paying job? A: Nope! Have to start out at the bottom of the ladder again. That's why you should avoid getting fired. Going back up the ladder is easiest if you choose a career path that needs the Skills that you already have from working on your previous job. So if you have lots of Body, try for a Military, Law Enforcement, or X-Treme career tracks. Same for the rest of the Skills, try to keep to what would be easiest to get promoted. Q: I am having no luck at making friends with this one Sim. What am I doing wrong? A: Some Sims just clash (click on the Personality Button, then on their Astrological Sign to see which Sims they are least compatible with), or maybe that Sim (or your Sim) isn't very nice. It's very hard to like a mean Sim. Hard, but not impossible. With these Sims you have to carefully monitor their interactions. If that Sim is about to taunt you, then cancel that action (although you can't cancel their action directly you can cancel it on the receiving end by clicking on the "Be Taunted" icon that will appear in your Queue), and try simply talking to the Sim. With time, their relationship will improve, and you will be able to be less vigilant, as friends tend to clash less often. Q: While looking at my house on the neighborhood screen, it says that I have 13 friends, yet when I get into the house, it says I only have 11! What gives? A: At the neighborhood level, it counts every friend that your family has, including friends INSIDE YOUR OWN FAMILY. So if your Sims are friends with each other, they will be counted at the neighborhood level. But since these relationships don't help with the Family Friend count, they aren't counted at the House level. So, at the House level, only friends OUTSIDE OF THE FAMILY are counted. broadstrong has a differing viewpoint: I observed that when I FIRST enter the neighbourhood (after the blue loading screen with all the scrolling words below), the number of family friends include both "friends" (50+ relationship) and "warm" (20 to 49 relationship). But when I enter the house, relationships below 50 won't be considered (well, accordingly they are not friends with the Sim anyway), so the count decreases. However, on returning to the neighbourhood screen, the family count is now correctly updated, so if the family has 11 friends, this time it WILL show 11, nothing else. Q: My Sim seems to sleep forever! Nothing I have done will get him up! What do I do? A: Sims like to stay in bed, if they have no way to get out of bed. That is, if you have some object by the side of the bed that prevents the Sim from getting out of bed, they'll just stay in there forever. Of course, it would be nice if they would tell you something... broadstrong notes that with the Sims v1.1 patch installed, when this happens, you see a "Can't get up" animation. Q: My Sim has been in the Bath for an awful long time. How can I get him/her out? A: This one happened to my sister (and it's similar to the above Sleeping problem). She had a Sim in a brand new Tub that was built in the corner of the bathroom with a Shower right next to it. The Sim was able to get in, but due to the Shower being right there, the Sim could not get out. When something like this happens, look around to see what is blocking your Sim, and move it! Q: Do we ever get to see the Sims naked? Having Sex? What about any Naked Skins? A: No, no and no. Although at the proper angle, you CAN see the Sims naked in the shower. (you'll have to figure out the angle yourself, though!) The most the Sims ever do in love is to passionately kiss. If they "make a baby" then nothing happens between the Sims and the baby "magically appears". Note: You CAN patch your game to get rid of the Pixel Censor when your Sim does something naughty. See section 12.2.1 for the details. Note: Also, Sims CAN have sex if you have the Livin' Large expansion pack installed. Buy the Love Bed and turn it to Vibrate. Then have the second Sim go up and "Play in Bed." Q: In the opening movie I can see a Sim coming out naked (albeit censored) from the Hot Tub, but my Sims always wear a Swimsuit... Why? A: The first Sim into the Hot Tub must be a VERY Outgoing Sim to get in Buck Nekkid. Once one Sim goes in naked, then it seems that you just can't stop every other Sim from going in naked as well. Crazy! Also you probably should know that a lot of things in the Opening Video were changed in the Final Game. If you watch closely you can see different Serving Plates, Plasma TV's and more. Q: I set the Sims to speak English, but I can't understand a word that they are saying. A: Sims speak in gibberish called Sim (or SimSpeak if you prefer). The only way that it resembles English (or any other language that it lets you "set") is in the rhythm or cadence. Q: Can I change the radio station's names? What about the music? A: See the above section "Everything else in the Neighborhood" for information on changing the music. However, you cannot change the radio station's names. So whatever you change the music to will still be listed under "Country" "Latin" "Rock" or "Classical". Q: Do you have any cheats? What about any trainers or editors? A: Cheats can be found in the above section "Cheats & Tricks". As for editors and trainers, there has been one, but I think that it has vanished. Q: OK, I deleted my mailbox/carpool, and now I want them back, how can I do that? A: Thus we see the perils of using the move_objects cheat! I have an idea about how you could get your Mailbox/Carpool back if you deleted them: Import a new house from somewhere (usually http://www.thesims.com/) and install that into the game. That should work. Or you could just uninstall the game then reinstall. There are two places on the site that have houses to download, "Get Cool Stuff" and "The Sims Exchange". Before you go there, check to see which Lot Number you need, then make sure to download the correct house. Your best bet, by the way, is the Sims Exchange. Q: I downloaded a house from The Sims Official Site, and unzipped it, but now what do I do? A: Houses download as an EXE, which I have assumed that you have run, after which it says something like "It has been installed", then run your game, and at the neighborhood screen it will give you the option to have this new house (and family) replace the one currently there. So the previous house will vanish, along with everyone in it, to be replaced by the new house and family. (all houses come with families) Warning: Before downloading any house/Exchange family off of the Official Site, make SURE that the lot that you are replacing has nothing that you want to keep! The displaced family will simply be back at the Family Selection list, but they'll have lost their home. Q: The cheat 'klapaucius' no longer works! Did upgrading the game do this? A: Yes. The new patch changes the money cheat from klapaucius to rosebud. Why they did this is beyond me. Q: Can I win The Sims? A: Nope. You can't lose either, although if you kill off all your Sims that could be considered losing. This game is all about the playing, nothing more, nothing less. Q: I can't find my serial number, can I have yours? A: No. If your game didn't COME with a serial number, you could try contacting Maxis through their website: http://www.thesims.com/ Q: OK, I don't have a serial number, and therefore can't download off of the Official Sims Site, so how can I get all those neat downloads? Will you send them to me? A: First, no, I won't send any of the updates to you. Second, you can find most of the Sim's Downloads at any of the web pages listed in the Online Resources down in the Final Words section. Try either http://www.simzonline.com/ or http://go.to/simuniverse/ but almost any of the sites will do. Q: I want to put this FAQ on my webpage, can I? A: Sure. Just don't change ANYTHING without prior email approval by me, and try to keep it reasonably up to date. I update this FAQ a lot, adding new Frequently Asked Questions, strategies, and correcting any mistakes found. It really doesn't help me to have people seeing old versions of the FAQ and sending me emailed questions that have already been answered. Q: I emailed you, and you didn't answer! What's up with that? A: There are usually 3 reasons why I don't reply: 1. Your question is already answered in the FAQ somewhere. This gets tricky if the question has been answered in a new version but you were looking at an older version. So be sure to always check GameFAQs for the latest version before emailing in a question. 2. Your question is covered in the manual. I really don't want to rewrite the manual in this FAQ, and to that end I won't include much information found therein in here. Which means that I won't answer questions found in the manual. 3. I lost your email. This happens either when I put the email aside for the moment, and forget about it, or when I attempt to reply, but get a Returned Email Failure. The second happens quite often with AOL addresses, they won't accept Web Based emails (to avoid SPAM) and so I couldn't answer you if I tried. This is a setting in the options somewhere, and if you could please tell me where to send a reply that won't get returned. Those are the USUAL reasons why I don't reply, others include that I was too tired at the time I got it, and forgot about it, or that I didn't know an answer, and ignored it. Those are rare. If you didn't get a reply, and feel that you deserve one, just email me again. Q: I have some bizarre and obscure technical problem.... A: I have no idea how to fix technical problems, such as the game not running or the game crashing. Try looking at Maxis' Official Sims Website: http://www.thesims.com/ If you have a question that wasn't answered by one of the Frequently Asked Questions above, please feel free to email me: [email protected] =============================================================================== Livin' Large Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) =============================================================================== Just because Livin' Large isn't out yet, doesn't mean I haven't been asked questions about it! Q: I installed Livin' Large, but it looks like the same ol' Sims. Where are all of the new objects? A: What happened is that your installation was interrupted, which means that Livin' Large never fully installed. Here is what the official website (http://www.thesims.ea.com/) has to say about it: Some users report installing the Sims Livin' Large, but get no multiple neighborhoods, no new walls, no new floors, and the only objects they get are the downloads that were included in Livin' Large. Some users also report seeing the new Livin' Large objects in Buy mode, but not in Live mode. This generally occurs when a user has installed an unauthorized 3rd-party patch or other modification to the game's executable code. The Sims Livin' Large only installs properly on legitimate, unaltered versions of The Sims executable. Objects, skins, walls, floors and such have no effect on this; it is only patches to the game's executable code which cause this problem. We have also had reports of this occurring when no changes have been made to the executable, but we have not yet isolated the cause of the problem in these cases. You must uninstall and reinstall The Sims, then reinstall The Sims Livin' Large. If this does not correct the problem, download the Livin' Large install fixer. After installing The Sims Livin' Large, run the install fixer. This is NOT a game patch, and should NOT be used if your game is functioning properly. It simply completes the installation process in cases where a technical problem has prevented proper installation. http://thesims.ea.com/us/downloads/LLInstallFix.exe Q: What is Livin' Large? A: Livin' Large is the upcoming Expansion Pack for The Sims. It will have new careers, objects, and other bizarre things. Check out the Livin' Large section near the beginning of this Guide for more information. Q: Will Livin' Large be like Sim City 3000 Unlimited and be a complete game? A: No, it will require that you already have The Sims installed on your computer. Then when you run The Sims, it will probably require that you have the Livin' Large CD in, rather than the original CD. Q: How much does Livin' Large cost, and where can I get it? A: The MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) is $29.95. The original Sims had an MSRP of $49.95. You can find Livin' Large at any retailer that carries software: Electronics Boutique (http://www.ebworld.com/) Software Etc., Babbages (http://www.gamestop.com/) Walmart Target Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/) ...etc... Q: My Sim died, and I'm trying to Plead with Death, but it isn't working. What do I do? A: You have to have someone who ISN'T DEAD plead with Death. Then they can play the eternal game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. If you win, your Sim comes back to life, if you lose you may come back as a zombie. Or maybe Death will ignore you and take him to Hades anyway. =============================================================================== Final Words... =============================================================================== _________________ Online Resources: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ http://www.ea.com/ -- the publisher's site http://www.thesims.com/ -- the Official Sims Site This one is probably the one you will want to go to the most often. They have downloads to add to your game (new items such as the Slot Machine), etc. http://www.simzonline.com/ -- One of the best Fan Sites http://sims.xtremesimz.com/ -- The Sims Resource Center http://www.projectsims.com/ -- Project Sims http://www.synchroplay.com/mallofthesims/ -- Mall of the Sims http://www.simeden.com/ -- SimEden http://www.sim-heaven.com/ -- Sim Heaven http://go.to/simuniverse/ -- Sim Universe http://www.7deadlysims.com/ -- A bizarre little site that has different skins and things based on the 7 Deadly Sins. http://www.crosswinds.net/~simsonline/ -- Sims Online (not to be confused with the above Simz Online) http://simsdiary.gameaddicts.net/ -- The Diary of a Sim http://coasters.nozone.net/ -- Coaster's Sims Page http://thesims.xtremesimz.com/ -- Appears to be offline now http://www.gamefaqs.com/ -- the best FAQs site on the net! http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/game/25322.html -- GameFAQs section on The Sims http://www.cheatcc.com/ -- a great place for all your cheating needs http://www.ebworld.com/ebx/ads/PROMOS/download/sims/default.asp EBWorld made some neat skins that can be found at the above site. ASCII Art created using the ASCII Art Maker by LTS (freeware) You can possibly (doubtfully) find it at http://www.download.com/ This FAQ was written entirely using the GWD Text Editor: (shareware) http://www.gwdsoft.com/ _________________________ Shameless Self Promotion: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ I have also written FAQs for: NES: Disney Adventures in the Magic Kingdom Final Fantasy -- Magic FAQ The Legend of Zelda SNES: Aerobiz Aerobiz Supersonic Utopia: Creation of a Nation Genesis: StarFlight PSX: Thousand Arms -- Walkthrough -- Forging/Dating FAQ PC: Baldur's Gate & Tales of the Sword Coast -- FAQ/Walkthrough NPC List Creature List Baldur's Gate II -- FAQ/Walkthrough Items List Class FAQ Colonization -- the Single Colony Strategy Guide -- the Cheat Guide Drakan: Order of the Flame Dungeon Hack Icewind Dale -- FAQ/Walkthrough Items List Master of Magic (revision) Messiah Pharaoh (currently being edited by Red Phoenix) Planescape: Torment -- FAQ/Walkthrough Items Listing Rollercoaster Tycoon Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri Ultima 4: Quest of the Avatar Ultima 7: The Black Gate Ultima 7 Part 2: Serpent Isle Ultima Underworld -- Keyboard Commands Ultima Underworld II -- Keyboard Commands -- Spell List All of my FAQs can be found at: http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/2203.html ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Questions? Comments? Mistakes? Wondering where all the Spam is? Email me about it! Email: [email protected] Email Policy: If you are going to email me about this game, please put The Sims as the subject. Or Sims. Also please realize that I am not hiding cheats or any other information, i.e. everything I know about The Sims is in this guide. _______________ Special Thanks: (I don't post email addresses, except by special request) ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Joseph Peitler for contributing more than his share of tips (thanks!) Lynelle Foulk for the baby personality research Shyguy982 for his Trick in "Cheats & Tricks" Kyrre Aalerud for the 3 tricks also in "Cheats & Tricks" Christopher Scatliff for the Balcony correction Alan Waumsley for noticing that some Sims just don't get up Nancy Beck for a new cheat J.T. Kauffman for his great Questions Andrew Tate for a correction in the FAQ (about Sim's Bios) Apieper for some minor corrections here and there and for the Known Bugs Jesper Thiesen for the Every Other Bill thing Red Phoenix for a great many tips, tricks, and/or strategies Locutus for the Spellchecking Mandy Falco for her wonderful tips Catty Burton for her multiple baby bug Mark H. Dove for sending me the note on Forced Job Switching Mikey Griffiths for the Easter Egg (see the Cheats section) Dan Vernon for his method on killing everyone in the neighborhood (a bizarre thing to thank!) Adam McSweeney for pointing out one very bad mistake of mine Lim Yu Kee for telling me about Maids and Gardeners not returning Andrea Della Malva for the table question Joseph Peitler for the Baby Tips, FAQs, and Bugs (etc., etc., etc.!) Jordan Edmonson for his correction Keri for a couple of notes having to do with children RD Saunders for the Job "Shifts" Leviathan for pointing out that I had left section 14 off of the Contents Mike Fenton for section 5.7 Sim Personalities and Compatibilities Mark Hissett for a bunch of stuff (known bugs, and such) Knowla for a way to correct a bug Derek Hansen for his personality information James Wardle for a few Wishes in the Wish List Eric Chapman for more information on killing repairmen (see Known Bugs) Andrew Harms for section 6.3.1 and everything in it Jon Mars for the trick about getting the desired social interaction GamemaniaX for the expanded abuse the carpool Seeker for the Housebuilding on a Budget stuff broadstrong for lots of information (mostly on kids) moonshine for the evil twin bug addition Rob Sevening for several Livin' Large tips JediPika88 for lots of Livin' Large tips and information TheReaper86 for a trashcan strategy EvilDave2 Anyone who has emailed me with something nice to say CJayC for posting this FAQ and informing me (via his website) that The Sims was out! Will Wright for making this bizarrely fun game Maxis and EA for publishing this uniquely addictive game ________________ Version History: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Preliminary Version 0.9 (2-11-00, 47k) Original Version 1.0 (2-12-00, 63k) Added the section Babies and Children Finished all the other sections Added a Trainer Other Small Changes Changes in Version 1.1 (2-19-00, 64k) Renamed the Cheats section to "Cheats & Tricks" Changes in Version 1.5 (2-20-00, 74k) Rewrote a lot of the information for clarity Added lots of new information as well Changes in Version 1.6 (2-21-00, 82k) Added a neat new trick from Kyrre Aalerud Added the Frequently Asked Questions Section Changes in Version 1.7 (2-25-00, 86k) Added several new Frequently Asked Questions Started work on the Career Ladder Chart Added a new Online Resource, and fixed another Added 2 new Tricks to Cheats and Tricks Other minute changes Changes in Version 2.0 (2-26-00, 126k) Spun out a new Section 6.1 and put the Career Tracks in there Finished all the Career Tracks Added 2 new Sections, 4.1 and 4.2, Cooking and Room Rating Spun out another section 10.1 Death and Ghosts from section 10 Spun out the section 9.1 Children and School Added another Alternate Floor Plan Added another Frequently Asked Question (having to do with Hot Tubs) Other Small Changes Changes in Version 2.1 (2-27-00, 127k) Created a new section 2.1 The Bachelor Sim Changes in Version 2.2 (2-28-00, 132k) Added to the Bachelor Sim Section Added the section 4.3 Alternative to Alarm Clocks Also added the section 6.2 Abusing the Carpool And also added the section 6.2.1 Early Morning Social Call Other Small Changes Changes in Version 2.3 (2-29-00, 146k) Spun out the section 11.1 Deleting Trash (and Bills too!) from the Cheats & Tricks Section Added the section 2.2 The Full House (8 Sims) Renamed 6.1 to The Jobs Chart Added the section 5.1 Befriending Mean Sims Changed the Frequently Asked Questions Format Added a couple new Frequently Asked Questions as well Spun out the Changing the Radio Station Music section Other Small Changes Changes in Version 2.4 (3-1-00, 153k) Added the section 5.2 Carrying on Multiple Romances Added the Section 5.3 Maintaining Relationships the Easy Way Spell Checked the entire document (thanks to Red Phoenix who pointed out that I needed to do this) Added the section 9.2 What Kids Do Added the section 2.1.1 The Bachelor Gets Married Other Small Changes Changes in Version 2.5 (3-2-00, 164k) Added a new Online Resource (Mall of the Sims) Added a new Frequently Asked Question Added the Section 3.1 Building a Better House Added the Section 4.4 Who Needs a Trashcan? Added the Section 8.1 Building that Second Story Also added the Section 8.1.1 The "Flying" Second Story Other Small Changes Changes in Version 2.51 (3-3-00, 165k) Created section 8.1.2 (thanks to Christopher Scatliff for the info) Other Small Changes Changes in Version 2.52 (3-5-00, 166k) Added a new Frequently Asked Question Other Small Changes Changes in Version 2.53 (3-8-00, 167k) Added 2 new Frequently Asked Questions Other Small Changes Changes in Version 3.0 (3-9-00, 200k) Added the Section "Customizing Your Game" And in that section I moved the "Changing the Radio Music" Section And created 2 new sections "Skins" and "Multiple Neighborhoods" Created the section "Alternate Job Chart" Created the section "Understanding Your Sims" and its subsections: "What a Sim Wants/Needs" and "Why A Sim Does What He Does" Oh, I also created section 12.2.1 The "Nude" Patch (heh) Other Small Changes Changes in Version 3.01 (3-10-00, 201k) Some Small Changes Changes in Version 3.02 (3-11-00, 202k) Some more Small Changes Changes in Version 3.03 (3-13-00, 203k) Added a new cheat from Nancy Beck There is now a new Translation! Check the Notes at the top of the FAQ Some Small Changes Changes in Version 3.1 (3-18-00, 210k) Added the new section 7.1 Working the Pause Added a few new Frequently Asked Questions Did some Spellchecking! Some Small Changes Changes in Version 3.12 (3-20-00, 214k) Added the section 6.3 Quitting for Fun and Profit Realized that I had left out the Final Stats for the Medicine Career Path (this is now fixed!) Cut some things out from the "Misc Facts" Added a new "Alternate Job Chart" to the section of the same name Some Small Changes Changes in Version 3.14 (3-21-00, 221k) Added a bunch of new Frequently Asked Questions (courtesy of J.T. Kauffman) Some Small Changes Changes in Version 3.15 (3-24-00, 222k) Lots of small changes all around! Changes in Version 3.16 (3-25-00, 223k) Some small changes Changes in Version 3.17 (3-27-00, 224k) One small change Changes in Version 3.18 (3-28-00, 224k) One more small change Changes in Version 3.19 (3-29-00, 225k) Added the section 11.2 Paying only Every Other Bill Changes in Version 4.0 (3-30-00, 240k) Added the Section 13 Known Bugs (thanks to Apieper!) Added a new Frequently Asked Question Added the Section 5.4 Sending your Sim out of the House Added the Section 5.5 Creating Friends the Old Fashioned Way Added the Section 11.3 The Newbie Trick Added the Section 3.2 Who Needs Walls? Added the Section 5.6 How to Befriend SimKids Added the Section 4.6 Moving Trash Yourself Small Changes (Always!) Changes in Version 4.01 (3-31-00, 241k) One small change (The new SimDay was an upgrade to the game!) Changes in Version 4.02 (4-1-00, 242k) Apparantly klapaucius no longer works with the game update (see above), but a new code, rosebud, works in its place. So I added a Frequently Asked Question about this as well as updated the Cheats listing. Changes in Version 4.03 (4-3-00, 245k) Some spelling corrections, thanks to Locutus Some new tips, thanks to Mandy Falco (added 11.4 Washing Dishes Faster) Added a new Known Bug from Catty Burton Changes in Version 4.04 (4-4-00, 248k) Added one thing from Mark H. Dove about Fored Job Switching (Section 6) Added a new Frequently Asked Question Changes in Version 4.05 (4-5-00, 252k) Re-did the Cheats section with a LOT of new cheats! Small Changes Changes in Version 4.1 (4-6-00, 257k) Added Section 4.7 The "Cluster" Method Added a tip to Section 9, about Children being a Tax Credit Added an Easter Egg from Mikey Griffiths Small Changes Changes in Version 4.11 (4-10-00, 258k) Added a new "trick" to section 11 Fixed one glaringly bad mistake Changes in Version 4.2 (4-13-00, 267k) Added three new Frequently Asked Question (about Maids not returning, and Objects that won't go away, and Chips that stay on your floor) Added the new section 14. Getting the Most from The Sims Added the new section 11.5 Deleting your Characters and Resetting their Mood Added the new SimDay "event", new MTV Skins Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.25 (4-14-00, 272k) Added a couple of new Frequently Asked Question (about Repairmen not leaving, and Neighbors not leaving) Added the new section 10.2 Did you Know?, which is about the makers of the game, Will Wright et al. Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.26 (4-15-00, 274k) Added some Facts from Joseph Peitler in the new section 9.0.1 Baby Tips Added a new Frequently Asked Question (about how Friends are counted at the neighborhood level vs. the house level) Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.27 (4-16-00, 275k) Changed one mistake (thanks to Jordan Edmonson) Added a couple notes from Keri Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.28 (4-18-00, 277k) Updated the Maid Blacklisting thing (thanks again to Lim Yu Kee) Added an idea to get the Mailbox/Carpool back (see the FAQ section) if you deleted it with the move_objects cheat Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.3 (4-20-00, 281k) Created section 11.6 How to Max out all the Personality Stats Created the section 11.7 Starting a Sim with random Job Stats Added the new SimDay "event", topiaries Added a couple of new websites, SimUniverse (http://go.to/simuniverse/) and 7 Deadly Sims (http://www.7deadlysims.com/) Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.4 (4-24-00, 286k) Created section 6.4 Job "Shifts" (a job shift is when you get kicked out of your level 10 job somewhere, and placed into a lower level job in another career, Thanks to RD Saunders for this!) Fixed a mistake in the Contents Added a new Frequently Asked Question (about downloading houses) Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.5 (4-25-00, 300k) Created Section 5.7 Sim Personalities and Compatibilities (thanks to Mike Fenton) Added a couple new Frequently Asked Questions (thanks to Joseph Peitler) Added some new "Known Bugs" (in the section of the same name, thanks again to Joseph Peitler) Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.51 (4-26-00, 304k) Added several new Frequently Asked Questions Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.52 (4-27-00, 306k) It's Thursday, SimDay, so added the new Maxis Object, Flowerbeds Added a couple new Frequently Asked Questions Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.6 (4-28-00, 320k) Received a way to correct a bug (the "accidental twins" thing) from Knowla Updated a Frequently Asked Question from Mark Hissett Added a couple of new Known Bugs from Mark Hissett Created section 4.1.1 Food Strategies (thanks again to Mark Hissett) Put Derek Hansen's personality scores into section 1.1.2 Created section 15. Wish List Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.61 (5-2-00, 321k) Added a brand new Frequently Asked Question Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.62 (5-3-00, 321k) Some Small Changes Changes in Version 4.63 (5-4-00, 322k) Added the latest SimDay event, the Jukebox and the White House Added a new Wish to the Wish List from Mike Fenton Snipped a few things out of the Notes above that seemed a bit redundant Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.64 (5-6-00, 323k) Some Small Changes Changes in Version 4.7 (5-11-00, 336k) Added the latest SimDay event, the new Trashcans Added several new Wishes (thanks to James Wardle) Added to a Frequently Asked Question (thanks to Joseph Peitler) Added section 12.4 Download Surprises (also thanks to Joseph Peitler) Added a couple of new Online Resources (web links) Added some information on killing repairmen (see Known Bugs, thanks to Eric Chapman) Created section 6.3.1 Job Hopping Analysis (thanks to Andrew Harms) Some Small Changes Changes in Version 4.71 (5-12-00, 339k) Created section ii. Information on the Upcoming Add-On, Livin' Large Some Small Changes Changes in Version 4.72 (5-16-00, 343k) Created section 5.8) Getting the Desired Interaction (thanks to Jon Mars) Added an expanded Abuse the Carpool thing (section 6.2) thanks to GamemaniaX Some Small Changes Changes in Version 4.73 (5-22-00, 345k) Created section 3.3) Housebuilding, especially on a Budget thanks to Seeker Some Small Changes Changes in Version 4.74 (5-23-00, 348k) Added several Editors to the Cheats section Added information from broadstrong Added a couple new tips from Joseph Peitler Some Small Changes Changes in Version 4.75 (5-24-00, 349k) Created Section 12.5 Playing Without the Sims CD Changes in Version 4.76 (5-28-00, 350k) Added some more information from Joseph Peitler, in Known Bugs and Death and Ghosts Changes in Version 4.77 (6-1-00, 350k) Added the latest SimDay Event, the Glowing Flamingo Changed the email policy (see above) Changes in Version 4.78 (6-4-00, 353k) Added a bug note from moonshine (about Evil Twins) Added yet more information from Joseph Peitler (a couple new FAQ's, etc.) Added more information about the upcoming Add-On, Livin' Large (see section ii.) Other Small Changes Changes in Version 4.79 (6-6-00, 354k) Moved something out of Known Bugs and into the FAQ Found at (via Joseph Peitler) that the Slot Machine was listed twice in the "Download Surprises" section, this is now fixed Changes in Version 4.80 (6-7-00, 354k) Added the Italian version of the FAQ (see the Notes above) Changes in Version 4.9 (6-8-00, 357k) Created section 11.8) Speeding up your Sim (thanks to broadstrong) Added a lot of little additions all over the FAQ from broadstrong Some other small changes Changes in Version 4.91 (6-13-00, 363k) Added a lot of new information from broadstrong Some other small changes Changes in Version 4.92 (6-15-00, 365k) Added some new information on the Add-On, Livin' Large in section ii. Some other small changes Changes in Version 4.93 (6-20-00, 368k) Added a bug from moonshine Added more information on the upcoming Expansion Pack, Livin' Large (courtesy of Wendy Zupack) Changes in Version 4.94 (6-23-00, 372k) Added new Bug info from broadstrong Version 4.95 August 15, 2000 376k It's been almost two months since the last update and Livin' Large is fast approaching! Started using the new version history form, which as you can see is much cleaner to look at. Also updated the Shameless Self Promotion to reflect what I've been up to lately. Created section 12.6 to deal with the slew of new Object Editors: Blueprint, SimTransmogrifier, and Maxis' Art Studio, a new tool for creating custom Wall Hangings. And started up the Livin' Large Frequently Asked Questions section. Not much there right now, but it will grow when it comes out. Version 5.0 September 13, 2000 405k Livin' Large is now out (The Sims Expansion Pack, at a store near you), so I went through and updated where appropriate. Created section 1.2 to deal with most of the Livin' Large updates, such as the Genie, Death, Cockroaches and the like. Added section 6.1.2 to deal with the new Livin' Large career paths. Also added section 11.9 Better Personality through Chemistry, one of my favorite new tricks. Version 5.01 September 13, 2000 408k Added new jobs to the Livin' Large career section. Updated the Genie listing. Some other small things. Added new Livin' Large Frequently Asked Questions (which can be found in the section after the regular Frequently Asked Questions). Version 5.1 September 15, 2000 416k Finished filling in all the Livin' Large jobs. Version 5.2 September 16, 2000 418k Added some new Livin' Large tips from Rob Sevening. Version 5.21 September 20, 2000 419k Added section 12.7 Custom Interface Graphics Version 5.3 October 3, 2000 421k Added some information from JediPika88. Added a spiffy little alternative to outside trashcans from TheReaper86. Version 5.31 October 18, 2000 421k Tiny update. Version 5.4 November 30, 2000 418k Just updated the SimDay event items. (Turkey Dinner, Jack O'Lantern) Version 5.5 December 6, 2000 396k Added some new Career Shifts from Joseph Peitler. Cleaned up the Frequently Asked Question so that it takes up less space. Also removed redundant/useless questions and updated other questions to include Livin' Large information. Version 5.6 December 9, 2000 396k Found the solution to the "Livin' Large objects not appearing" problem, which has been added to the Livin' Large Frequently Asked Questions. Version 5.7 December 10, 2000 382k Finished cleaning up the FAQ, so it is now quite a bit smaller. Also removed the Misc Facts thingie at the bottom of the FAQ as ... well I never really liked it. Version 5.8 January 18, 2001 383k Added Marcel VanDalfsen's spiffy job charts to the section of the same name. Version 5.9 January 22, 2001 384k After much ado, added some information about gifts from EvilDave2. Version 6.0 April 28, 2001 393k Updated the guide to include the new House Party additions. Added a socialization note from Winston Jen. Added the Baby Personality Matrix section (which determines how Baby personalities are determined) which is from Lynelle Foulk. Version 6.1 May 16, 2001 394k Created section 9.3 Let the Kids GROW UP which links to a program that brings your SimKids to adulthood. ________ Stinger: ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Reticulating Splines: According to Webster's, to reticulate is: to divide, mark, or construct so as to form a network. And a spline is: a function that is defined on an interval, is used to approximate a given function, and is composed of pieces of simple functions defined on subintervals and joined at their endpoints with a suitable degree of smoothness. Therefore, reticulating splines would be: Constructing network based functions that are defined by divisible intervals while approximating said network and composing it of pieces of simple functions defined on subintervals and joined at their endpoints with a suitable degree of smoothness. -- Will Wright (from http://www.simzonline.com/) _______________________________________________________________________________ This Document is Copyright 2000-2001 by Dan Simpson The Sims is Copyright 2000 by Electronic Arts I am not affiliated with Maxis, Electronic Arts, or anyone who had anything to do with the creation of this game. This FAQ may be posted on any site so long as NOTHING IS CHANGED and you EMAIL ME telling me that you are posting it. You may not charge for, or in any way profit from this FAQ.

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