The SIMS
 

I need help with this game, because my one guy keeps losing his oven over and over and over....and he's too depressed to read 'cooking' to he'll stop burning the place down!

How do you make more money?
How do you play chess? (he has thought bubbles of chairs, etc. even though chairs are in front of the chess board).

Any other cool advice for a SIM newbie?

to get better at cooking you have to read books on cooking. Do you have a bookcase? if so just click on it and choose cooking. as far as chess goes... all Ihave to do is click the chess table and choose play. simple as that.


oh, and how to get more money.... get a job by looking on the computer or the newspaper or cheat.

If you're guy is a lousy cook, have him order pizza so that you can get his hunger fixed and he's no longer depressed. Sell the oven so that cooking on it isn't even an option. Next, either teach him cooking or marry him to another sim who can cook.

I think you dont need a stove, you can use a microwave till he is better on cooking.

And with the chess table, try to move the chairs out or in a differnt area. Could be to close or dont have enough room to work

Build a swimming pool, and once he's in take out the ladder...wait, that's the answer to a different question.

Well, thanks for that....

I've tried to have him read, but he's too depressed. What a wuss! I mean, you burn down two ovens, and you just can't get your life together....I'll tell ya!

As far as chess, maybe I'll move it elsewhere. I don't like his house -- there's only a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bedroom --- hardly any ROOM for anything like TV, couch, etc.

I imagine it takes a LOOOONG time to be able to get money to move and/or add=on....

So, when starting new, what are your essentials?
 

It seems with all the stuff you have to buy immediately, there's not enough money....so what do YOU think is essential?

I just borrowed this game from a friend & have been playing it the past few days. I felt really good with my first SIM. I made him a nice bachelor pad with a hot-tub. Within the first few days (of his life) I had him and a chick both naked in the hot-tub! I have no idea how he got so lucky but then I kinda let him go & after a few more days, he got depressed, slapped the chick on a different visit, & now he won't do crap. Once these SIMs get depressed, it seems to be really hard to get them out of their funk.

I saw in my local EB that a romance expansion is coming for the SIMs. Shame they cover up all the funny nudity & you can't understand what they are saying.

Not that I will....but I will.....but there's a patch/download that 'shows' the nudity. Pretty funny, although I'd feel weird watching my dude shower in all his glory!

I haven't played this for a long time, but from what I remember, one of the tricks was to immediately hire a maid and gardener. Then, never clean up after yourself. That freed up a lot of time.

One thing that annoyed me about the game is that bills are basically a luxury tax/insurance, such that the more stuff you buy the more you have to end up paying every bill period. Which means it's not very economically feasible to completely pimp out your house.

It is kind of funny. It makes them look like Ken & Barbie naked.
I saw one patch that lets you hear them talk. Has anyone tried that? Is it annoying, repetitive, or worth downloading?

The way you raise your Sims mood is simply to make sure that all their level bars are not in the red. Probably the one you're overlooking if you have a depressed Sim is 'Fun'. Buy a TV and plop them in front of it. That should help.

How do I tear down a wall to my house to add-on?

How many houses do you start with? (*Are there only two you can readily move into from the beginning?)

What's so fun about this --- I just get so frustrated after 2 days, after doing everything I should be going. My guy drops his trash everywhere, takes an hour to sleep, doesn't have fun after watching tv/reading/playing hoops, won't sit down to eat breakfast/lunch/dinner.

What's up??? Please help me -- I'm beginning to regret buying this game!

To tear down the walls, get the wall building tool. Hold down shift (I think--I'm doing this from memory) while moving the mouse to remove walls.

You have to MAKE them pick up the trash sometimes. Make sure you buy a trashcan and/or garbage compactor, and they're not quite as messy.

Make sure you have a table and a chair if you want your Sim to sit down while they eat.

There are cheats to get more money if you're interested. Do a search. You might have more fun the first time playing w/o the cheat though.

My girlfriend is obsessed with the Sims - I've bought her every expansion pack and she plays it daily since about 2 months after it came out. All you have to do to make money is make him happy so he performs good at work and they'll give him a raise.

General Advice:

Make sure you pay the bills... tip - if you place the bills on the table and wait for the next bills to arrive, when you pay the first bills, the second bills disappear. :)

Don't buy a sim anything that can cause a fire... Just get a food processor or a microwave.

Get alarms for every room with an entrance... having your stuff stolen sucks.

If your sim is depressed and all his needs are more or less met and in the green - he's probably bored - get him something fun to play with. Once he feels better, you can have him do whatever you want.

In order to get ahead in the career path - you'll eventually need to have friends. Just talk to people when they come over.

In 3 hours of game time, you should be able to have a couple of friends, a decent job, money in the bank and a girlfriend/boyfriend that you can kiss. If you don't have these things after playing for 3 hours, then you're not doing something right.

If you place furniture too close to a wall or another object, your sim may not be able to use it - if you see him complaining about chairs, move the chairs to a more open area. If he complains that he's tired and still won't go to bed, something is blocking the bed.

OK,
...I have a table with 2 chairs -- he still won't sit down to eat. (It's not blocked by anything, b/c he can "sit" if I tell him to "sit")

...I have a microwave -- he never uses it.

...I'm confused. It seems that no matter what I do, there's always something wrong. Even though I tell him to do everything he "needs", he can't get it all done.


Also, sorry to re=ask this, but how many houses are there to start off with (that I can move into with my $20,000)?

Thanks for the tips guys!

Hmmm, the table and chairs thing is pretty odd. Are you sure they're dining room style chairs? Is the table a large dining room style table? I've never had a problem like that before.

Do you still have the oven? If you do, remove it and he'll use the microwave. Make sure you get a food processor too. Probably a good idea until he learns how to cook. Once he does, give him back the oven, because he'll be able to make better food (which will make him happier). I NEVER have fire problems with the oven, now that my Sim has read cooking. I did remove the grill permanently, because a fire will start randomly no matter what you do cooking on the grill.

You CANNOT keep all the needs full all of the time. The important thing to do is to keep an eye on them, and when they get in the red try to intervene. The Sim will probably get better at doing things on their own with time, but you will still need to step in.

The house thing...I can't really remember that. You might be better off building a SMALL house (3 or 4 rooms), Bedroom, Kitchen, Living Room, Bathroom). When you get more money, you can always add on.

It's hard having only one sim. What I did was put myself in a house with 3 woman (;)). I then had the three woman working (look for the military career: good pay, short hours, quick advances) while I stayed home and made friends with everyone. The money soon rolled in and my house grew like crazy (not to mention I lived with 3 hot chicks).

re: oven/microwave
 

I only have the microwave --- no oven anymore. He still won't use it.

The table is the cheap card-table, and the chairs are wooden.

Did you buy a food processor? If not, try that.

The table and chair thing has me stumped. Sell all of it, and try buying a new one. Buy a larger table, and see if that works.

Thought of one more thing. Are the chairs ALL THE WAY UP AGAINST the table? Don't leave a gap at ALL.

Just getting into The Sims... fun game.

Anyone know good sites to download new items, Sims, etc.?

Also make sure the chess table is lined up with the chairs correctly (the chairs should be facing the edges with the chess pieces).

I think I'm just dumb.