The Sims 3 Ambitions Guide

Officially the second expansion pack (Stuff Packs do not really count) for the current series of The Sims -- The Sims 3 -- Ambitions was released in June of 2010 with much fanfare as, in addition to providing a major patch and update to the base game, it also introduced new career opportunities and an expanded control mechanism into the game that was long desired.

It would be simple enough to spew out the statistical facts about the game and be done with it for the purposes of an Introduction, but that would be a disservice to you -- and besides there are some significant (if not important) points to be commented on as part of the Introduction process!

Welcome to The Sims 3: Ambitions!

The first point is that the contents of Ambitions -- while it is widely considered to be the spiritual successor to The Sims 2: Open for Business -- are much deeper and progress in a different direction than that similar expansion did.  In fact it is fair to say that while the basic idea is similar, the mechanisms that were chosen for this expansion and the ultimate results are very different indeed.

The Sims games have always been about playing God -- and controlling to one extent or another the lives of the imaginary people of the game who, quite on their own, become very real to gamers who consider themselves to number among the core audience.  The fans if you will, but then it seems to me that using the word "fans" is somehow degrading to those very souls because, and let us be honest here, a great deal of imagination, time, and effort is spent by those gamers in creating the Sim families and their generations.  So perhaps aficionado would be a more accurate and less insulting word?

What Ambitions brings to the table is, in part, the ability to exercise more control over the working life of your Sims -- as well as the additional career pathways to be sure -- and in so doing it attempts with some success to introduce a diversity of skill sets into the game that offer an expanding sense of freedom to most players and, not surprisingly, represents a massive expansion in player involvement in their Sims careers and lives that was simply absent in The Sims 3 base game.  For those reasons alone this has turned out to be one of the most celebrated -- and important -- expansions of the game.  In fact it is widely considered to be a mandatory expansion by most Simmers.

The dry and banal articles that cover it within the gaming press -- and some of the reviews for that matter -- declare Ambitions to be "A career-based expansion pack," and with that presume that they have told you everything that you need to know about that.  While it is certainly true that Ambitions introduces new careers, it also has the effect of altering the standard work and career experience for most players once they move beyond the careers that were part of the base game and begin to explore the depth of these new careers and the interaction that they provide.  The reality is that this expansion specifically changes the style of game play that is the foundation of the game series, a subject that warrants close examination by the players.


A focus on relationships is an important part of Ambitions

In the Sims 3 base game pretty much all of the careers present as a disappearance point for the Sims who are part of them -- in that when it came time to go to work, they run out of their home and jump into their work transport, disappearing from the game for eight or nine hours -- with any interactions that the player have with respect to those careers taking place as pop-up windows that appear only after their Sim has returned home from work -- and at least for most of the core careers this has not changed! 

What has changed is that the new careers that are offered by the Ambitions expansion alter that setup, making the different careers a much more hand's-on process, allowing players to have more specific control over their Sims working lives -- and when the Sim chooses to be self-employed in a profession that allows them to work from home (or a "shop" though that mechanism from The Sims 2 has not been put in place here) that sense of control is intensified.  Some of the careers have a much more personal impact on the other Sims in the game too, to the point of changing their appearance or even adding to it -- like the Tattoo Artist -- of altering their very world -- as is the case with the Architect.

Most gamers and serious Simmers will not be coming to Ambitions as their first dip in the water of the rich and addictive world of The Sims, and because of that will have already established their nascent dynasties and, for the most part, will desire to continue them.  That being the case, perhaps the most obvious method for taking advantage of the new careers presented by this expansion (when your Sim has already invested time and effort in one of the old careers) is to get your Sims Ability to register at City Hall to be self employed in a "Skill Career" for the following skills: writing, painting, sculpting, inventing, photography, nectar making, gardening and fishing. to the point of retirement in their current (old) career and then move them into one of the new ones.

-- A Boon for Slackers --

In the world of The Sims there are more than a few clearly defined play styles, but for most gamers this world is neatly divided up into the traditional players who like to drink deeply of every aspect of the game, including putting their Sims to work in the traditional career role, and then the other half of the scene, which is made up of gamers who prefer to have their Sims lead a more Bohemian lifestyle, as Artists or Authors and the much less traditional roles of earning their livings.  The former is generally thought of as the basic player, while the latter is generally thought of as Slacker-Play.  Both have their advantages, to be sure, but if your Sim yearns for the freedom and independence that can only be had by being your own boss, well, the Slacker life it is!

Ambitions certainly brings a more hands-on effect to the new careers, but it also has the effect of allowing what have traditionally been considered the "Slacker" career paths (Artist, Author, and the like) a much more reasonable and predictable path to success!  In fact often the Slacker path is the more profitable since it allows the player to have much more control over how much their Sims earn and when they earn it. 


A non-traditional profession can be incredibly profitable

Wine making -- added by the World Adventures expansion -- can be an incredibly profitable career choice and is generally considered to be part of the Slacker careers -- and especially when the player has a Sim in the Vintners household who is an expert Green Thumb and thus can grow the special ingredients that the Wine making Sim requires.

Even if you happen to be a strong supporter of the traditional career-based Simming play, you should give serious thought to trying out the non-traditional roles of the self-employed for at least one of your Sims -- you may be surprised at how much you enjoy that!

-- The Nature of The Sims --

It is interesting to note that most gamers consider the constant expansion of the series to be a mixture of both blessing and curse, and in particular when each new Sims series is launched, because to the gamers who consider it one of the best games going -- when this third series was introduced it essentially wiped out the value of the accumulation of base game and expansions for the previous series (as it did for the first series) -- and while there was certainly an element of the gaming community who refused to adopt the new series immediately, preferring to retain the benefits that their ownership of their Sims 2 games provided, in the end the choice to embrace the newest series was really no choice at all...

Its vastly improved graphics, game play elements, and the new adventures to be had caused them to, one by one, become converts to the new series -- but that is really as it should be, and if you are still on the fence in that regard it may help to remember that whenever a new series is launched, they always include elements of all of the expansions from the previous series in the base game.  Though admittedly those elements are little more than a breath of what was, as the expansion system and how it addresses each major element of play is a well-established tradition in the games.

Still most serious Simmers admit that the launch of Ambitions, combined with World Travels and the base game, brought a level of complexity and play options to the third series that made it the equal to all of the games in the second series combined, and that is to say that everything that follows in the expansion line of the third series will, therefore, enrich the game well beyond what existed at the very end of the second series.  Which is widely held to be a good thing, and who are we to argue with that?

In the end as you embrace Ambitions you will find that having a guide to use as a reference will be of great help to you, because while much of the new content added by Ambitions is easy to find, there is a plethora of small and sparkling additions that can easily be missed if you do not know where to look for them.  Fortunately that is what this guide is intended to do -- demonstrate where to look and what to expect when you find it...  And perhaps to assist you in making the most of it when you do embrace this new game play goodness that is The Sims 3: Ambitions!

Important Guide and Game Notes

This guide is the third Sims game guide that I have written -- prior to writing it I also have written guides for The Sims FreePlay (http://www.supercheats.com/guides/the-sims-freeplay), and The Sims 3: World Adventures (http://www.supercheats.com/guides/the-sims-3-world-adventures/) -- but it will be the third of many, as I am commissioned to write a guide for each of the games in the third series, and may be writing mini-guides for the games from the previous series if Web Media goes forward with launching a Sims-centric website, which seems to be likely.  I mention this for a reason -- and not simply to ring my own bell...

I did not write the guide for The Sims 3 base game (http://www.supercheats.com/guides/the-sims-3/) that was written another good guide writer, Mike Hazleton, but if I had the order that these guides would have appeared would have been The Sims 3 followed by The Sims 3: World Adventures, and then The Sims 3: Ambitions.  Why?  For a simple and logical reason that includes the fact that this is the order in which the games were released, but also because that order is important -- in fact important enough that it is getting its own little section here...

If you are new to the series and plan to play all of it, there is every likelihood that you will pick up one of the special compilations and the expansions that are not included in it.  If you do that, or if you pick the games up as individual titles, it is important that you remember to install them in the order that they were released, mostly because of the patching system that is in place.  If you install them out of order it can (and often does) break small segments of the game, and cause bits of it to function in unusual ways.


Passively acquiring skills is the secret to Success!

So just to be helpful this is the order I will be writing the guide in, and it is also the order that you should be installing and patching the games in (and you should be sure to fully patch each game BEFORE you install the next):

(1) The Sims 3 base game
(2) The Sims 3: World Adventures
(3) The Sims 3: Ambitions
(4) The Sims 3: Late Nights
(5) The Sims 3: Generations
(6) The Sims 3: Pets
(7) The Sims 3: Showtime

Now in addition to that there are some other factoids that you should be aware of.  When most gamers begin to play the game they will eventually join Sim fan sites at which a number of game unofficial add-ons (both free and paid) are available, including what are called "Nude Skins" as well as utility add-ons that allow you to automate some stuff and add more control over other things.  Perhaps the most popular item that most gamers will install is the anti-censorship patch/app.

What this does is remove the blur that appears whenever your Sims do something that modesty is attached to -- take a bath or shower, use the toilet, that sort of thing -- and there is really nothing wrong with that if you want to remove that censorship blur, but if you do there is something you need to be aware of.  The blur is implemented in the game as a particle effect -- and the small app that you install that removes it basically turns off particle effects to accomplish its purpose.  With me so far?

Unfortunately there are some other objects in the game that ONLY appear as particle effects -- among them certain bugs -- including beetles -- which means that if you go looking for bugs with the anti-censorship patch in place, you will not be finding them.  That being the case, and if you do decide to install that app, you need to remember to remove it when you are doing bug collecting and, when you are playing one of the games that has a mission or challenge that specifically requires you to find bugs (World Travels has one) you will need to remember to remove it. 

You can put it back later, no worries, but if you are out trying to complete a challenge or mission and you cannot find the object that is required, there is a good chance that it is a particle effect and this is why you cannot find it!


Hopefully your PC is better than theirs...

-- Gaming System --

While the basic requirements for The Sims 3 are not that high or demanding, you will find that having a good computer will make all the difference in the world, especially if you want to see the best level of graphics in the gaming world.  The minimum specifications for play for this game, as provided by the publisher, are listed below, with the specifications for the system that I use to play them in parenthesis next to each line item.  I provide this in case you notice that there is an apparent difference between the images/videos that are used to illustrate these guides, and your own game play experience.  The system I use was custom-built by me, with an eye towards gaming.

Minimum Specifications (My Specifications)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
OS: XP SP2 / Vista SP1 / Windows 7 (Windows 7 64 bit)
CPU: For XP 2.0 GHz P4 or equal / for Vista and Win 7 2.4 GHz P4 or equal (i7 930 2.8 GHz Quad)
RAM: for XP 1 GB / for Vista/Win7 1.5 GB (12 GB)
Disc Drive: DVD Drive (DVDR/CDR)
Hard Drive: at least 3.5 GB free plus 1GB for expansions (2 Terabyte Mirrored RAID Array)
Video: 128 MB Video Card w/Pixel Shader 2.0 Support (ATI Radeon 5970 w/ 2.0 GB RAM)

While the minimum specifications listed above will allow you to play the game, you will find that if you have a basic 128MB graphics card and you upgrade it to a 1GB or 2GB modern card both the difference and the improvement in play will be amazing.  Since the graphics card tends to be the system bottleneck for most PC's that should be the first place you look to upgrade.  In doing the math you will find that it almost always makes sense to budget two to three times the cost of your motherboard/CPU for the graphics card...  I am just saying.

-- Serious Bug --

While there are more than a few bugs in this game only one that I experienced was game-breaking -- and I have no idea what caused it to happen.  Basically if you get hit by this bug your Sims will refuse to go to work.  Their ride arrives and the icon for it in their stack disappears.  If you click on the go-to-work button, it does nothing.  They just flat out refuse to go to work and there is nothing you can do to fix it if you happen to have saved after getting hit by it.  That is the reason that the Sims in the images that illustrate this guide change mid-way through -- I had no choice but to revert to the family from a previous guide because the one I spent thirty hours developing was no longer of any use.

Sadly as there is no fix for this you just have to hope you do not get hit by it...

Notable Additions

With each of the new expansions to the game new features are added and old features from The Sims 2 series return, though often with a different twist, but each new expansion to the series always contains something notable, and Ambitions is no exception to that rule!  Some of the more notable additions include:

-- Twinbrook --

The first notable addition to the game is the town of Twinbrook -- a new city that was added to the game as a neighborhood that comes with Ambitions -- and is likely named after the two twin rivers that flow on either side of the more affluent section of the town.  The premise of Twinbrook is the new career system, along with the new special skills and independent career options.

Twinbrook offers players a variety of conditions, from typical town and suburb to a bayou area, contains a number of bridges and in particular offers players support for key activities, hobbies, and collections, like fishing, rock hunting, bug collecting, and searching for seeds.

While it is not a documented feature in the game we suspect that the bayou area easily and obviously is meant to serve as the starting point in many a rags-to-riches Sim family line, and considering how easy it is to create generations of Sims when not using the timer-extension settings, in a matter of only a few months your family could easily be on its 10th or greater generation in Twinbrook, with memories of the wooden-porched bayou shack that was their ancestral home distant indeed!


A great soundtrack but what are they saying?

-- The Ambitions Soundtrack --

The practice of having a mixture of English and Simlish songs, with many of the tunes being created or performed by famous real-world artists though well established with the previous games, returns in Ambitions very strongly.

Considerable effort goes into planning out and implementing the official game soundtrack for each of the Sim expansions so that the music in the game properly supports the game play in it, and Ambitions includes the following contributing artists and songs:

Charice --  Pyramid
Daisy Dares You --  Number One Enemy
Eli Reed --  Come And Get It
Hal Linton --  Lock My Heart Down
Kerli --  Tea Party
Lady Antebellum -- Need You Now
Melanie Fiona --  Bang Bang
Mike Posner --  Cooler Than Me
Murder by Death --  As Long As There Is Whiskey In The World
Neon Trees --  Animal
OK Go --  This Too Shall Pass
Old 97's --  Early Morning
Radney Foster And The Confessions --  Until It's Gone
Rise Against --  Savior
The Acorn --  Restoration
The Constellations --  Setback
Toni Braxton --  Make My Heart
Violent Soho --  Jesus Stole My Girlfriend
VV Brown --  Shark in the Water

-- Additions to the Build Mode --

Ambitions introduces an expansion to the build mode that allows players to create different appearances in style for their homes -- including expanded roofing options -- and adds the new "Renovation Mode" to the build menu that is used by the Architect Career to alter and improve the homes of their Sim clients.


The newest member of the family?

-- Simbots --

Along with the new job of Inventor comes a new creature -- the SimBot -- which is created by Sims who have developed great skills in the Inventing Career.  Not only can they create a SimBot but the process is included in the game as part of the opportunity and goal system.  Gamers who opt for a different career path can still purchase a SimBot with 40,000 Lifetime Happiness points.

-- Three New Skills --

In addition to all of the new content and careers that were added to the game, there are also three new base skills:

-- Inventing: Thanks to the new Inventor Career there are a wide variety of inventions and new tech to be had in the game through the skill of Inventing...  One fun aspect of this new skill is the manner in which your Sims obtain the scrap material that they require for their inventions -- they can either buy it (which is expensive) or they can obtain items from junkyards, a new type of lot in the game, and  blow them up to get their scrap!  Explosives?  Sims?  Are you kidding?  That is awesome!

-- Sculpting: Previously the artists in the game were restricted to painting, but now Sims can create sculptures too!  The medium varies, and includes clay, ice, metal, and wood -- and they can either use their imagination or they can have another Sim pose for them! 
 
-- Tattooing: Twenty years ago a person with a tattoo was considered to belong to the rougher elements of society, but today the body art is considered a form of expression and is as likely to be found on a soccer mom as it is on a bikie or a sailor!   Well in Ambitions players are provided with a tattoo editor where they can choose tattoos with up to five layers, modify colors, alter the size, and choose where to place their new creation on their customer's body!  How cool is that?

-- Five New Professions --

The base game allows players to pick from full-time careers in Business, Crime, the Culinary Arts, Journalism,  Law Enforcement, Medical, Military, Politics, Science, and Sports.  Part-time jobs included in the base game are Bookstore Clerk, Grocery Store Clerk, Mausoleum Clerk, Receptionist, and Spa Specialist.  In the non-traditional Slacker careers for the bast game they can choose Artist, Hacker, Musician, and Writer.  While it is generally not considered a career they can also be Collector's and make a modest living off of the collection items that they find.

In the World Adventures expansion the Adventurer career was added, allowing Sims to earn money from their Tomb Exploration, as well as the Slacker careers of Photographer and Wine Maker.  The addition of Wine Making gave the Green Thumb (Gardner) career -- also often considered part of the Slacker path -- a major boost so that it can be considered a non-traditional career path when the Sims partner is a Wine Maker.

In Ambitions new careers were added -- allowing players to have their Sims to enter the careers of Architecture, Education, Fashion, Firefighter, Criminal Investigations, Paranormal Investigations, and more, and though it does not actually add the Medical Career per se, Ambitions changes it, allowing Sims to begin careers as Physicians (Doctors).  The Medical Career path is not the only one that Ambitions alters -- the previously Slacker-based career of Artist has been formalized in Ambitions, so while players can still do the Bohemian stay-at-home and paint when you want to style of slacking off, they can also enter into a more formal career and become a star in the arts!

While it is not really a profession as such, Sims who are progressing along the slacker route will find that the addition of the new Consignment Shop means that they now have a place that they can sell the products of their slacker goodness -- which combined with the ability to register at City Hall to be self-employed as a writer, painter, sculptor, inventor, photographer, Nectar (Wine) Maker, Gardner, or Fisherman -- they now have a place to sell the fruits of their labor.  And of course the true slackers in the game -- the Professional Collectors -- can also sell their items via the Consignment Shop!


-- New Traits --

It is of course Traits that add to the successes -- and the failures -- that Sims have in the pursuit of their chosen career and life goals, and Ambitions includes six new Traits that will help you to shape your Sims into individuals:

Born Salesman/Saleswoman
Eccentric
Eco-Friendly
Dramatic
Perceptive
Savvy Sculptor


The SimBot can be Invented or obtained as a Lifetime Wish

-- New Lifetime Wishes --

Traditionally each game expansion also adds new Lifetime Wishes, and Ambitions is no exception, offering players the following:

Descendant of Da Vinci (Master Inventing, Painting, and Sculpting)
Fashion Phenomenon (Reach Level 10 in the Stylist Profession)
Firefighter Super Hero (Save 30 lives on the job)
Home Design Hotshot (Earn 100 Top Scores for jobs in the Architectural Design Profession)
Monster Maker (Create 3 Monsters)
Paranormal Profiteer (Reach Level 10 in the Ghost Hunter Profession)
Pervasive Private Eye (Solve 35 cases on the job)


-- New Lifetime Rewards --

As with Lifetime Wishes, the game would not be complete without some new rewards added to the Lifetime Rewards program, and Ambitions includes:

Artisan Crafter
Efficient Inventor
Entrepreneurial Mindset
Fireproof Home
My Best Friend
Professional Simolean Booster
Suave Seller


Tasks like doing the laundry can provide positive moodlets

-- A New Laundry Moodlet --

The addition of washing machines and dryers in the game now has a new moodlet to go with it!  Sims who are wearing freshly washed clothes benefit from that fresh-smelling goodness, but be aware that some dryers are not what they seem...


That pretty much covers the more important and notable additions, but there are plenty of other new features for you to discover on your own -- like Motorcycles that would make Hagrid happy -- but the only way to do that is, of course, to play and to play with the different game options and explore as you play...  But yeah, play...

Practical Starting Strategies

If you are coming to Ambitions with a Sim family already in place, having played The Sims 3 and The Sims 3: World Travels, chances are very good that you have already built up a stable home and nest egg, and that you have your Sims all set with their careers (up to a point anyway), so you already have a good starting point for play and do not require a strategy.  If, on the other hand, you are just starting out your Sim family, then having a strategy to use will be very useful and important to you!  So if the latter is your situation, read on!

As the focus of Ambitions is squarely upon career activities, a great deal of the worry over having money will be addressed by your intentional play towards establishing your careers and advancing them...  Bearing in mind that once you have picked a career (whether one of the new ones or the old) you will be spending a fair amount of time with your Sims at home when they are not at work developing skills that they need to obtain advancements and promotions at work, and you will likely never find yourself without something to do early on in that process.

It is fair to describe the primary focus of this expansion as being about the many different careers in the game -- both traditional and non-traditional -- and the process of improving them.  Ah, but therein lies the problem...  Your Sim can only have one career at a time, and the process of developing that career can (often will be) time consuming.  In fact pretty much like it is in real life!  For that reason I strongly suggest that when you create your new Sim family you either create a married couple or perhaps Sibs or roommates who live together, with one of them pursuing the career path while the other stays at home and does one of the more Bohemian (slacker) paths.

The reason for this is simple enough really -- you will need a Sim who is routinely in the house all the time in order to keep it clean, do the cooking, repair the things that get broke, and all of the other routine but necessary utility tasks that are part of maintaining a home in Simville!  Yes it is not fair to the Sim who gets stuck doing all of that but hey, make them a Hacker, an Artist, or an Inventor and they can then feel good about calling the shots in their life and being their own boss!  And having Sims with alternative careers allows you to have a Sim who can take care of the house, don't forget that and how valuable it will be to you.

The ideal situation for you in starting out is, of course, an independently wealthy Sim who can live the life that they want to live, take the job that they want to take, and who can afford to hire all the help that they need to keep their house clean and running smoothly -- but that is really only possible in a handful of ways -- legitimately by your Sim being the 4th or 5th generation and has inherited their wealth (which requires quite a bit of play time but is not impossible) -- and illegitimately you could cheat...  Which nicely brings me to the point of this -- please do not cheat.


The New Sim Sport: Nudist Bouncing

-- The Dangers of Cheating --

There is always the temptation to cheat a little -- a few extra bucks when you need them can make all the difference in the world, it is true -- but the problem with that is that cheating is an insidious and slippery slope and, what is worse, it will subconsciously cause you not to value any of your real accomplishments.  I have seen this happen so many times with gamers who ended up putting the game away because once they had their first million bucks in the bank, what was the point?

So please do not cheat.  Really.

-- The Balanced Household --

When creating your Sims alternative partner it is always a good idea to be aware when you create things like hobbies and the like -- so that your Sims do different ones -- if your alternative at-home Sim is an Artist then you could have your career Sim take up Music as their hobby, but not art.  The reason for that is simple -- you do not want to have to duplicate kit and as your artist is earning their living that way, you do not want their partner messing with their kit.   And when you create your stay-at-home Sim it is also a good idea to give them more than one potential money-making skill, for instance an Artist can also be a Photographer, a Musician also Writer...  Give that some thought.

While one of the pair covers the daily grind, makes meals, pays bills, fixes what needs fixing, the other focuses solely upon their career, the idea being to get all of the skills for their career mastered as quickly as you can because that is the fastest route to promotion.  And hey, your career Sim is on the rat wheel of life, and that is all about promotion, so anything you can do to help them is a good thing to do!  Plus your Bohemian slacker Sim can go on holidays (if you have World Adventures) while that poor career-grinding bastard stays home and takes care of what is important to them :)

On the plus side, after your Career Sim has mastered all of the skills that they need and has reached the top of their profession, you can then have your slacker Sim begin the rat-race in some other career, adding to your enjoyment of the new systems!  And then of course you have kids, they grow up, go to school, and then start their own careers, and you create a dynasty of Doctors or cops or you know, whatever!

The important thing that you remember is that you are having fun!


A personal police car is one reward for the Law Enforcement Track

-- Skill and Reward Overlapping --

At some point in the development of your Sim-Unit (whether that is a family or just roommates, or something more) there will come a point at which skills and rewards overlap.  Your Sims cannot exist together without each taking an interest in the interests of the others -- so you should naturally expect that at some point, even in a household in which the responsibilities and abilities are clearly divided along logical lines, that your Sims will begin exploring the areas of specialty of each other.

In the household that was created in order to play as reference in creating the World Travels guide there were two Sims -- Tomos SuperCheats and his girlfriend Katya SuperCheats (they are not married and they are not blood relations so do not worry about that common last name, pure coincidence heh) there was a set plan in place from the start.

Tomos began as an artist (this was a purely Bohemian household with no plans for traditional employment or early procreation) while Katya began as a Musician and Writer.  Their support duties were equally split, with Tomos concentrating on cooking while Katya did maintenance and repairing, and both pursued Logic skills.  They each focused upon their primary "jobs" but, at some point past mastery of those, they both showed prolonged and determined interest in pursuing the "jobs" of the other!  That trend has been observed in other family/group units, so it is not unusual to the game.

Since I already have them from World Adventures I could have simply used them to do this guide as well, but no, I felt that would not be fair, since they already have their slacker lifestyle, hobbies, and all the skills that they think they will need maxed out, and besides I would be cheating myself out of the experience you can only obtain by starting a new family!  So for this game it seems that their cousins from the hinterlands -- Karl and Ute SuperCheats -- have moved to Simville and started their own household.  Now how cool is that?

Family Strategies and Creating an Optimal Family Group

Experienced Simmers will already have the basics of family design well in hand, and likely the more advanced bits as well, but if you are new to the series there are some elements of family creation that may not be obvious from the start.  The basic idea in the strategic creation of the family unit is to stack the deck in favor of your success, but to do that you need to be aware of some of the pitfalls that will crop up as well as the basic needs and requirements that exist in every Sim family.

First though, let's talk about the city you are going to settle in...  After you install Ambitions a new town will be available that was not available before -- Twinbrooks -- and while you certainly are not required to have your new Sim family settle there, as it is an integral part of the new expansion you may want to do it at least once so you get the true feel of the expansion in the manner that the developers intended...  That was our thinking on it, and that is why the new SuperCheats family -- that is Karl and Ute to you -- settled in Twinbrooks!

Once you have decided on the town, you need to carefully think about how many members there will be in the family unit.  Basic strategy suggests that you have a minimum of two -- though having more than two can be very useful to you, especially from the perspective of early earnings that you can use to improve your Sim's lot in life -- but we will get to that in a bit.  For now let us discuss the basics for roles and the factors that you may wish to consider in choosing your family size.

The first consideration is the question of the family unit -- are all of the Sims in your family actually related, or are you creating a roommate situation?  The Sim Creation Tool allows you to set the relationships between the Sims you create as part of the family unit, so you can have them be related to one another in different ways, or not at all, that choice is part of the process of creation.


Designating a utility Sim is a boon for your household

With all of that in mind there is a specific list of criteria that you will want to take into consideration as you plan out your family, which generally includes the following:

-- Lot/House Size availability in your price range
-- The number of beds/bedrooms
-- The reasonable living space
-- The number of adults in the family unit
-- The number of children (if any) in the family unit
-- The division of labour/chores
-- Generational strategies (if any)

So in a nutshell, depending upon the difficulty level that you choose you will only have so much money available to you at the start of the game, and how much you have is largely going to dictate the size, quality, and level of housing that you have access to.  Under normal circumstances, when the size of a family unit is two adults, a pre-furnished home is the optimal choice, but when you have more than two adults, due to the usual low number of bedrooms/beds in the lower-end of the housing spectrum, it actually makes more sense to build on a lot rather than purchase a pre-made furnished house.

When you go that route you want to keep your initial house build as simple as possible and try to plan out the floor layout for flow -- making it less likely that the choke points of the bathroom, kitchen, and dining areas will be problems.  Leveraging the excellent outdoor elements of the game -- a deck or patio for instance -- as your dining area is a great way to save on the expense of the initial construction, and of course placing single beds in a shared bedroom is another way.

In the previous section on starting strategies we have already covered issues like skill overlapping, and dividing up the basic family responsibilities but now we need to address those in a more specific and informative way.  We will start with the Bohemian-Slacker Role and then the Career Role...

-- Bohemian-Slacker --

As odd as this may sound, this is probably the more important member of the family at least at first, because this is the designated go-to and the backbone of the family unit -- the Sim who is not only going to take care of all of the bits that are required to keep the family rolling along in comfort, but also the Sim most likely to provide the income and benefits that your family will need in the first part of your game.  So let us examine this odd duck!

The first element that you need to consider is what makes them a Bohemian-Slacker?  Well the simple answer to that is that they do not follow the traditional and regimented Career path.  The second is that they have a much more relaxed view on life, and that is actually important because much of the less desirable duties end up being heaped upon their shoulders.  Still the unparalleled levels of personal freedom that they possess more than makes up for that.

The first major consideration for the creation of this Sim is what they will do as their non-traditional job/profession and source of income and satisfaction?  There are many options -- Artist, Author, Inventor, Fisherman, Photographer, Collector, Hacker, Musician, and even Gardner if you have the space or one of your Sims is a Vintner (Wine Maker).  Many of these non-traditional "professions" have official support in the game with the Ambitions expansion, allowing your Sim to visit Town Hall and register as a self-employed Sim under one of the categories (obviously not Hacker LOL).


Painting is ther traditional Slacker profession

Whether or not you decide to register your Sim as self-employed is really a matter of whether or not you want to take advantage of the additional content in the game that was created to address that career choice -- but I strongly recommend that you do choose to register one of their alternative professions as it opens up the path to official recognition for those skills in the community, which in turn broadens their potential sources for income, allows them access to the goods market in the form of the Buy and Bargain Consignment Shop, as well as a plethora of random opportunities in the form of semi-official job requests from other Sims.  There is more, but this should nicely frame why registering as a self-employed Sim has benefits.

I previously mentioned that this Sim would play an important role beyond its simple utility function as the initial source for the income you will need to better your home, and the lives of your Sims, and I was not exaggerating when I said that.  Bearing in mind that regardless of the career path that your Career Sim will take, their ability to earn an income of any great size will be drastically restricted by the natural process of starting out at the bottom of their profession -- at Level 1 -- and working their way to Level 10.  In the process while they will earn a reasonable and predictable amount of money from their job and career, your Bohemian-Slacker will have a much less restrictive path to follow, and as they level up in their non-traditional profession they will find themselves rapidly out-earning your Career Sim!

Because of that, the income that they earn will be critical, though do bear in mind that the process by which they earn it -- leveling their slacker skill -- is tempered by the fact that at the same time they will be learning other skills that are required for their role as caretaker, homemaker, and all-around utility Sim!  There is the need to learn and level Cooking and Handiness at a minimum, and then they will be spending time cleaning, cooking, doing the laundry, taking out the trash, recycling the newspapers, paying the bills and collecting the mail, repairing all of the objects in the home that break -- and there will be plenty of those -- and doing all of the other small tasks that make life easier on the Career Sim.

In addition to all of that they will naturally be applying their skills -- and advancing them -- by upgrading these objects as well as keeping them in good repair, and at the same time they will serve as the assistant to your Career Sim with respect to other duties -- playing chess with them to help them level their Logic skill, talking and recreating with them to help them maintain their social and happiness levels, and so on.  It really is a job unto itself, while at the same time your Slacker Sim will also be leveling their non-traditional profession!

There can be no doubt that the role that this Sim plays in the success of the household is a considerable one, and a valuable one not to be overlooked.  Your efforts therefore must be evenly divided -- or as evenly as they can be -- between the two types of Sim in order that they each progress in a manner that compliments the other.


The newest member of the Slacker profession is Sculpting

Take Karl SuperCheats for example -- Karl is an artist who has high cooking and repair skills, and easily manages the day-to-day process of keeping the household running smoothly.  When I chose his characteristics in the Sim Creation Tool the focus was more on his Bohemian-Slacker career needs than the household itself, but it could just as easily have gone the other way... 

A close examination of Karl reveals a Sim that was created to be both a utility character and a leading money-maker, having been created with the following Traits and Lifetime Goal:

Lifetime Wish: Master of the Arts (Master the Painting and Guitar Skills)

First Trait: Virtuoso
Second Trait: Bookworm
Third Trait: Artistic
Fourth Trait: Computer Whiz
Fifth Trait: Friendly

As you can see three of the five Traits were focused upon his non-traditional profession, while the Bookworm Trait is specifically an advantage for him in acquiring quickly the base support skills for management of the household -- and of course the Friendly Trait is equally in both camps.

His Lifetime Wish makes perfect sense for him considering that he was planned to be an Artist and Musician and planned to be registered as a self-employed Artist.  That being the case, again, the wish makes perfect sense.  If he was not registered as a self-employed Artist/Painter he would still have had access to the goals for the skill, but not the career -- by registering him I effectively doubled his opportunities for gaining Lifetime Rewards Points since he has twice as many changes now that he is pursuing both the skill and the career!

So you see there are many more considerations to be made than simply the basic skills.  And the results of choosing wisely can easily smooth out all of the other aspects of both household management and contribute significantly to your success and how quickly you acquire the sort of wealth that allows you to make a nicer home, have all of the kit and objects you need for your careers, and even take some time off to travel and see the world!

-- Career Path Sim --

Pretty much the main thrust of this expansion is the development of the new careers and the meaningful enhancements to the old (original) ones -- and that being the case as we have already said, your attentions will be divided between the two supporting roles.  Which career you choose is generally not a consideration for this phase of the Family Group planning and strategy -- we know that you will be choosing one of the careers, that is a given, and the true concern in the planning stages is largely to equip the household with the objects and items that will help you to further that career choice!

Now let us examine Ute SuperCheats -- who was created from the start with a Law Enforcement Career in mind and specifically the new aspects of that old (original) Career Path -- the Intelligence/Spy path.  For that reason her Traits and wish were tailored to fit that plan -- so she is a well-organized and logical person whose focus in the first week of game play was to improve both her Logic Skill and Charisma Skill.  

A close examination of Ute reveals a Sim that was created to be both a Law Enforcement character and a character with the ability to move into related fields -- Military, Politics, and the like -- after she achieves success in her primary field!  She was created with the following Traits and Lifetime Goal:

Lifetime Wish: International Super Spy (Reach Level 10 of the Law Enforcement Career, Special Agent Branch)

First Trait: Brave
Second Trait: Workaholic
Third Trait: Charismatic
Fourth Trait: Ambitious
Fifth Trait: Lucky

With these basic building blocks she began her primary career path by using the computer to select the Law Enforcement Career, and then working her way up from there, starting as a desk jockey, then working patrol, and the different positions leading up to Lieutenant, after which having fulfilled the base requirements, she was naturally offered the position of Special Agent, which upon acceptance started the whole begin-at-the-bottom process over again, with her reassignment to the Vice Squad!  But that predictable path will lead to the conditions that are required to fulfill her Lifetime Wish, and eventually to attain Level 10 in Law Enforcement, after which she will decide upon her second career...

I have the time system for lifespan set pretty long, so it is easily possible for her to enjoy and retire from three or four careers before it is all said and done, and at the same time that means that her partner Karl can manage to level-up nearly all of the non-traditional professions -- if he wants to.


The family bookshelf may be the most important tool in your home

-- The Basic Building Blocks --

So you now should understand the criteria and the basic logic in how you build the family unit, and with the examples that I have provided for the pair of Sims who make up the family unit that I used in creating this guide, by applying the examples detailed here you can extrapolate out the necessary choices no matter which of the professions you decide to choose -- but remember that it is the actual process of creating the individual Sim that largely dictates how smoothly successful you will be.  And that means fully understanding each of the Traits that you pick and what they can -- and cannot -- do for your Sim and, by extension, the family unit.

With all of that now addressed, it is time to delve into the elements that are considered when creating the individual Sims, and those begin with the next section -- Advanced Sim Creation!

Advanced Sim Creation

We will begin this by simply loading the Sim Creation Tool as we create the family unit, and proceeding in an orderly fashion from there...  So from the starting screen you select New Game and then Twinbrooks, and you are presented with the "Let's Play" screen that shows an  overhead view of the town and presents you with the options of Create Sims, Choose Household, and Move in Household.  The first option is the one we want since we need to create a new family -- but of course if you have a pre-created family in holding you can choose Choose Household or Move In Household -- but we want Create Sims!

Selecting Create Sims brings up the Sim Making App -- and as we have decided that our family will consist of a pair of cousins -- one make the other female -- named Karl SuperCheats and Ute SuperCheats -- that is who I have made...

Starting with Young Adult, I then selected Male for the sex of my first new Sim and then as they are Germanic Sims I went with the lightest skin tone and picked what I considered to be the typical Germanic body type and appearances.  Once I was happy with their looks I gave each a set of five traits that it seemed to me would fit nicely with the personality that I had imagined for each, and then gave them a Lifetime Goal that I felt was a natural fit to their potential career choices, and it was time to commit them as a family unit!

The next choice is one of the more difficult for most players -- where will they live?  On the one hand the easy choice is to pick the least expensive furnished home and go with that since it is less work for you at the start (and that is what I chose to do) but you could also build your own home with the amount of starting money you are given...  Your choice!

I ended up having them live on the bayou -- mostly because that environment gives you a lot of interesting options later when it comes time to add to and customize their home...  Plus it puts them out in the middle of nowhere with less town-hassles.  Or at least that was what I told myself.

Since I did not make my Sims a couple they had to spend their first day becoming friends and then good friends, as they needed to have that "I've got your back" sort of feel to their relationship -- besides that cousins should be best friends don't you think?  Once that was managed it was time for my Career Sim (Ute) to get a newspaper and pick her career and get that ball rolling, while my slacker Sim (Karl) needed to start reading the basic books to get his homemaker skills going -- cooking, logic, repair, that sort of thing.


A home on the Bayou with room to expand

Picking a home on the bayou means your Sim is always close to a fishing pond -- which is great if you like fishing (grin) and what do you know?!  My man Karl likes to fish a lot!  Then there is the fact that there is a wide variety of Collection items to be found here and the separation from neighbors means he can play his guitar whenever he wants and hey, the bayou makes perfect sense!

When you go to pick your Traits try not to make them all work-related -- your Sim needs to have hobbies and interests outside of work because the more well-rounded they are the happier they will be, and the happier they are the better their life and happiness point gains will be.  But in any event you should not pick Traits you do not fully understand, and serious care should be taken in planning out the Traits you do pick so that they are both complementary and serve the larger role of supporting whatever career path your Sim will be pursuing...

Take the time to create a Sim that looks good to you -- after all you are going to be looking at them a LOT for a long time.  Take the time to research the Lifetime Wishes (see that section) so that you select one that makes sense for your primary career path, and bear in mind that your choice in wish may very well alter the choices you make in Traits.  Something to consider.

The final tip on family creation is to try not to have your Career Sim begin their career too fast -- take the time to pick up a few levels of some of the skills that they will likely need in that career now, when they do not have to worry about maintaining their work schedule so that they can work on those basic skill levels without having to watch the clock, because you always want to have them clean, well fed, well rested, and happy when you send them off to work!

-- Adjusting the Time Sliders --

One of the first things you should do once you have created your Sim and Family and you have deployed them into the world is to open the main menu (the "..." selection) and then choose "Options," and then "Game Options" (the two meshed cogs) which will bring you to the time sliders.

The base settings are configured for what is generally considered to be the old-style play -- which is a game mode in which your goal in addition to building a career is to create generations of Sims.  With the base settings there really is barely enough time to fully explore a single career path -- and you will almost certainly be into old age or approaching it before you are ready to retire.  You can, of course, use those settings if you like, but if you want to play a game of careers -- which is really what Ambitions is all about -- you will want to adjust these to make that process much more attainable.

The following settings are what I use in my game with the focus upon careers -- you may want to duplicate these in your game (or you may want to devise your own settings):

-- Lifespan Settings --
Sim Autonomy: High Free Will (slider set all the way to the right)
Disable Autonomy for Selecting Sim: Not Ticked
Enable Aging: Ticked
Enable Story Progression: Ticked
Suppress Opportunities: Not Ticked
Sim Lifespan: Epic (slider set all the way to the right)

Baby: 2 Days
Toddler: 2 Days
Child: 30 Days
Teen: 77 Days
Young Adult: 168 Days
Adult: 225 Days
Elder: 182 Days

As you can see the settings are arbitrary and mostly set for convenience.  They not only provide you with a maximized career path but also allow for extensive application of the education process that I anticipate will be added into the game with an upcoming expansion similar to the University expansion from the previous series.  Ideally when my Sims reach the point where they are close to the end of the Adult phase, they will have kids, and raise them, and their kids will go through both the traditional Primary/Secondary School process but will also -- with the addition I anticipate within the next year or so -- enjoy a long and entertaining College/University experience.


Fishing in Ambitions is a hobby and a profession

Once past that they will enter the Career path like their parents did, and provide as much or more entertainment along the way.  These settings are calculated to guarantee that in addition to founding a dynasty that will, over time, enjoy great wealth, they also ensure that this dynasty will be able to experience ALL of the careers without my having to burn through dozens of generations to get there!

I cannot stress enough that you should spend the time required to read and become familiar with the following sections, and grow to understand the Lifetime Rewards, the Wishes, and the Traits that are all very significant aspects to the character creation process and strategy.  While there is no firm word on just how many expansions there will be for The Sims 3, if we look to the past we can make a pretty shrewd (and accurate) guess.

-- The Original Sims --
(0) The Sims (2/2000)
(1) Livin' Large (8/2000)
(2) House Party (3/2001)
(3) Hot Date (11/2001)
(4) Vacation (3/2002)
(5) Unleashed (9/2002)
(6) Superstar (5/2003)
(7) Makin' Magic (10/2003)

-- The Sims 2 --
(0) The Sims 2 (9/2004)
(1) University (3/2005)
(2) Nightlife (9/2005)
(3) Open For Business (3/2006)
(4) Pets (10/2006)
(5) Seasons (3/2007)
(6) Bon Voyage (9/2007)
(7) FreeTime (2/2008)
(8) Apartment Life (8/2008)

-- The Sims 3 --
(0) The Sims 3 (6/2009)
(1) World Adventures (11/2009)
(2) Ambitions (6/2010)
(3) Late Night (10/2010)
(4) Generations (5/2011)
(5) Pets (10/2011)
(6) Showtime (3/2012)
(7) Supernatural (9/2012)

Assuming that the established pattern is maintained, The Sims 3 should be viable as the dominate series through to Spring 2014, and it should include a minimum of 9 expansion packs, 7 of which have already been released or confirmed.  It is reasonable to anticipate that at least one of the remaining 2 expansions will be focused upon college/university life for the third series, and as for the other expansion, who can say?

We do not include the Stuff Packs of course, or the expansion contents offered on the Sims 3 Online Store -- though the expanded Sims Marketplace with its game-connected web-based interface is an amazing and very welcome addition to the game to be sure.

So bearing all of the above factoids in mind, setting the time sliders in the manner that I chose to and that I suggest to you appears to make perfect sense, assuming that the game will follow the established traditions with respect to expansions and, more to the point, that you will want to extract the maximum measure of entertainment that you can in the process of creating and raising the following generations of Sims after you have created your first...

To sum this up in simple steps then:

(1) Create the legend and bio for your family
(2) Determine how many members there should be
(3) Determine your housing strategy
(4) Study the Wishes, Goals, and Traits
(5) Create each of the individual Sims
(6) Adjust the time sliders to fit your anticipated play

With all that managed, you are ready to play the game -- but of course before you can manage all of that you will need to read and study what follows, as well as our in-depth discussion of the various traditional and non-traditional careers and professions that makes up the bulk of the remainder of this guide.  You will also find some anecdotal, trivia, and special information also included towards the back-end of the guide, and a wealth of information all thanks to SuperCheats!  Now how cool is that?

Lifetime Rewards

Long time fans and Sims gamers will be familiar with the concept of Lifetime Rewards because there was a similar system in The Sims 2 -- but in that system the only way to obtain points to bank was to successfully complete the various ambitions and goals of your Sims.  Doing so banked points in the family bank and allowed the player to purchase objects that were very useful, like the Money Tree or a dispenser that held the Elixir of Life that could literally take years off of your Sim and extend their life in whatever stage that they were in when they drank it.

The system that is in The Sims 3 is a little different but basically the same, though in place of mythic objects your Sims instead can obtain special abilities and devices, kit that makes their lives better and abilities that do the same!  The trick to obtaining them is to bank points, and the trick to doing that is to complete goals, and keep your Sims in a perpetually great mood!

-- Increasing Your Point Bank --

If you played the previous games you may have an imperfect understanding of the Happiness Points system and Lifetime Rewards as they exist here -- previously you needed to complete goals and challenges in order to increase your bank to buy rewards -- and you can still do that and you should, but in addition you also gain bank whenever your Sim's mood meter is in the upper bubble and your Sim is elated, as when that condition is met the bank is metered and constantly increasing, even when your Sims are sleeping!

The trick to maintaining heightened mood is in maintaining your Sim moodlets -- basically that means paying attention to things like Hunger, Bladder, Energy, Social, Hygiene, and Fun, and keeping them in the green as much as possible!  Obviously you have limited control over Energy, but the others you have near complete control over, and so you should exercise it. 

Maintaining the majority of the moodlets in the green and not allowing any to ever go red (and trying to avoid any going yellow) is the best path towards keeping your Sim's overall mood in the upper bubble and thus continuously gaining points in your bank.


The Collection Helper makes Collector a new Profession

-- Interest-based Goals --

As your Sim develops its own interests you will notice that the goals that begin to pop-up that you can accept relate to those interests.  For example playing Chess will prompt logic-based goals as well as cause logic-based opportunities to appear every now and then.  The opportunities are only good for money, but the goals pay off in points to bank, and are an activity that you should seriously be pursuing as you play.  Ideally you have already figured out that the Lifetime Rewards you really want to be working towards before you start your play -- for example in Ambitions the following are very desirable:

-- Attractive
-- No Bills Ever
-- No Jealousy
-- Fast Learner
-- Long Distance Friend
-- Office Hero
-- Entrepreneurial Mindset
-- Profession Simoleon Booster

In addition to those, depending upon your other Sim's slacker-based career choice you may also want one or more of the following:

-- Opportunistic
-- Extra Creative
-- Acclaimed Author

-- Ambitions Specific Rewards --

Reward points are banked for each individual Sim and NOT the household, so you will be selecting the rewards that you want on an individual Sim basis, meaning that selecting one reward for one Sim does not automatically give it to all Sims in the household...  But they will benefit from some of the rewards anyway since they apply to a Sim in the household, so for example if one of your Sims has No Bills Ever than all of the Sims in the household enjoy the benefits of it. 

Care should be taken in planning out which rewards you choose, especially if you have created a main Sim that will be your primary and additional Sims that are really more expendable than permanent, since you will want the really valuable and work or travel-related ones to be on your main Sim just in case one of the others ends up being killed...  There is no sense in doing all of that work for nothing.

The following rewards are specific to Ambitions:

The following 7 rewards are specific to The Sims 3: Ambitions Expansion, and are not available to you unless you have that expansion installed:

-- Artisan Crafter (20,000)
Artisan Crafters create higher quality inventions and sculptures that are more valuable when sold.

-- Efficient Inventor (10,000)
Efficient Inventors are able to tinker and create more inventions with less scrap.

-- Entrepreneurial Mindset (10,000)
Sims with an Entrepreneurial Mindset earn experience more quickly and tend to reach the top of their careers more quickly.

-- Fireproof Homestead (30,000)
The Fireproof Homestead guarantees your Sim's home will never again catch on fire.

-- My Best Friend (40,000)
A SimBot joins the family with Best Friend relationship status to the Sim who chooses this lifetime reward.

-- Profession Simoleon Booster (20,000)
Earn larger weekly stipend and more Simoleons for every profession job completed.

-- Suave Seller (15,000)
Suave Sellers are able to sell their goods for a higher price at local stores and the consignment store.



New awards recognize your Sims alternative accomplishments

-- Additional Sims 3 Rewards --

In addition to the above rewards there are also the default rewards from the Base Game as well as the rewards that were added for the other expansions, and we are listing them below by game in case you also have those expansions installed as there are some rewards that you may find useful!

-- Base Game Rewards --

The following 31 rewards are specific to the Base Game, The Sims 3 (regardless of which version of the Base Game you have):

-- Acclaimed Author (30,000)
Earn bigger royalty checks for every book written...  Assuming you're a writer.

-- Attractive (15,000)
Whether it's the pleasing scent or charm, people will suddenly like you more.

-- Body Sculptor (15,000)
The Body Sculptor Device will give you the exact body shape you desire within a few percentage points.

-- Bookshop Bargainer (10,000)
Books at the Bookstore will carry a hefty discount, resulting in great savings for you.

-- Change Lifetime Wish (10,000)
Picking a Lifetime Wish is a monumental decision that leaves some Sims overwhelmed.  In case the wrong Wish was chosen, here's a mulligan to set things straight.

-- Collection Helper (40,000)
The Collection Helper is an invaluable tool that helps collector's identify collectibles as well as find them in Map View.

-- Complimentary Entertainment (5,000)
You'll be added to the exclusive list at the community theater and can get into all upcoming events free of charge.

-- Dirt Defiant (15,000)
Personal hygiene concerns and frequent bathing rarely trouble the Dirt Defiant!

-- Discount Diner (5,000)
Restaurant meals will be on the house.  Tips and taxes included.

-- Extra Creative (30,000)
The finest paintings are created by those who are not only creative, but extra creative.

-- Fast Learner (15,000)
Learn and improve skills faster than a galloping llama!

-- Fast Metabolism (5,000)
Watch your body shift and change before your very eyes with a fraction of the effort!  A more immediate new you!

-- Fertility Treatment (10,000)
Increase your chances of conception!  Twins and triplets are also much more likely.

-- Food Replicator (50,000)
The Food Replicator speeds up meal prep by duplicating dishes...  More or less.

-- Haggler (15,000)
Store clerks will fear the sight of you and throw discounts at your feet to expedite your passing.

-- Hardly Hungry (25,000)
Your body achieves such a perfect state of balance that you hardly ever feel hunger or thirst.

-- Legendary Host (5,000)
Everyone will show up to the party and have a great time -- it'll be legendary!

-- Long Distance Friend (20,000)
Friends will never become Distant Friends, even if you ignore them for a while.  They know you're good for it down the line.

-- Mid-Life Crisis (20,000)
Not happy with who you are?  Pick new traits to become the Sim genetics failed to create.

-- Moodlet Manager (60,000)
The Moodlet Manager eases the mind and removes troubling thoughts...  Most of the time.

-- Multi-Tasker (10,000)
Become better at your job and homework without any additional effort on your part!

-- Never Dull (10,000)
Sims love listening to you talk and will never get bored when you repeat social interactions!

-- Observant (5,000)
Discover the traits of others twice as quickly!

-- Office Hero (5,000)
Your inter-office conversations will be more effective than ever!   Co-workers will love hanging out with you.

-- Opportunistic (10,000)
Earn greater rewards and bonuses for finishing Opportunities!

-- Professional Slacker (5,000)
How cool would it be to be able to watch TV and slack off at work without the boss caring?

-- Speedy Cleaner (5,000)
Eliminate household grime and villainous soap scum doubly quick!

-- Steel Bladder (10,000)
Peeing is for Sims with lesser wills (and bladders).

-- Super Green Thumb (20,000)
If you want to grow the best, most vibrantly delicious and organically superior plants, you simply must go Super.

-- Teleportation Pad (75,000)
The Teleportation Pad reduces your transportation costs by 100%...  Within a reasonable margin of error.

-- Vacationer (15,000)
Feel free to take the occasional day off.  Nobody at work will notice!


Collecting Relics is the new Collection Focus

-- The Sims 3 World Adventures --

The following 11 rewards are specific to The Sims 3: World Adventures Expansion, and are not available to you unless you have that expansion installed:

-- Carefree (30,000)
Sims gain Fun 25% faster than normal.

-- Change of Taste (5,000)
Allows you to reselect a Sim's Favorites.

-- Eye Candy (5,000)
Sim has an aura that gives all Sims near them the "Eye Candy" moodlet.   Who could resist such a good looking Sim?

-- Inappropriate But in a Good Way (5,000)
Other Sims won't mind your Sim acting inappropriately.

-- Jetsetter (5,000)
Trip and traveling prices are reduced for Sims with this reward.

-- Learned Relic Hunter (15,000)
Learned Relic Hunters have a knack for finding higher value Relics and other collectibles.

-- Meditative Trance Sleep (30,000)
You can get a lot more done when you don't need to sleep for very long at night.

-- No Bills Ever (15,000)
How great would it be to not have to pay bills, ever?

-- No Jealousy (10,000)
You'll never have to deal with the negative effects of other Sims being jealous of you.

-- Prepared Traveler (10,000)
Travel Parties with a Prepared Traveler in the group can stay in the location longer.

-- Stone Hearted (10,000)
Tragedy and heartbreak just don't seem to effect these kinds of Sims.


-- The Sims 3: Generations --

The following 9 rewards are specific to The Sims 3: Generations Expansion, and are not available to you unless you have that expansion installed:

-- Above Reproach (35,000)
Public displays of affection will go more unnoticed by Sims around town.

-- Age Freeze (65,000)
The purchaser of this reward receives an ‘Age Freeze’ potion. Drinking this potion immediately stops the Sim’s biological clock, preventing further aging!

-- Clean Slate (25,000)
Allows you start over in the world of romance. No more reputation…No more hurt feelings!

-- Clone Voucher (45,000)
The purchaser of this reward receives a Clone Voucher. Redeem it at the Science Facility to have a Child-aged clone of your Sim join your household! You cannot purchase this reward if your household is full.

-- Hover Bed (20,000)
Ground-bound beds are a thing of the past. Purchase this reward to receive the state of the art in hovering slumber satisfaction!

-- Inheritance (30,000)
Purchase this reward to receive a handsome inheritance from a long, lost relative! The purchase of this reward and the relative’s demise are completely coincidental.

-- Motive Mobile (45,000)
Instead of taking a taxi to get around, your Sim will be picked up and transported by the Motive Mobile. The Motive Mobile is a state of the art vehicle designed to get your Sim from Point A to point B without sacrificing comfort, hygiene, or other needs your Sim has.

-- Super Nanny (25,000)
Daycare caretakers will have the voice of reason to toddlers and children. Kids will be less likely to disobey and be easier to keep happy.

-- Young Again (70,000)
The purchaser of this reward receives a ‘Young Again’ potion! Drinking this potion allows a Young Adult, Adult or Elder to return to the beginning of Young Adulthood.


Some of the painting your Sim can create rival those they can buy

-- The Sims 3: Late Night --

The following 8 rewards are specific to The Sims 3: Late Night Expansion, and are not available to you unless you have that expansion installed:

-- Always on the List (17,500)
Sim who are Always on the List will never be refused entry into bars, clubs, and lounges.

-- Better Mixologist (15,000)
Better Mixologists make higher quality drinks than the average Sim.

-- Excellent Groupie (10,000)
Excellent Groupies make every group outing a good time.

-- The Hustler (5,000)
The Hustler is unusually good at bar games such as Darts, Foosball, and Shuffleboard.

-- Map to the Stars (20,000)
Sims with a Map to the Stars can see all Celebrity homes in map view, making it easy to be frequent uninvited guest!

-- Master of Seduction (15,000)
Masters of Seduction never feel the pain of romantic rejection. Their romantic advances always succeed.

-- The Next Big Thing (10,000)
Sims who are The Next Big Thing are bound to make any band successful. They earn extra Simoleons when playing gigs with a band.

-- Watering Hole Regular (7,500)
Watering Hole Regulars are frequent customers at local bars, so they get a discount on all food and drinks.


New accessories and add-ons let you make a home look lived in

-- The Sims 3: Pets --

The following 25 rewards are specific to The Sims 3: Pets Expansion, and are not available to you unless you have that expansion installed:

-- Alpha Pet (7,500)
Your pet is gifted with heightened senses when searching for prey or collectibles. Results from hunting are greatly improved.

-- Animal Expert (25,000)
Can't seem to ever get tired of your pets? This reward makes it so dogs, cats, and horses, live much longer lives. Pets kept in terrarium and birds are also less likely to die.

-- Atomic Grazer (4,000)
Gain the ability to Graze on any type of surface.

-- Attitude Adjustment (7,500)
Have you ever wondered how your favorite pet would be if they were loud instead of quiet? Neat instead of Piggy? Go ahead and choose new traits for your Pet.

-- Best Behavior (2,500)
Save your furniture! Save your House! This reward will make it so your pet will never bite or scratch furniture, roll around in puddles and get into the trash can and litter box…unless of course you really want them to!

-- Beloved Animal (5,000)
Your pet gains more social fulfillment from interacting with humans.

-- Bottomless Pet Bowl (15,000)
Give your pet a pet bowl that provides high quality sustenance and never needs refilling.

-- Celestial Salt Lick (10,000)
A little taste of paradise, disguised in the form of a sparkling salt lick. It refills both hunger and thirst.

-- Clone Voucher for Pets (15,000)
The Pet that purchases this reward gets a clone voucher. Redeem it at the Science Facility to have a young clone of your pet join the household. You cannot purchase this reward if your household is full.

-- Desert Pony (5,000)
An ability often taught in the arid lands of Al Simhara, but can now be bestowed upon your Horse. Quenching your Horse’s thirst will occur less often.

-- Equine Zen (6,000)
Your Horse will be able to channel it’s inner strength more efficiently. With this reward, exercise motives refill much faster.

-- Fearless Foals (2,500)
Foals can venture away from their Mother’s grasp without feeling sad or lonely.

-- Fertility Treatment for Pets (5,000)
Puppies & Kittens galore! This guarantees larger litters for your pet.

-- Friend of the Herd (4,000)
Be the most popular Horse in town. Wild Horses are often attracted to your home lot.

-- Gardener’s Delight (5,000)
Make your box stalls as eco-friendly as possible. Fertilizer from box stalls used by this Horse, is always of the highest quality.

-- Lucky Mount (4,000)
Riders of this Horse are often showered with Good Luck.

-- Never Nauseous (2,500)
Pets become immune from getting nauseous and vomiting.

-- Pet Hygienator (10,000)
Landgraab Industries’ latest solution in high tech pet hygiene. Use it to keep your pets squeaky clean and free of fleas.

-- Raised by Wolves (15,000)
Gain more social fulfillment from interacting with pets.

-- Self Cleaning Box Stall (12,500)
Every pet deserves a clean place to live. Give your Horse a Box Stall that never needs to be cleaned.

-- Steel Bladder for Pets (4,000)
Never again worry about those fretful accidents. Pets with steel bladders lose the urge to pee.

-- Super Smart Pet (7,500)
Your Pet becomes super smart and can learn skills much faster, while making praising and scolding much more effective.

-- Super Swank Pet Bed (10,000)
A really swank pet bed, so your pet can sleep in style.

-- Vomit Machine (1,500)
Here’s a way to get your owners attention. Gain the ability to vomit at will.

-- Young Again Potion for Pets (20,000)
This potion will magically turn back the time on your pet’s Life. Here’s to starting over!


Mastering skills provides diplomas to show your progress

-- The Sims 3: Showtime --

The following 7 rewards are specific to The Sims 3: Showtime Expansion, and are not available to you unless you have that expansion installed:

-- Born to Cook (20,000)
Become a better chef without spending years slaving over a hot stove! Increase the quality and taste of your food!

-- Dusty Old Lamp (30,000)
This lamp can make all your wishes comes true with only a little polishing.

-- Engaging (10,000)
The audience will hang on the slightest movement or quietest whisper that you produce. Your successes on stage will be more prevalent, and your fails less significant.

-- ExtraordinAIRe-Inator (20,000)
The ExtraordinAIRe-Inator turns your house into a place of meditation. Relax into it’s fresh and soothing aromas.

-- Fearless Voyager (20,000)
Sometimes you take a voyage. Sometimes the voyage takes you. Either way, it pays big to be fearless when going on tour via Simport.

-- Perfect Host (20,000)
You welcome your guest with open arms and accommodate their needs as if your life depends on it... and this doesn’t go unnoticed. Your Sim's household will receive more money, as well as Lifetime Happiness points, when hosting a Sim through Simport.

-- That was Deliberate (15,000)
Turn a stumble into a well planned stride and a cracked voice into an operatic bellow. The audience is less likely to notice any mistakes that you may make while performing on stage.

An Overview of the Sim Traits

Traits are a critical element in defining both the personality of your Sims and the successes and failures that they will enjoy in their lives.  Understanding what each of the Traits does is really important, so you will want to spend some time becoming familiar with the list.

When you create your Sims you will endow them with up to five individual Traits that will contribute to their personality, their successes (and failures) at life activities, and the manner in which they go about improving their lot in life.  It will help you to have a firm understanding of what each Trait is, means, and does, and this primer on Traits will fulfill that purpose.

The following Traits are available (though some may be expansion-dependent and if you do not have that particular expansion may not be present in your game) If the Trait is only available in a specific expansion that is noted next to its name:

-- Absent-Minded
"Absent-Minded Sims get lost in their thoughts and occasionally forget what they are doing, or where they are going."

Attributes include finding themselves standing in a room wondering how they got there, being a bit forgetful from time to time, suddenly stopping what they are doing mid-action.
 
-- Adventurous (World Adventures)
"Adventurous Sims enjoy traveling and exploration more than other Sims, are able to go on new trips sooner, and improve their Visa levels more quickly."

Attributes include will feel great when they travel to destinations for the first time, will want to go on Adventures more often, will gain Visa levels faster than other Sims, will be able to go on another trip sooner than other Sims, and receives a 10 mood when they are in tombs.

-- Ambitious
"Ambitious Sims dream big and are more rewarded when their wishes are satisfied in life. They are driven to move up the corporate ladder more quickly, but fall prey to low mood if they don't quickly receive the promotion they desire."

Attributes include will get promotions and salary raises faster than other Sims, may get "Anxious to Advance" (-15) negative moodlet if it has been too long since they have received a raise/promotion or improved a skill.  Ambitious Sims receive 15% more Lifetime Happiness points from fulfilling a wish.

-- Angler
"Anglers catch fish better than other Sims. They also like fishing more than anyone."

Attributes include catching fish faster than other Sims, gaining fishing skill faster, having fun while fishing, the ability to catch fish even while stressed.  The Sim will want to go on fishing trips and NPC's with this trait are attracted to Park and Fishing spot lots.

-- Animal Lover (Pets)
"Sims with the Animal Lover trait love all members of the animal kingdom and have special benefits when interacting with Pets."

Attributes include building relationships with pets faster than other Sims.

-- Artistic
"Artistic Sims are naturally gifted artists with a paint brush. They also make pretty good writers and musicians!"

Attributes include obtaining Painting skill 25% faster than other Sims, gaining fun from spending time at the Art Gallery, and gaining Writing and Guitar skills 10% faster than other Sims.

-- Asian Culture (Hidden Trait)
The Asian Culture hidden trait can be found in children of Sims from Shang Simla.

Benefits include Chinese-themed idle animations, using chopsticks when eating, and singing Chinese songs autonomously.

-- Athletic
"Athletic Sims are the best athletes in town. They can push themselves harder and longer than others, and will do so to feel the burn."

Attributes include  gaining fun from conversations about exercise, negative relationship points from listening to Sims complain about exercise, learning the Athletic skill 20% faster than other Sims, and getting fatigued at 20% slower rate than other Sims.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to Stadium, Pool, Gym, Beach, Spa, and Academy lots.


Your Sims Traits boost their gains in all sorts of skills and tasks

-- Bookworm
"Bookworms have a passion for reading that surpasses their other desires. They also tend to become good writers."

Attributes include being able to read faster than other Sims, having more fun reading than other Sims, and can write higher quality novels than other Sims.  Teenage and child Sims can finish their homework 27.8% faster.  Provides a bonus to Sims writing in the Vaudeville genre.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to Library and Bookstore lots.  Bookworms can join a Book Club and receive a new book every Wednesday for a one-time fee.

-- Born Salesman/Saleswoman (Ambitions)
"Not only do Born Salespeople often sell their wares for more money than other Sims, they know the importance of a good reputation and can quickly build one at the consignment store."

Attributes include your Sim's items selling for more at the consignment store, your Sim building a reputation faster than other Sims when selling items at the Consignment Store, and your Sim being more likely to obtain positive feedback at the Consignment Store than other Sims.

-- Brave
"Brave Sims are fearless individuals that will fight fires, wrangle burglars and work to protect those around them."

Attributes include your Sims never being afraid when there is a fire -- they will put it out -- and they deal directly with burglars.  They do not scare easily and will not react with fear to ghosts or vampires.

-- Burglar (Hidden Trait)
The Burglar Hidden Trait can be found in children of Sims in the Criminal Career who inherit it from their parents.  

"Burglars must perfect their sneaking skills to properly liberate imprisoned items from the homes of neighbors. Burglars like to keep the skill in the family, so their children are able to sneak out like a pro at birth."

Benefits include the ability to "Sneak" instead of walking or running.

-- Can Apprehend Burglar (Hidden Trait)
The 'Can Apprehend Burglar' Hidden Trait can be found in NPC Police Officers' children and Sims working in the Law Enforcement career and inherited by their children. 

"Police officers spend years learning how to best the most clever burglars. Luckily for their children, genetics helps them stop burglars without years of tedious training."

Benefits include the ability to fight NPC burglars on a Sims home lot.

-- Can Salute (Hidden Trait)
The 'Can Salute' Hidden Trait can be found in children of Sims in the Military career and inherited by their children.  Sims who attended Fort Starch Military School also receive this ability. 

"Children of high-ranking military officials know enough about the military's rules and regulations to snap off a smart salute when they want."

Benefits include the ability to "Salute" other Sims.

-- Can't Stand Art

"Sims that Can't Stand Art will never appreciate the latest masterpiece of expensive home decor. They are the anti-connoisseur."

Attributes include Sims who will detest any kind of art from paintings to sculptures,  and may get a "Can't Stand Art" moodlet when looking at art.  Your Sims will not enjoy talking about art, and prefer living in a home with very little decoration.  They are excluded from the "Decorated" moodlet and NPC's or inactive Sims with this trait will not visit Art Gallery lots. 

-- Cat Person (Pets)

"Sims with the Cat Person trait are happiest when they are surrounded by multitudes of felines."

Attributes include building relationships with cats much faster than other Sims, training cats much faster, and preferring to socialize with cats rather than other Sims.

-- Charismatic

"Your Sim gains charisma skill more quickly. Your Sim gets more out of relationships than other Sims."

Attributes include building Charisma skill 25% more quickly than other Sims, Conversations with Charismatic Sims tend to be more successful, A Charismatic Sim's conversation will never bore other Sims, and Charismatic Sims gain 25% bonus lifetime relationship by socializing.  Charismatic Sims lose lifetime relationship 25% slower, Charismatic Sims in the Political career have more success asking for contributions, and Socializing at work has a greater effect on job performance.  The Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the autobiography genre, and a Charismatic Sim will learn other Sims' traits a lot faster.

-- Childish

"Childish Sims find it difficult to 'act their age'. They love playing with children's toys, see things through the eyes of a child and need to be constantly entertained."

Attributes include Sims who can play with children's toys and has a great time while doing it, wants to have fun more often than other Sims, and will become bored by conversations and repeated social interactions more easily.  Childish Sims are very afraid of ghosts, but the Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the Children's genre.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to Hangout lots.

-- Clumsy

"Clumsy Sims muck up both precious and every day moments in life with shoddy footwork and poor planning. What else is there to say? Your Sim is Clumsy, and not so hot on their feet."

Attributes include nearly tripping on short stairs, tripping over nothing when attempting to move, dropping food, losing fish and dropping engagement rings during proposals.  Clumsy Sims break objects more frequently, and at times will feel ashamed and want to repair it.  Clumsy Sims are more likely to start a fire when they are Cooking.  Clumsy Sims are not good at the Acrobat and Magician careers in Showtime since they have much higher chances to fail their tricks.

-- Commitment Issues

"Sims with Commitment Issues don't really want to settle down into a long-term relationship or a lifelong career. Marriage is out of the question!"

Attributes include requiring an extraordinarily high relationship with another Sim before they will feel comfortable committing to a relationship.  The Sim may want to change career paths if they feel cooped-up in their current vocation, and they can "Fret over Commitment" if involved in a committed relationship.


From writing books to chatting, and hacking the world - your Sim PC!

-- Computer Whiz

"Computer Whizzes love spending time on the computer. They are great at tinkering with computers and can even make money as a hacker if they choose."

Attributes include the ability to hack on the computer at night to earn money, hack into Venue listings to be able to get into VIP areas without being a celebrity, and the more that your Sim hacks, the better their hacking skill and the more money they will earn.  Computer Whizzes have 50% more fun playing computer games than other Sims, make friends more easily over the computer, and will improve their logic skill faster than normal when playing chess on the computer by 10%.  Computer Whizzes can overclock computers, take 60% less time fixing computer and 25% less time upgrading computers, and the Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the Science Fiction genre.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to Library lots.

-- Couch Potato

"Your Sim is very happy while relaxing on a couch. Your Sim gets a lot fun from watching TV. Your Sim likes to sleep longer. Your Sim will resist exercise at all costs!"

Attributes include the 'Comfortable' moodlet being doubled, while Sims with this Trait get more fun from watching TV than other Sims.  Coach Potatoes will need to sleep longer, can talk about favorite television shows and movies with other Sims, and do not autonomously choose to work out.  NPC's with this trait will not visit Library, Gym, Spa, Academy, Market, Chinese Garden, and Nectary lots.

-- Coward

"Cowards are terrified of everything that can and will go bump in the night. They are scared of the dark and will frequently faint in 'dire' situations"

Attributes include being afraid of the dark, a strong dislike for being pushed around by others, mostly mean Sims.  Coward Sims may run away from scary situations and will very likely faint from encounters with Monsters, the Grim Reaper, a criminal during a Burglary, Ghosts, and when confronted by a Fire.

-- Daredevil

"Your Sim lives on the edge, and can take many things to the extreme!"

Attributes include your Sims receiving an 'Adrenaline rush' moodlet after performing 'Watch This' social interaction, loving fire but being able to extinguish it quickly in an emergency, and having the capability to not die if set on fire.  This Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the autobiography genre, and allows your Sims to go skinny dipping in pools any time of day.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to Gym lots.

-- Disciplined (World Adventures)

"Disciplined Sims do not fool around. They have the dedication and perseverance to become the best martial artists in town."

Attributes include the ability to learn Martial Arts skill faster than other Sims and be the happiest when practicing Martial Arts.  Your Sim has a better chance of beating competitors when sparring, and they can break boards at a lower Martial Arts skill level.  Disciplined Sims don't like playing video or computer games.

-- Dislikes Children

"Sims that dislike children do not want to have anything to do with children. No talking, no playing and certainly no reproduction."

Attributes include not enjoying being on lots with children, a strong dislike for children that causes them to react negatively to talking about children, and often rejecting social interactions from children.  Sims with this Trait will get a negative moodlet from socializing with children, holding, or taking care of babies, and will autonomously use mean interactions on children.  Sims with the Trait will reject the goofy face interaction unless the Sim happens to be best friends with the target Sim, and male Sims who dislike children will get angry and argue with their wives if they announce that they are pregnant.

-- Diva (Showtime)

"Diva Sims are amazing and don’t you forget it! When they are good, they’re great, and when they are bad, they’re better!"

Attributes include being more likely to slap other Sims or break up with the spouse after an argument, and it being very hard for the Sim to get impressed.  The Sims love to compliment themselves and talk about their accomplishments.

-- Dog Person (Pets)

"Sims with the Dog Person trait have an extra special relationship with their dogs."

Attributes include the ability to build relationships with dogs very quickly, teaching dogs skills and commands much faster than other Sims, and the death of a dog having a much more profound impact and affect upon the Sim than might otherwise be expected.

-- Dramatic (Ambitions)

"Everyday situations in life deeply stir the imagination, emotions, and reactions of Dramatic Sims."

Attributes include being very emotional and finding many activities very sensational and tragic, being  likely to react violently when insulted by others, and being more likely to burst into tears of joy or sorrow than most other Sims would be.


Multi-tasking: swim for exercise and recreation

-- Easily Impressed

"Easily impressed Sims are easily astounded by everyday stories and are always pleased with the smallest of accomplishments."

Attributes include being impressed by just about everything, particularly other Sims.  Easily impressed Sims are more receptive to 'Boast about...' interactions than may normally be the case, and will be more excited and impressed when encountering a Rock Star.  Sims with this Trait are typically more humble than the average Sim, but they love hearing about other Sims and their adventures.  Easily Impressed Sims tend to get along with Snobs, since snobs love hearing about themselves, and Easily Impressed Sims love talking about them and hearing them brag.

-- Eccentric (Ambitions)

"Eccentric Sims have a natural ability when it comes to inventing crazy gizmos and whachamacalits."

Attributes include a higher chance of discovering new inventions while dabbling or inventing, being faster at making discovered inventions, and having a higher chance of making Improved Widgets.      Eccentric Sims learn the Inventing skill faster.  This trait is first available at birth though it does not really manifest until a Sim is a child.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to Junkyard lots.

-- Eco-Friendly (Ambitions)

"Eco-Friendly Sims prefer a lifestyle of energy conservation, recycling and sustainable eating."

Attributes include a preference to ride a bike rather than to drive a car, eat organic food, and take quick showers to conserve water.  Eco-Friendly Sims tend to get a lot of extra moodlets from various household actions, and are happy when sharing a car with other Sims.  They prefer more expensive appliances because they use less energy, and like to save the environment.  They will put their wet clothes on the clothesline and not in the Dryer if both options are present.

-- Egyptian Culture (Hidden Trait)
The Egyptian Culture hidden trait can be found in children of Sims from Al Simhara.

Benefits include  Egyptian-themed idle animations and singing Middle Eastern songs autonomously.

-- Equestrian (Pets)

"Equestrian Sims love horses, and horses love them back! The mutual equine affection makes these Sims naturals at handling at training horses."

Attributes include the ability to build relationships with horses faster than other Sims.  Equestrian Sims are naturally talented at learning how to ride a horse, and they will learn skills faster when training with Equestrians.

-- Evil

"Evil Sims love the dark, take great delight in the misfortune of others and prefer to lead a life of as far away from goodness as possible."

Attributes include getting a "Fiendishly Delighted" moodlet when misfortune strikes nearby Sims. Your Sim doesn't mind a lack of light, as they do good work int he dark; they excel in the criminal career track.  They tend to come out on top in most fights, and they can ask a genie for World Misery in place of World Peace.   An Evil Sim will often laugh when another Sim dies, but will still mourn them if they actually begin to miss them (as with friends and relatives).   

Evil baby Sims can (will) steal candy from another baby, and adult Sims can steal candy from newborns and Toddlers.  Most of the Sims who are aware of the Trait in your Sim will be rather cautious around them, and Good Sims or Sims in the Law Enforcement career track in particular will treat your Sim with suspicion.   Your Sim can donate to undermine charities once a day by clicking on the mailbox, and can do many things with an evil twist, like wash their hands with Evil Soap, do an Evil Dance, that sort of thing --  however it doesn't have any actual impact in gameplay, it is just really creepy.
   
Your Evil Sim can acquire a Red Glow on reaching the top of the Criminal track and that glow terrifies Cowards, disgusts Good Sims, and delights other Evil Sims. It might also cause other Sims to gasp and run from the glowing Sim in fright.  Evil Sims have a keen interest in death, will often wish to visit the Graveyard, see ghosts, and see the ghost of a living Sim.  They tend to get along, unless the Mean Spirited has the Good Trait, and often when walking into a room an Evil Sim will rub his or her hands together and laugh maniacally.  They are not scared by ghosts, vampires, monsters or bugs, and they are affected differently from other Sims by crying babies -- crying babies actually give them a positive moodlet!

-- Excitable

"Your Sim will cheer for and be excited about doing the basic things in life. Yay! Wooo!"

Attributes include receiving the 'Excited' moodlet whenever they find something exciting for them, and they will often cheer for and be excited about doing the basic things in life!  NPC's with this trait are attracted to the Hangout lot.

-- Family-Oriented

"Family-Oriented Sims make great parents. They have big families and enjoy being surrounded by their children."

Attributes include interactions with family members that have better results than normal, with your Sims enjoying tending to the needs of babies and toddlers more than other Sims might.  A Sim with this Trait is better at teaching toddler skills like learning how to walk, talk, and use the potty chair, than other Sims without the Trait. They can often complete these activities 50% faster than the average Sim, and have a better starting relationships with family members.  Sims with this Trait write better children's books than others, and they receive a bonus to writing in the children's genre.

-- Flirty

"Your Sim can flirt with Sims early in a relationship. Your Sim's flirts will be accepted much more often! Your Sims is particularly gifted of giving massages!"

Attributes include romantic interactions that will be accepted more often, and romantic social interactions that will appear at an earlier relationship rating and time than usual.  Flirty Sims are particularly well-gifted at giving massages and they will be more inclined to flirt autonomously and earlier in a relationship.

-- French Culture (Hidden Trait)
The French Culture hidden trait can be found in children of Sims from Champs Les Sims.

Benefits include greeting other Sims with a dual-cheek kiss, singing French songs autonomously, and discounts on purchases when visiting France.

-- Friendly

"Friendly Sims smile frequently at others and are quick to make friends."

Attributes include a more frequent acceptance of friendly social interactions, and the ability to make friends faster than other Sims will.  A Sim with this Trait is a good listener, even when others repeat themselves, and will have the desire to become best friends -- even with their enemies.

-- Frugal

"Frugal Sims love to clip coupons to save money, relish a good deal and hate being wasteful."

Attributes include the ability to receive the "Got A Good Deal" moodlet when using coupons at the store -- and this Trait unlocks the ability to clip coupons from the newspaper for deals at the store.  Your Sims really enjoy buying things that are on sale, and can search the internet for coupons in order to make that more likely.  NPC's with this Trait will not visit the Bistro lot.

-- Genius

"Geniuses are logical thinkers, masters of chess and excellent hackers. They savor pursuits of the mind."

Attributes include the ability to learn the Logic skill 30% faster than other Sims, learn Mooch, Chess, and Hacking hidden skills 30% faster, and enjoy playing chess and will improve at it much more quickly.  When a Sim in the household dies a Genius Sims can Play Chess for their life.  They can solve crazy mathematical problems on the computer for cash, do better at Law Enforcement, Science and Medical careers, and will autonomously "Contemplate" their surroundings.

Geniuses can earn money every 20 minutes while Hacking, instead of every 30 minutes, create pixelized paintings using Paint Stylized Still-Life, initiate "Deep Conversations" at any point in a relationship -- and they enjoy them more -- as well as obtain a bonus for writing in the Science Fiction genre.  This Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the Mystery genre, and Toddlers with this trait will learn their toddler skills faster than other Sims.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to the Library lot.
   

Saving the world: ecologically friendly transportation

-- Good

"Good Sims go out of their way to help friends and family in need, are charitable with their money and frequently conduct those around them."

Attributes include the ability to donate to charities once a day by clicking on the mailbox.  Good Sims do not usually perform mean interactions on other Sims and will not have negative reactions to social interactions as often as other Sims.  Good Sims can use 'Brighten Day' interaction, which will give target Sims a 'Brighten Day' moodlet.

A Good Sim gives other Sims the 'Comforted' moodlet when comforting another Sim, and a golden halo will sometimes appear above their head  (the halo may also appear whenever they donate to a charity).  They will not commit a mean interaction towards other Sims (not even to their enemies) and if a mean interaction in committed against them, the 'Fight' option will not appear.  They can get along well with Friendly Sims unless Friendly Sim also has the Evil trait.

-- Good Sense of Humor

"Sims with a good sense of humor tell the best jokes that never fall flat or fail to entertain."

Attributes include the ability to makes other Sims laugh more often, as well as be more receptive to other Sims jokes.  A Sim's jokes strengthen relationships more than normal and have a greater starting relationship with other Sims.  The Sim has more humor actions available under "Good Sense of Humor," will react positively to pranks pulled on them, and will be able to write better humor books.

-- Great Kisser

"Great kissers kiss better than any other Sims. They give kisses that are not easily forgotten."

Attributes include the ability to deliver amazing kisses, and kiss while standing. Every kiss gives both Sims a Great Kiss moodlet giving 15 mood for 3 hours. Sims with this trait often want to kiss somebody.

-- Green Thumb

"Green-thumbs are the best gardeners. They find solace and comfort amongst their garden and can revive plants in the worst of conditions."

Attributes include the ability to learn the Gardening skill 25% faster than other Sims, and their Garden products tend to be higher quality.  Sims with a Green Thumb begin their lives with a Gardening skill book in their inventories.  Your Sim can talk to plants in their garden to gain positive social moods, and with enough Gardening skill they can revive dead plants.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to Park and Garden lots.

-- Grumpy

"Grumpy Sims are rarely in a good mood. It's quite difficult to make them happy because they simply don't want to be happy."

Attributes include a preponderance to become sad, and it is more difficult for this Sim to get into a good mood.  On the computer Grumpy Sims have the option to "Troll on Forums" -- this will eventually result in a positive moodlet being granted.  Sims with this Trait do not like to boast or enthuse.
   
This Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the Satire genre.  They may become sad or angry when they don't have any moodlets.  They may scream out in fury if something bad happens to a nearby Sim and will always have the ability to complain about something.  Sims with the Grumpy trait can develop the "Out of Sorts" moodlet upon awakening which gives -20 points to their mood.

-- Handy

"Handy Sims are the best tinkerers. They will never fail when repairing or upgrading a household item which makes electrical objects far less dangerous!"

Attributes include the ability to always succeed when repairing or upgrading objects, while the Sim learns the Handiness skill 25% more quickly than other Sims.  When the Sim repairs an object, it has a lower risk of breaking again, and they begin their lives with a Handiness skill book in their inventories.
When they are electrocuted Sims with this Trait are more likely to get a second chance to live.

-- Hates the Outdoors

"Sims that hate the outdoors despise being outside and will always remain indoors whenever possible."

Attributes include a preference to do indoor activities, and get a desire to 'Go Indoors' whenever they're outside for more than a few minutes.

-- Heavy Sleeper

"Heavy Sleepers will sleep through any situation, no matter how loud or alarming. They also tend to snore."

Attributes include the ability to sleep through loud noises and crying youngsters -- but the Trait has a downside in that because your Sims sleep through noises they can easily sleep through a fire or burglary.  They often snore while sleeping.

-- Hopeless Romantic

"Hopeless romantics passionately seek their soul mate. They want romance, true love and surround themselves with cheesy romantic television and novels."

Attributes include a tendency to be more receptive to another Sim's romantic advances, and will be in a better mood if they have a lover in the same room as them.  Sims with this Trait will sigh in happiness from time to time if in a good relationship, and prefer to read romance novels and watch the romantic TV channel.  Sims with this Trait write better quality romance novels, and can write one when their writing level is 5 instead of 10.  "Stood Up" and "Heartbroken" moodlets have a greater negative effect on Hopeless Romantic Sims than on other Sims.

-- Hot-Headed

"Hot headed Sims are quick to anger. Broken household items, conversations gone awry or even the slightest negative moodlet will all send them into a boiling rage."

Attributes include the tendency to bypass getting sad or uncomfortable and just get really mad.  Objects breaking, other Sims not being nice and other negative moodlets can enrage this Sim, and they will often react badly to negative social interactions.  This Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the satire genre.  Hot-Headed Sims will sometimes take their anger out on other Sims.


Becoming a Master of Sim Fu requires practice, practice, and practice!

-- Hydrophobic

"Hydrophobic Sims are terrified of swimming. They loathe every second they have to spend in the pool."

Attributes include a decided dislike for swimming and they will receive a negative moodlet whenever they are forced to swim.  They do not appreciate baths as much as other Sims, and may cry after taking one depending upon their other Traits.  They really do not like exploring Dive Wells, and while they can drown they are less likely to do so because they actively avoid water.  SimBots always start out with this Trait.

-- Immune to Fire (Hidden Trait)

The 'Immune to Fire' Hidden Trait can be found in children of NPC Firefighters, Sims in the Firefighter profession, and Genies and can be inherited by their children.

"Fire Fighters are able to survive countless fires; not least because of their natural immunity to fire. It's a trait that they pass on to their children."

-- Inappropriate

"Inappropriate Sims talk about the wrong thing at the wrong time, never think to dress properly, and never think to apologize when they've wronged someone. They enjoy mocking others with harsh words."

Attributes include the ability to more easily insult other Sims, and the ability to kiss, tickle or even propose marriage when other Sims would not try.  Sims with this Trait sometimes do not dress properly for all occasions.  A special "Make Fun Of" interaction is available to them to be used on other Sims, and the Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the Humor genre.  Inappropriate Sims will have the option to talk about other Sims that are standing nearby.

Inappropriate Sims can rummage through other Sims' garbage, and knock over neighbors' garbage cans as a gesture.   They have the "Sponge Bath" option with sinks which will enable them to bathe anywhere where there is a sink.  They also have the ability to make inappropriate forum posts on the computer.

-- Insane

"Insane Sims respond to events in life unpredictably. They say what they want, do what they want and even wear what they want. Even if it doesn't make sense to anyone else."

Attributes include a set of unpredictable behaviors, including choosing clothes badly, making impulsive  decisions, and forming wishes that may not make sense.  This Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the autobiography genre.  They can Fish in swimming pools, and they are given interactions under the "Friendly" category that include "Catch anything?" / "Speak Madness" / "Tell Ghost Story" / and "Talk about conspiracies."   These Sims also have a "Talk to Self" action that will fill their Social and Fun bars!

-- Kleptomaniac

"Kleptomaniacs 'accidentally' end up with things owned by others. They often 'permanently borrow' items from work, school or even their neighbor's homes!"

Attributes include a tendency to steal the belongings of other Sims, and can return stolen objects to their rightful owners via the mailbox, resulting in a positive 'Returned Stolen Object' moodlet.  This Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the autobiography genre.

-- Light Sleeper

"Light sleepers toss and turn throughout the night and are woken up by the slightest bump in the night."

Attributes include the condition for being restless and easily disturbed, and when a burglar even steps on their lot when they are asleep the Sim will be instantly awake.

-- Loner

"Loners enjoy time spent alone more than time spent with others. Quite shy, they will never approach anyone that isn't a close friend. They prize their solitude and get nervous around large groups. "

Attributes include a tendency to be in the best mood when they are alone, and to receive the 'Enjoying Solitude' moodlet ( 15) as a result.  Loner Sims get the 'Too Many People' negative moodlet (-15) when on lots with crowds, including work and school lots, and they do not feel the need to seek out social interaction as often as other Sims.  These Sims prefer to spend time in the bedroom rather than in the more social areas of their home.

-- Loser

"Losers encounter woe and misfortune throughout their lives beginning with school and continuing into their careers. They will fail and fail often. They won't get mad even when life falls apart. They'll just cry."

Attributes include a lower chances of having success, a higher chance of receiving a negative event at work/school, and when receiving opportunities, they have a higher chance of failing them.  Losers will break down in tears if something negative happens to them, complain more in a conversation, and are less likely to win video games.
   
Losers will get more potent "Winner" moodlets when they manage to win games, and also get "Winner" moodlets when they get promoted.  Instead of getting a "Win a Game" wish, their wish says "Be a winner, for once."  When a Loser dies of unnatural causes, such as drowning, the Grim Reaper may tell the Sim that he has enjoyed watching the Loser Sim suffer, and decides to allow them to live longer.

-- Loves the Outdoors

"These Sims love spending time outdoors and find a special joy amidst nature that others do not."

Attributes include a tendency towards a better mood when outside, and a predilection to pine for the outdoors if they spend too long inside.  They get 'One with Nature' positive moodlet ( 20) when they stay outside for 15 minutes, and they can perform outdoor skills such as Fishing and Gardening better than most other Sims.  Outdoor Sims perform better in Athletic, Science and Military careers, and      have the "Talk about Outdoors" social interaction available to them.  Sims with this Trait can be sent to the public pool, beach or park by clicking on them and choosing that action.


Aging your Nectar requires a dedicated cellar with class to it!

-- Lucky

"Lucky Sims are closely followed through life with a comforting sense of luck. They win often and they win big."

Attributes include a chance at obtaining the 'Feeling Lucky' moodlet when they sleep for 4 hours.  Sims with this Trait are less likely to burn food, break objects or get robbed, and more likely to get raises at work and to get good results from career events.  Lucky Sims are more likely to win when playing games, and using the Fortune Factory Fortune Cookie Maker they will always receive a good fortune.  A Sim with the Lucky Trait who is an Acrobat and performs on The Ring of Fire is more likely to succeed at the stunt.  And how cool is that?

-- Makes No Messes (Hidden Trait)

The 'Makes No Messes' Hidden Trait can be found in maids' children and inherited by them.

"The descendants of maids have cleanliness imprinted on their genetic code so they never leave anything dirty."

Benefit is that the Sim never causes messes; similar to an attribute of the Neat Trait.

-- Mean Spirited

"Mean Spirited Sims love to fight, mostly because they never lose in a brawl. They take satisfaction with every new enemy made and dream of new ways to be nasty to others."

Attributes include the ability to receive a positive moodlet when making an enemy.  Mean Spirited Sims will have more probability of winning fights, and will autonomously use negative social interactions more often than other Sims.  They are able to troll on forums like evil, grumpy or inappropriate Sims, and they may wait for a response from the forum users for their amusement. Not being responded on a forum will earn the Sim a negative moodlet.

-- Mooch

"Moochers can mooch food and money from their neighbors who for the most part just go along with it."

Attributes include the ability to mooch cash and food directly off other Sims.  When visiting other Sims' lots, the Sim can mooch food from the host's fridge -- though other Sims may not respond well to the Sim's mooching.

-- Natural Born Performer (Showtime)

"Natural Born Performer Sims are most comfortable on a stage, and never happier than when they are in front of an audience."

Attributes include being better able to learn to sing, do magic and perform, rarely bombing on stage, and the ability to attract audiences and do a variety of things "with Flair".  The Sim has more talent in the Magician and Acrobat Careers; they may also be good at the Singing Career.  Sims with the Diva Trait get a bonus when it is combined with this Trait.

-- Natural Cook

"Natural Cooks are able to kick any dish up a notch, making their food the most delicious to eat. They learn to cook more quickly than others, and never burn down the kitchen in the process!"

Attributes include being able to learn the cooking skill faster than other Sims, starting their lives with a Cooking skill book in their inventories, and easily making higher quality food.  Sims with this Trait  never burn food or cause a fire when cooking, and will frequently watch the Cooking Cable channel when left idle.  

A Natural Cook can talk about cooking, and eating food on other lots can cause this Sim to learn the recipe for that food (if they have the skill required to learn it).  The 'Kick it up a Notch' interaction is available to improve the quality of a prepared dish.

-- Neat

"Neat Sims always find time to clean, regardless of their mood. They are easily devastated by filthy surroundings, but will never leave a mess behind."

Attributes include the habit of always cleaning up messes they have made.  These Sims actually have fun while cleaning, and the objects will be more clean than normal, and they will clean even while being in a bad mood.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to the Laundromat lot. 

-- Neurotic

"Neurotic Sims will freak out at the most minor of provocations. They can become stressed easily and can be difficult to mellow. Luckily they take solace in sharing their worries with others."

Attributes include the inability to get a grip on life, freaking out over every little thing.  Click on these Sims will provoke a "Freak Out" interaction, and while other Sims are disturbed your Sim will become Tranquil.  It takes awhile for your Sim to de-stress, but your Sims can "Share Worries" with other Sims to help relax.  These Sims do not get sad or angry, just stressed out.

-- Never Nude

"Never Nudes despise nudity and will never, ever, completely remove all of their clothing."

Attributes include the fact that this Sim doesn't like being naked. 

-- No Sense of Humor

"Sims with no sense of humor tell horrible jokes so they tend not to tell them. They also don't enjoy the jokes of others. Humor is simply wasted on them."

Attributes include having no sense of humor and not enjoying humorous interactions.  The Sim doesn't autonomously perform humorous interactions on other Sims either. Sims with this Trait have interactions like "Ramble Endlessly" and "Share Trivia" which bore ordinary Sims but delight others with no sense of humor.  These Sims have "Bore To Death" interaction that make other Sims pass out for a moment, which can cause celebrities to be publicly disgraced when they do.   NPC's with this trait are attracted to Library lots.


Your Sims need a proper Sculpting Workstation for the Art

-- Nurturing

"Nurturing Sims are great with teens and children. They understand the joys and difficulties of growing up and are instinctively well prepared to take care of them."

Attributes include Children and Teens having less chance of throwing a tantrum when your Sim is scolding them, being more effective in socializing with children and teens, and obtaining relationships faster with Sims that are Teens or younger.

-- Over-Emotional

"Your Sim finds the most beautiful joy in many things, and often cries to express delight!"

Attributes include all moodlets contributing more to the Sim's Mood, with the good things being better, and the bad things being worse (being 25% more effective).  This Trait provides a bonus to Sims writing in the Satire genre, and when left idle, they will start crying.  After receiving a negative moodlet resulting from social interactions, the "Cry On Shoulder" interaction will be available.

-- Party Animal

"Party animals love to party, and others love to party with them. When a party animal hosts a party, everyone comes and has a great time. Woo!"

Attributes include the effect that anyone the Sim invites to a party will attend, and guests attending the Sims parties are more likely to bring gifts.   NPC's with this trait are attracted to the Hangout lot.

-- Perceptive (Ambitions)

"Perceptive Sims make keen Investigators. Their ability to investigate and stakeout potential criminals is bar none."

Attributes include your Sim earning more money from completed Investigator assignments.  Your Sim will build the Logic Skill more quickly, and will have a higher chance of encountering crime on stakeouts.  Your Sim will learn traits of other Sims more quickly through socializing.

-- Perfectionist

"Perfectionists spend more time cooking, writing or even painting, but what they eventually finish is noticeably better than something created by other Sims. Perfectionists accept nothing shy of perfection."

Attributes include the ability to do most things better than other Sims, though sometimes it can take a bit longer.  The Sim can paint higher quality paintings, prepare higher quality food and write better novels, and this trait can help Sims becoming better Architects.

-- Photographer's Eye (World Adventures)

"Sims with the Photographer's Eye naturally learn photography more quickly than other Sims and tend to earn more Simoleons for the photos they take!"

Attributes include their photographs tending to be worth more than the photos of other Sims, the ability to improve their Photography skill much faster than other Sims, and the urge to discuss Photography with other Sims.

-- Private Eye (Hidden Trait)
The Private Eye Hidden Trait was added with the Ambitions expansion and is obtained by reaching Level 7 in the Investigator Profession.

Benefits include the ability to sneak, the ability to bribe or beat up, to convince another Sim while completing an opportunity, and is retained even if the Sim no longer works in the Investigator Profession.  This Hidden Trait is inherited by their children.

-- Rebellious (Generations)

"Rebellious Sims take special pride in putting it to the man. Causing trouble (and getting out of it) is their specialty! Whether they're out after curfew or telling their boss they've had it, they'll no doubt take extra pleasure for it."

Attributes include a Sim's chances of getting caught while setting traps or causing pranks being greatly reduced, and chances of getting caught violating curfew will be greatly reduced.  Your Sim will receive special moodlets and take great pride in interactions or abilities that are overly rebellious.

-- Rocker (Hidden Trait)

The 'Rocker' Hidden Trait can be found in children of Sims in the music career. Sims with this trait will get a natural feeling of rock stardom.

-- Savvy Sculptor (Ambitions)

"Savvy Sculptors know the ins and outs of sculpting masterpieces. These Sims never fail at making the best sculptors."

Attributes include progress through the sculpting skill faster than other Sims, and the ability to create unique Sculptures that no other Sims can make.  Your Sim will never accidentally decapitate their sculpture when working on it, and they will never accidentally shatter a statue when sculpting.

-- Schmoozer

"Schmoozers are really good at befriending co-workers and sucking up to their bosses. They are great at navigating the corporate landscape."

Attributes include gaining more relationship points with the boss and co-workers when socializing.  Schmoozer Sims have better results when asking for things from other Sims and their compliments are always successful.

-- Slob

"Slobs constantly leave messes in their wake. To make matters worse, they won't offer to pick up or clean! Luckily common filth won't offend their senses."

Attributes include a casual attitude about messes, that has no effect on their feelings about their environment.  Sims with this Trait can lick a plate clean to satisfy hunger, and they will have no problem eating spoiled or burnt food! It's all good!   NPC's and inactive Sims with this Trait will not visit Laundromat lots.  Sims with this Trait have a tendency to fart and belch.

-- Snob

"Snobs are very hard to impress though they love hearing about themselves and will never turn down a compliment. They dream of owning only the finest things and being associated with the highest echelon of neighborhood Sims."

Attributes include a strong love to gloat.  Sim with this Trait will always react positively to compliments, will get positive moodlets when purchasing expensive things, and will get the "I am Beautiful" moodlet when looking in the mirror.  Snobs are more likely to wish for money-related goals, and they like to befriend rich Sims.  Unlike most other Sims, who get along well if they share a common trait, if two Snobs encounter one another, they are likely to dislike one another instantly, as both think that they are the best and hate anyone else believing that they are the best.
   
Sims with this Trait will be more descriptive when describing the taste of the nectar (Wine) they drink, and will actually get along with Easily Impressed Sims, as the Easily Impressed will be wowed by all the things the snob has to say, and there's nothing a snob loves more than admiration.  The same goes for Schmoozers, as Snobs will never turn down a compliment.  Snobs that own the same type of furniture but one is more expensive than the other will tend to use the more expensive one.

-- Social Butterfly (Showtime)

"Social Butterfly Sims aren’t happy unless they’re socializing, and will do just about anything to be the center of attention."

Attributes include the impulse to do anything to get noticed, and will never hesitate to join group conversations.  Sims with this Trait may get depressed and get the "It's like I'm Invisible" moodlet if not socializing enough, and they revel in attention and get the "It's all about Me" moodlet.

-- Star Quality (Late Night)

"Sims who have Star Quality are destined to be in the spotlight. They have an easier time befriending Celebrities and climbing the ladder to stardom."

Attributes include having an easier time impressing Celebrities, and Sims with this Trait will gain more fame when befriending Celebrities.  Sims will have a higher chance to receive free items, can dispel rumors faster than other Sims, and will gain celebrity points, levels, and stars quicker and easier.  These Sims will impress acquaintances much easier.

-- Technophobe

"Technophobe Sims hate television. They will never watch television except in dire circumstances and will always look for an alternative source of entertainment."

Attributes include not having any fun while watching TV, being afraid of using a computer, and have the ability to sabotage and smash electronics to pieces, even when visiting another household.  Technophobe Sims are bad at repairing electrical appliances, and have to work harder to improve the writing skill than other Sims.  If a Technophobe Sim tries to repair a broken television they have a 90% chance of being electrocuted!

-- Unflirty

"Unflirty Sims do not appreciate the romantic advances of others and will be difficult to woo. It's not that they don't want to love, just that it's difficult for them."

Attributes include an increased likelihood that they will reject romantic approaches from others, and have fewer romantic social interactions available to them.

-- Unlucky

"Things rarely go right for unlucky Sims. They often lose at everything they touch. Though some do take pity on their misfortune..."

Attributes include the likelihood to have bad things happen, from fires, burglaries, losing at things, breaking objects, that sort of event, and in the end this Sim feels like they have nothing to lose.

-- Vegetarian

"Vegetarian Sims never choose to eat meat, and doing so causes them to quickly become ill."

Attributes include rapidly learning vegetarian alternatives to common meat dishes when practicing the Cooking skill.  Vegetarian Sims live longer than other Sims.  Vegetarian Sims who eat meat will gain the negative "Nauseous" moodlet, and have the action "Complain about Meat" available.

-- Virtuoso

"Virtuosos have a natural gift with musical instruments and are often considered the best musicians. As such, they earn more as musicians when playing for tips and learn more quickly."

Attributes include the ability to learn musical instrument skills at a faster pace than most Sims, and receiving more tips and cash from playing at venues because others love the Sim's music.  Virtuoso Sims often sing in the shower, and they learn master tracks upon mastering the guitar skill, without completing required challenges.  NPC's with this trait are attracted to the Stadium and Theatre lots.

-- Workaholic

"Workaholics love to work and rarely become stressed from working. Their mood suffers when they miss work, but they are able to make it up by working from home. Workaholics make the best employees."

Attributes include being more successful at asking for promotions and raises, getting less stressed from working and get "Likes Work" moodlet while working.  Workaholics get stressed when they are not at their work lot during their working hours, and have fun doing homework, and do it faster than normal Sims.  These Sims do not enjoy making fun of work, do not get the wish to retire when they age into elders, and when they are unemployed they do not like to be asked about their career, and get angry if they are asked about it.  When a workaholic Sim goes to work, they will choose the "work hard" option by default, and it is up to player to change it if they want to.

Wishes and Desires

The Wish system is exclusive to The Sims 3 so if you are new to the games or are just discovering the third series after playing one or both of the others, here is a new system for rewards and interests to help you along!  The wish system and the desires that your Sims feel are an important -- one might even say integral -- part of the game, but probably not for the reason you are thinking...  Just like in real life they serve a valuable function -- they keep your Sim focused upon some goal that both gives them something to work towards, and adds interest to their life.  In that respect you can also view them as a bonus because as you work towards them and complete them you earn various amounts of Lifetime Rewards Points, and believe it you will need plenty of those if you are going to purchase all of the really useful rewards that are available!

The Wish and Goal system should no be confused with the Lifetime Wish that is specified when a Sim is created/born.  That one is picked by the player, and more or less represents the raison d'etre for the Sim -- and usually it corresponds to the career that you want your Sim to pursue.  No, the Wish and Goal system is a product of the whole view of your Sim.  What I mean by that is that these opportunities crop up largely based on the past activities and interests of your Sim.

For example if your Sim starts working out, jogging, lifting weights, and doing sports, you will start to see wishes and goals that relate to those act ivies appear in the game -- for instance if you spend a lot of time on the weights, you may get a Wish/Goal to lift weights for six straight hours!  That particular wish pays off with 1,000 Lifetime Happiness Points, so it is one you may very well want to complete!

If your Sim is an Artist they will see Wishes and Goals that relate to whatever art they are pursuing -- so a Painter is likely to get a variety of painting-related wishes early on, and as long as they continue to level their painting skills and participate in the profession they will continue to get more.  When they register as self-employed in that profession they will end up getting different ones as well.

You have seen me use the words "Wishes" and "Goals" but they are not interchangeable -- they have different meanings and results.  Wishes are the pop-up actions -- like to Paint a Masterpiece painting that pays off in 1,000 Lifetime Reward Points -- while Goals are defined as a sort of mini-job or task that is associated with the same sort of progress.  Examples of the latter include hanging X number of paintings in your home, or participating in a test for the Science Lab in which you acquire additional Logic Skill points and then report in to the lab to be evaluated.


Putting in the time to fulfill a Lifetime Wish pays off big!

The previously given Goal examples pay off in Lifetime Reward Points or a combination of Lifetime Reward Points and Money, but the Goal system is not restricted to just plain skill leveling -- every so often when one of your Sims has advanced the level for a utility skill -- like Repairing for example -- they will be asked by other NPC Sims in the town to do jobs for them.  Repair a stereo, paint a specific size or quality painting, that sort of thing.

When your Sim does these mini-jobs they may be paid in money or money and Lifetime Reward Points, but there is also a hidden leveling system in the game that is reputation-based.  When your Sim completes the Goals they have been offered in a timely fashion, they increase the hidden level for their reputation in that area, and this leads to more frequent offers.

Another important aspect of the Wishes and Goals is that accepting them gives your Sim something to work towards, and completing them, in addition to paying off in Lifetime Rewards Points, also pays off in providing positive moodlets and an increased good mood!

Unlike in the previous games where declining (dismissing) a Wish/Goal could have a negative side-effect and impact on your Sim, doing that in The Sims 3 has no effect at all -- you are free to accept or dismiss any of the offered wishes or goals without fear of consequences!

-- The Skill Factor --

One of the side-effects of the Wish/Goal system is that it promotes the leveling of skills -- which in turn is important because some of these are absolutely required for obtaining promotions in your careers.  Basically the stick is the leveling, and the carrot is the Lifetime Reward Points and the Levels you pick up in the process, for what is clearly a win-win situation!

Almost all of the Skills (save for Collecting) have ten levels, and as you progress to the higher levels unlock additional perks or actions/abilities.  Some of them -- like the fitness-related skills and activities -- have hidden effects, like increasing your Sims endurance and making them stronger and thus, in a fight, more likely to win.  Raising the Logic Skill has tremendous side-benefits, and in particular in the Science, Inventing, Investigation, Military, Medical, and Law Enforcement careers.  In fact the Logic Skill helps almost every career, so playing chess (whether on a chess board or the computer) is never a waste of time.

One of the benefits you can find in the Wish/Goal system is that they break up the process of working on skills by promoting a variety of activities -- and that really helps you avoid repetition boredom in working the same skill over and over just to get it capped-off.  It really is all in how you view it I suppose, but working for incremental progress tends to improve your view of the game, those skill-raising actions, and the entertainment potential that they contain.

-- The Big Picture for Wishes and Goals --

Viewing these as opportunities to improve your Sims and succeed in acquiring the special rewards is the best way to look at this part of the game, and considering that they offer a combination of new skills, abilities, positive mood, and valuable rewards -- and play a significant role in the career system -- focusing upon completing as many of these individually as you can during the active part of your Sim's life is probably a really good idea!

Choosing the Best Lifetime Wish

It may not seem like it at the time but when you are creating each of your Sims the choice that you make for their Lifetime Wish is going to have a profound effect later on their life, since that is the ultimate goal that they are working towards!  It is, in its simplest term, the highest aspiration of your Sim, the purpose of their life, and the ultimate measure of happiness that they can obtain!  It is the best of what life can offer for them -- as far as they are concerned -- and as such it is not something that should be taken lightly or on a whim!

While it seems obvious you should take care in what you choose for each Sim as their Lifetime Wish because if you are playing the Sim the way that they are intended to be played, most of what they do in life will in one way or another relate to reaching that goal.  Really if you think about it the large chunk of Lifetime Happiness Points that it pays out is not really the point to it, or at least not the most important point.  The Tao of being, the Zen of the path towards that goal is the point!

Important Note: Some of the Lifetime Wishes are ONLY available when certain Traits are chosen, so for instance if you pick the customize Lifetime Wish button to get a list of all of them, some will not appear on the list since you have no Traits chosen, and some will only appear if specific Traits are chosen -- for instance you would need the bad Traits in order to get the Emperor of Evil Lifetime Wish.  That is why this part of the guide is so important, since it allows you to survey the Traits and Wishes in advance so that you have a good idea of what you need to be picking anyway.  Just saying...

You will want to carefully examine the wishes that are in the list below to pick the best wish for each Sim, bearing in mind that at least for their first career it will dominate their decisions in life.  So here is the list of Lifetime Wishes that are available to your Sims with the Base Game, World Adventures, and Ambitions expansions installed:

Become a Creature-Robot Cross Breeder
29,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Level 9 in the Science Career.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Angler, Green Thumb, Handy, Insane.

Become a Master Thief
32,500 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Attain Level 10 in the Criminal Career track (Thieves path).
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Athletic, Kleptomaniac.

Become a Superstar Athlete
29,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Get to the 9th Level of the Sports Career track.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Athletic, Party Animal.

Become an Astronaut
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Get promoted to 10th Level in the Military Career track.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Athletic, Brave, Daredevil, Handy.

Bottomless Nectar Cellar
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Have at least 50 bottles in your Nectar Cellar totaling $50,000 Simoleons in value.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Green Thumb, Natural Cook, Snob.

CEO of a Mega-Corporation
27,500 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Make it to 8th Level in the Business Career track.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambitious, Charismatic, Schmoozer, Snob.

Celebrated Five-Star Chef
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Make it to Level 10 in the Culinary Career track.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Green Thumb, Natural Cook, Vegetarian.

Chess Legend
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Cap Logic Skill and reach the 5th Level -- Grand Master -- in Chess.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Computer Whiz, Genius.

Descendant of da Vinci
40,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Cap PaintingSkill, Sculpting Skill, and Inventing Skill.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic, Genius, Savvy Sculptor.

Emperor of Evil
32,500 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Get to the 10th Level in the Criminal Career track (Evil path).
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambitious, Evil, Mean Spirited.

Fashion Phenomenon
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 in the Stylist Profession.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic, Charismatic, Snob.

Firefighter Super Hero
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Save 30 Lives on the Job as a Firefighter.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Brave.

Forensics Specialist -- Dynamic DNA Profiler
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 in the Law Enforcement Career track (Forensics path).
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Computer Whiz, Good.

Gold Digger
20,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: See the ghost of a rich dead spouse.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Commitment Issues, Evil, Insane, Mean Spirited.

Golden Tongue/Golden Fingers
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Max both Charisma and Guitar Skills.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly, Virtuoso.

**Great Explorer
35,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Fully Explore 6 tombs in each travel destination.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Adventurous, Athletic, Brave, Daredevil.

Heartbreaker
35,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Sim must have 10 boyfriends or girlfriends.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Commitment Issues, Flirty, Great Kisser, Party Animal.

Hit Movie Composer
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points
Goal: Get to level 10 in the music career track (symphonic path)
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic, Genius, Hopeless Romantic,  Virtuoso

Home Design Hotshot
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Achieve 100 top reviews as an Architectural Designer.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic.

Illustrious Author
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Master both Painting and Writing skills.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambitious, Artistic, Bookworm, Loner.

International Super Spy
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Get promoted to Level 10 in the Law Enforcement Career track (Special Agent path).
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Athletic, Brave, Computer Whiz, Workaholic.

Jack of All Trades
35,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Get to Level 5 in four different career tracks.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambitious, Commitment Issues, Workaholic.

Leader of the Free World
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Get elected Level 10 in the Political career track.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambition, Charismatic, Friendly, Schmoozer.

Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous
40,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Possess $100,000 Simoleons and obtain Celebrity Rank 5.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambitious, Charismatic, Star Quality.

Living in the Lap of Luxury
32,500 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Have a Family net worth of $100,000 Simoleons.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambitious, Artistic, Workaholic.

Martial Arts Master
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 in Martial Arts and become a Grand Master.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Athletic, Brave, Daredevil, Disciplined.

Master Acrobat
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 in the Acrobat Profession.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Athletic, Natural Born Performer.

Master of the Arts
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Max both the Painting and Guitar skills.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish:  Ambitious, Artistic, Virtuoso.

Master Magician
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 in the Magician Profession.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Ambitious, Natural Born Performer.

Monster Maker
25,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Create 3 Monsters.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Genius.

Paranormal Profiteer
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 in the Ghost Hunter Profession.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Eccentric.

Perfect Mind, Perfect Body
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Unlock Level 10 for the Logic and Athletic Skills.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Athletic, Genius, Loves the Outdoors, Perfectionist.

Pervasive Private Eye
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Solve 35 Cases as a Private Investigator.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Perceptive.

Physical Perfection
27,500 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 for both Athletics and Martial Arts skills.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Athletic, Brave, Disciplined.

Presenting the Perfect Private Aquarium
32,500 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Have 13 Perfect Fish in fish bowls around your home.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Angler, Loves the Outdoors, Perfectionist.

Possession is Nine Tenths of the Law
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Possess 50,000 Simoleons worth of stolen goods.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Kleptomaniac.

Private Museum
32,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Have a current relic collection worth at least $20,000 Simoleons.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Adventurous, Snob.

Professional Author
32,500 Lifetime Happiness Points
Goal: Make $4,000 Simoleons a week in royalties from the Writing skill.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic, Bookworm, Couch Potato, Loner

Renaissance Sim
35,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Get 3 skills to Level 10.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Workaholic.

Rock Star
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 in the Music career track (Rock path).
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic, Virtuoso, Party Animal.

Seasoned Traveler
60,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Obtain VISA level 3 for France, Egypt, and China.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Adventurous, Perfectionist.

Star News Anchor
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach the 10th Level of the Journalism career track.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic, Bookworm, Charismatic, Friendly.

Super Popular
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Obtain a total of 20 friends.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Charismatic, Friendly, Mooch, Party Animal, Schmoozer.

Surrounded by Family
35,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Raise 5 babies from Infant to teen.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Friendly, Family Oriented.

Swimming in Cash
35,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Have $50,000 Simoleons in the family bank.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish:  Ambitious, Frugal.

The Culinary Librarian
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Learn all available cooking recipes.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Natural Cook, Vegetarian.

The Perfect Garden
32,500 Lifetime Happiness Points
Goal: Grow eight different kinds of perfect plants on you lot at the same time.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Green Thumb, Loves the Outdoors, Natural Cook, Perfectionist

The Tinkerer
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Max both the Logic and Handiness skills.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Computer Whiz, Genius, Handy.

Visionary
30,000 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Reach Level 10 in both the Painting and Photography skills.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic, Loves the Outdoors, Photographer's Eye.

World Class Gallery
32, 500 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal: Take at least 10 Photos each from China, Egypt, and France to create a personal collection that has a value of at least 25,000 in your home.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Artistic, Photographer's Eye.

World-Renowned Surgeon
32,500 Lifetime Happiness Points.
Goal:Get promoted to level 10 in the medical career track.
Useful Traits for this Lifetime Wish: Bookworm, Friendly, Good, Workaholic.

-- Lifetime Wish Notes --

It is possible that we missed one of these -- if you see one in the game that we did not please let us know, but note that each expansion has additional Wishes and the listing above only applies to The Sims 3 Base Game, the World Adventures expansion, and the Ambitions expansion.

Collectibles and Collecting: Rocks and Gems

While the Collections system was actually introduced in The Sims 3 and expanded in World Travels, this "hobby" also happens to be one of the options that the Bohemian-Slacker has for an alternative profession and a way to earn money...  The collection options include Bugs and Insects, Rocks and Gems, and in foreign lands, Relics.  This can be a very lucrative profession if the player plans their Sim out to maximize it.  Good physical conditioning keeps them from getting tired faster, and high logic skills make identifying and valuing Relics easier and more accurate.

If there is one key Lifetime Reward that you will want to rapidly acquire the points to purchase, it is the Collection Helper (40,000 Points) which you can use to mark item locations on the map and makes collecting a LOT easier!

The first group of Collectibles is the Rock and Gems category -- and bear in mind that some of these will be more valuable uncut than cut, which is something to think about...


They don't look like much but once they are cut they are beautiful

-- Rocks and Gems --
Gems are found in their raw (Rock) form on the ground, and once collected can be sent off by mail to be cut, which can increase their value significantly.  The following are the collectibles that are available in the Base Game and World Adventures combined.

(1) Added by the Base Game and encountered in your home town:

Blue Topaz (Common) Value: $9 to $21
Diamond (Rare) Value: $100 to $200
Emerald (Common) Value: $20 to $30
Luminous Gem (Rare) Value: $150 to $350
Pink Diamond (Extraordinarily Unusual) Value: $1200 to $1600
Rainbow Gem (Extraordinarily Unusual) Value: $450 to $700
Ruby (Common) Value: $25 to $35
Smoky Quartz (Common) Value: $15 to $25
Tanzanite (Uncommon) Value: $60 to $95
Yellow Sapphire (Uncommon) Value: $35 to $60

(2) Added in World Adventures and encountered where specified:

Alabaster (Common) Value: $9 to $55 (Egypt)
Amethyst (Common) Value: $18 to $24 (France)
Citrine (Uncommon) Value: $35 to $53 (France)
Geode (Uncommon) Value: $15 to $120 (Home Town)
Jade (Rare) Value: $120 to $240 (China)
Lapis Lazuli (Common) Value: $12 to $30 (Chine)
Opal (Rare) Value: $350 to $520 (France)
Quartz (Common) Value: $10 to $18 (Home Town)
Septarian Nodule (Rare) Value: $50 to $350 (Home Town)
Soulpeace (Extraordinarily Unusual) Value: $1450 to $2100 (Home Town)
Tiberium (Uber Rare) Value: $100 to Up (Several different acquisition points) *
Turquoise (Uncommon) Value: $60 to $70 (Egypt)

* Note: Tiberium while valuable is a cursed mineral/rock/gem and having it in one of your Sim's possession or even on their lot (like in their collection) has a significant negative impact on their mood and may cause bad luck to befall them...  If you do decide to traffic in it you are best served getting it shipped off to be cut as fast as you can, and then immediately selling it when the cut gem is sent back.

Note that if you are willing to risk the negative impact, then holding on to it for a day or so may be in your best interest, since no matter what cut you have it made in or even if you leave it raw, when placed on the lot outside of the Sim's inventory it will grow into a Large Spire Cut within a day, giving it a value of around $40,000.   And yes, this is the same Tiberium from the Command & Conquer games!

-- Gem Cuts and Increasing the Value of your Collection --

Gems may be sent by mail to the gem-cutter who will cut them (for a fee) into the following cuts:

(1) Base Game Cuts

-- Brilliant ($250) Unlocked after 60 Cuts
-- Crystal Ball ($100) Unlocked after 45 Cuts
-- Emerald ($19)
-- Heart-Shaped ($1000) Unlocked after adding 10 Gems to your Collection
-- Marquis ($75) Unlocked after 30 Cuts
-- Oval ($20) Unlocked after 4 Cuts
-- Pear ($35) Unlocked after 8 Cuts
-- Plumbob ($50) Unlocked after 16 Cuts

(2) Added in World Adventures

-- Polished Split ($45) Geode & Septarian Nodules only
-- Skull (N/A) Transfigure Only
-- Star ($400) Unlocked after 75 Cuts
-- Spire ($6500) Tiberium only

Geode & Septarian Nodules only have polished split and heart-shaped cut, while Tiberium only has Spire and Heart-Shaped cut, but with most of the others it is your choice.  You will quickly get a feel for what enhances value and what does not...

Every so often the gem cutter will return a gem uncut, with a note saying that it is actually a Mysterious Mr. Gnome in disguise!

-- Space Rocks --

While they are called "Space Rocks" what these are are meteorites that have fallen from outer space and landed on the surface of Planet Sim -- in fact your Sim can actually witness this happening and if they are very very unlucky, be killed by one!  

Space Rocks come in three varieties: Tiny, Large and Gigantic -- and it is actually possible (but not all that likely) to find gigantic space rock in trash cans.  An odd thing about Space Rocks is that a lot  of them lose their value once you have classified them, so it is something of a crap-shoot as to whether you should do that, but then if it is a really valuable one and you do not, you could be losing out...

Space Rocks are found several ways -- checking trash cans, using the Collection Helper (if you have it), and seeing one fall while using the telescope (that results in its location being marked on the map).   Obviously the most reliable method for finding them is to use the Collection Helper and select Rocks and Gems as the type being sought -- though bear in mind that you will also find other types of rocks as well.

When your Sim levels their Martial Arts skill up they can actually  break Space Rocks on a board, which can reveal random gems inside them -- and the rare chance to obtain Tiberium, which as has been mentioned is both very valuable and potentially detrimental to your Sims...

Collectibles and Collecting: Metals

Another collectible item are Metal Ingots --  but they do not appear as Ingots, but as Ore Rocks that your Sim needs to collect and then post off to have smelted into Ingots.  The base cost for smelting is $40, but every now and then the foundry will return your ore with a note that says it is actually a Mysterious Mr. Gnome in disguise (which is worth $1000).

The base value for Ingots is roughly 175% of their ore value, which means that any ore that is worth less than $55 actually costs you money to smelt once you add the $40 smelting cost!  In the case of those ore unless you are adding them to your collection, you are better off selling them unsmelted.


Your Sims metals collection can pay off

The following ore/ingots are part of the Base Game:

Gold (Uncommon) Raw Value: $40 to $120 / Ingot Value: $70 to $210
Iron (Common) Raw Value: $7 to $20 / Ingot Value: $12 to $35
Palladium (Rare) Raw Value: $300 to $500 / Ingot Value: $575 to $875
Plutonium (Extraordinarily Unusual) Raw Value: $1000 to $1800 / Ingot Value: $1750 to $3150
Silver (Common) Raw Value: $25 to $35 / Ingot Value: $44 to $60

The following ore/ingots are part of the World Adventures Expansion:

Compendium (Extraordinarily Unusual) Raw Value: $1100 to $5500 / Ingot Value: 25% more than the value of the 8 metals used in total.
Copper (Common) Raw Value: $15 to $31 / Ingot Value: $26 to $54 (Egypt)
Iridium (Uncommon) Raw Value: $75 to $155 / Ingot Value: $131 to $271 (France)
Mercury (Uncommon) Raw Value: $100 to $400 / Ingot Value: $175 to $700 (China)
Mummitomium (Rare)Raw Value: $750 to $1200 / Ingot Value: $1312 to $2100 (Egypt)
Platinum (Uncommon) Raw Value: $250 to $336 / Ingot Value: $437 to $588 (China)
Supernovium (Extraordinarily Unusual) Raw Value: $3500 to $5500 / Ingot Value: $6125 to $9625 (Found Home Town)
Titanium (Rare) Raw Value: $450 to $700 / Ingot Value: $787 to $1225 (France)

Collectibles and Collecting: Beetles

First introduced in The Sims 2, Bug Collecting in The Sims 3 is split into two distinct disciplines: Beetles and Butterflies, and each includes specific types of varying rarity and value, giving the active collecting Sim a great challenge.  The following Beetles can be collected in the game:


Your Sims Beetles collection is diverse

Cerambyx (Common) $70 (France)
Cockroach (Common) Value: $1 (Your Town)
Japanese Beetle (Common) $15 (Your Town)
Ladybug (Common) $10 (Your Town)
Light Beetle (Uncommon) $50 (Your Town)
Rainbow Beetle (Extraordinarily Unusual) $1400 (Your Town)
Red Assassin Bug (Rare) $800 (China)
Rhinoceros Beetle (Uncommon) $100 (Your Town)
Scarab (Uncommon) $180 (Egypt)
Spotted Beetle (Rare) $500 (Your Town)
Stag Beetle (Uncommon) $210 (Your Town)
Trilobite Beetle (Rare) $750 (Your Town)
Water Beetle (Common) $30 (Your Town)

Note: While you can sell the Beetles you collect, if you drag one of them outside of your inventory in your house you automatically place them in a glass home that is certainly suitable for display and as it requires no ongoing effort or maintenance on the part of your Sims (the "pet" bugs do not have to be fed or watered or anything) it is certainly a great way to remember and show off the rarer of the captures you make!

Collectibles and Collecting: Butterflies

First introduced in The Sims 2, Bug Collecting in The Sims 3 is split into two distinct disciplines: Beetles and Butterflies, and each includes specific types of varying rarity and value, giving the active collecting Sim a great challenge.  The following Butterflies can be collected in the game:


Butterflies make unique pets

Bamboo Straight Swift Butterfly (Common) $20 (China)
Cleopatra Butterfly (Extraordinarily Unusual) $1200 (Egypt)
Crypt Moth (Uncommon) $65 (Egypt)
Glow Fly (Extraordinarily Unusual) $1500 (France)
Green Swallowtail Butterfly (Uncommon) $100 (Your Town)
Mission Blue Butterfly (Uncommon) $55 (Your Town)
Monarch Butterfly (Common) $10 (Your Town)
Moth (Common) $5  (Your Town)
Rainbow Butterfly (Extraordinarily Unusual) $1400 (Your Town)
Red Admiral Butterfly (Common) $35 (Your Town)
Royal Purple Butterfly (Uncommon) $150 (Your Town)
Silver-Spotted Skipper Butterfly (Rare) $400 (Your Town)
Two-Tailed Pasha Butterfly (Uncommon) $110 (France)
Yellow Band Dart Butterfly (Rare) $430 (China)
Zebra Butterfly (Rare) $791 (Your Town)
Zephyr Metalmark Butterfly (Common) $25 (Your Town)

Note: While you can sell the Butterflies you collect, if you drag one of them outside of your inventory in your house you automatically place them in a glass home that is certainly suitable for display and as it requires no ongoing effort or maintenance on the part of your Sims (the "pet" bugs do not have to be fed or watered or anything) it is certainly a great way to remember and show off the rarer of the captures you make!

That wraps up the collectible items that apply to the Collection Helper -- Relics are an item that you find when traveling to foreign lands and exploring tombs.  For information about those, check out the World Adventures Guide on SuperCheats...

Collectibles and Collecting: Transmogrification

The initial collections system from the base game has been expanded or tweaked slightly with each new expansion, either adding new items or new options and effects, and one of the interesting and little known effects that is available is the ability to transmogrify (change the form of) your collection items!  Not only can you change their form but, with a little careful planning you may actually increase the value of the items.


The process starts with placing your collectibles on the proper display

Transmogrification is accomplished by purchasing and placing either a large or a small model of the Carter's Display Case in your Sim's home, and then fully populating it with collection items -- for the large case you will need to place 8 items; the small case requires 10.

After you fill the case simply click on the case and choose Irreversible Transmogrification and the case will do its magic and then you get to see what you ended up with!  The cost for this bit of presto-changeo is $500.

What you obtain from this process depends entirely upon what you placed in the case and a bit of randomness and luck...  If the display case if full of space rocks, the game will spawn a new large meteor of a random type, and if it is full of Gems or Metals the results can vary -- see below:


The process of converting the items costs $500 and appears violent

-- Gems --
To obtain Skull Cuts: put at least 5 different cuts of gems in the case for this recipe -- which creates a Skull Cut version of your gem. The type of gem matters -- basically you want to use all the same type of Gem but in at least five different cuts so that you know that you will be getting that type of Gem back!

Large Gems Recipe: fill the case with all the same gem type in all the same gem cut -- for example place 10 Emerald Cut Emeralds in it to obtain a large version of the Emerald in the Emerald Cut.

The Soulpeace Recipe: put at least 5 different types of gem to obtain an uncut Soulpeace Gem. Make sure to use 2 to 4 different cuts or you will obtain either a large Gem or Skull Cut instead.

Random Cut from any Gem: if you are not following the recipes above you will likely receive a Large Gem of a type and cut chosen randomly from the Gems that are present.  For instance if you have topaz and diamonds in the case, the change will result in a large diamond or a large topaz in one of the cuts that are present. 


But the reward can be an incredibly valuable and large item!

-- Metals --

Large Ingots: fill the case with all of the same type of ingot and you will get one large ingot of the same metal. 

Compendium: put 2 to 4 different types of metals in the case to obtain a Compendium Ingot.

Supernovium: put 5 or more different types of metals in the case to obtain a Supernovium Ingot.

Stacked Ingots: put a stack of ingots in the case and you will receive additional ingots of a random type.

Mummy Teddy Bears: if at least one of the ingots you have put in the case is a Mummitomium Ingot, and the time is between 1AM and 5AM, it will generate a Mummy Teddy Bear -- which you may want to seriously reconsider doing since Mummy Teddy Bears are easily purchasable in Egypt for considerably less than what a Mummitomium Ingot is worth!  I am just saying...

Careers Introduction

The Sims 3: Ambitions is really a career-based expansion, so jobs and things that are like jobs are an important element for the game.  The fact that this is a well-rounded game series that offers a lot to do (most gamers will never be able to do everything in the game with one Sim family) you will naturally need to balance the work and the play, but there is plenty of opportunity to turn play into work if you choose to follow the Bohemian-Slacker path...  Or work into play if you enjoy fighting fires, being a secret agent, or chef, you know, whatever...  It is only work if you look at it that way, right?

There are a few factoids that need to be addressed about Careers -- which is of course why this Careers Introduction section is here!

First, as you may well be aware, the base game and the World Adventures expansion included careers and professions as well as just plain old jobs as part of their content, and save for a few specific cases those remain pretty much unchanged -- which means your Sim goes off to work their shift and you do not see them again until it is over. 

The exceptions to the above include the Medical Career -- which has had Doctor added to it and that side of the career has interaction elements -- but in addition to that some of the base careers have been tweaked -- for instance their scripted elements and positions have been increased, and extra elements have been added that include pathing -- choosing a specific professional focus as part of the career.

Second, the Bohemian-Slacker path has been vastly expanded!  To start with, your slacker can now head on down to City Hall and register as self-employed.  When they do that though, they have to declare which of the slacker-based professions they are registering under -- the Artist path now includes Painter and Sculptor, there is Musician, Inventor, and Fisherman and Gardener -- and of course there are some you cannot register like Collector, or pursuing the Handyman trade by leveling your Repair Skills and then taking every job you are offered through the Wish/Goal system...


A professional Butterfly Catcher?

-- Thoughts on Wine --

Many players consider the profession of the Vintner (well, technically in The Sims 3 that would be the Nectar Maker but hey, it is Wine, they just cannot call it that because of the kids who play, we all know that!) as one of the most honorable of the Bohemian-Slacker professions because of the formal process that is involved and how it promotes the use of a complementary skill, Gardening, which in bygone eras was also an honorable pursuit of the gentleman...

Whether you consider it that way or not, if it is approached with forethought and strategy, being a Vintner/Nectar Maker can be one of the most profitable of the Bohemian-Slacker professions, it just takes longer to get to that point than for most of the others, but that is really the point isn't it?  While the traditional careers all revolve around structured formats that require the Sim to accomplish specific tasks and meet specified goals, they present as a path that will take X amount of time, and X amount of effort, but will in the end only pay what they pay, and it is the same for every Sim!

With the Bohemian-Slacker path however you get what you put in -- the harder you work the more money you make -- and for that alone it numbers among the most attractive of career paths.  When you factor in that your Sim owns his own time, which means they work when they choose to, and play when they choose to, and can go on holiday to some foreign land when they choose to, and hey, that is starting to look like a really good deal!

-- Final Words of Advice --

If you are playing the game with the timer-extension to Epic you will have plenty of time to master any number of careers, so try not to worry about that too much and just have as much fun as you can, right?  That is not the final word on the matter though, it is just a good thought...

The final word on the matter is this: Ambitions is a game about work, but it is also a game about life in many ways, because what the Sims does is simulate what real life can be like -- and speaking from personal experience I can tell you that spending your life doing nothing but work can be a grinding hell like no other.  So as you level your Sims and as you explore these new careers and master the old ones, try to remember to balance out their lives. 

Give them a hobby or three -- have them start a collection -- visit the museum or the art gallery every now and then.  Eat out!  Take your significant other on dates.  Do not just work, eat, and sleep, because hey, where is the fun in that?

And that is the final word of the Introduction of Careers!

Workaholic Trait Notes: In each of the career sections below there is a list of helpful Traits that will contribute to your success in that career.  The one Trait that you might think would be present in all of them and yet is not is the Workaholic Trait.  The reason for that is actually simple really...  The Trait has some minor negative impact on careers in general, which we cover below.

First, when you combine workaholic with certain other Traits you can obtain some very desirable results -- for example when it is combined with the Schmoozer and Ambitious Traits, what you end up with is a Sim who is incredibly amazing at obtaining promotions and pay raises.

The Ambitious Trait helps them to make the right decisions at work automatically, and makes them more effective at requesting raises and promotions, while the Schmoozer Trait boosts the success rate when your Sim asks for something from another Sim.


Crafting Topiary starts with a large bush!

While the Workaholic is better at avoiding stress at work -- they actually receive a positive moodlet just for being at work -- and they are able to select and make use of the "work hard" option more often without negative effects (usually it induces severe stress in a Sim if it is chosen too often or too many days in a row), it also allows them to choose to work at home on their computer if they have one, and that helps to boost job performance in easily detectable ways...

The downside though is that when your Sim skips a work day they get a negative moodlet as a result.  If they miss a work day without having arranged for unpaid time off in advance they not only get a negative moodlet, they actually have a hidden counter that increments and can wreak havoc on your efforts to control a stable emotional state in your Sim depending upon the other Traits that they have...

In addition to the above, which is a fairly significant concern, there is also the fact that Sims with the Workaholic Trait do not retire from their career like normal Sims do -- which means they will want to keep working in their career until they die instead of retiring and receiving their retirement package like any sane person would want to do.  This is particularly problematic if your plan is to have your Sim master their career and then retire to a Bohemian-Slacker profession, since they will not want to leave their job!

For that reason I am telling you about both the benefits and the drawbacks of that Trait here, so you can decide for yourself if you want to use it...  If you are planning to rely upon the usual income scheme for the retired Sim augmented by non-traditional profession income, that could be a real problem for you... I am just saying.

Architect Career (Ambitions)

The Architect Career is started by heading down to City Hall and selecting the "Join Architectural Designer Profession" after which it is necessary to work the skills that compliment it -- which includes Painting, Photography, and all of the other creative skills.  As the jobs come in the goal is to complete them and obtain as high an arbitrary review as you can when the job is reviewed.

The job can be leveled either from an easel or drafting table, and of the primary supporting skills that you will want to develop right away, Charisma and Painting are at the top of the list!  Note though that you stop gaining skill in Architecture from the easel once your Painting Skill is capped, after which you can only use the Drafting Table.

You will obtain your official jobs through dialogue and job markers that appear on the map, but you can also get Freelance gigs by creating a portfolio with photos of your jobs once you pass Level 3, and that can be shown to perspective clients johnny-on-the-spot, so it is something you should seriously do well.

A few tips for getting the best possible scores would include always decorating the finished job using art, photos, drawings, and relics.  Always use the consult client option when in the planning stages of the job, and if possible try to use personal things of the clients (like a photo of them) as part of the decoration scheme.  Always use as much of the budget as you can manage since the clients tend to judge and review your work on how well you used the money they provided (having a lot of money left over is generally a bad thing as far as they are concerned).

Note that the fees listed are the base per-job fee -- if you get a lot of positive reviews for each job there can be a bonus based on the number running to as much as $5000.


The trick to increasing review scores is to decorate with unexpected objects

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Artistic, Charismatic, Friendly

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Home Design Hotshot

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

?? Have not found any yet ???

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Fabric Fetcher
Base Pay Rate: $272 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days: 8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 01: Dress well to impress the clients

Level 02: Pattern Spotter
Base Pay Rate: $336 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days: 8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 02:  Dress well to impress the clients

Level 03: Placement Planner
Base Pay Rate: $400 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days: 8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 03: Dress well to impress the clients

Level 04: Feng Shui Fiend
Base Pay Rate: $560 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days: 8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 04: Dress well to impress the clients

Level 05: Decor Debutant
Base Pay Rate: $584 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days: 8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 05: Dress well to impress the clients

Level 06: Furniture Fashionista
Base Pay Rate: $800 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days: 8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 06: Dress well to impress the clients

Level 07: Regent of Rugs
Base Pay Rate: $1120 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days:  8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 07: Dress well to impress the clients

Level 08: Aesthetic Architect
Base Pay Rate: $1440 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days: 8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 08: Dress well to impress the clients

Level 09: Sultan of Style
Base Pay Rate: $1520 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days: 8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 09: Dress well to impress the clients

Level 10: Dictator of Design
Base Pay Rate: $2480 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A
Working Days:  8AM to 6PM Monday through Friday

Uniform 10: Dress well to impress the clients

Business Career (Base Game)

A base game career, the Business path is one that is followed by the bright Sims who think that making money is an end in itself, and is one of the career paths that rewards intelligence, charisma, and perhaps a ruthless edge if your Sim happens to have it...

The Business Career path is unique among all of the others in the game in that it really has no base requirements -- there are no mandatory skills (though having certain skills can help in your success) -- and that means that ANY Sim can join and master this career without having to prepare or jump through hoops...  All that they have to do is show up for work, put in a good effort, and not run over the bosses dog!

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly, Schmoozer.

Associated Lifetime Wishes: None

Retirement Reward: Unlocks the ability for your Sim to tell an Impressive Story.

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 0: The Wright Papers
Level 0: The Goth Account
Level 0: Landgraab Financial
Level 1: Caffeine Culture   
Level 2: Going Paperless
Level 3: Bloviation on Hyper Inflation
Level 4: You Are Special
Level 5: Limiting Liability
Level 6: Woes of Whistleblowing   
Level 7: Yay Tax Shelters!
Level 8: ABC's of Downsizing


Be sure that your Sim looks the part for the Business Track

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Chat at Water Cooler -- Increases relationship with co-workers
Hold Meetings -- Holding Meetings is a required action for Promotions / Mood
Meet Co-Workers -- Increases relationship with co-workers
Power Work -- Increases performance but also increases stress level
Sleep under Desk -- Slack-off at work
Suck up to Boss -- Increases relationship with boss
Take it Easy -- Work but not as hard


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Coffee Courier
Base Pay Rate: $27 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base: Boss Like / Sim Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: None

Level 02: Filing Clerk
Base Pay Rate: $35 / Pension Pay Rate: $50
Performance Base: Boss Like / Sim Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: None

Level 03: Report Processor
Base Pay Rate: $46 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base: Boss Like / Co-Workers Like / Sim Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: Business Casual

Level 04: Corporate Drone
Base Pay Rate: $59 / Pension Pay Rate: $76
Performance Base: Boss Like / Co-Workers Like / Sim Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 04: Business Casual

Level 05: Department Head
Base Pay Rate: $76 / Pension Pay Rate: $130
Performance Base: Boss Like / Co-Workers Like / Sim Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 05: City Council

Level 06: Division Manager
Base Pay Rate: $99 / Pension Pay Rate: $170
Performance Base: Boss Like / Co-Workers Like / Sim Mood / Meetings Held
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 06: City Council

Level 07: Vice President
Base Pay Rate: $128 / Pension Pay Rate: $220
Performance Base: Boss Like / Co-Workers Like / Sim Mood / Meetings Held
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 07: Mayor

Level 08: Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Base Pay Rate: $239 / Pension Pay Rate: $280
Performance Base: Boss Like / Co-Workers Like / Sim Mood / Meetings Held
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 08: Business Suit

Level 09: Chairman of the Board
Base Pay Rate: $287 / Pension Pay Rate: $330
Performance Base: Co-Workers Like / Sim Mood / Meetings Held
Working Days:  M-W-Th-F

Uniform 09: VP Suit

Level 10: Power Broker
Base Pay Rate: $316 / Pension Pay Rate: $400
Performance Base: Co-Workers Like / Sim Mood / Meetings Held
Working Days: M-Tu-Th

Uniform 10: World Leader Suit

Criminal Career (Base Game)

Without a doubt one of the least played careers by the serious Sim gamers and the most frequently played by the casual Sim gamers -- at least if the conversations that I have been having on Sim related chat boards online are a valid indication -- the Criminal Career often feels less like a traditional career and more like it should belong in the Bohemian-Slacker set, though to be sure it has the same basic structure as the other traditional careers, meaning a set working schedule and the need to maintain likes and relationship as well as status in the job.

Still, if you want a non-traditional approach to life that causes people to fear you, well, I do not see how you could do any better than attaining the lofty title of Emperor of Evil...  I am just saying.  Of course when you consider the fact that, despite the carefully written descriptions, the game really is talking about Organized Crime here -- the Mafia -- you have a friend in the family -- that sort of criminal enterprise, and the structure suddenly makes a twisted sort of sense.  And hey, if you are going to retire from OC alive, you may as well do it as the Don, right?


Dress for success in the business of Crime

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Athletic, Charismatic, Friendly, Genius

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Become a Master Thief / Emperor of Evil

Career Rewards: An assortment of special items and kit only on the Thief Side...

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 01: Avoid Bulges and Other Helpful Tips
Level 02: Adapting to the Wallet Environment
Level 03: From Goon to Guido: Thuggery Evolved
Level 04: Make Em' Pay
Level 05: Losing the Huckster Label
Level 06: Snake Oil and Other Sound Investment Strategies   
Level 07: Advanced Combinatorials    
Level 08: Making Yourself Indispensable
Level 09: The Mythical Hot Tin Roof
Level 10: Hostile Takeover: When to Make the Move

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Conspire with Accomplices -- Increases relationships with coworkers
Do a Side Job -- Obtain extra money
Grovel to Leader -- Increases relationship with boss
Meet Accomplices -- Increases relationship with coworkers
Practice Illicit Activities -- Increases Athletic Skill at work
Sleep in Hideout -- Slack-off
Take it Easy -- Relaxed work pace, lower stress
Work Hard -- Increase performance and stress


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Decoy
Base Pay Rate: $17 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base: Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 01: None

Level 02: Cutpurse
Base Pay Rate: $24 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base:  Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 02: None

Level 03: Thug
Base Pay Rate: $32 / Pension Pay Rate: $50
Performance Base:  Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 03: Shady

Level 04: Getaway Driver
Base Pay Rate: $40 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base:  Accomplices Like / Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 04: Shady

Level 05: Bag Man
Base Pay Rate: $52 / Pension Pay Rate: $80
Performance Base:  Accomplices Like / Athletic Skill / Mood 
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 05: Shady

Level 06: Con Artist
Base Pay Rate: $63 / Pension Pay Rate: $90
Performance Base: Accomplices Like / Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 06: Shady


-- Criminal Career: Thief Path --

Level 07: Safecracker
Base Pay Rate: $96 / Pension Pay Rate: $120
Performance Base: Accomplices Like / Boss Like / Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: Su-T-F-Sa

Uniform 07: Thief

Level 08: Bank Robber
Base Pay Rate: $122 / Pension Pay Rate: $120
Performance Base: Accomplices Like / Boss Like / Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: Su-T-F-Sa

Uniform 08: Thief

Level 09:  Cat Burglar
Base Pay Rate: $225 / Pension Pay Rate: $180
Performance Base: Accomplices Like / Boss Like / Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: Su-T-F-Sa

Uniform 09: Ninja

Level 10: Master Thief
Base Pay Rate: $525 / Pension Pay Rate: $400
Performance Base: Accomplices Like / Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: Su-T-F-Sa

Uniform 10: Ninja


-- Criminal Career: Evil Path --

Level 07: Henchman
Base Pay Rate: $109 / Pension Pay Rate: $160
Performance Base:  Accomplices Like / Boss Like / Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 07: Evil Henchman

Level 08: Evil Sidekick
Base Pay Rate: $142 / Pension Pay Rate: $170
Performance Base:  Accomplices Like / Boss Like / Athletic Skill / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 08: Sidekick

Level 09:  Super Villain
Base Pay Rate: $240 / Pension Pay Rate: $230
Performance Base:  Accomplices Like / Boss Like / Athletic Skill / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 09: Super Villain

Level 10: Emperor of Evil
Base Pay Rate: $420 / Pension Pay Rate: $300
Performance Base:  Accomplices Like / Athletic Skill / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F

Uniform 10: World Domination

-- Some thoughts on this Career --

The life of a criminal is one of tense nights and nervous days, and even the best of them can be arrested for their misdeeds and spend a night or two in jail...  On the other hand you get to work in an exciting field where you can really get on touch with other people's stuff...

If -- sorry, I meant WHEN -- you get arrested and have to spend some time in the hoosgow, remember that you do have some options while there!  You can just do your time, you can make friends with the other inmates, or you can work out (may as well gain something from your incarceration right?).  You can also play dominoes, so if your Sim is low on fun that is always an option...

Culinary Career (Base Game )

The Culinary Career is a natural choice for any of your Sims who start out as the utility Sim in your household since they will have learned more than just the basics of cooking...  Usually they start out by reading the Cooking Volume 1 book that comes with every bookshelf -- and that will take them all the way to Level 3.  To further increase their skill they can get other books, they can take cooking classes in town, and they can watch the Cooking Channel on the TV - though a lot of their gains will come naturally from just doing the cooking for three meals a day in the household!

The career itself is like the others in that there will be regular hours and requirements for advancement (leveling Cooking basically), and there will be opportunities and challenges.

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly, Natural Cook, Schmoozer

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Culinary Librarian / Celebrated Five-Star Chef

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 0: Secrets of The Master Chef    

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Hang with Coworkers -- Increases relationship with coworkers
Meet Coworkers -- Increases relationship with coworkers
Practice Cooking -- Increases cooking skill at work
Sleep on Prep Table -- Slack-off
Suck up to Boss -- Increases relationship with boss
Take It Easy -- Less effort and less stress
Work Hard -- Increases performance and stress


Dressing the part for your Culinary Career!

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Kitchen Scullion
Base Pay Rate: $25 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base: Cooking / Mood
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 01: Scullion

Level 02: Spice Runner
Base Pay Rate: $32 / Pension Pay Rate: $50
Performance Base:  Cooking / Mood
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 02: Scullion

Level 03: Vegetable Slicer
Base Pay Rate: $39 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base:  Boss Like / Cooking / Mood
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 03: Veggie

Level 04: Ingredient Taster
Base Pay Rate: $47 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base: Boss Like / Cooking / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 04: Veggie

Level 05: Line Cook
Base Pay Rate: $84 / Pension Pay Rate: $110
Performance Base: Boss Like / Cooking / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days:  Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 05: Line Cook

Level 06: Pastry Chef
Base Pay Rate: $108 / Pension Pay Rate: $150
Performance Base:  Boss Like / Cooking / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 06: Pastry Chef

Level 07: Sous Chef
Base Pay Rate: $124 / Pension Pay Rate: $130
Performance Base: Boss Like / Cooking / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: Su-T-F-Sa

Uniform 07: Line Cook

Level 08: Executive Chef
Base Pay Rate: $150 / Pension Pay Rate: $150
Performance Base: Boss Like / Cooking / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: Su-T-F-Sa

Uniform 08: Executive Chef

Level 09: Chef deCusine
Base Pay Rate: $201 / Pension Pay Rate: $150
Performance Base: Boss Like / Cooking / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: Su-F-Sa

Uniform 09: Executive Chef

Level 10: Five Star Chef
Base Pay Rate: $350 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base: Cooking / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: Su-F-Sa

Uniform 10: Five Star Chef

Education Career (Base Game )

The classic and honorable path of teaching -- which is also a career of summer vacations so you know, there is much to be said for that!  This is one of the careers in which your Sim heads off to work and disappears for the work day, so thankfully you will not be forced to spend the day actually teaching the kids or chasing them around (heh).

This career can be started by either the newspaper ad, the computer ad, or by simply clicking on the school and selecting the start career option.  If it is anything like real-world than the people who take the career up are just looking to get their 20 years in...

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Bookworm, Charismatic, Friendly, Genius

Associated Lifetime Wishes: None

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Business As Usual -- Slack-off
Give Extra Lecture -- Increase performance, earns bonus pay
Grade Boss's Papers -- Increases relationship with boss
Hang with Co-Workers -- Increases relationship with co-workers
Meet Co-Workers -- Increases relationship with co-workers
Work Hard -- Increase performance and stress


Dressing the part for your Teaching Career!

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Playground Monitor
Base Pay Rate: $20 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: Education Suit 1

Level 02: Teacher's Aid
Base Pay Rate: $24 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: Education Suit 1

Level 03: Substitute Teacher
Base Pay Rate: $28 / Pension Pay Rate: $50
Performance Base: Charisma / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: Education Suit 1

Level 04: Elementary School Teacher
Base Pay Rate: $34 / Pension Pay Rate: $50
Performance Base: Charisma / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 04: Education Suit 2

Level 05: Middle School Teacher
Base Pay Rate: $35 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base: Charisma / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 05: Education Suit 2

Level 06: High School Teacher
Base Pay Rate: $42 / Pension Pay Rate: $80
Performance Base: Charisma / Give Lestures / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 06: Education Suit 3

Level 07: Department Head
Base Pay Rate: $64 / Pension Pay Rate: $110
Performance Base: Charisma / Give Lestures / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 07: Education Suit 3

Level 08: Assistant Principle
Base Pay Rate: $112 / Pension Pay Rate: $130
Performance Base: Charisma / Give Lestures / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 08: Education Suit 4

Level 09: Principal
Base Pay Rate: $183 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base: Charisma / Give Lestures / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 09: Education Suit 4

Level 10: District Superintendent
Base Pay Rate: $316 / Pension Pay Rate: $540
Performance Base: Charisma / Give Lestures / Logic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th

Uniform 10: Education Suit 4

Firefighter Career (Ambitions)

One of the new and more hands-on careers that were added by Ambitions, you begin this career by clicking on the Fire House in your town and taking the job -- but be aware that this is one of those careers where skills like Athletic are key to both performance and promotion! 

The hands-on part of your work day when you are not out on a call can be filled with things like doing maintenance to the fire trucks (how cool is that?) and hanging out with your firefighter bro's playing video games, talking, and doing all of the other life-stuff you do when you do that life thing...

You can practically live at the fire house if you want to, and they have exercise kit so you can get your body building in there without having to pay for the kit yourself.  The pay is not great, but in addition to your weekly pay packet you get a bonus payment for each fire you have to fight and that can add up if you have a lot of fires in a week...  The bonus amount depends upon the type of call/event it is, but there are two events that have a special extra bonus in the form of a trophy -- and those are the Gnome Invasion (you earn a Firefighter's Trophy of Valor) and the Racetime Rift Emergency at the Science Facility (that will earn you a Firefighter's Trophy of Heroism).

Some of the calls you can go with your Sim to and actively participate in, but others you cannot (they use the disappearing Sim mechanism so familiar from other careers).  Bear in mind that on the calls you get to be with your Sim on it is important that they do their job and do it well, since they are largely the first-responder and getting the situation managed is almost entirely on them.  The time that it takes to handle the emergency is what your Sim is judged by, so the faster he is the better.

Note that once your Sim hits Level 10 in this career he only semi-retires -- they are awarded a personal fire truck and an alarm is installed at home so they can respond to calls from home!

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Athletic, Brace, Charismatic, Daredevil, Friendly, Handy


Dressing the part for your Teaching Career!

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Firefighter Super Hero

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 1: Handiness Book


-- Career Rewards --

Firefighter's Trophy of Honor: Rescue 2 Sims
Firefighter's Medal of Aegis: Rescue 10 Sims
Firefighter's Trophy of Valor: Complete Gnome Invasion
Firefighter's Trophy of Heroism: Complete Epic Science Facility Disaster
Firefighter's Medal of Safekeeping: Complete Epic Hospital Disaster
Firefighter's Ribbon of Bravery: Complete Epic Warehouse Disaster
Firefighter's Key to The Town: Reach Level 10
Golden Fire Hydrant: Save 12 Sims after Reaching Level 10


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Water Boy/Girl
Base Pay Rate: $276 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: Standard

Level 02: Soot Stripper
Base Pay Rate: $340 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: Standard

Level 03: Fire Safety Instructor
Base Pay Rate: $400 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: Standard

Level 04: Hose Handler
Base Pay Rate: $520 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 04: Standard

Level 05: Fireman
Base Pay Rate: $640 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 05: Standard

Level 06: Fire Sergeant
Base Pay Rate: $840 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 06: Standard

Level 07: Fire Captain
Base Pay Rate: $1132 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 07: Standard

Level 08: Backdraft Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $1480 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 08: Standard

Level 09: Assistant Fire Chief
Base Pay Rate: $1840 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 09: Standard

Level 10: Fire Chief
Base Pay Rate: $2480 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Athletic / Coworker Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 10: Standard


-- Firefighter Job Types --
Your Sim Firefighter will face a wide variety of jobs as there career progresses, including the following types:

--> Angry Gnome Attack <--
A household will be 'attacked' by Mysterious Mr. Gnomes and  your Sim needs to save the day by rushing in and capturing 2 to 5 of these Gnomes!

If you take too long in capturing them the Gnomes can teleport  -- and you can kick them around (literally) if you like before you capture them...


--> Building Disaster <--
These are the sort of job that uses the old-style work mechanism in that when your Sim responds to one they basically disappear from the game as far as you are concerned -- meaning you do not get to go with them / use them for this job type...

This disaster includes the following subtypes:

Air Conditioning Malfunction
Evil Plan Backfire
Gas Leak
Mutant Plant Attack
Rogue Simbot
Space-Time Rift
X-Ray Disaster

Your Sim has 3 hours to finish the job for an A-Ranking.


--> Earthquake <--
This is probably the most difficult event of them all because it encompasses multiple emergencies.  The earthquake event can happen at any time -- when your screen shakes and the message appears about the disaster you will know it has happened!

Your Sim will go to one site at a time and must:

-- Clear rubble to save trapped Sims;
-- Put out several fires;
-- Repair a gas leak at the kitchen stove.


--> Epic Building Disaster <--
An epic disaster is underway and your Sim must rush in to save the day!  This job uses the old-style disappearing mechanism, and they only happen when your Firefighter Sim has reached a more experienced level to their career, which is the only opportunity that they have to complete it...
 
Subtypes include:

Level 07: Space Time Rift  at the Science facility
Level 09: X-Ray Malfunction at the Hospital
Level 10: Evil Plot Backfires at the Abandoned warehouse


--> Large House <--
From 1 to 4 Sims are trapped inside a burning building and your Sim needs to save their lives and put out the fire completely.

Firefighter tasks include:

-- Putting out fires on building windows (prior to entering the building).
-- Extinguishing flames inside and outside of the structure.
-- Breaking down doors.
-- Convincing trapped adults to escape the building.
-- Carrying children out of the building.

Your Sim has 4 hours to complete the job and achieve an A-Ranking.


--> Small House <--
Flames appear in a random location in a random house and you must put them all out.  Your Sim must accomplish this task in under 3 hours for an A-Ranking.

Ghost Hunter Career (Ambitions)

It is inevitable but...  Did you ever want to be a Ghostbuster after you saw one of the movies?  Well, now you can!  Or at least your Sim can...

Bearing in mind that seeing ghosts is normally a pretty rare event in the game, the Ghost Hunter Career (which is started at the Science Building), once you begin you find yourself working the nightshift (naturally - that is when ghosts are about!) and using a variety of neat ghost-hunting kit (you know all those devices from the movies?) and a handy ghost detection system that is similar to the Collection Helper -- you will be finding and collecting ghosts in no time at all!

The workload for this career is a mixture of old-style disappearing jobs and new-style hands-on jobs, and although it may seem odd, there turn out to be enough haunting to keep you busy on a semi-regular basis!

At Level 5 you get the Spook-o-Meter, which will let you scan around for hidden spirits, and at Level 10 your Sim gets the Spirit Positioning Device (which is similar to the Collection Helper).  The pay is a weekly stipend plus a bonus for each job, and you can sell the captured spirits to the Science Lab for extra income.  Once your Sim reaches Level 10 in the career they will receive an increase to the bonus that they receive per job that corresponds to filling of the Ghost Hunter experience bar, adding around $100 extra each time it is filled.

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Eccentric, Friendly, Genius

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Paranormal Profiteer


Dressing the part for your Ghost Busting Career!

-- Collectible Spirits --
As part of the jobs in which you actually capture the spirits there is a variety of types out there to help make it more interesting.  Your Sim can collect the following spirits and rewards:

Kind (brown) $25for Young / $50 for Old / $150 for Ancient
Friendly (white) $37 for Young / $75 for Old / $107 for Ancient
Frightened (yellow) $50 for Young / $100 for Old / $150 for Ancient
Lost (blue) $100 for Young / $200 for Old / $300 for Ancient
Wrathful (orange) $150 for Young / $300 for Old / $450 for Ancient
Jealous     (green) $200 for Young / $400 for Old / $600 for Ancient
Evil (red) $500 for Young / $1000 for Old / $1500 for Ancient

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Tarot Card Reader
Base Pay Rate: $280 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: N/A (Meter)
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: N/A

Level 02: Ectoplasm Cleaner
Base Pay Rate: $344 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: N/A

Level 03: Spooky Noise Silencer
Base Pay Rate: $400 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: N/A

Level 04: Spirit Sweeper
Base Pay Rate: $500 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 04: N/A

Level 05: Seance Holder
Base Pay Rate: $640 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 05: N/A

Level 06: Ghost Grabber
Base Pay Rate: $840 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 06: N/A

Level 07: Creep Seeker
Base Pay Rate: $1140 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 07: N/A

Level 08: Rare Medium
Base Pay Rate: $1480 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 08: N/A

Level 09: Outstanding Occultist
Base Pay Rate: $1840 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 09: N/A

Level 10: Paranormal Expert
Base Pay Rate: $2480 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  N/A (Meter)
Working Days:  M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 10: N/A

Journalism Career (Base Game )

It may sound exciting -- and often in the real world it is -- but the Journalism career in the game is probably one of the least appreciated largely because just like in real life it is a time-consuming job in which interpersonal relations skills are critical.  Getting the story often requires you to interview Sims, and getting them to talk to you often requires you to build rapport with them and get to know them, and all of that takes time and effort.

One of the major complaints about this career is the low pay -- well I hate to tell you this but that is actually a pretty accurate simulation of the real thing!  The low pay I mean...  So yeah, you have to love to be a writer to really find satisfaction in this gig.

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Artistic, Bookworm, Charismatic, Computer Whiz, Friendly

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Professional Author / Star News Anchor

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 1: Street or Sidewalk?, A Cautionary Talk
Level 2: Faster Checking Through the Power of Word Processing!
Level 3: Avoiding Plagiarism
Level 4: From Notepad to Laptop
Level 5: 101 Ways to Be Vague
Level 6: The Finer Points of Yellow Journalism
Level 7: Fronts and Barometrics: Excellence Through Jargon
Level 8: (sic) and Its Use In Important Stories
Level 9: How To Fix It When News Breaks


Dressing the part for your Journalism Career!

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Discuss News with Coworkers -- Increase relationship with coworkers
Hang with Coworkers -- Increase relationship with coworkers
Practice Writing -- Increase Writing Skill at work
Sleep Behind News Set -- Slack-off
Suck up to Boss -- Increase relationship with boss
Take it Easy -- Slower performance and less stress
Work Hard -- Increase performance and stress


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Paper Boy
Base Pay Rate: $38 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base: Mood / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: Paperboy

Level 02: Automated Spell Checker Checker
Base Pay Rate: $44 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base: Mood / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: None

Level 03: Freelance Writer
Base Pay Rate: $50 / Pension Pay Rate: $80
Performance Base: Mood / Stories & Review / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: Investigative Reporter

Level 04: Professional Blogger
Base Pay Rate: $76 / Pension Pay Rate: $80
Performance Base: Mood / Stories & Review / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 04: None

Level 05: Anonymous Source Handler
Base Pay Rate: $97 / Pension Pay Rate: $120
Performance Base: Charisma / Mood / Stories & Review / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 05: None

Level 06: Investigative Reporter
Base Pay Rate: $126 / Pension Pay Rate: $120
Performance Base: Charisma / Mood / Stories & Review / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-W-Th-F

Uniform 06: Investigative Reporter

Level 07: Weather Man
Base Pay Rate: $151 / Pension Pay Rate: $150
Performance Base: Charisma / Mood / Stories & Review / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-W-Th-F

Uniform 07: Weatherman

Level 08: Lead Reporter
Base Pay Rate: $189 / Pension Pay Rate: $180
Performance Base: Charisma / Mood / Stories & Review / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-W-Th-F

Uniform 08: Investigative Reporter

Level 09: Editor in Chief
Base Pay Rate: $236 / Pension Pay Rate: $230
Performance Base: Charisma / Mood / Stories & Review / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-W-Th-F

Uniform 09: Investigative Reporter

Level 10: Star News Anchor
Base Pay Rate: $383 / Pension Pay Rate: $300
Performance Base: Charisma / Mood / Stories & Review / Writing Skill
Working Days: M-W-Th-F

Uniform 10: News Anchor

Law Enforcement Career (Base Game )

It is odd but, like the Military Career the Law Enforcement Career is the most often played it seems -- and while there were not huge changes to the career put in play with this expansion there were some.  The career divides into two different paths mid-way through, the Special Agent and the Forensic Analyst paths basically...

One of the creepy aspects of this career path is the requirement to write reports on citizens...  Basically the process involves talking to and questioning them to learn their Traits and then writing up the report on your computer at home and filing it online.  Alternatively you can rummage through the trash can outside of their house to learn their Traits and then write the report -- but either way you really do have to do this to get promoted, proving that Simland is a Police State!

One of the odd -- but cool -- aspects of this career is that when you reach Level 5 your Sim is handed the keys to their own personal patrol car!  Not only that, but it is a permanent gift/reward, meaning that your Sim gets to keep it even after they quit or retire from the job!

Note that your Sim does not actually get their first uniform until after they are sworn in and receive their first badge at Level 3...  So if you do not see a uniform for the first two levels do not panic, it is working as intended...

Once you get to Lieutenant you have to decide which branch you will split to -- and that should be dictated by the Lifetime Wish you selected when you created your Sim.

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Artistic, Athlete, Brave, Charismatic, Friendly, Genius

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Dynamic DNA Profiler / International Super Spy


Dressing the part for your Law Enforcement Career!

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 1: How to Avoid Concrete Shoes
Level 2: More Out Than In: Maintaining a Proper Desk Environment   
Level 3: Advanced Whistle Techniques
Level 4: Protect, Serve and Look Good Doing It
Level 5: Free Donuts and Other Great Leadership Tips
Level 5: How Not to Be Seen
Level 6: Keep Em' Guessing    
Level 7: Effective Luminol Spraying Techniques
Level 8: Avoiding Squint Jargon for Better Communication


-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Build Independent Case -- Side work for extra cash
Chat with Partner -- Increase relationship with coworkers
Sleep in Jail Cell -- Slack-off
Suck up to Boss -- Increase relationship with boss
Take It Easy -- Slower performance and less stress
Use Workout Facilities -- Increase Athletic skill at work
Work Hard -- Increase performance and stress


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Snitch
Base Pay Rate: $40 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base: Mood / Logic
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: None

Level 02: Desk Jockey
Base Pay Rate: $47 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base: Mood / Logic / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: None

Level 03: Traffic Cop
Base Pay Rate: $55 / Pension Pay Rate: $80
Performance Base: Mood / Logic / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: Cop

Level 04: Patrol Officer
Base Pay Rate: $65 / Pension Pay Rate: $100
Performance Base: Mood / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 04: Cop

Level 05: Lieutenant
Base Pay Rate: $77 / Pension Pay Rate: $110
Performance Base: Mood / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 05: Cop

(Special Agent Path)

Level 06: Vice Squad
Base Pay Rate: $138 / Pension Pay Rate: $140
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 06: None

Level 07: Undercover Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $163 / Pension Pay Rate: $160
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 07: None

Level 08: Special Agent
Base Pay Rate: $193 / Pension Pay Rate: $190
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 08: None

Level 09: Triple Agent
Base Pay Rate: $284 / Pension Pay Rate: $220
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood / Logic  / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 09: None

Level 10: International Super-Spy
Base Pay Rate: $426 / Pension Pay Rate: $330
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood / Logic  / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 10: None

(Forensic Analyst Path)

Level 06: Wiretap Reader
Base Pay Rate: $135 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base: Mood / Logic / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 06: Lab Coat

Level 07: Crime Scene Technician
Base Pay Rate: $159 / Pension Pay Rate: $230
Performance Base: Mood / Logic / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 07: Lab Coat

Level 08: Sketch Artist
Base Pay Rate: $225 / Pension Pay Rate: $220
Performance Base: Mood / Logic / Painting / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 08: Sketch

Level 09: 3D Crime Scene Modeler
Base Pay Rate: $265 / Pension Pay Rate: $260
Performance Base: Mood / Logic / Painting / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 09: Sketch

Level 10: DNA Suspect Reconstruction Simulator
Base Pay Rate: $397 / Pension Pay Rate: $380
Performance Base: Mood / Logic / Painting / Partner Like / Reports
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 10: Forensic Suit

Medical Career (Base Game & Ambitions)

This is one of the base game careers that was enhanced by Ambitions with the addition of the Doctor job -- so it has some interactive elements to it...  From the perspective of regular income and retirement income, this is one of the more profitable traditional career paths in the game, but hey, that is not really a surprise, is it?

Bearing in mind that like the cops, this is one of the jobs where your Sim is on-call and can get called back into work at odd and unexpected times.  The top level of this job is also the name of its Lifetime Wish -- and when your Sim reaches Level 10 they can determine the gender of a baby by examining the pregnant Sim.

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Bookworm, Charismatic, Friendly, Genius

Associated Lifetime Wishes: World Renowned Surgeon


Dressing the part for your Medical Career!

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

(Medical Career Novels)
Level 1: The Gift of Life
Level 2: Better Out Than In
Level 3: Respecting the Ambulance
Level 4: Blood Is Not Blue
Level 5: The 36 Hour Shift And You
Level 6: The Golden Hour
Level 7: The ATGC's Of Genetics
Level 8: The Simmania Pandemic
Level 9: Grey Matters

(Medical Career Journals)
Level 04: Selling Organs for Fun And Profit
Level 05: Managing Medical Malpractice
Level 06: Et Tu Nurse?
Level 07: Surgery for Dummies: Unrated Edition
Level 08: 101 Things to Try Out In the Operating Room
Level 09: Clever Interpretations of the Hippocratic Oath
Level 10: Fashionable Pagers That Bling


-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Chat with Medical Personnel -- Increase relationship with coworkers
Do Boss Paperwork -- Increase relationship with boss
Play Golf -- Slack-off
Sleep in Ready Room -- Napping at work helps with energy
Suck up to Boss -- Increase relationship with boss
Watch TV in Ready Room -- Slower performance and less stress
Work Hard -- Increase performance and stress


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Organ Donor
Base Pay Rate: $22 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base: Mood / Logic Skill
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: None

Level 02: Bed Pan Cleaner
Base Pay Rate: $25 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base: Mood / Logic Skill
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: Pink Scrubs

Level 03: Paramedic
Base Pay Rate: $28 / Pension Pay Rate: $50
Performance Base: Mood / Logic Skill
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: Paramedic

Level 04: Medical Intern
Base Pay Rate: $33 / Pension Pay Rate: $80
Performance Base: Mood / Logic Skill / Research
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 04: Blue Scrubs

Level 05: Resident
Base Pay Rate: $78 / Pension Pay Rate: $170
Performance Base:  Mood / Logic Skill / Research
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 05: Blue Scrubs

Level 06: Trauma Surgeon
Base Pay Rate: $102 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base:  Mood / Logic Skill / Research
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 06: Green Scrubs

Level 07: Gene Thereapist
Base Pay Rate: $192 / Pension Pay Rate: $190
Performance Base:  Mood / Logic Skill / Research
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 07: Lab Coat

Level 08: Infectious Disease Researcher
Base Pay Rate: $210 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base:  Mood / Logic Skill / Research
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 08: Lab Coat

Level 09: Nerosurgeon
Base Pay Rate: $225 / Pension Pay Rate: $350
Performance Base:  Mood / Logic Skill / Research
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 09: Green Scrubs

Level 10: Deadly Disease Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $480 / Pension Pay Rate: $460
Performance Base:  Mood / Logic Skill / Research
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 10: Lab Coat

Military Career (Base Game)

As with the Law Enforcement career this one is one that most gamers tend to choose straight away when they start a new game for at least one family member -- yeah, it is because of the cool uniform right?  Right!

To get promoted in this career means you will be working the Athletics and Handiness Skills all the way, as well as Logic, and spending a fair amount of time exercising...  The good thing is that the Military career is really great for jumping to other careers after you retire, as it puts your logic, handiness, and athlete skills capped off, but sticking with this all the way to Level 10 is the way to go.

Helpful Traits:  Athletic, Ambitious, Brave, Charismatic, Daredevil, Friendly, Genius

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Becoming an Astronaut


Dressing the part for your Military Career!

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 1: Getting Out of the Pit
Level 2: Advanced Elbow Lubricant Techniques
Level 3: Learning to Speak Officer
Level 4: Learn to Fly In 21 Days
Level 5: Dealing With Whining From Engines and Pilots
Level 6: How to Take the Ugly for the Team
Level 7: Beyond the Aviator Glasses
Level 8: Herding Cats
Level 9: Coping With Geese and Vipers

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Goof off at the Post Exchange -- Slower performance, less stress
Hang out with Fellow Soldiers -- Increase relationship with coworkers
Sleep in Hangar -- Slack-off
Suck up to Superior -- Increase relationship with boss
Work Hard -- Increase performance and stress

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Latrine Cleaner
Base Pay Rate: $40 / Pension Pay Rate: $80
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-F

Uniform 01: Fatigues

Level 02: Grease Monkey
Base Pay Rate: $44 / Pension Pay Rate: $100
Performance Base: Athletic / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-F

Uniform 02: Fatigues

Level 03: Grunt
Base Pay Rate: $49 / Pension Pay Rate: $110
Performance Base: Athletic / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-F

Uniform 03: Fatigues

Level 04: Squad Leader
Base Pay Rate: $94 / Pension Pay Rate: $150
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-W-F

Uniform 04: Low Rank

Level 05: Flight Officer
Base Pay Rate: $108 / Pension Pay Rate: $170
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-W-F

Uniform 05: Low Rank

Level 06: Wing Man
Base Pay Rate: $145 / Pension Pay Rate: $190
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-W-F

Uniform 06: Low Rank

Level 07: Fighter Pilot
Base Pay Rate: $167 / Pension Pay Rate: $220
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-W-F

Uniform 07: High Rank

Level 08: Squadron Leader
Base Pay Rate: $192 / Pension Pay Rate: $250
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-W-F

Uniform 08: High Rank

Level 09: Top Gun
Base Pay Rate: $265 / Pension Pay Rate: $290
Performance Base: Athletic / Boss Like / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-W-F

Uniform 09: Top Gun

Level 10: Astronaut
Base Pay Rate: $334 / Pension Pay Rate: $430
Performance Base: Athletic / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M

Uniform 10: Astronaut

Music Career (Ambitions)

This is another of the careers that splits midway through having two paths -- Electric Rock and Symphonic -- so you can go with the modern or the classic and still be a happy camper!  Obviously it involves spending a lot of time playing instruments, and that takes discipline for sure, but the pay-off is the absolute adoration of your fans!

Now you may notice that the money here is pretty bad...  It is almost as if you know, everyone wants to be this and at the lower levels so many wannabe's are in the biz that will work for peanuts just for a shot at... wait...  Oh!  Seriously though, yeah, the money is not great, so you should really think of this more as the two years you spent after college in a band before sitting down to find your real career, right?

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Artistic, Charismatic, Friendly, Genius, Schmoozer, Virtuoso

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Hit Movie Composer / Rock Star


Dressing the part for your Musical Career!

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 1: Getting Noticed In the Sea of Fans
Level 2: Life on the Hard Rocky Road
Level 3: Don't Upstage the Band
Level 4: Herding Cats: Music Edition
Level 5: Diamonds In the Rough
Level 6: It's More Than Rhyme Books (Rock Path)   
Level 6: True Symphonic Synergy (Symphonic Path)    
Level 9: Legends of Rock (Rock Path)    
Level 9: Improving Conductivity Between Brass and Woodwind (Symphonic Path)

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Chill with Band/Musicians -- Increase relationship with coworkers
Meet Band/Orchestra Members -- Increase coworker like
Practice Performance -- Prepare before a concert so it goes better
Slack Off -- Take it easy at work to reduce stress
Sleep Backstage -- Slack-off
Study Music Theory -- Increase Guitar and Logic skills
Work Hard -- Increase performance and stress


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Fan
Base Pay Rate: $21 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base: Guitar / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 01: Fan

Level 02: Roadie
Base Pay Rate: $25 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base: Guitar / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 02: Fan

Level 03: Stagehand
Base Pay Rate: $30 / Pension Pay Rate: $50
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 03: Stage Hand

Level 04: Band Manager
Base Pay Rate: $48 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 04: None

Level 05: Music Talent Scout
Base Pay Rate: $57 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood
Working Days: M-T-F-Sa

Uniform 05: Talent Scout

(Electric Rock Path)

Level 06: Lyricist
Base Pay Rate: $97 / Pension Pay Rate: $100
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood / Performances
Working Days: M-T-F-Sa

Uniform 06: None

Level 07: Backup Vocalist
Base Pay Rate: $126 / Pension Pay Rate: $120
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood / Performances
Working Days: M-T-F-Sa

Uniform 07: Backup

Level 08: Lead Guitarist
Base Pay Rate: $182 / Pension Pay Rate: $160
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood / Performances
Working Days: Tu - F - Sa

Uniform 08: Lead

Level 09: Pop Icon
Base Pay Rate: $286 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood / Performances
Working Days: Tu - F - Sa

Uniform 09: Pop Icon

Level 10: Rock Star
Base Pay Rate: $ Varies / Pension Pay Rate: $350
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood / Performances
Working Days: None

Uniform 10: Rockstar


(Symphonic Path)

Level 06: Quartet Member
Base Pay Rate: $85 / Pension Pay Rate: $90
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood
Working Days: M-T-F-Sa

Uniform 06: Quartet

Level 07: Orchestra Seat
Base Pay Rate: $111 / Pension Pay Rate: $120
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Mood / Performances
Working Days: M-T-F-Sa

Uniform 07: Formal

Level 08: Orchestra Lead
Base Pay Rate: $144 / Pension Pay Rate: $160
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Logic / Mood / Performances
Working Days: M-T-F-Sa

Uniform 08: Formal

Level 09: Conductor
Base Pay Rate: $206 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Logic / Mood / Performances
Working Days: M-T-F-Sa

Uniform 09: Conductor

Level 10: Hit Movie Composer
Base Pay Rate: $361 / Pension Pay Rate: $350
Performance Base: Bandmember Like / Guitar / Logic / Mood / Performances
Working Days: M-T-F-Sa

Uniform 10: Composer

Political Career (Base Game )

While this is clearly one of the old-style vanishing-act careers, the premise behind it -- the basic idea -- of your Sim becoming a political figure is too priceless not to fully explore it!  Obviously once you get elected you want to be careful about texting and sending pics of your naughty bits to interns, I am just saying...

The thing is the process of democracy requires some sacrifice on the part of the population, and that includes serving in public office when you are called to serve.  It may be a lot more fun than jury duty, but then pretty much everything is you know?  But fun or not, it is an important community role, and as such worthwhile either as a trial career for the nice retirement package, or as a golden-years career -- something to do in the autumn of your life while you are waiting to die, and want a legacy to pass on to your grandchildren.

When you are ready to throw your hat into the ring simply head to City Hall and join the career there.  Once you have and as you level it you will obtain abilities and actions like inspirational talking and the ability to build relationships fast and easy.

Once you begin the leveling process you will be tempted to make some shady decisions -- just bear in mind that you are always risking everything when you do make them on the dark side, and when I say "everything" I mean just that -- getting caught taking a bribe or stealing money from your campaign account ends your political career mates.

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly, Party Animal / Schmoozer

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Leader of the Free World / Super Popular


Dressing the part for your Political Career!

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 1: Wax On, Wax Off
Level 2: Cheating With Chads
Level 3: The Joy of Smear Campaigning
Level 4: There Is No No
Level 5: Don't Taze Your Bros!
Level 6: An Earmark Economy
Level 7: Yay Pork Barrels!
Level 8: Gerrymandapalooza!
Level 9: Taters


-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Chat with Coworkers -- Increase relationship with coworkers
Meet Coworkers -- Increase like with coworkers
Propose New Course of Action -- Research new ideas / increase performance or relationships
Run Errands for Supervisor -- Increase relationship with boss
Sleep in Judges Chambers -- Slack-off
Take it Easy -- Work less with less stress
Work Hard -- Increase performance and stress


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Podium Pusher
Base Pay Rate: $24 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: None

Level 02: Ballet Counter
Base Pay Rate: $31 / Pension Pay Rate: $50
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: None

Level 03: Campaign Intern
Base Pay Rate: $33 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: Business Casual

Level 04: Yes-Man
Base Pay Rate: $45 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 04: Business Casual

Level 05: City Council Member
Base Pay Rate: $69 / Pension Pay Rate: $90
Performance Base: Boss Like / Funding / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 05: City Council

Level 06: Local Representative
Base Pay Rate: $91 / Pension Pay Rate: $100
Performance Base: Boss Like / Funding / Mood
Working Days: M-W-Th-F

Uniform 06: City Council

Level 07: Mayor
Base Pay Rate: $130 / Pension Pay Rate: $130
Performance Base: Boss Like / Funding / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 07: Mayor

Level 08: Governor
Base Pay Rate: $160 / Pension Pay Rate: $160
Performance Base: Boss Like / Funding / Mood
Working Days: M-W-Th-F

Uniform 08: Business Suit

Level 09: Vice President
Base Pay Rate: $267 / Pension Pay Rate: $180
Performance Base: Boss Like / Funding / Mood
Working Days: M-W-F

Uniform 09: VP Suit

Level 10: Leader of the Free World
Base Pay Rate: $423 / Pension Pay Rate: $283
Performance Base: Funding / Mood
Working Days: M-W-F

Uniform 10: World Leader Suit

Private Investigator Career (Ambitions)

If you have ever spent hours in front of the TV watching reruns of Magnum PI, Rockford Files, Simon & Simon and the like, well then, hey!  This is your career!  Being a Private Eye is sort of like being a cop but without the power and safety of a badge and gun... 

Among the different skills you will want to level are Athletics, Logic, Martial Arts, and Photography -- all of which are both useful and valuable to a Private Eye...  To start out your long career as a paid investigator you will need to pop-in to the Police Station where you register, get finger printed and have a background check run and, if everything is in order, get issued your PI License.  With that in hand and the basic PI uniform in a bag you walk out a new professional!

The PI is one of the careers that has a massive amount of Level-based Unlockable Items -- specifically you will unlock the following:

Level 01: Caper Crusader Outfit
Level 02: Magnifying Glass
Level 03: Professional's Frosted Door
Level 04: Fingerprint Kit
Level 05: Flatfooted Investigation Specialist Outfit
Level 06: Investigator's Case Board (Office Decoration)
Level 07: Sneak Ability (To use simply click the ground)
Level 08: Yomoshoto Evasion (A car worth $9500!)
Level 10: Private Eye Outfit

I have to admit while some of the unlockable rewards are cool, the bloody car is particularly awesome as a reward!  Whew!

In addition to the Rewards above, you also unlock Awards as well, including:

Investigator's Trophy of Honor: Solve 3 Cases
Investigator's Trophy of Heroism: Solve 3 Missing Sim Cases
Eagle-Eyed Eavesdropper Medallion: Solve the Great Jewel Heist Case
Medal of the Mindful: Solve the Rogue Cop Case
Investigator's Ribbon of Bravery: Solve the Fish Kid Case
Investigator's Key to the Town: Reach Level 10
Investigator's Keepsake: Solve 5 Cases as a Private Eye (Level 10)

Advancement in the world of the PI is basically caused by simply solving cases and performing the mundane tasks that are part of that process -- from low-level investigation techniques like searching through the trash and the mail (do not get caught doing either as you do not have a warrant mates) -- and speaking of illegal, while you are licensed by the cops you are not, in fact, a cop, so you can usually get away with doing things like warrant-less searches and even breaking into a household to search for evidence -- as long as you do not get caught!   The process of questioning witnesses and the act of conducting stakeouts and (of course) writing reports are all part of the job, and really it is all a lot like being a police detective sergeant except without the glory and donuts.


Dressing for Success in your career as a PI!

One thing you should be aware of is that the Logic Skill plays a very significant role in the speed at which you succeed from the mid-levels onward, so leveling that should be one of your priorities.  The actual career is a long-term one, so when you enter it be prepared to spend intense amounts of time and effort getting through the levels and even more time and effort if you are actually going for the Pervasive Private Eye Lifetime Wish since it requires you to Solve 35 Cases as a Private Investigator!

-- Using Your Skills as a PI --

As mentioned above the primary supporting skills that you use will help you level, and those include basic investigative techniques like searching for clues and evidence, interviewing witnesses or suspects, and staking out locations. 

Stakeouts are a lot easier than they sound simply because there is a mechanism in the game that pretty much automatically causes ANY stakeout you deploy to be at least partially successful, providing you with a minimum of enough information to justify writing and e-filing a report.  Considering that both stakeouts AND filing reports are two of the key activities for gaining XP as PI to level (in addition to actually solving cases of course) you will want to do them often.

You should make a serious effort to level your Charisma Skill early on as you will really need that to question and interview witnesses, victims, and perpetrators -- how else will you learn if the person you are talking to is the doer?  Bear in mind that your best chance for success is to quickly establish a relationship with the Sim you are questioning and learn their Traits and some personal background info in order to find leverage to pry away at their story and reveal their secrets!

To make your life a lot easier one of the tools that you buy right away should be a laptop/notebook computer, which you can carry with you and pull out in any public lot to write and file your reports with the police -- remember you actually work for clients but you must report to the police or they will take away your license!  In theory since your stakeouts are on public lots you could just as easily bang out the report straight away, but you do not have to -- you can actually bank several stakeout results and then write them all up one after the other later if you prefer or you cannot afford a portable PC...

Another tool that you will unlock as you level up is the Fingerprint Kit, with which you will quickly master the art of dusting for prints and, as you can imagine, this will become a regular piece of your PI gear and a great aid for gathering irrefutable evidence at a crime scene.

Ultimately what this should be all about is solving your cases -- and for the PI those are more like little mini-adventures than they are teeth-pulling sessions...  So try to be sure you are working on a paying case whenever you have one, and be sure to take a new case as soon as you solve your last one, right?

-- Low-Level Police Work --

In addition to the low-level investigative work you do for your clients while you are on a case, you can also go to the Police Station and pick up similar work for them -- remember your license and permits all come from the cops, and technically you are a deputized member of the Law Enforcement community -- what that translates to sadly is that this will allow you to do a lot of scut work and paperwork for very low pay, not the fun stuff that the cops get to do -- but in the early stages of your career this can be a good source for XP and a little money (a very little money but still)...

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Athletic, Brave, Charismatic, Disciplined, Friendly, Genius, Perceptive

Associated Lifetime Wishes:  Pervasive Private Eye

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

??? So far I have not found any specifically that apply but when I do they will be added to this section...

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01:  Eavesdropper
Base Pay Rate: $275 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 01: None / Trench coat

Level 02: Small Claims Investigator
Base Pay Rate: $340 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 02: None / Trench coat

Level 03: Wrongdoing Analyzer
Base Pay Rate: $400 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 03: None / Trench coat

Level 04: Community Crime Solver
Base Pay Rate: $525 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 04: None / Trench coat

Level 05: Obscure Clue Summoner
Base Pay Rate: $650 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 05: None / Trench coat

Level 06: Gumshoe
Base Pay Rate: $850 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 06: None / Trench coat

Level 07: Licensed Snoop
Base Pay Rate: $1125 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 07: None / Trench coat

Level 08: Community Sleuth
Base Pay Rate: $1475 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 08: None / Trench coat

Level 09: Flatfooted Investigation Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $1850 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 09: None / Trench coat

Level 10: Private Eye
Base Pay Rate: $2475 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base:  Logic / Solving Cases
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 10: None / Trench coat

Being a PI is not really the road to riches but it is a lot of fun...  If it is one of the careers you are thinking about trying but there are others you like or are interested in just as much, consider doing those first, and saving your career as a PI for your golden years when you are looking for an excuse to get away from the grandchildren for a few hours, right?

Professional Sports Career (Base Game )

Next to Rock Star and perhaps later with the Showtime expansion Pop Star, the Pro Athlete is probably the closest thing to a legendary character that you Sim can become in the game!  Considering the amount of effort that has to be put into it in training well, that seems fair enough really.  To begin this career and take your first steps to instant stardom your Sim needs to hit up the promoters at the Stadium, but before they do that it would be a really good idea to at least get into good physical shape by exercising -- I am just saying...

Something to bear in mind before you actually play professionally is that the sport and your career are very much dependent upon your Sim's mood -- when they are in a good mood they can win, but when they are in a bad mood, well, bad things will happen.  So in addition to working to keep them at the top of their physical form, you need to pay special attention to their mood and keep it great!

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Athletic, Charismatic, Friendly, Genius, Lucky

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Become a Superstar Athlete / Perfect Mind, Perfect Body

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Level 01: When to Rave And When to Riot
Level 02: Making the Sale: From Hot Dogs to Foam Fingers
Level 03: Dealing With Difficult Players
Level 04: Bus Cramps: A Cautionary Tale
Level 05: Getting Past the Draft
Level 06: Name Positioning: Starting Your Brand
Level 07: It's More Than Good Moves
Level 09: Making Better Shoe Deals
Level 10: Avoiding the Downward Spiral

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Hang with Teammates: Increase relationships with coworkers
Meet Teammates: Increase relationships with coworkers
Prepare for Game: Increase chances of winning next game
Slack off in Locker Room: Work easy for stress
Sleep on Stadium Bleachers: Slack-off
Work out in Gym: Increase Athletic skill


Dressing the part for your Sports Career!

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Rabid Fan
Base Pay Rate: $13 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base: Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-T-W-Th-Sa

Uniform 01: None

Level 02: Snack Hawker
Base Pay Rate: $25 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base:  Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-T-W-Th-Sa

Uniform 02: None

Level 03: Toddler Sports Coach
Base Pay Rate: $33 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base:  Athletic Skill / Mood
Working Days: M-T-W-Th-Sa

Uniform 03: Sports Coach

Level 04: Minor Leaguer
Base Pay Rate: $43 / Pension Pay Rate: $80
Performance Base:  Athletic Skill / Coworkers Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 04: Minor Leagues

Level 05: Rookie
Base Pay Rate: $77 / Pension Pay Rate: $110
Performance Base: Athletic Skill / Game Record / Coworkers Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 05: Rookie

Level 06: Starter
Base Pay Rate: $134 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base: Athletic Skill / Game Record / Coworkers Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 06: Starter

Level 07: All Star
Base Pay Rate: $201 / Pension Pay Rate: $230
Performance Base: Athletic Skill / Game Record / Coworkers Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 07: All Star

Level 08: MVP
Base Pay Rate: $241 / Pension Pay Rate: $280
Performance Base: Athletic Skill / Game Record / Coworkers Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 08: MVP

Level 09: Superstar
Base Pay Rate: $385 / Pension Pay Rate: $330
Performance Base: Athletic Skill / Game Record / Coworkers Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 09: Superstar

Level 10: Sports Legend
Base Pay Rate: $462 / Pension Pay Rate: $400
Performance Base: Athletic Skill / Game Record / Coworkers Like / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 10: Legend

Science Career (Base Game )

"An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -Benjamin Franklin

If Benjamin Franklin played The Sims he would totally be doing a career in Science.  Totally.  You know why?  Because Science is cool, that's why!  Science is sexy, Science is hip, Science would buy you a glass of beer if you were thirsty and a glass of wine if you were celebrating, because that is how Science rolls!

When you are ready to begin your career in Science (and it would be a great idea for you to pre-level Gardening, Fishing, and Handiness before you do that) head over to the Science Lab and sign up!  Once you get that done, you can do some more work on your skills and do Science-like things to level that and away you go!

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Angler, Charismatic, Genius, Green Thumb, Handy

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Become a Creature-Robot Cross-Breeder / Renaissance Sim


Dressing the part for your Science Career!

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

Note: The career-specific books are divided here between the regular ones that are obtained by playing through the career, and the special books that can ONLY be obtained by first building a Time Machine as an Inventor and then traveling back or forward in time (respectively).  The books are included here because they are an offshoot of the science-based pathing...

Level 1: Living With Mutation
Level 2: Dangerous Device Disposal
Level 3: Practical Science From Boast to Beaker
Level 4: Nitrates: They're Not Just for Bombs Anymore
Level 5: Strange Correlations of Little Shops and Venus
Level 6: When Pigs Fly, Going Too Far?
Level 7: Goldfish, Piranha and Other Friendly Creatures
Level 8: Advanced Deniability Procedures
Level 9: The Evolution of the RoboLlama

(Time Travel Books -- from the Past)
The Fall of Atlantis (Circa 2068)    
Fire: Terrifying but Essential (Circa 676)
The Four Corners of the Earth (Circa 1945)
Lady Veronica Farfleton and the Magical Harpsichord (Circa 1557)
To Hunt or Gather? (Circa 1239)
War and More War (Circa 1663)
1000 Ways to Stew Brontosaurus (Circa 1484)

(Time Travel Books -- from the Future)
Blips and Bloops: A Thesis on Mechanics (Circa 799)
Don't Tread on Me: A Robot Manifesto for Freedom (Circa 1470)
Gone with the Solar Wind (Circa 967)
Mars Real Estate Do's and Don'ts (Circa 497) - Found in the Library
Remembering the Internet; How the World was Changed (Circa 2754)
Signs You're A Clone (Circa 2493)
SimCity 7940 Tips and Tricks (Circa 1707)
So Hot In Binary (Circa 1266)

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Assist Boss with Research: Increases relationship with boss
Do Independent Experiment: Increases promotion or at least performance boost
Geek out with Fellow Scientists: Increases relationship with coworkers
Meet Fellow Scientists: Increases relationship with coworkers
Relax in the Specimen Closet: Slower performance, but less stress
Sleep in Test Chamber: Slack-off
Work Hard: Increase performance, but more stress


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Test Subject
Base Pay Rate: $44 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base: Gardening / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: None

Level 02: Lab Tech
Base Pay Rate: $53 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base: Gardening / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: Science Coat

Level 03: Useless Contraption Manipulator
Base Pay Rate: $63 / Pension Pay Rate: $90
Performance Base: Gardening / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: Science Coat

Level 04: Fertilizer Analyst
Base Pay Rate: $97 / Pension Pay Rate: $100
Performance Base: Gardening / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 04: Fertilizer Coat

Level 05: Carnivorous Plant Tender
Base Pay Rate: $117 / Pension Pay Rate: $120
Performance Base: Gardening / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 05: Lab Coat

Level 06: Aquatic Ecosystem Tweaker
Base Pay Rate: $140 / Pension Pay Rate: $140
Performance Base: Fishing / Gardening / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 06: Aquatic Coat

Level 07: Genetic Resequencer
Base Pay Rate: $187 / Pension Pay Rate: $160
Performance Base: Fishing / Gardening / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 07: Lab Coat

Level 08: Top Secret Researcher
Base Pay Rate: $224 / Pension Pay Rate: $200
Performance Base: Fishing / Gardening / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-Th-F

Uniform 08: Lab Coat

Level 09: Creature-Robot Cross-Breeder
Base Pay Rate: $269 / Pension Pay Rate: $180
Performance Base: Fishing / Gardening / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F

Uniform 09: Robot

Level 10: Mad Scientist
Base Pay Rate: $404 / Pension Pay Rate: $260
Performance Base: Fishing / Gardening / Handiness / Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-F

Uniform 10: Mad Scientist

Stylist Career (Ambitions)

The Stylist practices the art of fashion and beauty, offering their skill and their talent with their neighbors and clients for a fee (of course) -- and now you get to be one!   This particular career choice is ideally suited for the Charismatic Sim, because making friends with your clients is how you get them and keep them your regular clients! 

Entering the career begins with heading to the Salon and applying for the job.  Once you have secured it, you will want to invest in a Drafting Table and a Fuss no Muss Styling Station from the Hobbies and Skills section of the Buy menu.

Once you have your setup you simply watch the map for jobs -- each of which will have details respecting what the client wants -- and then you deliver that as best you can.  These jobs will range from small and simple to large and complex, examples being a new hair style or hair color, a new swimming suit, formal wear outfit, and accessories -- but could go as much as an entire wardrobe of outfits!   After you do a crackerjack job of completing their order you should get a nice and positive review out of the deal -- and once you do you should be sure that you whip out your trusty cell phone camera and snap a photograph of the Sim with your creation to put into your portfolio in order to have something to show potential future clients.

As you gain levels and become a higher-level Stylist you will unlock new abilities and social actions -- but be aware that at lower levels sometimes when you complete a job (even when you do a good job) you can still fail it -- that is a bug and hopefully it will be patched soon...


Dressing the part for your Career as a Stylist!

Using the Drafting Table while you are on your own time (not on a job) you can gain Stylist XP by doing design work -- you can either place the sketches you make in your portfolio or just sell them, either works -- though the money you get for them does not count toward XP for the Stylist Bar I am sad to have to say.  As your levels increase the sketches you make will increase in value and your Sim will gain Painting skill -- but bear in mind that the sketches cap out at a lower level than the paintings do.

Your Fuss no Muss Styling Station is the primary tool in your portable Stylist operation -- it is a portable styling station that you can use for styling Sims alone or in groups, hence the name...  You should be diligent about adding photos to your portfolio -- the game will only allow you to add the successful jobs to it anyway, and the portfolio is a great selling point for you to draw in new customers.

When you are setting up a new job be sure to listen to what your client is asking for, and use common sense in how you interpret the requests.  The closer you can get to what they want the higher you will score in the review that they provide.  It is not really clear how much of an impact that word of mouth has between NPC Sims but it might have a lot so why not assume that it does?

Once you get to Level 3 you can freestyle as a mobile stylist; using the assess fashion needs followed by soliciting will boost your success, but spending a little time being social with your potential clients and your clients will also provide you with something of an edge when it comes time to make the sale.  Make use of your portfolio, and be sure that you remember to add each new job to it. 

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Artistic, Charismatic, Friendly

Associated Lifetime Wishes: Fashion Phenomenon

-- Career-based Books --
These books are obtained by completing career challenges at the appropriate level and cannot be obtained any other way in the game.  It is not known if reading them helps your Sim in any way, but there is a rumor that it might?

?? None yet but will be added if/when found.

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Fashion Fledgling
Base Pay Rate: $182 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 01: N/A

Level 02: Taffeta Trainee
Base Pay Rate: $240 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 02: N/A

Level 03: Polka Dot Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $298 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 03: N/A

Level 04: Houndstooth Soothsayer
Base Pay Rate: $444 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 04: N/A

Level 05: Trendsetter in Training
Base Pay Rate: $458 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 05: N/A

Level 06: In Vogue Virtuoso
Base Pay Rate: $700 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 06: N/A

Level 07: Haute Hot Shot
Base Pay Rate: $984 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 07: N/A

Level 08:Couture Connoisseur
Base Pay Rate: $1310 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 08: N/A

Level 09: Fashionista
Base Pay Rate: $1352 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 09: N/A

Level 10: Fashion Phenomenon
Base Pay Rate: $2306 / Pension Pay Rate: $???
Performance Base: Mood / Client Like / Reviews
Working Days: Tu-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 10: N/A

Part-Time Bookstore Clerk (Ambitions)

While the part-time jobs were created with teens and elder Sims in mind, it is possible for any Sim who wants one to take a part-time job -- as long as they do not already have another job that is.   The basic point is to provide older retired Sims with a way to bring in some extra income for the household, and to provide teenage Sims with a way to earn spending money. 

Which job you pick for your Sim will more than likely be based on the job hours since the part-time jobs pretty much pay the same rates or near enough so that it will not matter either way -- each of the jobs has three promotion levels and offers raises after hitting the third level...
 

The Bookstore offers Part-time employment for Sim Clerks

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Work Hard: Increases productivity and stress
Take it Easy: Decreases productivity and stress

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Cash Register Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $30 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: N/A

Level 02: Book Genre Sorter
Base Pay Rate: $50 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: N/A

Level 03: Book Club Moderator
Base Pay Rate: $80 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base: Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: N/A

Part-Time Day Spa Specialist (Ambitions)

While the part-time jobs were created with teens and elder Sims in mind, it is possible for any Sim who wants one to take a part-time job -- as long as they do not already have another job that is.   The basic point is to provide older retired Sims with a way to bring in some extra income for the household, and to provide teenage Sims with a way to earn spending money. 

Which job you pick for your Sim will more than likely be based on the job hours since the part-time jobs pretty much pay the same rates or near enough so that it will not matter either way -- each of the jobs has three promotion levels and offers raises after hitting the third level...


The Day Spa offers Part-time employment for Spa Specialists

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Work Hard: Increases productivity and stress
Take it Easy: Decreases productivity and stress

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Clothes Folder
Base Pay Rate: $33 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 01: N/A

Level 02: Fitting Room Guard
Base Pay Rate: $55 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 02: N/A

Level 03: Spa Package Seller
Base Pay Rate: $88 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-W-Th-F-Sa

Uniform 03: N/A

Part-Time Day Spa Receptionist (Ambitions)

While the part-time jobs were created with teens and elder Sims in mind, it is possible for any Sim who wants one to take a part-time job -- as long as they do not already have another job that is.   The basic point is to provide older retired Sims with a way to bring in some extra income for the household, and to provide teenage Sims with a way to earn spending money. 

Which job you pick for your Sim will more than likely be based on the job hours since the part-time jobs pretty much pay the same rates or near enough so that it will not matter either way -- each of the jobs has three promotion levels and offers raises after hitting the third level...


The Day Spa offers Part-time employment for Spa Receptionists

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Work Hard: Increases productivity and stress
Take it Easy: Decreases productivity and stress

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Beverage Consultant
Base Pay Rate: $33 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-M-W-Th-Sa

Uniform 01: N/A

Level 02: Intake Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $55 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-M-W-Th-Sa

Uniform 02: N/A

Level 03: Ringer Up-er
Base Pay Rate: $88 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-M-W-Th-Sa

Uniform 03: N/A

Part-Time Grocery Store Clerk (Ambitions)

While the part-time jobs were created with teens and elder Sims in mind, it is possible for any Sim who wants one to take a part-time job -- as long as they do not already have another job that is.   The basic point is to provide older retired Sims with a way to bring in some extra income for the household, and to provide teenage Sims with a way to earn spending money. 

Which job you pick for your Sim will more than likely be based on the job hours since the part-time jobs pretty much pay the same rates or near enough so that it will not matter either way -- each of the jobs has three promotion levels and offers raises after hitting the third level...


The Grocery offers Part-time employment for Sim Clerks

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Work Hard: Increases productivity and stress
Take it Easy: Decreases productivity and stress

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Produce Quality Assessor
Base Pay Rate: $30 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 01: N/A

Level 02: Bluelight Special Designator
Base Pay Rate: $50 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 02: N/A

Level 03: Shopping Music DJ
Base Pay Rate: $80 / Pension Pay Rate: $60
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: M-Tu-W-Th-F

Uniform 03: N/A

Part-Time Mausoleum Helper (Ambitions)

While the part-time jobs were created with teens and elder Sims in mind, it is possible for any Sim who wants one to take a part-time job -- as long as they do not already have another job that is.   The basic point is to provide older retired Sims with a way to bring in some extra income for the household, and to provide teenage Sims with a way to earn spending money. 

Which job you pick for your Sim will more than likely be based on the job hours since the part-time jobs pretty much pay the same rates or near enough so that it will not matter either way -- each of the jobs has three promotion levels and offers raises after hitting the third level...


The Mausoleum offers Part-time employment for Sim Helpers

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

-- Selectable Work/Effort Options --
The following Work Options/Selections are available in this career at various points/levels, and selecting some may be a requirement for maintaining mood, likes, and obtaining promotions.

Work Hard: Increases productivity and stress
Take it Easy: Decreases productivity and stress

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --
There are ten Levels for this career, and listed below are the levels, their title, the base rate of pay followed by the amount you are paid if/when your Sim retires from their job at that level, and the working days.  The Performance Base is the criteria by which your Sim is evaluated for promotions.

Level 01: Burial Specialist
Base Pay Rate: $33 / Pension Pay Rate: $30
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 01: N/A

Level 02: Overseer of the Dead
Base Pay Rate: $55 / Pension Pay Rate: $40
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 02: N/A

Level 03: Epitaph Writer
Base Pay Rate: $88 / Pension Pay Rate: $70
Performance Base:  Mood
Working Days: Su-M-Tu-F-Sa

Uniform 03: N/A

The Slacker 411

First, in the interest of transparency I should probably admit that I find the Slacker-based professions preferable to the traditional career path, because of the freedom that they embrace in allowing your Sim to work when they want to, where they want to, and pretty much do all the other things that they want to do (assuming that they are bringing in enough money to cover the bills and get a little ahead).  That is the beauty of these professions, and I believe it is a strong reason why they were added to the Ambitions expansion as self-employed professions in the first place!

No matter which of these you end up choosing -- or even which one you do first -- you will find that one key component of them all is that you have to exercise self-discipline over your Sim and keep them on-task at least part of every day, or you will fail to progress at a reasonable pace and worse, fail to earn enough to pay the bills, and really that is not a good thing.

On the other hand once you get pretty much any of these professions mastered the money you will be making will allow your Sim to do all of the good things in life, including travel, buy luxury items, and build their own palace (or whatever passes for one in their mind).  At a minimum when your Sims follow the non-traditional path your focus should be (in addition to getting them a comfortable and happy place to live) investing in the different businesses in town and owning a few too.  Having alternate sources of income will never be something you regret, and owning a piece of three or four businesses means that even if you have a bad month you can still pay the bills.

One of the significant draws to starting out with one of these professions rather than a career is that they allow you the leeway and freedom to work on a variety of skills without having to work around a schedule.  Taking advantage of the predictable income and easy of living that Painting or Sculpting can offer you means being able to cap-off skills like Charisma, Handiness, Logic, and Athletics much easier, which will allow you to quickly progress in most of the traditional careers -- and specifically in the Law Enforcement, Military, and Business Careers -- which really adds to their attractiveness.

As was previously touched upon these non-traditional professions work best when you have two Sims in the household with one following a traditional career while the other pursues a non-traditional one, as that allows them to double-up as Slacker and the Majordomo of the household, keeping everything running smoothly while making great strides in their own profession as well.  That pretty much sums up the major points -- save for one final parting word before we dive into the non-traditional professions: remember this is a game; it is about having fun!

Fisherman Profession

In real life I know a lot of men (and a few women) who would jump at the chance to spend their work day with a rod and reel in their hand, fishing for a living.  And if there was a way to make it pay a living wage I have no doubt in my mind that they would do it, even if just for a while.  In The Sims you have the chance to do just that -- make a living wage from your rod and reel.  It does require a lot of effort (yes, that was a fishing joke), but you can do it!

Unlike real life where you need to spend a lot of money for fancy kit, the hobby of fishing (and the profession) does not require the outlay of a huge amount of money, just a little effort on your part -- or on the part of your Sims.


The Professional Angler Sells fresh caught fish to the market

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Angler, Charismatic, Friendly, Loves the Outdoors

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles.  Depending upon whether or not this is a career that can be registered as self-employed these titles also represent the level of promotion of the Sim and are an indicator towards their mastery of the profession.

Level 01: Rod and Reel Rookie ($30 to level)
Level 02: Empty Net Trawler ($75 to level)
Level 03: Hook Baiter ($500 to level)
Level 04: Freshwater Freshman ($1000 to level)
Level 05: Saltwater Initiate ($2500 to level)
Level 06: Chub Checker ($7500 to level)
Level 07: Local Ahab ($15000 to level)
Level 08: Deadliest Catcher ($30000 to level)
Level 09: Old Salty ($60000 to level)
Level 10: Legendary Piscator


-- Fish & Bate Catalog --

Lvl  -- Fish Name -- Water Type -- Rarity -- Bait -- Value (Source)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
L 00 -- Anchovy -- Salt -- Common -- Tomato $5 to $11 (TS3)
L 00 -- Doitsu Koi -- Freshwater (China) -- Common -- Pomelo -- $7 to $14 (WA)
L 00 -- Frog -- Fresh (Egypt & France) -- Common -- Cherimola Blan Grapes -- $6 to $13 (WA)
L 00 -- Minnow -- Fresh -- Common -- Apple -- $5 to $11 (TS3)
L 01 -- Goldfish -- Fresh -- Common -- Lettuce -- $6 to $16 (TS3)
L 01 -- Alley Catfish -- Salt & Fresh -- Uncommon -- Cheese -- $6 to $20 (TS3)
L 02 -- Jellyfish -- Salt -- Common -- Grapes -- $8 to $19 (TS3)
L 02 -- Rainbow Trout -- Fresh -- Common -- Egg -- $9 to $18 (TS3)
L 02 -- Sea Sludge -- Salt & Fresh -- ? -- Links -- $11 to $22 (LN)
L 03 -- Kawarimono Koi -- Fresh (China) -- Common -- Plum -- $14 to $28 (WA)
L 03 -- Red Herring -- Salt & Fresh -- Common -- $5 to $5 (TS3)
L 03 -- Snails -- Salt & Fresh (France) -- Uncommon -- Gralladina Fran Grapes -- $8 to $20(WA)
L 03 -- Tuna -- Salt -- Common -- Onion -- $11 to $25 (TS3)
L 04 -- Crocodile -- Salt & Fresh (Egypt) -- Uncommon -- Siamese Catfish -- $14 to $40 (WA)
L 04 -- Kissing Gourami -- Salt & Fresh -- Goldfish -- $8 to $52 (LN)
L 04 -- Siamese Catfish -- Salt & Fresh -- Common -- Bell Pepper -- $13 to $32 (TS3)
L 04 -- Tragic Clownfish-- Salt -- Uncommon -- Watermelon -- $14 to $30 (TS3)
L 05 -- Blowfish -- Salt -- Uncommon -- Potato -- $13 to $47(TS3)
L 05 -- Crawfish -- Salt & Fresh (France) -- Uncommon -- Frogs -- $15 to $45 (WA)
L 05 -- Ochiba Koi -- Fresh (China) -- Uncommon -- Pomelo -- $20 to $65 (WA)
L 05 -- Piranha -- Fresh -- Uncommon -- Minnow -- $14 to $41 (TS3)
L 06 -- Salmon -- Salt & Fresh -- Common -- Lime -- $14 to $45 (TS3)
L 06 -- Black Goldfish -- Fresh -- Common -- Goldfish -- $16 to $49 (TS3)
L 06 -- Sewer Trilobite -- Salt & Fresh -- Minnow -- $35 to $75 (LN)
L 07 -- Swordfish -- Salt -- Common -- Anchovy -- $17 to $60 (TS3)
L 07 -- Shark -- Salt & Fresh -- Uncommon -- Red Herring -- $7 to $70 (TS3)
L 07 -- Tancho Koi -- Fresh (China) -- Uncommon -- Plum -- $25 to $90 (WA)
L 08 -- Angelfish -- Salt & Fresh -- Uncommon -- Alley Catfish -- $21 to $85(TS3)
L 08 -- Mummyfish -- Fresh (Egypt) -- Rare -- Pomegranate -- $50 to $280 (WA)
L 08 -- Vampire Fish -- Fresh -- Rare -- Garlic -- $55 to $225 (TS3)
L 09 -- Dragonfish -- Fresh (China) -- Rare -- Tancho Koi -- $60 to $300 (WA)
L 09 -- Robot Fish -- Science Facility -- Rare -- Piranha -- $50 to $275 (TS3)
L 09 -- Lobster -- Salt & Fresh -- Common -- Tuna -- $25 to $120 (TS3)
L 10 -- Deathfish -- Graveyard -- Very Rare -- Angelfish -- $200 to $1000 (TS3)

-- Non-Fish Catches --

In addition to the Level-based fish that you can catch, there is also a small chance that you will pull up a strange unmarked box from the depths that gets snagged by your hook and that, when opened will reveal one of these randomly chosen items:

Omni Plant Seed (Very Rare)
Laptop Computer (Rare)
Death Flower (Very Uncommon
Flame Fruit (Very Uncommon)
Money Tree Seed (Uncommon)
Mysterious Mr. Gnome(Uncommon)
Guitar  (Common)
Birthday Cake (Very Common)
Bubble Bath (Very Common)
Candle (Very Common)
Rubber Ducky (Very Common)

The odds on getting any particular item actually are different depending upon where you are fishing, but the difference is not so wide as to invalidate the odds listed above.

-- Notes and Factoids --

Did you know that you can actually stock a pond with a particular type of fish in order to ensure a continuing supply of that type?  Yes, all you need to do is place at least ten (10) of the same type of fish in the pond and then return after a reasonable time and it will be a stocked fish -- meaning you will catch more than just the ten seedling fish!

When stocking a pond you can place saltwater fish in a freshwater pond and they will thrive.

Deathfish only appear between Midnight and 5AM, and are only found in ponds/rivers that are near or in a Graveyard.

When fishing for bait fish -- specific fish such as the Angelfish used as bait for Deathfish -- you should be retaining your six or twelve best quality fish and sell the rest, using the best quality fish as your bait in order to catch the best quality of the target fish that you are seeking.

Gardener Profession

Once the realm of the idle gentleman and gentlewoman, gardening has been transformed by necessity over the years and due to circumstances, turning it into an activity that a surprisingly wide selection of society enjoys.  Everything from flower gardens with rare blooms to herb gardens that supply the home (and commercial) kitchen with fragrant ingredients, a skilled Gardener can do amazing things with earth, cow manure, and a will.

While you can certainly make a part-time income out of this profession, the trick to making Gardening really pay-off is to combine it with the Nectar (Wine) making profession, growing high-quality and fresh ingredients that become the foundation for wine that, once it is left in the cellar for a bit of aging, can really earn spectacular profits for your Sim.  Something to consider, even though it means either going to France or having one of your Sims do that and bring back the books and Wine Making kit that is required to do it.

Note that obtaining the Super Green Thumb Lifetime Reward (20,000 LTH Points) is a really good idea...  Once you have decided that Gardening is your thing, be sure to head down to City Hall and register as a self-employed Gardener so that you can make use of the tracking and statistics system, and work towards the professional rewards that it offers, as well as get the odd goal and job that is connected to that professional declaration!


The Professional Gardener Sells fresh grown produce to the market

-- Starting Out as a Gardener --

There are several ways that the initial skills can be obtained for the Gardener:

(1) Simply plant Level 0 seeds you have found / buy Level 0 seeds/items to plant.

(2) Watch the Gardening Channel on TV to build knowledge and obtain the base starting skill.

(3) Read the Gardening Skill Books (there are three).  You only need to read the first volume to actually obtain the base skill, but reading all three gives you a mastery of Gardening quickly and is the recommended way to do it.

You can buy the books from the Bookstore in town -- the titles you are looking for are Gardening Vol. 1: The Watercan Chronicles ($350),  Gardening Vol. 2: Odor Free Fertilizer ($500), and  Gardening Vol. 3: Gardening to Riches ($750).  Reading the first book will gain you Levels 1 through 3, the second book gains you Levels 4 through 7, and the third Levels 8 through 10, which nicely caps off the skill without you having to spend a very long time planting and harvesting to get there.

As you start out you will learn that gardening is more than simply digging a hole in the ground and sticking a seed in -- you also need to keep the weeds under control, water the plants as needed, and fertilize them properly.  These can mostly be accomplished by selecting the Tend to Plant action when you click on the plant, but fertilizing requires more effort and thought.

The actual process of planting and harvesting plants is how your skill raises in Gardening (there is a table below that makes this clearer) -- and you can raise that skill whether or not you have declared yourself to be a self-employed Gardener or not, but if you have not registered with City Hall your efforts are not contributing towards the many aspects of the profession that they could be.  For instance there is actually a n award that you will receive for growing and selling a certain value of plants and produce, and there are challenges and opportunities that you will not receive if you are not registered, so really it is a good idea.

Watering is critical but it can be automated by installing sprinklers and obtaining the Sprinkler Timer that will cause the watering to begin one hour before the growth period and end one hour after it, which nicely covers the process for you.  To obtain the timer your Sim will need Handiness Level 4 to do the upgrade.

While there is no real necessity to prepare the garden area (you can plant on the standard grass tiles) if you are going to be a professional Gardener you really should go into the landscaping tool and create a proper garden with raw earth tiles.  That nicely sets aside the area of your property upon which you work, and it looks cooler :)  Naturally you can plant to odd tree or ten on grass, and even use them as part of your landscaping with no ill effect other than needing to take a few extra steps to reach them for tending and harvesting.


Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Artistic, Charismatic, Friendly, Green Thumb, Loves the Outdoors

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles.  Depending upon whether or not this is a career that can be registered as self-employed these titles also represent the level of promotion of the Sim and are an indicator towards their mastery of the profession.

Gardening is a profession that can be registered as a self-employed trade, and as such once so registered the game tracks statistics about your performance and income -- in fact promotions within the self-employed profession are based upon earning levels.  The name for each Level as well as the amount in sales required to obtain that Level are listed below:

Level 01: Cucumber Smasher
Level 02: Dirt Digger ($30)
Level 03: Clodhopper ($375)
Level 04: Master Weeder ($500)
Level 05: Fertilizer Flinger ($1000)
Level 06: Bushwhacker ($2500)
Level 07: Seed Sower ($7500)
Level 08: Famed Farmer ($15000)
Level 09: Progeny of the Harvest ($30,000)
Level 10: Agricultural Mastermind ($60,000)

Unfortunately if you are planning on using your Gardening to supply a Sim in the household with ingredients for making Nectar that would stretch out the process of obtaining promotions in the profession, since you would be giving the fruit to your other Sim and not selling it -- something to bear in mind...

-- Gardener Abilities List --

Level -- Ability
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
01 -- Able to water and plant, given seeds: Lettuce, Apple, Grape and Tomato
02 -- Weed
03 -- Fertilize
05 -- Plant Uncommon Seeds and Watermelons
06 -- Revive Plants (with Green Thumb trait)
07 -- Plant Rare and Special Seeds
08 -- Plant Cheese and Egg plant (via Skill Opportunities)
09 -- Plant Burger Patty and Steak Plant (via Skill Opportunities)
10 -- Plant Omni Plant seeds (via Skill Opportunities)


-- Plants and Planting --

There are a number and variety of plants available to the Gardener to grow, and each has its own basic value and challenge.  To begin with your Sim can search around town to find seeds. buy seeds, and obtain them from leveling up the gardening skill.

The seeds are where the process starts, but another aspect of the process is the fertilizer that you use -- which varies in effect and its impact upon the value of the produce/plants by its quality and effect -- and the basic quality of the plant line that your Sim is tending.  You can improve the quality of a plant line from generation to generation, increasing its value to you both as an ingredient for making Nectar and for selling since the quality of the various items (seeds, fertilizer) is directly connected to the value of the plants grown assuming you properly tend them.

The following Seeds/Plants are available to your Gardener -- and while not all of them are of use in the making of Nectar the fruits are:

Skill Level Required -- Seed/Plant -- Rarity --  Normal/Perfect Values -- XP from Planting/Harvesting
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Level 00 -- Apple Tree -- Common -- $4/$16 -- 175/125
Level 00 -- Cherimola Blan Grapes -- Common -- $4/$16 -- 175/125
Level 00 -- Grapevine -- Common -- $4/$16 -- 175/125
Level 00 -- Lettuce -- Common -- $3/$12 --     174/125
Level 00 -- Renoit Grapes -- Common -- $4/$16 --     175/125
Level 00 -- Tomato -- Common -- $3/$12 --  175/125
Level 05 -- Avornalino Grapes -- Uncommon -- $7/$28 -- 175/125   
Level 05 -- Carrots -- Uncommon -- $7/$28 -- 175/125
Level 05 -- Lime Tree -- Uncommon -- $9/$36 -- 225/175
Level 05 -- Meloire Grapes -- Uncommon -- $8/$32 -- 175/125
Level 05 -- Onion -- Uncommon -- $7/$28 -- 225/175
Level 05 -- Plum Tree -- Uncommon -- $7/$28 -- 225/175   
Level 05 -- Pomegranate -- Uncommon -- $8/$32 -- 225/175
Level 05 -- Potato -- Uncommon -- $7/$28 -- 225/175
Level 05 -- Watermelon Vine -- Uncommon -- $9/$36 -- 225/175
Level 07 -- Banana Tree -- Uncommon -- $7/$28 -- 325/250
Level 07 -- Bell Pepper -- Rare -- $12/$48 -- 325/250
Level 07 -- Cranerlet Nuala Grapes -- Rare -- $13/$52 -- 325/250
Level 07 -- Cherry Tree -- Rare -- $12/$48 -- 325/250
Level 07 -- Death Flower -- Very Rare -- $?/$? -- 375/300
Level 07 -- Flame Fruit Bush -- Very Rare -- $18/$72 -- 375/300
Level 07 -- Garlic -- Rare -- $15/$60 -- 325/250
Level 07 -- Gralladina Fran Grapes -- Rare -- $10/$40 -- 325/250
Level 07 -- Life Plant -- Very Rare --  $25/$100 -- 375/300
Level 07 -- Money Tree -- Very Rare --  $700/$800 -- 375/300
Level 07 -- Pomelo -- Rare -- $15/$60 -- 325/300
Level 08 -- Cheese Plant -- Special -- $5/$20 -- 150/100
Level 08 -- Eggplant -- Special -- $7/$28 -- 150/100
Level 09 -- Burger Patty Plant -- Special -- $16/$64 -- 150/100
Level 09 -- Steak Plant -- Special -- $20/$80 -- 150/100
Level 10 -- Omni Plant -- Very Rare -- $?/$? -- 400/300


-- Plant and Seed Sourcing --

Obtaining the seeds to grow your plants can be complicated by specific factors that relate to the plant or its rarity.  The following list provides you with a guide to where to look to source the seeds you need, with any special notes that apply as footnotes:

Level 00 -- Apple Tree -- Store Apple / Found Apple Seed
Level 00 -- Cherimola Blan Grapes -- Obtained from Sims in France
Level 00 -- Grapevine -- Store Grapes / Found Grape Seed
Level 00 -- Lettuce -- Store Lettuce / Found Lettuce Seed
Level 00 -- Renoit Grapes -- Obtained from Sims in France
Level 00 -- Tomato -- Store Tomato / Found Tomato Seed
Level 05 -- Avornalino Grapes -- Adventure Reward / Chateau du Landgraab Secret Garden
Level 05 -- Carrots -- Store Carrot / Found Carrot Seed
Level 05 -- Lime Tree -- Store Lime / Found Unknown or Uncommon Seed
Level 05 -- Meloire Grapes -- Adventure Reward / Chateau du Landgraab Secret Garden
Level 05 -- Onion -- Store Onion / Found Unknown or Uncommon Seed
Level 05 -- Plum Tree -- Obtained from Sims in China
Level 05 -- Pomegranate -- Obtained from Sims in Egypt
Level 05 -- Potato -- Store Potato / Found Unknown or Uncommon Seed
Level 05 -- Watermelon Vine -- Store Watermelon / Found Unknown or Uncommon Seed
Level 07 -- Banana Tree -- Store Banana / Found Banana Seed
Level 07 -- Bell Pepper -- Store Bell Pepper / Found Unknown or Uncommon Seed
Level 07 -- Cranerlet Nuala Grapes -- Adventure Reward / Chateau du Landgraab Secret Garden
Level 07 -- Cherry Tree -- Obtained from Sims in China and Egypt
Level 07 -- Death Flower -- Death Flower / Unknown or Special Seed / Graveyard Fishing
Level 07 -- Flame Fruit Bush -- Flame Fruit / Unknown or Special Seed / Fishing / Catacombs
Level 07 -- Garlic -- Store Garlic / Unknown or Rare Seed
Level 07 -- Gralladina Fran Grapes -- Adventure Reward / Chateau du Landgraab Secret Garden
Level 07 -- Life Plant -- Life Plant / Science Opportunity / Gardening Opportunity
Level 07 -- Money Tree -- Unknown or Special Seed / Criminal Opportunity / Fishing
Level 07 -- Pomelo -- Obtained from Sims in China
Level 08 -- Cheese Plant -- Store Cheese
Level 08 -- Eggplant -- Store Egg
Level 09 -- Burger Patty Plant -- Store Burger Patty
Level 09 -- Steak Plant -- Store Steak
Level 10 -- Omni Plant -- Omnificent Plant Opportunity (order Seeds via Mailbox)


-- Fertilizers --

Used to enhance a plant during growth, the Fertilizer that your Sims  use has a direct impact upon the  quality of the produce they create, and that quality will increase as long as a fertilizer is applied.  Naturally there are varying levels of quality from type to type, and some experimentation is required to find the best formula for each plant you grow.

Bear in mind that the quality of a fertilizer modifies its effectiveness -- for example qualities ranging from Horrifying (the lowest) to Very Nice apply a multiplier to effectiveness or its grade (the grade being the default factor that establishes its longevity of effect) ranging from 0.5 to 1.2 -- and the modifier increases by 0.1 with each successive level of quality that the fertilizer gains.   Note that if your Sim has completed the Master Farmer Challenge that automatically adds another 2 days of fertilized time to any plant.

The modifier increases in increments of 0.2 with each improvement to the quality, so it is possible to obtain useful results from even the worst possible quality, though it is more reasonable to begin the acceptable threshold at the Normal Quality level and start from there -- as it is a neutral level for starting the math.  Obviously using the best quality and most potent fertilizer is preferable -- as Perfect Quality fertilizer doubles the base efficiency as its starting figure.  The following base multipliers apply to the fertilizers based upon their quality:

Fertilizer Quality -- Multiplier
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Perfect  -- 2.0
Outstanding -- 1.8
Excellent -- 1.6
Great -- 1.4
Very Nice -- 1.2
Nice -- 1.1
Normal -- 1.0
Bad -- 0.9
Foul -- 0.8
Putrid -- 0.7
Horrifying -- 0.6

The following items can be used as Fertilizer in your Gardening and the base numbers should be useful to you in evaluating their effectiveness and appropriateness for your efforts:

Fertilizer Item Name -- Grade/Potency -- Number of Days Duration
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Alley Catfish -- 5/15 -- 3
Anchovy -- 5/15 -- 3
Angelfish -- 25/100 -- 4
Apple -- 5/20 -- 4
Bell Pepper -- 15/60 -- 4
Black Goldfish -- 12/36 -- 3
Blowfish -- 15/60 -- 4
Burger Patty -- 5/20 -- 4
Cheese -- 5/20 -- 4
Deathfish -- (-200)/(-800) -- 4
Egg -- 5/20 -- 4
Flame Fruit -- 15/60 -- 4
Garlic -- 15/90 -- 6
Goldfish -- 5/15 -- 3
Grapes -- 5/15 -- 3
Jellyfish -- 10/40 -- 4
Lettuce -- 5/20 -- 4
Lifefruit -- 25/150 -- 6
Lime -- 5/30 -- 6
Lobster -- 20/60 -- 3
Minnow -- 10/40 -- 4
Onion -- 5/30-- 6
Piranha -- 15/60 -- 4
Potato -- 5/25 -- 5
Rainbow Trout -- 8/24 -- 3
Red Herring -- 15/60 -- 4
Salmon -- 12/36 -- 3
Shark -- 20/80 -- 4
Siamese Catfish -- 15/60 -- 4
Steak -- 15/60 -- 4
Swordfish -- 12/36 -- 3
Tomato -- 5/20 -- 4
Tragic Clownfish -- 15/60 -- 4
Tuna -- 10/30 -- 3
Vampirefish -- 25/75 -- 3
Watermelon -- 10/50 -- 5


-- Bugs and Known Issues --

First, the fact that the Deathflower only produces ONE flower and then dies is not a bug, though if you have the ability you can revive it to produce a second flower, after which point it really will die for good...

There is however a serious -- or perhaps semi-serious -- bug that can impact your garden, and that is a hired Gardener.  If your Sim (any of them) hired a Gardener to come in and take care of the yard, lawn, and plants, and you decide to go into the profession, when you fire them (and you will want to since you will want to control how your plants are tended and raised) a bug can then take effect causing ANY and ALL of the plants that are currently in place to stop growing and maturing. 

That is to say that any plants -- including seedlings and seeds just planted -- that are in the ground and part of the gardening system on your Sim's property *at the time that the Gardener is fired* may be effected by this bug.  The only option to correct it is to destroy/delete the plants, since there is no other fix available.

-- A few Words on Gardening as a Profession --

While being in the profession has certain advantages like always having the freshest and highest quality of produce with which to cook, and being able to supply very high quality ingredients for Nectar making, as well as being in a position to obtain key items that can, under the right circumstances, stave-off death, extend your life, and reset time!  It can also be one of the more profitable of professions because, like Painting (the other very profitable profession) a Gardener pretty much sets their own schedule.  They can sleep until noon every day if they want -- and when they want to take a holiday to a foreign destination it is simply a matter of not replanting and allowing the field to go fallow when they want to travel.

Unlike Painting, which has a very predictable level to the income, the Gardener must seek out and expand their seed stocks in order to add the more profitable types of crop to their catalog -- but once they have done so and, once they start maturing the crops into a higher quality of output, their trade can be one of the best as far as income is concerned in the short term.

As was touched upon previously, when the Gardener is using their production to make Nectar well, the profit that can be had from that is astronomical!  Of course it requires another whole profession to be learned and improved upon, and it requires the Gardener to maintain a large underground cellar where they can age their Nectar, but still, it can lead to rivers of money!

As with all of the non-traditional professions in the game, the most important aspect to Gardening is that it allows your Sim to balance their life in ways that Sims following the traditional career tracks cannot.  Just remember, you are having fun, right?

Inventor Profession

At its most simple definition Inventing and the profession of the Inventor is the use of a Scrapatronic Workbench to create and invent toys, widgets, and certain special inventions -- some of which even qualify as new technology -- using bits of scrap and recycled materials that are obtained in a variety of ways, some of them even environmentally sound!

Prior to setting out on your career as an Inventor it would be a really good idea to first level up your Handiness Skill by repairing and upgrading -- in fact it is fair to say that you will find it very beneficial to cap-off that skill before you begin your new profession as an Inventor.


The Professional Inventor creates widgets, toys and devices

-- Becoming an Inventor --

You have a number of options to pursue in opening the path to this new profession, and they are:

(1) Take a class in Inventing at the Science Labs;

(2) Use the "Dabble" option on your Scrapatrinic Workbench to muddle your way to the first Level;

(3) Purchase and read the Inventor Skill Books from the Bookstore.

Regardless of the path that you take you can either get the basic first Level and then start leveling by inventing -- or you can read all three books and quickly master the trade -- but either way there are a few things you are going to need to do regardless, and the primary one of these is find and accumulate a large amount of Scrap Material!  Fortunately there are a number of ways to obtain this basic building block of the Inventor:


Inventing requires a wide variety of tools

(1) You can purchase the materials through your bench, but that is not the ideal manner as it gets quite expensive;

(2) You can rummage for it -- it can be found in the trash cans of your neighborhood, and in fact if you have a Sim working in the Law Enforcement career track they will be doing a fair bit of trash-diving to gather intel on the citizens of your community anyway, so have them save it up for you!  Or you can do it yourself, just remember to get rid of the trash that accumulates in your inventory on a regular basis;

(3) Visit the local Junkyards and gather Scrap from the piles of jink there;

(4) Once you have leveled up you can select large objects at the scrap yards and blow them up to create the scrap you need -- but be careful what you choose to blow up and be sure nothing valuable is nearby that might also blow up (a car for example) since you will get into a lot of trouble and have to pay for anything you destroy you were not supposed to destroy!

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

As you will note above having these Traits can be helpful to your Inventor -- mostly in dealing with other people -- and of course for doing business as an Inventor!  Bear in mind though that they are just suggestions -- a Sim with other Traits can still make a great Inventor.


-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles.  As this is one of the non-traditional professions that can be registered as a self-employed career, doing so is advisable not just so that the system is tracking your stats, but also because you will be offered additional challenges and opportunities that you ordinarily would not get otherwise. 

The following Level titles are obtained by attaining specific amounts of profit from your craft -- the amount required to unlock the specified Level is listed with it below:

Level 01: Electrocution Victim
Level 02: Nuts and Bolts Combiner ($30)
Level 03: Duct Tape Rigger ($105)
Level 04: Whatchamahickey Designer ($405)
Level 05: Experienced Innovator ($1405)
Level 06: Hosebeast ($3905)
Level 07: Father of Local Ingenuity ($8905)
Level 08: Feared Techie ($18905)
Level 09: Robotics Dealer ($43905)
Level 10: Fourth Dimensional Architect ($88905)

-- The Long Road to Mastery --

When you start out you will be inventing widgets at first -- and a lot of them -- but eventually as your skill increases you will start to invent useful and interesting (some of them amusing) objects and devices -- and with each new schematic unlocked and new invention made, your prowess, reputation, and satisfaction will grow.  Bear in mind though that the bane of your existence is going to be the burden of obtaining a sufficient supply of scrap to work with, so you should try to get used to that and get efficient and picking your sources and stockpiling the stuff so that you don't find yourself paying for it!

As an Inventor you will eventually be able to make the following items:

Level Required -- Invention Name -- Invention Type -- Scrap Needed -- Base Value
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Level 01 -- Drinking Llama -- Widget -- 2 Scrap -- $20
Level 01 -- Smasher -- Widget -- 2 Scrap -- $23
Level 02 -- Dog Toy -- Toy -- 2 Scrap -- $27
Level 02 -- Rotational Pull -- Widget -- 3 Scrap -- $29
Level 03 -- Cow Toy -- Toy -- 4 Scrap -- $37
Level 03 -- Floor Hygienator -- Big Invention -- 10 Scrap -- $197
Level 03 -- Tentacled Wind Up -- Widget -- 4 Scrap -- $53
Level 04 -- Harvester -- Big Invention -- 25 Scrap -- $529
Level 04 -- Whale Toy -- Toy -- 4 Scrap -- $52
Level 05 -- Localized Static Tester -- Widget -- 6 Scrap -- $138
Level 06 -- Floating Duck -- Widget -- 7 Scrap -- $165
Level 06 -- Robot Toy -- Toy -- 3 Scrap -- $86
Level 07 -- Flying Fighters -- Widget -- 9 Scrap -- $172
Level 07 -- Miner -- Big Invention -- 50 Scrap -- $1012
Level 09 -- Time Machine -- Big Invention -- 75 Scrap -- $2024
Level 10 -- SimBot -- Big Invention -- 100 Scrap** -- N/A

** In addition to requiring 100 Scrap, the schematic to build a SimBot also requires 1 Life Fruit, 1 Palladium Ingot, and 1 Heart Cut Pink Diamond.

-- Special Free Ambitions Package --

There is a package free on The Sims Store that includes some extra items for your Sims for the Ambitions expansion, including two new Inventor Items -- called The Ultimate Career Bundle -- which includes the Octavian and Guardian Griffon Sculptures, the Claw Dipper and Air Bender Inventor items, some dresses and some new hair styles.

The official description on The Sims Store says: "Prepare your Sims for the perils of the professional world with The Ultimate Career Bundle download. Diligent inventors can discover unique new inventions. Visionary sculptors may develop new models of creation. Investigators will benefit from exclusive cases testing their resolve and mental fortitude. Adorn all ages with a Practical Curl haircut or style adult females with a new Sophisticate’s Bun hairstyle. Experience exclusive in game content that helps make your Sim’s Ambitions a reality!"

You can obtain this package by copying and pasting the URL below into your browser on the PC you have the game installed upon -- you can then log into the Sims Store and clock the Download Button to add it to your game!

http://gb.store.thesims3.com/setsProductDetails.html?categoryId=11488&scategoryId=12492&pcategoryId=12490&index=0&productId=OFB-SIM3:21267


-- These Invention Thingies --

While some of the inventions that you will make are both obviously useful and neat -- the SimBot and Time Machine in particular -- most of the rest are really just decorations and ways to make money and amuse your Sim's customers.  Bear in mind that the quality of the inventions varies based upon your skill among other things, and the higher the quality of your inventions are, the more you will make off of them.

The Harvester
One of your "Big Inventions" is The Harvester, which is actually a vacuum for picking up scrap and other collectibles!  You will use it the most for gathering scrap following a big detonation as it makes picking up groups of items a lot easier.  Your Sims will also find that in their collecting trips the device will make picking up groups of collectibles easier as well, just saying...

To use this invention you simply have your Sim stand in the middle of the group of items you want to collect, or in your garden in the center of the plants you want to harvest, and then use the Harvester.  It will suck everything up around your Sim, and that makes short work of the task! 

Floor Hygienator
The Floor Hygienator is your first Big Invention, and it gives your Sim some positive moodlets when they stand on and use it.  These only last only a few hours, but hey, any boost is a good boost!  Be aware though that over-use of them can make your Sims sick!

The Miner
This Big Invention is perhaps the most interesting aside from the Time Machine, because of what it does and how it works.  When you place it on a lot and turn it on, the Minder will drill the patch of ground for collection items (Gems, Metal, and  Scrap for the most part).  The tunnels it creates are semi-permanent (rumor has it that the earthquake event can collapse them) and can even be named.  Your Sims can even go into them and, if they actually connect to other tunnels that are convenient to your desired destination, they can travel through them. 

The Time Machine
Probably the most desired invention for most new Inventors -- after all who does not want a Time Machine?!  With this, your Sim can take a "rabbit hole" trip (they basically leave the world area and you do not get to go with them) to the past or to the future,  and they can bring back items from those trips as well -- some useful, some not so much.

The SimBot
While these can also be obtained by spending Lifetime Happiness Points, there is something cool about making your own -- and the fact that it serves as a companion that more or less becomes attached to your household is very spiffy indeed!  The rumor has it that there are plans to expand the capabilities and the purpose of these in future expansions.

Nectar (Wine) Maker Profession

Nectar making is a skill that was added in The Sims 3: World Adventures that allows your Sims to make nectar, which is the equivalent of wine in the world of The Sims -- it is odd that they avoid having a declared alcohol in the game considering that they have sex and all but there you have it...  Actually if we are technical here, they do not come right out and say that Nectar is not alcoholic, but the alternate name choice sort of suggests that.  But we prefer to think of it as wine and the fact that children in the game are not allowed to drink it, that sort of supports the idea that it is what it is.

-- Acquiring Nectar Making Skills --

Your first step in learning to make Nectar is to head to Champs Les Sims, France, where you can visit the Vineyard and purchase the items that are required for the making of it or you can learn how as part of one of the missions that you can encounter there.  Either way you end up using the Vineyard's equipment to make your first few batches, but you can buy your own kit at the Vineyard and take that home with you so that you can make it there too!

There are three skill books for Nectar Making from level 1-10 that are available at the Circle of Knowledge Bookstore in Champs Les Sims and we strongly recommend that you buy and read them first.   The reason for that recommendation is that getting your skill higher is an absolute requirement no matter which path you are choosing -- there are two, the first is making Nectar for your Sims to drink, and the second is making it to sell, and both paths have their own specific requirements and are heavily dependent upon skills.


The Professional Vintner brings Vintage Nectar to the Sim World

The best nectar for drinking is made from perfect fruits only, while Nectar made for selling requires more than just perfect ingredients, since the final value of your Nectar is subject to ingredient quality, ingredient rarity, and your skill level.

There is some argument as to whether aging of Nectar makes it better, or whether more expensive Nectar is better than less expensive, so you will have to make up your own mind on that matter...  Note that while this is a guide for World Adventures, which is the expansion in which the craft of Nectar making was introduced, in Ambitions your Sims can be declared Nectar makers as a profession, we are just saying...

So to recap, the basic skills for this non-traditional profession are obtained in a a few ways:

(1) Travel to France and take a lesson in Nectar Making at the Vineyard;

(2) Read the book set purchased from the Bookstore in France; the three books allow you to master the skill of Nectar Making from the comfort of your own chair or couch!

(3) Simply grab some fruit and try to turn it into wine using the wine making kit.. Err, Nectar!  Sorry, Nectar making kit.


Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles.  One of the first things that you will want to do once you have acquired the skill in making this wonderful beverage is to register yourself as a self-employed Vintner and Nectar Maker, so that you accrue all of the benefits that come with that status!

Level 01: Grape Kicker
Level 02: Tastebud Nullifier ($30)
Level 03: Nectar Taster ($75)
Level 04: Bottle Label Designer ($150)
Level 05: Nectar Maker's Assistant ($250)
Level 06: Ascendant Juicer ($1000)
Level 07: High-Quality Nectar Pairer ($5000)
Level 08: Chief of the Nectar Grounds ($9000)
Level 09: Nectar Bottle Distributor ($14000)
Level 10: Master Nectar Craftsman ($25000)

Once you register you can take pride in the knowledge that you have established a local source for the beverage that is used to celebrate everything from birthdays and anniversaries to weddings and even a perfect meal!


-- Making the Good Stuff --

To make really high-quality Nectar you really need to grow and use the best and freshest ingredients, and that means you need to be an expert at Gardening and collect the best and the rarest seeds you can manage.  The reason for this is because the best nectar depends heavily on the fruit used as the ingredients, as well as the alternate ingredients if you are prone to experimentation.

Determining the base-value for a particular vintage of Nectar is based upon taste of the Nectar, though bear in mind that taste really has very little relation to effect of the beverage -- that is to say that a very valuable and great tasting Nectar may not have as high a moodlet effect as a less expensive vintage.

It's better to start out with the special rarity of fruit and experiment from there.  The recipes below have proven value and effect, and which has been widely verified by The Sim community and are widely published online -- so these are good staring points for you:

Recipe 1: 9 Life Fruit, 1 Pomegranate
Recipe 2: 7 Life Fruit, 2 Flame Fruit, 1 Plum
Recipe 3: 7 Life Fruit, 2 Flame Fruit, 1 Watermelon
Recipe 4: 8 Flame Fruit, 2 Cherry
Recipe 5: 5 Life Fruit, 5 Cranerlet Nuala

When a new batch of nectar is ready, an assessment of how good (or bad) the flavor is gets displayed, so you can decide whether that vintage is one you want to cellar or not...   Consider that each fruit has a base flavor value and that is factored into the flavor combinations in determining the results, so some experimentation is a good idea, but you can also Google for known good recipes since there is a very large community within the game who factor themselves Nectar Makers!

Note that you can make Nectar that has a function as well -- like extending lifespan -- from the following recipe: 6 Life Fruit, 3 Flame Fruit, 1 random fruit, which will improve all moodlets as well as reduce your Sim's age.

-- Nectar Making Levels and Abilities --

Level 0 Basic Nectar.
Level 4 Concentrated     Nectar (Higher Quality).
Level 7 Mass Produce Nectar Vintages (Lower Quality).
Level 9 Extended Nectaration Nectar ( 15% Quality and takes a little longer to produce).

-- Nectar Challenges --

Flavorful Feet
Completed after squishing 40 batches of fruit -- rewards you by increasing the value of the Nectar made by you.

Master of Nectar Making
Completed by making 200 bottles of Nectar - rewards you by allowing you to make more bottles per batch.

Mix Master
Completed by making 15 different Nectar combinations -- your reward is your Sim being able to predict a Nectar recipe's final quality before making it.

The Wizard of Vine
Completed by turning 400 bunches of homegrown grapes into Nectar -- rewards you by making all of the grapevine varieties grown by you yield more grapes.


-- Aging Your Nectar --

While we should point out -- as we did before -- that the question as to whether aging improves the effects or tastes of Nectar is an open one, there is no question that it increases the value of it.  To increase nectar once you have created and bottled it, it must be aged in nectar racks, preferably in a basement.

The serious professional Vintner will construct a cellar that is not connected to their house -- in fact the best approach is to build the cellar and then build the Nectary on top of it as a stand-alone facility.  This serves a number of purposes, not the least being to separate your Sim's work from their life, as well as create an artisan atmosphere around their profession.  And it looks cool too :)

Once you have your cellar built and your Nectary on top, you then install the kit and hardware that you use to make your Nectar and, in the cellar, you install the racks.  You want to take care in selecting the right racks by the way -- the expensive Necteaux rack will age nectar faster than the cheaper Flavor Savor Nectar Rack -- but as long as your racks are placed in a basement the Nectar stored in them gains around 10% value per day anyway.  Still we are talking Nectar here, so why spare the expense?

If you have any favored recipes or you ones you have found beneficial that you want to share, please feel invited to email them to the author!

Painter Profession

The Painter may very well be the oldest of the non-traditional Slacker-based careers, since it has existed from the start and, for whatever reason it seems to naturally be the non-traditional career of choice for most Simmers.  There is a certain romantic connection to the life of the painter -- a solitary existence in which everything around you has the potential to be your muse -- and it is not uncommon for Sim Painters to paint pretty much anything and everything they see, and especially other Sims!

The process of becoming a Painter is a simple one, though there are a few paths that can be taken.  When you are ready to take up the brush you can do it in several ways:

(1) Take a class in painting;

(2) Buy an easel and simply start painting;

The true beauty of this profession is its simplicity - even the challenges are practically automatic, as all that your Sim needs do is keep painting!  In fact the odds are good that they will complete all of the challenges before they reach Level 10 of the self-employed career!

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

The Painter's Lifetime Wish: Master of the Arts


The Professional Artist adds beauty to the Sim World

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles along with the amount in sales that are required to unlock each level.  Painting is easy to earn in since you can sell your paintings right from the easel -- though you should bare in mind that selling them through the Consignment Shop often earns a bit more than selling them from the easel -- and if you are not pressed for money at the moment that your painting is complete, you may want to seriously consider hanging it on your own walls for a while, because like good Nectar, your paintings will appreciate in value as you become better known, and can double and even triple in value in a relatively short period of time!

Level 01: Paint Splasher
Level 02: Canvas Cretin ($50)
Level 03: Finger Painter ($75)
Level 04: Paintbrush Patsy ($250)
Level 05: Avante Garde Poseur ($750)
Level 06: Art Gallery Rookie ($1000)
Level 07: Illustrious Illustrator ($2500)
Level 08: Prestigious Painter ($5000)
Level 09: Acrylic Ace ($10000)
Level 10: Master of the Brush ($25000)

Getting to Level 10 in the profession in my own experience takes around $47,000 and, once you reach that level you will have to sell an additional $47,700 or so in paintings to gain the step up that doubles the value of your work right off of the easel.

-- The Secret to Success --

Mood.  Specifically Good Mood.  The better your Sim's mood is, the faster they will paint, better they will gain, and overall the better they will do at this profession.  That means that anything that you can do for your Sim to improve their mood you should do. 

Another must-do is to buy the Lifetime Happiness Point Reward Item "Extra Creative" (30,000 Points) because that has a massive impact on both the quality of your Sim's art and the value.

Finally you should always remember that having ANY sort of negative moodlet is incredibly a bad thing for an Artist Sim!  This includes the Stir Crazy one -- so if you see any red moodlets at all in their status window, do whatever you have to do to get rid of it as quickly as you can!

Avoid opportunities!  Yeah, that seems contrary to good sense, and with almost all of the other careers accepting and completing opportunities makes sense, but most of the opportunities that you will get as  a Painter actually interfere with your art!  Sure, it is great that some guy in France, or in China wants one of your paintings, but that is what galleries are for -- you should not be dropping everything to deliver one to him no matter how much he is willing to pay.  The sad fact is that almost all of the opportunities -- except for the one in which the Mayor wants you to paint a dozen paintings to be purchased by the city and hung in municipal buildings -- interfere to significantly with your art and your life, and so should be avoided.

-- In the End --

Once you master the skill of Painting, and then complete the career to Level 10, you will have reached a point where you can expect to command prices right off of the easel of between $3000 and $4000 per Large Painting.  After you get the professional step up that is the hidden second stage of the self-employed phase you can earn as much as $10K per painting!  So money, as you can surely see, will not be a problem for you!

Even if you do not register as a self-employed Painter the potential income once you have fully mastered the skill is such that you can easily support a large family and own a nice home, packed with all of the best stuff.  Oh, and then you die and your paintings REALLY get valuable...  I am just saying.

Photographer Profession

Photography as a skill was introduced with the World Adventures expansion, and if you played that you will no doubt already have a basic understanding of it.  There have been some significant additions to the game to better support the skill -- there are a number of cameras of varying cost, with the more expensive ones having some complex features allowing for truly artistic photography, and they have even added a number of different "Digital Picture Frames" to the game that, once bought and hung on the wall, your Sim can then transfer their photos to and have a slide-show display of their work right on the wall!

Of course they can still hang physical copies of their photos, or frame them and set them on their desk, dresser, and coffee table to be sure, and in addition to the nifty photo subject collection (and the chance that a Gnome or a ghost will sneak into the view as you are taking your pictures), there is the new profession which you can register as self-employed at City Hall to participate in, and that has advantages of its own that we will soon cover.

There is a bit more to the new skill of Photography than you might be expecting -- for instance in addition to allowing your Sim to take photos that are of better quality than those taken by the camera on their cell phone, it permits them to create an album of themed photo collections, the point of which is to have your Sim take Photos of different places, events, people, and objects -- though completing some of the collections requires that they take some rare photos.

Learning the Photography skill does require that your Sim own a camera -- but they can obtain one simply by enrolling in the LeFromage Art School, where they can learn the Photography skill and come home with a camera in their inventory.

When you are on holiday you can check the bulletin and notice board for Photography Jobs, then find the person and take the job on, complete its goals, and you can earn some Ancient Coins and experience.


The Professional Photographer captures Sim Moments

-- The Camera --

Just how good a photo your Sim can take depends upon the quality of their camera, and their skill level. Sims with low skill levels only have access to the more basic features on the better cameras, but as they level up they can use more of the tech that they contain.  Bear in mind that there are a variety of quality levels in the cameras that you can obtain in the game, and while a lower-quality camera may make sense for a lower-level Photographer, eventually you will want to get the best that you can.

Unlike taking photos with your Sim's cell phone, when they take a photo with their camera it costs them money -- it seems that digital cameras have not quite made it to the world of the Sims -- and the cost of each shot depends upon the filter and size selected, so it is generally a good idea to take shots that are worth taking -- unless you have the extra money to not care.

The collection system relies upon a mechanism by which your Sim's cameras identifies the objects, event, or Sim that you are shooting, and will only reward your Sims for capturing the object once in any day.  The rarer the place/Sim/object the more valuable the photo is, so you will want to bear that in mind, right?


Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

There are a few ways that you can learn the basic skill of Photography -- and no, the camera on your Cell Phone does not count and will not give you skills -- you need to buy a camera at one of the stores in either China, France, or Egypt to do that.  As for getting your foot in the door, the best path is to buy the skill book at the Bookstore in France and read it to get at least to Level 3.  Beyond that just doing the photo collections will give you the skill gains you need to master the craft!

In addition to the collection scenes that you get XP for shooting and collecting, you also gain a bit of XP for every original shot you take -- but you should remember that shooting duplicate images of the same subject/scene does NOT earn you XP!  Once you take a picture of your friend on a bench and get some XP for it, you have to wait until the next day to do that again, but you will get XP for the same image again if it is a day later...

While you first pick up your camera and skills in a foreign land, you do not actually need to be there in order to level your skills -- it would be terribly expensive and time consuming if you did have to LOL.  No, once you have the kit and basic skill you should be gaining the lion's share of your XP by shooting things in and around your home, neighborhood, and city!

There are a number of challenges you will get and complete as a Photographer, and you will take photos that you want to keep and display in your home, but when it comes time to clear out your camera memory for a new session, do not delete photos!  Sell them.  Every Simoleon in profit adds up and counts towards your required level unlocks, so even the out-of-focus fuzzy ones that are only worth a few bucks are still worth the effort of selling.

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles along with the amount in profits that you must make from the sale of your photos to unlock that level:

Level 01: Papa/Mama Paparazzi
Level 02: Dark Room Destroyer ($20)
Level 03: Awkwardly Close Zoomer ($50)
Level 04: Social Network Profile Photographer ($150)
Level 05: Disposable Debutante ($750)
Level 06: Aperture Scientist ($2500)
Level 07: Titan of Timeliness ($5000)
Level 08: Lens Lover ($10000)
Level 09: Memory Catcher ($25000)
Level 10: Snap Dragon ($45000)

-- The Camera Controls --

Whenever your Sim uses their camera to take a photo the camera interface will open, allowing you to adjust the frame and focus:

Press I to cycle through the available sizes of photo.

The choices that you have are Small Portrait, Medium Landscape, Large Portrait, and Panorama.

Press F to cycle through the available photo filters.

The choices for filters are Black and White, Classic Vignette, Color, and Sepiatone.

Press X/Z to zoom out or in on the subject.

Press C to take a photograph.

If any of the options are grayed-out, it means that the camera is not able to use them, or your Sim's skill is still too low to access them.


-- Photography Levels and their Abilities --

Level 2 Take Black & White photos.
Level 4 Take Sepiatone photos.
Level 8 Increased ability to zoom in and out.
Level 9 Take Classic Vignette photos.
Level 10 Take Panorama photos.


-- Photography Challenges --

Architectural Eye
Completed by capturing 10 unique landmarks -- rewards your Sim by giving all landmark photos higher value.
 
Human Form Expert
Completed by capturing 50 unique Sims -- rewards your Sim by improving their relationships with other Sims just by taking photos of them.

Paparazzi
Completed by capturing 60 unique Sims who are strangers -- rewards your Sim by making photos of strangers worth more.

Photog
Completed by capturing 75 unique subjects -- rewards your Sim by giving their photographs a higher base worth.

Shutter Nut
Completed by completing 5 Photo Collections -- rewards your Sim by making all photos after that free of cost.

-- Photo Collections --

As mentioned above here are theme-based collections for your skills -- basically images of specific scenes/objects/poses -- and when you take a snap that is part of one the game will tell you that.  Each of the expansions adds something (often a new collection or two) to the profession, but we are only covering the ones up to Ambitions for the purposes of this guide, and those include:

(Print this section out and use it as a ticklist)

I. The Architectural & Buildings Collection
o -- Academy
o -- Bookstore
o -- Chinese Garden
o -- City Hall
o -- French Market
o -- General Hospital   
o -- The Market
o -- Mausoleum
o -- Nectary
o -- Sports Stadium   
o -- Theatre
o -- Town


II. The Around Town Collection
o -- A Party
o -- Bicycle
o -- The Bistro
o -- Car
o -- Diner
o -- Grocery Store
o -- The Gym
o -- The Park
o -- Picnic    The Beach
o -- Places in Town
o -- Police Car
o -- School   
o -- The Spa
   

III. The Best in Class Collection
o -- A Limo
o -- A Money Tree
o -- A Top Chef
o -- Chief  Lifesaver
o -- Diplomat Extraordinaire
o -- Expensive Stereo
o -- Fancy Tent
o -- Luxury Car
o -- Master Criminal
o -- Military Bigwig
o -- Nectar Rack
o -- Omniplant
o -- Supercop
o -- Superstar


IV. The Collectables Collection
o -- Canopic Jar Set
o -- China Statue Set
o -- Copper
o -- Dangerous Creatures Statue Set
o -- Dropa Stone Set
o -- Egyptian Statue Set
o -- Geode   
o -- Gold   
o -- Iron
o -- Luminous Gem
o -- Magic Gnome
o -- Mercury Vial
o -- Mummitorium   
o -- Opal   
o -- Pink Diamond   
o -- Quartz
o -- Rainbow Gem   
o -- Silver
o -- Space Rock
o -- Tiberium
o -- Topaz
o -- White Diamond   


V. The Everyday Moments Collection
o -- A Group of Sims
o -- A Sim Cooking
o -- A Sim Fishing
o -- A Sim Gardening
o -- A Sim in the Area
o -- Babysitter
o -- Chess Match
o -- Child Being Carried   
o -- Firefighter
o -- Four Sims Eating
o -- Kid Playing with Oven
o -- Kid Playing with Toy Box
o -- Lovers at Night
o -- Maid at Work
o -- Mail Carrier
o -- Photo of Photographer
o -- Pizza Delivery
o -- Political Demonstration
o -- Police Officer
o -- Remedy for a Hot Day
o -- Repairman on the Job
o -- Sim using a Computer
o -- Someone Painting
o -- Three's a Crowd
o -- Two's Company   


VI. The Family & Friends Collection
o -- A Nice Garden
o -- A party (with Party Objects)
o -- A Toilet
o -- Baby Stuff
o -- Bathroom Stuff
o -- Cute Teddy Bear
o -- Family Member
o -- Furniture
o -- Gadgets Galore
o -- Ghostly Family
o -- Home Decor I (2 objects)
o -- Home Decor II (Ambitions Sculpture)
o -- The Home Sweet Home Collection
o -- Housemate
o -- Kitchen Kitsch
o -- My Child   
o -- My Friend
o -- My Grandchild
o -- My Main Squeeze
o -- My Spouse   
o -- Outdoor Stuff
o -- Three of my Friends   
o -- Toys & Hobbies
o -- Two of my Friends       

   
VII. The "Oh, the Calamity!" Collection
o -- A Fight
o -- A Singed Sim
o -- A Social Worker
o -- A Thief
o -- Oh No, Snake!
o -- One Sick Sim   
o -- The Repoman
o -- Slap Fights
o -- Soaked to the Bone


VIII. The Paranormal Collection
o -- A Ghost
o -- A Ghostly Problem
o -- A Mummy
o -- A Serious Ghost Problem
o -- Death on Vacation
o -- Doubly Dead
o -- It's Haunted
o -- Mummy Having a Snack
o -- My Dead Enemy
o -- My Dead Spouse   
o -- Simply Death   
o -- Too Many Ghosts
o -- Wondering Ghost
   

IX. The Plants & Flowers Collection
o -- Apple Tree
o -- Averlino Grape Vine   
o -- Bell Pepper Plant
o -- Cherimola Blan Grape Vine   
o -- Cranerlet Nuala Grape Vine   
o -- Death Flower
o -- Flame Plant
o -- Garlic Plant
o -- Gralladina Grape Vine
o -- Hydrangea
o -- Lettuce Plant   
o -- Life Plant
o -- Lime Tree
o -- Meloire Grape Vine
o -- Onion Plant
o -- Plum Tree
o -- Pomegranate Tree   
o -- Potato Plant
o -- Red Rose
o -- Renoit Grape Vine   
o -- Sunflower
o -- Tomato Plant
o -- Watermelon Plant   
o -- White Rose
   

X. The Sims in Motion Collection
o -- Board Breaker
o -- Dumpster Diving
o -- Fighting a Fire
o -- Fighting Flab
o -- Get a Room!
o -- Great Tunes
o -- Honing Body and Mind
o -- Making Nectar
o -- Playing Catch   
o -- Pleading to Sphinx
o -- Pushing Statue
o -- Refreshing Swim   
o -- Running
o -- Sim Making the Bed
o -- Sims Dancing   
o -- Sims Sparring   
o -- Solo Dancer


XI. The Still Life Collection
o -- Box of Tissue
o -- Candles
o -- Couch
o -- Flowers
o -- Garden Decorations
o -- Nectar & Food   
o -- Objects
o -- Television
o -- Tombstone   
o -- Video Game System


XII. The Travel Collection
o -- Abu Simbel
o -- A Pyramid
o -- Dragon Cave
o -- Floor Switch   
o -- Floor Trap
o -- Giant Boulder   
o -- The Great Sphinx
o -- Lovers in China
o -- Lovers in Egypt
o -- Lovers in France
o -- Pile of Ancient Coins   
o -- Pile of Rubble   
o -- Pushable Statue
o -- Relic
o -- Sarcophagus
o -- Shower in a Can   
o -- Snake Charmer
o -- Soulpeace Statue
o -- Torch of Anubis
o -- Treasure Chest   

Clearly some of these collections are going to be more difficult than others to complete, and in particular the ones that require your Sim to get photos of supernatural beings or other Sims doing specific actions, but it should be easy to grasp now that you have seen the list of the collections and their requirements why we said that you will be able to level Photography just doing the collections alone!

Professional Collector Profession

While most of the other non-traditional professions fully qualify as non-traditional, this one really set the high-water mark in the area of non-traditional!  And that begs the question just what is a Professional Collector and how do they make their money?

In a nutshell they are Sims who spend their day hunting for collectables and then transform them into money in a variety of ways.  The primary tool of the Collector is the Collection Helper, which makes locating the items that they are seeking a very simple click and scan action, and thanks to the Helper they can even narrow in on the specific types of collectables that they are seeking!

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly

The Collector's Lifetime Wishes: Private Museum / Great Explorer


The Professional Collector finds their living everywhere!

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

The profession of Collector is not one of the ones that you can go down to City Hall and register, which means that there are no formal titles for each level because there are no levels!  I suppose that we could make up our own titles and levels, but really, that would be silly wouldn't it?  Because after all, the whole point behind the profession of Collector is to obtain items that have value and then sell them to other Sims or Sim Companies in order to realize that value.

There are basically X types of items that can be collected for resale, in addition to other items that are not so much valuable as they are useful, specifically scrap, which rather than sell we want to stockpile for use in the Inventor track.  Taking a look at the viable collection items we find that:

Gems: The basic logic for handling Gems is simple enough -- any Gem type that has a rarity level of Rare you will want to send off to have cut, while the Uncommon types you will want to send off to have cut with an eye towards running them through the transmogrification process to convert them into a resource of greater value that will realize a better profit.  Gems that are below Uncommon in rarity are simply sold outright by dragging them to the sell window on your HUD.


Metals: Because you must factor in the cost of having the ore smelted and cast into ingots in its overhead, when you do the math you can see which types warrant that treatment and which do not.  The only justification for smelting ore is usually to make it easier to store -- at least for the type you want to keep for a rainy day -- and of course to have four or five ingots to display in your loot chamber for the aesthetics of it all...


Bugs: While some of the rarer variates of insects can be worth quite a bit, the bottom line is that all of them are worth something to the Science Labs, who like for you to donate the ones you find that you do not intend to keep as pets to them so that they can study them.  Not only do they show you their appreciation in words, but they show it in Simoleans as well, as each bug you donate earns you a "donation reward" and how cool is that?

When you click on the Science Lab and select the Donate Bug option you get a list of the bugs you possess and, if you select them individually, the value that the Lab will give you in exchange for your "donation" of that insect.  Bear in mind that holding on to some of the more beautiful bugs like the butterflies makes sense, as when you place them in your home they are automatically put into the proper small display case / habitat.


Relics:  While not actually an item that your Sim can find using the Collection Helper, Relics are nonetheless one of the primary collectables that your Sim will grab whenever they are encountered while exploring tombs -- and for good reason.  Most Relics are worth a pretty penny!

-- Challenges and Opportunities --

Despite this not being a non-traditional profession that can be registered at City Hall it still has a pretty robust challenge and opportunity system under its heading -- both for the typical collectables and for the Relic System since we group the pickup jobs and mission system clearly under the umbrella of the Collector (as it makes sense to do so). 

Between those different types of activities there is plenty of challenge and opportunity events and, naturally, rewards to be had in the process.  To fully grasp the opportunities that are available to you I urge you to read (or if you already did, then re-read) the Collectables Sections of the guide in the previous chapters, and pay particular attention to the mechanism for transmographying collectables using the display table.  Why?  Glad you asked!

Basically you can take Gems or other items that are not necessarily valuable and, with a bit of forethought, you can transmogrify them into something that IS valuable.  You just have to follow the different formulas based upon what you are putting in and what you hope to get out.

-- The Collecting Skill Journal Page --

Because Collecting has a page in the Skills Journal a lot of players think that it is a "Hidden Skill" and believe that there is an associated level system to it.  So far there has been no evidence to suggest that this is the case -- the process of collecting items does not improve or get faster the more that you do it, and the skills for evaluating the value of the items that can be evaluated appear to be more closely associated with intelligence and the Logic skill than they do on the Collecting "skill" but hey, since there is nothing to prove it one way or the other, you get to believe what you want to :)

Now as for that page in the Skills Journal, well, it is actually pretty useful -- not only does it spell out for you the details of the Collecting Challenges (and where you stand with respect to them) but it also provides you with a nice set of statistics that includes entries for:

Gems Collected (#)
Unique Gems Found (%)
Metals Collected (#)
Unique Metals Found (%)
Rocks Found (#)
Unique Rocks Analyzed (%)
Butterflies Collected (#)
Unique Butterflies Found (%)
Beetles Collected (#)
Unique Beetles Found (%)
Fireflies Collected (#)
Unique Fireflies Found (%)
Insects Donated to Science (#)
Spirits Captured (#)
Spirits Sold for Science (#)

As you can see from the listing above this gives you an easy go-to place to see how complete your collecting has been for each of the major types plus the percentage of the complete set you have managed to find.  Cool that.

The Challenges that are listed on the Journal Page include the following:

-- Gem Collector: Collect 10 types of Gems and your Sim is rewarded with the rarest cut type.

-- Metal Collected: Find 5 unique metals and your Sim gets rewarded with extra ingots when smelting.

-- Amateur Rock Finder: Once your Sim finds half the types of Space Rocks it gets easier to find the ones that they have not yet found...

-- Awesomest Rock Collector in the Universe: Find all of the types of Space Rock and your Sim is rewarded by being able to find more valuable ones.

-- Butterfly Collector: Find 10 types of Butterfly and your Sim is rewarded by it being easier for them to find Butterflies and Beetles.

-- Firefly Collector: Finding all of the types of Fireflies rewards your Sim with increased ease at finding more Fireflies and other bugs.

-- Beetle Collector: Collect all ten types of Beetle and your Sim is rewarded with the ability to never fail again when collecting a bug.

Sculptor Profession

The Sculpting profession is of course a facet of the arts and closely resembles the Painting track with respect to advancement, time and opportunities.  Unlike most of the other skills you cannot learn Sculpting or acquire the basic skill by reading a book or attending a class (at least not yet), rather you learn by doing -- so the first order of business is to purchase the Sculpting Station from the Hobbies page of the store and set it up either in your home or yard, and then start sculpting! 

It really does not take long or require all that much effort to get started and, once you do, as you progress you unlock different materials -- starting with clay, then wood, then metal, and so on, and ultimately you will find yourself sculpting in granite just like the famous master artists of the olden days!

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Charismatic, Friendly, Savvy Sculptor


The Professional Sculptor creates Hard Art

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

Soon after you unlock Level 1 you will want to head down to City Hall and register Sculpting as your Self-employed profession, since that will cause the game to begin keeping track of your progress, sales, and begin the challenges and opportunities system that applies to the craft as a trade.

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles, along with the amount in sales that is required for you to unlock that Level. 

Level 01: Questionable Potter
Level 02: Cro-Magnon Clay Creator ($50)
Level 03: Sculpting Gazer ($150)
Level 04: Block Buster ($300)
Level 05: Obelisk Architect ($1000)
Level 06: Ice Guy ($2500)
Level 07: Renaissance Sculptor ($5000)
Level 08: Chisled Chiseler ($10000)
Level 09: Topiary Tantalizer ($25000)
Level 10: Master Sculptologist ($45000)

It is not clear precisely how many different sculptures there are in the game -- the way this works is you have your Sim activate the workbench and you pick the medium that they will work in, but after that the game decides what is getting sculpted -- and as a result of this you are sure to see a lot of repeats before you discover a new sculpture, but fortunately they are mostly interesting (my favorite is the dancing alligator).  Before you panic and think I meant that you never get to *pick* what you make, that is not the case...  Bear with me for a moment...

When you use the Workbench and you tell it to sculpt and then pick the medium it is going to do a random sculpture -- but if you tell it to sculpt a *specific* design *then* it lets you pick from a deep set of drop-in menus that break the sculptures you actually have discovered already (and thus know how to make) based on type, sub-type, and etc. drilling all the way down to the specific sculpture you want to make.  There is a good reason for that...

Remember I said that nobody knows exactly how many sculptures there are in the game?  Well obviously *somebody* knows -- the people who made the game -- what I mean is that there is no definitive list from EA on the matter.  Fortunately though the gamers who play this game have been trading notes, keeping track, and so have put together a pretty good list of what designs there are! 

The following list was emailed to me from a Simmer named Gryffen, who has been gathering the list by collecting the types and designs posted to various Sim-related chat boards.  Therefore here is Gryfen's List (but even he explained it is not definitive or complete):

I. Bar Designs
-- Bab's Towering Barstool
-- Barstool de Mish
-- Old Sam's Barstool
-- Parlor Perch Barstool
-- Sturdy Stool

II. Bathroom Designs
-- Bargain John
-- First Step Potty Chair
-- Plain Basin
-- The Porcelain Throne
-- Sink in Despair
-- The Thru-Flush Toilet

III. Coffee Table Designs
-- Case Closed Coffee Table
-- The Mission Coffee Table by Lulu Designs
-- Two-Ton Table

IV. Dining Chair Designs
-- The Cozinator 450
-- Dinner Party Perfect Chair
-- Good Old Sam's Dining Chair
-- The Elsinore
-- Mount of Comfort Dining Chair
-- The Muga Sitzer
-- Rafkin's Dining Chair
-- The Simmer Down Chair
-- Sit-up Straight Dining Chair
-- Stone Seat from Tomb Dining Inc.
-- Yankee Doodle Dining Chair

V. Dining Table Designs
-- Another Era Dining Table
-- Knack Outdoor Table
-- Table de Bistro by Bourgeois Creations
-- Table-licious

VI. End Table Designs
-- Chaible
-- End of the Line Table
-- Le Petit Table
-- Metatable
-- Royal Francois End Table from XIV Antiquities
-- Tabla Del Extremo

VII. Furniture Designs
-- Artsy Easel
-- The Avant
-- The Clothing Hamper by Full Load Inc.
-- Epic 10th Anniversary Chess Set
-- Flavor Savor Nectar Rack
-- Infinitory Imaginary Station
-- Miragé Garbagé
-- The Necteaux
-- Yummer's High Chair

VIII. Living Chair
-- Bracken Living Room Chair
-- Lazy Lounger
-- The Olafian
-- Passable Mission Chair
-- Pete's Living Room Chair
-- Practically Yours
-- The Regal Rester
-- The Savannah
-- Simply Elegant Seating
-- Swank Living Room Chair

IX. Other
-- Antique-But-Not Lotus Pot
-- Globe Sculpture
-- Rory's Display Pedestal - Egypt
-- Rory's Display Pedestal - France
-- Sleeping Gnome McMulty
-- The Urn of Franco

X. Statue
-- A Show of Force
-- Alexia Full of Hair
-- Deep Thoughts
-- Fab Fabled Filly
-- Fabu Foo
-- Gally de Orleans
-- Gator
-- Gloria
-- Just a Kitten
-- Lenny the Evil Freezer Bunny
-- Medusa Victim
-- Modernist's Flame
-- Octavian
-- Out of Water
-- Peanuts
-- Perfect Piece
-- Phillippe of Aznac
-- Rodent Repellent
-- Siren's Call
-- Socratic Therapy Bust
-- The Gazing Pharaoh
-- The Guardian Griffin
-- The Tiki Lord
-- Viva el Mano
-- You've Got a Big Head

XI. Metal Sculptures
-- Larger Than Life Sculpture
-- Shapely Conundrum
-- Shiny Things Metal Chair
-- SimBot Scraps
-- The Steely Stallion

XII. Topiaries
-- Anna the Panda
-- Dragon Dougherty
-- Felix the Giraffe
-- Penguinopoly

The most profitable medium seems to be Ice for the lower levels and Topiary made out of whatever you like at Level 10...  Just saying.

Bearing in mind that at least part of the attraction for self-employed and self-directed professions is the ability to drop what you are doing and do something else without facing a massive penalty,  once you have managed to level Sculpting above Level 7 you should find it to be a source for regular and reliable income, and as such the means to fund the rest of your life, interests, and hobbies!  Seriously!

I mention this because -- and this should be obvious -- the repetitious nature of this craft will very easily drive you bonkers if it is all that you do, so you may want to seriously consider (A) working on skills like Charisma in order to develop a large group of friends who you retain by purchasing the Lifetime Reward "Long Distance Friend" specifically so that you can see how many of each of their Traits you can learn during the time it takes to go from Level 1 to Level 10 -- the idea being you set some ridiculous number of friends as the target -- say 30 -- and then say you want to know at least four Traits for *every one of them* as your goal.  Yeah, it is silly, but it will certainly keep you from going bonkers by sculpting -- and later on it could be very useful if you decide to go into Law Enforcement or Politics!

Writer Profession

While a case could reasonably be made that this is really just another facet of the Journalist field I am happy that it is not -- but then this particular Slacker profession has been around since the base game, offering the rebel Simmer the opportunity to stay at home, back away at the keyboard, and earn their residual payments for letting their imagination loose on the public!  You have to love that!

The basic strategy here is not to write books willy-nilly -- though you can do that and still make a decent living really -- but rather to specific genres and, preferably, genres that are related to each other.  Why?  The trick to this is that you earn your money through the sales of your books, and the sales of your books are driven almost completely by fan interest.  Writing a few books in a lot of different genres will get you some fans, but writing a series of books in one or two genres will quickly build a large fan base -- and that translates into better income.

Learning to write is simply a matter of writing -- but for that you will need a computer, so this will like as not be the second job your Sim does, since they will need the first to get kitted out.  Once they are kitted out however, they can start writing to gain the entry Level and then write to their heart's content, earning bonus payments and residuals and, eventually, raking in the dough!

If you have not caught on to the trend yet, once you achieve the entry Level in the profession you need to trot on down (or jog, your choice) to City Hall and register yourself as self-employed as a Writer.  Once you have done that it opens all sorts of interesting possibilities, challenges, and side-quest type opportunities, and will make your life more interesting.

Helpful Traits:  Ambitious, Artistic, Bookworm, Charismatic, Computer Whiz, Friendly, Loner.


The Professional Writer entertains in a Novel way...

-- Career Levels/Titles and Details --

There are ten Levels for this non-traditional career, and listed below are the levels and their titles along with the earnings that are required to unlock that level... 

Level 01: Fan Fiction Drafter
Level 02: Small Time Scribe ($75)
Level 03: Tabloid Typist ($400)
Level 04: Paperback Pauper ($2500)
Level 05: Work-for-Hire Wordsmith ($5000)
Level 06: Pretentious Poet ($8000)
Level 07: Ghostwriter ($12000)
Level 08: Prizewinning Author ($19000)
Level 09: Fiction Fantastico ($19000)
Level 10: Blockbuster Writer ($30000)

As previously remarked your best path here is to pick two book genres and stick with them because the more you publish in those two genres the better you will do, the bigger following you will draw, and the more money you will earn.  The worse thing you can do is spread yourself out over too many genres, because the fans like to know what to expect from you, and if you began building your fan base with Sci Fi they are not going to want to read a Cookbook written by you, even if it is a Cookbook that tells them how to cook aliens!  Just saying...

While there is not a lot you can do to influence your Sim's writing success, you can influence their progress and efficiency by making sure that they are always in a good mood when they are writing.  Being in a bad mood can have disastrous effect upon them -- so keep an eye out for bad moodlets and do whatever has to be done to get rid of them -- and do not have your Sim sit down to work if they are in bad mood.

Other than that there really is nothing left to be said about this profession -- you just have to remember to write, and write often.  Even if your Sim is leading a full life of hobbies and mates, they should be able to bang out two chapters a day no worries, and that is the minimum rate you want them doing (more is better).

Enjoy!

Utility -- Ambrosia / Death Flower

Ambrosia is a magical dish that was created to defeat Death.  It is made using one Death Fish and one Life Flower, and its recipe is a Level 10 one that costs $12000 to buy at the Book Store.  It has the effect of resurrecting a ghost to the point that they were at in life when they died, and when it is eaten by a living human it resets their current life stage to Day 1.  It will completely fill the Hunger bar, and it gives the consumer a 75 moodlet lasting a full week.

Obtaining a Death Fish requires Level 5 Fishing Skill and Angelfish as bait; to begin with you should get some cheese to use as bait and catch a dozen alley catfish, then use the alley catfish to catch as many angelfish as you can manage.  Use the angelfish to catch the Death Fish at night in the fishing area beside the cemetery and voila!  Life Fruit requires Level 7 Gardening, and is grown from special unidentified seeds you will find around town, so this part is sort of luck-based.

The Life Fruit goes into a wilted stage shortly after the seed is planted due to it requiring large amounts of water (and that is how you can easily ID the seed as the right one after you plant it).  To increase its quality after you obtain your first harvest be sure to fertilize subsequent generations with vampire fish as that will boost the quality of the fruit produced.

Ambrosia can be prepared as a Brunch/Dinner dish, and is prepared as a single plate -- and is consumed immediately as it has no serve option.  To have a Sim other than the one who prepared it eat it you will need to quickly cancel the Eat action before the dish is consumed!

-- The Death Flower --
There are two ways to obtain this crucial and incredibly valuable resource -- either growing on a bush or very rarely fished up from a pond.  The flower can fend-off Death, which is its primary value to you, though you will not be harvesting loads of them -- the bush only bloom with one flower at a time, period...  Once your Sim harvests the flower, the host plant dies.  Sims with the Green Thumb Trait have a small chance to revive the dead plant and obtain a second flower but after that it really is dead-dead-dead.

As long as you keep this flower in your Sim's inventory if death should strike they will automatically offer this flower to the Grim Reaper, who will resurrect them in exchange for it -- a death for a death flower basically.

As mentioned above you can find them rarely while fishing, and you can get them from the Death Flower Bush -- which is a rare and unidentified seed that you can find near graveyards that requires Level 7 Gardening to grow.  It is also possible to find one Death Flower in the graveyard -- assuming you are lucky enough to be there when it is in bloom.

Utility -- Martial Arts

While there is about an equal chance that a Sim in good physical shape can hold their own in a battle with a burglar or other criminal type in a fight, a Sim with Martial Arts training is almost certain to kick their ass.  Same for Mummies and other miscreants of lore and legend.  Simply put, knowing how to defend yourself is just a really good idea because it is a dangerous sim-world out there!  And there is also the opportunity to compete in tourneys and win money, that is good too!

Your Sim can learn their basic Martial Arts by traveling to China and taking a lesson or using a training dummy, by using a training dummy another Sim has brought back from China, or by being trained by another Sim who learned the skill in China and is willing to train the...  Either way once your Sim has the skill started they can train with dummies and spar with their mates/relatives/SO.  They can also acquire a self-taught initial level of the skill by reading the skill book -- but in every case someone is going to have to go to China and bring the skill back in whatever form.

Tourney Playground
Upon obtaining the basic skill (Level 1) your Sim is able to spar with other sims.  Using the 'Spar' action on another sim they will train together and build the Martial Arts skill in a friendly we-are-not-really-killing-each-other way.

Once they reach Level 4 they can enter one of Shang Simla's Martial Arts tournaments -- you know, if they happen to be in China -- just by picking up a phone and choosing the 'Challenge Spar Tournament Contender' option.   Within that they can choose their rival and make it a 'Ranked Sparring Match.'  Pretty darn spiffy eh?

 
-- Meditation --
Upon mastering Level 5 in the deadly Sim-Fu Martial Art skill your Sim can access he mystical side of their mind as a Dharma Bum, and is able to meditate by sitting in the proper position on the floor...  Among other things Meditation can level Martial Arts, puts your Sim in a good mood and frame of mind, and has the effect of removing all negative moodlets for a short period.   If your Sim chooses to spend a long period in Meditation they may discover that they somehow have obtained mastery over gravity itself!  That is right, they will float upon a cloud of green glow!

What it means when they begin to float and glow is that they have achieved the maximum focus, and their Dharma is centered!   In addition to looking really cool and impressing the babes, they also have a few unique actions available to them -- once called 'Zeneport' that allows  them to teleport to an open place on the map.   Doing so uses up all of the focus they have banked however, so it will require a lengthy Meditation to bank it again.   Fully meditating gives them a moodlet that allows for faster skill building, so yeah, that is a good idea to do before going into a heavy training session right?

-- Challenges --
In addition to being cool your Sim can also complete the challenge called "Master of Meditation" that is unlocked for racking up 150 hours of meditation; in the process your Sims will learn Tranquil Transference, which provides the same effect as 'Zeneport' but allows your Sim to teleport more efficiently and with less charge time.

The "Sim Fu King" challenge is unlocked for completing 75 sparring matches, and the "Timber Terminator" unlocks for breaking 150 boards on the breaking blocks.  Note that in addition to breaking boards, your Sim can break Space Rocks, which can in turn become a number of different Gems that can be sold for a profit...

-- Belts of Rank --
The process of leveling your Sim-Fu skills is not only internal but includes a visible form of recognition in the shape of different coloured belts -- with the following corresponding to each Level earned:

Level 01 -- White Belt
Level 02 -- Yellow Belt
Level 03 -- Orange Belt
Level 04 -- Green Belt
Level 05 -- Green Belt
Level 06 -- Blue Belt
Level 08 -- Brown Belt
Level 09 -- Black Belt
Level 10 -- Black and Gold Belt

Utility -- Magic Gnome Collections

OK it is not so much a collection in the sense that you collect them, but rather a collection of Magic Gnomes that is spread across the base game and expansions. 

Gnomes change poses, use objects, clean objects, and just plain moves around your lot when you aren't watching them! The hours of trickery are between 9 PM to 4 AM; the chance of your Gnome executing one of these options runs between 10% and 80% -- and Gnomes that reside on your lot for a length of time may show a preference for specific objects, especially expensive ones (valued at over $1500).

Your Gnome may seem to go dormant for a while - they don't move or do something every night, and as the chances of them doing something are random, you may have to wait a while for your Gnome to move.   They have a range of positions that you can find them in, including standing, proud, handstand,  dancing (2 poses), scared, pointing, examining, lying Down, sitting, and sleeping.

While some of these are benign, others can range from spooky to outright hostile and dangerous!  You have been warned!

Here is the catalog of Gnomes and how they are found/obtained:

Abracadabra (AM) -- 5% chance found in an expensive clothes dryer; desires washers, dryers, clotheslines, clothing piles, and hampers.

Blingaboo (LN) -- May be given as gift to 5-star celebrities; desires hot tubs, bars and expensive cars
    
Carter Caninenimus (PET) -- 0.7% chance to spawn per Dog best friend.        

Cranstan Boonitz the Magic Gnome (ST) --  Unknown spawn conditions

Felix Felinenimus (PET) -- 0.7% chance to spawn every time a cat receives the "Whacked Out" moodlet.
        
Freezer Bunny Gnome (PET) -- 0.1% chance of spawning every time a dog barks or cat freaks out at the fridge.        

Little Léon Magic Gnome (WA) -- found in France; desires nectar racks, fridges, and edible objects.
 
Lounge Lizard the Magic Gnome (ST) -- This gnome can spawn in the lot has of a Sim with a singing skill of Level 7 or if a Fried Peanut Butter and Banana sandwich is left out.
   
Magical Gnome of Invention (AM) -- 2.5% chance of gnome instead of a new invention while inventing, or 1.5% while making inventions; desires inventions and invention workbenches.
    
Magical Gnome of Sculpting (AM) -- a chance this gnome will be sculpted by a level 5 sculptor; desires sculptures and art objects.    
Magic Vampire Gnome (LN) -- 15% chance this gnome will spawn if you have 3 plasma fruit bushes in yard...     After sunrise this gnome will attempt to move indoors; desires Snuggles WugglesWorth and it can turn a Snuggles WugglesWorth bear into a vampire gnome.

Master Manchu Magic Gnome (WA) -- spawns in China; desires canvas and paintings.    

Mysterious Mr. Gnome (TS3) -- may be found while exploring Mausoleum Catacombs, Fishing, and time traveling; desires plants, outside objects, and expensive objects.
    
Sultan Sam Magic Gnome (WA) -- Found in Egypt; desires Relics and Gems.
   
Troglodyte (AMB) -- Found while using the Miner or traveling to the past; desires food, outside objects, and plants.

Zenyatta (PET) -- Can spawn whenever a horse licks a salt lick for 80 minutes and the chance increases by 0.2% for every 20 Sim-minutes the horse licks the salt lick.         

Official Service Awards

Perhaps one of the coolest of the new features in the third series and one that we hear will be expanded with the new content patches is the Official Service Awards -- a form of tangible and meaningful recognition granted by the City/Town to your Sims to recognize the important services and sacrifice that they have made for its citizens and for the community.

Many of the sacrifices that your Sims will make are real sacrifices, but they are strong in honor and pure in heart, so being recognized for those special deeds will not go to their head, and it will provide them with a special object that visually honors their service that they can place on the wall of honor in the good old ancestral home and, decades later their young great-great-grandchildren can look upon it with pride and a desire to serve just like grandma/grandpa!

These awards take the following forms:

-- Award Ribbons --
These colorful somewhat impressive ribbons are a symbol of a job well done and show that to all who stand and view them on your walls!  The Award Ribbons are granted to Sims who have completed the following missions/accomplishments:

-- Firefighter: Complete the Criminal Warehouse Disaster Event
-- Ghost Hunter: Captured 150 Spirits
-- Painter: Created and sold over $25,000 worth of your own original paintings
-- Private Investigator: Solved the Fish Kid Case
-- Stylist: Performed 50 Full Makeovers


-- Epic Hero Medals --
These medals are awarded to Sims who are admired for having provided examples of their bravery and noble qualities in service to their community, and who have distinguished themselves through courage or abilities.   The Epic Hero Medals are granted to Sims who have:

-- Architectural Designer: Completed 50 Renovations
-- Firefighter: Completed the Hospital Disaster Event
-- Ghost Hunter: Complete 7 Jobs
-- Inventor: Make 50 Widgets
-- Private Investigator: Solve the Rogue Cop Case
-- Sculptor: Sold over $25,000 worth of your own sculptures
-- Stylist: Completed 100 Makeovers


-- Hero Medals --
These medals are awarded to Sims who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in service to their fellow Sims and their community.  The Hero Medal is granted to every Sim who has:

Doctor: Run 40 free clinics or house calls
Firefighter: Rescue 10 sims
Fisher: Sell over §25,000 worth of your own fish
Ghost Hunter: Capture 75 spirits
Inventor: Invent a time machine
Private Investigator: Solve the Jewel Heist Case



-- Hero Trophies --
Exceptional deeds deserve a meaningful reward, so the Hero Trophies are granted to Sims who:

Firefighter: Completed the Science Facility Disaster Event
Gardener: Sell over §25,000 worth of your own produce
Private Investigator: Solve 3 Missing Sim Cases



-- Honor Trophies --
This trophy is a symbol of your impressive and selfless achievements in the community.  The Sims are happier, your neighborhood is a better place because of you, and all is right with the world!  The Honor Trophy is granted to Sims who:

Architectural Designer - Perform 5 Renovations
Firefighter: Rescue 2 Sims
Ghost Hunter: Capture 15 Spirits
Inventor: Make 10 Widgets
Nectar Maker: Sell over $25,000 worth of your own Nectar
Private Investigator: Solve 3 Cases
Stylist: Perform 10 Makeovers
Writer: Sell over $25,000 worth of your own books
 

-- Valor Trophies --
Your brave actions went well above and beyond the call of duty, and to honor your sacrifice you have been presented with this trophy.  The Valor Trophy is awarded to Sims who:

Architectural Designer: Perform 25 Renovations
Doctor: Complete 10 "Rabbit Hole" Jobs (Medical Outreach, Expert Opinion, Etc.)
Firefighter: Fight a Gnome Invasion


-- Key to the City --
A truly meaningful reward that is given for unprecedented achievements! It doesn't really unlock any doors, but it does look very impressive on your Honor Wall!  The Key to the City is granted to Sims who:

Architectural Designer: Become a Dictator of Design (Career Level 10)
Doctor: Become a World Renowned Surgeon (Career Level 10)
Firefighter: Become a Fire Chief (Career Level 10)
Ghost Hunter: Become a Paranormal Expert (Career Level 10)
Inventor: Become a Fourth Dimensional Architect (Career Level 10)
Photographer: Sell over $25,000 worth of your own photographs
Private Investigator: Become a Private Eye (Career Level 10)
Stylist: Become a Fashion Phenomenon (Career Level 10)

Achievements

Note that the following list of Achievements ONLY includes the Achievements for The Sims 3 Base Game, the World Adventures expansion, and the Ambitions expansion, since this guide is written from the perspective of those being the only content installed.  Additional Achievements are added with each expansion, so for information about the Achievements for a more recent expansion the player should consult the SuperCheats Unofficial Guide for those expansions.

The following Achievements can be earned in the game, and the listings include the requirements:

-- A New Vice
Have your Sim work their way up to, but no higher than, Vice President in both the Business and Political careers.

-- Bon Appetite
Have your Five-Star Chef Sim serve perfect Lobster Thermadores 20 times.

-- Book It!
Have your Sim visit the Bookstore.

-- Brawler
Have a Sim win 30 fights.

-- Burnout
Have your Sim work too hard.

-- Buzzed!
Have your Coffee Courier Sim drink 5 hot beverages without getting a Buzz Crash.

-- Delivery Please!
Have your Sim order a pizza.

-- Discount DJ
As a Part-Time Shopping Music DJ, buy something with a coupon.

-- Evil Sweets
Have a Sim become Emperor of Evil in the Criminal Career then serve 20 batches of great cookies.

-- Exercise in Fertility
Get a Sim to have 15 children.


This is what your Sim looks like after being hit by a meteor!

-- Fit as a Fiddle
Have a Sim perform 200 hours of Cardio Workouts.

-- Foot in the Door
Have a part-time Spa Ringer Up-er join the Business Career.

-- Friends in High Places
Have your Vice President Sim be friends with their boss.

-- Get Physical
Have your Sim workout or perform some other physical activity until they are Fatigued.

-- Going the Distance
Have Sims job a total of 2000 kilometers.

-- Guilty Conscience
Have a Kleptomaniac Sim return 10 stolen items.

-- Head of the Family
Get a Sim to have 30 Grandchildren.

-- Heavenly Warmth
Experience the Warm Fuzzies of Angel Food Cake.

-- Help!
Have your Sim hire a babysitter.

-- Here's the Dish
Have your Kitchen Scullion Sim clean up dishes 5 times.

-- Intellectual Pursuits
Have your Sim play Chess and use a Telescope.

-- Librophile
Have a Sim read 60 unique books.

-- Loved and Lost
Have your Sim experience a broken heart.

-- Master Astronomer
Have a Sim discover 25 Stars.

-- Master Chef
Have your Sim fulfill the Celebrated Five-Star Chef Lifetime Wish.

-- Master Hacker
Have a Computer Whiz Sim make $10,000 from hacking.

-- Master of the Corporate Destiny
Fulfill the CEO of a Mega Corporation Lifetime Wish.

-- Me, Myself, and I
Gave an Insane Sim talk to themselves 15 times.


Asking your partner to Spar is the best way to gain Sim Fu Skills!

-- Moonlight Novelist
Have your Bookclub Moderator Sim write a novel.

-- Moving on Up
Earn 10 raises as a Power Broker.

-- Pastry Perfect
Have your Pastry Chef Sim prepare 5 perfect Key-Lime Pies.

-- Profoundly Perfect Dishes
Have Sims prepare 200 perfect meals.

-- Pump it Up!
Have your Sim "get pumped!"

-- Rest and Relaxation
Have your Sim try a Day Spa Package.

-- Serenity Now
Have your Sim get stressed out.

-- Someone's Gotta Do It
Have your Bed Pan Cleaner Sim clean 5 toilets.

-- Something to Write About
Have your Epitaph Writer Sim get mauled by a bear.

-- Spring Training
Is your Sim fit enough to run a marathon?  Your muscles may be saying no, but your willpower says YES.  Remember to hydrate and stretch.

-- Steadiest of All Hands
Have your Sim fulfill the World Renowned Surgeon Lifetime Wish.

-- Steal with Style
Have an Evil Sim become a Master Thief in the Criminal Career then steal candy from 20 babies.

-- Store Run
Have your Sim visit the Grocery Store.

-- Sturgeon Surgeon
Have your Trauma Surgeon Sim prepare Great Sushi.

-- Supporter of the Arts
Have your Sim visit the Art Gallery


Of the different mediums Metal Sculpting is the rarest...

-- The Bright Side
Have your Day brightened by a Good Sim.

-- The Perfect Chef
Prepare 3 Perfect meals of the following: Grilled Cheese, Hamburger, Stuffed Turkey, Goopy Carbonera, Tri-Tip Steak, and Stew Surprise.

-- The Town Tutor
Have your Sim Tutor 40 other Sims.

-- Til Death Do We Part
Have your Sim get married.

-- Too Busy to Clean
Have your Sim hire a Maid.

-- Try the Goods
Have your Spa Package Seller Sim get a massage.

-- What's Cooking?
Have a Sim learn 30 recipes.

-- Winning Streak
Have your Sim win 6 fights in a row.

-- Your Right to Party
Throw an awesome party.