Scribe's Sims Cheats and Hints

Heh. I couldn't upload till I chose a content code. Since this isn't about sex, that sort of stumped me, till I discovered AU. What is The Sims but an Alternate Universe?

Now, then--if your Sim is going to have any qty oty of life at all, he's going to have to have 'skills'. These are such things as Cooking, Mechanical, Logic, Charisma, Body, and Creativity. If you have no Cooking skills, you may very well set the house on fire when you try to make a meal, and what you DO make will take longer, and be less filling. If something breaks (washing machine, sink), you have a choice of repairing it yourself, or shelling out $50 an hour to a repairman. Now, Sims have (on rare occasions) been known to electrocute themselves when trying to repair a television or change a lightbulb. The more Mechanical skills you have, the less chance there is of that, and the quicker you'll be able to make repairs (saving yourself frustration. Sims swear quite a bit while repairing stuff). Certain skill levels are also needed to advance up the career ladder (depending on which career you choose. An athelete will need lots of Body skills, a psychic and politician wneedneed Charisma).

Now, skill points are tedious to earn. You earn points in Mechanical and Cooking by reading a book to study. I think you can also gain Mechanical points by using the Woodworking object (to make garden gnomes) and Cooking by using the canning station (not sure about this one. I'll try it and report back later. Body involves exercising on the Simulus (my name for their exercise machine), Logic can be acquired several ways--play chess, look through a telescope, or make potions in the Concatation Station (more about that in a future cheat). Charisma is gained by practicing a speech in a mirror and, I believe, playing another board game which can be found in the purchase inventory.

All of these things lots of time and expend lots of energy, but if you want to get anywhere in Simville you must grit your teeth and do it. Or do you?

My very first cheat will be a way for you to have your Sim 'born' with some skill points instead of starting at 0 on everything. I can't claim to have discovered or invented this cheat, and I can't remember where I first read of it, but it WORKS.

You begin when you actually create your Sim. Go into the Families mode, and click to create a Sim. Choose male or female, but be sure to make your Sim a CHILD. This is important. Don't worry about choosing looks or outfits--you won't be keeping them. Click Done, and when they ask if you're through, agree. That will send you back to a screen showing your Sim. Click on their picture, then click on the EDIT option, which will take you back to the screen where you create your Sim.

Now, change the Sim to an adult. Go ahead and make them look exactly how you want them to. You can choose their personality by distributing the personality points now, too, but later I can show you a way to get the perfect personality by using NONE of the points.

Once you've finished your Sim's appearance, you're done. Click OK whenever it's presented.

You're ready to have your Sim 'born' (appear in Simville for the first time by buying a house or lot. As soon as you do, click PAUSE, and check his skill levels (you click on Job for that). You'll see that you have a good handful of pretty pastel blue points scattered through the skills. I can't tell you how much you'll get of what--there seems to be no pattern, but it will save you a lot of time.

I've heard it explained like this:

In the game design, children don't have to have life skills--they just have to keep up a grade point average. Every child starts off with about a B+ average. Well, the game will take those points that the child got when you started your creation and translate them into Skill points when you turn them into an adult. Cool, eh? I find this a great help. It certainly saves a lot of time in getting promotions.