Tips for a Sims 3 newbie in a Sims 4 world!

[ZeeGee]

I've taken my merged package files out of my game, and put the unmerged ones back in so I can delete, delete, delete. I now understand the advice behind ALWAYS SAVE YOUR UNMERGED FILES! But because of having 4000 packages in the game instead of maybe 30, I have been waiting now for 15 minutes for the game to load! So now I have time to give you a couple of very simple building tips that are SO helpful yet I only recently found out about them.

Placing objects: When you place pictures or lights on the wall, some of them can be moved up and down. Place the object where you want it, then start clicking the ";" and "," keys. If it's a shiftable item, the semicolon will move it up and the comma will move it down! I just happened to see an item labeled 'shiftable' and wondered what the heck that meant. Google provided an answer and what an amazing tip this is!

Another tip that I learned a while ago, if you're trying to place an object and it won't go where you want, hold the 'alt' key down. Sometimes that will allow you to move it around where you want it to go instead of it snapping to the grid.

And my game is finally loaded so off I go to decide which of my 388 patterns to delete...over half of them are wood

This is my favorite sim in the sim bin (from now on let's call her....Sophie) with an Asian skin applied. This is just with a different skin (and my default eyes). A few more alterations and she would look more Asian.

[ZeeGee]

I have a busy life! I could be simming! But my theory is there's a few of us out there who would like a new way of simming as SFP does not satisfy our desire for having enough variety for decorating and making sims. And coming to computer simming late (having completely missed 1 & 2), it's like running out on the football field in the middle of a game when you've never played before! I'm not really a sportsy person so let me think of a better metaphor....nope, I got nothing.

I heard about this amazing create-a-style tool (CASt) in Sims 3 and was hooked. There's lots of information out there and answers to questions if you google, but how do you google how to do something if you don't have a clue what it is or that the game will do it?? Ha! That's where I come in and I really hope there's a need and I'm not just talking to myself. I've always been good at that tho...

Zarabeth forgives Zooey for setting her house on fire

[eunicorn]

If you type in testingcheatsenabled true and shift + left click on the ground you can teleport. Then if you shift + left click on the mailbox you can know evrey sim, advance in a feild without having to start from the bottom, and more.You can also drag up your sims needs with testingcheatsenabled true and/or ctrl + left click on moodlet and it disapears. Another thing is if you left click on a sim w/ testingcheatsenabled true their is many more useful options.What I do if i like house that sims already live in I click on the 3 dots then go to edit town and move the sims who live in the house to another house and then later move my sims to that house. a tip is if your sim is stressed and stinks buy the bubble bath from the store and then make your sims take a bubble bath their hygiene goes up and their stress levels go down. You can also type in buydebug in the cheat box to get exclusive items not available to the furniture store but you have to do testingcheatsenabled true before the bydebug cheat. Have fun! I personally think sims 3 is easier to control than sims 4 or I probably just got used to sims 3.

[ZeeGee]

Well thank you! I was aware of the testingcheats from Carl's Sims 3 site but had never heard of the bubble bath. Zarabeth is enjoying a much deserved bubble bath at the moment thanks to you!

[ZeeGee]

If you're following my advice, you are just playing The Sims 3 with no expansion packs (EP), stuff packs (SP) or CC. There is so much to discover and so much fun to be had just playing the basic game in the basic town of Sunset Valley. Remember, these packs were originally released months apart over a few years so players could get used to all the new fun stuff gradually. If you download and try to play them all at once it's overwhelming and I think you'll miss a lot, JMHO.

A quick definition, EPs usually add major new play additions and SPs add....stuff! And sometimes stuff packs make small additions to game play also. When you get ready to start installing expansion packs, it's really important to download them one at a time and play your game for awhile! In TS3, there are issues with the game crashing (which means you lose all your progress since your last save) and sometimes you get constant crashing to the point your game is unplayable. If you've installed ONE new thing and suddenly your game starts crashing, you'll know what the problem is. If you've installed a bunch of new things and your game starts crashing, it's frustrating to figure out what is causing it as there can be SO many reasons (more on game crashing later).

TIP: Origin has a starter pack for $19.99, which gives you the basic Sims 3 game, the Late Night expansion pack and the High End Loft Stuff Pack. This is not a physical disc, it is a download from Origin. You can buy as many expansion packs and stuff packs as you want (I stock up when they are on sale) but you don't have to actually download them to your computer and play them until you're ready.

So if you're ready, pick an EP or an SP and have fun discovering all the new additions it brings to your game! The following link has been my Bible when trying to decide which to buy next. It lists all of them, when they were released, and the details of what they add to the game.

http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/expansionpacks.php#

Looks like love is in the air for Zooey and the new fireman in town, Ryder <3

[ZeeGee]

This is an example of the tricky ads I mentioned earlier. Mod the Sims (MTS) is an amazing site for mods, awesome CC downloads and helping with any questions you may have about the game. I highly recommend them. It's a free site so I also highly recommend an occasional donation since they're so awesome. But this ad slips through sometimes and it is the one that tricked me into downloading malware when I was a brand new newbie.

Notice the big green download button that makes you think that's where you should click. WRONG. This is MALWARE and will infect your computer.

At MTS, the file tab is where you will always get the actual download. Click the file tab (RIGHT) and you will see the download file, then just click on the file to download it. You can even click the magnifying glass to see what's in the file you're downloading.

Another trickster fraudster jerky pop up I have gotten on a few CC sites is 'YOUR FLASH PLAYER IS OUT OF DATE. YOU NEED TO UPDATE YOUR FLASH PLAYER NOW. CLICK HERE' Nuh uh. Don't do it.

And yeah, I got a photo editing app so now my photo layout should improve. Here's hoping!

Night time view of Sunset Valley with Zooey in Zarabeth's kitchen trying to decide what she wants for dinner...always such a hard choice!

[ZeeGee]

The Sims Resource (TSR) is another site with a huge collection of TS3 CC. A lot of people don't like them because they used to charge for their downloads, but they saw the error of their ways and now they're a free site. Their downloads take forever and there's loads of ads unless you sign up for a VIP membership, which I did. It's a few bucks a month, that's just one Starbucks drink! That's how I see it anyway.

Okay, how to download from TSR. I've just been over there and downloaded without signing in as I'm sure most of you are not going to want to pay. I saw THREE fake download buttons. One even said 'premium download' on it, to make you think that's the VIP link I guess. This is where the real downloads are:

Pretty self explanatory. Look for my bubbles. They're a little hard to see as the background's pretty busy.

Another warning! This goes for any CC you download. You'll see gorgeous sims with awesome clothes and makeup, and stunning droolworthy homes. Sims and houses, in my experience, are the very worst at being corrupt and making your game start crashing. If you just have to have them, be sure to download and learn how to use those tools I mentioned in an earlier post. Check them carefully with Custard to see what you're getting. I even convert them to package files and run them through Dashboard. That's usually where you'll usually see the big red CORRUPT notice. I do download a few houses but by the time I'm through stripping them of everything packaged with them, they're nothing but a shell. Which is what I like anyway, cause I love to decorate.

Close up of Ryder, can you blame Zooey for crushing on THIS guy?!

[ZeeGee]

Besides having bad CC or just not a powerful enough computer, found another reason for game crashing tonight. Meant to spend a peaceful evening playing with my sims and getting cute pictures to post here but got crash after crash. After chasing through google and MTS and downloading a crash analyzer program then googling what it said and finding someone who said he had the solution...maybe it's fixed. Now I don't have time to actually play!

So in a nutshell without bothering with all the tedious detail, I have a laptop with two processors, an Intel processor and a Nvidia gaming processer (which runs TS3 well). If your laptop starts running low on power it will automatically switch to the Intel processor, which does not run TS3 well at all and that is why I think I was getting crashes. I'm actually relieved. I was worried that deleting all that CC had corrupted my game and thinking I was going to have to start fresh again. Which is not SO bad because the sims and houses you've made can be saved into the library for transfer into a different game.

If you ever run into this problem, here's the fix! Or just keep your laptop plugged in. I'm completely convinced this is my problem because I usually keep mine plugged in and haven't the last couple of days.

http://modthesims.info/t/481768

Zarabeth, Zooey and Ryder in SFP

Zarabeth and Zooey having dinner in TS3, couldn't make Ryder come over. He must have been out fighting a fire!

[ZeeGee]

UPDATE: This post was made before I discovered that there is some really amazing content on the EA website that adds a lot of additional gameplay and some really amazing people who have gone to great lengths to help players get the most bang for their buck, or er... simpoints. More on this later with some valuable links.

Yes! There is an official Sims 3 store where you can download EA CC! Silly me, I completely forgot to cover this. Probably because I rarely use it.

The Sims 3 store offers lots of EA content for your game for Simpoints. You can buy Simpoints or you can watch videos to get free Simpoints. Still having that SFP LP mindset, I was upset by this at first (What?? I've paid money for a game and now you expect me to buy Simpoints to get extra stuff?) until I realized that 1) there's not that much on there that I really liked and 2) the few things I did really like I was able to get with free Simpoints for watching videos. Unlike the LP videos, you can rack up a serious amount of Simpoints by watching videos.

The most important reason to head over to the Official EA Sims 3 store is that you get bonus content when you buy EPs. In the email receipt from Origin, you will get a code you can redeem in the Store for sets of stuff. They also offer free sets at times and free packs around the holidays. I'd actually forgotten about this and have just gone back through all my purchases and entered all my codes. All but 2 worked. Gotta talk to EA about that...

The one thing I got from the store that I couldn't do without is the MultiTab 6000, which is tablet for your sims that you buy for them, place it on something, have them pick it up and then they keep it in their inventory. They can buy books on it, play online social games, and other cool stuff I don't remember right now. I also love the Large as Life Movie Screen for making cinema rooms in your sims home. The Stiff as a Board, Light as a Feather collection has a ballet barre and a dance floor so that your sims can learn ballet. That's it! The only three things from the Store I couldn't do without.

Next post, THE EXCHANGE

This always cracks me up. If you were a burglar, and the cop leaves you outside alone by the car while he goes back in to flirt with the intended victim...wouldn't you RUN!!!

[ZeeGee]

Your account at the Sims 3 Store gives you access to the Exchange. The Exchange is free CC created by other players and uploaded from their games. For instance, I make a house or a Sim or a pattern that I think is amazing and I want to share it with other simmers, I upload it from my game to the Exchange and anyone can download it to their game for free! Say your friend has a sim you adore and would like to have in your game. Your friend uploads the sim to the exchange and you can download that sim straight to your game! While I think this is an absolutely brilliant idea and the Exchange has some really cool free stuff, there are SO VERY MANY WARNINGS about bad, game-crashing, corrupt CC being on the Exchange that I've stayed away.

When I first started playing (before I had heard all the warnings) I downloaded something from the Exchange. My game started acting wonky so I deleted the item and started a new game, which made me believe all the warnings when I saw them later. I think that the problem is that any untrained ungeeky noobs (like me) can upload to the exchange not realizing there is a potential harmful file attached to their item. There are weird files out there and if you download an item into your game that has one of these weird files, it propagates itself by then attaching itself to anything that you upload. Most people don't even know they have it.

Probably, like all other CC sites, If you're careful and check out your files thoroughly with 'those tools', you'll be okay. But there ARE lots and lots and lots of warnings to stay away from the Exchange! Your choice

I've always loved the butterflies you see floating around. I just realized you can catch them! I think it has something to do with a collecting insect hobby. I haven't gotten that far yet. Still busy with ballet and logic and handiness and music skills