Where do I start? Please take me on as a Sim Protege

[gwilliams]

I am very new to Sims...Would you believe I didn't really know what it was until I saw the Sims Freeplay on my Iphone about a month and half ago and decided to try it because I was over Fashion Story etc. and I just loved the Freeplay! I kept seeing stuff about Sims 3 that could be bought for the iphone...I found it was a bigger game for PC etc.... so I was to excited. I went out and bought Sims 3 for my PC.
  I had looked up a little bit about it (not enough apparently) and the game looked so fun from what I could tell, the reviews people were giving it were phenomenal. I put it in and I thought I was on my way. It was fun, but not as fun as I had imagined( then I found this was because I wasn't playing correctly). I kept having to sleep, eat, etc. it seemed I couldn't do anything else because the bars would go down so fast. I had no idea what those happy faces and angry faces were, lifetime happiness points etc...none of this is in freeplay!
   This game needs to come with a lengthy instruction book for old folks like myself who still enjoy games such as these. I found Carl's website. Let me say it is very informative, but I am a little more lost now than I was before. I mean WOW. I want to play now more than ever! I didn't know that it was that involved! Here I was ready to buy expansion packs, geez I have to get through the first game.
    I have been taking notes and reading practically the entire site on Sim's but I need a little more direction. Where I do I start? I am going to delete what I have and start over. I guess clarity is what I need. Lifetime wishes vs lifetime rewards vs lifetime happiness points? Careers vs skills vs traits? Moodlets? Does everything count on the moodlets? My moodlets never last the time it says like for example if it is supposed to last 8 hrs..Is this "real" time or Sim time? Because I know Sim Freeplay goes along with regular time but the Sims 3 game does not...Should I even attempt to use cheats before I know what I am doin?... Are Simeoleons the same as Simpoints in Sims 3 if not I don't see Simeoleons..There are different towns in one game? For example I think when I registered they may have given me River Run.....If so do I create a different Sim for each town? How do I get new towns? Where do I get a Skills journal? When I create my Sim I can pick a wish and traits but not a skill, how do I pick a Skill? What is a NPC Sim? What are patches? What are roleplay traits? please please someone help me. Please take me on as sim protege...

[gwilliams]

found out what a npc sim is...

[pallyndrome]

Wow a lot of questions

I'd start with a single, simple sim. Get him a job and just work through the ranks as you get to know the game. As for your specific questions:

Lifetime wishes - each sim has a wish that he wants to fulfill in his lifetime. It's shown by a little gold image in a box just below your sim's headshot (the bigger one in the base console, not the little one on the top left)- put your mouse over it to see details. These wishes take a long time usually, so don't worry about fulfilling it straight away.
Lifetime happiness points - these are points you get when you fulfill a normal wish (the boxes left of the lifetime wish box) and the lifetime wish itself (more for the lifetime wish of course). You can also gain them slowly by being in a good mood (having good moodlets). You can see them when you click on the tab that looks like a chest (second from right). You can use them to buy:
Lifetime rewards - you can choose these when you have enough happiness points (there's a range of rewards according to how much points you have).

Careers - jobs, like to be a cop, or a businessman. You can click on the various buildings around time to apply for a job, or use the newspaper or computer.
Skills - you can have any number of these, but you have to work for them. For example, for the logic skill you have to play chess or look through the telescope or read a logic book (nearly all skills have books you can buy at the bookstore or read at the library). You can see what skills you have by clicking the tab that looks like a fist holding a hammer.
Traits are like your sim's stats. If you start with an adult, you should have all your traits. They all given different advantages/disadvantages - put your mouse over them to see what they do (they are found on the first tab that looks like a plumbob). If you don't like your traits, you can save up for a lifetime reward that lets you change them. Sims younger than adult gain traits as they grow up.

Moodlets are the little pictures in boxes that you can find to the right of your sim's headshot. They should all say how long they'll last just below them. Again, put your mouse over them to learn more about them. There's a lot of different ways to get good (and bad) moodlets. Moodlets last for sim time, not real time:

Sim time can be a lot faster than real time. Below the lifetime wish box is the date and time. Watch this to see how fast time is going - moodlets will go by this clock. Press the different 'play' and such buttons underneath to speed up or slow down time. If everyone in your household is asleep, time will automatically increase to the highest speed (and go slow again when they wake up). If you ever get flustered with what to do, just pause while get everything sorted (I still do that sometimes).

Cheats can help, especially when you are first starting, but only use the most basic ones (the testing cheats are tricky, for example) - see on the Carl's website. The money cheats are of course popular, but I think it's worthwhile to learn how to provide for your sim (and his family).

Simoleons is the currency in the game - what your sim earns and spends - its shown in the bottom left hand corner.
Simpoints are only used to be things from the online sims store - I wouldn't bother too much with this just yet as you'll take a while to be bored enough with the base game to want to buy more things. Simpoints cost REAL money - though you can get some free simpoints when you register the game.

There are different townsWhen you start a game you choose which town you want to play in, and it stays in that town. You can start a new game in that town or a different town, but it's like starting again - sims from different towns cannot interact with each other. I hope that makes sense. You would have been given Riverview when you registered - so now you would have both Sunset Valley and Riverview to choose from when you start a new game. Neither is better or worse, just different. New towns can be bought on the online sims store, and come with some expansions.

Each sim comes with a skills journal - click the little button to the right of your skill to browse the journal and find out more ways to get good at a skill.

An NPC sim is a sim that your sim may encounter in the game, but you cannot control him. This is different from a townie - a 'townie' is a sim in your neighbourhood that you could control yourself if you changed households within your game. An NPC is different because you cannot change households to him. Changing households may be confusing - within a game, go to "Edit in Town" to see the whole world (save first). Here you can look at all the different households like you could when you first started your game, and you can choose to play with a different household if you wish. But be warned! There is a system called 'Story Progression' which means that while you play your household, the other 'townie' households are changing too - as if the computer is playing them. So if you leave your household, play a different one, then go back to your original household, expect the sims to have changed (grown up, etc.).

Patches are fixes/updates that EA (maker of sims) releases over the years to add new (free) things to the game and fix glitches. When you first open up your sims (before pressing the big play button), you can check that you are up to date with patches by clicking the 'game updates' button (at the bottom).

I've never heard of roleplay traits.

Hope that helps - feel free to ask more questions.

[Pam]

Welcome to our Forum, gwilliams!

How exciting to be starting to play Sims 3!  It is a rather complex game and you're coming in at a point that is actually near the end of the series.  Sims 3 was released in July 2009 and has had many expansions since then.  The 10th expansion is coming out next month.  I suggest you get comfortable with the base game before you purchase any expansions.  There's a lot to learn and adding expansion information will just make it harder.  You mentioned that you found Carl's site.  Do you mean Carl's Sims 3 Guide?  That's where the bulk of the information can be found.  This Forum is also great for asking questions about specific issues.  Carl made a page specifically for beginning Sims 3 players that you should look at.

As Pally suggested, the best way to start is to just choose one main thing to focus on.  This would generally be your Sim's Lifetime Wish.  If you create your own Sim, you'll get to choose it.  If you play a Sim already in town, the Sim will already have it.  For example, if your Sim wants to be a Rock Star, you would have him join the music career and learn the guitar skill.  For help with those specific issues, you could find them on the Guide and learn more about how to make it work.  Click here for Lifetime Wishes.  Click here for a walkthrough of the Rock Star Lifetime Wish. Click here for Guitar skill help.  You can do this same thing for all of the Lifetime Wishes, Careers, and Skills.  Don't try to make your Sim do everything.  By that I mean, have a career, be super popular, and have a big family all at once.  That's just too much to deal with even for a seasoned player much of the time. 

You're definitely in the right place to get all the help you'll ever need for Sims 3!  Use this thread you started to ask any of your beginning questions.  As you move along, you'll be able to use the specific boards and categories for things you need.  Have fun!

[DaveMc]

You should probably warn about the expansions and that they have to be added in sequence for all of them to work.
i forgot which ones in what order, but that was a pain and I nearly  put the game away to let the family figure out the problems on their own. 

... and that Late Night introduces Vampires to the story line without your permission. Most here hated that and got rid of it. Wasted money.

As for the how to play,
I would recommend creating a single Sim. Get used to that.
Move to a $1200 empty lot.
Go to the map and get a Partnership at the diner to cover paying the bills at the start. (collect money every Monday after 9am)
Build a simple house
One bedroom 5x5
Bathroom 3x3
Living Area 7x5

I'd just have the most basic items to start. Your Sim's needs will lead the learning curve so you can discover the game. That's most of the fun.

Try this out.
Bedroom: Bed, Dresser, Mirror
Bathroom: Toilet, Shower
Living Room: Refrigerator, 2 counters, Sink in one of the counters, Dining table and chairs.
Buy cheap and buy better stuff as you have the game money.

That's enough to cover the basic needs.
The Sliders (green bars) on the lower right tell you what the Sim needs.
Discovering the questions and looking of the answers is probably most of the real entertainment without realizing it.

Perhaps two helpful tips at the beginning,
buy 10 tomatoes at the market (sims are always hungry at the worst times) they are carried in the personal inventory so always available to quickly munch on.
I don't know if it was an upgrade I downloaded or if it's in the original game, but there should be some Apple and Lime trees to harvest food from at the Park, as well.

Playing the guitar in front of the theater is a good way to load up the Relationships tab with Sims to chat with on the phone and make friends.

[pallyndrome]

... and that Late Night introduces Vampires to the story line without your permission. Most here hated that and got rid of it. Wasted money.

I don't know if it was an upgrade I downloaded or if it's in the original game, but there should be some Apple and Lime trees to harvest food from at the Park, as well.

I thought a recent patch put a feature in the options that allows you to restrict vampires and other occult sims (can someone confirm?), in which case there would be no problem with late night. Make sure you're patched up to the latest patch.

Also, there are many parks in both sunset valley and riverview, so you may have to look around to find the one with plants you can harvest.

[MarianT]

gwilliams, On the menu where you have "Save and Exit," there is a category "Lessons." You can find lots of helpful information there while you're actually playing the game.

[DaveMc]

I thought a recent patch put a feature in the options that allows you to restrict vampires and other occult sims (can someone confirm?), in which case there would be no problem with late night. Make sure you're patched up to the latest patch.

Also, there are many parks in both sunset valley and riverview, so you may have to look around to find the one with plants you can harvest.

Hi.

They may have but since I took it out I wouldn't know. 

I'm assuming the base game and only has Sunset Valley to wonder around in.
I've gotten into the Bachelor house and swiped from that garden and from the apple trees in front of the Bunch house.
That's about all I can think of for free food.
Of course, there's always the Gym. A Sim can have just about everything but a bed there.
And if the Firehouse is part of a patch and not an expansion, they can live out of there, too.

A player can sprain a mouse finger doing that though. You're always busy with something the little people need.

(BTW, if anyone can confirm that vampire patch, I'd reinstall Late Nite)

[bijou243]

It was either the patch before Supernatural, or Supernatural itself.  Go to Options<Population and select the Supernaturals you want/ don't want to appear.  Keep in mind, it has no effect on pre-made Sims that come as Vampires.  Just doesn't make any more appear. 

[DaveMc]

Thanks.
back to waiting on G to ask "where is the", "why won't my Sim", "IT DIED !!"

So much fun in this silly game.

[Janna]

Hi and welcome to the forum.  I was in the same place a while back and am still learning a lot of how to do what and what is and isn't important, which varies from player to player.

You will get lots of great tips here.  Some like to play a created sim, one of the townies, but for me, and it is just me, I feel as if I am in the movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers and I am one of the body snatchers. 

I prefer to create my own sim (which you will see here mentioned as CAS), which can be fun, but also a bit (at least for me at first), overwhelming -- so many choices to make! 
One of the things I learned to do, for me at least, was to pick a career that allowed me to have more control over what my sim did as I learned to play. That meant self-employment.  With just the base game I chose the professional author. I didn't have to worry about my sim getting up in time for work, hunger, bladder, social and energy levels while getting ready for work.  I could get her up when I wanted, stay up as late as I wanted, not feel trapped.  I was able to send my sim to the bathroom as needed, have a meal when the hunger meter was just below halfway or when I choose.  Same with the others, I try to not let them get too low, no more than turning yellow. 

You can find free food in several places, in Sunset Valley (SV) there is the park and I think near the diner where you can always find free food, picnic baskets.  At the park there are trees that have fruit, apples and limes and you can go to the lakes, at least one of them, has some wild veggies you can get.  At some of the homes you can find fruits and veggies to use.  Get several of them, especially the apples and have them in your inventory so when your sim gets low on the hunger meter you can just have him/her eat an apple until you can get a meal. 

In RV you won't find any picnic baskets, at least I haven't ever, but lots of places to get free fruits and veggies from yards. 

As for a home, there are several options; you can build as was suggested here, buy a cheap home, unfurnished, and slowly add and update the necessary items.  The Guide has some good info on how to set up a new home, what is important.  If you are planning to get free meals from around the town, you can ignore the fridge.  Same with the shower, you can take a shower at the gym and not have to worry about it breaking down.  Your bed is the most important, I think.  You need a good one to have not just a good nights sleep, which affects your moodlets and thus the points you get, but also the amount of time your sim has to sleep.  A better quality bed means less time sleeping and more time to work or play.  Add what you want as you earn more money and can get better quality items. What you buy, add depends on your career -- author, medical, science have to have a computer.  If not in those fields, you can ignore the computer and spend money on what is best for your career. 

You can go to the library and read the skill books there, I think it is faster there than if you buy the books and read them at home.  Plus it keeps your sim from going stir crazy, and can let your sim socialize as they chat with someone.

As for money, you can earn it as self-employed, or work a job and have an income.  If you want to have some money at the beginning and don't mind cheating, there are two different ways to cheat and that is listed in the Guide under cheat tips.  If you want just a little bit of help as you get started, go with kaching, as you can get only $1,000 simelons (I just think of them as dollars, buck, makes it easier) or go for the motherlode and get $50,000.  Or don't cheat at all and earn it the hard way   

Riverview (RV) is a free game you get when you buy the base game.  I prefer it, but others don't like it, it is a matter what appeals to each individual.  And each has pluses and minuses; SV has a nice park for sims to go and meet RV has none.  The townies in SV are, in my opinion, either wacky or just mean.  RV has more laid back townies, but can be less exciting in some area. 

If you get interested in getting an expansion pack, or buy a store world, I would suggest reading about them here on the forum.   You can learn a lot about them and have a better idea if you want to get one or not. 

My suggestions to help in playing -- read the guide here and do some searchs when you have questions along with asking here.  I have found a lot of help not only asking here but in doing searchs (but I love to do research, anyhow) which can lead to old threads that has plenty of info. 

Have fun simming, and don't hesitate to ask questions, I have been here for over a year and I am still full of questions. 

And one other tip, as you read here you will read things mentioned, of abilities, or objects that you don't have.  It took me a while and some questions to realize that a lot of what is being mentioned are from expansion packs that I don't have.  If you are not sure, then ask away.