Deep Sea Diver LTW

[Blue Rose]

Okay, I'm trying to complete the Deep Sea Diver LTW, which basically says my sims have to earn 40K in selling diving collectables, but I'm nearly at the end of their YA stage, and they only made it to 11K. So, ultimately, I want to know if there are any real tips for making some serious dough in the career? Should I just have them fight off sharks more often and hope they pop out shark teeth (which hopefully would be worth something, this second sharktooth I got was worth nothing)?

[Aspen]

This was the 1st LTW I attempted when I got IP- but like you, I was having a hard time with the cash. The gatherer trait and a collection finder LTR might help, and Steel Lung LTR will help you dive more,  but I think it's going to come down to playing the consingment store game, and Im quite terrible at that part of TS3. The shark's teeth are worth $1,685 - so maybe a brave trait and tons of fish in the inventory might be a faster route- or maybe extend your sims lifespan?

[Blue Rose]

Well, it isn't hard to trigger sharks, as they appear a lot in Mermaid's Grotto (and I can always save before any attempt to fight with one). I was just curious if anyone else had any tips/tricks to increase money flow.

EDIT: Thanks for the help, though! If things don't work out with this sim, I'll try it again maybe with better traits.

[Turoskel]

When I was diving for a different lifetime wish I got lucky with a few seahorses in Pearl's Deep, those are pretty good money.

I'm just wondering what counts for collectibles, is it just shells and fish? what about things found in the chests? or the mariner gnomes, I found several of those which go for around 1000, my sim was a self employed diver but I didn't really pay enough attention to what counted towards his work earnings and what didn't, I did notice any shells found on land counted, I never tested if fish caught the old fashioned way did though.

To me it seemed to be fairly easy money especially as the chests reset every so many days, if the gems and metals in them counted that might be a help, especially some of those large rare metal ingots.

[Blue Rose]

In my experience, treasure chest goodies don't seem to give much. Shark teeth can range for prices, but I've seen them go at a whopping $2000 before, but due to the whole "got to beat it out of a shark" deal, that's kind of a hassle for it's worth.

Underwater-only fish/critters seem to give a lot ($300-500), but I see mostly regular fish so it's not as frequent as it should be. I have no experience with Consignment store places, so I'm not sure if they really provide better results if you sell your stuff there.

[Pam]

Unfortunately, the items in the chests don't count toward the LTW.  Only fish and seashells.  Octopus and squid are worth a lot of money ($500 to $800).  My Sim never found a seahorse.  I thought maybe it had to do with her fishing skill not being high enough to find a seahorse.  Even the money from the jobs at the Bistro and Science Center don't count toward the $40,000. 

Definitely use the Consignment Store to sell the fish.  You can get up to double the value when you put it in the Consignment Store.  Seashells just have to be sold from the inventory.

[LivvieLove]

I'm in everyone's boat here on trying to figure out how to make this lifetime wish happen. I've had multiple Sims have the wish... but let me tell you how hard it is to complete this wish and have your Sim have a life. My Sim married Teodor Medina (not sure if that's the right spelling) and started a mini-legacy with him, and they've had children and he hasn't had time to really go diving though he tries to snorkel a little every day (which varies in what he gets).
Well now, two days from elder he has only racked up a whopping $2000. I know Lifetime wishes should be challenging, but I feel this one ices the cake on challenges.
After seeing his dilemma and sending him to get a tattoo (for a wish, and since I know it resets his aging a bit as I'm not playing completely with the rules of a legacy). Now I've started a clean file with one Sim and I'm trying to see how long it takes me to complete this Lifetime wish. She doesn't have a life outside of her houseboat parked over dive spots. She only made one friend (the consignment shop owner) and she's still not even breaking $5000 at halfway through her young adulthood.

Some tips I found for some quicker money is through some of the Diving Special Requirements. Like Snorkel for 40 hours to get more collectables and then collect so many shells to get shells that are worth more. That has helped me, but at the same time I also found I got a LOT more gems and precious metals than actual shells.

I'm curious though, my Sim often rolls wishes to "Get Diving Work at ______" (City Hall, Bistro, Science) and it always shows up like it's a wish that counts towards your Lifetime Wish. So I wonder if maybe it was supposed to count towards the lifetime wish... otherwise I don't see much purpose besides leveling the Diver career. I'll keep running my test save and see what happens!

[Pam]

@LivvieLove:

What is the value of the fish your Sim is catching while diving?  Do you get octopus and squid?  I'm wondering if higher levels of the fishing skill help find the more expensive fish.  Are you using the Collection Helper to find the fish and seashells?  My Sim did complete the LTW, but I don't know how long it took.  I had extended the young adult life phase, so she had plenty of time without aging too much for a family once it was finished. 

[LivvieLove]

Pam: The Octopi and Squid range between 500-800 roughly (I'm pretty sure it's averaged across the board). My Sim has no fishing level. I *just* got the collection helper in my game last night and it's helped quite a bit! However I found that I just let my Sim Snorkel all day and I cash in at least $500 in seashells for the LTW (she does have both the Skill Challenges that involve Snorkeling and SeaShell hunting). The Eels are the best and I'm finding a ton of them at the Pearls Deep Spot (maybe 2 a day) which racks up to be about $2000 from just the Eels assuming the consignment store sells them high.

Right now I'm at about $13000 in with a few days left to her YA lifestage on normal aging. I'm a little upset that I'm only this far considering my Sim lives, breathes and eats for her LTW. Usually I find other LTWs can be achieved WHILE letting your Sim have a life and other things involved besides that LTW... this one seems to be the exception (at least on normal aging). I guess I'm counting my happy stars that I love playing with long lifespans after messing around with one or two fairy families.
I'm still searching for any kind of an exploit that might make this easier for others or if it's really just going to be an insane amount of time and effort for this LTW to be achieved.

Edit to say: I've completed the LTW. My Sim completed it 2 days after aging to adult. After hitting $20000 and maxing the diving skill the money just seemed to pour in. Eels were my best friend during this, as they would net me over $1000 every time at the consignment store and in my save they were actually pretty common. I'd like to run another test of this and try to have a Sim that wants to do other things as well as complete this lifetime wish and see how long it takes.

[Pam]

I've run into Lifetime Wishes that are much worse than this one.  I couldn't get the Canine Companion to complete itself before my Sim aged to Elder.  When I write walkthroughs for Carl's Guide, I need for the LTW to be completed before reaching Elder.  So, for me, the age your Sim reached it the Deep Sea Diver LTW is pretty good.  I'll be writing this walkthrough before too much longer. 

[Turoskel]

I'm currently trying this LTW but my sim is a mermaid, I put the sim I made for great explorer in the game, cheated the islands and got the happiness points, made her a mermaid and changed her LTW then saved her household to the family bin as you cannot save mermaids to the sim bin, then started a new game.

I admit it is an advantage having level 10 diving from the start, you can go straight to Pearls Deep and get the better fish such as eels, end of week two and she is over half way there with a boyfriend but he's pretty much the extent of her social life, I did this as much to try out mermaids as the LTW but I can imagine it will be much slower going if she wasn't. Being able to stay in the water all day helps too, she can eat kelp underwater so hunger isn't a problem, it's just when she gets tired she tends to leave or it gets very late and the fish stop spawning.

I'll have to try it without being a mermaid sometime to see how much harder it is.

[LivvieLove]

To be honest, the speed of the money only really started to pick up when two things happened (I say two as they happened around the same time and I can't determine if one is better than the other):
1. My Sim completed all of her Diving Skill Challenges.
2. My Sim was able to dive at Pearl's Deep.

Both have great advantages. A good LTR for this (besides steel lungs) would probably be the Consignment one to help boost the price of your fish being sold as the Eels were my lifesaver giving me $1,500 per fish on a good day at the Consignment store.