Very very anti-climatic Mummy encounter

[PJSim]

I must say though, been to all three, and although of course I loved France, I have to say, so far, China has been my fav. I don't know if it's the scenary or what but it's BEAUTIFUL! I'm really looking forward to going back so I can really explore!  

I like all the locations, I think they're really well done. They all have a very different atmosphere with the colors and architecture and everything.
I do tend to prefer China, I guess because it has the most mountainous terrain. It's the same with Sunset Valley vs Riverview; Riverview is just too flat.

This probably comes from living in a country which is completely flat, anything just a little over sea level amazes me.

Does anyone else think the adventures in France are lame?  I feel like all I did was run around giving nectar and dinner to all the locals.

I had a fairly long one involving a haunted museum and putting a ghost to rest, I thought that was nice. It especially amused me when the Sim was carrying around the bones of some dead dude in his pocket.

I'm not taking the copper ones because I've never found any in China.

When you get those adventures to deliver collectibles they are tagged in map view. This is pretty sweet if it's something rare and valuable. As long as you don't make the delivery the tags stay so the Sim can pick up a lot of valuable stuff and keep the extras.

[Pam]

I really don't think there's any copper in China.  Those tags don't show up like they do for mercury.  I had gathered a lot of copper in Egypt, though, and when my Sim returned from China, I sent it off to be smelted and divided the 55 bars between my five travelers so they'll be prepared for their next visit to China.  I also plan to pick up more copper any time I'm in Egypt.  Did you know that you can send off gems and ore to be cut and smelted from the mailbox by the adventures board?  You don't have to wait until you go back home.

[PJSim]

I really don't think there's any copper in China.

Hmm, you could be right. I'm pretty sure my Sim got one of those copper adventures in China and didn't have to leave to complete it but now that i think about it, I think that copper came from a treasure chest in a tomb.
So maybe you have to go tomb raiding to find copper, very sneaky. I think I would just cancel those too.

Did you know that you can send off gems and ore to be cut and smelted from the mailbox by the adventures board?  You don't have to wait until you go back home.

Very cool.

[Nukapei]

After watching my martial artist fight 3 mummies in a row (in one room) and stomp them, I have to say it wouldn't have been much better if you'd fought. I was disappointed to see it's the same old fight sequence, but a little funny watching a mummy get put in a headlock.

I think they're slow to attack regardless, to give Sims who aren't living weapons a chance to get away

You're probably right about the reason EA made mummies so slow.  However, I've only had one encounter with a mummy, and I didn't find him very easy to defeat, despite the fact that my Sim was a level 9 in martial arts and a level 5 in athletics.  She had only two spars under her belt, though, so maybe that was it.  Still, it seemed kind of silly to me that you had to have so much so high in order to defeat a mummy.  Fortunately, he only knocked her out; no curse.  I do not want a mummy curse.  Nope, nope, not for me.  So my Sim is currently back in China, working her way up in Tournament, before she goes anywhere near Egypt again. 

[Pam]

I do not want a mummy curse.  Nope, nope, not for me.  So my Sim is currently back in China, working her way up in Tournament, before she goes anywhere near Egypt again. 

Hi Nukapei and welcome!

I'll probably have to get a mummy curse in the near future so I can answer questions about it.  But, seriously, the thought of it is disturbing.  I'll probably have to make a Sim I dislike and take him to Egypt.  I don't think I could do it with one of my likable Sims!

[bshag]

I have my little adventurous sim who has the snake charmer's basket.  She has finally gotten to the point of being able to give the snake a kiss, which is according to the book, also a way of getting rid of a mummy's curse.  I would hate to rely on this info for one of my favs so she is a brown belt in martial arts also.    There was so much wrong in the sims3 guide that I don't want to take a chance.

Speaking of the guide, has anyone been able to follow the guides to where the bugs and gems are located?  I ran all over China trying to find that dumb red bug to complete an opportunity and never could find the second bug.     The guide was wrong on where bugs were.   

[Nukapei]

Hi Nukapei and welcome!

I'll probably have to get a mummy curse in the near future so I can answer questions about it.  But, seriously, the thought of it is disturbing.  I'll probably have to make a Sim I dislike and take him to Egypt.  I don't think I could do it with one of my likable Sims!

Thanks!   

Although I'd appreciate any info on mummy curses (especially how to get rid of them), I'm not going to go out of my way to find out firsthand.  I know this sounds weird, but I find the whole thing a little disturbing.  I play the Sims because it's as parody of real life, but it's a light-hearted, easy-going parody of real life.  Even when a burglar breaks into your Sims' house, it's more annoying than scary because you know for a fact that the burglar isn't armed with anything more dangerous than a sack, and that the very worse he'll do is snag three or four of your Sims' big-ticket objects and get out of there.  A mummy curse that kills Sims if not treated, especially one so sadistic, is very far from real life, I'll admit.  It's still a little too CSI for me.  I'd rather my game resemble a sit-com.

I have my little adventurous sim who has the snake charmer's basket.  She has finally gotten to the point of being able to give the snake a kiss, which is according to the book, also a way of getting rid of a mummy's curse.  I would hate to rely on this info for one of my favs so she is a brown belt in martial arts also.    There was so much wrong in the sims3 guide that I don't want to take a chance.

Speaking of the guide, has anyone been able to follow the guides to where the bugs and gems are located?  I ran all over China trying to find that dumb red bug to complete an opportunity and never could find the second bug.     The guide was wrong on where bugs were.   

Those little hovering markers should show up, if it's related to an official Adventure.  Or maybe it just does that with rocks/minerals?  I haven't gotten to that one yet, I've only gotten as far as Pangu's Ax.

Those Prima guides are so far off of the reality, I don't waste my money on them anymore.  I don't know why they're so inaccurate, if the authors don't research the game as far as they should, or if they're given a beta version with significant changes made before it hits shelves.  I brought the nice hardback version of the Prima guide for the basegame, and I was looking at it last night, and I noticed that even some of the screenshots were off.  It was showing the Sims bin, in CAS, and all the Sims were looking front and center, not smiling, like it was for a mugshot or driver's license or something.  Not like now, where their personalities makes them have different expressions.

[Metropolis Man]

Those Prima guides are so far off of the reality, I don't waste my money on them anymore.  I don't know why they're so inaccurate, if the authors don't research the game as far as they should, or if they're given a beta version with significant changes made before it hits shelves.

I think that's exactly why they're so inaccurate — changes made later. The publisher has deadlines, and the game companies are on their own schedules and the two usually are very different. I've bought a few very good strategy guides — Rise of Nations comes to mind. But, they're the exception, not the norm.

[Nukapei]

I think that's exactly why they're so inaccurate — changes made later. The publisher has deadlines, and the game companies are on their own schedules and the two usually are very different. I've bought a few very good strategy guides — Rise of Nations comes to mind. But, they're the exception, not the norm.

I've brought very good strategy guides, as well.  But the more I think about it, the more I realize that those strategy guides that I've brought in the past that were good, were old.  My absolute favorite of all time was for Age of Empires -- a history-based strategy game that came out in 1997.  But the strategy guide had a complete walkthrough for all the campaigns, complete with screenshots, which made gameplay a lot less frustrating.  It even had a section where you could read about the actual historical events the game was based on.  Plus, it had a wit and humor a lot of guides lack.

[Pam]

There should have been tags to find the red bugs, like there are for rocks and minerals.  I've had that one and found the bugs easily in Map View.

Also, for the snake charming...  the Prima Guide says that kissing the COBRA will break the mummy's curse.  The basket starts with just a regular snake.  You have to pay $1,000 to have a Cobra in the basket (click the basket in your inventory to buy the Cobra).

[bshag]

Hey Pam...yeah she was supposed to get the second red bug and I moved the cursor to try and find another one and she missed getting the second bug.  I didn't know til after she got home...game whisked her home and then I found out she only had the one bug. 

I saw where she could buy a King Cobra but she's still too poor to buy it.  She doesn't even have enough to build a basement for her nectar maker.  Guess I'd better stay out of those tombs in Egypt til she gets more simeoleons. 

[wildredchild]

Thanks for that tip Pam!!

[sims96fan]

Sleeping in the Blessed Sarcophogus of the Kings is also mentioned as a cure.  I haven't tried it, but my Sims found enough Sarcophogus of the Kings fragments to finally construct one.  I guess the problem is you would need to have a vacation home in Egypt to put it in their house.  For now I put it in my Sims' household inventory.

[Bogie74]

Also, for the snake charming...  the Prima Guide says that kissing the COBRA will break the mummy's curse.  The basket starts with just a regular snake.  You have to pay $1,000 to have a Cobra in the basket (click the basket in your inventory to buy the Cobra).

That's SO WEIRD! Before the whole Lara/Harrison Sunset game went south, I had taken Lara to Egypt on several occassions. Everytime I turned around, there she was with that darned basket. She had no artist or music skills, and yet, she was able to charm a cobra in the basket, and get the kiss moodlet even though I did not pay $1000 to buy a cobra. It was just there! Now I'm wondering if that option to buy the cobra only shows up if the snake charm level is not high enough? She was even able to charm for tips, which came in handy when she was back in town.

[Pam]

Also, for the snake charming...  the Prima Guide says that kissing the COBRA will break the mummy's curse.  The basket starts with just a regular snake.  You have to pay $1,000 to have a Cobra in the basket (click the basket in your inventory to buy the Cobra).

That's SO WEIRD! Before the whole Lara/Harrison Sunset game went south, I had taken Lara to Egypt on several occassions. Everytime I turned around, there she was with that darned basket. She had no artist or music skills, and yet, she was able to charm a cobra in the basket, and get the kiss moodlet even though I did not pay $1000 to buy a cobra. It was just there! Now I'm wondering if that option to buy the cobra only shows up if the snake charm level is not high enough? She was even able to charm for tips, which came in handy when she was back in town.

Are you sure it was a cobra?  The snake the basket comes with is sort of green.  The cobra has the flared out head and markings on the back.  They can kiss both snakes if they get good enough, but I don't think the regular snake will break the curse.  I can't imagine that the game would just start out with a cobra in the basket.  Actually, I have a screenshot of kissing the cobra.