No option to make widgets

[SimPoseyYum]

Last night, I finally starting exploring how Inventing works and have already hit a stumbling block.  

I tried Inventing with two different Sims.  Sim A had no Inventing experience, bought the table, approached it and was offered a Dabble... option.  She dabbled a bit and got some Widgets.  The next several approaches allowed her to create more Widgets.  Eventually, she was given an option to Invent.  She kept plugging along and ended up with a bunch of Smashers in her inventory and an option to Invent....  So far, so good.

Sim B, on the other hand, was not so lucky.  Before buying the table, she read Inventing books and leveled up to 3.  When she approached the table, she was only given the option to Invent.  Not Invent..., where she could choose.  Just Invent.  She invented several times (and the inventions blew up in her face several times  ).  Sim A never had things blow up on her.  Sim B kept plugging along but nothing changed for her.  Eventually, she read all the Inventing books and got her level to 10.  And still, nothing was offered to her except Invent.  And nothing has ever gone into her inventory.  She's had wishes to make specific things (Harvester, Time Machine) but, obviously, she can't comply.

I'm confused.  Please help me understand if I have A) missed something, B) done something wrong or C) been hit with a bug/glitch.  Thanks!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As a side note, I was also exploring Martial Arts and had a similar issue.  Sim B is a level 10 MA but never got an option to make Space Rocks out of Space Boards, whereas Sim A (level 8ish MA) could barely carry all the rocks she created.  I think I figured this one out, though.  Sim A completed the Timber Challenge whereas Sim B did not.  Was that the problem?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Update:  More testing.  Let's see if I have a better understanding:  "Invent" means she keeps goofing around until she stumbles on a new item.  After discovering it, she can then Make... one or more of them.  Could it be, then, that Sim B reached level 10 via book-learning but, since she had no real practical hands-on experience, she couldn't actually make anything?  And, could it be that Sim A was just extraordinarily lucky that nothing ever blew up?

I guess that, since things went so smoothly with Sim A, I assumed that was the norm.  Perhaps Sim B's experience is actually more typical.

I just started Sim C.  No book learning, just all hands on.  She caught fire several times but made some nifty inventions.  She was just about to start learning about detonation (placed the fuse) when the game crashed .  I'll keep trying.

[BellaClo]

Your updated part is correct.
Dabble = when a Sim has no skill points
Invent = well, what it means
Make = make a specific items, your Sim need to have invented it before.
Skill books = raise only the skill level but your Sim still needs to invent the stuff by himself on the workbench.

Higher skill level means more complicated inventions can be discovered when inventing on the bench.
Inventing skill is also related to Handiness. It's possible that a higher handiness level (and/or the Handy trait) helps reducing the explosions.

For MA, again, you figured it out. It's the challenge that allows your Sim to spawn gems when they break space rocks. For the board breaker, start with the easiest type of board. When the Sim can break a pile of 5, you can move to a more difficult board, and so on up to space rocks. I think the order is Foam -> Balsa -> Oak ->Rock -> Space rock (no pile for this one). The Timber challenge only counts broken boards of oak or higher material.

[SimPoseyYum]

Thanks for the confirmations and additional information, BellaClo!  Much appreciated!

[Hosfac]

It's possible that a higher handiness level (and/or the Handy trait) helps reducing the explosions.

An interesting theory!  I have noticed that some sims blow themselves up more often than others do (while inventing and detonating both), so it's entirely possible that this is behind it.  Handiness is one of the skills that I find more useful than most, so I tend to train it early on.  I may have to investigate this further...

[imaginepageant]

I'm having the same issue and I didn't really find resolution in the previous discussion in this thread.  Hoping someone can help me.

I've had three different Sims, all with zero inventing skill points, use the Dabble option on the workbench, and immediately after earning their first skill point, they learned how to make a widget.  No problem.

Then I have a third Sim, Courtney, who took an inventing class and read one inventing book before using the workbench; she never had the Dabble option, only the Invent option, and she still hasn't learned how to make anything, despite having her use the workbench for several hours each day for the last game-week, and despite her now having five inventing skill points.  For what it's worth, she's never gotten electrocuted or blown up anything while using the workbench, and she has five handiness skill points (more than two of the Sims mentioned above).

Going by this chart, if I'm interpreting it correctly, Courtney should be able to make everything up to the Localized Static Tester, seeing as she's at skill level five now.  Yet, she can't make anything.  This seems like a glitch to me, not just a "some Sims invent faster than others" thing.

I've installed the latest patch.  I've used the resetsim cheat on Courtney.  I've bought a new workbench.  Nothing seems to help.

[kiko94]

I have, latest patch, My sim Leonardo Have level 10 skill in inventing, he got it while reading in the library (in my story) , of course dabbling wasn't an option he directly got the invant option, since dabbling is for those with 0 skill point only, now he had some invantion pop up (pretty quickly) including time machine, miner, harvester, (he don't have all widgets and toys yet) but he can make simbots already