How to Be Great on the Sims the First Time You Play It
Install the Sims., Go on a tutorial., Find tutorials and guides online., Create your Sims or move in to an existing family., Don't worry too much about appearance., Customize your game in 'options'., Get a job., Use cheats., Enjoy your game.
Step-by-Step Guide
-
Step 1: Install the Sims.
There are currently four major Sims games out there:
The Sims, The Sims 2, The Sims 3 and the most recent and most expensive, The Sims
4.
That's not including all the expansion packs that you can get.
If you want to become a pro at the Sims, buy the original game without the expansion packs at first.
This makes everything much less complicated.
Be wise in which game you choose.
The Sims original is the first version and has a limited amount of things you can do compared to The Sims 2 and The Sims
3.
The Sims 4 is extremely expensive and it is best if you buy this one later on, if at all. -
Step 2: Go on a tutorial.
A tutorial is available in every Sims game.
To become a pro, it would be helpful to go on a tutorial first so you know everything you have to do in the game before actually playing it properly.
In the Sims original, you can find the tutorial very easily.
When you first go on the game there should be a house with a large arrow pointing on it.
This is the house of Bob Newbie, and his life is mostly a literal tutorial.
Play on this house and you will go on a step by step tutorial.
In the Sims 2, the tutorial is available on the starting screen.
If you open the 'options' menu then you should be able to find an option called 'tutorial'.
Click on this and you will find some friendly descendants of Bob Newbie who's life is a living tutorial.
In the Sims 3, immediately when you start playing there is a step by step tutorial on everything you need to know, and there is also a help option in the 'options' menu which gives you everything you need to know.
This is also true for the Sims
4. , Even before you purchase the game, there is an abundance of guides, youtube videos and blogs on the subject, if you really want to be a pro before you start the game.
There are also many LifeGuide Hub articles on the subject, such as this one. , Creating your Sim family is very time consuming so if you want to quickly get a family, move into an existing household by clicking on your desired house on the map and pressing 'play'.
Don't build your own house at first, it is very time consuming and you need more experience with building.
If you want to create a new family, for your first time, create as little amount of Sims as possible, without only creating one Sim, because having only one Sim is very dull.
At the start, its best to have two or three adult Sims.
That way you get more money coming in from jobs and you don't have to worry about getting the children to school until later, when you are more experienced.
In the Sims original, it is best to create Sims with personalities that are easy to manage.
Bump up their Neatness, and Outgoing points are a plus as well.
You very much want an Active Sim.
You don't need to worry too much about the Playful and Nice points, but make sure that your remaining points go mostly towards the Nice section.
Cancer is a good star sign to pick, as is Aries, Aquarius, and Scorpio, but you can choose to customise the personality points.
In the Sims 2, the star signs are still there so you follow along the same lines as the Sims 1, concentrating on the Neat, Active and Outgoing sections the most and the Playful section the least.
For your lifetime wish, the Family and Knowledge wishes are the easiest to achieve, and the Romance wish is the hardest to achieve (and your Sim will have a strong aversion to commitment).
In the Sims 3, the star signs are scrapped to make room for traits.
Try to choose good traits like Good, Friendly and Lucky.
The skill traits like Handyman, Green Thumb and Neat are extremely helpful and Workaholic and Ambitious (especially Workaholic) is a must for a super successful career.
Your lifetime wish depends on which traits you use, so be sure to look for specific combinations if you want specific lifetime wishes.
The same goes for the Sims
4. , In the beginning, don't go into advanced editor until you are more experienced because this makes everything more complicated.
In the Sims 1 there is a separate program for this that you definitely should not use until you are more knowledgeable.
Instead, use pre-made hairstyles, outfits and faces.
You can even choose a whole pre-made Sim or a random Sim if you want. , Some people like to keep free will on, but this can be annoying when your Sims are travelling around the house doing exactly what you don't want them to do.
In 'options' you can also turn on features to enhance your gaming experience and turn off options that make your computer slow.
This makes the game easier to play. , You need the money to succeed in the Sims.
In every game, jobs can be found by going on the computer or reading a newspaper.
In the Sims 3 and 4 you can even go to a workplace to have any job you want.
You will need certain skills to succeed in jobs.
Make sure your Sim has items bought from the build and buy section that can increase skills, such as an exercise machine, a chess board or a piano.
In later versions of the game you will also need a good relationship with your boss and co-workers, but Sims in the Sims 1 and 2 don't need to worry about this because they don't have a boss or co-workers.
Live frugally.
At the start, you will not have much money, so don't buy furniture that you don't need.
Delete second bathrooms and buy the second-cheapest sorts of furniture, wallpaper, doors and windows. , In every version of the game, there are cheats that you can use by pressing ctrl+shift+c and opening a cheat box.
Entering specific words in the cheat box and pressing 'enter' can make you rich, change your personality, kill your Sims and a whole host of other things.
Learn how to cheat in the Sims 1, 2, 3 or 4, depending on what game you have. , Eventually, as you become more and more experienced, you will become a real pro and learn how to do way more things on the game. -
Step 3: Find tutorials and guides online.
-
Step 4: Create your Sims or move in to an existing family.
-
Step 5: Don't worry too much about appearance.
-
Step 6: Customize your game in 'options'.
-
Step 7: Get a job.
-
Step 8: Use cheats.
-
Step 9: Enjoy your game.
Detailed Guide
There are currently four major Sims games out there:
The Sims, The Sims 2, The Sims 3 and the most recent and most expensive, The Sims
4.
That's not including all the expansion packs that you can get.
If you want to become a pro at the Sims, buy the original game without the expansion packs at first.
This makes everything much less complicated.
Be wise in which game you choose.
The Sims original is the first version and has a limited amount of things you can do compared to The Sims 2 and The Sims
3.
The Sims 4 is extremely expensive and it is best if you buy this one later on, if at all.
A tutorial is available in every Sims game.
To become a pro, it would be helpful to go on a tutorial first so you know everything you have to do in the game before actually playing it properly.
In the Sims original, you can find the tutorial very easily.
When you first go on the game there should be a house with a large arrow pointing on it.
This is the house of Bob Newbie, and his life is mostly a literal tutorial.
Play on this house and you will go on a step by step tutorial.
In the Sims 2, the tutorial is available on the starting screen.
If you open the 'options' menu then you should be able to find an option called 'tutorial'.
Click on this and you will find some friendly descendants of Bob Newbie who's life is a living tutorial.
In the Sims 3, immediately when you start playing there is a step by step tutorial on everything you need to know, and there is also a help option in the 'options' menu which gives you everything you need to know.
This is also true for the Sims
4. , Even before you purchase the game, there is an abundance of guides, youtube videos and blogs on the subject, if you really want to be a pro before you start the game.
There are also many LifeGuide Hub articles on the subject, such as this one. , Creating your Sim family is very time consuming so if you want to quickly get a family, move into an existing household by clicking on your desired house on the map and pressing 'play'.
Don't build your own house at first, it is very time consuming and you need more experience with building.
If you want to create a new family, for your first time, create as little amount of Sims as possible, without only creating one Sim, because having only one Sim is very dull.
At the start, its best to have two or three adult Sims.
That way you get more money coming in from jobs and you don't have to worry about getting the children to school until later, when you are more experienced.
In the Sims original, it is best to create Sims with personalities that are easy to manage.
Bump up their Neatness, and Outgoing points are a plus as well.
You very much want an Active Sim.
You don't need to worry too much about the Playful and Nice points, but make sure that your remaining points go mostly towards the Nice section.
Cancer is a good star sign to pick, as is Aries, Aquarius, and Scorpio, but you can choose to customise the personality points.
In the Sims 2, the star signs are still there so you follow along the same lines as the Sims 1, concentrating on the Neat, Active and Outgoing sections the most and the Playful section the least.
For your lifetime wish, the Family and Knowledge wishes are the easiest to achieve, and the Romance wish is the hardest to achieve (and your Sim will have a strong aversion to commitment).
In the Sims 3, the star signs are scrapped to make room for traits.
Try to choose good traits like Good, Friendly and Lucky.
The skill traits like Handyman, Green Thumb and Neat are extremely helpful and Workaholic and Ambitious (especially Workaholic) is a must for a super successful career.
Your lifetime wish depends on which traits you use, so be sure to look for specific combinations if you want specific lifetime wishes.
The same goes for the Sims
4. , In the beginning, don't go into advanced editor until you are more experienced because this makes everything more complicated.
In the Sims 1 there is a separate program for this that you definitely should not use until you are more knowledgeable.
Instead, use pre-made hairstyles, outfits and faces.
You can even choose a whole pre-made Sim or a random Sim if you want. , Some people like to keep free will on, but this can be annoying when your Sims are travelling around the house doing exactly what you don't want them to do.
In 'options' you can also turn on features to enhance your gaming experience and turn off options that make your computer slow.
This makes the game easier to play. , You need the money to succeed in the Sims.
In every game, jobs can be found by going on the computer or reading a newspaper.
In the Sims 3 and 4 you can even go to a workplace to have any job you want.
You will need certain skills to succeed in jobs.
Make sure your Sim has items bought from the build and buy section that can increase skills, such as an exercise machine, a chess board or a piano.
In later versions of the game you will also need a good relationship with your boss and co-workers, but Sims in the Sims 1 and 2 don't need to worry about this because they don't have a boss or co-workers.
Live frugally.
At the start, you will not have much money, so don't buy furniture that you don't need.
Delete second bathrooms and buy the second-cheapest sorts of furniture, wallpaper, doors and windows. , In every version of the game, there are cheats that you can use by pressing ctrl+shift+c and opening a cheat box.
Entering specific words in the cheat box and pressing 'enter' can make you rich, change your personality, kill your Sims and a whole host of other things.
Learn how to cheat in the Sims 1, 2, 3 or 4, depending on what game you have. , Eventually, as you become more and more experienced, you will become a real pro and learn how to do way more things on the game.
About the Author
Natalie Hall
Writer and educator with a focus on practical DIY projects knowledge.
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