I bought the Sims 3 Ambitions a week or so ago, and have been testing out some of the new features and professions. This will be the first in a series of posts about the new expansion pack! For the first I’d like to give some advice and information about the Architecture Design profession.

First, you’ll need the Drafting table and the stool in order to ‘Research Architecture Design’ and practice painting. Use the phone to sign up for the profession just like any job. If you want to create a Sim specifically for this profession, I would suggest picking traits such as:

• Handy
• Artist
• Loves the Outdoors (I thought this may come in handy if he needs to visit the outside of people’s houses)
• Perfectionist

Are there any others you suggest? You can also give him the Lifetime Want of ‘Home Design Hotshot” and he’ll keep getting wishes regarding furthering his career.

How Do Architecture Jobs Work

Your Sim will have specific hours (8a-6p M-F) in which he can pick from several renovation requests marked on the map. You can read a description of what the client wants. Then the game will ask you if you’d like to begin now, or come back to it later. Choosing Begin now will take you to the client’s home and enter Build/Buy mode. You will be given a checklist of items to buy and place in the home, and a budget. I find this pretty neat; you get to use the client’s money, and they give you a pretty large budget. You get to pick styles for the furniture and decor of the room. You can place the new objects anywhere in the home, and delete or modify any furniture, walls, flooring, or landscape. So you can go above and beyond what the client demands.

Completion, Portfolio, Reviews

When you’re satisfied with your work and have completed the checklist items, you can submit the renovation for review. Your sim will call the client (who had vacated the lot) and they will come to review your work. They’ll give you a review and comments, your fee and perhaps a bonus. The game will ask you if you’d like to take a picture for your portfolio. The reviews tend to get better as your profession level increases. But I just received a negative review for a renovation I had to come back to. She said it was ‘cluttered’ and she couldn’t reach the new items (it was a large house and the renovation was for a larger pool area). I’m not sure why she couldn’t reach the area, I just had some foot lights and flowers around, but a clear path and steps in the pool.

Bugs

When you submit the renovation for approval, some buggy gameplay may occur. First, you will be taken out of build/buy mode which means the walls will suddenly become opaque. Then when the client enters the house again to review, your Sim should also be able to enter, and the camera view should be able to ‘enter’ and view the house. But I experienced a bug where the walls remained opaque, even though I could see inside the house if I zoomed in the camera so it ‘entered’ the house. It was very annoying since I tried to take a photo for my portfolio. I didn’t try leaving the lot and re-visiting since I wasn’t sure if the photo would still work for the portfolio.

Another bug I encountered was when the client never told me her ‘review’. (It was for the pool renovation mentioned above). All I saw was the completed checklist. There were no extra interactions on the client to make her review the renovation again. I later figured out that if you zoom out to Map view, you should be able to see the map icon again, and on it will be an option to submit the renovation for review. But when she did renovate it she gave me a negative review! I’m not sure if it had something to do with coming back later.

Tips

In the negative review the client said “You didn’t use all the budget! Do you think I want it to look cheap?” Although in another review it said “I’m glad you saved me so much money!” So I’m not sure if you should use all the budget or not. I would suggest spending it all if you have a wealthy client. To avoid the “cluttered” review, maybe avoid adding too many lights or flowers.

Let me know if you have any other tips or comments!

Well, I finally decided to write another post for my Sims blog! No, I didn’t forget about this blog, but I have been pretty busy with some new websites and family stuff! I actually haven’t played the Sims since my last post I believe, which is really quite good for me, since I can get addicted when a new expansion pack comes out. Unfortunately my parenting responsibilities prevent me from playing these days. But I hear that the next expansion pack for the Sims 3 came out recently… shipped June 1st? I’m checking prices now to see if it’s gone down: EA Store (available as a direct download!) and Best Buy are still $40. You can get it for slightly cheaper on Walmart ($38.54) or Amazon ($36.99) but you may have to pay for shipping.

Control Your Sim At Their Job!

This expansion pack seems pretty neat. The biggest new feature or gameplay change is being able to control your Sim at his job. You don’t have to sit and wait while your Sim goes off to work during the day. There are several new ‘professions’ to choose from in which you complete missions or tasks around town to get paid. Seems kind of like the World Adventures missions or jobs. I really like that aspect of the previous expansion pack, so I think I’ll like this new one. You can choose from: firefighter, private investigator, doctor, ghost hunter, stylist (did I miss any?). There are also new hobbies such as inventing, sculpting, and tattooing, which can earn Simoleons. Guess what you can invent? A ghost-capturing device used in the ghost hunter profession, or a time machine! You can sell your creations in a new consignment shop, and as with any skill-building hobby, your Sim won’t be very good or be able to build the fancier inventions until they build up their skill. The review at CNET seems to have a good intro/summary to the new features. It says you can choose to be ‘self-employed’ by earning Simoleans from Gardening, Fishing, Nectar-making from World Adventures, as well as the new hobbies. But I’m not sure if these ‘hobbies’ can actually bring in enough Simoleons to sustain a comfortable standard of living (will you have enough time for other things, or do you need to dedicate every spare moment to your profession?).

What do you think? Have you gotten the new expansion pack yet, or decided whether it was worth it?

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Boy, I’ve just wasted some time trying to install updates for EA Download Manager, Sims 3 base game, and Sims 3 World Adventures! Not too long ago, perhaps after the last Sims update, the EA Download manager would start opening every time I open the Sims 3 Launcher. That is really annoying. I read that the EA Download Manager is required to be installed in order to receive updates, but does it have to open up a window each time? When I play the Sims 3, I don’t want any other windows or programs open in the background to affect performance!

Errors During Updates

I started getting an error message: Error Unable to connect to EA download manager . Then there was an update for the manager, which I thought would fix the errors. Nope. Then there was an update available for the Sims 3, seen in the Updates tab of the Sims 3 Launcher. So I started that one. At one point the installer closed, so I opened the Launcher up again. This time it said the Sims 3 Base game was not compatible with the expansion pack version and needed to update. So I started to worry that the wrong update was applied, or didn’t finish completely and I may have to re-install the whole game!

Re-installing the EA Download Manager

I really wanted to make sure I had the latest, non-corrupt version of the Download Manager, so I uninstalled my current version (both a EA Download Manager and EA Download Manager UI, how annoying). I did a search and found a link to download it here. Just click on the EA Download Manager button down at the middle of the page. This is a 20 MB file, which is different from the version in the EADM folder in the Sims installation directory. So that installed fine.

Actual Updates to the Sims 3

So, once the EA Download Manager is installed and running, I ran the Sims 3 updates again. This time it ran an update for the Sims 3 base game. You would think the update to the base game would happen first, so you wouldn’t get that ‘Sims 3 Base game incompatible’ message. But I think everything installed ok.

• The Sims 3 World Adventures is now updated to version 2.4.7
• The Sims 3 base game is now updated to version 1.9.22

Processes Running During Sims 3 Launcher

Now I’ve closed both programs, but I still see the EADM process in the Windows Task manager. There’s also an EA Core Server Application running. I ended the download manager task and opened Sims 3 Launcher with no errors. So I wonder if it will work now without opening a new window for the EADM. Perhaps the EA Core Server is handling part of it now?

I’ve seen several large boulders while exploring tombs in Egypt and France, and my sim was unable to ‘clear’ or break through them like the piles of rubble. The message claimed that an ancient Chinese artifact or tool was required to break through them. So how do you obtain this ancient Chinese artifact?

Go to China and complete Adventures!

Of course the first thing you need to do is travel to China and start completing adventures! I’m not sure if they are random or go in order, but it took me quite a while until I found the one that claims to teach you the ‘ancient art of smashing boulders’. You will need to explore a tomb (the Temple of Heaven) that claims to be large and confusing, but I didn’t find it that hard actually. You will find Pangu’s Axe and be asked to return it to your contact. Do this (you may need to complete another task after that) but at some point they will let you keep it!

How do you use Pangu’s Axe?

Simply go to any of the large boulders or piles of rubble now and click on ‘Clear’. If your Sim is carrying the Axe in his inventory, he will hold it above his head while it starts to glow, then bring it down on the obstacle and it will instantly be cleared! Pretty cool!

I enjoy growing gardens and improving the gardening skill in the Sims 3. As your sim gains the gardening skill, they are able to plant and grow more and more things. There are also many special types of plants that can be found as seeds or earned. For example, you can find seeds for a Life Plant, Death Flower Bush, Money Tree, and Flame Fruit Bush. By completing opportunities, you can gain knowledge of several other types of plants: Eggplant, Cheese Plant, Steak Plant, and Burger Patty Plant. I’ve gotten all of these before. But now I’m currently on a challenge/opportunity to grow 10 Outstanding steaks, and in return I’ll gain access to the Omni Plant (at least that’s what it sounds like)! I’ve heard of it, but never seen the Omni plant or know what it grows. On a Gamespot forum, they claim it replicates anything you feed it from your inventory. You can ‘Feed’ it items when it’s mature. On the Sims Wiki, you can find the gardening skill necessary for each type of plant, prices, and more.

Update: My omni plants have replicated roasts, snails, and pomelos. I think you get about 4 for each, which means your 1 item you feed an omni plant is quadrupled. I was also able to replicate Life Plant and Flame Bush, but the death flower did not appear in the list when you select an item.

Omni Plants ready for harvest

I think there’s a problem with the Library Under the Sands adventure or quest in Egypt. I completed it for one sim, but then a different sim got the same quest, and no one answers the door at the house with the library in it. I can “Look in Window” and see someone in there, but not the person I’m supposed to talk to. I now have to talk to the same person to deliver a relic, and his icon is above the house, but he doesn’t answer the door. I found an article here that explains a possible work-around: GameFAQs – Library Under the Sands – Broken. It says that the owner of the house is a merchant and is constantly away from the house. It suggests going into Edit mode to add another Sim to the house who will be able to answer the door for you. I’m not sure if this will work, because I see someone in the house who isn’t answering the door. My Sim knocks on the door and an icon of the correct contact appears in the queue, as if he’s going to greet my Sim. But then the queue icon disappears, and my Sim is left standing on the porch waiting. I’ll try out the work-around to see if that helps. Otherwise you have to right-click on the quest to cancel it.

I got the Sims 3 World Adventures expansion pack for Christmas! It is fun so far! I picked a single-Sim family in Riverview and took her to Egypt. I completed some adventure quests, and worked through the biggest pyramid tomb and the Sphinx. Then I decided to create a sim perfect for adventuring: including the Adventurous, Brave, Loves the Outdoors, and Friendly traits. I sent her to Egypt and realized the tombs that the first sim completed are still completed! So we’ll only have to go through them once per neighborhood, and all the other Sims will be able to go right through? There are still relics, gems, and ancient coins to collect, but all of the hidden doors are opened and traps disabled (whatever the first sim completed). I thought it would be reset for each Sim or family who visits. I guess it’s kind of nice, since it may get old doing the same steps for each sim. If one sim releases a mummy, will it still be walking around for the next sim?

Lately I’ve noticed a lot of dirty dishes on some of the community lots –  at Central park and especially the pool:

Dirty Dishes at the pool

This has to be a bug! I tried searching the internet for why this happens and what to do about it. I found one article here: http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/72278.page which suggests entering build/buy mode in the lot and deleting the dishes or dragging them onto the trash can. But this didn’t seem to work. It also mentions bringing your Neat sims to the lot and have them clean up.  I did this, but I still had to manually tell him to clean up each plate. I brought the whole family over and everyone helped.  This just about took a whole Sim day to complete. There were some plates on the other side of the stone wall too! So when I went into Build mode on the lot (Edit Town– select the lot — Enter Build mode button), I added another trash can and moved the plates closer so the Sims didn’t have to walk as far.

Someone on the forum believes there is an automatic clean-up process on community lots, but only when it goes inactive for a certain amount of time. And this means none of the sims can enter the lot, and your camera view can’t even view the lot. I don’t think this is really feasible. I’m always zooming out into the full map mode, which shows the pool from far away. My sims may not visit a community lot for several sim days at a time, but it must be viewing the lots from the full neighborhood view and preventing the dishes from automatically disappearing. It’s so annoying, it has to be a bug! I don’t want my sims to have to clean up every time they are there, and the dishes are getting too out of hand to ignore!  They get the negative moodlet every time. Is there any way to hire a maid on community lots?

I was trying to view a free landscape designer, BBC Gardening Design, which requires the Shockwave Player. I must not have had the right version for Firefox, and it prompted me to install version 11. The automatic install failed, and I went to Adobe’s site for a manual install of Shockwave. But the landscape application said, “this application requires an Xtra (Shockwave 3D) that either does not exist or failed to initialize”. So I did some searching and finally came to a post that said I needed to download the FULL version of shockwave that includes more Xtras. Here’s the direct link for English; it has Win95 in the title but I hoped it still worked on Vista. Here’s an alternate downloads page for Shockwave players.  Turns out, there were still more Xtras that were missing when I tried it in Firefox! I decided to try the Slim version in Internet Explorer and guess what, it seems to work. Maybe I need to restart Firefox. Why don’t they just make the application in Silverlight, it seems much easier to install!!

Why is getting a friend to move in with you so difficult? My sim Melanie began a relationship with the maid, Ronny. They were good friends, so I advanced it to boyfriend/girlfriend status. I think this was when Melanie was a young adult, and who knows what age the maid was.  I moved her out of her parents’ house so she could go live with Ronny, and she has a wish to ‘Move in with Ronny’ but the option never becomes available. I can’t find where he lives in the neighborhood in order to merge the households manually, so I think he’s a ‘Townie’. Is this the reason they can’t move in together? Or perhaps he’s still a young adult while she’s an adult now, and he’s not allowed to move in yet. I’ve read on Yahoo Answers that you just need to do numerous romantic interactions to get the Move In option. I’ve done this before with Mortimer and Bella Goth and it worked. But I don’t think they should have to be in a romantic relationship in order to move in together; the Sims 2 game allowed the interaction as long as they were good friends, and it seemed so much easier. And it was very easy to make a Townie move in with you, as long as they were the right age. I did turn off aging so I could work on this issue, but maybe I have to wait until Ronny ages. How can I tell if he’s a young adult or adult?

Also, how are you supposed to know when you’re in a relationship with someone who’s much older than you? I wouldn’t want to get married to someone if they’ll soon become an elder and won’t be able to start a family.  Relationships without the Story Progression just seemed so much easier.  You knew what age everybody was. Along with the issues with disabling Story Progression, and I’m getting pretty annoyed with the bugs in this game!