It's been nearly five years. We've suffered a delay, teaser trailers, and curious screenshots since then, all in anticipation for this moment.
Finally: The Sims 3 has arrived!
The game may have changed dramatically, but our skills at managing our virtual lives have not. (Our real lives, well... ah, never mind.) Since 2004, you have been able to count on IGN for all the information you need regarding all things Sims. With the release of The Sims 3, that tradition continues, as you have come across the most comprehensive guide on the Internet.
Remember that at its base, The Sims 3 is a robust strategic simulation game. There are multiple paths to doing almost anything, and infinite measures of "success" depending on your own goals and ambitions toward testing the Sims 3 engine.
In this The Sims 3 strategy guide, you'll find...
- CREATING SIMS // Playing with only the Sims that shipped with the game can be a drag. Check out this section to see how to build an original Sim from the ground up!
- WALKTHROUGH // See how Seth and Holly Schultz live their virtual lives, growing up and growing old in the city of Sunset Valley!
- OTHER ACTIVITIES // The walkthrough can't cover everything in the world of The Sims 3. This section will fill in the holes!
- CONSTRUCTION // The Sims 3 features a house design tool more powerful than ever before. This section will show you how to, literally, build a house and a community lot from the ground up!
- SKILLS // A Sim's personality may determine how he acts and reacts to the world, but his skills are what get him ahead in his professional career. This section will give you a full rundown of all the skills, how to get them, what they do, and how valuable they are to you.
- REFERENCE // This section reveals lists of information for various aspects of the game, for advanced players who look to pull the most efficiency out of their Sims' lives!
- Q & A // A final section for miscellaneous information, you'll see all the random questions that can pop up while playing the game that aren't covered elsewhere!
Cheat: Cheat List
During gameplay, press CTRL+SHIFT+C (CTRL+SHIFT+WindowsKey+C for Vista) to bring up the cheats console. Enter the codes below for the desired effect.
- constrainFloorElevation [true/false] - Force terrain adjustments regardless of objects, Sims, and other structures
- enableLlamas - Enables llamas, obviously
- jokePlease - Summon a joke
- hideHeadlineEffects [on/off] - Hide all meters and effects
- quit - Quit the game
- help - Lists all available commands
- slowMotionViz [x] - Slow motion, where [x] is 0-8 (0 is normal)
- resetSim [x] - Resets the named Sim with neutral motives, no moodlets, and teleports Sim back home where [x] is first and last name
- fps [on/off] - Toggles frames per second in upper right of HUD
- fadeObjects [on/off] - Toggles object fade when camera zooms
- testingcheatsenabled - Turns on Testing Cheats (See Below)
- disableSnappingToSlotsOnAlt [on/off] - Hold Alt to avoid object snap when toggled
- kaching - While on the lot, this gives you $1,000
- motherlode - While on the lot, this gives you $50,000
- moveobjects on/off - Move anything (including Sims) in your Buy/Build mode
- familyFunds [x][y] - Give money to a family, where [x] is the family's last name and [y] is the amount
- fullscreen [on/off] - Toggles windowed mode
- unlockOutfits [on/off] - Unlocks outfits in CAS (Create a Sim) mode. Note: Must be enabled before entering CAS
Updates by NoteworthyMalific and lisanena
- Submitted by: SIMMYCLAY
Cheat: Using the "testingcheatsenabled" Command
This testingcheatsenabled cheat allows you to do several useful things when used properly. First, hold CTRL+SHIFT+C (CTRL+SHIFT+WindowsKey+C for Vista) and enter this code:testingcheatsenabled true
Now, hold SHIFT and click your letterbox. This will provide you with these options:
- Make All Happy
- Force Visitor
- Set Career
- Set level
You may also hold SHIFT and click on Sims to get these options:
- Add Sim to House
- Modify Sim Traits
- Force Aging
In Ground View mode, hold SHIFT and click a spot and your Sim will teleport to it.
You can also click and drag your Sims' need bars to full. SHIFT-click the mailbox and select Make Needs Static to keep the max level until you leave the game. (Note: if you SHIFT-click the mailbox and it says Make Needs Dynamic, select that. SHIFT-Click the mailbox again and it will say Make Needs Static) This must be repeated each time you re-enter the game. But you only have to do it once, as it will work for all of the Sims in the household.
Hold SHIFT and click a Sim's workspace to do the following:
- Force Event
- Force Events
- Force Opportunity
Submitted by Ben Morrissey, Reynolds, zriseon3, Anonymous and pillsen
Hint: Cooking Skill Exploit
Note: This glitch requires a TV with a cooking channel and a video game system. First, have one Sim sit down and watch TV. Switch the TV over to the cooking channel so that the Sim can start earning its skill point. Now, have a second Sim go over and start playing video games. You should now notice that although the TV is displaying video games, the first Sim still has the skill meter above its head! Simply allow this Sim to sit there until it decides to go do another activity on its own. After that, the skill meter should stay above its head until you start another cooking skill activity. As an added bonus, you can train two skill points at once! i.e., Go work out and both the athletic and cooking skills will continue to rise.
Addition: This also works with the Fishing Skill and the Gardening Skill provided you have a TV with those capabilities.
- Submitted by: pianoman674
Cheat: Force Twins
Bring up the cheat console (See above cheats), click on a pregnant Sim to control it, then enter this code in the console to have twins: forcetwins
- Submitted by: thebanana
Easter Egg: Painting Spore and More
When your Sim finally reaches the top level in painting, they begin to paint masterpieces. Look at the paintings for some nice suprises. One is an image of a Spore creature.
- Submitted by: naughtygamergirl
Hint: Guitarfreaks Glitch
If you want your Sim to master the guitar skill and learn all of the songs, Don't just play the guitar to reach level 10 because you want be able to learn new songs from books.To learn the new songs just reach level 5 in the guitar skill, then put a level 5 book in your sims inventory and click on the guitar and select new song (to learn it).When you reach level 6, do the same thing again for level 6 books. Keep repeating this process until you reach level 10 and your Sim will now know every song you've taught it.- Submitted by: Bircan
Hint: Mysterious Mr. Gnome
If on one of you sim travels you happen to find a Mysterious Mr. Gnome, DO NOT SELL HIM!!!!! Apart from being a very valuable item, he has some entertaining qualities. When you go to sleep at night he will move... not when you're watching of course but if you kick him and stand him up again he will change positions.
- Submitted by: Anonymous