Tips and Tricks

[imported_debslee]

I have only been playing TSO/EA Land for almost a year now and I know that there are things out there that I dont know about in the game. So, I thought it might be nice for those of you who have played longer or who are founders, to maybe post some tips and tricks about the game.
For instance two things I have learnt this week -

1. Allowing 5 daily newspapers on your lot stops the Newspaper girl delivering (that I thought was really kewl).

2. Never lock your highest skill lock. The lowest skills decay fastest.

Please dont make this a discussion thread, and comment on each others tip/trick, just type in a useful tip or trick and move along.

 

[jammybob]

<blockquote><hr>

I have only been playing TSO/EA Land for almost a year now and I know that there are things out there that I dont know about in the game. So, I thought it might be nice for those of you who have played longer or who are founders, to maybe post some tips and tricks about the game.
For instance two things I have learnt this week -

1. Allowing 5 daily newspapers on your lot stops the Newspaper girl delivering (that I thought was really kewl).

2. Never lock your highest skill lock. The lowest skills decay fastest.

Please dont make this a discussion thread, and comment on each others tip/trick, just type in a useful tip or trick and move along.

[/ QUOTE ]

disagree totally on your number 2, but no discussion

my tip would be to trap a newspaper (or 5) or a dirty plate somewhere where the maid cant reach it, she will stay all day to clean up for you

 

[Guest]

I relearned one just recently. It has to do with writing outside of the bubble that pops up whrn you talk. You type something in, hit the spacebar about 40 times and then type something else. Looks like the words are suspended in the air.

 

[NightFlyer]

The Ur-ban Trash Can never breaks and never needs emptying. Unlike the Junk Genie Trash Compactor.

 

[Guest]

Burgers fill up your hunger nearly to the max (with max cooking), only cost 2 bucks per plate of 6.

Instead of choosing "clean up" afterwards (then the sim puts just the one plate in the trash compactor), choose "carry" on all the dirty burger plates and when you have them all stacked up in your hand, click on the dishwasher "wash dishes".

 

[TKSpeedy1]

<blockquote><hr>

I have only been playing TSO/EA Land for almost a year now and I know that there are things out there that I dont know about in the game. So, I thought it might be nice for those of you who have played longer or who are founders, to maybe post some tips and tricks about the game.
For instance two things I have learnt this week -

1. Allowing 5 daily newspapers on your lot stops the Newspaper girl delivering (that I thought was really kewl).

2. Never lock your highest skill lock. The lowest skills decay fastest.

Please dont make this a discussion thread, and comment on each others tip/trick, just type in a useful tip or trick and move along.

[/ QUOTE ]

I never understood #2, but not discussing....Umm...only thing I can think of at the moment is rose bushes in build mode give outdoor room score and don't need watering. (Although on the lot I'm currently on, it's still not maxed, but that's a whole nother story.....) Oh, and I"m not sure about anyone else, but on my lots anyway, room score depends on where you place an object in a room. I've had lousy room score in a room with an item that has a score of 10, moved it and score went up. Also, I noticed in at least one of my lots that when I enter a room, if I have a light in it, I can't see the floor..but if I take the light out, I can see the floor. Not sure if it's a fluke or what.

 

[imported_Shirl1211]

<blockquote><hr>

I have only been playing TSO/EA Land for almost a year now and I know that there are things out there that I dont know about in the game. So, I thought it might be nice for those of you who have played longer or who are founders, to maybe post some tips and tricks about the game.
For instance two things I have learnt this week -

1. Allowing 5 daily newspapers on your lot stops the Newspaper girl delivering (that I thought was really kewl).

2. Never lock your highest skill lock. The lowest skills decay fastest.

Please dont make this a discussion thread, and comment on each others tip/trick, just type in a useful tip or trick and move along.

[/ QUOTE ]



#2 is debatable. The lower skills may decay faster but the also build up faster when you skill thim. When you get up around 10 on a skill it slows down drastically . Its a tuff choice.

 

[Guest]

Hit your backspace key and then the enter key and you will have a blank bubble.

(Silly....I know)

 

[Guest]

For the newbies in the bot factory. When your trying to get a tool for a machine that has broken down, look what hand it ends up in. If it's the left hand, have a bbq handy cuz you have a fish. If it's the right hand than it's the correct tool.

Hope this will save you time. Have fun!!

 

[Rosebush3333]

1. Whacketball targets or rugs in front of the shower will keep puddles away.

2. Whacketball targets lined up in front of the cannon eliminate the ash piles while leaving the cannonballs behind, far less cleanup.

3. Sitting on a crafted blue ball keeps fun from falling too low while skilling.

4. The long green sofa keeps energy from falling too low while sitting on it skilling.

5. Sleepwalking locks energy and social. Get in a non-vibrating bed and block your exit. Queue your sim to do an action such as shower, or even 'go here' point on the floor. Sim will sit up and fuss - ignore. When sim (yes sim) lays back down pick up and move the object blocking them from getting out of the bed. Wait, may take a moment, sim will sit back up and fuss again then lay back down and then pop back up and be sleepwalking. Things such as stereos, pianos, guitars, tv's weight benches, someone using a blue ball, computers and such will wake your sim so avoid those. Crafted wall speakers do not wake them. Self-click to choose 'wake up' when you want to interact with others, otherwise you can't do many interactions with another, can still serenade though.

Can't think of others at the moment, still early

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

I have only been playing TSO/EA Land for almost a year now and I know that there are things out there that I dont know about in the game. So, I thought it might be nice for those of you who have played longer or who are founders, to maybe post some tips and tricks about the game.
For instance two things I have learnt this week -

1. Allowing 5 daily newspapers on your lot stops the Newspaper girl delivering (that I thought was really kewl).

2. Never lock your highest skill lock. The lowest skills decay fastest.

Please dont make this a discussion thread, and comment on each others tip/trick, just type in a useful tip or trick and move along.

[/ QUOTE ]

Watch it with the 5 newspapers though because left out they will cause the whole room score to go red, red, red..assuming you don't have a maid who will clean them up anyway.

 

[philw1]

1. Always hide when building to keep green

2. set up your kitchen fridge/blender/stove/counter for fastest cooking

3. Mystic trees with leaves but no fruit give you fun and comfort faster than those bearing fruit

4. dismiss maid/gardener/repairman when they r done and just standing around to keep costs down

 

[Guest]

If you have a sim with very little cooking skills the silver refrigerator will actually fill the hunger levels way more than the more expensive black refrigerator. I'm not sure if this is also true of the matching silver stove as well or not.

 

[Guest]

If you eat only Salad off of the buffet your energy level won't decrease but if you eat anything else it will.

 

[imported_CherryBomb]

<blockquote><hr>

Watch it with the 5 newspapers though because left out they will cause the whole room score to go red, red, red..assuming you don't have a maid who will clean them up anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's why you need to put the newspapers up in the attic. Alongside the broken neon paintings.

Oh, and if you ever want to know what time it is in EA Land, just look at a clock. The minute hand points to the hour in the game. (You just have to remember whether even hours or odd ones = AM or PM in game time for your time zone.)


CherryBomb

 

[Guest]

this works great for store owners that are alone a lot

while playing chess, as someone is leaving your property, clik them and compliment them several times, so as they leave you are still complimenting, your sim will jump up, click your chess table and it will say join, so then, you can join anytime and get one person social from playing chess
it resets once your house closes though, so have to set the chess table each day

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

Green sofas keep your energy full while studying mech or cooking.

The cheapest blonde colored bookcases will maintain your fun at 3/4 full while studying.

In a house full of sims (18+) your social never drops below the halfway mark. Save time while skilling and don't bother filling social to max while greening.
In fact if your social is really low, drop by any busy house and watch it go up just by landing in full house.

 

[NightFlyer]

Even just a few pool tiles on the lot will help the rooms score.



eta: Great thread.

 

[NightFlyer]

Busy or afk lots:

Climbing Carnivine keeps roaches down, never need cleaning (like the pest traps), never need repair and can be self-feeding if you fence off a dirty plate nearby or place them close to where the roaches frequently gather, i.e. bathrooms, kitchens.

Warning: They will die if not properly fed

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

The cheapest blonde colored bookcases will maintain your fun at 3/4 full while studying.


[/ QUOTE ]
Those don't work for me - only the more expensive metal ones.

 

[Guest]

Here's one I learned at a skill joint yesterday;

For teaching:

Have the teaching sim start an activity that takes time, like showering, eating, or playing pool.
While engaged, click on your student and set up your teaching. It will que. Keep doing this til your que is full, then cancel the first activity. All the teaching will now be automatic.
Note: the student has to accept all the teaching interactions when they all pop up at once, of course.

 

[Guest]

I usually do 2 dances on the teacher sim to load up the teach actions, it seems to be exactly enough time. Some view the tree and I know one sim who likes to use the chalkboard. Another little thing, if you try to do too many it will lose some of the teach actions. So I usually shoot for 7. Lots of players do more teaching then I do and I rarely teach other then my own sims, I'm sure theres other good advice out there for it.

Also as discussed in another thread, save on your item limit by eliminating lamps, the room will light up fully when sims are in it. Much better lighting then lamps can provide too. I usually only use lights outdoors unless its for decorative purposes with one exception, I hate when sims put the plate of home cooked food on the corner counter so I keep a lamp or plant there.

 

[imported_Dali Dalinza]

If you are hosting and prepare homecooked food, you can make the food last longer if you take one plate (from the main platter) and set it down. This is handy when you do not have lots of guests, and you want to keep the flies at bay as long as possible.

(If discussion were permissable, I'd say we sure could use the ability to refrigerate uneaten food, but I won't mention it at this point.)

 

[imported_Gracie Nito]

<blockquote><hr>

Here's one I learned at a skill joint yesterday;

For teaching:

Have the teaching sim start an activity that takes time, like showering, eating, or playing pool.
While engaged, click on your student and set up your teaching. It will que. Keep doing this til your que is full, then cancel the first activity. All the teaching will now be automatic.
Note: the student has to accept all the teaching interactions when they all pop up at once, of course.

[/ QUOTE ]

When teaching if you select "transactions" and "give money" to your student, then a give money transaction box pops up and you can queue 7 to 8 lessons and then hit "cancel" on the transaction box to achieve the same result.

Keep in mind that your student must be very still while you are queueing actions. If they attempt any action or interaction, it will cancel some lessons queued. I often get fidgety students.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Here's one I learned at a skill joint yesterday;

For teaching:

Have the teaching sim start an activity that takes time, like showering, eating, or playing pool.
While engaged, click on your student and set up your teaching. It will que. Keep doing this til your que is full, then cancel the first activity. All the teaching will now be automatic.
Note: the student has to accept all the teaching interactions when they all pop up at once, of course.

[/ QUOTE ]

When teaching if you select "transactions" and "give money" to your student, then a give money transaction box pops up and you can queue 7 to 8 lessons and then hit "cancel" on the transaction box to achieve the same result.

Keep in mind that your student must be very still while you are queueing actions. If they attempt any action or interaction, it will cancel some lessons queued. I often get fidgety students.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yep. Apparently any action will work as long as it provides the time to que the teaching actions.

 

[imported_Spaghetti Legs]

When you are moving things around your home in buy mode...say you want to pick up a chair, but keep grabbing the rug...instead of having to find a spot to put the rug down and start over, just hit the Escape key and the item will automatically go back to where it was and you can try again.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Here's one I learned at a skill joint yesterday;

For teaching:

Have the teaching sim start an activity that takes time, like showering, eating, or playing pool.
While engaged, click on your student and set up your teaching. It will que. Keep doing this til your que is full, then cancel the first activity. All the teaching will now be automatic.
Note: the student has to accept all the teaching interactions when they all pop up at once, of course.

[/ QUOTE ]

When teaching if you select "transactions" and "give money" to your student, then a give money transaction box pops up and you can queue 7 to 8 lessons and then hit "cancel" on the transaction box to achieve the same result.

Keep in mind that your student must be very still while you are queueing actions. If they attempt any action or interaction, it will cancel some lessons queued. I often get fidgety students.

[/ QUOTE ]

I thought that was what teachers had rulers for.....

 

[MandiK]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

I have only been playing TSO/EA Land for almost a year now and I know that there are things out there that I dont know about in the game. So, I thought it might be nice for those of you who have played longer or who are founders, to maybe post some tips and tricks about the game.
For instance two things I have learnt this week -

1. Allowing 5 daily newspapers on your lot stops the Newspaper girl delivering (that I thought was really kewl).

2. Never lock your highest skill lock. The lowest skills decay fastest.

Please dont make this a discussion thread, and comment on each others tip/trick, just type in a useful tip or trick and move along.

[/ QUOTE ]

Watch it with the 5 newspapers though because left out they will cause the whole room score to go red, red, red..assuming you don't have a maid who will clean them up anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

LoL yea really. Who wants 5 nasty, green papers opposed to one nice, fresh one? I dont get why you would want the paper girl to stop delivering. Sometimes, people need a job that wont come up on the computer. One paper doesnt hurt.

 

[Guest]

Heres some that most of us probably know, but if you hit the tab key it will change the lot view from downstairs to upstairs. If you want to see how a floor or wall tile will look without spending any money hold down the shift key. Ctrl will remove unwanted tiles. F1 will open live mode from the following, F2 will open buy mode, F3 will open build mode and F4 will open property mode.

One of my favorite updates ever was when they made it possible to use the scroll button on my mouse to zoom in and out.

 

[Guest]

I've always heard this called as "playing with shields up":

If you want to play without IM windows coming at you, open in-game IM letters to people you don't know or who are offline. If you do 3, then you will fill all your in-coming message spots and people will get a busy message if they try to in-game IM you. If you just do 2 and then open a box to your friend or sweetie, you'll have a private line reserved and ready.

Game masters can still in-game message you, though, even if you are playing with shields up.

 

[Natedawg26]

To keep you needs green while greening up, use the following schedule:
social, fun, toilet, shower, hunger, energy, comfort.

Don't combine social and fun together or your greening bars will go down faster. Have someone worship you so you get all the social and then play on a computer to get your fun up.

 

[DGLita]

Sleep mode is a good one to use if you are alone on a lot and dont want to hide ( you might want to skill for instance while you are building)

Put a bed against a wall and trap your sim in it, then click on something, say the shower for instance. Your sim will attempt to get out of bed but will lay down again. Remove the object that is trapping your sim and then allow them to get out of bed and use the object you clicked on. If you click on your sim it will say Wake Up (but dont click wake up)

Your sim can do pratically anything they like, except anything that makes a noise like a piano, and dont have a stereo on, as these will take your sim out of sleep mode, and so will computers.

This will keep energy and social locked, but other needs will still decay.

I have tried this in EAland and it still works

 

[Guest]

I have to say this is the best way.

Only q 7 tho if I q 8 I only get 4. (ty for teaching me that)


If you cancel out cooking during the food chopping stage, your sim will drop the pot. Any of the guests can then pick up the pot and cook the meal. This is great if you have low cooking and an alt with high cooking as a guest.

War games teach logic way faster than teaching, for the last 2 points.

Beach boss beverage bars have the fastest animations of all the bars. Great for topping hunger and fun. I would not pizza in a house that does not offer them (unless it was for a contest or something, then I would green first). I keep mine in the bathroom. After you green, drink 2 drinks from the bar, potty, shower, bed, hide. Your sim will be super green, like you just logged in after a long break. (thnx to Justina)

If you put the ice cream vendor up next to the water, where the spot he would stand is over the water. When you open it he will be in the water. If you click to buy an ice cream he will swim to the ladder.

If you praise a mean dog about 7 times, you will get wrestle.

Items do not wear on residential lots. Pets have no needs on residential lots and wll not run away. Anyone can revive on a residential lot.

If you shoot your cannon at a wall or object. Your chances of getting a cannon ball increase dramatically. If you kick a cannon ball you will p.

On boxed gifts, the ones with 50% wear are trees the ones with no wear are cannons.

Robot pets really do repair items. Saves a ton on the mechanic.

If you are finished with the buffet for a while you can put it in your inventory untill you need it again. The food will still be good.

Never pay retail, unless it is for a rare.

As for the ongoing non debate. I lock my highest level skills because I can regain the lower ones faster.

Also the higher ones are usually the ones I need the most.

To get rid of customers at the diner that have either been ignored a while or just cuz there is only one of them and you would like a group instead. I take their orde present the check and destroy the ticket. (sometimes for a giggle I wll berate them first) Freeing the table for new customers.

To get the outdoor plants and the carnivines inside the house. Delete a panel of the wall. After placing them where you want them, put the walll back.

 

[TKSpeedy1]

Simone,

Regarding outdoor plants inside....I didn't know that...I thought you just deleted a part of the floor where you want it....

The remove the part of the wall trick is also good for putting in sprinklers and irrigation systems...in case I hadn't mentioned that before.

Oh in case someone didn't see another thread I started here is another tip. I have a magic chandelier in my house. I had one hanging in my front room. When I changed the front room and took out the wall to make it a patio, it stayed hanging...and there is nothing to hang it from...I tested it by trying to move it and it said it had to be inside. So I put the wall back up temporarily to move it and took the wall down again...Chandelier was still there until I deleted it. Neat trick!

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

Simone,

Regarding outdoor plants inside....I didn't know that...I thought you just deleted a part of the floor where you want it....

The remove the part of the wall trick is also good for putting in sprinklers and irrigation systems...in case I hadn't mentioned that before.

Oh in case someone didn't see another thread I started here is another tip. I have a magic chandelier in my house. I had one hanging in my front room. When I changed the front room and took out the wall to make it a patio, it stayed hanging...and there is nothing to hang it from...I tested it by trying to move it and it said it had to be inside. So I put the wall back up temporarily to move it and took the wall down again...Chandelier was still there until I deleted it. Neat trick!

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes, I didn't think of the sprinklers and the big fountains. Those are nice inside. The trick with building a wall around a tile where you want a light outside is a good one. I have seen logic houses use this method to put hanging lights over the chess tables.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

The remove the part of the wall trick is also good for putting in sprinklers and irrigation systems...in case I hadn't mentioned that before.

[/ QUOTE ]It also works for placing rocket launchers indoors.

 

[TKSpeedy1]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

Yes, I didn't think of the sprinklers and the big fountains. Those are nice inside. The trick with building a wall around a tile where you want a light outside is a good one. I have seen logic houses use this method to put hanging lights over the chess tables.

[/ QUOTE ]

The only thing I'd suggest with doing that is that since there is no money back when you sell back now, make sure it's where you want it. Cause if you try to move the chandelier again, it will tell you that you can't do it outside and you will have to build the wall AGAIN. Lost quite a few bucks that way tonight.

 

[festrmentmagnet]

"JHR"

Check the wear on any item you buy from a store.
Sure, it may be cheap because it's worn, but the repair cost down the rode may not be worth it.

 

[Guest]

[On boxed gifts, the ones with 50% wear are trees the ones with no wear are cannons. ]

Now that is really worth knowing.

 

[imported_fajjaa]

If pet pull are ever worth doing again, try this... on the second floor delete and seperate the flooring so the pets have one tile and no connecting tiles to wonder on. This looks cool with certain other items, and you dont have to use that wall to wall checkerboard wall pattern on the floor level. I have a custom content cougar sitting on a boulder in the middle of the room on a second floor tile. Second floor tiles can be used to create illusions on the first floor. Likewise, the tall tree with the lights in it, give you a nice shrub on the second floor, I use them on each side of doorways on the second floor, but placed underneath them on the ground.

Try putting one of those Ronald McDonald clown pole things on the ground floor and have a pet carrier above it, on the second floor, if you have a good graphics card, you get a cute combination on the second floor.

Unfortunately I still cant afford to build in EALand. Building with disposable income is a necessity for this game. But thats for another thread.

 

[Guest]

one trick I dearly love is.. if you have a sim that doesn't have very high cooking and you need food badly.. go ahead and start cooking but once you get done using a food processor, X it out. your sim will put the pot on the floor and then ANYONE can cook.

I do this and allow my alter sim with maxed cooking to cook for guest