Until very recently, I was never really interested in the different collections in the game, but then I started trying to collect frogs, and then I got interested in gemology and metals, and now I'm really wanting to complete a few collections. It just seems that my sims don't find things all that often. Today I have an "Outdoor Enthusiast" exploring Granite Falls. I read that it was easy to find 10 unidentified plants with a simple walk. Uh, well, my sim has been hiking for hours and hours and hours, and he's found 3 wild plants and 1 bit of metal. He has collected a few insects along the way, but I was really hoping to complete this milestone aspiration and come up with 10 unidentified plants.I looked through the "Rewards" section to see if there were any rewards that might make it more likely for my sim to find collectibles. I didn't see anything. Are there specific traits I might change out for him that would help? Any tips on making it easier to complete collections? It's fun, but only up to a point. When I just can't seem to find anything, it gets a bit frustrating. :)

Haha the beginning of your post is a lot like me 😂 Last year I started with collecting frogs and then moved on to sea shells, buried treasures, metals and crystals and so on. I had done a couple of collections before that (plants and insects) but didn't really enjoy doing them. I enjoy them more now 😊Unfortunately I don't have many tips. The one that comes to my mind is that if you have Jungle Adventure pack it is useful to do the jungle explorer aspiration because the reward trait you receive from it helps to find more treasures. Altough it only helps with Jungle Adventure collectibles.I wonder where has your sim been hiking? One way to find more plants is to travel to the deeper parts of the Granite Falls and search plants and insects there. It may also be useful to find the hermit. I think they have some plants in their garden and some plants only grow near their house too.

Also if you have Seasons finding plants in Granite Falls is much harder because each plant has specific seasons where they grow and produce harvestables.If you don't mind using online guides for example this guide The Sims 4 Gardening tells that chamomile and toxic chamomile grown in summer. So you may only find them in summer.

When visiting a new world/hood for searching, it might take a while for those items to spawn. Especially if you did not plau the location in a while. I started the herbalism route so man time just to arrive Granite Falls to find that plants can not yet be harvested, even though they are in season. Same for insects and what else can be found there. So, playing the same hood for a couple days before searching might help. It can be a different household going there before your collecting sim, though.

I always have a lot of trouble finding items and it is frustrating that you have to wait so long for them to spawn. My current sim lives in Chestnut Ridge and is looking for crystals and metals but hasn't found any yet - he just ends up with limestone fossils. There is someone on Reddit who has made some maps of spawners - there are quite a few done but not for all of the worlds. You could have a look at those - it's a very long post so there is a lot of scrolling down to do and links to follow for the actual maps.https://www.reddit.com/r/Sims4/comments/ufi5zq/simming_tips_18_can_you_dig_it_collectible_spawn/

Granite Falls actually has two neigborhoods (plus a secret lot). The first neighborhood is the campground which contains 5 rental lots. The second neighborhood is the Granite Falls forest which contains just one lot, the national park. Some of the new herbs (and some of the insects) can only be found in this second neighborhood but not the first one.

Collecting in Sims 4 | EA Forums

21 Replies

kukkahilla
Seasoned Ace
25 days ago
Vampires can also make plasma packs from frogs 😊
Miataplay
Legend
25 days ago
Witches and Scientist use frogs and bugs. These ingredients are used with all things related to potions/alchemy in the game.
Enchanted by Nature will most likely have recipes in Apothecary that include these ingredients for potions/elixirs.
Anmirla
Seasoned Ace
25 days ago
Well, with EbN, frogs can be food. Guess we finally have a use for them other than trying to complete a collection. 😄
mikkimouse1978
Seasoned Hotshot
26 days ago
So, are we to say that you might want to be a herpetologist or a gemologist when you grow up?
telemwill
Seasoned Ace
26 days ago
If you use mods, Carl has a mod. When you click on your Sim there is an option to find collectibles. They will walk around and find the collectibles on their own. In Granite Falls, you may need to click on that several times to collect everything in the area. I also use the gardening for all seasons mod when I'm playing a pack like Outdoor Retreat, so all the plants are in season all the time.
Intern_Waffle_64
Seasoned Veteran
26 days ago
Geeky aspiration sims have a trait that gives them double collectibles on every gather.
Redrogue60
Seasoned Veteran
26 days ago
I've never found a real use for the frogs and bugs. I was thinking it might be nice to have a Natural History Museum where we could donate some of that for an entomology room.
87dc672b89d5b403
New Scout
2 months ago
Don't take my word for it LOL. I was watching a "Let's Play" -- lilsimsie, probably -- and she was doing the Crystal Creations, and making lots of jewelry. It seems like one of the "properties" was helpful in finding more items, but I could be mistaken. :)
kukkahilla
Seasoned Ace
2 months ago
Aww I hope the spring comes soon and you'll find what you are looking for. I totally get the "collecting bug" 😂 There are so many collections to do! I'm unsure which one to do next. One of my sims is missing one element, but I haven't looked which crystal or metal gives it. I thought I'd take my time with it.
Ooh and I didn't know there's a crystal like that! That's cool to know!
87dc672b89d5b403
New Scout
2 months ago
Good point. I spent all day with my sim yesterday near the National Park. I haven't gone to find the Hermit yet. I'll need to wait now since the season has changed to Fall, so not much will be harvestable for a while. This way, at least I can plan a bit of strategy before I take my "herbalist" back there. Thanks so much!