Simming Tips, Tricks, and Curiosities

Simming Tips #5: Often Forgotten Phone Functionality

1 - In the general phone UI (top-left corner), you can "Silence Phone", "Change Phone Background Color" and "Change Phone Cover Colour".

• "Silence Phone" silences the ringer sound for calls your sim gets. It does not (unfortunately) block them.
  
• "Change Phone Background Color" provides 19 different colours for the UI background of your sim's phone.
  
• "Change Phone Cover Colour" provides 25 different colours and patterns for the model phone your sim pulls out during calls and such.
  

2 - Aside from the usual texts, sims have the option to send "emotional texts" (Get Together) in the "Social" category. Depending on the emotion of the text sent, recipients may (not everyone replies) invite your sim out to a corresponding location:

• Energised = Gym.
  
• Playful = Park, Chalet Gardens, or Ancient Ruins.
  
• Angry = Pool.
  
• Flirty = Bar, Lounge, or The Bluffs (the latter is the rarest outcome).
  
• Sad = The recipient Sim's home (if they have one).
  

3 - Under the "Shopping" category, one can "Purchase Gifts", which brings up a menu with a wide variety of items for purchase based on the packs you own (Seasons).
Books:

• Lucas Dark and The Increasingly Unlikely Series of Coincidences $1
  
• Orbital Pudding $1
  
• Reel Her In $1
  
• Untamed Treachery of the Heart $1
  
• Allegro a la Pernambuco! $20
  
• Baby Bill and the Bobcat $20
  
• Charlotte's Pig $20
  
• I Bed Variations $20
  
• Playing With Your Food $20
  
• Princess Plumbob's Castle $20
  
• The 50 Shades on My Windows $20
  
• The Sauntering Dead $20
  
• A Game Of Groans $25
  
• Atlas Hugged $25
  
• Etude in Double Stops and Other Fancy Things $25
  
• Piano Bars and You: How to Hold a Note Without a Paper Bag $25
  
• The Swift and the Angriest $25
  
• Private Journal $28
  
• The Cherry Lip Balm Caper $60
  
• The Spy Who Loved Measles $70
  

Activities:

• GnomeSports Soccer Ball $25
  
• Private Journal $28
  
• Barely Better Digital Camera $85
  
• Kaboom Box $150
  
• Appreciably Average Digital Camera $670
  
• Crystal Clear Digital Camera $2,015
  

Collectibles:

• Wisp (Voidcritter) $5
  
• Cyprin (Voidcritter) $15
  
• Wickyn (Voidcritter) $15
  
• Veild (Voidcritter) $55
  

Gardening:

• Mushroom $5
  
• Daisy $12
  
• Apple $14
  
• Potato $17
  
• Starter Flowers/Fruits/Herbs/Magical Plants/Vegetables $35
  
• Tulip $72
  
• Seasonal Fall/Spring/Summer/Winter Plants $100
  
• Rose $144
  
• Pomegranate $150
  
• Bonsai Bud $174
  

Toys:

• Classic Wood-Mobile $20
  
• Teresa the Triceratops $65
  
• WaffleKonethe Llamacorn Talking Toy $85
  
• Ducky $90
  
• Mr. Blue Bear $90
  
• Tentacle Tom $100
  
• The Purple Protector Action Figure $115
  
• The Purple Pursuer Action Figure $115
  
• Butterfly McButterflyface $120
  
• Chompy the Monsta $165
  
• Bleep the Robot $285
  

Pet Toys:

• Ball! Ball! Ball! $5
  
• WHATWASTHAT? Squeakenthinger $5
  

Other:

• Medicine $50
  
• SimRay $300
  

4 - Under the "Business" category, one can "Register With Ministry Of Labor", allowing an unemployed sim to be granted a custom title and job description, which will show up if asked about career ("... is a ").

5 - The option to "Call Fire Department" is available under the "Home" category (whilst on the home lot), allowing one to call two firefighters to the lot, even if there isn't a fire in progress (though this will result in a $500 fine).

6 - One can donate one's time (and drag along others) by volunteering (Parenthood) through the relevant option under the "Travel" category. This can increase the reputation of any sims involved (Get Famous), provides influence points (Eco Lifestyle), and raises a character value (per excursion) for children and teens. This also comes with chance cards for the latter two lifestages (which can raise/lower a specific character value).

7 - Being an "odd-jobs man" may not sound very prestigious, but it can take the place of a 9-5, and whilst not providing nearly the amount of freedom that a "work from home" job might, it has the potential for both travel and extra funds (without having to over-max).

The option to "Find Odd Jobs" (Island Living), found under "Business", puts forth a list of NPC's looking for some rabbithole-oriented help. Every day from 8am to 8pm, sims (teen+) can choose from a number of options that match their skillset (with options available for those with no skills), and once accepted, head off for a number of hours (beginning the hour after acceptance -- i.e. a job accepted at 8:59 starts at 9). The options become more lucrative, varied, and numerous the higher one's rating (from 1 to 5), which is based on timeliness and skill. After the job is done, sims can return with a tip and a potential relationship increase with the client, based on their performance. Tips can even go as far as being an extra hour+ worth of pay.

There are two different categories of odd jobs: Hourly and Task-based. Hourly jobs are paid a certain amount per hour for a rabbithole, mini-story-based excursion. Task-based jobs require something be crafted/an interaction done/an item mailed to the client. The latter pays in a lump sum, and has a timer that alerts you at the last hour mark (if not yet completed). The amount of hours per job isn't listed in-game, but has been tested to be the same each day for the same job, whilst varied between different jobs. The tasks of the task-based ones aren't listed until acceptance, but has (again) been tested to remain consistent within the same job, regardless of day.
Hourly:

• Bonsai Artist Needed - $29/3h (Gardening 1)
  
• Box Packing - $21/4h (No Skill)
  
• Hiking Buddy - $35/3h (Fitness 2)
  
• In Need Of Waxing - $46/4h (Handiness 4)
  
• Lawn Maintenance - $23/3h (No Skills)
  
• Let's Make Art - $126/6h (Painting 5)
  
• LFG (Looking For Gamer) - $33/3h (Videogaming 2)
  
• Looking For A Love Guru - $122/4h (Charisma 5)
  
• Making Proof - $50/4h (Photography 2)
  
• Me Treasure Cleaning - $87/6h (No Skill)
  
• Moving Furniture - $24/4h (Fitness 1)
  
• Need A Mixologist For Beach Party - $23/4h (Mixology 1)
  
• Needing Nom Noms - $18/2h (No Skill)
  
• Private Diving Lesson - $81/4h (Fitness 4)
  
• Storm Repairs - $112/5h (Handiness 5)
  
• TV Hookup Help - $23/3h (Handiness 1)
  
• Wanted: Dumb Or Discrete - $32/4h (Mischief 2)
  
• Wanted: Sand Sculpture Judge - $21/5h (Charisma 1)
  
• Wingman Wanted - $42/3h (Charisma 3)
  

Task-Based:

• A Kava Exaggeration - $426 (Mixology 2) - Make kava and mail it to client.
  
• A Mahi Mahi Of My Own - $156 (Fishing 3) - Catch a Mahi Mahi and mail it to client.
  
• Coconut Milk Real Milk? - $83 (No Skill) - Mail a coconut to client.
  
• Frogs For Research - $90 (No Skill) - Catch a frog at the waterfall.
  
• Last Minute Beach Party - $156 (Cooking 1) - Cook and mail Kalua Pork to client.
  
• Mayhem At The Beach - $120 (Mischief 4) - Travel to a beach and do mischief interactions 4 times (destroying sand sculptures did not count).
  
• Paid Beach-Cleaning Volunteer Work - $106 (No Skill) - "Comb beach For trash" 3 times.
  
• Photos For Publication - $66 (Photography 1) - Take 2 photos of Mua Pel'am.
  
• She Sells Seashells - $61 (No Skill) - Mail a seashell to client.
  
• The Cave Of Wanders - $509 (No Skill) - Find a Sulani treasure in the cave and mail to client.
  
• The Ocean's Embrace - $658 (Fitness 3) - "Dive for treasure", then mail one Sulani treasure to client.