Sims 3: Work and happiness

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Think happy thoughts. Riiight.

Like the rest of us, the Sims have to work to put food on the table. (Of course, if they have the Moocher personality trait, they can eat the foods off other Sims’ tables instead, but what kind of life is that?) So let’s have a look at work and career in the Sims 3.

You can still look in the newspaper for a job, but now you can also simply go to a fitting workplace and ask for a job. The workplaces are now in the neighborhood, and like the rest of the neighborhood you can go there without a load screen. Most likely you would get a taxi, but you could simply run there if you want. In practice, just click on the map and let the Sim decide how to get there. If they have an opening and you are qualified, you can start the next day. Getting an entry-level job is still ridiculously easy compared to real life. But from then on, there are a few changes from the previous incarnation of the game.

In the Sims 2, there were strict criteria for advancement. This is now much fuzzier. For instance, my gender-bent self-Sim obviously wanted a science job, so she got the one at the agricultural research center. When I looked at have a job panel, there was a small smiling face representing her mood and a small neutral face representing her gardening skill. This was because she went to work in a good mood but without any gardening skill. Since the research center specializes in agriculture, their workers are expected to have some experience with soil and plants. If you advance without upgrading the skill, that little face turns increasingly angry and your career climbing eventually grinds to a halt.

I went to the bookstore and bought a cheap introductory book about gardening. Reading this, my Sim gained a level in this skill. (That particular feature is still there, the skill improvement is not seamless. Perhaps in Sims 4? Or perhaps the wish to level up is so fundamental that people prefer it that way. Certainly online games with levels are hugely popular.) Now my job panel had a smiling face for this as well, and my advancement bar filled up faster, moving toward the first promotion. (Around this time I found out that I could simply plant apples, cabbages and other stuff I had bought at the grocery store, and grow my own garden. This way, I can improve my job skill AND grow free food at the same time. It takes some time, but not a lot more than reading the books to gain the same skill.)

After a couple promotions, there showed up an icon for handiness, or mechanical skill. This is also something you can gain either from books or from practice. At first you may get it inadvertently from fixing a broken shower or unclogging the toilet, but soon you can start tinkering on various items in the house. (I strongly recommend starting with the non-electrical ones, even in the game. In the Sim world, electrical equipment is always on – there are no power cords, so I assume Tesla was successful in their timeline in broadcasting electricity. A fascinating story in itself, but not for today.) Tinkering has the benefit that you may invent ways to actually improve the equipment: My Sim now has an unbreakable shower and a self-cleaning toilet! And of course, the skills you gain will come in handy at work.

If you are highly competent, you can come to work in a terrible mood, work half-heartedly and still get promoted eventually. That’s probably not a good idea, though. There are separate reasons why you should keep your Sims in a good mood and fulfill their wishes within reason. We’ll get into that soon, I promise!

But first let me mention another new feature. While you cannot actually follow your Sims into the building and control their work in detail, you can give them general instructions on how to perform their work. If they work hard, the mood will get progressively worse throughout the workday, so you should be careful about this unless they are in a very good mood already. If you spend time at work doing more comfortable things, your mood will stay high but your advancement bar will fill more slowly. You can also spend time socializing with your coworkers, working on an individual project or assisting your boss.

Each of these will have their own effects. For instance, since my self-Sim is a loner, nerding it with the other scientist will lower her mood without improving her work performance. Working on her own will keep her social phobia at bay, but the project may or may not be successful. A charismatic Sim will benefit more from group work. If in doubt, just go with the ordinary setting, keep your skills sharp and go to work happy, and satisfaction is guaranteed. (Unless you are eaten by a carnivorous plant…)

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Now let us look at mood and happiness. In The Sims 3, you get “moodlets” that last for a certain time. For instance, sleeping till you are fully rested gives a 10 hour moodlet, enough to last you through the workday if you time it right. On the other hand, you may want to get up earlier to make a good meal, which will give you an 8-hour positive moodlet. The moodlets add up, but there are negative moodlets that have the opposite effect. If you get stinky, for instance, it will drag your mood down, not to mention if you go hungry. While the Sims now have a 24 hour grace period before they starve, they will likely be in a terrible mood. (On the bright side, they are able to eat at work, so you can skip breakfast if you don’t need the bonus moodlet.) Fulfilling wishes gives a 6-hour moodlet, so it may be a good idea to try to squeeze in one of those as well in the morning, preferably one that does not take too much time. Like buying something, if they wish for that. Or perhaps better, giving something to charity. It gave my Sim a nice mood boost for 24 hours (although that may work for good Sims and not for evil Sims.)

So having several happy moodlets is good for your work performance, but that is not all. Oh no. If you have enough of them (and no bad ones), you will see your mood bar move into a new level. (It is easy to see since the mood bar is shaped into two sections.) When your Sim is this happy, she will accrue lifetime happiness points. These can always be achieved by fulfilling wants, but if your Sim is super happy, she will add a few points every hour, even in her sleep! And since a pretty environment and good music will give temporary moodlets while they are there, you may want to do your studying in a beautiful park or while listening to music (or preferably both).

These points can eventually be used to upgrade your Sim. Examples of upgrades are a “steel bladder”, for all you guys who complain that the Sims games are about toilet management. (Actually that part is already toned down in Sims 3, but you can eliminate it completely if you really want to.) Or how about learning all skills faster? Or having the boss look the other way when you laze around at work instead of actually working? Throwing better parties, or telling better jokes? The range of upgrades is quite impressive, and I think it is a safe bet there will be more of them in future expansion packs.

To me, the happiness of my Sims is a main goal of playing the game in the first place. (Thus the “good” self-Sim, right?) But for those who reserve their empathy (if any) for the real world, there is this whole game within a game to encourage treating your Sim well. It took me a bit of time to figure out what was going on, but that’s how this game is. The learning curve is not at all steep, but it is fairly long. Even though it works right out of the box, there are surprises in the details. After all, not only the Sims should be happy, but the player too!