These Hints, Tips and Ideas are a collection of the best from our busy forums and chat. Enjoy!
Relationships
Date/Outing scores with both Nightlife and Seasons are reduced if an idle Sim shows signs of extreme temperature (like self fanning or shivering). Autumn is the best season for improving friend, family and romantic relationships, as scores are increased by up to 50% while the leaves fall! Sims juggling Hot Chocolate mugs can be joined by another for some group juggling fun.
Showing signs of a chill Throwing mugs around the kitchen
Careers & Skills
Make the most of autumn's increased leaning speed to boost skills, talent badges, Teen homework and university grades. The Gardening Talent Badge is crucial for successful gardening and is increased whenever a Sim is fertilizing, tending, watering, spraying, planting, harvesting or talking to plants. Though it may be tempting to use sprinklers and ladybug houses to aid in gardening, low gardening skill Sims should do these tasks manually where possible to increase their talent. Each gardening Talent Badge increase gives Sims the ability to plant more veggies: Bronze allows strawberries and cucumbers, Silver allows pole beans & peppers and Gold allows the all important eggplant (also lets Sims talk to plants). The new Education career reward object is a bookshelf which unlike any other, allows Sims to study ANY skill from reading. No more high need decreasing actions like using the gym equipment for body skill!
Study any Skills by reading Fishing and Gardening badges
Personalities
PlantSims only have 3 life stages, toddler, adult and elder, and therefore cannot go to college. PlantSims can be cured by drinking "Plantopic-C", obtained from the gardening club or the trustworthy Nomadic Matchmaker.
Food
Cooked foods made with fresh produce satisfy hunger much better than normal food, and has glowing sparkles around it to denote quality. Sims can hold an infinite amount of fish in their inventory (unlike fruit and veg), so there is no need to panic stock the fridge with too much fish! They can also be sold directly from the inventory. If a fridge has fresh food points, all food cooked from it will get the fresh food bonus, even if it doesn't use fruit and veg, like grilled cheese, burgers and lobster.
You can SEE the quality! Keep the fish in your pocket
Death
Overheated or frozen Sims will die if their hunger reaches maximum, but can be revived by rain (overheating) or warm weather (frozen), or by another Sim using the Douse or Warm Up interaction on the sufferer. Sims that flew kites could always die from lightning, but with Seasons it's, well, open season on death by lightening! If a PlantSim collapses in the house from lack of sunlight, the only way to revive them is to place a garden lamp on the ceiling above them.
Defrosting a stiff Sim Death by lightning!
Build Mode
Awnings and roofs over outdoor areas prevent snow, hail and puddles from accumulating below them. Indoor gardening can be achieved, but a greenhouse must have at least 50% of its walls made of glass, otherwise, plants will not sprout. Once finished, snowmen can be picked up and replaced in buy/build mode. Greenhouses do not need to have a glass roof, any kind will suffice as only the glass walls are relevant. Pool walls and floors can now be decorated. Use the < and > keys to rotate floor tiles to create patterns (just like the above example for floors in Pets).
Greenhouse area of a house Snowman, on the move! New pool floors & walls
Buy Mode
Placing a lightning rod on the roof of a house will greatly reduce the chance of a localized lightening strike causing damage to Sims and property. Protect against "Rain of Fire" by placing smoke alarms on outside walls of your house. This will call the fire department at the first sign of failed use of the Weathernaught 57X. The Composting Apparatus costs §150, but pays for itself after fertilizing just 15 garden plots. "The Waters Flow" is the first animated wall hanging in the game which also acts as a functioning wall light! The "String Lantini" lanterns look great, but placing more than 7 light sources in a room causes power overload results in flickering lights.
ACME Lightning protection "Rain of Fire" detector Home made fertilizer
Gameplay
Even if your 'hood has no winter season, a greenhouse should be used to protect gardens from summer hailstorms, which will damage planted crops. If lightening strikes any one Sim in a swimming pool, it will jump through the water electrocuting all Sims in the pool. Best not to swim during heavy rain storms! If snow causes your computer to struggle too much, us the new Graphics Performance Options to make adjustments. The game won't look as good, but will reduce the frustrating slowdown. The daily newspaper can be used to check the temperature and precipitation outlook for the current day, as can the new Weather Station TV channel.
Snow options slow down gameplay The Well, where dreams come true! Selling fresh & mounted fish
Good gardeners who have their Lot inspected by the garden Club can be rewarded with the Toss 'n Wish Drinking Well which can make Sims wishes come true! Teen and older Sims can wish for money, friends and romance. Fish can be sold for a tidy profit (great for creating a fish stall with Open for Business), but they sell for more when mounted, which costs nothing to do, so makes sense for increased retail value. The new 'Pay all bills' interaction on the mail box is particularly good when bills are hidden under snow, or taken into the house to the nearest side table. You can now exchange a custom painting or any other item from one Lot in your game to another, by giving the item as a gift to a Sim living on the target Lot. The best season to give a gift is winter, when the chance of acceptance is higher.
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