Electronic Arts Sims 2: Castaway User Manual

PRIMA
®
OFFICIAL GAME GUIDE
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6
Where’s the best place to open a business? Where the customers are, of course—and that’s usually where other stores are already open. Hence, begin with the creation of a special shopping district where your Sims can travel, either to open or patronize Sim-run businesses.
Actually, the shopping district has no special functionality; businesses may
be established in any kind of neigh­borhood (base, downtown, or shopping districts) except universities, and Sims may reside in a shopping district as well as in base neighborhoods and downtown. What associated neighborhoods provide is physical expansion to the base neighborhood and a pre-made, Maxis-designed destination that highlights new features of this expansion pack.
This chapter explains the anatomy of this new kind of neighborhood and how it interconnects with every other type.
The Structure of Shopping Districts
Shopping district neighborhoods exist as offshoots of your game’s base neighborhoods (such as Pleasantview or Strangetown, and others). In other words, any single version of a shopping district neighborhood that you play is tied exclusively to one of your base neighborhoods, and has no connection to other base neighborhoods.
The first time you open one of your base neighborhoods or press the Shopping District Chooser button in the upper left corner, you can associate with an existing shopping district or create a new one.
Once a shopping district is associated, the full Shopping District Chooser appears, listing any associated shopping district(s) and including a button for creating new shopping districts of your own design.
Sims from other base neighborhoods, therefore, do not exist in a shopping district, even if the same shopping district is also associated with other base neighborhoods. In other words, shopping districts exist in sort of a suburban parallel universe. For example, if Pleasantview and Strangetown are both associated with the Maxis-designed Bluewater Village, the Grunt family will never be seen wandering the lots of Pleasantview’s Bluewater Village and the Goths won’t be caught dead in Strangetown’s Bluewater.
Shopping Districts
Shopping Districts
Chapter 2
Shopping Districts
Shopping Districts
Chapter 2: Shopping Districts
Chapter 2: Shopping Districts
Chapter 2: Shopping Districts
7
Click on a shopping district and you’ll see its preview pane.
This is why you must begin the life of any shopping district by associating your base neigh­borhood with it. The Sims™2 Open for Business comes complete with one very densely featured shopping district and the ability to create any others you wish.
For a full directory of lots in Bluewater Village, see Chapter 15.
Once you add custom shopping districts, they appear alongside any existing shopping districts.
You may, of course, eschew shopping districts entirely and put down business roots right in your base neighborhoods or downtowns.
For sheer tutorial value alone, associate and explore the Bluewater
Village shopping district to get an idea of how to properly build a business lot and what kind of businesses are possible. In combination with this book, Bluewater Village should provide a perfect crash course in Sim entrepreneurship.
Base and Shopping District Neighborhoods: How Do They Relate?
Functionally, base and shopping districts neigh­borhoods aren’t all that different.
Though they mostly function the same, the Maxis-designed shopping district
that came with your expansion pack (“Bluewater Village”) is different from the base neighborhoods in terms of the number and design of its community lots.
Sims can live in shopping district neighborhoods just as they can in base neighborhoods.
Shopping districts share Lots & Houses and Sim Bins with their base neighborhood, allowing families to move from one to the other and maintain their relationships.
Sims you meet in a shopping district neighborhood can be invited over, added to a group, or called for a date or outing by a Sim who resides in the base neighborhood (and vice versa).
Teen Sims residing in a shopping district neighborhood are eligible to attend college at any of the base neighborhood’s associated universities (if you have THE SIMS™ 2 UNIVERSITY expansion pack installed, that is).
Generally, when a lot is moved from a neigh­borhood to the Lots & Houses Bin, its relationship data and other essential information is deleted. When the lot is a business lot, you’ll also lose all business info including employees, Customer Loyalty, and Business Value.
Chapter 2: Shopping Districts
14
Whether your Sim wants to be a purveyor of haute couture, a convenience store magnate, a toymaker to the king, or a restaurateur, there are some procedures and systems that underlie all businesses. This chapter examines the basic mechanisms that make business ownership possible and lay the foundation for the amazing flexibility that arises from them.
Home and Away: The Basic Business Types
At the most basic level, there are two kinds of business: home lot based and community lot based. They function the same in many ways but
they differ profoundly in
how they are set up and significantly in how they’re run.
Locking Doors
Controlling where your customers can and cannot go and directing them to the merchandise you want them to browse is possible, thanks to the new locking doors feature.
Any gate or door can be set to limit
access to:
The Sim who locks the door only The Sim and household members The Sim, household members, and employees No one, including the Sim who locked the door.
To lock a door or gate, click on it, choose “Lock” and select which access control you want to apply. This restriction remains in effect until it’s changed or deactivated or the locking Sim moves off the lot or dies (automat­ically unlocking the doors).
Any playable Sims on a lot may unlock or change locks on doors locked by any of the lot’s other playable Sims.
If walls are set to Cutaway, you won’t be able to see interior doors. To set their locking restrictions, change wall settings to Walls Up, apply the lock, and reset to Walls Cutaway.
Owning and Running a BusinessOwning and Running a BusinessOwning and Running a BusinessOwning and Running a Business
Chapter 4
Chapter 4:
Chapter 4:
Owning and Running a Business
Chapter 4:
Owning and Running a Business
15
Home Businesses
Any Sim can turn a home lot into a place of business. All it takes is some planning and a simple phone call or computer interaction.
The telephone or the computer is the first step in the journey to home business glory.
Begin by using a phone (or the computer). Select the Start Home Business interaction. This service of the local Sim government costs nothing and takes effect immediately. Thus, from the moment your Sim declares a home open for business, the customers start to trickle in.
Home businesses look like any other home lot from neighborhood view, with
only the traditional green plumb bob hovering overhead. Turning a home lot into a business does not mean other playable Sims can travel to it; they can only come as autonomous visitors when the lot is loaded directly.
The first thing to do is to give them a reason to come. A home can serve as several—but not all—kinds of business. It can be a retail store, selling items from the wholesale Buy catalog. It can be a food shop, selling prepared foods from refrigerated display cases. It can be a toy, flower, or robot store, selling the fruits of a crafting station. It can be a venue where patrons pay by the hour to partake of its Need-satisfying or skill­developing objects. Or it can be a salon, offering
makeovers alongside, for example, a selection of electronics or other housewares.
There are also several things it cannot be. It cannot be a restaurant, coffee bar, or pub because the objects required for these services are only available on community lots. Likewise, it cannot sell magazines, clothing, video games, perfume, or groceries.
Beyond those restrictions, the sky (and your imagination) is the limit.
Home Layout and Locking Doors
Opening a Sim’s home to the public is a tricky proposition. Proper planning is required to prevent customers from wandering the house and using any and all of its visitor-enabled facilities (for example, the toilets).
Pitfalls can be avoided with a sensible archi­tectural layout and judicious use of the new feature in this expansion pack: locking doors.
Locking a door controls the flow of employees and/or customers. You can even keep out household Sims if that’s your yen.
Depending on what kind of business you want and how much money your Sim has to spend, it’s a good idea (though not required) to physically separate the business and private portions of your Sims’ homes as much as possible. This can mean putting all the business objects in a completely separate building or in rooms that offer no doors to the living portion of the lot.
Chapter 4:
Owning and Running a Business
Owning and Running a Business
31
All Sim businesses share one major thing that makes them go: the customer. To understand how a business works and how it can be successful, it’s imperative to understand how customers behave and make their buying decisions.
This chapter examines precisely what makes customers tick and how you can study this buying behavior to maximize your Sims’ businesses.
Customer Loyalty
Over time, customers develop feelings toward a given business. These feelings can be positive, neutral, or negative, depending on their experi­ences dealing with the business. Needless to say, it’s in your best interest to entice customers to feel as positive as possible about your Sims’ businesses—you want to keep them coming back and willing to buy more.
The term for a Sim’s feeling toward a business is Customer Loyalty—the most important asset a business can have. To earn it is no simple matter, however; it requires skill, practice, and know-how.
The Customer Loyalty score of each Sim who has shopped at a lot is viewable in the Customer Loyalty panel
of the Business Tracker.
Customer Loyalty Score
A Sim’s Customer Loyalty score can range from +5 to -5 stars.
The Customer Loyalty score of each Sim who has ever visited a business is shown in the Business Tracker’s Customer Loyalty Panel. If the customer is currently shopping on the lot, they appear at the beginning of the list with a shopping cart icon.
Within each star is the number of Customer Loyalty points needed to earn it. This number grows with each subsequent star, so getting the first star may not take much effort but snagging higher stars becomes far more difficult. Likewise, the small point ranges mean lower-level stars will also be much easier to lose and are thus more volatile.
Generally, customers gain and lose Customer Loyalty points in response to positive or negative experiences while shopping at a business. When points are gained or lost, a blue star appears above the customer’s head, accompanied by plus or minus signs to indicate the direction of the change. The number of plus or minus signs reveals the degree of the change (for example, two plus signs is a big change).
Anatomy of the CustomerAnatomy of the CustomerAnatomy of the CustomerAnatomy of the Customer
Chapter 5
Chapter 7: Workforce Relations
Chapter 7: Workforce Relations
Chapter 7: Workforce Relations
53
Employees
Among these various characters, the employee is the most complicated and the most important to grasp.
Definition of an Employee
An employee is an autonomous Sim hired to work in a Sim’s business. Employees can be either townies or playable Sims from outside the owner’s household.
Be sure your Sims’ employees have somewhere to take the pause that refreshes or they’ll refuse to do their jobs. And who could blame them?
While at work, employees can partake of a lot’s Need-satisfying facilities just as if they were members of the household. Thus, unlike visitors, they can sleep and prepare food on-site on home lots if their Needs demand.
You may not want employees raiding your home-based business’s refrig-
erator or sleeping in family beds, especially while on the clock. Doors locked to all but family will keep employees out of places they don’t belong.
Still, employees can be a boon to any business. If you care for them and manage them properly, they’ll provide the best return for the least money and attention.
Hiring Employees
Employees are hired in two ways: in person or via phone/computer.
Hiring in Person
Any non-household Sim who appears on
a business lot can be hired with the Hire
interaction.
Hiring in person requires some relationship to exist between the parties.
Sims hired in person can reject the owner’s
offer based on Daily Relationship or Mood (or
if they have negative Customer Loyalty towards
your Sim’s business). If they do, there’s a
substantial reduction in both Daily Relationship
and the rejecting hire’s Customer Loyalty.
Chapter 7: Workforce Relations
Chapter
Chapter 1111: :
New Objects
Chapter 1111: :
New Objects
93
Object Catalog
Comfort
Dining Chairs
Sit-Up-Straight Dining Chair
Price: §700 Need Effects: Comfort 6,
Environment 2
Living Chairs
Passable Mission Chair
Price: §790 Need Effects: Comfort 8,
Environment 2
Recliners
Soldier’s Quarter Recliner
Price: §810 Need Effects: Comfort 7,
Energy 2 (Nap), Environment 2
Sofas & Loveseats
Lushcroft Antique Loveseat
Price: §1,140 Need Effects: Comfort 8
(Sit/Nap), Comfort 9 (Lounge), Energy 2 (Nap), Fun 4 (Play)
Need Max: Energy up to 70 (Nap)
El Sol Sofa by Günter
Price: §1,390 Need Effects: Comfort 8
(Sit/Nap), Comfort 9 (Lounge), Energy 2 (Nap), Fun 4 (Play), Environment 2
Need Max: Energy up to 70 (Nap)
Beds
The Slumber Saddle of Sleepnir by Dulac Industries
Price: §1,080 Need Effects: Comfort 5,
Energy 5, Fun 2 (Jump), Environment 2
Need Max: Fun up to 80 (Jump)
The Legendary Bedscalibur Sleep System by Dulac Industries
Price: §2,300 Need Effects: Comfort 6,
Energy 6, Fun 2 (Jump), Environment 4
Need Max: Fun up to 80 (Jump)
Chapter
New Objects
New Objects
Get Back to Work
Who: teen/young adult/adult/elder to teen/young adult/adult/elder
Sims ordered back to work always resent it, at least a little, with a reduction in both Daily and Lifetime relationship, but whether or not they return to their jobs depends on whether they accept or reject. Rejection results in even harder feelings on both sides.
Accepted if Sim B’s Needs and/or Mood plus the boost they get for being ordered back to work are high enough to allow them to perform their job for a while.
Hire
Who: teen/young adult/adult/elder to teen/young adult/adult/elder
Rejecting Sims drop in Customer Loyalty.
Accepted if Sim B’s:
1. Customer Loyalty > or = 0, Daily > or = 0, Fortune Aspiration, or
2. Customer Loyalty > or = 0 and Daily >20, or
3. Customer Loyalty > or = 0, Daily 0–20, and Mood >60
I Quit
Generally, this interaction is only done by non-controllable employees but can
also be performed by a playable Sim who travels to the lot where they work. They can interact with the autonomous owner in this situation to sever their ties to the business. In either case, the reaction of the owner (whether he or she is autonomous or controllable) depends on a few interesting variables.
Who: teen/young adult/adult/elder to teen/young
adult/adult/elder
Whether Sim B (the owner or manager to whom the social is directed) accepts or rejects dictates whether he or she’ll plead with the employee to stay (accept) or angrily dismiss the employee (reject).
Accepted if Sim B’s:
1. Daily >50, or
2. Daily 1–50 and Nice/Grouchy >3, or
3. Daily 1–50, Nice/Grouchy <3, and Fortune Aspiration
Lay Off
Who: teen/young adult/adult/elder to teen/young adult/adult/elder
Laid-off employee who accepts will rise in Customer Loyalty while one who rejects will drop.
Accepted if Sim B’s:
1. Daily >50, or
2. Daily 1–50, and Nice/Grouchy >5, or
3. Daily 1–50, Nice/Grouchy <5, and NOT Fortune Aspiration
Chapter 1Chapter 12: New : New SocialSocialsChapter 1Chapter 12: New : New SocialSocials
125
137
The Sims
2 Open for Business features an array of
new Build mode objects, floor and wall coverings, and new tools to make your Sims’ lots more varied and realistic than ever.
Split-level Interior Foundations (aka Stages)
Drag out stages just like any other foundation, inside…
…or out.
With the new split-level interior foundations tool (found in the Foundations & Decks catalog), you can build raised platforms indoors or out.
The big difference between stages and regular foundations is that you can build them on top of another foundation.
Use connecting stairs to get from floors to stages and back again.
You can build walls on stages and insert windows into them but you cannot add a door.
Stages, like all foundations and decks, come in normal and diagonal versions. Both versions can be overlapped and blended but with all the usual issues such combinations raise.
Build Mode AdditionsBuild Mode AdditionsBuild Mode AdditionsBuild Mode Additions
Chapter 14
155
TABLES APPENDIX
Here you'll find the collected tables for the previous The Sims™2 expansion packs and the original The Sims
2 game. These tables will
allow you to quickly reference the vital info on Careers, Objects, and Socials from all three of the other discs.
Bubble-Up “Soaking Zone” §6,500 §975 §650 §2,600 0 6 0 0 0 7 9 Plumbing X X THE SIMS™2
Hot Tub
Burled Wood Dartboard §180 §27 §18 §72 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 Hobbies X X X THE SIMS™2
Burnished Blaze Torchiere §199 §29 §19 §79 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Lighting X X X X X X T
HE SIMS™2
Bust of Tylopoda §3,130 §0 §0 §0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Decorative X X X X NIGHTLIFE
“C Stroke” by §1,700 §0 §0 §0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Decorative X X X X X X NIGHTLIFE
Alfred D’Simvo
Cafeteria-Style Steelate §810 §121 §81 §324 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Surfaces X X U
NIVERSITY
Counter Island
Candy Coated Sofa §1,570 §235 §157 §628 0 10 0 0 2 0 2 Comfort X X T
HE SIMS™2
Cantankerous Splatters §2,750 §0 §0 §0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Decorative X X X X X X NIGHTLIFE
Caress of Teak Bed §450 §67 §45 §180 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 Comfort X THE SIMS™2
“Castanoga” Counter by §680 §102 §68 §272 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Surfaces X X X X N
IGHTLIFE
Wood You Believe
Furnishings
Catamaran Kitchen Island §210 §31 §21 §84 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Surfaces X X T
HE SIMS™2
Cat-A-Strophic Luminous §99 §14 §10 §21 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Decorative X X Holiday
Lawn Ornament Pack
Centerpieces Coffee Table §370 §55 §37 §148 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Surfaces X X X T
HE SIMS™2
Chabadii “Yet Another” §290 §43 §29 §116 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Surfaces X X X T
HE SIMS™2
Coffee Table
Chabadii Chabudinky §265 §39 §26 §106 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Surfaces X X X T
HE SIMS™2
Chanukah Menorah §91 §13 §9 §36 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Decorative X X X X Holiday
Pack
Chazz Gassed §30 §5 §3 §12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Decorative X N
IGHTLIFE
Incandescent Floor Tile
Cheap Eazzzzze Morrissey §450 §67 §45 §180 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 Comfort X T
HE SIMS™2
Double Bed
Cheap Eazzzzze Puffy §515 §77 §51 §206 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 Comfort X X T
HE SIMS™2
Recliner
Chesterstick Cherry §2,125 §318 §212 §850 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Miscellaneous X T
HE SIMS™2
Dresser
Chez Chaise §900 §135 §90 §272 0 8 0 0 0 0 2 Comfort X X X T
HE SIMS™2
Chez Moi French §800 §120 §80 §320 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Surfaces X X X T
HE SIMS™2
Country Counters
Chez Moi French §800 §120 §80 §320 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Surfaces X X X T
HE SIMS™2
Country Counters
Chiclettina “Fjord” §750 §113 §75 §300 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 Surfaces X X N
IGHTLIFE
All purpose Counter
Chiclettina “Archipelago” §500 §75 §50 §200 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Surfaces X X T
HE SIMS™2
Kitchen Island
Chapter 1Chapter 18: Objects: ObjectsChapter 1Chapter 18: Objects: Objects
171
Price
Initial Depreciation
Daily Depreciation
Depreciation Limit
Hunger Comfort Hygiene Bladder Energy Fun Environment
Cleaning Study Charisma
Creativity Body
Logic Mechanical
Cooking
Kids Study Dining Room Outside Living Room Bathroom Bedroom Kitchen
Miscellaneous Street Outdoor Shopping
Food
Object Function Game
Price and Depreciation Needs Skills Room Sort Community Sort
Object
Directory
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and other countries. Primagames.com is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., registered in the
United States.
©
2006 by Prima Games. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from Prima Games. Prima Games is a division of Random House, Inc.
Product Manager: Mario De Govia Editor: Alaina Yee
©
2006 Electronic Arts Inc. Electronic Arts, EA, the EA Logo, and The Sims are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EA
is an Electronic Arts™brand.
All products and characters mentioned in this book are trademarks of their respective companies.
Please be advised that the ESRB Ratings icons, “EC,” “E,” “E10+,” “T,” “M,” “AO,” and “RP” are trademarks owned by the Entertainment Software Association, and may only be used with their permission and authority. For information regarding whether a product has been rated by the ESRB, please visit www.esrb.org. For permission to use the Ratings icons, please contact the ESA at esrblicenseinfo.com.
Important: Prima Games has made every effort to determine that the information contained in this book is accurate. However, the publisher makes no warranty, either expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, effectiveness, or completeness of the material in this book; nor does the publisher assume liability for damages, either incidental or consequential, that may result from using the information in this book. The publisher cannot provide information regarding gameplay, hints and strategies, or problems with hardware or software. Questions should be directed to the support numbers provided by the game and device manufacturers in their documentation. Some game tricks require precise timing and may require repeated attempts before the desired result is achieved.
ISBN: 0-7615-5320-7
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2005911038
2
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 What’s New in
The Sims™2 Open for Business
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter 2 Shopping Districts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Chapter 3 Talent Badges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 4 Owning and Running a Business . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 5 Anatomy of a Customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Chapter 6 Business Rank and Perks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Chapter 7 Workforce Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Chapter 8 Business Types: Retail & Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 9 Business Types: Restaurant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter 10 Business Types: Venues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Chapter 11 New Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Chapter 12 New Socials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Chapter 13 Kid Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Chapter 14 Build Mode Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Chapter 15 Tour of Bluewater Village . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Chapter 16 Cheats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Bonus Material from
The Sims™2, The Sims™2 University
,
and
The Sims™2 Nightlife
Chapter 17 Jobs by Career Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155
Chapter 18 Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Chapter 19 Socials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
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