The following are some random bits I've picked up while playing The Sims and thought I'd post here, in case they might be useful...

House/Room Design

__ Try to create your kitchen (all your rooms, really) with flow/accessibility in mind. Putting your fridge, food processor and stove next to each other saves your sim valuable time, especially before work, if they can just step from one to the next. Also, try to leave more than one path to your dishwasher; otherwise, sims who finish eating together tend to crowd around it and spend several minutes bumping into each other like stoned pinballs.

__ Putting an end table near the mailbox (but out of the 'newspaper' area) will give your sim a convenient place to put the mail. Alternately, after they grab the mail, click the "get mail" task in their queue to cancel it, and they'll put it down where they are. Either method lets you pay the bills without wasting all that time carting them inside.

__ In a multi-bed/bath house, your sims will inevitably start off trying to use the wrong one. Don't worry; after you direct them to the correct one a few times, they'll start to learn which bed/bath is theirs.

Career

__ A Military career (which emphasizes 'body' points) lets you to progress to a higher pay grade before starting to require the friendships most other career tracks do, but its maximum salary is not as high.

__ The Hacker career track appears to give the highest daily pay at 1550 simoleons, but it requires a lot of night shifts and very long hours.

__ Missing two days of work in a row will get your sim fired. Missing one day is fine, however, so give your sim the occasional day off to build skills and relationships and to have a little fun.

__ Skills and relationships aren't the only things that count towards a promotion - performance matters too! Maxing out your skills and friendships still won't get you that promotion if you show up exhausted and cranky.

Mood/Motive Management

__ In my experience, the standard coffee and espresso machines are impractical. They might help in a real energy pinch, but when weighed against the time they require and the ensuing bladder drain (no pun intended, really!), the energy gain usually isn't worth it.

__ Given the hygiene hit from using the toilet, I always try to direct my sims to use it right before their bath/shower so they won't go pee an hour later and undo all that lovely hygiene ;o)

__ Pets help keep your social motive high, though they do require extra time and attention. With Hot Date and up, calling a friend with whom you have a good relationship score can do wonders for a flagging social bar without the need to devote endless sim-hours to entertaining guests or going to a community lot. You can't do it too often, though - sometimes the other Sim won't feel like talking and will really let the caller have it!

__ When possible, try to address multiple needs at once. For example, watching TV with another sim can fuel your fun, comfort, and social meters, all at the same time.

Finances

__ Want to rent something for a day instead of buying it? You'll get a full refund on any object you return/delete before midnight. For instance, you can 'buy' a computer to look at more job openings than the one in the paper, then delete it when you're done. You can also rent, say, a weight machine to get that body point you need for a promotion, then return the equipment before midnight. After then, objects will begin to lose value; you can still delete them, of course, but you won't get a full refund.

__ Tempting as it sometimes is to protect your sim's bank balance, it seems that the occasional purchase on their behalf can often prompt one of the game's "wild card" phone calls. Spending a little money on your sim is often rewarded with a surprise phone call that gives your sim some of - if not all or even more than - their money back.

Away Lots

__ I *always* tweak an away lot before I send my sims there. Maxis built a lot of places to visit in Old Town, Downtown, Studio Town, Vacation Island, and Magic Town, but I've found nearly every one of these lots to be missing... something. For instance, are there enough bathrooms? Is there somewhere convenient to eat? Is there enough comfy seating? Is there anything Fun to do there? I've also found that while a lot might address one particular purpose well enough, if you played all the lots as built, you could waste a lot of time traveling from place to place, trying to get things done. To this end, I make sure there's a Magic lot where I can visit all 3 vendors at once. I also like to have a well-stocked shop on one of my Magic lots so my sims can just pop through the hole to buy seeds/sugar/baking mix/pet treats without having to gather the whole family to travel to Old Town together. And it's draining enough trying to become a Superstar without having to run all over the place to use the different Fame objects; I like to place enough of them on a lot to let my sim have a productive visit without wearing themselves out schlepping all over Studio Town.

__ It's also a good idea to check the basic set-up of your away lots. Even if they have everything you want to have there, your sim can waste a lot of time (and that all-important Energy) tromping all over the place. For instance, it's handy to have your sim's Vacation room right above the dining hall, but if the only stairs are on the other end of the hotel, it can take your sim an hour just to walk down to breakfast! I've also found it a good idea to make sure there's plenty of doors. Having the baking supplies and berries right by the entrance is a great idea for a quick grocery run, but it doesn't help if Brad Burb's blocking the door. What with sims being fairly slow-witted (bless their little pixelated hearts), by the time Brad gets the message to scoot over, your sim will have already given up and started the long haul to the back entrance (or given up on that elderberry sprig entirely and been kidnapped by the sax man). Lots of wasted time that could be avoided by having another handy entrance somewhere nearby.

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