SIMS 2 OFB_Cover.qxd 2/23/06 2:39 PM Page 1 PRIMA T ® H OFFICIAL GAME GUIDE E S I Visit us online at primagames.com M S ™ 2 O P E N F O R B U S I N E S S P R IM A O F F IC IA L G A M E G U ID E T A L E N T B A D G E S Greg Kramer E C © 2006 Electronic Arts Inc. Electronic Arts, EA, the EA Logo, and The Sims are R trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other E countries. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. EA™ is an Electronic Arts™ brand. T S The Prima Games logo is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. Primagames.com is a registered trademark of ! Random House, Inc., registered in the United States. Prima is an authorized Electronic Arts licensee. U.S. $19.99 Can. $26.95 U.K. £12.99 *Requires The Sims™ 2 or The Sims™ 2 Visit us online at primagames.com® Special DVD Edition to play. ™ Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. ™ The Prima Games logo is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., registered in the United States 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 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. 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 3 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. ™ Chapter 1 Ah, the entrepreneurial spirit, its light long hidden Shopping districts can be associated with your base neighbor- within the heart of many a wage-earning Sim. Day hoods to provide your Sims a new destination for shopping and after day, ambitious Sims would march off to their fun and a new place to reside. These lots are not set up so distant and demanding jobs, returning home much for fun (as in downtown neighborhoods) as for business. wealthier but knowing that, surely, life should This is not to say that they’re all serious, just not geared offer more. More, that is, than just a paycheck, towards non-stop entertainment. Though the districts feature a cool outfit, and a swanky carpool. For them, many attractive features for visitors, they’re decidedly geared the life of a wage slave was happy but hollow. towards successful business operations. If only, they’d muse, they could build their own Sims can own community lots and use them as businesses. business, be their own boss, control their lives. Sims can develop a new system of talents to make themselves An impossible dream…until now. more successful in business. The Sims™2 Open for Businessliberates Sims Doors can be locked to restrict access to various classes from the rat race, freeing them to make or break of Sims. themselves in the exhilarating and maddening A new NPC, the Reporter, can significantly impact the success arena of self-employment. The newest expansion of your Sim’s blossoming business. pack for The Sims™2provides all the tools you’ll Playable Sims can work for other Sim’s businesses as employees need to start up a vast array of businesses for or managers, or visit their businesses as customers. your Sims—whether it’s a home-based toyshop, a tantalizing delicatessen, an epicure’s delight A new Lot Information button reveals vital stats about purchasing of a restaurant, or a sprawling mega-mall. These lots in either Buy or Build modes. are but a sample of the money-making enterprises Successful business owners can earn powerful new abilities to made possible by The Sims™2 Open for Business’s aid them in their enterprise or everyday life. new features: Restaurant objects make both traditional community lot and Sim-owned food service lots possible. New uniforms can be used to enhance the character of a Really ambitious Sims can run several business or just provide your Sims with a new look. businesses at once or even run a New business-related Collection puts all business-related objects business and hold a career track job in one easy-to-find place. at the same time. It’s all in how you play. Community lot Buy Mode now features both community and residential function sorts. Toy bench provides a crafting opportunity and several new toys for Sim children to play with. 4 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. The flower crafting station lets business owners earn a living with Buildings can achieve more varied looks with conical and beautiful arrangements; customers can enhance their homes octagonal roofs. with new and powerful decorations. Sims may move through buildings via elevator. The robot crafting bench engineers automatons of increasing Lots can have a more varied look, featuring raised platforms sophistication and power. or bandstands thanks to a new stage foundation tool. The top-of-the-line Servo robot becomes a controllable part Awnings enhance the exterior of homes or businesses. of your Sims’ families, performing tasks and providing some surprising possibilities. New Features from Amorous Sims will have a new place and partner for their more intimate interactions. Previous Expansion Packs Over-exhausted business leaders can rah-rah themselves right With this expansion pack you’ll receive several into the grave with an amusing new way to die. features from The Sims™2 Universityand The Sims™2 Sims can customize the wedding clothes they’ll sport when using Nightlife, including: the Wedding Arch. The telephone and computer have been equipped with new Restaurants (NIGHTLIFE) interactions for starting and running businesses and for trading Attraction (NIGHTLIFE) real estate. Influence (UNIVERSITY) Kids can earn money with the new Lemonade Stand. Turn Ons/Offs (NIGHTLIFE) New smaller dressers better fit the spaces in your Sims’ bedrooms. Display case objects offer venues for showing several objects If you already have those packs installed, for sale. you won’t notice anything different. If, however, Children can use mirrors to change their appearance you don’t have one or both of these previous and adults can change the appearances packs, these new features may be puzzling of toddlers. since they’re new to you and aren’t covered The salon chair enables Sims to offer in this guide. and receive makeovers for a price. For our exhaustive New child interactions enrich family rundown on these features, life for business owners and other please consult The Sims™2 Sims alike. University, Prima’s Official Management and sales socials help Strategy Guideand The Sims™2 owners and managers direct their Nightlife, Prima’s Official employees and manipulate…um…service Strategy Guide, as referenced their customers. in the list above. Sims providing services can earn extra money by collecting tips. 5 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. ™ Chapter 2 The first time you open one of your base SSSShhhhooooppppppppiiiinnnngggg DDDDiiiissssttttrrrriiiiccccttttssss neighborhoods or press the Shopping District Chooser button in the Where’s the best place to open a business? Where upper left corner, you the customers are, of course—and that’s usually can associate with where other stores are already open. Hence, begin an existing shopping with the creation of a special shopping district district or create where your Sims can travel, either to open or a new one. patronize Sim-run businesses. Once a shopping district is associated, the full Shopping Actually, the shopping district has no District Chooser special functionality; businesses may be established in any kind of neigh- appears, listing any borhood (base, downtown, or shopping districts) associated shopping except universities, and Sims may reside in a district(s) and including shopping district as well as in base neighborhoods a button for creating and downtown. What associated neighborhoods new shopping districts provide is physical expansion to the base of your own design. neighborhood and a pre-made, Maxis-designed destination that highlights new features of this Sims from other base neighborhoods, expansion pack. therefore, do not exist in a shopping district, even if the same shopping district is also associated This chapter explains the anatomy of this new with other base neighborhoods. In other words, kind of neighborhood and how it interconnects shopping districts exist in sort of a suburban with every other type. parallel universe. For example, if Pleasantview and Strangetown are both associated with the The Structure of Maxis-designed Bluewater Village, the Grunt family will never be seen wandering the lots of Shopping Districts Pleasantview’s Bluewater Village and the Goths won’t be caught dead in Strangetown’s Bluewater. 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 exclusivelyto one of your base neighborhoods, and has no connection to other base neighborhoods. 6 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. CCCChhhhaaaapppptttteeeerrrr 2222:::: SSSShhhhooooppppppppiiiinnnngggg DDDDiiiissssttttrrrriiiiccccttttssss Base and Shopping District Neighborhoods: Click on a shopping district and you’ll see its preview pane. How Do They Relate? Functionally, base and shopping districts neigh- borhoods aren’t all that different. This is why you must begin the life of any shopping district by associating your base neigh- borhood with it. The Sims™2 Open for Business Though they mostly function the same, comes complete with one very densely featured the Maxis-designed shopping district shopping district and the ability to create any that came with your expansion pack others you wish. (“Bluewater Village”) is different from the base neighborhoods in terms of the number and design of its community lots. For a full directory of lots in Bluewater Village, see Chapter 15. Sims can live in shopping district neighborhoods just as they can in base neighborhoods. Shopping districts share Lots & Houses and Sim Bins with their Once you add base neighborhood, allowing families to move from one to the custom shopping other and maintain their relationships. districts, they appear Sims you meet in a shopping district neighborhood can be alongside any existing invited over, added to a group, or called for a date or outing shopping districts. 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 You may, of course, eschew shopping districts associated universities (if you have THESIMS™ 2 UNIVERSITY entirely and put down business roots right in your expansion pack installed, that is). base neighborhoods or downtowns. Generally, when a lot is moved from a neigh- borhood to the Lots & Houses Bin, its relationship For sheer tutorial value alone, data and other essential information is deleted. associate and explore the Bluewater When the lot is a business lot, you’ll also lose all Village shopping district to get an idea business info including employees, Customer of how to properly build a business lot and what Loyalty, and Business Value. kind of businesses are possible. In combination with this book, Bluewater Village should provide a perfect crash course in Sim entrepreneurship. 7 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. ™ Chapter 3 TTTTaaaalllleeeennnntttt BBBBaaaaddddggggeeeessss Each of these areas corresponds to one or more business-related tasks that are made easier Achievement in a traditional career requires and/or more powerful with each badge level. a Sim to cultivate skills along with an expanding web of friendships. While possession of both Badge Levels these assets serves Sims well in the world of self- employment, true success depends on something new: a new set of business-oriented skills (known Badges come in three colors (or materials) that as “talents”). correspond to increasing levels of proficiency: These talents, represented by three-tiered Bronze Talent Badges, dictate a Sim’s efficiency and proficiency at several business-critical tasks. This Silver chapter explains the different kinds of Talent Gold Badges, how they’re earned, what effects they have, how to best develop them in your Sim, and Each subsequent badge material represents how to recruit and cultivate them in employees. a higher level of acumen, efficiency, or ability in the badge’s area. These increases can come The Seven Talent Badges in the form of new socials, speedier accom- plishment of tasks, ability to make more powerful Talent Badges can be earned in seven areas: objects, fewer failures, and greater resilience at certain tasks. Cosmetology Robotery For playable Sims, higher-level Talent Badges mean significant increases in both efficiency and power as well as higher pay when they’re hired on other Sim’s lots. For non-playable-employee Sims, Flower Arranging Sales skill in badges make them better suited to certain jobs and helps command a higher salary. Register Toy Making Townies in shopping districts, base neighborhoods, and downtowns will be randomly assigned a variety of badge levels to provide you a talent pool from which to Restocking draw employees. Existing playable Sims will not have any badges. 8 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited. CCCChhhhaaaapppptttteeeerrrr 33:::: TTTTaaaalllleeeennnntttt BBBBaaaaddddggggeeeessss Building robots, toys, or flower arrangements earn Sims points toward the corresponding badges. Ringing up purchases at a cash register develops a Sim’s Register badge. Doing sales socials hones a Sim’s Sales Talent Badge. Restocking (restocking anything) builds toward the Restocking A Sim who hasn’t yet earned any badges will show an empty panel Talent Badge. even if they’re well on the way to Bronze. Doing makeovers at the Ug-No-More Makeover Station adds to the Cosmetology Talent Badge. Sims begin with no badge in an area until they earn enough points for a Bronze badge. Once they achieve the Bronze, they’ll receive any benefits that go with it. Further activity in the area accumulates points toward higher badges until they eventually achieve the coveted Gold. At this highest level of accomplishment, a Sim is performing at peak levels and doesn’t need to earn any further points in the talent. This symbol doesn’t mean the Sim has gained a new badge but that they’re The level of an employee’s badge for one step closer. their assigned task affects how willing they’ll be to leave the task to tend to their Needs. The higher the badge level, the longer they stay with the job at hand. Whenever a Sim earns How Badges Are Earned points toward a badge, the badge’s icon appears with a plus sign above the Sim’s head. Badges are earned by doing tasks associated Points are earned for effort with them. expended doing tasks, whether the effort is successful or not. For example, a rejected sales social Ringing up purchases earns points toward the Sales badge at the register builds just like a successful one would. a Sim’s Register When a Sim accumulates enough Talent Badge. points for a full badge, a message appears announcing the achievement. 9 Protected by copyright. Unauthorized or unlawful copying or downloading expressly prohibited.