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The Sims 3: better living through mad science
It's a staple of the Sims series that once you reach the top of a career chain, you get some sort of fancy doo-dad. In The Sims 3, once Harlan Whyte was promoted to mad scientist, he earned a new interaction. For certain objects, one of his choices for interaction is "perform experiment on".
The result is what you see in that screenshot. You can't see it, but off to the left is his XS 4258p Laptop from Landgraab Industries. Once he was done, the laptop emanated a sort of freaky Matrix-ey effect. Now, whenever someone uses the laptop, that sim acquires a moodlet called "Oddly Powerful". It gives the sim's mood a 15-point boost and lasts for two hours.
Moodlets, you ask? They're the building blocks of gameplay in The Sims 3. Mood has always been a central tenet of the Sims series. It's a bottom line measurement of your sim's well being. In the past, the primary determinants of mood have been a sim's needs bars: hunger, energy, social, that sort of thing.
But that's no longer the case in The Sims 3. Your needs bars will affect your mood, but only through moodlets, which are, quite simply, buffs and debuffs. Each one has a duration and a positive or negative effect on your sim's mood. If you need desperately to pee because your bladder bar is empty, you get a negative moodlet until you see a man about a horse. If you're well rested, you get a positive moodlet for much of the day. If you've just brushed your teeth, you get a brief positive moodlet from the minty fresh. If you're humiliated due to a social faux pas during a conversation, you get a negative moodlet. And if you use Harlan Whyte's XS 4258p Laptop from Landgraab Industries, you get a positive moodlet for two hours because you feel oddly powerful.
Tomorrow: Is that a moodlet in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
(Click here for the previous Sims 3 game diary.)
By superfingolfin at 6:33 PM ON 05/27/09
I'm sorry, but remind me again why anyone would want to play this game? Eating, drinking, talking, going to the bathroom, watching tv... all to achieve positive moodlets?
By Cubit at 6:44 PM ON 05/27/09
dang, what a grump you are.
By Toshiro'sGirl at 10:16 PM ON 05/27/09
Grump. Yes. And completely lacking imagination.
Though I'm not so sure about moodlets....
By Aeon221 at 10:58 PM ON 05/27/09
Moodlet Debuff: Need to smack whiners, -3 to bladder bar!
No but seriously, explain these moodlets further.
By Ari at 6:34 PM ON 06/22/09
It's just a percentage boost to your mood that you get when something good happens. They are actually amazing.
For example, a newlywed gets a 2 day bonus to his mood bar after the event, and a bonus whenever he's in the same room as his wife. If you brush your teeth, you get a positive "Minty Breath" moodlet, and if someone walks in when you're showering, you get a negative "Embarrassed" moodlet. It's much more realistic and fun than the bad old days when your bladder dictated your life!
By Bonnie&Clyde:) at 12:33 AM ON 06/23/09
read the story about Alice and Kev(misspelled on the site:Alex and Kev)You'll understand why the game is so fun
By Angie at 4:05 PM ON 06/23/09
Actually, the article is mistaken in that it's not _just_ the moodlets that affect your mood. The status of your needs bars DO affect your mood. The moodlets add or subtract from there.
Also, Ari@6:34 misspoke slightly in that the moodlets are not a percentage; they're straight points, plus or minus.
The moodlets are actually pretty cool. Most of the negative ones are either easy to avoid (like your Sim being an idiot and embarassing himself -- just don't do that unless you want to have fun with it, including the negative hit to mood) or easy to fix, like cleaning or fixing a dirty or broken item. A nice pile of positive moodlets can have your Sim pouring points into Lifetime Happiness, which can be spent for other bonuses. I like Fast Learner (self explanatory) and Observant (which lets you figure out other Sims' personality traits much faster as you interact with them.
Angie:
Actually, the article is mistaken in that it's not _just_ the moodlets that affect your mood. The status of your n...More »