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PRIMA
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OFFICIAL GAME GUIDE
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Greg Kramer E
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© 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
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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.
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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
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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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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.
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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.
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Chapter 2
The first time you
open one of your base
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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.
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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.
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Chapter 3
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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.
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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.
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