The Sims and Their Interests A Question

[zorba2357]

My Goth family has 0 interests and I'm thinking this is not normal? Here's the story -

On my new computer I installed the complete collection. Previously I had the base game and all expansions on my old computer that died. I had saved to disc my Goth house with family because I rebuilt/expanded the house, and I really wanted the house in my new game, didn't want to have to start all over and rebuild it.

I installed the new game, the complete collection , and figured out how to get the old rebuilt Goth house into my new game and it worked! Yeah! When I transferred the whole "userdata" folder the game would not start, But when I found just their house file and replaced it, it worked!

Everything is great But I noticed Bella and Mortimer have zero interests in their interest panel. I figured this was some glitch from the file transfer I did. They seem fine, they have conversations and all the normal options and are building relationships as far as I can tell (haven't gotten super far into the game yet) BUT they have 0 interests.

I had them both read that celebrity magazine that gets left on the doorstep along with the newspaper, like "who's who" celebrity stuff, but they still have 0 interests. THEN one day I noticed another pre-made family also had 0 interests. I think the Newbies, don't have my game loaded right now so I'm not for sure which family it was. Other families, and families I've created DO have interests in their interest panel.

So just wondering, what to do, if anything? Has anyone ever had a sim or family with 0 interests in the interest panel? If I Buy them a magazine and they read it , will it be different than that celebrity mag, will they suddenly have interests in their panel? And where do I buy the magazines exactly? If that doesn't work, not sure what to do.

Edit: Also I am not using any cheats even money cheats and don't plan to.

[Peni Griffin]

The tabloid isn't the same as the magazines. It exists to enable your sim to get an agent and start on the celebritification process. Go downtown and find a venue with a newsstand (the Landgraab Mall has some, I think) and buy those magazines.

I don't remember if Sims1 sims start with 0 interests and build them through conversation, or not. What about the other premades, the Pleasants, Burbs, Hicks, etc.?

[zorba2357]

Thank you Peni Griffin, I will try to buy some magazines from a news stand. The other pre-mades AND the sims families I've made All come with interests already from the start. That's why I think it's a glitch, or something from transferring the Goth's from my previous game files.

[danacnbrett]

Just take the Goths to a community lot and their interests should be reset. You could also use move_objects on and delete them. When they come back they should have interest points assigned. But all skill points will be erased if you gained any before saving. At least that is what happened in my game recently.

[maxon]

I don't remember if Sims1 sims start with 0 interests and build them through conversation, or not. What about the other premades, the Pleasants, Burbs, Hicks, etc.?
Interests, as I remember it, were a fixed number of points distributed throughout the interest options. You could improve interest in one area but, in the longer term, it would be balanced by a loss in another area. I seem to remember there was an algorithm in the game that did this. Your sim could only ever have the fixed number of points and if you increased one interest, it would shave off something from elsewhere. I can't remember if this is also true for TS2 but I don't think so.

[VerDeTerre]

I just started another hood of original Maxis premades. I love them! Oddly enough, Betty had no interests whatsoever - what a bore! Even after a visit to downtown, she was still empty headed. She couldn't contribute to any conversation and had a very difficult time making friends. Sadly, there was also some kind of bug in my game with her where she would read a magazine to build her interest level and after one point was earned, the magazine would disappear.

There were too many problems with adjusting the interests because I'd fill her up on one that would immediately empty when I filled her up on another. So I got a hacked object, this one The "Free The Magic" hacked object (http://sims1downloads.webs.com/freethemagicv2.htm) and adjusted her interests the way I wanted them. Then I fixed Bob's, the Pleasants', and the Goths'. The difference in their conversations was remarkable and they are quickly becoming friends.

[zorba2357]

Well, I really don't want to add any hacked objects, but if it becomes a problem I might consider it. I'm in the game now and looked at their interests again. Mortimer and Cassandra have zero. But I noticed all the way scrolled to the end Bella has an interest in Romance. It's her Only interest and is almost full of points. I'm not sure if it was there before, or if I just didn't notice it? I'm going to try and send one of them to buy magazines and take it from there.

It makes sense that they would have a fixed number of interest points that remain constant , the interest can change but the total points remain the same and are just distributed different. That's why I'm curious if it's a glitch for the sims who really have zero interest points, and I'm curious to see if it will change. I'm pretty sure Bella had zero, but my memory isn't 100% sure. Plus I Do recall her yapping about romance in conversation!

[maxon]

Zorba - you've sparked a memory. I seem to remember that sometimes you would get sims without interest points and they'd be established as they started to interact with other sims. Memory is vague though.

[zorba2357]

Here's an update: I sent Bella to the Llandgraab Mall. She bought all 5 magazines available. Got home and she placed the magazines , some on the floor. She didn't even read any yet, because her needs were low, she had to eat, sleep etc. After a good night's sleep, and a couple of baths, she has All Kinds of Interest points and she didn't even read the magazines!

I've gotten Mortimer to read, twice, and he has 2 points, SO reading the magazines will increase his interests, very good! Perhaps the game has some glitch or issue though, for it to jump around like that.

I did notice that when Mortimer was done reading about food, and got or completed 1 point , he "jumped" from the table where he was sitting to suddenly appear at the porch on the other side of the house.

[VerDeTerre]

That's the problem I had with Betty, plus her magazine would disappear. It's not supposed to work that way. They are supposed to be able to sit and read and fill up interest points until you direct them to another activity or until they have motive failure.