These are specifically live mode related tips and tricks :)
F10 - Show/Hide User Interface (basically just hiding the Sims action queue)
Tab - Cameraman Mode (Controls are listed here). Allows for free movement and more options when taking photos or recording videos of the Simmies.
M - Go to Mapview
I - Access the currently active Sim's Inventory
J - Open Skill Journal
Enter - Centre on Active Sim
Space Key - Switch to next Sim in the household
Shift+Enter - Moves camera to the centre of the lot that is currently set as the home lot.
Saving Money - No matter how many times you use an object, if you sell it the same day you bought it, you can get pretty much all your money back - to get all of it back, just make sure it was the last thing you bought and go back into buy mode and hit undo and it should give all the money back (although I should note that this doesn't work if you entirely exit the game between buying it and going into Buy Mode to hit undo).
Changing Sim/Pet Name - To easily change your Sim/Pet's name, go to the map, and find the City Hall. It should give you an option to change your name during the day - 8am-9pm, Monday-Friday.
Caking - Use the following trick to change your Sim's age (toddler, child, teen, etc.) quickly. Buy a birthday cake from the grocery store, and place it somewhere on your lot. Click the cake, and select "Have Birthday". Then, choose the Sim you want to be aged.
Easy Skills - This trick requires a TV with a Cooking, Fishing, or Gardening channel and a video game system. Have a Sim sit down and watch television. Switch the TV over to one of the previously mentioned channels so that the Sim can start earning his or her skill point. Then, have a second Sim go over and start playing video games. Notice that although the TV is displaying video games, the first Sim still has the skill meter above their head. Allow this Sim to sit there for as long as they please until they decide to do another activity of their own. After that, the skill meter should stay above their head until you start another Cooking, Fishing, or Gardening skill activity. As an added bonus, you can train two skill points at once. For example, work out and both the Athletic and Cooking skills will continue to rise. If you keep repeating the steps until each skill channel has been viewed, the Sim will keep learning the three skills as he or she goes on about their daily life, and four when doing skill activities.
Forcing Twins/Triplets - Have a pregnant Sim listen to kids music and watch kids tv simultaneously throughout their pregnancy. There's also a rumour that eating cheesecake can increase the chances but I haven't tried it personally. The music and tv trick seems to work 95% of the time - Autumn was the first Sim with whom it didn't work first time for me.
Determining Unborn Baby Gender - Have a pregnant Sim eat apples to increase the chance of having a boy and watermelons to increase the chance of having a girl. A Sim at level 10 in the medical career can also determine the gender of an unborn child. Because of the way it works, it's possible to use a level 10 medic to determine a mixed gender set of twins/triplets (you'll need to use the above tip to ensure twins/triplets) and to do it you'll need to get the level ten medic to determine the gender as soon as you know the sim is pregnant (usually when they throw up) whatever gender they tell you will lock in for one of the babies. Now you need to stuff that Sim with the opposite gender fruit for the rest of the pregnancy along with the above tip and they should have a mixed gender set of twins or triplets :)
To improve your chances of a Sim returning after death as an uncontrollable ghost that haunts the house, write in the epitaph "Here Lies [Sim's name], The One Who Returns". It pains me that I even have to type in this edit, but please be sure that the grave you are putting this Epitaph on, is the grave of the Sim you want to return after death... Writing it on a random grave isn't going to work - well it would for Mr Random Sim but - not for another Sim anyway.
Easy Friends - Buy a guitar. When you have the ability to play for tips, go to the park with the guitar in your inventory. People watching you perform will gradually have their relationship bar rise and you can end up with lots of friends a lot faster than normal socialisation through chatting or whatnot. The higher your guitar skill, the faster they will become friends with you.
Increase Chances of Brilliant Paintings/Masterpieces - Create a stylized still life after it is unlocked. Choose "Genius", and make it in the largest possible frame. You will now have a much better chance of getting a brilliant painting or masterpiece - I think it increases the chance by 20% or thereabouts... Don't quote me on that though!
Getting Rid of Dirty Dishes - Or dirty anything really! Just click and drag the trash items into the trashcan (the one that comes with every lot) and voila! Trash is gone. The trashcan should glow when you're hovering the trash over it to be sure it's being placed into the bin.
Free Pizza that Never Goes Stale - Have a Sim call for pizza. When the pizza delivery man arrives, do not accept the pizza - they will only charge you if your Sim accepts it. The delivery man will eventually leave the pizza on the front porch, and it will never get stale. You can stack as many pizzas there as you want. If your Sims get hungry, just tell them to get a pizza from the front porch :P
Getting Rid of Dirty Laundry - You can click and drag dirty piles of laundry to laundry baskets so that Sim's don't have to clean them up all the time.
Written by Georgina
F10 - Show/Hide User Interface (basically just hiding the Sims action queue)
Tab - Cameraman Mode (Controls are listed here). Allows for free movement and more options when taking photos or recording videos of the Simmies.
M - Go to Mapview
I - Access the currently active Sim's Inventory
J - Open Skill Journal
Enter - Centre on Active Sim
Space Key - Switch to next Sim in the household
Shift+Enter - Moves camera to the centre of the lot that is currently set as the home lot.
Saving Money - No matter how many times you use an object, if you sell it the same day you bought it, you can get pretty much all your money back - to get all of it back, just make sure it was the last thing you bought and go back into buy mode and hit undo and it should give all the money back (although I should note that this doesn't work if you entirely exit the game between buying it and going into Buy Mode to hit undo).
Changing Sim/Pet Name - To easily change your Sim/Pet's name, go to the map, and find the City Hall. It should give you an option to change your name during the day - 8am-9pm, Monday-Friday.
Caking - Use the following trick to change your Sim's age (toddler, child, teen, etc.) quickly. Buy a birthday cake from the grocery store, and place it somewhere on your lot. Click the cake, and select "Have Birthday". Then, choose the Sim you want to be aged.
Easy Skills - This trick requires a TV with a Cooking, Fishing, or Gardening channel and a video game system. Have a Sim sit down and watch television. Switch the TV over to one of the previously mentioned channels so that the Sim can start earning his or her skill point. Then, have a second Sim go over and start playing video games. Notice that although the TV is displaying video games, the first Sim still has the skill meter above their head. Allow this Sim to sit there for as long as they please until they decide to do another activity of their own. After that, the skill meter should stay above their head until you start another Cooking, Fishing, or Gardening skill activity. As an added bonus, you can train two skill points at once. For example, work out and both the Athletic and Cooking skills will continue to rise. If you keep repeating the steps until each skill channel has been viewed, the Sim will keep learning the three skills as he or she goes on about their daily life, and four when doing skill activities.
Forcing Twins/Triplets - Have a pregnant Sim listen to kids music and watch kids tv simultaneously throughout their pregnancy. There's also a rumour that eating cheesecake can increase the chances but I haven't tried it personally. The music and tv trick seems to work 95% of the time - Autumn was the first Sim with whom it didn't work first time for me.
Determining Unborn Baby Gender - Have a pregnant Sim eat apples to increase the chance of having a boy and watermelons to increase the chance of having a girl. A Sim at level 10 in the medical career can also determine the gender of an unborn child. Because of the way it works, it's possible to use a level 10 medic to determine a mixed gender set of twins/triplets (you'll need to use the above tip to ensure twins/triplets) and to do it you'll need to get the level ten medic to determine the gender as soon as you know the sim is pregnant (usually when they throw up) whatever gender they tell you will lock in for one of the babies. Now you need to stuff that Sim with the opposite gender fruit for the rest of the pregnancy along with the above tip and they should have a mixed gender set of twins or triplets :)
To improve your chances of a Sim returning after death as an uncontrollable ghost that haunts the house, write in the epitaph "Here Lies [Sim's name], The One Who Returns". It pains me that I even have to type in this edit, but please be sure that the grave you are putting this Epitaph on, is the grave of the Sim you want to return after death... Writing it on a random grave isn't going to work - well it would for Mr Random Sim but - not for another Sim anyway.
Easy Friends - Buy a guitar. When you have the ability to play for tips, go to the park with the guitar in your inventory. People watching you perform will gradually have their relationship bar rise and you can end up with lots of friends a lot faster than normal socialisation through chatting or whatnot. The higher your guitar skill, the faster they will become friends with you.
Increase Chances of Brilliant Paintings/Masterpieces - Create a stylized still life after it is unlocked. Choose "Genius", and make it in the largest possible frame. You will now have a much better chance of getting a brilliant painting or masterpiece - I think it increases the chance by 20% or thereabouts... Don't quote me on that though!
Getting Rid of Dirty Dishes - Or dirty anything really! Just click and drag the trash items into the trashcan (the one that comes with every lot) and voila! Trash is gone. The trashcan should glow when you're hovering the trash over it to be sure it's being placed into the bin.
Free Pizza that Never Goes Stale - Have a Sim call for pizza. When the pizza delivery man arrives, do not accept the pizza - they will only charge you if your Sim accepts it. The delivery man will eventually leave the pizza on the front porch, and it will never get stale. You can stack as many pizzas there as you want. If your Sims get hungry, just tell them to get a pizza from the front porch :P
Getting Rid of Dirty Laundry - You can click and drag dirty piles of laundry to laundry baskets so that Sim's don't have to clean them up all the time.
Written by Georgina