WORLD ADVENTURE : PHOTOGRAPHY GUIDE

The Sims 3 Photography Guide

Getting the Most Money out of Your Sim's Photos

This guide was authored by Carl with significant help from RCHaynes from our forum. Thanks Robin!

 

Photography is a new skill introduced in The Sims 3 World Adventures expansion pack. While Photography's not a good way to make money early on in the game, it can provide a nice steady income later. With this skill, you'll direct your Sim to photograph landmarks, Sims doing different things, and objects in the game. It's certainly not the best skill in the Sims 3's World Adventures, but it's very accessible to any Sim in any profession. Children can even learn to take photographs.

Learning the Photography Skill
There are two avenues for learning the skill. First and foremost, taking pictures. Head to one of the new locations in World Adventures and buy a camera from the general store there. While all three destinations sell the cheapie, Al Simhara, Egypt is the "home" of photography. They offer two additional, more expensive cameras (more on that later). Also at the Al Simhara book store, you'll find a skill book to raise photography to up to level 3.

I actually recommend using the skill book for this one. Read it until level 3 then chuck it. Taking poor quality, small photographs can actually run you at a loss due to the base cost of a photo. Using the skill book will get you closer to level 5, where photographers tend to stop making errors when taking pictures. Additionally, you'll unlock new camera modes on the more expensive cameras which helps to increase income.

Note that you can't keep photographing the same subject and expect to gain skill. After two pictures it's time to move on. This resets after a day, and you can get decent money and skill gains from the 'New Today' photos you take. After that, it's bunk and you should find something else to photograph.

How Photography Works in the Sims 3
Press Shift+C with a camera in your Sim's inventory to take a picture. You can click the camera to do this as well, but it's not recommended. As your Sim takes pictures, they'll work toward filling photo collections. Some photos are more valuable than others, but in general as you approach the more rare shots the price multiplies. The first time your Sim snaps a particular photo, that picture will be worth more money. That's why I recommended actually using the skill book -- photography skill and higher quality cameras and camera modes will result in higher first-time prices for these pictures.

You will run at a loss if you photograph the same thing twice in a day. After midnight, you can start snapping pictures of the same old stuff and earn a little profit. The real money is to be made by going out and seeking the more rare shots. Travel photos of landmarks and dungeon objects tend to be worth more. I recommend you develop the skill some before you do this, that way you'll get the most cash for your time.

Pointers for Early Level shots
I recommend you work your way around Sunset Valley or Riverview at first when working on photography. You can pause the game through the camera interface to ensure your Sim doesn't miss the shot. This is helpful for things like cars and Sims in action where you could miss the shot with the game time clock running. Save the really good photos for later to get maximum profit. Take photos of strangers to work on the Paparazzi challenge. This will also count toward how many unique Sims you've photographed. Look for objects like plants, different types of household items, and other types of objects detailed below. While it takes a certain level to "unlock" a photo collection, you can get it revealed early by taking only one photo out of that particular collection.

Cameras
There are three cameras in the Sims 3, all purchasable from Al Simhara's general goods vendor. Using a higher value camera will result in faster skill gains. I recommend you start with the best camera you can, because boosting skills faster and taking higher value photos earlier will help you to get the most out of photography. The better cameras' photos are more likely to earn profit because they seem to multiply value despite a higher operating cost. So, if you find you're always losing money even when taking decent shots, blame your camera.

Clicking a camera in your inventory will bring up a menu where you can choose to sell your photos. Using erase all photos doesn't seem to be a useful thing to do, because you will just lose all the potential profit or loss recovery you'd achieve by selling. It doesn't make a second photo you snap revert to the first time for that day, so if you flub up a shot by taking a low quality photo on accident this won't rescue you.

The other option for clicking a camera is the settings menu, where you can set the default size and photo filter. Later you'll want to set this to vignette panoramas. Keep it set at the best photo size you have available to ensure you don't accidentally take lower value photos. The worst camera can only default its color filter.

Lastly, you can browse your photos and use them as wall decorations. Panoramas are huge. Take them home and decorate the room with photographs of your travels as well as artifacts and relics you've found along the way.

• Snaptastic Flimsy-Cam ($250) - This horrible camera takes only small size photos and delivers the lowest quality shots. It is however cheapest to operate. Later you can use it to take panoramas but it's a waste to use up valuable first time shots with this camera. Stick with the Hikon for panoramas and large portraits. The price is almost the same if you take a panorama with this camera but the price modifier is base line so you'll often take a bigger loss when photographing the same thing.
• ChannonTek Outlaw SE($850) - This camera can take small photos and medium landscapes. It's the middle of the road camera and good for first time photographers. You'll actually take less of a loss operating this camera
• Hikon QX40di Gladiator($3250) - When I start photography over, this will be my camera of choice. It's worth saving up for as the more valuable photos will help to make up for the cost of the purchase price. It takes the absolute best shots and can do all sizes. Using this advanced tech camera will also serve to raise photography the fastest of all. Because of the high value photos, you can make money taking decently priced shots again and again, although probably at the most around $50 a shot. It's better to keep seeking new subjects.

Camera Photo Modes
Since there are so many photo modes to test, and different combinations available, making solid recommendations isn't that simple. However, it does seem to boil down to panorama shots with the classic vignette filter taking the absolute best photos. Use it for all first time shots when the abilities are available. In general, the more advanced the photo filter, and larger the photo size, the more money you'll make.

Photo Sizes
• Small Portrait - Default at Photography level 1 - This is your basic getting started photo size. It's the lowest grade photo available, with pictures coming in over 2x lower value than a panorama shot. Move on to better sizes as soon as you can.
• Medium Landscape - A bump in price that comes early on in photography. Best taken with the ChannonTek Outlaw SE or above.
• Large Portrait - Again, use the best available, panorama, but if this your best option use it.
• Panorama - Finally some serious cash can start coming in once you're able to take classic vignette shots with this photo size. Your Sim won't be able to do this until level 10. Sims with this size option will finally be able to make serious cash and vacations can pay for themselves as you take new shots during your Sim's adventures.
Photo Filters
• Color - Default. The lowest value type of photograph.
• Black and White - Unlocked by level 2, you can use this to replace color and make some extra cash for your photos.
• Sepiatone - At level 4 you can begin taking photos in the sepiatone filter. Again, move up to this new option for all your photographs
• Classic Vignette - This photo filter is available at level 9 and will be the best option for use in your panorama shots. Use it often and make it the default on your camera.

The Sims 3's Photography Challenges
It's unclear what each of the challenges do, but it seems likely they boost the value of shots in certain categories. Some of these are a bit more ambiguous, such as Paparazzi and Shutternut. When we learn more about these challenges this section will be updated. World Adventures is still new and there's a lot to learn!

• Photolog - Capture 75 different subjects. This one shouldn't be too difficult with the list we have compiled below. Look for photos you've never taken and pursue them.
• Architectural Eye - Capture 10 unique landmarks. This seems to be a catchall for buildings. While the subjects fall into different categories, places in town such as the bistro and school will count, while the Sphinx and dragon cave also count. I noticed a nice increase in photo value for all new buildings once I achieved this challenge.
• Human Form Expert - Take shots of 50 unique Sims. Photos of two's company or three's a crowd seem to count toward this. This should help with photograph prices for Sim-related photos across the board. Sims in action, Sims around town and unique types of Sims such as firefighters will likely see a price boost.
• Paparazzi - You must not know the Sim you're photographing to work toward this challenge. Locals in the travel destinations in world adventures are good candidates, along with those around your Sim's home town.
• Shutter Nut - Complete 5 photo collections to complete this challenge. Afterward, it will make all future photos free (increasing profit from each shot).

If you complete these challenges, join us at the Sims 3 Forum to post your theories on exactly what they do for your Sim. Perhaps a patch will improve the photography skill journal in the future and give us a hint.

Photo Collections Sims Can Complete
There's a lot of data here. Its purpose is to help you unlock the photo categories easier. Some photos in a collection are inevitably low value, but the first time shots will earn plenty of money to ensure you aren't running at a loss. Be sure to bring the best camera when you're going for rare shots of doubly dead, travel destinations and other odd shots.

Note that there is no bonus money made from completing a collection, and you can feel free to sell photos before you've collected them all.

Still Life
Nectar & Food	Flowers
Couch	Video Game System
Tombstone	Candles
Objects	Television
Box of Tissue	Garden Decorations

This is one of the easiest collections to complete. Most of the subjects here can be found around Sunset Valley.

Family & Friends
My Spouse	Family Member
3 of my Friends	Housemate
Ghostly Family	My Main Squeeze
My Child	My Friend
Two of my Friends

Getting a picture of a ghost family member, love interest and child could be the hardest for solo Sims. This collection encourages you to have a family, that or WooHoo with strangers and visit the baby.

Everyday Moments
Child Being Carried	A Sim Gardening
Lovers at Night	Sim using a Computer
Pizza Delivery	Someone Painting
Police Officer	Chessmatch
Mail Carrier	Remedy for a Hot Day
Firefighter	Two's Company
Political Demonstration	Maid at Work
A Sim in the Area	4 Sims Eating
A Group of Sims	A Sim Fishing
Kid playing with Toybox	Photo of Photographer
Repairman on the Job	Three's a Crowd
Kid playing with Oven

A large collection that's not as easy to complete because of all the various actions you need to catch Sims involved in. Keep a sharp eye for Sims doing things involved in this list and whip out the camera.

Home Sweet Home
Furniture	Baby Stuff
Gadgets Galore	Kitchen Kitsch
A Nice Garden	Toys & Hobbies
Cute Teddy Bear	Bathroom Stuff
Home Décor	Something Yummy
A toilet	Outdoor Stuff

Another easy collection to complete because the stuff is found all over town. I don't recommend buying the stuff just to get a picture because it will result in lost money.

Around Town
A Party	The Gym
The Bistro	Grocery Store
Bicycle	School
The Park	The Spa
Car	Police Car
Places in Town	Diner

Easy, easy collection to pursue. See what you're missing and snag those last shots.

Travel
A Pyramid	Pushable Statue
Shower in a Can	Snake Charmer
Pile of Ancient Coins	Relic
Pile of Rubble	Lovers in France
Floor Trap	Sarcophagus
The Great Sphinx	Lovers in Egypt
Lovers in China	Soulpeace Statue
Treasure Chest	Abu Simbel
Giant Boulder	Torch of Anubis
Floor Switch	Dragon Cave

It'll be vital to bring a camera while inside tombs to complete this collection. The soulpeace statue is found within the Sphinx, which seems only accessible if you're cursed by the mummy or able to use tranquil transference or Zeneport from martial arts.

Oh, the Calamity!
One Sick Sim	Soaked to the Bone
A Social Worker	A Fight
Slap Fights	The Repoman
A Theif	A Singed Sim

A tough one in some aspects. You could get the social worker by attempting to adopt a baby then cancelling the process.

Collectables
Luminorous Gem	Mercury Vial
Opal	Iron
Pink Diamond	China Statue Set
Geode	Silver
White Diamond	Canopic Jar Set
Gold	Magic Gnome
Tiberium	Egyptian Statue Set
Quartz	Space Rock
Rainbow Gem	Dangerous Creatures Statue Set
Topaz	Dropa Stone Set
Mummitorium

Snag photos of these gems and metals you find to work on this one, before you sell them. Dropping them on the ground seems to work just fine. They'll be easier to capture if you can place them far from other potential subjects.

Architectural & Buildings Collection
General Hospital	Chinese Garden
Bookstore	Sports Stadium
City Hall	Academy
The Market	French Market
Mausoleum	Nectary
Town Theatre

Again, look for the destinations in your skill journal that you haven't yet covered and head there.

Paranormal Collection
Mummy Having a Snack	My Dead Spouse
A Ghostly Problem	Simply Death
A Mummy	A Serious Ghost Problem
A Ghost	Wondering Ghost
My Dead Enemy	Too Many Ghosts
Doubly Dead	It's Haunted
Death on Vacation

A tough category to be sure. Doubly dead will be hard, and getting Death on Vaction may be challenging as well. Be ready to whip out that camera when a Sim dies in a foreign location. Doubly dead requires a shot of a ghost mummy, a tough find. You'll need to get control of a mummy using a sarcophagus of kings and an offering with the canopic jar collection and wait or inspire the mummy to die. Good luck with that one. Share a shot at out our forum.

Best in Class Collection
Limo	Superstar
A Money Tree	Expensive Stereo
Supercop	Nectar Rack
Omniplant	Luxury car
A Top Chef	Chief Lifesaver
Military Bigwig	Diplomat Extraordinaire
Master Criminal	Fancy Tent

These can be hard. Look for luxury cars parked in town at other Sims' homes. You may need to grow some of these to effectively catch them. Look for Sims leaving work destinations in uniform to try to get the rest. An omni-plant shot should be possible outside the science facility.

Plants & Flowers Collection
Apple Tree	Flame Plant
Cherimola Blan Grape Vine	Life Plant
Renoit Grape Vine	Bell Pepper Plant
Onion Plant	Potato Plant
Lettuce Plant	Hydrangea
Cranerlet Nuala Grape Vine	White Rose
Tomato Plant	Red Rose
Plum tree	Garlic Plant
Pomegranate Tree	Death Flower
Meloire Grape Vine	Sunflower
Averlino Grape Vine	Gralladina Grape Vine
Watermelon Plant

So many plants to take photos of. It shouldn't be too hard. Find most of them in gardens around town and the travel locations. See my Plant List for World Adventures fruits. You'll likely need to do a little searching if you don't have a garden of your own. If your Sim is adept at Gardening, you can just grow your subjects. Single out plant types in yourgarden layout to make capturing them easier.

Sims in Motion Collection
Honing Body and Mind	Get a Room!
Refreshing Swim	Pleading to Sphinx
Sims Dancing	Running
Making Nectar	Sim Making the Bed
Playing Catch	Great Tunes
Pushing Statue	Dumpster Diving
Sims Sparring	Solo Dancer
Board Breaker	Fighting Flab

You'll really need to keep a sharp eye for Sims doing any of these actions as you go along. Dumpster diving seems tough. Like many of the others that involve other Sims, it might be easiest if you have a Sim under your control. In the previous example, a Journalist Sim could help you get this shot.

WORLD ADVENTURE : TOMB BUILDING

How to Build a Tomb in World Adventures

This guide was authored by box3d from our Sims 3 Forum. Kudos to him for all his hard work.

How to Use the Building Tool: Cheat!
In order for Simmers to get the option to place tomb objects on a lot, they'll need to activate two different cheats ( ctrl+shift+c opens up the cheat box.) testingcheatsenabled true and buydebug. This enables a new buy mode tab that holds tomb objects, fish/bug/gem spawners, and extra objects like cameras, nectar makers, plants, etc.

Basic Tomb Objects
Let's look at some of the basic objects you can use in build mode to bring your tombs to life:

Dive Well: This object is a well used for stashing treasure, can be used as a portal which connects two wells together, or can be used as a hidden switch. You can also have your Sim soak themselves in the well to get past fire traps.

Rubble Pile: A pile of rubble (go figure) that your Sim needs to break in order to collect treasure hidden underneath. This is also a good place to hide switches.

Giant Boulder: Like the pile of rubble, this is used to hide treasure, switches, and even block tunnels. It cannot be cleared like a normal rubble pile -- your Sim needs the Legendary Axe of Pangu to break it. (This axe can be found in China, or in the hidden buy tab that is unlocked by the buydebug cheat.)

Keystone Panel: A panel that requires a specific keystone. Once a keystone is placed in this panel it acts as a switch.

Small Hole (Wall/Floor): A small hole in the floor/wall that holds treasure. Can also be used as a switch.

Tomb Room Maker: The Single Most Important Tomb Building Object This hidden ball specifies that a certain room is a tomb. It can also fog the room until a Sim opens a door to that room or walks into it, which makes tomb exploring a lot more fun. There would be no pleasure in discovering hidden doors if they could be seen by players. This object is also used to set the last tomb room, which is a must for your Sims that need to explore six tombs fully for their lifetime wish.

Floor Switch: A switch you step on. Used to trigger an event you specify.

Trap (Wall/Floor): Traps can be set to either fire, water, steam, shock or dart types, and you can set the rate at which the trap fires, and whether or not it can be disabled.

Hidden Trigger Panel: A hidden trigger on the floor that your Sim needs to walk across (you can't hide, or reveal it either so it really is hidden.)

Sarcophagus: Used to spawn mummies and hide treasure. Note that you can set the chance (%) a mummy will spawn when a Sim opens it.

Torch Lever: A torch that can act as a lever after you enable the torch switch.

Pushable Statue: Can act as a trap disabler, or a switch once moved atop a floor switch. You can also set the statue to hidden, visable, etc. When hidden, it looks like those statues in tombs that are broken and can't be moved. You can also make the statues unmovable.

Treasure Chests: A chest that holds ...treasure! You can set them to require a certain type of keystone.

Spawnable Treasure: The object looks like a little carpet when in buy mode, but isn't visible in live mode. You can set how often the treasure occurs, what the treasure is, or how rare the treasure is. This helps to add some random variaton to your tombs.

Hidden Door: For some reason EA put it in the doors section in build mode, so it cannot be found in the tomb objects section. This door can either be hidden, or unhidden, can be set to open once unhidden, or require examination before opening. You can also set the athletic skill level required to open it, and it can act as a trigger once opened.

Stairs: Found in build mode again, stairs can be used to descend lower into tombs, and can also be hidden.

Link Triggers & Activated Behaviours: These two interactions used to set up switches and actions within two objects. To open these interactions, while in buy mode, hold down Ctrl+Shift then left click on the tomb object. While every tomb object has a different switch and behavior, each interaction is fairly Similar.

Step-by-Step Example:
Using A Torch Lever as a Switch To Reveal a Hidden Door

This will help those wanting to get started with tomb creation to understand how link triggers and activated behaviors can be used. Once you've got a basic understanding of these concepts, you can begin getting more creative with your tombs.

To start off easy we are going to use a torch lever and a hidden door. The torch lever being the trigger, and the door being the behavior (we want to pull the lever to show the hidden door). First, enabling the lever on the torch is a must, this allows a Sim to have the interaction "pull lever" upon clicking the torch, instead of just enable/disable auto lights.Remember ctrl+shift then left click.

Next click on the door and press allow triggers and activated behaviors. This option is only on doors and stairs. Just like it says, it allows the object to use triggers and behaviors. Click it again, and there should be an option that says "activated behaviors". After clicking on that option, there will be several other options such as unhide, hide, open, close, lock, unlock, etc. We want to unhide the door, so click unhide, and then activate. The door will then unhide itself if hidden, so make sure to hide the door again afterward so it's hidden when you visit the tomb.

Now we need to do the exact same thing with the torch, only the option we are clicking is "link triggers," then "pull lever."

Next, we need to go back to the door and an option labeled "link activated behaviors" will show. Click on that, then "unhide."

Your two objects should be attached now, but to make sure it's working put your mouse over one of the objects and a colored line will be drawn from one to the other.

It sounds like a complex process, but once you've played around with it for a couple of minutes or so, it becomes easy, although each object takes some time to get used to because of different interactions. Every object has the same two options: link triggers and activated behaviors. The only things that change are the triggers themselves. All that really needs to be known is how to connect two objects together, which is the confusing part. Once you understand the link triggers and activated behaviors tomb creation becomes a lot easier.

Tomb Creation Tips

• When connecting two dive wells together as a portal when there are only two in the tomb, you only have to allow them both be portals. When there are more than two name each portal, and then make them uber portals. You will then have to type in the name of the desired portal. You can also connect portals this way when on different lots.
• Each object can have several link triggers and activated behaviors so experiment with different objects (such as the divewell which can be a portal, hidden switch, and can hold treasure.)
• Two objects can connect together when in completely different rooms.
• After clicking link triggers on an object you will not get the option on another object to link triggers, this way you have complete control over which two objects connect. To start out, try placing two tomb objects at a time instead of creating the whole tomb. This will cause less confusion.
• The only door that can be hidden is the Hidden Door. The others can only lock and unlock.
• In order to use the torch as a switch, you must use the torch that is under the tomb objects/debug catalog in buy mode.
• Keystones that are placed onto the lot can be turned into different shapes, and keystone panels can also do the same, instead of always using the default crescent shape.
• Tombs can be created in a residential lot as well as a community lot.
• The Tomb Room Maker allows you to change the tomb type which adds better effect.
• You can set treasure chests to hold specific artifacts like keystones and rare gems.

WORLD ADVENTURE : TOMB RAIDING TIPS

General Help for Being a Great Tomb Raider

With this guide, I hope to provide tips for adventuring and raiding tombs in The Sims 3's World Adventures expansion pack. I'd like to do so without spoiling the game for new players. We'll discuss most of the basics of searching dungeons and getting past the puzzles inside.

Fly Solo
Sure, family vacations can be fun and a great way to take the kidsto a new land. However, if your goal is to raid tombs, you're going to find it's better to take a single Sim on adventures. Why? All that multi-tasking will really get on your nerves unless both Sims are together. Even then you'll need to move them in tandem. Plan adventures with a single Sim in mind and you'll get much more done without all the frustration. After all, no one back home will age while your Sim's travelling.

Don't Worry About Death -- Except for the Mummy's Curse
I have yet to have a Sim die in a tomb. Sims get too freaked to risk touching a fire trap a second time and protect themselves from harm. No matter how many times my Sim gets shocked, flamed or blasted with high pressure water they haven't died. The only danger lies in Egypt, which has the most challenging tombs and features the new way to die - the mummy's curse. Even if your Sim gets cursed they have a sizable amount of time to try to break it. This can be done by visiting the Sphinx and making it to the soulpeace statue.

If you want to prepare yourself for the possibility your Sim gets cursed and want to break it quickly, buy a snake charming basket from the general store in Al Simhara, Egypt. Practice charming snakes and your Sim will get better and better. Eventually they can buy a king cobra for the basket for $1,000 Simoleons. Do this by clicking the basket while it's in your inventory. Once your Sim can kiss the cobra reliably they are essentially immune to the curse because they should be able to give him a nice big smack on the fangs before they die of the curse.

The Mummy's Curse can be avoided entirely by getting practice in the martial arts skill. You need high level martial arts andathletics to boot to be able to kick a mummy's butt with any certainty. They're slow but rough to take on in a fight. Losing a fight to a mummy doesn't always result in the curse, sometimes your Sim just gets knocked unconscious.

Mummy snacks might give your Sim some time to search a sarcophagus and escape the mummy entirely. They can be purchased from the special merchant but take ancient coins to do so.

I Recommend Starting in China
Not only does Shang Simla, China have some of the easiest tombs to raid, and the cheapest travel price, it's also the home of martial arts and Pangu's Axe. You need the axe to get past boulders and it makes clearing rubble inside tombs a breeze. What's more, if you get to a puzzle you just can't get past, you can meditate and be able to zeneport past the problem area. It takes 3 and a half hours to meditate to this point but only requires level 5 in martial arts.

Be Prepared
Traveling is expensive, especially if you want to do it with a new Sim. The cheapest destination is China, and it costs about $1300 at the base cost. You shouldn't head out without spending money so plan to take at least 2,000 Simoleons with you. That way, you can afford all the necessities for crawling through dungeons and tombs. It's a real bummer to get to a new world and be flat broke. Items aren't very expensive, but you need a variety of things to get by.

Travel with Another Sim
As shown in the screenshot above, it's definitely possible to travel longer than 18 days with multiple Sims in the group. Work on making two of your Sims well-travelled and they could eventually reach a combined total of 36 days. This works for up to 4 Sims and could reach a whopping 72 days of travel time.

The Bare Necessities for an Adventurer
The first place you need to hit up if you want to successfully complete a tomb is the general goods merchant in whichever country you visit. They're always found at the marketplace, which is a blue location in map mode. From there, you need to purchase several items:

Tents
These aren't always necessary on an adventure, as many tombs have beds your Sim can sleep in. Also, there's sometimes inadequate space to place them. However, you should strive to get one to keep on your Sim at all times. It is extremely frustrating to be in the middle of a tomb raid and have your Sim run out of energy. All the time spent investigating rooms adds up quickly and some tombs may take a couple days' worth of time to complete. There are three types of tent available, all are the same size but give better energy boosts depending on the cost.

Your Sim can buy a basic tent for $220. The better option, purchasable with Simoleons cost $2700. Once your Sim has earned VISA level 3 in one of the locatons you can purchase the Sultan's Tabernacle with 2,500 ancient coins. This is the very best option and gives a great night's sleep in the form of a 'Slept like a King' moodlet. It's vital that you remember once your Sim wakes up you need to place the tent in your inventory. You don't want to forget it!

Dried Food
This is another staple for the adventurer. You won't be able to keep food in your inventory for a long period of time because it'll spoil. Thankfully, the World Adventures expansion has a solution in the form of dried foods. They never spoil! The highest quality dried food costs $40 and does give a short good meal moodlet. You can't expect this to boost your Sim's mood nearly as much as a nice sit down dinner but it's a wonderful commodity to have along on a trip. Buy this at the general store along with the other essentials.

You'll often find dried foods in tombs. I tend to toss the lower quality stuff but it's helpful when you're just getting started. Eventually you'll want to buy a lot of these to keep for avoiding repeat trips to the general store.

If your Sim is strapped for cash, they can bring fruit along to satisfy the hunger need, since apples and other produce don't spoil while in the inventory.

Shower in a Can
While you might not care if your Sim isn't in the best mood or very clean while they're on an adventure, you must remember that bad hygiene will put them in a bad mood and lower the rate you'll gain your lifetime happiness points. Thankfully, shower in a can fits the bill. It doubles as a method for removing the singed moodlet your Sim will get when they're electrocuted or hit with fire while in a tomb. It's a quick way to remove the moodlet allowing them a chance to disarm or cross by a nasty trap. These are expensive at $120 each, but vital. Keep several on your Sim at all times. Eventually you'll want to buy a fat stack to keep you going for long periods of time to avoid continuing trips to the general store.

Skeleton Keystones
These require VISA level 2 and 400 ancient coins to purchase. It's expensive, but can come in handy. I really recommend you hold onto any you purchase until you're sure a particular tomb doesn't have the key you need. They only work for common types of keys, such as the heart and crescent keystones. You'll need specific keys for more complex locks.

Fun? Not really needed.
Tomb raiding is an exciting experience for Sims. While they won't have a blast while they're searching through tombs, their fun need will level off. You could bring a portable fun option such as a guitar, but why waste the precious time? If you insist your Sim stay in an amazing mood, consider purchasing a snake charming basket from Egypt's general store. It's good practice for the event where you need to break the mummy's curse, and you'll have a blast to boot.

Types of Triggers
There are numerous types of switches to be found in the dungeons in World Adventures. The very simplest are footpads, which have two feet on them. Stepping on them causes something to happen in the tomb. Follow the sparkles to see what door was unlocked or what other triggers could have been revealed.

Switches that require weight also exist. You'll need to drag statues on top of these types of switches, which feature a sun-type symbol. Watch out for holes on the ground or situated in walls where your Sim can find treasure and often a switch to get past a door or trap.

There are dive pools in tombs which often connect to another pool. You may also find switches and treasure inside. Diving into one spot a few times in a row can also be useful because the Sim might not find everything on the first attempt. These pools are also useful for getting past fire traps because getting soaked can prevent the pain from fire.

Rarely you may also need to flip a torch on the wall. This only happens a few times in my experience and is not nearly as common as the other types of triggers.

The last type you'll need to really watch out for. You can sometimes inspect walls to find entrances to hidden rooms. You'll need to rotate the camera a lot to see them and they can be difficult to spot at times even using cutaway walls mode. Bring the walls up or use the bottom border of the wall to search for places that can be inspected. Often these walls will be discolored or different in some way.

Types of Traps
I've encountered five types of traps in the Sims 3 World Adventures. Fire, Water, Electricity, Steam and Darts. Once you've got past a trap it is generally disarmed. Your Sim may be able to disarm some of them on their own. Having experience in the handiness skill may help to make this more possible but it's unclear. If you get hit by a fire or electricity trap, head to the nearest dive well or use a shower in a can to eliminate the fear and allow them to attempt to disarm it. If they can't, they can sometimes attempt to cross or look for a trigger to disable it otherwise. Traps aren't really dangerous in this game, but more a nuisance and barrier that gets in your way.

Bring Your Camera
There are a lot of unique shots that can only be achieved while inside a dungeon. How could you get a nice picture of a floor trap or a mummy for your collection without having a camera handy inside a tomb? Even a bad camera can be useful. I recommend reading my Photography Guide to get the most out of your shots.

Save up those relic collections you pick up during your adventures. Taking shots of them assembled can become very high value photos.

Collections and Fragments
As stated above, assembling collections can make great photographic shots so you don't want to sell them until you've at least got a picture. You'll also find fragments of items like sarcophagi and other items on your travels. Save them up and assemble them at home.

WORLD ADVENTURE : PANGU AXE

The Sims 3: Pangu's Axe

Finding the Legendary Axe of Pangu in China for World Adventures

Pangu's Axe is a vital tool for any Adventurer who seeks to go out exploring tombs in The Sims 3. Pangu's Axe is found inChina and can only be accessed by completing an adventure chain there. Located within the Temple of Heaven, a rather large tomb, getting the Legendary Axe of Pangu is a great feat for any explorer.

What it Does
Pangu's Axe clears rubble piles much faster than any Sim could do with other tools. It is also capable of smashing boulders. That's its greatest ability. Tombs in China, France and Egypt all feature boulders that cannot be surpassed without the Axe. It's for this reason more than any other that I recommend China as a first stop for any tomb raider. Getting this axe will save your Sim some backtracking and perhaps allow them to access great treasure much earlier.

What You'll Need

Dried Food

A Tent

The Skill to solve minor puzzles in World Adventures

A little Charisma could help save time when convincing locals
How to Get the Quest
Take a trip to China for as long as possible. You may need to come on multiple trips depending on your luck with the adventure board. Taking the prepared traveler reward helps with this as it can give you three extra days out of country. Look to the adventure board. Check the board repeatedly. There are usually four or five. If one named Confounded Boulder! isn't there, you will need to eliminate some. You may even need to do four or more, so that more slots are freed up when the board is replenished overnight.
The first adventures, the Seeking Adventure and Treasure Hunter chain is a good start. If you see one you really don't like, such as one to start a martial arts chain, accept then delete that from your opportunities tab. This will free up a slot as well, giving you another opportunity to get the boulder quest.
When you've finally got the Confounded Boulder quest, you'll begin a chain which features about five parts. First, you'll need to convince three locals, then convince one to give up the location of the axe. That Sim will require you to collect several gems to fund the city. Charisma can help as a time-saver with those tasks. You'll then need to retrieve the Axe from the Temple of Heaven. Lastly, acquire a relic from Hot Springs to claim ownership of the Axe.
The Temple of Heaven
Finding the entrance to this temple at first confused me. The door to get in is located in one of the two outside buildings. There's a stairwell inside. Most of this place is pretty straightforward. Once you get to the end of the long path and are met with two stairwells, the tomb provides its only really confusing moment. You may feel a little overwhelmed so I provided the maps below. Steps 1-7:
Once you've retrieved the axe, have your Sim make their way back out. There will be new traps to contend with along the way, and you'll need to do a bit of disarming and attempting to cross in order to make it out. Keep a sharp eye and you'll be able to avoid getting hit too much. Once you reach the first stairwell in the map, take the other for an exit route featuring some boulders to smash. There's some extra treasure to be had here as well. It will eventually take you straight back to the entrance of the tomb.
You don't have to do the next part, as the Pangu Axe is already in your possession, but you should probably complete the chain you've spent all this time on to get a nice reward. Move on to the Hot Springs in the next step to get plenty of visa points and ancient coins to help fund your future efforts.
The Hot Springs
After you've turned in the last quest, your Sim will be sent to an adventure in the Hot Springs to recover a relic for the quest giver. Pangu's Axe will be needed to smash the boulder blocking the dive well at the entrance to the hot springs. The dungeon inside is rather small and features just a few puzzles. The only hard one involves fire. Push the statue onto the floor panels then step on the foot switches to gradually extinguish all the flames but the one blocking the door to the right. Once you've made it to the end, and recover the relic, Pangu's Axe will be yours upon speaking with the quest giver.
You'll now be able to use Pangu's Axe to smash through boulders in many places in China, France, and Egypt, revealing new hidden treasures for your Sim to collect.

WORLD ADVENTURE : NECTAR MAKING

The Sims 3 Nectar Making Guide

Nectar How-to and Introduction

The Basics

Nectar making is a new and complex skill introduced to the Sims 3 by the World Adventures Expansion Pack. Much like wine making (which is of course what "nectar" making is modeled after), your Sim will stomp grapes and other fruits to brew them into wonderful combinations that are bottled and aged in racks. In this guide, we'll learn the basics to making a good Nectar and recipes that might help you to make more money from aging these robust drinks. Let's learn some of the fundamentals: how to make a basement, getting started with nectar making and what factors affect the price of a bottle.

I'd like to deliver special thanks to Chrys from our Sims 3 Forum. Their input was invaluable in providing mechanics data and recipes which will undoubtedly help tons of players. Because of these contributions, I'm confident we've got an incredible guide on our hands.

Additionally, if you want to take Nectar Making seriously, you'd best make your Sim a gardener as well. Gardening is the best way to get quality fruit, which will be required for great Nectar down the road, and you'll want to get on the hunt forfinding special seeds as early as possible for maximum benefit.

What is Nectar in The Sims 3?
Nectar is a drink to be enjoyed by Sims. As you might expect, drinking nectar will give a Sim a powerful, long lasting moodlet. The moodlet you get from drinking a bottle of nectar depends on its quality (not price or taste). Therefore, save the horrible tasting "perfect" stuff for your Sim's consumption and the real, high dollar perfect nectar for aging and future profit.

Drinking Nectar gives a number of effects. First, you'll get two positive moodlets for drinking it: Sugar Rush (4 hours, + 15 mood) and a moodlet that can go up to 25 and last 8 hours depending on the quality of the bottle. Nectar produced with at least 1 life fruit will give a full of life moodlet which gives +50 mood for 8 hours. Flame fruit nectar will give a warm fuzzies moodlet of +15 for 5 hours. It requires at least 3 flame fruit to trigger the warm fuzzies.

Since Nectar relies so heavily on Gardening, it's worth noting that finding Death Fish will be the only obstacle standing in your Sim's way of Cooking Ambrosia.

How to Learn Nectar Making in The Sims 3
To get started in this skill, you'll need to send your Sim on a trip to Champs Les Sims, France. You shouldn't do so without sufficient money to buy some equipment to bring home, so I recommend you bring at least $2500 Simoleons with you. The Nectar Maker can be bought at the Nectary in France. The vendor there sells it for $1500 Simoleons. More than one would be nice, but a single machine is enough to get you started. It's a large investment that will pay for itself over time.

You can find racks at home through the build menu so it's not necessary to buy them from the vendor in France. They can be found under sort by function in Storage - Miscellaneous. The most expensive rack likely gives a bonus to the aging rate of nectars stored within.

You can use the nectar makers at the Nectary to start learning the skill, but I recommend heading home to do a lot of the work there. You'll find your nectar maker and racks in the family inventory in buy mode.

Finding Grapes and the Other New Fruit in World Adventures
France is abound with wild harvestables that came with World Adventures. The locations of all the plants that can be found here are detailed in the updated plant list. If your Sim has Pangu's Axe or the Martial Arts skill they can literally get every type of new plant there but one: cherries. Cherries are located in both Egypt and China. They're rare and high value, so they're well worth the trip. I recommend China so your Sim can try learning Martial Arts as well.

How to Build a Basement in The Sims 3
In order to succeed at Nectar Making, you're going to need a basement at home. Enter build mode and drag out the shape of the basement you want to build. You can then hit page down and begin decorating the basement like you would a normal part of the house. Include a stairwell and place it where there are no obstructions on the floor below. Be sure to make your basement large enough for some nectar rack storage and multiple nectar makers.

Why is the basement important? Nectar that's stored in a basement-placed rack goes up in price to a greater degree each day. A rack can hold fifteen bottles, and racks can be stacked up to two high. A bottle of nectar sold early is a waste of money. They should be considered investments that earn interest over time. They do age while they're in your inventory and other places, but never as fine as when they're stored properly.

How to Make Nectar in The Sims 3
To get started making nectar, click a Nectar Maker and select add fruit. It takes ten pieces of fruit to make Nectar. Ideally, you should make them in a combination of two or more. Nectar made of only one fruit gets no bonuses (or penalties) for flavor. You'll need to come up with combinations that work well together. It can very to a large degree depending on the proportions of the two or more fruit you place into the machine. Further on, we'll discuss some of these combinations, but for now let's just get a bottle brewing.

Once the fruit is placed, you can then pick 'Make Nectar'. Your Sim will stomp the fruit and proceed to do a basic process on the machine. This produces several bottles of nectar. You'll see why several machines might come in handy when you're waiting on your first batch to complete. When it's done, you'll be given the option to name the new combination and told how it tastes. Now you can select take nectar then store the bottles in one of your racks. Sell them later when you have a good replacement. Rack space will be precious later if you're going for real wealth, so it's good to move out old bottles.

Sims 3 Nectar Making Challenges

• Master of Nectar Making - After you've made 200 bottles of Nectar, your Sim will make an extra bottle in each batch. Very helpful indeed. This one will come naturally as you pursue the others. Use mass produce and improved pressing if you want to speed things along.
• Flavorful Feet - After Squishing 40 bins full of fruit, your feet get so much better at the task that it boosts the value of all your future bottles. Since higher value bottles produce more profit each day as they age, this one really helps.
• The Vizard of Vine - Look for Nectar Recipes that focus heavily on grapes to complete this challenge while making good money. It will simply give you more produce from each grape plant in your garden.
• Mix Master - After 15 different combinations have been produced, you'll complete this challenge which gives you a chance to see the outcome of a fruit combo after you've filled the bin. It's not an exact science. Your Sim may say that 2 fruits are horrible in combination but you may find with different proportions this changes. It does give you a good idea though when you're really on the wrong track.

WORLD ADVENTURE : MUMMIES

The Sims 3 Mummies

How to Get a Mummy in World Adventures

Mummies are new to the Sims 3 through the World Adventures expansion pack. They are ancient kings preserved and wrapped in cloth, guarding their treasures from Adventurous tomb-raiding Sims. In this article, we'll learn all about mummies and how you can avoid them, heal your Sim if they are cursed, or even get a mummy of your very own.

Mummies: Where Are They?
Mummies have been sighted in all three countries but are most commonly found in Al Simhara, Egypt as one might expect. The pyramids there all have a chance to spawn mummies. The great pyramid is fully explorable with Pangu's Axe and has so many sarcophagus you're likely to bump into at least one.

Found One! Now What!
They'll usually attack your Sim on sight. Thankfully, they're not fast so running from them is an option. You'll sometimes find fire traps nearby which can kill them as well (only non-player mummies are killed by fire traps). Mummy snacks, kept in the inventory, can act as a deterrent and give your Sim a chance to have a look inside the sarcophagus. If it does come to blows, there are three options: You win (martial artist, athletic), you lose (knocked out), you lose (Sims is hit with the Mummy's Curse).

The Mummy's Curse
The Mummy's Curse will affect a Sim for 14 days. Two full weeks with a -25 moodlet is a bummer, but even worse is that once the clock has wound down, your Sim will die. With two full weeks, you have multiple options to consider for removal of the curse:

Sleep in a Blessed Sarcophagus of Kings
If you happen to have one, do it. This will remove the curse after sleeping in it for several hours. There is one to be found within the Sphinx, but if you're there you might as well visit the Soulpeace Statue.

Kiss a King Cobra
Buy a Snake Charming Basket from the general goods merchant in Al Simhara. Practice with the basket until the option to buy a cobra for $1,000 Simoleons comes up. Buy it, then keep practicing until your Sim is able to kiss the cobra. This will remove the curse and give your Sim a positive moodlet instead. Since the basket is portable, this is a great option.

The Great Sphinx
This is my favored way of removing the curse. Shortly after being cursed, if you have no other opportunities in Egypt, you'll get an adventure called Cursed!. While you don't have to do the adventure to gain entry to the Sphinx, you can turn it into a nice way to earn some extra VISA points. Not only are you treated to an impressive visual display by the Great Sphinx, you'll also unlock a good place to come back and collect tons of gems later.

Inside the Sphinx, the puzzles aren't too hard. You'll work your way down, through a lower level, then back up where you can ascend to the soulpeace chambers. Once there, you can have your Sim seek cleansing by clicking the statue. A little ritual will occur, where your Sim meditates and hovers in midair. Then, in a burst of energy and a transference of power from the Soulpeace, your Sim's curse is lifted.

Be sure to check behind the Soulpeace Statue for a hidden room where you'll frequently find Soulpeace Gems.

Cheat
Another option to remove the mummy's curse is to utilize cheats. Open the command console by pressing Ctrl + Shift + C and type testingcheatsenabled true. This will allow you to control-click a moodlet to remove it instantly.

Moodlet Manager
Owners of the Moodlet Manager Lifetime Reward will note that it removes the mummy's curse, along with other ailments suffered while adventuring.

How to Get a Mummy: The Free Mummy Method
This way is the best, as it won't require your Sim transform at all. In fact, you'll get a free mummy that you can control. Here's how: assemble a collection of 5 canopic jars. Once you've got them all, you can place them into a Sarcophagus. They'll be transmuted into a mummy for your control.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to a 100% success rate. You'll need to hit up plenty of Egyptian Tombs to find the Canopic Jars, because they are found only there. Note that only the Canopic Jars that count toward a set will work. The regular jars you find are just loot to sell. You can check that you're using the right ones by noting that the jars are not in the stack with your other Egyptian loot.

Method Two: Turn Your Sim into a Mummy
This method requires you to assemble a Cursed Sarcophagus of Kings. Sleeping inside one of them will raise your Sim's athletic skill. The "drawback" here, is that your Sim will eventually be cursed and turn into a mummy. It takes about 16 hours of sleeping to cause this. The way to reverse this is to sleep in a Blessed Sarcophagus for 8 or more hours.

Cheating
The 2nd method can be completed with cheats by doing the following:

1. Ctrl+shift+C
2. type testingcheatsenabled true
3. type buydebug
4. Find the two sarcophagus types in sort by function - buy debug - miscellaneous objects
5. turn up your sim's other needs by clicking and dragging the needs bar
6. fully deplete energy
7. sleep in the Cursed Sarcophagus of Kings
8. repeat 6 and 7

Taking Care of Your Mummy
Mummies have steel bladders and never need to use the toilet. Additionally, they get infinite energy, so they can work all night taking breaks only to eat. They also age slowly, thus leading longer lives. After all, they're undead. The drawback to being a mummy is that they can't have children, and are killed instantly by fire, such as from cooking and fireplaces. They're safe from fire traps in adventure tombs, so they can be safely used to explore.

WORLD ADVENTURE : MARTIAL ARTS

The Sims 3 Martial Arts Guide

Learn about Sim Fu in the World Adventures Expansion

This guide to the Sims 3 World Adventures' Martial Arts will instruct you on getting your Sims started learning Sim Fu. We'll learn a lot about this skill and how it benefits Sims in many ways. Tips will be provided to help your Sim learn the skill more effectively and how to better utilize it to kick butt, win Martial Arts Tournaments, and use Zeneport and Tranquil Transference. This skill requires the Sims 3's World Adventures expansion pack to be learned, as it can only be started in Shang Simla, China, a travel destination.

Sim Fu is very useful for adventuring. High level Martial Arts allows them to teleport around Tombs with ease and even go toe to toe with mummies. I highly recommend China as an early adventurer's first stomping grounds so they can begin developing this highly useful skill. At only level 5 you can learn to Zeneport, which can get your Sim out of sticky situations and past nasty traps within tombs.

Martial Arts in The Sims 3 is tied very heavily to the Athletic skill for fighting and fatigue, so Sims with the Athletic traitwill benefit greatly. Keep this in mind when designing your Sim.

Depending on your Sim's level, they'll wear one of eight martial arts uniforms (from the ten skill levels a couple are shared). It follows the belt color ranking system used by Karate and Kung Fu. Colors get darker and darker until the Sim is a black belt, and eventually wears a black Karate Gi with gold belt.

How to Learn Sim Fu in The Sims 3 - Getting Started
First know, that while athletic also aids in Martial Arts development, the disciplined trait will benefit their skill gains the most. To learn the Martial Arts skill, take a trip to Shang Simla, China. There you'll find numerous options for learning the skill for the first time. I don't recommend the skill book, which can be bought from the book dealer at the Chinese Market. The Phoenix Martial Arts Academy is the best place to start. After all, while learning the skill you could be making progress toward completing challenges rather than reading a book.

At the academy in Shang Fu, China, your Sim can start with the training dummies. Gain just a few levels and you'll be able to break boards and blocks. It's not a bad idea to switch to this after the training dummies, because there is no challenge for training dummies and the time they've been used isn't even in the skill journal. Sparring, available as an action against any Sim who knows the martial arts skill, is another option. If your Sim has learned the Charisma skill, they'll likely make a few friends out of sparring partners. Either way, you'll be sparring a lot or breaking tons of blocks to complete the challenges, so neither avenue is a waste of time.

Training Your Sim's Martial Arts Back Home
You can purchase training dummies and blocks at the general store in the Market. Doing so will place the equipment in your Sim's family inventory, where you can then place it on your home lot. This opens up the ability to practice Sim Fu outside of China. Additionally, you can train Sims back home in Martial Arts once you're of sufficient level (requires training dummy). This is a great option for rich Sims who need something to do in between trips. Now get out there andschool Molly French in Sim Fu.

Block Breaking - Sim Fu Skill Profit
Breaking blocks is a great way to work on Martial Arts and eventually make money. There are lots of happiness points to be gained this way. Stick with a lower level block to ensure your training session isn't interrupted by an injured hand. That is, until your Sim starts getting good at it. If they can break five of one type of block or board, it's time to move up to the next one.

While working toward the Timber Terminator challenge, and subsequent wishes to break X amount of blocks, stick with the oak boards. Your Sim won't gain skill as quickly, but should be able to bust many more, upping their count. Higher numbers also seem to help the rate your Sim can break space rocks later.

With Timber Terminator, your Sim will likely see block breaking as a perfectly viable, if random way to make money. See the Martial Arts Challenges section.

Meditation - How to Meditate in The Sims 3
Meditation is available as a training option at level 5 in the Martial Arts skill. If you wonder how, just click your Sim and pick meditate. It won't raise athletics, but don't let that stop you. Meditation can satisfy the fun need, and removes a number of negative moodlets. Once your Sim has meditated long enough, they will receive a Meditative Focus that increases skill gains and work quality in all other skills for up to four hours. Once they've maxed out, they'll start hovering in midair. Very cool stuff. It takes a little over 3 and 1/2 hours to reach this point.

Once your Sim has unlocked the meditation ability, they will be able to Zeneport once they've reached the hovering state of meditation. This will remove the Meditative Focus moodlet, but sends your Sim on a trip to any location that's visible to you. Use your imagination and this ability will serve you well. For example, you may get past some traps and even skip entire sections of a Tomb to reach the end without bothering with puzzles. It gets better -- read on to learn about The Master of Meditation Skill Challenge and Tranquil Transference.

Don't Forget Athletics
Athletics and Martial arts go hand in hand. As your Sim trains martial arts, they'll gradually raise Athletics as well. However, meditating can cause athletics to fall behind. Spend some time on the tradmill or weight bench to help the skill keep pace. The Athletics challenge for doing 60 hours of strength training is highly recommended. It will remove the fatigue your Sim experiences when board breaking. Being tougher is helpful overall for winning fights, as well.

The Benefit of Sparring and Tournaments
The primary purpose for Sparring, beyond helping your Sim to make friends and raise the Martial Arts skill, is to be able to defend yourself. This will most often come into play when raiding tombs in Al Simhara. If your Sim has been in plenty of sparring matches, and possibly even become a Grand Master, they'll do well against the mummies there. They can fight them hand to hand and avoid the trickery and cowardice other Sims need employ. The more practice sparring you have, the better you'll be.

While in Shang Simla, you can challenge other Sims using Call Sim from the cell phone. You'll fight a ranked tournament opponent. If you can clear twenty of them, your Sim will become a Grand Master. Do this while at the vacation home you've purchased or from the base camp. If your Sim is up to snuff, they can likely clear at least three or four opponents if they can dedicate a day to sparring.

If you're having trouble winning, despite being high level in Martial Arts, turn to sparring to improve your odds. Your Sim likely just needs more experience.

Sims 3 Martial Arts Challenges

Grand Master
This Challenge is completed after winning 20 ranked matches against sparring opponents. This will allow your Sim to train other Sims in Martial Arts at an accelerated rate.

Master of Meditation - Instant Teleportation
After Meditating for 150 hours, Sims learn to use Tranquil Transference, the replacement for Zeneport. This is instant site to site teleportation that does not expend the Meditative Focus moodlet. It does deplete it by about a half hour each time it's used, but you should be able to get multiple teleports out of a single meditation session. What's more, you don't need to max out your Meditative Focus in order to use this. It cuts the time from 3 and 1/2 hours to teleport all the way down to 1 and 1/2. You'd only get one teleport out of it, but sometimes that's all you need. Its uses are endless, and are mighty helpful for collecting. Not only that, but for dungeons as well. No need to mess with the puzzle to safely reach the treasure chest, you can teleport there if you can see it. This is probably the single coolest perk of the Martial Arts skill. Effectively, you're cheating without cheating.

You may still revert to using Zeneport if you need. I'm unsure what having a high number of hours spent meditating does for Sims. Nothing seems to break through that 3 and 1/2 hour time frame to max out except the Loner trait.

Also, meditating in Shang Simla's Scholar's Garden will reduce the time it takes to meditate, but will only be useful in that travel destination.

Sim Fu King
After 75 sparring matches, win or lose, your Sim will complete this challenge. It seemingly helps them to do better at sparring and fights in the game. No big suprise, as they have a lot of experience after 75 matches.

Timber Terminator 
This challenge turns Martial Arts into a viable money-making skill. After breaking 150 blocks or boards, your Sim will be able to get gems from breaking space rocks. This is flat awesome, as the gem qualities are really random and you can end up with plenty of pink diamonds. Work on breaking oak boards to complete it faster. Breaking more and more boards, and the Athletics challenge to do 60 hours of strength training both aid your Sim's endurance. The Athletics challenge eliminates the fatigue from breaking entirely.

Not only can you get the regular gems from the Sims 3 and World Adventures by block breaking, you'll also likely find Ambitions' Palmstone. Unfortunately, Woohooim is harder to collect.