The Sims 3 Generations Teenagers
New Features, Prom, Learning to Drive, and Teen Life
Sims 3 Generations Guide:
Chemistry | Children | Teenagers | Adults/Elder | Afterschool Activities
Day Care | Boarding School | Pranks | Imaginary Friend
The Sims 3 Generations brings plenty of new content for teens. It's perhaps the best represented age group in this expansion. Like childhood, the teen years in Generations are far more fulfilling. There are new activities they can take up to fill out their time, get their driver's license, and the goal of becoming Prom King or Queen is now achievable. This guide will cover these new additions to The Sims 3's gameplay.
High School
A highlight of the teen years is High School. Of course you'll still want to have your teens do their homework, and attend school regularly, but now there are dozens of new opportunities they can take up to improve performance, and even earn cash. You'll feel more immersed in the teen experience with these upgrades alone. Like children, teens can go on field trips and sometimes get souveniers from these scholastic adventures.
After School Activities
Teens can take up After School Activities. Theirs are geared toward skill gains more so than those of a child, and can work so long as the teen is in High School. Children can graduate from their special activities very early, but Teens can go on a little longer gaining skills. They can take up to two programs on. Some conflict by day, but the Guide linked below will show you the various meeting days so you can plan what classes your Sim might take.
All the school programs you'd expect are here. There's school paper, music club, study groups, and other things your Teen can participate in. To learn more about them, check the After School Activities section.
Teen Life
Teens are social creatures most of the time, and Generations caters to that idea. There are more social interactions, such as giving flowers, and Teens are the first age group that can Date. Dates are rated like group outings, so try to take your Sim's date somewhere fun and work on building the relationship.
Teens can be cruel to one another, and sometimes best friends can even see days of conflict. Teens can snub each other, which means they won't socialize with that Sim, and interactions will be swatted away. You can snub or stop snubbing another Sim at will.
Teenagers can have mood swings, and want to do mean or otherwise different things. This is similar to an Adult's midlife crisis. You may take on the wishes, but you won't be able to cancel them until the crisis is over. However, they'll give bigger points if you can complete them.
Learning to Drive
Teens can learn to drive if the family has a car. Simply ask a parent, and the teen can be on the road. Driving is a skill (not tracked), and after gaining three levels they'll get their driver's license, and a permit to hang on the wall. At level 3, they can drive without an adult, so can use any money they earned (or dad's) to buy a car!
Party While Parents are On Vacation
A new feature of Generations is the offering for parents to go on a surprise, free vacation. During this time you'll have control of just the teen and likely any other siblings. You can choose to throw a Teen Party using the cell phone. Randomly, the parents may return home in the middle of the party. You'll only have about an hour to clean up and keep from getting in trouble, which is not likely to happen if the party got messy.
Pulling Pranks
Teens find other ways to get in trouble through pranks. All teens enjoy a good prank, and will get at least +15 mood for 12 hours for successfully pulling one off. Teens get better pranks than children's simple booby traps. You can click the school to cause all sorts of different chaos on the next school day, egg houses and deploy ye olde bag of flaming poo. To do the latter, click a neighbor's house. The occupants must be home. The flaming bag doesn't always work – someone has to see it. Doorbell ditches tend to work like a charm. The egg throwing is lackluster. My Sim threw them from a foot away a wall and it wasn't very realistic at all. Too bad she didn't have better range. Another encounter led to her doing it right on the porch in front of a homeowner, as pictured above. That was a laugh.
Getting caught pranking or holding a party while the 'rents are away will lead to getting in trouble. Favorite items can be restricted, and Sims can be grounded and unable to leave the house. While mom and dad are looking, that is. They can sneak out at night. It's kind of fun if you don't intentionally try to keep the parents in bed. You can learn more about Pranks and Discipline here.
Prom
High School is a popularity contest. If your Sim makes plenty of friends in High School, they may make it to Prom Queen or King. One important factor is likely going with a date you have a good relationship with. You want Prom to go well, but it can certainly turn into a disaster. Your Sim can get into random trouble. It's a wild night after all.
You'll get a few days' warning to line up a date, but your Sim certainly doesn't have to have one. If another Sim likes yours pretty well, it's likely they'll be asked out. Otherwise, you can ask someone yourself. Once the Prom date arrives, the Sim will take a limousine to school, and get a picture keepsake of the event. There's plenty of potential for chaos, but if your Sim was pretty popular, they could be crowned king or queen. During the prom, your date may ask your Sim to go steady or to have their first kiss.
Graduation
The day after your Sim ages up to young adult, they will have a graduation ceremony and be free of High School and ready to pursue an adult life. The whole family will go to this ceremony if they're available. Your Sim can toss their diploma for a while, and will be dressed in cap and gown.
This should cover most of the bases when it comes to teenagers in Generations. As you can see, there are plenty more things for them to do, and of course we have the new universal activities, like new outdoor stuff, chemistry, and other things they can take up.
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