The Sims 3: Into the Future
More than a Machine Lifetime Wish Walkthrough
by Tom "Metro" Schlueter
I have been a huge Superhero fan since I was a little boy. Billionaire Tony Stark and his amazing Iron Man suit of armor were always one of my favorite comics. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the recent Marvel movie adaptations of Iron Man with Robert Downey, Jr. doing a great job playing Tony Stark. So, I thought who better to host the Into the Future More Than a Machine Lifetime Wish than the Iron Man himself?
Overview
The More Than a Machine Lifetime Wish is simple and involves two components:
- Reach Level 10 in Bot Building skill
- Give a Plumbot Sentience
Tony Stark's Traits
Ambitious - probably my top all around trait for any type of Sims 3 game just because the extra happiness points awarded for completing wishes allows you to buy more helpful rewards to aid your Sim on whatever journey they are undertaking.
Bot Fan - This is the must have trait if you want to progress a little quicker (15% faster) in learning the Bot Building skill. Bot Fans will also develop relationships with Bots 50% faster and can engage in unique activities such as Bot Mode where they pretend to be a Bot. There is no pretending for Tony Stark - he is Iron Man! *cue dramatic music*
Eccentric / Genius / Handy - These 3 traits rounded out my own personal perception of Tony, but will not speed up the learning of the Bot Making skill. So, be creative and tailor your own awesome bot builder the way you want to.
I plopped down Tony at 18 Maywood Lane in Sunset Valley simply because it's the cheapest lot in the neighborhood ($1200) and I wanted plenty of simoleans leftover for when he would travel to the future - it takes a little while to start selling good quality Plumbots with valuable Trait Chips. Speaking of which, I wasted no time...the first thing I did was buy the Time Portal through Buy Mode: Outdoors > Outdoor Activities > Wellsian Time Portal ($725). I placed it on the ground and had Tony Inspect Portal which resulted in Emit Relevart popping out and offering the opportunity "Help a Time Traveler Out."
Goodbye Sunset Valley...Hello Oasis Landing
Tony was in Sunset Valley all of a couple hours just to have Emit offer the opportunity and then after completing it our host entered the portal (Travel to the Future). All the rest of his time needed to complete the LTW was spent in Oasis Landing.
Getting Started and Skill Progress
I did not approach this LTW as a Tournament Challenge where I would try to level Bot Building super fast and grind Tony into the ground. Instead, I thought I would take a more leisurely approach and set myself the goal of finishing it in one week (it can be done much, much faster for you power players). So, if you want to take it easy, then you can skill a little bit every day, and explore related content like the Bot Builder self-employment career, the bot arena, and various Oasis Landing Opportunities.
Skilling speed is heavily influenced by a Sim's mood. So, get those moods high before sending your fledgling bot maker out the door. Get some sleep for the Well Rested moodlet (your Sim can live in the Communiity Center located adjoining the portal they walk through), engage in some activity that is fun for the Having a Blast moodlet, and eat a good meal. You'll have all 8 cylinders firing for some good skill speed. You can buy your own Bot Workshop and plop it down on your home lot, but why not just use the one in Oasis Landing at the Nuts n' Bolts Bot Emporium for free? Furthermore, as an added bonus your Sim can stand in front of EA's shameless self promoting poster of SimCity all day long.
The only option you have when you click the bot making machine the first time is Design Nanites. After Tony got his first skill level I cancelled his skilling and sent him to City Hall to register as a Self-Employed Bot Builder. Joining the career has a big monetary benefit for Bot Makers: a 35% boost to Bot sales.
I capitalized on Tony's Ambitious trait and tried to fulfill as many early wishes (there are quite a few bot building ones that spawn) as possible to rack up happiness points, then awarded him with basic things like Fast Learner and Entrepreneurial Mindset.
Carl has already written an excellent guide on the Bot Building skill, so there's no sense in me rehasing what he has already written, but my conclusions are the same-for efficient skilling up use Design Trait Chip when you level up. Know in advance how many designs are unlocked at a given level - for example, at lvl 4 you have the Robonanny and Friendly Functions trait chips unlock, so after you learn all of those Trait Chips, I would stop skilling at the Bot station and spend some time looking for Nanites and Reverse Engineering them to get needed components. Once you have a healthy amount of materials, then Create Nanite at the Bot station until you get to the next level. Then, rinse and repeat. Upon hitting the next level, you'll have new Traits unlock, so use the Design interaction again.
If you do go the self-employment career route, don't forget about making progress in it - sell some Bots and equip them with profitable chips - look at Carl's Trait Chips guide to see which ones are valuable. Tune up a Bot until all their bars are green (Future Tech) to really push the multiplier high for max profit. When Tony sold his first Plumbot (fully tuned up and equipped with 4 Traits Chips) he jumped 3 career levels in one fell swoop. Bada ba ba ba I'm lovin' it!
Finishing Up
It was a simple daily routine for Tony: skilling up at the Bot Emorium as well as going out into the surrounding wasteland areas looking for Nanites and crystal plants to make Trait Chips. Some Trait Chips may also have a third component - processors (obtained from Reverse Engineering a Nanite). The Sentience trait chip necessary for the More Than a Machine LTW requires the Uber Nanite which may take awhile to find. Thankfully, Carl has done the heavy lifting already by providing everyone with some maps of spawn sites in his Nanites Guide.
Polly says: "SQUAWK....make the trait chip...make the trait chip...squawk!"
Well, I met my goal of finishing the More Than a Machine LTW in one week with Plumbot Curly having the Sentient Trait Chip installed. I was in no rush and weaved in quite a bit of Nanite and crystal hunting along with completing a few Oasis Landing opportunities to boot. It's worth noting that there is a collection challenge in which if you find all types of Nanites then the game will place spawners near your Bot building workshop.
I confess it's been too long since I have offered up a Guide article (sorry, Carl). So this LTW walkthrough was a good opportunity to get back in the saddle. The Sims 3: Into the Future is a great expansion with a heaping helping of new content for anyone to enjoy-Bot Making, the More than a Machine LTW, and the associated Self-Employment Bot Builder career (plus the Bot Arena careers) are all a core component.
The strategy used in this Lifetime Wish walkthrough is not the only way to complete it. Share your tips for finishing this LTW with other players below!
Share Tips and FAQs (9)
Our Sims Forum is the place to go for faster answers to questions and discussions about the game. Use the form below to share your own experiences and provide helpful tips to other readers.
Reply
Flag
6
0With Oasis Landing you need to edit the library first to put in either the Book Corral or the Penningway Bookshelf. They have all of the skill books when they are placed in a library.
To maximize profit even more, don't create nanites, clone them instead. XD(unless you want to do the skill challenge)