Create a Sim

Starlight Shores is home to many talented Sims with hopes of making it big. But it takes a lot more than hopes and dreams to carve out a living in the highly competitive performance careers introduced in Showtime .

Whether your Sim chooses to become an Acrobat, Magician, or Singer, it takes talent, ambition, self-motivation, and an unwavering work ethic to rise up from modest street performer to headlining entertainer. In this chapter we take a close look at all of Showtime ’s new features, starting with some tips on creating a Sim destined for greatness.

After designing your Sim, don’t forget to assign traits and a Lifetime Wish.

If you choose to create a new Sim in Showtime , you will discover a few new options including new traits and Lifetime Wishes. You can also alter the appearance of your Sim in a variety of ways. Showtime adds many new options to Create a Sim: new clothes, new hairstyles, and much more.

Features such as body hair, breast size, make-up opacity, tattoos, and astrological signs are also carried over from previous expansion packs like Ambitions , Generations , and Late Night . Even if you don’t have these earlier expansion packs installed, the Create a Sim features introduced by these expansions are still available in Showtime , offering a powerful set of Sim-altering tools for your prospective celebrity.

Ultimately the appearance of your Sims is up to you. Cosmetic alterations are just that—they do not affect success in relationships, careers, or other interactions. However, when it comes to assigning traits to your Sims, you’ll want to pay close attention.

New Traits

When you create a Sim you can assign up to five traits. Traits affect so much, so choose carefully. All traits from any previous expansion packs that you have installed are available to your Sim, as well as three new traits introduced in Showtime : Diva, Natural Born Performer, and Social Butterfly.

Sims with the Ambitious, Charismatic, Diva, Natural Born Performer, and Virtuoso traits excel in the new performance careers. Negative traits such as Absent Minded, Clumsy, Coward, and Loser can hold a performer back, making it more difficult to advance in their chosen career. So if you want your Sim to become Starlight Shores’ next superstar, choose your traits carefully. To find out which traits best benefit (or harm) each new performance career, turn to the Career section.

Diva

Description: Divas are amazing…and don’t you forget it! When they are good, they’re great, and when they’re bad, they’re better!

Benefits: Diva Sims excel as Singers, using their inflated confidence to quickly advance in their career and turn out stellar vocal performances on-stage.

Shortcomings: Divas are self-absorbed egomaniacs. They’re not easily impressed and take longer to befriend. Divas may slap other Sims if they feel insulted and are quick to break-up with friends following arguments.

Unique Features: Divas have several unique social interactions, including the ability to compliment themselves and request compliments from others.

Natural Born Performer

Description: Natural Born Performer Sims are most comfortable on a stage and never happier than when they are in front of an audience.

Benefits: Sims in any performance career benefit from this trait. They are quick to learn the skills of their career and less likely to fail on-stage. And when failures do occur, audiences are more forgiving.

Shortcomings: None

Unique Features: Audience members watching a Sim with this trait have a chance of getting the Drawn In moodlet. Performers with this trait have a chance of gaining the Born to Do This moodlet when performing on stage or choosing the unique TaDa! self interaction.

Social Butterfly

Description: Social Butterfly Sims aren’t happy unless they’re socializing and will do just about anything to be the center of attention.

Benefits: Sims with this trait are more likely to socialize with strangers in an attempt to make new friends. They are more accepting of incoming social interactions too.

Shortcomings: Social needs decline quickly unless Social Butterfly Sims are socializing.

Unique Features: Sims with this trait have a chance of receiving the It’s All About Me! positive moodlet when performing multiple social interactions in a day. Likewise, they can receive the It’s Like I’m Invisible negative moodlet when their social needs are neglected.

New Lifetime Wishes

When you first conjure up a Sim in Create a Sim, you select a Lifetime Wish. Each Sim has six possibilities. Five are determined by the traits you give them. The sixth option allows you to select any Lifetime Wish you want, regardless of assigned traits. Satisfying a Lifetime Wish takes a lot of work, but is worth a lot of Lifetime Happiness points, the currency used to purchase Lifetime Rewards. Showtime’s new Lifetime Wishes are tied to the new performance careers.

Master Acrobat

• Reach level 10 of the Acrobat Career.

Many young Sims fall in love with tumbling and jump headfirst into acrobatics, hoping that their leap of faith will end in sold-out performances before crowds of adoring fans. It will take years of stretching, bending, and treating burns, but great strength of body—and perseverance—will lead a Sim to the title of Master Acrobat.

Master Magician

• Reach level 10 of the Magician Career.

The world of magic and illusion seems exotic and mysterious to most Sims. To make it as a Magician, your Sim must master tricks ranging from making small objects appear to escaping complicated death traps. It will be dangerous, but success will surely lead to fame and glory as a world-renowned illusionist.

Vocal Legend

• Reach level 10 of the Singer Career.

Everyone dreams of being the next idol, or being worshipped by Sims across the world. But can you work through the years of stress and obscurity to reach the heights of super-stardom?

Customizing Career Outfit & Appearance

A bit too dramatic? Perhaps. But you’re not trying to blend in, are you?

Sims with a career can now customize what they wear to work by interacting with a dresser and a mirror. Click on the dresser and select Plan Outfit to open the Create a Sim interface. Choose the Career panel to see available career outfits. The default career outfit cannot be edited, but selecting the + button will add a second and third custom outfit. These outfits can be customized any way you like.

Whichever career outfit your Sim is wearing when you choose Accept will be the outfit they automatically spin into when going to work. You can also customize your Sim’s hair and make-up by choosing the Change Appearance interaction from any mirror. This opens the Create a Sim interface allowing you to select different hairstyles and makeup options.

Make sure the lock icon is unlocked if you want the hair and makeup to apply only to the current outfit. Click the Accept button at the bottom of the interface to save your changes. Your Sim is now ready to go to work in their snazzy new duds.