WEEK 2: Enhancing Moods

IMPROVING THE ROOM IMPACT (continued)

I believe we have greatly improved our Cheap Chair, and now, it isn't such a liar. There's more work to be done on the chair, but we are going to stop here for now, because I want you to let this soak in. I cannot stress enough how important it is that you understand what we covered in this lesson. Constants play an important part in hacking, and knowing which ones to modify and where to alter is crucial. If you can honestly say that you understand this lesson, you'll have an easier time in the higher levels of your studies. We are indeed paving the way for grander works.

Click "OK" when done, SAVE your file, and exit out IFF. It is time for testing and for our weekly assignment.

Note: Not all objects impact room score. Some objects do not even contain the necessary behaviors and coding to impact the room score. However, the fact that an object has no room impact functions does not deter us as hackers. We have the ability to program room impact into any object we choose. Including the actual Sims! Wouldn't it be nice if when your special Sim walked into a room, any room, the room score suddenly went up? Or even better — if everyone in the room got happy when your Sim entered!

But we will not cover this in the Entry Level classes, since that is a topic best covered in future, more advanced classes.

TESTING AND TESTING CONDITIONS

Make sure you know the rules for saving and testing. Keep a good copy of your object in case what you have currently done to the chair does not work.

1. We are checking for Comfort levels, and how fast they increase when a Sim sits in the chair.

2. We are checking for a higher room score, and because of this, we must make certain that our testing environment is conducive to what we are checking for. You cannot put this chair into a room packed with expensive furniture that have already increased your room score. Likewise, you cannot put the chair into trashy surroundings, because if that's the case, any piece of furniture you put in the room will increase the score.

Instead, place the chair into an ordinary room. One good place would be a bathroom where scores are usually medium to low because tubs and appliances like the ones found in a bathroom generally do not increase room score.

Your Sim will probably still think the chair is "just okay", he's not going to be terribly excited about it. At least not until next week. Visitors and your Sims will seek out this chair to sit in because of the advertisement. In general Sims seek out objects that provide for their needs in this order:

1. Fun
2. Hunger
3. Comfort

Keep that in mind while hacking objects. Other than affecting their mood, Sims really don't care much about room scores. But WE do.

Next week, we will be working with a bit of animation, sounds, delving into a couple of globals, and ADDING motives and behaviors to our chair. Right now you may proceed to the assignment.

Until next week,
Graph