Operation Manual

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A LIVING WORLD
Your Sims live in a varied and dynamic town. Heading down to the local diner for a quick bite, studying at the
library, or fishing at the local pond is just a click away.
In addition to this new freedom to move around the town, The Sims 3 also features an option called
Story Progression. This feature helps keep your town alive and thriving. With Story Progression, your
Sims’ neighbors lives progress normally. Neighbors may move away, new ones will move in, friends get
promotions, neighbors have children, and eventually even die. Basically, life goes on! This feature helps to
keep the neighborhood balanced.
You can, however, choose to disable Story Progression (in the Options menu).
In Live Mode, you can click the button that looks like a skyline (or press M) to open Map View.
Click one of the filter
buttons to show only the
locations that apply to
that filter
The green tag shows
your current household,
the orange map tag
indicates the homes of
Sims your Sims know,
the blue map tag shows
a workplace
Click one of the
location buttons
to have your Sim
visit there, take a
class, apply for a
job, and more
Map Tags
Below are some of the tags that appear on the map and what they indicate. Mouse-over an icon to see its
specific name.
Your active Sim household is identified with this icon.
Venues
When your Sim enters one of these venues, you cannot see them or control them inside. But you can make
choices about what they will do while they’re visiting. For example your Sim may enter the Grocery store to
SHOP FOR GROCERIES, BECOME A PARTNER, SELL FRUITS AND VEGETABLES, ATTEND A FISHING CLASS, or
GET A PART-TIME JOB.
Bistro Hospital
Bookstore Military Base
City Hall Police Department
Community Theatre School
Business/Journalism Offices Science Facility
Day Spa Sports Stadium
Diner Work
Grocery Store Criminal Warehouse
Community Lots
When your Sim visits a community lot, you can see and control them while they are inside.
Community Pool Library
Graveyard Park
Gym Art Gallery
Fishing Hole Beach
Generic community lot (Edit
Town screen only)