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The Sims: Legacy Editionhas over twenty careers for Sims to choose from, thanks to its inclusion of every expansion pack. Sims can become almost anything they could dream of, from a Professional Party Guest, to Animal Magician, to UFO Investigator. Despite that, one career path was never formally added: Artist.
Despite the arts being neglected by the SimCity Times’ careers pages, Sims have the unofficial option of pursuing self-employment using some humble homeware: the easel. With just a few Simoleons in their pocket, and some handy tips, Sims can set sail on the journey to become the next Basquiat or Kahlo.
How To Paint
Just like in most other games in the franchise,Sims need an easelto be able to paint. you’re able to buy the Dimanche Folding Easel for 250 Simoleons in the Miscellaneous section of Buy Mode. It’s in the Creativity subsection along with the musical instruments.
Once you own an easel, select it andclick the Paint interactionto start painting.Canvases are free, so don’t worry about this costing extra Simoleons. The only thing you need to invest in is the easel itself.
As your Sim paints, theirCreativity skill will build. Painting also takes care of their Fun need, so you don’t need to worry about your Sim getting bored. However, you will have to keep on top of their other needs, because Sims can easily becometoo unhappy to paint.
Sims can take breaksin the middle of a painting. Justcancel the interactionby clicking the icon in the top right-hand area of the screen. When your Sim wants to return to it, click on the easel again andselect the Paint interactionagain.
Unlike in some later Sims games, there’s only one easel to choose from, so ironically you won’t get much control over aesthetics here. On the bright side, it also means you don’t have to worry about the quality of the easel holding back your painting’s potential.
How To Sell Paintings
After some time, your Sim will finish painting their first artwork. When finished, they’llautomatically cancel the actionand move on to do something else. Select the easel anduse the Sell Painting interactionto sell.
The higher your Sim’s Creativity skill, the more Simoleonsthe painting will sell for. At first, paintings can sell for as little as a few Simoleons, so it takes a while to break even on the equipment. But, once you do, it should be smooth sailing.
Sims with ahigh Creativity skillcan expect to sell paintings for much larger sums, with somegoing for 166 Simoleons. Thankfully, your Sim builds their skills while painting, so you can earn while you learn.
Other activities besides painting can also build the Creativity skill, like practicing piano or learning guitar. This can be a useful way of mixing up gameplay, although Sims can’tmake money from playing musicat home.
Tips For Earning Money From Painting
Making money while painting is fairly straightforward, but there are ways of helping to line your Sim’s pockets a little quicker. To earn as much cash as possible, you mostly need tofocus on levelling your Sim’s skillsandkeeping them happy.
Managing A Sim’s Mood
Unhappy Sims make bad painters. In fact, Sims with a verylow mood will refuse to paintat all. Improve your Sim’s mood by staying on top of their needs as much as possible.Give them regular breaksto eat, sleep, and relieve themselves.
Buyingmore expensive itemsis the most efficient way of filling a Sim’s needs, as better items fill the relevant need(s) faster. Getting the best of the best probably won’t be possible until your Sim has a super high Creativity skill, so just attempt to get what you’re able to.
Hiring servicesmight also help your Sim to cut corners with their needs. For example,ordering a pizza gives them more timeto spend getting their creative juices flowing instead of hanging around over a stove. It also prevents any peskyfires from breaking out.
you’re able to hire services using a phone. Or, if you’re struggling with keeping a clean house, try buying a Bag-o-Bones Skeleton Closet or the Introducing Servo from Buy Mode instead for on-demand cleaning help. This should help to keep their Environment motive high.
If you’re not interested in taking care of your Sim’s needs at all, then there aresome hacked itemsfloating around the internet that you may use tomake a Sim happyalmost instantly. TheRejuvenation Chamber Plus by Simslicefills every need at once, so your Sim can get back to their art quickly.
A lot ofold fanmade content still workswith the Legacy Edition, so you should be able to load this into your game easily. The downside is that this specific itemcosts 10,000 Simoleons, so you might need to cheat to afford it. Unless it’s one of the only items you own.
Download and use custom content and mods with caution. Use due diligence when using unofficial items.
Magically inclined Sims can also experiment with witchcraft to keep themselves satisfied. Adult Sims can use equipment from theMagiCo Magical Starter Kitand ingredients from Magic Town tocast Get Happy to fill their needsquickly, making breaks as brief as possible.
Run A Family Business
Households withmore than one Simin them canall work on earning moneythrough painting at once, or one after the other. This can help tomaximise the amount of Simoleonsyou can make in a day by selling paintings.
Adults aren’t the only Sims who can get in on a little creative money-making in The Sims 1.Children can also use the easelto paint and sell art. They’ll even build their Creativity skill along the way.
While they can help out with building the family savings,it’s important that children don’t miss schoolfor it. Even besides ethics, Sims with poor enough grades will eventually be shippedoff to military school. When this happens, they get removed from the household entirely.
Another consideration when starting a family painting business is that every time you buy an easel, the overheads will get higher because you will have spent more money setting it up. Owning multiple easels allowsmore than one Sim to paintat once, but thecosts add upquickly.
It could be more cost-efficient to get different Sims in the household to take it in turns using the easel while the other takes care of their needs instead. You could basically give them shifts like they would have in a regular career
Taking On Another Job
There’s no shame in funding your Sim’s passionsusing a day job. Although it can make taking care of their needs harder, having extra income from a traditional career alongside paintingcan be useful at firstwhile a Sim builds the Creativity skill.
Try to choosea job for them that doesn’t requiretoo many hoursso they still have the time and energy to dedicate to their creative pursuits outside of work. You also might want to choose a job thatneeds the Creativity skillto get promoted, since they’ll be working on that anyway.
TheMusician careercould be a good choice asit starts off with minimal hours, and at first, has no real promotion requirements besides showing up. TheSlacker careeris also a good choice thanks toshort working hours, so long as you don’t mind the weird working hours.
If you want to completely decide your Sim’s schedule then you would be better off starting them onthe Fame careerinstead. This career path allows Sims to take on gigs andearn tips around Studio Townon their own terms, so you can dip in and out as you please.
If taking on another job is too much, you could always experiment with other money-making methods. The Sims 1 has a few options kicking around, including gnome-making, bee husbandry, and even magical charms.
However, they do all require other skills to be built, so you might find that it takes too much time away from painting for your liking.
