Level Up! Video Game Skill

Mod Description

This mod expands on The Sims 3's hidden Video Game skill by making it similar to the skill of the same name in The Sims 4.

This is a script mod that can be placed in your Packages folder. It was built and tested on 1.69 but should work fine on 1.67.

Updates

3/29/25

• Updated German translation by McNero

Requirements

This mod requires The Sims 3: University Life.

Overview

• New Video Games
• Tournaments
• Stadium Tournaments
• New Moodlets

Video Games

Sims can now play all 6 computer games available in The Sims 3, regardless of their Nerd Influence level. They also have access to 9 additional computer games from The Sims 4. All of these games will raise their hidden Video Game skill.

If you have olomaya’s Voidcritters mod installed, your sims can also “Play Voidcritters” on the computer to level up their Voidcritters skill along with their hidden Video Game skill.

The “Play Chess” interaction has been moved out of the “Play Video Game…” pie menu to avoid it getting lost among all of the new options.

Tournaments

Teen and older sims with level 2 hidden Video Game skill or higher can compete in video game tournaments on the computer. There are five tiers of tournament, each costing more in entry fees and being harder to win, but offering larger cash prizes.

The tournament tiers, required levels, lengths, entry costs, prize amounts, and chances of winning are as follows:

• Amateur (Level 2) - 2 hours, §25 entry fee, 1st Place (§150), 2nd Place (§100), 3rd Place (§50), 40% chance of winning
• Novice (Level 4) - 3 hours, §50 entry fee, 1st Place (§450), 2nd Place (§300), 3rd Place (§150), 35% chance of winning
• Semi Pro (Level 6) - 4 hours, §75 entry fee, 1st Place (§750), 2nd Place (§600), 3rd Place (§450), 30% chance of winning
• Pro (Level 8) - 5 hours, §100 entry fee, 1st Place (§1050), 2nd Place (§900), 3rd Place (§750), 25% chance of winning
• Elite (Level 10) - 6 hours, §125 entry fee, 1st Place (§3000), 2nd Place (§1500), 3rd Place (§1000), 20% chance of winning

If your sim cancels the tournament interaction for any reason (mood failure, buff timeout, etc.) they will automatically forfeit the tournament. But they can enter a new tournament right away without a cooldown.

Placing in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grants positive moodlets (Winner!, Runner Up, or Bronze Baby), along with prize money. If your sim doesn’t make the podium, they don’t get anything but a negative custom moodlet called Loser.

Win or lose, your sim won’t be able to compete in another tournament until their moodlet expires.

Certain traits can either increase or decrease your chance of winning a video game tournament by 5% (note: this value stacks the more traits your sim has):

Increased Chance Traits - Lucky and Computer Whiz

Decreased Chance Traits - Unlucky, Absent Minded, and Loser

Sims with the Lucky or Computer Whiz traits have a better chance of winning, while sims with the Unlucky, Absent Minded, or Loser traits will have a lesser chance of winning.

A sim’s hidden Video Game skill and hidden Arcade Machine skill also factor into their overall winning chance.

Stadium Tournaments

If your sim is at least level 6 in the hidden Video Game skill, they can compete in video game tournaments held at the stadium rabbithole on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays @ 1:00pm.

There are Semi Pro, Pro, and Elite level tournaments available, with a slightly higher entrance fee than computer tournaments, but they offer much more prize money and celebrity points if your sim comes in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place.

The chances of winning these tournaments is the same as their computer tournament equivalent listed above.

• Semi Pro Stadium Tournament (Level 6) - 4 hours, §150 entry fee, 1st Place (§3000), 2nd Place (§2000), 3rd Place (§1500)
• Pro Stadium Tournament (Level 8) - 5 hours, §175 entry fee, 1st Place (§6500), 2nd Place (§5000), 3rd Place (§3500)
• Elite Stadium Tournament (Level 10) - 6 hours, §200 entry fee, 1st Place (§10000), 2nd Place (§8500), 3rd Place (§7000)

New Moodlets

*Winner!: Given when a sim comes in 1st place in a video game tournament, lasts 8 hours, +25 mood

*An existing moodlet that is repurposed for this mod.

Runner Up: Given when a sim comes in 2nd place in a video game tournament, lasts 8 hours, +15 mood

Bronze Baby: Given when a sim comes in 3rd place in a video game tournament, lasts 8 hours, +5 mood

Loser: Given when a sim fails to place in a video game tournament, lasts 8 hours, -25 mood

Tuning

All of the following values are tunable in the mod’s XML files.



Mod Recommendation

I recommend using Dandelion Sprout's Unhide Hidden Skills mod to track your sim's hidden Video Game and Arcade Machine skills.

Conflicts & Known Issues

This is a new script mod so there shouldn’t be any conflicts.

Credits

EA/Maxis for The Sims 3 and The Sims 4, Visual Studio 2019, ILSpy, s3pe, Notepad++, and Script Mod Template Creator.

Thank You

Thank you to simbouquet for extracting the video files and answering all of my questions!