Hints and Tips for House Party ... and how to get rid of the flies!

Your hint or tip could go here. If you have some, email me and I will add them to this site.


Contents

Party Tips
Annoying Stuff in the Game
New NPC's
Miscellaneous
Improvements in Game Play

PARTY TIPS

1. How do I "mass invite" for a party?

You use your phone and select "Throw Party" and many Sims will come to your house. Some users have reported that they don't have the option to "Throw Party" on their phone. If that is the case, download the Telecom Upgrade Patch available at the Sims site under "Get Cool Stuff". Remember that you need to have at least five other people in the neighbourhood to Throw Party and you can only do so between 7:00 a.m. and midnight.

2. What can I do to throw a good party so that the mime doesn't show up?

Be sure you have lots of food and fun activities for your guests. Hire the caterer. (see tip on caterer, No. 8 of this section). Be sure to buy the catering buffet table and maybe the punchbowl too, available in the miscellaneous section. For fun activities, get the dance floor, DJ table, bubble blower, bucking bronco, home theatre, etc. You might even want to hire male or female entertainers. To do so, buy the big cake in the miscellaneous section. If your party rocks, you might get a very special guest! A little test to find out if your party is going well or not is to buy the moosehead. According to Mr. Pants of the Sims Chat Room, the moose antlers will go up if your party is a success and down if it is not.

3. Not very many people came to my party! What's up with that? (thanks to Hunneybuffet for tips 3 through 5)

Your neighbours will find out through word of mouth just how good your parties are. Keep throwing parties and you will notice more and more people arriving. Of course, how many show up depends on how many people live in your neighbourhood! Also, the more you use the phone and select "Throw Party" the more people will come.

4. I have a bar, do I really need to get the punch bowl?

You don't absolutely need to have it, but remember, your goal is to throw a successful party. Drinking punch increases hunger satisfaction, comfort, fun, and if you have others drinking with you, social.

5. The importance of comfortable chairs.

To give your sims the most comfort since most of the House Party activites are things done standing up, you should really try to use the most expensive dining chairs. This way they get comfortable while they eat and can party the rest of the time.

6. Okay, my sims won't use the bathroom at the party? (thanks to an anonymous user for this tip!)

A rather inventive idea of Maxis was adding gender specific doors for your bathrooms. Be aware though that if the bathroom door has a male symbol on it the women sims can't use it and vice versa. Cool eh?

7. Hiring and Managing the Caterer

To hire the Caterer, call him on the phone under Services. He charges $350 but is well worth it. He fills the catering table and punchbowl, chats with your guests and cleans up after. Be careful that he doesn't socialize too much or your party will run out of food. Click on him and select "Back to Work".

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ANNOYING STUFF IN THE GAME

1. How do I get rid of the flies?

So you thought the roaches in Livin' Large were annoying? Someone at Maxis has a weird sense of humour or else hasn't gotten a raise lately and is taking it out on us. It doesn't seem to matter that you've hired a maid and cleaned up after yourself, there's an annoying mob of flies buzzing around your house ... and not the previously annoying ones that buzz over dirty plates! How do you get rid of them? Well, you can't spray them like the roaches and the maid doesn't do anything about them either. An avid Sims fan named Ariella (a.k.a. Laura) points out that keeping your toilets clean seems to help. The only way that we know of to get rid of them faster is to use the "move objects" cheat to delete them. For those of you who don't know how to use cheats in the game, click here.

2. When my game starts up, I get a black screen. I can hear noises but no video?

Some users have reported that lowering your graphics performance acceleration fixes this. Open up your Control Panel and double click on the System icon. Then, click on the Performance tab. Then click Graphics and when that opens you will see a slider bar that allows you to change your Hardware Acceleration from Full to None. Lower it and restart your computer. If that doesn't work, please read the FAQ available from our main page for more ideas.

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NEW NPC's IN THE GAME

1. Drew Carey

Yes, Drew Carey from the American sit-com is in the Sims. If you have a rockin' party, he will show up in a stretch limo and talk with you and your guests. If you think it really sounds like him, that's because it really is his voice! He did voice overs for his game character at a studio in L.A. To see pictures of his sim, click here.

2. The Mime

If you're party doesn't rock, the Mime shows up to entertain your guests for you. He's mildly annoying and he won't leave if you try to dismiss him. Mr. Pants from the Sims Chat Room says the mime can entertain but he can also steal food and anything on counters (even computers) and he can also steal the parlor game set.

3. Entertainers

You can have male or female entertainers at your party. Buy the big cake in the miscellaneous section. Click on it and select "Hire Male Entertainer" or "Hire Female Entertainer".

4. Monkey/Gorilla (thanks to Megan Thompson for monkey pics!)

The monkey is a random event and will sometimes pop out of the cake instead of the male/female entertainer.

5. Boxer/Elvis (thanks to Icapop for boxer pic)

The boxer (some call him Elivs, but I thought he was dead?) is a random event and will sometimes pop out of the cake instead of the male/female entertainer.

6. Clown in boxer shorts (thanks to Icapop for clown pic)

The clown in boxer shorts is a random event and will sometimes pop out of the cake instead of the male/female entertainer.

7. Party Crashers (thanks to Kathleen Prins for the information and to Sim Kid for the great pic!)

One is female in punk clothes with green and/or pink hair who just shows up and the other is a male with green hair. The only interaction with them is Ask to Leave. Mr Pants from the Sims Chat Room says that the party crashers do bad things like clog toilets, slap guests and even sleep in your bed! On the good side they can be nice sometimes and even entertain your guests!

8. Campfire Ghost (who ya gonna call?)

Linda Parrish submitted hints for getting the campfire ghost to visit your sims. When your sims sit around the campfire, have a sim with high charisma, logic and creativity skills tell a story. You will know that they are telling a good story if the other sims clap their hands. Remember that sitting around the campfire is a fun activity so a sim with a high fun bar may stop their story halfway.Thanks to Icapop for the great pic!

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MISCELLANEOUS

1. Are there any new cheats for House Party?

None have been released as yet.

2. How do you play charades?

You need to buy the parlour game in miscellaneous section. Your sims will act out charades and others try to guess. If they guess right, the relationship score goes up. If they guess wrong, watch the sim get frustrated. It's fun, try it!

3. There is an insider Maxis joke in the game. How do I find it?

Well, do you really want to know? Okay, buy the Jungle Jumble Import Display in the Decorations section and hang it on your wall. Get your Sim to "View" it.

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IMPROVEMENTS TO GAMEPLAY

1. Changing Clothes

So were you tired of spending half the day in front of the dresser, spinning around and around and around and around trying on different outfits? Well, we thank Maxis for improving the "changing clothes" process in House Party. Now, the game pauses while you change clothes (so you don't lose precious Sim time and your Sim doesn't get tired) and instead of spinning around, your Sims clothes will just appear on them and a pop up window will ask you if this the outfit you want to accept.

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