The freelance careers we're getting with the upcoming patch look really cool, and I feel it's a system that could be a lot of fun if expanded to other skills. Here are some of my ideas, and feel free to share your own:
Freelance Photographer
You get gigs to take photos of specific things, which varies depending on the particular gig. Potential subjects (as with any of this list, feel free to mention any additions you'd like to make):
- Particular sims
- Particular pets (with Cats and Dogs)
- Celebrities (with Get Famous)
- Particular houses and venues
- Supernatural stuff (possessed sims, ghosts, aliens, vampires, etc.)
- Sims in a certain kind of outfit (swimwear, formal, cold weather, etc.)
- Sims feeling a certain emotion
- certain objects (this one pays less than the others because the employer sends the particular object to be photographed. The object will never be more expensive than the pay a sim would normally make from a gig, so if a sim would only make 145 simoleans normally, they're not getting a rocket ship to photograph)
- a specific plate of food (similar to the one above it)
- a natural scene (a scene with at least a tree, plant or flower in it)
Sometimes they'll accept the photo immediately. Otherwise, you have to edit it on a computer or slablet to make them accept it.
Freelance Comedian
Your sim can write comedy routines or funny articles for paying customers, or be hired to perform at venues or parties. If they're only writing comedy acts, they can do all the work at home like in the other freelance careers. Doing the other kinds of gigs requires them to leave the lot and showcase their talents in public.
Write comedy routine/funny article: If these aren't accepted at first, you can edit them on a computer to improve them.
Performance gig: You might be hired to entertain at a party (on a sim's home lot or a venue), or just a venue. When you're there, there are goals to be met. You might be asked to get a certain number of sims in a playful mood, or tell a certain number of jokes, or make a certain number of sims laugh. If the household or venue has a microphone (or your sim brought one from home), you can be asked to perform comedy routines (if you have any) and tell jokes for certain amounts of time. Your pay and work performance depend on how well you meet those goals.
Freelance Guitarist/Pianist/Violinist/Singer/Pipe Organ Player/DJ
Similar to the Freelance Comedian career, your sim can either write songs for their chosen instrument for clients, or be hired to entertain at parties or venues. For most of these careers, if a lot lacks the instrument AND your sim doesn't have the necessary instrument in their inventory, your sim will not get gigs on that particular lot.
You'll get goals to play certain songs, get inspired, have a certain number of sims listening or dancing, and interact with others to get requests.
Freelance Mixologist/Cook/Gourmet Cook/Baker
Your sim can take gigs where they have to provide a certain amount of food or drink to a paying customer. If the food or drink they requested isn't of sufficient quality, it'll have to be made again. If the food or drinks are better than the minimum, you can get a small bonus.
You can also be hired to serve food to people at parties or venues, with different goals appearing depending on what exactly the lot has.
Mixologist: Unless your sim has a portable bar in their inventory, they will never to asked to serve drinks on a lot that lacks a bar. Your sim will get goals to serve certain drinks to certain sims, give out bar snacks and socialize with party-goers/visitors.
Cook: Unless your sim has a portable grill in their inventory, they will never be asked to serve food on a lot that lacks either a grill, or a refrigerator. Your sim will get goals to make certain kinds of food (this can be random, or tied to the party type) as group plates and/or goals to make individual plates for pickier sims. You can also get goals to make non-specific dishes and have to talk to the people you're serving to see what they might like, or guess based on the kind of party.
Gourmet Cook: Your sim will never be asked to do gourmet cooking on a lot that lacks a refrigerator, a stove, or at least one counter space. Otherwise, it's a lot like normal cooking.
Baker: Similar to the Gourmet cook, except you'll also never be asked to serve cupcakes on a lot that lacks a cupcake machine.
If you're a freelance Gourmet cook, you can be asked to create Ambrosia for a sim for a hefty commission.
Freelance Herbalist
Sims have all sorts of problems, and they're turning to your herbalist sim to solve them. They'll pay the herbalist for remedies and expect a certain quality. This one doesn't have as much of an active component like the others I've mentioned do, but you get some fun flavor text and something for herbalist sims to do. Perhaps a reward for this career is a large terrarium that can be stocked with bugs and will randomly generate new bugs over time so an herbalist sim doesn't constantly have to go back to Granite Falls.
Freelance Vampire Lore Sim
That probably wouldn't be the name for this career, but "vampire hunter" doesn't quite fit since you can use this to help or hinder vampires depending on what options you pick. This is a fun one with a lot of options:
- Get blood packs for a vampire: a clueless newborn vampire doesn't want to drink from sims and needs help
- Get Plasma Fruit for a vampire: A vampire is tired of relying on blood packs and/or sims and wants to grow their own plasma tree.
- Be vampire food: A vampire is willing to pay you to let them drink from you. It's a living.
- Make a garlic braid for a non-vampire: a non-vampire sim is afraid of being targeted by a vampire and wants to protect themself.
- Share vampire knowledge with a vampire: a new vampire wants to understand what they've gotten into. You have to go and interact with the particular vampire.
- Share vampire knowledge with a non-vampire: multiple versions of this. The sim might want to learn more because they want to be one, because they're afraid of vampires, or because they're just curious.
- Make plasma fruit salad or plasma jane for a vampire
- Make a sunlight reversal cocktail for a vampire
- Make a vampire resistance cocktail for a vampire or non-vampire: the non-vampire is afraid of being targeted while the vampire is concerned about a rival (for extra depth, taking this gig makes a vampire in the neighborhood become enemies with another vampire)
- make the Draught of Reconfiguration for a vampire
- Cure a vampire: either you deliver a cure to a willing vampire who wants to be human, you're asked by a non-vampire to cure a vampire they're afraid of, or you're asked by a vampire to cure a rival.
- Convince to turn: A non-vampire sim wants to become one, and wants your help convincing one of the neighborhood's vampires to turn them.
- Convince not to turn: A concerned relative thinks their loved one is making a big mistake in trying to become a vampire, and wants you to talk them out of it.
- Become a vampire (only for non-vampire freelancers): A local vampire is looking for willing recruits to turn. Befriend them and convince them to turn you and they'll reward you.
- Take a vampire resistance potion and fight a certain vampire: a sim wants you to make it clear that a certain vampire is not to feed from them again
I build stuff and I'm always open for constructive criticism, so feel free to do that
Comments
Ooh, yeah, that would be a good one! It could work like the handyness opportunities in TS3 and you could get objects to repair or requests for furniture and statues. Whether you're more of a handysim, carpenter or just a bit of both can depend on which gigs you choose to take.
EDIT: And let's not forget upgrading people's stuff. It'd be cool if they followed through with than and if a sim has on object upgraded by yours, it'll be upgraded in their house
How about freelance police officer? Or freelance vet? Or freelance shop owner? Or freelance military? All done at your convenience by selecting gigs.
Oh! Like a PI? thats such a cool idea
Freelance vet could work too. You make one of your house's rooms the place where you'll see your patients. You prepare it as a vet clinic, with all the objects that are necessary. Your patients can wait in the hall until it's their turn. And then you give them their medicine etc.
Freelance singer. You only go to auditions, like the acting career. You upgrade your skills by yourself, and then go to auditions for tv shows, competitions, concerts etc.
Yes!!!!!
Absolutely. It's such a good career, and I love decorating the interior of all of my builds, so getting my sims to do that for a pay? Sounds great. Plus they could go to interviews with the house owners, and then a little window could pop up that said
"Bella goth wants a makeover on her bedroom! She wants a combination of blue and white, she'll pay you £3000, get to work!". So you redecorate the whole thing and ask her how it looks when you finish the room (this shouldn't be done by the build mode, but by a patched in build state where time goes by, and you can still build for a certain period of time, with the options given by the client).
> Ive been wondering if it would be possible to bring back the Interior Design career with this, what do you think?
That would be awsome!! (I am currently studying Interior Design)
I really enjoy the flexibility that you get with the gigs for storytelling. What sort of gigs does your character tend to choose. If you can get some that are a bit on the dangerous side then it would be great.
I especially loved the one for vampires, make that into a Stuff Pack and I will buy ten!!
Love the photography one! I love photography as a hobby but know a lot of people that works exactly as described. Would be an awesome addition!
... Ok, no, that's not all I want, but certainly the thing I want the most. You don't actually craft anything and submit it (not all freelancing work is like that), but get assignments from your client to spy on / prank / rob / kill / get information on someone, and then you do that.
Something wicked this way comes!
I don't use MCCC.
I would also like to see a Freelance Investigator career. It could have two branches - Private Detective and Paranormal Investigator. I would have loved to see a PI career introduced with Get Famous. It would have fitted in so well with that whole seedy LA vibe - and later on it would have given us something useful to do with the listening device and all the leftover bugs from Strangerville.
Make specific woodwork and use the handiness skill, get commissioned for certain pieces