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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 19th Sep 2014 at 2:06 PM
Default Disovering Traits?
I know there probably was a thread about this in the years of the TS3 reign, but I failed at search and need help with this.

Discovering traits (short of using that Observant reward thingy) - how do you go about it?

Some are easy. But some are not even close. Namely, things like Photographer's Eye, Savvy Sculptor, Unstable, Adventurous, and many others - are not so easy to discover.

I'll start with one that I (partially) solved - how to discover Adventurous. If a Sim is a fairy or has just made a prank to brag about to other Sim, the said action - "Brag About Playing Pranks" - discovers the Adventurous trait if the listener has it.

Your learnings to share?

The best thing about a good thing is that it inspires a better thing. ♥ Receptacle Refugee ♥
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Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#2 Old 19th Sep 2014 at 2:49 PM
Whenever a Sim has gained a new skill point they can brag and talk about that skill for a short period of time; during that time they can discover traits that are connected to that skill more easily.

Discovering a star with the telescope and talking about it will discover the Genius trait.

After using a computer they can talk for a while about computers and can then discover the Computer Whiz trait.

Same with going to the gym; the "Enthuse about Exercise" option will remain as an option for a while after leaving the gym and helps discover the Athletic trait

"Brag About Playing Pranks" will also discover the Good trait

From my experience several normal conversation topics have a higher chance to discover traits than the "Get To Know". "Talk About Politics" and "Tell Dramatic Story" are among them.

There are several traits, though, that can never be discovered, because the developers forgot to add them to the list of discoverable traits.
Scholar
Original Poster
#3 Old 19th Sep 2014 at 3:42 PM
I suppose the Unstable is among them, those that are not on the list. Ah, well...

So Genius is discovered after a star discovery. Thanks for that. I always thought "Deep Conversation" would help with that, but never had any luck.

Sometimes even the "Chat" interaction - especially after a trait related activity or two - can yield a trait discovery.

The best thing about a good thing is that it inspires a better thing. ♥ Receptacle Refugee ♥
One Minute Ninja'd
#4 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 2:42 AM
I would just buckle under and get the observant reward. It's one of the cheapest, I think it's like 5,000 points, and one of the most useful. Otherwise, your sim will be chatting it up for hours of your real life just to find out some chick is a cat person.

The easiest solution, though, which I'm sure will not appeal to you if your think the observant reward feels cheaty, is to just use MasterController. It'll give you all the dirt on the other sim right up front, complete with age, traits, career, household, and relationship status. Way easier to decide if you want to move past an innocent flirtation and know who your sim will be waking up next to in the morning.
Alchemist
#5 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 4:03 AM
Want to know an easier way to learn traits? If you have a Genie, ensorcel a Sim into your household. Sims will randomly learn the traits (some if not all) of the household members.

Even an easier way, go buy the mobile radio station from UL and interview a Sim with it. Upon successful interview, your Sim will learn all of their traits. If the interview is failed, they'll get slapped instead. You're more likely to be successful with higher Charisma skill. There's a bunch of tips you can read here.

Want to know another little tip? Some traits aren't possible to be learned even if you interview them. If you look at the Traits.xml, it's because some traits are tagged as <CanBeLearnedRandomly>FALSE</CanBeLearnedRandomly>. These traits are No Sense of Humor, Shy, Supernatural Fan, Supernatural Skeptic, Brooding, Gatherer, Proper, Loves To Swim, Sailor, Bot Fan, and Unstable (and some pet traits that I don't care about). I don't even know why EA was so restrictive about this. You can change it by editing the XML yourself like I did.

Just call me Nikel
Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#6 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 9:35 AM
The "Question" interaction for Sims in the Law Enforcement career, and the "Interview" interaction for Sims in the Journalism career will also reveal all discoverable traits (like mentioned in the wiki), but I also think rummaging through trash for these careers will do the same.

The brain enhancing machine from UL also has the "Remote Viewing" interaction which is basically a means to discover all personal data of the viewed Sim.

Chatting on the computer will also reveal traits randomly.

Boasting about a new or fast car (available for a short time after biying a new car) will reveal the Daredevil trait.

When a werewolf complains about the werewolf curse this will trigger the Neat trait to be discovered, as will the Joke About Shedding, although the latter will result in a massive relationship hit with Neat Sims.

There are some interesting situations that will reveal the Loner trait. I think it is "Praise Fantastic Book" that triggers it and "Compliment Party"

"Express Humiliation" can reveal the Mean Spirited trait and will result in the mean Sim to find the other sim "amusing" and improve the relationship.
Scholar
Original Poster
#7 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 12:42 PM Last edited by Simsica : 20th Sep 2014 at 12:58 PM.
I use and abuse all mentioned mods - when I play the Sims, it's always with heavy ab/use of mods, I wouldn't otherwise. I'm after the info myself - as a player. I want to know this and want to learn how to do it. I know literally all the Sims of relevance in my worlds. I know their traits or can easily learn them by switching into their house. But even though I know what I need to discover, I often lack the knowledge of the game mechanics needed for my Sim to learn them when they're under my control.


A find: High Five can reveal an Evil Sim.

And nikel, yup, that's what I'll do. As simple as an XML edit, huh? So how does it work then? Those traits that you tag as learnable, they can then be discovered by the "Get To Know", "Chat", "Reminisce", etc - sort of general type of interactions, not specifically designed to reveal any particular trait (random discovery)? Or can you assign interactions that can reveal a particular trait?

ETA: Or maybe the reveal has to be added to a particular interaction? Like this "Praise A Fantastic Book". Maybe there's a tag in that code as well? This certainly deserves exploration.

ETA, again: Don_Babilon, thanks for your shares! Keep 'em coming, I appreciate it

The best thing about a good thing is that it inspires a better thing. ♥ Receptacle Refugee ♥
Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#8 Old 20th Sep 2014 at 3:52 PM
"High Five!" will also reveal the Clumsy trait.

There's also an interesting situation when elders boast about their grandchildren: they will actually reveal their traits to other Sims. I've had it often that the other Sim suddenly ran off to the grandchild because of matching traits to congratulate them . (Works only with grown up grandchildren, because the matching trait interaction is not enabled for children)

Asking for Alma Mater will reveal Ambitious with a positive reaction and Workaholic with a negative reaction.

Friendly Hug will tell you if a Sim is Friendly.
Alchemist
#9 Old 21st Sep 2014 at 6:37 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Simsica
And nikel, yup, that's what I'll do. As simple as an XML edit, huh? So how does it work then? Those traits that you tag as learnable, they can then be discovered by the "Get To Know", "Chat", "Reminisce", etc - sort of general type of interactions, not specifically designed to reveal any particular trait (random discovery)? Or can you assign interactions that can reveal a particular trait?

ETA: Or maybe the reveal has to be added to a particular interaction? Like this "Praise A Fantastic Book". Maybe there's a tag in that code as well? This certainly deserves exploration.

Eh, it's possible, but I'm pretty sure it's the SocialData.xml that lets Sims reveal the traits during conversation. For example, if Brooding trait is associated with "Get To Know" interaction, I suppose you might be able to learn the trait. But if none of the interactions is associated with Shy trait, I don't think you'll ever find out this trait. I know for sure that by tagging these traits as learnable, you may be able to reveal these traits somehow, like through the aforementioned interview (and possibly Observant LTR).

ETA: Based on the discoveries here, I tried to check High Five interaction in SocialData_EP11.xml, and I guess the traits that might be revealed are Clumsy, Grumpy, Evil, and Mean Spirited. It might depend on the social outcome (successful / failed)? I don't know. Maybe you should high five everyone you meet and see if all those four traits are learnable through this interaction. :p

Just call me Nikel
Scholar
Original Poster
#10 Old 22nd Sep 2014 at 4:49 PM
I started editing those files. Indeed, it is possible to add new trait discoveries. Of course, I still need to test but the general gist of it had been had
I sort of hoped that a mod wouldn't be needed, which is why I asked this thread's question in the first place. I thought that maybe i was made of epic fail when it came to discovering some traits. Turns out the files have some epic fail in them, instead. Which I myself, a player, need to fix, if I want them fixed. It figures, right? It is is a Sims game after all.

So, now my question has changed a bit: what do you think the best interactions would be to discover these atm undiscoverable traits? Those are: NoSenseOfHumor, Shy, AgilePet, BravePet, FastPet, SupernaturalFan,SupernaturalSkeptic, Brooding, Gatherer, Proper, LovesToSwim, Sailor, Unstable (data taken out of the Traits XML).

The best thing about a good thing is that it inspires a better thing. ♥ Receptacle Refugee ♥
Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#11 Old 22nd Sep 2014 at 6:32 PM
There is a thread at NRaas Industries that covers that topic, too. According to some they experienced crashes after editing the Traits.xml, especially with regard to the No Sense of Humour trait.
http://nraas.wikispaces.com/share/v...eplyId=74904374
Theorist
#12 Old 27th Sep 2014 at 6:33 AM
My sim discovered No Sense of Humor trait recently, after making an interaction under Funny and receiving negative reaction. I can't remember how interaction was called, but it was not among the first three that show up by default. It surprised me, because the first three do not produce a negative reaction, which must be the reason why the trait doesn't get discovered.
Department of Post-Mortem Communications
#13 Old 29th Oct 2014 at 12:43 PM
My Sim just discovered the No Sense Of Humor trait, too, by complimenting a ghost on their ghastliness. He also got slapped for trying to be nice
Lab Assistant
#14 Old 22nd Dec 2015 at 2:11 AM
If you have learned the science skill from University Life, postulate theory will reveal Genius.
Mad Poster
#15 Old 22nd Dec 2015 at 6:40 PM
Browsing Internet dating profiles can help.

Who is Q? qanon.pub
Alchemist
#16 Old 23rd Dec 2015 at 11:17 AM
Quote: Originally posted by AlexandraSpears
Browsing Internet dating profiles can help.

Except it's very unreliable because most people lie in the dating site. .

This is an old thread but I still remember myself writing my own posts. Granted, it's only a year ago, but still.

Just call me Nikel
Alchemist
#17 Old 23rd Dec 2015 at 7:43 PM
I'm lazy/impatient and just use this mod by thril2 to discover all their traits at once (though it does fail occasionally).

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