You know what would be a great addition to The Sims 3?

Sephymuffins wrote:

Actually having a way to search for items within Buy Mode/Build Mode.

While the options to 'filter' the content by each expansion and even store content can help narrow down the query, this option doesn't help if 

1) you have no idea what expansion the item is included in, or if it's a store item
2) you don't even know if you actually installed that item
3) or if it's misplaced

Another problem is, that for a more precise query you would have to know more things, like maybe the name of the item you're looking for (or at least a part of the name), when it was released, etc. - things like that. The best query function is useless, if you don't even have an indirect clue as to what you're searching for.

And this is where 'organization' comes in. You should make yourself aware what stuff you actually have installed, which sounds easy, but isn't actually. As far as I'm concerned, I know that I've got all store items installed plus all expansions/stuff packs.

If I really want to know where an item is, I do a quick google search, and then choose the right filter in the game. And that's it for me, in most cases.  

Carlos G. wrote:

Sephymuffins wrote:

Actually having a way to search for items within Buy Mode/Build Mode.

While the options to 'filter' the content by each expansion and even store content can help narrow down the query, this option doesn't help if 

1) you have no idea what expansion the item is included in, or if it's a store item
2) you don't even know if you actually installed that item
3) or if it's misplaced

Another problem is, that for a more precise query you would have to know more things, like maybe the name of the item you're looking for (or at least a part of the name), when it was released, etc. - things like that. The best query function is useless, if you don't even have an indirect clue as to what you're searching for.

And this is where 'organization' comes in. You should make yourself aware what stuff you actually have installed, which sounds easy, but isn't actually. As far as I'm concerned, I know that I've got all store items installed plus all expansions/stuff packs.

If I really want to know where an item is, I do a quick google search, and then choose the right filter in the game. And that's it for me, actually.  

J.T. wrote:Maybe you are right, but what if a search function like Google is introduced. I mean, if you don't exactly know the name of the item, you can type in the key words of the items. Say Multi-tab 6000, if you type "computer" or "tablet" in search. You can find the item. What don't EA think of this? (Or they are too lazy to design such function?)

Hey there,

I don't know why EA didn't add such a google-like query function; yes, probably they're lazy, but I also guess they just don't see the need for that. They might think that having the two main filters (sort by room + sort by function) and the expansion filter I mentioned above is "enough". Whether that's something good or bad I can't really judge - from simmer to simmer this might be different. The way I "filter" the content is enough for me, but then other simmers might indeed prefer a query function.

Let's see if The Sims 4 will have that function.    

Carlos G. wrote:

Sephymuffins wrote:

Actually having a way to search for items within Buy Mode/Build Mode.

While the options to 'filter' the content by each expansion and even store content can help narrow down the query, this option doesn't help if---

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