Let's Get It On

After you've become very good friends with a character, your Sim can try to take things to the next level by becoming lovers. As mentioned above, the more physical your Sims get, the more likely they are to get large boosts to their relationship scores, which in turn lets you attempt the riskiest maneuvers. After you've gotten a character into the 70's or 80's on your relationship menu, you can attempt to Kiss or Flirt with them, which should initiate a romance. You'll see hearts float above each of your heads, which will let you know that you're now considered to be lovers. Other intimate physical interactions can lead to love, which has its own drawbacks, so try to avoid anything involving kissing or touching. Hugs are safe, though.

Being a lover with another character gives you a much better chance of pulling off the high-boost interactions like Feather Tickle or Passionate Kiss, which should rocket you to a 100 score very quickly. It's very important that you make sure your partner is in a good mood, however, because these interactions have huge penalties if you fail. Passionate and Friendly Kisses, for instance, knock off 15 points from your relationship score when your partner rejects you, which wastes time, since you'll have to work your way back into their good graces before trying again.

After you reach the high end of the relationship spectrum, you can try to lock on the ol' ball and chain by proposing to one of your lovers. It's difficult to get a Sim to accept a proposal; they'll need to be in a very good mood, they'll need to be of the opposite sex, and both of your relationship scores will have to stay near 100 for a while. You can expect to be shot down after your first few attempts at proposing; your lover will usually give you an idea of what's wrong. They may be hungry, or tired, for instance. You'll have to take care of whatever ails them before they'll accept your proposal. One way to boost your chances of success is to propose early in the day; if your lover and you sleep together, try to get both Sims to hit the sack at the same time, then propose as soon as possible after you wake up, when your lover's comfort and Energy scores should be nearly maxed out. If they're hungry, serve them a meal and then try again. Keep hammering away, and eventually you'll have a spouse! (In Bustin' Out mode, you can only propose to a Sim from one of the free play houses, which means you'll either have to call up the Tutti or Frutti houses and invite someone over, or visit them and get your charm on.)

Even after you've obtained a spouse, you still have to be careful to maintain your friendship. If you let your relationship with your spouse slide too far down the scale, he or she will eventually get fed up and move out.

Also, be aware that your lovers don't particularly appreciate polygamy. The game doesn't penalize you outright for being a skank, or even for cheating on a spouse, but if your spouse or lover happens to see you getting intimate with another character (via pretty much any interaction that involves physical contact), he or she will get very upset, and will usually attack your paramour, leading to bad feelings all around. Feel free to satiate your carnal desires all you like, but ensure that you're alone with your partner when you do. This also works in reverse, though; if you have a lover who insists on dancing the day away with your guests, your relationship with the guest will drop through the floor, and what's more, your Social motive will plummet as your Sim becomes more and more despondent. For this reason, it's a Very Bad Idea to become lovers with Sims that you can't control, such as Dudley, because you'll essentially be forced to retreat from whatever room they're in when a party is going on, lest your Social motive plummet to the bottom. In point of fact, there isn't much point in making a Sim your lover if you don't plan on getting married, so you may want to stick to the basic Social interactions until you find that special someone.

"In The Family Way"

Sims in love can start a family in a variety of ways. First, you have a random chance of getting a phone call offering a baby for adoption; you can choose whether or not to accept. (This works for same-sex couples, by the way, but can take a while to occur.) Second, the Kiss Passionately Social option will occasionally let lovers procreate. Lastly, the Vibromatic Heart Bed has a special interaction for lovers which will also sometimes result in a child. In any of these cases, you'll be able to choose whether or not a child is the result of your interaction, so don't hesitate to try out these interactions if you're just looking for extra relationship points.

Sim babies appear as an object in the house. You'll be able to interact with them in three ways: feeding, singing, and playing. Feeding is, obviously, the critical option here, since your baby will require a constant influx of nutrients. What's more, if your baby goes hungry for more than an hour (it'll cry quite loudly during this period), a Social worker will appear and take the baby away, which lets you escape the responsibility if you change your mind about actually taking care of a kid. You'll also need to be able to put your child to sleep; if it begins to cry because of its lack of Energy, sing to it before letting it sleep for a while.

A baby's rhythms will not coincide with the usual sleep/wakefulness cycle of an adult, so you'll likely have to keep your adult Sims sleeping in shifts to deal with the baby. At the end of three days, though, the baby will become a kid and will have much more palatable sleeping rhythms.

Child Sims don't go to work; instead, they go to school. School and work are fairly similar acts, but instead of building up your child's skills to earn promotions, you'll need to have them study (via a bookshelf or, preferably, a computer) to earn higher grades and scholarship money.