“Sims 3: Generation” is an expansion pack of the pre-existing game, “The Sims 3.” One feature added in “Sims 3: Generation” is the ability to create an imaginary friend. These creatures will first appear as dolls after the birth of a child and can only be seen by their owner. As the child ages up, so do the imaginary friend. This gives players the ability to become friends with or interact romantically with their imaginary friend. Since these imaginary sims are not visible to others, other sims may view you as “crazed,” resulting in a negative moodlet. With a little work however, you can turn your imaginary friend into a real sim that can be visible to everyone.
The first step in turning an imaginary friend real in “The Sims 3″ is to create or adopt a baby by either woohooing or calling the adoption agency. When the baby ages up into a toddler, you will receive an event in the right corner of your screen. The event is different for each child, but will tell you that your baby has received a present in the mailbox.
Next, click on the mailbox to have your adult sim collect the mail. This will automatically place an imaginary friend doll in your toddlers inventory. All imaginary friends start out as dolls that will later turn real when played with.
Click on your sim toddler then press the “Inventory” button located in the lower right corner of the screen. Drag the imaginary friend doll to the floor in front of your child. Click on the doll and select “Play with doll.”
Wait at least 12 sim game hours. You will receive an event at the top of the screen informing you that your toddler is becoming attached to the imaginary friend doll. Click this event off, then continue to have your sim play with the doll.
Wait an additional 12 sim hours. After your sim has played with the imaginary friend doll for 24 hours, you can now age your toddler up into a child. Purchase a birthday cake from “Buy Mode” or press “Ctrl” and “Shift” simultaneously, click on the sim, then select the “Age Up” option.
Click on your child sim as he turns into a kid. You will now see his imaginary friend turning into a child-sized doll.
At this point, your sim will have several options to interact with their imaginary friend doll. They can ask their imaginary friend to do their chores, get them a drink, play with them and so on. The imaginary friend will only be visible to your child however, not other adult sims.
To turn the imaginary friend into a real person, purchase the chemistry set from “Buy Mode” and place it in your home. Click on your child sim, then click on the chemistry set and select “Discover Potion.”
As your sim is discovering potions, the imaginary friend will hang around watching, cheering as new potions are discovered.
In order to turn an imaginary friend into a real person, wait until your child to discover the “Imaginary Friend Metamorphium” potion. This is random and may take several attempts. Once your child has created the potion successfully, you will get an event at the top right side of your screen. The potion will be placed in your sims inventory.
Click on your child and have him talk to his imaginary friend. There will be a new option, “Friendly,” then “Offer to Make Real.” Click on this button and the imaginary friend will be handed a potion.
As your sim’s imaginary friend drinks the potion, he will float up into the air while glowing purple and blue for several minutes. Once the smoke clears, your imaginary friend will be a real person visible to everyone.