Time Machine
The Time Machine is a unique, dimension and time bending device that provides a never before experienced adventure for any Sim!
Game	The Sims 3: Ambitions
Buyability	Crafted
Price to craft	§1,600 (Buydebug)
Object type(s)	Special
	Moodlet
	Money
	Simology
Size	2x5

The time machine is an object in The Sims 3: Ambitions and The Sims 3: Pets for console. It requires level 8^[TS3PETSC] or 9^[TS3A] of the inventing skill. It is typically the fifteenth invention made, and once completed, appears in the family inventory rather than the personal inventory.

The exterior look of the time machine is most likely based on the one seen in Blackadder: Back and Forth. A Sim can return with various items including a caveman gnome, much as the original Mysterious Mr. Gnome is discovered in the Mausoleum.

It's possible for Sims to meet their previous selves and/or previous companions, and tell them to stop fighting and focus on love and family. If this happens, a Sim may suddenly have a child, but the child will only have one parent. When a Sim travels to the past, he or she can accidentally knock over a job board. If that happens, when the Sim returns, one of his or her housemates will have switched careers. Occasionally, traveling to the past will result in a message about the Sim using the machine having saved a child in front of his or her past self. This results in a new child being added to the household.

The time machine also makes a quick reference to Mass Effect when it says that the Sim was passing a crowd, listening about a shepherd (Commander Shepard, the main protagonist), saving the Galaxy from an ancient god threat (the Reapers). Additionally, the futuristic outfits that can be gained by going into the future highly resemble the Spectre Armors that can be acquired in Mass Effect.

It also makes a reference to Red Faction: Guerilla when it says -Sim- helped stand up for miner's rights on Mars. -Sim- was almost arrested by Earth Police, but found a convenient escape through the timestream before being interrogated.

The time machine also makes a reference to Dragon Age, when it says, "(Sim's name) got lost in some tunnels, but a warden (The Warden, the main protagonist) escorted them out."

After a 4-notification trip, there is a 4-hour cooldown before the Sim can enter a time machine again, marked by the "Traveled in Time" moodlet. Occasionally the Time Machine will eject the Sim, and further attempts for a short while afterwards by the Sim to use it will make it eject the Sim again almost immediately.

Effects of time travel

Traveling to the past can have huge consequences for a Sim's household (new job, new friends, new Sim in the household), while traveling to the future seems to be more harmless, though the Sim sometimes comes back with an object or moodlet. It is also possible for a Sim to return from a time travel trip with a new outfit related to the time period he or she traveled to. There are 4 unique outfits for each gender.

There is a circa 10% chance (according to "TimeMachine_0x404c26f00b180cd2" in GameplayData.package) for the Sim to alter the past or future on their trip, resulting in various possible changes to life states, relatives, and careers.

Both

• Positive or negative 'Traveled in Time' moodlet. (Bigger chance of getting positive moodlet if the Sim has the adventurous and/or brave traits)
• An additional moodlet (70% chance overall):
  • 4.55% chance of any of: Great Adventure, Let Off Steam, Adrenaline Rush, Fascinated, Celebrity,^{[confirmation needed]} Cheered Up, Divine Meal, Inspired, Tranquil, Winner
  • 2.72% chance of any of: Horrified, Scared, Disappointed, Stuff Taken, Offended, Humiliated, Fear, Disgusted, Betrayed
• Cash (35% chance), between §50 - §2,500.
• New clothing (10% chance; including a rusty set of armor and a futuristic suit).
• Items:
  • Artsy Easel
  • Audio Lite by LoFi Audio
  • Dancing Bunny painting (§100)
  • Death flower seed
  • Ducksworth of Bathington
  • Fuzzy-Logic Picnic Basket
  • Life Fruit
  • Mysterious Mr. Gnome
  • Omni Plant seed
  • Prince of Pickleburp (painting)
  • World's Brew Bubble Bath
  • XS 4258p Laptop from Landgraab Industries

Past

• New career for random member in household (Circa 2.5% chance).
• A new Sim joins the household as a child of the time traveling Sim, though the infobox will say ancestor (Circa 2.5% chance).
• If a sim helps a clan on their trip, they will become best friends with the clan's surviving family members. (Circa 2.5% chance).
• If the Sim is a ghost, they may get a message saying "<Sim name> went back in time to see how they became a ghost, but accidentally changed events so they never became one! <Sim name> is alive again!" (Circa 2.5% chance per time travel.)
• If the Sim is a mummy, they can prevent the invention of mummies and will be cured when they return (Circa 2.5% chance per time travel).
• A mummy might join your household.^{[confirmation needed]}
• Items:
  • Caveman magic gnome
  • The Four Corners of the Earth, non-skill book, worth §1,945
  • To Hunt or to Gather?, non-skill book, worth §1,376
  • War and More War, non-skill book, worth §1,663
  • Fire: Terrifying but Essential, non-skill book, worth §751
  • 1000 Ways to Stew Brontosaurus, non-skill book, worth §1,484
  • The Fall of Atlantis, non-skill book, worth §2,068
  • Lady Veronica Farfleton and the Magical Harpsichord, non-skill book, worth §1,577
  • Sul Sul: Trapped in Tar, non-skill book, worth §1,569
  • Plague and Pestilence, non-skill book, worth §1,109
  • Men are From Tar Pits, Women from Sabertooth Den, non-skill book, worth §1,188

Future

• A new Sim joins the household as child of the time traveler, though that child can be any age from child to elder (Unknown chance percentage).
• Items:
  • Birthday Inferno Birthday Cake
  • Thoggus (Sculpture)
  • SimCity 7940 Tips and Tricks, non-skill book, worth §1,552
  • Mars Real Estate Dos and Don'ts, non-skill book, worth §828
  • Gone with the Solar Wind, non-skill book, worth §1,611
  • Don't Tread on Me: A Robot Manifesto for Freedom, non-skill book, worth §1,633
  • Blips and Bloops: A Thesis on Mechanics, non-skill book, worth §1,331
  • Remembering the Internet: How the World was Changed, non-skill book, worth §2,754
  • So Hot in Binary, non-skill book, worth §1,266
  • Signs You're a Clone, non-skill book, worth §2,769
  • The New Ice Age, non-skill book, worth §2,975
  • Farmed: A Legacy of Eight Billion Points, non-skill book, worth §1,655

Try for baby

• If trying in the future, there is a chance where the child will return to the present visiting their parents as an elder.
• If trying in the past, there is a chance where the child will return to the present from finding their long lost parents as a Teen or a Young Adult.

Keep in mind that when trying for a baby in the time machine, you will not hear the sound effect you normally hear when your Sim successfully became pregnant. Make sure to wait a few hours to see if you succeeded and do not keep trying it all over again or you’ll get a lot of children!

Moodlets

Image	Moodlet Name	Mood Effect	Time Period	Game Dialog/Description	Notes
	Traveled in Time	+20 Mood	4 Hours	Adventures in time are not for the faint of heart, cowardly, or historically inappropriate.	Positive moodlet after using the Time Machine
	Traveled in Time	-25 Mood	4 Hours	Adventures in time are not for the faint of heart, cowardly, or historically inappropriate.	Negative moodlet after using the Time Machine

Trivia

• Time travel has previously been featured in the mishap that brought Don Lothario to Riverview, and the time machine is available for use in The Sims 2 for Nintendo DS.

  

• It also appeared in The Urbz: Sims in the City for Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance as a strange machine. The player could go in 5 different times, each having a different area: November 29, 1984; December 31, 1870; 1,000,000 B.C.; December 2, 2003 and 3978 A.D.
• One of the outfits in The Sims 3: Ambitions from the future resembles the clothing from Tron.
• Occasionally in Ambitions, a time machine will be available at the consignment store for Sims to buy, without the need to invent it.
• In Ambitions it is possible to WooHoo in a time machine, but the WooHoo lacks the hearts effect.

Gallery

A new Mysterious Gnome from The Sims 3: Ambitions.

A time machine.

A Sim entering a time machine.

Time machine detonation

A blurry forcefield is surrounding the machine and an eerie purple light shines from the cracks in the door.

One of the possible outfits from the future.

The future clothes on an adult female.

Another possible medieval male young adult outfit

The time machine as it appears in The Sims 3: Pets (console).

Names in other languages