Ten Sims 3 photos you shouldn’t take in real life

The Sims 3: World Adventures introduces a variety of new locations, actions and abilities for your Sim to enjoy. You can take pictures of the great pyramids of Egypt without paying some pesky tourism fee, spar with a martial arts master in China and even take home a sexy Frenchwoman to wife after you booze her up with a little wine – uh, nectar.

You could do all that in real life, of course, and it’d probably be way more fun (if a bit more expensive). But the real fun comes from doing things in The Sims 3 that you can’t get away with in real life. Like taking pictures of stuff that could get you arrested, deported or maybe even killed.

Join us now as we exploit the beejesus out of the new Photography skill in The Sims 3: World Adventures.

Photo Op: Inside Museums & Museum Gift Shops

The setup: Take your Sim to the tiny town of Champs Les Sims. You can buy a cheap disposable camera at the market and then pop over to La Gallerie d’Art. Simply waltz right in, select the camera and point at any piece of artwork in any display case and snap a photo.

Why you can’t get this shot in real life: Sure, you could buy a postcard with a picture of a famous painting or a statue on it – but snap your own photo of that postcard in the Louvre? You’re practically asking the security guard to subdue you. Most museums absolutely forbid any kind of photography of super-famous and temporary exhibits, especially art museums in France where famous paintings are kept under lock and key. And for some bizarre reason, flash photography is a huge no-no in gift shops.

Photo Op: Government Builds in China

The setup: Take your Sim to Shang Simla, China. You can’t buy the fancy cameras with really good zoom here (or in France), so make sure to pick one up in Egypt. You need the good camera because the buildings in China are pretty huge and it can be hard to get a good shot in one frame. Once you’ve got the camera, head down to the market square and snap a photo of the buildings there.

Why you can’t get this shot in real life: Pulling a photo op like this off might get you deported. Like hell Communist China would let tourists snap pictures of government or military buildings. Get your nosy tourist self back to the Great Wall, you foreign devils!

Photo Op: Mummies

The setup: Head on over to Egypt and send your Sim into any of the larger tombs (The Sphinx for example). In rooms containing both sarcophagi and potential traps, triggering the traps usually causes a mummy to lurch out of a sarcophagus. If your Sim has the Coward trait, you won’t be able to do much besides cower or flee. But a Brave Sim (armed with a camera) can seize the Kodak moment by the mummified nut sac and snap away.

Why you can’t get this shot in real life: Mummies do exist, although not in the way World Adventures envisions them. Sadly, though, most mummies are part of temporary museum exhibits – thus putting them in the same category of forbidden photos as other museum exhibits. Also, in real life, they’re behind glass, so you’d probably take a lousy photo anyway.

Photo Op: Sims Having Sex

The setup: Sims will kick out a third party if they attempt to play voyeur to any intimate acts in the bedroom. Most Sims also have a built-in decency that prevents them from just barging in during the act of sex. However, Sims don’t seem to notice when a door or a window is left open or uncovered – and enterprising perverts can score a sexy photo that way.

Why you can’t (or at least shouldn’t) get this shot in real life: It’s either a bad idea or just plain illegal. There’s an entire industry built around taking photos of people having sex, but unless you’re employed on the set of an adult film or at a Hustler Magazine photo shoot, it’s really not a good idea to take pictures of people having sex. Especially if they don’t know that you’re doing it.