More Awesome Than You!

Okay, I've just encountered my first trap with my test sim and it has fairly screwed my pooch. Its a steam trap, I can't go over it without it setting off and I can't disarm it - I get about 1/3 of the way through the working progress bar then it stops and a popup appears telling me that this was an advanced society and I can't work their technology.

Question is this - which skill (or skills) affect your success rates with disarming traps and has anyone found another influence aside from skills? The sim was Handy / Genius / Adventurous with a couple of levels of mechanical skill which I would have thought would be a perfect combination for being able to disarm traps but still failed.

My Sim got a Opportunity thing to go to Egypt & disarm a trap. I didn't have an issue with that first trap.

She is Genius, Flirty, Great Kisser, the Athletic thing, and I think she has Charismatic... pretty much nothing to do with traps except Genius.

She had a crapton of Logic for a newish Sim (she & the hubby play chess), as well as the mechanical/Handiness.
Maybe it was the Logic that allowed her to disarm the trap.

/the Mummy still kicked her ass.

EDIT: Also had a couple points of Athletics. Her goal is to be an Astronaut, so she works out. I doubt that had an effect.

The "advanced technology" traps need to be disarmed another way. Usually by finding a switch or panel, or by putting a statue on it.

Hmm this causes a problem then, because it was the steam vents in the floor trap, not one of the stone ones you step on and there were no switches, panels or statues nearby and no way to go around it.

They are not necessarily nearby, they can be far away. A switch may remotely trigger the steam trap to shut off.
Alternatively, if you want spoilers, you can look at the Prima guide which ostensibly has maps of all tombs. It may be borken like the previous guide, but at least one of the guides worked.

Sure, ruin the only challenge this game has. :P

It doesn't normally matter if you set off a steam trap, you just get soaked. Is it not giving you any options to get past it?

As far as I can tell, all traps are essentially harmless. I had a mummy (supposed to die instantly in fire) set off a fire trap, and all he did was scream for a little while. It didn't even make his needs fall quickly, though it did give him a -200 mood adjustment for an hour.

No, the Sim goes to creep through it and sets it off, gets soaked and then steps back out of the trap...they won't go through it at all.

You'd think if they were gonna make a bunch of harmless traps, that they'd at least pick funny ones. Like a wedgie trap.

God, that's hilarz! Wipes tears from eyes...

If it were possible, that would be a wonderful addition to the game. EA has gotten far too serious with the Sims 3.

I believe disarming traps is based on handiness, seeing that a sim got a handisness skillup after disarming one. Some traps are impossible to disarm by your sim alone, even with max skill. The hidden doors and statues are based on athletic (speed at which you move them). I'm not entirely sure which skill is used to cross a trap, but it might be athletic or logic. One of my sims I took through a tomb just happened to have all 3 of these skills very high or maxed. Instead of crossing over one of the traps, he praticially flipped over it :o so it made me believe it might be linked to athletic (no he did not have martial art skills, but he sure could have fooled me)

It would make sense that logic 'should' be used for something, but since when has EA ever been logcial?

And if there are no switches panels or statues... Then try "Attempt to cross" I've had to do that whenever I've hit advanced tech. traps. I've never noticed it fail. And if it does... o.O Its water, your sims will just "Get soaked" and move on...

Traps are more of an obstacle than a threat. If you don't have the skills to pass them, all you can do is skill up and come back. I would say it is based on athletic whether you can "attempt to cross" or not. And kawaiimiyo, failing at the attempt means you still haven't gotten passed the trap, so it's still in the way, harmless or not. The sim is too stupid to just get wet and keep going.

Sims can drown in pools while swimming, burned to death while cooking, or get electrocuted while fixing a light fixture. But they can't die from rubber-melting steam while exploring supposedly ancient, dangerous tombs?

I'm disappointed. :(

     Okay, I should have been more specific or used different wording. My apologies. When I said "Get soaked and move on" I didn't mean to imply that by failing to cross, they would still somehow have managed to go across.
     I meant, that if they "Failed to cross" no harm is really done, they are only a bit wet, and are free to "Move on" to either attempt to cross a 2nd time, or to find a different way to get to their destination. Basically, it isnt gonna cause any harm to try to use the "Attempt to cross" option.

I've come across several steam traps in a tomb, already throwing out the steam. I had my sim meditate and then zen-transport on the other side of the traps... so Martial Arts skill helps too...

This actually works quite well for levels which require you to disarm 4-5 traps, meditating and teleporting could sometimes be faster.