What triggers a burglar?

[simbalena]

In both TS2 and TS3 I only ever had two or three burglars try to rob houses and that was when I first installed the game!

Why won't they ever come back and try to rob my sims again?

Is it something to do with the value of the house? Are poor sims robbed more often?

I know I can force a thief but that's just not fair... I want my sims to be robbed the honest way!

[sfsix]

you WANT them to rob you? my, you are the generous kind :) my theory is that it is based on the number of sims currently in the criminal career and probably their level in that career. i think so at least.

[Cookieflower]

You obviously didn't play enough!
Overall... gosh I wouldn't know how many burglaries I've had. Generally once, sometimes twice in a sim's lifetime.

[sfsix]

well i can see catching the sim a fun part, but getting your stuff taken away in case the cop cant catch them, keeping track of the items missing, going to buy mode, and so forth?

i do wish they let you use weapons on them though, like pepper spray or stun gun, that would be cool

[lauralynn]

I played the sims 2 since it was released right up until the sims 3 for at least 2 hours a day and I've only had 2 families get robbed once each and nothing else! I have forced it using the mailbox once or twice but it like never happened on it's own!

[Claeric]

Burglars can only come within 4 days, meaning if they come they will not come again for 4 days. They come from, I think, 11PM to 2AM, as long as every sim in the house is asleep.

I was actually going to make a mod to make burglars more common/effective, but I didnt know if anyone would want it.

[clearblueskies]

Put an expensive car in your driveway (not a garage). The burglar has stolen 4 cars from my favoritr sim family. The cops never arrive in time. Even when my brave sim woke up and beat up the burglar while his wife called the cops. The cop walked right past the burglar to tell my sim she had got away!

[Claeric]

The burglar wont steal a car unless the house is extremely wealthy. They have a quota which is a very small percent of the household value, so unless your house is worth 50x the price of that car, they won't go near it.

[joof]

I've only been robbed once, and that was in my poorest family, when I actually needed all the simoleons I could get! It was when I just started out with them, too. I guess I have the same problem as you.
I kind of wish sometimes that my rich families would get robbed, since they have too much money that I don't know what to do with.

[simbalena]

They come from, I think, 11PM to 2AM, as long as every sim in the house is asleep.


Ah that's my problem, I always have huge families and it's pretty uncommon for them all to be sleeping between 11pm and 2am.

Thanks :)

[KeiraLou]

I was always robbed in TS2! Became rather annoying, almost every single family would be robbed once or twice! In TS3 I've only been robbed once or twice, which I am happy about. I defiantly like the way some Sims can fight the burglars in this game now, makes them seem less useless like they were in TS2 during a robbery!

[starved4pizza]

I was always robbed in TS2! Became rather annoying, almost every single family would be robbed once or twice! In TS3 I've only been robbed once or twice, which I am happy about. I defiantly like the way some Sims can fight the burglars in this game now, makes them seem less useless like they were in TS2 during a robbery!


Good for you! You keep pushing that envelope!



>>;

[Ametaula]

My Poor Legacy Starter sim has just been robbed while she was out at work earning a few simoleons to buy some bread. As she was only just starting out, of course a burglar alarm was one of those luxuries she could not yet afford (bloomin' eck, she couldn't even afford walls and just lived in a field) so all I could do was just watch her meagre belongings being stolen. I don't know how that thief sleeps at night

[AngelicScot]

Bearing in mind that this excerpt is taken from the Sims 2 game guide, from what I can tell, Sims 3 seems to follow roughly the same model.

"Burglaries occur between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. approximately once every 20 nights. The Burglar creeps into the house, cases the joint, and finds and steals up to five of the most valuable objects on the lot."

[Claeric]

The XML gives the following information:

-Burglars attempt to steal %5 of the household's total worth

-This threshhold can vary over or under by 10%. Meaning 10% less than 5% of the quota, or 10% more.

-Burglars wont steal over 20,000 simoleons worth of stuff

-Burglars wont steal more than 10 things at once

-Chance of a burglar once everyone is asleep is 2.5%

-The MAX number AFTER the last sim goes to sleep a burglar will show up is 4. Meaning a burglar will show up anywhere from 0 to 4 hours after the last sim goes to sleep.

-The minimum amount of days between robberies is 4, meaning a burglar can come 4 to Infinity days after a burglary, but never 1-3.

-Sims lose 20 relationship with someone when they rob their house

-For every 20,000 dollars added to the household worth, the burglar spawn chance increases by 1%. 20,000 worth probably means 2.5. 40,000 means 3.5, 60,000 means 4.5, etc.

-The above value CAPS at 10%. So at 100,000 simoleons is the last time the spawn chance will increase.

-Route radius for stealing is 2. I assume this means the burglar looks within a radius of "2"(the value is undefined, it doesnt say if its' tiles, or what) for something to steal.

-There are a maximum of 2 different burglars in the pool

-For some reason, the game always tries to send the same burglar to a given household. Like how you always get the same maid until you fire them to get another, you will usually get the same burglar.

-Burglars will not rob you if you have 75 or more relationship with them

-THE EARLIEST TIME A BURGLAR WILL COME is at 9PM

-THE LATEST TIME A BURGLAR WILL COME is at 2AM

Since the earliest a burglar will come is 9PM, and the earliest time after the last sim goes to sleep is 0 hours, this means your sims have to be asleep before 9PM for the best chance of a burglar robbing your house, because that will mean that their entire threshhold for being spawned will be available, giving the maximum possible chance. You will have ALMOST NO CHANCE WHATSOEVER of being robbed if you go to bed just before 2AM. The best middle ground is probably 10PM, because then the burglar at least has 4 hours to decide whether or not to spawn.

I may as well put it out there right now, if anybody can think of any reasonable alterations to this to make it more fun(like more common burglars, more damage caused, etc) I'd like to make a mod to change that. But ideas for potential values would be great, so I dont end up making something nobody will want! I will also change the police proportionately so that the more common the burglars are, the faster th epolice respond and they will be a bit better and stopping burglars. Sound good?

[J. M. Pescado]

I think it's very weird that burglars only show up at those hours, because in real life, those are not prime burglin' hours, for the obvious reason that you will pretty much always run into potentially angry homeowners. Prime burglin' hours are office hours, when everyone is out at work! Or when some dumbass posts on his Twitter that he isn't home.

[Claeric]

If I was a good enough modder, that is, a "more-than-changing-xmls" modder, I'd try to make it so there was also a "at work" modifier. "longest amount of time after everyone has left the house" or something. It would be fantastic to have a chance of burglars coming whenever nobody was home.

[el_flel]

^ True that. When my flat got broken into it was one o'clock in the afternoon. Luckily, being a student, I was home and therefore nothing got nicked, even though he walked past plenty of stuff he could have taken until the sight of me having just woken up scared him off (it is a pretty scary sight). I wish Sim burglars were that inefficient.

[J. M. Pescado]

I find that the thing burglars hate hearing the most is "CH-CHK". It's distinct and recognizable. The next hated sound would be that electric whir of the chaingun spinning up.

[el_flel]

Sadly due to the gun laws in the UK the first option would be pretty illegal unless I had a license, but I do like the second. My house is currently undergoing building works so I have a variety of tools just 'conveniently' lying around the house that make good defense weapons.

[GiveTheNineARide]

I was playing a challenge where my Sim could not buy anything. He was a klepto and could only steal what he needed or wanted. On the first night while he's across town stealing Agnes Crumplebottom's sports car, suddenly the little pip window pops up and shows a burglar entering his house. (Mosquito Cove in Sunset Valley. Part of the challenge was to buy that lot unfurnished.) Go ahead, I thought, the place is barren. Then I watch as he steals the stove. I don't think a klepto can steal a stove, I've tried, so after snagging Ol' Crumpy's sports car he heads around back and grabs her grill. I figure at least he can eat hotdogs. About a week later while he's out swiping the burglar shows up again and steals the grill. Maybe he didn't like the competition and was trying to starve my Sim into submission. :rofl:

[jemalee]

I've been playing for ages and I'm usually asleep at those times but I've never been robbed.. I dont think I'm complaining but my Sim needs to photograph one eventually so I'd like one eventually...

[Ghost sdoj]

Do they still count as a burglar if they aren't actually robbing the place? My sim woke up 3 times to find the cop being beaten up by the burglar. (Who hadn't managed to steal anything because the house was too far back on the lot for him to have gotten to it before the cop arrived.) She decided that she was tired of the midnight visits with nothing to show for it and started having an affair with him.

[treeag]

Currently in my game my sims are being robbed like every other night. Seriously. I switch households a lot and it feels like the burglars are following me. One even came twice in one night because the first time he didn't manage to steal anything before he fled.

[Claeric]

I dont think inactive households are robbed, so maybe when you switch households the burglar has been gone for so long that he's at maximum robbery chance?

[suzetter]

I know I can force a thief but that's just not fair... I want my sims to be robbed the honest way!

Sibalena - Haha. You crack me up. I don't think your sims need to be rich to be robbed. Make sure you don't have an alarm system. Try placing your TV or stereo near the door and see if that tempts them. :)

GiveTheNineARide -great scenario for a story

[chyrun]

A sim can be very poor and get robbed. I speak from experience.My legacy founder was just sarting out and the burglar came and stole her stove.

I remember reading a long time ago that in sims 2 the burglars came more often when the outside of the house wasn't well-lit/had no lights at all. I don't know if this applies to TS3 aswell, but you could give it a try.

[Massadar]

They come from, I think, 11PM to 2AM, as long as every sim in the house is asleep.

Don't be silly. Sims are never asleep at 11PM to 2AM. That's the time they are all skilling up, or watering their Money Trees! :rofl:

This explains why the burglar never appears in my sim homes. At least one sim is always awake in those wee hours.

[LoonehWannabe]

Seriously? You realize Threadcromancy is bad, right?

[WoohooAndTheCity]

Seriously? You realize Threadcromancy is bad, right?

He's preparing himself for Late Night.

[Dogempire]

I've been robbed only once. The burglar somehow teleported to my car, stole it, then teleported off.

[QueenJimmyIV]

I play all the time. I've played all three games. The most that I ever had a burglar in Sims 1 was maybe three or four times. I never had a burglar in Sims 2. No, really, I never did. In Sims 3, I just had my first burglar after two years of playing.

Sometimes, they just aren't common. =/

[djoreo217]

I'm not really sure what causes a bugular to come, but I use have a Sim who was living by himself in a small cabin, but had a few expensive objects in it. His house was always robbed, almost seemed like once every week someone would try to rob the house. Even though they were always caught due to the bugular alarm, they just kept coming! Quite annoying really...

[amberland]

(on 30th Jul 2010)
Seriously? You realize Threadcromancy is bad, right?
The thread refuses to die!

I think we may have to cut off its head, burn it, and then scatter the ashes all around the world.

[bl00raspbery]

I've realized that most commonly, my poor sims that can't even afford to finish their houses, let alone an alarm, get robbed the most :(.

[KKiryu007Joker]

I only got sims in Sims 3 robbed once, in that city area, in a kind of motel housing. I believe burglars only arise if everybody is asleep in a family. Before that I thought you maybe needed to make a sim a burglar first, and then not play them.

[Guard Cat]

Tips for a BURGLAR house!

[Guard Cat]

Tips for a BURGLAR house! :cylon: :cylon: :cylon:
1. Don't own a alarm in less you want a little action :alarm:
2. Own stuff that is higher then 100/200 dollars :king:
3. Keep all your doors unlocked allways :!:
4. All lights must be off at night :faceslap:
5. Buy a big house :deal:
6. Sims must be away from their house :Pint:
7. Live far away from the police station :mod:
8. Sims must have the unlucky trait :cry:
That is all for now... :help:

[Simsdestroyer]

I get burglars all the time, what I don't EVER get is a freak drowning. I know they exist, but none of my sims have ever drowned. With burglars I think it depends on if you have someone in the criminal career close by. This is probably not a fact, but it seems like that in my game. lol I get hit with a burglar like every 6 to 12 sims weeks it seems.