I've got a sim who's been making nectar since the day she became a teen. The problem is twofold-- I want some suggestions on how to clear the nectar racks to make way for the systematic experiment (below). So, general questions- what kind of nectar do you save, and for how long? Do you only save part of a batch and immediately sell the rest?

The experiment- I've noticed that a batch of nectar labeled "terrible" out of the vat, worth only 117 simoleons per bottle, aged on the rack and is now worth over a thousand simoleons per bottle. Other nectars may have been more valuable straight off, but I want to experiment and see how value progresses.

For those who've looked at the code, is the modifier for the rack either 2 or 3.4 percent per week straight across? Do other factors come into play which make some nectars age better?

As I understand it, time only passes in vacation sites while you're there, so it's not really wise to age nectar there. Make, sure, but my sim grabs all the bottles before she heads back to Sunset Valley--thus, the terrible need for a sorting method to keep racks from overflowing!

A note on my methods- I've only used the simple racks, as I've been trying to keep the house value under 75K simoleons furnished.

Just a note, because I don't know the answer to your question, but organising everything is much easier thanks to the inscription plaque in Buydebug mode. Just pop one beside each rack, and enter an appropriate label using 'ctrl, shift, click' command.

Thanks for the tip, Kiwi tea! I've not done any tomb building yet (still exploring what the 'basic games' offer).

The racks are easily distinguished. For the purposes of the experiment, each batch contains five bottles. Two go into the basic rack, two into the deluxe, and the odd bottle goes into a storage chest. All are on the same floor (first floor basement). I'm keeping track of the batches in an Excel spreadsheet.

I'm keeping track of the batches in an Excel spreadsheet.

I can't wait to hear the results.

Is there a difference in nectar value rising between the two sorts of racks?
Or is this one of the things you want to find out?

I was wondering if making nectar is worth it at all, as one could sell perfect fruits and make almost the same amount of money with that. But if bottles raise up to 1000 §, well then... but the very old bottles found in game don't have that value, so I thought it's not worth it.

And a tip from me: time passes on vacation sites, even if you're not there. I understood that by receiving a message while being at hometown, which said that one of the french people will die soon. When I returned to france, she was gone and replaced by another NPC. You could test with only one bottle if time has an effect on nectar bottles on vacation sites.

Do you mean if it has an effect on yours AT HOME while on vacation, or an effect in the destination?

Because nothing happens at home, at all. And when you are on vacation, there is also no aging or progression. Destination progression only happens when you are at home, and is all completed and gathered together when you get there, I believe.

I believe that the more expensive rack raises the value faster. I don't have evidence of that from game code, though, so maybe somebody can confirm it.

It also helps to put the racks in a cellar, as I learned in another thread here http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=381831

Great idea about the plaques, Kiwi! It's awesome to be able to store bits of text in your game, heh.

Okay, first update:

Number one, I am flabbergasted by some of these percentages of increase. There IS some hidden X value for 'taste' rather than just the quality of the fruit, nectarmaking skill and other bonuses and the type of rack it is in.

Methodology:
I deliberately made "what-ev-AH" kind of combinations, aiming for a fairly even spread from 'terrible' to 'amazing'. All were produced on the same nectarmaker, with the increased pressing adjustment, and stored on the same level basement. My sim has nectarmaking 10, mix master, flavorful feet and master of nectarmaking (200 bottles).

Initial results, week one:

Sticking bottles in the storage chest did nada. Across the board, money values were identical to the starting value.

The inexpensive rack:
Several bottles matured from outstanding to perfect, or from excellent to outstanding. They also had the most signficant increases in value, a whopping 38-50 percent. Quality of the initial bottle seems to actually favor the "crappy" combinations, and bottles increased least in value if they were perfect at the start.

--Could someone (or several someones) do a quick test with ONE combination? 6 apples, 4 renoit grapes. it's one step away from the "awesome" 50-50 split, but mine was called 'terrible'. I stuck some of those in the normal rack and in ONE week the value jumped by fifty percent! That's OUTRAGOUSLY profitable!

For the expensive rack:
I've been a tightwad in the wrong area. STOP, before you buy any nectar racks--GET THE EXPENSIVE ONES. They are hands-down worth it!

General trends- any combination of life fruit, flame fruit and another was very valuable, but the ones with "these go well together" are both more valuable initially and gain a higher percentage value on the rack. (This is also true of the regular rack, just not as noticeable.)

Some specifics- the same number of bottles aged into the next quality category, they had the same starting values (of course), BUT, the LOWEST rate of return was 33 percent (10 apples, the lowest value bottle in the test group) and the best was the "amazing" 5 apple, 5 renoit grape, which increased seventy-nine percent in value IN ONE WEEK.

Does anyone want to see the raw data tables? I'm currently recording week two, and will post results in a separate entry.

WEEK TWO RESULTS

Just to confirm, the nectar in the storage chest has not increased in value a single simoleon.

The nectar in the basic rack increased 24-27 percent with a few exceptions:

- 9 apple, 1 renoit grape increased 32 percent.
- 5 apple, 5 renoit (amazing) increased a whopping 52 percent- BUT, this bottle began as only outstanding when I put it in the rack, while a similar bottle which began at perfect has had a steady 24-28 percent increase each week.
- 7 pomelo, 3 lime jumped a whopping 52 percent this week, BUT, again, the expensive rack creates more valuable nectar with identical aging and quality.

The expensive rack created some very interesting results. Not startling, but intriguing, because as I said, even BAD nectar bottles have become more valuable.

-As the nectar ages into perfect quality, the overall percentage hovers between 26 and thirty percent, with the better tastes at the high end.

-The total value of the nectar, per bottle, effectively doubled at the end of week two in the expensive rack. The normal rack had lower values, and it was harder to see a 'rule of thumb'. This was dead easy to see. Two weeks in an expensive rack meant twice the money per bottle.

-Some recipes you may not have tried:

7 pomelo and 3 lime-- a fair-to-middling bottle when put in the rack, it's jumped 137 percent in value in two weeks, an exception to the lower return on already perfect bottles. At 540 a bottle after two weeks, I'd make this as a source of funding for more racks. One batch aged up and sold per week could pay MOST families' bills over the same time (more than 2500 simoleons in a five-bottle batch!)

5 pomelo, 3 life fruit, 2 cranerlet nuala grapes-- I was warned "there are better combinations", but this sweet little bottle has the life fruit effect, AND its value went from 189 at the start to 434 per bottle in two weeks (in the expensive rack).

My inital conclusions are that while nectarmaking is a lot of fun, it can EASILY surpass the job incomes for all but the highest ranks in most careers. My sim made most of the bottles in a single day and worked on a novel while they were fermenting.

Learning Nectar-Making on the Cheap:

If you don't want to worry about finding the "perfect combinations", you will make less money, but still quite a lot. Still give nectarmaking a try, even if it's only while on vacation. Oh- a special note-- I had all four of the nectar machines busy in France, on the trip prior to this experiment; total outlay for the machine, nada, and I'd brought my perfect/outstanding fruits along. Also, if you upgrade the nectar machines in the nectary, they are still upgraded when you return.

If you really want to start this on the cheap, don't even buy the skill books. plan a short trip to France with nothing but nectarmaking in mind. Take some showers in a can, your tent, and some veggies along to eat. Bring skill books, a laptop, or a guitar. Go to the basement, turn on the stereo to your sim's favorite music, park your tent in a clear space near the stairs, and sample a botlte of nectar. Then get to work: just jog between the two downstairs machines, starting with batches of one-fruit nectar, then moving to 1/9, 9/1, 8/2, 2/8, etc combinations of the SAME two fruits, whatever you have most of. That'll get you the mix master option, and now you're ready to dig in and skill up with 'great' or 'amazing' finds until you run out of fruit.

In between, while the nectar is fermenting, stay near the stereo/bar areas: socialize with other visitors (playing guitar is a double boost here), work on skill books, visit the bathroom (and brush your teeth as well for a cheap mood boost). When you need to sleep, your tent is already there.

By the way, there ARE a set of quests that get the Sim making nectar, which gives both coin rewards and visa points. They can be done even if your sim is already level-10 in nectarmaking. (I had nectar in my inventory, so the quest went from "accepted' to "completed" in a blink. Talk about easy! I jogged to turn in the quest to build Athletic skill as a bonus, and that was the only slowdown.)

When you get home, sell part of each batch until you can afford a rack. Buy it and stock with the partial batches until full, then repeat. Be sure to keep a rack earmarked for drinking, that way you're always sending your Sims (and your less valuable bottles of nectar) to the same spot.

WEEK THREE IS IN!

Okay, I'll admit to having been a cheapskate in the WRONG area, again. Those deluxe racks pay for themselves FAST.

The nectars in the basic rack have JUST doubled in value, while the ones in the deluxe rack have increased by AT LEAST 2/3.

I can't figure out how to assemble a table here without hand-typing it (which is prone to bazillions of number reversals), so I'll give you a few examples again:

One bottle of 8 apple, 2 renoit, the WORST produced in this set, came out of the vat at 60 simoleans per bottle. After three weeks in a normal rack, it was worth 134 simoleans, and the same time in the deluxe rack netted 148 simoleans.

A known "amazing" recipe of 5 appples, 5 renoit grapes valued at 105 out of the makerfor one bottle, and after three weeks in the basic rack, was 304. The deluxe rack valued the same bottle at 337.

The most expensive mix (6 apple, 2 flame fruit, 2 life fruit) came out of the nectar maker valued at 228 simoleans a bottle. After three weeks, the basic rack aged the value to 559, the deluxe to 617.

Here's some sample math: The cheap, easy to make apple-renoit mix, the BAD 6/4 one, in a full rack of fifteen bottles adds 2,220 simoleans to your pocketbook. Make a simple change for the "amazing" 5/5 version, and a rack of fifteen bottles would sell for 5,055 simoleans. And the last set, with life and flame fruit might be a little harder to fill a rack with, but would return a whopping 9,255 simoleans after three weeks of ignoring the bottles in their racks.

ocgforme: I can not thank you enough for taking the time to research nectar making and post the results here for all of us. I have a pergect master gardener and now, thanks to you, I know how to get the best results and what to consentrate on as far as rack and aging.

Also great idea on Nectar-Making on the Cheap.

Hey, it was kinda fun for me, and I needed the answers as much as the next Sim. Btw, I always, always look for ways my "broke but honest" sims can do the same kinds of things as the Landgraabs without the same cash outlay. If only *camping* were a bit more developed in game, then my Sims would buy undeveloped property and leave it that way, packing in the tent, camp stove, et cetera for each trip.

I cleared out the pesky nectar racks that my sim's foster father had collected (he was a class-A packrat) and replaced them with half as many of the quality racks. Not only is it neater and less claustrophobic, I gained almost 100K by selling off the nectars worth less than 500 simoleans per bottle, even AFTER paying for the expensive racks.

One SPECIFIC NOTE-- consider any nectar you find in tombs as pretty much identical to the little money bags. I've never seen it increase in value more than a tiny amount, as though the game thinks a level -0 nectar maker created it. I tend to stick those in a rack in/near the dining area/kitchen just for quick "serve nectar" events, and imagine the storytelling/bragging rights that go with it. "Oh, this sweet, smoky little wine is the last of a trio I found in Egypt. Delightful, isn't it, and surprising how well its held up after three hundred eighty years, too!"

Very nice work ocgforme Hope you've considered updating the wiki with your findings

I've added a bit of information at various points in the nectar-making section of the sims wiki.

I've also started a new set of experiments, and hope to have those results very soon.

Thanks for these, just bought a vineyard for my sim. Good to know.

ocgforme: Thank you from me as well. This is very insightful! I dabbled at nectar making but never really paid any attention to things on the simolean side.

Random fact: highest valuing nectar is 9 life fruit / 1 pomegrante
It can go up to 653 base value;

The 9 life fruit + 1 pomegranate recipe doesn't work for everyone. I speculate that the difference is in CPU manufacturer. I have an AMD and the same recipe is only worth $493 on extended nectaration rather than $604. I have other recipes that are worth around $532 but I've yet to find a 2 fruit combo on my computer that is worth as much as the life fruit+ pomegranate recipe is for other people.

The one trick that consistently seems to work for me is to keep NOTES--pen-and-paper or a computer file, but SOMETHING that tells *me* what certain nectars are worth, rather than relying on lists which are beginning to float around the community. Now that the computer is back from the repair shop (don't ask, shudder!), I can and will continue the aging experiments.

But if you're *at all* interested in this, noting even ONE 'quick money' recipe which works for you pays off EVERY TIME your Sim makes a batch.

For example, I make the 5-apple, 5-renoit grape recipe almost exclusively while working up to skill 10, so I *always* name it 'apfelsaft'- German for apple juice, and a really NEITHER the most valuable, NOR will it age the best. Makes it easy to grab a couple of bottles and sell them when pressed for cash, WITHOUT a lot of pro/con analysis.

Why wait for my laptop to come back? Besides the hassle of installing TS3 on hubby's desktop machine, they have different processors, and there IS a variable based on your chipset. I haven't been able to test the extremity of it-- a 1/3 loss over the "expected" value that NJSim mentions above seems like a result of multiple factors, rather than just the cpu variable.