Wishes replace Wants that were in The Sims 2 and they pop up from time to time. There are important for a sim's development in the game and a sim can store up to four wishes to be working on at any time. He is also free to cancel them at any time, freeing up the slot to fill it with another wish that comes along and may be easier to obtain or more rewarding. Each wish is worth a number of LRPs and completing them gives a fulfilled moodlet, which can contribute to adding more LRPs. Wishes can depend upon a sim's personality. One sim's happiness may depend upon another sim being upset or humiliated. For example, inappropriate sims can get a wish to imply another sim's mother is a llama, something in itself which can make that second sim feel very humiliated.

Jonah wishes to do a strength workout. That will give him 250 LRPs. Bronwen wishes to visit the art gallery, which will give her 350 LRPs. When I buy her that guitar and she gets to play it, those two wishes will give her a total of 675 points. I could be a real meanie and not buy her it, though. After all, the player is God.

All of these LRPs and those from fulfilling a Lifetime Wish go towards Lifetime Happiness. More about that in a bit.

These are the little things in life that make a sim feel better or worse about themselves. They also last for a certain period of time unless something is done to directly change it. Also, like wishes, there are a great many of them and they go a long way to replacing the Environment Need bar that was last seen in The Sims 2.

If you sim has brushed his teeth on a morning, he has that minty fresh taste that lasts almost until lunchtime. If the shower has only been in cold water, the effects of that will last as well. If he takes a drive in a new car, that new car feeling will also influence the drive. If the TV reception is poor and spoils a sim's enjoyment of "CSI:SimCity", it will affect his mood as well. This simple but realistic replication of how human moods are has been incorporated very well.

Both Bronwen and Jonah have Fulfilled moodlets from having recently fulfilled wishes. Bronwen's one is worth 20 mood points (MPs) towards her mood and will run out in 3 hours unless she fulfills another wish. As she is already on her way to the Art Gallery, that will very likely be extended. Jonah's one is worth 30 MPs and will last for 6 hours, as he has just bought his lettuce. If a sim's mood meter becomes really high and goes into the upper bubble, this adds LRPs every second it is in there.

There are negative moodlets as well. For example, Jonah has been having a strength workout and is smelly. This applies indefinitely and can only be got rid of if he has a bath or shower.

There are moodlets that have no direct effect on moods. Instead, they serve as information and hints as how things can be changed. In some cases, they can prevent a sim from doing something. In other cases, they indicate an improvement in how something is done. In this case, Jonah is getting a higher quality workout because he is at the gym. This is shown by the Fit Atmosphere moodlet and will remain as long as he is in the gym.

Other examples serve as warnings to get the sim something to eat, get them to bed or get them to a toilet. Once the timer runs down on this moodlets, they are replaced by a negative one. Especially unpleasant if your sim has not been able to go where a sim needed to go.

As we have discovered already, a sim's happiness is an important thing and what makes one sim happy does not necessarily make another sim happy. LRPs are gained from fulfilling wishes and also from keeping in a really good mood. As long as he is in a really good mood, he can gain points without lifting a finger. He can even do it in his sleep.

Logically, acquiring these points means that there has to be a payoff. In a style not dissimilar to that of Aspiration Rewards objects from TS2, Lifetime Happiness has Lifetime Rewards that can be cashed in. These vary in price from 5,000 to 80,000 LRPs.

5,000 LRPs - Fast Metabolism, Speedy Cleaner, Discount Diner, Professional Slacker, Observant, Office Hero, Legendary Host, Complimentary Entertainment
10,000 LRPs - Bookshop Bargainer, Fertility Treatment, Opportunistic, Multi-Tasker, Steel Bladder, Never Dull, Change Lifetime Wish
15,000 LRPs - Attractive, Vacationer, Haggler, Fast Learner, Dirt Defiant
20,000 LRPs - Long Distance Friend, Mid Life Crisis, Super Green Thumb
25,000 LRPs - Hardly Hungry
30,000 LRPs - Body Sculptor, Acclaimed Author, Extra Creative
40,000 LRPs - Collection Helper
50,000 LRPs - Food Replicator
60,000 LRPs - Moodlet Manager
70,000 LRPs - Teleportation Pad

By moving the mouse over the appropriate title, it gives a brief description of what each one does. Therefore, that saves me write them all out here. I will just point some of them.

For those who want to eat out, either at the diner or bistro, Discount Diner (5,000) is a good one to have. It means all meals there are free. For those who are too busy to stop and eat, Hardly Hungry (25,000) is ideal.

For those sims who want to change the hand they have dealt in the game of life, Change Lifetime Wish (10,000) does exactly what it says on the tin, bringing up a choice of wishes appropriate to the sim's personality. For the sim who wants to go a step further and change that, there is the Mid Life Crisis (20,000) where all traits can be changed.

Everyone turns up to parties that the Legendary Host has. Some with Steel Bladder doesn't have to go where a man's gotta go ... as often, anyway. The Observant gets to know people twice as quickly and the Profesional Slacker can miss work without it affecting his performance.

Unlike Aspiration Rewards from TS2, most of the Lifetime Rewards only affect the person who has accumulated the points and go to the grave with them. However, if they have cashed their points in on a Teleportation Pad, Food Replicator or Body Sculptor, these are objects that help the whole family.