Monique’s Hacked Computer Guide
When I first started to use Monique's hacked computer, I looked for at least short tutorial on how this mod works, but unfortunately I didn't find anything. At first, I was puzzled why interest wasn't charged to the sim's accounts on some days, I thought that the mod didn't work for me. And I was afraid that my game is corrupted when I found “SS Member” and “Frat Member” under “Chat with” menu option. It took some time to figure everything out.
Therefore, I decided to write a guide for the same beginners as I was :D Well, and for those who still haven't fully explored features of this wonderful mod :)
Please feel free to write comments if you have something to add! I've been testing all the features of this mod for a while, including those that I had not touched before, and I could still miss something.
Credits:
Huge thanks to my good friend and patient editor @anibats for correcting my poor grammar and making some additions to the guide. Seriously, I don't know what I would do without you :D
And also many thanks to @belladovah for some useful info for the guide.
This is the quite big guide so I hid it under the cut.
WHAT IS IT?
Monique's hacked computer is a fairly well-known mod that offers the player a bunch of new opportunities. The most commonly used features are: the banking system, online shopping and skill studying. The computer is a separate object with its own GUID, which means that all standard in-game computers are unaffected by it. It has the usual options of a standard computer plus several new ones, and it comes in a wide variety of meshes, so you can choose the ones that you like the most.
Some mesh options:
INSTALLATION
The mod includes several files:
● The main file is responsible for the mesh of the computer and most of the new options. The number of these files = the number of various hacked computers in your game. Select the computers you like and drop them into the Downloads folder. Optionally, in a separate subfolder (call it for example “Monique Hacked Computers”) so that you can easily find them.
The mesh options include clones of two standard computers: the cheap Moneywell Computer and an expensive Little Sister WD15 computer. All of the rest are either conversions from The Sims 3/Sims 4 by Veranka and other creators, or custom computers by various creators.
> Here you can find the list of Monique’s Hacked computer variations and recolors I was able to find so far <
!!! Keep in mind that ‘Taka Laptop’ and ‘Edu-Osmosis Laptop’ are conflicting with each other. You can install only one of these laptops in your game:
● Controller files are responsible for calculating interest for deposits and loans, notifications about winning/losing a lottery, custom potions, sim pie-menu options etc. It is enough to have a single set of these files in a separate folder.
TROUBLESHOOTING
Chaavik (the modder who upgraded the mod for the Freetime and Apartments addons) in a thread on the insimenator forum mentions that you need to put each computer in its own separate subfolder with its own separate set of controllers. Not sure why. In this case the controllers are expected to conflict with each other in the HDCU utility. Based on my tests, no matter how many hacked computers are in the game, they all work with the single set of controllers.
If you're suffering from a jump bug (or pop up errors with testingcheatsenabled cheat on) when you hover over a sim, you need to remove buggy file "MQ_Computer_Global_Sims_Controller.package”. This file adds a pie-menu options for your sims and is not required for the computer itself to work. (source)
Now let's look directly at the functions of the mod.
BANK ONLINE
One of the most game changing features of Monique’s Computer is the banking system. Sims can keep money in their own accounts, transfer money to each other, take out loans etc. Let's view all the functions in detail:
● Deposit – Any sim, from child to elder, can start their own bank account. Those sims can also transmit money to a baby or toddler's account, so that they can start saving money from birth. A sim can deposit all the money from the family funds or part of it.
Remember that a sim will not be able to take out a loan as long as they have any money in their personal deposit account (as you can see on the picture above: there is no “Loan” option for Lazlo).
With help of these personal accounts, you can separate money for each sim in the family. For example, you can split the money for students in the dorm, so that their scholarships and grants do not mix together.
Once the sim’s account accumulates $2000 or more, they begin to gain interest.
Interest is credited to the account at 6 a.m. 3 times a week: on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Interest rates are about 5%.
$100, when the account has at least $2000
$200 when the account has at least $4000
$300, when the account has at least $5000
$400, when the account has at least $7000
$500, when the account has at least $9000
$600, when the account has at least $10,000
$1200, when the account has at least $20,000
$6000, when the account has at least $100,000
$12,000, when the account has at least $200,000, etc.
Once the sim dies, the money is still saved in their account, however, the deceased sim will of course not be able to withdraw it. A day or two before the death of an old sim, all their savings should be withdrawn from the account in advance and distributed among the heirs (or donated to charity). The problem arises if a sim dies suddenly. Your only option then is to remember how much money was in their bank account, and add that amount to the family funds with a cheat.
Please also note that if you for any reason remove the mod from your Downloads folder, and then start up your game without it, the bank accounts of all sims will be reset to zero.
For that reason, I keep track of the accounts in the spreadsheet, so that in case of any problems I know how much money each sim had. You can do something similar (or not, it’s up to you).
● Check Money – Using this option, you can check how much money the active sim has on their account (or how much more you need to pay back on a loan). Here you can also check how much money another sim has on their account, or check the amount in the family funds of any playable household (including those in the family bin).
● Withdraw – Here you can withdraw the required amount from your sim's bank account (or withdraw everything at once). A sim that interacts with a computer can only withdraw money from their own account.
● Transmit Bank Accounts – A sim who has some money in their Bank Deposit Account can transfer all of that money, or part of it, to the Bank Deposit Account of any sim they know.
● Transmit Money – This option gives you the opportunity to transfer money from the current family funds to:
The Bank Deposit Account of any sim that your active sim knows (Transmit Money…/To Bank Accounts…).
The family funds of any playable household (Transmit Money…/To Household Funds…/Playable…) OR to the funds of sims/families located in Family Bin (Transmit Money…/To Household Funds…/Sim Bin…).
Additionally, you might see social class townies in “Sim Bin” menu option. Seeing as these townies were shipped with Apartment Life, it is possible that this happens because the mod hasn’t been fully updated for that Expansion Pack. The below image shows the Address Book of my test Strangetown where only Ajay Loner is located as an active family in the family bin. Here you can see a total of 21 randomly generated social class townies in addition to him:
● Donate Money – The sim gives the selected amount of money to (supposedly) charity, after which that money disappears. This can be useful if your sims have a ton of money and you are unsure of what to do with it. You can also use this option if you are using tax rules in your game.
● Auto Child Banking ON/OFF – A child will autonomously deposit $10,000 or $20,000 (depending on the money available in the family funds) if their Bank Deposit Account is empty. It is implied that this is money for college.
● Loan – The opportunity to take out a loan at interest. If a sim takes out a loan, they will no longer be able to save money in their personal bank account until they pay off the debt.
If a sim has taken out a loan, their bank account will show a negative amount of money, which is the remaining sum to be paid back on the loan.Loan interest is calculated at 6 a.m. 3 times a week: on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
On days when the mail carrier brings bills, part of the loan debt will be added to the bills. Thus, your sim will have to pay at least part of the loan from time to time, and not accumulate it indefinitely (or until its amount exceeds the number perceived by the game code).
● Pay Loan – This option let you pay off the loan or part of it if a sim still has a debt to the bank.
● Pay Bills – This is quite a useful feature, especially when you are too lazy to send a sim to the mailbox, and then look for bills scattered throughout the lot. All bills are paid at once if there are several of them. A sim will freeze for a while after paying the bills. Do not be afraid - at this moment the game searches for all the bills available on the lot and deletes them.
Those who often forget to pay bills in time will be pleased with such periodic notifications:
Also, the option to pay bills online will be available in the sim pie menu (by clicking on the active sim).
Banking System Tweaks
And finally, some information that may be useful for those who avoid using Monique’s Computer due to interest rates. The original rates are ~5% and can be quite high for some players, especially in the case of loans. Many people (including me) choose to use the Loan Jar mod because of it.
But Monique’s computer banking interest rates can be easily tweaked if you are familiar with the SimPE program. You can tweak the mod yourself with the help of this guide. In addition to interest rates, this guide also explains how to fix the bug that causes inactive sims to gain interest on community lots.
For those who are not comfortable with SimPE, there is already tweaked version of the Monique’s Computer mod by @thedudewiththedragontattoos. It contains 3 flavors:
Community lot fix only without interest rate changes.
Community lot fix + interest changed to 3%
Community lot fix + interest changed to 1%
SHOP ONLINE
The second most interesting function of Monique's Hacked Computer for many players is Shop Online. You can buy almost everything that is sold on community lots, vacation lots, from special NPCs, or that is generally not available for purchase and is obtained in a special way.
● Buy Clothing – Without mods, you can purchase clothing only on community lots through special racks. The computer lets you buy it from home, immediately making the purchased items available in the family’s wardrobes.
● Electronic Gadgets – Cell Phone, MP3 Player, and Handheld Game. Without mods, you can only purchase these items on community lots through a special kiosk.
● Buy Produce – Everything that is grown in the garden: tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, strawberries, peppers, eggplants, apples, oranges, and lemons.
● Buy Souvenir – Objects that can normally only be purchased at the respective vacation hoods:
Island - 2 different souvenirs, $75 each (actually, $100*)
Far East - 2 different souvenirs, $75 each (actually, $100*)
Mountain - 2 different souvenirs, $75 each (actually, $100*)
Seashells - 4 different seashells, $430 each (actually, $455*)
The dialog box shows the standard in-game price for these items, but you will actually be charged the price in brackets. I’m assuming it might be a shipping fee since you’re buying stuff from distant countries.
Voodoo doll - $1000 apiece.
ShowMeOff Rack Quick Reference - a reference of how souvenirs displayed on a special rack affecting nearby sims.
● Gypsy – Potions normally purchased from a Matchmaker or a Garden Club member. Let's look in detail, since it is possible to buy several custom potions through Monique's Computer.
Standard potions:
Cologne
Love potion #8.5
Plantophic-C – cures sim from plantsim state
Vamprocillin-D – cures sim from vampire state
Lycanthropic-B – cures sim from werewolf state
New potions:
Plantophic-X – makes sim a plantsim
Lycanthropic-X – makes sim a werewolf
Vamprocillin-X – makes sim a vampire
Also, the new setting for plantsims was added. Now, if you click on the active plantsim, you will see the "Make Skin" option in the pie menu, where you can change their skin between normal or plantsim. This can be helpful if you want to play a plantsim who looks like a normal sim.
● Buy Map – Hidden vacation lots’ maps which usually have to be dug out of the ground.
● Buy Fish – Lets you buy fish that can only be caught in a pond without mods.
● Lottery Tickets – You can buy up to 20 tickets at a time, but this is not exactly the number of tickets, but the number of draw days. Thus, 1 sim can only spend 1 ticket of each lottery per day.
There are 4 different lotteries, and their names are real-life lotteries in the US. Drawing time is 7 p.m. on various days.
Win 4 – tickets are drawn on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Estimating cash up to $1000.
Numbers – tickets are drawn on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Estimating cash up to $5000.
Take 5 – tickets are drawn on Wednesdays and Fridays. Estimating cash up to $50,000.
Match 6 – tickets are drawn on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Estimating cash up to $100,000
The winning odds are rather low (a little higher for Numbers in my experience). I have 1-2 sims winning for the one day in my test family of 20+ sims, quite often none of them won.
*Fun fact: in my test Strangetown, Nervous won almost every day. Lucky son of a bitch.
● Buy Collar – Purchasing collars for pets. Normally available only on community lots with a special object.
● Buy Video Games – Unfortunately, only video games from the basegame are available for purchase: Simcity Rush Hour and The Sims Bustin Out.
● Buy Pets – Buying pets just like through the pet store counter. The same dialog opens where you can select the type, size, breed, temper, etc.
● Buy Jewelry – Accessories from the "jewelry" tab, which are usually sold through a special display on vacation lots.
● Robots – You can purchase any robot that can be built on a special crafting station.
● Change Outfit - Another way to dress up any sim on the lot without using dressers or wardrobes.
WRITE ARTICLES
In addition to novels, your sims can now write articles for the newspaper. A sim will receive some money for the written article, something like $100-500. Most likely, as in the case of the novel, the amount depends on the skill of creativity and hidden writing skill. The article's status is periodically displayed via a notification in the corner of the screen.
● Write…/Article – The sim begins to write an article of a random topic. There are 7 in total: one for each skill. The topic can be manually selected through the option “work at home”. Depending on the chosen topic, one of the skills is studied.
● Write…/Ask Visitor to Write… – Lets you make any sim from a non-active family write an article.
● Auto WA… – The sim will sit down to write articles autonomously in accordance with the specified settings (night or day).
A couple of new options are now available compared to a standard computer.
● Send & Check – The sim sends a letter to the selected friend as usual, then immediately checks the mail for a reply.
● Invitation eCard – The opportunity to invite multiple sims to visit at once without necessity to throw a party. Your sim will send out invitations by email. All invitees will agree to come regardless of the level of relationship with the inviter.
EXPRESS DELIVERY
Order food without having to wait for a delivery person. The order will magically appear in the hands of the sim immediately after payment.
● Pizza – The pizza delivery person (if they already generated in your hood) will specify if you want to make an order and will name the cost. If you press “yes”, the sim will immediately get up from the chair and a box of pizza will materialize in their hands.
● Chinese Food – Works the same way as the pizza order.
● Groceries – As always when ordering food at home, a dialog box will appear where you need to select the number of food units. Shipping (or teleportation costs) is also paid. After the payment, the sim will get up from the chair, and a basket with groceries will appear in their hands, which they will immediately carry to the kitchen.
STUDY BADGES
Sims can study any of the game's available talent badges using the Hacked Computer:
Toy Making
Flower Arranging
Robotery
Sells
Cash Register
Stocking
Cosmetology
Gardening
Fishing
Pottery
Sewing
Ask Employee to Study – If you have a business and employees, you can send an employee for training using a computer. No more newbies stumbling over the cash register for hours! Now, before working at the cash register, your employee will be able to learn how to do it with online studies.
CAREER
● Select Job – This option allows you to employ a sim in any career available in the game, including custom careers.
● Unlock Career Rewards – This option speaks for itself: unlocks all career rewards.
● Quit Job – Quit current job.
● Retire – This option is available even to teens and adults and gives a corresponding memory. The retiree's status will not be displayed in the career tab for teenagers/adults, but the pension will be paid anyway. For older sims the option works as normal.
WORK AT HOME
The option is similar to "Write…/Article", but you can select the subject of the article and immediately see what skill will be studied when writing.
Also, if there is at least one Monique’s Computer on the lot, an additional option "Work at home" will appear in the pie menu of each sim from a teen and older through which they can be assigned to write an article.
Stories (Creativity)
News & Editorial (Logic)
Foods & Beverages (Cooking)
Fashions & Styles (Charisma)
Sports (Body)
Tech & Gizmo (Mechanical)
Home Guides & Tips (Cleaning)
BUSINESS
● OFB – Write Article is ON/OFF – An option similar to "Writing Articles". Only one sim can be assigned to write an article autonomously.
Assign to Household – Make someone from an active family write an article.
Assign to Employee – Make one of the employees write an article.
Unassign (SimName) – The assigned sim will stop writing the article.
● Interval Time - Allows you to adjust the interval between article writing sessions.
SCHOOL
● Do Homework – The student sits down at the computer, clicks the keyboard for a few seconds, then all of their homework is burned with an electric flash. The sim is believed to have done their homework. This could be useful for those who are tired of children spending too much time doing homework (or hiding it in the snow in the far corner of the lot so that the player cannot find it).
* The want “Do Homework” will not be fulfilled. “Help with Homework” will be but without a corresponding memory.
● Private School Fees ON/OFF – This option is disabled by default. If enabled, a fee will be charged for each student enrolled in a private school. The payment takes place at 12 p.m. for teenagers and at 2 p.m for children when they are at school (a notification will appear in the corner of the screen). The amount varies from approximately $100 to $300 per student and depends on their current grade. If the family does not have the money to pay for the next day, the student is temporarily transferred to a regular school. As soon as the family has money to pay, the student is transferred to a private school again.
Please note that if the option is enabled, children studying in a regular school will be automatically transferred to a private school (even if they have a D grade). They will also get a corresponding memory.
You can use simler90’s Private School Mod instead of this feature, if you don’t like how it works on Monique’s Computer. Simler90’s mod charges $100 at 6 a.m. on school days.
● Study Skills – Lets the sims study any of the 7 skills (cooking, mechanical etc.)
● Study Skills ON/OFF – The possibility to automate the skills learning for any sim in the family. The sim will sit down at the computer and study the assigned skill for a certain period of time, then take a break and sit down to study again. Time intervals can be adjusted. Only one sim can be assigned to study autonomously.
● Study Time – Allows you to adjust how many hours the sim will study the skill if you gave them the task to do it automatically.
● Interval Time – Allows you to adjust the interval between automated skill studying sessions.
COLLEGE
● Auto Move In to College is ON/OFF – When a teenager has 1 day left before growing up and if they have the want to "Go to College", they will automatically leave for college. This option is disabled by default.
CHAT WITH
● SS Member – New online chat option for teens and students. A window opens where you can see all members of the secret society (including previous members who have already graduated from the university). As a teenager, you can become friends with them in advance, so that after entering the university, you can immediately join them. Or, if you are too lazy to look for them with your student, you can communicate with them through the forum.
● Frat Member – Similar to a secret society. A teenager will be able to make friends in advance with members of the commune they interested in, then immediately join them after moving to college.
And that’s all, folks! I hope you enjoyed this guide and found answers to some of your questions about this mod. Take care and have a nice day!
