Archives for category: Pimento Grove

With business as usual in Springfield (although that still inlcludes some extended St. Patrick’s Day business), here’s part 2 of the list of animations that tell you when a character is inside a building.

While you can tap on a building to see who’s inside, the animations are an extra bit of fun. Part 2 covers all the regular buildings currently available from Jake’s Unisex Hair Palace on. You can see Part 1, covering all the buildings up to Moe’s tavern here. Premium buildings will be covered in a separate post.

Jake’s Unisex Hair Palace - there doesn’t appear to be any animation
Springfield Downs - the dog-racing animation runs when the dogs are actually racing and when characters are visiting the track
The Gilded Truffle - the windows on the second floor light up (flickering candles and people having a good time)
King Toot’s - no animations
Police Station - flashing red and white lights
Skip’s Diner - no animations
Luigi’s – smoke rises from the pipes on the roof
Springfield Penitentiary - searchlights
Retirement Castle - no animations
Town Hall - shadows moving in the windows
Muntz House - a raccoon runs onto the roof and chews some electrical wires
Krabappel Apartment - a window on the second floor opens and cigarette smoke is blown out
Channel 6 – the satellite dish rotates (when either someone is doing a task or a program is being made)
Springfield Post Office - the front doors open and mail blows out
Hibbert Family Practice - shadows move in the windows
Springfield General Hospital - the lights on the helipad on the roof flash
Burns Manor - a vulture flies out of the dome and sits on the roof
Pimento Grove - sadly unused, so no animation
Wiggum House - flashing red and blue police lights
El Chemistri - it doesn’t get any use after the level 26 quest, but I’m sure there was animation…

Part 3, focusing on the premium buildings, is still to come.

Tags animations, burns manor, Channel 6, El Chemistri, Gilded Truffle, Hibbert Family Practice, Jake's Unisex Hair Palace, King Toot's, Krabappel's Apartment, Luigi's, Muntz House, pimento grove, Police Station, Retirement Castle, Skip's Diner, Springfield Downs, Springfield General Hospital, Springfield Penitentiary, Springfield Post Office, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Town Hall, Wiggum House

Categories Burns Manor, Channel 6, El Chemistri, Gameplay, Hibbert Family Practice, Jake's Unisex Hair Palace, King Toot's, Krabappel's Apartment, Luigi's, Pimento Grove, Police Station, Post Office, Retirement Village, Springfield Downs, Springfield General Hospital, Springfield Penitentiary, The Gilded Truffle, Town Hall, Wiggum House

Do I have to build the Post Office and Pimento Grove?

By TSTO Tips

March 18, 2013 //

Well… no, you don’t.

The Post Office and Pimento Grove are exceptions to the rule for The Simpsons Tapped Out. All your other buildings come as part of a quest, and have to be unlocked in order. Sure, you can build additional houses, Kwik-E-Marts, Krusty Burgers, and Gulp ‘n’ Blows when you get to the right XP level, but the first one of each of these has to be unlocked at the right time.

The Post Office and Pimento Grove work differently. They’re not part of a quest and you unlock these simply by hitting level 23 and level 25 respectively. And if you choose not to build them, your progress won’t be affected. While both buildings earn you additional rent, the Post Office doesn’t come into use as part of the game until you get to level 25 and unlock Smithers (where it’s needed for his quest), and Pimento Grove isn’t used by any of your characters at all.

So, if you’re trying to save your money for the buildings that you actually need to unlock to keep moving ahead with your game, you really won’t need the Post Office until you unlock Smithers – and, asd to say, you really don’t need Pimento Grove at all. They’re nice to have though – and they do help your conformity bonus.

Tags level 23, level 25, pimento grove, Post Office, smithers, The Simpsons Tapped Out

Categories Gameplay, Level 23, Level 25, Pimento Grove, Post Office, Smithers

Homer can’t go to Phineas Q. Butterfat’s anymore!

By TSTO Tips

March 5, 2013 //

As well as all of the limited time Valentine’s items (and Shauna) disappearing on February 28, something else went as well. And that was the 8-hour task that Homer, Lisa, and Milhouse all had to go and eat ice cream at Phineas Q. Butterfat’s.

Why did it go? It’s possibly part of leveling the playing field between the Apple and Android versions. After all, Android players didn’t get to take part in the Valentine’s version of the game, and didn’t get the opportunity to buy the buildings. The Valentines buildings also never became premium items, so were possibly never created to operate within the game as premium buildings do – with characters’ tasks associated with them remaining completely hidden until you purchase the building.

Whatever the reason, I’m sad to see the task go. And that’s because it means that Phineas Q. Butterfat’s joins the list of buildings that no characters interact with – a list that also includes Howard’s Flowers and Sir Putt-a-lot’s as well as Pimento Grove and, post-”This Little Wiggy”, El Chemistri.

Tags Android, Apple, El Chemistri, Homer, Howard's Flowers, Lisa, Milhouse, Phineas Q. Butterfat's, pimento grove, Sir Putt-a-lot's, tasks, The Simpsons Tapped Out, update, Valentine's Day

Categories Android, Apple, El Chemistri, Gameplay, Homer, Howard's Flowers, Lisa, Milhouse, Pimento Grove, Sir Putt-a-lot's, Tasks, Update, Valentine's Day

How can I improve my gluttony rating?

By TSTO Tips

February 19, 2013 //

The gluttony rating is one of the elements of your conformity bonus – and one of the easiest to get to 5 stars (you can open up your Conform-o-meter and check where you are by tapping on the stars at the bottom left of your main screen). You keep your gluttony rating high, and help to maximize your conformity bonus, by having enough restaurants for your town size. In fact anything that has a menu over it when you go to collect cash helps the gluttony rating.

Keeping it at the maximum was made a little easier by the Valentine’s Day update and the release of Phineas Q. Butterfat’s, and helped again with the release of El Chemistri at level 26. At higher levels you have the benefit of the full restaurant range – both Butterfat’s and El Chemistri, but also Gulp ‘n’ Blow, Krusty Burger, the Java Server, the Gilded Truffle, Luigi’s and Pimento Grove.

If you’re at a lower level or have a very large town, your choices for additional places to eat and keep your gluttony rating high are limited – but that’s why you can buy additional Krusty Burgers or Gulp ‘n’ Blows from level 12 on. So, how many of these do you need? Well, that depends on your land area – I have 2 Krusty Burgers and 3 Gulp ‘n’ Blows in addition to the other restaurants, and my gluttony rating stays high even when I buy more land. And that helps me keep the 5% bonus cash and XP I’ve grown to love.

Tags Buildings, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, El Chemistri, Gluttony rating, Gulp 'n' Blow, Krusty Burger, Land expansion, Luigi's, Phineas Q. Butterfat's, pimento grove, the gilded truffle, The Java Server, The Simpsons Tapped Out

Categories El Chemistri, Gameplay, Gluttony rating, Gulp 'n' Blow, Krusty Burger, Land expansion, Luigi's, Phineas Q. Butterfat's, Pimento Grove, The Gilded Truffle, The Java Server

Have the prices of any of the buildings changed now that the level 26 update is here?

By TSTO Tips

February 15, 2013 //

Every time a new level is released, the prices of some or all of the more expensive buildings at previous levels are adjusted downwards. With this update, there are also some new, lower prices for everything from the Post Office up to Burns Manor and Pimento Grove.

So, here are the latest prices for all the buildings from Bart’s Treehouse onwards:

Bart’s Treehouse – 25,000
Springfield Library – 20,500
Android’s Dungeon – 30,000
Orange House – 24,500
First Church of Springfield – 32,500
Java Server – 26,500
Moe’s – 32,000
Jake’s Unisex Hair Palace – 29,000
Springfield Downs – 34,500
Gilded Truffle – 31,000
King Toot’s – 37,000
Police Station – 40,500
Skip’s Diner – 35,500
Luigi’s – 36,000
Springfield Penitentiary – 46,000
Retirement Castle – 37,500
Town Hall – 63,000
Muntz House – 60,500
Krabappel Apartments – 70,000 (thanks to graciesauermma for the update)
Post Office – 96,500
Channel 6 – 74,000
Hibbert Family Practice – 85,500 (thanks to ThumperKT for the update)
Springfield General Hospital – 104,500
Burns Manor – 151,000
Pimento Grove – 112,500
Wiggum House – 175,000
El Chemistri – 214,000 (and 36 hours to build)

Escalator to Nowhere – 1,000,000 (and 3 days to build)
Popsicle Stick Skyscraper – 2,000,000 (and 3 days to build)

With the exception of Bart’s Tree House, which builds right away, every other building on the list takes 24 hours to build (except where I’ve indicated something different).

Tags Buildings, burns manor, Channel 6, El Chemistri, level 26, pimento grove, Prices, Springfield General Hospital, The Simpsons Tapped Out, update, Wiggum House

Categories Buildings, Burns Manor, Channel 6, El Chemistri, Escalator to Nowhere, Hibbert Family Practice, Level 26, Pimento Grove, Popsicle Stick Skyscraper, Post Office, Prices, Springfield General Hospital, Updates, Wiggum House

What’s Pimento Grove and which characters carry out tasks there?

By TSTO Tips

February 9, 2013 //

First – what’s Pimento Grove? Well, it’s a fine dining restaurant in downtown Springfield owned by Fat Tony. It first appeared in the episode “A Fish Called Selma” and is apparently the restaurant of choice for many local and visiting celebrities, whose pictures line the walls.

In the game, it arrived as part of the level 25 update. What’s special about it from a game perspective is that you can unlock it as soon as you hit level 25 on XP. You don’t need to first unlock the buildings that come before it in the list – all you need to do is save up enough money. Currently, it costs $138,000 but the price is expected to come down to $112,00 when the level 26 update is eventually released.

Which makes it a shame that the answer to the second question is “none”. None of your characters, including the limited-time Fat Tony, ever go and eat there. So, Pimento Grove just sits there just making money and XP ($350 and 30XP every 24 hours). While this is not really a bad thing, it just seems a bit of a waste.

However, it could be that EA have plans for Pimento Grove in future updates. After all, the post office sat unused for a long time until Smithers arrived with his Malibu Stacy newsletter.

Tags Buildings, EA, Fat Tony, level 25, level 26, pimento grove, smithers, The Simpsons Tapped Out, XP

Categories EA, Fat Tony, Level 25, Level 26, Pimento Grove, Smithers, XP

I want to save up – how much are the buildings and how long do they take to build?

By TSTO Tips

February 1, 2013 //

The second question is easy. With the exception of Bart’s Tree House, which builds right away, everything after the Van Houten House takes 24 hours to build.

So, how much are the buildings? This is a little tricky, as prices of buildings at earlier levels have been known to drop when a new level comes out. That means that the prices below are those that apply at the date of this post – but I’ll update as soon as I know of any changes (so let me know!).

So, here are the prices from Bart’s Treehouse onwards:

Bart’s Treehouse – 25,000
Springfield Library – 20,500
Android’s Dungeon – 30,000
Orange House – 24,500
First Church of Springfield – 32,500
Java Server – 26,500
Moe’s – 32,500
Jake’s Unisex Hair Palace – 29,000
Springfield Downs – 34,500
Gilded Truffle – 31,000
King Toot’s – 37,000
Police Station – 40,500
Skip’s Diner – 35,500
Luigi’s – 36,000
Springfield Penitentiary – 46,000 (thanks to HowToHayden and w1253979 for the update)
Retirement Castle – 37,500 (thanks to graciesauermma for the update)
Town Hall – 63,000
Muntz House – 60,500
Krabappel Apartments – 86,000
Post Office – 110,500
Channel 6 – 74,000
Hibbert Family Practice – 107,000
Springfield General Hospital – 138,000
Burns Manor – 226,000
Pimento Grove – 168,000

Tags Buildings, burns manor, pimento grove, Prices, The Simpsons Tapped Out

Categories Buildings, Burns Manor, Gameplay, Levels, Pimento Grove, Prices

The January update didn’t work – I got Pimento Grove but the 4 building before it are still locked!

By TSTO Tips

January 25, 2013 //

There’s a very simple reason for this.

In the January 2013 level 25 update, you got two buildings – Pimento Grove and Burns Manor. Pimento Grove unlocks as soon as you get to Level 25 on XP. There are no quests associated with it so you can build it right away.

To get Burns Manor, though, you need to have completed all the quests and built all the buildings before it. And even if your XP says you’re at level 25, you may not be for gameplay. This is because if you play a lot, visit a lot of friends, or house farm, your XP build up faster than your game level.

So, relax. There’s no bug or glitch even though you’re at Level 25. You’ll unlock everything else soon.

Tags Buildings, burns manor, level 25, pimento grove, The Simpsons Tapped Out, update

Categories Buildings, Burns Manor, Level 25, Levels, Maxed out, Pimento Grove, Updates

I’m at level 25 – how do I get Smithers?

By TSTO Tips

January 22, 2013 //

You may not really be at level 25 if you haven’t got him already. If you were really at level 25, you would have been asked to build Burns Manor just after that update.

So what does that mean? Well, if you play regularly, visit a lot of friends, and/or house-farm, your XP can build up much faster than the game moves you through all the quests. The best way to see this is to look at the next shaded building you have to build and click on the blue question mark – then deduct one level and that’s probably your true level.

Level 25 came with two free buildings and one free character – Pimento Grove, Burns Manor and Smithers. Pimento Grove is easy – you just have to save up enough cash to build it, and it’s tied to your XP level rather than your game level. Unfortunately, there are no tasks or characters associated with it.

Burns Manor is a bit harder, and it will only unshade when you have built everything that comes before it on your building list. If you are stuck in a long sequence of tasks (such as the ones that come immediately after building Krabappel’s apartment), this can feel like a long way off. On the bright side, though, you have something to do until the next update!

Once you’ve built Burns Manor, you get Smithers, and you also another new sequence of tasks that make up his storyline.