Archives for category: Conform-o-meter

Yesterday I posted on the Squidport buildings and what part of the Conform-o-meter they contribute to. The follow-up question, of course, is, “What about the decorations?” So, without further ado, here’s the answer:

Decoration	Price	XP on completion	Rating	Points
Squidport Entrance	$4500	500	Vanity	10
Fence	$270	27	Vanity	80
Bench	$325	35	Vanity	90
Plant	$385	40	Tree-hugging	100
Boardwalk Lamp Post	$450	45	Vanity	110
Lemonade Stand	$760	75	Gluttony	10
Coffee Kart	$850	90	Gluttony	10
Fried Dough Stand	$945	90	Gluttony	10
Popcorn Stand	10 donuts	10	Gluttony	10
Hot Dog Stand	20 donuts	20	Gluttony	10
Boardwalk Fountain	75 donuts	75	Vanity	1500
Basketball Game	40 donuts	40	Vanity	100

A couple of notes:
1. Yes, I know some of the Vanity numbers look strange, but that’s what they are.
2. While the Houseboat was included in the decorations menu, probably due to the fact that you could place it in the same way you could place a decoration and not wait 24 or 36 hours for it to build, I included it in yesterday’s building list.
3. If you’re not sure what any of these numbers mean, take a look at the Conform-o-meter page (you can find it in the top menu).

And, to leave you with, here’s a screenshot of Marge enjoying some of those new decorations:

Tags Basketball Game, boardwalk, Boardwalk decorations, Boardwalk Fountain, Coffee Kart, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Fried Dough Stand, Gluttony rating, Hot Dog Stand, Lemonade Stand, Popcorn Stand, premium decorations, Squidport, Squidport Entrance, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating

Categories Boardwalk Decorations, Conform-o-meter, Gameplay, Gluttony rating, Premium decorations, Squidport, Tree-hugging rating, Update, Vanity rating

How much do the new buildings cost – and what part of the Conform-o-meter do they help?

By TSTO Tips

June 17, 2013 //

The points you need to get the 5-star rating on your Conform-o-meter changed dramatically with level 30, making a 5-star town and a 5% bonus an impossible goal for many players. Fortunately, the buildings and decorations that came with the Squidport update have fixed that, as they give you lots of new ways to get to 5 stars. Before reading on, though, if you haven’t already taken a look at last month’s posts on the Conform-o-meter and how it works, jump over to the Conform-o-meter page, where all the information you need is gathered in one place.

So here’s the list of all the new buildings (and, ignoring the fact that it was labeled as a decoration, that includes the Houseboat), their prices, rewards, and contributions:

Building	Price	XP on completion	$/XP/time	Rating	Points
Houseboat	$15,000	1500	$135/15XP/ 8 hrs	Indolence	10
Itchy & Scratchy Store	$32,000	3000	$90/10XP/ 4 hrs	Consumerism	10
Malaria Zone	$47,500	5000	$135/15XP/ 8 hrs	Consumerism	10
Just Rainsticks	$52,000	5000	$300/30XP/ 24 hrs	Consumerism	10
Frying Dutchman	$43,000	4000	$225/22XP/ 16 hrs	Gluttony	10
Turban Outfitters	$61,500	6000	$400/40XP/ 36 hrs	Consumerism	10
My First Tattoo	$54,500	5000	$200/20XP/ 12 hrs	Consumerism	10
Much Ado About Muffins	$48,500	5000	$135/15XP/ 8 hrs	Gluttony	10
Crypto Barn	$81,000	7500	$300/30XP/ 24 hrs	Consumerism	10
Ferris Wheel	120 donuts	120	$260/26XP/ 10 hrs	Consumerism	10
Planet Hype	150 donuts	150	$300/30XP/ 12 hrs	Gluttony	10

As a side note, the files also contain references to two buildings that were either planned and dropped, or are planned for the future – Moe’s Brewing Co. and It’s a Wonderful Knife. There’s no more information on these, although they’re referred to a couple of times. Certainly, both would be great to see (especially Moe’s).

Tags boardwalk, Boardwalk buildings, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Consumerism rating, Crypto Barn, Ferris Wheel, Gluttony rating, Houseboat, Indolence rating, Itchy and Scratchy Store, Just Rainsticks, Malaria Zone, Much Ado About Muffins, My First Tattoo, Planet Hype, Squidport, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Turban Outfitters, update

Categories Boardwalk Buildings, Conform-o-meter, Consumerism rating, Ferris Wheel, Frying Dutchman, Gameplay, Gluttony rating, Houseboat, Indolence rating, Just Rainsticks, Malaria Zone, Squidport, Update

Should I spend my donuts on the Ferris Wheel (updated)?

By TSTO Tips

June 16, 2013 //

The Ferris Wheel arrived with the Squidport update, and can only be placed on the Boardwalk. It costs 120 donuts and unlocks once you’ve completed Squidport Pt. 6. But is it a good use of your donuts? The short answer is that it’s probably the best buy of all the new premium items. Read on to see why…

Here’s some reasons why you should spend your donuts on this, rather than on rushing your Boardwalk section production:

1. It’s only a 6-second build, giving a bit more life to your Boardwalk quite quickly.
2. It unlocks a new 10-hour task for Mr. Burns (although the task only unlocks if Smithers is free at the same time – he needs to come too), making it the only Boardwalk item that any of your characters interacts with on an ongoing basis. The task earns $525 and 135XP, more than his 12 hour task and almost as much as his 24-hour task.
3. While there’s no task for Smithers, and he’s just along for the ride, he earns the same amount as Burns – so you earn a total of $1050 and 270XP for this 10-hour task.
4. It earns you $260 and 26XP every 10 hours – not a large amount, but every little bit helps in building up the cash you need to expand your Squidport.
5. The extra earnings, and the extra task make it a far better buy than other similarly priced premium items (Mount Carlmore, I’m looking at you).
6. It contributes 10 points to your Consumerism rating.
7. It’s animated and turns all the time, whether Burns and Smithers are using it or not.
8. It helps Mr. Burns get in touch with his inner child… and helps Smithers get in touch with Mr. Burns.

And here are a few reasons why you may want to look elsewhere, or hold off buying it for a while:

1. It takes up squares, and if you’re in the early stages of building your Boardwalk, space is tight.
2. Like all the Squidport buildings, it can only be placed on the Boardwalk, limiting your placement options.
3. You can’t actually see Burns and Smithers use it. It acts like a building and they just disappear inside.
4. Apart from Burns and Smithers, no other characters use it.

Just for completeness, here’s what happens when you build the Ferris Wheel:

Smithers: Would you like to take a ride, sir?
Burns: I’d like to, but I lack sufficient body weight to keep from being gusted away at the top. Perhaps if you rode with me and held me.
Smithers: I… I… I… *thump
When Smithers regains consciousness (don’t worry, it’s right away), you can send them to the Squidport for a ride.

So, if you buy premium items, this is one that I’d recommend. But it would be really nice if the other buildings also unlocked regular tasks as well, if only to keep Squidport busy.

Tags boardwalk, burns, Ferris Wheel, premium buildings, smithers, Squidport, Squidport Pt. 6, The Simpsons Tapped Out, update

Categories Burns, Consumerism rating, Ferris Wheel, Gameplay, Smithers, Squidport, Update

Do the Boardwalk decorations actually help my game at all?

By Mike Shuman

June 16, 2013 //

I’m hoping I’m not stepping on Mr.T’s toes at all with this post but I currently have the time to do it and get it out for all of you. With the update a number of decorations came with it and the big question people are asking is “Are they worth buying?”

My personal answer to that is YES but with the costs of just getting the Boardwalk built maybe right now isn’t the best time. As T stated in an earlier post the performers are basically just costs to you. Yes they are really quite cool looking and they add to the Boardwalk/Seaside atmosphere but other than that they do nothing. The decorations however do improve various ratings to your game. Once you’ve reached the point to unlock them they will always be available.

Here is a breakdown of which one does what:

To acquire these first set of decorations you must be at Level 15 in the game and complete the Squidport Pt. 5 quest.

First and foremost the Squidport Entrance is vital if you plan to even start the entire quest. And buying it you can earn money and XP by setting jobs.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags Conform-o-meter, costs, Decorations, Squidport

Categories Boardwalk, Bonus, Cash, Conform-o-meter, Decorations, Design, Gluttony rating, Land expansion, Tree-hugging rating, Update, Vanity rating, XP

What’s the difference between the conformity bonus and the premium decoration bonus?

By TSTO Tips

June 2, 2013 //

The recent posts on the Conform-o-meter have resuolted in lots of questions about the bonuses that apply to the game and how they work.

There are two kinds of bonus at plays in the game: the conformity bonus and the premium decoration bonus.

The conformity bonus

This is the bonus game that everyone can play – you can get up to a 5% bonus on cash and XP earned from all tasks and jobs by maximizing your Conform-o-meter under 8 categories. You can see what yours currently is by tapping on the stars at the bottom right of the screen.

To see how to get it to the maximum 5%, you can take a look at the collected Conform-o-meter posts here. At the time of writing, the level 30 update has made achieving 5% impossible at most levels without huge numbers of duplicate buildings. But, I wouldn’t worry too much – the Squidport release scheduled for sometime this month should put things right again. My advice would be to save your money for that, rather than blowing it all on Krusty Burgers, Gulp ‘n’ Blows and Kwik-E-Marts just to get your ratings up.

The premium decoration bonus

This works separately from the conformity bonus, and there’s no maximum. You can buy as many premium items as you like and they all contribute to extra cash and XP earnings from jobs and rent (see here). Some give you a better return than others (see here), but they all add up. However, it’s important to remember that they only give you the bonus if they’re on display in your town. If they’re in your inventory, they contribute nothing at all.

At the moment, the only way to see your current premium decoration bonus currently is to manually add up ever premium decoration you have the “Gulp ‘n’ Blow” test and the variants described in the comments to this post: How can I easily work out my bonus multiplier? (And dont forget to take into account any Picket Fences you might have when looking at the difference between the two methods!)

Both of these are important as they make generating the game dollars you need to buy everything in the game that little bit easier. So what’s your current total bonus?

Tags bonus, Bonus multiplier, Cash, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Gulp 'n' Blow, level 30, premium bonus, premium decorations, Squidport, The Simpsons Tapped Out, update, XP

Categories Bonus, Cash, Conform-o-meter, Gameplay, Gulp 'n' Blow, Level 30, Update, XP

What happened to my Conform-o-meter with the level 30 update?

By TSTO Tips

June 1, 2013 //

148

I’ve updated this post with new information from The Files…

With the arrival of level 30, many players will have found that their Conform-o-meter ratings will have taken a hit, particularly in Consumerism and Gluttony (mine dropped to 2 and a half stars and 3 and a half stars respectively). That’s because the points required to give you a maximum rating dramatically increased at many levels, as you can see in this chart:

Level	Indo-lence	Obedi-ence	Consum-erism	Gluttony	Tree-hugging	Right-eousness	Vanity	Social-ism
1-4	60	10	12	12	425	3	920	12
5	60	10	24	12	425	3	920	12
6	90	10	60	12	425	3	920	12
7	100	10	60	12	425	3	920	12
8	130	10	60	12	475	3	1370	12
9	140	40	60	12	565	3	1670	18
10	160	40	60	12	695	3	2020	30
11	160	70	60	60	865	5	2420	48
12	170	80	72	60	1075	7	2870	66
13	180	80	72	60	1325	9	3370	90
14	190	90	84	84	1615	11	3920	114
15	190	100	132	120	1945	14	4520	144
16	200	110	168	156	2315	17	5170	174
17	200	110	168	156	2725	30	5870	210
18	210	110	168	180	3175	33	6620	246
19	220	110	180	180	3665	47	7420	288
20	230	120	180	192	4195	51	8720	330
21	240	120	180	192	4765	55	9170	378
22	260	130	180	192	5375	59	10120	426
23	260	160	180	192	6025	64	11120	480
24	270	180	180	204	6715	69	12170	534
25	280	180	180	216	7445	74	13270	594
26	300	180	180	228	8215	79	14420	654
27	300	200	180	228	9025	85	15620	720
28	320	200	180	240	9875	91	16870	786
29	330	200	180	240	10765	97	18170	858
30	340	210	192	252	11695	103	19520	930

At level 30, you need 34 houses for a maximum Indolence rating, 20 shops for a maximum Consumerism rating, and 26 restaurants for a maximum Gluttony rating – and Zesty’s and Herman’s Military Antiques barely make a dent in the increment you need. At most levels below that the Indolence, Obedience, Consumerism, and Gluttony requirements have also increased. This is probably the best indication that Squidport was originally planned to land ahead of level 30, as the Squidport expansion buildings are primarily shops and restaurants.

My advice – don’t worry about it for now. You can buy and place Kwik-E-Marts and Gulp ‘n’ Blows to boost your ratings, but that’s really taking franchising to the extreme. Squidport is not that far away and it won’t be long (just a week or two) before you can get your Conform-o-meter back where it belongs.

Tags Community Center, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Consumerism rating, Gluttony rating, herman's Military Antiques, Indolence rating, level 30, Obedience rating, Righteousness rating, Socialism rating, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Tree-hugging rating, update, Vanity rating, Zesty's

Categories Community Center, Conform-o-meter, Consumerism rating, Gameplay, Gluttony rating, Herman's Military Antiques, Indolence rating, Level 30, Obedience rating, Righteousness rating, Socialism rating, Tree-hugging rating, Update, Vanity rating, Zesty's

What Conform-o-meter ratings do the level 30 buildings and decorations contribute to – and how much?

By TSTO Tips

June 1, 2013 //

The new buildings and decorations don’t do very much to help you hit those impossibly high Conform-o-meter points that you can see a couple of posts below this one, but most of them do help a bit. The exception seems to be the Community Center, as you can see in the table below.

Please note that for the buildings, I’ve used the base price and base XP from the files – the price and XP that they will eventually settle at when the multiplier stops operating on them. And, as I’ve just realised, the multipliers in the files apply to the XP you gain from completing a building as well as it’s price. To save you looking back, here are the multipliers that are currently at work on the upper levels:

Level 25: 1.3x
Level 26: 1.3x
Level 27: 1.4x
Level 28: 1.6x
Level 29: 2x
Level 30: 3x

So, here’s the contribution that each of the new items makes:

Building / Decoration	Base price	Base XP on completion	Rating	Points
Herman’s Military Antiques	$83,000	7500	Consumerism	10
Zesty’s	$68,000	7000	Gluttony	10
Community Center	150 donuts	150	—	—
Training Dummy	$4500	500	Vanity	500
Bomb Shelter	$5600	550	Vanity	560
Miniature Nuclear Warhead	45 donuts	45	Vanity	400

Tags Bomb Shelter, Buildings, Community Center, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Consumerism rating, Decorations, donuts, Gluttony rating, herman's Military Antiques, level 30, Miniature Nuclear Warhead, premium buildings, premium decorations, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Training Dummy, update, Vanity rating, Zesty's

Categories Bomb Shelter, Buildings, Community Center, Conform-o-meter, Consumerism rating, Donuts, Gameplay, Gluttony rating, Herman's Military Antiques, Level 30, Training Dummy, Update, Vanity rating, Zesty's

How does the Conform-o-meter work?

By TSTO Tips

May 31, 2013 //

Those of you who’ve been reading the blog for a while will have read a large number of posts on the Conform-o-meter and the conformity bonus. It’s been one of the mysteries of the game and despite only adding 5% to how much you earn from jobs and buildings, it’s an important 5% for those who don’t spend a lot of money on premium decorations. And it’s also important to anyone who really wants to know the rules of any game they play.

So, over the past few weeks, I’ve been digging through the files to try to figure out how the Conform-o-meter actually operates. There’s still a bit of work to be done (I’m finding Socialism and Righteousness very difficult to pin down, perhaps reflecting how difficult those concepts are to come to terms with in the real world!), and there’s still one more post to do on the limited-time decorations, but the collected Conform-o-meter posts can now be found under their own tab in the top menu:

The Collected Conform-o-meter Posts

And if you’re digging through the files yourself and find anything that you think would be helpful, let me know through the comments here or on that page.

Tags 5 stars, 5%, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Consumerism rating, Gluttony rating, Indolence rating, Obedience rating, Righteousness rating, Socialism rating, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating

Categories Conform-o-meter, Consumerism rating, Gluttony rating, Indolence rating, Obedience rating, Righteousness rating, Socialism rating, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating

What is Sideshow Bob actually doing?

By TSTO Tips

May 30, 2013 //

Sideshow Bob has been back much more regularly of late. If he’s in your town and you don’t catch him before you leave it, your righteousness rating takes a 5 point hit. If you do manage to catch him, you get a reward. But other than that, what does he actually do? Lance decided to follow him and sent in this comment:

I was playing bluestacks on my computer and I was having trouble keeping up with him and catching him. Wouldn’t you know it but he doesnt just run around – it looked a lot like he was searching for Bart.

He ran past my clicker, stopped at the Brown House, and faded away. Five or ten seconds later he reappeared in front of my Brown House and took off running again. This time headed toward Asia de Cuba and then he stopped and faded away in front of it, appeared, and then ran to Lard Lad donuts, where he yet again faded away. And shortly thereafter reappeared and running again. Man, this guy is fast. But I caught him at that point.

Beyond the drop in righteousness rating would be nice for readers to read, because I know I have spent 20 minutes searching for him across my town only to never find him. This might help other readers understand why on some occasions they cannot find him (because he is looking in a building for Bart!)

If you’d like to watch Sideshow Bob in action and find out why he hates Bart so much, US readers can buy the digital download of the season 1 episode “Krusty Gets Busted” from Amazon through this link (and anything else you buy from Amazon through any of the links on this site will also help out):

Readers in the UK (and I think the rest of Europe – but I’ll have to check) can use this link to buy the season 1 DVD (or anything else!):

Tags Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Righteousness rating, Sideshow Bob, The Simpsons Tapped Out

Categories Conform-o-meter, Gameplay, Righteousness rating, Sideshow Bob

What ratings do the limited time decorations contribute to (part 1)?

By TSTO Tips

May 30, 2013 //

Last week, I began posting on the points you need at each level and how many points each of the decorations contributes to which of your Conform-o-meter ratings. So far I’ve posted on:

The game dollar decorations up to level 14 here;
The game dollar decorations from level 15 to level 29 here;
The premium decorations here;
The aspirational buildings here; and
The points you need at each level here.

But what about the limited-time decorations? If you have them, what points do they add, and, like the Snake Rocks, Stumps and Logs, do they do anything else? As you’ll see from the list below, not only are they available for only a very short time, they are often the decorations that work hardest for your game. And as there’s rather a lot of them, I’ll be completing this series over two posts.

Decoration	Available during	Price	XP	Rating	Points	Notes
Spooky Tree	Halloween	$325	35	Tree-hugging	90	–
Pumpkin Patch	Halloween	$450	45	Vanity	110	–
Jack-o-Lantern	Halloween	$135	15	Vanity	50	–
Dead Tree	Halloween	$270	27	Tree-hugging	80	–
Crashed UFO	Halloween	–	–	Vanity	200	You needed to buy Kang and the Ray Gun, then shoot down his ship
Ray Gun	Halloween	100 donuts	150	Vanity	200	Also gives a 3.75% bonus
Cauldron	Halloween	90 donuts	90	Vanity	200	Came with Witch Marge; also gives a 2.25% bonus
Mayan Calendar	Halloween	–	–	Vanity	100	–
Scratchy Balloon	Thanksgiving	$1000	105	Vanity	790	–
Blinky Balloon	Thanksgiving	$16500	1500	Vanity	790	–
Santa’s Little Helper Balloon	Thanksgiving	$30000	3000	Vanity	1010	–
Snowball 2 Balloon	Thanksgiving	20 donuts	20	Vanity	200	Also gives a 0.5% bonus
Itchy Balloon	Thanksgiving	40 donuts	40	Vanity	400	Also gives a 2% bonus
Holiday Tree	Christmas	75 donuts	20	Vanity	200	Pays out $500 and 50 XP every 12 hours; also gives a 0.65% bonus; one was given free at the start of the event
Reindeer	Christmas	20 donuts	20	Vanity	100	Also gives a 0.5% bonus
Homer Snowman	Winter	20 donuts	20	Vanity	200	Also gives a 0.5% bonus
Lisa Snowman	Winter	$10,000	1000	Vanity	610	–
Bart Snowman	Winter	20 donuts	20	Vanity	200	Also gives a 0.5% bonus
Marge Snowman	Winter	$20000	2000	Vanity	870	–
Maggie Snowman	Winter	$30000	3000	Vanity	1070	–

More tomorrow – unless there’s an udate…

Tags Christmas, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Halloween, limited time, special events, Thanksgiving, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating, Winter

Categories Christmas, Conform-o-meter, Gameplay, Halloween, Thanksgiving Balloons, Themes, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating, Winter

What ratings do the aspirational buildings contribute to – and how much do they contribute?

By TSTO Tips

May 25, 2013 //

It’s still a rocky road on the transfer, but things seem to be settling down at my end. I’ve been in and out of connection with the admin side of the site all day. WordPress tells me that it could take up to 72 hours for everything to settle down across the internet world, so please be patient. In the interim, some of your comments have landed on the old WordPress.com site and haven’t appeared here yet at the new WordPress.org location, so if you’ve sent something through and can’t see it, please try again.

In the meantime, let’s talk about the aspirational buildings – those three big, expensive buildings that sit on your build menu. The important thing to know about these is that they don’t behave like buildings. They don’t earn you regular income and there are no tasks or quests involving them. They’re really your New Springfield’s white elephant decorations.

Here’s what they do:

Building	Price	XP	Rating	Points
Escalator to Nowhere	$1,000,000	10,000	Vanity	1000
Popsicle Stick Skyscraper	$2000000	20,000	Vanity	2000
50-foot Magnifying Glass	$3000000	30,000	Vanity	3000

And for those who haven’t built them, yet, here are a couple of images sent in by readers:

If you’d like to read the other posts on the decorations and their rating contribution, you can take a look here:

Part 1, which looks at all the game dollar decorations up to level 14 is here;
Part 2, which looks at all the game dollar decorations from level 15 to level 29 is here; and
Part 3, which looks at the premium decorations, is here.

Coming next – the limited-time decorations…

Tags 50-foot Magnifying Glass, aspirational buildings, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Escalator to Nowhere, Popsicle Stick Skyscraper, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Vanity rating, XP

Categories 50-foot Magnifying Glass, Conform-o-meter, Escalator to Nowhere, Gameplay, Popsicle Stick Skyscraper, Vanity rating, XP

What ratings do the premium decorations contribute to – and how much do they contribute?

By TSTO Tips

May 24, 2013 //

This week, I’ve been posting on the decorations, the level they unlock at, their cost, their XP on placement, the rating they contribute to, and the points they contribute:

Part 1, which looks at all the game dollar decorations up to level 14 is here; and
Part 2, which looks at all the game dollar decorations from level 15 to level 29 is here.

This post looks at the contribution of the premium decorations. Just a reminder, again, that this post contains the most recent information – I’ll be updating the original posts on Vanity and Tree-hugging soon. The decorations here are set out in the order in which they appear in the files:

Decoration	Donut Cost	XP	Rating	Points
Butterfly Tent	20	20	Vanity	200
Springfield Sign	170	170	Vanity	1800
Tire Fire	40	40	Vanity	800
Apple Tree	15	15	Tree-hugging	400
Orange Tree	15	15	Tree-hugging	400
Tree-Swing	20	20	Tree-hugging	400
Burning Bush	20	20	Tree-hugging	400
Bench	6	6	Vanity	200
Dumpster	10	10	Vanity	200
Flower Planter	10	10	Vanity	200
Picket Fence	1	1	Vanity	40
Homer’s Hammock	5	5	Vanity	200
Piece-of-crap car	30	30	Vanity	310
Channel 6 News Van	40	40	Vanity	200
Worldwide Broadcast Dish	30	30	Vanity	200
Ambulance	30	30	Obedience	10
Cannon	20	20	Vanity	200
Burns Limo	40	40	Vanity	200
Tetherball	20	20	Vanity	200
Police Car	40	40	Obedience	200
Mount Carlmore	120	120	Vanity	1200
Hot Tub	60	60	Vanity	600

As you’ll notice, the Police car and the Piece-of-Crap car both make higher contributions to Obedience and Vanity, respectively, than might have been expected. I was a bit surprised, so these have been checked and double-checked. I’ll need to update the Obedience post to reflect this as, initially, I’d read the 200 points for the Police Car as a Vanity contribution. But it looks like buying the Police Car may well solve any Obedience problems you may be having.

Tomorrow – the limited-time decorations…

Tags Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, donuts, Obedience rating, premium decorations, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating, XP

Categories Conform-o-meter, Decorations, Donuts, Gameplay, Obedience rating, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating, XP

What ratings do the decorations contribute to – and how much do they contribute (part 2)?

By TSTO Tips

May 22, 2013 //

Yesterday, I began posting on the decorations, the level they unlock at, their cost, their XP on placement, the rating they contribute to, and the points they contribute (and you can read part 1 here). This post takes you from the beginning of the game up to level 15 up to level 29. Just a reminder, too, that what’s in this post is the most recent information – I’ll be updating the original posts on Vanity and Tree-hugging soon.

Decoration	Level	Cost	XP	Rating	Points
Bench	15	595	60	Vanity	130
Tree	15	270	27	Tree-hugging	80
Flowers	15	325	35	Tree-hugging	90
Shrub	16	220	22	Tree-hugging	70
Barrier	16	760	75	Vanity	150
Flowers	16	270	25	Tree-hugging	80
Tree	17	450	45	Tree-hugging	110
Lamp Post	17	385	20	Vanity	100
Angel Topiary	18	2000	200	Tree-hugging	260
Chain Fence	19	270	27	Vanity	80
Shrub	19	325	33	Tree-hugging	90
Tree	20	675	70	Tree-hugging	140
Broken-down Washer	21	520	50	Vanity	120
Broken-down Dryer	21	595	60	Vanity	130
Pylon	22	135	15	Vanity	50
Gas Pump	22	1300	125	Vanity	200
Patio Table	22	1400	130	Vanity	210
See-saw	22	760	75	Vanity	150
Stop Sign	22	385	40	Obedience	1
Barbed Wire Fence	?	175	17	Vanity	60
Iron Railing	?	270	15	Vanity	80
Weather Station	23	9500	1000	Vanity	590
Volleyball Net	23	4500	500	Vanity	400
Lawn Chair	23	520	50	Vanity	120
Hail Ants Sign	23	450	45	Obedience	1
Red Brick Wall	23	520	50	Vanity	120
Graffiti Walls	23	385	40	Vanity	100
Fountain	25	3500	350	Vanity	350
Swing	26	2600	260	Vanity	260
Rabbit Hedge	25	1300	125	Tree-hugging	125
Springfield Park Entrance	29	595	40	Vanity	130
Cobblestone Wall	29	220	40	Vanity	70

Tomorrow – the premium decorations…

Tags Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Decorations, Obedience rating, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating, XP

Categories Conform-o-meter, Decorations, Gameplay, Obedience rating, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating, XP

What ratings do the decorations contribute to – and how much do they contribute (part 1)?

By TSTO Tips

May 21, 2013 //

Last week I posted on the buildings and the ratings they contribute to (and if you’d like to take a look at all those posts, you can start here). This followed a post earlier in the week about the number of points at each level you needed to maximize your Conform-o-meter ratings (and you can read that post here). But what about the decorations?

The decorations largely contribute to your Tree-hugging and Vanity ratings – and unlike the buildings, different decorations make a different contribution. Here’s the first part of a chart showing the decorations, the level they unlock at, their cost, their XP on placement, the rating they contribute to, and the points they contribute. This post takes you from the beginning of the game up to level 14 (I’ll be updating the original posts on this soon, as I’ve discovered some new information in the files).

Decoration	Level	Cost	XP	Rating	Points
Shrub	3	25	3	Tree-hugging	10
Tree	3	100	10	Tree-hugging	40
Bench	3	270	30	Vanity	27
Kiddie Pool	5	100	10	Vanity	40
Parking Lot	5	175	18	Vanity	50
Brown Fence	6	135	14	Vanity	50
Garbage Bin	7	175	18	Vanity	60
Shrub	7	70	7	Tree-hugging	30
Large Hedge	7	325	33	Tree-hugging	90
Small Hedge	8	220	22	Tree-hugging	70
Newspaper Dispenser	8	325	33	Vanity	90
Tree	8	220	22	Tree-hugging	70
Dumpster	9	1000	100	Vanity	180
Trashcan	10	70	7	Vanity	30
Tree	10	385	39	Tree-hugging	130
Planter	11	850	85	Tree-hugging	160
Tree	11	595	60	Tree-hugging	130
Bart’s Treehouse	12	25000	2500	Vanity	100
Shrub	12	135	14	Tree-hugging	50
Brown Fence	6	135	14	Vanity	50
Snapdragon	12	270	25	Tree-hugging	80
Jebediah Springfield Statue	–	–	15	Vanity	610
Parking Meter	13	270	27	Vanity	80
Tree	13	135	14	Tree-hugging	50
Flowers	13	520	50	Tree-hugging	120
Gazebo	14	5600	560	Vanity	450
Phone booth	14	1200	120	Vanity	190
Flowers	14	385	40	Tree-hugging	100

Part 2 tomorrow…

Tags Bart's Treehouse, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Decorations, Jebediah Springfield Statue, points, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating, XP

Categories Bart's Treehouse, Conform-o-meter, Decorations, Gameplay, Levels, Tree-hugging rating, Vanity rating, XP

How many restaurants at each level do I need to maximize my Gluttony rating?

By TSTO Tips

May 20, 2013 //

This post has been updated to reflect the new requirements introduced with level 30. It looks like the requirements were increased in advance of the Squidport expansion, and will become easier to satisfy once it arrives.

Throughout the past week, I’ve been digging into the files to see how the Conform-o-meter works and how you can maximize your conformity bonus. If you missed these posts, or you’d like to re-read them, here’s a list of them:

Part 1 of a post on the regular buildings and their ratings contributions (from the beginning of the game up to Moe’s Tavern) is here
Part 2 of a post on the regular buildings and their ratings contributions (from Jake’s Unisex Hair Palace up to the Skinner House) is here
A post on the premium buildings and their ratings contributions is here
A post on the limited-time buildings and their ratings contributions here (Duff Stadium, the Springfield Coliseum, and the Sleep-Eazy Motel can be found here as they were all limited-time at the time – however, their contribution status did not change with the Yard Sale update!)
A post on the points needed in each category at each level is here
A post on the number of shops you need to maximize your Consumerism rating is here
A post on the number of houses you need to maximize your Indolence rating is here
A post on the number of buildings and decorations you need to maximize your Obedience rating is here

This post focuses on your Gluttony rating, and you can check check where you currently are with it by tapping on the stars at the bottom left of your main screen:

You keep your Gluttony rating high by having restaurants for your town for people who are too lazy to cook (which covers just about evry one of your characters). Every restaurant, whether it’s regular, premium or limited-time, contributes 10 points towards the rating. Here’s a list of what can you build that contributes towards a 5-star Gluttony rating:

Regular Restaurants:
- Krusty Burger (and the Krusty Burger Franchise)
- Gulp ‘n’ Blow (and additional Gulp ‘n’ Blows)
- Java Server
- Moe’s Tavern
- Gilded Truffle
- Skip’s Diner
- Luigi’s
- Pimento Grove
- El Chemistri
- Businessman’s Club
- Zesty’s

Premium Buildings:
- Lard Lad’s
- Asia de Cuba

Limited-time Buildings:
- Phineas Q. Butterfat’s (Valentine’s Day event – no longer available)
- O’Flanagan’s Pub (St. Patrick’s Day event – no longer available)
- Swanky Fish (episode promotion – no longer available)

So, just how many restaurants do you need to get that 5-star rating for Gluttony at each level?:

Level	Points	Restaurants
1-9	12	2
10	48	5
11-13	60	6
14	84	9
15	120	12
16	132	14
17	156	16
18-19	180	18
20-23	192	20
24	204	21
25	216	22
26-27	228	23
28-29	240	24
30	252	26

As you can see, at some levels you’ll need multiple Krusty Burgers and/or Gulp ‘n’ Blows to be able to get to achieve 5 stars for Gluttony if you don’t want to buy premium restaurants, or you missed out on the limited-time eateries. And that means Krusty and whoever his Gulp ‘n’ Blow competitor is will need to get into the franchise business.

Tags Buildings, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Gluttony rating, premium buildings, restaurants, The Simpsons Tapped Out

Categories Buildings, Conform-o-meter, Gameplay, Gluttony rating

How many buildings (and decorations) do I need at each level to maximize my Obedience rating?

By TSTO Tips

May 19, 2013 //

Throughout this week, I’ve been digging into the files to see how the Conform-o-meter works and how you can maximize your conformity bonus. If you missed these posts, or you’d like to re-read them, here;s a list of them:

Part 1 of a post on the regular buildings and their ratings contributions (from the beginning of the game up to Moe’s Tavern) is here
Part 2 of a post on the regular buildings and their ratings contributions (from Jake’s Unisex Hair Palace up to the Skinner House) is here
A post on the premium buildings and their ratings contributions is here
A post on the limited-time buildings and their ratings contributions here (Duff Stadium, the Springfield Coliseum, and the Sleep-Eazy Motel can be found here as they were all limited-time at the time – however, their contribution status did not change with the Yard Sale update!)
A post on the points needed in each category at each level is here
A post on the number of shops you need to maximize your Consumerism rating is here
A post on the number of houses you need to maximize your Indolence rating is here

According to your Conform-o-meter, to boost your Obedience rating you need to have public buildings to keep your people docile:

Keeping the Obedience rating high helps move your Conformity Bonus to its 5% maximum, giving you extra cash and XP every time you tap. Every public building, whether it’s regular, premium or limited-time, contributes 10 points towards the rating. But it’s not just buildings that have an impact on your Obedience rating – there are decorations that have an effect as well:

- Stop Sign ($385 and unlocks at level 22) – 1 point
- Hail Ants Sign ($450 and unlocks at level 23) – 1 point
- Ambulance (30 donuts) – 10 points
- Police Car (40 donuts) – 200 points (yes, you read that right!)

So what are the public buildings that contribute towards your Obedience rating? Here’s a list (note that all buildings contribute 10 points except where marked):

Regular Buildings:
- Springfield Elementary
- The Nuclear Power Plant (each element looks like it contributes 10 points)
- Springfield Library
- First Church Of Springfield
- Jake’s Unisex Hair Palace
- Springfield Downs
- Police Station (1 point)
- Springfield Penitentiary (1 point)
- Town Hall
- Channel 6
- Springfield Post Office
- Hibbert’s Family Practice
- Springfield General Hospital
- Springfield Buddhist Temple
- Adult Education Annex

Premium Buildings:
- Aztec Theater
- Springfield Observatory
- Duff Brewery
- Krustylu Studios
- Lugash’s Gym
- Open Air Stage

Limited-time Buildings:
- Fort Sensible (Whacking Day event – no longer available)

So, just how many public buildings and decorations do you need to get that 5-star rating for Obedience at each level?:

Level	Points	Buildings	Notes
1-11	10	1	You should maximize your rating once you unlock the School
12-13	50	5	Each element of the Nuclear Power Plant appears to contribute 10 points
14	60	6	You should be able to maximize your rating with regular buildings alone
15	70	7	You should be able to maximize your rating when you unlock Jake’s Unisex Hair Palace
16-19	80	8	As you unlock the buildings at these levels, you should be able to keep your rating up
20	90	9	You should be able to maximize your rating with regular buildings alone
21	100	10	You should be able to maximize your rating with regular buildings alone
22	110	11	You should be able to maximize your rating with regular buildings alone
23	140	14	You should be able to maximize your rating with regular buildings alone
24	160	16	This number appears in the files, but it looks like it’s a coding error
25	142	14	You’ll also need a couple of signs to maximize your rating
26	152	15	You’ll also need a couple of signs to maximize your rating
27-28	162	16	You’ll also need a couple of signs to maximize your rating
29	200	20	To maximize your rating, you’ll need premium buildings/decorations or lots of signs!

Tags Ambulance, Buildings, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Decorations, Fort Sensible, Hail Ants Sign, Obedience rating, premium buildings, premium decorations, Stop Sign, The Simpsons Tapped Out

Categories Ambulance, Buildings, Conform-o-meter, Decorations, Donuts, Fort Sensible, Gameplay, Hail Ants Sign, Obedience rating, Premium decorations, Stop Sign

What episode is the Devil Donuts Cart from and what rating does it contribute to?

By TSTO Tips

May 19, 2013 //

The Devil Donuts Cart is from episode 7 of season 24 “The Day the Earth Stood Cool“. It’s the third promotional item from this episode – the two others, the Cool Brown House and Cool Homer, were released just before that episode in November last year and were only available for a few days. Both those items were free.

In that episode, the Simpsons family gets new cool neighbors Terrence and Emily from Portland – and the Devil Donuts business is how Terence earns his money, at least for the time being. Here are a couple of screen shots from the episode showing the Cart parked outside the Cool Brown House, and showing Homer and Terence enjoying a beer outside the Cart when it’s parked downtown:

Strangely, the Cart improves your Vanity rating rather than your Gluttony rating (in the same way that the Laramie Vending Machine adds to your Vanity rating rather than your Consumerism rating).
But that can be forgiven just because it’s a great new decoration for your town that costs game dollars rather than donuts! And it also gives you 520XP when you place it in your town.

As a bonus, here’s a video from the ANIMATION on FOX YouTube channel of Homer trying to be cool to fit in with his cool neighbors:

Tags Cool Brown House, Cool Homer, Decorations, Devil Donuts Cart, episode promotions, game dollars, Homer, limited time, The Simpsons Tapped Out, XP, Yard Sale

Categories Conform-o-meter, Cool Brown House, Cool Homer, Devil Donuts Truck, Episode promotions, Homer, Limited time, Vanity rating, Yard Sale

How many houses do I need at each level to maximize my Indolence rating?

By TSTO Tips

May 18, 2013 //

This post has been updated to reflect the new requirements introduced with level 30.

A couple of posts below this one I wrote about the number of shops you need to maximize the Consumerism rating on your Conform-o-meter. If you haven’t seen it yet, take a look here, as it also gives you some places to look on this site for more information on the Conform-o-meter and how it works. But the Indolence rating can also be troublesome for players at all levels who don’t choose to go down the house-farming route.

The Indolence rating is part of your Conform-o-meter – and you can see it by tapping on the stars at the bottom left if your screen. Getting it to 5 stars helps you get the maximum conformity bonus you can – 5% extra cash and XP every time you tap. You keep your Indolence rating high by by buying houses for families to fight and sleep in:

Every house, whether it’s regular, premium or limited-time, contributes 10 points towards the rating. So what can you build that will help you boost your Indolence rating? Here’s a list:

Regular Houses:
- Simpsons House
- Brown House
- Flanders House
- Purple House
- Cletus’ Farm
- Blue House
- van Houten House
- Pink House
- White House
- Willie’s Shack
- Orange House
- Springfield Retirement Castle
- Muntz House
- Krabappel Apartment
- Burns Manor
- Wiggum House
- Fat Tony’s Compound
- Skinner House

Premium Houses:
- Frink’s Lab
- School Bus

Limited-time Houses:
- Bad Dream House (Halloween event – no longer available)
- Cool Brown House (Episode promotion – no longer available)

So, how many houses do you need at each level to maximize your Indolence rating? Here’s a guide:

Level	Points	Houses
1-5	60	6
6	90	9
7	100	10
8	130	13
9	140	14
10-11	160	16
12	170	17
13	180	18
14-15	190	19
16-17	200	20
18	210	21
19	220	22
20	230	23
21	240	24
22-23	260	26
24	270	27
25	280	28
26-27	300	30
28	320	32
29	330	33
29	300	30
30	340	34

As you can see, at some levels, you’ll need to have a number of duplicate houses to maintain a 5-star rating. And the bottom line is, if you see your Indolence rating drop, you simply need to build a house or two. And it doesn’t really matter what you build just so long as it can stand up to a lot of sleeping and a lot of fighting.

Tags 5 stars, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, housefarming, Indolence rating, The Simpsons Tapped Out

Categories Buildings, Conform-o-meter, Gameplay, Housefarming, Indolence rating

How many shops do I need at each level to maximize my Consumerism rating?

By TSTO Tips

May 18, 2013 //

Some time ago, I wrote about the Conform-o-meter and how it works (you can read the posts here and here if you missed them). It’s an important part of the game because getting it to the maximum 5 stars will boost the cash and XP you collect from everything in the game by 5%. And this week, I dug deep into the files to look for a definitive answer on which building contributes to which rating:

Part 1 from the beginning of the game up to Moe’s Tavern is here
Part 2, from Jakes Unisex Hair Palace up to the Skinner House is here
A post on the premium buildings is here
A post on the limited-time buildings here (Duff Stadium, the Springfield Coliseum, and the Sleep-Eazy Motel can be found here as they were all limited-time at the time – however, their contribution status did not change with the Level 30 update)
A post on the points needed in each category at each level is here

You can open up your Conform-o-meter and check where you currently are with your Consumerism rating by tapping on the stars at the bottom left of your main screen.

You keep your Consumerism rating high, and help to maximize your conformity bonus, by having enough shops for your town (or, as the game says, by buying stores for suckers to drop dough). And every shop, whether it’s regular, premium or limited-time, contributes 10 points towards the rating. So what can you build that will help you boost your Consumerism rating? Here’s a list:

Regular Shops:
- Kwik-E-Mart (and the Kwik-E-Mart Franchises)
- Android’s Dungeon
- King Toot’s
-Herman’s Military Antiques

Premium Shops:
- Try ‘n’ Save
- Sprawl-Mart

Limited-time Shops:
- House of Evil (Halloween event – no longer available)
- Mapple Store (Christmas/winter event – no longer available)
- Howard’s Flowers (Valentine’s event – no longer available)
- Sir Putt-a-lot’s (Valentine’s event – no longer available)

I was a little surprised in putting together the list – Springfield doesn’t have as many stores as I’d thought it did! And that means that players who missed out on the limited-time buildings or who don’t want to buy premium buildings may have to buy a second or third Kwik-E-Mart to take their rating to its maximum.

But just how many shops do you need to get that 5-star rating at each level? Fortunately, the answer is “not many”, although the release of level 29 raised the bar a bit. Here’s the breakdown:

Level	Points	Shops
1-4	12	2
5	24	3
6-11	60	4
12	72	8	You can add one or more Kwik-E-Mart Franchises at this level
13-14	84	9
15	132	14
16	144	15
17-18	168	17
19-29	180	18
30	192	20

Tags Android's Dungeon, Conform-o-meter, conformity bonus, Consumerism rating, House of Evil, Howard's Flowers, King Toot's, Kwik-E-Mart, Kwik-E-Mart Franchise, level 29, limited time, Mapple Store, premium buildings, shops, Sir Putt-a-lot's, Sprawl-Mart, The Simpsons Tapped Out, Try 'n' Save, update

Categories Android's Dungeon, Conform-o-meter, Consumerism rating, Gameplay, House of Evil, Howard's Flowers, King Toot's, Kwik-E-Mart, Level 29, Limited time, Mapple Store, Sir Putt-a-lot's, Sprawl-Mart, Try 'n' Save

What Conform-o-meter category does each limited-time building contribute to?

By TSTO Tips

May 16, 2013 //

This week, I’ve been posting a guide to the buildings and the Conform-o-meter category they contribute to. Here’s where I’ve got to (and it’s almost at an end):

Part 1 from the beginning of the game up to Moe’s Tavern is here
Part 2, from Jakes Unisex Hair Palace up to the Skinner House is here
A post on the premium buildings is here
A post on the points needed in each category at each level is here

Just to recap: Each building you construct contributes a certain number of point to a different part of your Conform-o-meter and helps you get your conformity bonus to its 5% maximum. While a 5% bonus doesn’t sound like much, this extra amount every time you collect cash and XP from rent and jobs is part of what helps you build up the game dollars you need to progress easily in the game. Not every limited-time building makes a contribution, though.

So, here’s part 4 of the series covering all the limited-time buildings. The table below sets out the donut price of the building (and where the buildings were free or only purchasable with event currency, I’ve left it blank), the XP you get on construction, the rating the building boosts (if any), and the points it contributes to that rating. The information here supersedes information in earlier posts (which will all be updated soon):

Building	Donut Price	XP	Rating	Points
Springfield Cemetery	—	25	Vanity	100
Pet Cemetary	—	25	Vanity	100
House of Evil	—	100	Consumerism	10
Bad Dream House	—	150	Indolence	10
Mausoleum	60	60	—	—
Super Collider	—	50	—	—
Cool Brown House	—	10	Indolence	10
Mapple Store	90	90	Consumerism	10
Santa’s Village	200	75	—	—
Phineas Q. Butterfat’s	–	10	Gluttony	10
Howard’s Flowers	—	25	Consumerism	10
Sir Putt-a-lot’s	–	25	Consumerism	10
O’Flanagan’s Pub	—	200	Gluttony	10
Swanky Fish	90	90	Gluttony	10
Fort Sensible	—	10	Obedience	10
Duff Stadium	—	10	—	—
Springfield Coliseum	—	10	???	???
Sleep-Eazy Motel	—	10	???	???

It seems that no final conformity bonus contribution has been confirmed for the last two Whacking Day prizes. I’ll check in after the update and see whether the situation for these has changed.

Just one more post to go, on the “aspirational buildings”…