Servo

Servo is a robot, first introduced in The Sims: Livin' Large, and later re-introduced in The Sims 2: Open for Business. Servo is purchased as an object in Livin' Large, but is built in Open for Business and is effectively treated as a member of the household; it is playable, has motives, and is counted against a family's maximum number of members.

Servo does not return in The Sims 3 base game. The Sims 3: Ambitions introduces the SimBot in its place; since the original worlds of The Sims 3 were placed before either The Sims or The Sims 2 (in the in-game timeline), SimBot could be considered the predecessor to Servo. According to promotional material for The Sims 3: Into the Future, it will introduce a customizable robot called a Plumbot.

The Sims

 * Shiny Things Inc. makes dreams come alive! Meet Servo, our new experimental home robot. Tired of cleaning? Cooking? Gardening? REPAIRING? Your lack of respect for the dignity of work gives Servo a reason to live! Servo is self-powered, self-guiding, self-cleaning and self-denying! Concentrate on living. Let Servo do the rest!!!

Servos are bought from the Electronics->Other section of Buy mode, and cost a whopping §15,000, but will walk around the house cleaning up messes and repairing broken items, so Sims don't have to. Servos will also do gardening, but appear to do it on the gardener's every-three-days schedule. A Servo that has nothing else to do may attempt to converse with or entertain visitors. This is the only case in which a Servo will interact with Sims. A Servo will change hats depending on whether it's "cooking", cleaning, repairing, or gardening. When "cooking", a Servo will wear a chef's hat; when cleaning, it will wear a maid's hat; when repairing, it will wear a repairman's cap; and when gardening, it will wear a straw sun-hat. (This may be a play on the idea that someone who does many different jobs "wears many hats".)

As a rule, a Servo cannot be controlled, only turned on and off. The one exception to this is that a turned-on Servo can be told to make a group meal for Sims. Since Servo literally makes the food, without using a fridge or stove, these meals aren't very fulfilling, but they are free, and a child can tell Servo to make food.

Servo comes with its own charging chamber, and will return to it and turn itself off when it has nothing more to do. If its route is blocked for too long, Servo will teleport to its charging chamber. Servo's charging chamber also has the control panel that's used to turn it on, and can be used to turn it off or tell it to serve food.

The Sims 2

 * Gardening? Check. Cooking? Check. Periodic bursts of wanton destruction? Indeed, check. This friendly humanoid robot is truly but one step from humanity. The Servo Model has a gender-assignable artificial intelligence unit that simulates all the desires of a real human: friendship, success... even love. Just make sure you keep the Servo Model in a good mood, else you'll be the one cleaning up all the ash piles while your new friend lies sparking in the corner.

When The Sims 2: Open for Business expansion pack came out, Servo returned - as an artificially intelligent Sim. There are some differences: Servo isn't concerned with comfort or hygiene or temperature, and doesn't need to eat; but The Sims 2 Servo is essentially a Sim in robotic form. As such, a Servo is fully controllable, and has relationships, wants, fears, aspirations, etc., just like normal Sims. A Servo can get a job, or be employed by a business, or even own a business. A Servo can even WooHoo.

Building & Activating
To build a Servo a Robot Crafting Station and a Gold talent badge in Robotics is needed. Building a Servo costs §3000, and takes about eight to twelve game hours, not counting breaks.

When a Servo is built, it is switched off and can only be activated by a Sim (teen or older) if there is room in the household for another member. The Servo can be activated as male or female, and can be given a name when activated. The Servo takes on the personality, aspiration, and last name of the Sim who activates it. If Lifetime Aspiration is present, the Servo will have five Aspiration benefit points when activated. If FreeTime is installed, the Servo will not take on the hobby enthusiasm of the Sim who activates it, and may or may not have the same predestined hobby.

A Servo can only be activated on a residential lot, not on a community lot.

Since an activated Servo is considered an adult, a Servo cannot be activated in a college sub-neighborhood. If a Sim tries to activate a Servo in a college sub-neighborhood, the player will be informed that only students and faculty are permitted to live on-campus.

An unactivated Servo can be marked for sale in a business. If the Average price is selected, the Servo will be priced at §6210.
 * Buying and selling

Servo can be unlocked by using testingcheatsenabled and shift left clicking on any Sim, then clicking Spawn/More, and then clicking new Servo.
 * Spawn Servo Cheat

Features
Servo comes with 10 points in Cooking, Mechanical, and Cleaning, and will take on all other skill points of the Sim who activates it. Servo also comes with one or more random talent badges, and will often have a gold badge. Servo also takes on the aspiration, turn ons and turn offs, and personality of the Sim who activates it, though it may have a different Lifetime Want. Servo can use the ReNuYuSenso Orb and the ReNuYu Porta-Chug, but does not start out with the Porta-Chug.

Servo can alternate between everyday and formal attire, with the only formal wear option being a tuxedo jacket (male) or a hot pink dress (female). Unlike ordinary Sims, Servo does not need to use a dresser to do this.

Servo's voice sounds mechanical, and consists of beeps, boops, and burbles. However, normal Sims have no problem communicating with Servos, and a Servo can teach a toddler to talk. Therefore, it can be assumed that Servo speaks Simlish, but has a definite "accent". There does not appear to be any difference between the voices of male and female Servos.

When a Servo is in Everyday mode, the only way to determine its gender is that the heads of female Servos have a few exaggerated cosmetic features. This is because Servos are so streamlined that there is no room for any physical differences between the bodies of male and female Servos.

Servos cannot use clothing racks on community lots, so one thing a Servo can't do that a normal adult Sim can is buy clothes for other household members.

Servos can get jobs, and can even have job-related Lifetime Wants, but since they never become elders (they only have an adult life stage), they cannot retire. Since they only have an adult life stage, they cannot attend college, so the University careers (Artist, Natural Science, Paranormal, and Show Business) are closed to them. By default, Servos will do chores when no actions are manually queued by the player, but there are game modifications which can affect this or even prevent it.

Servos never age and thus can live with a family for generations. They can be powered down, and can be left powered down indefinitely, effectively making them un-playable. However, they cannot be completely de-activated.

Like normal Sims, they can fall in love and get married to other Servos, and even to normal Sims. They can not reproduce naturally, but they can adopt. They can father children with the Tombstone of Life and Death. Servos have the invisible face genetic, like the Grim Reaper, so if the player cheats to make a Sim pregnant with a Servo, the baby's genetics will have the first default face, and might have some of the mother's genetics.

Servos can be combined with the Vampire, Zombie, Werewolf, and Witch Life states. Vampire Servos rapidly lose power in sunlight, and recharge in coffins (or beds, if none are available). Vampire Servos also do some vampire animations while idling on a place, so do the other "Monster" Servos. Werewolf Servos regain all of their Power motive at night. This effectively makes them active 24/7. Zombie Servos do not look much different, but have zombie features such as tilted heads and the zombie walk.

An odd feature is that, since a Servo can eat, but has no Hunger meter, anything it eats transfers directly to the fitness gauge. This will eventually make it "fat" by Sim standards, though a Servo's body shape will never change.

If a Sim does WooHoo with a Servo, they get a unique memory. It is titled "Had First WooHoo with NAME, the Robot" and reads "Wow-za! They say you never forget your First WooHoo with a Robot. They weren't lying!". Naturally, the Servo does not get this particular memory as it is a Robot. (However, if two Servos WooHoo with one another, each will get that memory.)

There is a special flirt option called "Tune Up", which can only be done to a Servo. It doesn't appear that Servos ever need to be tuned up, but they do enjoy it.

Needs
Servo has only 4 Needs: Power, Social, Fun and Environment. Power can be restored either through Recharging, in which Servo goes under the sun to recharge, or by sleeping, in which case Power is replenished at the same rate that a normal Sim would replenish Energy. Servos can replenish Power by napping on sofas or loveseats, but do not seem to be able to nap in recliners. Also, drinking the Elixir of Life while in gold or platinum aspiration will restore a Servo's Power, and Servos can use The Eclectic and Enigmatic Energizer. Servos can gain power from eating along with sleeping and recharging, though this appears to depend on which other expansion packs are installed.

Servo appears to lose Power at a fairly constant rate, regardless of what it's doing. This, combined with its lack of Hunger, Comfort, Hygiene, and Bladder motives, gives Servo an advantage when using exercise equipment to build Body skill. Servo can also stand at an easel or crafting bench much longer than a Sim can, as the only motive it seriously needs to worry about when doing so is Social.

Servo's Social and Fun motives are affected by being in the room with a Snapdragon Bouquet. If the player has the FreeTime expansion, Servos can also select a Secondary aspiration and Aspiration benefits, and can take advantage of benefits which slow the decay of Social and Fun.

The MaxMotives cheat will not restore the Power motive, but will restore the Social and Fun motives.

Dangers
In general, water to a Servo is much like fire to a Sim. Water can drain all of a Servo's needs extremely fast, especially Power. While this will not kill a Servo, it can cause one to break. However, not all contact with water is harmful to a Servo; for example, they can wash dishes in a sink, and can repair sinks.

While Servos do not have Hygiene or Comfort motives, a Servo can be told to use a shower or bathtub. Fortunately, they will not do so autonomously. A Servo may even have a want to use a hot tub. Since Sims have to get into shower stalls to clean them, cleaning or repairing a shower stall may be hazardous to a Servo. However, Servos have no problems cleaning bathtubs and shower/tubs. Also, they appear to be able to bathe toddlers and wash dogs, at least some of the time.

If Seasons is installed, a Servo may autonomously decide to splash in a puddle. It's probably a good idea to interrupt this before the Servo gets to the puddle. If it's raining while a Servo is outside, the rain will not affect the Servo, and Servos have no problem walking through snow.

When broken, Servo will run amok and cause havoc. Nearby Sims can be electrocuted by Servo at this time. Eventually it will power down, allowing someone to repair him/her. If the Servo is the only person on the lot, a signal will be sent from the Servo's antenna, and a repairman will come to fix the Servo.

A Servo can die, though there are few things that can kill one. Servos can be killed if they are hit by a satellite. If University is installed, they can be eaten by a Cowplant. Servos can die while using the Running with Scissors Playset, which could be downloaded from the official website for The Sims 2 before the site was taken down by EA.

Player Tips

 * Servos needs are little and easy to deal with, so it's better to start a business with them.
 * Servos never age, so they can live forever. It is a good idea to create a Servo to watch over the family for generations if you plan on making a legacy family or a big family.
 * Bigfoot and Servo can be great for a busy family. Bigfoot is an excellent worker and so are Servos. Combined, a business can prosper, babysitters aren't required if one stays unemployed, and the place is bound to be tidy because of a Servo's need to clean.
 * Sims can dress up as Servos. To do that, get a Servo, buy a wardrobe, go into Plan Outfit...Everyday or Plan Outfit...Formal and they can dress up as a Servo
 * Also their heads (hair) are available in CAS via debugging cheats but it has an odd appearance.
 * While Servos do not need to eat, they may do so anyway if told to serve food. If you want a Servo to prepare food, it may be better to use the "Make" option, and leave the serving to a normal Sim.
 * While Servos can become "fit" or "fat" by Sim standards, a Servo's body shape will never change.
 * Servos can be killed by satellite. If University is installed, they can also be eaten by the Cowplant.
 * "Reach Golden Anniversary" is a common Lifetime want for Family Sims. Since it can only be fulfilled once a Sim has become an elder, a Servo will never be able to fulfill this want.
 * It's possible to make the Servo look like a Sim using the InSimenator mod or the Sim Modder, but the Servo still will not age, will sound like a Servo, and will have all the needs of a Servo. Also, while visiting community lots or other Sims' lots, such a Servo may randomly change back into the standard Servo appearance. This can be fixed instantly by having the Servo change to formal and back to normal, or by using a third party mod.
 * Servo can build body skills easily since they won't be tired or stink at all.
 * A family or roommates consisting of Servo and PlantSim would be the best since neither of them needs to eat nor sleeps, so they could live in a house or apartment without beds and kitchen, considering they don't think about visiting Sims' needs.
 * Servos may work better than maids or butlers, as they have level 10 in all needed skills, and can always be available, since they live on the lot and are playable. Servo also makes a good live-in nanny, as they do not have to take time to maintain comfort or hygiene, and can teach toddler skills.

Trivia

 * The giant robot that appears in one of the programs on KidzTube is a Servo from The Sims. The channel appears to show gameplay from SimCity 4, which did contain a number of disasters which could befall the city, one of which involved a servo attack.
 * In The Sims 2 for DS the final villain that has to be faced, Optimum Alfred, greatly resembles a Servo.
 * The FX used by a recharging Servo will depend on which other Packs are installed. One version is a greenish haze which seems to spiral down into the Servo's waist-ball. This was later changed to a bright white bar which, when the Servo is selected, appears to be focused through the PlumbBob.
 * The name Servo possibly refers to "servus", which is Latin for slave or servant. When translated literally, it means "I look after". "Servo" is also Italian for servant. The name "Servo" can also possibly be taken from the word "serve", since that is what a Servo is most used for.

The Sims 3
Servo does not appear in The Sims 3, however there are several depictions of it in the game.

If the camera angle is right, a statue of a Servo can be seen inside the science lab rabbit holes in Sunset Valley, Riverview, and Twinbrook.

Open for Business Servos also make an appearance in a TV show (on the action channel) as an army being commanded by a mad scientist, and are defeated by a female protagonist. This was actually some edited clips of The Sims 2: FreeTime music video ["Fa-Fa-Fa" by Datarock].

In The Sims 3: Ambitions, SimBots fill the niche that Servos do in The Sims 2: Open for Business, though there are significant differences between the two.

Custom Content
There is content at Mod The Sims which allows players to have custom Sims which are more-or-less reasonable facsimiles of Servos, but they are still Sims, not true Servos.

Screenshots of custom Sims made to look like Servos by using this mod, taken from the thread at Mod The Sims.