Game guide:Nectar value calculation

This game guide explains about how a nectar maker will determine the value nectar bottles produced by Sims. This game guide will help the players to understand how the calculations are made for the nectar bottles' worth.

Multipliers
The value of a nectar is determined by 8 multipliers or modifiers. We will refer this multipliers to mult1 – mult8. Basically, the value of the nectar is all the multipliers—mult1 to mult8—multiplied altogether. However, each of these multipliers has different methods to determine its own value.

It's worth noting that the fruit combinations only determine the value of mult1, mult5, and mult8.

mult1, the fruit's nectar value
mult1 is the fruit's nectar value accumulation. These fruits' nectar values can be seen in the plants table on Gardening (The Sims 3). Only fruit produce can be used as nectar ingredients, with the exception of purple eggplant, cucumber, and corn. Below is the nectar value of each fruit:


 * Banana: 0
 * Apple: 3
 * Grapes: 3
 * Lemon: 3
 * Purple eggplant: 3
 * Orange: 3
 * Blackberry: 3
 * Blueberry: 3
 * Cocoa: 3
 * Peach: 3
 * Pear: 3


 * Pecan: 3
 * Raspberry: 3
 * Strawberry: 3
 * Corn: 3
 * Cucumber: 3
 * Renoit grapes: 5
 * Cherimola blan grapes: 5
 * Pomegranate: 6
 * Watermelon: 7
 * Plum: 7
 * Lime: 7


 * Avornalino grapes: 8
 * Cherries: 9
 * Meloire grapes: 10
 * Pomelo: 12
 * Gralladina fran grapes: 12
 * Cranerlet nuala grapes: 16
 * Flame fruit: 18
 * Plasma fruit: 18
 * Life fruit: 22

This means that nectars with 10 bananas are practically worthless. In theory, nectars with 10 life fruits are worth the most, providing the effects of the other multipliers are ignored.

mult2, a random multiplier
mult2 is a random multiplier. The value is generated randomly by the game, which ranges between 0.332 to 0.334. The range is so short that it's almost insignificant to be considered in the nectar value calculation.

mult3, Nectar Making skill
mult3 is a multiplier based on the Nectar Making skill of the Sim who is last to finish the nectar. A Sim with level 0 of Nectar Making skill will get 0.75 for mult3, with additional +0.075 multiplier per skill level. This means a Sim who has mastered the skill will get 0.75 + (10 x 0.075) = 1.5.

mult4, Flavor Enhancement upgrade
mult4 is a multiplier whether the nectar maker used to create the nectar has been upgraded or not. Nectar makers which have been upgraded with Flavor Enhancement will get 1.15 for mult4, while a failure upgrade will get 0.75 for mult4. Otherwise, the value of mult4 is 1.

mult5, the fruit's quality
mult5 is the average quality of the ingredients used for the nectar. There are 11 quality levels of ingredients, i.e. horrifying, putrid, foul, bad, neutral, nice, very nice, great, excellent, outstanding, and perfect. A horrifying fruit has a value of 1, and a perfect one has 11. The quality value of all fruits are accumulated, divided by 10, and truncated to the floor.

After the value is truncated, the average quality level determines the mult5, as stated in the following list:


 * Horrifying: 0.2
 * Putrid: 0.3
 * Foul: 0.4
 * Bad: 0.6
 * Neutral: 1
 * Nice: 1.15


 * Very nice: 1.3
 * Great: 1.5
 * Excellent: 1.75
 * Outstanding: 2.05
 * Perfect: 2.5

This means that a nectar with 9 perfect fruits and 1 outstanding fruit will have a value of (11 * 9) + (10 * 1) = 109. When 109 is divided by 10 and truncated to floor, it will get 10, which is equal to outstanding quality. Therefore, mult5 will be 2.05.

mult6, Flavorful Feet skill challenge
mult6 is a multiplier granted if the Sim who squishes the fruits have completed the Flavorful Feet skill challenge. This challenge is completed by squishing the fruits for 40 times. The value of the mult6 will be 1.1 if the skill challenge is completed; otherwise, it's 1.

mult7, make style
mult7 is a multiplier based on the make style of the nectar. There are 4 types of make styles, i.e. basic, concentrated, mass produce, and extended nectaration, each will set the multiplier as 1, 1.25, 0.75, and 1.15 respectively. Sims with higher Nectar Making skill have more make style options.

mult8, the fruit combination
mult8 is pseudo random multiplier, based on the fruit combination. The range of this multiplier is 0.5 to 1.75. Pseudo random means that any combination of fruits will always give an uncertain multiplier value with no definite factors to determine it, but the the same combination always bears the same value. This means that even though the mult1 is very high, given that the used fruits are 5 life fruits, 3 flame fruits, and 2 cranerlet nuala grapes; it's still possible that the mult8 will be low, reducing the actual value of the nectar. Slightly modifying the ingredient combinations (such as the number of fruits used) may or may not produce higher mult8, significantly or not. There is actually no way to figure out the value of mult8 without debugging the game.

A nectar that only uses one type of fruit will always have 1 for the mult8. This means that a nectar with 9 bananas and 1 life fruit might have higher mult8 than a nectar with 10 life fruits, providing the effects of the other multipliers are ignored.

Calculating
As explained above, the calculation of the nectar value is all the multipliers multiplied altogether.

$$value = mult1 \times mult2 \times mult3 \times mult4 \times mult5 \times mult6 \times mult7 \times mult8$$

In theory, the maximum possible value that a nectar could have is by using 9 perfect life fruits and 1 perfect plasma fruit / flame fruit, having the Sim making the nectar to have maximum Nectar Making skill and complete Flavorful Feet challenge, using a nectar maker with Improved Flavor upgrade, and using the concentrated make style. The calculated value would be:

$$value = 216 \times 0.334 \times 1.5 \times 1.15 \times 2.5 \times 1.1 \times 1.25 \times 1.75$$ $$value \approx 748$$

However, this calculation is potentially impossible because we can never determine the exact value of mult8. If the ingredients are changed to 10 life fruits instead, we will get §435. The lowest possible value of a nectar is §0, by using 10 bananas for the ingredients.