Time machine

The time machine is an object in The Sims 3: Ambitions. It is created with the Inventing skill. It will be about the fifteenth invention of your Sim and it requires inventing level 9. After inventing the time machine, it will be found in the family inventory instead of the personal inventory.

The exterior look of the time machine is most likely based on the one seen in Blackadder: Back and Forth. A Sim can return with various items including a caveman gnome, much as the original Mysterious Mr. Gnome is discovered in the Mausoleum.

It's possible for Sims to meet their previous selves and/or previous companions, and tell them to stop fighting and focus on love and family. If this happens, a Sim may suddenly have a child, but the child will only have one parent. When a Sim travels to the past, he or she can accidentally knock over a job board. If that happens, when the Sim returns, one of his or her housemates will have switched careers. Occasionally, traveling to the past will result in a message about the Sim using the machine having saved a child in front of his or her past self. This results in a new child being added to the household.

The time machine also makes a quick reference to Mass Effect when it says that the Sim was passing a crowd, listening about a shepherd (Commander Shepard, the main protagonist), saving the Galaxy from an ancient god threat (the Reapers). Additionally, the futuristic outfits that can be gained by going into the future highly resemble the Spectre Armors that can be acquired in Mass Effect.

It also makes a reference to Red Faction: Guerilla when it says -Sim- helped stand up for miner's rights on Mars. -Sim- was almost arrested by Earth Police, but found a convenient escape through the timestream before being interrogated.

The time machine also makes a reference to Dragon Age, when it says, "(Sim's name) got lost in some tunnels, but a warden (The Warden, the main protagonist) escorted them out."

Effects of time travel
Traveling to the past can have huge consequences for a Sim's household (new job, new friends, new Sim in the household), while traveling to the future seems to be more harmless, though the Sim sometimes comes back with an object or moodlet. It is also possible for a Sim to return from a time travel trip with a new outfit related to the time period he or she traveled to. There are 4 unique outfits for each gender.

Both

 * Positive or negative 'Traveled in Time' moodlet. (Bigger chance of getting positive moodlet if the Sim has the Adventurous and/or Brave traits)
 * Random other moodlet.
 * Cash. Between §81-§2487.
 * New clothing (including a rusty set of armor and a futuristic suit).

Past

 * New career for random member in household.
 * A new Sim joins the household as child of the time traveler, though the infobox will say ancestor.
 * If a sim helps a clan on their trip, they will become best friends with the clan's surviving family members.
 * If the Sim is a ghost, they may get a message saying " went back in time to see how they became a ghost, but accidentally changed events so they never became one!  is alive again!"
 * If the Sim is a mummy, they can prevent the invention of mummies and will be cured when they return.
 * A mummy might join your household.
 * Items:


 * Caveman Mysterious Mr. Gnome
 * The Four Corners of the Earth, non-skill book, worth §1,945
 * To Hunt or to Gather?, non-skill book, worth §1,376
 * War and More War, non-skill book, worth §1,663
 * Fire: Terrifying but Essential, non-skill book, worth §751
 * 1000 Ways to Stew Brontosaurus, non-skill book, worth §1,484
 * The Fall of Atlantis., non-skill book, worth §2,068
 * Lady Veronica Farfleton and the Magical Harpsichord, non-skill book, worth §1,577
 * Sul Sul: Trapped in Tar, non-skill book, worth §1,569
 * Plague and Pestilence, non-skill book, worth §1,109
 * Men are From Tar Pits, Women from Sabertooth Den, non-skill book, worth §1,188


 * Sonaflux Guitar
 * Firefighter of the Year wall trophy (§0)
 * Life Fruit
 * Omni Plant seed
 * Flame Fruit
 * Mood Light Candle
 * Artsy Easel
 * Fuzzy Logic Picnic Basket
 * Death Flower seed
 * Money Tree seed
 * Thoggus, a new sculpture

Future

 * A new Sim joins the household as child of the time traveler, though that child can be any age from child to elder.
 * Items:


 * Birthday Inferno Birthday Cake
 * SimCity 7940 Tips and Tricks, non-skill book, worth §1,552
 * Mars Real Estate Dos and Don'ts, non-skill book, worth §828
 * Gone with the Solar Wind, non-skill book, worth §1,611
 * Don't Tread on Me: A Robot Manifesto for Freedom, non-skill book, worth §1,633
 * Blips and Bloops: A Thesis on Mechanics, non-skill book, worth §1,331
 * Remembering the Internet: How the World was Changed, non-skill book, worth §2,754
 * So Hot in Binary, non-skill book, worth §1,266
 * Signs You're a Clone, non-skill book, worth §2,769
 * The New Ice Age, non-skill book, worth §2,975
 * Farmed: A Legacy of Eight Billion Points, non-skill book, worth §1,655
 * Thoggus, a new sculpture


 * Dancing Bunny painting (§100)
 * Audio Lite by LoFi Audio
 * XS 4258p Laptop from Landgraab Industries
 * Death Seed
 * Omni Plant Seed
 * World's Brew Bubble Bath
 * Prince of Pickleburp (painting)
 * Ducksworth of Bathington
 * A Life Fruit
 * Mysterious Mr. Gnome
 * Fuzzy-Logic Picnic Basket
 * Artsy Easel

Try for baby

 * If trying in the future, there is a chance where the child will return to the present visiting their parents as an elder.
 * If trying in the past, there is a chance where the child will return to the present from finding their long lost parents as a Teen or a Young Adult.

Keep in mind that when trying for a baby in the time machine, you will not the sound effect you normally hear when your Sim successfully became pregnant. Make sure to wait a few hours to see if you succeeded and do not keep trying it all over again or you’ll get a lot of a children!

Trivia

 * Time travel has previously been featured in the mishap that brought Don Lothario to Riverview, and the time machine is available for use in The Sims 2 for Nintendo DS.The-urbz-gba-time-machine.png'' for Gameboy Advance]]
 * It also appeared in The Urbz: Sims in the City for Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance as a strange machine. The player could go in 5 different times, each having a different area: November 29, 1984; December 31, 1870; 1,000,000 B.C.; December 2, 2003 and 3978 A.D.
 * One of the outfits in The Sims 3: Ambitions from the future resembles the clothing from Tron.
 * Occasionally in Ambitions, a time machine will be available at the consignment store for Sims to buy, without the need to invent it.
 * In The Sims 3: Pets for consoles a time machine is possible since the inventing skill in included in the game.
 * In Ambitions it is possible to WooHoo in a time machine, but the WooHoo lacks the hearts effect.

Gallery
Máquina del tiempo Machine à explorer le temps pt-br:Máquina do Tempo