The Sims 3 Into the Future

Time Traveler, Exploring Oasis Landing and Voltron Gnome Parts

The Time Traveler Arrives

This article details my first adventure in the Future town of Oasis Landing, the same tutorial/Opportunities that other Sims 3 players will encounter if they continue working with the Time Traveler upon arrival. I did this while notetaking for other articles and threw it together to help clear up some other players' confusion on accessing the world and highlight how helpful some of the Opportunities from the Time Traveler are once you've arrived. There are a few opportunity chains to do, and the first I recommend you do, Buried in the Sand, offers great rewards while the others introduce you to new gameplay elements from Into the Future.

When starting the game, you won't see the new town Oasis Landing in the list. Oasis Landing only exists in the Future, and can be traveled to in-game from any town you decide your Sims will live in. Its fate will be altered by your Sim's actions in the Present. So pick a town and load up the game (or previous save) if you're eager to check out the new Future World included with the Expansion.

Shortly after you've loaded up the neighborhood and moved in your Sims a portal will appear on your lot or somewhere else in the world, through which a Time Traveler will emerge. Emit (Surely a Back to the Future reference) will give you an Opportunity called Help a Time Traveler out. Collect the power cells scattered around your lot and give them to the Time Traveler to improve your relationship. You'll be given the Almanac of Time, which lets you alter the Future, view your Sim's descendents, and learn the requirements to get a Legacy Statue of your Sim built in Oasis Landing. You can find the Almanac of Time by the Phone and Collection Journal in your all your Sims' inventories.

While the Time Traveler is visiting the Present, you can talk to him to learn about the Almanac of Time and changing the future. He'll also speak with you about future destinations like the Bot Arena and let you know about advanced technologies and means of travel.

Once you have the Almanac and have completed the Opportunity, you are ready to enter the portal at any time and can freely close/open the portal and move it to a better spot on your Sim's lot (close it and then put it in your Sim's inventory). You are also able to Summon the Time Traveler through the portal to speak to him about the Future and even make a friend of him, if you are not ready to go. If you need a replacement Wellsian Time Portal or didn't get your own for some reason, they can be bought for $750 in the Buy Mode > Outdoors > Outdoor Activities tab. The Portal is portable and may be put into your Inventory when deactivated, but must be placed in order to be used.

Arriving in the Future: Oasis Landing

When ready, have your Sim (or a group of Sims) step through the portal to visit the Future World of Oasis Landing. The Buried in the Sand and other opportunity chains serve as an introduction to some of the activities your Sims can take up while visiting the town and tells a story to help solve the mystery of a crashed ship outside town in the Wasteland. If you get a Windcarver (looks like a surfboard) from the Community Living Center and put it in your Sim's inventory then select 'Use Instead of Walking', your Sim will gain a little Advanced Technology skill every time they move about.

Scan the Wasteland for more Excavation Sites

If you speak to him on arrival, you will get a chain of Opportunities ($100 Simoleons each) from the Time Traveler to travel around Oasis Landing by Jetpack, meet a Plumbot and instruct it to explain its function, learn to change Trait Chips in Plumbots and find out about Legacy Statues. You can find Legacy Statues near the Oasis Landing Community Living Center at Legacy Park, in front of City Hall. The last task is to inspect the Mysterious Door in the Wasteland, which is outside of town at the Crash Site. He will then ask you to excavate one of the dirt piles. Upon checking in after this, the chain will end and the Time Traveler will then offer you Opportunities on request by using 'Offer to Assist with Research' within the 'Time Traveler' social interaction menu.

If you need to find him, the Time Traveler seems to hang at the Community Living Center, usually on the upper floors. The first opportunity I recommend you do is Buried in the Sand as it offers some monetary reward to help you with the others and is the one that costs least to do (one requires you to buy a Plumbot). You can either do the others until it comes up or repeatedly ask for jobs and cancel until it is offered. You don't necessarily have to do the chain, but you'll get more Simoleon rewards and Advanced Technology Skill points if you complete it. The Time Traveler will send you off to the Wasteland to excavate more sites and collect Mysterious Fragments. With your first Excavation, you should have attained at least one mysterious fragment. After finding more, you will be stricken with Wasteland Pox and need to visit the hospital. I skipped doing this until I had Excavated a few more piles to get all four parts, to ensure that if I did not get them they would respawn later. It's unlikely you even need the Opportunity to open the door, but the experience makes the process worth it, imo. Though you are likely to get the fragments, skip assembling the key until the Time Traveler gives you that Opportunity.

Opening the Mysterious Door with a Mysterious Key made from Mysterious Fragments

After curing your sickness, the Time Traveler will instruct you to find the remaining parts (which, if like me, you already did) and assemble the key. Traveling back to the Crash Site, you can finally attain your reward for this chain. Insert the key and explore inside before returning to the Time Traveler. You'll find loot for your efforts. I got three money bags valued at over $4400 Simoleons and one of five pieces to the Voltron Gnome (Llama ARC-021 for those interested). I viewed Buried in the Sand as the best and its reward helps cover costs in the next Opportunities.

More on Finding ItF Voltron Gnome Parts and Other Rewards



As several readers have pointed out, you do not have to do the Opportunity to open the mysterious door in the Wasteland. It also resets each time you visit the site with a new key, so start excavating and you'll likely find all the parts you need for your Voltron Gnome! You may also find more money bags and a Dream Pod Disc to let you dream of The Sims 4 while in a Dream Pod. So take those key parts you find and amass a number of keys, so that each time you walk in with a new key it'll have 4 new rewards for your Sim on the Alien Ship's Pedestals.

When the Voltron Gnome is assembled and in the room with you, your Sim will get 25% increased skill gains in the Advanced Technology Skill, so he's a fun Gnome to bring around with you to help a Sim level the Advanced Tech skill swiftly.

After the Help a Time Traveler and Buried in the Sand Opportunities, I found it annoying that the Time Traveler kept offering Buried in the Sand again, but did offer the others as well when I canceled.

Nanites float like Butterflies

I saw three more short Opportunity Chains the Time Traveler offered. Two require you to catch Nanites, which can be found in the Wasteland and on the outskirts of town and look/behave like futuristic butterflies when you're collecting them. There are no spawn points in the very center of the city (rectangular area) but on the outskirts, with many in the Wasteland. If you don't care for the rewards, know that there's nothing special to gain by doing these others, in fact they will eat into the financial reward from 'Buried'. Instead, you should sometime do the Excavating of dirt piles over and over to get more keys and reset that vault to get more Voltron Gnome Parts and the benefit of having him around.

Fashion Distraction - Learn about various Future services, Advanced Tech skill experience, Holo Disc reward at the end.

- Learn about various Future services, Advanced Tech skill experience, Holo Disc reward at the end. Don't Swat Them - Bot Making Skill information and experience, Charging Station reward (Family Inventory) to charge the Plumbot you are told to purchase.

- Bot Making Skill information and experience, Charging Station reward (Family Inventory) to charge the Plumbot you are told to purchase. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? - Greet a Descendent and travel back to the past to alter their timeline by changing your family or financial status.

Hope this helps some of you get started. It was necessary to cover arrival and the first thing everyone will be doing. I'll cover gameplay elements in-depth very soon!

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