The Sims 2: FreeTime/Hobbies

There are several hobby objects in The Sims 2: FreeTime and it seems right that most can be found in the hobbies category.

Creativity
In addition to the new instruments, the easel has been upgraded. First and most obvious, painting on the easel improves Arts & Crafts. Second, there's a new interaction for Grilled Cheese sims. If you choose the third aspiration benefit for their path, sims will be able to paint pictures of grilled cheese sandwiches. Finally, you can frame sim created paintings in a variety of colours. To do this simply click on the painting and select Frame... then choose the style you want. Framing can also be done on drawings created with the drafting table.

The BOB 3942 by SoundEscapes
The synthesiser is a unique instrument that lets you create your own music rather than listen to prerecored tunes. There are several interactions for this object.
 * Price: $1,500
 * Initial Depreciation: $225
 * Daily Depreciation: $150
 * Depreciation Limit: $600
 * Need Effects: Fun 10, Environment 1
 * Skills: Creativity, Mechanical
 * Hobbies: Music & Dance, Tinkering
 * Community Sort: Miscellaneous
 * Practice: Always available. Builds creativity and Music & Dance. Quality of music is dependent on creativity.
 * Compose: Unlocked at creativity 4. This is the interaction to create custom music. There are several elements to composing a tune and some can confuse you. The sub-interactions are.
 * Audition: Choose from melody, bass or rthym and select one of their five tracks. You can also remove a track from your composition.
 * Change Style: Changes the style of the music when you audition. The choices depend on creativity and they are Electronica (always available), New Age (Creativity 6), Pop (Creativity 8), Sci-Fi (Creativity 9) and Classical (Creativity 10).
 * Save. Saves your custom track. Must be named first. Custom tracks are actually saved on the sim and not on the object itself.
 * Perform. Perform a custom compostition or a random track. Sims can only perform tunes that they have created. While performing, other sims may do these interactions.
 * Watch: Sim cheers or boos based on skill, relationship and personality. Available while practising as well.
 * Dance: Choose a dance and boogie just like any stereo. Functions as normal dancing.
 * Tinker: Tinker with the synthesiser. Carries chance of electrocution.
 * Repair: If synthesiser breaks down, this interaction repairs it. Carries chance of electrocution for low mechanical sims.

Simavarious VII Concert Violin
The violin functions almost the same as any musical instrument. It has these interactions.
 * Price: $2,200
 * Initial Depreciation: $330
 * Daily Depreciation: $220
 * Depreciation Limit: $880
 * Need Effects: Fun 10, Environment 2
 * Skill: Creativity
 * Hobby: Music & Dance
 * Rooms: Study, Living
 * Community Sort: Miscellaneous
 * Play: Sim plays violin. Skill at playing depends on creativity. Note that there is no practice interaction and unlike the piano and other instruments. It doesn't let you select the genre with which to play. If Music & Dance level 10 is achieved, several things will happen. First, your sim will dress into their formalwear before playing. Second your sim will also hear the noise of an audience as they play.
 * Play for Tips: Just like Play except your sim gets out a tip jar. Functions the same as other instruments. As your sim plays, other sims will tip him or her based on creativity skill. Obviously, if no-one is on the lot, your sim will not be tipped. When sim stops playing, they check the tip jar and react to how much they've earnt.
 * Watch: Sim watches other sim play and reacts based on the skill of the violinist.

Knowledge
Telescopes have been completely upgraded. First, telescopes now improve Science enthusiasm. Second, they have a variety of interactions.
 * Stargaze: Like before except sims now show thought bubbles of stars and constellations that they see. There's also a chance they might find a new star. Each sim can discover up to two new stars. Discovering a star gives a $500 reward.
 * Search for Constellations: A level 3 benefit for Science sims. Sims show thought bubbles of various constellations that they see.
 * Search for Planets: A level 5 benefit for Science sims. Sims show thought bubbles of different planets. In addition, up to two new planets can be discovered by your sims. Discovering a planet gives a $500 reward.
 * Watch for UFOs: A level 8 benefir for Science sims. Sim searches the sky for a UFO. Has a greater-than-normal chance of being abducted.
 * Summon Aliens: Sim places a torch in the telescope in an attempt to lure a UFO. This benefit is available to knowledge sims that have all their aspiration-related benefits. This interaction has the greatest chance of getting abducted. Sims that get abducted have a larger boost to Science enthusiasm. Other than that abductions function as they always have.

Bookworm's Delight
Bookshelves have been completely revamped for The Sims 2: FreeTime. Therefore, all interactions are listed here.
 * Price: $800
 * Initial Depreciation: $120
 * Daily Depreciation: $80
 * Depreciation Limit: $320
 * Need Effects: Fun 1
 * Need Max: Fun 75
 * Skills: Cooking, Mechanical, Cleaning,
 * Hobbies: Cuisine, Film & Literature, Nature, Tinkering
 * Rooms: Study, Living, Bedroom
 * Community Sort: Miscellaneous
 * Read Book. Builds Film & Literature. Previously, this was a generic interaction. Now you can choose the type of book to read. Choose from Childrens, Cooking, Drama, Mystery, Romance or Sci-Fi. For sims that reach level 10 in Film & Literature, another bonus is available. When reading, you will here sounds related to the novel. e.g. If your sim reads a sci-fi novel then you'll hear UFO sounds.
 * Write in Diary. Acts as normal. However, this interaction now builds Film & Literature enthusiasm.
 * Study. You can now choose to study parenting as a skill. When studying, a bar appears over your sim as with other skills. When, this bar is filled up, your sim gains the new Check on Baby interaction. When checking on a baby, you sim will flash a thought bubble of the babies lowest need. This allows for better parenting. In addition, learning the parenting skill gives sims a memory. Finally, the three other skills all build a specific hobby.
 * Cooking: Cuisine
 * Mechanical: Tinkering
 * Cleaning: Nature
 * Read Custom Book. If your sim has written a novel on the computer, then they can read it like any other novel. Note that, only one sim can read a specific novel at a time. If your sim takes it off the bookshelf, then no other sim can read it. The book must be placed back into a bookshelf for another sim to read it.
 * Discuss Novel. The benefit for gaining level 3 in Film & Literature. Only one sim needs this benefit to initiate this interaction. When performing interaction, sim approaches selected sim and they discuss the chosen book or novel. After that, other sims can join the discussion. This interaction is similar to the hang out interaction. All sims that participate gain Film & Literature enthusiasm.

Exercise
All exercise objects (including workout benches, the treadmill and the dance sphere) improve Fitness enthusiasm with the exception of the ballet barre.

Basic Barre by Deuxjoint Ltd.
This bar initially contains a one interaction. The following interaction must be unlocked.
 * Price: $500
 * Initial Depreciation: $75
 * Daily Depreciation: $50
 * Depreciation Limit: $200
 * Need Effects: Fun 1
 * Skill: Body
 * Hobby: Music & Dance
 * Rooms: Living Room
 * Community Sort: Miscellaneous
 * Warm Up: Sim gets into athletic outfit and does simple excercises on the barre. Benefits include Body skill, Music & Dance enthusiasm, fun and hidden dancing skill. Warming up decreases hygiene and energy.
 * Ballet Exercises: Unlock conditions are high dancing skill and the ballet barre career reward. This interaction lets sims dance gracefully on the barre and show off their skill. For sims that reach level 10 in Music & Dance, there's another benefit. Your sim will be so much in the zone that they (and you) will hear ballet music and an audience cheering.

The Formidable Formicarium
Once placed, the ant farm gets to work. Every three hours, tunnels will show to reflect the work being performed by the ants inside. After six hours, the ant farm is complete. To reset the ant farm use the Shake interaction on the ant farm.
 * Price: $185
 * Initial Depreciation: $27
 * Daily Depreciation: $18
 * Depreciation Limit: $74
 * Need Effects: Environment 2
 * Hobby: Science
 * Rooms: Study, Living
 * Community Sort: Miscellaneous

Interactions:
 * Observe Ants: Child or older can observe the ants for fun and science enthusiasm.
 * Shake: Sim shakes ant farm, reseting the interior to its original state. As well, there's a chance the ants will fall on your sim, causing the same effects as poison ivy i.e. drops is fun and comfort and stopping every-so-often to scratch.

One Man's Junk Car from Mechanically Minded
The restorable car must go through several stages before it can be used. There are two sections that must be worked on before you can paint the car; the engine and the body. When working on the engine, watch out for explosions as they cause the sim to stop working. When working on the body, you don't have to watch out for explosions but take care as this project really drains their needs. Once both parts are finished, choose a colour to paint the car. After that, it becomes a fully functional car that acts like the cars from The Sims 2: Nightlife.
 * Price: $800
 * Initial Depreciation: $120
 * Daily Depreciation: $80
 * Depreciation Limit: $320
 * Need Effects: Comfort 6, Energy 2, Fun 5
 * Skill: Mechanical
 * Hobby: Tinkering
 * Rooms: Outside

Interactions
 * Work on...:Choose between the body and the engine. The engine has three stages of completion but little explosions can knock your sim out of working on the car. If this happens, reperorm the interaction. The body has four stages of completion but your sim will work non-stop if their needs stay high enough.
 * Rev Engine: Sim gets in the car and tests the engine out. The effects correspond to the three stages of completion. Smoke means the engine is still in its first stage and no smoke indicates the second stage. The third stage is indicated by the completion of the engine.
 * Paint...:Select a colour to complete the car. If you don't like the colour you can actually re-decorate the car anytime you wish. After the car is painted, it spawns all the interactions as the cars introduced in The Sims 2: Nightlife. You can also sell the car, if you own Open for Business, on a business lot.