The Magazine Kit adds functional magazines to the Sims 4. Instead of empty props or imagined activity inside a tent, the Magazine Kit has magazines with useful effects. I tried to avoid making this a cheat mod, since you can just cheat your skills already. I was hoping to simulate the effect of reading a magazine.
There are currently ten magazines. Each one provides a buff that speeds up skill increases 50% for the skills that are appropriate to the magazine, eg. reading Fitness Magazine makes it easier to learn fitness skills. Aside from granting the initial skill if not present, reading a magazine doesn’t increase the skills themselves, like a skill book. They just make learning the skill easier for about two hours after reading the magazine. They also provide a skill appropriate mood to go along with the magazine, such as Energized for Fitness Magazine.
The magazine’s effect also makes the reader have a higher effective value in the related skill and they will be more likely to autonomously perform actions related to that skill. Note: Some actions take the effective skill level into account, but some don’t. Most of the Base Game activities do (fishing, gardening, programming). Many pack-related activities, such as Rock Climbing, do not, but the effect will still cause your Sim to learn Rock Climbing faster.
Some magazines also provide recipes, such as food or fabricator designs, or fishing tips in your Sim’s notebook. Each magazine will only provide one recipe per reading session. Many of the magazine effects also allow use of social conversation topics reserved for higher skill levels in the related skill (such as ‘Provide Advice on…’), since we all know that reading a magazine article makes you an expert (at least for a little while).
Reading a magazine is considered a preference activity, meaning that Sims who like cooking will enjoy reading Better Food and Beverage, while Sims who don’t like cooking will not. Finally, many of the magazines will satisfy the urges for traits related to the magazine. Sims with the Art Lover trait can get their ‘art fix’ from looking at the pictures in the Journal of Visual Arts.
Reading a magazine is also meant to be a warm up activity. Before you workout, read Fitness Magazine first for tips, before going to an art gallery, read the Journal of Visual Arts, etc. You will gain more skills and receive more positive mood buffs. Reading Better Food and Beverage before cooking results in higher quality food and drinks.
The magazine’s effects kick in about 10-20 minutes after a Sim starts reading, and lasts for two hours each time (currently, but may tweak the duration a bit).
Credit : Simsonian Library