When looking for Collectibles does the game use my eyes or my sims eyes

Someone can edit the title if they want

Just got sims 3 and I found a Yellow Gem when walking from my house to a neighbors house.

Question: does my sim have to be in a "visible range" for the collectible to appear on the map? Or can my sim stay indoors (he/I hate the outdoors) and I scroll through the map to find them?

I know later there is a device that helps you find them.

Solution 1:

The game uses "your eyes". The point is that the collectibles are there whether or not your Sim sees them, such as in real life. Static things such as rocks and seeds in the Sims 3 generally do not appear and disappear as your Sim gets near them or far from them. And the clusters of insects and small animals if you have Pets stay around the same place.

You can have your Sim locked up in a closet and still be able to find a lot of collectibles just by scrolling and rotating around the map.