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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 2:55 PM
Default University. . . or not University? Should I or shouldn't I?
I have been vaguely wondering about adding the University EP to my game for some time, but yesterday I found a second-hand copy in CEX for £1.50 (about 2 Dollars or 2 Simoleons) and bought it. So now what was only a vague idea before is a very real possibility. I'd just need to put the disc in the drive and a few minutes later, my Sims would be able to go to university. But I'm not at all sure that I want that, and even less sure that I want it just yet. Up to now I have played eternal teens (with aging off) and I enjoy playing them. Will they all want to go university, and will they lose interest in everything else? My plan had been to (possibly) install University in about a year's time, to allow Andrew, my original Sim, to maximise his cooking skills, feed the headmaster on home-cooked lobster thermidor, and get into private school, thus proving that the said headmaster was wrong when he rejected Andrew on his very first day in the 'hood. Following discussion in another thread, I would now also like to play him and his friends for a while in a Simlogical "alternative" private school, with a (very) relaxed dress code, where pupils would be encouraged to express their creativity and individuality in a relaxed setting, rather than just cram for exams. And, then, maybe go to university. I'm rather reluctant to give up that vision.

In short there are an awful lot of questions I want to ask about university before I install it. I read the little Maxis manual last night and that answered some of my questions. It seems that students normally study for 4 years and there are two semesters in each year of study? I'm sure each semester is only a few days long but I can use Pescado's College Clock to extend that indefinitely so it's like my normal aging-off playstyle. But how many days are there in a Maxis semester? Obviously I'll want my Sims to have more time at University, not less. It seems to be difficult of not impossible to write a mod to increase Semester length, so stopping the College Clock may be the only way to do it. But, since I'm used to turning aging off, it should be ok for me.

The Maxis manual clarified at least one problem for me -- the names used for students in different years of study. I take it these are in common use in the American system but the word "sophomore" was totally new to me when I came across it on MTS. This is what I think these terms mean:
Freshmen: 1st year students of both sexes. 1st and 2nd Semester. In the UK new students are sometimes called "Freshers".
Sophomores: 2nd year students. 3rd & 4th Semesters. I've no idea what the word really means!
Juniors: 3rd year students. 5th and 6th Semesters. A bit like Junior Honours students at a traditional Scottish university, but it seems that it also applies to Sims not taking Honours.
Seniors: 4th year students.7th and 8th Semesters. Again a bit like Scottish Senior Honours students, but the term applies to all graduating Sim students. Scottish students raking ordinary degrees (at least in Arts and Social Sciences) usually graduate after only 3 years. (English universities have even shorter courses.)
Am I right?
Myself I studied in Scotland and Germany. In Scotland four year Honours courses are the norm, but traditional universities don't use Semesters. (At least they didn't in the 1980's when I was there.) Instead they teach in 3 terms of about 10 weeks each with degree exams at the end of the third (Summer) term. I came across Semesters in Germany, but Germany then was the home of the perpetual student. Students would tell me, "I'm in my 13th Semester and I'll maybe do my Intermediate Exam (Zwischensprüfung) the year after next."! The government was trying to bring in the idea of fixed course length, and it was very unpopular with the students. So, even in the basics, my Sims experience of university will be a bit different from my own.

A lot of my concerns are about teens who really are not ready for university yet. One question that is immediately important is, do teens get university wants as soon as I install the EP, or do they only get them when there is a university attached to the 'hood that they can actually go to? And, if they do get them immediately, are there any mods that can suppress these wants until there is a university to go to? I would much prefer them only to get those wants when I've given them a university to go to.

Has Tarlia made cleaned-up versions of the Maxis Universities as she has done with other neighbourhoods, and, if so, what do I gain and lose by using her versions rather than the Maxis ones? For instance I don't want my Sims to go to a university where there's only one professor, because, frankly, that's ridiculous. Do Tarlia's ones have the Maxis dormies?

Then there's the question of which university to attach where. I don't like having multiple copies of the same Sim in my game, and so far I've avoided it. Each Sim exists in one 'hood in my game and in one 'hood only. Only the "universals" can turn up in multiple 'hoods. So, if I only attach one university, which would be the best one to attach to Veronaville? Because that's the one that matters most to me. The way I play, if I attach (for example) Sim State University to Pleasantview, then it won't be available to attach to Veronaville. Because that would give me two copies of the Sim State Sims. So I would be very grateful if someone could please describe the 3 Maxis universities to me, so I have some idea which one might be best where. Or would I be better with one of the Simmer-created ones? What are they like?

It seems to me I have 3 ways into University:
1) Attach a university to Veronaville and send my Sims there. That's my least likely option: if I mess that up then I'm messing up the lives of the Sims I care most about.
2) Play Pleasantview for a while and attach a university to it. I do care about Dustin, Dirk, Angela and Lilith, but I'm not as emotionally involved with them as I am with some of my Veronaville Sims.
3) Peni suggested creating an empty custom 'hood and attaching a university to that. That might be the best introduction, but it won't take me long to start to care about the Sims in that 'hood. Individual Sims with their little quirks and foibles soon become dear to me!

I think that's more than enough to get started. I'll soon think of more things to ask.

All Sims are beautiful -- even the ugly ones.
My Simblr ~~ My LJ
Sims' lives matter!
The Veronaville kids are alright.
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The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#2 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 3:08 PM
Couple of 'facts' from your comments about something I actually know about.
Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
Seniors: 4th year students.7th and 8th Semesters. Again a bit like Scottish Senior Honours students, but the term applies to all graduating Sim students. Scottish students raking ordinary degrees (at least in Arts and Social Sciences) usually graduate after only 3 years. (English universities have even shorter courses.)
Am I right?

No, most English undergraduate degrees are still three years.

Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
Myself I studied in Scotland and Germany. In Scotland four year Honours courses are the norm, but traditional universities don't use Semesters. (At least they didn't in the 1980's when I was there.) Instead they teach in 3 terms of about 10 weeks each with degree exams at the end of the third (Summer) term. I came across Semesters in Germany, but Germany then was the home of the perpetual student. Students would tell me, "I'm in my 13th Semester and I'll maybe do my Intermediate Exam (Zwischensprüfung) the year after next."! The government was trying to bring in the idea of fixed course length, and it was very unpopular with the students. So, even in the basics, my Sims experience of university will be a bit different from my own.

British universities have mostly gone over to the semester system now - it makes assessment easier.

Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
Then there's the question of which university to attach where. I don't like having multiple copies of the same Sim in my game, and so far I've avoided it. Each Sim exists in one 'hood in my game and in one 'hood only. Only the "universals" can turn up in multiple 'hoods. So, if I only attach one university, which would be the best one to attach to Veronaville? Because that's the one that matters most to me. The way I play, if I attach (for example) Sim State University to Pleasantview, then it won't be available to attach to Veronaville. Because that would give me two copies of the Sim State Sims. So I would be very grateful if someone could please describe the 3 Maxis universities to me, so I have some idea which one might be best where. Or would I be better with one of the Simmer-created ones? What are they like?

Can't answer that too well as I don't play EAxis hoods, but I would say this: Sim State I guess is meant for neighbourhoods like Pleasantview only because it seems clear that La Fiesta Tech is matched (a desert hood) to Strangetown and the other one (forgotten name) is meant to be like one of the Ivy League universities or akin to a British redbrick which indicates it would match a European setting (Veronaville) better.

Also, you can make your own you know.

Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
3) Peni suggested creating an empty custom 'hood and attaching a university to that. That might be the best introduction, but it won't take me long to start to care about the Sims in that 'hood. Individual Sims with their little quirks and foibles soon become dear to me!

I'd do this if I were you. If you get fond of the sims, you can always extract with SimPE and then reimport them into one of your regular hoods.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
#3 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 3:40 PM
However if you do decide to attach one to your beloved Veronaville just make a backup copy of the hood (Pre uni attachment) store it somewhere safe. If you decide Andrew is better off as an eternal teen all you have to do is just swap back in the backup and it's like it never happened.

But for the most part i'd install it just for the items and such available.
Scholar
#4 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 4:07 PM
Ohhhkaaay. I recommend this definitely if that's what you were referring to. And as for what college, I love all three and Maxon was right in that the three Maxis universities were meant for the original Maxis 'hoods. My personal fave is La Fiesta Tech because it feels like Strangetown. But Sim State is very easy going and simple. There are also custom 'hoods here you can use.

If you install it, teens will roll the Go to College want. But with aging off nothing will happen unless you dictate it to. You can still have forever teens. if you allow them to age and they miss college, they will get a negative memory that says they missed it. Always hated that. Not everyone feels bad they didn't go to college!

...okay, most do but not EVERYONE

And I have a question for everyone else; if he installs University does that mean he runs it off that disc or the latest expansion which would be Nightlife?

Oh, wait Andrew, did you get a combo pack of Base and Nightlife? Then you would run it off University.

"Oh look, my grandchild is now an elder. They grow up so fast. Gee, I wonder when I'll finally graduate college." Sims 2
Mad Poster
#5 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 4:08 PM
Yes backup and make sure you have it patched before you try to play after installing.

Quote:
3) Peni suggested creating an empty custom 'hood and attaching a university to that. That might be the best introduction, but it won't take me long to start to care about the Sims in that 'hood. Individual Sims with their little quirks and foibles soon become dear to me!


If so then keep the hood and add it to your play list for there are some that I even fell in love with. (Well all of them though.)
Use them as the founders of the hood is a good option.
If you can use the AGS system you can always make one that does not include Uni. if its becomes to much for you for now to play your main hoods in.

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
#6 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 4:13 PM
Dezzyboo: He would still be running off the OFB disc which came after nightlife expansion wise
Mad Poster
#7 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 4:17 PM Last edited by marka93 : 14th Oct 2016 at 4:35 PM.
Academie Le Tour would be a great fit for Veronaville. http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Acad%C3%A9mie_Le_Tour

La Fiesta Tech is great for hoods like Strangetown. http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/La_Fiesta_Tech

Sim State University is great for hoods like Pleasantview or Riverside. http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Sim_State_University

Yes Tarlia did make clean up version of them http://meetme2theriver.livejournal.com/63030.html

Each semesters last 4 days if I remember it right and teens get the wants as soon as you install Uni. to your game with knowledge sims getting them more.
There are mods out there but will have to go look them up later.

You might want to take a look at twojeff's mods at Simbology. http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=7.0

Quote:
College Adjuster (I have this on ever college lot.)
College YA Aging Fix (I have it but I am not sure if it is needed.)
Dormie Gender Controller (Never tried it though.)
Evil Cow Mascot Trophy Head (A must have after about the 3rd time of showing up.)
No Finals at Night ( I do not use it for it makes no differences to me.)
No Meeting Professors (Another must have mod.)
No Secret Society Abductions (It is very hard to get it but only use it if you don't want it to happen but you need to at least give it a try once.)
Stinky Dormies and Assignments Fix (I do not use it for my play style.)
Students Move Away from the Portal (Great mod to have.)
YA Visitors Outside Uni (I use it and they will show up downtown for you.)


You also might want to get this mod "No College Nagging" http://www.cyjon.net/node/39

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
Mad Poster
#8 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 4:48 PM
If it were up to me, I'd attach the university to Veronaville (after a backup, of course!) and then play around with the premades a while to get a handle on how it works. A lot of them are pretty fun to play!

If you like the students but don't want three different universities, you can delete the unwanted subhoods - all the students will go in the bin, and there's no graves to worry about getting unlinked.

Aside from the hacks that marka93 suggested, I also would recommend BO's dorm door hack:
http://www.leefish.nl/mybb/showthread.php?tid=935

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Mad Poster
#9 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 4:52 PM Last edited by Peni Griffin : 14th Oct 2016 at 7:55 PM.
As I said in the other thread, I think you should back up your game, install university, play in an experimental hood, and see how you like it. Then you can uninstall and restore your backup if you don't like it. Your teens will roll wants to enter University periodically, but I read this as a long-term goal and don't send them till the day before they would otherwise grow to adult. It is a real possibility for Knowledge teens to clog up their wants panels with one want for a scholarship, one want for University, and one want for private school for extended periods, but as heavily as you date your sims you'll be able to keep them platinum most of the time anyway. And scholarships can be gained all through the teen years, so you can fill those as you go instead of calling for them all at once like I do. One scholarship, however, is for teens who have been abducted, so if you get that one stuck, you've got a problem, since I know you mod abduction out.

A University semester is about 70 hours long. (I'm never sure, because I never remember to look at the bar as they walk back onto the lot after finals.) How many days this is depends on how you're playing. Although the day clock advances and resets when visiting community lots just like in the main hood, the semester clock keeps right on ticking as long as the sim in question is in a University subhood. So you can play an entire semester in one day on the lot if your sim drinks enough coffee and makes several trips out; or you can stretch it out longer by visiting main hood lots, where the semester timer stops. Also, if you have sims living together, they will probably have semesters that are slightly different lengths unless you work hard to keep them in lockstep, which I don't see any upside to. Finals come when the semester hours are used up, which can be at any time, day or night. With no community lot visits, a semester is about three days.

In addition to freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years, each student gets an optional grace period before they are forcibly ejected. I know that this grace period is 72 hours because it says so right in the pop-up. A student can use this time to visit all the old haunts one last time (graduated sims will drop in uninvited on their friends in other households a lot!), date all the dormies they hadn't gotten to yet, hang around aimlessly, or just throw a graduation party and go. Sims who don't want grad parties (yours will!) can just pick up a phone and move back to the neighborhood at any time. Once in awhile the move-out glitches and graduated sims whose party has ended or time has expired will grow up without the taxi coming to get them, but even they can pick up the phone to move out.

The term "sophomore," btw, is originally English! It appears to have originated at Cambridge and migrated across the pond before it fell into disuse over there. The "folk" etymology ("folk" here = college students with just enough classical education to be dangerous) is that it's a compound of "sophos" (wise) and "moros" (stupid). See: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/...s-for-scholars/ .

As for the individual colleges:
Sim State University is on lush terrain. The use of "State" in the name, in the US, indicates that it's a public institution that receives funds from the state government. IRL these colleges are notably cheaper for in-state residents than for students coming from out-of-state. In the game, of course, college is always free; but the ambiance is of a comfortable middle-class American university. For this reason, most people associate it with Pleasantview. The premades in residence when shipped are divided into three households: the Bright Household, the Fraternity Brothers of Urele-Oresha-Cham, and the Sorority, Tri-Var. The Bright Household contains three roommates: Allegra Gorey (Knowledge, Freshman), a Goth art students who has a crush on a frat boy but hates sororities "on principle;" Martin Ruben (Knowledge, Freshman), a nerdy art student with a brother in the frat; and Jane Stacks (Family, Junior) a physics student with a crush on the same frat boy. The frat consists of Castor Nova (Knowledge, Freshman), an unremarkable Philosophy student who has nevertheless managed to get a lot of girls crushing on him (can you say Marty-Stu? Yeah, I have a problem with Castor.); Martin's brother Joshua Ruben (Fortune, Freshman), a jock who has not picked a major and has a crush on a sorority girl; Ashley Pitts (Romance, Sophomore), who is inexplicably a Mathematics student; and Kevin Beare (Family, Freshman), a Psych student. Tri-Var has three members, all of whom have inexplicable crushes on Castor: Tiffany Sampson (Knowledge, Freshman), who is cast as the Nice Girl; Brittany Upsnott (Popularity, Sophomore), who is cast as the Rich Bitch; and Heather Huffington (Romance, Freshman), who is cast as the Heartless Beauty and wants to fall in love with Martin Ruben for some reason. Other sims waiting in the student bin are all freshmen and mostly art students: Jared Starchild (Family), Ty Bubbler (Popularity), and Sam Thomas (Popularity, and female despite the name); Erik Swain (Family); and Jimmy Phoenix (Popularity.)

La Fiesta Tech has a desert terrain and is therefore usually associated with Strangetown. La Fiesta, of course, means "the festival/party/celebration," so it's often interpreted to be a low-rigor "party school." The "Tech" in the name is short for "Technical," which in US parlance means that it emphasizes the practical applications of science and technology over liberal arts and abstract learning. If associated with Strangetown, it may be assumed to have research departments with military contracts, which affects play on the University not one bit but opens intriguing possibilities for storytellers. (My Curious brothers, for example, have working relationships with the university labs, though their primary work is done in the R&D facility at the base.) LFT starts with four households: Tri-Fruhm Sorority, Oresha-Hoh-Var Fraternity, Worthington III, and the Shifting Paradymes, a band. Tri-Fruhm consists of Monica Bratford (Knowledge, Sophomore), an Art student with no relationships outside of the sorority; Sarah Love (Family, Freshman), who has a boyfriend in the frat; Jessie Pilferson (Romance, Freshman), a Psych student with designs on said boyfriend; and DJ Verse (Popularity, Freshman), a Literature student with a friend in the band. The frat consists of Guy Wrightley (Popularity, Sophomore), a Literature student with a much-maligned face template that breeds really cute babies; Matthew Hart (Family, Freshman), an Economics student who is the bone of contention between Jessie and Sarah; and Mickey Dosser (Romance, Freshman), who starts the game on academic probation and hasn't declared a major yet. The Shifting Paradymes consist of Gunnar Roque (Romance, Freshman, drums, chinless wonder), who dresses like a biker, which sets a lot of people against him but I love him because he has a sweet creamy center; Zoe Zimmerman (Popularity, Freshman, bass), who looks exactly like Ophelia Nigmos and is friends with DJ; and Jasmine Rai (Popularity, Freshman, guitar), who had plastic surgery for some reason and whose face does not breed properly. The Worthington III family is a lone and lonely Fortune sim, Frances (sic) Worthington III, who always looks as if he's sure he's done something Terrible but can't put his finger on it. The bin students are Student Housing: Klara Vonderstein (Knowledge), Blossom Moonbeam (Family), and Warren Worthington (Fortune); Stella Terrano (Knowledge), an extremely shy alien student; and Almeric and Aldric Davis (Popularity), who look just like Castor except for their hairstyles and are billed as identical twins.

Academie La Tour is on the lush terrain and is the one you'll be most interested in, as it's usually associated with Veronaville. The name, being French, it gets lumped in with the "generic European" vibe of Veronaville by Americans. The name evokes the "ivory tower" of academia, implying to the American ear a privately-funded school that emphasizes the liberal arts and "impractical" subjects. Unlike the other two, it has no existing Greek houses and its Secret Society never quite got finished (though you can find what was probably meant to be its HQ off on the edge of campus). The households consist of the Friends, the Sharpes, and the single-person O'Feefe household. Delilah O'Feefe (Knowledge, Freshman) is an art student with a friend in each of the other households. The Friends household contains Delilah's friend Mitch Indie (Family, Freshman), a drama student billed as a "true hipster," and his buddy Max Flexor, (Popularity, Freshman), a Physics student who dresses like a jock. They both have friends in the Sharpe household, which inexplicably doesn't have a double bed even though it contains two Romance sims: Mitch's friend Jonah Powers (Romance, Sophomore), a Philosophy student, and his girlfriend Roxie Sharpe (Romance, Sophomore), a psych student, who is friends with Max. Her little brother Edwin (Knowledge, Freshman), who is Delilah's other friend, has moved in with them. The student bin families here are Ellen Frost (Fortune), Chaz Whippler (Romance), and Phineus Furley (Family); Tom Freshe (Fortune) and Emily Lee (Knowledge; looks exactly like Blossom Moonbeam); and Marla Biggs (Knowledge), who is quite possibly the cutest little shy sim of all time, though some would argue for Stella Terrano. Certainly it's a close race.

The Ruben Brothers, Jared Starchild, Tom Freshe, and Mickey Dosser all have "broken" face templates (as does Goth Boy Tricou): they were carelessly created without life stages for anything other than YA/adult. When they are aged to elder, and when they have children, the features that depend on this template are changed, pulling from some other template, often the "elf" one, which is why their children may be born with delicate features and elf ears and, on growing to adult, get different noses, ears, and mouthshapes. If you have the "argon archfix" mod, this fixes the broken templates for new sims, but not for the premades and their descendants. The prime reason to get Tarlia's versions is that she has fixed these broken templates in the premades.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Mad Poster
#10 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 4:56 PM
72 hours, actually.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Mad Poster
#11 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 5:10 PM
AndrewGloria, stop worrying and start playing (keep a backup for the tiny chance that you may want to go back) That's all.
Inventor
#12 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 5:33 PM
About the Dormie Gender Controller that Marka mentioned but never tried.
I have this mod. It basically only asks you if you want to have a male or a female dormie moving in after one of the rooms for your own playables becomes empty.
Either due to them quitting uni and moving back to the normal hood or because they graduated and also return to the normal hood.
I find that handy, because I like to have an equal mix of males and females.
So, if a male moves out, I would want to have a random male townie to move in.
And since a dormie moves in anyway, unless I would throw in a new playable of myself, I like to control at least the gender of who comes in, instead of the vanilla game deciding for me.
Mad Poster
#13 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 7:11 PM Last edited by gazania : 15th Oct 2016 at 1:18 PM.
I like the Dormie Gender Controller as well. Sometimes. I want all women or all men in one dorm.

Do you have the community college mod pack? I don't believe you do. But if you do, this is more reason to make a backup. I know of no one else who had this problem, but my neighborhoods that had young adult Sims in the main hood really got borked when I installed the community college mod; to the point where I had to go to a backup I used before I installed the mod pack, and I lost months of gameplay. Check your Uni students' UIs and make sure they all look OK (Actually, I do have another hypothesis why this happened, and I believe this explains WHY no one else got this, but this really is just a guess. I won't go into it since I believe you don't have the community college mod. If you do have the Squinge/Chaavik mod, though, there are files to stop your students getting memories of not going to school. Personally, when my non-Unis whine and groan that they didn't go, I tell 'em to get over it. Eventually, they'll stop, though without the mod, they will have a bad memory. Such is life, my Simmies.)

But at any rate, I like Uni. It opens more play possibilities. I can keep teens from getting into Uni, if I like. The game will bug you, but that's about it.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Inventor
#14 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 9:29 PM
Since you'd be installing a new expansion, a backup should be something you're doing anyway. With the backup, you can always revert to a non-uni game. It might be a pain in the behind but it will still be possible. If you're unsure about sending your teens so far away from their families, definitely check out the college mega pack. The nice thing about using it is that you can keep the college clock stopped as long as you want with very little effort. Because the college clock won't auto-start. With the college pack, it doesn't start until you specifically spawn a Semester Tester for the student. Though I do recommend downloading Larky's pop-up fix ( http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s....html#msg582720 ). Apparently, some people had issues with pop-ups regarding the student(s) that wouldn't go away or kept spawning. In that same thread, you can find and download Lion's Gold Record, which will allow a main 'hood lot to behave like a Uni lot. I haven't yet tried this, myself. My two Uni lots are one community lot and a dorm-like residence. On the comm lot, I just use the Visitor Controller to ban all but YAs.

Edit: In regards to marka's list, I personally don't consider the No Meeting Professors mod a must have. I have had students who were less than stellar in regards to wanting to do their college work, but passed with a B because they schmoozed their professors. Students can also, uh, cultivate more intimate relationships with professors, but I rarely allow that to happen. The only reason those who schmooze the professors don't get a top grade is because I also have a mod that makes Uni harder and requires the student to write a Term Paper to get the highest marks.
Mad Poster
#15 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 9:48 PM
I don't play much with professors cut I wouldn't like them to leave college without having met any. It's generally not necessary to schmooze professors for grades (and is certainly unethical!), but sometimes you have a sim who just plain would have an Inappropriate College Relationship in his or her life! (Case in point: Bad News Bev, who banged a professor for a grade without realizing he wasn't even in her major, and he brought her a cheap stove as a date reward.) And there's no reason whatsoever not to make normal friends with a professor and maintain the acquaintance in later life.

The pep squad - llamas, cheerleaders, and the oh-so-evil cow - are all annoying at first, but I've gotten to like them and would never mod them out. No, not even the cows! They have their Drama Uses.

This is one reason I recommend experimental games. Play some rounds that have no consequences, find out what truly annoys you enough to need a mod for, and what things other people find annoying that you don't.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#16 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 10:33 PM
I would suggest just attaching a maxis made uni to Pleasantview first and just see how you like it. Yes the kids will get go to uni wants even if the uni is not attached. Once you have played around with it you could try a player made uni like Brainina by Mootilda.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#17 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 10:55 PM
I wonder whether the FFS College Clock might be useful for you, AndrewGloria.
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s...php?topic=134.0
This is because I know you like to play aging off, and this gives that option for Uni time.

I would do as Jo suggests and try a uni with Pleasantview first. This way you can save your favourite hood (Veronaville) for when you've had a chance to test things out. Definitely make a backup first!

I hope you have fun! I can't really remember what Sims 2 was like without Uni, since it was the first EP. So it seems like I've always had it installed!
Mad Poster
#18 Old 14th Oct 2016 at 11:55 PM
Oh, good. I was worried there wasn't a mod that would let you just keep your sims there for as long as you want, but Simsample found one for you.

The only advice I have other than what's been already been said is that I wouldn't uninstall uni if I didn't like it. It does give the YA age group and you might find that you like that. It also has some good objects. You can ignore uni wants from here till eternity, but, personally, I would want the stuff. But then again, I'm a hoarder.

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#19 Old 15th Oct 2016 at 12:34 AM
Like drums.

As to teens not being ready, you can send a sim as soon as they teen or make a YA in the new Uni CAS. There is no having to 'get them ready', Uni is so easy and so long that any sim, even a fresh out of CAS one with zero skills can graduate with honours. You don't want to think too much about real world vs sims uni because it's nothing alike. If you set the season to autumn/fall sims can pass semesters without even doing a single term paper. They can also romance their proff, hack grades or influence poor dormies to do the work for them while they party.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Inventor
#20 Old 15th Oct 2016 at 12:38 AM
@Peni Griffin , when I said some of my sims schmoozed their professor, I was referring to being friends with them. I mentioned the other potential relationship as a separate thing. Becoming friends with the professor relevant to their major grants a sim a small class performance boost with each relationship score increase. I've had students who pushed their grades into pass territory simply by talking on the phone with their professors, no in-person interaction required.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#21 Old 15th Oct 2016 at 1:37 AM
Thanks everyone! My head is spinning at all these ideas.

There have been s couple of mods mentioned that I don't know about: What's this community college mod pack that gazania mentioned? Or the College Pack that Devon Aster mentioned?

I must mod out that bad memory for not going to college. I find it nearly as offensive as tuition fees! I think there's a mod by Squinge. Or I have thought of getting BoilingOil's No Trash Memories and configuring it to block that memory and no other ones. Or I think DiLight wrote a tutorial showing me how to write a mod myself. My Sims who go to university should enjoy it, but no one should feel bad about not going. There are plenty of other ways to get on in life! (And my Sims have been enjoying life for 4 years now without anyone going to Uni!)

I'm still debating with myself about where to play it first. That Academie le Tour doesn't have a Greek House seems to be an argument for playing another one first. Andrew says, if the university he's going to go to doesn't have a Greek House, he and Julian will have to start one. "We've got the money you know," he reminds me. Evidently it's my job to find out about Greek Houses so he knows what to do. He also keeps asking about toga parties! Do you have to live in a Greek House to go to one, or can you get invited? They do have something to do with Greek Houses don't they? When I was at university in Presbyterian Scotland, there were no llama mascots, cow mascots, cheerleaders, Greek houses or toga parties. Not even streakers!

So if my first uni isn't going to be Academie le Tour attached to Veronaville, where will it be? Peni, what do you think of me using your Land Grant University as my experimental college, rather than one of the Maxis ones? It does have Greek Houses, and it has a complete set of interesting-looking pre-mades. I'd make sure there was at least one family with teens in the main 'hood. That way I'd still have Sim State and La Fiesta Tech unused for when I play Pleasantview and Strangetown. And, you never know: experimental LGU and its associated main 'hood may turn into one of my favourites -- I originally created Andrew and Gloria just to learn to play!

Simsample I am thinking of using that clock by Pescado, but I think Devon Aster may be suggesting an alternative.

Thanks again everyone. I'll have to leave it there for now as it's well past my bedtime! I'll be back tomorrow. Good Night!

All Sims are beautiful -- even the ugly ones.
My Simblr ~~ My LJ
Sims' lives matter!
The Veronaville kids are alright.
Mad Poster
#22 Old 15th Oct 2016 at 2:38 AM
I am always in favor of anyone using LGU. Knock yourself out, and have fun with it. You could attach it to Widespot, or one of the other recently-made base game hoods, if you didn't want to spend a lot of time making a custom hood for it.

A party isn't much fun if you don't invite people! Togas can only be thrown on Greek lots. Anyone can be invited, but only YAs would show up in togas, so there's not much point inviting your friends from back home. One interesting detail: sims invited to toga parties will wander around campus in them until the next time they change clothes in the game, so a dormie whose lot isn't visited for awhile and who doesn't show up at a lot with a shower on it and take advantage of it will appear in them randomly for days. This is true even if the sim didn't manage to get an actual toga together, but showed up in a nightie or pajama pants. Greek members will show up in the main hood and on campus wearing togas fairly frequently, regardless of whether they're fresh from a party or not.

The cheerleaders and mascots are from the American collegiate sports tradition, even though the colleges don't field actual playable teams or have athletic departments. (This is probably why the coaches go around harassing random students into exercising.) When Americans play sports, they have troops of women in short flippy skirts doing organized cheers and young men dressed up to represent the team name or official mascot, who cheer, cut up for the crowd, and play pranks on their opposite numbers. (Google Spurs Coyote and Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders for samples, though those are professionals and you won't see anything up to that standard in the game.) The cheerleaders and llama mascots are presumed to represent the home team and will perform their cheers for pretty much any activity, from doing an assignment to disposing of your virginity; while the cow mascots are presumed to represent the rivals, come to cause mischief by playing pranks ranging from harmless ventrilofarts to sexual harassment. The code on all these NPCs is very strong and they're a little hard to get rid of when they're underfoot. They will crash parties and wander randomly onto both residential and community lots.

The sexual harassment is the worst thing they do and the reason so many people regard them as a menace rather than a mere game hazard, as there is a strong possibility that even if the flirt is rejected, it will be perceived as cheating by a significant other (or relative of same) who witnesses it, causing disruption of happy relationships. However, if the relationship is worth saving I always find it's salvageable with a certain amount of emotional work on both sides; and if I never saw cow mascots I would never see those glorious occasions when the SO recognizes the harassment for what it is, beats up the mascot, and continues the relationship without a blip.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Mad Poster
#23 Old 15th Oct 2016 at 3:21 AM
You can move them into a house on campus and start your own Greek House. You just pick up the phone and there's an option to apply for a charter. It's 50 bucks. The other way is to watch for people walking by wearing special suits with llama lapels. These are fraternity members. Then you have to befriend them. OR, you can go to the booty/simslice/ and look for the fraternity handbook. Putting this on your lot will cause you to be accepted immediately.

I have sims who only go to school for the partying. They usually fail out, of course, but they have a blast. Sometimes there are parties going on almost 24 hours a day.

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Inventor
#24 Old 15th Oct 2016 at 3:27 AM
Oh foot. I'm so sorry, AndrewGloria! I went to get the link for Squinge's Mega College Pack and I wonder now if it will work for you. It says University is required and it's Apartment Life compatible. I'm not sure if that means you can use it or not =( . But here is the thread: http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,96190.0.html . It does include a hack that prevents sims from getting a negative memory for not going to Uni or for having a fear fulfilled about not going to Uni.

Even if you can use it, it probably is a good idea to test run an actual Uni subhood and see if you like playing it as intended.
Mad Poster
#25 Old 15th Oct 2016 at 3:40 AM
Sorry, smorbie, the people in the black blazers with llama monograms are Secret Society, which is an entirely different thing from the Greeks! The Greeks wear togas made of bedsheets (despite togas being Roman) and live openly on campus.

We can't tell Andrew what the Secret Society is about, because it's a secret . But a playable sim has to make friends with three members to be inducted. Note that as far as I can tell dormies who belong to the Secret Society and are made playable do not count for this total! They do have all the benefits of Secret Society membership, though, so if you want to see the lot (or the handshake) without hunting down three blazered dormies to befriend, inviting one to pledge the Greek will satisfy that curiosity.

The Secret Society lots do have Something New and Dangerous on them, but your sims will be safe if they don't go into the enclosure without a leg of lamb. You'll also be able to delete the thing and never see it again.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
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