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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 7th Dec 2015 at 7:43 PM
Default Longer Seasons, Longer Skilling and Uni
So the first group of teens in Empteton are starting their last year of high school and the fall after that some will go away to college. This will be the first group to go with longer skilling and longer seasons. The longer skilling mod I have lengthens the first few skilling points to something like fourteen hours. I don't think the mod is up anymore so I don't know how to check the exact number of hours, but its quite a long time, which suits me just fine. That said I worry about it for my sims when they go to uni.

As a result of longer skilling some simply won't be able to graduate or more will finish with much lower GPAs. This doesn't bother me, romance sims and popularity sims rarely want to do the amount of work required for graduation so if they have to quit thats fine. For the sims that would be willing to put in the work I want them to have an actual hope.

One of the tings I've been thinking of requiring is that every teen going off to college have a minimum of two skill points in each skill area. Most of the Uni majors require 3-4 skill points in three areas for the sims to graduate. Requiring two points to go would prepare them to go, but not make it too easy. I've also been thinking of the many other ways that sims acquire skill points like stealing them from others, or random skill points from juicing, etc....

The other things I'm trying to figure out is seasons. I think I may just have to take that hack out for my uni rotation, because well they'd have a full year of uni with only one season. I don't think I want to lengthen my semesters to match even the five day seasons, much less seven or fourteen day ones.

I was wondering how other people configured their semesters and seasons and if anyone used any of the harder skilling mods with uni?

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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 7th Dec 2015 at 8:47 PM
I take the simple route. I ignore seasons when it comes to university. When they arrive, it's the end of summer (unless they join another household) and I just take it from there.

While I do not have any harder skilling mod, my semesters are shortened, so during university, my sims have less time to accumulate the necessary skillpoints. As a result, a lot of sims do not have a 4.0 GPA, but I see that as a good thing. They don't have any problems graduating, though, especially since they usually pick a major corresponding with their interests, and they already have points in that field or get points naturally.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#3 Old 7th Dec 2015 at 8:53 PM
I don't know if you are using Slower Skilling like I used or not, fairly sure it was called slower, not longer. I took it out. My set up was slower skilling with double aging except for teens, teens have 10 days. My experience was the skill mod didn't match. I'm someone that likes a challenge but my game had become all about skilling. To give an example I had a teen who was due to go to college in 3 days who really wanted to get his 9th cooking point. His aspiration was a bit low and I thought sure he can do that over 3 days... Nope he couldn't. Here it was summer holidays (summer holiday mod) and he was stuck inside reading his cookbook from morning to bedtime and over 3 days he could not get that point. It was at that point I decided it was too slow.

I play to wants so my teens might have skills in any area, plus all the bright ones are aiming at scholarships which take 8 points. I find wants take care of uni sims graduating, going on probation ect. I use Cyjons Uni semesters so Uni takes 8 days, plus they have 2 more after the graduating exam. 10 days at uni fits nicely with my aging mod. 18-23 years. (1 day = 6 months)

I haven't touched the season length but if I need to I adjust it with the season setter. Uni students start on the first day of the new season. So if you finished highschool at the end of Spring you would start uni at the start of summer. Some studants will sit in the college bin awhile. I don't mind a few days since my uni is so short.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#4 Old 7th Dec 2015 at 9:11 PM
I set the seasons differently in each neighborhood. LFT is summer/summer/summer/winter; ALT is spring/fall/spring/fall. No reason it has to match up perfectly with the main hood - the time scales differently so why shouldn't the seasons? And University is all about mating and skilling, so they don't need summer and winter; but LFT is a desert and should be summer most of the time.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
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Mad Poster
#5 Old 7th Dec 2015 at 9:43 PM
4x fall and no homework at all. They still need learn skills if needed.
Mad Poster
#6 Old 7th Dec 2015 at 9:43 PM
I have never bothered about when seasons start or when they end, since I send 6 students to a dorm and play all of them, so there are no dormies - they all enter and exit at more or less the same time (there are 3 dorms, with 6 playable sims in each one) Real life - We have four vacations in a year, but school/uni/college lasts pretty much through all seasons.
So while they are studying, they do get vacations - with their families - at least once for each student (with siblings too, if they are at Uni too).Or they will just go to the camping ground.
As for time - my Sims only sleep at their dorms - they leave early in the morning, go to community lots to skill, social, spend time on their hobbies, etc - and only get home late or the next day or the next night. They also work - as baristas/ bartenders/ DJs / gigging musicians/ whatever - to earn extra money. With the college clock that keeps ticking, time actually flies this way. (Sometimes one will stay behind and I will have to said that said student around on his/her own to catch up with the rest, even it it is only more or less )
As for skilling - well, some are more eager to graduate well as others, so some of them have been kicked out, failed, on probation, - if it is time for them to go home imo, they go home, because - well, they had their chances.So for those who graduated well, they are rewarded with higher career levels and pay, which they deserve They will also be able to start a business much sooner if they are so inclined.
I really enjoy playing Uni - my problem is more what to do with all the graduates afterwards! But that is a different challenge altogether.
Scholar
Original Poster
#7 Old 9th Dec 2015 at 8:56 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
I have never bothered about when seasons start or when they end, since I send 6 students to a dorm and play all of them, so there are no dormies - they all enter and exit at more or less the same time (there are 3 dorms, with 6 playable sims in each one) Real life - We have four vacations in a year, but school/uni/college lasts pretty much through all seasons.
So while they are studying, they do get vacations - with their families - at least once for each student (with siblings too, if they are at Uni too).Or they will just go to the camping ground.
As for time - my Sims only sleep at their dorms - they leave early in the morning, go to community lots to skill, social, spend time on their hobbies, etc - and only get home late or the next day or the next night. They also work - as baristas/ bartenders/ DJs / gigging musicians/ whatever - to earn extra money. With the college clock that keeps ticking, time actually flies this way. (Sometimes one will stay behind and I will have to said that said student around on his/her own to catch up with the rest, even it it is only more or less )
As for skilling - well, some are more eager to graduate well as others, so some of them have been kicked out, failed, on probation, - if it is time for them to go home imo, they go home, because - well, they had their chances.So for those who graduated well, they are rewarded with higher career levels and pay, which they deserve They will also be able to start a business much sooner if they are so inclined.
I really enjoy playing Uni - my problem is more what to do with all the graduates afterwards! But that is a different challenge altogether.


this isn't too different from how I play Uni. the most fun i had with Uni was the first round of round robin legacy. I played the founder, started her in Uni and she had to earn the money for the frat house (she did so through scholarships and working as a barista,etc..). She was interested in art and media, I don't remember if she majored in fashion or if I just decided she did, but she also had to have a silver talent badge in sewing to qualify for graduation. Also you've reminded me if worse comes to worse with the skilling I can always send them away from the university to study.

it doesn't seem like much of a cheat with the slower skill gain.

Quote:
I don't know if you are using Slower Skilling like I used or not, fairly sure it was called slower, not longer. I took it out. My set up was slower skilling with double aging except for teens, teens have 10 days. My experience was the skill mod didn't match. I'm someone that likes a challenge but my game had become all about skilling. To give an example I had a teen who was due to go to college in 3 days who really wanted to get his 9th cooking point. His aspiration was a bit low and I thought sure he can do that over 3 days... Nope he couldn't. Here it was summer holidays (summer holiday mod) and he was stuck inside reading his cookbook from morning to bedtime and over 3 days he could not get that point. It was at that point I decided it was too slow.


see this doesn't bother me. first its a rare teen to master any skill irl, so the fact that the teen would have to sacrifice his or her summer to do it is acceptable to me. it creates a sense of value in my game play to have a situation where sims have sacrifice something for what they want. also with 14 day seasons there is generally time to skill and still a little time for summer fun.

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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#8 Old 9th Dec 2015 at 9:03 PM
I would need a longer age mod for that to be acceptable. My teens have 10 days and my YA have 10 days. So basically not enough time for the slowness of that mod. It seems fine at toddler and child level since they have 8 and 14 days and are working on lower skills. I would not have minded say 2 days of summer sacrifice but 3 days-not to achieve it, well that's nearly a third of that kids teenage years. Almost makes me want to give teens more days but that would throw out my 1 day is 6 months aging that is working for the other age groups. Nothing is perfect.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
Original Poster
#9 Old 9th Dec 2015 at 9:48 PM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I would need a longer age mod for that to be acceptable. My teens have 10 days and my YA have 10 days. So basically not enough time for the slowness of that mod. It seems fine at toddler and child level since they have 8 and 14 days and are working on lower skills. I would not have minded say 2 days of summer sacrifice but 3 days-not to achieve it, well that's nearly a third of that kids teenage years. Almost makes me want to give teens more days but that would throw out my 1 day is 6 months aging that is working for the other age groups. Nothing is perfect.


my teens have 112 days, basically two full years. so far they're required to earn at least one skill related scholarship for school. with slower skill gain earning the necessary points for just one scholarship takes time and dedication, that's why i am concerned about them being able to complete uni, especially this first group. i didn't really think it through before i installed slower skill gain and a couple other mods. maybe i should go flunk out a townie just to see how they do???

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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#10 Old 9th Dec 2015 at 10:19 PM
112 days should be easy. I use Double aging (except on teens) But even with toddler-8, child 14 and teen 10 I only had 32 days max and my rule was 3 scholerships. You can see how my game had turned into a big skillathon. Are you using Hat's age mod? I know I tried it once but what is it, 12 days for toddlers and 32 for kids? That was a bit too much for me. At 112 days I would definitely use slower skilling.

How long is your uni set for? I have a few with no want to skill who still scrape through and only 1 on academic probation. Pleasure sim who got there because his father is the Mayor. I have allowed his friends to help by calling him over for a game of chess or inviting him to do group research. Another sim POP, was down 2 skill points that she never was bothered about, still got through at 3.1. This is with term required as well. My uni has been all over the place, I posted about it on the whats happening thread. I went from 48 hour semesters to 36 back to 48 and now CJ's 8 days with only 1 exam over 2 semesters. Less time but actually more time since they are only working towards 4 exams instead of 8. Even though it's short it feels longer.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
Original Poster
#11 Old 9th Dec 2015 at 10:43 PM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
112 days should be easy. I use Double aging (except on teens) But even with toddler-8, child 14 and teen 10 I only had 32 days max and my rule was 3 scholerships. You can see how my game had turned into a big skillathon. Are you using Hat's age mod? I know I tried it once but what is it, 12 days for toddlers and 32 for kids? That was a bit too much for me. At 112 days I would definitely use slower skilling.


I don't think it will be impossible for the next generation, but for this first one I started adding mods and changing things up after they were already well into childhood. since I didn't make them skill a lot as children I suddenly found myself looking at teens with very little skill and wondering what I should do about it. I tend to keep my teens busy with summer jobs and seasonal hobbies so their time spent skilling is a bit limited.

Quote:
How long is your uni set for? I have a few with no want to skill who still scrape through and only 1 on academic probation. Pleasure sim who got there because his father is the Mayor. I have allowed his friends to help by calling him over for a game of chess or inviting him to do group research. Another sim POP, was down 2 skill points that she never was bothered about, still got through at 3.1. This is with term required as well. My uni has been all over the place, I posted about it on the whats happening thread. I went from 48 hour semesters to 36 back to 48 and now CJ's 8 days with only 1 exam over 2 semesters. Less time but actually more time since they are only working towards 4 exams instead of 8. Even though it's short it feels longer.


Right now uni set on maxis 72hrs clock. Uni often seems both too short and absurdly long to me. On the one hand there isn't all that much to do with the amount of time alotted or the way it is set up so it feels really long. on the other hand the ticking clock makes me feel as if i have no time at all with Uni.

I'm confused about Cyjon's mod. Is the total time in Uni only 8 days?

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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#12 Old 9th Dec 2015 at 11:06 PM
Yes, only 8 days. I changes things so while the UI still looks the same sims don't go to an exam at the end of the semester. The bar that shows the semester eg Freshman semester 1, well you see it fill going across both semester 1 and two. Probably hard to visualize, but it makes 8 days from start to graduation exam and only 4 exams. I then give the kids 2 extra days (since the game offers a sim 72 hours after graduating) to party. I move them to one of 3 luxurious lots, more like hotels and let them have a couple of wild days. I would not have minded a few more days, but I can't mod. My next choice was 48 hour semesters with 8 exams but that actually felt like less time because of all the exams. I think I had 12 days of uni with that (6 years) with no after party days I would send them home right away. This way the kids go at 18, have 5 years and come home at 23. I am probably far too pedantic about keeping ages in sync. This doesn't even take into account the young adults I have that stay in the main hood, those I have to keep track of days manually.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Theorist
#13 Old 9th Dec 2015 at 11:42 PM
My Uni is set to permafall -- I like the pretty leaves and the skill boost. (shrug)

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Inventor
#14 Old 10th Dec 2015 at 1:28 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Annaminna
4x fall and no homework at all. They still need learn skills if needed.

Because the cafeteria workers and their food are pretty crummy (in my humble opinion, anyway), the majority of my Simmy dorms have -- at minimum -- a refrigerator, a 2x2 veggie garden, a leaf-dropping deciduous tree and a compost bin; some may have an orchard tree or three as well (or instead of the veggie gardens and compost bins, in one or two cases). So while Fall's useful for Skill-building (and for raking piles of future compost), I also need at least one Spring, as plants planted during Spring tend to have the best harvests as far as fruit health goes (and fruit quantity as well, if some sources are to be believed).

My SSU subhood presently has all four seasons in the usual rotation, but I've been considering nixing Summer (as it doesn't really contribute more than the occasional sunstroke) and Winter (which drops snow, which eats up my precious piles of leaves) and replacing them with an extra Spring and an extra Fall...rather like the climate that Takemizu Village has, come to think of it.
Mad Poster
#15 Old 10th Dec 2015 at 1:57 AM
I've mentioned my system a bunch of times in the past, but I'll do it again. I think I may be the only person that likes it, but who knows, maybe a second appears one day :P

Rather than using a mod to slow it down, I have decided to interpret skills as being age-based. For example, a child who can cook anything at all is generally considered a good cook, because at their age it is more skill than average. An adult however needs to know a lot more to be considered a good cook. Similarly, a painting from a child does not have to be Monet to be considered impressive, whereas an adult needs to make something a lot better to be considered good at drawing/painting. To me, this translates to that skill level 8 on a Sim child is not the same as skill level 8 on an adult Sim.

Therefore, skills reset when Sims age up, because they are older and expectations and demands are higher, so what was previously high skill is now not considered as high. It does not reset completely, but at best they keep four points. The exact conversion rate is not set in stone, I factor in interests and hobbies when making the decision. But generally 10 -> 4, 8-9 -> 3, 6-7> 2, 4-5 -> 1, 1-3 -> 0. They may get bumped up a step if they have a strong interest/high enthusiasm in something I interpret as making them more likely to know things related to the skill. For example, a Sim with cuisine as OTH may get to keep an additional cooking skill, or a Sim very interested in health and high enthusiasm for fitness may keep an additional body skill. Or a Sim with high interest in sports and a desire to become a hall of famer might get to keep an additional body point.

It may seem odd to others, but it works really well for me. My Sims live a very long time, and this system means they can skill a bunch at each age, if they want to, without running out of things to do. Skilling while younger gives some advantage, but even if you did not skill at all, you can still catch up. Skills in general are becoming less important in my play-style. I've evolved away from the perfect-life thing that so many of us do in the beginning and less skilling is a consequence of that. Sims don't always go for good grades, or promotions, and thus skills are not so important.

As for how I deal with seasons, I modded them as well. A year in my game is 24 days, so Sims are at University for a full year. Everyone gets to enjoy every season once, during their studies. I rarely make use of the fall-bonus to skilling, not on purpose any way, but at least they all have a chance

Not very helpful on the topic of harder skilling via mod, but that's how I do it, any way

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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#16 Old 10th Dec 2015 at 2:21 AM
I'm sure other people do that gummi, the simblender has a plug in to limit skills. I don't have any such rules but now that I have removed harder skilling I have to stop myself from sending them to skill so much.

My game is set up with motivation levels/smartness. Low motivated sims cannot be directed directly to skill (can be asked to join) even if they have a want to. Kind of like how sometimes you wish you could do something but just don't have enough will power to even try to learn. I don't have many of those sims and they may not even stay that way. Philip who is on probation was such a child but his mother being highly motivated encouraged him enough to raise him by 1 point, just enough to make him scrape in as normal/avergae. Average sims may skill if they have the want (but he never wants to skill) and highly motivated/very smart sims are set as smart on the batbox and often skill a lot. I did stop myself telling one very bright youngster to skill on her school holidays but then she went and played chess anyway. So a child with a heap of cooking points either adored the cooking toy as a toddler, or is highly motivated/gifted and kept wanting cooking points.

My seasons Autumn, spring, spring, summer and that goes for uni too. I am thinking of changing the shopping districts but I can't have winter since then I would want to go out and download another gig or more of winter clothes. My medieval hood has winter though so I still get to see it occasionally.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
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