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University is driving me crazy!

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  • ParmaViolet87ParmaViolet87 Posts: 1,800 Member
    edited November 2019
    muzickmage wrote: »
    The issue mainly is the time factor to complete tasks. When it takes your sim over an hour to eat a bowl of cereal, or 30 minutes to walk down a flight of stairs, any interuptions to those tasks can really be taxing when your sim is on a tight time budget. Sims commnonly take over an hour just to shower. And don't even get me started on the minutes that fly by in between task commands when they are just standing there doing nothing while you wait for them to finally activate the next task in the queve.

    Not to mention the extra time you need to get to commons and have a decent meal....

    Yeah I'm struggling with time management too. My Sim became so antisocial she was crying all the time.

    I struggle with keeping up with Sims needs as it is. I spend about 70% of my gameplay making them eat, shower, pee etc rather than build relationships and skills. I hop on the aspiration awards as quickly as they are available.
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  • gothprincess4evergothprincess4ever Posts: 2,130 Member
    muzickmage wrote: »
    The issue mainly is the time factor to complete tasks. When it takes your sim over an hour to eat a bowl of cereal, or 30 minutes to walk down a flight of stairs, any interuptions to those tasks can really be taxing when your sim is on a tight time budget. Sims commnonly take over an hour just to shower. And don't even get me started on the minutes that fly by in between task commands when they are just standing there doing nothing while you wait for them to finally activate the next task in the queve.

    Add to that the time management scheme of keeping your needs up to par. I had my sim's social down to a bit less than half. I used the microphone to tell jokes to raise her social and fun at the same time. It took nearly 5 sim hours to get her social bar back up to full. And that's with the microphone replenishing 2 arrows. By that time she was tired, and half starved. So I had her eat, then go to bed. By the time she woke back up she was a bit hungry again, her social need was down again a little, she needed a shower, and of course, by the end of fixing all of that, she was 10% on her way to needing more sleep.

    Then EA/Maxis expect our sims to have 2 hours to do homework for each of 4 classes, plus term papers, presentations, research, time to go to classes, AND lets not forget the partying and relationship building. Lets all save time for that too.

    Edit:
    .....(correction) Actually, it just took my sim just 4 sim minutes to walk up a flight of stairs. So I was wrong on the 30 minute claim.

    Honestly, this is what somewhat bothers me as well, especially if you have a lot of Mods and CC installed. The task bar is glitchy as well, even in a vanilla game it doesn't queue up the actions the way it ought to. I will be honest, it doesn't happen a lot in my game, but when it does the time sequences become even slower.
  • gothprincess4evergothprincess4ever Posts: 2,130 Member
    SERVERFRA wrote: »
    Getting ready for University.
    1. Make Vampires sun restistant.
    2. Have Spellcasters read all the magic books.
    3. Choose Hardly Hungry, Seldom Sleepy, Long Lived, Carefree, Shameless, Heatproof, Iceproof, Waterproof & Storm Chaser Traits for Sims.
    4. Maximize some skills, eg; Charisma, Handiness, Logic, Mischief & ResearchDebate.

    Hehehe, this sounds like a pretty neat preparation, especially for Vampires and Spellcasters! I need to do them, too, in my own game.
  • meeounmeeoun Posts: 2,173 Member
    I am annoyed my sim has to take one more class to graduate because she failed her baking elective. Who fails baking.:joy:

    Sounds like me in real life. I majored in chemistry. My first two semesters (17 credits each) were awful, but I still managed to obtain a 4.0 GPA. My school advisor suggested that I take an elective to try something new and to de-stress the following semester. I took "World Music: Journey of Culture", because it sounded fun. LOL. I almost failed that class because I had the most difficult time distinguishing the different drum and flute sounds from various countries of Africa. World music ended up being my achilles heel to my gpa (finished with a D) and therefore my most stressful class in university. 🙁🙁
  • WallSims4everWallSims4ever Posts: 755 Member
    That's a great thing that we finally have a bit of difficulty in Sims 4. But yeah, taking too many classes can be quite stressful. I think the best setup is 2 classes if your sim is very social or 2 classes and an elective if your sim is more focused.
  • ANNETTE1951ANNETTE1951 Posts: 520 Member
    meeoun wrote: »
    I am annoyed my sim has to take one more class to graduate because she failed her baking elective. Who fails baking.:joy:

    Sounds like me in real life. I majored in chemistry. My first two semesters (17 credits each) were awful, but I still managed to obtain a 4.0 GPA. My school advisor suggested that I take an elective to try something new and to de-stress the following semester. I took "World Music: Journey of Culture", because it sounded fun. LOL. I almost failed that class because I had the most difficult time distinguishing the different drum and flute sounds from various countries of Africa. World music ended up being my achilles heel to my gpa (finished with a D) and therefore my most stressful class in university. 🙁🙁

    OMG, you really cracked me up, lmao
  • sennawalessennawales Posts: 192 Member
    Something I’ve noticed is that many people think that an elective is somehow different from a core module. The only difference is the skill you need to do the class, but it’s still a full module, so 3 and an elective is 4, you’re doing 4 modules.
  • pepperjax1230pepperjax1230 Posts: 7,953 Member
    Will now its driving me crazy because random sim have just been walking in the house . Its a residential lot on campus so I think it might just be a bug though I don't know. But Angela Pleasant decided to just random come in and clean my sims sink. :joy:
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  • ParmaViolet87ParmaViolet87 Posts: 1,800 Member
    Will now its driving me crazy because random sim have just been walking in the house . Its a residential lot on campus so I think it might just be a bug though I don't know. But Angela Pleasant decided to just random come in and clean my sims sink. :joy:
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    I've had this problem too! Sims would just walk in uninvited and there was no option to ask them to leave. Although I had it before the patch and installing DU. It happened a lot in Sulani though, so not sure if it was something to do with the world or my game.
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  • bshag4lvbshag4lv Posts: 9,374 Member
    This pack has been a learning curve for me...I did not expect such a complex pack and I am loving it!

    I've got it downpat now, 2 classes and an elective, and any more than that is hair pulling, lol. I went into b/b mode and remodeled every dorm, pub, student housing I could because EA's really, really sucked. :D Now my students have comfortable settings in which to learn. I put a fridge and counter with coffee pot outside every elevator, with a pub table and chairs. I made a couple of basements with convo pits along with a couple of treadmills and a small shower room. I have to laugh, I remember Sims 3 University and most of it was keg stands and streaking. :D I seem to be losing a lot of sleep playing this pack...last 2 nights were very late nights and I haven't done that since Sims 2 and 3 days. :D

    Probably one of my most favorite packs now! Thanks EA!
    In my house, dog hair sticks to everything but the dog.
  • JAYSIMMS2004JAYSIMMS2004 Posts: 31 Member
    Same here. I tried the 4 classes the first time and it was horrible. My sim ended up being put on probation because he worked and went to school and was always tired. Next go round I'm choosing 2 classes.
  • OldeseadoggeOldeseadogge Posts: 4,973 Member
    They pushed realism hard with this pack, didn‘t they? If you want to be an A+ student you can kiss sleep and parties goodbye.

    Same in the TS2 version. At least there one has the 'maxMotives' cheat in case of emergencies.
  • mkdark0mkdark0 Posts: 2 New Member
    University life in sims 4 is definitely hard. Sims 3 was much easier. However, to do homework fast since it takes up much of the time you have to do this: You can give your university statue an offering for academic success which makes homework a little faster, you can level up in the research and debate skills, cheat on homework or other projects, organizing your time wisely (such as doing homework only for classes that are the next day), or even get mods to have homework faster. Honestly, 2 hours of homework is unrealistic. In the mod that I linked you can choose how long you want your sims' homework to be. 10, 25, 50 min. I personally like 50 min because it's the most realistic and it's the perfect amount of time I'm willing to dedicate to homework. Honestly, university is hard, and partying is pretty uncommon if you want good grades. This mod is a really great help though.
    Mod Link: https://scarletsmods.com/2019/11/15/faster-homework-university-edition/
  • jimbbqjimbbq Posts: 2,734 Member
    I find student from home easier as the sim just disappear at the front door instead of having walk slowly to the class building. It saves a lot of time especially if you study at foxbusry.
  • calaprfycalaprfy Posts: 3,927 Member
    Simply go to the library in Britechester 2 hours before class time. Your sim will then leave, jump straight into a loading screen, then will instantly be in class.
  • AninaBeanaAninaBeana Posts: 37 Member
    I rarely played University but when I do, I usually use UI cheats to ensure that my sims' needs are A1, other than that, I have them do their work with no sim contact EVER. I noticed that if my sim tries to interact with her roommates, she won't do her work at all, and there was one instance where she ended up failing a course because she was being so much of a chatterbox.

    Things that I do:
    - do ALL presentations as soon as they're put into the sims' inventory and have them present it the next day (preferably in the morning if their classes are later on in the day)
    - If you are ok with using mods, use UI Cheats by Weerbesu to cheat your sim's needs, it'll make gameplay a whole lot easier
    - lastly, my personal favorite, throw the whole game away! it leaves you and your sims stress-free :)
    Feel free to add me on the Origin gallery: AninaBeana

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  • PegasysPegasys Posts: 1,135 Member
    While I enjoy University it drags on too long for me. I know how to have my sims can graduate with A or A+ GPAs, but it's a slog. So in the past I've used a mod that reduces the number of credits. It works very well.

    However, for my latest sim I decided the mod was too cheaty, and she was going to have to slave through the 12 credits, living at home. But this time, I tried something different. I'd make sure she did the presentation, wrote the term paper, both of excellent quality. She'd go to all the classes and exams, but I would never, ever direct her to do the regular coursework.

    I hoped with this laid back approach, she'd be able to have fun and hopefully scrape through with a C average. Occasionally she would autonomously start working on her homework, but would never complete it on her own.

    It didn't end well. She finished the term with something like a B, C-, D, and an F, and was put on probation. Because she failed a class, she now needed 9 more units, and therefore couldn't complete her degree by the end of the Young Adult stage. Ugh! I have no choice now, but to have her drop out >:)
  • GrumpyGlowfishGrumpyGlowfish Posts: 2,207 Member
    The best advice I can give is to study from home. There are no benefits to living on campus apart from being able to attend festivals on location without a loading screen, but if your sim has time for that, you're probably taking it slow anyway. I tried it once and hated every single day of it.

    Studying from home grants you a fully functional kitchen and optional company by playable roommates/family that don't study and can take care of things like cooking and cleaning while your student focuses on university. It also means that when it's time to go to class, your student just steps out of the door and disappears, rather than having to walk all the way to the right building (which is especially painful in Foxbury with its many, many stairs, the bikes that came with the same pack are basically useless there).

    Of course, being a vampire or spellcaster helps, as well as building the Research & Debate skill (level 3 means faster homework) or simply not cramming your schedule with four classes, but I always do the latter because as a rotational player, I don't want to be stuck with the same household for more than three consecutive weeks. So yeah, university is definitely a challenge that you have to learn how to handle first.
  • asimbsimasimbsim Posts: 476 Member
    edited January 2021
    If you don't mind mods, there is a great one that reduces the amount of time it takes to do homework. It really makes a difference and gives sims loads more time to actually enjoy being at university. Highly recommended:


    [link removed - EA_Leeloo]
    Post edited by EA_Leeloo on
  • HandelHandel Posts: 395 Member
    Yeah I usually tend to take 3 classes at a time, rather than 4 with one of them potentially an elective, depending on the job I have in mind for the Sim. Then again, I'm on the Long lifespan and have time and days to spare on 4 weeks of University. Besides, the idea I always had for University was that if you were good, you'd get it done in 4 years! (I did not. Got to my mid-twenties before getting a bachleors that I do nothing with! hahahahaha)

    I kinda wish there was an undecided option where you can just customize some courses and sort out a major based on what classes you were focused on but -shrug-
    Townie/NPC lore nerd!
  • AineAine Posts: 3,043 Member
    edited January 2021
    Even with aging off university takes too long. I can get mods to make the work go faster, but it still takes forever if you do 2 classes per term. So I might have to have my sims max out the relevant skills before I even join university, starting as a teen, so I just breeze through it with 4 classes per term instead, and see if it's more enjoyable. In just can't do 6 sim weeks of university, it's just too much while also trying to max out skills.
    Allons-y!

    ---> Afterlife Game Pack Idea - improved ghosts, cemeteries and funerals, psychics, new skills, new career and more! <---
    ---> Burglary Stuff Pack Idea - Burglars, alarm systems, and diamonds to steal!<---
  • asimbsimasimbsim Posts: 476 Member
    Aine wrote: »
    Even with aging off university takes too long. I can get mods to make the work go faster, but it still takes forever if you do 2 classes per term. So I might have to have my sims max out the relevant skills before I even join university, starting as a teen, so I just breeze through it with 4 classes per term instead, and see if it's more enjoyable. In just can't do 6 sim weeks of university, it's just too much while also trying to max out skills.

    If you do this then your sims wont be able to show an improvement in their skill building while they're at university and they'll fail their course. I found this with the photography skill, my sim had maxed it out beforehand from a previous semester, and then kept failing the classes even though he did all the coursework. I think part of the marking system is to show an improvement in skills whilst you're doing the course.
  • AineAine Posts: 3,043 Member
    asimbsim wrote: »
    Aine wrote: »
    Even with aging off university takes too long. I can get mods to make the work go faster, but it still takes forever if you do 2 classes per term. So I might have to have my sims max out the relevant skills before I even join university, starting as a teen, so I just breeze through it with 4 classes per term instead, and see if it's more enjoyable. In just can't do 6 sim weeks of university, it's just too much while also trying to max out skills.

    If you do this then your sims wont be able to show an improvement in their skill building while they're at university and they'll fail their course. I found this with the photography skill, my sim had maxed it out beforehand from a previous semester, and then kept failing the classes even though he did all the coursework. I think part of the marking system is to show an improvement in skills whilst you're doing the course.

    @asimbsim What?! How much improvement do you need to show? Do you think I can have the sim level up to 8 or something and do the last two levels while at uni?
    Allons-y!

    ---> Afterlife Game Pack Idea - improved ghosts, cemeteries and funerals, psychics, new skills, new career and more! <---
    ---> Burglary Stuff Pack Idea - Burglars, alarm systems, and diamonds to steal!<---
  • KerriganKerrigan Posts: 1,571 Member
    University was a shock because the rest of the game is very much not a challenge. University was legitimately hard and my first student failed miserably. At first I was like "wow, that wasn't fun" but I finally revisited and got a rhythm for what I needed to do. Getting homework, papers, and presentations completed as quickly as possible is a must but also never be late to class. I found 4 classes to be a rough experience but it gets you out of university a lot faster. I usually try 4 classes first semester and if I like the sims in my dorm I'll drop down to two or three the next term and make some good friends and have a little fun.
  • Nekia33painterNekia33painter Posts: 336 Member
    Always start the work when you get it, the study spot lot trait makes it so your sims learn faster, use the listen to teacher or take notes when at class and pay close attention to what classes your sims have first. You can always check in with your teacher to make sure your sims are doing well. When the teacher says "I wish the other students understand the material like you do." Or something along those lines you have gotten an A.
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