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University Still Worth It?

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I haven't played Sims 4 in a while because I mostly only play with 1 family and it can get boring. I wanted to get University (On Sale) because it's one of my favorite Sims packs. I have this Sims Fantasy where two siblings go to the same university and while one sim is in their dorm studying and enjoying the nice winter season through his window, the other is hanging out with their friends in the community area sharing stories and hot cocoa with everyone. I know that University brought a lot of things to the Sims but I'm afraid it's just going to be a pack you play with once and never use again. I don't want to just play with it for a few hours and then regret buying it. I know that it has features that can be used outside of University, but I was wondering how it has held up all this time. Do you still use University? If so, do you recommend it?

Comments

  • SheepilingSheepiling Posts: 579 Member
    I play legacies so University is always worth it to me. If my next heir is going into a career that would traditionally require a degree, then I send them to Uni in my game. Also, if I'm playing around in a side save file, I usually start out as a college student before they find love and start a life. It's also one of the few packs that adds a new occult to the game (robots). So for me this isn't a "just play it once" type of pack, but other people with different play styles might not care for it.
  • Mizzila1297Mizzila1297 Posts: 620 Member
    I really love the University pack. You can either choose to live at home or on campus, I believe, and you would definitely be able to have multiple Sims at once. Especially if you don't mind it taking longer to get a degree, because you can choose between 1 and 4 classes at a time for each separately! It's quite different from the other university packs in the way it plays with the whole education system, I love it
  • Dayvon64Dayvon64 Posts: 493 Member
    I really love the University pack. You can either choose to live at home or on campus, I believe, and you would definitely be able to have multiple Sims at once. Especially if you don't mind it taking longer to get a degree, because you can choose between 1 and 4 classes at a time for each separately! It's quite different from the other university packs in the way it plays with the whole education system, I love it

    I honestly imagined putting the terms for as long as possible so I could live on campus for a while. Is the living at home option basically like kids/teen going to school where they just leave for a certain amount of hours a day and have to do homework or is there more to it? Also, how does it feel to live on campus? Does it have a different vibe than living in a regular household or is it mostly the same? I'm really interested in the roommate system and thought that'd be fun to play with in an apartment.
  • JALJAL Posts: 1,000 Member
    edited December 2021
    There are issues to putting two sims at uni at the same time, as you can only play one if they live in a dorm. As you say, playing from home is a lot like sending your kids to school, although not all day, you send them to classes then you study at home, in a library or in the university commons. The same applies when you live in a dorm, but then you have to "run to class" and wait outside the right building before lesson to get on time.

    The things I like with university is the dorm living, studying at the commons, throwing keg-parties (though I have a mod making sims less likely to ignore the keg), and going to university activities and spending time getting to know my dorm mates. I rarely take more than three classes at once, as I like my sim to have a life as well as studying. I also like to have adults who want to progress in their careers study on the side of their job from home - it's quite a challenge.

    The things I wish were different are the studies themselves. You have three ways to finish a course (a final exam, a term paper or a presentation) and animations and actions looks the same regardless of your education. You can buy expensive books to study, but there is absolutely no need to do so as homework is enough to always get an A if you do the final project to an outstanding degree. If you go to uni a lot it gets repetitive after a while (all studies are the same). I wish there were more different task - like build a robot if your studying robotics, or paint a picture if you study art. Something to make each education feel unique and different from the others. I also wish it were possible to send several sims and still have them live on campus. I would also love for more university themed aspirations and skills, as well as skills to matter more in grades.

    All in all, I am glad I have the pack, but there are definite improvements that could be made to it.

    Oh and finally a tip, BEFORE your sim enroll, make sure you edit the dorms with the things you want there to be as you can't do that later. A thermostat is necessary if you have seasons, and I also like to put a dining table there so you can "call to meal" with all the food that your roomies bring in. That will greatly help with the socialisation of your sim.
    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
  • Dayvon64Dayvon64 Posts: 493 Member
    JAL wrote: »
    There are issues to putting two sims at uni at the same time, as you can only play one if they live in a dorm. As you say, playing from home is a lot like sending your kids to school, although not all day, you send them to classes then you study at home, in a library or in the university commons. The same applies when you live in a dorm, but then you have to "run to class" and wait outside the right building before lesson to get on time.

    The things I like with university is the dorm living, studying at the commons, throwing keg-parties (though I have a mod making sims less likely to ignore the keg), and going to university activities and spending time getting to know my dorm mates. I rarely take more than three classes at once, as I like my sim to have a life as well as studying. I also like to have adults who want to progress in their careers study on the side of their job from home - it's quite a challenge.

    The things I wish were different are the studies themselves. You have three ways to finish a course (a final exam, a term paper or a presentation) and animations and actions looks the same regardless of your education. You can buy expensive books to study, but there is absolutely no need to do so as homework is enough to always get an A if you do the final project to an outstanding degree. If you go to uni a lot it gets repetitive after a while (all studies are the same). I wish there were more different task - like build a robot if your studying robotics, or paint a picture if you study art. Something to make each education feel unique and different from the others. I also wish it were possible to send several sims and still have them live on campus. I would also love for more university themed aspirations and skills, as well as skills to matter more in grades.

    All in all, I am glad I have the pack, but there are definite improvements that could be made to it.

    Oh and finally a tip, BEFORE your sim enroll, make sure you edit the dorms with the things you want there to be as you can't do that later. A thermostat is necessary if you have seasons, and I also like to put a dining table there so you can "call to meal" with all the food that your roomies bring in. That will greatly help with the socialisation of your sim.


    This answers a lot of my questions with a lot of great detail thank you! How is University outside of well, University? I don't expect much from the roommates feature, but is it nice? Also, is there much difference between the different schools? I'd imagine they are essentially the same thing but with a different coat of paint, but does it at least feel different?
  • GageaGagea Posts: 1,274 Member
    edited December 2021
    There are issues to putting two sims at uni at the same time, as you can only play one if they live in a dorm.

    You can enroll up to 8 sims in a dorm if they have been accepted by the same university and play them but you'll have to use a cheat. ;)
    Enroll in University
    If you shift-click your Sim with testingcheats on you can access a sadly very empty University Debug Menu where you can click, 'Enroll in University' to be immediately taken to the enrollment screen.

    v0hajfxk3xbd.png
  • Atreya33Atreya33 Posts: 4,410 Member
    Dayvon64 wrote: »
    JAL wrote: »
    There are issues to putting two sims at uni at the same time, as you can only play one if they live in a dorm. As you say, playing from home is a lot like sending your kids to school, although not all day, you send them to classes then you study at home, in a library or in the university commons. The same applies when you live in a dorm, but then you have to "run to class" and wait outside the right building before lesson to get on time.

    The things I like with university is the dorm living, studying at the commons, throwing keg-parties (though I have a mod making sims less likely to ignore the keg), and going to university activities and spending time getting to know my dorm mates. I rarely take more than three classes at once, as I like my sim to have a life as well as studying. I also like to have adults who want to progress in their careers study on the side of their job from home - it's quite a challenge.

    The things I wish were different are the studies themselves. You have three ways to finish a course (a final exam, a term paper or a presentation) and animations and actions looks the same regardless of your education. You can buy expensive books to study, but there is absolutely no need to do so as homework is enough to always get an A if you do the final project to an outstanding degree. If you go to uni a lot it gets repetitive after a while (all studies are the same). I wish there were more different task - like build a robot if your studying robotics, or paint a picture if you study art. Something to make each education feel unique and different from the others. I also wish it were possible to send several sims and still have them live on campus. I would also love for more university themed aspirations and skills, as well as skills to matter more in grades.

    All in all, I am glad I have the pack, but there are definite improvements that could be made to it.

    Oh and finally a tip, BEFORE your sim enroll, make sure you edit the dorms with the things you want there to be as you can't do that later. A thermostat is necessary if you have seasons, and I also like to put a dining table there so you can "call to meal" with all the food that your roomies bring in. That will greatly help with the socialisation of your sim.


    This answers a lot of my questions with a lot of great detail thank you! How is University outside of well, University? I don't expect much from the roommates feature, but is it nice? Also, is there much difference between the different schools? I'd imagine they are essentially the same thing but with a different coat of paint, but does it at least feel different?

    How is University outside of well, University? I haven't played much with the roommate feature but have found other things in the EP that I like. Such as the 3 careers with work from home options, especially the fact that we finally got an education career. The robotics station allows you to build servos if you want to. I also enjoy the world that comes with the pack, including ponds your sims can swim. You can also live in the britechester world on a residential lot if you don't play a student. I find bikes useful as well.

    As for the two universities : they basically function the same way but have different looks. The only differences are the versions of the degrees and the student organisations. Every degree has one normal version and a distinguished version that allows you to start even a little higher in the associated careers. Half of the distinguished careers are at britechester University, the other half at foxbury. So every degree has one normal version in one university and the distinguished one in the other. You need to apply and get accepted before you can take the distinguished degrees. The other difference between the two of them is the student organisations you can join. Each uni has their own three organisations. The secret organisation is the only one that can be joined from both universities.
  • Mariefoxprice83Mariefoxprice83 Posts: 8,106 Member
    I frequently play multiple sims at university in the same household and it's never a problem.
    Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.
  • StormkeepStormkeep Posts: 7,632 Member
    JAL wrote: »
    Oh and finally a tip, BEFORE your sim enroll, make sure you edit the dorms with the things you want there to be as you can't do that later. A thermostat is necessary if you have seasons, and I also like to put a dining table there so you can "call to meal" with all the food that your roomies bring in. That will greatly help with the socialisation of your sim.

    Can you not edit the dorms once occupied in build/buy even with the freebuild cheat? I'm asking so I know if I should head over and make some changes through manage worlds or if I'll be fine because the freebuild code still works.
    This post will be edited by StormKeep at some point.
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    The Winters family Tree --- My Mods
  • Dayvon64Dayvon64 Posts: 493 Member
    I frequently play multiple sims at university in the same household and it's never a problem.

    Do you use a cheat for this? Also, do they have to be in the same dorm room?
  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,617 Member
    It's my favorite Sims University pack for the range of gameplay in it and not having to live at University but... it doesn't play nice with rotational play and NPC Sims who don't graduate with your own Sim seem to end up not graduating ever, just languishing as unenrolled and doing badly, not graduating and ending up in the Good Jobs. It really needs some fixes for rotational play and for NPCs to at least be average students and end up graduating someday. Oh. And to not enrol played Sims :(
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  • BoergeAarg61BoergeAarg61 Posts: 949 Member
    Perhaps depending on the purpose.

    Right now I have two sims at campus just to meet other educated sims to move in somewhere.
    For instance for rotational play you might like the sims to stay at home with going to university. That's a new option with Sims 4.
    On the other hand, you might like just leaving the sims on their own during each semester provided they have plenty of skills.
  • GalacticGalGalacticGal Posts: 28,294 Member
    edited December 2021
    I think I have taken a group of YAs through Uni at least three, or maybe it's four times now. I am up to taking seven Sims at a time. I have them live in the same dorm. They are two separate families, but this time one of the brothers is already married to one of the identical triplet girls. Although his older and younger brother are quickly falling for the other two trips. I'm having a blast. All of them have a GPA of A+, for the first two Terms. I load them down with four Core classes, each so they can be done with it and graduated in three Terms only. I like the challenge of Uni, still. Oh, did I mention the married Sim is also a Global Superstar, Rock Star? So, in between things he still holds (rabbit hole) concerts, photoshoots and acts in bit parts for a major movie. On Sundays, he heads off to the Starlight Accolades in the hopes of garnering yet another trophy for his shelf. He has six so far. Yay. At least it's now for his MUSIC. They just began their third term, too.

    Yes, I would say it's still worth it.

    @JAL I beg to differ with you. Play is basically the same as in town, inasmuch as you can only control one of your Sims in the household at a time. But I take SEVEN Sims to Uni to live in the same dorm. this allows me to control them. Now, I admit it can be tricky keeping up with the daily tasks but for me it's just a matter of getting my rhythm. In fact, I just learned a new trick I wasn't aware of in pervious go-arounds. I don't have to scroll down all four classes for each Sim to see what homework needs to be done. All I have to do is click on their homework notebook to see what they haven't finished. I like to get their presentation boards and those pesky Term Papers written, well-edited and submitted, too. For my young Rock Star, it's essential he gets ahead of the game, so to speak. In my mind taking two Sims through Uni would be a piece of cake.
    You can download (free) all three volumes of my Night Whispers Star Trek Fanfiction here: http://galacticgal.deviantart.com/gallery/ You'll need to have a pdf reader. New websites: http://www.trekkiefanfiction.com/st-tos.php
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  • RouensimsRouensims Posts: 4,858 Member
    My Sims use the research and debate skill, and frequent the Britechester library. But I don’t use the world as much because there isn’t much room for houses, and I rarely send my Sims to university because of the problems with rotational play. I’m glad I bought the pack, but it’s not what I was hoping for.
    Ooh Be Gah!! Whipna Choba-Dog? Whipna Choba-Dog!! :smiley:
  • JALJAL Posts: 1,000 Member
    Dayvon64 wrote: »
    This answers a lot of my questions with a lot of great detail thank you! How is University outside of well, University? I don't expect much from the roommates feature, but is it nice? Also, is there much difference between the different schools? I'd imagine they are essentially the same thing but with a different coat of paint, but does it at least feel different?

    The roommate feature is fairly nice, and can add realism to things like semidetached houses or apartment buildings (without city living) as well as being used for uni. However, there are downsides. A roommate can never be married or in a family for one. But overall, they are fairly ok.

    I do enjoy the careers a lot, especially the work from home feature which is added to some careers and which is great when you have toddlers in the household or when you're studying for an extra degree next to your average job.
    Stormkeep wrote: »
    Can you not edit the dorms once occupied in build/buy even with the freebuild cheat? I'm asking so I know if I should head over and make some changes through manage worlds or if I'll be fine because the freebuild code still works.

    I had actually never tried that before, so now I had to find out, and yes, with freebuild it works and you can edit your dorm.
    Moreover, I advise that the cart button must be destroyed!
  • StormkeepStormkeep Posts: 7,632 Member
    edited January 2022
    JAL wrote: »

    I had actually never tried that before, so now I had to find out, and yes, with freebuild it works and you can edit your dorm.
    Thank you for answering!
    I'm glad to hear that, because no matter how well I plan ahead I always end up having something that needs "correcting" in build mode once I'm actually playing a Lot. I have MCCC set to always have free build on for that reason.... LOL

    This post will be edited by StormKeep at some point.
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  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    edited January 2022
    University was one of those packs that I enjoyed playing the first time for a while. But it hasn't aged well now.

    I feel that you need to kinda make your own fun a lot with it because just playing it normally, going to class and going back to the dorms and doing all your homework and taking care of your needs while your roommates are failing at everything becomes very repetitive unless you try to do other stuff as well, but then university takes very long to complete so it doesn't play very well with rotational play or aging turned on.

    I also feel that it's a pack that is limited a lot by the game's limitations. Playing University with multiple sims offer more of a challenge and is more fun but then it becomes very frustrating because you will have to travel with both sims all the time to make sure that they are going to class. Unless you are using mods you can't edit the dorms and have to visit the cafeteria sometime.

    I had a hard time doing stuff with the organizations as well because it takes too long to visit them when they spawn outside.

    So I had fun playing it, I got a lot of nice sims from that pack, the CAS items are very good, robotics offer a lot, but also takes very long because you have to keep crafting items all the time and they keep shocking you, unless you use mods. The careers are pretty good and the research and debate skill is very useful.

    The world is not great, the town have very few lots and once I figured out how to get A+ I keep getting it every time so it has not aged well now. I'm hoping that future packs could make it more fun but Maxis keep making just kits which does nothing to improve this pack.
  • Mariefoxprice83Mariefoxprice83 Posts: 8,106 Member
    Dayvon64 wrote: »
    I frequently play multiple sims at university in the same household and it's never a problem.

    Do you use a cheat for this? Also, do they have to be in the same dorm room?

    I don't use cheats, no, but they have to be in the same dorm building, though not necessarily the same room. As far as I know it's impossible to effectively have sims enrolled in different households at the same time because time will pass and I don't know how the game handles classes outside of the active household. I suspect the inactive household would do badly. So if I want sims in multiple households to go through university at the same time the only way to do it is to enroll them and play a term, then decline re-enrollment next time and switch to the other household.
    Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.
  • Mariefoxprice83Mariefoxprice83 Posts: 8,106 Member
    logion wrote: »
    University was one of those packs that I enjoyed playing the first time for a while. But it hasn't aged well now.

    I think I've sent my sims to organisation meetings maybe twice and I bought the pack very soon after release. It just seems like too much effort for not very much reward when they have so many other things to do.
    Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.
  • ElliandreElliandre Posts: 2,468 Member
    I haven't played it in a while but working towards that degree never gets old. This is a pack I feel I need to play differently to appreciate though, like maybe take only 1 course in a semester so I'm not studying all the time and can actually join the clubs and hang out. I still don't know what the secret society thing is all about. I love the keg and game tables and clothes that came with this pack too.
  • ElisdreamElisdream Posts: 295 Member
    edited January 2022
    I think it's pretty worthing. It adds a new world where you can live anyways. The bikes, I use them for most of my sims, students or not, although it gets buggy sometimes but nothing out of this world.
    I really enjoyed moving to campus and doing homework and projects. I did remodel the dorms with cheats and that was pretty entertaining as well, giving it the vibe I wanted, but the original decoration was pretty disappointing at first. I like how the pack adds a little bit more of realism to careers, and it's something I enjoy as well with other families. I don't think getting University it's something you regret after, but it does gets a little boring with time, but it's still pretty enjoyable.
    Final grade/result:
    Nice.
    It's not outstanding, but it passes the term. 😂
  • BlueOvaleBlueOvale Posts: 740 Member
    edited January 2022
    Loading screen to eat, loading screen to sleep, loading screen to study, loading screen to relax, loading screen to attend class. Everything is a mile apart, so I strongly suggest editing your dorm. You might have time to study if you can manage all your needs, which is not so easy. One semester was enough for me to call it quits with this expac.. And you would have enough time to reach level 10 of your career before you finish earning your diploma. I like the CAS items though. I think they did a good job with the extra stuff, but the University gameplay is unbalanced and tedious
  • BeardedgeekBeardedgeek Posts: 5,520 Member
    logion wrote: »
    University was one of those packs that I enjoyed playing the first time for a while. But it hasn't aged well now.

    I feel that you need to kinda make your own fun a lot with it because just playing it normally, going to class and going back to the dorms and doing all your homework

    So... it's like the Sims.
    It is not more grindy or frustrating than than being a toddler, or going to school as a kid, or going to school as a teen, or having a job as an adult.
    Origin ID: A_Bearded_Geek
  • BeardedgeekBeardedgeek Posts: 5,520 Member
    edited January 2022
    What I do find after playing it a lot is that the "get a graduation" ambition is what makes it grindy. If you don't care for upping your debate skill to 8 or whatever you have so much more free time per semester and you'll still get A+ in all classes.
    Origin ID: A_Bearded_Geek
  • GalacticGalGalacticGal Posts: 28,294 Member
    logion wrote: »
    University was one of those packs that I enjoyed playing the first time for a while. But it hasn't aged well now.

    I feel that you need to kinda make your own fun a lot with it because just playing it normally, going to class and going back to the dorms and doing all your homework and taking care of your needs while your roommates are failing at everything becomes very repetitive unless you try to do other stuff as well, but then university takes very long to complete so it doesn't play very well with rotational play or aging turned on.

    I also feel that it's a pack that is limited a lot by the game's limitations. Playing University with multiple sims offer more of a challenge and is more fun but then it becomes very frustrating because you will have to travel with both sims all the time to make sure that they are going to class. Unless you are using mods you can't edit the dorms and have to visit the cafeteria sometime.

    I had a hard time doing stuff with the organizations as well because it takes too long to visit them when they spawn outside.

    So I had fun playing it, I got a lot of nice sims from that pack, the CAS items are very good, robotics offer a lot, but also takes very long because you have to keep crafting items all the time and they keep shocking you, unless you use mods. The careers are pretty good and the research and debate skill is very useful.

    The world is not great, the town have very few lots and once I figured out how to get A+ I keep getting it every time so it has not aged well now. I'm hoping that future packs could make it more fun but Maxis keep making just kits which does nothing to improve this pack.

    I would suggest two things. A. don't take kids through Uni back-to-back IE enter new students directly after a batch has just graduated. Allow yourself a cooling off period. And B. don't be a helicopter player. Allow some or all of your Sims to slack off a bit. Once in awhile don't have them take notes. Better still, if they were up all night working on projects or daily homework, have them fall asleep in class. This should lend itself to a more favorable gameplay, if you're tired of straight A+ grades across the board. Just sayin'.
    You can download (free) all three volumes of my Night Whispers Star Trek Fanfiction here: http://galacticgal.deviantart.com/gallery/ You'll need to have a pdf reader. New websites: http://www.trekkiefanfiction.com/st-tos.php
    http://www.getfreeebooks.com/star-trek-original-series-fan-fiction-trilogy/
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