Default Replacement Majors For Use With Cyjon's Semester Changes Mod

So, this is my offering for October 2015's "College Living" monthly theme. It is a set of twelve default replacement majors (replacing all 11 Maxis majors and the Undeclared major) that are designed to work with Cyjon's Semester Changes mod. Cyjon's Semester Changes mod alters the way that university works, so that instead of having 8 3-day semesters there are 4 2-day semesters, with a final exam at the end of each one. This means that sims are at college for 8 days instead of 24, which I greatly prefer.

I wanted to create a set of majors that made more sense to me, both with regards to being realistic (or at least vaguely realistic) as well as being in line with Maxis/EA careers (or my replacements of certain Maxis/EA careers, some of which I haven't released (yet?)). I also wanted a set of majors designed to be used with Cyjon's Semester Changes mod, as I found that the skill requirements for normal majors were too high, because they were designed to be used for sims who were in college for 8 semesters rather than 4. So, I made these to be of use in my game, and I decided to share them on the basis that others may be able to make use of them as well. It is designed to work with my major-career linkage mod, but the linkage mod is not required for these default replacement majors to work.

As this mod is specifically designed to work with Cyjon's Semester Changes mod it will not work without it. It won't crash your game or anything like that, but the majors will make no sense as the semesters that aren't used by Cyjon's mod (the odd-numbered ones) are not filled in, so everything will just be blank. So yeah, don't try to use this set of default replacements unless you also use Cyjon's Semester Changes! If you want more information on Cyjon's mod, check it out here.

These majors are default replacements - they are specifically designed to overwrite the Maxis majors. If you put these package files into your Downloads folder your sims will no longer be able to have a Maxis major, they will be given one of mine instead. The information about each major, shown below, explains exactly which of my majors overwrites each Maxis major. They can not be used with anyone else's default replacement majors, as they will conflict and only the set that load last will show up in your game. Always remember - for default replacements, there can only be one!

Oh, and I just noticed the little blue message thingie at the top of this post saying that, as this is a custom major, you will need FrikaC's Majors Made Easier to use it in your game. I didn't put that there - I assume that it is shown on all majors uploaded to this section. It's not true in this case - as these majors are default replacements you can select them using the usual selection screen accessed via the computer or phone whilst your sim is a young adult (see below for more information).

Known Issues:

When your sims choose a major using a computer or a phone, the icons on the selection screen will be the Maxis icons, not my revised ones. I don't know how to change this (or if it's even possible to do so!). When you mouse over the icons the replacement major name does come up, so that you will know which major you are choosing. See the picture below for an example.



If you use a mod, such as Twojeffs' College Adjuster, to select your sims' majors, the text in the mod will not be replaced by my major titles. This means that you will need to remember which Maxis major corresponds to each of my majors when you are selecting a major using this mod. Or just use a computer or phone instead! I don't know if FrikaC's Majors Made Easier mod also has this problem - it conflicts with something in my game, so I haven't been able to test it. If someone could have a look in their game and let me know I would much appreciate it! :-)

If you play the original residents of Sim State, La Fiesta Tech and Academie Le Tour, be aware that some of the majors that they end up with when you are using these default replacements may not make much sense according to their bio's/personalities/generally accepted canon. For example, Gunnar Roque, Jasmine Rai and Zoe Zimmerman are usually majoring in History - which means that they become Military Studies students when using these default replacements! This doesn't really work for me character-wise, so if I ever play them I will change their majors :-) There are probably other examples as well, but this is the one that particularly stood out for me! :-D

This isn't an issue as such, but I wanted to make sure that I'd mentioned it. If a sim is still studying the Undeclared major when they transition to their Junior year the game assigns them to the Philosophy major. In my set of replacements the Philosophy major is replaced by an Education major, so sims will automatically be transferred to the Education major. I have tried to make it so that the Education major's Junior and Senior year work well with the first two years of the Undeclared major, as well as the whole Education major working well in its own right.


So, on to the information about the majors. Each major has an icon, in lovely Maxis blue. Most of them are recycled from Maxis majors or careers - the Computer Science icon is the only custom one. See the image below for pictures of the icons.



Top row, left - right: Undeclared, Architecture, Biology, Business Management.
Middle row, left - right: Computer Science, Education, Law, Medicine.
Bottom row, left - right: Military Studies, Performing Arts, Political Science, Psychology.

Undeclared

Description: The Study of . . . Indecision. Sims with an undeclared major status aren't lazy, they're just not quite sure what their passion is yet. Unfortunately, a Sim student can't stay without a declared major forever. Students should get to the phone or computer to get in touch with the registrar before Junior year, or else the school might make the decision for them—and who knows what they'll pick?

Class Names: Academic Workshop: Writing More Goodly, Academic Argument: Beyond 'Did Not, Did Too'

Overwrites: Undeclared

Skills: Cooking (1), Charisma (1), Logic (1), Mechanical (1), Creativity (1), Cleaning (1)

Icon: Unchanged

Careers: N/A


Architecture

Description: Architecture: learn to design beautiful mansions, impressive office blocks and stunning shopping centres! And, you know, car parks and high-rise apartment blocks and boring retail parks......

Class Names: Introduction to Architecture: Designing Buildings That Won't Fall Down, Technical Drawing: Kind Of Like Art, But More Precise!, Computer-Aided Design: Make Any Plan Look Good, City Planning: Because Boring Buildings Are Important Too

Overwrites: Art

Skills: Creativity (4), Logic (3), Mechanical (3), Charisma (2)

Icon: Architecture Career

Careers: Artist, Paranormal, Culinary, Architecture, Journalism


Biology

Description: Biology: the study of life. Trees, Gazelles, Sims, the Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum—what makes them work? If it has cells, a biologist can study it and find out. Unfortunately, they don't know a darn thing about robots.

Class Names: Lab Techniques 1: Poking at Things with Tweezers, Beginning Dissection: Why the Frog Hates You, Inhibitor Molecules: Nature's Bureaucrats, Xenobiology: Who's Probing Who NOW?

Overwrites: Biology

Skills: Logic (4), Cleaning (3), Mechanical (2), Cooking (2), Body (1)

Icon: Unchanged

Careers: Natural Science, Law Enforcement, Medicine, Education, Oceanography


Business Management

Description: Business Management: learn to run your own business, or at least to know what's going on whilst you work for someone else!

Class Names: Self-Employment: A Basic Introduction To Avoiding Bankruptcy, Salesmanship: How to Sell Anything To Anyone (And Make A Tidy Profit!), Working With Others: The Importance Of Team Work (When You’re The Boss!), Expanding Your Business: Because More Money Is Never A Bad Thing

Overwrites: Economics

Skills: Charisma (4), Creativity (4), Logic (4)

Icon: Unchanged

Careers: Business, Politics, Show Business, Intelligence, Music

Note: When I play sims with this major I intend to use the SimBlender (or SimPE or another mod) to give them a bronze Sales badge when they finish their second year, where they've been taking a class called "Salesmanship: How to Sell Anything To Anyone (And Make A Tidy Profit!)". For me it makes sense that they would gain Sales skill taking that class, and it makes the major more useful for sims who actually want to run their own businesses after graduation......


Computer Science

Description: Computer Science: the study of computers (duh!). You can take them apart and put them back together, and you know that Python isn't just a type of snake! Computers are the future, so with a degree in Computer Science, your future looks bright!

Class Names: How Computers Work: What Does This Bit Do?, Computer Management: Keeping Your Users Happy, Computer Programming: Know Your Python From Your Java, Software Development: Yes, It Should Be User-Friendly

Overwrites: Physics

Skills: Mechanical (4), Creativity (3), Logic (3), Cleaning (2)

Icon: Custom!

Careers: Science, Medicine, Paranormal, Gamer


Education

Description: Education: learn how to help the next generation to learn things! You've heard the expression "Those who can do, do. Those who can't do, teach"? Well, teaching's a lot harder than you'd think! But if you love to learn but you're not sure what you want to do with your life, a job in education may be the right path for you!

Class Names: Schools And Society: Pupils Have Rights Too!, Managing Behaviour: Getting Pupils To Shut Up And Listen, Primary Placement: Wiping Noses And Singing "Five Little Frogs", Secondary Placement: At Least They Can Wipe Their Own Noses Now!

Overwrites: Philosophy

Skills: Charisma (3), Logic (3), Cleaning (2), Everything Else (1)

Icon: Education Career

Careers: Slacker, Culinary, Paranormal, Journalism


Law

Description: Law: learn what the laws are in SimNation - and how to use them to your (and your clients') benefit!

Class Names: Tort Law: Figuring Out Who Wronged Whom, Contract Law: Boring But Necessary, Constitutional Law: Liberty And Justice For All, Criminal Law: Putting Away The Bad Guys (Or Getting Them Released!)

Overwrites: Literature

Skills: Charisma (4), Logic (4), Cleaning (3), Creativity (1)

Icon: Law Career

Careers: Criminal, Slacker, Show Business, Adventure, Entertainment, Music


Medicine

Description: Medicine: the study of the human body - and how to make sure it remains functional for as long as possible! If you've always dreamed of helping your fellow sims, you're smart and like to work hard and you don't faint or feel queasy at the sight of blood, Medicine could be the perfect field of study for you!

Class Names: Introduction To Healthcare: Coughs And Sneezes Spread Diseases, Bedside Manner: Because Patients Have Feelings Too!, Antenatal Care: Supporting Women (And Men) During Pregnancy, Looking Ahead: An Introduction To Medical Research

Overwrites: Mathematics

Skills: Cleaning (4), Logic (3), Cooking (2), Mechanical (2), Body (1)

Icon: Medicine Career

Careers: Natural Science, Science, Criminal, Architecture, Gamer


Military Studies

Description: Military Studies: the study of war. Well, war and peace, in a way. But mainly war!

Class Names: Basic Training: Everyone Has To Start Somewhere, Weaponry And Resources: Guns And Bombs And Tanks (Oh My!), Tactical Warfare: Be Sure To Have A Plan, Leadership Skills: Inspiring Your Men (And Women)

Overwrites: History

Skills: Body (4), Mechanical (3), Charisma (3), Logic (2)

Icon: Military Career

Careers: Military, Artist, Politics, Law


Performing Arts

Description: Performing Arts: the study of all kinds of performance. Sims are born to perform, be it dancing, joking, or "busting a move". However, it is only those Sims who delve into Performing Arts that manage to transcend merrymaking and create art.

Class Names: Stage Presence: How To Officially Be The Centre Of Attention, Moving Pretentiously: A Modern Dance Workshop, The Importance Of Music: Apparently It's The Food Of Love, You Know?, Charactarization: Becoming Someone More Interesting than You

Overwrites: Drama

Skills: Charisma (4), Creativity (3), Body (2), Mechanical (2), Logic (1)

Icon: Unchanged

Careers: Show Business, Politics, Athletics, Dance, Entertainment


Political Science

Description: Political Science: the study of people and power. Those who study political science gain a knowledge of the workings of people in groups, and learn the subtle skill of manipulation and influence. This command over other Sims can lead to a number of careers, including, of course, politics.

Class Names: The Soapbox and You, Patriotism: Why Every Country is Worse Than Yours, Protesters: When to Repress, Senior Project: Questionable Fundraising Internship

Overwrites: Political Science

Skills: Charisma (4), Creativity (3), Logic (3), Mechanical (2)

Icon: Unchanged

Careers: Politics, Show Business, Military, Intelligence, Law


Psychology

Description: Psychology: the study of the mind. Everyone is aware of the complexity of a Sim's brain, but few understand its workings. A Sim is indeed a wild mix of aspirations, personalities, and base instincts - and perhaps only one who studies Psychology could understand the method behind this madness.

Class Names: Introduction To Psychology: We are too a science!, Abnormal Psychology: A Guide to Misdiagnosing Your Friends, Cognitive Dissonance: Recognizing How Broken Your Brain Is, Emotions: Don't Fear the Amygdala

Overwrites: Psychology

Skills: Logic (4), Creativity (3), Charisma (3), Cleaning (2)

Icon: Unchanged

Careers: Paranormal, Law Enforcement, Show Business, Education, Intelligence, Law


So, as you can see, I have reused various bits of Maxis majors - as well as the icons I have also used some major titles and class names. I have edited the skills for each major, though, so that it goes with the skills that are relevant to the career(s) that *I* think that it should link to - which are not the same as the ones that the game says that it links to...... The major-career linkages are apparently purely cosmetic, though, so although my default replacement majors don't necessarily show as linking to the logical careers on the selection screen (the Medicine major doesn't link to Medicine! Ha!) it makes n actual difference in terms of game-play.

I have tried to be at least somewhat amusing whilst writing the major descriptions and class names - I will leave it up to you all to decide if (any of) my attempts at humour have been successful! :-D

That's about it from me, I think. I have tested these default replacements in my game and haven't found any problems - please let me know if you encounter any issues! And if you have any questions, suggestions and so on, please feel free to leave a comment!

Additional Credits:
Thank you to Cyjon for his Semester Changes mod - I love it! I'm not sure if any of my sims would make it through college without it :-)

Thank you to Nysha for the major creation and icon creation tutorials. You're awesome!

Thank you to the makers of SimPE, as none of the things that I create would be possible without them.

And once again thank you to the mods who organise the monthly themes - I'm so determined to get all those monthly theme achievement stickers! Only four more to go! :-D