Guilty as charged.

I fall over backwards trying to show consideration for Sims. Other people's as well as my own. And if it ever did turn out that Sims were sentient beings, I think most of mine would be fairly happy with how I've treated them. But in so doing, I can forget to show similar concern for my fellow Simmers. And, since they definitely are sentient beings, that is really wrong of me. And I know I have really hurt people here. So, yes, I clearly don't have as many Nice points as I thought I had. So, apologies to Orphalesion, Aspersim, Sunbee, and anyone else who feels hurt by my rant.

But I still feel that your Sims -- and you -- are missing out on something that can be quite fun. Even if your game is focused on the rat race of careers, marriage and child-rearing, wouldn't it be nice to take a break, and do something different for a few days? (I note that one of the Sims' magazines is called Rat Race!)

Surely the Sims 2 university system lends itself to taking Sims through university in small groups rather than one at at time.

No pillow fights either My Sims and I love pillow fights!)

I might get that, if only for Sims in the medical career. The rubric for that says they have a degree by the time they get to Intern level. So, if they have a medical degree, they should have a degree certificate and all the perks that go with it.

I don't really like the idea of the "closed" community. They can exist, but they're very, very rare in Real Life. Almost all communities have some connection with the rest of the world, and for me, in The Sims, the townies present the rest of the world, as do any new Sims I make in CAS. if your game is all about procreation, and you exclude townies, and don't add new Sims, you're liable to quickly have a very inbred community. I'm also surprised how quickly some players can maximise all skills. I've been playing young Andrew for nearly ten years now, and Logic is still his only maximised skill. Even though I often make him controllable when he's visiting other Sims, so he can cook salmon or turkey for Sims who lack the skill to cook them themselves, his cooking skill is still only at level 8. And he hasn't any charisma at all -- mainly because he finds the idea of talking to himself in the mirror just as boring as I do!

P.S. I do have one closed community -- New Desconia. It's a remote tropical island and can only be reached by small sailing boats. But even there new Sims occasionally arrive by boat.

@AndrewGloria You didn't reply back to any of my messages to you. I was wondering your thoughts for example on the thread talking about toddlers. Then I gave you a list on post 19 on this thread https://modthesims.info/showthread....361#post5858361

I like to play everything the game has pretty much, as well as thinking of things and ways to play that the game didn't come with. I think the only area I do very little play in is supernaturals.

Just for the record: I don't - and have never found - Uni too long. I love playing it and send groups of sims to Uni all the time. They keep me far too busy to get bored with them.

always, I try to get all my teens at least the good grades scholarship cos I want them to have nice things

It's a likely thing to determine who would actually get into the campus because those who work hard enough to earn scholarships are more likely to work hard at their education though it's only going to be for those from wealthier families in Pleasantview when the town is big enough to support adding the campus and that only happens after they've added in a school though that would be private and only for wealtheir families.Public education was not really made available until almost into the 19th century and it was only a right to have schooling though not required by law until much later.

Never used them as to me it seems pointless. As pointed out, gameplay feature wise there is hardly anything unique in universities, and in the world of TS2 a Sim can become a neurosurgeon without ever needing a degree anyway. Not sure I'd personally want to visit said doctor's practice, but hey, this is fantasy land anyway.

I send almost all my sims to university-- the only time I don't do it is if they don't get the grades in high school to attend (c+ or higher) or have another story-driven reason to specifically not go (for example, I once had a mother of twelve kids who parentified her oldest kid. the first ten were from one dad, the last two were from a different man who she married, and the oldest of the ten moved out with all his full siblings when he became an adult instead of going to college.) I do have educashun is good in my game, and student loans, so there's a bit of a trade off to college-- sims who don't go to college have a career cap, sims who do go to college end up with a huge debt to pay. Really spices up their adult life. I play with two day semesters, which I find is a good balance between too easy to get good grades and having some time for each sim to pursue other things as well, and when I'm finding university repetitive I give myself a reprieve by grouping all my playables onto the same lot so that even though I have a load of sims going through college, I can get through all of them in one fell sweep. Obviously with the student loans, I absolutely get everyone as much scholarships as I reasonably can-- it works with my playstyle because I often tell sims to skill to keep them occupied when I'm focused on other sims on the lot.

The only problem I have with Uni is that it makes things too easy for sims who have a wish to top a career as a LTW. If they choose a relevant major and have had the related teen job too, they could start out as high as level 8 in their career. So this makes it very easy to achieve permaplat.

Sorry! I've been rather preoccupied with events at Capp Manor, with Consort and Tybalt moving out with their new wives, April and Lexie, and with April's pregnancy.

The only time I took a toddler to a community lot was in your Community Spirit contest, but it was a bit of a rigmarole. One parent stayed at home with the toddler, while the other one went to the community lot. When she got there I used a Simlogical teleporter to summon the toddler. He and his mother got on OK there -- there was a buggy there to sit in and, if I remember rightly, a formula fridge with bottles of milk in it. When it was time to go home, I can't remember what I did with the toddler. I think I just cleared him off with the teleporter. His mum went home alone in the taxi. Oh how much easier it would be if toddlers and babies could just ride in the taxi. (I think they can when Sims move out or move in.) Why, o why, do Sims not have prams and buggies? There is a DickHurt mod that I believe lets them ride in the taxi but it requires Pets.

I tried giving Garrett and Georgia Newson things to let them relate to each other -- a toddler sofa by Rebecah, and a garage, which I'm sure is cloned from the dolls' house, but their relationship didn't significantly improve, even when they sat or played together. Unfortunately I don't have the activity table as it comes with FreeTime. So I've had very limited success trying to get toddlers to socialise. They get on OK with their parents and with other adults or teens who help to care for them. I'm not quite sure about toddlers and children -- I think they have very limited interactions. I feel that children like Gallagher and Gabriella would like to help more with their younger siblings, but the game doesn't let them. The financial state of the Newson family restricted how much money Ginger and Gavin could spend on toys.

As for the three toddlers I mentioned, Georgia and Garrett have been toddlers since they moved into Veronaville in November 2014. Ariel has in some sense been around since the very beginning of my game two years earlier, though her family was actually the last of the Veronaville Family Bin families to get played, as I was afraid that her father Albany, with is one Nice point, would be a troublemaker. (Actually he hasn't been nearly as bad as I had feared -- he seems to really love his children.) But all-in-all, since they've been toddlers for far longer than any real ones, I think really it is time for Garrett, Georgia and Ariel to start school! I think I've already turned Aging on in the Newson cottage to let them age up. I might leave Ariel just a little longer to see how she gets on now she can walk, talk, and use her potty unaided.

But with April nearly ready to give birth, and Fay Briggs over in Monopolis also pregnant, plus two or three other Sims wanting babies, I'm sure there will soon be a new generation of babies and toddlers in the town. I'll try and see how we get on with them. I might use the Christianlov mirror. Unlike the Newsons, the Hutchin-Capps and the Briggs's have no financial problems, so money will be no object when it comes to buying toys for their little ones.

Sorry, this is very off-topic, but it's a reply to Jo's post.

I enjoy generational play, I know you don't like the idea of seeing your sims get old and die, Andrew, but while an individual sim's death is sad, I do like that progression, it was always one of the exciting things about sims 2 for me (having come from sims 1 where they don't age and only die from accidents). I also enjoy the storytelling process of the game (so, seeing how other sims handle events like death or other misfortunes) and the progression through stages. I like every stage. I like seeing them being born and growing up and blossoming (or bumbling) into adolescence, and trying to figure out what they want from life, and getting it (or failing, or changing their mind), and yes, maybe having children, though not all of my sims have children, it is one of my favourite things to do in the game, and then the empty nest and the grandchildren, or just a gradual slowing down and changing that age brings.

I love it when my sims have history. It's exciting for me when they go to college and do something like their great-grandmother. That's not an aspect of play that you get when taking things very slowly, unless you have a lot of play time. I don't, and I like things to keep moving and changing and evolving.

I like uni, I don't send every sim, but I wouldn't want to skip it entirely - but I also don't want it to take precedence over everything else, that would be overload and I would find it boring. I play rotationally, and I don't want my uni sims being stuck at ~20 for 12 in-game years, while their siblings have completely grown up without them and their classmates have moved on, doing other things and being in a different stage of life. Nor do I want to have to play 6 uni days for every 1 day by the other sims. I have lots and lots of sims going through uni, so I have ample time to explore and enjoy the features and different experiences with uni, just with lots of different sims rather than one sim.

I also find that in order to keep something enjoyable it's best if it's just a little too short. Too long and it becomes tedious and I want to skip it, which is a shame. If I notice myself wanting to skip families when playing, then it usually means that I need to add something to their lives or move them on a stage.

I've decided to use Modded lifespans to lengthen their lives and will do the same to the campus though not all actally would go when the town advances enough to have the campus added in.I'll just add a template and build that from scratch when the time comes to add it in.Sims with high enough grades and families that can afford it might go and when they do have a public campus the tuition is based on income and they still have to get good enough grades or earn scolarships to show it's worthwhile going to the campus to get further education.I'll also use Modded objects so they can take xemester breaks and get even more time to spend on their studies so it's not a big rat race to get though the education and the time on the campus.

@AndrewGloria I kind of thought you would post over on the other thread about toddlers and give feedback on this thread about my post to you on young adults.



I just send them to a com lot via walking, private car or rarely a taxi. I thought you got a new PC and the UC, but maybe that was a dream.

My sims use scholarships if they qualify. I have a mod that lowers the requirement to five for skill scholarships. It's too difficult to get them otherwise even with my teens studying all the time. It also doesn't make much sense. I don't think sims need that many skill points for anything in uni? Angela Pleasant didn't have a single skill over five or six and still graduated with perfect honors as a drama major. Uni used to bore me a lot, so now I have a mod that lowers the amount of time per semester to 24 hours. My sims get no rest.

Ah, Andrew, you're short expansion packs.
However, most toddler sims get their charisma from the nursery rhyme and from the toy bunny, and then once they are children, from occasionally talking with the family parrot. With smart milk (which sticks) charisma is usually the first skill maxed, for the more active tots sometimes before they even reach child. Then from the execuputter, the two lecterns, or even the bookcase. Mirror-talking is pretty rare for most sims.
A lot of sims also, if they have a skill point or two, roll wants for more of those as they are children, so they skill right up quickly, if you just give them what they want in life.

And remember, those of us who play closed neighborhoods have usually hundreds of playable sims in them, too, not just a couple.

I agree with what @Sunbee said, @AndrewGloria. There are a lot of ways they can gains skills in the game - and there are some cc toys around too.

Expansion packs made a difference. With Seasons, toddlers can play in and eat the show and chase butterflies too

I miss Seasons the most of any Expansion Pack if I play basegame only- I just love the bug collecting and butterflies/ fireflies!

I don't even know what it feels like to play basegame only

I do, because I was one of the simmers who's parents bought them a copy of The Sims 2 when it was brand new and only 3 months to 2 and half months old at the time after it was officially released in the United States of America. I My computer was largely unable to play the game with ease and comfort, I only had a 3 year old computer with 128mb of RAM in which the minimum requirement for only running the base game was 256mb of RAM,

but once I gotten the upgrade to 256mb of RAM I quickly found out it was not enough, RAM still, for just the base game it needs at least 512mb of RAM to run even slightly smooth and 1GB or more RAM is required to run it smooth with any of the additional expansion packs installed

And back when the sims 2 was released a computer with even the (minimum) requirements would cost at least $1000USD or more.

it was not until I got a $1500USD computer a year later, (on sale) for $800USD that had 256mb of RAM that I could even slightly run the game without super lag. but even on the new machine in 2005 I Still had lag and even again slightly even after I upgraded that computer to 512mb of RAM on Easter Sunday of 2006.

I played the sims 1 with all expansion packed until fall of 2008 and was able to (finally) to get both a faster PC and all The Sims 2 Expansion packs running at the same time then (finally) I didn't have any lag on it anymore and played the sims 2 with ease and comfort ever since.

I've never played base game only. When mum bought me the game it came as a package with uni, nightlife, ofb and family fun.

So I know this has already been addressed by others but wanted to share my perspective. At first, the 24 days in University seemed quite reasonable and even "too short" for me when starting out. But eventually, after a good number of sims, it was taking too long for them to graduate once I realized that as long as you send them to class, and do a couple of assignments they'll be okay. Even more so doing the Term Paper where they'll be guaranteed a great sum as a reward for having a high GPA and making the Dean's List per semester. On a good Sim mood day, they can just spend half a day doing term paper, go to class, maybe 1 assignment and they're set to coast for the remainder of the term. So in actuality, it can be quite easy to be an overachiever and be the Campus Woohooer and more.

But as an effect, the rest of their Uni days can end up pretty drab once you've done all you can do in their freshmen year. And knowing how much you can give your Sims it's difficult to not want to give them the best or at least let them run wild. But I think that's part of my gameplay style I adopted from Sims 1, always keep the Sims busy to survive and live prosperously (or maybe it's from my hyperfocus tendencies, who knows). Shortening the terms I wouldn't say takes away from the Sim's YA experience, but rather increases the challenge and gives it a more realistic view when on a traditional front, 4 years in University flashes by so quickly but can be the best years of one's life (unfortunately).

On another point, with Story Progression mod, 24 days is way too long for my Adult Sims to not see their baby come back home from University. And vice versa for them to not see their parents.

I got the game on release day here in the UK, so I well remember playing the base game back then (unpatched- it was very buggy! Thank goodness they fixed the main glitches). Then I played each expansion and stuff pack as they were released. Very cool times!
Back then, Modthesims looked like this:
https://web.archive.org/web/2004092...hesims2.com:80/
Delphy (Tashiketh) set up the site even before the game was released. To the right of the page you can see that some of the very first mods and tools were being made. First mod on MTS2? Delphy's camera hack! Back then, we had a lot of the people who developed the main tools we use today for sims modding, active on here. Also we had a couple of Maxoids (Maxis game devs) who used to visit here and give us tips on how the game code worked.
I love to play basegame only using the AGS (anygame starter) from time to time, and I use it a lot when I'm making basegame compatible neighbourhoods. A lot of fun to play as there is less complexity, and you have to be more creative with using the EA objects.

When Uni was released, it was the first EP and we were all amazed! Released only six months after the game release. All out mods broke! But it was fun learning about how to get the scholarships, good job we had the Prima guides!

I used to play the campus more and even add it right away when starting new towns back on my old Xp computer though my Pleasantview is likely going to have about a 150 year wait before a campus is added and that would mostly be private for rich sims.Public schooling at that time might be available only for children in primary grades though older kids in wealthy families could continue on while kids in less wealthy families are apprenticed or starting to work at jobs.Scholarships might allow a sim of less forunate circumstances get a chance to study if they worked hard enough to earn one and they would also have to work hard to get graduated or their entire family would be shamed if they wasted that chance.