These look intriguing! Does disabling auto-invite "stick" or do I have to re-do it every time I visit a community lot with an arcane lectern on it?

This set just keeps getting better and better! Thanks for sharing Sophie-David!

Hi Hat, it's good to hear from you!

"Auto-Invite" does not "stick" on community lots, so by default it will always be enabled when your Sim arrives. If you wish your Sim to teach at a Ravendancer book the "Dismiss" menu option will stop the current teacher and also turn off "Auto-Invite" for that object.

When I first designed this set it did not have an "Auto-Invite" function. Interestingly enough, the game itself provided qualified Sims or service NPCs for at least half of the Ravendancer and Opportunity books so that they would already be teaching when the playable Sim arrived at a community lot. However, the game would make some less than ideal assignments, such as "wasting" the Evil Witch on a Grimoire or an Opportunity book instead of giving her the Necronomicon, or having a non-magic user teaching at a Ravendancer object. I decided it was better to have a little tighter control over the assignments.

There are only two ways that I know to preserve the state of controllable variables in community lots: by tokens (a little external file for each object - that gets cumbersome) or by a lot based state controller such as the Autonomous View Controller or one of the Automatic Lot Based Weather Controllers. If if is important to you, I could design a similar object that would effectively turn-off the "Auto-Invite" for all Ravendancer and Opportunity books on the community lot where it was placed.

Thank you for the encouragement, Lady Silverwolf and Almighty Hat.

It's less about wanting my Sims to teach instead than that, in my game, with my defaults and plans and headcanons, quite a few of the NPC choices will end up looking a little... odd for ending up at a podium.



Just to absolutely clarify, the NPCs only show up when the lectern (... um, book-on-a-lectern) is placed on a community lot, right? Because it seems like the simplest solution (for me) would be to stick to using those items on residential lots unless I like a particular NPC for the part.

Yes, that sounds reasonable to me. Auto-Invite is enabled by default on all non-residential lots - including community lots, hotels and apartment common areas. Auto-Invite is also enabled for dorms, but of course the Auto-Invite setting for dorms can be changed and saved. I think that may be true for hotels too.

Thank you so much for helping me clear that up!

This is going to be perfect for my future cult!

Sounds fun!

Hat, I'm thinking that it wouldn't be too difficult to make a variation on the Lost Opportunity page that instead of disabling every object on a particular tile would instead disable Auto-Invite for that one tile. This method would allow you to turn off Auto-Invite for only the objects that call in undesirable NPCs instead of being all or nothing for the entire lot.

Thank you!

You're welcome, magdalene.

UPGRADE April 10, 2016: Introducing Immediate Mode for Utility Menu Options

1) Due to the usage of a new algorithm, the "Auto-Invite", "Invite", "Replace" and "Dismiss" menu options are now accessible immediately, rather then being placed in a Sim's action queue.

2) To make delayed functions more obvious, these same menu options are now disabled until pending actions such as recruiting a new teacher are completed.

3) The "Closed Book" interest raising functions have been corrected and improved.

4) Interest increase rates are boosted to be equivalent to the FreeTime Enthusiasm increase rates.

5) The Magic Skill increase rate is raised to be equivalent to the EA Apartment Life Grimoire.

UPGRADE May 12, 2016: Speaking from a Table, Desk, or on the Floor

1) With this enhancement, if a Ravendancer open book is placed on a table or desk with a chair in front of it, the teacher will sit on the chair to teach. If there are empty chairs at the table, students gather to sit in them. This option can provide the look of a traditional classroom or a seminar environment if desired.

2) If an open book is placed on a small object such as another book or paper that is itself on the ground, the speaker and listeners will sit on the ground beside it.

3) After observing Sims sitting on the far side of large lots to listen to speeches, I have now introduced some limits. Listeners will sit within 10 tiles of an open book when indoors and within 8 tiles outdoors.

4) The speech icons used by teachers are now a little more varied.

5) As much as practical, the Interest and Magic Skill development for teaching have been made equivalent to those for listening.

Please download sdRavendancerReadingDesks_WithBooks.zip for the update.

UPGRADE May 18, 2016: More Reliable Teacher Replacement

1) Under certain situations, attempting to replace a teacher would incorrectly fail and report that "Qualified teachers are currently not available". This update improves the reliability of the "Replace" menu option.

2) Teachers who have been Dismissed or Replaced are no longer allowed to autonomously return to the book and resume teaching.

Please download sdRavendancerReadingDesks_WithBooks.zip for these updates.

UPGRADE May 25, 2016: Coffee Table Support

1) With this update, if a Ravendancer book is placed on a coffee table, the teacher will sit on a dining chair or sofa to teach from it, rather than stand. If no seat is available, the teacher will sit on the floor.

2) A surplus teacher will no longer spontaneously appear if the first is not quick enough to begin teaching.

3) Non-invited NPC teachers who autonomously begin teaching will not be mistakenly deleted when they finish.

Please download sdRavendancerReadingDesks_WithBooks.zip for these updates.

Thank you!

You're welcome, Rusty.

These are absolutely brilliant! I am using them in my uni, and I was wondering if professors can be assigned to their appropriate lectern?

Thank you croiduire. If Auto-Invite is disabled, a professor who happens to be on the lot might autonomously teach at the appropriate book, but the Ravendancer series is not designed to assign any of the professors automatically. I do have the Opportunity Core File project on the back-burner (for a couple of years), which is specifically designed for professors to teach the standard majors in real time, and for university credit. Eventually I do hope to go back to this original project and finish polishing it up for release.

All I can say to that is Huzzah!! I will be waiting and hoping, because that would be absolutely awesome, and exactly what I was trying to achieve. As is, having the professor teaching the appropriate skill is wonderful! :lovestruc

BUGFIX June 18, 2016: Coffee Table Usage

1) This release corrects an error that had crept into the release versions of the set, preventing teachers from sitting at a coffee table.

2) Sims can now sit in a living chair to teach at a coffee table. However, the game does not normally allow Sims to sit at a coffee table with a living chair, unless the chair is carefully positioned using boolProp snapObjectsToGrid off or M&G's setQuarterTilePlacement on.

Please download sdRavendancerReadingDesks_WithBooks.zip for this update.

muito obrigado

You're welcome.