Monday 14 March 2005
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Pic of the day: Homework is usually done in the mess hall. I came over this bunch of unusual pre-generated characters and just had to take a picture of them. The invisible girl in the foreground is Lyndsay; she is not normally invisible, but occasionally a bug will render one of the NPCs invisible and untouchable until they have performed whatever task they have in mind. The green girl is a pre-defined player character, Stella Terrano. Eating with her, the guy that looks a bit like me when I was young, is Luc Hurt. Yeah, he came with that name. So did the other girl in the foreground ... Joy Fuchs. I'm not kidding you about the names. I doubt she has that name in the American version! Sims2 U: Revenge of the nerds!In this third and final part of my review of Sims 2: University expansion, I will finally go to the core of the matter. The first part covered the changes to overall gameplay, the second covered campus life. The actual studies were given little attention, as were the far-reaching changes a higher education can have on a Sim's life. In Sims2, the Knowledge aspiration was widely regarded as one of the hardest to play. (Romance is not too easy either – being in love with several people can cause some serious trouble when they all show up at the same time.) A major problem for me was that out of the 4 wants, 2 were often occupied by "See ghost" and "Be saved from death". To this day, I have never been able to fulfill any of them, and don't even know for sure what the "Saved from death" refers to, although I suppose it is the feature where a family member can wager with the Reaper for the return of a loved one. Since I take great care to protect my Sims (do unto others etc) this feature is not often seen here. Anyway, add two wishes to level up some skill, and there were no want slots free for trivial things. Although married Sims tended to want to kiss their spouse first thing in the morning, don't ask me why. But then instead of moving on to "Make out" followed by "Woohoo", they just switched to wanting more skills. Do you have an idea how long it takes to increase Body skill from 8 to 9 while the teen wants to play red hands, the school kids need help with their homework and the toddler must use the potty AGAIN? OK, those of you who live this in real life probably know. And you have my sympathy. Well, those of you who vowed never to let a Sim kid choose Knowledge again, now you can regret. Sims2 University is here. And for the Knowledge Sim, it is like coming home. Mixed with the wishes of skill increases – which now actually make sense (and give you influence points) since you need them to graduate – there are plenty of sub-goals like "Do assignment", "Study together" or "Write term paper on PC". Since you're bound to do much of this anyway, especially in the later semesters when demands are jacked up, getting aspiration points for it is like a free gift. Besides, with the extra want slot you will have more opportunities than ever before. Of course, this holds true for any aspiration, but it's the geek Sims who tend to have slots blocked by unrealistic wishes. ***Of course, you could choose Knowledge aspiration when you are 13 and spend your days gaining skills (you will keep them when you move to campus, of course). Then, after two years at university, you get the option to change your life aspiration. Perhaps you've now met someone you want to have a family with, and you change to family aspiration, generally considered the easiest aspiration (unless you remain single, obviously). Perpetuate your wonderful genes without losing the points you gained during you studious teen years. (The younger a Sim is, the faster it learns. Adults raise skills noticeably more slowly than kids, teenagers somewhere in between, while toddlers learn like mad – I once had one max his charisma before starting school!)
More exactly, the rewards for each completed year are: ***So how do you get through those four years without being thrown head- first out? Well, you go to classes and do homework. But first, perhaps the first thing you do after choosing your dorm room, you should decide your major. Why must you choose a major? Because minors are not legal! (Insert your own LOL-icon here.) Seriously, you want to meet your profs as soon as possible, and that means going to their classes. These are the ones you will call in order to discuss your studies. Having them as your best friends is going to do wonders for your grade. And you know you have to choose a major sooner or later, so get it over with. Take some time to explore the career choices they lead to. One of these is a preferred career – you will find this in your manual, at or near page 9 – and graduating in that major will catapult you into a well-paid job in that career. But also the two other optional careers should benefit from a diploma. If your skills are not evenly developed, you should consider that each major has its skill requirements. It is no biggie, even if you start with no skills you will be able to raise them as needed each semester. But that takes reading time which you could have spent writing your term paper. (Or playing your drums for cash, but let's not go there today.) Once you have chosen your major, or at the very least after the first classes, you should begin to see wants like "Write term paper" or "Do assignment". Click on the computer to write term paper (you don't need to write it all at once, it is pretty long) or on yourself to do assignment. How touching yourself is an assignment in any respectable university is beyond me, but it does produce a small blue book like you had in high school for homework. You can do it on a table or, if they are all taken, sitting on the floor. It doesn't take too long and is not too irritating. (Still talking about the assignment here.) Another want you may see is "Study with others". This requires a bookshelf (available in any dorm) and someone who doesn't dislike you on sight. If they are already studying, click on them to join. Otherwise you start, then invite them to join. Study groups are eating on your fun, but is good for your social. Of course, if the social bar is not all green, it might be a better idea to call your prof, even if it's not on the want list. One or both of them is sure to get along with you, and the more time you spend on the phone or together, the better your grades. You can see this by clicking on the career field. The red or white bar there shows your academic performance. Notice that you lack skills, the bar will never fill completely, possibly not even enough to get through exams. So prioritize skills. And get enough sleep - when you wake up, your priorities are more realistic than before you go to bed. No seriously, but I talk about your Sims here. A good nights sleep will bring the more study-oriented wants to the fore. The last thing you need to know is that finals are mandatory for each semester. Skipping them may not flunk you if you're a top student, but you won't make it on the Dean's list of exceptional students, and you won't get the maximum grant. If you're not all prepped beforehand, don't even think about sleeping through the finals. But you probably guessed this if you have any connection with real life. ^_^* ***Should things get so out of hand that you don't make it, there is still the option of taking the year over. Some think this is a good idea, because you will have a longer life that way. My friend, a long life is easy to achieve when you are a Sim living in accordance with your destiny. Elixir of Life waits for you, and you will see your grandchildren happily married before you say hi to the Reaper. There is no reason to fail your exams just for that. But of course, you can have a lot of fun while not studying. Just be aware that you won't get much grants that way. If you fail the same semester twice, you're sent home in disgrace. I assume you still get to keep the life improvements you have achieved so far, and definitely your friends. But the adult world awaits you, with dirty dishes and diapers. So do your homework. At least homework doesn't smell (although some of your study buddies do). On a related note, sometimes your NPC friends will leave unfinished assignments on the tables. Perhaps they just had to run for classes. But it could also be that their needs are too low to keep doing schoolwork. They can find the way to the kitchen and the bathroom themselves, but some of them may have problems with social situations or their favorite entertainment is missing. You can help them by talking to them – don't be too aggressive, as shy Sims will reject intense advances – and when they have grown to like you, you can play kick bag or other harmless fun with them. Once they are recharged that way, they will most likely finish their homework on their own, and you can use the table. (Or you could just delete their books while they are not looking, but how good will that make you feel?) ***In order to give you all the details, I've started several and played one character through the whole thing, in the smallest dorm in the desert college. And let me tell you one thing. I was almost crying myself when my Sim left for Pleasantville. All the friendships that had grown between the five students, simply by eating together, studying together, playing chess together ... and for me, seeing them all going about their lives day in and day out. I found myself wishing that we could all graduate together. But of course, them being NPCs, they are simply reset and waiting for a new student to show up, and then start again from scratch. To forget all that has happened through those four year (OK, two days, but it really feels a lot longer) ... that was bittersweet at best. I guess now you know why I'm no big fan of reincarnation. ^_^ I recently read a couple articles about the new generation of robots in Japan, who look and act so human that people are not even weirded out but just get along with them. These are in prototype now and are supposed to be rolled out within five years. I guess they are NPCs too. If they can be made to act as natural as Sims, there may be a day when students from the slowly dwindling stock of real humans spend their college years in a dorm filled with Non Player Characters too. And perhaps be just as tearful at leaving them to reset their memories for the next human to arrive. But that probably won't be until after you've played Sims 5. Or perhaps your kids will take their actual degree inside such a game, and print out the diploma before they turn their computer off. Yes, I really started thinking things like this. I feel as if I have seen new horizons, a glimpse of things that may come. An education all of my own. And that, dear reader, is why I recommend this game without reservations. |
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