I've been spending far, FAR too much time in CAW this week. I need to stop. Like, seriously - I even took the disk out of my drive as a deterrent, lol!
But the good news is, the first segment of my world is plotted and ready to build on! It still needs finishing touches like street lamps 'n such, but I'm going to do those all together at the end, I think. And the district you see here is the future site of LCU!
22 lots already here on campus (planned for: 7 campus buildings, 4 residence lots, 1 science facility, 6 small courtyards or parks, 2 parking lots, 1 campus shops, 1 subway station), and I've even forgot four more lots I need! :o By the time I'm finished with this, my world is going to be so HUGE I can't even play it!!!
Which has gotten me thinking a lot (and getting a million new ideas in my head) about University in Sims 3. (But we have no University for TS3, you say?) No matter though! I'm picking up some old tricks I used to use back in the early TS2 days, before we had TS2 Uni - I faked it! Back in the day, I would just make up lists of classes they had to complete to earn a degree. (This is all outside the game, by the way - it won't make any difference one way or another to actual gameplay.)
Here are the current students I need to plan degree paths for:
Masters:
Mariah: Psych and Therapy, yr. 3 of 4
Amelia: Business (finance), yr. 1 of 2
Undergrad:
Beau: Business (small business)
Dallas: Physics (astrophysics engineering)
Vicky: Pre-Med
Summer: Liberal Arts/Undecided
April: Culinary Arts (restaurant management)
Fenton: Liberal Arts/Undecided
Iris: History (art history)
... Amy: Liberal Arts/Undecided
... Lucy: Performance Arts (classical dance)
This might even end up working better, and being a lot more fun than the strict and predetermined university experience we had in TS2 - in TS3, we can send any student, regardless of age, to any "class" they like!
I made myself this list of all the standard and hidden skills our Sims can practice in the game. (I tried to add all the ones I could find/remember, but if I've missed any, please let me know!) Even silly ones like darts, because you know, sometimes random fluffy classes like that do end up counting. No, you're not going to take a solid four years of dart classes, but once is okay. I've made an elective class on Barroom Games for my Mixology majors! ;)
My plan (subject to change at a whim...):
Each student will take 3 credits of classes each semester, 2 semesters a year, 4 years for an undergraduate degree to total with 24 class credits. (Post-graduate degrees will follow the same idea, but vary in length of years.) So this is for a full-time undergraduate degree. Non-traditional students (and post-graduate students) can attend at whatever pace they like, but will still need to finish 24 class credits before they're allowed to "graduate". Most of the rabbithole classes I've seen so far cost about $500 or so? So students can pay for their classes that way. Or for made-up classes, the student will pay $500 via the good-old-fashioned "painting in the inventory" trick.
(Which makes me wonder, if I have the University President "own" all of the campus buildings, will she earn that money from all the classes the students are taking?...)
The classes (I will add to and edit this list as I find new ideas).
Standard:
Music (Piano, Guitar, Bass, Drums)
Handy
Logic
Astronomy
Painting
Writing
Gardening
Fishing
Athletic
Charisma
Martial Arts
Photography
Mixology
Cooking
Writing
Special/Advanced: (see w/ Book of Talent)
Business Classes:
- Mooch
- Consignment
Science Classes:
- Collecting (bugs, for biology classes)
- Collecting (rocks, for geology classes)
Other:
- Chess
- Hacking
- Inventing
- Solo Dance
- Bar Dance
- Barroom Games (darts/foosball)
- Diving (swim)
- Trampoline
- Nectar Making
- Martial Arts
- Video/Arcade Games
- Snake Charming
- Tattoo Art
- Sculpting
- Styling
Work Experience:
Corporate Business
Small Business
Culinary
Journalism
Law Enforcement - Forensics, Special Agent
Medical
Military
Music - Rock, Symphony
Politics
Sports
Science
Education
Architectural Design
Firefighting
Ghost Hunting
Private Investigator
Stylist
Film - Acting, Directing
It appears the game will only let Sims attend a particular class one time (someone must have made a hack for this by now, don't you think? Anyone seen one? I saw a small discussion about it here, but no word if they'd had any success at it or not.) So anyway, until we find a way to work around that, most of the classes may have to be made up ones.
All of my students will do a standard freshman year before they'll be allowed to declare a major, even though, as you can see, some of them have majors in mind already. (Standard Freshman year = Writing, Logic, Cooking, Handy, Science, Art.) And then after that standard year, they'll each have a customized set of classes to finish before they'll be allowed to "graduate".
I won't write up each of my majors here, but as an example, it might look like some of these:
April: Culinary Arts (focus: entertainment venue management)
Freshman:
1: Writing1, Logic1, Cooking1
2: Handiness1, science elective, art elective
Sophomore:
1: Cooking2, NectarMaking1, physical elective
2: Charisma1, Mixology1, music elective
Junior:
1: Cooking3, Logic2, Fishing1
2: Mixology2, Business1, dance elective
Senior:
1: Cooking4, Charisma2, Mixology3
2: Cooking5, Mixology4, Barroom Games
Work Experience: Culinary
Senior Thesis
Iris: History (focus: art history)
Freshman:
1: Writing1, Logic1, Cooking1
2: Handiness1, science elective, Painting1
Sophomore:
1: History1, Sculpting1, Writing2
2: History2, Painting2, Charisma1
Junior:
1: History3, Handiness2, Dance or Martial Arts
2: History4, Photography1, cooking elective
Senior:
1: History5, Painting3, Writing3
2: History6, Sculpting2, Charisma2
Work Experience: Architectural Design
Senior Thesis
Dallas: Astrophysics (focus: aerospace engineering)
Freshman:
1: Writing1, Logic1, Cooking1
2: Handiness1, BioScience1, art elective
Sophomore:
1: Astronomy1, Logic2, Handiness2
2: Astronomy2, Inventing1, GeoScience1
Junior:
1: Logic3, Handiness3, phys-ed elective
2: Hacking1, GeoScience2, Inventing2,
Senior:
1: Handiness4, Inventing3, Astronomy3
2: Logic4, Handiness5, music elective
Senior+:
1: Logic 5, Handiness6, Inventing4
2: GeoScience3, Inventing5, Astronomy4
Work Experience: Inventing
Senior Thesis
By these class levels, (like Cooking5, for example), I mean more like the 5th cooking class, rather than Cooking level 5. I imagine some students will start university with plenty of skills earned already, and I still do think they need to "show up" for their class. I suppose, like in real life, they might just skate through though, but they still need to do the time. I think I'll probably have them do the activity for a certain number of hours before it counts as complete.
I'm going to need to come up with some class ideas for subjects that could be studied in TS2, that aren't represented in the TS3 game. Like Philosophy, for example. Or History, and I do have a History major in my story. I'd like to think of something more interesting for her than sitting around reading books, though as a last resort, if that's all she does, it doesn't really matter. And well, I suppose that's probably what real History majors do in uni, lol! But still, I'd like to have her doing something that will count for her in the future, something she'll have to show for her time (and money!) spent.
Grades:
No, I don't think I'll track grades. Even in real life, I don't think employers look at closely at college grades as colleges look at high school grades. So fine with me that they won't be getting grades in game. I'll just track the classes they've completed.
Study Abroad?:
I likely will continue LCU's study abroad program, though since I haven't even played any vacations with World Adventures yet, I have no idea how I'll work that. I'll post about it if/when I figure it out.
Ooh, this is something similar to what I was considering, enforcing manual classes in my various campus buildings. Now I might have to wait and see your system and just steal it, lol. My problem is that my city is supposed to be American and I'm not overly familiar with the American university system so I'm still researching. I hope they give us an EP though, I think it would be interesting to see how they implement it in the open neighbourhood.
ReplyDeleteI love this discussion because I've been thinking about this too lately even though I don't have any uni students at the moment. Your plan is similar what I was planning too. I also came to the same decision as you regarding grades. It's just not worth the hassle to assign a specific grade to everyone every semester and try to evaluate what they've done. I'll know whether or not someone is behind or failing based on whether they've taken their classes or earned their skills for the semester.
ReplyDeleteMe again, sorry! I was just wondering if you've thought about a system for deciding if a Sim actually shows up for class or not because I seem to remember you went by your Sims wishes which meant that, realistically, some of them didn't do well or dropped out. I was thinking of some kind of random roll, based on their traits but that might end up being a bit of a hassle. It does make for more interesting gameplay though!
ReplyDeleteCharleston, for as much as I loved playing Uni students in TS2, I'm actually not so disappointed we don't have a Uni EP. I think I'll have a lot of fun making up my own system, and in TS2, ultimately, that's what I did there too. I'd rather see a weather EP, or a business one than Uni at this point.
ReplyDeleteI really bet modders could do something uni-like with the rabbithole classes though - if I knew more about modding, I'd do it myself! Maybe some day I'll look into that.
I'm not sure yet how I'll decide class-going effort. I probably will take their traits (not just the TS3 ones, but the character traits I've given them too) into consideration, and the story. If I've got them too overwhelmed with drama, chances are they won't be paying much attention to class. Though I still think I'd rather do a pass/fail thing with classes than keep track of any grades or GPAs.
Shana, exactly! We should swap degree plan ideas! :)
I think the trickiest thing will be keeping track of all the different classes I want each to do in a given semester. Though for a lot of them, it might be as easy as sitting them down with a book.
I also wonder if three classes per student x 9 students (at the moment, +2 more next year!) is going to be too much to track each semester. I think I need to make a spreadsheet or something, lol! :D
OMG, do you see? I told y'all this was going to be the dorkiest thing you've EVER seen! :o
Oh, the college credit system! Just thinking about choosing classes that would meet the degree requirement makes my head spin.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading too many of the sims 3 posts here, I finally went ahead and set up a desktop with a okay enough graphic card to play sims 3. The game has been installed.. but..
I also installed sims 2 on it, and unlike the old junk of the laptop with integrated graphic card, it can run monster apartment lot without much lag at all, and the sun shines there like it has never done before! I am still too thrilled about smooth sims 2 play sessions to start on the sims 3.
Well, you know I love me some Sim dorkiness! This is very interesting, because I know Sandy at Around My Sims is planning on faking a university system as well (she doesn't yet have any Sims she wants to send, as she's playing with aging off).
ReplyDeleteInstead of using the classes already in the game, she's using Twallan's part-time jobs to stand in for classes and I think she's doing something to ensure they don't build up too much money from those jobs as well (though I can't remember what). This is a whole different way of looking at it. Maybe you could combine the ideas in some way?
LOL about history majors! I can't imagine what else they would do but sit around reading all day! I took one history class and that's totally what it was.
Anyway, this is all very cool and I look forward to hearing more about it when you get more details planned. :D
ETA: I added a sample degree program for Iris's Art History.
ReplyDeleteAlso, added a list of possible work experience jobs. Not that those are news to anyone, but I wanted easy access to them! ;)
Lepifera, oh, I used to LOVE when it was time to sign up for new classes! If uni was free, I would have never left, lol!
ReplyDeleteYay on your new computer! I'd probably get a thrill out of seeing TS2 on a more powerful machine as well. When I get my new computer, I'll probably play it for old time's sake! :)
Carla, I did consider the custom job route. I'd much rather find a way to hack the rabbithole classes so Sims can take the same ones again. That way they pay money, and get to skill while they're at it. Just like a real class, lol!
And you know, as dorky as this sounds, I am having SO MUCH FUN planning my customized degree requirements for each of them, lol! Man, I would totally go back and do another degree! :D
History, OMG, lol! I'm not sure what book I'll be having her read, but that's pretty much all she'll be doing. At least she'll have her art classes to make it interesting.
ETA: again, lol! I added an example course list for Dallas's Aerospace Engineering.
ReplyDeleteAnd doing his course list made me realize that I'll definitely track by the class, and not by skill level. Because some of his classes, like Logic and Astronomy. In my head, I see logic as being more like math, like you'd get from the chess game or a book. But Astronomy through a telescope will also give him Logic points. But I still do want him to do both classes. So he'll spend a certain number of hours studying Logic (any other way than through the telescope), and then he'll study Astronomy specifically in addition to that.
Confusing, I know. I'm just making it up really, lol!
And I just did a little bit of research - poor Dallas, engineering is a five-year undergraduate degree, not four. And that's *before* he goes for the post-grad work, lol! He's going to regret being so smart!
ReplyDeleteLOL, poor Dallas! Though depending on what traits you gave him, he might actually enjoy all the study! A Sim with the Genius or Bookworm traits would probably be right into it.
ReplyDeleteThis made me laugh and also made me want to steal it ;) lol
ReplyDeleteI don't know exactly how the History degree works in the U.S. but when I was working on it (and I'm sort of back to it now, but Cultural History this time :P) we did do a LOT of reading (seriously, a LOT) and though the Norwegian system doesn't have that many assignments, usually just one obligatory one each semester + an exam, the huge amount you have to get through (and remember!) is hefty enough.
ReplyDeleteThat said, we DID visit our local library to get a showcasing of how they used various filing systems for old newspaper archives, historical documents etc. we also went to the government archival base (roughly translated there :P) which is underground in a bomb shelter and has copies of all sorts of important and classified documents (we only got to see the non-classified section).
Other than that we also visited a medieval sight not far from where I live (go me! I've been shown around and been told about that place by various teachers/professors/museum people 6 times!), some of the older students went to Berlin as well to see how the east and west of Berlin had developed etc. as well as older German history. For U.S. students I imagine they might instead go to other historical sights of importance since going to Berlin to us isn't exactly like traveling to Australia or anything (more like taking a trip to Vegas really :P).
What else did we do... Hm... Some of the older students were part of a history journal that published essays and the like by students (from freshmen and up to ph.d's) which our teachers actually copied and gave us in class sometimes to read if it was important things.
We also went to the folk museum, which is an awesome place, and when we started we had a rebus (that's probably not the word in English, but it's a quiz-like adventure where you go around the city/a part of the city collecting clues and answering questions and you can only find the answers at specific sites) about town that the older students organized.
Just to give you some ideas as to what your history major might have been doing beyond simply having her nose in a book :P It all depends on much she participates really, because some also got involved with the big university newspaper (which had sections for Art, Science etc. with different leaders for each as well as the regulary newspaper staff) :)
Aaahh, an university theory discussion! It always wakes up the nerd in me! :D
ReplyDeleteWe had actually a discussion at the Sims Daily about it. I don't think any of us thought to the class system (but some play with skills), though.
You might wanna check what were the ideas evocated there (and join the discussion! ;))
http://www.thesimsdaily.net/showthread.php?tid=249
Vilde, forgot to come back and thank you for this! That actually is hella useful! lol! I made notes of it for Iris's story. I did read about visiting historical sites as part of the curriculum, so it might be fun to take my history/art history majors on some field trips! :D
ReplyDeleteSandy, oh good! I'm glad to hear you guys have been talking about uni in TS3, and I can't wait to check it out. I did actually join that forum (as pixiejuice), but I haven't had time to make it over there. I will try ASAP! :)