|
Post by MissyHissy on Feb 5, 2019 14:13:52 GMT
Education for my sims is one area where I really go to town for nerdy details. From primary education all the way through to university degrees. I love planning it, then playing it out and fine-tuning it. Years ago, I had a system I was planning to use posted on my Missy Valley site. While I'm not working on the town any long (lost the lot, sadly), I will be creating a new town from scratch in Create a World and I'm hoping to use some of that system. To summarise: Primary EducationI operate with a British educational system, so my sim children start school at the age of 5. They'll be split into around 3 classes, with years 1-6 in the school: Class One ~ Years 1 and 2 Class Two ~ Years 3 and 4 Class Three ~ Years 5 and 6 There won't be any exams, since the primary level is all about making friends, building skills and developing hobbies. This will be used largely with my Afterschool Activities which I'll assign, depending upon their current traits. So for example, children with the Genius trait will probably go to Chess Club, those who are artistic, to Art club etc. I also intend to use the filter system from GoHere and Master Controller to organise outings for individual clubs, making use of inventory items and ' club cards'. Using this system, children should be able to easily make friends with other children with similar interests and hobbies. Secondary EducationAgain, as I operate under the British educational system, sims start secondary school after they turn 11. The secondary school is split into four classes, with years 7-12 in the school: Class One ~ Years 7 and 8 Class Two ~ Year 9 Class Three ~ Years 10 and 11 Class Four ~ Years 12 and 13 My system will have two lots of exams for the students. The first, in Year 11, is the GCSE exam. Sims who don't pass the GCSE exam will not be able to study A Levels in Years 12 and 13 and will have to finish school there and then. I'm contemplating creating some custom schools to act in a similar fashion to my Apprenticeships, making these full-time and will be available for teens who don't pass the GCSEs. If sims do pass the GCSE exams, the go on to study their A Levels and therefore enter Year 12, the first year of their Sixth Form education. This leads me onto their second set of exams which occur in Year 13, to determine University. My University system has yet to be fine-tuned and so I'm not including it in this post quite yet. I'm not settled on how I handle exams but I'm thinking I'll use a combination of skills to set grades. Any thoughts or ideas on this are appreciated. School TripsI don't tend to use the field trip system since I often find it causes problems for the afterschool activities and as I use them a lot, I'd rather go without these field trips. However, I will set up some trips myself and work them manually, quite possibly in conjunction with the Ultimate Careers mod and Cinderellimouse's tuning file to enable them to go during the day and not lose school performance. ----------------------------------------------------------- So that being said, does anyone else use elaborate systems for education?
|
|
|
Post by spuffy on Sept 21, 2019 14:57:54 GMT
I haven't used any additions to the education system, other than using custom lots with rabbithole rugs/doors for schools rather than the rabbithole lots. I haven't even played University yet (gasp!), but I came to S3 very late and have become obsessed with building out worlds, both EA and custom. But I love your concepts for education. These kinds of in-depth details are what I loved about my S2 games.
Look forward to hearing more about this new custom world you're making to use with this system.
|
|
|
Post by spuffy on Sept 21, 2019 15:03:33 GMT
Missy! I just buzzed through some of your Missy Valley site. What a labor of love! The Yellow Pages and Sims in Town pages were fabulously done. So sad that you lost this world. Now I *really* want to see more of your new world! Will you have a site specific for that as well or simply post about it here?
|
|
|
Post by MissyHissy on Sept 21, 2019 15:20:04 GMT
Thanks, spuffy! I did love working on that one but Ralton-On-Sea's really captured my heart (that's my new project). Also - good point. I hadn't thought of posting about it here. I've been sharing some WIP updates on Pixelated Puddings but I may just start sharing on here too I will eventually have a blog for it too, to share my stories and gameplay in there and Vendon, which I'll be playing alongside.
|
|
|
Post by spuffy on Sept 23, 2019 13:46:49 GMT
Oh, my, your Ralton-On-Sea looks awesome! I've never joined/posted at Pixelated because I've thought it was a forum geared toward creators, which I decidedly am not (at least, not for S3; did a few things for S2). So I do hope you will share updates here or at least a link to the blog when you have that.
|
|
|
Post by MissyHissy on Sept 23, 2019 16:33:29 GMT
I'll get a thread together tomorrow Oh, Pixelated Puddings isn't geared towards creators. It's actually owned by a couple of friends of mine and I'm a moderator over there. It's there for simmers for any generation to share their pictures, stories etc. Nice crowd though
|
|
|
Post by MissPatTS3 on Mar 4, 2020 22:55:31 GMT
I'm keeping an eye on TS4 modders and wow, how not to be impressed + inspired by some of the newest education-centric mods: Preschool mod: Enroll toddlers into public or private preschool. Link: www.kawaiistaciemods.com/post/better-schools-modSmarter homework mod: Build skills while doing homework. Link: www.kawaiistaciemods.com/post/smarter-homework"This mod allows children and teens to build skills from doing their homework. They will be able to slowly build creative, social, mental, and logic skills. If your sims do the extra credit homework they will build skills faster than they do from just doing regular homework. The last change that I made to homework is that the fun motive will now decrease while doing it because majority of kids do not find homework fun." MissyHissy : have you ever tried to give a career to toddlers, is that even possible? I assume not because I've never seen toddlers disappear in a rabbit hole. A preschool for toddlers... How awesome would that be in TS3? I'm now on the same path, trying to create my own custom world that reflects my gameplay. I have played in Bridgeport for years but recently started feeling limited by the map. Love what you've done here:missyvalley.wordpress.com/2013/05/30/the-garden-project/And thanks for these simmers' websites discovery:simsarabim.comkimmiessimmies.wordpress.comAlways inspiring to read about your TS3 gameplay!
|
|
|
Post by T1gerCat on Mar 5, 2020 9:11:17 GMT
I would definitely be down for a preschool or daycare. It's a good option if you don't want nannies (that rarely do anything, in my game at least) or cannot afford one (just take the tyke to work and drop it in a daycare there, maybe use % of the paycheck to pay for it daily). A preschool where toddlers learn their basic skills and maybe build up on social skill would be really handy. For that matter, a pricy preschool would be a good segue into private schools too.
|
|
|
Post by MissPatTS3 on Mar 5, 2020 17:34:35 GMT
A preschool where toddlers learn their basic skills and maybe build up on social skill would be really handy. For that matter, a pricy preschool would be a good segue into private schools too. Exactly! Now I'm guessing it's not possible because from my experience, when you create a custom career, you can only pick between these letters to determine the ages of sims allowed to get the job: C = Child T= Teen Y= Young Adult A= Adults E= Elders I wouldn't know what specific letter, the "toddlers" sims would correspond to, in a career package file. Nannies don't do much in my game either and because I like my townies so much, it's always somehow disheartening to see townie toddlers grow into childhood without the basic skills just because I couldn't play them all! Hoping we could get that preschool done with a rabbit hole building - but I'm afraid the game just wasn't created / patched for that feature...
|
|
|
Post by T1gerCat on Mar 5, 2020 17:54:38 GMT
Toddler clothes and skins come with CU as reference so, in theory, CU could be used in the career age group. However, like you said above, I don't know if toddlers can get inside rabbitholes, I never tried to do it before. I'm blanking on the name but didn't one of the store worlds come with a daycare sort of non-rabbithole-building? It had the walker and the play area as items. I wonder if we can stick one of Arsil's doors into it (or any such building) and turn it into a preschool, or just write the career and base it at the school.
While on the subject, I'd also like having separate elementary and high (and if we follow Greece's education system, separate secondary) schools too. Sending all of the kids in the same school, no matter their age group kind of irks me.
Edit: I meant CU for toddler skins reference, my mistake
|
|
|
Post by MissPatTS3 on Mar 5, 2020 18:22:53 GMT
didn't one of the store worlds come with a daycare sort of non-rabbithole-building? It had the walker and the play area as items. I wonder if we can stick one of Arsil's doors into it (or any such building) and turn it into a preschool, or just write the career and base it at the school. Yes, that's Aurora Skies: store.thesims3.com/auroraskies.htmlI used that lot for my townie Daycare professional but the career is so scripted it didn't do much for teaching my townie toddlers the basic skills... I also do not find it very practical because it has a bunch of stairs and toddlers don't get along with stairs in TS3. (I wish we had a mod "toddlers can use the stairs" like it exists for TS2: modthesims.info/d/283709/mod-to-allow-toddlers-to-use-stairs.html). I didn't find that lot very practical overall. It didn't change my gameplay the way I wish it did, so I would put the Arsil door at a non-rabbithole building created by a simmer or from scratch. While on the subject, I'd also like having separate elementary and high (and if we follow Greece's education system, separate secondary) schools too. Sending all of the kids in the same school, no matter their age group kind of irks me. That's a great insight! Especially from a crowding issue perspective. You can achieve this separation with mods from Nraas I believe. Edit: I meant CU for toddler skins reference, my mistake Wow, good to know! Will give it a shot.
|
|
|
Post by T1gerCat on Mar 5, 2020 19:07:03 GMT
Ooh, I LOVED that mod back in TS2! Both the toddler and it's pet equivalent were on my must have lists. I don't use the lot really, once I read on the forums that you couldn't actually drop off the toddler there I wasn't into it anymore. I have extracted the walker and the playpen and just use those in my sim homes.
I try to keep my towns on the lower end, population-wise, so I don't usually get crowding issues except for graduations but dropping children of all ages at the same school has always been a bit weird. With TS2 I could ignore it because it happened off screen but with TS3 it's a bit glaring. I didn't know there was a mod for it! I'll have to check it out, Thanks!!!
On that note, I remember parents could "drop off child(ren) at school" with a car option in TS2. It's a pity they cannot do that in TS3. It was a feature I really liked because it was quite realistic and I remember wanting a "walk younger sibling/child to school" option too.
I distinctly remember having toddler clothes with PTU reference but I can't find them anymore. If CU doesn't work, you may want to try that as well? I'll try sending my sims with their toddler to the movies later to see if the lil one will go in or not.
|
|
|
Post by MissPatTS3 on Mar 5, 2020 21:42:42 GMT
Ooh, I LOVED that mod back in TS2! Both the toddler and it's pet equivalent were on my must have lists.
I didn't know there was a pet equivalent! Just found it, that's awesome: modthesims.info/d/484756/little-ones-can-use-spiral-stairs.htmlI didn't know there was a mod for it! I'll have to check it out, Thanks!!! Let me know if you can't find it - you can also ask in the "Chatterbox" forum, they're super friendly over there. I remember parents could "drop off child(ren) at school" with a car option in TS2. It's a pity they cannot do that in TS3. It was a feature I really liked because it was quite realistic and I remember wanting a "walk younger sibling/child to school" option too. Agreed! In TS3 you can only walk the toddlers to the nearby park when they are in strollers. Definitely miss that feature from TS2... I distinctly remember having toddler clothes with PTU reference but I can't find them anymore. If CU doesn't work, you may want to try that as well? I'll try sending my sims with their toddler to the movies later to see if the lil one will go in or not.
I modded the 2x Part time "Teen Babysitter" careers (a Saturday job by MissyHissy and a TS2 to TS3 conversion career by her as well). I tried one with "CU" and the other with "PTU". Unfortunately, I couldn't assign them via MasterController.
So I tried with DebugEnabler and I found something great: you can actually assign professions to toddlers!
In my screenshots, I clicked on "Métiers" (my game is in french, but it should be "Careers" in english games), then on "Ajouter la profession" ("assign the profession", I guess).
|
|
|
Post by MissPatTS3 on Mar 5, 2020 21:51:28 GMT
I have 2 female toddlers, one had more options than the other.
I'm not sure why, but they had different profession choices - it was the same save game, screenshots were taken few minutes apart using the same DebugEnabler menu.
Toddler Kenya professions:
Alchemist Author Nectar Maker Bot Builder Band Inventor Gardener Angler Painter Photographer (Scuba) Diver Jockey Sculptor Toddler Ameline professions: Acrobat Singer Ghosthunter Architect Private Investigator University Student Daycare Magician Firefighter Stylist
|
|
|
Post by MissPatTS3 on Mar 5, 2020 21:57:22 GMT
Finally, a few screenshots with the Toddlers using the Professions UI (via DebugEnabler):
Kenya toddler is now in the Daycare profession (french)!Kenya toddler is now in the Painting profession (french)!Ameline toddler is now in the Stylist profession (french)!
|
|