unjai's Full Review: The Sims 2: University for Windows
The first Expansion pack for The Sims 2 allows for your Sims to attend University right after their teenage years of high school education and before they become full-fledged adult Sims. Time well spent in University results in skills being fully developed, relationships and friendships being forged, and well earned benefits that other Sims who didn’t attend university can’t have. As you all know, the lifespan of your Sims is pretty short when trying to achieve all their goals, the University phase of their lives gives the player ample amount of time to lay the foundation of their Sims’ future.
Behold, the dawning of a new Age Group
With the University Pack installed, the Sims will have the opportunity to proceed into the Young Adult stage that is restricted to the University campus. All Sims that live on the University Campus will be Young Adults, but have no fear; you’ll be able to visit your old family back in your original neighborhood or shops around the area. Note that it is an option for your Sim to go to University, the teenage years will prep work for Scholarships earned in University and you will have to enroll before you become an Adult. If a Sims becomes an Adult then there is no turning back.
Scholarships
The point of you choosing to become a young adult and enroll in University is for you to use the Teenage Years to bring up grades or hone a specific skill (e.g. Body) to win a scholarship that adds needed money to your Sims college fund. The money can be used to be furnishing for your dormitory, clothing or entertainment where there are no official jobs that the Sims can be employed in.
Little Odd Jobs
Instead of being employed as a Gas Station Attendant or a Dishwasher, University students can perform little Odd jobs which require no dedication of any sort. These odd jobs can be performed at any time in a community or residential lot. The most common type you will encounter is cafeteria cook. The best thing about these jobs is that the cash is fast and the pay is high. Unlike, original part-time jobs that pay at the end of the day, these jobs pay by the hour.
Increased Life Expectancies
An average Sims university career will accumulate to four years (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior) that have 2 semesters each. The University campus does not follow the regular Sunday to Saturday calendar instead it is more a countdown to the final exam. The quirk that may frustrate some people is that there will no days off where your Sims can relax, the countdown to the exam will still go on even if you visit a community lot, so careful planning of time will be required or your Sims will be doing their finals in the mere hours of the morning.
If your Sim happens to fail a course, then he or she will be placed on Academic Probation and will have to repeat that semester.
Campus
Each neighborhood will have a University Campus attached to it. The University Expansion pack features three types of campuses that seem to follow the themes of the three neighborhoods of the original Sims 2. The neighborhoods are not limited to one university campus but the university campuses that are assigned to a neighborhood are exclusive to only that neighborhood’s Sims. For example, Sims from Pleasantville will not meet Sims from Strangeville even though both neighborhoods happen to have the same University campus.
Living Options
Sims have two options of living in a dormitory with other Sims or buying an individual house on campus. Dormitories only allow for your Sims to decorate and furnish a tiny room but there are TV's, a cafeteria, and other Sims to interact with which saves a lot of money. Individual House Sims will have to cook for themselves, phone in other Sims to socialize with, and pay for furnishing and entertainment.
Cramming Sessions and Term Papers
Your Sim’s main duty in University is to choose a major or be undeclared and go through all the university years and finally graduate as a full adult. Every Sim has a timetable that it must follow and will go to class automatically, unless intervened, according to what major they took. Going to class fills up a bar that must be filled to a certain point where it qualifies as a passing grade. The trick is that the bar has a small threshold at frist and must be enlarged by attaining skills that are needed for that class. Each skill attained will make the bar larger so that your Sim has a higher threshold to attain higher grades.
Cafe Shops, Libraries, Student Unions, and Gyms
No university campus would be full without the important necessities of caffeine, books, and fitness. Cafe shops ensure Sims have a place to recharge lost energy from long research sessions and meet other new Sims on campus. Libraries provide computers and shelves of books for your Sims to read, study and research. Student Union building provides areas for your Sims to recreate while meeting new Sims. And of course, all that studying will put a hamper on your Sims fitness level so there are gyms full equipped with workout equipment (including Treadmills!) for your Sims to gain that needed Body Skill to pass the course.
Big man on Campus and Sports Parties!
In addition to the many odd jobs that litter the campus, there are large Fraternities and Sororities that can be managed. To have your Sim enrolled in a Fraternity/Sorority (it doesn’t matter, the game is gender neutral toward these subjects), you must follow a grueling initiation process where your Sim must meet the founders of the Fraternity/Sorority and make friends with them all within a certain time period. Once you’re in, you can recruit more people for your group and your fraternity's status will increase allowing for you to enlarge your property to allow more people in.
To go along with the Fraternities, there are more college oriented parties to throw. There is the sports party to go with the new Sports Channel on TV, where everyone crowds around the TV to holler for their team. And there is the infamous Toga party where everyone dresses in a… toga and party.
The all important University Rewards
After Sims complete each year and reward is given out. First year Sims get another Want category added to their wants for a total of 5. Second year Sims get to change their aspirations. Third year Sims get to lock 2 wants or needs at the same time. Fourth year Sims get another Want for an amazing amount of 6 wants at a given day. Compare that to the Sim who did not attend University and has only 4 wants.
Finally, something new to aspire to…
The concept of Life-time wants gives more initiative for the direction of a Sim’s life. Right after choosing an aspiration, a life-time want is randomly assigned to a Sim. These special aspirations are wide in scoped and will require a long time to achieve but the benefit of an always full platinum mood bar is well worth the effort.
The power of connections...
Another bar has been added along with your mood bar, it is called the Influence Bar. Every time you make a friend, your bar’s threshold will increase and the bar will fill up along with every specific aspiration that you successfully perform. These are usually social type aspirations that will be bordered with blue, meaning that it will give influence points as well as mood points. These points can be used to order other Sims around. Smaller actions such as cleaning up or pulling a prank are small amounts of Influence points compared to larger actions like making someone write your term paper. This is not restricted to the young adults so every Sim is able to influence other Sims to their bidding.
Items
The Sims 2 left so many glaring item omissions that it wasn’t even funny. It was as though Maxis/EA had the idea that expansions pack will fill those gaps even though the game has just been released. Now that University has been released, those glaring omissions have been filled up for the most part. Items include more workout items, more instruments to complement the guitar (can not form a band though), and the pool table!
New Careers
There are four exciting new careers that your Sims can go for. There is the Natural Scientist, Show Business, Artist, and the Paranormal. Each career comes with its own career reward as like the other career items. The best career item would be the Paranormal’s which can resurrect old Sims correctly or turn them into Zombies.
Graphics
The same charming 3d look of the Sim is the same as before. The new items and housing options look fantastic in 3d.
Sounds
The original soundtrack of the Sims 2 was fantastic. In the theme of Universities and College, a fitting college station has been added to the radio. To the surprise of many, these college songs are actually hit songs from real-life that were translated into Simlish. The artists did an excellent job transitioning their real-world songs into the world of the Sims.
Load Times
Loading up the University expansion pack will feel longer than before. With the university campus in addition to the original neighborhood, the game must first load the neighborhood and then the college area. This makes traveling your Sims from your neighborhood to a university campus or vice versa quite frustrating.
Even though the prospect of bring your Sims through university and having them have insane 3.9 GPA's. The process of getting multiple Sims through university is quite long and tedious for the fifth time around. Researching and Cram Sessions can only have so much appeal.
Conclusion
Despite the very long load times, the added University feature adds more direction and objective to the lives of your Sims. This will surely address the aimlessness that some have felt when playing the Sims 2 and surely the University expansion pack will provide more direction to those players. There are some people who feel the University expansion pack as unnecessary or not fun, however, Maxis did an ingenious or devious (depending on how your look at it) job with making the benefits of going through University very important than a Sim simply graduating from High School. For those hardcore Simmers, you can’t miss out.
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