Pros and Cons: The Sims 4 Discover University Gameplay Review
2019 ж. 28 Қар.
189 545 Рет қаралды
A gameplay-focused review of The Sims 4 Discover University presented by EA Game Changers. The latest University expansion delivers on its core promise of a campus life, but what are its main gameplay features? In this review we'll go over every major system and get a glimpse into how they work in this review of the eighth expansion pack.
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i feel like a few more personal small touches could've been added to make the experience better. for example the graduation should've definitely been a proper event, alongside maybe a uni reunion event that would pop up when your sim becomes an elder? it's a decent pack however as you say it does feel a bit rushed - especially with that lazy course panel.
Irem Ozbay yes!!! I was so upset when my graduation wasn’t an event and was just a rabbit hole ):
Hmm...maybe I will just create a social event for “graduation party”. 😒 it should have been a proper event that I don’t have to organise.
Thank god i got it for free not wasting crap on EA
The school events is something I've missed from Sims 3. I enjoyed how the kids had prom and field trips and your sims family could visit for uni graduation and there was orientation day. I wish they added all of that, plus some new stuff, like maybe spirit week (day?) or pep rallys.
I didn't care that the graduation was a rabbit hole because i expected it. Its always been like that but I'm upset we cant invite people to graduation. If we could invite the sims parents or whatever and they would get a moodlet like "Childs first graduation" or something and give them a graduation gift I'd appreciate it a lot more. The class panel is also terrible, I agree its very lazy
No new traits might be my biggest criticism of the pack. Island Living gave us two new traits, one of which is basically just "your sim likes fish, not fishing but just the fish themselves lmao" but they couldn't think of ANYTHING to add to Discovery University?
The Sims 3: more is more The Sims 4: less is more
The power of MODS
Right? I wanna see traits that relate to these types of irl students: Class clown, photographic/perfect memory (never have to study to get an A), teacher's pet, always over sleeping (although this is an easy workaround), dyslexic, dyscalculia, test anxiety, socially anxious, super organized, perfect student, alcohol lightweight, stoner/always high etc... I'm just now realizing that every sim character is unnaturally social... Shout out to all the modders whose backs EA has been riding on. Without them... This would have been the last Sims game and last updated in 2016.
With the sims 3 I didn’t have to rely on mod for decent game play. I shouldn’t have to mod the hell out my game for it o be playable.
and just 3 traits wtf .. its not enough
The roommate feature would be great for City living. A roommate to help pay apartment rent that I don't control... Yes!!!
But the rent in San Myshuno is already so cheap. I usually start out in an apartment because it's the cheapest option besides an empty lot. Spice District has the best apartments and all under like 700 a week!
@@starksandshields5151 The problem nowadays is that you absolutely can't convert apartments into Tiny Homes (obviously, this is only relevant if you have the Tiny Living SP). So they are now actually bad starting points compared to, say, Strangerville with two homes that are easily convertible into 64-tile Tiny Homes. I mean, you can start in apartments if you want, but you sacrifice the early skill gains that you get with the Tiny Homes bonus. And considering how cheap a Tiny Home is overall compared to even the cheapest San Myshuno apartments, it's a bad sacrifice to make for a starting sim.
@@rcslyman8929 Yeah, but the cities are really fun if you're concerned with story.
@@MyHeartIsOhMyGod Oh, I definitely get it from a story standpoint, but it would have been nice if they had included options for tiny home apartments, especially if some of the buildings had been converted. I mean, obviously some of the apartments are meant to be luxury apartments, but there's 4 or 5 good candidates that could have been transformed for Tiny Living.
@@rcslyman8929 Ahh, I see your point. Yeah, a tiny-home apartment would have been cute.
I love that your reviews don’t come out immediately. It proves you actually spent time playing the game and gave an honest review. The packs aren’t cheap and you’ve saved me quite a bit of money my friend.
Taelor Jones they’re on sale for 50% off right now if you want it!
Me too, I haven’t bought any Sims 4 packs since The Vampire pack.
The “graduation ceremony” was so anticlimactic I didn’t even realize it happened! She put on her cap and gown, met with like 5-6 other sims for like 5 seconds, ran around the campus, tossed her cap in the air, and that was it. 🥱🥱 One issue I keep having with the addition of Get Famous is when my sim gets invited to parties the DJ will abandon their post EVERY TIME someone famous shows up! It always results in my sim leaving the event angry. 😤
Blissful Martini I have a famous Sim and this happens every single time. Annoying af. Why can’t the effing DJ stay in his damn booth? My Sim can’t have a decent night out. XD
A Lynx 😂😂😂
Lol resembles real college parties where u go home pissed bc u paid to get in and the dj sucked 😂
Is that seriously how graduation works in this pack? It wasn’t all that great in Sims 3, either, but at least you got to go to the the rabbit hole area and graduate - then when they came out they threw their diploma. At the very least you could get a few good screenshots out of it. How the heck is graduation in this game representative of a real life graduation *at all* ?
Lock the Dj in maybe
Your time taking is worth it. As you said, the game would do better with more time, and frankly, your guides show the value putting time into something can add. Thank you.
Very kind of you
"You have to keep the robots dry" **goes to woohoo with one in a shower**
I came to comment on this... You would think the Sims team would have provided an alternate. Recipe for planning failure: Add woohooable robot into an environment where everyone’s using the single bed then mix in new woohoo location: showers. A Murphy bed might have helped with that.
You woohoo with robots?
@@royalfamily1938 No.. I guess you didn't see the entire video? 💁
Tamara G no I was asking why would you do that. Lol
Listen of you woohoo with a robot wouldn't they get wet anyway😂
How does Carl not have more subscribers??? It's Carl! From your childhood! He made it possible for me as a 10-year-old noob to actually play the Sims. If it weren't for Carl's Guide I'd never have had access to the game that I grew up with. I'm sure so many people can relate to that, and if you can then please subscribe!! THANK YOU CARL! 😁❤
From my perspective it's been insane! I had 15k subs in May! 6 months later, 26k more. That's pretty fast but of course I'm excited to see just how far it'll go :)
Wow that is awesome, I'm excited for you! I don't mean to not acknowledge the amazing growth of the channel and support people have shown so far, I just mean to say you're basically the Yoda of Sims and such an essential part of so many people's Sims experience. I don't think there's a time that I play without checking the Guide! You have such a special place in my heart for making my childhood better and featuring in my fondest memories, that I feel like you deserve the support of every single simmer in the world! I am biased of course... thank you so very much, I'm grateful I actually get to tell you that personally. ❤
I feel like when Carl started, social media and even the internet weren't pushed as much as they are today. It's sad because Carl's guides are always the first ones I check out and always trust.
42.2k grats! Thank you for your hard work
I don’t think ppl realize this is the same Carl. My friend and I didn’t at first until we watched.
I never thought of using a bike in Granite Falls! Good idea.
Graduation aside, I really enjoyed sending one of my Sims to college. It reminded me a lot of TS2 University, and for me, that's a good thing. Personally, I'm excited to do it all again (but in a new direction) with future Sims. One thing: right after graduation, I threw a keg party at the dorm and my Sims and a few others wore their robes to it. This made graduation a lot more fun.
I thought about this just right now. Maybe Maxis didn't make an in depth graduation because they wanted to let players come up with their own graduation, such as a party or event. It's not set in stone, so you can anything you want.
I would have liked a graduation cut scene and not to have regular sims hanging around on campus,. it spoils the effect of the college scene. This happened with the magic pack also. I would rather get a grade progress report than call or email professors, which was weird.
Everyone who goes to the magic realm now uses magic. Completely destroyed my immersion. Sounds like uni is going to break my immersion too
Why is Nancy landgrab in my dorm room?
I would claim that the roommate feature is the best part of this pack.
You're probably right. It''s the feature that'll change things long term for people and it won't be so bad to shop for a good roommate you like. It's only super repetitive when you load 8-9 of them and get duplicates, as is the case with dorms.
@@CarlsSimGuides true but the fact I can have neighbours living next door in my brownstones makes me so happy. It would be even better if I could manage the roommates but i'll take what we got and be stupidly happy.
I was really hoping they would add an active education career track
Or at least the professors could show up as the assigned professors for various courses.
That would be cool but of course, they didn’t do it. Such a missed opportunity.
Yea I would be happy with that or at least 1 active class to attend to like in sims 3 (not an actual class but Idr what it is)
I had a musician for a roommate once. Several would've given me PTSD, I swear.
Yeah, those violinists drove me nuts! They never improve their skill either...
@@tsimkins1960 Power move: use MCCC (if you have the ability to use it of course) and cheat their violin skill to they will be preform FLAWLESS Sonatas on the violin
@@mariosuarez6656 NGL that would also be highly effective lol
At one point my Sim, who was extremely tired from all of the Studying, went to Sleep only to be waken up 30 Sim minutes later by her roommate who decided to play the Violine for 20 sim Minutes before going to sleep. 🤦♀️😂 But okay My Sim also played on Her guitar more often than not. 😂🎸
I can only imagine xD This review was pretty neat. If only the sims 4 university was something like the Sims 3 again i would probably buy it. From some of the gameplay footage's i didnt get that vibe.
There was a lot of missed opportunities with this pack. I think a lot of it's do to rushing it through I think that's why kids can't attend E-Sport matches, or Soccer matches & no one outside the graduating sim can go into the rabbit hole for graduation ceremony.
*12 courses for a degree* I wish I was in The Sims.
"When I was on campus, I constantly needed to be doing something" Yep, that sounds like college alright
Fr...lmao
You're one of the most in depth Sims 4 reviewers and I like that. You examine everything and analyze how well it fits into the game. I've seen so many players praising the fact that this game has loans, but you're the only one who's stated it doesn't add much in terms of difficulty, which should be the main point. Also showing off how the graduation in the game is a massive downgrade from what the trailer showed. That's something more people need to emphasize. DU does seem like one of the better packs this year, but it still doesn't look like it has enough of that added challenge that the game needs.
yeah i personally had to download a few mods to make it a bit more challenging with the cost of uni and loan system and a mod to change that careers need degrees to actually join them doctors, all the new ones in the pack,rocket scientists ,etc..
Personally I was most disappointed by the low interest rate/hefty signing bonus and the fact that electives count towards graduation. A harder University program or real threat of debt would've been great challenges to add.
Fatima A. i’d been grooming a younger sim trying to get excellent grades before this expansion in order to earn a scholarship... to see that it really doesn’t matter is super disappointing.
Yep! For what it's worth the pack is still better than most of the others. Grades aren't extremely easy to get, you have to do some work - even for a skill my sim had maxed out, he had to study and do university coursework. Your sim can be rejected from uni and has to wait at least a week before reapplying. Likewise you can apply for a skill scholarship at a lower level than it takes to win it, but so far it appears you can't reapply so your sim can screw up their chances if they don't time their application. And it feels good to join at a higher career level, albeit momentarily. This is one of my favorite packs, relative to the typical TS4 standard of packs...even if it isn't the gameplay challenge the game desperately needs and that I was looking for.
When the pack came out I played with a savefile I was really close to. I only realized after it was too late, that I should've turned off aging while my sim was in university. My sim hadn't even completed his degree and both of his parents died and his teenage sister had to live at home all alone. Time stopped in the previous games so why didn't it in the sims 4? Its so frustrating because in real life uni only takes 4 years give or take, so why is everyone dying as if he's spent 20 years there???
The only review on the Sims I thoroughly watch. Carl you are so knowledgable, wise and real about your opinions. I trust your reviews 100%. As a fellow Game Changer, I feel I am not critical or as thorough when it comes to experiencing new packs. Your videos help me spot things I've missed or how things could be better. Thank you for insight and help! ❤
I'm glad my summaries are of some use, and thanks for dropping in to check out my review. I had some fun with it, but definitely find that some things could've been better. Plenty of mods out there for my gripes, at least.
best and most detailed sims reviewer on yt.
Very nice of you to say shadybrain.
I'd go for LGR but the straight facts are found on Carl's.
@@Chillwave6 carl is just as critical as LGR but less bitter about it, and goes into way more detail, i love LGR but everytime i watch a vid carl does i learn something i didnt know before about the game.
@@shadybrain3424 lol Carl was pretty bitter about IL and RoM, while LGR has mellowed a lot since Ralph mostly disappeared but I love them both. They're both very chill, amusing, and informative (though Carl has always focused the most on tips and such.)
And I didn't know those certificates on the wall have Enable Emotional Aura. Somehow your videos always have something new for me to learn.
PositivelyNice Always something new to learn from Carl!!
Cus it's Carl!
Love your videos. And no worries about getting videos out faster, what we want as a community is a better and more thorough understanding of the game. And you provide us with just that. Keep fighting the good fight, Carl!!!
Thank you and all the others who are complementing carl and such, you guys are what really make me regain faith in the sims community aside from the game-changers.
I wish roommates was added in a patch because that's the only reason I would buy this EP. The whole point of going to higher education is to impact the rest of your life and this doesn't do that. Not even in the sense of student loan debt.
I agree. The only way this pack will impact your sim's future is just getting on the career ladder quicker. For example, you miss a few career steps in Medicine if you did a Biology degree. So it's quite boring. But I've used mods to make it feel a bit more better. I installed a Psychologist career and just did the Psychology degree. So I added a bit more context. They at least could of added a Law degree!
Managing a small family, wwhere the dad goes to college (from home), the mom has to work and gets pregnant with twins, an older sister who wanted some quality time, too... was quite a challange! Add three cats, and seasons. Have a lot of fun with them. Also: no money cheats.
Wow! That's amazing!!! And very impressive!!! 🙆👏
Nice ! I started challenging my self before I even got the pack I started with a teen sim no money no family in an apartment in the city balanced school a part time job and odd jobs to survive on her own. As soon as she became a young adult I bought the pack and she applied for school which I also planned for her to have nothing but apparently that hustle paid off for scholarships because they ended up with a free ride with scholarships in some of the weirdest things at first it was pretty rough still but each semester she was getting more and more and eventually she was earning money for going to school I think I’m going to turn it into a super sim challenge and get her every possible degree before she dies hopefully need to work on some traits and stuff that will get her to live longer 🧐
@@queenebonlyqueeneb5419 Could I ask you a question? Having a teen on her own, it is possible through a mod? Thank you in advance 🙆
Roux nope it’s a vanilla base game thing
@@queenebonlyqueeneb5419 Oh, that's great! Thank you.
I agree. We need something that deepens the experience of playing the Sims and gives more personality to them. The fact that they only have three personality trait slots is ridiculous.
I agree with the bit about overhauling the traits (to a certain extent) but 3 trait slots is plenty. (imo) What they should do is vastly improve the rewards store, which goes a long way toward molding a unique Sim as you play. If you look at all the traits we had in the Sims 3 for example you'll realize that a large number of them are latent and have very little impact on their day to day personalities. You'd be hard pressed to pick five traits in the Sims 3 that avoids all of them. (lucky, unlucky, auto enthusiast, never nude etc) I was glad to see they streamlined this in this version.
@@Unconsciouzone Three is definitely not plenty. Also most of Sims 4 "traits" are bland as hell. Most of them are tied to emotions which boring as hell. I like the idea of shaping your sims trait through gameplay but most traits are all goddamn positive. For example, You can love outdoors but you can't hate them. You can be smart but not dumb.
@@jeromealday614 What's so exciting about the latent traits they excluded from the previous version?
mehh three is enough for me as the traits are atm. most of them are utterly useless anyways and they don't seem to affect anything apart from some emotional buff or sims complaining about something else than the Sunny weather for once -.- if autonomy is on they will still do nothing but sit at a computer or watch tv...
@@jeromealday614 Well there are glutton, hates children, and evil.
The real question is: Can you woohoo the repo man?
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The roommate system on a residential lot has been annoying for me. Roommates don't sleep unless your sim sleeps, and I'm playing with a vampire lol so, sleeping is hardly necessary and my roommate basically had insomnia. The only time he was able to sleep was when my sim would sleep in her coffin or-- because we live in Forgotten Hollow-- he would walk off the lot to nap on a bench lol. Eventually, he never came back. Thanks Carl for your detailed and honest reviews! I appreciate you taking the time to put out reviews because the results are videos of high quality and it's helpful to so many of us!
My played sims don't sleep either as I always cheat their energy needs (sleeping bores me lol) but most of my roommates would sleep apart from one who had the lazy trait and he would continually wander off lot to nap on benches etc. It's pretty annoying tbh
@@playalot8513 Yes, this makes me not want to have roommates on residential lots. I like to play with vampires a lot, so I probably won't be utilizing this feature ever again... unless it gets an update improving it :)
@@hamtaro6471 Why not turn the roomie into a vampire as well? XD
@@j.stanley1669 Haha, he was intended with two different purposes; to keep my sim's social and fun up, and as a feeding source XDDD
I still struggle with the bug that makes me NOT finish the degree even though I've finished school. It's annoying.. I worked so hard on it and can't do anything about it...
I don't understand why they didn't make the robotics parts purchasable automatically from the robotics table, like flowers can be purchased from the flower arranging table. If you already have the necessary components in your inventory (from gardening or scavenging parts) you consume those, if not the object automatically buys them for you using household funds.
The reason I like your content is that you do not rush, you are clear and honest in what you provide in each video with a thoughtfulness that I appreciate. The KZhead world is full of people trying to capture the audience by getting their video out first. That is fine if it is a game play / play thru video but for a review or tutorial more time should be taken to ensure the information provided is truly useful and correct. Thank you for giving us that here and on your website.
Always the most thorough guide. You’re the best Carl!
You might be right about this pack but Roommates is a thing that I think most people have been wanting for a long while, including me, so I think this pack will do well even if its not very interesting in the long run.
16:00 i burst out laughing, omg 🤣 the way he's still cheering while everyone vanished, i-
Realm of Magic disappointed me so much that I haven’t played the game for a while now. This pack doesn’t get me excited at all. *sigh* Thanks for the in-depth review though. 🙂
Always enjoy your pack breakdowns @Carl's Sims Guides and your website is my go to guide for anything I don't know or am fuzzy on so big thanks and keep up the fantastic content
I'm worried that Maxis are pushing these packs out too fast and this is why they have so many rabbit holes and clunky UI solutions.
Markus Hansson i’m worried that it has less to do with maxis and more to do with EA
Markus Hansson isn’t maxis closed down ??
That's the thing is people keep rushing it and saying they'll quit Sims if a new one doesn't come out soon and that's why they release them so quickly, because of dumb players like that we don't get good things
Hey Carl, considering the extensive amount of info you put on your guides and then you make videos you put out content significantly fast! Thank you for all of the time you put in to this, you save us all a lot of time.
Your videos are the absolute best. Thanks so much for this overview.
On another note, I am crazy about your sims guides started following them back in sims 3 and they are absolutely amazing and very helpful to all things sims. Your video guides are just as awesome and now looking at your let's play series
That’s why i never want to spend $40 on any of these
I am playing Sims 3 now and Sims Medieval and then back to Sims 2. I have deleted Sims 4. I use your Carl’s Guides almost daily for help. Thank you ! Waiting for Sims 5, hopefully with a whole new crew for the new game.
Nope, they sent people from Sims 4 to work on Sims 5, including one of the gurus who was disliked (lol I can't remember the name and at this point, that's any of them. :P) I hope they get a new engine for Sims 5 and start off without having to change everything halfway through. That alone should help. Either way, you should check out Paralives, if you haven't heard of it yet! It sounds like it'll be great whenever it comes out. :)
I love all of you videos!! Especially your in-depth reviews 😎
Yay! Another video from Carl!
I kinda enjoy the tedious part of robotic. I enjoy grinding and i value the end result more. So I was heart broken when my robot died in the snow without any warnings. After i spent hours to build him. Rip robot. On to the next one.
You are the awesomest! I really appreciate your work on these videos ❤❤
Thank you for all the work you put into this! Your reviews have been extremely helpful at a time when most of the reviews I've come across appear very biased and involve players mainly gushing about the game and doing sloppy walkthroughs rather than talking about the practicality of the pack and what it actually brings to the table...or does not. I'm currently trying to decide which packs are worth my money after years out of the game (pun intended) and your videos and website have by far been the most valuable in terms of useable information.
Yes! The video I was waiting for! I have based all my expansion pack purchases on your reviews! 😅😅
Thanks for the review! Comprehensive as always. I really appreciate your gameplay focus.
Thanks for zooming in on the UI, I could see everything this time :)
I know I'm a bit late to reply to you, but I'm glad you all spoke up about this because it'll definitely impact my videos going into the future. it happens a lot in Sims that you need to see the UI and I didn't really think about how bad it'd be on certain screens. cheers.
Ty Carl for your work, time, and patience of putting out the information on sims games. I appreciate all you do. When I need to know something I scan the google for your name to click on for my answers. Your fair and the best. Ty.
Detailed as always! I love it
Very well done so far Carl! Super informative and interesting too, the perfect video after my long day.
I'm glad it turned out so well. I tried to keep what I'm talking about and the footage extra tight. Sometimes I'll let it go a little if it's not important but I think showing everything and only the best parts did help the quality a little. Still learning after 100 videos..
I love your videos, thanks for making them!
Thank you for making this video. Very helpful. I too hope that the game makes the sims personalities stand out more. Here's to hoping!
Love you Carl, keep up the wonderful work 💕
I really appreciate your videos and am grateful for the time you put into them. Thank you.
My experience with this thing: -Entered the university. -My roommates filled my dorm with a bunch of spoiled food and none of them cleaned it up. -Got confused and lost AF with the class schedule and what the heck I was supposed to do. -Dropped out without even finishing the 1st term, "This sucks, i'll do it the old fashioned way"
University was really helpful for my doctor sim because I didn’t have to spend time cleaning the floor, I got to treat and diagnose patients right away. Although university was really stressful but I guess it’s realistic. It’s a lot easier if you live off campus because then they don’t miss classes walking there, they just teleport.
Carl, your guides are the best! Love your channel too. Always such useful information! Another thing about University is that I had to move my Sims out of the dorms for my sanity. 24/7 there would be 3 or 4 different violinists constantly playing with extremely low skill. They never improved, so there was a constant cacophony of badly played violins and loud radios all on different stations. Since I use headphones that was seriously annoying.
Yes, more than one is really tiresome. There is a menu on the roommates under "Roommate" when you click on them that allows you to choose 'stop that' on them and then you can quickly cancel your Sim going over to tell them but the action, like violin playing, will be stopped anyway.
I like the way you speak and your voice is very soothing. I have nothing nice to say about this expansion so I will just leave it at that. Thank you for the review.
wow, I didn't even take advantage of half these features, so thank you for this video!
Thank you, lots. I love ur guides!!!
I love your channel. The sims makes my life easier to live lol. Such a relaxing game (when it’s not bugged out)
Another great (and fairly critiqued) review Carl, great job! I don't think your reviews dissuade players from buying it because you really lay out the pros and cons of it and players can then decide for themselves if the pack is worth it to them. I'm not a huge fan of the repetitive class rabbit-hole cycle either but I also agree it's a part of a simulated life-cycle and whether you choose to have your Sim go to University or just work your way up the career ranks from the bottom, it ends up being a similar outcome anyway so I feel like University is more of an 'achievement' player's type of pack. If you want perfect Sims who have done everything there is to do, then this one seems important. I took my sim through University without living on campus and I feel like it was a less stressful experience for them (and me in controlling them) overall, though the roommate/dorm experience can be hilarious at times too. Speaking of, you should play with the roommate functionality off-campus in a non-dorm designated house because this can lead to some fun randomness style play. I created an underground bunker (post-apocalypse challenge!) with every other lot in the town bulldozed and used the roommate function (place ad via computer or phone) to inhabit my bunker with other random survivors which resulted in some hilarious gameplay for awhile. I ended up kicking out the 'rejects' who kept making messes or causing fights and the well-behaved sims got to move on and live outside the bunker later as independent households. Since you can have up to 10 sims in your household (your sim plus 9 roommates), this can really get funny watching what the other 9 are doing while you have no control over them. Just wanted to say this adds a different layer of gameplay that has nothing to do with university, so I appreciate that function added to the game as well as robotics though I agree that one's a real grind to try and level up. Cheers!
Oh I forgot to mention, if you try the 10-sim roommate challenge off-campus, be sure you delete all the pre-made Sims (I hate Nancy Landgraab and the mermaids always showing up everywhere too) from Other households section. The game will generate the random sims that join your household from the homeless pool as roommates anyways. Also, sims living with you as roommates that are not on university campus lots (do not designate the lot as a dorm just a regular residence) come with their own jobs randomly assigned so you won't have 9 'students' living with you and best news of all, they don't play violins, LOL!
You're right. The control you have in that circumstance does seem like it would make it a lot more fun. I just said in another comment it'd be better to shop for roommates and not just roll a bunch at once and be stuck with them.
@@CarlsSimGuides Right! If you start up your own household (not a dorm) and the roommates come in as candidates, you can pick and choose which ones you want to join your household or not - though you don't get a lot of time to get to know them before they take off again. I ended up kicking out about half of them, though the constant drama in the household was pretty hilarious for awhile. Always alternative ways to play with any pack even if you don't use it for what it was intended, haha. Have fun with it!
@@Envie42 If you do have a servo in your household you can have them scan for traits before accepting them as a roommate on a residential lot, so that helps a little. And of course you can throw them out if they prove to be one of the more annoying type!
Your comment made me think that the roommate function would be great for a Big Brother or Asylum Challenge playthrough. You’re not supposed to control the inmates in those challenges so the built-in lack of control would be perfect!
Thanx for your review. Have a nice Thanksgiving.
My biggest frustration with this pack was the one billion stairs in Foxbury Institute, some of them bugged my sims while they went to classes earlier. I also felt sad that we can only see the Repo Man if we force the situation. It doesn't come naturally. But overall, the pack is amazing and it added many gameplay features, things that I didn't see in the last Expansion Pack and Game Pack. Hopefully they'll do more of these in the future! Thanks for the review, Carl! Love your honesty and that you care about the community to give us a good opinion about the packs!
Get a mod to make courses more expensive. I missed 2 phone calls (sim was at work) and the repo man came! One instance I managed to bribe him. The 2nd time this happened with a diff repo man. He just took my money. Ended up trying to flirt. Then I saw him eyeing up my possessions. So I fought him. He still took my shower. My sim was sad for half the day because she missed her shower. :(
@@hutchrivers2912 what an adventure! I'm definitely getting a mod for this, thanks!
Even without the university aspect, some players will grab this for "Roommates" and "Servo", my character gets 4 credit discounted for all other degrees after the first degree.
Yes, all degrees after the initial first degree only require 8 courses regardless of skills your Sim may or may not have
For what it’s worth, I don’t think you need to apologize for any “delay” in getting these reviews out. Your reviews have depth, are well thought out, and rarely do I watch one of your videos and pick up something new about the game. Quality js worth waiting for. I much prefer the pacing of your channel than some other Sim content providers who crank out high volume that is all fluff and chock full of speculation. Long ways to say, thank you.
Amazing as always
Excellent review. I agree with your evaluation. Expansion packs should have features that affect base world gameplay.
I enjoyed your review. I learned a few things as well. I bought the pack and I like it for what it has to offer despite the game bugs and limitations.
Actually, I quite enjoy the fact that we can attend robotics with Bella goth of all people or have Morgyn ember as our painting model bc I feel like it EXPANDS our world and makes it more connected, Which really enriched MY gameplay as I hate the rando ugly computer-generated townies. In the end, as someone told me once before about the sims community, different strokes for different folks, I LOVE this aspect and respect what the sims team tried to do even if others don't in some form or another... Thanks for at least taking time with this review bc when you said something felt rush I just immediately thought of the other gamechanger reviews lol, bc they released their opinions that were overwhelmingly positive then they were like 'too easy waa need mods to fix'... sorry if I'm venting now, but just needed to about the community as a whole bc it's just really getting on my nerves. I apologize to literally any who read this and thank you for tolerating me, I know I probably am not doing anything to improve the community but Carl, Thanks for at least being blunt about it and taking time to better form an opinion, critiquing and criticizing on what we have than what stupid stuff we don't (reunions, active classes, active careers, etc). Thanks, Carl!
Basically, it's mostly an alternate career advancement track, with slightly more interactive content.
Thank you for this. University wasn't something I wanted in my game, so I never bothered much with trying to figure out all the things one can do with it. This helped a lot to show me that maybe there are things worth doing. I did end up buying it because the build/buy items looked so good, for roommates and (unusually for me, because I generally don't care about it), CAS. I don't regret getting it, even if I doubt I'll bother actually sending my Sims to uni.
I'll buy this pack... but not for the actual university experience. I might take a Sim to college or university at some point, but I don't generally care about the places that come with packs. I buy them for the 'stuff' and there are things in this pack that I've been wanting for ages... like the toilet cubicles and free-build showers. Those will enhance my game more than anything and I will use them constantly, especially the wall showers. I might even have a Sim with 2 or 3 roommates so he/she doesn't have to work... or to have roommates live in a trailer park or townhouse situation without them being in my family. The bike will be a good way for some of my little people to get their exercise while having fun as well... not such a bad thing. I know I look at these things differently, but I really enjoy building... actually, I really enjoy decorating and re-designing, so I'll be re-doing every conceivable building in my various neighbourhoods, making the public bathrooms better, etc. I'll probably bundle this with a couple of other packs I don't currently have so I get a decent ROI. :)
Hmm, well yeah I do agree with keeping on seeing pre-made sims, I don't need the famous Sims in the Sims universe that isn't the celebs
Haha-DON’T TOUCH MY SHIT Great video. I appreciate that you waited until you were able to fully explore the pack before doing the review. It was organized, very informative, and I believe you did an excellent job with highlighting pros and cons. I haven’t commented on your stuff before, but I wanted you to know I’ve used your Guides since I started with Sims 3. You’re my go-to for information and I truly appreciate the time, effort, and care you put into those and your videos. Thank you.
Going to recreate a Revenge of the Nerds scenario (the first one that is, the second can go to hell) :D
(( Sims 3 / Into The Future - really needs to see a SIMS 4 version.))
Professor combined with archeology is a fun role play that would make sense IRL
I do agree with you the majority of people who will like the pack are the storytellers and the ones who specifically love the college experience. I can see some fun stories or even Legacy challenges that could work great on this. I see Decade challenges coming out of this pack with things as simple as one degree per generation or locking degrees before a certain "year". Granted its going to kill the decade esthetic if you go to the high tech school. I wonder if any CC will come out opening the base degrees in both schools so you can have your esthetic work for your story
Man, the Sims 3 University seemed so much more in depth and with a lot more fun features. I really loved playing it back then and I wish the Sims 4 version was more fleshed out. I really hope that they do a better job with the upcoming high school pack!
Thank you Carl. Your videos are great and so thoughtful. Traits I wish were demonstrated by the Sims 4 developers. I am an 18 year Simmer who has grown bored with the game. I look to each new expansion pack to re;invigorate my play. Alas, no. I hope your videos will inspire some new creativity in EA. Maybe it is a case of too many engineers with no life experience other than Rabbit holes.
Great vid ! ... but now with the completion of "University EP" ... where will Maxis go in its SIMS 4 franchise? Where do you think they'll take the game in EP? In my opinion - I see a few game packs possibilities (fantasy races - faeries etc. ) and activity ( crafting etc.) maybe even a update of the "Go to Work EP", but not much more other than something about Outer-space as a possible direction for the next EP. If we were to follow the SIMS 3 roadmap.... it would have been a version of "Into the Future" - but they cut almost all possibility of that EP by creating Servos and Bots in university (which was a major element of the "Into the Future EP"). So I don't see much more direction other than SIMS 5.
I'm literally making a script for a little talk about that right now. I don't know the answers but I think we might see some more drawing outside the lines like with StrangerVille because they may need to be a bit more innovative to keep it going. But yeah I do see a lot of little things that could be shoved into themed game packs or expansions.
As my favorites packs have already came out I think it's safe to say that I should take a time off the Sims 4 and probably even wait for 5. I don't know how but they consistently manage to make the game more boring and lifeless every expansion. Maybe its just not for me anymore. But I'll sure still watching your reviews doe(LGR's as well), lately it has been more fun than actually playing the game.
Hey I tested out roommates and found the sweet spot is 5-7. I wasn't noticing repeats at 7 but I could have ended up with mutiple "cleaners" or "food bringers" instead of violinists.
What would you recommend in terms of depth for a new player starting with the game?
Thank you! 👏👏👏
You're welcome!
@@CarlsSimGuides Hey, still watching the video but had the same question when reading your guide (WICH IS THE SIMS BIBLE AND EA SHOULD PAY YOU SOOO MUCH MONEY FOR DOING IT) and I can't figure out why you keep saying that the roomates are npc when (from my experience and your video) those two girls do become part of your household, and know I have to care for them too, unlike the actual npcs in the dorm.
Yeah I se the cause of your confusion here. For some reason, the housing's set up such that if you pick the one that's occupied those two (or a guy at foxbury) will join your ACTUAL household and be 100% under your control. It's really annoying. I don't want 2 more members, I don't want your $5000 and I have to cheat to fix this. REAL Roommates are actually NPCs that live with you :)
@@CarlsSimGuides Omg, THANK YOU
Great review! But it seems that a lot of the items that I loved from Sims 3 University are not in this one. I actually never played the University aspect itself in Sims 3, I just really enjoyed lots of the build and buy items. The pool table, keg, ping pong table, cheap broken down chairs and couches, the beds (including bunk beds) were just a few of the things I really enjoyed about Sims 3 University. Does the mini fridge work properly? I remember the one from Sims 3 eventually becoming unusable as Sims could not get to it, no matter where you put it. I would just have to sell it and get a new one. Did anyone else experience this glitch... or was that an aspect of the fridge (to break and br unusable after to many uses).
I love you, Carl! 🤗
6:44 That menacing T-Pose...
If you use the first microwave, you can move that in live mode, the other microwaves won't let you move them in live mode... So putting the schmapple microwave on the mini fridge (which you can drag in live mode) means that you won't be able to put the fridge in your sim's inventory, but if you use the wavescatter microwave, you can. And I do agree, it's really only good in an emergency, the coolers are just as good, but you can sit on a cooler.
Or you could try filling your fridge up with cooked food, with the fresh maker upgrade done, and just getting leftovers all the time.
Hi Carl. Still super excited to get University when is available for Console. Meanwhile I took advantage of the black Friday deals and finally got my Sims pets! Anyway, speaking of consoles could you do a video on the console play? Controls including some not mentioned by the game (like sizing up and down objects and How to get items to move more freely from grid) Trophies and How to get them easily, the consequences of activating cheats deactivating trophies. It's just an idea. I know most don't play on co sole but there is a large amount of us that do.
Follow this link to our forum and under Tips you'll see links to controls etc www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=29261.0
I'm a senior in actual university and this pack feels like work lol
It’s by design that the game play is quick and easy. Because it gives you a short feeling of accomplishment completing and then have you waiting with bated breath for the next expansion that they churn out so quickly!
that kinda makes sense
Hey Carl, I am playing with my super sim and I noticed that while my first degree took 12 credits, my 2nd and 3rd have taken only 8 each so far
Yeah we just learned this the other day and got to check it out. Evidently it's simulating some of those general education classes you'd take at school. I've yet to edit this into my degrees page but it's a cool find. We thought it might be tied to skills but it's just whether you have a degree or not.
Honestly I agree university felt like it actually had been done a bit better in some ways in the previous 2 packs but at the same time made other improvements and it just felt like they could have made more but did not for whatever reason.
i wish my sims would use the BIKE to go to class.. the trend is that when your sim doesnt " go to class early " they end up walking to class and not using the bike which makes them super LATE. this is so annoying.