Moving in Greek House Lowers Performance Meter

I had one of my students move in to a Greek house (in La Fiesta Tech) she was a member of. Her performance meter was lowered as if she had to build up 2 more skills, but the skill level that was highlighted had already been filled. There is no way to expand the Invalid Performance Meterperformance meter, so I have a feeling she’s going to be on academic probation at the end of the quarter! When I moved her back in a dorm or a non-greek house, the meter was back to fully expanded. I tried moving her to the greek house two different ways: using the phone, and having one of the existing members invite her to move in. Both resulted in the erroneous performance meter as seen to the right. She originally was a math major, and I switched to Drama since it needed 3 body skill points while she only had 2. But after she gained a body skill point, the meter didn’t move.

Her dad is part alien, and I used a cheat to get her mom to have green skin. So maybe that is causing the problem. If she goes on probation, I guess I’ll try moving the whole family to a different lot to see if that helps. I guess I can try inviting her sister to join the Greek house to see if it happens to her too.

Starting Career Level after Graduating College

Sims who graduate college will not only have access to 4 other careers, but be able to start the older careers at a higher level since they’ve had time to develop their skills. I think the specific level a Sim is able to start at depends on the skill level of relevant skills. For example, if a sim has level 2 creativity, 3 mechanical, and 2 charisma after graduating, they can start at the 4th level of the Musician career. They’ll need to increase some skills in order to be promoted. It’s probably also dependent on the number of friends he/she has.

My problem recently was: How do I start at the very beginning level of the graduate-level careers, when I’ve had to build up the skills in college and I’m likely to skip over the first level? I have recorded the hours and skills needed for each career, and needed to get the first few levels of the Show Business and Paranormal careers. But most of my graduated students already had a few skill points of charisma and body. I’ve also recorded which skills are needed for each college major, so I picked one that only requires one charisma. When the time came, I never got the charisma skill point, and luckily it wasn’t a requirement the next semester! So I now know the hours of the 1st level of Show Business, and I still need to get the Paranormal. See the list of all Sims 2 Career Levels (up to FreeTime), along with their hours and skills here:  http://www.leakybagel.com/products/all_careers.php

Big Man on Campus

I just found a memory for a student called ‘Became Big Man on Campus’. I’m not sure what that means, but I found a couple discussions (one at http://forums.thesimsresource.com/showthread.php?t=279527) that claim it’s based on the number of friends you have, and can appear as a want for popularity sims. My sim had 14 friends/best friends. He’s a senior, about to graduate, and has a 4.0. He lives in a dorm and does not belong to a Greek House. The memory and want icons look like a varsity jacket.

University mascots flirt with your girlfriend/boyfriend

On university lots, there’s always some mascot (dressed in a cow costume) who flirts with someone who’s already in love with someone else! This always causes a ‘Caught cheating’ memory, and the one who was cheated on will become angry at both the cow and his/her loved one.  I guess it’s not that hard to mend things, just takes a little time. But why does this happen and what can we do to prevent it?!?

Guests will not stop playing instruments

I get tired and frustrated with my guests immediately going to the piano, guitar, or drums as soon as they arrive (unless I start talking to them or distract them with something else first). Even when these items are on the 2nd story or far away from the front door. They don’t seem to ever stop until their needs are very low, even if it’s past time to go home (around 2am for adults). I have thought about removing these items, but why prevent the homeowners from enjoying them? The first option to get them to stop is to initiate an interaction (talking, playing, etc) with them or the “shoo” option if you want them out of the room. My trick is to use the “Call Over” option every now and then to stop them from playing. That way your sim won’t have to walk all the way over there if it’s far away, and you can make your guest come to you while you can continue what you were doing. I know playing instruments can be fun, and increases creativity, but once your fun bar is full it’s probably time to work on another need bar. If your playable sim is on an instrument when it’s time to go to work or school, do they stop automatically?

Bonus Items from Visiting Campus (Black Trash Bags)

I just found out that when sims visit campus, they can return with some bonus items! I knew that they went out to get pizza, but today I noticed them bringing back black garbage bags or trash bags, and didn’t see anything come out of them. I looked around the wall and found several bonus items that I hadn’t put there! Here’s the first link I found which lists some items they can bring back: http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=99823

Who knows where they find this stuff? My Sims brought back a radio and were dancing to it for a while and I still didn’t realize that it was new!

The Mystery of Greek Houses

I never got interested in advancing the level of my Greek Houses in University, mostly because I didn’t really know what it involved or what the reward would be. Also I concentrate on doing well academically and not the Greek life. Below is a good link that explains how to join an existing Greek House, how to start a new House, the different levels, and information about getting Pledges (new members). It sounds like inviting a sim to be a pledge would be neat. If they accept (have a high enough relationship), you get to influence them for 14 hours without spending your influence points until they become a ful member. I guess the more friends the house has, the higher the level, which then means they can have more members. I haven’t had more than 5 members or so for one house. I guess the members don’t have to live in the Greek House, but then do their friends count towards the House friend total?
http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Greek_Houses