Welcome to Sim State

Class wasn’t too bad; it’s just a freshman introductory course, so I think it’s going to be a breeze. My professors seem cool, like people I could even become friends with if I wanted to. After spending a couple of hours doing my homework assignment, I went to the kitchen for some dinner. Lainey the other cafeteria worker had made a batch of macaroni and cheese, and Cory and Mallory were standing right in front of it playing Kicky Bag.

A game of kicky bag

I said “excuse me” and grabbed a bowl of mac and cheese. While I ate, I talked with Ricky, who said he was thinking of getting a job here in the dorm cafeteria to make some extra bucks. He’s going to need A LOT more cash to impress all of the rich sorority girls around here.

For the rest of the evening, I joined Sophie for group research and a little TV-watching. I got hungry at about midnight, but Lainey and Dickson weren’t making food anymore, so I heated up some ramen noodles. The perfect late night study snack!

Ivy makes ramen

After chowing down on my ramen, I was ready for bed. Imagine my surprise when I walked into my room and found Dickson the cafeteria guy sleeping in my bed! The nerve of him!

Dickson in Ivy's bed

I guess this is why it’s important to lock your door in the dorms! So I locked my door and climbed into bed, figuring Dickson could find his way out. Well, apparently it locks from the inside, too, because he stayed in there all night and ended up peeing on my floor! I couldn’t believe it.

Dickson is trapped

I finally got up and opened the door for him. I’m definitely locking it from now on!

As time went on, I worked hard on my studies and met a ton of new people, including this girl who I swear must be the long lost cousin of Juan McCullough…

Hideous girl

I found out her name was Katy. She seemed nice, even with the scary spiked hair. I’ve never seen anything like it.

One day when I was trying to teach Orlando some new dance moves, this random girl barged into our den and started doing the school cheer. Of course she immediately got Orlando’s attention. He started whooping and whistling like you wouldn’t believe. I was so annoyed! Could she be any more of an attention hog?

Random cheerleader does her thing

As soon as Ricky saw her, he dropped what he was doing on the computer and headed right over. I think he has a thing for the snooty cheerleader types. The funny thing is, they don’t seem to like him much.

Cheerleader makes a face

You know who I have a thing for? Those guys at the gym! I met a guy named…well, shoot, I forgot his name already. He was cool, though! Before he changed into his workout clothes, he was wearing a blazer with a weird badge on it. When I asked him what it represents, he kind of chuckled and said, “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” Typical. But cute. Is it just my imagination, or was he kind of flirting with me a little? Probably just my imagination.

Ivy at the gym

Before I knew it, the semester was over, and I was taking my final exam. I’m proud to say that I passed with flying colors and received a hefty scholarship for next semester, as did Sophie and Ricky. Orlando only got a 3.0, so his scholarship money wasn’t as much. Now I can afford to buy one of those really nice telescopes I’ve seen around town! Maybe by the end of our freshman year we’ll all be able to rent a house together. I’m really sick of the dorms already! I wonder what next semester will hold for us?

28 thoughts on “Welcome to Sim State

  1. you love it don’t you? Is time for revenge! I sent Meadow to UNIV. lol she got rejected!!! lmao!!!! somehow I felt very happy when i saw her crying… bad girl!
    as always Jen nice pics! also I’m waiting for Pinstar to start the Greek Challenge, I have my sim ready [ girl ] for this! I will use the academie style for the challenge. later!

  2. Hi Lorna! That’s hilarious about Meadow. I almost sent her to school, too, but wanted to start with a different batch of teens first. Meadow’s time will come soon, though…heehee. The Greek Challenge sounds interesting, I might have to try it at some point. I thought I read in the game book (the little one that came with the EP) that the Academie doesn’t have fraternities or sororities. I wonder if that’s because it’s supposed to have more of a European vibe? Anyway, I look forward to hearing about how it goes for you!

  3. Very cool inside look at the University for those of us who haven’t gotten it yet, not that I could play it even if I did have it, but it’s awesome to see pics and read the happenings of your lovely sims. Can’t wait to read more.

  4. ohhh lol yeah you are right Jen! them Sim University will do… I read about the challenge and it seems somehow like Legacy but I think it will be more difficult. dunno… maybe I will just start my own challenge :P

  5. wow! your first University blog story! what a great head’s start! i’m glad you got some use out of that thread i created on MTS2. yes, it was hard to write and i kept on tweaking it to make it perfect.

    i don’t follow the BBS at all, so do you have a link to the new Legacy Challenge? i can’t wait to try it out. :D

  6. Hm. Dosen’t look all that great… ahell, I still want more! T__T It’ll be fun to see Shanley children go :3

  7. Wow Jen, great idea! I don’t have the game myself, I’m waiting until later when, first, I can get the sims 2 working again, and second, when my mother and I have the time (we’ll be gone this weekend visiting my aunt, my uncle, and my cousin, Dustin). Thanks for this! I can’t wait to see more. How long did it take you to finish the first semester?

  8. I am totally going to send all my townies to University now. They are all going and then I’ll have new blood for my neighborhood who is virturally all related. Srry I just love this idea. What is Sophie’s aspiration? I have been dying to know. I can’t stand that sim. Maybe I’ll kill her. I’m getting evil. What is this game doing to me? Well, anyways great blog as usual and keep up your commentary of the continuing townie saga.

  9. OMG! How cool! I am so jealous. Expect me to be start drooling sometime soon. Jen, you are so good at this whole story thing! You are in your element, for sure! Anyways, keep it up! Oh no… I’m drooling already…. lol

  10. Wow, you already played a lot with the new EP if you already got them trough a whole semester!
    I am getting more and more jealeous by the minute!!!!!

  11. Actually, it only took me two hours or so to get them through first semester. I spent more time building a dorm! ;-) I just sent another batch of townies to school last night but didn’t get through first semester with them yet. Eventually I want to combine the two batches into one all-townie household, probably their junior year. I’ll probably continue to post stories on them just for kicks. But I will go back to the Shanleys soon!

    Kathy – Pinstar hasn’t released the official rules for either of the new challenges yet, but here are the previews on the BBS:

    The Greek Challenge

    University Legacy Challenge

    I plan on doing the Legacy one for sure, but I might try the Greek one at some point, too. They both sound fun. :-)

  12. Jen, you are soooo lucky! Here, in Poland the game still isn’t out. I have to wait ONE more WEEK! Yes, yes I am impatient ;). If I am lucky I will get the game on this Saturday (well my neighbour works in EA Poland, so I always get the games first – yes, I’m lucky :P), but I don’t think so. I have a question: If you send your sims to one dorm, and your other sims to the second – do they meet at college or on the campus? (well I have a bunch or sims to send and I want them to meet each other).

  13. Hi Jen. Thank you! Thank you! So much!! For posting EP so soon. I have heard a lot of negative reviews by people who are playing the EP. They say they are disappointed but all of us who don’t have it would love nothing more then to play it. I love the pics you posted. I showed my cousin the pic of ramen noodles and it blew her mind. lol
    I can’t wait to hear more about your sim’s university life. Jen do you think you can take pic of the campus and a pic of what the dorms look like on the outside? Also have you tried the camera yet? Just wondering. Thanks for the update i truely enjoyed it.
    Happy simming.

  14. Oh, I am envious and so interested in the Sims 2 University. I can’t afford to get the EP for a while. So, I will read and live vicariously through you on the university portion. LOL! he pictures are fabulous. HUGS! :)

  15. jenni120 – I had to approve your comment for some strange reason, so I didn’t see it until this morning! Sorry about that. About Sophie Miguel, she’s a Fortune Sim. And I wasn’t surprised to see she has a Niceness of ‘3’. She’s always mean, so I can’t blame you for wanting to off her. ;-) Now that I’m playing her, though, I kinda like her…at least I can keep her meanness under control.

    Lea – To answer your question: I’m not sure. :-) My second batch of townies hasn’t met the first batch yet. Sometimes random students will just drop by the dorms, so maybe one of them will show up? I’ll let you know! Otherwise they might run into each other at community lots, too. Hope you get your copy soon!

    Mary – I’ve read the negative reviews, too, but I’ve also read some very positive ones. I haven’t played the EP enough to give my own review yet, but so far I like it. I think EPs are always a little bit of a letdown, just because they seem cooler in theory than they do in practice. :-) I guess I imagined campuses being more fun, but they’re still just a collection of community lots, and since the clock continues to tick for your Sim when they’re away from the dorms, you can’t really spend TOO much time on them. At least that has been my experience so far. So that’s a little disappointing. And I don’t really like any of the new hairstyles — I really wanted more new meshes. But I haven’t even seen stuff like the new careers, the new career rewards (like the camera), or really explored the new Influence system, so there’s a lot more I have to do! I’ll make sure and post more pics for you! :-)

  16. Hey There;
    Glad to see you writing your stories again.

    I installed my UEP this morning and I really need to figure it out. My L. family is on hold until I know what I can do with them . All there wants changed to something related to University when my 2nd g. heir grew up into a teen. He really wants to go to college and get a cell phone …plus all the new interactions I’ve seen are pretty cool.

    Well need to go and make dinner for the family , here’s hoping I can play more than an hour ( that’s how much time I had when I installed UEP).

    Toodles!

  17. It seems like forever since I last posted in here. I’m so sorry, Jen! I’ve been so busy! Anyways, I loved it. I wish I could ge thte University but I can’t get it until this weekend. When I do, though, I’m so gonna send my sims right away! How is it for you so far? Congrats on the game. I loved your update, by th way!

  18. Yay Jen! You ArE truly in your element! Keep on going, as to keep all of us just coming back for more!
    Hehe! Oh, I have a question. Is it worth to pay $30ish dollars for the EP? A new EP will be coming out relatively soon (that’s how EP’s usually go), and I’m wondering if I should splurge and by University…well, please post and let me know!
    One last thing: my sims2 account, if you want to see some of my sims, is vivisim4.

  19. Great job on the start of a University Story! :O) I loved it. Hehe. And great with the townies. That’s pretty awesome. I like how you started it with them whining about how unfair it is that they can’t grow up and have families and that sort of thing. Great POV!

  20. Aw, that looks so cool! I want it! Loved your story, it’s nice to see the Townies finally have their day! Do they really take exams in the game or did you just write that in your story? Let me know! Looking forward to next installment, great job! :D

  21. I’ve been keeping up with your Sims Blog for a while now because it’s so great!
    I was just wondering: What kind of video card/amount of ram you use? I installed UEP and at times it was running slower than molasses, so I’d like an upgrade. Have you had any issues with the expansion with the speed and whatnot?

    Sorry to bother you and thanks for the info. =)

  22. Hi Jen!
    I can’t get the Uni pack yet, because it hasn’t even been released in Britain (grr!) but you seem to be having fun with it! I like it that Sophie has actually changed out of her tracksuit (even though I’ve never really been a fan of Sophie herself).
    The place is milling with townies I never knew existed! I need to play the Sims…again…
    Bye!
    E-Liz :)

  23. after I install the game for the third time i can’t see meadow in the list of teenagers to sent to college…. noooooooooooooooo also I saw a girl walking by the dorm that looks like her almost 100% but her name is different… weird

  24. Vivi – Well, the EPs always seem to be a bit expensive compared to what you get for them, but to me, they’re worth it. That’s mainly because I’m a total Sims addict and HAVE to get all of the EPs, no matter what! For the casual Sims player, I’d say you don’t really need the University EP. But it’s up to you to make that call.

    Helen – They really do take exams, but it’s just like going to class — they leave the lot and come back two hours later. So you don’t really get to SEE them taking exams. Ah well! :-)

    Meghan – Hi and thanks! I have 512 MB of RAM and an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card. I’m very happy with this setup, although I usually have to stick to medium settings for my graphics, otherwise it slows way down. I think I blew a fuse in the house the other day when I switched to all high settings…yikes!

    Lorna – Aw, I thought you said you sent Meadow to school already?

    I’m itching to update this here blog, but I’ve had an extremely busy week, plus I spent something like 12 hours building the new Shanley house, so I barely had time to play. That’s what having too many downloads will do to ya. I do plan on updating when I get home tonight, though, so check back tomorrow!

  25. 12 hours? Woot XD It usually takes me 45 min. and I think that’s long! I’m sure you’ll do great with your Shanleys on Uni. I made a Shanley family, too *ish a copycat* but I luff ’em so and they’re also my legacy challenge fam! *scratches head* I’m not sure about the ep…I want it, but 35 simoleons ish kind of high XD Ah, well…Happy Simming!