Forum Discussion

Sallimander1502's avatar
Sallimander1502
7 years ago

Boarding Schools (Also for witches, maybe?)

Something I would like to see in The Sims 4 is a boarding school. I have been thinking about it and, if executed well, I think it could deliver some fun and fresh, new gameplay. I imagine a boarding school would be located in a little world together with some other lots that kids and teens could visit in their freetime. With the current polls about supernaturals going on, ideas on a boarding school for witches have crossed my mind.

Boarding school ideas

  • Kids and teens can attend it
  • Sign up for it on the computer or phone (maybe a possibility to add something similar to the visit of the private school's headmaster in TS2)
  • Choose a bedroom (like in TS2 university) or maybe there would be shared bedrooms (bunk beds?)
  • Different classrooms
  • Cafeteria / dining hall
  • Shared washrooms
  • Schoolyard
  • School uniforms
  • Studying and grades
  • Rules that can be broken or pranks that can be played
  • Punishment (detention or duties like cleaning etc.)
  • Sports


Ideas specifically for a boarding school for witches

  • If only one parent is a witch, it shows at chid stage if the kid is a witch or not
  • Possibly already magical hints at toddler stage
  • Invitation to school with a letter
  • Magic classes (Spells, Potions, ...)
  • Castle or Manor type building (I'd like to see some English architecture)
  • School uniforms with optional hats and cloaks
  • Magical pets


I know the latter gives serious Harry Potter vibes (which I personally don't mind at all). However, Harry Potter is not the only story of a magical school. A problem I see is that a boarding school for witches could make it hard to fit in all styles of witches - maybe there could be a few different boarding schools and either way, boarding school should still be optional. I highly doubt they would add a boarding school with a Witches GP; and if that would mean that the witches themselves go short, I'd even be against it. Anyway, just sharing my ideas. :smile:

https://pea-7f65.kxcdn.com/img/image_db/preparatory_schools_in_england_bilton_grange_lawn_campus-942.jpg

http://www.boardingschoolsadvice.com/lib/schools/southwest/blundells-school.jpg

http://www.ooe-berufsschulen.ac.at/fileadmin/_processed_/0/1/csm_Internatszimmer_IBS_bc54f93f49.jpg

https://images3.boardingschoolreview.com/photo/780x600/0/430/The-Brook-Hill-School-bniSgTW.jpg

http://world.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/boarding-school-2.jpg

https://images3.boardingschoolreview.com/photo/780x600/1000/633/St-Bernard-Preparatory-School-bniQdJ1.jpg

https://images1.boardingschoolreview.com/photo/780x600/1000/633/St-Bernard-Preparatory-School-2ldN5k.jpg

https://images3.boardingschoolreview.com/photo/780x600/0/207/The-MacDuffie-School-SOqVyB.jpg

  • MasonGamerBoi's avatar
    MasonGamerBoi
    7 years ago
    Yeah it definitely should be optional.
    I say stick with a Education Pack, so the player can build the campus of their active school... well most of it anyway.

    then similar retail you can decide "Do I want to open a Shop for Potions/Magical Artifacts? Do I want to build a school For Sorcerers?"

    I personally wouldn't. It's just wouldn't fit my story.

    For me it's one of my staples of Family Play, Magic is more of a way of life, like a toddler learning how to walk, talk, things like that. Therefore it's Going to be my Mother, and my all powerful Grandparents who will teach me. I'm planning by the time they/ in their late childhood, early teens they'll spend summers at their Grandparent's Castle, growing their magic.

    My Sim will go to a Human School... His Best friend is a Werewolf, His Bully is a Half-Daemon (Vampire) anyway. and there is so much that goes on in my made up world.

  • Sallimander1502's avatar
    Sallimander1502
    7 years ago
    I'd really like an Education pack. More than a University one tbh - and I think those two should be separate, because I bet otherwise it's too much for 1 pack for everything to be detailed and nice. I don't even know if they could fit full-fledged boarding schools in an Education pack... I am not judging, but it just is like that with TS4 packs, isn't it.

    Quoting myself from another thread:
    "Sally1502;c-16562181" wrote:
    I like the idea of an Education EP, if it comprises the following:


  • More activities/locations than just class - e.g. excursions, balls, cafeteria where pupils and teachers eat lunch, usable lockers, schoolyard/courtyard, special homework assignments (as mentioned above in other post)
  • Choice whether to follow them or just have them go on their own
  • Education facilities for toddlers - teens
  • Option to build and customize school/kindergarten buildings


    • Some of those would also apply to boarding schools, obviously. :smile:
  • Nindlmiu's avatar
    Nindlmiu
    7 years ago
    "Sally1502;d-943308" wrote:

    Boarding school ideas

    • Kids and teens can attend it
    • Sign up for it on the computer or phone (maybe a possibility to add something similar to the visit of the private school's headmaster in TS2)
    • Choose a bedroom (like in TS2 university) or maybe there would be shared bedrooms (bunk beds?)
    • Different classrooms
    • Cafeteria / dining hall
    • Shared washrooms
    • Schoolyard
    • School uniforms
    • Studying and grades
    • Rules that can be broken or pranks that can be played
    • Punishment (detention or duties like cleaning etc.)
    • Sports


    Ideas specifically for a boarding school for witches

    • If only one parent is a witch, it shows at chid stage if the kid is a witch or not
    • Possibly already magical hints at toddler stage
    • Invitation to school with a letter
    • Magic classes (Spells, Potions, ...)
    • Castle or Manor type building (I'd like to see some English architecture)
    • School uniforms with optional hats and cloaks
    • Magical pets



    Great ideas!

    Here are some ideas I came up with for the witches' boarding school:


    • There could for example be magical gardening (a new gardening skill with new magical and dangerous plants, maybe also with a new "fertilizer" that makes them get enourmously large).
    • It would be cool if there were secrets to uncover at the school grounds, hidden passages for example.
    • I would also like new collectibles (maybe magical stones or trading cards).
    • Jelly beans like from the Sims 3 would be nice, too. There could be a bean where Sims for example bark instead of talk for a certain amount of time (with fun reactions from others).
    • I would also like to see some unique teacher NPCs there, not randomly generated ones.
    • There could also be kind of a system where students get rewarded if they are good in class or do other things beneficial for the school and get punished if they don't show up in class or otherwise "break the rules" (as a punishment they must clean all the cauldrons, for example). Such a system would also be cool for a normal Education pack, actually.


    The only problem I can see is that a boarding school for witches would probably not fit in a Witches GP (if done like Vampires). They could make it so that the Witches GP is needed for it, which would make sense, but I am afraid that people would complain as this would be a DLC for a DLC.
  • SaferSaviour's avatar
    SaferSaviour
    7 years ago
    An Education focused pack would be awesome. I'd rather Witches not get mixed up in it though. I love them, but I know that a lot of simmers are very much attached to realistic play and would prefer Witches be kept within a dedicated Expansion or Game Pack.

    Additionally, attaching them to schools is limiting. Besides, Hogwarts was an atrocious place with no arts, humanities, or linguistic classes, and a health and safety record that would make any inspector cry.

    My idea Education pack would come with Primary (Children), Secondary/High (teens) and Further Education/University (young adults), with an additional teaching career and maybe a daycare-style lot type where todders could have something of a pre-school experience.
  • Sallimander1502's avatar
    Sallimander1502
    7 years ago
    I think a boarding school could be more diversified than "just" joining them to school... it would be a fresh Sims experience which I do find exciting. Still, I'd like an Education EP like I quoted above as well. Maybe an Education pack could be one thing and boarding schools could be added with a University pack.

    I did not mean witches would be solely attached to schools - that would not be good. And also it would not need to be (and if they made it, it surely wouldn't be) a mere copy of Hogwarts. There is more that could be added to magical boarding schools and certain things would likely be changed or sims-ified. :smile:


    "Nindl;c-16577407" wrote:

    Here are some ideas I came up with for the witches' boarding school:


    • There could for example be magical gardening (a new gardening skill with new magical and dangerous plants, maybe also with a new "fertilizer" that makes them get enourmously large).
    • It would be cool if there were secrets to uncover at the school grounds, hidden passages for example.
    • I would also like new collectibles (maybe magical stones or trading cards).
    • Jelly beans like from the Sims 3 would be nice, too. There could be a bean where Sims for example bark instead of talk for a certain amount of time (with fun reactions from others).
    • I would also like to see some unique teacher NPCs there, not randomly generated ones.
    • There could also be kind of a system where students get rewarded if they are good in class or do other things beneficial for the school and get punished if they don't show up in class or otherwise "break the rules" (as a punishment they must clean all the cauldrons, for example). Such a system would also be cool for a normal Education pack, actually.


    The only problem I can see is that a boarding school for witches would probably not fit in a Witches GP (if done like Vampires). They could make it so that the Witches GP is needed for it, which would make sense, but I am afraid that people would complain as this would be a DLC for a DLC.


    That are amazing ideas! Some of them could possibly also be implemented in a Witches GP.

    I agree with you about the problem of a magical boarding school fitting in... maybe, once they have gathered a couple of supernaturals, it could be made as a supernaturals' boarding school. Still, that would require one to own the respective packs again. I mean, it would only make sense to get a pack for a boarding school for occults, if one already has occults in the game. Oh well, this is getting complicated. I guess, that's the disadvantage of splitting things up into several packs - it's difficult to add things separately as a single pack would require a previous one instead of having it all in one.

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