High school years

"Simmerville;c-18321442" wrote:
Re teens, do you feel their life stage is improved also when you do not follow them to high school? Or will most of it connect to Copperdale?

I think being able to follow them to high school is definitely a main part of them feeling improved as a life stage, imo. They don’t actually spend much time in classes, but the time outside classes while still at school is good for them to socialise with other teens as well as do activities together. But I don’t follow them to school every day, so it’s not just that. Outside school but still in Copperdale I like the ThriftTea store as a place for teens to hang out, as well as the funfair. Then there are new activities like video streaming, which is great for teens. I love the BB and CAS for their teen focus. So I guess it’s a combination of everything. :)

"FreddyFox1234;c-18321650" wrote:

"Simmerville;c-18321442" wrote:
Re teens, do you feel their life stage is improved also when you do not follow them to high school? Or will most of it connect to Copperdale?

I think being able to follow them to high school is definitely a main part of them feeling improved as a life stage, imo. They don’t actually spend much time in classes, but the time outside classes while still at school is good for them to socialise with other teens as well as do activities together. But I don’t follow them to school every day, so it’s not just that. Outside school but still in Copperdale I like the ThriftTea store as a place for teens to hang out, as well as the funfair. Then there are new activities like video streaming, which is great for teens. I love the BB and CAS for their teen focus. So I guess it’s a combination of everything. :)

Thanks. But video streaming? How is it different from the video production we got with the drones (get famous pack or city living?). I don't remember seeing anything regarding video streaming on the EA page. I so wish that all features were CLEARLY listed, not wrapped up in a lot of sentences. Reminds me of the climbing wall object that came with a stuff pack, but unless you already know about it, it is impossible to spot it from that pack's presentation page.

"Simmerville;c-18321672" wrote:

"FreddyFox1234;c-18321650" wrote:

"Simmerville;c-18321442" wrote:
Re teens, do you feel their life stage is improved also when you do not follow them to high school? Or will most of it connect to Copperdale?

I think being able to follow them to high school is definitely a main part of them feeling improved as a life stage, imo. They don’t actually spend much time in classes, but the time outside classes while still at school is good for them to socialise with other teens as well as do activities together. But I don’t follow them to school every day, so it’s not just that. Outside school but still in Copperdale I like the ThriftTea store as a place for teens to hang out, as well as the funfair. Then there are new activities like video streaming, which is great for teens. I love the BB and CAS for their teen focus. So I guess it’s a combination of everything. :)

Thanks. But video streaming? How is it different from the video production we got with the drones (get famous pack or city living?). I don't remember seeing anything regarding video streaming on the EA page. I so wish that all features were CLEARLY listed, not wrapped up in a lot of sentences. Reminds me of the climbing wall object that came with a stuff pack, but unless you already know about it, it is impossible to spot it from that pack's presentation page.

I find The Sims Wiki really useful for seeing all the features in a pack: https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/The_Sims_4:_High_School_Years

Video game streamer is a part-time job. Here's the description: https://sims.fandom.com/wiki/Part-time_job#Video_Game_Streamer

"Simmerville;c-18321687" wrote:
Thanks! I didn't realize it was about *game streaming. Sounds cool!
I often refer to simsfandom, but mostly for worlds and lots info.

Sorry, that was my fault for sloppy typing. The brain wasn’t too sharp when I wrote that :)

Game streaming was bugged when I tried it, dont know if they fixed it yet...so, just a heads up.

Also dont stay in the school over night or get there before the school day starts, for some reason that will make the game think you arr skipping school and can lead to getting kicked out.

"mightysprite;c-18319557" wrote:
I definitely follow my teens to school almost all the time.
I definitely ignore the tasks on the checklist most of the time. Those are boring and repetitive.
They still get silver or gold for the day as long as they attend class. Out of the 7-hour day, only 2 hours are in class, so I can spend the other 5 hours on socializing or skilling or having fun or music or art or science or athletics or crafting or chess or computer stuff, depending on what I felt like putting in the school.
What you do with those outside-of-class school hours makes or breaks the high school gameplay I think.
In my legacy game I've been making a new school for each "world" each generation (of course it's always in Copperdale but it's fun to pretend).

Prom? Maybe not every week, but every teen goes at least once.

I had my then very young Global Superstar give impromptu concerts in the Lunchroom a couple of times when he had pending gigs. Wasn't going to necessarily waste his time, nor see his fame status decline. :open_mouth:

I only got the High School pack after I could mod the school in order to place it in any residential world and I could have more influence over which teenagers that came to school every day. Before that I had no interest in the pack.

Ohh... it is possible to turn off Social Bunny on your sims. Have never used it in my game. Would delete that social app if I could.

I follow my teens to school, mostly so I can see who shows up each day.
My teens are usually in groups of two or more, so the events can be pretty tedious. I am not really aiming for the events to get through the day, just more focused on getting my teens to interact with each other. I know I can use my Get Together for a teen hangout, which I may do later on, but High School years is a good way to get my teens to interact without it.
Each day the same teens don't arrive, so it can be annoying. However, it gives my teens options to build bonds, and scope out potential future spouses. I do plan to pair some of the teens I made together, and have them meet at the school, but also want to give them the option of townie Sims to date.

When I had teens in my sim household, I would go with my teens to school about 3-4 days per week.

It's been a while, but I always had fun playing each school day. Something that made the gameplay more fun for me was coming up with teen drama and playing it out. Not all simmers want to relive teen drama though, and that's understandable. I also really enjoyed the new teams/clubs that came with the High School Years pack, so those made the gameplay extra special for me.

As for prom and other school events, I had a mod in my game that disallowed prom, so I just simply removed the mod when I wanted it to automatically show back up on the calendar. Other school events were never suppressed in my game, rather they were more than welcome. The school events made each day feel new to me even if the event repeated. I found that a good imagination goes a long way in TS4, and it's only as good as you make it. :)

https://i.imgur.com/vBbkCvS.png

I love reading how everyone plays. I'm kinda tired of it. Talk to principal, claim locker, yada yada. My teens are so tired when they come home there's no energy for activities.

I have never had a teen drop out of school. ?I think I just might do that now lol.