I have been waiting and waiting for University to come out. It was my favorite in TS2 and I had high hopes for TS3. I have to say, after playing for several hours today - EA did not let me down. University offers a lot of new options, fresh ideas, and is just an all around fantastic expansion. The town is beautifully done and the landscape is perfect.

Anyway, I just wanted to say - Nice job EA.

My sim focused on becoming a rebel since her lifetime wish is . . . . . whatever the new mural one is (?) and so I have pushed her hard and she reached the top of the rebel group at the same time she was doing her first masterpiece wall mural. I'm pretty jazzed!

First masterpiece wall mural:


My first university sim:

oh nice. am glad it is a good game. i wonder if the teens are getting new facial expression i saw some that cracked up over the sims forum , i m not playing enough i guessss
gorgous sim there ah

Yay...I'm glad it's not a bust!!! Gorgeous Sim by the way!! Hope you post more pics for us!! ;)

i need this ep. maybe tomarrow.
darn you ea for wasting my money!
if i get it tonigh,i will never go to bed LOL
its 11:18pm here in ny

Thank you - I made her just for University.



I love that you can start and lead your own protests - and they give you all kinds of things to protest. Too funny!
I've played all day and now have to go to work. I am still constantly finding new things for my sim to do. . . . . . and she still hasn't graduated.

That looks so cool! You are very brave buying day one!! Have you heard of the bugs/glitches and crashes so far. I don't 'think' it's anything major...but I think I will wait just a tiny bit longer. In the meantime I can enjoy all the pics that HOPEFULLY will be posted up soon.

Stevielee I envy you...new computer...you must be having a blast playing your game now!! I'm considering removing a ton of cc just so I can play a little smoother. The actual 'gameplay' isn't as bad as the CAS! I've got a nasty in there somewhere but I can't find it!

The only problems I've had are I can't interact with the keg other then upgrading it and my sim can't change where she is living. *shrugs*

I'll take a bunch of pics and post them tomorrow. I would have today but figured everyone else would be. Sorry!

I did see a couple people on Tumblr say their sims class schedules came up blank so they couldn't go to class. That's the only problem I've read about and I'm not sure how they fixed it.

well the nrass travellor mod is what causing the school shedule or report to not work right. take that out and it will show up.
cece you can take out the cloth and makeup out of your folder to run the game faster. if one only has 600 mb in the mod package folder it some fast. 1 gig is not so bad either, the game will boot up pretty soon then too. or you could run a virgin game too , no content at all.
cant change where she is living mmm.not sure about that one , i bet it it the mod and hack we have. sliders nah. you could take them out and run the game to see if it better. and then try again later with them back in ? it how we find out what works . it seem a hassle i m sure eek oy

oh they said ohhhhh
twallan's suggestion I have NRAAS SP turned off

I would get one thing fixed and something else would pop up broken. But I have learned quite a bit about the University Life expansion. It HATES NRass Mods. Literally. As I said, I would change one thing and something else would pop up and make the game go all wonky in the Campus World.

and woohooer may be a problem too oh

regristers and story progression maybe problems too ohhhhhhh

ah well we will all find out soon enough , as if the patch at 1 gig wasnt enough . geez

Nice pics and that mural looks AWESOME!!
I can't wait to try University Life myself, but I still have to wait a couple of more hours before it becomes available for me as the release date for Europe is March 7th (about three hours or so when I'm writing this).

It's too bad we always have to wait for an extra two days before an EP or SP is released in Europe, on the other hand I can understand, because of the downloading and the "overloading / -use" of the servers like there was yesterday at some point. A world wide release would only add to those problems.
Still it's bloody annoying to see lots of pics and stuff appearing all over the web about an new EP, like University Life and not being able to play the new game yourself, as you have to wait for the release in your own region

Woo! Thanks for sharing pics! I am dying for the EP but I will have to wait a bit (blech, I need save for a dental bill first X___X, haha) - so I am living vicariously through these lovely screenshots!

Sliders won't make your game slow - because they just allow you to alter a structure already in place on the sims (bones, simple morphs). Of course a lot of CAS stuff can, and attending University in a laggy home world/old save with a lot of data built up. Mamx's 600MB-1Gig recommendation for gameplay is pretty solid, I've curbed my CC down to this (and it includes store content in that total), and it has helped immensely! Maybe keep a CC heavy save/CC lite save so you can have the best of both worlds.

I hope you find the culprit! I saw Kosmo post that she had some corrupt clothing from JS Sims that was literally causing Uni not to load the new town, and taking it out fixed her issues.

the corrupt clothing is that in combined files i wonder and if not , why not fix it. usally simpe can fix corrupt clothing when it is wrong age on it thing yeah . the store has some free booth that go on every age . even the new born baby lol , high heel ass kicking boots omg.
haha


oh and 1 gig is kind of small , i find that 4 gig is not bad at all. that a good smaller size. 1 gig is not a lot of stuff really . but 4 gig will let you more things. it so vexing that sims3 files are so big grrrr.

My Downloads folder says there is 2.98Gb and my Mods folder says it's at 1.12Gb - am I really that far over???
OMG!!
I have a lot of trimming to do if that's the case. :'(

I did have a couple questions though:
1) In the Mods folder, am I limiting all files or just CC?
2) If I'm only limiting CC than is there a suggested limit on mods?
3) Is there a preferred type file - package files as opposed to sim.packs?
4) Does it really matter how much store content I have? I thought it was just 3rd party CC that slowed the game.

OMG - I just saw your edit Mamx.
University hates NRaas? Seriously?

I don't know if it's possible to drop down to 1Gb.

Oh, no no! I'm sorry - I didn't mean to scare you guys - 1 GB IS really low. I consider getting my CC down to that size a huuuge accomplishment, ahah. And I'm sure over time my mods folder will soon expand back into doom. Plus, I have another folder where I have a lot of "potential CC" - clothes and hair I like but am not currently using. X____X By no means do you have to do this!

If your CC is neatly organized and combined, or you use CC Magic to manage your content - you can safely run quite a bit. The most important thing here is that your CC should be combined. If you have hundreds of individual packages directly in your Mods/Packages folder - this will be considerably slower to load than the exact same amount of content combined/merged into a few files. I think there are some people who have like 20+GB of CC running at one time (that, I wouldn't recommend, though, haha). I was just saying that at around 1-2GB of combined CC, I saw virtually no difference lag wise between a vanilla game/my game with CC. But I haven't really pushed my game since switching computers, so I think I'm just erring on the side of caution.

Store content is processed pretty identically to 3rd party CC - the biggest difference is when 3rd party CC uses a much higher polycount or large textures. So, clothing from the store and clothing from CC creators are going to be identical, in terms of any slow down - but higher poly accessories and hairstyles will cause a little bit more lag than EA hair.

I strongly prefer package files and use virtually no sims3packs - even when I install houses, I convert them to a package/library file so I can avoid the launcher. This is really more of a preference, as a sims3pack is generally just a package in a "wrapper." There are some users who use sims3packs almost exclusively.

I feel you Pdx on the cutting down! I can't play my game without the clothes and hair, makeup at all. I would have the blandest Sims on earth. My skins are MUST have! I have however decided to delete a lot of the clutter crap! I rarely even play the game, but I do intend on doing so but what the clutter does is more for aesthetics and no actual need, especially if you have the walls down partly or all the way.

I will keep some curtains, some pictures, but I've already removed a lot of outside furniture because again...did I really need it? No. Ea has came out with some pretty decent bedroom groups and I'm satisfied enough with them.

As far as CAS...it's something in there that I can't locate just yet, but I will eventually. It's happened before so this is no surprise and I fault only myself for not being more careful in my downloading.

And please please please don't let it be true that NRaas and University do NOT get along!!! I truly don't know what I'd do without it!!!

For some strange and odd reason, house will not show up if I just put them in as packages. So I've had no choice but to use the launcher for my homes. Although I don't download a lot of lots so that is really not a true issue.

I'm seriously almost willing to PAY someone to clean up my cc for me!!!!!!!! It's so daunting and I get so exasperated just attempting to clean it up. Umm...let's see if I can find anymore excuses.........

@Eva...forgot to mention your predicament in my earlier post. I don't think that is fair either, at least they could change it up to every other releases Europe gets it first or vice versa.

cece houses lot and community lots go on the library folder.
for examper,dreamer house .package
it goes in tehre
of course most files in there all letter number stuff. but try that wont ya?

Ameenah wrote:

Oh, no no! I'm sorry - I didn't mean to scare you guys - 1 GB IS really low. I consider getting my CC down to that size a huuuge accomplishment, ahah. And I'm sure over time my mods folder will soon expand back into doom. Plus, I have another folder where I have a lot of "potential CC" - clothes and hair I like but am not currently using. X____X By no means do you have to do this!

If your CC is neatly organized and combined, or you use CC Magic to manage your content - you can safely run quite a bit. The most important thing here is that your CC should be combined. If you have hundreds of individual packages directly in your Mods/Packages folder - this will be considerably slower to load than the exact same amount of content combined/merged into a few files. I think there are some people who have like 20+GB of CC running at one time (that, I wouldn't recommend, though, haha). I was just saying that at around 1-2GB of combined CC, I saw virtually no difference lag wise between a vanilla game/my game with CC. But I haven't really pushed my game since switching computers, so I think I'm just erring on the side of caution.

Store content is processed pretty identically to 3rd party CC - the biggest difference is when 3rd party CC uses a much higher polycount or large textures. So, clothing from the store and clothing from CC creators are going to be identical, in terms of any slow down - but higher poly accessories and hairstyles will cause a little bit more lag than EA hair.

I strongly prefer package files and use virtually no sims3packs - even when I install houses, I convert them to a package/library file so I can avoid the launcher. This is really more of a preference, as a sims3pack is generally just a package in a "wrapper." There are some users who use sims3packs almost exclusively.

Ok, this helped a lot. Thank you!
However, I tried using CC Magic and my tech-retarded self couldn't quite grasp it. I have all my package files broken down in to 'types' of CC - clothes, hair, etc - in my Mods folder but beyond that, I'm not sure how to organize it further to lessen the strain on my system.

I have a fairly decent system - it does lag occasionally if I haven't defragged or done system maintenance in a while but usually it does fairly well. Starting up the game takes a while but once it's going it does great.

I like packages in the way I can run them all through the Dashboard at once to check them. Otherwise, I prefer sim.packs because I find it's easier to find CC I want to remove due to the thumbnails. Beyond those points, I don't really have a preference.

Cecesaun1 - you and I are on the same page all the way. I have almost no 3rd party CC for building or decorating. All my CC is for CAS.

I just went and updated my NRaas mods yet again - there are several that have been updated again. This is the 3rd update since the last EA update. Y'all should recheck your mods.

I'm sure there is a more appropriate place to ask this but since the post is off topic anyway. . . . .

What Cache folders/ files and/ or Backups can I delete without losing anything in game?
ie: DC Cache, DC Backup and Library
I know some should be deleted occasionally to help the game run smoother but I can't remember which ones.

Oh goodness!! Maybe that is my problem!! I was just thinking last night...after clearing out some of my cc and STILL having those hiccups, that it probably was a mod. It did this very thing before, and it was a tiny error, on my part, in my mods folder. I think I'm going to post my list of mods/hacks and see if you guys can help me figure out which one or two is wrong. If anyone has the time. I will put it under a new post in tech support.

@pdx...Here is what I sometimes delete prior to gameplay...not ALL the time...but some, it seems it helped with previous problems I did have with crashing and gameplay lag.
simCompositorcache.package
Compositorcache.package
CASPartcache.package

and sometimes...
scriptcache.package
socialcache.package

They regenerate with each start up of the game.

**if any of this wrong...someone can correct me.

@mamx...ok....so....I've been putting the houses in the wrong darn folder......THIS does not surprise me... Thanks bunches for the tip!!

the library folder is where our sims goes too.they are the files that make sims show up in that long lineup we get when we pick a sim to go in the town or where we pick the houses . not the cas. not sure where the cas files are though,i wondered about that. there is at mod the sims like a fag dictinary like explanation of what files are and and what folders are and so on etc.

yes a good idea to list all your hacks. and do check in the folder they are in to see what the date stamp is on them too perhaps.
umm
why not make a folder like hack mod what not folder. put tthem all in there . move it out and then go turn on dashboard to scan that mod package folder to see what hack mod or what not is left in there. that might show you a file you forgot about . default conflicts maybe. not everyhting is so clearly labled. and if it not , one should lable it themselve or put in a labled folder , that i learned the hard way.

I do that already, all my mods and hacks are packaged and labeled. I don't know...I found the error before...surely I can locate it again.

mm it wasnt a pacage file that was a pattern was it? sliders can muck things up too. like outdated ones. we are on how patches and expansion now? i think it 9 now. plus patches. they have given us things now that we didnt have before. i cant really remember what now. but oh there was hack mod file for making the sim nude. well we now dont really need that do we. so maybe it something that conflicting.
what kind of problem did it do before for problem though.

is it clothes or somthing that is meant for adult and not teens. that pretty common problme but not sure it cause that big a problem. yeah you gotta think more on it , it will come to ya !

This is an excellent explanation of what files and folders can and which ones should never be deleted. It explains what they all are and do.

This is a definite 'Must Read'!

http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game%20Help:TS3%20User%20Folders%20Explained#Purpose_of_the_files_and_folders_in_the_User_folder

horrya and it is friday oh weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I think I am going to pull all my NRaas mods out of my game. I keep getting error popups noting issues with core mod clashes especially Story Progression and while tattooing.

I have updated my NRaas mods 3 times already since EA did its last update. I'm not sure what the problem is but University just doesn't like the mods.

story progress , regrister,woohoo are problems i hear

and travellor is a problem too. uni is very much like the ww expansion it seems.

I don't use any of those particular NRaas mods....but I have heard about them seriously conflicting with the game ep. I took out WA a few months ago because it was just sitting there. I get no pop ups of mod error so I'm wondering what it can be.

I couldn't get past the Uni loading screen last night. It just stayed and never even tried to load. Ugh!!

Also, when I went to enroll my Sim, I made the call and it said that the University Llama Mascot was coming by so I could take the test...that never happened...just her suitcase appeared and the taxi. Is that suppose to happen? And it looks like we can send more than one person to College at a time...am I seeing this correctly?

@mamx...what do you mean we don't need the 'nude' mod...did Ea make it possible to do that in CAS?!!!! Wow if they did!!

I wish someone could make a mod that would make it possible to delete directly from our game or CAS or Ea would at least do that. Sims 2 made it so much easier to keep your cc tidier.

the nude button is in cas screen isnt it ? cant we use that? well i noticed in nrass last updates the nude mod wasnt included. so it part of the mastercontroller or we just dont need it . ohhhhhhhhhhh ohhhhhhh im stoopid

i got the mascot once ! then i went to edit town and ever since i picked another household he never came by ! wasted my time waiting waiting, and the damn snow came and didnt leave . i took out the winter but since it already is winter i guess it messed up. spring came and snow still around drats. so wrong for tropical world it seems.

make sure your sims have their high school degree .
i read that sim can get pregant in universtiy but we not know til she get home and preston is preggar!
read somewhere that clothes not morphing right for pregancy for male or female will screw up the pregancy oh oh.

hope your game loaded right now oh what a stinker that it happened.

delete from within our game dont even remember we can do that in sims3 or not gee.

No, it was in Sims 2 that we could delete directly from within the game. I'm about to pull my hair out about this damn game!! It's moving sOOoooo SLowwwww. I'm thinking of just stopping and trying it again tomorrow. I even tidied up my cc...(albeit just a tiny bit this time)...I did make the effort. Can I get some plus points for effort...?

I'm so ashamed of myself...we have totally taken this off topic and diluted it with different conversations. So sorry Pdx. It doesn't happen often...but it does happen...

cecesaun1 wrote:

I'm so ashamed of myself...we have totally taken this off topic and diluted it with different conversations. So sorry Pdx. It doesn't happen often...but it does happen...

LMAO!!
No worries - I was right there with you skipping down the 'Derailed' path.
At this point, I'm not even sure what this post was even started about.

I've learned a great deal along our wandering conversation so . . . . . . . maybe we need to derail them more often.

Lol!! Well...since it's an already abused post...let's abuse it some more!! Not really..I did just decide to totally uninstall and reinstall my game! UGHHHHhhhhh! I then am going to add only my mod/hacks, hair,clothes,makeup,skin and other accessories for CAS that are truly needed and must haves for me! And not add any other content 3rd party cc for anything else. Maybe little by little I may add a bedroom set here, a living room sofa there or dining table with chairs...but realistically I truly have not been playing the game to that extent. Let's see how this works out for me!!

lite sims3 is lovely. skintones can never be enough of them . too many hair though a hassle. and i wont get rid of my male clothes hummph so little out ther for them

CeCe and pdxwinn (and others): reading about lagging game and having far too much custom content. Might I suggest CC Magic? ( I really need to write a topic on that, now that I have my computer fixed) This program is soooooo awesome. It helps you to order custom content, find back things AND reduces laggyness of the game.
You can get it here at MTS

You really should write a topic on the subject. I tried CC Magic and couldn't get it to work right. Maybe you could write it out so techno-retards like me could understand it and use it.

^pdxwinn: I plan to do so, but it will take some time. Making screenshots and writing. and then there are also 'real life issues' to manage. But be patient, cross my heart, I will write it.

For now, there's a short tutorial here that was recently (a few days ago) posted on Tumblr:
http://liegt.tumblr.com/post/44841006536/i-mentioned-that-i-used-ccmagic-to-make-my-game-so

Thank you both!


I will learn how it's done and get mine set up asap.