Sims 4 just lately launched its Excessive Faculty Years Growth Pack, its first Growth Pack since 2021. However navigating the DLC is perhaps as complicated as freshman 12 months homeroom. You want ideas from a cosmopolitan senior, who’s me, on this state of affairs.
However first, some context: the Growth Pack’s launch coincided with a significant base recreation replace that added, amongst different issues, a layer of scruffy realism with maintainable physique hair choices, customizable sexual orientation, curved partitions, and undesirable circumstances of incest. Yeah, you learn that proper. For per week, each the bottom recreation and Excessive Faculty Years have been patrolled by icky bugs, like Sims eager to court docket their members of the family, getting old quickly, and randomly changing into celebrities.
This isn’t a renewed season of an exploitive TLC collection, although, it’s the Sims 4. When the neighborhood cried out in opposition to the icky bugs, Maxis swiftly launched some “rising pains” patches on August 2. Sadly, very like cystic pimples, some issues don’t clear up so simply. Creepy crawlies proceed to run our Excessive Faculty 12 monthss, I’ve seen, however I’ll inform you what to look out for and what to anticipate from Sims highschool. After which I’ll offer you a wedgie.
Don’t be outdated
Teenagers rule Copperdale, the brand new world included in Excessive Faculty Years that has three main points of interest—the pier, the college, and the buying heart. All Sims can journey to those areas regardless of their age group, however solely teen Sims can attend class.
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You possibly can consider Excessive Faculty Years as a lifted veil. Sometimes, you ship teenagers off to highschool when prompted, they soften into the ether, after which they return dwelling when faculty’s over. Now, you may take a look at what’s so attention-grabbing in regards to the ether and information your teen Sims by attending lessons, learning for exams, extracurriculars, and even prom-posing.
But when your most popular Sim is a decrepit younger grownup, although you may’t interact in most of Excessive Faculty Years’ precise highschool stuff, you’ll nonetheless get entry to a bunch of cute hairstyles, outfits, gadgets, and Euphoria-ready make-up appears to be like. Youngsters and toddlers may also money in on a few of these hairstyles.
Apparently, younger grownup Sims can nonetheless be a part of the highschool cheerleading or soccer groups, which appears unlawful. Younger grownup Sims may also get entry to the Excessive Faculty Years careers “streamer” and “influencer,” which, as you already know, anybody below 25 in the actual world is remitted to pursue by divine legislation.
Lose your thoughts with meta display screen time
Excessive Faculty Years introduces Social Bunny, primarily a Sims Twitter you may entry by clicking the cellphone icon within the backside left of your display screen. Totally different occasions, like consuming cafeteria meals or reminiscing a couple of occasion, will immediate you to create totally different pre-written standing updates which you could customise by setting a tone, like embarrassed or comfortable. You can too settle for and ship good friend requests to Sims you meet and DM them pleasant, flirty, or imply messages or tag them in posts. However assume earlier than you sort—focused messages can have an effect on your relationship with Sims for higher or worse.
Bug warning: I Social Bunny’d typically with the hope of boosting my following as a profession streamer, however regardless of all of the offended emojis that acquired left on my homewrecking character Beef Beefers’ posts, that comply with depend didn’t budge. No hate follows? Very unrealistic, and, I think, a product of a bug.
I additionally seen that despatched DMs and their replies appeared out of order and that my Sim began DMing themselves. I do know that social media can simply create a sick thoughts, however rattling.
Purchase new stuff
You’ll be cordially invited to ThriftTea, a brand new retailer the place you may hang around with and meet your fellow children, sip on eight-simolean teas and decide up new outfits to model and ship out on Trendi, a Depop-backed style resale app. Producing sufficient buzz to your appears to be like earns you cash, and extra importantly, notoriety as a Simfluencer.
However in the event you’re extra of an inside design girly, there’s stuff so that you can purchase, too. Excessive Faculty Years comes with a waterfall of latest dwelling and faculty gadgets geared toward teen sensibilities, together with cute collectible figurines and a balloon arch to customise particular occasions like promenade, commencement, and weekly pep rallies. You possibly can raze Copperdale Excessive to the bottom, rename it, assign it “traits” like “quick web,” and remake it in Euphoria’s picture with all this stuff and a limiteless faculty price range. I put in a speaker within the cafeteria that solely performed electronica.
Ordering Excessive Faculty Years earlier than September 8 can even get you a gaming chair, LED panels to your wall, and a wi-fi speaker. Play infinite mirrors together with your gaming Sims and God, why don’t you?
Work exhausting, in the event you can
Grades in Excessive Faculty aren’t all that vital. Advantage of being a bit of particular person in a pc as an alternative of a bit of particular person on this planet, I assume. There are two lessons per day—you may verify what they’re by clicking in your Sim, deciding on the “highschool” choice, and viewing your calendar—however there are solely two lecture rooms within the faculty. Energetic Sims will all the time be within the left classroom, however the bell ringing and a flashing whiteboard will point out when and the place class is beginning.
Class isn’t very enriching. All you must do to attend class is sit down on the proper time and pray your Sim takes their pocket book out. Often, you’ll be given prompts about what to do with a tough examination query. You possibly can full homework by selecting it in your stock, however I’ve seen my Sims generally do it on their very own. You can too attend examine classes within the classroom on the precise after faculty on Wednesdays, or select to check by yourself with the “highschool” choice. Ensure you’re prepared for Friday exams—the sport tracks your grades, however the worst factor that may occur to you in the event you’re a cruddy pupil is you’ll get a stern cellphone name out of your principal. The principal may also offer you detention in the event you’re caught outdoors of your classroom for any cause throughout class time, however so far as I can inform, all college students are allowed to graduate it doesn’t matter what. Have to be a Montessori faculty.
Bug warning: I went to highschool. I went to class. I sat down. Nothing occurred. I restarted the sport. I restarted the app. Nothing occurred.
For me, getting highschool to work was essentially the most irritating and time consuming a part of taking part in Excessive Faculty Years. The one factor I used to be in a position to do throughout an lively class was “prank the white board” by presumably writing the b-word (“butt”) on it. I used to be in a position to examine and do homework since you may manually management these issues, however my Sim by no means, ever, not as soon as opened their e book throughout class time, and I couldn’t work out why.
Play exhausting, in the event you can
Along with landmark occasions like promenade and commencement, there are many on-campus leisure actions you may attend and management, like science gala’s, profession gala’s, and pranks. Each Friday, there’s a pep rally of types with a soccer and cheerleading competitors. You possibly can take part by clicking on a soccer or cheerleading mat, that are additionally gadgets you should purchase out of your locker.
To assert a locker, click on on one within the faculty. You’ll be prompted to purchase an merchandise from it or customise its look with totally different kinds like “darkish academia,” “goth,” or “gamer.” Sure, teenagers love “gamer.”
You possibly can sabotage another person’s locker by clicking on it and deciding on “stink capsule.” Don’t get caught within the stink cloud, although—your Sim will actually die, and your highschool will doubtless have a negligence lawsuit on its arms.
When you survive to see one other day and get invited to an epic nighttime occasion, teen Sims can now sneak out of home windows, which is cool and sneaky. All Sims can even acquire entry to quite a lot of new WooHoo or, for teenagers, “fiddle” spots, together with on fairgrounds or on campus. These WooHoo spots could result in one other lawsuit, however I attempted to romance my Sims’ trainer and couldn’t, if that helps.
Bug warning: I had some points with gala’s not beginning correctly or beginning solely midway. Like, on one Friday soccer competitors, loads of Sims have been in attendance and one was giving a speech, however the meals stalls by no means opened and nobody touched the footballs. My Sim was pressured to mourn the dearth of veggie sizzling canine.
The Sims 4 Excessive Faculty Years Growth Pack is filled with enjoyable new gadgets, gameplay mechanics, and areas to discover, there’s little doubt about it. But it surely’s nonetheless encumbered with bugs that make exploration much less satisfying. So in the event you’re trying to relive your highschool however make it higher, you most likely received’t be capable to right here. You would possibly, nevertheless, discover a e book referred to as Love within the Time of Sandwiches within the faculty library and have enjoyable anyway. At the least I did!
