Last round, the Lytles decided to liven things up by adopting not one, but two dogs. Unfortunately, they didn't think ahead when choosing their new family members and ended up with one male puppy named Slushie, and one female one named Smoothie. Soon afterward, Smoothie ended up pregnant with two puppies, Snowcone and Milkshake. Thankfully, Moss was able to convince two of his siblings to take in the unexpected additions. Meanwhile, Sprite grew from a teen to a young adult.
Hi, guys!
Marylin: Oh, hi there mysterious voice. I'm glad you got here in time. Today's a big day.
Really? How so?
Snapple: Mom and Dad are taking Sprite to look at that college place today...
Marylin: Not just Sprite. You're coming with us too.
Snapple: What? Why do I have to go? Sprite's the one who's graduated, not me.
Well, she does have a point...I mean, you'll be graduated before long too.
Snapple: Ugh...ok, fine...
So, how's it feel to be the first one in town applying to colleges?
Sprite: Well, technically I haven't applied to the college yet. But my old guidance counselor did send me an e-mail about these things called scholarships...
Sprite: Apparently I can get money off for stuff I'm good at. It's pretty cool.
Yeah...although I'm not sure why being good at video games counts.
Moss: Alright, guys...here we go. The first step in the rest of your lives...
Snapple: Dad...
A little heavy, don't you think, Moss?
Sprite: He's been like this all morning...
Marylin: Well, here we are...
Sprite: It's so...big!
Snapple: It's so...old-looking...
Sprite: So, where are we supposed to go?
Well, I think I saw an information kiosk...
Ok, good to know. (Man, this is more complicated than my last town...)
Sprite: What?
Nothing, nothing....let's explore a little more, shall we?
Snapple: Ok, we saw the college. Can we go now?
Marylin: Snapple, please. We just got here. Take a look around. You're going to have to pick one of these places sooner than later, you know.
Sprite: Um, no, not exactly....my family and I are just visiting.
Mr. Fen: Ah, I see. Well, I hope that our facilities have impressed you thusfar...
Sprite: Um...yes, they have...I think. (whispers) Do they all talk like that here?
I'm not sure...
Becca: Hey...you new here?
Snapple: No...my parents just dragged me here so my sister could look around.
Becca: Oh yeah, I remember doing that. My name's Becca.
Snapple: Mine's Snapple....hey, so, be honest. Is this place as boring and stuffy as it looks?
Becca: Not really. It's just the outside of the buildings that look old. You guys should go check out the student union. They usually let families on tours eat for free.
Snapple: Well, at least we get a free lunch out of this...
Sprite: There's just a buffet all the time? That's pretty cool.
Snapple: Why can't they all just eat at home?
Well, a lot of the rooms here don't let you have a stove, so...
Sprite: Wait...I would live here?
Man, I really didn't do a good job explaining this to you guys, did I? You know those two giant buildings you saw on your way in? They're called dorms. If you want, you can live there while you're in school so you're closer to everything.
Sprite: I guess we should check them out too...
Sprite: Wow, this place is huge...
Yeah, I know...
Moss: Hey, these rooms are pretty nice!
Snapple: Nice? I think I've seen prison cells nicer than this.
When have you seen...you know, never mind.
Snapple: Can we please go now?
Moss: Of course not! We've still got to check out the other school...wouldn't be fair if we only looked at one.
Snapple: Mom, this is so stupid! It's exactly the same as the other one except everything is red instead of green!
Marylin: Oh, Snapple, that's not true. Look, there's a whole robot thing going on over there. They didn't have robots at the other school.
Robots?
Huh, would you look at that. Robots.
Marylin: Moss, what are you wearing?
Moss: What? I wanted to get into the spirit of things!
Marylin: Sprite hasn't even picked which school she's going to yet. Don't you think it's a little bit early to be buying a shirt?
Sprite: So, what do you think?
Snapple: Ugh, why does it matter what I think? You're the one going!
Did going on the tours help your decision any?
Sprite: Not really..and I got accepted to both. I guess it's just a matter of which degree I want.
Yeah, I guess so. And since I don't see an undecided option it looks like you have to pick before you enroll.
Sprite: But there are so many! How am I supposed to pick?
Well, just pick something you're good at, I guess...
Sprite: What do you think, Slushie?
Or you could ask for advice from the dog. That works too.
Moss...the college tour was 3 days ago. Don't you think it's time you changed out of that sweatshirt?
Snapple: He thinks if he wears it enough it'll convince Sprite to go there.
Moss: Well, that's not...I mean, not exactly...ok, fine. But did you see all those robots? Foxbury Institue is so cool!
Snapple: If you like it so much why don't you go there?
Moss: (laughs) Oh, Snapple...I'm much too old...I think.
Well, technically...
Snapple: Don't say it...
Oh, hey there Zyrtec.
Zyrtec: Hey. So, you get your apps in?
Her what?
Zyrtec: Her apps. You know, applications? For college?
Snapple: First of all, nobody calls them that.
Thank you.
Snapple: And second, why are you bugging me about this? You're worse than my mother.
Zyrtec: Hey, it's important...don't you want to go to college?
Snapple: Yeah...when I graduate! But that's so far away...
Unlike your dad's birthday which appears to be tonight.
Looks like Snapple isn't going to be able to put off this decision for much longer, though.
Yes! Finally, we didn't miss an elder birthday! Happy birthday, dear Moss...
Hopefully that sweatshirt will hide a back brace...
Snapple: Well, Smoothie, here goes nothing...
Where did you guys get the idea that you had to consult a pet about college?
Marylin: So, have you made up your mind yet?
Sprite: No...this is so hard!
Maybe a quick lunch date will help?
Sprite: Yeah, maybe.
Hank: So, I sent in my registration forms for Foxbury today.
Oh, right. I forgot you and Flick are going this round too.
Sprite: Wait...you picked just like that?
Hank: Yeah. I mean, I know I want to do a degree in biology so Foxbury was the easy choice.
Wait, you do? This is news to me.
Sprite: I wish I could decide that easily.
Hank: Well, this might be a crazy idea but...why not give computer science a shot? I mean, they were going to give you money back for playing video games, right? Might as well take a stab at making them too.
Sprite: You really think I could become a programmer?
Hank: Sure, why not?
Sprite: Ok...ok, yeah. I think I'll do that.
Hank: Great! Foxbury, here we come!
Sprite: I can't wait to tell my parents. Dad will be so excited!
And it looks like we have the perfect opportunity to do so...
Marylin: Ok, so that's 2 turkeys, 1 tofurkey, 3 salads, 2 bowls of chips and salsa, two different kinds of cookies...
Who are you cooking for, an army?
Marylin: Worse. Moss's family.
Wait...you guys are hosting all the Lytles?
Marylin: Uh-huh...Usually at least some of them go to the spouse's family for Harvestfest, but not this year...
Snapple: Ok, that's all the extra chairs we have.
Marylin: Good. Do we think that's enough for everyone?
Sprite: It was enough for everyone two Winterfests' ago, wasn't it?
Snapple: Yeah, but now nobody's a toddler so everyone needs a real chair.
Hunter: Hey, it's my first-favorite niece!
First-favorite?
Hunter: Well I can't really joke about her being my favorite niece since I have...um, let's see...
Seven.
Hunter: Right. But she was my first favorite nice!
...Whatever you say, Hunter...
Jade: Hi, Slushie....I wanted to bring Coco so you'd have a friend but Mommy said no.
Yeah, that was probably a good choice on Emerald's part...
This place is crowded enough as it is.
Rey: So? Have you heard back yet?
Snapple: Well, it showed up yesterday but...I haven't exactly opened it yet.
Rey: What? You haven't opened it yet? Go get it!
Snapple: I'm not pulling it out now...everyone's going to make a big deal.
Rey: I won't tell anyone, I promise. Come on, let me see it...
Let her see what?
Snapple: My acceptance letter...
Wow...you got into more distinguished programs than Sprite. Nice job.
Sprite: Well, well...looks like miss "I don't care about college" showed me up.
Snapple: Yeah, well...it's not like I tried or anything.
Sprite: Any ideas about what you're going to pick?
Snapple: No...not really.
Well, forturnately you do have some more time for that. You don't have to pick until next round.
Which leaves plenty of time for gnome appeasement.
Snapple: Yes! I knew he'd like the fruitcake!
Ok, so...good day all around, then...
You know ordinarily, I'd complain about the dogs splashing around in puddles, but at this point I'm just happy that Snowcone isn't pregnant again.
And it looks like Moss is still doing just fine at work...
Moss: Yeah, but I keep thinking if I had one of those degree things...
Well, would you look at the time...I really need to be moving along.
And with that, Sprite becomes our first official university student. Of course, it will be a bit before we actually catch up with her. Everybody else, I'll see you in Round 21!
A Message From the Mysterious Voice: And a mere 4 months after Discover University was released, it finally shows up in the blog! I guess this is a good a time as any to lay out how University's going to be worked in. Like I said in the post, it's much more complicated than it was in TS2. Class progress does not freeze when you rotate away from a househohld (thanks, EA) which means once I enroll a Sim I have to stay with them until they graduate or they may end up failing out. So, what I'm planning to do is this. As I play through each family, I will move each graduated YA out into a new household with other students-one for Foxbury, one for Britechester, and one for a mixed group that will live in a normal house off-campus. When I reach the point in the round where there are no more teens to age up, I will turn aging off and play each household through University one at a time. As they graduate, I will move them out into their new individual households with their respective spouses, ready to start their own houses the next round. Once everyone's graduated, aging goes back on and I'll go back and finish the round as normal. Is this a really conveluted system? You bet. But so far it seems to be working...semi-well. You'll see when we actually get to the University posts.
