Athletic Guide Observation

[Branr]

The Guide states that "The first thing you should know is that working out at the local gym is the best way to raise this skill. While there, your Sims enjoy a nice exercise environment that helps raise it faster."  My tests seem to show that the opposite is true:

I took a set of 6 new sims: 2 athletic, 2 normal, and 2 couch potatoes.  All other traits were the same.  I set up 3 Exercise Queen machines at home.  I teleported one of each pair to the gym, in front of the same machine as at home, and set the other 3 in front of the home machines, and had them all start a basic workout at the same time.  Here are the results:

 8:11 AM  Started workout
 9:31 AM  Home athlete gains skill level 1
 9:38 AM  Home couch potato gains skill level 1
 9:46 AM  Home normal gains skill level 1
10:32 AM  Home athlete gains skill level 2
10:42 AM  Gym athlete gains skill level 1
10:46 AM  Home couch potato gains skill level 2
11:00 AM  Home normal gains skill level 2
11:20 AM  All but athletes fatigue out
12:00 PM  Athletes fatigue out

Conclusion: the Atmosphere moodlet for the gym makes gaining the athletic skill SLOWER than without it.  Again, something EA has let slide for quite a while.  It was interesting that the couch potato actually gained the skill faster than one without the trait.  The home athlete was 90% of the way to level 3, while the gym athlete was only 80% of the way to level 2.

Therefore, if you want to raise the atletic skill, AVOID the gym (until EA finally fixes this).

[Metropolis Man]

They STILL have not fixed that bug? Sheesh. I completely forgot about that one. That's been around since...what..day 1? 

[John Allen]

Wow,

Thanks for posting this Branr.  Saved me a lot of time with a new Sim I'm working on. Nice work getting the data and sharing it.

[Branr]

Wow,

Thanks for posting this Branr.  saved me a lot of time with a new Sim I'm working on. Nice work getting the data and sharing it.

Heh, part of performing an experiment is showing the data, bout the only thing I remember from Chemistry class.  Well, that and how to separate sand and salt.

[Pam]

Yes, this has been a bug from day one. I test it from time to time and it hasn't been fixed yet. Whenever one of my Guide articles involves the Athletic skill, I always mention this bug.

[The Illuminator]

Are we sure that EA knows about the bug?

[Pam]

As much as it's been reported, I'm sure they know. 

[Carl]

You know, I didn't want to edit that page long ago when I found out about this. I figured they'd fix it. I changed that whole paragraph and put up a notice to help remind me should it ever be corrected. It's a real shame that it makes things WORSE. And vastly so, you know? Tack the travel time on, too.

Thanks a ton for bringing it up again.

[Pam]

I just had a wonderful discovery!  My non-athletic Sim just achieved level 1 in Athletic skill in a little over an hour at the Twinbrook gym!!  Now we need to find out if it's fixed in Sunset Valley and Riverview, as well.

[Metropolis Man]

I just had a wonderful discovery!  My non-athletic Sim just achieved level 1 in Athletic skill in a little over an hour at the Twinbrook gym!!  Now we need to find out if it's fixed in Sunset Valley and Riverview, as well.

Interesting, Pam.

@Branr, what version of the game are you playing under? I wonder if Pam's results are due to playing under Ambitions and/or a patch released with Ambitions and that's not the case for your testing conditions?

[Branr]

Interesting, Pam.

@Branr, what version of the game are you playing under? I wonder if Pam's results are due to playing under Ambitions and/or a patch released with Ambitions and that's not the case for your testing conditions?

Ah, ran the latest version, all EPs, and ran it in Sudden Sunset Valley.

[Metropolis Man]

Hmmm...that's really bizarre that the bonus seemed to be accurate for Pam in Twinbrook and clearly is non-existent in SV. Well, this has me curious now, so I'm off to do my own testing.

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EDIT: Absolutely no difference in time between SV and Twinbrook. It took my Sim exactly 1:23 to hit the first athletic skill in both towns. I'm off to run errands though and did not have time to test it on a home lot.

EDIT 2: I did the home test and it's quite clear that something is still messed up. My guy only took one hour flat to get his first athletic skill at home vs the 1:23 in the gym. It's almost as if things are somehow reversed. I mean, I can't imagine any Sim hitting their first skill level in any skill in less than an hour. That would just be too quick. So, it should really be 1 hour flat in the gym and 1:23 at home.

[Pam]

Even if the gym is still longer than at home, it's a vast improvement.  The Sim used to get fatigued before even reaching level 1 at the gym.

[Branr]

Even if the gym is still longer than at home, it's a vast improvement.  The Sim used to get fatigued before even reaching level 1 at the gym.

The two non-athletes I sent to the gym DID get fatigued before reaching level 1.

[Pam]

The two non-athletes I sent to the gym DID get fatigued before reaching level 1.

Yes, but mind did NOT.  Maybe try your testing again and see if you get the same result.