I'm loving University Life so far. It was my favorite EP in the Sims 2, and I've been waiting for it ever since!
It's actually close for me whether I prefer University Life or Supernatural, and I didn't think I'd love Supernatural nearly as much as I do. They're actually very complementary though, and they make gardening and managing collectibles super easy. I don't like to use the motherlode cheat, but I don't mind finding other ways for fast skilling and moneymaking - all of which are aided by the collectibles and lack of need for sleep.
The fairy and witch from supernatural are perfect for growing/conjuring up alchemy ingredients. With the bloom feature, I can have perfect plants of any kind nearly instantly in one generation. The Queen of the Fae lifetime reward makes it so that I have nearly unlimited magic power. The potent invigorating elixir and wish enhancing serum are must haves for my sims, and with the science research station from University Life, I'm able to have unlimited supplies of ingredients for those.
I used cheap ingredients from the grocery store to fulfill the challenge to make 150 alchemy elixirs so that for the rarer elixirs, I would always be able to make 3. I chose the ones for essence of magic because it allowed my witch, especially, to train quickly without waiting for magic to naturally regenerate.
One problem my cook and alchemist sims had was being able to sort out ingredients so I didn't use some rarer ones in a recipe by accident just because it was in my personal inventory or in the fridge. Being able to analyze and clone samples now allows me to keep a "collectibles bank" of specimens, especially of plants and fish, while being able to freely use the rest. If I happen to use up something by accident now, I just clone one of my samples, then analyze another sample from it before planting or using it further.
I keep 2-3 samples of every collectible, and sometimes more of the more frequently used and rare items, in case of failure to clone. (I don't know how often this occurs, but the one and only time I experienced it in tons of cloning was with my newfound plasma bug sample. Yikes! Fortunately, I had a few backups analyzed.)
Gardening with the indoor planters with seasons was glitchy for me at times, especially with the mushrooms. I never tried it out after the first few dormant plants glitched in the university town, but in the home world I was able to garden if I simply planted a seed, let the dormant plant turn normal at 5am the next day, and then interacted with it normally. Before, when I planted outside of summer and tried to make the dormant plants bloom, they just glitched out and never became harvestable again.
From University Life, growing a stock of perfect chamomile and basil is also a must for my sims. Eating chamomile helps with faster skilling for 20 hours and is much easier than trying to complete the mixology challenge for the 6 hour skill gain drinks. I got the Immunity LTRs so my sims can eat herbs without worry of sickness. Basil is also good for increasing promotion and opportunity bonuses, but if I don't have time to grow a supply, the store-bought, nice quality variety is also acceptable since I usually eat it just before going to work or completing an opportunity.
My apologies for writing a book.
I got so excited about the possibilities for my gardener/alchemist/chef sims that I wanted to share what I've discovered.
