[BUG] Family Aspirations

[oshizu]

So far my two teens are struggling to achieve that A!  They go to school very focused, (they "Ponder Moves" before school in a high focus aura area), do the extra credit work, and "study hard" at school.  So far only a "B".  Poor kids have little time left for anything but school and school work.

Don't know.  The only child that maxed a skill was my heir.  I did not focus on the other household children although they came close. 

The heir also maxed an aspiration as a child but it did not register as maxed in Happy Family.  VERY annoying since she worked so hard to do this.

My founder is in the Culinary career and I'm once again, (this is my third attempt in TS4), concerned she will not get the necessary promotions to reach her goal before she is about to die.  She is close to, but has not yet reached, elder stage and has only made it to Pastry Chef.  The heir is close to YA but still no "A" in high school.  I'm finding TS4 more buggy and much more difficult to complete a dynasty than TS3 ever was.

Thanks for confirming what you've experienced with the Family aspirations.

A post on tips for completing a Pinstar Legacy (which I've never attempted) advised to focus on the heir's career during the young adult stage, striving to reach around Level 8 by the time s/he becomes an adult. This requires postponing the babymaking. I've followed this tip for my Dynasty (except for the Big Happy Family and Successful Lineage aspirations) and I've always succeeded in completing the career of my founder or heirs.  I've failed five dynasty attempts in TS4 so far, the longest one reached Gen 5.

That's odd about your teens getting their A.  After getting an A in the child stage, a teen starts high school with a B, right?

@no1mfp, sorry for detouring from your original question.
The first time I ever tried Big Happy Family, that requirement completed without any problem. In that game, I had a child who befriended his aunts and uncles who lived elsewhere.
When I tried it in a different game recently, though, the requirement didn't complete. I'm not sure why.
After raising eight kids, your sim couple really deserve a break!   

[no1mfp]

No problem oshizu don't mind at all!  My Sims couple has now had 12 children. After having three sets of twins (because of the multiples bug) and then two singles all adults now, I decided I wanted them to use the fertility reward and the fertility serum (made from being an Herbalist) to see if they would get triplets. Unlike in Sims3 with the fertility reward you always get twins and often get triplets. In SIms4 it's still random, you only have a chance of multiples with the fertility reward and fertility serum. So after three pregnancies using the reward and serum they got twins. I'm really curious now how long if ever it would take to get triplets! So they may have more!

Oh and Teens start high school with a C just like children. Even though they have an A when they're a child! 

[Joria]

I just had a nonbiological child, (teen), just receive an A in high school.  Everyone in the household got credit for it.  Strange that the biological child got an A but it never registered for anyone.

There is one section that says "Be friends with 3 of your children".  My spouse, (to founder), is friends with his daughter and one other child in the household but only the biological child registers as a friend.

[oshizu]

No problem oshizu don't mind at all!  My Sims couple has now had 12 children. After having three sets of twins (because of the multiples bug) and then two singles all adults now, I decided I wanted them to use the fertility reward and the fertility serum (made from being an Herbalist) to see if they would get triplets. Unlike in Sims3 with the fertility reward you always get twins and often get triplets. In SIms4 it's still random, you only have a chance of multiples with the fertility reward and fertility serum. So after three pregnancies using the reward and serum they got twins. I'm really curious now how long if ever it would take to get triplets! So they may have more!

Oh and Teens start high school with a C just like children. Even though they have an A when they're a child! 

@no1mfp Let us know how your fertility experiments go! I've never tried out the Fertility serum and have never managed to have triplets (lots of twins, though) in my own household (only when a sim has the Big Happy Family aspiration but his own household is full).
But wow, fertility reward and serum but three pregnancies without triplets? I hope you moved in some helper sims for your parents, lol.

By the way, I just went into two different save files and tried aging up children with an A grade into teens.
In one file, a single child with an A grade aged into a highschool student with a B grade.
In other file, twin children with an A grade both aged into high school students with a B grade.
This is always how it's been in my TS4 games.  Your children with A grades don't start high school with a B grade?

[no1mfp]

oshizu, I will keep you posted on my fertility experiments. I'm to curious not to keep trying for triplets! It'll be a while I need to play and age up at least one of the four children I have to make room for triplets.

 I'll pay closer attention to their grades when then go to school as teens.  I've had 13 children age up to teens and I can only remember one starting school with a B. I was trying to figure out what was different about her that she rated a B. I play with the aging off so I age them when I want! They get all four of the children's aspirations fulfilled and are A students before they're aged up to teens. So I wasn't sure why only one started with a B.

[oshizu]

oshizu, I will keep you posted on my fertility experiments. I'm to curious not to keep trying for triplets! It'll be a while I need to play and age up at least one of the four children I have to make room for triplets.

 I'll pay closer attention to their grades when then go to school as teens.  I've had 13 children age up to teens and I can only remember one starting school with a B. I was trying to figure out what was different about her that she rated a B. I play with the aging off so I age them when I want! They get all four of the children's aspirations fulfilled and are A students before they're aged up to teens. So I wasn't sure why only one started with a B.

@no1mfp, I'll be looking forward to hearing your results of our fertility experiments. I only got to the point of making a fertility serum once (I hate collecting insects) but then my dynasty failed so I never even drank it.

About aging kids to teens, I need to pay better attention, too. Earlier tonight, I experimentally used cheats to boost the grade of three children to an A then aged them to teens in some old save files. None of the three had completed aspirations I've never had a child with an A grade who didn't age up to a teen with a B grade. But now that I've said that, my game will probably glitch and, from now on, all my teens will be C students, lol.

@Joria, wow, so "Have a chld earn an A in high school" means any child in the same household. How random (and sad)  that the biological child's A grade wasn't unacknowledged.
"Your child" and "your children/grandchildren" always seems to refer to a biological connection.
The wording of the Family aspirations is really confusing. They're both written more poorly than any of the other aspirations. I wonder why.
On the other hand, I really love the Vicarious trait from the BHF aspiration, so it's worth figuring out...

[CynKuy]

Do the teen careers count with the have a child or grandchild max a career for the Successful Lineage aspiration?

[ClayMask]

I haven't done these before, so I'd like to find out some more information. I have to agree that the wording's very confusing for these aspirations, as to whether a child means child stage or just an offspring.  I think offspring is the term they should have used if they meant any life stage.  Also it's unclear in each case whether the children have to be biological.  It really seems to me that adopted children should always count, but from what I read here, they don't..  From what you said Joria, I'm not sure if you're saying that adopted children don't count, or that they can't be someone else's children but living in the same house.  Was the child that you mentioned an adopted child?

With the have a child max any skill, do the childhood skills count, or does it have to be an adult skill?

How about have a child complete an aspiration.  Is it supposed to be someone in the child stage, completing a childhood aspiration, or an offspring completing a normal aspiration?

Which, if any of the goals in these aspirations can't be completed by adopted children?

[Playalot]

Oh and Teens start high school with a C just like children. Even though they have an A when they're a child! 

@no1mfp , Just thought I'd mention that all my kids who have an A at school start high school with a B. Maybe you hit a glitch/bug?

[oshizu]

I haven't done these before, so I'd like to find out some more information. I have to agree that the wording's very confusing for these aspirations, as to whether a child means child stage or just an offspring.  I think offspring is the term they should have used if they meant any life stage.  Also it's unclear in each case whether the children have to be biological.  It really seems to me that adopted children should always count, but from what I read here, they don't..  From what you said Joria, I'm not sure if you're saying that adopted children don't count, or that they can't be someone else's children but living in the same house.  Was the child that you mentioned an adopted child?

With the have a child max any skill, do the childhood skills count, or does it have to be an adult skill?

How about have a child complete an aspiration.  Is it supposed to be someone in the child stage, completing a childhood aspiration, or an offspring completing a normal aspiration?

Which, if any of the goals in these aspirations can't be completed by adopted children?

@ClayMask, I can't answer all your questions but:
Regarding adopted children, they seem to be handled just like biological children. Perhaps the better distinction would be related/unrelated to the parent(s). Unrelated would be like inviting an elderly gardener into the household and having that gardener adopt a chlid.
"Have a child max any skill": This can be a childhood skill. Earlier today, both parents got credit when their biological child maxed the Creativity skill. Mom switched over from a different aspiration and still got credit
"Have a chlild complete an aspiration": Tier 3 of Successful Lineage has the "Have a child earn an A in high school" requirement, so I've had the same high school kid work on an "adult" aspiration.

@CynKuy, regarding "Have a child reach the top of a careerr," I read on another thread on this forum that this requirement triggered for a teen career, but I haven't tested it myself.

Wish I had better answers...I guess this aspiration really calls for test playing because of the ambiguous wording....

[ClayMask]

Thanks for the answers, Oshizu.  That will help a lot.

[Joria]

I haven't done these before, so I'd like to find out some more information. I have to agree that the wording's very confusing for these aspirations, as to whether a child means child stage or just an offspring.  I think offspring is the term they should have used if they meant any life stage.  Also it's unclear in each case whether the children have to be biological.  It really seems to me that adopted children should always count, but from what I read here, they don't..  From what you said Joria, I'm not sure if you're saying that adopted children don't count, or that they can't be someone else's children but living in the same house.  Was the child that you mentioned an adopted child?

With the have a child max any skill, do the childhood skills count, or does it have to be an adult skill?

How about have a child complete an aspiration.  Is it supposed to be someone in the child stage, completing a childhood aspiration, or an offspring completing a normal aspiration?

Which, if any of the goals in these aspirations can't be completed by adopted children?

I don't have any adopted children in my household.  I had, (now they are all YA), 3, nonbiological children and one heir.  Most of the achievements counted for all of the children in my household except the biological child's A in high school never was acknowledged and "Be friends with 3 of your children" also did not count the nonbiological children.  Childhood aspirations were counted at the child stage but only by the heir as I never bothered to get the others to that level.  It was pretty confusing as to what would count and what wouldn't.  Why would the moved in, but not adopted, children count for the A but not for "Be friends"?   Made no sense.

[oshizu]

I forgot to mention that the Big Happy Family has one bugged requirement: "Be parent to a child with 3 friends."

This one's hard to trigger whether your sim is a parent (with 3 friends) to a child or a parent to a child who has 3 friends (haha, someone on another forum actually tested that).

I tried this today with a child-stage child. After reaching this tier, making 3 additional friends in the household didn't work, but making 3  more friends outside the household didn't work either.

[ClayMask]

I forgot to mention that the Big Happy Family has one bugged requirement: "Be parent to a child with 3 friends."

This one's hard to trigger whether your sim is a parent (with 3 friends) to a child or a parent to a child who has 3 friends (haha, someone on another forum actually tested that).

I tried this today with a child-stage child. After reaching this tier, making 3 additional friends in the household didn't work, but making 3  more friends outside the household didn't work either.

From what I've read in this thread, this one does sound bugged.  I'll see what happens when I get to it.

I don't have any adopted children in my household.  I had, (now they are all YA), 3, nonbiological children and one heir.  Most of the achievements counted for all of the children in my household except the biological child's A in high school never was acknowledged and "Be friends with 3 of your children" also did not count the nonbiological children.  Childhood aspirations were counted at the child stage but only by the heir as I never bothered to get the others to that level.  It was pretty confusing as to what would count and what wouldn't.  Why would the moved in, but not adopted, children count for the A but not for "Be friends"?   Made no sense.

Thanks Joria

[ClayMask]

I did manage to satisfy the "be parent to a child with 3 friends" requirement.  Maybe they "fixed" it last patch?  I say fixed in quotes because the way I satisfied it was odd.  I first tried satisfying it the way I thought should have worked had it been working correctly, by having the teenaged son of my Sim make three friends outside the family, and checking each time to see if it was satisfied in case friends within the family counted and he needed exactly three.  When this failed, I moved on to the "be friends with 3 of your children" requirement, and somehow this also satisfied the "be a parent to a child with 3 friends."  This wasn't the third friend for the parent, either.  He already had lots of friends.