The Skills Dilemma: If You Get Help It'll Cost You

[Shewolf13]

Thanks for sharing, @Shewolf13 ! I've also learned a ton from reading these strategies.

And I will admit I went the outdoors route for this challenge despite it not being necessary. Old habits die hard, I suppose. (Does saving money on walls and a door count as an excuse?  )

@officialghosts I would say so! lol I did the outside strategy this time, i think simply because I wanted the room I think, due to having a massive garden.

Thanks for sharing your strategy, Shewolf13.  I too went the outdoors route, since rooms didn't seem necessary.  I only built a small portion of wall for my fireplace, and to put up a decoration and focused diagram on.  I only buy things as needed, and didn't see need for additional walls beyond these.

Yeah, that was a lot of it.  One of these days, I'll remember about the decorating and the fireplace bonus too XD

[saltpastillen]

Thank you for sharing your brilliant strategies! I never think I will do well in these challenges. mostly because I don't practice a lot and partly because I'm not competitive enough. I always end up having to fun in my file to keep my sim on the straight and narrow, and I always play very whim oriented so my sim always gets to pick a lot of what she is doing which makes skilling take more time. Also, I had decided I would make this a solo mission, which in my mind ruled out a wedding.

However, I did learn a lot about the athletic skill and the power of moodlet solvers.

My sim spent her first 48 hours at the gym working out and working on comedy and charisma. She initiated a group conversation on the treadmill to tell jokes and make gentile conversation while always staying super energized from full moods, energy drinks, watching sports (mostly for fun) and having the trainer tutor her. The poor trainer was never allowed to join in the conversation but she did take the time to introduce herself to them after they became friends.

Then she went back home where she started her garden and did all the insipred skills while tending it. As soon as they were done, she finished of the last levels of charisma and comedy before starting on the focused skills.

The one major mistake I did was having her read a herbalist book instead of a fishing one, if not then I could have maxed fishing too I think.

[Tixxis]

Thank you so much for sharing, Saltpastillen and Wolfie.

I tend to get caught up in the story aspects of things

I'm so with you there! I'm forever trying not to spin a story in my head while doing these challenges. It definitely affects game-play.

My sim spent her first 48 hours at the gym working out and working on comedy and charisma. She initiated a group conversation on the treadmill to tell jokes and make gentile conversation while always staying super energized from full moods, energy drinks, watching sports (mostly for fun) and having the trainer tutor her.

Isn't it amazing just how long a fully energized Sim can go before needing any sleep? I never noticed that before. I think it's the energy drinks.

The one major mistake I did was having her read a herbalist book instead of a fishing one, if not then I could have maxed fishing too I think.

You would have been surprised. I tried reading the fishing books during one of my practice runs. All goes more or less well until level 6, but then the skill rate drops dramatically for some reason rather.

[ClayMask]

Thanks for sharing your strategy, Saltpastillen.

Isn't it amazing just how long a fully energized Sim can go before needing any sleep? I never noticed that before. I think it's the energy drinks.

According to information DarkWalker saw in the code, being energized causes energy to decay at 75% of the normal rate, and being very energized causes it to decay at 60% of the normal rate.  This made energy decay slowly enough that I actually had my Sim eat between moodlet solvers when leveling athletic.  I didn't have her eat at any other point in the challenge.  I just made her deal with being hungry for a bit.

[officialghosts]

I tried reading the fishing books during one of my practice runs. All goes more or less well until level 6, but then the skill rate drops dramatically for some reason rather.

I actually noticed the same quirk with the herbalism books. I had used up all my ingredients for remedies and wanted to avoid another trip to Granite Falls, so I sat Everly down with a skill book (She was in the 6-8 range at this time). Despite being very focused and having Savant and Night Owl active, her skill bar barely moved a centimeter! In fact, it almost looked like it hadn't moved at all! Kinda weird. I wonder if gardening is the same?

[ClayMask]

It seems like skill books are almost always slower than doing an activity to level a skill.  At best they are the same, but this is rare.

[Metropolis Man]

It seems like skill books are almost always slower than doing an activity to level a skill.  At best they are the same, but this is rare.

In Sims 3 a Bookworm sitting in the library and reading a skill book was pretty close in leveling speed to doing an actual skill. You had the double whammy of the reading skill boost from the trait and what the library provided too. Those days are over.

[Shewolf13]

Thank you so much for sharing, Saltpastillen and Wolfie.

I'm so with you there! I'm forever trying not to spin a story in my head while doing these challenges. It definitely affects game-play.

@Tixxis I can't seem to help myself XD The story is one reason I love the Sims and why I began playing, the fact that even if you have the same Sim, it's never the same game twice.  I try not to let it affect challenges, but I'm afraid that it does XD because I can't seem to get my mindset into "this is a challenge, story doesn't matter as much as strategy".

Hm, I don't tend to bother with the skill books in Sims 4 for some reason unless I can't afford the actual object (like a bar for mixology, for instance) because it certainly seems slower, though I don't think I ever timed it.  I probably should know this, but does the ideal emotion affect skill book reading the same as it does for performing the skill?  I was thinking for something say, like fishing or gardening, activities where it might be a bit harder to set it up in such a way to ensure they are very focused because of where things may be (particularly with fishing) if just having a very focused room or space would be easier to read the skill book for that particular activity?

[Tixxis]

Does the ideal emotion affect skill book reading the same as it does for performing the skill? 

I think it does, Wolfie.
My Sim part-read the gardening books, because she wanted to get milestone 1 of Renaissance Sim and Nerd Brain out of the way.
She did this in a focused environment, because I wanted her to learn a little from it too.
But, she could have done it in any environment. Because the requirement to read 3 books takes only as long as it takes to 'finish' 3 books - which amounts to 6 hours without 'Speed Reader' and 3 hours with it.
It's worth mentioning that 'Speed Reader' does not increase the skill rate.
It just shortens the time to 'finish' a book - which is never finished (reading) in terms of skill gain.

[MischaMusic]

@ClayMask - as a musician and teacher in real life, it both cracks me up and offers great satisfaction that the only way to level up on an instrument is practice, practice, practice.

[ClayMask]

@ClayMask - as a musician and teacher in real life, it both cracks me up and offers great satisfaction that the only way to level up on an instrument is practice, practice, practice.

@MischaMusic It is a funny idea, isn't it?   It turns out playing a concerto or whatever the equivalent is on each instrument is probably the best, though.  It wasn't something I had tried.

[MischaMusic]

@MischaMusic It is a funny idea, isn't it?   It turns out playing a concerto or whatever the equivalent is on each instrument is probably better, though.

Ah man, and here I thought the Sims were taking a dip into realism...

[EtnaFan666]

Lol - just like in real life I suppose. I did not get much skill in cooking while in grad school heating up Budget Gourmets in the microwave. Once I started actually chopping, measuring, and using cooking techniques a whole new world opened up.

Welcome to the world of cooking, Metro! It's a beautiful thing. Watch Food Network, it'll enlighten you. (Sorry for the plug, I love Food Network shows.)