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Young adult
Young adult
A life stage · Featured in: The Sims 2: University The Sims 3 The Sims 4

Young Adult
BleehSimself ChristopherSteel
Two young adults in The Sims 3.

Young adult is a life stage in The Sims series, first introduced in The Sims 2: University as an optional life stage when a teen Sim goes off to college. In The Sims 3 and The Sims 4, they return as the fifth and sixth life stage experienced by all Sims, respectively.

The Sims 2[]

TankLylagoestocollege

A teen Sim (right), supported by her father, is about to transition to a young adult and go off to college

When a teen Sim moves out to go to college, they transition into a young adult and remains one for the duration of their college years.

Young adults look identical adults, the only difference is that they have teen voices and walk slightly slower than elder Sims, and significantly slower than adult Sims, with a "slouchy" walking animation.[n 1]

Regardless of aspiration, young adults with teen friends may have wants for those friends to go to college.

Because the young adult stage is directly linked to college, it works a bit differently than the other five stages. Rather than being measured in days, the young adult stage is measured in semesters. For young adults, the age bar does not display how many days are left in the stage, but displays what year of college the young adult is currently in (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior) and how many hours until their next final exam. Once the Sim has graduated, it shows how many hours are left until he or she must leave campus. If the Sim is on academic probation, the bar will be red instead of white.

Young adults can only use clothing which is bought on college community lots. They have some unique outfits, and many - though not all - adult outfits are available to them. In addition, since they use adult bodies, SimPE can be used to make custom clothing made for adults available to them, and much custom clothing for adults is also flagged as being available to young adults. There is a mod that will allow clothes for young adults to be worn by adults, and vice-versa. It will also make young adult and adult clothes available for elders.

There are no days of the week for young adults. This mostly affects their ability to call Sims outside of the college sub-neighborhood. They can do it, but it will always be a work day or a school day for the Sims they're calling. One benefit to young adults, though, is that unlike most Sims, they don't mind being called in the middle of the night and will accept phone calls at all hours, even during the times when their classes are scheduled.

Once a Sim has left college, there are 4 different icons which may be applied to the young adult stage of the age bar. These icons represent how the Sim's university course went:

  • No icon: Graduated without honors.
  • Gold star: Graduated with honors.
  • Red X: Expelled due to GPA below passing level.
  • White 🛇: Dropped out of university.

Sim semesters last for 72 hours each, and there are 8 semesters in a full college experience, meaning that under normal circumstances the young adult stage lasts 24 days. Dropping out, getting expelled, or getting put on academic probation can alter this. Sims also have the option of staying an additional 72 hours to say goodbye and hold a graduation party.

Sims 2 College Course Structure
Year Semester Hours Notes
Freshman 1st 72 -
2nd 72 -
Sophomore 3rd 72 Completed Year Reward Granted: 5th want slot unlocked
4th 72 This is the last semester for Undeclared Major, it will switch into Philosophy.
Junior 5th 72 Completed Year Reward Granted: Opportunity to change aspiration
6th 72 This is the last semester a Sim is allowed to Change Major.
Senior 7th 72 Completed Year Reward Granted: Ability to lock 2 wants/fears instead of just one.
8th 72 -
Postgraduation - 72 Graduated Reward Granted: 6th want slot unlocked.
Allows time for the departing Sim to organize a Graduation Party.
Got Expelled Sims who are Expelled from College (and not just drop out) will receive a 4th fear slot.

Young adults can only reside in the "college towns"; they cannot live in the base neighborhood. Sims leaving college, for whatever reason, automatically transition to adults and move into the family bin. However, young adults can visit their families and friends in the base neighborhood if invited via the telephone. If Nightlife or later is installed, they can also travel to community lots outside the college sub-neighborhood, and the semester timer will pause while they are there. While no other young adults will appear there autonomously, they can use a cell phone to invite other young adults to the lot. Young adults can get engaged, but cannot marry until they leave college and become adults.

Young adults keep the aspirations they chose as teens. However, at the start of their junior year of college, they have the opportunity to change their aspiration if the player so chooses.

Young adults have majors instead of careers. When young adults look at a newspaper or use a computer, the "Find a Job" option will be absent. If Open for Business is installed, they cannot be employed at a business or open a home business, but they can own a community lot business. However, community lots in the college sub-neighborhood cannot be owned. They can make money by working in a cafeteria, either in their dormitory or on another lot with cafeteria service. If a lot has an espresso stand or a bar, they can make money by working as a barista or bartender. They can also make money by painting or performing for tips, though they won't make much unless their Creativity is high. They can also earn money at the end of each semester for their grades. How well they have done academically determines the amount of money given each semester.

Semester Grade GPA Money awarded
A+ 4.0 $1,200
A 3.9 $1,100
A- 3.7 $1,000
B+ 3.3 $800
B 3.0 $700
B- 2.7 $600
C+ 2.2 $500
C 2.0 $400
C- 1.7 $300
D+ 1.3 $0
D 1.0 $0
D- 0.7 $0
F 0.0 $0


When on college lots, unselectable young adults will often have a near-obsession with doing assignments and research. This even extends to those who are visiting residential lots.

When leaving college, playable young adults receive §20,000 or their share of the household's funds, whichever is greater. The §20,000 is not subtracted from the household's funds, even if the household has more than §20,000.

Young adult townies can be made into playable adults by inviting them to a residential lot outside the college sub-neighborhood and successfully asking them to move in. A young adult townie who joins a non-college household in this way will bring a random amount of funds to his or her new household. If the Sim that proposed moving in is a college graduate, the townie will be considered a graduate (otherwise they will be considered dropped out or expelled), and will be given a non-honors diploma in a major that is consistent with his or her skills. If the townie's skills are too low for any major, he or she will get a diploma from the "Department of Undeclared". This diploma will not allow a Sim to enter the graduates-only careers, but a Sim who receives it will still get the extra want slots and second want/fear lock. If the townie does not receive the extra slots and lock after becoming a playable adult, the Fix...My Want Slots & Locks option on the FFS Lot Debugger (a.k.a. the "Batbox") can correct this.

If Lifetime Aspiration is present, a young adult townie moved into a non-college household will be credited with having become an adult, but will not be credited with passing the "Graduation" milestone, even if he or she is otherwise treated as a graduate.

Notes[]

  • When examined in SimPE, a young adult is shown to be an adult with a special flag set. This flag enables the "special" young adult features, such as teen voices, no aging, being able to live on campus, etc.
  • Young adults can drink the Elixir of Life, but there is no reason for them to do so, as it will not have any permanent effect on them. While it will change the number of days that SimPE shows they have in their adult lifespans, this change will only be visible while they are at college, and will not be kept after they transition to adulthood.
  • Using the Tombstone of Life and Death on young adults will age them to an elder. If the Tombstone of Life and Death is used to cause a young adult to become pregnant, one of the NPCs in the dorm will move out when the baby is born.
  • If a young adult goes on vacation, they can get married and even have children. This was fixed with the Bon Voyage update.
  • The opportunity to change aspiration at the end of Sophomore year is a one-time offer. If it's not taken when offered, the opportunity is lost. If Nightlife or later is installed, it includes the ability to change the Sim's turn-ons and turn-off.
  • Teens will not automatically become young adults. A hack however, exists that can age teens to young adults, regardless of whether they will go to college or not.
  • Using the boolprop TestingCheatsEnabled true cheat in The Sims 2, a Sim can be turned into a young adult with the option Set Age To Young Adult. The Sim will now look like a young adult, and get to do the things they do, but their next life stage would be an Elder.
  • If FreeTime is installed, young adults can use sewn outfits that were made off-campus as adult clothing, as long as those outfits are also flagged as being available to young adults.
  • There is a glitch that happens when an alien teen has Pollination Technician as their father. If cinematics is turned on, the game may attempt to summon Pollination Technician to witness their child transition to young adult, but fails. When this happens, objects.package corrupts and the cutscene instead plays with the alien teen transitioning without Pollination. It's recommended to turn cinematics off in these specific cases.

Gallery[]

The Sims 3[]

The sims 3 young adult

A young adult in The Sims 3.

In The Sims 3, the young adult stage is now the default age when entering Create-A-Sim, and is used to represent a wider variety of Sims than in The Sims 2, with young adults seemingly ranging from the age of 15 to somewhere between 35 and 40. The young adult stage is the earliest one in which Sims can start careers, move into houses on their own, get married, and have children. Young adult Sims have five traits and take 21 days on the normal lifespan setting to progress to the next life stage: Adult.

Upon close examination, young adults lack the subtle lines and wrinkles visible on the faces of adults, and female young adult Sims are more likely to successfully become pregnant than their adult counterparts when a couple attempts the Try For Baby interaction. Apart from these slight differences in appearance and fertility, however, gameplay stays largely the same throughout young adulthood and adulthood.

Things that young adults can do that lower life stages cannot:

  • Have children
  • Get a full-time job
  • WooHoo
  • Get married
  • Move in
  • Move out
  • Get bitten by a vampire [TS2:NL][TS3:LN][TS3:SN]
  • Teach teenagers to drive [TS3:G]
  • Attend/Throw a bachelor/bachelorette party [TS3:G]
  • Skinny dip [TS3:LN]

Things that young adult Sims can do that older life stages cannot do:

  • Graduate from high school (technically they do this at the beginning of the Young Adult stage.) [TS3:G]

Things that young adults can't do that older life stages can:

Gallery[]

The Sims 4[]

TS4 young adult

A young adult in The Sims 4.

In The Sims 4, the young adult stage is again the default age when entering Create-A-Sim. The young adult stage is the earliest one in which Sims can start normal careers, get married, and have children. Young adults have the same number of traits as adult Sims and take 24 days in the normal lifespan to age up.

Young adults are slightly slimmer than adults and upon closer examination of the face, young adults lack the wrinkles and lines of adults. Female young adult Sims are also more likely to successfully become pregnant than their adult counterparts after a couple has tried for a baby. Apart from these differences in look and fertility, the gameplay of young adults is largely the same as adults.

Things that young adults can do that lower life stages cannot:

  • Build the parenting skill [TS4:PH]
  • Change into their nude outfit
  • Enroll in university [TS4:DU] (applies to Sims who are participated in the graduation ceremony[TS4:HSY])
  • Get a full-time job
  • Get married
  • Have children
  • Skinny dip
  • WooHoo (although teen Sims have the 'mess around' interaction)

Things that young adults can't do that older Sims can:

  • Die of overexertion
  • Retire from a career

Gallery[]

Notes[]

  1. There is a mod that will remove the slouchy walking animation from young adults, making them walk slightly faster than adults, but slightly slower than teens.
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