More Awesome Than You!

I've just done a study on something extremely unimportant, and oddly feel as though I've accomplished something anyway.  We were discussing this in the "Kitchen Building" thread, where Bliss commented on a similar but not necessarily related problem.  It involves Sim children or teens and their homework assignments, and by extension I wondered if it affected Young Adults at Uni also.  This is not the problem with placing the homework on the desk, which sometimes occurs in tight quarters, but a different problem that I will try to describe succinctly.

The 6 or 12 comes home from school, and approaches The One Desk with his homework.  (I am going with masculine pronouns only for the sake of clarity.)  I have noticed the following variations.
1.  If nothing whatsoever is on the desk, the 6 or 12 puts the assignment on the left side of the desk (as one is facing the desk).
2.  If something is on that side of the desk, such as a lamp, the kid will place the assignment on the floor close by.  I have never seen a Sim schoolchild put the assignment on the right side of the desk, where the chair is.

Later on, when I instruct the kid to do his homework, if he has put the assignment on the left side of the desk, he will stomp and complain that he can't pick up the assignment.  If I go into build mode and move the assignment to the right side of the desk, or the floor, or an empty slot on a dining table, no problem.  I have noticed this behavior even if there is a one-tile zone of empty space entirely around the desk and chair.

I have just discovered that Young Adults at Uni have the same problem.  I instructed one to do an assignment, cancelled the action, moved the assignment in build mode to the left side of an empty desk in the middle of a large room, put a chair in front of the right side of the desk, and told him to continue the assignment.  Same error as when I tried the same sequence with a 6 in a residential household.

Both of these times I turned debug mode on and generated error logs, which I've attached.  My suspicion is that Maxis has simply made it so that 6s/12s/YAs are too stupid to pick up the assignment from the left side of the desk (even if they have put it there themselves!), bring it somewhere convenient, and then do the assignment.  Particularly since Bliss and I presumably have very different setups and tight pants collections.  But if tight pants gets the blame, I'd love to know about it.  Failcats, Pancake Bunnies, and other such abuse will also be tolerated.

Thanks for reading!  :)

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I hope that is the case as this particular problem is driving me up the wall. Desks are an absolute neccessity, but having to move the homework all the time is a PITA.

I believe that is indeed the problem, because I remember grumbling over that behavior when I had nothing but the base game.  Was not tight pants, because I was barely aware that hacks/mods existed at that point, and I certainly didn't have any.

So, we have learned sims are too dumb to figure out the desk-homework conundrum.  Anyone going to do anything about it?  *eyes Pescado*

I always just block the left side of the desk to prevent this behavior. This appears to have started recently, as this did not occur in the original game, probably around FT or so.

So does that mean that there will be no fix or it can't be fixed? Both?

I've never seen this happen. Are my 6's and 12's superior? Maybe you need to rethink your breeding strategies.

Just joking. I've never seen this because I just let my 6's and 12's do their homework wherever, even if that happens to be in the middle of the road. I learned this trick from real-life teaching. Some 6's just work better if you let them sprawl under a counter, in a filthy corner by the trash can, or in the one spot that guarantees they'll be hit by the door every time it opens. The last also provides much needed lulz.

Sic.  The word you want is sic, not sick.  Sick is what that misspelling makes me feel.

I remember having the same problem in base game only.  In the first house I built, I put a desk in the 12's room.  The little bastard would put the homework on the left, then claim he couldn't get to it when I told him to do it.

You should try the Ingeological desk+homework combo, and see if it corrects this behavior. Download it here: http://www.simlogical.com/sl/Sims2Pages/Sims2_MiscHacks.htm (look for Reservable Desk).

As FOJ said, it seems that one of the more recent EP (probably FT) broke The One Desk hopelessly.

Prior to FT, students were able to put their homework/assignment on the usable side of the desk, provided that the right side of the desk was not blocked by wall or other object. Students stood by the right side of the desk before they put their homework on the desk.
This is still true for YAs, but not for 6s and 12s. 6s and 12s insist on putting their homework on the floor nearby The One Desk, even if I put a lamp on the left side of the desk and keep the right side of the desk unblocked. PITA indeed.

I find the One Desk to be a PITA too, but for a different reason.

My 12s come home, and one puts their homework on the right side of the desk.  If it's not autumn, often they'll still be doing their homework when their 6 sibling(s) come home.  As the 12's homework is pulled forward (since they're working on it), the 6 thinks the right end of the desk is clear, and puts their homework there - right where the 12 is doing homework.  Then the 6 is unable to do their homework because they can't reach it.  They either have to wait for the 12 to finish, or I have to go into buy mode to move their homework.  This stupidity started a couple of EPs back, not sure exactly when, so it could have been with FT.

My One Desk usually ends up with a computer and a phone on it.  I prefer homework on the floor to a stupid 6 putting their homework down right where a 12 is currently doing their homework.

The difference is with YA's is that they will use an empty dining table to do their assignments. I wonder if that could be implemented for kids and teens? Mind you, the YA's do the 'placing work where others are doing work' thing too. Annoying.

I was using Dizzy's 'Homework in bedroom' hack but the bloody thing errored if I mouseovered homework laying on the floor with AL installed. With M&G installed the kids and teens error coming off the bus and all homework disappears. I pulled it. I've just downloaded Inge's desk and homework hack and will be trying that out asap.

I'm currently using the last dizzy's hack - I don't remind now how it's called, since I'm not at home, but it's part of the pack (http://www.nectere.net/smf/index.php?topic=1140.0) up in the Laden Swallow - with full satisfaction.
Kids put down homework on the right side of desk, you can then assign that desk to a specific kid, and if no desk is available, they will put their homework on a dining table, and will then do that on it, like YAs.

ETA: It should be the one Emma posted above. I don't have the M&G stuff pack yet, though, therefore I don't know.

Yes, it was that one, but it seems M&G mucked it up. Boo.

Yes, M&G definitely mucked 'homework in bedroom' up.  You could get kids to macro/do homework, but if you attempted to mouse over it to have them ask for help, it errored constantly.

Did you have any errors when the kids (teens in particular) got off the schoolbus with M&G, Joe?

I don´t think it can have been FT. I have everything up to FT installed and my one desk works fine. Provided there is free space beside the right side of the desk, the sims will drop their homework in the right place and have no problem sitting in front of the desk and doing their homework. It´s true that once on sim is occupied doing homework, the desk is considered empty and the next sim will drop homework there. I kind of like that, though, because my teens are at least very close to finish doing homework when the kids come home and I like the homework to be on the desk.

ETA: I actually never had a sim putting homework on the left side of the desk, but I usually put something there.

In families with more than 2 school age children, I delete the One Desk entirely.  4 children all trying to do their homework on the floor around the One Desk inevitably ends up with one or more of them trapped and frozen by macro-homework.  I follow saramk's example, and let them do it in the middle of the road.  In knee-deep snow.  And they like it. ;D

You forgot "uphill" and "both ways" and "with no shoes on."  ;D

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who finds this annoying!  I usually put a computer and a lamp on The One Desk anyway, so my 6s and 12s just do their homework on the floor, provided I didn't forget about it due to The One Desk or some other object blocking it from view.  I do not use macrotastics or similar.

Can anyone read the error logs I attached above?  I hope I did it right.  I can't understand them at all and had no idea error logs were so long.

I have yet to try the Ingelogical desk, but have been meaning to do so.  The YAs do seem to be a bit smarter than the 6s and 12s, as they will do assignments on dining tables -- but the flip side is that the dormies then leave their assignment books everywhere, unless you use noassignmentclutter of course.

I have never seen a 6 or 12 put the homework book on the right side of the desk, no matter which EP combination I've used (and I have tried many).  If there is a lamp or plant or something on the left side of the desk, they just put it on the floor.  Of course they will do homework if you put their book on a dining table in buy or build mode, but I have never seen them put the assignment on a dining table by themselves either.

Granted, as TS2 annoyances go, this is probably fairly minor.  But I do feel better knowing that others find it annoying too.  :)

EDIT:  I wonder if 6s/12s can retrieve assignments from a coffee table or end table?  I will try this next and report back.

Not that I recall.  Only had errors with mousing over the homework.

I just learned that homework and Uni assignments cannot even be placed on coffee tables or end tables.  However, by chance I had a 12 who was at school when I opened a lot, who had not done his homework the previous day.  Just to see what would happen, I put his homework on the dining table.  Sure enough, when he got home, he walked right past The One Desk and put his new homework on top of the old homework.  I wouldn't be surprised if this is how the Ingelogical desk works, tricking the 6 or 12 into thinking that an old assignment of his is already on that desk.

The difference between YAs and 6s/12s is that YAs don't put their assignments down after class. They only whip them out when directed to do assignment (or if dormie/YA townie, whenever the hell they feel like it). I'm no code junkie, but I bet you that's definitely part of why they the do assignments anywhere there's a table/desk and chair. Kids of all ages, on the other hand, have to drop the homework somewhere before they do something. Or I'm just stating the obvious at this point.

I must have had something conflicting with it then, because I've taken it out and it's stopped. :-\

I didn't have kids putting their homework on the left side of the desk at all until I installed AL (although I have neighte BV nor FT so it could have been borked in one of those).  If the right side wasn't free, they'd put it on the floor even if the left side was.

Lately, I've gotten annoyed enough with homework that I finally downloaded some of Inge's school hacks.  Now all of my 6s and 12s go to Prep School, and do not bring home any homework.  As an added bonus, they stay in school for the whole day and do not come home to whine about lack of fun at 1/3 PM.

I didn't mean to be a "complete fucking asshole", I simply stuck my foot in my mouth by being far too abrupt, probably because I was half asleep.  Half asleep or not, I'm sorry.


At this point, I've basically given up letting kids put homework on the desk.  Actually, I gave it up a long time ago.  I stick a computer and something decorative on the desk.  They drop their homework on the floor near the desk and sit on the floor to do it.  :P  At least I don't have to go in and out of buy mode to place their homework where they can reach it.

Oi oi oi, what's all this apologising and being nice to each other business? Eh? You two better watch it, I've got my eye on you.  :D

This works perfectly.

I have all EPs except BV, and I have the same problem with sims not being able to get the homework they placed on the left side of the desk. I'm not completely sure which EP it started with, but it certainly has not always been like this.

I've been using just the homework hack from Inge (haven't replaced the desks yet) and it works-sims put their homework on the right side of the desk.

I just got both Inge's desk and her homework hack, and they seem to work in a regular house, and mostly work in an apartment.  (I have been putting lamps on the left side of her desks, just to play it safe.)  So far my 12s find their assigned desk just fine, whether in a house or in an apartment, but the 6s so far find it only when it's in a house.  In an apartment, they leave it outside the apartment building.  This may be related to the Family Sim parent returning home at the same time to do that annoying spiel as soon as they get out of the car:  "I'm home!  From work!  Where I earned money!  I am the greatest!  Come to me, all my beautiful 6s!"  Which seems to make all 6s drop their entire queue.  12s seem unaffected by this ridiculous act.

If the child's queue gets interrupted, they will place the homework on the ground instead of the desk. The most common occurrence of this is due to routing issues, although it can also happen as you described. For example, say you are still using those one-piece staircases where only one Sim can walk on them at a time. The first kid starts walking up the stairs to place their homework on their desk. The second child realizes that the staircase is in use and will drop their homework on the ground since their "route is blocked".

I use Squinge's No Singing after Work, and the Hugging Hack from here which puts the "Hug" interaction at the end of their queue instead of wiping it out. Then as long as their route isn't blocked, they will always place their homework on their reserved desk. It works for me in apartments as well as on residential lots.

I also have been irritated by the stupidity of my sims - if they can reach to put the homework on the desk in the first place, then why the heck are they suddenly not able to take it back off the desk? I got fed up with the idiots and now everyone gets a nice table lamp or something on the left hand side of the desks to stop the annoyance.

(I have all expansion packs and stuff packs, except M&G - too scared to install it.)