Factoids and Statistics on Skill Gaining

[J. M. Pescado]

Here is a comprehensive table of the skill gaining rates of all skilling objects and interactions as of TS2U v1.0. Some of the conclusions may surprise you. Higher numbers are better. 100 represents the "base" rate of skill gain, 100%. Note the rates listed below can be modified by personality affinity, and a sim receives +100% learning rate while wearing a thinking cap, and +200% while under the influence of smart milk. Smart milk can normally only affect toddlers, but the attribute can become "stuck" randomly and result in children learning at accelerated rates. This tends to go away when you wear a TC, which also affects the attribute and thus clears the stuckage.

Having a tutor will also increase the rate of learning by a yet-unknown amount. Having the tutor wear a thinking cap or not has no effect, nor does the skill of level of the tutor as long as he is adequately skilled to function as a tutor.

Note that some objects have learning rates which unusually high, but are not a true reflection of their effectiveness because the learning rate is only applied during specific intervals of the usage cycle (military obstacle course, personal trainer, biotech station).

Base Skill Rates - All Skills
Edumacation Book:   500
FT Teaching:        200

Base Skill Rates - Cooking
Candy Machine:      200
Bookshelf:          200
Yummy:              200
Toy Oven:           150

Base Skill Rates - Mechanical
Surgical Station:   250
Bookshelf:          200
Activity Table:     150
Restorable Car:     100

Base Skill Rates - Body
Obstacle Course:    538
Bowling:            350 (?)
Punch Bag:          313
Treadmill:          300
Multipress:         250
Exercise Bike:      250
Yoga:               200
EDS(all):           200
Single Bench:       175
Personal Trainer:  +100 (adds to rate after personality adjustments)
TV Work Out:        150
Stereo Work Out:    100
Pool:               100
CS Limbo:           31

Base Skill Rates - Charisma
Golf Course:        250
Law Podium:         250
Politics Podium:    250
LS Podium:          250
Mirror:             200
Bird Teach/Talk:    150
Nursery Rhyme:      100
Toddler Rabbit:     75

Base Skill Rates - Logic
Biotech Station:    250
Telescope Good:     200
Telescope Crappy:   150
Chess - Indoor:     200
Chess - Outdoor:    150
Toddler Peg Box:    100

Base Skill Rates - Creativity
Mus. Career Guitar: 400
Lie Detector:       250
Hydroponic Garden:  250
DJ Booth:           250
Practice Music:     200
Karaoke Machine:    200
Modular Synth:      200
Violin:             175
Perform Music:      175
Easel Painting:     150
Write Novel:        150
Activity Table:     150
CS Bongo Drums      100
Toddler Xylophone:  75

Base Skill Rates - Cleaning
FP Scanner:         250
Bookshelf:          200

This following table concerns the relative difficulty weights of gaining 1% of a skillpoint based on your present skill level (0-9), in terms of how many ticks it will take to gain 1% of a skillpoint, meaning at level 0, it will take 4000 ticks to gain a skillpoint given a 100% skill rate. There are 1800 ticks in a Sim-hour, meaning it will take a sim 1:07 hr (2000t) to learn the first skillpoint at a rate of 200.
Weighted Difficulty Rates (ticks per 1%)
0: 40
1: 66
2: 84
3: 108
4: 139
5: 178
6: 228
7: 292
8: 374
9: 480

The base-rate + personality modifiers + PT bonus affects how many "ticks" it will take to gain 1 point (1% of a game 1-10 "point"). IQ (MYSemi 0x1C +0x64) affects how many points are gained when this duration passes.
Skill Gain Rate is therefore (BR * IQ) / 100.
Examples:
Assume no skillpoints.
Sim has 300 IQ, using base-rate 200. He will gain 3 points (3%) every 20 ticks, or 0.15/t.
Sim has 100 IQ, using base-rate 500. He will gain 1 point (1%) every 8 ticks, or 0.125/t.

[dizzy]

So basically, to gain skill:

- For Cooking, Mechanical and Cleaning, use the bookshelf.
- For Charisma, use the mirror.
- For Logic, use the expensive chess/telescope.
- For Creativity, play music when you can or paint to combine with earning cash.
- For Body, use the treadmill or multipress (whichever works better).

- For all skills, career rewards are always faster, especially if another sim can help them with it.
Correct?

[J. M. Pescado]

- For Body, use the treadmill or multipress (whichever works better).

Note that the treadmill cannot be used with complete success until a skill of 700 (7) is reached. If you're using the Skillinator, this matter is handle for you, but otherwise, you're going to have severe ADHD problems with most of the new Uni exercise equipment, especially the treadmill.

- For all skills, career rewards are always faster, especially if another sim can help them with it.
Correct?

Few caveats: The Candy Machine provides no benefit over the bookshelf or Yummy, and requires a skill of at least 700 to use successfully. Of course, if you WANT to generate an invisopuddle, go for it at 400 and below, and you're sure to get one. The invisopuddle has a few uses with toddlers. As a method of pure skilling, however, it is ineffectual.

The Biotech station is entirely worthless operated solo, as it has one of the worst average performance values in the game due to the stop-and-go. It only becomes competitive with an instructor, and even then, requires horrid amounts of micromanagement unless the Skillinator is handling it.

Children cannot use the Scanner Gun successfully at all without an instructor, due to the severe ADHD effect.

Other interesting notes are that when a child is trained on the Candy Machine and the Surgical Station, since he is not the one using it, he will not quit due to mood or need decrease and can continue for quite some time as a result. The instruction in this case will end only when the instructor stops, or possibly at much lower point. This is convenient, as it avoids the sim food obsession.

[dizzy]

Okay, update on reward objects:

++ Obstacle course
+ Punching bag, Golf Course, Podium, Hydroponic Garden
- Scanner Gun with kids
- Candy Machine, Biotech Station (unless "chaining" skill-training)

I like making them use the treadmill till they earn the punching bag anyway because the fall anim over never fails to be amusing to me.

[vcline]

I noticed for the first time this weekend that the obstacle course is unavailable to pregnant sims, a male in my case, although he could use the exercise machine.  I guess Maxis decided that all that falling down wouldn't be healthy for someone who is pregnant.

Vicki

[reggikko]

I noticed for the first time this weekend that the obstacle course is unavailable to pregnant sims, a male in my case, although he could use the exercise machine.  I guess Maxis decided that all that falling down wouldn't be healthy for someone who is pregnant.

Vicki

Yep. Pregnant Sims can't be instructors on it, either. Annoying since all they do is stand there.

[MsMaria]

I noticed for the first time this weekend that the obstacle course is unavailable to pregnant sims, a male in my case, although he could use the exercise machine.  I guess Maxis decided that all that falling down wouldn't be healthy for someone who is pregnant.

Vicki

It's interesting to note that pregnant sims can use the treadmill and often fall down while using it.

[gwaernardel]

The Biotech station is entirely worthless operated solo, as it has one of the worst average performance values in the game due to the stop-and-go. It only becomes competitive with an instructor, and even then, requires horrid amounts of micromanagement unless the Skillinator is handling it.

Is there any way to force them to use the Biotech station with the Skillinator (and an instructor)?

[J. M. Pescado]

The Biotech station is automatically used by the Skillinator if you have an Instructor, providing you meet all the prerequisites for safe usage. This generally requires that your sim have platinum mood and be very clean. If you do not meet the prerequisites for usage, it will not be attempted since it may kill your sim. It will only be attempted solo if all other possible skill options are exhausted, as the Biotech station is the worst solo logic skilling item in the game.

[hedgekat]

Okay, gonna show my ignorance here.    Personal trainer?   How do I access that?    This is something different than an iinstructor for the obstacle course or punching bag, right?   And what does personality have to do with it?

And what is this Yummy for learning cooking?    Only place I have seen that is when sims smell food and say it smells yummy.  Surely they are not learning to cook simply by smelling.

[nectere]

And what is this Yummy for learning cooking?

candy machine

[Venusy]

No, it's the Yummy channel. Unfortunately, sims can never decide which channel they want to watch, so unless you have freewill off it probably isn't worth it, as a sim will repeatedly channel-hop until it drives you completely insane.

[dizzy]

I've never had problems with sims watch the Yummy channel. It's probably a Personality thing.

[tiggerypum]

In some of my houses (I'm a free will on person) I've gotten my sims into the habit of watching yummy channel.  I don't know if it's that some like to channel surf more than others, but if I see them at the tv, I have them change it, and have had some success with having that become their preferred habit.

[dizzy]

Then again, Food is an Interest. Maybe they need a high Interest in Food.

[Oddysey]

According to the Prima Guide (Warning: Crapola ahead.) elders love the Yummy channel, toddlers and adults like it, teens dislike it, and children hate it.

I'll put this on my list of "things to test." TV reactions are something I knew off the top of my head for TS1 but don't know much about in TS2, mostly because my sims rarely watch TV. Flamingos provide all the fun they need, and socialization is managed by parties (Socialize--friends) and autoyak.

[SimMoon]

Okay, gonna show my ignorance here.    Personal trainer?   How do I access that?    This is something different than an iinstructor for the obstacle course or punching bag, right?   And what does personality have to do with it?

And what is this Yummy for learning cooking?    Only place I have seen that is when sims smell food and say it smells yummy.  Surely they are not learning to cook simply by smelling.

Okay, you can only get a personal trainer if you have the University EP. Then take your student to the gym. If you have no body skill points it shouldn't take long before you get a coach to help your Sim, or rather.. a personal trainer.

Now, The Yummy Channel will teach your Sims to cook and all they have to do is watch that channel on television. So if you have a couch potato you'll learn really fast. Expect some early cooking failure, like burning an omlete the first time they cook one. Just cancel the serve and make them throw it away and have them make another omlete. It will be a good and bad memory for your Sim.

Hope I helped.
SimMoon

[Diala]

According to the Prima Guide (Warning: Crapola ahead.) elders love the Yummy channel, toddlers and adults like it, teens dislike it, and children hate it.

Really? I have my teens watch the Yummy channel all the time (gives the TV SOME use), and they never seem to complain or change it when I don't want them to. Or are they talking about how much the fun increases/decreases?

[J. M. Pescado]

The fun caps, yes. Yummy's fun cap is lower for lower age groups. It creates somewhat of an obnoxious ADHD effect that is auto-corrected by the Skillinator. I mean, seriously, dunno what Maxis was thinking: You CLEARLY watch Yummy for the SKILL BONUS, *NOT* just for the fun. Besides, Yummy is clearly the most hilarious channel to watch by far. Okay, maybe it's because I'm an elder....but come on, doesn't everyone else agree? Yummy is CLEARLY the best channel. Where else can you watch Martha Stewart catch fire? It would only be made funnier if she was in some nice orange prison jammies while hosting the show.

[MsMaria]

Orange jammies. That would be a hoot. Maybe it will be in NightLife.

[DaveFlew]

According to this list children seem to hate watching the Yummy Channel. I seem to have found a way to make the Yummy Channel fun for Children.

For starters, you can tell that a Sim is having a lot of Fun when all three green arrows appear on the right-hand side of the Fun bar. So when I say three green arrows, that's what I'm referring to.

I make a Child Sim watch KidzTube until all three green arrows appear. Then, once they've appeared, I change the channel to the Yummy Channel. For some reason, the fun-gaining aspect of KidzTube seems to be retained for the Yummy Channel.

Or am I imagining things? 

[J. M. Pescado]

You're probably imagining things, but you can try testing what the ADHD point is.

[veilchen]

Posted by: DaveFlew
Or am I imagining things?

In that case we are both imagining it. I do this for adults. I have them watching the sports channedl and when the arrows reach the three (or is it four) count, I change to the yummy channel. The arrow count stays at the higher number and fun increases at the rate it did when the sim watched the sports channel.

G.

[J. M. Pescado]

Yes, but how does it affect the ADHD point? Fun increasing faster would actually be counterproductive if it just meant the sim hit the disliked ADHD point for the Yummy channel and stopped watching faster.

[DaveFlew]

Can't say I'm familiar with the ADHD concept - I tend to alternate fun skill building and non-fun skill building. If fun maxes out, I'll happily switch the Sim over to a non-fun method of skill-building.

I'll be sure to keep an eye open for ADHD though, and see what impact it has on my Sims.