Sims 4 is a life simulation game that’s been popular for over eight years. This video game involves taking control of your Sim to create a socially fulfilling and expansive life. It also involves growing a family maintaining relationships while pursuing a career and varied goals and hobbies. One of the main appeals of the game for players is being able to design and decorate homes with full customization and entire neighborhoods and cities.
Sending your Young Adult sim to University in Sims 4 is an essential phase in the Sim’s life, and it’s only natural that players get frustrated with the Dorm room living situation. University Housing or Dorms are one of the very few locations in Sims 4 that cannot be edited or changed in build mode. Building on dorm lots is not allowed in the default game, and players have to use the ‘Live Drag’ feature instead.
The default University Housing in Sims 4: Discovery University is deliberately plain, possibly as an attempt to be more realistic. But players who want to add more personality to their college-going Sims will want to know how to edit university housing in Sims 4. While there isn’t an in-game organic method, using cheats is relatively straightforward.
How to Edit University Housing in Sims 4: Discover University
Discover University is an expansion pack for Sims 4 where sims can attend classes and dabble in extracurriculars. The expansion isn’t just a standalone game experience, and the university education your Sims get will lead them on a natural course to careers in Law, Engineering, or Education.
The default dorm rooms in Sims 4: Discover University are devoid of color and have very minimal furniture and flooring options. You can buy essential items for your Sim, such as a laptop or computer from the University Kiosk, but there’s no other way to add in personality or customization to the dorm room organically. This is the case no matter which housing option you select in the Discover University expansion pack.
Here’s how to edit the University Housing so that your Sim can feel a little more at home when they’re away from home:
- Open up the cheats box in the game. You can do this by selecting Ctrl + Shift + C.
- Type in “testingcheatstrue,” which should enable other cheats in the game.
- Now you can type in “bb.enablefreebuild”. This should allow you to edit the lot your Sim is standing in, which is the Dorm. Now you’ll be in build mode, and you can edit every object or add in new ones according to your fancy.
You can now change the furniture in the dorm room. Sims previously staying in a single bed dorm room can now have a double bed, or players can add a cafeteria and similar common room furnishings for the entire Dorm to enjoy. If your location is a penthouse, you can also change the shape of the lot. This cheat will give the player complete control over revamping the entire Dorm.
Common Problems with Editing University Housing in Sims 4
Cheats can never be fool-proof since they weren’t designed to be part of the original game. It’s normal to face certain bugs or glitches after using “bb.enablefreebuild” as a cheat code.
Most players have reported that this cheat works better on consoles than PCs, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be tweaked for the desired results.
We’ve compiled a list of the most common issues with this cheat and how to work around it.
Cheat causes the game to crash OR takes you to World Selection Screen
If using this cheat caused the game to crash, there are a few reasons this could have happened. One of the most common reasons includes having a faulty mod that’s previously installed. Make sure none of your mods are causing the crash before using this cheat.
Remember that you cannot use custom content when using this cheat for Build Mode. Custom content is not compatible with the cheat and will cause the game to crash.
Insufficient Funds
Using this cheat to enable Build Mode for your University Housing will take money. Commonly, you’ll see an Insufficient Funds message since it’s likely that your college-going Sim doesn’t have all the money, and their parent Sim does.
Another common occurrence is money gets taken away from the Sims business, which players may not want.
Here’s how to go around this problem. You’ll have to open the cheats box again using Ctrl + Shift + C. Now enter the cheat code “money” and the amount you need. There are cases where a ceiling is placed on the money your student Sim can own, so try not to add a massive number for your Sim, or you may get another error message. A good strategy would be to use the cheat code in batches for money according to how much you need while redecorating in build mode.
Dorm Roommates Malfunctioning
Sometimes, the cheat can interfere in the roommates functioning. The other roommates in the Dorm are NPCs, but they can start behaving strangely or even die in some scenarios. Here’s why this could be happening.
You might have accidentally cut off the roommate’s supply of food and the bathroom, which will automatically cause them to die. Even if they can access food sources and hygiene, they may not be able to leave the room and attend classes, affecting their mood. Living with these roommates can have a negative impact on your Sim as well.
Try moving your furniture around a bit, particularly near your roommate, to see if there’s any change. This isn’t a fully effective solution, but it tends to work most of the time.
Unable to move into Dorm
If you’re able to edit the dorms in full build mode but can’t move your Sim in when the time comes, you have a problem. There could be a couple of reasons why this is happening.
Make sure that you don’t have a pet or child with you. You cannot live in University Housing along with a pet or child since there are no living accommodations for the, and itt will result in the Dorm being unavailable to you.
Another reason why you can’t move in is that you’ve made a customized University Housing or bought your own house. You don’t need to use the cheat for your own house, which could be causing the issue. You can edit the house in the normal build mode.
Lastly, double-check to see if your University housing is a Residential lot type. It should be set as University Housing in order for your college-going Sim to move in!
