Faster/Slower and/or Hidden Skills! (Updated for Into The Future/1.67) - UPDATE: 19/7/14

UPDATE -19/7/14 After months of issues with the working state of my Sims 3 game, I was finally able to update the Optional Store Skills mod (i.e. gesimzFasterSlowerStoreSkills(20,50,75,90,NI,-50,-500,-1000)), which should now be compatible with the Artisan's Glassblowing & Jewelry Making Station and the new Artisian skill. I don't have any of the subsequent Sims 3 Store Sets that have released since the Prism Art Studio, so if any of those more recent Sets also have Premium Store Objects that introduce new Skills, then let me know.

NOTICE 14/4/14 No update is required for all versions of the main mod (e.g. NearInstantSkills+HiddenSkills, 90% FasterSkills etc) for patch 1.67. However, an update to the optional Store Skills mods is required for the Artisan's Glassblowing and Jewelry Making Station in the Prism Art Studio that introduces the new Artisian skill. The optional Store Skills mod in its current form, will NOT work with the new Artisian skill. An update to the optional Store Skills mod is required in order to be compatible with the Artisan's Glassblowing and Jewelry Making Station. I'll be looking to update the optional Store Skills mod soon.

NOTICE 27/10/13 - A couple of users were reporting issues with Near Instant version of the mod. Although I couldn't see anything that was wrong with the code, I still went ahead and manually re-did that particular version of the mod again. So if you are experiencing issues with the Near Instant version of the mod (either standard or with Hidden Skills unlocked), then download it again with the version I just uploaded and replace the previous version and see if that at all helps.

UPDATE 19/10/13 - All versions of the main mod (e.g. NearInstantSkills+HiddenSkills, 90% FasterSkills etc) have now been updated for the Into The Future Expansion Pack/Patch 1.63. Download and replace any existing version of the mod you are using with this latest version. I won't be able to test this until a couple of days after the game releases on October 22nd 2013, but the update applied should result in the following skills:

- Bot Building
- Future
- Laser Harp
- Bug Eating (Hidden)

increasing levels at the correct faster/slower rate (depending on the version of the mod chosen). No update is required for the optional Store skills mod.

SMALL UPDATE 27/9/13 - Updated the gesimzFasterSlowerStoreSkills(20,50,75,90,NI,-50,-500,-1000) optional store skills mod which needed a small update when the Surf’s Up Sun & Fun Wave Station Premium Content was added to The Sims 3 Store in August 2013. No update to the main mod is required still for Patch 1.57 for now. The main mod will need an update some time in mid October 2013 (most likely), when the next major base game patch is made available prior to Into the Futures release on October 22nd 2013.

UPDATE 25/6/13 - All versions of the mod have now been updated for patch 1.55/Island Paradise.

In addition, two new mods have been uploaded:

- On request, a 500% Slower Skills version of the mod has been added; and

- On request, a separate optional add-on mod (that works alongside the main mod or on its own) has been added also for Faster/Slower Sims 3 Store Skills (e.g. Dancing, Gambling, Violin etc).

Refer to Compatibility below to see which resource the optional Store Skills mod edits.

If you have downloaded any versions of this mod prior to this notice, it is recommend that you re-download them again just to be sure you are using the latest version of this mod.

06/03/13 - PLEASE RE-DOWNLOAD: A bug/typo has been fixed with the Photography and Pool Skills which may have caused issues in being unable to use Pool Tables and/or Cameras and gain skill with these objects.

05/03/13 - All files have now been updated and should be compatible with University Life/1.50 Patch and the new skills of Street Art, Science and Social Networking for Primary Skills and Ping Pong, Bowling, Influence Nerd, Influence Rebel and Influence Socialite if you use a Hidden Skills variant of the mod.

Check the date the file has been modified prior to use to make sure you have downloaded and/or are using the latest version.

I won't be able to test this myself until I get my copy of University Life in a few days time.

Let me know in the comments if it works and/or you experience any issues.

15/01/13 - No update for 1.47 is required.

02/11/12 - RE-DOWNLOAD (if you downloaded the updated version between 31/10/12 and 2/10/12), have corrected an issue that might have been causing the diving board to not work properly after one use.

31/10/12 - All 14 files have now been updated (took me less time than expected) and should be compatible with Seasons/1.42 and the new skills of Skating, Snowboarding, Horseshoes, BallFighting and Diving (if using a hidden skills unlocked variant right now) upon release.

Let me know in the comments if you experience any issues.

22/09/12 - Added requested additional slower mod that basically just adds an additional zero to every value (compared to the recently added 90% version that takes an extra 0 off) so in theory, it should take 10 times as long for a Sim to advance a skill level for all skills making for MUCH SLOWER skilling! Should you experience any problems with the file, let me know in the comments.

20/09/12 - Added a 90% version that equates to roughly taking 1/10th of the usual time for Sims to gain a level in skill for each type of skill.

I noticed with claudiasharon's Faster Skills mod prior to XTS's Faster Skill Gain mod that there was a 90% faster skills version available that wasn't available in XTS'S mod, yet there was an instant skills version available in XTS's mod that wasn't available in claudiasharon's mod. So by adding a 90% faster skills version to this mod, this mod now covers all the major the content from both of the two previous Faster Skills mods on this site.

This upload is an update of XTS's Faster Skill Gain + Hidden Skills Visible mod found here: http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=470993 which i've updated (due to inactivity and not logging in for several months) to be fully compatible with Supernatural, its new skills and the latest 1.38 patch. If you are after a mod that DOES NOT change the speed of gaining skills and ONLY unlocks hidden skills, then you can download gobot101s Hidden Skills Unhidden Mod found here: http://www.modthesims.info/d/436732

What This Mod Does



This is a tuning mod that (depending on your individual preference) can do two things. Firstly, it decreases or increases the amount of time it takes for Sims to learn all Skills (including specifically the new skills like Alchemy, Spellcasting, Broomriding and Lycanthropy, among others, introduced in Supernatural) as well as the new skills of Skating, Snowboarding, Horseshoes, BallFighting and Diving (among others) introduced in Seasons. Secondly, and optionally, it makes all hidden skills visible (i.e. it unlocks the ability to level up with certain interactive objects like the Foosball Table and Karaoke Machine for example and have that skill appear in your Active Sims list of learnt skills); more details on that below.

Why Are There Hidden Skills?

When EA makes something hidden, in most cases, it's intentional. Certain skills are made hidden by EA by default because for a number of them, the levelling up of a Sims skill for a number of interactive objects is unpolished with missing strings, descriptions and icons (as pictured below).





When these skills are made unhidden, it simply makes the Skills Meter appear when interacting with the object (like with Broomriding pictured above) and the hidden skill then appears in the Active Sims list of Skills immediately after the Sim starts learning that particular hidden skill.

Specifics Regarding The Different Versions of this Mod

This mod comes in several different versions to suit your individual preferences, which are as follows, YOU CAN ONLY USE ONE!:

gesimzNearInstantSkills* = Nearly Instant Skill Gain;
gesimzNearInstantSkills+HiddenSkills* = Nearly Instant Skill Gain Plus Hidden Skills Unlocked;
gesimz75% FasterSkills = 75% (x7.5 Default Speed) Faster Skill Gain;
gesimz75% FasterSkills+HiddenSkills = 75% (x7.5 Default Speed) Faster Skill Gain Plus Hidden Skills Unlocked;
gesimz50% FasterSkills = 50% (x5 Default Speed) Faster Skill Gain;
gesimz50% FasterSkills+HiddenSkills = 50% (x5 Default Speed) Faster Skill Gain Plus Hidden Skills Unlocked;
gesimz25%FasterSkills = 25% (x2.5 Default Speed) Faster Skill Gain;
gesimz25%FasterSkills+HiddenSkills = 25% (x2.5 Default Speed) Faster Skill Gain Plus Hidden Skills Unlocked;
gesimz50%SlowerSkills = 50% (MINUS x.5 Default Speed) Slower Skill Gain;
gesimz50%SlowerSkills+HiddenSkills = 50% (MINUS x.5 Default Speed) Slower Skill Gain Plus Hidden Skills Unlocked;
gesimz90% FasterSkills = 90% (x10 Default Speed) Faster Skill Gain;
gesimz90% FasterSkills+HiddenSkills = 90% (x10 Default Speed) Faster Skill Gain Plus Hidden Skills Unlocked;
gesimz1000%SlowerSkills = 1000% (MINUS x10 Default Speed) Slower Skill Gain;
gesimz1000%SlowerSkills+HiddenSkills = 1000% (MINUS x10 Default Speed) Slower Skill Gain Plus Hidden Skills Unlocked;
gesimz500%SlowerSkills = 500% (MINUS x5 Default Speed) Slower Skill Gain;
gesimz500%SlowerSkills+HiddenSkills = 500% (MINUS x5 Default Speed) Slower Skill Gain Plus Hidden Skills Unlocked;

* NOTE: Some hidden skills like Foosball, Karaoke, Golf/Driving Range and the Trampoline take a little longer for the Skills Meter to max out compared to other Skills.

** NOTE 2: EA have set short time limits for how long a Sim will research alchemy and practice spellcasting per individual interaction. The time is set around 60 minutes so after 60 minutes of learning, the Sim will stop, which means that the skill gain will be incremental in bits and pieces. This has NOTHING to do with this mod. Rather, it's something that needs tuning with an additional mod relating to the Alchemy Station and Magic Wand specifically if one wanted to increase the duration of researching alchemy and/or practising spells.

*** NOTE 3: The new skill of Spellcasting in Supernatural specifically relates to spells cast from magic wands and the hands of some of the new occults that come with Supernatural. It DOES NOT apply to the Lady Ravendancer Goth's Book o' Spells (Store Spellbook) given that there is no skill assigned to that object for Sims to learn (that generates the blue skill bar) to begin with.

OPTIONAL ADD-ON MOD:

gesimzFasterSlowerStoreSkills = Faster or Slower Sims 3 Store Skills. YOU CAN ONLY USE ONE .PACKAGE FILE IN THIS ARCHIVE!

Compatibility

This mod was made with the latest 1.38 patch and will work fine with the base game and any other expansions and doesn't necessarily require Supernatural to work, but has been made specifically with Seasons and Supernatural in mind to get the Alchemy, Spellcasting and Broomriding, Skating, Snowboarding, Horseshoes, BallFighting and Diving skills (among others) to level up properly in these particular expansions.

This mod edits the Skills XML File for the main mod & the SKIL resource in the ccmerged.package for the optional Store Skills mod and will conflict with any other mod that edits the same XML and SKIL resources.

Installation

Simply drag and drop/cut & paste/copy & paste the .package file into your Mods\Packages as normal.

Additional Credits: S3PE and its developers, jsleroy for the Notepad++ Compare plugin, XTS for the previous mod calcuations, nonamena for pointing me in the direction of the resource that deals with the speed of skilling for Sims 3 Store Objects & MTS for hosting this upload.