I saw the preview photo of the entire university subhood! Looks great! Are you just reusing the Athena Common dorm room? I looks like the lot has been copy and pasted to fill the campus. Is the lot meant to be a template?

Nope, while the buildings are all (or at least mostly all) similar styles, there are none that are going to be exact copies of any other buildings anywhere on campus. So the Athena Common is definitely there, but it's going to be the only building with that same design and layout.

So, I've been working on this neighborhood a fair bit lately, since there's enough different stuff in it that I haven't run into writer's block with it anywhere near as badly as with some of my other projects. Something that occurs to me is that I still haven't found a name that I like though. I want it to sound like it could be one of the Ivy-League universities in the US, but I don't want it to share a name with any REAL universities (Ivy or not), and I'm having trouble finding something... I've been looking at maps of New England and the Canadian Maritime provinces, looking for names to steal, but to little avail. The closest I've come is Saratoga, but I don't love that. Any ideas?

Shrewsbury.

Personally, I'd name it after my favorite/most influential real life teacher. For me it would be Burton University. I could go even further and have such things as the Andersen College of Humanities at Burton University or the McBride School of Sciences, etc. etc.

I do think Saratoga State University has a good ring to it.

I love that idea, but none of the teachers who'd be deserving have names that give the right feel for an Ivy League institution, IMHO.

I'm definitely gonna do that for some of the individual colleges though!

ETA: Also, since there's probably gonna be somewhere north of 100 individual dorm rooms (of various sorts, since some are traditional dorms, some are suite-style, some are supposed to feel like apartments, etc) on campus once it's finished, what are people's thoughts on furnishing them? My feedback from my Athena Common lot has me convinced that I need to do a bit more than just the bare-bones that you see in most dorm rooms that I've seen at the start of the semester, but both from a time and me-interest standpoint, I don't love the idea of trying to furnish all of them uniquely... Thoughts?

Yeah, I didn't really want to say it, but my plan only would really work for the main university to have the Ivy League feel if the names are relatively northern European in origin. (Granted growing up in a not super diverse area, the extreme of exoticism was, *gasp*, a Polish name.)

I'll give you a list of English place names near to where I live that might give you some ideas:

Those are some of the place names that sound like they'd fit for a posh college as well as a manor house!

Cutsocks is on to something, since most of the Ivy's were named after their benefactors.
Saratoga is in upstate NY, and is best known for its racetrack.
I always liked the names Crouton-on-Hudson or Hastings-on-Hudson (two small toney suburbs of NYC)- maybe because they are like Stratford-on-Avon.

How about a national park name: Acadia, Bryce, Denali, Olympic, Rainier, Zion (my personal list of fav park names)

These are some of my ideas, a bit gothic and British-sounding with a sense of elitism:

Crow University
University of Cadwallander
Beresford College
Dryden University
Mycroft University
St Combs College

Mycroft was the smarter older brother of Sherlock Holmes,, so that would make a great name for a college or dorm the super-brainy kids attend.

OK, so this is the first dorm I've finished where I've tried to convey a suite-style approach, instead of just a traditional dorm-room setup. I'm curious to know how it works for folks, since it definitely calls for a different playstyle, and I especially want to know if there are any major issues with playing a lot like this (for example, it's zoned as a dorm, but there's no cafeteria- instead, each "suite" has a little kitchenette as part of the shared space... bedrooms are blocked by Myne Doors, but each "suite" is accessed through a hotel room door (just for flavor- it should work like a regular door... etc, etc.)

I don't really want to upload this all on its own, just because I'd really like to keep more of this project at least slightly under wraps, so that it's more fun when the whole thing is finished, hence my uploading it for feedback here, rather than uploading it for general use in the download section.

Let me know what you think!

From a purely artistic standpoint, I think you've captured the look and atmosphere. It does feel very old, yet warm and rustic, and I like that. However I'm missing a few paintings and old artwork, since you'd expect that from a dorm that's been around since your great grandfather's. Above the fireplaces especially would be neat, and/or in the hallways.

Bump.

I would still really appreciate getting some feedback on how well the style of dormitory lot I posted earlier this year actually works for people, at least before I start trying to make more of them.

Thanks! It'll still be quite a while before the entire subhood is finished, but I'll certainly be looking for testers before I'd upload the whole thing for the community... If you want to help right now though, I'd love some feedback on the Poseidon Common dorms I uploaded a few posts back!

Oh my gosh, those suite-style dorms are everything - I was actually in the process of editing Athena Common to be the same! (from the UK, so most universities are suite-style)

I'm very much looking forward to this project being completed. I personally use Uni in the main hood (in my own special way, lol) and am looking for as many buildings in this style as it were - they're much like the rabbithole from Sims 3 University Life!

I noticed you're naming them after Greek gods, so I think I'm gonna try to build one similar to Athena Common named 'Demeter House' for students who are also parents, with apartments for each student with an extra room for their kid(s) for my own city.

This is such a lovely project. Hope it's still ongoing!

Long time no see with this project, so my apologies for the threadcromancy, but I am still working on this, most of it just isn't stuff I've needed feedback on! My latest experiment is trying to make a "dormitory" lot that'll actually play more like an apartment for some of the off-campus housing options that aren't just houses. I don't actually have a functioning university lot in my game at the moment to test, so a very incomplete, in-progress version is attached here- as far as the game should be concerned, I think there's 6 different dorm units and a cafeteria that should all play reasonably as expected- please let me know how well this approach works in-game, and if it's successful I'll continue with properly finishing this lot and coming up with other similar approaches!

I've never seen a lot with this concept before, but it's so unique! I love the college town feel of it. I didn't get to playtest it, but I'm not sure if the clothing store would function properly.

I've just play-tested this lot and these are my overall comments!
1. The lot is simple enough to play and is a lot quieter than most dorms, since there's only 6 rooms. It definitely feels a lot more like an apartment than a dorm, so that's nice!
2. Activities are centered around the pool tables and the cafeteria, so there's not a lot to do especially if there aren't that many Sims.
3. Only the piano is accessible in the lounge, the bass and the drums are not because of how they're positioned and the size of the stage.
4. I love the loft-styled bedrooms of the dorms! They give a lot of opportunities to decorate the rooms and truly makes it feel old-timey.
5. Is the clothing shop meant to be functional with an enabling community lot functions on dorm lots? Stylistically it's nice, though, and would otherwise function as a large closet.
6. I personally feel the lupin flowers shouldn't be red because they blend too much into the brick decor of the lot. I think the blue stands out better, but this is just my personal preference!
7. I also prefer that the students can access the orchard. I feel like it may give them more things to do on the lot.
8. The lounge could use more wall decor since the walls feel sparse and perhaps some couches with coffee tables, but I absolutely love the overall style. I imagine bohemian students would love this lot.
9. I think the cafeteria should be opened so that students can also work there part-time.
10. The area of the middle building by the stairs could use some benches. It would make for a great hangout spot for them I feel!

I don't know why I had never seen the photos of this university, and now that I have seen them it seems incredible to me, it seems like a really immersive place where the most powerful sims in Sim Nation could study. Incredible and as always truly inspiring!!! I have always wanted to see a neighborhood built by you, @Zaratustra since you constructions always look so realistic, so when this is ready it will be incredible