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We Need Real Multitasking
DreamaDove
Posts: 393 Member
Why do my sims have to stand in front of the coffee maker while coffee brews? Can't they go ahead and use the bathroom, start cooking, or generally get something done during that time? Same with the oven, it's so ridiculous that they just stand in front of it while the food bakes. Why can't either of these things just work like the washing and dryer so sims can do something while coffee brews or food gets baked and just come back later to take it out?
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My Families Via PlumTree App
The attempted multi tasking that the game contains totally fails. It shouldn't take longer to eat/chat/check phone than to do just one of these things alone... maybe tone down on the arm waving while chatting? Irl, when you're eating with other people, you're usually putting food in your mouth/chewing while someone else speaks.
I don’t really use the coffee pot often, my sims are drawn to it and always getting coffee which I find a little annoying, but they are automated to get a cup after brewing it; similarly to making their bed after waking up, and washing their hands after using the toilet. “Smart-er sims!” I’m sure they could separate the two interactions, but I don’t know if that’s really on their radar.
IIRC, we had semi-autonomy in previous games, in which a Sim would do something autonomously if you didn't give them something else to do within a few seconds. (Am I wrong, or did we really have this?)
Anyway, we had a horrid problem with Sims cooking - they'd get distracted, and leave food in the oven or food processor, and then try to cook something new, but had to cancel because there was food in the oven. So, they'd leave the food in the processor, and try to cook something else, but there was no place to prepare it, so it would end up on the floor. Leave them alone long enough, and they'd be on the verge of starvation. They'd call the pizza line, but never answered the door, so they didn't get their pizza, either. I had an entire family starve to death amidst a sea of food more than once.
I loved that though. You sim would get distracted or just start doing other things, and then forget about dinner. For me it added a small touch of realism. I would like that back. Like now, if your sim stops cooking for watching something in the oven, nothing really happens.
But I've felt the same way about the coffee and tea pots. I know when I'm making a cup or pot, I walk away, maybe make a bagel or something, then come back to get a cup once it's finished brewing.
Side note: I hate when your sim is making dinner, or just a group meal, or they just served a meal. Other sims will ignore that and either make a single serving of something, or grab leftovers from the fridge.
That should be up to us to remember. There could also be a 'timer' item that automatically beeps to let you know that the food is ready. The washer beeps. A notification could pop up, too.
I'd love to burn my food if I leave it there too long. I just hate how in the mornings while I'm trying to get everyone ready they waste so much time waiting. And no, I don't always want stuff prepared beforehand. I just want multitasking.
Oh yeah, I HATE that they do this with the TV. I like to have the TV's on almost always since it's nice background noise, but they just turn them off all the time. They can't even leave it on while going to the bathroom.
What I do is reset a sim while they're watching the tv, that makes it so the tv stays playing while the sim is not watching it. It's nice for community lots.
But this was a feature in previous games. And if it works with the washing machines, why not with stoves? It's fine that meal preparation is all in the same string, I don't want sims walking away while frying on the stove. I just want them to be able to leave while something is baking, specifically, since they're not doing anything other than staring at their food cook.
@GoldenBuffy if you use mods, there's this excellent mod by LittleMsSam that fixes that: https://littlemssam.tumblr.com/post/175406636578/no-auto-food-grab-after-cooking-this-mod-prevents
description:
This Mod adds a custom hidden Buff to all your Sims in the Household when someone cooks. This Buff has a Duration of 120min or 24hrs.
The Buff prevents all Sims to autonomously take a Plate or grab a Snack from the Fridge/Cooler or cook as long as the Buff is active. (It disables the Interaction)
The “Call to Meal” Interaction will remove the Buff and your Sims will eat. You can also take a Single Dish via “Take a Meal” which will delete the Buff of the active Actor.
This Mod is compatible with my “Choose who you Call to Meal” Mod!
Even TS2 Sims clean the counter while they are baking a poptart, or using a toaster oven or the microwave.
ETA: I strongly believe in the idea of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I feel like how things worked we're fine. But I also know that we all have our preferences and there were people who didn't like it. But to just downright mess up multitasking considering how we "had none" in previous games is really saying something. They could have expanded on an idea that was already there completely. I mean in a way they did but it feel kind of halfway to me.
It may have been but it seems it is not in Sims 4 and it may be for various reasons like every system is treated the same way regardless of what you running. The more the program does, the more the computer has to process it. This is one of the reasons I do not favor Sims 4 because it does not take my systems to the next level. However, EA/Maxis are the only folks that can address that issue.
I'm not a fan of televisions as background noise (in real life or the Sims), but it's annoying when I want my toddler to watch television. She can't turn it on by herself, and there is no option for the adult to just turn it on without watching. When I cancel the adult's 'watching' action, she turns off the television. I wish it worked more like the stereos. I usually don't even bother with a television in my Sim houses.
Something wicked this way comes!
I don't use MCCC.
They should really change that. IRL a toddler of 2 or 3 would know how to cut a tv on or at least mine does lol
lol, then sims being mind-boggingly stupid should be fixed.
No kidding!
What is even crazier is those same toddlers in the game can and do know how to use a tablet computer (the wabbit tablet) to watch videos and play games...yet they don't know how to push one button on a remote? LOL
@WildIrishBanshee, you're reply was quite funny...and so true. Until that coffee is brewed in the morning, who has the functionality to multi-task?
I second the vote for using this mod. It is probably one of my top 10 favorite mods in my game. Makes the whole experience of cooking and having group meals work much more smoothly, imo. And makes the case that the devs don't really play their own game, I don't think...or this is how they would have coded it in the first place.
The Winters family Tree --- My Mods
One of the households I normally play has a dude with 5 toddlers, lol. He doesn't get much sleep, obviously, so he relies on coffee a lot and I wish he could just set the coffee to brew while he goes put a toddler in a high chair or does some dishes. It was so annoying for me for the sim to take forever I ended up modding it out so that coffee brews almost instantly.
The Winters family Tree --- My Mods
True... But if that's ever going to happen?
Something wicked this way comes!
I don't use MCCC.
I was using that mod, but for some strange reason it would remove the "Call to Meal" option for me. Even after she updated it, it's still doing the same thing. And I honestly think I'm the only person who uses her mods, that is having that issue. lol