Please reduce the BBQ attraction

Simmerville · July 2020

All my sims are obsessed with grilling. When I switch to the next house during the night (3 AM normally, because I want to get the 5 AM growth in their garden), if they own a BBQ there is a 99% chance that I find one household member grilling. Quite often that sim will not even eat whatever was grilled, but either leave it on the coffee table (because they no longer place food on counters or dining tables, but that's another story).

At 3 AM you should expect them to be more tired than hungry, but no - all needs are 70-100% in the green, except hunger that is normally red or yellow. I wish they would consider the clock, and be in bed rather than at the grill. NO - and I repeat NO - household member will be in bed at 3 AM - not even toddlers. There has to be some missing programming code involved...

Also - why on earth must the BBQ be so attractive? If they are hungry and there are leftovers in the fridge, why start grilling a serving for the entire family at 3 AM? And why do they NEVER use the kitchen stove to satisfy their hunger when I enter a new house?

I just played a house, where the mother woke up at 7 AM. She was hungry, so she marched right out to the garden grill, during a thunder storm!!! Instead of using the kitchen. There was plenty of leftovers in the fridge too. But no, she preferred grilling in the garden while it rained???

Please EA, fix the grill, or we will need to just delete the grills from all lots. You need to make it less popular - in fact I would not mind if it would ONLY be operated if I direct them to.

texxx78 · July 2020

I feel the same about a big tv on my sim's house. If i get back to the household they are always watching that tv, like completelly obsessed...

shorty943p · July 2020

Add to that, Mirrors, that cutting board that hangs on the kitchen wall, radios and dancing yet again, the chess set,any chess set in fact, a coffee table , the list grows.
Sims will stand beside the kitchen sink to snack then walk to the other end of the house, or even upstairs, to place the empty plate on a coffee table, rather than wash it.
Plainly the Sims have got OCD. BADLY.
Then we have the problem with an over aggressive autonomy that will NOT let the user play our own game, STILL.

Do the coders actually think we do not have the intellect to play the game ourselves? Please stop insulting us.

bixters · July 2020

Oh, yes, I agree, the BBQ is way too attractive. Whenever I enter a new household, there is someone grilling some grilled vegetables. It's especially annoying when it's winter and freezing. I've deleted most the grills because of this issue.
Here are some other objects sims are way too attracted, or addicted to:
1. Dancing badly in front of Stereos
2. Trolling the forums or playing games on the computer
3. Pouring themselves drinks from the Globe Bar from Vintage Glamor
4. Pouring drinks of water from the sink
5. Making and drinking coffee
6. Making and drinking tea
7. Watching movies on TV that never end (is a known bug)
8. Napping constantly instead of just sleeping like a normal person

LoriTSp · July 2020

One of my current Sims has 2 very annoying obsessions - making anti stress deconcoction (I didn't even know this was a thing!) on the barbeque, then leaving it on the ground beside the barbeque. She also is constantly checking the garden, she will even stop eating to do so! Meanwhile, her husband has become a couch potato - he will grab a plate of food, go to the living room and watch TV. I'm sure he would do it for hours if I didn't direct him to do something else.

Simmerville · July 2020

LoriTSp wrote: »

One of my current Sims has 2 very annoying obsessions - making anti stress deconcoction (I didn't even know this was a thing!) on the barbeque, then leaving it on the ground beside the barbeque. She also is constantly checking the garden, she will even stop eating to do so! Meanwhile, her husband has become a couch potato - he will grab a plate of food, go to the living room and watch TV. I'm sure he would do it for hours if I didn't direct him to do something else.

These sound like bugged actions re your Neighborhood Action Plan? I think "Green Gardening" make sim do a lot more gardening, "Self-sufficiency" makes them brew the herbal thing, and watching tv for hours might be caused by the bug with never ending movies on tv.

Sims being way too busy with the plan actions is a major problem with the Eco Lifestyle pack, we are all affected. The urge to use the BBQ day and night without even eating the food they grill, has been around for a long time.

Calico45 · July 2020

A recent experience has made me question how aggressive the autonomy is. I moved a family of six into the new house and all their needs were about the same. Nothing critical but they were lowest in hunger so I send one to make a family meal and wouldn't you know it, I had to play goalie for five minutes while she finished it. Without fail I had to stop the five others 3 times each from trying to get something to eat (quick meal, cooking, grilling, etc.) and then had to tell the to grab a plate. I know that there is a call to dinner interaction, but you would think if they were so desperate I would not have to use it.

Simmerville · July 2020

Calico45 wrote: »

A recent experience has made me question how aggressive the autonomy is. I moved a family of six into the new house and all their needs were about the same. Nothing critical but they were lowest in hunger so I send one to make a family meal and wouldn't you know it, I had to play goalie for five minutes while she finished it. Without fail I had to stop the five others 3 times each from trying to get something to eat (quick meal, cooking, grilling, etc.) and then had to tell the to grab a plate. I know that there is a call to dinner interaction, but you would think if they were so desperate I would not have to use it.

I wish other household members would be aware that another sim is preparing a group meal. You get the impression they don't see or communicate at all... Should be pretty easy programming in a status like "meal serving currently in progress" which could prevent all other sims start cooking their own meal.

I plan to do an experiment checking bars/needs and whether one sim is at the BBQ at 3 AM for say 10 different households. I'm 99% sure their bars will be all green except hunger, and that one sim will be busy grilling or at least on their way to the bbq... It's sad that the game can't just put all of the to bed and with the energy bar as the lowest. Most ppl are not hungry but tired at 3 AM...

LoriTSp · July 2020

Simmerville wrote: »

LoriTSp wrote: »

One of my current Sims has 2 very annoying obsessions - making anti stress deconcoction (I didn't even know this was a thing!) on the barbeque, then leaving it on the ground beside the barbeque. She also is constantly checking the garden, she will even stop eating to do so! Meanwhile, her husband has become a couch potato - he will grab a plate of food, go to the living room and watch TV. I'm sure he would do it for hours if I didn't direct him to do something else.

These sound like bugged actions re your Neighborhood Action Plan? I think "Green Gardening" make sim do a lot more gardening, "Self-sufficiency" makes them brew the herbal thing, and watching tv for hours might be caused by the bug with never ending movies on tv.

Sims being way too busy with the plan actions is a major problem with the Eco Lifestyle pack, we are all affected. The urge to use the BBQ day and night without even eating the food they grill, has been around for a long time.

With this particular household I was experimenting with the (possible) relationship between pet disappearances and any N.A.P. that had to do with gardening. So I made sure to not to vote for Green Gardening and Self Sufficiency (or any that even had the mention of gardening) N.A.P.S. The herbal brewing may be a residual thing going on from the last neighbourhood they were in, as I think the Self Sufficiency N.A.P. was in place there.

Simmerville · July 2020

LoriTSp wrote: »

Simmerville wrote: »

LoriTSp wrote: »

One of my current Sims has 2 very annoying obsessions - making anti stress deconcoction (I didn't even know this was a thing!) on the barbeque, then leaving it on the ground beside the barbeque. She also is constantly checking the garden, she will even stop eating to do so! Meanwhile, her husband has become a couch potato - he will grab a plate of food, go to the living room and watch TV. I'm sure he would do it for hours if I didn't direct him to do something else.

These sound like bugged actions re your Neighborhood Action Plan? I think "Green Gardening" make sim do a lot more gardening, "Self-sufficiency" makes them brew the herbal thing, and watching tv for hours might be caused by the bug with never ending movies on tv.

Sims being way too busy with the plan actions is a major problem with the Eco Lifestyle pack, we are all affected. The urge to use the BBQ day and night without even eating the food they grill, has been around for a long time.

With this particular household I was experimenting with the (possible) relationship between pet disappearances and any N.A.P. that had to do with gardening. So I made sure to not to vote for Green Gardening and Self Sufficiency (or any that even had the mention of gardening) N.A.P.S. The herbal brewing may be a residual thing going on from the last neighbourhood they were in, as I think the Self Sufficiency N.A.P. was in place there.

Unfortunately the bug makes sims perform any active NAP actions, regardless of they match your local NAP or a NAP that is running in a different world. I thought the bug affected NPCs the more, but I'm pretty sure my active sims performed all kinds of NAP actions before I installed a mod that stops them doing this.

Plumbeeb · July 2020

I usually remove grills on community lots because of this. There's just plates of hamburgers or hot dogs all over the place, then they spoil because no one ever eats them. Sometimes I do this with the vendor stalls as well, because despite there being bins and sinks on the lot, NPC Sims hardly ever clean up their mess.

On the subject of Sims being attracted to certain objects, can they tweak the mini fridges that came with Discover University too. I have one on a residential lot because it's space saving but every time another Sim comes over to visit, they always go over to it and get water or cheese crackers.

I'd also like Tina Tinker to stop using (and breaking) the fabricator every time she visits.

DrWright · July 2020

I think AI behavior is partially based on what they've done before. If you direct your Sim to grill a lot then they will autonomously grill on their own.

MRSMEADOWBROOK · January 2021

Simmerville wrote: »

All my sims are obsessed with grilling. When I switch to the next house during the night (3 AM normally, because I want to get the 5 AM growth in their garden), if they own a BBQ there is a 99% chance that I find one household member grilling. Quite often that sim will not even eat whatever was grilled, but either leave it on the coffee table (because they no longer place food on counters or dining tables, but that's another story).

At 3 AM you should expect them to be more tired than hungry, but no - all needs are 70-100% in the green, except hunger that is normally red or yellow. I wish they would consider the clock, and be in bed rather than at the grill. NO - and I repeat NO - household member will be in bed at 3 AM - not even toddlers. There has to be some missing programming code involved...

Also - why on earth must the BBQ be so attractive? If they are hungry and there are leftovers in the fridge, why start grilling a serving for the entire family at 3 AM? And why do they NEVER use the kitchen stove to satisfy their hunger when I enter a new house?

I just played a house, where the mother woke up at 7 AM. She was hungry, so she marched right out to the garden grill, during a thunder storm!!! Instead of using the kitchen. There was plenty of leftovers in the fridge too. But no, she preferred grilling in the garden while it rained???

Please EA, fix the grill, or we will need to just delete the grills from all lots. You need to make it less popular - in fact I would not mind if it would ONLY be operated if I direct them to.

It's a half of a year later and this is still happening to me! Plus, I turned 'autonomy off' in the game play options last summer! Yet, they're still grilling in the middle of the night (or any time of day) as I enter the household (although there is plenty of food in the fridge). They also do things like take an empty plate to a bathroom sink upstairs while having a dishwasher and kitchen sink in close proximity on the ground floor. It's rather annoying. Regarding the grilling, many of my sims have the 'Stove and Grills Master' perk. Do yours? I wonder if that might play a role. (Btw, grills can be put in the personal inventory of a sim and one can have the sim place it in the world when you wish him/her to.) I agree, it would be nice if the sims would be in bed if one enters the household during sleeping hours. Another annoying thing in my game is that the 'Needs' bar is almost always mostly red upon entering a household, although I always leave my sims green and happy. It's like a punishment to the player for taking care of his/her sims.

MRSMEADOWBROOK · February 2021

Simmerville wrote: »

Calico45 wrote: »

A recent experience has made me question how aggressive the autonomy is. I moved a family of six into the new house and all their needs were about the same. Nothing critical but they were lowest in hunger so I send one to make a family meal and wouldn't you know it, I had to play goalie for five minutes while she finished it. Without fail I had to stop the five others 3 times each from trying to get something to eat (quick meal, cooking, grilling, etc.) and then had to tell the to grab a plate. I know that there is a call to dinner interaction, but you would think if they were so desperate I would not have to use it.

I wish other household members would be aware that another sim is preparing a group meal. You get the impression they don't see or communicate at all... Should be pretty easy programming in a status like "meal serving currently in progress" which could prevent all other sims start cooking their own meal.

I plan to do an experiment checking bars/needs and whether one sim is at the BBQ at 3 AM for say 10 different households. I'm 99% sure their bars will be all green except hunger, and that one sim will be busy grilling or at least on their way to the bbq... It's sad that the game can't just put all of the to bed and with the energy bar as the lowest. Most ppl are not hungry but tired at 3 AM...

I just use the cheat shift, click on sim (or mailbox:alter needs, then fill needs household), cheat need, make happy or click on sim and enter fillmotive motive_hunger (Control/Shift/C, testingcheats on window needs to have been turned on to do this). It's just sad that we have to resort to cheats to make the game pleasantly playable. Thanks for your comments and happy simming none-the-less.

Bluebeard45 · February 2021

There is a Major cooking bug. BBQ lying all over the yard and they go eat a bowl of peas instead. They ignore leftovers and cook until starving to death.

Onverser · February 2021

I find the same with pools, in my sims old house I had a "pond" made from a pool and every single time I loaded in game one of my sims jumped into the pool and ended up in their swimming costume for ages. 🤦‍♀️

roggek · February 2021

Its funny, that in "Get famous" the grilling obsession is in the little community park at Inner Circle.
I have never seen so much "spoiled and grilled food" on the picnic tables in my life...

Luckily some NPC does took care of it.

But I agree NPCs shouldn't be able to grill food at all, and the household should be able to "prefer leftovers" instead of grilling...

KLAlexis · February 2021

It is so annoying with the obsessions. Like everyone else said, my sims are obsessed with cooking, too. It is more annoying when it is sims you don't want to know how to cook go into the kitchen or grill to cook a meal. And, why don't sims make group serving meals like in sims 3. When the sims cooked in sims 3, it was for the household, not just themselves. Not even my family oriented sim who has six kids makes grouped meals in sims 4. And if they do it is rare.

I had to delete the grill because of how much everyone uses it. I was tempted to delete the fridge, too. But, I guess they do have to eat to somehow😂.

My sims are also enamored to nap instead of sleeping. One time my sim napped in his bed with his winter cloths and boots on...

EmzyDalsvida · February 2021

My sims are always on that BBQ!! And always napping on their beds instead of sleeping, even at night time!

EmzyDalsvida · February 2021

Bluebeard45 wrote: »

There is a Major cooking bug. BBQ lying all over the yard and they go eat a bowl of peas instead. They ignore leftovers and cook until starving to death.

This too!! It's so frustrating.

Simmerville · February 2021

About the napping vs sleeping. I figured when I click the need icon in the UI to send my sim to get some sleep, they will often just nap on the bed. If I click the bed>sleep they will normally (always?) change into their sleepwear and sleep.

Babykittyjade · February 2021

Lol I think the AI is just bad overall. 😅😅😅 and I hate how everytime I enter a household one is in the pool, another is in the basement,another is cooking etc. I guess it's suppose to make them seem busy.

I do think there is a cooking bug but I don't feel like tuning down an obsession will help because for everyone that's toned down they will take up another one,and another one, and at what point does it end? Until the AI is totally gone?😂😂😂

Simmerville · February 2021

Perhaps they could add a lock to the bbq like we have on the computers? If the grill was locked to certain (most) household members, it would probably help on the problem.

KLAlexis · February 2021

Does anyone know if there is a mod out there that restricts certain sims from cooking? Or, allows a schedule to be placed for when it is okay to cook vs when it is not? I also would like some of my sims to not cook after a certain time.

BohoFlower · March 2021

I think there's a bug with it because they go to Grill and then end up making 3 or 4 plates of food, it started after the Master Del Grill was added, they started Grilling way too much. However, the Grill still needs to be attractive cos you can make a pretend Café or Restaurant but the Sims make food for each other.

halloweenchild · April 2021

Sorry to revive this super old thread but OMG this is still happening with me, I have forbidden Grills in my house, but 🐸🐸🐸🐸! The NPC's just keep making plates and plates of food. Like it'd be fine if hungry sims just made a single serving, but the fact they make a party serving only to eat just a single serving, then just leave it sitting there until it spoils is just so grating. Even worse is the party servings sit there and then a different NPC will come along and make another party serving of hotdogs, and will just abandon the food to go and grill another. Can this please get fixed?

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Please reduce the BBQ attraction

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