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BUST THE DUST KIT - FIXES / UPDATES / BUGS (WHAT NEED TO BE FIXED?) CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK

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carpe_diemcarpe_diem Posts: 280 Member
edited March 2021 in The Sims 4 Game Feedback
HI SIMMERS!

Let's talk about Bust the Dust kit! I do personally like it in many aspects, and I like the idea of it but the kit/pack is very buggy and bad tuned (too much and all over the place, see James Turners video). Many of the bugs in my game did ocur within a hour of playing (these bugs are also reported by other players on the bug forum, BTW I don't have mods/CC in my game) so I wonder if the kit was play tested? I understand that programming a game is really hard work, but I think that it's a little sad when the game turns out to be unplayable because of bad tuning and lots of bugs. I really would have been more positive to the kit if there were less of them. :/


BUST THE DUST KIT - CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK / FIXES

1. Handheld & upright vacuum cleaners needs to have a dock/platform (didn't we have one for the robotic vacuum in Cats & Dogs EP?). Right now you need to own 9 vacuum cleaners in a big family (8 for their inventories +1 as a decoration on the lot), it's better if we can buy a dock where the vacuum cleaner can return to after usage.

2. Add an usable broom E.g. This could be used for off the grid/Historical players (Update to Laundry day SP: making the wall hanging broom usable)
1. Broom (use on floor/rug = will clean the surface and generate dust piles that you can throw in the trash / use as fertilizer = Pick up with hands / shovel).
2. Smaller broom with shovell (you need to empty this regularly)

3. The house gets dirty to fast. My suggestions: To keep the Pristine level - vacuum every day, To keep the Dusty level - vacuum every 5-7 days.

4. Dust bunnies spawn to often (I'm ok with 1/week or an option to toggle Dust bunnies on/off. Now I get 3+ Dust bunnies/day).

5. Add an option to toggle on/off Dust bunnies (for us a little older/Realism players)

6. Dust bunnies should not generate money if you haven't interacted with them/asked them (How to keep my poor sim poor when I get money from just having Dust bunnies/Dust on the lot?)

7. Positive moodlets (from Pristine/Dusty level) shouldn't be constant. There is already a problem with challenges in the game, your sim's gets stuck in a constant good mood. My suggestion: If having a Pristine / Dusty level = the possibility to get a Pristine moodlet (+2 inspired) / Dusty moodlet (+1 happy). You will now get the moodlet every now and then, similiar to how the lot traits works.

8. This had been perfect timing to add the Maid career to the kit / Base game (a sim with this career will be assigned to this role when playing on another household)

BUGS
1. Sims cancel their actions to vacuum
2. Floor become clean by itself
3. Sims with slob trait can't fulfill aspiration milestone
4. Can't turn off the dust system
5. Sims can't vacuum up puddles (with upright vacuum cleaner)
6. Adult sim's can't use handheld vacuum cleaner on floor (puddles/dirt/childrens mess/etc)

POSITIVE FEEDBACK
1. Kids can use vacuum cleaners
2. Some integration of other packs (e.g. vacuuming affecting character value from Parenthood GP)
3. Aspirations having quite good milestones (a little challenge, not just walkthroughs)
4. The animation for vacuum up dust bunnies are hilarious (even if I’m a realism player hehe)

And to you simmers out there: What do you think needs to be fixed / updated in the Bust the Dust kit? What did you like / don´t like and how could this things be better implemented / fixed?

WHAT ARE YOUR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE ON THE KIT? PLEASE SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK!

<3Happy Simming and stay safe out there! <3

@SimGuruNinja @SimGuruFrost
Post edited by carpe_diem on

Comments

  • elanorbretonelanorbreton Posts: 14,518 Member
    I would love to see them implement your suggestions. A lot of the pack really needs tuning. One more thing:

    The way sims stop to sniff the cleanliness of the house every time they go up or downstairs- I would like to see that tuned so that perhaps they only do this when entering through the main front door. Or maybe just on totally random moments but with only a small percentage chance of it happening.
  • tarzansmomtarzansmom Posts: 5 New Member
    My house not only cleaned itself but now it never gets dirty! I'm extremely frustrated. How am I supposed to complete the aspirations if it never gets dirty again. It was working fine and then wham..... no more dirt. Please fix this kit!
  • tarzansmomtarzansmom Posts: 5 New Member
    I also think they should go to each room to vacuum. Staying in one spot is kind of lame. I was disappointed by this.
  • SimGuruFrostSimGuruFrost Posts: 55 SimGuru (retired)
    Hi hi! I super appreciate this constructive thread.

    Any bugs should be reported to AnswersHQ if not already please & thank you! :smile:

    I can say right now we’ll be making some tuning adjustments to the gameplay starting with extending the period of time before your home becomes dusty in an update we’ll releasing later this month.
  • SimmerGeorgeSimmerGeorge Posts: 2,724 Member
    edited March 2021
    Hi hi! I super appreciate this constructive thread.

    Any bugs should be reported to AnswersHQ if not already please & thank you! :smile:

    I can say right now we’ll be making some tuning adjustments to the gameplay starting with extending the period of time before your home becomes dusty in an update we’ll releasing later this month.

    Awesome!
    Where's my Sims 5 squad at?
  • carpe_diemcarpe_diem Posts: 280 Member
    edited March 2021
    @SimGuruFrost Thanks for replying and the update.
    I think it would be great if this kind of info (that are not about bugs but more on fine tuning of the game - like that the team is working on the dust system) could be added to your laundry list thread for all players to see (a "tuning section” on the laudry list?).

    Ok looking forward for the fixes then. :)

    Keep up the good work and stay safe out there! <3
    Post edited by carpe_diem on
  • tha_queen_of_chaostha_queen_of_chaos Posts: 9 New Member
    I totally agree with all your points.
    I think Dust Bunnies are also too OP. They bring too much loot, like treasures worth 10.000 simoleans! Combine that with getting them 2-3 times a day. It's a little easy. My suggestion: Tweak the loot they can get and only add the Dust Bunnies when you're house is dirty. That way you have an incentive to have a dirty home.

    Also, I tried to submit this as a bug, even if you turn the pack off in the options menu, they will still spawn. So it seems like that didn't work. Although the tuning did stop them from appearing 3-6 times a day.
  • BOYBOY Posts: 540 Member
    I can say right now we’ll be making some tuning adjustments to the gameplay starting with extending the period of time before your home becomes dusty in an update we’ll releasing later this month.
    yay, thank you guys! i'm not sure if this is a bug or just a design choice, but should spellcasters be able to cast 'scruberoo' on the dust to clean it up? if not, could they pleaseee? :blush:

    there isn't a broom for off-the-grid, so at least then my off-the-grid spellcaster could use her magic to clean up. (tho i quite enjoy the sentient little dust bunnies hopping around a witch's cottage lol.)

    Fairies & real Plantsims please!
  • calaprfycalaprfy Posts: 3,927 Member
    In my game, I found that dust bunnies bring nothing if their mood is very low, not even when asked. And, like me, if you do not own the Jungle pack, you will not be brought precious artifacts.

    Cleanerbots need improving. They hoover up dust piles but avoid dust bunnies and never get the house pristine.

    The "ask for help cleaning" interaction needs improving too. I was hoping to see a mass clean-up but ends up one sim cleaning, the other sim going off to watch TV or something.

    I wouldn't object if the inspired mood was removed but the skill boosts kept in. Don't own a bar, whatever you do!
  • HermitgirlHermitgirl Posts: 8,825 Member
    edited March 2021
    Things I'd like changed or included:

    Cross pack compatibility with Magic: You can't Scruberoo the dust away and you should be able to. Also when you Minionize someone and tell them to clean they won't do anything with dust. Even if they don't have a vacuum they should be able to pick up dust with their hands like played sims can. I did try to gift a vacuum to a sim then Minionize but they still didn't use it until I selected the interaction that came with the Dust pack to help clean...

    Butlers will sometimes use a vacuum if gifted. It would be nice if they came prepared at the start like maids do.

    Maids don't always sense the house needs cleaning either. Unless it's a bug my maids normally clean but sometimes they just say looks like you don't need me today.

    Dust bunnies shouldn't give money or gifts unless asked directly each time. So no more collecting money because your sim asked once or didn't ask at all.

    I agree with the inspired moodlet being too overpowering. Would be nice to tune that down.
    egTcBMc.png
  • estella_deeestella_dee Posts: 263 Member
    Hi hi! I super appreciate this constructive thread.

    Any bugs should be reported to AnswersHQ if not already please & thank you! :smile:

    I can say right now we’ll be making some tuning adjustments to the gameplay starting with extending the period of time before your home becomes dusty in an update we’ll releasing later this month.

    There should have been a hotfix for this, because shortly after the kits were released players have reported the many issues on the Bust the Dust kit. In my other games that I play, devs open dedicated forum posts so players can report whatever bugs DLCs may have during launch, and they hotfix it within hours (a day or two at most for bugs/glitches that are more complicated). Why do we have to wait for weeks for ONE fix? I may sound entitled to you, but I don't know why EA and Maxis thinks it's ok to wait weeks before they fix JUST ONE bug. Isn't the Bust the Dust kit specifically made to add more gameplay to our game? So why weren't this gameplay tested before release? It's not like this is an expansion pack that have several gameplay/features, this had one, and that is what our $5 is worth, and we basically paid $5 worth of bugs. The least EA and the devs could have done was to fix these bugs and glitches.

    Also another bug that I found that is NOT listed here but have been reported by many is that the dust fiends cause fire when left alone. Not sure if that is intended, but I think it's a bug.
  • texxx78texxx78 Posts: 5,657 Member
    I had to fire my sim's maid cause she would leave all tasks to spend the day cleaning the dust in the first floor... even the dust in the second floor stayed there, until that floor got filthy. And the maid would keep cleaning the pristine first floor...
  • AuroraskiesAuroraskies Posts: 1,834 Member
    Good thread. I have clicked Me Too on the bug reports I found for the kit, on the master list at AHQ. They were fewer than the issues posted here and elsewhere. I mostly care about the one where every action is interrupted if a vacuum cleaner is in personal inventory, common bug in TS4.

    I understand that SimGurus want bug reports collected in one place, but I would ask you to think about why players resort to other means, instead of going to AHQ. Some things I have noticed:

    The bug templet is too simple for anyone with some sense to want to fill out; but too complicated for the main target group of this game. Who made it?

    The master list of bug report is messy and hard to look through, which does not bode well for players looking for bug reports on their own. Who made it?

    The information on how to search for bug reports, use the bug forum, fill out the bug form is unpedagogical, non-compact and not with the specific user is mind. Who wrote it?
  • calaprfycalaprfy Posts: 3,927 Member
    I totally agree with all your points.
    I think Dust Bunnies are also too OP. They bring too much loot, like treasures worth 10.000 simoleans! Combine that with getting them 2-3 times a day. It's a little easy. My suggestion: Tweak the loot they can get and only add the Dust Bunnies when you're house is dirty. That way you have an incentive to have a dirty home.

    Also, I tried to submit this as a bug, even if you turn the pack off in the options menu, they will still spawn. So it seems like that didn't work. Although the tuning did stop them from appearing 3-6 times a day.

    When the house is dirty, dust fiends appear. These guys can be asked to search for things but they find clutter instead of valuables.
  • EA_ArcadiaEA_Arcadia Posts: 14 EA Community Manager
    The bug templet is too simple for anyone with some sense to want to fill out; but too complicated for the main target group of this game. Who made it?

    We are aware that the bug form has room for improvement, unfortunately, due to technical limitations, this is not possible at this time. The questions asked are to aid the developers are quickly assessing the severity of issues and how one may replicate them.
    The master list of bug report is messy and hard to look through, which does not bode well for players looking for bug reports on their own. Who made it?

    This list was created and is maintained by the volunteers known as Heroes who help on the Sims AHQ boards. They created it with the best of intentions and formatted it in the way they felt was most accessible. If you have a suggestion on how it could be improved please let them know by putting it in this thread. They put a lot of time into maintaining this, without being asked, to help other players. Without them, identifying bugs would only be possible by using the AHQ search function, which would be tedious and frustrating.

    The information on how to search for bug reports, use the bug forum, fill out the bug form is unpedagogical, non-compact and not with the specific user is mind. Who wrote it?

    Once again, as above. The bug form as explained needs some work, and we hope to address the issues with it in the future.
  • drakharisdrakharis Posts: 1,478 Member
    carpe_diem wrote: »
    HI SIMMERS!

    Let's talk about Bust the Dust kit! I do personally like it in many aspects, and I like the idea of it but the kit/pack is very buggy and bad tuned (too much and all over the place, see James Turners video). Many of the bugs in my game did ocur within a hour of playing (these bugs are also reported by other players on the bug forum, BTW I don't have mods/CC in my game) so I wonder if the kit was play tested? I understand that programming a game is really hard work, but I think that it's a little sad when the game turns out to be unplayable because of bad tuning and lots of bugs. I really would have been more positive to the kit if there were less of them. :/


    BUST THE DUST KIT - CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK / FIXES

    1. Handheld & upright vacuum cleaners needs to have a dock/platform (didn't we have one for the robotic vacuum in Cats & Dogs EP?). Right now you need to own 9 vacuum cleaners in a big family (8 for their inventories +1 as a decoration on the lot), it's better if we can buy a dock where the vacuum cleaner can return to after usage.

    2. Add an usable broom E.g. This could be used for off the grid/Historical players (Update to Laundry day SP: making the wall hanging broom usable)
    1. Broom (use on floor/rug = will clean the surface and generate dust piles that you can throw in the trash / use as fertilizer = Pick up with hands / shovel).
    2. Smaller broom with shovell (you need to empty this regularly)

    3. The house gets dirty to fast. My suggestions: To keep the Pristine level - vacuum every day, To keep the Dusty level - vacuum every 5-7 days.

    4. Dust bunnies spawn to often (I'm ok with 1/week or an option to toggle Dust bunnies on/off. Now I get 3+ Dust bunnies/day).

    5. Add an option to toggle on/off Dust bunnies (for us a little older/Realism players)

    6. Dust bunnies should not generate money if you haven't interacted with them/asked them (How to keep my poor sim poor when I get money from just having Dust bunnies/Dust on the lot?)

    7. Positive moodlets (from Pristine/Dusty level) shouldn't be constant. There is already a problem with challenges in the game, your sim's gets stuck in a constant good mood. My suggestion: If having a Pristine / Dusty level = the possibility to get a Pristine moodlet (+2 inspired) / Dusty moodlet (+1 happy). You will now get the moodlet every now and then, similiar to how the lot traits works.

    8. This had been perfect timing to add the Maid career to the kit / Base game (a sim with this career will be assigned to this role when playing on another household)

    BUGS
    1. Sims cancel their actions to vacuum
    2. Floor become clean by itself
    3. Sims with slob trait can't fulfill aspiration milestone
    4. Can't turn off the dust system
    5. Sims can't vacuum up puddles (with upright vacuum cleaner)
    6. Adult sim's can't use handheld vacuum cleaner on floor (puddles/dirt/childrens mess/etc)

    POSITIVE FEEDBACK
    1. Kids can use vacuum cleaners
    2. Some integration of other packs (e.g. vacuuming affecting character value from Parenthood GP)
    3. Aspirations having quite good milestones (a little challenge, not just walkthroughs)
    4. The animation for vacuum up dust bunnies are hilarious (even if I’m a realism player hehe)

    And to you simmers out there: What do you think needs to be fixed / updated in the Bust the Dust kit? What did you like / don´t like and how could this things be better implemented / fixed?

    WHAT ARE YOUR CONSTRUCTIVE CRITIQUE ON THE KIT? PLEASE SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK!

    <3Happy Simming and stay safe out there! <3

    @SimGuruNinja @SimGuruFrost

    Even hiring both a butler and maid doesn't help with keeping the home from getting so dirty quickly. Sam hired both a maid and a butler to keep the house clean and I still have to have him and his brothers and Gemma clean all the time. There is no time to do anything else. I ended up shutting down The Bust THe Dust features. It would be one thing if everyone was a slob but they aren't. I love the feature but it's overdone. I would like to play my game without my sims just cleaning and that is all they do. Made me think of something Hera would do to a woman she caught Zeus cheating on her with. I live in an apartment I don't have to clean my entire apartment every 20 minutes or everything will be filthier than an abandoned building. However, that is exactly what mt sims experience with this Kit.
    Playtesting - not just tabletop games and card games any more. Really that should have been playtested in Beta and not [img]just with accounting and marketing but actual players. https://i.imgur.com/t48COW6.jpg[/img]
  • PatricePatrice Posts: 361 Member
    I like the bust the dust kit, i've only played it once, but i shouldn't
    have to buy a new vacuum every time, it just disappears! there should
    be a docking station for those items. please fix :|
  • AuroraskiesAuroraskies Posts: 1,834 Member
    edited March 2021
    @EA_Arcadia
    Thank you for responding.

    The questions in the bug template is often misunderstood, so while I appreciate that it is made to get the answers needed, that intention does not come through. It is good to hear that you/EA are planning to rework it.

    I understand that you as representative for EA, and Community Manager for AHQ, feel the need to express appreciation for the unpaid work done by players; but for other players, that are interested in a cohesive site that makes it easy to find bug reports, the messy master list is still hard to look through - as evident by the many posters that doesn’t do so, instead creating bug reports from scratch, that then are merged into eachother without adding to the Me Too count, as I understand it an important factor for the prioritizing of issues.

    It is up to EA to create their own official site in a user friendly way; and to lay that work effort on players, then explaining the result with the fact that it is made with good intentions, by players; is not enough for all the other players wanting a game without major bugs, and to have the bugs adressed quickly.

    It is the responsibility of Electronic Arts to make sure their bug forum for a high profit game to be functional - not the players', whether EA rewards them for it or not.
  • Sigzy05Sigzy05 Posts: 19,406 Member
    The option to turn off the dust bunnies completely or to make them only show up on the max dust level is something that I'll need before purchasing this pack...
    mHdgPlU.jpg?1
  • estella_deeestella_dee Posts: 263 Member
    @EA_Arcadia I play ESO, so when that game releases DLCs and Expansion Packs this is what they do:

    1.) at least a month before a new content they release it in a PTS (Public Test Server) for everyone to play and test. I know that this is something that Maxis cannot do, since this game is a different format, just saying that that is one thing that they do to include the community to detect bugs and glitches before new content is launched.

    2.) During the PTS period and upon release (up to a week) of the new content their is a dedicated forum thread for players to report further bugs and glitches. So they basically have a dedicated team that monitor these pages, and they release a hotfix as soon as these bugs and glitches are reported. Literally get a hotfix as early as an hour, no exaggeration. We did not have to go to a different website and create a ticket and wait for a week to get these bugs and glitches fixed. The longest we wait for a fix is maybe a day or two if it's complicated.

    Don't you think that this would be better for EA/Maxis to detect and resolved bugs and glitches? Especially when a new content is released. I honestly, don't understand why people have to wait for weeks, months-- YEARS for bugs and glitches to be fixed. Honestly feels like we're paying for a broken game. Is that what this is?

    Please help me understand why EA/Maxis is not able to open a dedicated forum thread HERE for players to report bugs and glitches upon release. And why we can't get a HOTFIX as soon as these bugs and glitches are collated.

    Just FYI, ESO and The Sims 4 launched at the same year. Believe me ESO was horrible upon launch. Yes, worse than The Sims 4. But now ESO is one of THE best MMO-RPG there is out there.
  • wolffriendinuswolffriendinus Posts: 94 Member
    carpe_diem wrote: »
    HI SIMMERS!

    7. Positive moodlets (from Pristine/Dusty level) shouldn't be constant. There is already a problem with challenges in the game, your sim's gets stuck in a constant good mood. My suggestion: If having a Pristine / Dusty level = the possibility to get a Pristine moodlet (+2 inspired) / Dusty moodlet (+1 happy). You will now get the moodlet every now and then, similiar to how the lot traits works.

    @SimGuruNinja @SimGuruFrost

    This. I am sick and tired of my sims always being inspired. I'm starting to wish I had never purchased this kit. I need them to be energized, flirty, playful and yes, sometimes scared or angry. No more inspired.
  • HannaJannaHannaJanna Posts: 1 New Member
    I am having issues with the new kit - whenever my Sim has a vacuum in their inventory and goes to eat a meal, workout, go on the PC (and potentially more) they always get interrupted to start vacuuming.
    A workaround it to take the vacuum out of inventory, vacuum the area then when finished start doing the activity again and it is fine
  • carpe_diemcarpe_diem Posts: 280 Member
    edited March 2021
    HannaJanna wrote: »
    I am having issues with the new kit - whenever my Sim has a vacuum in their inventory and goes to eat a meal, workout, go on the PC (and potentially more) they always get interrupted to start vacuuming.
    A workaround it to take the vacuum out of inventory, vacuum the area then when finished start doing the activity again and it is fine

    It sounds like you are experiencing this bug: Sims cancel their actions to vacuum
    Please click the metoo button on the bug forum (and share a comment) so the developers can fix this issue. :)
  • EgonVMEgonVM Posts: 4,926 Member
    Sometimes I think it would be great if the filthy lot trait from City Living made it so lots get dusty faster. Those lot traits deserve some love, too.
  • carpe_diemcarpe_diem Posts: 280 Member
    EgonVM wrote: »
    Sometimes I think it would be great if the filthy lot trait from City Living made it so lots get dusty faster. Those lot traits deserve some love, too.

    I did use that lot trait when I play tested and I think that it affected the overall dust (don’t know why). The house will get dusty faster if there are dirty objects on the lot (that lot trait does objects become dirty faster i think?).

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