The university shower is very cheap and can be placed literally anywhere and sims will use it. Sims will also not get shy when using it. I place it often on community lots too, sims can use it and it's presence is almost unnoticeable. :)
686 GB is plenty of free space for those sim packs you want to install. On the EA site it says that Growing Together EP requires 26 GB, but I think that's for all of TS4 not just the EP. It certainly wasn't 26 GB when I installed it on my computer.
This was the biggest let down of TS3. They made open world so it was supposedly easier to travel to community lots but there was no point in visiting them, they were either rabbit holes or devoid of sims. They also ruined shopping by making food available to buy from the fridge and free clothing for everyone. I love TS4…
I've seen the preview and to me it looks a lot like TS3. Same shiny textures with too bright light and very few sims/agents around. World seems bigger, and on the surface the description of capabilities look great, but I saw very few characters around, none of them did something interesting and their movement seemed a bit…
If you want free food you could put on the lot some of the cake display shelves from Get to Work. Food lasts longer in them and you can fill them up with whatever dishes sims cook while on the lot. Not sure that children can actually use them though. There's also a fridge that sells sandwiches and juice that came with that…
I can see why it would take them longer to eat in a restaurant than at home, but I really wish they would fix this pack. The cooks stay outside until after you have placed your order and once food is delivered sometimes they just take it and eat it standing up. I had a sim try to eat it while sitting on her knees, but she…
Well, maybe I misunderstood what you're asking for, but if you don't play those sims, why do you need them to be in a club? I still have all the original clubs as I play with aging off and no story progression enabled and some my sims can't join as they are either full or invite only. Also, how do you setup a club without…
Maybe you have autonomy off or the club requirements are too restrictive? I've had NPC sims apply to become club members and my sim was offered club membership.
Restaurants only need the chef cooking station in the kitchen, if you add fridges or regular stoves sims will try to use them. Best way to keep unwanted sims out of certain areas is to not put there objects that attract them for autonomous use.
There is an option in the club panel for new members to be invite only. If you click that the club membership remains unchanged, otherwise new sims will join until the club is full. I used that option combined with skill level to find a climbing partner for my sim.
It's not and has never been possible to lock doors on community lots if they are not owned. The club locking option is fussy, because you first need to make a club and I find that to much bother just to lock a door and the number of club members is rather limited. Sims don't visit "hotel" rooms unless you add a TV or some…
I only really want drums and accordion and posibility for sims to sing jazz and blues. Mariachi would be lovely too, and sims playing boogie woogie on piano.
When my sim visited the recreation center for some time, some other sim cooked a lot of dishes on the grill. If that is intended behaviour, then I don't think anyone can starve on that lot. There aren't any vending machines on this lot and none were shipped with the EP, so maybe that's a different lot you're having issues…
They made it this way intentionally so you stay connected only when you actually need to use it when they made basegame free because they expected a lot more players and didn't want to overload the servers.
I took my sim on a sightseeing trip to San Sequoia Here she is playing with the water fountains. Gilbert Gardens are pretty to walk in even during gloomy autumn days. Here she was having a reflective walk around the gardens. The arboretum building is very pretty, I think they should have made it a real lot to visit and…
I do similar with my toddlers who have bedroom upstairs. They spend most of their day in the livingroom with the rest of the family, get their own food from the counter or table and have a potty on ground floor for their use. When they tire, they usually sleep on the couch or if really tired they go by themselves to their…
All worlds are good for raising families, but it depends on how you want to raise them, what experiences you want them to have and also your personal preference for a world's aesthetics and the story you are going to tell. I like to create a few community venues to make the world feel realistic but it depends on my sims…
I haven't downloaded the patch yet and have yet to play with infants, but from what I've read they are much like toddlers, and become less needy once they reach their milestones. Maybe you could buy a robot nanny to help you look after them?
Now that we have a slide in the treehouse, maybe they could adapt it as a sort of stairs to be used indoors by our sims, especially the slow moving ones? Pets could use it too.