coolspear

Okie-dokey. This should be a quick and easy one to explain.

1. With S4S installed, there should be a desktop icon. Drag the mod onto the icon for S4S to open the package file.

2. On the left panel you should see a list of about fifty-or-so "Object_Gardening..." files. Click the top one so it goes blue, which is the Death Flower.

3. In the right panel is all the XML coding for this Death Flower file. For what you wish to change in this mod, scroll down the XML to lines 378 & 379. There it references what the default quality value should be for a Death Flower. You see I have set it to Pristine which equates to Perfect Quality in the game. Why Maxis do not use the same terminology in game as seen in the XMLs, I have no clue.

4. Now just start scrolling slowly up to casually view all ten of the different "GardenQuality..." possibilities that exist in the game. By now you should already be thinking of the easy step to take next. Whichever of those 10 quality versions you'd prefer to see in your game, just copy and paste the number and green writing over the one I set as the default quality on line 379. Be careful to only copy the five-digit number to paste over the one used. The green writing and arrows are not essential to change, but doing so just makes it tidy and sensible. (S4S puts that green writing there, not Maxis, and it makes no difference in game if it's organised, disorganised or not there at all.)

5. Once you're happy with the new quality reference value, save, then rinse and repeat the process for all the other object files. The default quality reference may not always be found on line 379, given that some fruits and flowers have more effects and interactions than others, ergo more coding in the XML. But once you find that big lump of coding that governs the quality, it will all be the same. Keep saving as you go, in case you have a boo-boo and have to start again (Ouch!) Once complete just put the mod back in game. The Perfect quality of pre-existing produce in your game, whether stored in the fridge or growing wild on trees and bushes, will not change. Only newly generated produce will pick up the change. And as stated in the opening post, none of this changing will ever effect the produce growing in your sims gardens. In those instances, the sprouting produce can only ever match the quality of the trees and bushes it came from.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.

None of them rely on any of the others, not even the default fizzy version here is a requirement, as all xmls and objects for new drink varieties are remade clones and new XMLs. So, yes, the Mega Tray is also a standalone object that'll work fine by itself if that's all you want. The default fizzy here has been given the autonomous restock and Jedi restock interactions to fall in line with the other trays, so that will effect the default object's restock options and autonomous use.

With the last patch Maxis made those toddler meals available for everyone to eat, so I probably will be adding them to the Cornucopia's snack food menu at some stage.

Regarding the restoration of original cooking functions, there's a hell of a lot of Interaction affordance XMLs to put back into the Cornucopia's Object XML to restore it to having full default cooking options. And none of those Maxis options would be hidden behind the handy autonomy on/off switch once restored, as the coding jiggery-pokery I've done for that is too much to explain how to include in all the many, many Maxis XMLs for them to exhibit that on/off switch feature. 

If you open each of the Object XMLs for any of the game's dozen-or-so default fridges, way right down at the bottom of each XML are all the affordance interactions listed. A great many to be sure. It'll be the same list for each model. It would be a matter of copying and pasting all the original affordance interaction lines from a default Objet XML and reintegrating them in alongside all my remade affordances to give a fridge back its original cooking functions. When you see just how many, you may reconsider having both a Cornucopia and a default fridge in the kitchen is a better idea. I have quite a few of my sims homes and kitchens set up this way with both, and at no stage did I ever want to reintegrate the coding into a single combo unit. The endless options when clicking on it would be hell in itself. Plus, the key factor, the autonomy switch that can be activated on or off in game would be lost on the Maxis options and fridges would be a stuff-your-face-free-for-all once again.

But if that's the way you want it, then an easy bit of copying and pasting to reintegrate the original affordance lists that are missing should do the trick.

Hi @Kayleenaand welcome. This is the second report this mod is not properly doing its thing since the latest toddler stuff patch. I know Maxis did not change anything with the XMLs used in this mod, but they may have introduced new stuff in new XMLs that are now overriding this mod. I will get round to checking this in game soon, but I'm currently neck deep in testing other mods in a house with no toddlers. But this mod is next on my list when I wrap up current testing.

In regards to sims constantly getting roped in autonomously to play with toddlers on doll house or watch TV with them, LittleMsSam has effective mods to stop that behaviour, which I use myself, so I won't be stepping on toes and making repeat, carbon-copy mods that I know are already out there. Those mods were moved from MTS to a new site - http://littlemssam.de/   

That started happening ages ago. If you've been playing the game since release, you'd know well of the messy "musical chairs" elements that Maxis introduced in one of their earliest patches. Sims forever shifting around in a group chat as if they have ants in their pants. Librarians always having to sit down before they can put a book away. Always having to sit down before cleaning a dirty dish, even as bad a changing into swimwear to sit by a pool before cleaning the dish or book.  When I first made this mod it wasn't an issue that appeared in the hospital, but then Maxis claimed they fixed the musical chairs thing in a patch, which they did not. Then they said they fixed it again. They might have toned it down, but it's not completely gone from the game. Trouble is, all that patching trying to get sims to learn how to sit properly, has done something to my hospital seating mod. Nothing directly in the mod itself, just generally how sims sit governed by other patched xmls.

I've seen exactly what you're reporting too in my hospital. But it's never been so bad as to prevent the doc from ever taking patients to beds. The doc now wants to sit down to the left or right of a patient first, much like the librarian and the books issue. So If there is that finickety sat patient, I would start a normal conversation with the sim and then click on other chairs for them to go sit and talk.

If Maxis have not properly fixed this musical chairs annoyance in over two years and two attempts, there's no point in me trying to take a look at where the problem lies. It's too deep in the coding for a thorough fix.

Hi @KyuubiFoxI can't promise anything solid. I did have a notion a couple of months ago to make a mod similar to Dolphin's TS3 Garden Gnome mod. Just switch on the Gnome and let it take care of the garden for you. But it still remains an idea that I have not done any work on. All I can say for now is, if I do work on anything regarding plant maintenance, it will be the Gnome idea, or nothing at all.

Hi Zaf, it's not a waste of time. I have yet to play the game and may very well experience same issues too. It may well be there are new XMLs that came with the new pack that do not like the changes I've made to these XMLs. The new toddler party events will probably have some new take on potty management, that may have a knock on effect on this mod. It would not be the first time a seemingly, perfectly fine mod suddenly does not play nice with something new. I'll know more when I get into the game.

Updated for Patch Version: 1.33.38.1020

Hi @Zaf I patched today and just did my old and new xml extract comparisons via WinMerge, and the ones used for this mod have not been altered by Maxis. When you say you have looked at the XMLs after you patched and have seen a difference, could you be seeing the tuning changes I made for this mod while comparing them with Maxis XMLs? Because Maxis have not altered them for this patch. As yet  I have not been able to play the game to see if there are any of the toddler coding hiccups you mentioned. But once I finish my mod sorting and load up the game, whether I find any toddler glitches or not, it will not be directly due to this mod's XMLs as they remain unchanged by Maxis. Have you installed the new toddler stuff pack? This may well be due to typical Maxis code fluffery we see all the time when they release new stuff. We might need the fast-becoming-mandatory patch for the patch yet again.

Hi @ZafThanks for the report. I hope to be patching this weekend, (later tonight if all goes well) so will probably have that sorted soon. I'm sure the new toddler pack and the patch has added new data (as you say you've compared the files and see a difference.)

I wonder if Maxis themselves have worked on taming the overzealous toddler checking system for this new pack? More than seen in previous iterations of the franchise, Maxis do seem to take a little lead from modders and, putting it bluntly, steal, whoops, incorporate modders ideas into the game to stop overbearing sim interactions. Like they didn't see the annoyance during the development stage?! They wait for non-mod users to complain about it en mass, then point blank copy the exact new settings a modder has tuned to stop or lessen the annoyance.

Either way, I'll know by tonight after I've wound down all my mods in testing and ready my game for the patch and new pack.

After you make your sim switch it on, then either by your command or autonomously, sims on the lot will use the advanced VAT to generate all the various insect, amphibian, alien and fish life forms for collecting purposes. The difference between this object and my other modded objects for getting hidden collectable objects, is that this one does not charge money for a straightforward purchase. Oh no, this is life, the transference of life energy form one animal to another in order to create new life. Each new creature you generate will cost your sim life energy rather than money. Also all the medication needed to cleanse your sim's genetics for the process can leave the sim very dazed - shown in the over-medicated and drowsy buffs they get. So don't over do it, it can be quite draining for the sim.

Also a surprise interaction for the "cube" object that is sometimes randomly generated during the process. The cube is originally from the cloning process from the science career. Normally an un-useable, pointless object. This mod makes it something to get your teeth into, with buffs and extra loot to boot. Enjoy.

Then tell your sim to switch it off if you want all the autonomous interactions and the glowing, sparking special FX to stop.

Hi @daleylife I should have also asked you what, where and when is this mod and MC not working and generating errors in your game. I need to know these specifics, any particular events? I need examples as the only problem I've ever had was the single instance I reported here yesterday. Other than that, MC and this mod have been fine in my game all this time.

I'm not having any joy with the remade version of this mod. Calls and texts are coming through again. I will go back to using original version and see what happens the next time my scientist gets an overmax promotion. The LE report last week may have been a one-off. But if it persists, if this is the only XML that's causing jitters between this mod and MC, (Certainly seems that way in my game.) then I'll just take it out from this mod and let the congratulatory promotion callers and their invites return to default. (Perhaps make the overmax promotions much harder and rarer to achieve, while making them pay out more due to the longer wait between promotions.)

What and when are the errors you are experiencing? But first, did you patch your game and/or update MC to a newer version before experiencing issues? Do you use Patreon pre-release beta versions of MC?

Hi @spidergirl79, City Living EP was the true inspiration for this. Some of those apartments are so small and pokey, it's an art form in itself to try and make them a home worth living in. This dispenser certainly helps to cut down on all kitchen equipment and drinks bars. Not counting dining table and chairs, the kitchen now can be as small a 1x1 tile, just for this object, and still keep everyone at a large party gathering topped up with all known foods and drinks.

And those sims who have skilled up their cooking and have all traits to make them great cooks, it still helps with this object as they will be pulling Impeccable Quality food out instead of average quality. So this dispenser doesn't end the need to have good cooking skills and traits.

Hi @daleylife, I have tried on a couple of occasions to make them more useful and helpful. My last attempt I really thought I'd nailed it. It all looked good on paper, (On the XMLs) but in game? Nada, once again. Maxis have really buried it deep to make them useless. As I've said before, Maxis actually have included the coding to make them do more, NPC nurses should autonomously be taking patients to X-Ray, NPC doctors should be taking patients to treadmill. NPC orderly should be bringing the odd plate of food to patients. Does any of this happen? Ever? Never. Maxis broke it prior to releasing the EP (Purposely perhaps?) and have never fixed it since. Primarily as no players have ever experienced NPCs doing this, so they have never known that NPCs should be doing it, so as to report the breakage to EA Help website. But it's all there in the (broken) XMLs saying the NPC workers should be doing this, and twice I have tried and failed to revive it. I will not be attempting a third fix.

I have come to the conclusion Maxis may have purposely switched it off in the core, perhaps due to game issues if it's allowed to function. I'd hate to think, due to time constraints and meeting the release date of the EP, they simply abandoned work on it, so that's why it is incomplete. It reminds me of a half-built abandoned Carnival where the rides and attractions were never switched on and is now all rusting away unused.

Hi @Shalunyturns, I won't personally be making various different quality versions of this mod myself, - given the big amount of XMLs involved and the extra work that entails if a patch changes them. But I'd be more than happy to show you how to do it yourself using Sims 4 Studio. It is a relatively simple change, but just tedious work to have to repeat it over and over for so many XML files.

Just let me know you have S4S installed on you computer, and I'll show you the simple procedure for changing the quality status. Then you can grind your way through each XML change. 

Hi @daleylife I too use MC and this mod. All this while I've never experienced an issue until last week when I got a Last Exception report out of the blue. My level 10 scientist got yet another over-max promotion and pay increase at work, and this event my sim has had many times, suddenly generated an LE for the first time ever. When looking at the LE report, it was indicating an error with one of the Dram Nodes this mod uses. The one where another sim phones the promoted worker to congratulate them and invite them out to celebrate the promotion.

This was the first time ever for an LE to generate for that scenario in my game, and I know Maxis did not change anything in the last few patches for those Drama Node XMLs. I now also believe it is this mod suddenly rubbing up the wrong way with MC due to whatever recent changes deaderpool has made to MC.

Last week I actually reworked this mod to block the calls in a completely different way, seeing if MC will play nice with it again. They played fine together in my game for a long while, so I hope now they will again. Currently testing reworked version of this mod for a bit longer, to see if it ends the sudden, out of the blue, Last Exception reports.

But regarding MC, as far as I'm aware, if you do not activate its phone barring feature, then it should not have any effect on the game or on other mods that do ban some but not all phone calls. If it is having an effect even while not activated, - so as to generate LE reports due to the conflicting coding - then I may have to contact deaderpool and ask what's up with that.

If this reworked mod fails in its task to work with MC, and vice versa, then deaderpool will be my next port of call.  

Hi @xOreozxD

1 - This mod began life as two separate mods. But as they used the same XML files the mods conflicted and also there was more work to do come patch time. I merged them into one mod to cover both meal sizes and I will not be reversing this decision.

2 - Again, funnily enough, when this mod was on MTS, I wrote that the meal serving portions number was not visibly changed in game cooking menus when clicking on an oven or fridge, the change only seen on the meal's tooltip itself, and that I would not be changing this as it's less files to check come patch time. I knew I should have wrote the same here, too. My bad. I will correct that soon.  

Hi @TheBean, thanks for letting us know what caused the issue. If any others are having same problem, you might now save them a great deal of headache.

I'm still testing the Drama Node rework. Nothing to report so far. Then again, I can't understand why the LE the other day happened at all. Maybe it was just a one-off, and whether I changed the Drama Node mod or not, I might never see an LE again during a promotion. 

Hi @TheBeanwelcome, glad you found me. By script error, do you mean a Last Exception report was generated? Script call errors usually occur by a little message box on screen if trying to place a CC object with missing textures, but this does not generate an LE report. An LE report is if game coding is wrong, conflicting, broken or bad and a report text file is generated in Sims4 folder.

If it is an LE you refer to, then I got one too during last play session, (For the first time ever in science career!) right at the end of work day when my level 10 scientist got yet another overmax promotion. (I think this must be his 20th level 10+ promotion!) This is more like a problem that has moved from the doctor career to the science career. Catalina was reporting strange LE reports with her doc during end of day promotion events. (I never experienced this with my level 10 doc and overmax promotions.) Catalina reported the last patch cleared this up. But then it happened to me for my scientist during last play session! What the heck is going on?!

I also use MC Command Centre, and I think there is something going on here, that is not even directly related to careers, but to the annoying phone calls our sims get from other sims, when they advance at anything in their life. The LE report I got was mainly about a Drama Node failure, as if another sim were trying to contact my sim to congratulate the promotion and invite my sim out for the evening.

I have a mod to stop those annoying calls, as does MC have a similar function. There was nothing in the last patch that changed Drama Nodes or Science career, so why all of a sudden, from nowhere, for the first time ever, did my game generate an LE for something that has happened easily 20 times before with no problems? Maxis did not change anything in these XMLs, so what's new?

I think perhaps MC has taken a dislike to my Drama Node mod after last patch. I have since (Just yesterday) reworked my Drama Node mod (No Annoying Phone Calls mod) to handle the barring very differently and am currently testing to see if it stops LE reports during promotion events. Seeing if MC likes it better, the way they used to play nice and get on together before last patch.

If this does not sound like the problem you are experiencing, then sorry for my long report. But others may now be experiencing a job promotion LE after last patch, so just thought I'd report this to show I'm on the case.

Hi @lbaillgood trick. I've also done same with a loveseat at one end and an ottoman at the other. The toddler highchair actually slots into table like dinning chairs, and allows toddlers to join table conversations while the family are eating, although toddlers cannot get in and out themselves. A quick debug reset sim gets toddler out of highchair if you can't be bothered commanding a grown-up sim to do it.

Yep, that's part of it too. It involves a much higher push to sit at dinning table, more bites per meal and more sips per drink (drinks vary). It sounds odd to make more bites per meal yet still make it faster eating. There's a little trick I put in to really reduce even more silly animations in between mouthfuls and to also push sims to eat more bite animations rather than the crazy Maxis shift between playing with phones and the drawn-out catatonic states between the default eight bites.

So, calling a large family to meal, by the time the first and last have sit, you drag and drop a drink to each and tell them to drink and get them all involved in conversation, it becomes a grand event, which is by no means quick, but no wasted time with phones or catatonic states. A proper get together.

Single eaters shovel it in (16 bites) with very little time wasted between bites.

The mod set is specifically designed, though not exclusively, for players who like to make time go slower, as I know you've said in the past you prefer a slower time game, as do I.

The trouble is, that little trick I use, is great for eating at the dining table, but for reasons I've yet to fathom, makes eating at sofas bizarre. In that as soon as they sit the food vanishes, instantly consumed without a single bite. Not wasted food, just instantly consumed. I'm trying to iron this out, even though I don't even want or care for them to eat at sofas. (Sometimes they just do, regardless of the higher push not to, just to be close to another sim who is watching TV.) Tweaking it for sofa eating to be less bizarre, makes dining table eating more and more back to the catatonic Maxis way. All in all rather odd.  Once I get the balance right, I'll release. But if not, I'll still release but with message that sofa eating will be odd.   

I'm currently testing a much bigger, new version of faster eat and drink that incorporates all the XMLs of the Madame Butterfly and the DrChillgood, and all the new foods and drinks since. It's a much bigger mod and does a lot more, but does need more testing before release as it changes so much. I can say it's quite exciting for now, focused most on those family group dinners being something of an event. That's all I'll say for now. Hope to be releasing it soon, if all goes well. A few more things to iron out first, but the main element of the new mod I'm really enjoying at the moment.

Hi @ChaavikI think this might be related to the issue where a sim who stops writing a book they'd started, then the game goes through a loading screen, deletes the started (unfinished) book from their inventory. (Not sure how that messed up the green process bar.)  Maxis reported that they've fixed this in last patch, which was reflected in the XMLs here for this mod needing the update.

Though I have yet to get any sim to start a writing project to see exactly what has changed. Next time I'm in game, I'll get my author sim to write a new project. His sci-fi "Sims In Space" epic, bestseller trilogy needs a prequel novel - for the fans you understand

So I'll see what's up when he does that.

A couple of little tweaks to prevent sims cramming up so close to DJs like sardines, squeezing right in the booth. Now the Night Club Police have come to the rescue and bellow out through megaphones, "CITZEN,  STEP AWAY FROM THE DJ!" And those little citizens do. The closest the get is about two feet away from booth. 

Though there might always be a brain-dead sim, who is not even interacting with the DJ booth, who comes along and decides to stand stock still only inches away from booth for the entire evening. There's just no accounting for those bozos.

Remember that old joke about how many elephants can you fit into a Mini? Well, how many sims can you squeeze into a DJ booth? The punch line: All of them, since Maxis, for this iterations of the franchise, does not give a flying fig about clipping. But this mod does. So back off, little simmies. Back off and let the DJ breathe, for crying out loud.

How do you fit an elephant into a Safeway's shopping trolley? Punch line: Take the F out of Safe, and the F out of Way. (Go on, say what you're thinking out loud. You'll get it.)

Get Together EP is a required install for this mod to have any effect in your game.

cool1_sim_StepAwayFromTheDJ.rar  - Updated for 1.61

For patch version compatibility status, please see most recent Patch News thread for the TS4 General Mods section.

XML Resource Used:

E882D22F!00000009!000000000001DE1F.DJBooth_Dance.InteractionTuning.xml
E882D22F!00000009!000000000001DF23.DJBooth_Watch.InteractionTuning.xml

This will conflict with any other mod using same resources. Mod first made and uploaded with Game Version 1.32.1.1020

Thanks and Credit: Simsasylum, Sims4Studio, our sims community, EA Maxis

Hi @GrumpySuzyI'm a fan of the telford quicker making music mods, too, and use them all in my game. So, nope, they don't conflict with these. Different XMLs.