Walkbys have a Mailbox Obsession!

[dragoness]

So, I'm trying my hand at more intricate building design, and with my current neighborhood, buildings look very silly with the mailbox out by the street the way they are by default. Home mailboxes are most often moved to the porch, and apartment mailboxes are often tucked against the front or side of the building.

The problem with this is that walkbys, service personnel (other than the obvious mailman) and things like the taxi are all obsessed with the location of the mailbox! A mailbox on a tiny front porch means that the walkbys walk up onto the porch to do that annoying flapping-lips noise or do their stretching. The paperboy obsesses with the mailbox too, and if the one free space on the porch is already occupied with a paper, he spazzes up there for a while before finding a place to put it.

Is there any way of moving this "mark" all the visiting sims seek out? Or is it permanently tied to the mailbox?

I tried messing with Inge's Portal Revealer, thinking it was possibly tied to the portal system, and while that gave me the means to move where the sims appear and disappear, they still head obsessively towards the mailbox.

Is there a way for me to fix this? Or do my sims have to put up with annoying visitors on their porch?

Thanks!http://

[Marhis]

Mailboxes are the reference point of pretty much everything happens in a residential lot. Also, misplacing it may result in misbehaviour or other assorted issues in gameplay.
To stay on the safe side, one should not move the mailbox ever; I confess I sometimes do it anyway, but I try to not displace it too far from its original place, and keep a reasonable space around it.

[J. M. Pescado]

The mailbox is basically the beacon point for anything that happens on a residential lot that needs to occur at a "Generic Spot Outside". Do not move the mailbox too far from the center of the lot or off of the strip between sidewalk and road, although you can shift it a few tiles left or right. Just not off the strip or too far.

[dragoness]

Well I'd certainly noticed that the mailbox was the beacon point; I was just hoping the beacon point was something I could separate from the box itself via a portal revealer or some similar object.

Ah well! Now I know I either need to keep the box near the sidewalk or put up with this behavior.

Is it actually game breaking in some way, Pes? Or just irritating?

[J. M. Pescado]

Is it actually game breaking in some way, Pes? Or just irritating?

I would classify at as more than irritating if you end up with a taxi or car permanently stuck in your house. I would just suggest not doing it, it's not worth the problems it causes.

[dragoness]

Oh goodness. I'd had the taxi arrive in bizarre locations, but I didn't realize it could get stuck! Duly noted. Baa!

[nocomment]

What you need is an invisible mailbox recolor, and deco mailboxes.  There is an invisible mailbox recolor here - http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=200674

I haven't seen one for the special apartment mailbox.  I know I've seen decorative mailboxes over the years, though I don't know where.  Maybe you could ask in the "you fail at google" thread

Edited to add - I fail at google.  There's a deco box on the same site, duh.  http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=153293

[Zazazu]

I nearly always move my mailbox. I learned early on not to do so too far...I know that 30 tiles from the sidewalk will stop carpools and buses from coming. The cutoff may be smaller; I didn't do extensive tests. I try to keep it within 10 tiles of original position and haven't experienced any problems. Moving the trashcan does not appear to have negative repercussions as long as your playables can still reach it. I regularly place the mailbox and trashcan in a fenced-off area locked to household only. It keeps the trashcan kicker off of it, while retaining usability for playables and the mail person. Sometimes I put the trashcan in a small 1x2 enclosed "closet" off the kitchen.

The community lot phone functions similarly. Wherever you place it, your playables and townies will consider it their check-in point. Place it in the back of the lot and they'll take forever getting to it. Again, I'll move that a few tiles for aesthetics, but not far.

[J. M. Pescado]

The Community Lot Phone is not fixed to a given position, and you can place multiples or move the one, but the game DOES require that there be one phone and one trash can.

[dragoness]

What you need is an invisible mailbox recolor, and deco mailboxes.  There is an invisible mailbox recolor here - http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=200674

I haven't seen one for the special apartment mailbox.  I know I've seen decorative mailboxes over the years, though I don't know where.  Maybe you could ask in the "you fail at google" thread

Edited to add - I fail at google.  There's a deco box on the same site, duh.  http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=153293

Ooo, I like that idea... and with macrotastics, I don't have to worry about not being able to see there's mail, because "pay bills" will appear! Hmm, does "pay rent" also appear when it's due? Must go check...