Car Repair Hack Request

[Tigerlilley]

I thought when we got cars (for the sims) adults would have a option of teaching teens how to drive.  Then the car could come back all mangled at random and the sim would have to pay to fix it. 

[Theo]

* Theo pays up to 1.5 €/liter = 7.39 $/gallon *
Luckily, my commute distances are short 

I thought when we got cars (for the sims) adults would have a option of teaching teens how to drive.  Then the car could come back all mangled at random and the sim would have to pay to fix it. 

That would be an insteresting merge between The Sims and Grand Theft Auto
What could be more fun than having a deranged sim driving over Mrs. Crumplebottom?

[ElfPuddle]

Getting to do it over and over and over again?

[PlayLives]

Maybe someone should suggest to Josh that it Not charge if you want to go home. Especially since, if you purchase stuff while you are on a comm lot, it seems like you could potentially have your sim stranded. I mean, I wonder what happens if you can't afford to go home. Hee. That could bring up some interesting scenarios, where your sim would have to busk or freestyle to make enough loot just to go home.

 ...didn't think of that, I may test that case with some sim I don't like.

[jfade]

I've been told several times that §30 was too much, but hey, to me it seems fair, and if you want to change it, just follow the instructions syberspunk posted.

That is an interesting point, I didn't think at the time of what would happen if you were stuck downtown because you spent too much on the meal or whatever. I'll add to the test so that if you are on a non-residential lot you have the ability to leave anyhow, and post an update probably this weekend when I try to play catchup with all the other days of the advent calendar I've missed so far because of various reasons, heh.

[syberspunk]

Hey Josh Cool beans. Lookin forward to the update.

As unrealistic as the amount may be, as Josh points out, most sims who can afford to own cars in the first place have like a bajillion simoleons anyway. So it's not like they are really hurtin for loot.

Plus, as the OP points out, since cars don't require any kind of maintenance and never get damaged or what not, it seems to be a decent balance. It may not be totally realistic, but then again, there are many aspects of the game that aren't realistic.

I think there should be a hack to charge for taxis. A flat fee would make sense, and maybe something like 30 simoleons per sim riding in the car. It would be neat to charge for going to a comm lot from home or from another comm lot. But maybe no charge for going back home, to prevent the similar situation of sims potentially being stranded. Something like a taxisactuallycostmoneyfix. Any takers? *hint*hint* Hee.

Ste

[jfade]

Actually, I was toying with the idea of that too, and really it probably makes more sense than charging for the regular cars (though I still will charge for the regular cars in my own game. ) I'll take a look at it and see if I can do it without making things explode.

[Kyna]

IIRC, the charge for going downtown in TS1 was 50 simoleons.  And if you went from there to another community lot you were charged another 50.  But I don't think you were charged for returning home.  At least with the Hot Date EP.  I didn't really play with Unleashed much, so I don't know if there was a charge for the community bus (I had an old computer at the time, and all previous EPs plus Unleashed was just one EP too many for TS1 to run at a decent speed).

[croiduire]

IIRC, the transportation cost in Vacation was $500. They were round trip tickets, though.

[J. M. Pescado]

IIRC, the transportation cost in Vacation was $500. They were round trip tickets, though.

Yes, but that sounds like a REASONABLE price for a vacation to bumfuck nowhere. $30 for a 3 block drive is outright ludicrous. My *TANK* doesn't cost that much to operate!

[jrd]

Yes, but you live in gas-guzzling America.
You yanks pay less per gallon than the civilized world does per liter :/

[PlayLives]

Thanks jfade for looking into it. I do like having the cars *not* be maintenance free.

[Jelenedra]

Charging $50 PER SIM is a bit much. Real taxis don't even do that.

[syberspunk]

Yeah, I was thinking about that. Per sim probably isn't realistic, since Taxis don't really charge per person, typically just by length of travel. I was just thinking that, since the game doesn't really measure distance travelled between lots, I thought it would be one way to make up for that. I didn't remember if TS1 charged for taxis and how much it was. Regardless, I don't think it should be free. I'm surprised Pescado didn't already do this, considering his various bills are more realistic and things are more expensive type hacks.

Ste

[jfade]

Yeah, I probably won't do a per person type of thing for the taxi, or if I did it would be reasonable, like 10 or 15 simoleans per person. I haven't had the chance to look into it yet, but I will probably either this weekend or sometime after I get this advent calendar done and over with.

[J. M. Pescado]

Yes, but you live in gas-guzzling America.
You yanks pay less per gallon than the civilized world does per liter :/

I'm pretty sure it's not $30 even by your prices. What are your gas prices per liter now?

[twistingsims]

In Canada, well Nova Scotia, where I'm from, gas prices went up to 1.22/litre and just went down to 1.08/litre! 

[J. M. Pescado]

Thats falls somewhat short of the order-of-magnitude needed to jack up prices for a 3-block drive to $30 even in a tank.

[Frankenbeasley]

In the UK it is currently about £4.50/ gallon.. so that's about $8.60. I run my cars on biodiesel, however, which is a lot cheaper. Luckily for me I have no real interest in cars as anything other than a tool for getting me from A to C*. Since I don't care what they look like or sound like I am able to use only cars that are free. As well as the advantages this confers with regard to insurance costs and theft prevention ("Who's gonna steal that piece of crap?", as my friend says) it also imbues me with automatic right of way over anyone with a new or expensive vehicle (other than sociopaths in tanks, that is).

Speaking of tanks, by the way, is yours a lot more Awesome than this one JMP?

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2006/t90s-russian-tank-p1.php


*Went to B once but didn't like it. The people looked odd and there was a funny smell.

[syberspunk]

FYI: The new/updated antiwatchout hack conflicts with djssims ownable cars cost money hack.

Yes, I know necromancy is bad m'kay, but I didn't feel like starting a new thread.

File: antiwatchout.package, conflicts:
   Type = 42484156, Group = 7F4EA230, Instance = 2094 in file djsownablecarscostmoney.package

Ste

[BlueSoup]

This isn't necromancy, it's less than 3 weeks old!

[aubreylaraine]

wow, i feel lucky. here in texas (ft. worth at least) gas is back down to $2.26 a gallon.

[Jelenedra]

Yeah, gas prices in OK dropped to $2.15. I so happy.

[veilchen]

Blue is right, and other than that, it is a resurrection. That's some valuable information, I was going to look into that mod and most likely download it. I would like it if driving a car would at least cost something (not 30 simoleons, that's too steep), but I don't think I can live without the antiwatchout mod. That particular sim behavior was driving me to distraction, pardon the pun.

Thanks Steven.

[KevinTMC]

Since we're reviving this thread anyway, I'll put in a plug for the OP's idea. I think it would be great if cars occasionally needed repair, like various other household items. Especially if there were an element of danger involved in fixing it oneself...to the car, to the sim, or both.

"Do I fix it myself? Pay someone to fix it? Junk it? Just take a cab?" This might just qualify for the Sid Meier Seal of Approval as an "interesting decision" (something which is too often lacking in this game in the ordinary flow of gameplay, despite its other virtues).

I'm not at all interested in being charged to go anywhere, though. Visiting community lots can be painful enough...the last thing I need is a further disincentive.

Besides, anytime you think your sims ought to have to pay for something that the game doesn't charge for, you can always take the cash from them via familyfunds. Isn't as slick as having it done automatically, of course; but using anything that conflicts with Awesome hacks is even less slick.