Birthday cake.

[Menaceman]

I'll get straight to the point: Do birthday party guests completely ignore the birthday cake in everybodies game now or is it just mine? I threw a Sim birthday party and made sure to have a cake. After the candles were blown out the only Sims that bothered to grab a slice were the Sim that had grown up and the parent that took the kid to the cake. Any other Sim that was hungry headed straight to the fridge to get a bag of crisps (I'm English) So, I removed the fridge. The guests stayed for a good while longer, about 5 Sim hours, but none of them, including the ones that didn't eat since arriving, even batted an eyelid at the cake.
I have the awesome hack from this site that is supposed to make Sims go for food that is already available but it didn't seem to do anything.
The packs I have installed are all of the EPs plus FFS and GLS.

[sewinglady]

Most of the time, guests at birthday parties ignore the cake.

In fact, when I have a sim birthday, I usually have move-objects-on and I delete the cake and get the 30 simoleons back.

Only time I don't do that is if I have a neat freak sim (all ten neat points) as they scoop that cake up so fast after the candles are blown out that I don't have a chance to delete it.  They head for the garbage can with it.  They do the same thing with the champagne bottle, too.  You're lucky to get one toast before they clean up.

Party Poopers.

[phyllis_p]

I've noticed for some time now that party guests ignore birthday cake, wedding cake, and the buffet table, heading for the refrigerator instead.  The only way I can interest them in other food is to prepare a meal and Call Guests to dinner.  It's annoying (and it's not just you).

[Menaceman]

Well I guess I should be pleased it's not just my game then. I wonder what the hell maxis/EA did to screw that up cos I know that guests used to eat cake in the base game.

[Hecubus]

I've pretty much given up having parties altogether because of this. What's the point of cake and buffets if no one wants them? I can get more socializing done on a community lot, without the bother of cleaning up a mess.

There is probably something in the attraction levels...I don't recall this being such a problem pre-Seasons, so I wonder if there's something about the fridges and their sparkly food routine that causes this. I also wonder if it's more of a problem with or without produce.

:::off to test:::

[Emma]

Try TJ's Food Already Available Fix. I don't know if it will make the guests eat the birthday/wedding cake, but they will eat from the buffet or any available cooked meals, and leave the fridge alone If there isn't any food available, only then will they get snacks from the fridge. I use it in my game and it works a treat.

[Hecubus]

I already have that one...and it definitely doesn't work on the cakes. It is possible that I haven't had hungry guests when buffets have been out...but I know some have grumbled about being hungry and walked off when a just-cut birthday cake was around.

Perhaps twojeffs can look at this?

[J. M. Pescado]

I've pretty much given up having parties altogether because of this. What's the point of cake and buffets if no one wants them? I can get more socializing done on a community lot, without the bother of cleaning up a mess.

There's little point in them using the cake or buffet anyway, as they're likely already full from all the snapdragon fumes and eating anything would simply damage them.

[Hecubus]

I haven't used a snapdragon in a house in...well, I don't think I ever have. I used one once in an OFB lot early on, but just didn't notice any sizeable benefits.

I never had many birthday parties, but I do like a wedding...wish people would eat cake again.

[Flamingo]

With snapdragons, you have to make sure is within a certain radius of it, otherwise it won't work. They also only tend to go off at certain intervals, so unless your Sim is going to be spending a lot of time in one place, you're going to need more than one.

[Kyna]

I went the "snapdragons everywhere" route for a while, but got bored with it.  I had a snapdragon at each end of each couch, two flanking every career reward or buyable skilling object on the lot, a couple by the stereo for when sims learned to dance, etc.  If a sim was likely to spend anytime at any spot in the house, they were in range of two snapdragons.  It was definitely overkill.  And too many on a lot can cause lag issues.

Now I limit their use to bedrooms (one each side of a double bed, so sims don't wake up hungry and go to work with a low mood), nurseries (don't need to feed or bathe the toddlers anymore, and I send my pregnant sims to meditate near the nursery snapdragons from first bump until the birth), and crafting stations (since they seriously drain comfort).

[Tamha]

I had a wedding party recently (before I decided to dump Pleasantview) and my guests ate from the buffet and the wedding cake just fine. Heck, the party ended shortly after, so all the leftover cake slices got put in the fridge and they ate for 2 days after. *shrug*

[J. M. Pescado]

Now I limit their use to bedrooms (one each side of a double bed, so sims don't wake up hungry and go to work with a low mood), nurseries (don't need to feed or bathe the toddlers anymore, and I send my pregnant sims to meditate near the nursery snapdragons from first bump until the birth), and crafting stations (since they seriously drain comfort).

I find that even 1 by a double bed is sufficient to maintain the occupants of it, and I tend to put another 2 or 3 by the parking bench, where all the sims idle when they have nothing to be doing, and perhaps some more in the nursery zone. On businesses, I place them where staff are expected to be stationed for awhile: Cash register, crafting stations, etc.

[Emma]

Try locking the kitchen door and having the only available source of food (ie the cake) in the dining room. They still might not eat it though. I don't tend to use cakes much, but I will try out one on my next party.

[Gwill]

In my experience sims only eat the birthday cake as a part of the blowing out candles ceremony.  The celebrant grows up, everyone cheers and grabs a piece of cake; if the queue is too long, they forget about it and goes off to do something else.  The cake is never touched autonomously again.

[NothingToSee]

I've noticed that you can put slices of birthday cake away as leftovers, but not the cake itself.

Yeah - not much food value there, but I thought I'd throw that one in anyway...

[BastDawn]

I always stuff the rest of the cake into someone's inventory and make them eat it later.  I hate wasted food -- they're going to eat that cake whether they want to or not.   

[Emma]

I just threw a wedding party, locked the kitchen door, got them married, then got them to cut the cake. All the guests grabbed a piece of cake until it was all gone. So it does work

[Kala]

I've noticed for some time now that party guests ignore birthday cake, wedding cake, and the buffet table, heading for the refrigerator instead.  The only way I can interest them in other food is to prepare a meal and Call Guests to dinner.  It's annoying (and it's not just you).

I have to turn my refrigerators backwards to keep the guest at parties.  Sometimes I put the frig in a sim's backpack, so the guests don't stand around the refrigerators stomping and screaming.  My guests also ignor the party cakes.

[Jack Rudd]

Put the refrigerator in a separate room and get yourself an Authorized Personnel Only. It is Awesome and shiny.

[J. M. Pescado]

Try locking the kitchen door and having the only available source of food (ie the cake) in the dining room. They still might not eat it though. I don't tend to use cakes much, but I will try out one on my next party.

See, AwesomeSpec DEMANDS that the kitchen be sealed off from those pesky invaders, lest they rob your food supply AND harm themselves doing it.

[jolrei]

I find it's a bit hit and miss - at some parties the guests eat from the buffet and eat cake quite nicely.  One wedding I had, there was a mad rush on the cake, with about 6 guests complaining that people were in the way when they wanted to get a piece.  Usually I find that nobody at a birthday party will go for the buffet at all until after the cake interaction is finished.  Then suddenly they all seem to feel hungry and I run out of places for them to sit and eat.  Just recently I noticed that, even with the Food already available hack installed, a number of guests seem prone to raid the refrigerator. (why are packets of chips/crisps in the fridge?)

[Emma]

What did you have your cake on jolrei? I just place mine on a crazy 8 table and the guests can get a piece from all angles.

[jolrei]

What did you have your cake on jolrei? I just place mine on a crazy 8 table and the guests can get a piece from all angles.

Good point.  Whenever they accessed cake easily, I used a small one square table (like the crazy eights table or other such thing).  I think the problems arose when the table was too close to a wall or tree in the yard, restricting access.  I usually have my parties outside, since I don't have Seasons, and the weather is thus consistently and ridiculously marvellous in my desert neighbourhood.  I'll have to watch table placement for future birthdays/weddings.

On the other hand, I'm still at a loss as to why visitors suddenly seem interested in raiding the fridge (only since adding Uni and creating a clean neighbourhood).  I'm still rather slow in acquiring EPs so only have Base and Uni loaded at present, but with just the base, I didn't notice this amount of fridge raiding (when there was a perfectly good buffet available).  My Sims and I seem to prefer the turkey or gelatine at the buffet, but visiting sims go for the refrigerated chips.  Hey ho, all part of the entertainment, I suppose.

[Menaceman]

Next birthday I have I'll have to try putting the cake in a more open area. The two most recent birthdays I've had the cake on a kitchen side. Could explain my party problem.