More Awesome Than You!

The poll says it all.  PLEASE MAKES US THIS!

Eh, you realize if you let them not make lobster, they'd just find the next most annoying thing to make?

And then you will have to make another!!!   ;D

Nothing else annoys me but the Lobster.

Doesn't lobster have a higher chance of burning than anything else, or is that a myth?

I heard it was a 20% failure rate.  But then again I could be lying.

THat's what you say when it's the only thing they'll make. Just watch how annoyed you'll be when the only they'll make is now Baked Alaska. :P

I like my Sims to  make Lobster Thermidore.

Therefore I vote What do I need that for?  :P

If you were playing in an appropriately awesome manner, the question of what a sim would be cooking would never come up.

USE MACROTASTICS! It's More Awesome Than You!

I do.  I just don't use the shutup and sit down one.  So sometimes they will idle off to my (gasp) unlocked open floor plan kitchen and when they have abused the skillinator to max the cooking skill... BINGO!   Lobster thermidor.

There's an unawesome hack out there that stops all food burning. Ever since I installed it, I haven't been annoyed by Lobster or any other highly-flamable foods that sims love to make.

What exactly do you hate about Lobster? It fills hunger well, they don't take forever to eat it, and it doesn't take much longer to make than many other foods. It's much better than Turkey, at least, since Turkey seems to make sims fat very fast.

Lobster costs a princely ransom to make. Turkey only makes sims fat if you insist on feeding them when they're not hungry, and like pork chop, is highly filling, so you don't have to feed them often. Food costs money, and I hate food.

I try not to get my sims that high a level in cooking, simply because every 2 days they need to stock up on food :/

I just put them all on strict rationing and *I* decide when, and IF, they eat. Food costs money!

This is the way I understand it:

When sims skill up to a level that allows a new food item, sims have a 20% chance of burning that new food. Once they skill up to one level above the level required to prepare that certain food, the chance goes down to 10% (unless it is the first time they are preparing that food, then it's still 20% until after they have cooked it without burning it at least once).

Since they can't learn to cook lobster thermidor until the last cooking level of the game, they will always have a 20% chance of burning it since they would need to go up another level for it to drop to 10%, which is impossible to do.

If it is only a 20% failure rate, then mine are feverishly working to get that percentage in. They are forever burning it. I try to be vigilant and head them off at the pass, but ever so often they slip by and cook/burn that blasted lobster. Of course, once burned, it still costs the same amout of money, but it doesn't have the fill-up value. It's gotten to the point where I get angry when I see them wandering by with that big package and heading to the stove. If they would make anything else, it would not annoy me as much as that very expensive, burned, bug-like creature. Even the piss-poor ones go for the lobster; they have little money, so even having lobster available to cook doesn't make sense in the first place.

Do what I do; flip the fridge towards the wall. Works like a charm, even with nannies. (Just don't forget to unflip it every now and then  :P)

That is why I have the simlogical fridge. I refuse to even give them a fridge if I can't find that hack. I'd rather cheat my brains out and give them the all-in-one NPC who cooks for them. It isn't actually bad cheating if you turn on the "pay NPC hourly" option, which takes out like... 10-15 dollars a hour.

Thank you Veilchen, you summed up how I feel very well.  And I've tried the other methods of turning the fridge around or the Simlogical fridge, but that really gets on my nerves too.  If that works for you that's great.  Currently I am trying out JM's idea of locking the kitchen with the APO, but the thing I don't like about it is that they get stuck in the kitchen and can't leave unless I tell them to or macrotastics tells them too.  They'll be standing there with the BUY icon flashing over their head, and they can't exit the kitchen.  :(  Sometimes I have to unlock the kitchen when I want them to have dinner with a date, and I forget to lock it back.  So it works ok, but it's not perfect either.  :(  The other thing that I tried was using the Simlogical hob that only has stovetop functionis.  Then they can't cool lobster, but they can't cook other things as well.  But it does work rather well.

Lock it against "autonomous". Then sims will be able to enter and leave freely under a user-priority directive like BUY, but will not be permitted to enter for an autonomous-priority action.

I agree -- as soon as they can afford it, the original fridge goes out the door, and the simlogical no-autonomy fridge goes in.  Though I play with free will on, in this one case I agree with JMP and don't want them randomly making food on their own.  I usually have the cook with the highest skill points serve food, and then put the leftovers in his/her inventory for later use.

I did that.  They still have problems with BUY, although sometimes it will finally grab them and they'll run, but other times they get stuck in there, and occasionally, if I don't catch them in time, after a while they'll get bored and cook lobster anyway.  :P

How did they get INSIDE in the first place?

I sent them there to eat via macrotastics or to Make many and they got tired.

If they were eating by Macrotastics, they would have left to an eating surface after making their food.

The eating surface is in the kitchen.  Do you mean to put the table in another room from the fridge and stove?  How about the espresso machine?

I recommend studying the Contest of Awesomeness for what makes a truly Awesome house.

I have the same problem with Filet Mignon.  Mine want to cook it for every meal, including breakfast, and it starts at 6 cooking points so is much more of a problem.  Of course, that's because I have Squinge's unawesome mods that allow them to cook it at home (as well as Lime-Seared Prawns & Fried Chicken, but they don't seem so interested in those).  They also have an obsession with Ribs, although I think that's from 7 points on.  I wouldn't mind so much if it was only available for dinner, because who has steak for breakfast?  Pregnant Sims maybe, but that's all.  I am forever cancelling it out and getting them to cook something more appropriate. but sometimes I miss it.  The ChristianLov NPC's tend to start cooking themselves Filet Mignon too, but they rarely actually finish.  Luckily, the odd Maxis nannies that I use seem obsessed mainly with Santa cookies, although I do have one that has a passion for Baked Alaska and one that always cooks herself Chilli Con Carne whenever she has a spare moment.

I do. Conventional concepts of "time appropriate" meals are for wimps. Besides, sims, like me, only eat one meal, if that.

Yea, I have the mod (Dizzy's, I think) that lets them cook any food anytime, and they're always wanting to make salmon or pork chops for breakfast. :)

My sims hardly eat at all now, with the advent of the Snapdragon.  :D

the lobster is the boring/idiot doctor that come when they aspiration fail ?
.. well i realy prefear to see his ghost and to see my sim cry for one week, eaven see him again :P

i do not use the cheat unless to skip him :P
so if someone here will find a way to jump the idiot pischiartic, well, he will be the Awesomest for me :)

(http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/8434/screenhunter2au6.jpg)

Um, no. :)  Lobster is a type of crustacean native to the cold waters of the Atlantic and Pacific, usually living very near the coasts.  Delicious, especially the Maine ones. :)

Lobster Thermidor is wonderful!  My deli offers it at $250 a plate and it sells out quickly!

oh.. lol  :D
btw i hope that some one will think about it ::)

i've connected the lobster with the aspiration fail 'cause phonetics :P

Lobster -> Lob-otomize -> pisichiatry -> hated aspiration fail scene

Lobster Thermidor is the therapist???  (http://67.15.129.139/5685/53/emo/116.gif)

maybe as second job.. on the free time :P

Well, you know you can do away with all food just by sticking snapdragons next to the beds, toilets, chairs, etc.  Keeps 'em happy, full, and their bladders empty.

Maybe that's a needed hack: a snapdragon necklace!

If I wanted that effect then I'd just use maxmotives all the time.   ;)

When your Sims are treating their food as if it were a therapist, they certainly have need of that goofy Sims therapist!  :D


Heh, long time lurker is amused enough by the mental image of a lobster dressed in a doctor's coat to finally post. Thank you Maximillian for helping me to stop lurking and finally post!

Lobster = l'aragosta

My sims rarely ever go into aspiration failure, so it's pretty funny to me when they do.  :)

I've had one too many old Sims leave an unattended Lobster Thermidor because I wasn't paying attention to what they were doing.  I'd take it!  ;D

The thing I hate about it is that it is the most expensive thing they could possibly make, and they don't even need to eat it unless they are starving because the food value is so high. Then you cancel it out, but the food is already wasted- on the most expensive meal in the game!

The food value of Lobster is actually quite low. I don't know where you get the idea that Lobster has high food value, it's maybe only about 60% filling. Pork Chop has consistently demonstrated superior food value at lower prices!

And a sim doesn't need to eat, PERIOD, unless they are starving.

Also, with OFB, you don't have to cancel it out. You can let them finish, then take it away from them and stuff it in their inventory, and eat it later by Macro-eat when they're really hungry, or pull it back out the next time the headmaster drops by.

I think this is from the Prima Guide.  It lists Lobster Thermidor as having a Hunger Efficiency of 100%, with a cost of $8 to have and $32 per plate to serve ($5 per helping).  Of course, the skill of the cook and the type of counters have an effect on the final hunger satisfaction value of the food as it's prepared.  Pork chops are listed as having an 88% hunger efficiency and cost $7 to have and $28 to serve ($5 per helping). 

Of course, I know how most feel about the Prima Guide, but this is why most consider Lobster to be so filling.  And I have observed in the game that when a pregnant sim is starving and has high cooking skills, she can fix a plate of Lobster and have it fill her to full green.  But with the No Eat Crap hack, most sims with half a hunger bar who eat Lobster only eat half of it.

Empirical studies firmly disagree:

Lobster Thermidor, cooked by 10-point chef, best cooking equipment available: ~114 FPV.
Pork Chop, cooked by same chef, same equipment: ~150 FPV.

The numbers speak for themselves. A porkchop is worth about 75% hunger, Lobster at 57%. Guess which one costs more?
Conclusion: Like used terlet paper, the Prima Guide is full of shit, as usual. I have no idea where Prima comes with their "hunger efficiency" numbers, because they're 100% USDA Grade A BS.

Well I had one sim with all his skills but he LOVED lobster thermidor..thats all he would make. The only trouble with that is ..He ALWAYS started fires.

Hmm, maybe it's time to 'forget' to put a fire alarm in his kitchen, and put him out of his misery. :)

That's not a real solution to the problem, though.  If you did that, you'd have to kill every single sim who has 10 cooking points.  :P  I use Carrigon's safe cooking hack because it still allows them to burn food, but it doesn't start fires.  When is the last time you had a cooking fire?  How many have you had in your life?  And wouldn't you think a Sim with the highest cooking skill possible would have learned not to start fires?  That's why I don't consider this hack a cheat, but something that makes the game more realistic.  So even if they sneak off and cook burn lobster, I don't have to worry that they will burn down the kitchen.

I don't mind lobster thermidor in general, but I do wish the stupid nanny would stop making it (for herself or as a group meal). Nannies don't get to eat that well, darn it!

I usually adjust nannies down to 9 cooking points.  Not that that takes care of the many other nanny issues.

Use APO to lock nannies out of kitchens.

I don't know if some sims are naturally clumsy but I have 2-3 sims in my neighbourhood that burn food 80% of the time. One of them actually had 6 icons after one another of burnt food (mind you this sim has 5 cooking points) and can't even make a grilled cheese sammich without burning it :P

I need to check if those sims share a mutual starsign or something heh.

If I lock the nanny out of the kitchen, how will she feed the babies/toddlers?

She won't, obviously. Which is a good thing, because nannies otherwise obsessively force-feed babies even when they're not hungry, littering the floor with bottles everywhere.

Isn't nobabyharassment meant to stop that sort of thing?

I've noticed that the baby controller will call the parents to feed a baby at least once (sometimes twice) during the baby stage, so it appears to me that babies need to be fed.

With toddlers I can keep an eye on their hunger level and unlock the kitchen when they need feeding, but what do I do about babies?

Nannies have their own obsessive-compulsive behaviors internal to their NPC codes.

If the Baby Controller pushes the feed action onto the Nanny, won't the APO allow that since it's not an autonomous action?

I don't think it would force them to make the jello. Babies don't need jello. Nobody needs jello!

I meant feeding the baby/toddler a bottle.  :P

Thank you for the awesome idea.  I hadn't thought of using APO for locking up the fridge, and it sounds like it would solve my problems with Lobster Thermidor and other unnecessary cooking.  It would be really helpful for grilled cheese sims as well.  I can't remember to lock and unlock the door all the time, and it's a hassle.

Does this apply to sim kids as well?  I get that "_____'s just skin and bones" message all the time, and I get concerned about the social worker showing up.   ::)  Do you just keep a nanny on the lot, or is there another warning to feed the kid before the social worker shows up?  I usually get my sim kids to study cooking first and let them live off muffins, or I serve jello if they are hungry before then.  I wonder how you handle keeping the kids fed in your game, if you don't mind sharing your method.

You could put a "bottles only" fridge in the nursery, then lock the kitchen against nannies. I modified Targa's mini-fridge for this purpose. However, if you have kids on the lot, you do need to leave them some way of getting food -- like a child stove, or having the parents cook a meal and leave it somewhere the kids can get at it. Or you could have the kids order pizza, I guess.

Thanks, Sara.  I didn't know there was such a thing, but it's a great idea -- except I can imagine when nannies go crazy and start getting out 10 bottles when the kid needs a change or a nap.  ;)  I found the nursery fridge on MTS2 made by Christianlov.  Maybe that's the one?  I'm going to try it out.

There was one somewhere on MTS2. But if you can't find it, I can send you the one I made out of Targa's. The mini fridge is cuter in nurseries than a full-size fridge.

I've been doing this lately, and it works great. No big deal with a house that has 2 or 3 sims, but essential with 6+ sims.

The presence of a nanny blocks the SS from showing up at all.

Nothing. Just wait until you get back. It can't starve, and the SS cannot come while the nanny is still there. That, or you can use the baby controller with Lobonanny on to stop the compulsive feeding, but frankly you don't want the nanny screwing with your food supply for itself, either.

Alternatively, you can get christianlov's All-in-one and Nanny NPCs over at MTS2, and hire that nanny instead.  The controller lets you set the level of the nanny's autonomy, and they're more intelligent than the maxis ones anyway. :)

As well as his nannys, I recommend his smart fridge version B. It will work with or without his nannies.

Put one fridge in the kitchen and don't change any settings. This fridge will serve food but not bottles.

Put the second one in the nursery and turn off all the food options and turn on bottle options.

Now sims will retrieve food from the kitchen fridge and bottles from the nursery fridge.
Or if you are breast feeding, just use one fridge in the kitchen. Since bottles aren't available, the sim will always breast feed.

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=177829

Get the last file on the page. SmartFridge20060728B.zip The other fridges on this page aren't used by the sims correctly. Don't get the globals. That was a failed attempt to get his original smart fridge to work right. The last file has it all working correct and is a local object.

If you are using his nanny, you can also pick up the smart milk on this page. His nanny will always feed smart milk to toddlers if you have this object out. It can also be used by your sims without worrying about their aspiration levels. I think that is cheating. But to each their own.

JMP's Baby Controller has an option to always feed smart milk.  However, I understand this is not a good thing though, since there's the possibility that additional feedings of smart milk can reverse the smart milk bug.

That only happens if you feed smart milk again while they are still glowing from before, doesn't it?

One dose of smart milk is usually enough for my toddlers to set their IQ to 300.  It will last until they get reset by an error or the installation of a patch or EP.  You can test this for yourself by using the Test IQ function of the Baby Controller or Lot Debugger.  A sim has a baseline of 100 for IQ, thinking cap will boost to 200, and smart milk boosts to 300.  The thinking cap will unstick the smart milk bug.  The highest IQ I've seen is a sim with smart milk stuck being trained on a career reward, which gives them an IQ of 400.  I've also seen this with smart milked children being taught to study.

I took a look at that thread, and the only comment about not using the global hack or the other fridges was yours.  The creator didn't update his post to say the global hack wasn't required for the fridges to work, although he had the opportunity to do so when he added the updated file for the smart fridges.  Also, he left up fridges that you say "aren't used by the sims correctly".

I am very choosy about the creators of the mods in my game, probably more choosy than I need to be.  I have to say that it worries me that a modder will leave a "failed attempt" and fridges that "aren't used ... correctly" up for download.

Three simple words have saved my sanity from all of this mess.

"Free Will Off"

Works like a charm.

But that's no fun.  :P

He left the nursery fridge up because it was a simple one. It only leaves the bottles options in place. Which means that sims will get bottles from it, but they are just as likely to get the bottle from the kitchen fridge instead. It works, you just can't count on the sims using it all the time.

As far as the first smart fridge and the globals, you'll see the creator posted about how he was trying to get the sims to use the fridge in the nursery by trying that method. Later he posts about how he did the experiments with version B to get the sims to use the fridges for the right things.

He leaves up items that work because if he pulled them, someone would complain. I worked on testing this fridge during development and that is how I know which ones work which way. None of them will hurt your game, or cause crashes, or do anything bad. But if you want them to use one fridge for food and a different one for bottles, it needs to be done the way I said. I've tested all these fridges in different combinations, with and without the globals, so I know.

In my opinion, he should pull the original smart fridge and its globals, but he feels that SOMEONE might have a use for it the way it stands and so leaves it for those people. As far as being choosy about creators, this man has done some excellent work and will always fix things that don't work correctly, or even add other options that downloaders have requested.

The thread started when another person and I asked for a fridge that only gave out bottles. He made that-the nursery fridge. But what I should have asked for was a fridge that only gave bottles and for sims to use that one exclusively for bottles, which the nursery fridge did not do. That lead to the development of the other 2 fridges to solve the problem. English isn't his first language and he doesn't always update posts if he agrees with what other's have said, but will correct wrong info. If you feel that you want a different combination than what I suggested, by all means get it and try it out for yourself. If you think you need the globals, try them, or post asking him if he feels they are needed with the version B fridge.

I'm using the combo I spoke about in my game and it is working flawlessly.