Bathroom Controller: In Soviet Russia, Bathroom Uses You!

[RainbowTigress]

I played a college dorm for the first time in a while, since my last batch of kids graduated and moved home, and I've been raising babies and getting kids ready for college.  I was having the problem described by ness above, only there were 7 dormies and 2 playable sims.  I tried resetting the TP, but that only worked for a minute, because they were soon piled up again, with one of the dormies exhibiting bladder desperation actions, i.e., clutching his crotch.  I finally ended up using Merola's mirror to get him to the toilet, but things still weren't right.  After everyone cleared the bathrooms, I sold all the TP and bought new ones.  I configured them as before, with the male TP rejecting females and vice versa.  I think this may have fixed it, but I'll have to play more and see.  I usually cancel out the automatic TP action queued up by the Sleep clock for sims who don't need to go because it causes a traffic jam in the mornings when everyone wakes up, and they don't really need to go because they are going to run straight out the door to work/school and they can go there. 

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, since I've been using this hack, after JM insisted I try it out, I wouldn't be without it, and although very occasionally a sim is not getting thrown out since I put in Macrotastics as well, and updated the BC I don't think it's caused by diagonal doors, but doors which opened inwards.  I frequently use Windkeeper's single sliding doors which solves that problem but otherwise, just make sure your doors open outwards so sims don't stop in mid-flight and decide to stay put!

the thing I find really wierd, though, is when there are three or four bathrooms in the house, you have a family of active sims running hell for leather all over the house to go to the toilet in one, and then shower in another!  And whatever happened to ensuite bathrooms for the parents?

However, I do like the way, if there's a bath and shower, or a combi, then a sloppy sim gets to use the bath and save a puddle all over the floor!  Also, that they unclog the toilet before you even find out which one went kaput!

[RainbowTigress]

Heh, I'm glad you've come to see the wonders of the Toilet Paper, ZZ.    Sims will go shower in another bathroom sometimes if the shower is broken in the one they are in.  Sometimes though they will repair the shower first.  I guess it depends on how desperate they are.  Also, I'm not sure about doors that open inward, I'll have to pay attention to that.  I do know that JM has said the TP is not compatible with custom doors.  I had a problem with using it a while back with Inge's locking doors.  But if you say it's working for you, I dunno, just keep that in mind in case you have any strange behaviors down the road.  It is kind of hard to have bathrooms reserved for parents in the master bedroom, but I don't see any way around this, except to not put TP in that bathroom.  Sims will still try to use it autonomously, though, because they just have this way of knowing that things exist without even being able to see them.

[Nec]

From what I have found is that sloppy sims will go to another bathroom if there is only a shower so they can use a tub and not make messy puddles.

I am having a problem with macros, too. And even if I have a roll for each toilet stall in a dorm, they all stand there looking dumbfounded in the bathroom. It also seems if there is only one toilet and one roll, that fairly often a second sim (usually non-playable) will walk into the bathroom and just stand there. If there is only one sim trying to use it there is no problem.

However, there is no way I could live without this in my game - especially in businesses where the non-playables all gather in the smallest space (usually the bathroom or behind the bar) so they can all stand there and scream their heads off because they are all trapped because they are all trying to get in and out at the same time.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, I have one sloppy sim who, before I used the BC, would always choose the bathroom with only a bath, but now he quite often goes from the toilet in a bathroom with a shower-tub to one with only a shower!

Oh, Rainbow, try windkeepers sliding doors if you have them, they are great for small bathrooms.  In fact, hers are the only custom doors apart from recolours that I really use - I love her La Fenetre door too, and that works fine with the BC.  I think it's because these are not new meshes, but adaptations of existing Maxis doors that they are so problem-free.

Yes, I finally gave into the temptations of the BC after I created a family with 2 adults, 2 teens and 2 kids and only the old Broke trailer to live in!  Trying to get 6 sims to the toilet in the morning before work/school was a nightmare, even when I added an outhouse!  (The family now occupy a pair of semis with a couple of connecting doors, and it really is funny to watch them scurrying about when the BC and the sleepclock click into action!)

[dadditude]

does the bathroom controller allow visitors to use showers/tubs? (for home businesses, for example)

[RainbowTigress]

ZZ:  Are Windkeeper's doors at TSR?  I don't have a membership there, and it seems a lot of her stuff is in the pay section.

Dadditude:  I don't have OFB, but JM says the BC is supposed to let visitors use the shower if they normally would be able to, like if they had been invited to stay the night.  Otherwise, they get kicked out.  I have observed visiting sims trying to go in the bathroom and use the shower after they've been there for awhile, and it keeps kicking them out.  I thought it might be because I use Monique's Visitors Stay Later hack, so visitors will stay after a party and they will stay until their needs drop to a critical level, not because of the time.  If I make them selectable with Merola's mirror or some other method, they will use the shower and stay longer until their energy drops too low.  But if they end up sleeping in the bed after woohoo, that isn't even a problem.    I just have my sims say good bye to them when they get tired of them.

[Nec]

does the bathroom controller allow visitors to use showers/tubs? (for home businesses, for example)

It does not let them in my game, even when sims are invited to stay the night. If I leave one bathroom without BUY they will use that one and take a shower. This happens whether or not I have other hacks/mods in my game.

[dadditude]

Is there any way to override the 'kicking out' behavior when visiting sims try to take a bath/shower? I use Squinge's community lot sleeping and visitors can use tubs/showers hacks to enable the creation of a home business hotel/bed & breakfast, but BUY keeps kicking my guests out, making them leave when their hygiene goes red. I want to keep BUY in the bathroom so that my family sims can/will use it too. Seems to me that if BUY isn't set to block visitors from using the other facilities, it shouldn't block them from using tubs & showers either, right?

[Nec]

I use those too, and the only solutions are to keep BUY in the bathrooms that you only want the family to use, or keep the toilets and the showers/baths in different rooms. Visiting sims are far less likely to get into a competition over a shower than a toilet. Also, if you just put them in some, the visitors will try to get in the shower in a BUY bathroom, but will only use the toilet. They will choose to use the shower/bath in a bathroom without BUY in it with no problems after being kicked out of the one with BUY.

[jsalemi]

And if you have OFB you can keep them out of the bathrooms with BUY in the first place by locking the door to only allow household members to use the room.

[J. M. Pescado]

Is there any way to override the 'kicking out' behavior when visiting sims try to take a bath/shower? I use Squinge's community lot sleeping and visitors can use tubs/showers hacks to enable the creation of a home business hotel/bed & breakfast, but BUY keeps kicking my guests out, making them leave when their hygiene goes red. I want to keep BUY in the bathroom so that my family sims can/will use it too. Seems to me that if BUY isn't set to block visitors from using the other facilities, it shouldn't block them from using tubs & showers either, right?

Visitors are not specifically kicked out for that, but some visitors are not allowed to use showers, probably to discourage sims from visiting your sims just to use their showers. BUY tests for this condition. Sims are not permited to use bathroom equipment autonomously without BUY's control, since that would cause a traffic jam.

[Nec]

Well, I am having no problems in dorms now since I reduced the number of toilets and showers to 2 per bathroom. I also have extra showers in a different room for each gender. Working perfectly now. It worked with 3 toilets and one shower in the bathroom, but that is not enough for all those stinky dormies.

Pescado, which visitors are not allowed? Is it at all based on their sloppy/neat level, hygene level, and what is available (shower, tub, or combo) based on these things?

[J. M. Pescado]

Pescado, which visitors are not allowed? Is it at all based on their sloppy/neat level, hygene level, and what is available (shower, tub, or combo) based on these things?

It's based on a bit set invisibly in the "visitor greet state" flags. Sims which are set to the "sleep over" state can use it, sims which have not are disallowed (and if the bathroom controller were to try to push them to do it, it would just hang). What exactly causes this to be set, other than the obvious case, is a great mystery, as some places sims seem to do it, and other places they don't.

[Nec]

OK, that makes sense, and would explain why that was happening.

Also, after much experimentation today with dorms, bathrooms, and their configuration, I seem to have found a winner. Someone else has probably figured this out already, but maybe not. I now have one stall and one shower in a single room, one BUY in each. Each door (not each BUY) is gender specific. I leave the toilet paper at the default setting. The best thing about it is that it takes up the same amount of space as a bathroom you would normally make for a dorm. Here's a link to a pic if you are interested. This has been working flawlessly so far.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y249/necrobabe/dormbath.jpg

[dadditude]

This is similar to the setup I use in my homes, although I don't use gender-specific doors in the homes.

[J. M. Pescado]

If you're making the bathrooms gender-specific, you should configure the TP accordingly, or else the overflow punt may end up trying to send a sim to the wrong one.

[dadditude]

However, my master bath now looks stupid with a roll of toilet paper mounted above the tub.

Someone should make an invisible recolor for the controller - then you can make it disappear when it has to be in odd places like that.

[Nec]

OK, I will try that out. I haven't had any problems yet (in a 14 student dorm), but I think I will take your advice on this...you are the creator after all 

[RainbowTigress]

However, my master bath now looks stupid with a roll of toilet paper mounted above the tub.

Someone should make an invisible recolor for the controller - then you can make it disappear when it has to be in odd places like that.

Why did you have to put it over the tub?  Wouldn't it fit over the toilet, on the side, or over the back?  I usually fit it over the back of the toilet, but if there is a window there, I'll put it to the side.  If that doesn't work for some reason, I'll use moveobjects to make it go where I want.    But it will usually go in one of those places.

I made some recolors, including a black one that blends in better with darker decor.  They are in the Peasantry.  I tried doing an invisible one, but it didn't work, and I didn't try again.  Besides, I think it would be easy to "lose" it if you can't see it. 

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=2414.0

BTW, I made some recolors for the baby controller also:

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=2415.0

/end shameless self-promo.

[jsalemi]

Have I mentioned how fond I've gotten of the 'CTRL + ALT' keyboard shortcut/cheat OFB introduced?  It's great for placing the BUY controller without having to stop and turn moveobjects on if you forgot.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I must say I miss seeing my party guests nip off for a quick bath or shower, so I think it's definitely a case of needing a bathroom without BUY.  Often, though, on community lots or home businesses, I provide the visitors with Inge's apartment sink, and they'll take sponge baths - but obviously needs to be separate from the BC.  Can't understand why, though, visitors will use the spongebath option, but won't use the apartment showers!

[BlueSoup]

I'm still getting an issue with the headmaster scenario and showing the bathroom - as soon as I temporarily remove the controller, he can be shown the room.

And something else I noticed today is that the controller wouldn't let them in when I tried to have someone change a toddler's appearance at the mirror.

[ZephyrZodiac]

It's bad enough when the poor little mite goes to use his potty and gets thrown out before he's finished!

Haven't restarted my game yet to check things out, but I did wonder whethe mactotastics will recognise a bathroom mirror now for charisma.  (And yes, I know it won't rocognise custom ones, but it doesn't allow them to use a Maxis one either - at least, it didn't.)

[BlueSoup]

Haven't restarted my game yet to check things out, but I did wonder whethe mactotastics will recognise a bathroom mirror now for charisma.

Nope - just tried it and it doesn't allow for that either.  Which kinda sucks because it's a bad idea to put mirrors in the bedroom, and decor (yes decor, JM, some people decorate their houses for other than purely utilitarian purposes) don't always allow for a mirror.