Meditations on the Bathroom Controller

[notovny]

I've been using the Bathroom Controller for awhile, and noticed that one of my Sims,  Maria Roomies actually gained a Logic Point while sitting on the Pot. Must have been doing the crossword puzzle.  Is this something the Bathroom controller automatically  does, or was I just lucky? Inquiring minds want to know.

I was throwing a party at the same house and had a neighbor with no Mechanical skill choose to use the toilet.. which was broken. The Bathroom Controller seized her, and made her attempt to  fix the toilet,  which she tried, failed, and began complaining about how she had to use the bathroom. Intrigued, I let this cycle go on for awhile to see whether she would fix the toilet before she truly had to go.

Ultimately, she wet herself, and then froze in the bathroom; remaining even after the party ended. I had to delete her with move_objects on.

[J. M. Pescado]

That's certainly odd. I'm not sure what causes these cases of freezing people mention, but if you could force an error on a frozen sim and attach the log, that might shed some insight. A sim ordinarily SHOULD either be thrown out or made to use the bathroom: THe only reason you'd see any odd cycle is if they were supposed to use it, but for some reason couldn't. I can't imagine why that would happen, though. Any unusual custom toilets?

[ZephyrZodiac]

I used to love the "Interesting" toilet for Sims1 (from C&C Enterprise) which increased interest points while using the loo!

[Venusy]

The neighbour freezing in the toilet happened to me as well. The toilet was dirty, and quite possibly broken (I hadn't actually checked whether the toilet had been broken, but it was very dirty). As far as I remember, it was the Ingelogical Pay Toilet. When I made the frozen sim selectable, her queue had been wiped, and all her needs were at max, except enviroment. I gave her a "Go Here" command to go out the bathroom, and she unfroze.

[Ancient Sim]

I have recently noticed Sims gaining points at odd times.  I have had several gaining points the whole time they were asleep.  It seems to happen when they have been using the Skillinator, somehow it doesn't quite 'close down'.  I stopped one Sim using it as he needed to get ready for work and he carried on gaining skills the whole time he was using the bathroom.  As it was a skill he needed for his promotion I was hoping he would carry-on and get it while he was at work, but he didn't.  I've also had them carry-on gaining while they were eating.  Oh, and I had a kid carry-on gaining body skill after he stopped being taught on the obstacle course.  It happens quite a lot in my game now I come to think of it.  Not sure whether the points actually count, but if they do I'm not complaining!

[J. M. Pescado]

As far as I remember, it was the Ingelogical Pay Toilet. When I made the frozen sim selectable, her queue had been wiped, and all her needs were at max, except enviroment. I gave her a "Go Here" command to go out the bathroom, and she unfroze.

I'm not sure how compliant the Ingelogical toilet is with the rest of the toilet standards. Were any diagonal doors involved? Diagonal doors give the game's routing engine fits every so often, especially as it pertains to throwing sims out of rooms.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Not to mention maids entering them in the first place!

[garyalex]

I've also had issues with the bathroom controller on occasion if a sim is low in mechanical skill and takes their sweet time trying to unclog a toilet or fix a shower/bath. I get a spawn of "Be Used" icons in the queue. Generally the fix for this is to use the "Go Here" to somewhere outside the bathroom and cancel the "Be Used" icons like mad, and get another high-mechanical sim to fix the relevant item. Wish the toilet and bathroom stuff wouldn't break so damn often.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I suppose someone at Maxis thinks it's funny!  But honestly, how often does your loo, (or mine) get clogged?  Understandable if no-one ever cleans it, but otherwise, it's just some wierd and very childish Maxian joke!  Likewise, although showers are prone to problems, it's really not that often that a washer goes on a bath-tap!  On the other hand, the cooker and fridge never go wrong, but that certainly isn't true of RL!

[garyalex]

The breaking toilets and showers really piss me off (haha) ... but the stove is another story ... it seems virtually indestructible. The last time mine went up in flames I had to get a new one.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, I don't think that's ever happened to me, but I'd venture to suggest that a stove that keeps going up in flames when sims have relatively high cooking skills has something wrong with it!  and there should be the option of repairing it!

[RainbowTigress]

Recently I've had several bathroom sinks get stuck with the water running.  The animations and the sound are as if someone left the water running, but it's not broken.  The water doesn't overflow the basin.  Forcing an error does nothing.  Sometimes having a sim wash hands or get a drink will reset it, but the only way to fix it seems to sell it and buy a new one.  It doesn't cause any problems in gameplay, but the sound is annoying.  It's the cheap bathroom sink, and it happened several times in a dorm, and now it happened in a house in the regular neighborhood.  Anyone else have this happen?  The bugs continue...

[ZephyrZodiac]

I have the sink remain full of water.  At one time, before the patch, I used to get bubbles remain after replacing sinks and showers.

What annoys me most is the drip drip drip sound you get before a sink or toilet goes wrong - it can go on for sim days!

[cyperangel]

There is a drip drip drip sound before they break?

Guess ill have to turn of the blasted music to hear that then... *wanders of to try and find the dripping sound*

[ZephyrZodiac]

Don't get it so often with Uni, but do still hear it occasionally!  And it is soooooo annoying, like chinese water torture!