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sleepsinbloom's avatar
sleepsinbloom
Rising Adventurer
3 years ago

Re: Sims 4 needs to make strays optional

I'm sorry for bumping this after a year, but I can honestly say that I also I have this problem. I bought the Cats & Dogs expansion pack today after some thoughts about how it could liven up my saves. I was excited at first, but after finally getting everything set to go in and started plays, it became a little too distressing to see the game generate so both healthy and sick strays that I ended up having to abandon the save and disabling the expansion pack manually. I understand that the pack has been out for years and there are options like wellness treats, as well as modding out sickness in strays, but I personally won't be able to continue with this pack if I have to resort to modding out features.

I give thanks to the developers who worked on the pack in the past, but I do hope there is some consideration for an option like this to be introduced some day.

4 Replies

  • simsplayer818's avatar
    simsplayer818
    Hero
    3 years ago
    @sleepsinbloom the strays will only be in Brindleton Bay and in the jungle if you have Jungle Adventure, they bother me more in the jungle. They look so sad and sick, that's the worst part for me. It's time to put the controller down and interrupt my sleeping tabby cat's afternoon nap for a reassuring hug!
    So to make peace with it I add pet rescues. I've got one in the Gallery called Brindleton Bay Kennels for dogs and it's owned by a Sim with the vet skill. She has a small vet's office and stocked the animal treats vending machine with Wellness treats bought at the Vet Clinic because it takes a while to craft them. There are converted stables full of beds and food, a play area which strays seem to love and it's a dog hangout. She's adopted 7 dogs to keep but has adopted others and rehomed them with family and friends using Split Household. I don't play it for long with the Dog Hangout trait, it just helps me to know it's there. So creating a lot like that may make the pack more playable or bearable for you. I only go to the beach when my Sims want a pet, in fact it's how most of them get their pets.
    I'm doing my cat rescue today and adding it to the gallery tomorrow, it's at the docks where there are a lot of stray cats.
    I'm noticing a few less strays lately, it's been worse before. The wellness treats still don't always work either, which I've reported, it's hit and miss.
    So a couple of pet rescues help me, in fact the whole house is open to them so I tell myself they do all have a home. The dogs are taken care of by Amelie and the cats are loved by Kaya.
  • sleepsinbloom's avatar
    sleepsinbloom
    Rising Adventurer
    3 years ago
    @simsplayer818 Yeah, I noticed the strays will populate only those worlds, but those two worlds just happen to be a couple of my favorites unfortunately. I still have my number 1's San Myshuno and Mt. Komorebi though, so it's not all gloomy.
    I also decided to do the same and created a vet clinic with additional functions for strays to give myself peace of mind whenever I decide to restart in Brindleton Bay. It came out okay, but unlike yours (I'll have to check it when I have free time!), I haven't gotten to the kennels yet and needs more TLC before it's ready to be considered for gallery. Anyway, I feel little bit better about the situation now that I have some ideas about making it less personally sad. Thank you for your suggestions though!
  • gooochyeee's avatar
    gooochyeee
    Seasoned Ace
    3 years ago
    @simsplayer818 I agree. It always makes me upset seeing stray sick dogs in both the jungle and brindilton bay. They also populare in moonwood mill but that i dont mind as thats a place i expect and think irl you would see them runnibg wild in an abandoned town taken over by werewolves
  • simsplayer818's avatar
    simsplayer818
    Hero
    3 years ago

    One of the most frustrating things for me is that Adopt only pops up in certain locations. If they could change it for us that would be a slight improvement. That way, if you meet a stray and don't get to adopt it before it trudges sadly away then you can travel somewhere with it and adopt it later because it is added to your contacts list. I've even tried travelling back to the beach with them but Adopt doesn't pop up if you do that, I have to hope to bump into them again. My Sims end up taking trips with a stray, making a fuss of it and then having to leave it.

    Since the social menu changed earlier in the year it's been even more problematic and I often get "feel the love" before or instead of Adopt. I've reported that already as it doesn't seem quite right.

    I've found since adding Cat's and Dogs years ago, I can only adopt at the beach, the area around the vet's office, the docks/saloon area and the jungle. I have to actually travel there too...it doesn't work if they live next to the saloon but it works if they live near the beach/vets. It works sporadically on a Dog Hangout lot, as I found with my kennels. My new Sim lives on the yacht club lot and can't adopt strays near her home. (When I last created her she lived near the vets and it worked fine). She now has to travel into the saloon to adopt nearby or she maxes friendship with a sick stray but can't adopt... that is utterly heartbreaking for me. It's just too sad. She got to 2am and was complaining she was tired and hungry but Adopt wouldn't pop up so I kept trying till poor Brandy wandered off. So I reset my game and console and deleted my locally saved data, did a data synch and tried again but same thing.

    If the Adopt function could be improved so it always works under any circumstances and at any location then that would be so much appreciated. I'll test again once I've added the Cat Hangout trait to my cat rescue Calico Cottage today.

    I'm hoping that when I add the horses on release day (super excited) that the horses we can rescue are not sick too but we'll soon find out. If not I don't think it will bother me seeing stray horses around in the wild as I've seen wild horses IRL (most amazing experience ever!). It will only bother me if they have those spinning stars, red nose, green haze, or the blue drool!