Eco Footprints no longer change very quickly from “Green” to “Neutral.” Knox rejoices.
Fixed in Patch 1.68.154/ 1.33
This thread was a bit of a mixture so if you're still having issues, please create a new thread.
Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 163.134.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All expansions, all game packs, most stuff packs (I don't have Luxury Party, Fitness, Bowling, or My First Pet).
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Start in a neighborhood that is Neutral by default (any neighborhood except Grimm's Quarry or Port Promise). Create or download several lots with Green eco footprint, such that toggling eco footprint from the map shows half or more of the lots as green.
What happens when the bug occurs? You'll find that the neighborhood eco footprint bar in the UI will not change no matter what you do and regardless of the number of Green lots in the neighborhood; however, lots that have a Green eco footprint will have light effects and aurora in the skies even though the neighborhood is Neutral, while other lots will not (even on the same night in the same neighborhood, traveling from Neutral to Green lots and then back again will cause the aurora to turn on and then off instantly).
What do you expect to see? I expect to see some progression in the UI eco footprint bar when several lots are Green. Even if it does not tip the neighborhood fully to Green status, the green side of the bar UI should fill at least a little. I also expect the aurora to appear or disappear based on the neighborhood eco footprint rather than the individual lot's.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure
This bug persisted not only after I removed all CC, but also after I did a full factory reset of my game to ensure no lingering corruption. I have tested this bug in Connifer Station, Foxbury Institute, and Forgotten Hollow. When I tried to start a game in Grimm's Quarry, the bar moved alarmingly rapidly from Green to Neutral, but it did move. The aurora inconsistency affected Grimm's Quarry, as well.
Also if you turn them green through gameplay means. I first discovered the bug when trying to make Foxbury go green by adding green build elements and objects, enacting eco-friendly N.A.P.s, and having my student sim install eco upgrades on all appliances. That said, however, I had already updated the campus with lots I downloaded from the gallery a long time ago, when Discover University first came out, so I can't be certain that having a downloaded lot is not a trigger for the bug.
Upon further reflection and reading a number of eco footprint bug posts across the internet (not just on this site), I believe this problem, "Eco footprint changes too fast" (https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/UNSURE-ECO-Eco-Footprint-changes-too-fast/td-p/9180818), and "Eco footprint bar continuously declines after one fire" (https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/NEEDS-INPUT-ECO-Eco-Footprint-Bar-Continuously-Declines-After/m-p/9180816) to all be the same bug.
What it seems is happening is that the two types of eco footprint--by lot and by neighborhood, respectively--are not communicating with each other, such that you can change individual lots to green or industrial, but the neighborhood eco footprint calculation is not taking the lot scores into account. As a result, the neighborhood eco footprint bar, in what it perceives as the absence of any data, either drives relentlessly toward neutral or gets stuck on neutral.
As this is a major, central gameplay feature of the pack, I hope the developers will give this issue their immediate attention and release a fix for it soon.
(And just in case it helps to know this, I formerly worked as a professional game tester, so I have been both rigorous and meticulous in my information-gathering and testing of this bug.)
Having same/similar issue. In Port Promise. Got neighborhood to fully green, steady through two days of gameplay and I did travel to another lot during that time. Saved. Reopened game today and eco footprint rapidly decreasing, all the way back to neutral in one day and looks like it will hit industrial soon. No changes whatsoever to what is on my lot or others.
I also have part of an oven somehow in my lawn, people jogging naked, the fizzing station suddenly not able to be interacted with, and people walking into my house without being invited. Pretty annoying bugs this time.
