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BunnyLynn1228's avatar
BunnyLynn1228
5 years ago
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Eco Lifestyle water usage glitch?

Hey guys, I have been scrambling to read up on the Eco Lifestyle expansion since it came out- I was not prepared for how drastically it would change the game.  My Sims currently only have a 2 bat...
gameplay issue
  • RandomBuzziness's avatar
    RandomBuzziness
    5 years ago

    @BunnyLynn1228 Just to add to what @jpkarlsen  already posted: I have two households in Brindleton Bay that I switch back and forth to playing. Both houses sound similar to yours, they are modest in size with two full bathrooms each. I've done all of the "Water Recycler" upgrades to all of the sinks/showers/toilets in both houses but I haven't yet done any of the "H2O Siphoner" upgrades. For each house I use a single upgraded dew collector and that's it for water collectors (I admit I did go a little crazy with the solar & wind generators!). Here's a snapshot of my utility bill for one of the houses:

    This was taken on a regular spring morning with some clouds but no rain. I know on rainy days it looks even better than this. My other BB house has almost identical numbers on its utility bill. So to answer your question about how many dew collectors and water generators should you need, if you do the things that @jpkarlsen recommended in theory you might be able to break even with just one upgraded dew collector.

    In addition to completing some upgrades in your bathrooms & your dew collectors, plus making sure that those NAPS aren't killing your water bill, one other thing I can suggest is adding the "Natural Well" lot trait to your lot. Yeah it's almost like cheating but in your case it sounds like maybe a nice temp fix until you can get everything else straightened out. Here's a snapshot of the utility bill for the same house if I add the "Natural Well" lot trait:

    So yeah it improves the Rate of Change by almost 30 points! I don't normally use it for this lot but it's nice to know it's there if I need it. I have disabled NPC voting on NAPs in my game options so I get to choose all of the NAPs for this neighborhood ;-D With all the upgrades I did for these two houses I changed the Eco footprint for the entire neighborhood to Green, so that was pretty cool too. Anyhow, good luck with all of this. :D

BunnyLynn1228's avatar
BunnyLynn1228
5 years ago

@RandomBuzziness omg, that is so helpful!!! Especially the snap shots, thank you so much for all of this great info!!! I am definitely going to try all of that out! 

I think I also understand some fundamentals better. I feel like previously in the Sims tinkering and upgrading was more of a hobby. With this expansion pack it definitely seems like it's a necessity now to have a handy/crafty/dumpster diving Sim in the house, lol. I was going to buy the appropriate items and leave upgrading for later, but I'm switching gears now and making upgrading a priority! ;D

Thank you so much!!!

RandomBuzziness's avatar
RandomBuzziness
Seasoned Ace
5 years ago

@BunnyLynn1228 Well I have definitely learned a lot from reading @jpkarlsen 's comments in the past! One other nice thing about the Eco Lifestyle pack is that you can use Eco upgrade parts to install the upgrades without needing a high Handiness skill like you would for most other upgrades. You can fabricate the Eco upgrade parts on an EL Fabricator or if you get lucky you can find them for sale on the marketplace tables in a Community Space lot. You can create your own Community Space lot in any world you like, I have placed one in my Brindleton Bay neighborhood. If you give it the "Community Space" lot type then NPC townies will automatically work the craft tables along with those bug food trailers also from the EL pack-- for some reason Sims go crazy for food made from bugs... O_o. I decorated it with a lot of lights and decor items from the Holiday Stuff Pack and I put some picnic tables in there, stuff like that, so it always reminds me of an old-fashioned outdoor crafts fair. I added three of the EL market tables, plus a candle-making station, and a fizzy juicer. In the "Maker Space" version I added a Fabricator so if I ever need one of those I just vote that version in. I even gave it the "Cat Hangout" lot trait so there are always stray cats buzzing around (hey it is Brindleton Bay after all). There are a lot of fun things about this pack once you get the hang of it :D

  • BunnyLynn1228's avatar
    BunnyLynn1228
    5 years ago

    @RandomBuzziness That is really good to know!!! I haven't fabricated anything yet so I'm really glad to know I can make Eco Upgrade parts on that!

    Honestly before posting this, I read this long article on every detail of the pack. Realized why I couldn't see the stuff my sim was recycling in his inventory (it was turning in to bits and pieces, lol).
    And, I nearly face palmed that something called a candle making table was so versatile and necessary! I totally overlooked it initially because it's right next to the flower arranging table in buy mode. I just didn't have a sim in the house that I felt like was going to get in to flower arranging or candle making. xD LOL! (Also, that's what I get for not reading about the pack beforehand and just downloading it assuming all it was going to do was give me solar panels to use xD)

    But I just bought my household a candle making table, so now I can't wait to get started on it!!

    Um Okay and that community lot you described sounds AMAZING. Sounds so cute and pretty!!! Great creativity and detail! I'm totally inspired to make something similar now, hahah! Thank you so much for all of your wonderful ideas and help!!!! 

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