Forum Discussion

magdcza's avatar
4 years ago

Many recipes are unavailable off the grid

When you're living of the grid many recipes aren't available, even though they should be. Grand meals and birthday cakes in particular should be available to cook, but you should be able to cook pies too.

6 Replies

  • @magdcza Hello! Unfortunately, the limited number of recipes on OTG lots is by design.  There have been a number of posts about this since the OTG trait was added to the game.  On those lots, sims are only able to cook things like grilled cheese, eggs and toast, tomato soup, etc. or you can make salads from the fridge.  If you add a grill to the lot, you will have many more options.  There's a pretty good article about living off the grid on the Ultimate Sims Guides website, if you're interested. Hope this helps!

  • @magdcza When you start gardening and grafting plants you might be able to fill your fridge with lots of produce you can use cooking of grid. Like @JonaO703 stated this is done by design and is part of one of the challenges you can play on the lot. Next to lot traits there are also lot challenges. When you go to the stalls in Finchwick you should be able to buy provisions. Together with the berries, milk and eggs the land provides your Sims with you should be able to cook cakes that can be used as birthday cakes. You could barter chickens for meat, but the stalls also have meat for your grand meals. 

    Have fun playing. 😉

  • JonaO703's avatar
    JonaO703
    Hero
    4 years ago

    @Trismagistos Just to clarify, you mean if we had Cottage Living we would be able to bake cakes?  Otherwise, I don't believe baking is an option for OTG lots.

  • Trismagistos's avatar
    Trismagistos
    Hero
    4 years ago

    I do think these options are open for other lots, @JonaO703. Even when you don't have Cottage Living. The base game has the old crow stove which is functional off grid. And some of the Expansion Packs also have them; The Realm of Magic, City Living, and you can find them in the Country Kitchen Kit. So, you can always choose to live off grid. 😉

  • JonaO703's avatar
    JonaO703
    Hero
    4 years ago

    @Trismagistos I've tested this many times but to be sure I tested it again.  Even with an OTG stove, I do not have the option to bake or cook a grand meal.  I have 5 options, two of which require a fish or cricket flour.  There is an older post by Sim Guru Nick about this here.

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/BY-DESIGN-Off-Grid-Living-Sims-can-only-cook-grilled-cheese-and/m-p/7989100/highlight/true#M95693

    In @magdcza 's OP they state they should be able to bake and cook grand meals but as I said earlier, these options are not available for OTG lots.  In my research, I saw a few folks suggesting to have the sims travel to a friend's house that isn't OTG.  They can bake or cook a grand meal there, put it in their inventory and then go back home to enjoy it.  That's really the only workaround I can see.

    Edit: Don't get me wrong.  I think it's ridiculous that there's no option to add wood or start a fire in the stove in order to bake.  They gave us the option to add ice to the fridge, so it's weird they didn't add a fire option for the stoves.

  • JonaO703's avatar
    JonaO703
    Hero
    4 years ago

    @magdcza Apologies.  I totally forgot that if you have Eco Lifestyle, you can upgrade stoves with a fuel cell.  Doing that will allow your off-the-grid household to cook and bake normally.  Your sims will need 4 Eco-Upgrade parts to do this.  You can take them someplace with a computer to buy the parts.

    Edit: With the EL pack, you can also buy solar panels.  These are dependent on daytime sunny weather.   I added three ground panels to the wreckage lot.  It was nighttime though, and the electricity didn't kick in until about 9 am.  Also, make sure you click on the mailbox and show bills information, then click to store your power and water.