Re: Fish On a Stick?

@RandomBuzziness  (and @AprilTheSimmer96 ) thank you for the Off the Grid stove info.  I was using a campfire when I encountered it , so it was certainly Off the Grid as well. 😃 It was right after the Off the Grid lot trait first entered our game (last year with the patch before Island Living came out, though the lot trait is base game).  But I think I also had cooked fish this way when camping before the Off the Grid trait became available ( but that was a long time ago, around the time Outdoor Retreat came out, so I could be wrong). 🙂

@AprilTheSimmer96 , you shouldn't have to do that if you have a campfire or bonfire in your game.🙂  If you do, try it!  If not then you will have to get an off the grid house or make your current lot Off the Grid ! 😉

@AprilTheSimmer96 yes, now that you mentioned that , I remember you saying those were the packs you had.  But since Get Together and Outdoor Retreat were so early in the game, I couldn't remember if there were any small bonfires in the base game or not. 😉 
Well, this will give you an excuse to try the Off the Grid lot trait out!  It presents a new challenge that a lot of people find fun! 🥳

@AprilTheSimmer96 , hope you have fun! 🥳 You can tell us about it if you want! 🙌 🕯

@AprilTheSimmer96 Unfortunately you can't cook with the bonfires from Get Together. There is another version of the bonfire in the Island Living pack-- it also has no option for cooking but it's lots of fun for beach parties 🥳 There are some remote lots in Sulani that would work great for off-the-grid living (I think there are at least two that come that way by default, though you can change it).

@RandomBuzziness , thank you for the distinctions for the bonfires. 🙂 I knew the camping fires allowed cooking (since i have used those in my game more than I have bonfires) .  I just wasn't sure if bonfires also had cooking capabilities for like toasted marshmallows or something.  I didn't have my game loaded so I couldn't do a quick check at that time. 😉

@AprilTheSimmer96 , that is a hard one! 🤨 I love both.💗

  I'm obsessed with having my Sims learn the recipes from the food stalls (though they put on a lot of weight , so for Sims that I don't plan on being heavier, I have to use the ice cream machine from Cool Kitchen Stuff and make the Taste of Diet ice cream to keep them at their original size. I like some variety in my Sim's bodies, but I want most of them to learn the recipies so the ice cream comes in handy!  )
I also love the bright colors that come in this pack, and the festivals are a lot of fun!  

On the other hand, I love the new plants you can collect in Outdoor retreat, the campfires, the people dressed as bears, and the scenery in Granite Falls!😍 And the Cloud gaze and star gaze interactions are a great way to build friendship quickly! 🙌 And trying to find the Hermit's house for the first time was fun! 

I will say that an Expansion Pack (Like City Living) has more stuff in it than a Game Pack (Like Outdoor Retreat), but that also means that EPs are more expensive than GPs.  
i guess it all depends of if you feel like city gameplay or nature gameplay! 😉

@PugLove888Okay thanks! 😊 I also forgot about the whole Stargaze and Cloudgaze interactions I've heard about somewhere. That'd be cute for my two Sims, too. I might get City Living first after Island Living though, since city gameplay does seem like it'd be fun. ☺️

@AprilTheSimmer96 , yes that sounds like a good idea since you don't have a lot of packs yet.  When someone doesn't have a lot of packs, I usually recommend EP's first, then GP's , and then SP's.  You can then get Outdoor Retreat afterwards! 🌲🌼

@PugLove888Okay! Thanks for the suggestion! 😊

I might start saving up for the EPs whenever I have money, then work my way down to the Game Packs before getting the rest of the SPs. Sounds like a good idea. Just so I have tons more stuff to do in my game since EPs seem to add a lot more stuff, too. ☺️

@AprilTheSimmer96 , yes that is a good plan in general, especially if you don't have a lot of packs yet, but if there is a GP (or even an SP) that you really, really want, by all means get it! 😉 For example, if you really want to play with Vampires more than with Cats & Dogs, then you should probably get Vampires before you get Cats & Dogs.  (Although Cats & Dogs is my favorite pack, followed closely by Seasons! 🥰).  

@AprilTheSimmer96 , yes it is Luxury Party that has the fountain.  I use the the hair and makeup from that one a lot.  I rarely do parties in my game, but I still love the items! 😃

You might like the Movie Hangout SP since it has a popcorn popper!  🙌
Also the Dine Out GP, has food. 😉

@AprilTheSimmer96  City Living has always been one of my favorite EPs. It was one of the first two EPs I added along with Get Together because I wanted the biggest worlds with the highest number of lots. San Myshuno makes for great variety from all of the other packs as it is the only one with a large urban world. It also has some amazing items in CAS. San Myshuno doesn't look very big if you look at it on the game map but there is a lot more to it than it seems. Many of the buildings contain multiple apartment units. Living in an apartment gives you more interaction with neighbors than you'd ever get in a regular residential lot. My current Sim has 8 other Sims in 3 different households in her building. That's not to say that sometimes you'll get a little more interaction from them than you'd really want xD If you count each apartment as a lot San Myshuno has 30 lots in all! If you get tired of small apartments and noisy neighbors there are several penthouse apartments with some amazing city views, plus one very nice regular residential lot. One thing I love about San Myshuno is that there is always something going on, especially in the Spice Market. Festivals, food stall vendors, street performers, tourists, weirdo Sims dressed in raccoon costumes, Sims playing basketball, kids on the playground, Sims walking around carrying cupcakes (I mean, what's up with that?), plus plenty of neighbors buzzing around, the Spice Market makes many other Sim neighborhoods seem like ghost towns. It's a very nice contrast from quiet, peaceful worlds like Sulani. And no worries about the weight gain from eating at the food stalls, jogging around the neighborhood for a few hours a week should be more than enough to keep a Sim's weight down.

@RandomBuzziness , i agree with everything you said about City Living!  (alhthough my Sims seldom have time to do enough jogging.😳😃  That is why I love the diet ice cream from Cool Kitchen stuff, which @AprilTheSimmer96  already has.  For those Siims that are athletic, if they live in a penthouse then I like putting them on a teadmill while watching TV so they can multi-task loosing weight, gaining fitness skill, having fun, and if they are watching the cooking channel they can gain cooking skill.  Also if you place another treadmill by the first one, someone else can be on that one and they can talk and gain social at the same time ! 🙌  I also do this for athletic Sims who don't live in San Myshuno. But when my Sims are pressed for time, nothing beats the diet ice cream. 😉)  

@AprilTheSimmer96 , also there is one house in San Myshuno called the Old Salt House.  The Spice Festival and the Romance Festival also have free harvestables .  My primary source of Cow Plant berries comes from the Spice Festival! 😃🙌  There are also random boxes that have snow globes in them for you to collect.  I often take my Sims to the festivals even if they live in another town!  And since you are a foodie like myself, there are 2 new skills you can earn (they act like personality traits).  They are being able to use chopsticks, and the Spice Hound trait that will eventually give your Sims a nice buff when they eat spicy food! 

Here are some pictures showing various City Living activities. Some of the clothing and hair are from this pack, but not all of it is. 

This last picture is of the Humor and Hijinks Festival. If your Sim is low on money and you don't want to use a money cheat, this is a great way to get cash! Go to the festival and choose a side (Hijinks (purple drink)  rewards mischievous interaction, and Humor (yellow drink) rewards jokes) . If your team wins (who does the most interactions of their teams designation) they will be rewarded prizes that can be sold for cash, such as fireworks and either a golden microphone (worth 500 simoleons)  or a voodoo doll (worth 900 simoleons)!  But your team has to win! 

These are just a sample of some of what you can do with in this pack. I have more pictures, but I have to weed through hundreds of pictures to find relevant ones, so this is just a sample.  Perhaps @RandomBuzziness  can provide some covering stuff I didn't include! 😇