Dine Out: Broken pack with lost potential?
Can we take a moment to discuss how amazing the Sims 4 Dine Out could be? The potential? Be a manager who runs the restaurant, work as the head chef, host or waiter? Or struggle to do all 3! Oh what ...
Forum Discussion
I voted "Dine Out is glitchy", but how much of it is legitimately Dine Out's fault, and how much of it is The Sims just never having very good AI?
Take musical chairs for instance, that's something that's been a problem since the base game, and can probably be blamed on the Sims having other needs--they LOVE computers, they LOVE drinking water, and they LOVE making mac and cheese whenever they're hungry. Any one of those things could explain why Sims keep standing up, it's a constant struggle between "I have needs I must fulfill, and there's an object nearby that can fill it" and "I am a patron at a restaurant, and I must sit".
We all know what Sims are like when they're hungry: somebody is preparing a group meal, but their AI is telling them to find food. The food doesn't exist yet (it's still being crafted) so for all intents and purposes they see no problem with preparing a meal. It's entirely possible that this is what is happening: they want to make a beeline for the restaurant's kitchen to make a meal, but the Dine Out system is asserting "no, sit down, FOOD IS COMING", so they sit back down at a different spot.
Likewise, they LOVE socializing, and they're talking to an NPC who's sitting at a different table, or standing up. So what do they want to do? They want to sit closer to them. So they give up their assigned seat.
The only way I can reasonably see a restaurant functioning is if all the Sims present have their AI severely reduced for the duration.
...because once they start talking, the AI is gonna want them to sit with the person they're socializing with, and if they're hungry, they're going to want to prepare food. And if they're (slightly) bored, they're gonna want to find a computer.
You can't really win here.
Take musical chairs for instance, that's something that's been a problem since the base game, and can probably be blamed on the Sims having other needs--they LOVE computers, they LOVE drinking water, and they LOVE making mac and cheese whenever they're hungry. Any one of those things could explain why Sims keep standing up, it's a constant struggle between "I have needs I must fulfill, and there's an object nearby that can fill it" and "I am a patron at a restaurant, and I must sit".
We all know what Sims are like when they're hungry: somebody is preparing a group meal, but their AI is telling them to find food. The food doesn't exist yet (it's still being crafted) so for all intents and purposes they see no problem with preparing a meal. It's entirely possible that this is what is happening: they want to make a beeline for the restaurant's kitchen to make a meal, but the Dine Out system is asserting "no, sit down, FOOD IS COMING", so they sit back down at a different spot.
Likewise, they LOVE socializing, and they're talking to an NPC who's sitting at a different table, or standing up. So what do they want to do? They want to sit closer to them. So they give up their assigned seat.
The only way I can reasonably see a restaurant functioning is if all the Sims present have their AI severely reduced for the duration.
- Go to host
- Be assigned table
- Wait for meal
- TALK TO NOBODY
- Eat meal
- TALK TO NOBODY
- Leave
...because once they start talking, the AI is gonna want them to sit with the person they're socializing with, and if they're hungry, they're going to want to prepare food. And if they're (slightly) bored, they're gonna want to find a computer.
You can't really win here.
