More sensible integration of cooking and crafting skills and expansions
Food and drink preparation in the sims falls into 4 categories: homestyle, baking, gourmet cooking, and mixology. Cooking and beverage preparation is performed on the following appliances: stovetop, oven, grill, campfire, BBQ pit, counter, bar, espresso bar, cupcake factory, and kitchen appliances. Several packs enhance cooking like cottage living and home chef, however, there is no universal integration to streamline cooking interactions across all packs. Additionally, I think there are some much needed upgrades to recipes, skills, appliances, as well as adding new harvestable plants.
1. Recipe categories should be updated and expanded. Any recipe that requires you to mix batter or knead dough should be categorized as baking. Making cupcakes and bread via the homestyle cooking skill is nonsensical. There should be a new category for recipes that don't require an appliance and can be made on the counter via a mixing bowl or cutting board (i.e. cold sandwiches, salads, sliced fruit, etc). New cooking disciplines should be added for making smoked and cured meats, aged cheeses, cured tea and coffee blends, and distilled alcohols.
2. Fresh and prepped ingredients should be applicable to all cooking recipes, regardless of the cooking appliance. For instance, fresh and prepped ingredient options should be available for cooking via the cupcake factory, grill, and campfire.
3. Cooking appliances should be overhauled to incorporate applicable upgrades. For instance, grills can be upgraded to add smoker functions and allow for smoked meat recipes. Campfires can be upgraded to add a cooking spit to allow for slow roasting meats and making new types of stews. There should be new harvestables for coffee beans and tea leaves, so that coffee and tea blends can be crafted, and the crafted items can be used as fresh/prepped ingredients on coffee machines and tea makers.
4. There should be an actual barista still tied to growing coffee beans, crafting coffee blends, and using them with espresso bars and coffee makers.
5. There should be a new distillation skill and distillery crafting station in order to add craftable alcoholic beverages (vodka, tequila, rum, whiskey, etc). The crafted bottles can be used as fresh/prepped ingredients for professional and home bars. New harvestable plants should be added to correspond to the type of alcohol being crafted. For instance, blue agave for tequila, sugar cane for rum, barley for whiskey and so on.
This would allow more expansion upon bartending and barista careers. Since there is a tend function on espresso and professional bars, you should actually earn money and consume ingredients for completing orders. That way, if you want to incorporate freelance career options, you don't have to join the culinary career mixology branch and barista is only a part - time job. Then the game can add bars and cafes as ownable business types.
6. The fact that you can simply make cheese on a stove is unrealistic as cheesemaking is a much more in - depth process. There should be a cooking discipline for making various cheeses (cheddar, swiss, etc) and aging cheeses.
7. Now that you can trade livestock animals for meat, there should be expansions to cooking with meat. For instance, the additional of cooking disciplines for making dried, cured, and smoked meat and fish. Recipes for jerky, deli sandwiches, salted fish, and barbequed meats. As well as adding corresponding appliances for preparing these types of recipes (meat grinder, drying rack, and deli slicer). Since you can catch fish with the fishing skill, there should more fish related cooking gameplay. For instance, you can click on the counter and select prep fish. There would need to be an animation for scaling and filleting the fish. All in - game animals and fish should produce a unique cut of meat and recipes should use the corresponding meat cut. Also there should be additional wild and livestock animals to fulfill these additional meat requirements. Deer for venison, ducks, geese, pigs or boars, etc.
8. EDIT: The suggestion for a specific ingredient system would be optional. Like the fresh and prepped ingredient systems, you'd have the option to toggle it on and off. That way, when toggled off, recipes would accept "any" ingredient, instead of a specific ingredient.
9. It is definitely more animal friendly to "trade" your livestock for ingredients and receive packages of meat in the mail, but not exactly realistic. There should be an interactive object or shell for "butchering" livestock and having the meat go directly into the sims inventory. Obviously, the animal friendly option will remain, but I don't want to have to wait to get wrapped meat in the mail.
Crafting activities and skills also need an overhaul. Skills needs to incorporate more sensible career opportunities (especially freelance gigs) and specialty lot types. Crafting should allow for optional ingredients and supplies that have to be gathered or grown.
1. The painting skill could incorporate using harvestables to mix paint and use it as an ingredient to reduce the cost of creating new paintings. Painters can take freelance gigs to create and deliver art to libraries, museums, and private collectors.
2. The woodworking skill can be overhauled to allow for new furniture recipes and optional ingredients to reduce the cost of crafting (i.e wood, nails, etc). Wood can be gathered from outdoor plants via a tree chopping or hedge trimming animation.
3. The flower arranging skill should have a new discipline for Japanese Ikebana flower arrangements. There would be new harvestables including various types of orchids and it would expand upon the cultural theme of Snowy Escape. Also there should be a freelance career to accept gigs for fulfilling orders for specific arrangements and a flower show social event.
4. Retail stores should receive an overhaul to allow for cooking and crafting related specialty lot traits. For instance, a store can have the liquor store lot trait and allow retail fridges to be stocked with crafted nectar or alcohol bottles. You can hold a wine tasting social event for your store and also have the option to supply bars and restaurants with cases of nectar, etc.
You can have a bakery lot trait that allows you to stock displays with baked items. The store could have a functional chalkboard that allows customers to place orders for a specific baked item (functions like freelance gig system).
You can have the furniture store lot trait and sell items crafted on the woodworking table. You can sell individual items or create styled show rooms. You can also have situational events occur where a customer purchases furniture and needs it delivered to their house.
5. The photography skill should be upgraded to incorporate new types of equipment and photography styles. For instance, you can have cameras that require film rolls and dark rooms to develop photos, digital cameras that require photo editing software and printers to make digital prints from the computer, and street galleries that allow you to stock photo prints and sell them. There should also be a feature to turn photo prints into post cards, etc and sell them via plopsy.
1. Recipe categories should be updated and expanded. Any recipe that requires you to mix batter or knead dough should be categorized as baking. Making cupcakes and bread via the homestyle cooking skill is nonsensical. There should be a new category for recipes that don't require an appliance and can be made on the counter via a mixing bowl or cutting board (i.e. cold sandwiches, salads, sliced fruit, etc). New cooking disciplines should be added for making smoked and cured meats, aged cheeses, cured tea and coffee blends, and distilled alcohols.
2. Fresh and prepped ingredients should be applicable to all cooking recipes, regardless of the cooking appliance. For instance, fresh and prepped ingredient options should be available for cooking via the cupcake factory, grill, and campfire.
3. Cooking appliances should be overhauled to incorporate applicable upgrades. For instance, grills can be upgraded to add smoker functions and allow for smoked meat recipes. Campfires can be upgraded to add a cooking spit to allow for slow roasting meats and making new types of stews. There should be new harvestables for coffee beans and tea leaves, so that coffee and tea blends can be crafted, and the crafted items can be used as fresh/prepped ingredients on coffee machines and tea makers.
4. There should be an actual barista still tied to growing coffee beans, crafting coffee blends, and using them with espresso bars and coffee makers.
5. There should be a new distillation skill and distillery crafting station in order to add craftable alcoholic beverages (vodka, tequila, rum, whiskey, etc). The crafted bottles can be used as fresh/prepped ingredients for professional and home bars. New harvestable plants should be added to correspond to the type of alcohol being crafted. For instance, blue agave for tequila, sugar cane for rum, barley for whiskey and so on.
This would allow more expansion upon bartending and barista careers. Since there is a tend function on espresso and professional bars, you should actually earn money and consume ingredients for completing orders. That way, if you want to incorporate freelance career options, you don't have to join the culinary career mixology branch and barista is only a part - time job. Then the game can add bars and cafes as ownable business types.
6. The fact that you can simply make cheese on a stove is unrealistic as cheesemaking is a much more in - depth process. There should be a cooking discipline for making various cheeses (cheddar, swiss, etc) and aging cheeses.
7. Now that you can trade livestock animals for meat, there should be expansions to cooking with meat. For instance, the additional of cooking disciplines for making dried, cured, and smoked meat and fish. Recipes for jerky, deli sandwiches, salted fish, and barbequed meats. As well as adding corresponding appliances for preparing these types of recipes (meat grinder, drying rack, and deli slicer). Since you can catch fish with the fishing skill, there should more fish related cooking gameplay. For instance, you can click on the counter and select prep fish. There would need to be an animation for scaling and filleting the fish. All in - game animals and fish should produce a unique cut of meat and recipes should use the corresponding meat cut. Also there should be additional wild and livestock animals to fulfill these additional meat requirements. Deer for venison, ducks, geese, pigs or boars, etc.
8. EDIT: The suggestion for a specific ingredient system would be optional. Like the fresh and prepped ingredient systems, you'd have the option to toggle it on and off. That way, when toggled off, recipes would accept "any" ingredient, instead of a specific ingredient.
9. It is definitely more animal friendly to "trade" your livestock for ingredients and receive packages of meat in the mail, but not exactly realistic. There should be an interactive object or shell for "butchering" livestock and having the meat go directly into the sims inventory. Obviously, the animal friendly option will remain, but I don't want to have to wait to get wrapped meat in the mail.
Crafting activities and skills also need an overhaul. Skills needs to incorporate more sensible career opportunities (especially freelance gigs) and specialty lot types. Crafting should allow for optional ingredients and supplies that have to be gathered or grown.
1. The painting skill could incorporate using harvestables to mix paint and use it as an ingredient to reduce the cost of creating new paintings. Painters can take freelance gigs to create and deliver art to libraries, museums, and private collectors.
2. The woodworking skill can be overhauled to allow for new furniture recipes and optional ingredients to reduce the cost of crafting (i.e wood, nails, etc). Wood can be gathered from outdoor plants via a tree chopping or hedge trimming animation.
3. The flower arranging skill should have a new discipline for Japanese Ikebana flower arrangements. There would be new harvestables including various types of orchids and it would expand upon the cultural theme of Snowy Escape. Also there should be a freelance career to accept gigs for fulfilling orders for specific arrangements and a flower show social event.
4. Retail stores should receive an overhaul to allow for cooking and crafting related specialty lot traits. For instance, a store can have the liquor store lot trait and allow retail fridges to be stocked with crafted nectar or alcohol bottles. You can hold a wine tasting social event for your store and also have the option to supply bars and restaurants with cases of nectar, etc.
You can have a bakery lot trait that allows you to stock displays with baked items. The store could have a functional chalkboard that allows customers to place orders for a specific baked item (functions like freelance gig system).
You can have the furniture store lot trait and sell items crafted on the woodworking table. You can sell individual items or create styled show rooms. You can also have situational events occur where a customer purchases furniture and needs it delivered to their house.
5. The photography skill should be upgraded to incorporate new types of equipment and photography styles. For instance, you can have cameras that require film rolls and dark rooms to develop photos, digital cameras that require photo editing software and printers to make digital prints from the computer, and street galleries that allow you to stock photo prints and sell them. There should also be a feature to turn photo prints into post cards, etc and sell them via plopsy.
