1. I am playing a BACC, a Build a City Challenge, which has a rule of lots being off the grid until a Sim reaches a handiness skill of level 10 which "unlocks electricity and plumbing," so removes the off the grid lot trait. I've found playing this way has inspired me to create a community lot that acts as some sort of workshop where Sims go to gain handiness skill, and can then unlock the off the grid trait for other lots. However, I've found that playing off the grid is a lot of fun and I'm not sure I want any of the residential lots in the city to be on the grid (no random pulling out of the cellphone as it doesn't work OTG, and no bills!!! which means I can have all the stuff I want on a lot without having to figure out how my Sims will pay for it). I am trying to think of a way that I can alleviate the Uncomfortable moodlets that come with living off the grid by incorporating something into my gameplay. I think there is something within the Herbalism skill that can cure Uncomfortable? I'm not sure. Either that or isn't there some bottled shower from Jungle Adventure? If that doesn't cause Uncomfortable moodlet, then I might set up like a small market where people can trade other goods for this in town, or it's just a resource they all have free access to so residents don't have to worry about brackish water. I'm in the early stages of building my city, so this is the time where I can think of the way of life for the entire town, and living off the grid is part of that way of life.
2. I don't know if there is a way to do that, so far I just scroll through the different sections until I find the Functional Off the Grid label. It's not that cumbersome but that's because my Sims are also poor (you can't have a career off the grid) so I'm not often trying to buy things for them.
3. I do dress my Sims a certain way, but actually not because of OTG, but rather because of this culture I'm trying to think up for the world. As I'm still on the Founding generation of my BACC, I'm using my four Founders to help me establish things such as style, decor, social norms and values, etc. It's a kind of fantasy world that's trapped in the normal Sims world.
4. Do you mean Sims' character traits? I think mostly all traits could work. Ones I don't think could work tho are like Ambitious (because they want to get promoted in their careers) and Geek. It's actually Aspirations that I think struggle more with an OTG lifestyle. I have a Sim who has the Best-selling Author/Writer Aspiration; she wants to write 2 books. Well, she can't have a computer, so not sure how she's going to achieve that. Another is a Renaissance Sim who wants to get to level 3 in 3 different careers or whatever is the goal. Can't get a career, can't achieve that. Sidenote about the careers: I'm not sure if I were to go to another lot that's not OTG and get them a job is that a roundabout way to get in a career OTG, but I also don't want my Sims to have careers right now for this BACC as part of the way the society works, so I've yet to try.
5. As far as practical items, things I have are like: the kids cooler, the stove that looks like it burns wood, the refrigerator to match that stove, the sort of oldish looking bath/shower and toilet, with the rusty looking sink that looks like a huge metal bucket? (don't know which pack it came from), chess table, foosball table (although I'm thinking of deleting it as my Sims never use it and it doesn't fit into my worldbuilding), small stack of books, mirrors, woodworking table, a garden).
Things that are decorative and just add immersion: well (think it came with base game), random jugs and boxes that look like they store food and other goods.
The world I'm trying to build is like, I like to think of it is as Diagon Alley with less straight up magic (although still magic will eventually be involved). Basically I have this idea that there is this society of people who created their own way of life from the rest of mainstream society, but they're not like...hippies or a cult. It's like they're based in magic and they just live differently and don't value money/capitalist society.
The workshop I mentioned, in my mind it would be like a smithy (if Sims were able to work metal), and it's one of the few lots with electricity and running water. There will be multiple farms like one for fruit trees one for herbs, that all of the people have access to when they need to gather food. The large lots I will try to build a makeshift village so I can have multiple families living on one lot. I want to build a library/place of scholarship to replicate a learning center where they study their history, culture, language (yes I've made up a language complete with a working?? alphabet - it's a very basic alphabet based off of English and Korean, and I built it backwards after I had already created 4 Founders and their dogs thereby establishing some of the sounds found in the alphabet via the names I'd chosen. It'll help me generate my own names without having to go to a random generator). I want to build a public bathhouse complete with hot tubs and I'm thinking of getting Spa Day for a sauna, so that Sims can meet and bathe properly since you can only shower OTG. I'm thinking of maybe some sort of forum, where Sims can also meet for socialization (which would be where Sims go to level up their charisma skill). And all of these lots will have appropriate traits that makes increasing their appropriate skills easier. For example, the forum would have the Convivial trait, while the farms would have Great Soil.
I'm still in the early stages of planning so I have a lot of work to do. :D
