Routing of the sinks!

@Brd709 This has been an issue a long time. The game is programmed to go to the nearest sink. To use the metaphor "as the bird flies". So think 3 dimensional, the sink upstairs is technically closer. The up and down doesn't seen to count either for actual distance, actually. If you flattened all floors of the house out onto a 2 dimensional plane, the 'closest' sink is where they go first.

I have a build now that I downloaded from the gallery. A really nice large building. But the Sims will go through a maze of hallways and stairs to reach the sink in the 3rd floor bathroom after using the first floor bathroom because the sink on that floor is directly above the toilet on the first floor. The sink in the bathroom on the first floor is about 6 tiles away from the toilet.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm guessing since the toilet on the 3rd floor is above the sink on the first floor, when they use the toilet upstairs, they'll make their way down to the sink on the first floor. :D

Crazy I know. Something I watch for when playtesting my own builds.

This is the Bheeda's house. In real life an aunt and uncle of mine used to live here.

The first floor:
https://i.imgur.com/G4RT1D0.png

The second floor:
https://i.imgur.com/EbajuFX.png

Recently i've directed the Bheeda's to use the toilet upstairs at the front of the house (behind the first bedroom) They'll use the right toilet but they'll finish up on the toilet to walk right down the hall and use the sink to wash their hands in the en-suite!

Same goes for meals. They'll eat in the dining room, but they'll wash their plates up in the sink in the downstairs toilet!

I use a mod, so I haven’t seen this problem in ages!

If you add a dishwasher to the kitchen they will stop using the bathroom sink to wash dishes. As for washing hands after using the toilet, they always wash their hands in the sink in the bathroom they are in, never had them travel between bathrooms to wash hands, let alone go on different floors to do that. Sometimes they might prefer to use the toilet upstairs instead of the one downstairs, but they will wash their hands there as well.

@Brd709 Difficult to know what's causing it. They SHOULD use the sink right next to the toilet. But maybe they like the fancy one upstairs better than the cheap one on the first floor bathroom? :D

I can see the toilet and the sink in the 1rst floor bathroom are technically overlapping. Try putting the sink in that square you're not using below the toilet in the screenshot. Have the sink pointing the same direction as the toilet instead of overlapping. :grey_question:

EDIT: This is what I mean by overlapping. ;)
https://i.imgur.com/f8Eb4gR.png

"Admiral8Q;c-18249158" wrote:
@Brd709 Difficult to know what's causing it. They SHOULD use the sink right next to the toilet. But maybe they like the fancy one upstairs better than the cheap one on the first floor bathroom? :D

I can see the toilet and the sink in the 1rst floor bathroom are technically overlapping. Try putting the sink in that square you're not using below the toilet in the screenshot. Have the sink pointing the same direction as the toilet instead of overlapping. :grey_question:

EDIT: This is what I mean by overlapping. ;)
https://i.imgur.com/f8Eb4gR.png

I'll give this a try and see if it improves. The column in the downstairs toilet doesn't really need to be there in the game, if i'm building a house from real life i just like to add these details for accuracy if anything.

I just started a new thread, but this actually fits perfectly with this thread instead :)

Recently I realized that it's not smart placing the toilet stall in a residential house. In this case the building is a high school, Principal resides 2nd floor. On 3rd floor sleeps students, and in their common bathroom there are toilet stalls. Sims on ground floor will choose to walk up to 3rd floor to use the toilet even if they originally stood next to the 1st floor bathroom.

I've also noticed an increase in events where a sim - say in a bathroom, in need of washing hands, will ignore the bathroom sink to walk over to another floor or end of the house to use a sink there instead. It feels totally insane, and although I think sims have always chosen a questionable route to a sink, I think this has become worse recently.

So, it got me wondering - do we have sinks intended for various use, like some sinks meant for bathrooms while others are meant for kitchens? Could it be that I placed a kitchen sink in that bathroom? I never saw such categories in BB, but the sinks could still be slightly differently coded like some attracts "wash hands" and others attract "clean plate". Anyone know?

"crocobaura;c-18249154" wrote:
If you add a dishwasher to the kitchen they will stop using the bathroom sink to wash dishes. As for washing hands after using the toilet, they always wash their hands in the sink in the bathroom they are in, never had them travel between bathrooms to wash hands, let alone go on different floors to do that. Sometimes they might prefer to use the toilet upstairs instead of the one downstairs, but they will wash their hands there as well.

In my game they rarely use the sink in the bathroom next to the toilet to wash their hands. They mostly go to the kitchen sink or a sink in a different bathroom, including on different floors. This has happened in all houses I’ve played with all different families.

"Brd709;c-18249179" wrote:

I'll give this a try and see if it improves. The column in the downstairs toilet doesn't really need to be there in the game, if i'm building a house from real life i just like to add these details for accuracy if anything.

You have summed it up right there. This game does not work like real life. :D ;)
As a real-life former construction architect and engineer myself, I have to laugh sometimes and just enjoy the game and it's silly quirks.

That bathroom actually in real life would be better with the toilet and sink placement you have. But HEY! This game is fantasy fiction. :p

I guess I'm saying, don't expect the "Sim People" to behave like real life people. It's all A.I. programming algorithms. Don't get me wrong though, I still love this game.

"crocobaura;c-18249197" wrote:

"Lilia1971;c-18249192" wrote:

"crocobaura;c-18249154" wrote:
If you add a dishwasher to the kitchen they will stop using the bathroom sink to wash dishes. As for washing hands after using the toilet, they always wash their hands in the sink in the bathroom they are in, never had them travel between bathrooms to wash hands, let alone go on different floors to do that. Sometimes they might prefer to use the toilet upstairs instead of the one downstairs, but they will wash their hands there as well.

In my game they rarely use the sink in the bathroom next to the toilet to wash their hands. They mostly go to the kitchen sink or a sink in a different bathroom, including on different floors. This has happened in all houses I’ve played with all different families.

Have you tried to see if the sinks are accessible? Maybe there are clutter objects blocking access to them? I rarely have issues with sinks, and for most part they work as intended in my game and I play vanilla.

All the sinks are accessible. They use them occasionally but most of the time they walk miles to get to a different one. As I said it’s happened in several houses with several families and there’s no reason for it. I have checked all the rooms and there’s nothing to block them from using the obvious one.