Issue Description:
Sims are obsessively drawn to use the pizza oven (from the Home Chef Hustle stuff pack), frequently choosing to make pizza or focaccia even when leftover meals are available in the refrigerator. This behavior extends to visiting NPCs who will autonomously use the oven and potentially start fires. The frequent fires occur even when the cooking Sim has a high Cooking Skill level.
Expected Behavior:
Sims should prioritize eating existing leftovers from the refrigerator as a more convenient option before choosing to cook a new meal. The pizza oven should be one of several cooking options, not the default choice. Fires should be a rare event, especially when a Sim has a high Cooking Skill level.
Steps to Reproduce:
- Place a pizza oven on a residential lot.
- Ensure leftovers are available in a refrigerator.
- Allow Sims (played or NPCs) to act autonomously or direct them to fulfill their hunger motive.
- Observe their food choices and monitor for fires during pizza oven use.
Actual Result:
- Sims repeatedly choose to use the pizza oven instead of eating leftovers or cooking using the stove.
- Visitors autonomously use the pizza oven.
- Frequent fires occur during pizza oven usage if it isn't upgraded.
Additional Notes:
- Autonomy and Food Preference: Mods such as "Food Already Available Fix" and "No Autonomous Make Pizza On Residential Lots" have been created to address similar autonomy issues, indicating community recognition of this as a problem. The base game's autonomy check for existing food seems to ignore certain food types, which may include pizzas or foods from the pizza oven.
- Fires: There are multiple community reports of the pizza oven causing fires too frequently, including a report of fires occurring even at Cooking Skill level 10. An official patch (specifically, the February 27, 2025, update) addressed this by reducing the frequency of fires from the pizza oven and waffle maker. However, one user noted that the issue with constant fires began after that specific patch, suggesting the fix may have been ineffective or caused a regression. A player-reported workaround to reduce fires is to upgrade the oven using Handiness skill parts.
Impact:
Moderate to High. The obsessive behavior disrupts household management and can lead to negative consequences like starting fires, which damages the oven, creates a safety hazard, and frustrates players. It also reduces the utility of the refrigerator and leftovers system.
Edit By crinrict: Adjusted Title to fit old bug report.
