The latest expansion for The Sims 4, Eco Lifestyle has been out for a few weeks now and players are still exploring everything the pack has to offer. This latest expansion is unexpectedly packed with tiny details and hidden benefits. Not only does it affect your entire game in big ways with the addition of eco footprints but it also affects it in small ways.
We take a look at some of the smaller details of the pack that many players haven't yet noticed. These range from helpful hints Simmers may have completely missed to obscure easter eggs that are fun to find. Here are the things you need to know about Eco Lifestyle.
10 Knox Can't Get Into His Bathroom
This issue is one you'll want to fix, especially if you intend to play the Greenburg family in Evergreen Harbor. Their pre-built lot looks fantastic but the bathroom below Knox's bedroom is blocked by the ladder.
Knox also seems adverse to using the bathroom in the main house and seems to prefer making puddles, unless you adjust the door. Simply enter build mode and swap the location of the toilet or sink with that of the door to fix the issue. Just don't forget to move the mirror or toilet paper as well.
9 Solar Panels And Turbines Have Different Benefits
It isn't obvious at first what the differences between the floor based solar panels and turbines and the roof based ones but there are some key features you need to know.
The roof-based items provide slightly more power, generating at a rate of 3, rather than 2, but they cannot be upgraded. They also don't break and don't need cleaning. Floor based items can be upgraded but Sims need to frequently access them for repairs and cleaning to keep them functioning.
8 Recycle Disciples Will Recycle Things In Your Inventory
The recycle disciple trait means that these sims just can't get enough of recycling. Unfortunately, that also means that if you don't recycle frequently enough they'll start swiping things from your home to turn into bits and pieces.
If your finding things mysteriously vanishing then the two likely culprits are this trait or the sharing is caring Neighborhood Action Plan.
7 You Can Be Killed By Drinking Beetle Juice Three Times
Those bugs you can nurture in the new bug houses have some unique benefits. You can compost, feed, and love them to create eco-friendly fuel as well as delicious dishes.
Bug based recipes are now available in the game but level 10 mixologists will also find juice drinks that use insect nuggets. If you create three Beetle Juice drinks and get a Sim to drink them one after the other they'll be turned into a ghost. A neat pop culture reference and a unique and mostly unknown way to kill a sim.
6 Grown Faux Meat Is Not Vegetarian Friendly
The new Civil Designer career offers a few new inventions to help make your neighborhood and lifestyle more eco-friendly. One of these is the meat wall, first seen as an intriguing gif, it's now a reality.
At level 5 of the career in the green technician branch, Sims can convert vertical gardens into synthetic meat farms. However, while the product is labeled as a faux meat cube it is not vegetarian safe, and vegetarians will get debuffs from eating it and being near the wall.
5 You Have More Flexibility Over Who Comes Into Your House
There's a new feature that allows players to control who shows up at their door. The existing options of locking your doors for everyone but household members, specific sims, and staff are still there but there are also a couple more.
The front door of your lot will now contain a no trespassing option. This can be used to bar friends, neighbors, solicitors, or vampires and you can activate as many as you want. Just check the settings after travel and exiting and restarting the game as sometimes they can reset.
4 Testing Cheats Makes NAPS Easy To Manage
Neighborhood Action Plans are a great addition to the game but they can ruin your storytelling, especially if your neighbors take to wearing paper bags or swiping your furniture. Some plans are also triggering minor but annoying behavior, like the need to play with a fortune cube constantly or spawn a lot of clay.
If you want more control then firstly go into the game menu and turn off NPC voting. This will mean that you control all votes. Then for further control simply type in the testingcheats on code and head to the voting board. Here you'll be able to shift-click the board and easily activate or remove any action plan you like.
3 Fizzy Juice Gives You Buffs And Benefits
The fizzy drink station can help boost sims moods. Different drinks give different buffs including happy, confident, energized, focused, and inspired moodlets. However, more interesting combinations, such as vegetables, can produce suspicious fizz, a drink that can make sims sick.
More obscure benefits include fizzed honey giving you immunity to the adverse effects of weather. If you fizz death flowers you'll also get Grimbucha, which will give you a sadness debuff but will also make you death proof.
2 Everything Can Be Recycled
If you want to recycle then don't worry about what to recycle as you can recycle pretty much everything. Got a dirty plate or an empty glass? Recycle. Dug up 27 duplicate MySims statues? Recycle.
All bits and pieces collected can also be used by anyone in your household so everyone can pitch in and do their bit to put trash in the recycling machine and fund your fabricating endeavors.
1 You Can Craft Food On The Fabricator
As well as the standard recipes, you can also learn new fabrication recipes when enthusing about fabrication with NPC Sims. These include different upgrade parts and small woodworking sculptures. However, the most interesting one is food.
Sims can discover how to craft pizza, cupcakes, and gummy bear pancakes. We're not entirely sure if we'd want to eat fabricated food but we love the idea. You can even fabricate granola for breakfast as you increase your skill level.