[OPEN] [GTW] Detective Career Receptionist Doesn't Appear at Front Desk [ Edited ]

[canelacaliente]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.53.115.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Expansions: All except IL Game Packs: Parenthood, Dine Out Stuff Packs: My First Pet, Perfect Patio
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Have a Sim join the detective career. When the lot loads, an assistant will be at the main desk instead of the receptionist.
What happens when the bug occurs? The assistant is at the main desk instead of the receptionist.
What do you expect to see? I expect to see the receptionist at the main desk.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? No

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The receptionist doesn't appear at the front desk when you load the lot.  There is always an assistant at the front desk.

Spoiler

[simvasion · Accepted solution]

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@canelacaliente wrote:

@crinrict This is still present in the game as of patch 1.60.54.1020.   

Do you have any negative effects from it?

It still is an issue because the game spawns an extra Sims in the police station that occupies a computer.  The computers in the police station are already limited.  The assistant role in the game seems to be broken.

@SimGuruNick Does adding the code where the bug occurs in the game make a difference.  I am wondering because this is still going on in the game even though I posted where the error is in the code.  If it doesn't make a difference to the team fixing the bugs, then I will no longer search the code for the error.

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The static commodity is also on the assistants as a fallback - if the receptionist leaves the desk unstaffed (like if you call them away from their desk or start a conversation with them), an assistant will be compelled to staff the desk, to make sure incoming civilians will be greeted.

I've tried to modify the startup ping for the receptionist and I've noticed them on the desk more often when arriving at the police station, but it's random because assistants also could choose to start at the desk as part of that same static commodity autonomy. Sure, it would be nice if the receptionist got priority on starting at the desk, but I'm not sure how they do that with the way autonomy works in the game (or at least the way they've set this up at the police station).

It doesn't create an extra sim on the lot - there are always a receptionist and two more assistants as part of the lot's default number of staffing requirements. So it really doesn't matter which three of them are on the reception, the other two will always be taking up other computers elsewhere. Your detective can still complete their work tasks by interacting with a computer and kicking a coworker off it.

[crinrict]

I'll add although I don't see this as really being a problem-

Do you have any negative effects from it ?

[canelacaliente]

Do you have any negative effects from it ?

It adds an extra Sim on the lot.  There is a Sim who is a receptionist on the lot who takes up an extra computer.

[canelacaliente]

After digging a little further into the issue I discovered the problem located in the code that causes the assistant to be at the front desk of the detective career instead of the receptionist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<I c="Buff" i="buff" m="buffs.buff" n="buff_Trait_NPCPoliceAssistant" s="114514">
  <T p="InGame\Audio\Stings\sting_buff_gain.propx" n="audio_sting_on_add">39b2aa4a:00000000:8af8b916cf64c646</T>
  <T p="InGame\Audio\Stings\sting_buff_loss.propx" n="audio_sting_on_remove">39b2aa4a:00000000:3bf33216a25546ea</T>
  <U n="game_effect_modifier">
    <L n="_game_effect_modifiers">
      <V t="autonomy_modifier">
        <U n="autonomy_modifier">
          <L n="locked_stats">
            <T>16656<!--Commodity: motive_Hunger--></T>
            <T>16654<!--Commodity: motive_Energy--></T>
            <T>16652<!--Commodity: motive_Bladder--></T>
            <T>16657<!--Commodity: motive_Hygiene--></T>
          </L>
        </U>
      </V>
    </L>
  </U>
  <T p="InGame\UI\Icons\Debug\missing_image.png" n="icon">2f7d0004:00000000:30f0846c783606f9</T>
  <T n="refresh_on_add">True</T>
  <L n="static_commodity_to_add">
    <T>110578<!--StaticCommodity: commodity_ActiveCareer_Staff_FrontDesk--></T>
  </L>
  <T n="success_modifier">0</T>
  <T n="ui_sort_order">1</T>
  <T n="visible">False</T>
  <V t="disabled" n="walkstyle" />
</I>

This creates a conflict in the game because it is assigning 3 Sims in the detective career to staff the front desk instead of the one receptionist.

[canelacaliente]

@crinrict This is still present in the game as of patch 1.60.54.1020.   

Do you have any negative effects from it?

It still is an issue because the game spawns an extra Sims in the police station that occupies a computer.  The computers in the police station are already limited.  The assistant role in the game seems to be broken.

@SimGuruNick Does adding the code where the bug occurs in the game make a difference.  I am wondering because this is still going on in the game even though I posted where the error is in the code.  If it doesn't make a difference to the team fixing the bugs, then I will no longer search the code for the error.

[simvasion · Accepted solution]

---

@canelacaliente wrote:

@crinrict This is still present in the game as of patch 1.60.54.1020.   

Do you have any negative effects from it?

It still is an issue because the game spawns an extra Sims in the police station that occupies a computer.  The computers in the police station are already limited.  The assistant role in the game seems to be broken.

@SimGuruNick Does adding the code where the bug occurs in the game make a difference.  I am wondering because this is still going on in the game even though I posted where the error is in the code.  If it doesn't make a difference to the team fixing the bugs, then I will no longer search the code for the error.

---

The static commodity is also on the assistants as a fallback - if the receptionist leaves the desk unstaffed (like if you call them away from their desk or start a conversation with them), an assistant will be compelled to staff the desk, to make sure incoming civilians will be greeted.

I've tried to modify the startup ping for the receptionist and I've noticed them on the desk more often when arriving at the police station, but it's random because assistants also could choose to start at the desk as part of that same static commodity autonomy. Sure, it would be nice if the receptionist got priority on starting at the desk, but I'm not sure how they do that with the way autonomy works in the game (or at least the way they've set this up at the police station).

It doesn't create an extra sim on the lot - there are always a receptionist and two more assistants as part of the lot's default number of staffing requirements. So it really doesn't matter which three of them are on the reception, the other two will always be taking up other computers elsewhere. Your detective can still complete their work tasks by interacting with a computer and kicking a coworker off it.