[NEEDS INPUT] [ECO] Cannot Perform Eco Upgrades

[SparklyB]

I'm having the same problem.

I have 5 eco upgrade parts, all made on the fabricator. When I click on my wind turbine it tells me I need 4 or 2 to do the upgrade and that I don't have enough parts.

I've also had a terrible problem with lightening strikes. My Sim is living off grid and one night the lightening took out her turbine, recycling machine and her candle making desk. She didn't have enough money to replace them all. The wind turbine breaks every couple of days and has been struck by lightening three times already. Only been playing the game a few hours too.

Living off grid is proving very difficult without much money. My Sim is constantly miserable and tense. Poor thing :-/

[PriestessAvenara]

You can turn your turbines into lightening rods with an upgrade if you have the eco parts. However, I have noticed my turbines always break down at least once a day. I spend most of my day either recycling, nurturing my two bug farms, or fixing my turbines. It's kinda a full time job trying to be eco friendly to the point it is starting to be game breaking. Wind turbines should not break daily. Plus nurturing takes an exceptionally long time to do and you have to do it like 4-5 times. Altogether just a bit too time consuming to even want to use them. One or two new recipes depending on the bug just doesn't add up to the sheer amount of time consumed trying to get that bug flour. Although the super fertilizer is kinda nice, it's just way, way, way too much work for too little pay out. I'm willing to pay a bug specialist like you can have gardeners at this point! I suppose at least when I get higher handiness skill repairing should go faster so I have that to look forward to. Plus I'm REALLY happy to have a lightening rod. Going outside during a thunderstorm won't be a death sentence necessarily! Plus more power to store or sell. Whee!

[FlaredFurball13]

I also have this bug and fabricated the parts its pretty frustrating considering how much time it takes to fabricate the parts.

[SparklyB]

@PriestessAvenara Agree! My Sim has no electrical items at all currently. She did have a fridge and then her job gave her a fabricator but it used too much power to run. She has a windmill and two solar panels and still only has a small excess currently because a storm took out her windmill and a panel broke and because she had electrical items at the time all her spare power was drained. It's taking ages to build the power surplus back up. I tried to get her a small tv as she's always really tense and upset as her fun levels are really low. I'm not surprised since she has virtually nothing. But then had to put it in the inventory as there was no power to run it. 

I managed to get enough parts to upgrade my turbine, but since then there have been no storms. Of course :-/

I've been using a neighbours fabricator to make upgrade parts but it's always attacking me. Four times in a row it either splattered my Sim with paint, or pulled her into the machine. I've only gone over to use it three times and on two occasions it broke. 

I tried the bug thing (I'm not exactly sure what you use them for), and then I forgot about them for a day and they died. It was probably when the storm took everything out and I had to work to fix it all. 

I vote on the NAP's and then get billed for when I don't have the right equipment on my lot to satisfy the assessor because I don't have any money to get things done. 

I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually, but living off-grid is SO hard!

[canelacaliente]

@SparklyB 

I have 5 eco upgrade parts, all made on the fabricator. When I click on my wind turbine it tells me I need 4 or 2 to do the upgrade and that I don't have enough parts.

That means you need 4 more upgrade parts or 2 more upgrade parts.  This is not a bug in the game.  If you make 4 more upgrade parts, you should be able to do both upgrades.

@Nindigo79 Can you post a screenshot of your inventory and the upgrade options you are trying to complete?  The OP does not have a bug.  The game is working as intended.  He doesn't have enough upgrade parts.

This is by design in the game.  The OP needs 4 upgrade parts to complete the upgrade.  If you look at their picture, in their inventory they only have 2 upgrade parts.  The game text indicates they need 2 more parts to complete the upgrade.  I had all 4 parts in my inventory and I had no issue with the same upgrade.

[SparklyB]

Yeah, I realised this after I'd posted the message on here.

I'd just been a little confused when first trying to upgrade. 

Can't believe how many upgrade parts you need for the eco upgrades, it's so many!!! 

[janyses · Accepted solution]

As others have said, it's not a bug. The tooltip is just confusing, but it works the same way as the other upgrades in the game. The tooltip is telling you how many parts you're missing. So if it says 2 parts, you're still missing 2 parts.

[PriestessAvenara]

@SparklyB  I'm not brave enough to actually go off the grid, but I make enough surplus I'm constantly having to sell it because I'd max out way before my bills need to be paid. Although here is a tip for playing off the grid, make your SIM a bookworm! They get 3 arrows zooming up their fun and skill books count! It's SUPER awesome for playing off the grid.

I STILL haven't figured out what grub meal is for, and after eating Bombardier Stir Fry I nearly set myself on fire when I burped out FIRE! Phew...so I stick to plain old crickets. I like to think popcorn crickets are tasty like popcorn so even though it takes a WHOLE day's work of cricket flour for ONE meal, I'll make it now and again. I found a mod in Little Ms Sam's random mod area that make taking care of the bugs far more reasonable, and if you are seriously press for time and absolutely desperate because mods aren't your thing, you can right click their little farm box and fill up their health and hunger and if you are feeling extra cheaty even if they are ready to be harvested from. Say you forgot to feed them and are disappointed you won't get your cricket flour for the day, poof, instant fix to forgetting them. Hahahaha. Now that I have the mod and they are reasonable to take care of I won't be any more cheaty. It wouldn't be fair. At least now I can actually keep poor Eve from being sad she didn't get to do a DIY project that day because she was too busy trying to keep things going.

And now, to reveal the happiness that goes along with the topic. Let's go back to talking wind turbines upgrades. For a high, high price of fabricating waaaaay too many upgrade parts, you too can eventually make it so *drum roll* they don't break anymore! Oh happiest of happy days! Now I get myself prepared with a bag full of parts, throw down a new wind turbine, and spend my afternoon making sure I will never have to visit that turbine again to have to fix it! It can be done! It's annoying and takes work to get your handiness skill up there (less if you are like me and made your SIM a bookworm so she was gaining that happiness while learning her skill) and viola! Life is reasonable again. Which isn't to say I don't still feel they should break a little less without being upgraded. I do still feel they break way, way too much to be reasonable...but after dealing with so much break down I can take REAL joy in that particular upgrade. I don't think I've ever been so eager to upgrade an object in my life or so happy after doing it. *laughs*

As for the fabricator, you do at least get your dyes, bits, and pieces back...and eventually at a high enough level the fabricator decides it likes you and stops pulling pranks and being a sassy pants. I did find it a little frustrating when I'd get dyed or dunked by it four times in a row. The first time I was dyed I was so confused. I took a shower, but that doesn't take it off since it's an actual buff. I thought it was like when you get charred or something from fire and a good scrub is what you need. So you can imagine how confused i was coming back out of the shower still dyed! Ha! After a few more minutes the buff started flashing and when it wore off I had a good laugh at myself that you just have to wait for the dye to come off naturally.

I've discovered the nice trick of not letting the NPC's vote at the N.A.P.'s under options and Eco Living. I do kind of miss the competition of REALLY giving it my all and talking them into the virtues of this or that for their votes, but I'm too afraid they'll decide to enact the Sharing is Caring N.A.P. I'm so worried about it I used the hedge fence (gotta stay green!) to fence in my yard, leaving the only way into my yard through a door in my house and only one door into my house locked. I always save before letting someone in just in case since when you start the game people already have voted and I'm not sure if it'll be the same if I enter another world. I've been too afraid to leave my neighborhood to find out. So until I find a way to disable that specific N.A.P. or they are kind enough to make it one you can opt out of or just plan get rid of it I'm sticking to my sheltered little neighborhood and locking down the hatches. I feel bad for my poor mailbox though. It's the only thing I leave outside the shield of safety and I can't help but wonder if mailboxes are things that can be stolen. *laughs* I need it where it is to for the mailman to deliver my bills, but I can practically hear its screams of "Save me too! "

[Lulu10287]

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? 1.63.136.1010
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Eco Lifestyle, Discover University, Island Living, Seasons, Cats and Dogs, City Living, Get Together, Get to Work, Tiny Living, Laundry Day, Cool Kitchen, Realm Of Magic, Vampires, Dine Out, Outdoor Retreat
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Try to upgrade any item that it upgradable in Evergreen Harbor.
What happens when the bug occurs? I try to upgrade the refrigerator to be more eco friendly and my sim has the right parts in her inventory and a high enough handiness skill and the option is greyed out and says my sim doesn't have the right part. I tried this on other upgradable objects also and it says the same.
What do you expect to see? I expect to be able to upgrade the items.
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? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. The latest patch when eco lifestyle came out and after I had installed eco lifestyle.

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I can't upgrade any objects. My sim is level 10 in handiness and has the correct parts to be able to upgrade, this didn't start happening until I got eco lifestyle and the new patch came out. I restarted my game and even tried to reset my sim and it still doesn't allow me to. I have no mods or custom content in my game. 

[crinrict]

@Lulu10287 I merged your thread with existing thread on this.

Please see solution post how this works.