Meals greyed-out, sims can't cook or bake

[imhotep168]

@SheriGRI have to say you're a careful observer.

OK, I removed all the mods, including the hair CC. However, the problem is still there. Please look at this screenshot:

Monte Cristo Sandwich is easier to demonstrate the issue. From the menu, I only know the recipe for single serving. That's one Any Meat, and one Any Bread. I put the ingredients in the sim's inventory, but still don't know the ingredients for Family or Party serving. After guessing and try, I figured out the recipes are

Family size: Any Meal 1
                   Any Bread 1
                   Cheese 1

Party size: Any Meal 2

                 Any Bread 1

                 Cheese 1

It's hard for me to know I need Cheese to cook family or party size of Monte Cristo Sandwich.

The Gourmet Meal popup menu doesn't tell us any ingredients information for Family and Party size Gourmet Meal, no matter there's mods or not. I expect it according to the popup of Cooking menu.

[SheriGR]

@imhotep168 Thank you for sharing that information.

Hmmm... sorry, I still cannot reproduce your issue. I just went back into my household to check on the need for cheese for the Monte Cristo Sandwich. My Sim has no ingredients (or cheese) in her personal inventory. Plus the refrigerator does not contain any cheese, yet she does not have any of the serving sizes for the dish greyed out:


Can I clarify that you also removed the cache file mentioned in the directions I posted? That can make a big difference, as bits of the Mods/CC can still be affecting the game through cache otherwise.

Perhaps you could try the following:

1. Make a backup copy of the game before troubleshooting, so you can put it back in if you like afterward.
2. Make a 'Save As" duplicate copy of that game save where you are seeing this issue...
3. ...then exit the game and remove the whole Mods folder to your desktop (and keep it for reference), delete the localthumbcache.package file, then run a game repair before re-entering the game...
4. Then re-enter ONLY the duplicate game save that you made and see if the issue remains.

[imhotep168]

@SheriGRThanks for your help!

Yes, I did the your recommended steps when I removed all the mods and retried. I have no idea why you don't need the Cheese to make family or party size of Monte Cristo Sandwich. Anyway, I have two questions:

1. Can you try to figure out the real recipes to make family size and party size of Monte Cristo Sandwich? You could get a better isolation or ingredients by using a "Sticker Storage Box" (get it from Storage->Misc) to store all the ingredients from the refrigerator and personal inventory. Sorry, that might take you a bit of effort. (You don't need to do it, because the question number 2 is the point)

2. Why there's no Gourmet Meal recipes listing for family size and party size? There is listing for Cooking. It makes sense to have the listing for Gourmet Meal, right? This is what I really want to ask. I don't see the listing on your screenshot, either. I cannot find it in any cooking guide on the network.

Thanks again for your help! It takes you so much time.

[SheriGR]

@imhotep168 I'm happy to help, it's no bother... I just hope we can figure out what's going on in your game!

Thank you for the clarifications. I think I may have an idea what's going on. Are you using the 'sticker box' for your storage/sorting of food ingredients?

I just tested on the same lot as before. If I moved the ingredients required for the Monte Cristo Sandwich (all meats and bread) onto the floor (out of the refrigerator), the options to make that dish were not present for my sim:

So.... I tried adding a 'sticker storage box' to the floor. I then dragged the food items from the floor to the box, and with my sim active in live mode I then had the option to open the box and view the contents:

I still had the same options as above for cooking the Monte Cristo Sandwich - the game did not see those items as available ingredients, and thus did not see the dish as able to be cooked. Also, if I, in live mode with my sim active, chose the option to 'put in inventory'...

The box remained on the floor, but this sim and other sims did not have the option to 'open' it and view its contents. The ingredients had disappeared. I could not see them in the room, in her personal inventory, in the refrigerator, or in the household inventory. Also, 'open' was not an option on the storage box. She did have an option to 'place in world' or something to that effect, and if chosen the sim made an animation like they placed something on the floor, but nothing was there. 

So, I tried one more thing. I dragged the box into the household inventory, then back into the room in the home. This seemed to 'reset' the box. Now with a sim active I could see the option 'open' again, and I could see the meats and bread in the sticker storage box contents again. So, I dragged these items back into the refrigerator and I could then see all of the expected cooking options for the Monte Cristo Sandwich.

So... if you are using the storage box to 'sort' your items, I'm wondering if you have some items acting buggy in a similar way? Perhaps you may want to try dragging your storage boxes to the household inventory then back into the world to see if items may become normally viewable in the manner I described, then drag back to the refrigerator all of your food items. 

As an additional note, I'm wondering if the reason you only see one serving available is perhaps your bread loaf only has one serving left? Please make sure you have a whole bread loaf and meat source - one that no sim has taken a serving from - in the refrigerator, then see if the larger serving sizes are options for your sim to cook. 

[imhotep168]

Dear @SheriGR Thank you!

Yes, I usually use Sticker Storage Box to store and sort out food ingredients. However, I haven't encounter the 'bug' you mentioned. I only play one sim family which might allow me to avoid the problem. I'll try to reproduce it by add a roommate.

Above is one of your screenshots. There's no recipes shown for family and party size. But if you checked the Cooking, there are recipes shown for family and party size.

This is what I want to point out. Why there're family and party sized recipe for Cooking, but not for Gourmet Meals?

[SheriGR]

@imhotep168 Thank you for your graciousness and kind thanks!  And I'm so glad you found the information applicable in your case about the box use for food sorting making those items in the boxes not show up as ingredients needed for cooking meals. 

You are correct. I can see the same thing in my game on this... In the case of the 'Cooking' dish options, I do see, with the Simple Living lot trait on, that I have variations in the amounts of ingredients required per dish serving sizes...

Whereas, if I choose 'Gourmet' dish options with the Simple Living lot trait on, I have only one amount(s) of ingredients required per dish and it will cook all three serving sizes for that same amount: 

This may be intended as a 'special' condition for gourmet dishes, or this special condition may have been intended for all of the types of cooking/baking with Simple Living and it was an oversight to not apply it universally... or the other way around (probably most logical)... that this was an oversight in the case of gourmet dishes. I find that to be a happy accident if that is the case, as the gourmet dishes are my faves to have my sims cook, and I cook big as I have big households. 

If this bothers you and you want to begin a separate thread to point that out (since that really is not the same thing as the greyed-out options that didn't make sense which we were also discussing here), it will be more likely to be noted correctly if the thread is not about greyed out meal options in the title. I don't know whether or not this would be accepted/kept as a bug report or would be feedback? Anyway, good luck, and enjoy the free 'bonus sized' meals! 

[imhotep168]

@SheriGRThe recipe shown for each Gourmet dish is not good for three different size. It's only good for single server. Take Monte Cristo Sandwich for example, you could try to have only one meat, one bread in your personal inventory or refrigerator and takes out all the cheese to counter or  other places (just don't leave it in the refrigerator or personal inventory.) In this situation, I believe the family and party sizes are greyed out.

Anyway, this might be an 'oversight', but it actually existed from the very beginning of game. We don't care too much about it because we money can solve it.

I am compiling a list of Gourmet Meal recipes. I also don't expect the EA will do anything on this issue if I create a new thread, because they are too busy. There are many more higher priority bugs they have to deal with. I still have to say thank you one more time for your time to help me work on this issue. 

[Heddelviven]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Often (50% - 99%)
What is your current game version number? 1.91.205.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All except kits, werewolves, batuu, wedding stories, high school
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Try to courmet cook a meal with the simple living lot trait. You cannot make large portions of some meals, despite having enough ingredients. No problem with normal homestyle cooking.
What happens when the bug occurs? Can't make meal.
What do you expect to see? That I can make the meal I have all the ingredients for.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure 

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Hello,

When playing with the simple living lot trait, I cannot make large portions of some gourmet meals.

Only a single serving can be made. I am sure I have enough ingredients.

Also, the amount of needed ingredients is not even shown. For homestyle cooking the amount is shown and I have no problems with meal sizes for that one.

In the example in the attachment I would like to make a family size or party size meal.

Only the amount of ingredients for a single meal is shown.

I can only make the single meal. In my fridge are 36 eggs and 16 spinach.

[animatedoodle]

I just wanted to add, and maybe you have seen this already that when you try and cook a Gourmet Meal > Caesar Salad in a large format, let's say Family or Party Servings, there is no option to do so. It doesn't matter if you have lots of lettuce/lemon it doesn't register it. So it either has a hidden ingredient that I don't have at the moment in the fridge, or its a bug. The gourmet meal option is good game play for Snobby sims/Rich Sims, and because I'm currently playing both, it's just a drag on the game immersion. You would want all options to be clear from the get go. Should I not do the "Simple living" trait lot option in this case? No. All my playable lots have this trait because it's realistic. Ingredients don't just pop out of nowhere. Shame.. I mean a real shame.

[SheriGR]

@animatedoodle I just entered the same lot that I tested with earlier in the thread (please reference some of the background/info in my previous posts here). I checked and in their refrigerator (so that all have access to them) they have 2 lettuce, and obviously a lemon and a tomato (see screenshots). The Sim was able to make both a Caprese Salad and a Caesar Salad, if the required ingredients are available to the Sim (Lettuce+Tomato for Caprese; Lettuce+Lemon for Caesar). Also, if one of each of those ingredients is owned the Sim was had the option of making a Single serving, Family Size, or Party Size:

 

Do you have Mods/CC? If you do, it's possible that one of them is affecting your choices. It does not need to be a Mod/CC that would seem like it would conflict. If you have Mods/CC you can test as follows:

Spoiler

Try moving the Mods folder from your "The Sims 4" folder [Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4] to your desktop (save it for reference) and delete the localthumbcache.package file in your “The Sims 4” folder. Then check in a new game save to see if this issue is still occurring. You can test without saving in order to identify which CC/Mods are causing the issue, then remove or add updated version(s) of the Mod/CC causing the issue.