June 2020 - last edited November 2020 by crinrict
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? 1.63.134.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All of the expansions and game pack, about half of the stuff packs.
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Attempt to change the Eco Footprint of a neighborhood using the new expansion pack, Eco Lifestyle.
What happens when the bug occurs? The neighborhood is Green for a few (sim) hours, then immediately turns back to neutral. It goes back and fourth throughout the (sim) week.
What do you expect to see? I expect to see my neighboring sims add the items (bee boxes, bug farms, solar panels, etc.) I recommend them with the new friendly interaction. It's a nice new gameplay feature. If it's not meant to work like that, then I would at least like the Eco Footprint of a lot to change when I add/remove objects therefore, I can see the Green neighborhood in full effect.
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? No
I created sims to stay in Port Promise so I could see the process of going from an industrial neighborhood to a green one. My neighborhood turned green and everything was great; then, I noticed it immediately went back to neutral within the same (sim) day. I noticed with the Eco Footprint toggle button, the other lots had turned neutral and the only green lot was the one my sims resided in. Therefore, I attempted to make them green by visiting and recommending them to add bee boxes, solar panels, etc., they never did, so I went into manage worlds and did it myself. Once I added a ton of more plants and, at one point of a time, I added 20 windmills to test a theory and the lot was still labeled as neutral. I even visited the lot with my sims multiple times to see if it would change; it never did. I have tried repairing my game (through Origin) and restarting my PC.
Edit By Crinrict: Adjusted Tag
Solved! Go to Solution.
November 2020
Eco Footprints no longer change very quickly from “Green” to “Neutral.” Knox rejoices.
Fixed in Patch 1.68.154/ 1.33
This thread was a bit of a mixture so if you're still having issues, please create a new thread.
Good Luck
Crin
I don't work or have any association with EA. I give advice to the best of my knowledge and cannot be held responsible for any damage done to your computer/game.
Please only contact me via PM when asked to do so.
Important Threads
June 2020
When I started up the game there was different eco footprint like there should be. When I entered manage worlds, I realized they were all neutral footprints now. I didn't even change anything or put cheats in to change this. I'm really disappointed about this. I mean this is the biggest feature in the game and I'm missing out on it!
June 2020
Every time my sim wanders outside of my neighborhood, for example when I go to attend a guest lecture or visit my parents house in Willow Creek when I get back my eco footprint for my neighborhood is says it is neutral again. This looses my buff for my green loving sim until it changes back in a day or two again. Not sure why it happens but it is a little annoying as is the constant reminder every time I return to my home lot and have it tell me what "off the grid means"
June 2020 - last edited June 2020 by crinrict
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? 1.63.134.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All of them.
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? It seemed to trigger after my toilet spontaneously combusted from not using the compost (not being able to use the compost seems to be a bug in itself, unless I did something incorrectly)
What happens when the bug occurs? After the fire happened the eco footprint bar started to decline towards polluted (I expected this because of fires affecting pollution level). However, Conifer Station was almost at a green eco footprint, full bar, and now it just continuously declines no matter what I have my sim do. Even after cheating to set it to green to see what that would do, it still continuously declines no matter what green efforts my sim takes or are being taken in the world at large.
What do you expect to see? I assumed the bar would go down slightly and then revert back to going up to green based off of my sim's activities in the world (recycling, making appliances energy efficient, etc)
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? No
After the fire happened the eco footprint bar started to decline towards polluted (I expected this because of fires affecting pollution level). However, Conifer Station was almost at a green eco footprint, full bar, and now it just continuously declines no matter what I have my sim do. Even after cheating to set it to green to see what that would do, it still continuously declines no matter what green efforts my sim takes or are being taken in the world at large.
Edit By Crinrict: Added Tag to Title, Shortened title to fit
June 2020
HI @KeenKB
to make sure your mods are no longer active, try resetting your user files as described in the factory reset described in this post: http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/FAQ-Troubleshooting-Steps-amp-Known-Issues/m-p/3621199
You won't loose anything. Just make sure to not delete any files and make a backup.
After renaming, repair your game by right clicking on the game in Origin.
Just put your save back and nothing else and check if it happens again (you will probably need to turn it green again, just test if it resets again)
If that works, start putting your stuff back.
The rest does not need putting back, cause they are mostly cache files that recreate or log files that are not needed for the game.
Good Luck
Crin
I don't work or have any association with EA. I give advice to the best of my knowledge and cannot be held responsible for any damage done to your computer/game.
Please only contact me via PM when asked to do so.
Important Threads
June 2020
I've got the same problem. My neighbourhood was "green" and when I came back from work it was "neutral" again. It took another 2-3 days to go back to green. This repeats every time I come back from work. Do they test the game? This is so basic....
June 2020
June 2020 - last edited June 2020
@KeenKBI want to contribute in this problem.
To be clear, there are two ecofootprint metters:
1) Street Ecofootprint (the one you can see)
2) Lot Ecofootprint (this is hidden)
Lot eco footprint can be changed:
1) By buy mode objects
2) By build mode objects
While buy mode objects change the eco footprint of a lot progressively, the ones from build mode will change it immediately by adding points to that metter.
What happens with EA building from Evergreen Harbour is that most lots DON'T fulfill the quantity of build objects required to change the ecofoootprint of the lot immediately, so anytime you visit the lot, or travel from one world to another, the lots will lose their industrial eco footprint because they don't have "enough points" to have it.
And to be clear, the buy mode objects will change the lot ecofootprint throughout time. The more you have, the quicker it'll be, but this won't affect other lots unless you visit them and stay on them until the ecofoorprint change (which a found silly, honestly. It wasn't that hard to add an update service)
June 2020
June 2020 - last edited June 2020
@KeenKBI hope so. Honestly, it's silly the way it is right now and there is NO CLUE of this anywhere. The only thing we can do is a lot of people find this silly too and make the developers change it.