Closed Islands and preparing food..

I don't know how to explain this without writing a long book so I'll do it the short story way: is there any way to prevent sims from preparing food on an island? Or, alternatively, is there a way to stop them from placing plates/platters of food on the slots that aren't eat slots (for a table)?

What I've tried: for the island.. I can't remember now! But for the table, I tried changing the slot id in the OBJD to 0 (read that at MTS)- worked famously but then my sims had trouble using a sink that's in the mesh (long story) and I got a "material change" error on the table. I tried julesfels slot blocker- mixed results there. Sometimes my sims could use the sink, sometimes they couldn't, something they wouldn't until I clicked on the sink a few times. But at least they didn't try to put anything on those blocked slots.

Clear as mud, isn't is? If you can decipher what I'm trying to say....help!

Oh, if it helps- either version I've got is in 2 parts. The one version is an island with a sink- 2 meshes that fit together to make a round island with a sink. The other is a table with a cut-out for a modified sink I made. (No cabinet, just the sink/taps/faucet/water level.) I did have a bit of a problem with the sink that's for the island. I think that's because I made it 2 tile and had problems getting everything in the right spot at first. (And let me tell you- making that mesh 2 tile was a bugger! A sink in the middle of a 2 tile cabinet..there has to be an easier way than the way I did it!)

There are different types of slots, that are defined by the field I7. The values accepted by the I7 are the same used in the Init BHAVs to define the placement of the object:
1 = ground
2 = low table
3 = table
4 = on counter
5 = non-standard (on sims)
6 = hand
7 = sitting
8 = end table
9 = in counter
10 = under counter
11 = decorative

so, in theory, if you define the slots in your counter as NOT food slots and ensure that the init BHAVs also do not define the slots as food slots - then you have it.

I think.

There is a strong chance that NixNivis or Honeywell will be able to help you more. I just do deco slots

MLC, I'm reading your post over and over and I have to admit, I'm confused. lol

You set up your island in two parts that fit together. One part is cloned from an actual sink and the other part is cloned from an actual island? If it's cloned from a sink there shouldn't be any slots for sims to use. And if you don't want sims to eat at the island part clone it from a deco object and just add deco slots that aren't routable to that half. Or did I totally misunderstand?

ETA:
Ok, now I see. You cloned things from tables instead of cloning a sink and an island? Don't shoot me here but wouldn't it be easier to make your objects from clones of what they actually are?

So..in theory could I just delete the slots I don't want used? I've deleted container slots before but those were just for decorative objects. I know I'd have to delete them in the text lists, slot file..then delete the relevant entries in the cres. (The edit blocks tab and delete them from the parent.)

Okokok, I'll admit it. I already tried that and my game crashed. Since it never has when I've deleted deco slots there must be more you have to do to avoid a crash. If I ever get this project done my next one is gonna be something with a billion deco slots..cuz I can do those with my eyes closed.

I think - if you delete the data from the slot file and the strings you can leave the cres alone. Without that data the slots don't know what they are and are just nodes in a mesh.

Honeywell (and Lee, of course)- a picture is worth a thousand words right? Maybe the attached will help explain what I've done and sort out what I've been trying to do.

The meshes in the picture aren't the island and the sink. They're the table and the sink but the look is exactly the same.

I'm going to try deleting the entries in the strings and slot file again, while leaving the cres alone. I thought I'd tried that too but now I'm not too sure. I'd really like to work out the island version since that's what this is. It just cries out "I are an island, not a table!".

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When I made my counter dummies any edits I did to the cres caused the game to crash and any edits I made to the text files caused jump bugs. In the end what worked was zeroing out the slot file except for their numbers--that stopped the sims from trying to use the counters.

But if you've done that and that caused issues with using the sink is why I suggested cloning them from the actual objects. Maybe you'll have better luck editing the text strings than I did though--most of the time I don't know what I'm doing so it could have been something else entirely causing the jump bugs.

I just figured out what you were saying in your other post, lol. I'm trying to do too many things at once. The island was made with Numenor's island template. The sink was cloned from a sink. The table- a table. The only thing that's really different is that the table has a hole in it for the sink.

What do you mean by zeroing out the slot file? And edits to the test files? Do you mean that any changes you made caused problems? Because I'm pretty sure that's when my problems started with my original meshes..when I had to make changes.

In other developments, I decided to work on the table/sink combo since I already made a chair for it (barstool height, it works like a chair though). ANDDDDD.. my sims have been using the sink with no problem so far.

A little late to the party here, but I just want to confirm what Lee said above - all you need to do to get rid of unwanted slots is delete them from the slot file and the text lists, there's no need to touch the cres. (Generally, you want to be very, very careful if you delete stuff from the cres - it's extremely touchy and doesn't tolerate any mistakes. Try to avoid it if you can.)

Otherwise, it sounds like Honeywell's got you covered. Also, I'd think (with the emphasis on "think") that stopping Sims from preparing food on an island could be fixed with some BHAV editing, but maybe that's overkill here.

Test was a typo, it should have been text file. But yeah, when I deleted those lines I started getting jump bugs--something in the BHAV was probably pointing to them and since I just hacked away at them mindlessly it makes sense there would have been problems. It could very well work just like Lee said. By zeroing out the slot file I just meant that I put zero in all of the boxes except for the last I10 box--I kept those numbers.

P.S.
When I'm done with my outdoor project I have a more functional island project planned that I was fiddling around with the other day. Sinks, appliances and a desk omsp & chair combo at island height I know for sure work from messing around with them but it all sounds remarkably similar to what you're doing here so just know if I ever finish and upload it I wasn't stealing your ideas! lol