Living Outdoors

[Teatoo]

I was thinking of creating a family who live solely outdoors. I need some ideas on how I could make this challenge really interesting. I was thinking they could grow their own food and fish. I could get them tents, buy a fire pit and use terrain paints to create a little campground for them. I'm going to need some way for them to go to the toilet - will I have to buy a toilet for that? Is there no other way, because I can't think of any. Also, I might have a problem with hygiene. Does anybody have any ideas about how I could solve that?

[Metropolis Man]

I do this all of the time. I call it the "bear in the woods" technique. It's quite simple. All you do is throw beds, showers, stoves, refrigerators, whatever...outside. A toilet does need a single section of wall to butt up against. I always put my burglar alarm directly above the toilet since it needs a wall too. And it's just classy, right? The issue you'll run into is the kids won't use an "open" toilet with anyone else around. The toilet stall remedies that simply enough and adds to your campground look. But, then you'd need one more section of wall for an alarm.

[Teatoo]

I really want to have as little furniture as possible. I suppose I could make a little shed with a toilet in it, it wouldn't really ruin the outdoors theme. Is there any way around hygiene? A sink in the shed might work, I don't really want a shower.

[Pam]

I've seen some Sims do a sponge bath in a sink when there's no tub or shower available, but it doesn't happen all the time so I'm not sure exactly what triggers the sponge bath interaction.  You could also travel and buy a tent and some Shower in a Can if you have World Adventures installed.  Another option is to use the public toilets and the showers at the gym.

[Twinmum]

Will sims still have a sponge bath in a sink? I know they would in sims 2 but I haven't seen it in TS3. They just throw a want for a bath tub or shower.
One way you could do it, but it still means having the things, is to build a small shed right up the back of your block to house the shower and toilet then surround it with lots of trees and bushes, you could even make them have to follow a heavily wooded path to get there.
I haven't noticed children not wanting to use an open toilet (mainly because by the time my sims have kids they can afford a closed in bathroom) but I have noticed visitors will not use an open bathroom.

Norma

[Metropolis Man]

I haven't noticed children not wanting to use an open toilet (mainly because by the time my sims have kids they can afford a closed in bathroom)...

And that's why you haven't noticed it, Norma. In a no-wall situation, kids will try and shoo parents.

[Pam]

Will sims still have a sponge bath in a sink? I know they would in sims 2 but I haven't seen it in TS3. They just throw a want for a bath tub or shower.

I've seen it at least twice. Most recently it was in China at the market. My Sim took a sponge bath in the restroom there.

[Asleep]

To take a sponge bath, you need the inappropriate trait.

[Swede1992]

To take a sponge bath, you need the inappropriate trait.

Yeah, and they will shoo people around.

Actually, there is one way around the toilet need: Just let it go! When the bladder need is down, it will go up again. You'll lose hygiene, but that can be fixed with a sponge bath!
Thus, the sink can solve two needs.

[samoht04]

You could use 'moveobjects on' to place the toilet without a wall?

[Teatoo]

I don't really want them to just let it go. xD I'm happy to have a little shed with a toilet and a sink. I don't really want to make the family inappropriate, and I was wondering if I could just repeatedly wash their hands and brush their teeth in the sink? Would I be able to keep their hygiene up that way?

[Pam]

I don't really want them to just let it go. xD I'm happy to have a little shed with a toilet and a sink. I don't really want to make the family inappropriate, and I was wondering if I could just repeatedly wash their hands and brush their teeth in the sink? Would I be able to keep their hygiene up that way?

You might be able to do that, but it adds so very little to the hygiene bar that you'd be at the sink all day!

[MomOfMany]

I don't know if that will work. I have tried to do it when the hygiene is down when I don't have time to take a bath and by the time you get the washing the second time the effects from the first time are almost completely gone. But if you get wash every now and then and never let it get low at all then it might. Like wash them every hour or every other hour which ever is needed to try and keep it up. Good luck!

[RunAmokSims]

I don't know if this will help you. I had a very flirty homeless Sim. (His wife threw him out) and he kept using the "Can I stay over" at other Sims homes.

When he started getting smelly I sent him to the 24 hour gym to shower.

[sydney511]

This seems like a version of Sims 2 Castaway! Oh, how I love that game. As for showers, I'm sorry to say, if you REALLY don't want one, you'll have to make all the sims inappropriate, although it sounds like you have WA, so you can get a bunch of Shower in a Cans, as well as some dry food and tents. I would take a short 3-day trip to China and get everything you need and then you're set to play!