Yeah, I haven't implemented the money thing in the end. Back then I was too excited to stick all the stuff I can think of in one mod. Not any more.

I've been meaning to rethink cheap rent. I made separate object for that, but since it requires other objects, having separate agreement object is kind of excessive - I could just recalculate the rent through the electrical box. On the other hand, what if someone wants cheap rent on a lot, but doesn't feel like having an electrical box on that lot. May sound cheaty, but the cheap rent can be justified by some other means. So I think, cheap rent agreement will be a really independent buyable object.

I can think of quite a few reasons for a place to have cheaper rent. Inconvenient location, landlord escaping a vacancy tax, old but well maintained, murder, other deaths (culture plays a role here), oversupply of housing (consequentially undersupply could lead to higher rents), set up by an employer, supernatural hotspot (Depends on the culture of the neighbourhood), nearby crime, etc.

But yeah everything looks great so far.

Actually a higher rent option would be great too.

Clipboard of cheaper lot and rent price
Temporarily unavailable. It had a bug, so I took it down for further development.
***
Buy it in general misc. or through collection. How to use:
- Reduce the price of residential or fraternity lot. Place it on unoccupied residential or fraternity lot. Clipboard's value will immediately change to -5000, making the lot this much cheaper. Then you can move your family in.
If you buy a clipboard when the family already lives on a lot, it will lower the bills, but won't give your family any cash.
- Reduce the price of community lot. Place it on unowned community lot. Clipboard's value will immediately change to -10000, making the lot this much cheaper. Then you can direct a sim to buy the lot.
You may buy a clipboard on already owned lot, but there's no point in reducing the lot price this way.
- Reduce the apartment rent price. Place it in current family's apartment and click on cheap rent interaction. You'll see the new rent in text notification. After that you can sell the object or use it as a decoration. To go back to normal rent price click on corresponding interaction.
Note: rent calculation takes into account the value of basic items: light fixtures, counters, plumbing, fridges, stoves, even cars. I don't have the full list, but you get the idea: whatever usually stays in unfurnished apartment is accounted for in the total price. Other types of objects are ignored even if you've already furnished the whole place.
You may place a clipboard in unoccupied apartment, but you still need to move your family in there before you'll be able to recalculate the price.

Electrical box of power problems
You'll find description in posts #12 and #17.
What changed:
- Removed the "Get cheap agreement" interaction, as I remade the whole cheap price mod (see above).
- Fixed a bug: now if there's already food in the oven, microwave or toaster when power goes off, sims will be able to get it out. Thanks to franfeliano for telling me.
- Made a way for more advanced users to add GUIDs of custom objects to the list of objects to have disabled interactions during power outage (hope this made sense ). Thanks to maxon for the idea. If you have a unique custom object that proved to be unaffected by the mod and you want that object to be unusable during power outage, this is for you.
Don't add your guids just yet, there might be more updates to the mod.

The back-up candle
Both file and description remained in in post #12.

Watering can of fertile land
This watering can represents good soil. As long as it's on your lot, it increases quality of growing garden plants and orchard trees, so they produce better crops. Weeds, ivy and other plants are going to love it here, too. Nature really flourishes on fertile land, it's alive and raging! Although, it does not relieve you of the need to take care of your garden, so be prepared to work.
Buy watering can in gardening section, general misc. or through collection. Place it on any lot. As it costs 5000, it will increase lot price and will affect bills, but you won't be able to sell it for that price (how can you sell fertility of your land just like that?).
ADDED LATER:
>> Requires Seasons or higher. -> Made basegame-compatible, but needs proof.
The mod has settings - mild flora and aggressive flora. Aggressive flora not only has higher chance of spawning, but is also very penetrative and is able to grow no matter what. Let me show you how it looks:
-> -> ->
Affected types of plants:
- Base: weeds and some water plants.
- Seasons: harvestable plants and orchard trees.
- Bon Voyage: grass and tiny decorative thing.
- Mansions&Gardens: ivy, shrub and and some water plants.
Want to include more? You can! The mod has place for new GUIDs, where you can add maxis/custom plants for fertile land to spawn. Think grass, flowers, seaweed, or even shrubs and tree sprouts. If you don't have M&G you should really get some custom wall ivy, it looks awesome.
Don't add your guids just yet, there might be more updates to the mod.

Lot traits collection file
A convenient way to find all the objects from the set in one place. Note: this file is placed in the Collections folder.
Look for this icon in game:

By the way, I'm not entirely satisfied to call it "lot traits", but it kind of fits the idea. Each object represents some quality/property. I need some kind of name for the set anyway.

Before you download anything, please read the "Before you download anything" note in post #12!
Also, don't forget to delete the old files, except for candle that hasn't been changed.

***

maxon, just saw your post about higher rent. Sounds like a logical expansion to the mod, I'll see if I can make it.

***

The pricing clipboard had a bug, so I took it down temporarily. It's not bad, but I suggest you all delete it anyway (filename is either clipboard or cheap-rent-agreement).

Actually, that bug pushed me to find a better and more flexible solution for rent alteration. I'll upload it for further testing as soon as I work out a few lower and higher options.

Electrical box and watering can will get updated too, but later on. I want to improve sim reactions for the box and for the can to add more sophisticated rules for plants placement.

***

Also, got a report on a few other things, so these things are next up:
- christmas tree - to include into electrical system
- strange shadow on water plant put on the ground - I'll remove the plant from the watering can's list
- issue with lamps not lighting if they are bought during power outage - to investigate
- finish electrical box's text notifications

+ another way of disabling incoming calls
+ let buy meter only on private lots

And a few suggestions to consider:
- sim can hit a wire during digging, be electrocuted and cause a black out
- ghost can damage the electrical box

Just some random questions . .

Do lightning rods on the roof lower chance of power outage?
Do the solar panels work to lower bills with this object before and during a power outage (yes, I know it's solar power, but I'm a blonde and I got questions) I actually use the modded solar panels.
Can the electrician be called to repair unit, or is this a resident only job?
Is the phone outage only for landline phones, or does it somehow affect cell phones too?

Now I'll have to hire a nanny, she loves breaking the trash compactor and a few other things and I used to loooove making her fix them.

I really love this object, you put a lot of common sense, realistic ideas into it. Thank!

Thanks

Do lightning rods on the roof lower chance of power outage?
Sort of, but not directly. If you have placed electrical box outside, it is vulnerable to lightning strikes, which can damage the box itself, all electronics and cause a blackout. Lightning rod would lower the chance of a lightning to hit the box, so in this case it makes a difference. Although, gravestones and trees might do a better job attracting lightning, I don't know. But if your electrical box is inside, the lightning can't get to it anyway.

Do the solar panels work to lower bills with this object before and during a power outage
They're independent objects and yes, they lower the bills. In fact, that's about the only thing they do. I was considering making power available to solar and windmill owners when there are problems with centralized supply, but I'm scared of doing all the research and calculation :O
Stored power is supposed to decay if not used immediatly. battery capacity should be somehow limited. And who knows how many more details there are.

Can the electrician be called to repair unit, or is this a resident only job?
Yes, you can call repairman or apartment landlord. Even to install upgrades.

Is the phone outage only for landline phones, or does it somehow affect cell phones too?
Only for landlines, but I can't remember whether I tested cellphones to confirm that they work or not. I will have to check that.

ETA: Cellphones don't ring. Well, then I'll find another way to stop incoming calls coming through landlines.

Thanks for all your answers, it is odd that the cellphone doesn't work, considering you never recharge and it never stops working. Ea/Maxis did not always function properly anyway. (:

It works, just not receiving incoming calls because of the way I blocked them. That's my mistake and I'll fix it.

Rent agreement is back to testing. Hopefully, the promised better and more flexible solution is going to prove to be truly so.

Requires Apartment life
Be sure to delete any previous versions, back up your data, use in a testing hood, wear helmet.
Download link: --- find updated file down the thread ---

What it is
It is an object - clipboard - found in Misc./Misc. No global overrides.

What it does
Allows rent tuning. It has a few interactions for altering the rent price and one secret feature that may pop up in certain circumstances and surprise you.



I may have forgotten little details, but I hope I covered all major stuff.

Questions, suggestions, complaints -- bring them all

@gummilutt, you were interested in rent, so you're welcome to take a peek.

Thanks so much for the tag, I absolutely want to take a peak I don't regularly read CF so I would have missed it if you hadn't tagged, so yay. Looks fantastic. Not sure when I'll have time to test it, but I certainly will

I love this! EAxis rent has always seemed way too high to me, so it would be great to be able to customise it to lower it for all lots and lower it even more for lots which are supposed to be for poorer sim/in not-so-nice areas of the 'hood etc.

I was wondering, though, if it would be possible to provide a few even lower options - say, 25% and 10%? Perhaps even 0% as well, if that's doable? I would like to be able to set the rent as being very low (10%, probably) for sims who live on military bases, to simulate the bulk of the cost of housing being paid by the military (their employer), with military personnel only paying a very low rent.

Yeah, it should be doable. I'm not promising the exact 0% just yet, need to see if I can figure out the math =)

Meanwhile, I'm back to work on the electrical panel & stuff. Can't wait to show you what I've got. Added a bunch of new features, including what had been suggested and two new objects.

Some things aren't finished yet, but there's still enough to chew on, so I decided to roll out.
Thanks to all the people who already tested and made suggestions
Here's what's new:

Electrical box


Digging accident
Standalone global mod. It works nice with electrical box, but is independent and optional.
- Sim may hit a wire during digging, be electrocuted and cause a blackout. The chances are shared with pipe accident.
- When sim hits a wire, it needs to be fixed by an autorized repairman (npc). You don't just fill it in and all well! You have to report it to utility company or wait till they find out about the leak/blackout and locate you themselves. Exceptions are dorms and non-livable lots.
- I plan to make broken pipe require fixing too and it's actually already works. You'll be able to experience it as soon as pipeline mod is finished.
- If you don't have electrical box on lot, there'll be no blackout, and the dirt pile will not have to be fixed. Just electrocution.
- Pregnant sims don't get electrocuted, if they're alredy showing. It seems to be a game-wide rule and I decided to go with it.
Resources:


Candle
Candle now has about 50 hours to burn. After that, it turns into candle-end (or whatever they call it in english) and can be thrown away.

Rent agreement
- New custom lower rent options including absolute ZERO
- When your rent = 0, the mod marks it as paid, so you don't have to check in at the mailbox and get landlord reminders for nothing. You can still see an option on the mailbox a couple of hours after midnight on monday, but the mod should turn it off soon.
- Fixed clipboard's mesh position to be centered and facing.
- Still no global overrides.

_______
Testing environment Check for conflicts, backup your hoods before using. You know the drill. If you already have these mods, they might reset themselves due to update. The safest option is to remove them and save the lot before installing updated version, but it might be OK even without re-saving.

***



TO DO:
texture pixelation + bumpmap

First of all - thank you to my secret testers who've been PMing me with their findings. You helped a lot!

Now to what's new:

electrical box:
Look for description and new file in the next post.


bill penalties:
One of the main reasons why it's taken me so long to post update; it's a whole new feature!
Red bills have new consequences, if sims don't pay them.
If there are either electrical box or pipeline (unreleased) on your lot:
- next day after first delinquent notice - power is turned off
- the next day - nothing (planned - water is turned off)
- the next day - phone is turned off
- the next day - repoman finally visits: all unpaid bills except the newest ones are destroyed, their value translates into repossessions the repoman performs; utilities are restored
If there are neither electrical box nor pipeline (unreleased) on your lot:
- each of the 3 days after first delinquent notice - bill amount is adjusted by 10%
- the next day - repoman finally visits: all unpaid bills except the newest ones are destroyed, their value translates into repossessions the repoman performs
Note: pipe mod is in the works, so no water outages, yet, but there will be.
Known issues: once after installation of the mod, existing bills may jump out of mailbox on the ground, but that's OK. The bill and it's amount should stay intact.
Overrides: yes, one overriden BHAV.
Requirements: AL/M&G/UC, until I have more info or someone brave tests it on lower version.

digging accident:
- some changes about apartments, like, if the faulty dirt pile is on neighbor's territory, it won't be taken into account when another family is played at the moment
Overrides: yes, see previous post
Requirements: AL/M&G/UC, until I dig into other EPs' code and have more info

solar-wind-rebate:
Optional global mod for M&G owners - if your neighbor has solar panels or wind turbines, you don't get energy rebate; in other words, refund only concerns the apartment, in which solar panels or wind turbines are actually located.
It's a separate and independent file that can be used with or without the electrical box. Electrical box itself can totally live with or without it, as well.
Overrides: yes, three BHAVs for each object (small solar panel, large solar panel, wind turbine).
Requirements: M&G

question:
Anyone experienced errors with rent clipboard?

_____________

I know, this set of mods could use some clear organized description. The thread is all over the place, as well as my own notes, desktop and room. But I'm working on it, slowly moving towards upload time. There are SO many details. Good news is the mod gets more and more polished and I'm starting to see the end of the tunnel! In the meantime, I hope you like new additions. My sims will sure pay their bills less often from now on

Thanks again to everyone who helps me test it.

I love this! Love it love it love it!
I'll edit this post for bugs or suggestions when I try the mod out.

Edit 1: I have a suggestion to do with bills, maybe if a sim has the "Repoman!" memory 3 times (Or some other repossession counter) their bills will get reduced by 5 - 10 %, and if they are unemployed an extra job will be added to newspapers and computers. But, if they get that memory again, the bills will go up by 5 - 10 % from the base number, not the discounted number. As well, the job finding objects will get their job count reduced by one (Yet again from the base number), and power and water will get cut off from 12am to 5am, with telephone being cut off from 9pm to 12pm the next day.

After paying the bills on time for the next week the services will get restored for those times, and after paying on time for the week after that the jobs and bills will go back to normal. This event can happen again each time you get the memory again, and the bill price will go up by 2% each time.

If somehow, you get the memory again (5 times, you must be really bad at this...) your sim can apply for Hardship and bills get reduced by 20% from base number and the money from jobs increases by 5%, however, to apply the household funds must be under five thousand simoleons and you have to reapply every 14 sim days. If while getting money during hardship you reach 7500 simoleons you must end the hardship within 3 days, on the 3rd day you will get a notice telling your to end Hardship contract, and if you don't with 11pm the same day the repoman will come to repossess 1000 simoleons the next day due to you committing fraud? I don't know a better way to put it. If the repoman can't repossess anything and there isn't 1000 simoleons in the family funds, he will walk off and your bills will by 3x as expensive for the next sim week
This stuff would be hard to implement, but it is something to think about. This could be some sort of uber utilities and realism mod.

Ahahaha omg this is great (electrician here, much amused and entertained)

BkajnlConcepts, I'm impressed.
SparkySays, glad to hear.

I brought new version of electrical box. Changes are not that big. I found yet another object that needed turning off (neon coffee table). It's covered now. I changed how electrical box affects lot value again. Changed short circuit logic a bit. Oh and I added shadows.

First draft of electrical box's full huge description.




I also brought power generator. I was meaning to post it a while ago, but I can't help to procrastinate from writing a description... It's the worst part of modding.

Power generator and fuel can are custom objects that provide a backup power source and do more than that.
Buy them in Misc-Misc. section.
Requirements: UC/AL/M&G until I implement EP checks to make it more compatible and safe for other configs.
Both objects are in the same file. They are self-contained in terms that even though they are designed to work with electrical box, they can be used with or without it.

Description.



_________

Hey, Lamare. I haven't had as much time to play the game as I'd like, so I didn't notice the updated files here. I'd like to test them out again when I have some time off, but I have a silly question...

I noticed that the wind turbine can supposedly generate power for one lot (regardless of size and actual number of electrical objects in use?) unless the wind speed is too low. How is the wind speed measured? I was under the impression that wind technically doesn't exist in-game, so I'm somewhat confused.

Hey!
Wind speed is determined either by weather controller or climate controller, forgot which one. Wind turbine picks it up and changes its speed accordingly.

Oh! Thank you for the answer. I'll test the newer mods out during my next few days off.

I especially like the idea of the digging accidents (it's more realistic than finding treasure in some hoods and I ban treasure digging to avoid it, so it's nice to have another outcome) and the bill penalties. That'll give them more incentive to pay them on time. The solar-wind rebates are great for some of my more "green" houses too.

(Sure, their possessions will be taken away, but it's also realistic to have the power and water cut off one by one as time goes by. It never made sense to me that there aren't other consequences for skipping them.)

Testing in a new hood: lights went off, options on box were "tinker for fun", "upgrade", and "settings" which is grayed out (disabled). Had sim tinker (4 mechanical) nothing happened. Later had her tinker again and got message "power outage due to event that happened last time you checked {meaning?},2 hours to wait.

This is awesome! Thank you so much, I was looking for this :D

@grammapat

That message is supposed to show up when you load the lot to remind you that the power is off (due to event that happened last time you played that lot). Is that what happened? If not, I'll try to investigate it.

@Bananensap, could you please upload the log file or post its contents (under a spoiler, 'cause it's long)? I'd like to know the object that the mod choked on.