Hey all,

I've always been a bit disappointed that TS3 never got a particularly robust non-store non-rabbithole dining mechanism, but after responding to @Naus Allien's post in the TS4 forums, I realized that ITF may have a solution- which comes in the form of the food synthesizer. When placed on homeworld public lots, the food synthesizer generates sim waiters to take your orders or you could order yourself- this fits neatly into the diner/fast food and fast-casual styles of dining.

As such, I've created two objects here that utilize ITF's food and drink duplication machines as a base- a false serving hatch to leads to a 'fake' kitchen (you can put a hidden room behind it), and a self-serve drink dispenser.

Special thanks to @enable_llamas for helping me fix up the files as well! I believe they should work normally. I know that the posters in the TS3 Modding Forum are a bunch of smart cookies, so I'm wondering- are there are any further potential routes for improving the game mechanism involved?



Question 1
Is there any way to remove effects for a specific object? At the moment, I use Cmar's Create-Your-Own No Effects Mod tool to disable these holograms that come with the original objects.
ep11bardrinkpoof_main
ep11foodsynthesizer1_main
ep11foodsynthesizer2_main
ep11foodsynthesizer3_main
ep11foodsynthesizer4_main

However, this also removes the effects from the ITF food synthesizer, which is why I'm wondering if the effects can be removed for these two objects.

Question 2
I've also been utilizing this mod to improve the general UI functionality of the food synthesizer, but I'm also wondering- what improvements can be made to this front to improve the restaurant experience? I am a bit short on the coding front, so I'm curious to see what's possible here (i.e. curating the recipes offered?)

Maybe instead of having all the recipes available at once, sims could instead program the recipes they want into the machine? I wonder if there’s any way to add custom morsel compatibility?

Is there also any way to extend waiter capabilities to the drink dispenser?

Part of my feedback I told you on Discord, so I won't repeat it here

Hmm... Programming the recipes would end up making the hatch working in a similar way to Arsil's food makers, but without the waiters. Still worth a look, even though I can't code for TS3! Arsil also has a Custom Beverages mod for the drink dispenser. Pretty sure they can also charge per serving in public lots, the real problem is adding the waitstaff...

For years I used the Food Register from World Adventures in all my restaurants. It wasn't precisely robust, but it did the job.

What I don't like about the Bistro set and ani's version of it is that you need to spend a lot of time setting up the whole thing. I just want my Sims to dine out. I don't want to wait so much time setting everything up. With ani's version you even have to assign the workers uniforms (otherwise they use whatever they had in their previous job, or a randomized one). On top of that, the Bistro set has this super annoying pop-ups whenever a chef cannot make it to their shift.

The ITF food synthesizer thankfully adds a new easy-to-use system. You just need to put a food synthesizer in a community lot with tables and voilà, a waiter will be spawn and you can order by simply clicking on the table (much better than being forced to put menus on every table). The waiter even wears an appropriate uniform by default. It works more or less the same way as TS2 restaurants, except without a dedicated chef and maître.


Those looks great! You did a great job. I like the idea of a food hatch.


You'll need to write a new script if you want to change the FXs. There's just no way around that. I remember when I was converting the expensive stove from FreeTime I was really frustrated I couldn't have the benefits of the expensive stove without the "electric burner" effects. Even EA stoves from the Store have this issue. They never bothered making a new script so the object could have a different FX to fit stoves with regular burners.


I'm not sure you can do match without writing a new script. Even then, I personally believe it would defeat the easty-to-use nature of the food synthethizer. I personally don't mind scrolling through a long list (the TS2-style pie menu was a little annoying though, so it's good icarusallsorts made this mod), but I do mind having to set-up the food the restaurant serves every single time I make a restaurant, especially if I'm using ani's version of the bistro set.


Again, you'd need to write a new script for that.

This would be the case, I think, which is why I'm looking to see if anyone more knowledgeable can help investigate the mechanics, and see if there's room for improvement.

I wonder if the FX slots can be deleted in S3PE?

Small update- @enable_llamas comes to the rescue yet again!

In S3PE, navigating via:
RSLT > Grid > Chunk Entries > RCOL Block > Effects > [...] (on right hand of row)

Allows you to open a up another Data Grid, with the ability to delete Effect Entries. I did so, and was able to get rid of most of the effects.

Glad to help, hopefully the last stubborn one will soon be gone too!

Also I'm blaming you if I end up actually reinstalling that whole ep for the machine :D

Not gonna lie, a food replicator that doesn't look like a food replicator is a much better idea than it sounds like.

I just love these and can't wait to tinker with them in my game! No helpful tips, but I will just say that I would vastly prefer to be able to control what is served at a restaurant, vs. just everything showing up, as I like to build realistic (as possible), themed restaurants with specific cuisine. You really did a top job with these! They look so great!

Thanks! I wonder if there's an XML that controls the dishes available? Will have to do a bit more digging.

Some notes- I was able to directly disable some of the effects on the object, but there are two effects remaining.
- The first one is the touch screen for when your sims order- I was able to directly disable this effect by changing the image map, but this affects the original object as well.
- The other effect is when your sim programs a new recipe- I was only able to disable this via Cmar's No Effect Editor. However, as these don't appear with typical use, disabling these are optional.

I was also able to change some of the sound effects. While you still get a mildly futuristic sound effect when the dish appears, there should no longer be the sound of the window opening and closing.