Self-Configurable Adjusted Breakage (SCAB)

The Self-Configurable Adjusted Breakage mod allows players to alter the breakage of all in-game objects to a percentage rate they prefer. The breakage rate can be configured to any percentage from 0 (no breakage), to 100 (the normal rate), to 1000 (10x the norm). The percentage can be tuned by editing a text configuration file using any text editor. The included configuration file is pre-tuned to 50% of normal breakage (things break half as often).

Changing the configuration value will require a game exit and restart in order to process the new value.

PAQ (Pre-Answered Questions)

• Seriously? SCAB? Another stupid acronym?
  • Yes
• What makes this different from other “break less often” mods?
  • The other mods attempt to alter breakage by editing the XML tuning for various actions in the game. There are so many of these that some are simply missed, too difficult to tune, or would cause too many compatibility problems by altering the tuning. In addition XML mods can have a tendency to conflict with one another.
• Does it work with *********** objects?
  • Yes. This affects ALL the objects in the game that can become broken, even the ones other mods miss (computers, TVs, stoves, refrigerators, you name it). It interecepts any changes to the “brokenness” of an object and alters it by the percentage you set.
• What about compatibility, won’t this mod break one day?
  • The script methods that are intercepted by this mod have not changed since The Sims 4 came out. Although this mod was written and tested with the latest version of the game at this time (Nov. 15, 2017 game patch) it should work with all versions of the game past(*), present, and in the conceivable future.
  • (*) Some very early versions of TS4 don’t support script mods fully, so it won’t work with those versions as packaged in the .ts4script file.
• Does it work with the *** *** *** game/expansion/stuff pack?
  • Yes. This affects ALL the objects in the game that can become broken, even the ones other mods miss (computers, TVs, stoves, refrigerators, you name it). It interecepts any changes to the “brokenness” of an object and alters it by the percentage you set.
• I downloaded a ******* and it breaks all the time, will it work with that?
  • Yes. This affects ALL the objects in the game…
  • Ok, this is less of a yes than the others. But if the object designer used the same “commodity” used by all other Sims objects in the game to track breakage, it will work.
• Future game packs?
  • Yup, until EAxis decides to change those methods they’ve been using for the past three years. Which they will probably do with the next game patch because, hey it was working fine but now there’s a mod out!
• What about sabotage?
  • Sabotaged items may not break on the very next use as intended by the game, although unless a very low percentage is configured they are likely to break eventually. I think I tried a configuration as low as 10 and everything except the high-reliability TV broke after five or six uses.

Configuring

A configuration file is used to tune the breakage percentage used in the mod. This is a standard text file and should just contain an integer (whole number) ranging anywhere from 0 to 1000. A default configuration file comes with the mod set to the value of 50 percent. This means by default things will break half as often.

• Use 33 to have things break one-third as often.
• 75 to have things break three-quarters as often.
• 100 means things break normally.
• 99 means things break just the barest smidgen less often.
• 200 means things break twice as often.
• 1000 means things break ten times as often.
• 1 means things should break nearly never (maybe two or three times in a Sim’s entire lifetime).
• etc.
• Oh yeah, 0 means don’t let stuff break at all.

Installation Instructions and Compatibility

To install, unzip the two files contained in the download file into your game’s mod folder. It can be placed in a sub-folder if desired. It uses a script, so the mod cannot be installed more than one sub-folder deep.

This mod was written and tested on Windows for The Sims 4 version 1.36.104.1020 (Nov 15, 2017). However it should be compatible with any game version since the .ts4script file format began to be supported (early 2015 I think).

The script uses features of the game that have been unchanged since the game was released and are not likely to break in future patches.

This mod uses the ts4script file format for the script portion of the mod and cannot be installed automatically with a mod manager (until a mod manager is updated to support these files). To install the mod manually, extract both the package and ts4script files from the download into your mods folder.

Script mods must be enabled in your game options for this mod to work properly.

Nobody’s bought me a Mac yet, so until I hear from someone who tries it out, I can only assume it will work on a Mac. I don’t know of any reason why it wouldn’t work.

Additional Credits

• Scripthoge for writing the script “injector” routines