Sorry, I'm not sure if this belongs here, since it's not exactly a game glitch so much as it is a question I'd like answered...but I didn't want to clutter up the main forum with it, and a search didn't turn up any answers. So here I am.

I wanted to make a house on a platform over a large pond, so that my Sims could come out of the house onto the deck and fish from it. Before I actually built the house, I built the platform and the pond underneath it, then had a Sim test it by going up onto the platform and fishing from it. It worked fine; the "fish" option showed up, she cast her line from the deck, I even saw her catch a few fish.

So I built the house, leaving a length of deck at least two blocks wide on all sides, wider at the corners since the house was a vaguely circular shape. I didn't fence the deck, and I made no changes to the platform or the pond. But when I tried to direct my Sim to fish again...well, the "fish" option appeared, and she went up onto the platform, but instead of casting her line she waved and a thought bubble appeared with that footsteps icon in it - you know, the one that shows up when something gets in a Sim's way. An info box popped up in the upper right corner of the screen, saying "I can't cast that far. I should try catching fish closer to the edge."

No matter how close I sent her to the edge of the deck, I got the same message. I tried extending the deck to four blocks wide, but that didn't help. So what I want to know is, what about me building the house made her unable to fish from the deck? Are Sims even supposed to be able to fish from decks, or was the first time just a fluke? Is there anything I can do to get that option again - any changes I can make to the deck, the pond or the house - short of demolishing the entire house?

Have you tried at different spots on the deck? Not related to the edge of the deck, but to the edge of the pond underneath?

BTW, this sort of question would be appropriate to the Stupid/Random Questions thread, I believe.

You'll need the Invisible Fishing Pond.

I've been able to do it without the invisible pond, but I'm not sure what caused it. I think it was that the pond was shallow and I had leveled the terrain on the bottom near the deck. The deck was also not too far out over the water.


Does your house have a foundation or a basement? That might have adjusted the lot's perception of the pond.