Bust the Dust Gameplay Rebalance

The Bust the Dust system had several structural issues at launch, and many of them remain unresolved. While the most disruptive permanent Clean-state buffs were eventually adjusted, other inconsistencies were left behind. One unintended consequence of those changes is that certain aspirations tied to cleanliness became unnecessarily difficult to complete. For example, objectives that require inviting a Sim into a clean home depend on a temporary Pristine Floor buff being active. With the buff reduced to a short duration (60 in-game minutes), completing the objective often becomes a race against time rather than a natural gameplay milestone. This module restores functional consistency by rolling back the duration change required for aspiration tracking. The original Maxis buffs are now hidden and used purely as state markers. Visible emotional buffs have been cloned, made time-bound, and filtered through personality traits to prevent universal mood stacking while preserving aspiration compatibility. Gameplay Effects (Hidden States) Cleanliness levels now operate primarily through hidden gameplay effects rather than universal emotional buffs. These background states influence hygiene, reputation, and comfort in more subtle ways. Clean The Clean state now provides hidden mechanical benefits: Slows hygiene decay. Increases Reputation gain (Get Famous). Increases Small Business Reputation gain (Businesses Hobbies). Neat, Perfectionist, and Fast Fastidious Sims experience greater comfort in a clean home (comfort is a hidden state that influences behavior and autonomy). Neat children gain more fun while in a clean environment. Dusty The Dusty state applies light background penalties: Slightly accelerates hygiene decay. Reduces Reputation and Small Business Reputation if you are already losing it through gameplay (e.g., negative social interactions). However, Dusty environments increase comfort for Family-Oriented, Lazy, Slob, and Filth Dweller Sims. Children (except Neat children) gain more fun in a lived-in home. Dirty Stronger background effects: Increased hygiene decay. Greater penalties to Small Business Reputation. A small Reputation decrease when socially engaging with visitors in a dirty home. Filthy Functions similarly to Dirty, but with stronger effects across hygiene and reputation. Emotional Effects (Trait-Based) Emotional reactions to dust levels are no longer universal. They are now filtered through specific traits and the two reward traits included in this pack s aspirations. Affected traits: Neat Perfectionist Family-Oriented Lazy Slob Pack reward traits All emotional effects last 2 in-game hours and do not stack excessively. Neat / Perfectionist / Fast Fastidious Clean: Happy Dusty: Tense Dirty: More Tense Filthy: Maximum Tense These Sims are highly sensitive to environmental disorder. Slob Clean: Tense Dusty (Lived-In): Happy Dirty: No emotional effect Filthy: No emotional effect Slobs are comfortable in lived-in spaces and may feel uns