This thread has been created so I can get some feedback on the "best practice" for my mod.

Currently I am working on a complete rework of the "Off the Grid" lot trait so it fits my own playstyle better. This comes down to a more in-depth and realistic system of water and power collection and use. An example of this for the water utility is different statistic changes to the water utility commodity depending on what you use the water for (brushing your teeth uses less water than, say, washing your dishes, which uses less water than a shower or bath). I am also creating differentiation in collected water from rain (via dew collector) and snow which is relatively clean and can be used for drinking, brushing your teeth, etc, with only a slight risk of a negative outcome, versus the brackish water collected from fishing spots and waterfalls that can be used for watering the garden, bathing your pets, etc. Brackish water will also be useable by most sims (some personality traits excluded) for sim-use, but will give different moodlets depending on the use (shower with brackish water leaves you slightly unclean, but brushing your teeth with brackish water can make you sick). I am also considering creating a custom gameplay object that lets you treat brackish water to clean it, and perhaps even lets you clean the rain/snow water so it never gives any negative outcomes. I also plan to create a difference between the dew collector and the industrial water collector in terms of which objects can and can not be used. The main difference being that, through the dew collector, I consider the water gathering and use to be akin to "fill a bucket and go from there" (complete with composting the toilet's tank), whereas the industrial water collector is more likely hooked up to a lot-specific plumbing network, resulting in more hardware options and the use of a septic tank.

For the most part, I am trying to inject the appropriate XML through the XML injector or a python script where ever possible.

However, for the lot trait and associated buffs itself, I am wondering what would be the best course of action. Do I override tuning files, running the risk of the mod breaking with every patch, but then it will still be the "Off the grid" lot trait. Or is it better to simply create a new lot trait, akin to the off the grid one, so I (and others who might be interested) can have both versions in their game?

What do you guys consider to be the best practice here? Thanks in advance for the reply!

I'd say make it a new lot trait if it truly is a massive overhaul that deserves to be it's own thing, especially if you yourself are interested in having both (it's always best to create what you want, not what others want). This way people can have a calm version and then a difficult version if they'd like. Of course, there are chances that something breaks when copying everything and it has to be an override anyhow, but this isn't too common.

Thank you for the feedback.

I was actually thinking this would be a better choice from a process point of view as well, since it will be a lot easier to test my mod. Downside is that I will end up having to inject a lot of XML into existing tuning files without overriding the original tuning, for instance when created different commodities for the different types of water, so that both lot trait can be used together and result in different gameplay. I will do a little test tonight to see if I can make this work, perhaps I can create a hidden trait associated with my lot trait that and whitelist that while blacklisting the original off the Grid lot trait. That way, the gather water interactions will behave differently for both lot traits, and only the sims with my lot trait (vs the original off the Grid one) will get the three different types of water (clean, grey and brackish) water. Or perhaps it would even be so simple as to disallow using my lot trait together with the Off the Grid one (if that would be possible, I'd have to look into that).

I don't plan on copying the Off the Grid lot trait, but rather build my own from scratch, so I am not that worried about breaking my own mod, but rather, breaking the original Off the Grid lot trait or carrying over aspects from my lot trait to that one.