Forum Discussion

Re: Rent expansion pack

Pretty sure it’s just residential. Though you could at least put a kitchen or vending machine or food stand in one of the public areas.

6 Replies

  • stormsai's avatar
    stormsai
    New Traveler
    2 years ago

    Ah darn! Still think it would be cool to be able to mix it, so maybe a suggestion to EA for the future?

  • PugLove888's avatar
    PugLove888
    Hero
    2 years ago

    @stormsai , yes, what @PipMenace said is correct. Sadly, you can't run a business out of a residential building with the For Rent pack.😔 But I agree that this would be a great idea!🥰

    That said, you can kind of work around this now.  You can build a business and make a section for Sims to sort of "camp out" in.  Children coming home from school will have to be summoned to the business, but you can kind of live there. @SheriGR has made a little cafe with living quarters that she had up on the Gallery.  I will leave explaining how it works to her, as she can explain it better than I can! It is not quite what you were looking for, but you might get some fun out of it! 🥳

  • SheriGR's avatar
    SheriGR
    Hero
    2 years ago

    @stormsai As to the mention @PugLove888 made of how to run a business and 'live in it' ... I have two builds in the gallery currently that I did that with, and I can give a bit of detail about how this works in regards to them. One is a retail store(I have done this with many retail stores) and one is a vet clinic where I also tested out hiring vets for the clinic and getting them to live in the 'technical home' that my sims had while the family lived on the vet clinic lot.

    Retail store (where I also dealt with the mom giving birth in the process, but transporting the baby to the lot is simple now that infants can travel with parents):

    In this retail store: 
    Slideshow and details: https://imgur.com/gallery/rRDXQtm
    Lot in gallery: https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/pc/gallery/FAD75A08DB0111E984853A1D585935D7
    Explanation of living on the lot:

    Spoiler
    A note of explanation for a few details: The household that owns the business must own separate property to own a retail store, so the family has a 2nd home they technically live in. You run the household from the retail lot. They stay there and you assign beds, etc. If a child goes to school or an adult or teen goes off lot they will return to the home they technically live in (not the business}. You just need to click on their picture at the bottom of the screen and direct them to come here/to the lot.

    Vet clinic (where I had a large household, dealt with renters that were also employees and I how I had them live in the unused home and pay rent for the privilege):

    In this owned vet clinic: 
    Slideshow and details: https://imgur.com/gallery/67ztAu0
    Lot in gallery: https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/pc/gallery/4FBF670F491211EC842CEA3E90C3E6E0
    Explanation of living on the lot:

    Spoiler
    Overall notes on gameplay: I have tested the lot by having the Sims 'own' a separate small home (where children who go to school and Sims that return home from work turn up) and I play from the clinic as if it was the home, opening the clinic when I want to. When a household Sim leaves the lot and turns up at the 'home', I simply click the lightning bolt on them to have them come here and they appear on the vet clinic/home lot. I'm able to assign them beds. They tend the animals, will work in the vet clinic if I have them, plus I can hire vets and run the vet clinic as normal (for cats & dogs). It was built on 3 Olde Mill Lane in Henford-on-Bagley. My Sims did all of the Country Living stuff on the lot, including the crops, farm animals, plus having fox, rabbits (stump) and birds (tree) on the lot. All of those functions worked fine.
    A few things to note:
    • You cannot add functioning laundry aspects to the lot. It breaks.
    • You cannot add a butler.
    • You cannot ban vampires, though they also did not bother me.
    • You can advertise for roommates (after you add sufficient beds for all family members and roommates on the 'home' lot (I used a blocked basement room to put a bunch of beds on, then added a bunk to the regular bedroom of the waterfall cottage in game), but they will not answer the ad on the clinic lot. I assume they went to the home. I was able to place the ad (after adding extra the beds to the other 'home') and ask Sims that came to the clinic lot (for other reasons), or other acquaintances, to be a roommate while the add was active. In my test I actually had both of the vets I hired living in the (waterfall) home, paying rent as roommates. I was receiving over $3000 each time for rent.
    • I could hire a maid and gardener. However, at first they came to the clinic and after I visited the home they stopped coming to the clinic. They were still hired though. If I fired and rehired they did not come to the clinic lot. I assumed they had started going to the home. This would help for a maid, though, as they will make sure the renters don't destroy the home. I kept the maid.

    Hope something in there may help you in working out the details that you want to in your game! Have fun! 🙌
    (Btw... love your ideas! I, too, would love to mix it up with business - restaurant and retail - and living on the lot or renting out housing space on the lot. And don't even get me started on how much I want to own, live on the lot with, and run a coffee shop/cafe!! 

  • PugLove888's avatar
    PugLove888
    Hero
    2 years ago

    @SheriGR , thank you for supplying the information! I didn't mention your vet clinic/house combo because @stormsai specifically mentioned wanting to run a restaurant with a home attached, but I'm happy you mentioned the clinic because it is really wonderful! 🥰🥳

  • SheriGR's avatar
    SheriGR
    Hero
    2 years ago

    @PugLove888 Thanks! I mentioned the vet clinic because it's another example of applying the workarounds (and in it I tested additional aspects of using renters, a butler, a maid, and some other things. (Like finding out that adding laundry stuff broke it!) Anyway, I just want to encourage you, @stormsai, to go ahead and get creative with some of these aspects if it may help you 'work around' the limitations in some aspects. 🙌

  • stormsai's avatar
    stormsai
    New Traveler
    2 years ago

    Thanks for all the info and the cool shares on stuff you all have done! Yeah, I've tried to make 3 townhouses attached to each other before and tested the complex as a restaurant , cafe, and retail. Just lame that if it's not the main type, then need to hire a vendor for everything else LOL