Let's Make a Guide: VISITABLE Business Venues!
I'm trying to get some insight on which "custom venues" work properly when visited by the player. So let's crowdsource it!
So far, I've made four different kinds intended for visiting and not playing, and only one doesn't "work". While the game has presets for certain "venue types", I am not sure they actually work as viable replacements...
For additional reference, see this post, which lists every venue type in the game and what they actually do. Note that custom B&H versions of these venues will not offer the same features! It is not always a good idea to replace a venue with a B&H lot and it's gameplay relevant to have at least one of each that is the actual venue type! But it's still good to collect information on how similar Business venues work!
Here are the ones I've made so far and their functionality status. If you provide your own examples, try to stick to the same format- Type of venue, which goals there are, and how well it works. I will add examples to the post as you submit them!
Originally I had images but the site freaked out about HTML and wouldn't let me update the post with them included. :(
Cafe - Functional With Notes
-Drink Coffee
-Drink Ranch Nectar
-Drink Tea
-Read Books
This lot type is functional, but you have to have the correct coffee bar object. While the employee task says they will tend "Espresso Bars", they WILL NOT. You must place a COFFEE BAR specifically, which does not have the espresso machine objects on it. Businesses and Hobbies came with the coffee bar. Having an employee assigned to tend an espresso bar just plain doesn't work- the employee is literally never at it! Sims will make tea, though, if tea sets are available, but they often don't sit to drink it. They have no means of getting Ranch Nectar...I guess that would only work if making it was also a task. Once I added the correct coffee bar, it worked.
Gaming Convention - Functional!
-Wear Costumes from Trunk
-Play Table Games
-Play Video Games
-Browse and Buy*
-Dance
Sims will autonomously put on a costume pretty regularly. The games work just fine. Sims love to dance, so they do that too. Browse and Buy works when playing as a customer, but it requires mods to not essentially destroy the venue over time and need user intervention to fix it, so I don't recommend it. There are a lot of activities that work for a venue like this. HOWEVER, I can't get employees to run the DJ booth (bug report and explanation here, please upvote!), and a similar issue happens with the coffee bar. I placed this one right next to Geek Con, so when it's active, you can visit this lot as a "base" for the festival and do twice as much!
Ranch Petting Zoo - Functional!
-Tend and Harvest Garden
-Care for Animals
-Horses Play and Learn
-Make Ranch Nectar
This one doesn't have a lot of complexity to it, so it works. The lot is a residence so there is a horse on it. There is an animal shed with a Llama, too. Guests happily do all the listed activities, and players can make Nectar. Good idea to have all 4 seasons harvestables, and multiple animals. Guests don't seem to play with the horses much, though. But as a player, you can ride them!
Arcade - Functional!
-Play Games
-Watch Movies
-Drink Bar Drinks
-Play Arcade Machine
Totally functional, except, again, the bar. Seems tendable items are just iffy with businesses. Sims can get their own drinks from the bar but that isn't really how bars are meant to work, right? Using the single tile bars makes it look more like they're using a drink machine, I guess. But for the video games, Sims will gladly use game consoles or PCs. This setup uses both to create a computer cafe vibe with a separate game room. Works great!
Cooking Class - Functional!
-Attend Lectures and Classes
-Anything else you want!
Requires a careful setup. There must be available fridges, cooking objects that can produce meals (which includes microwaves and such, so you could have a microwave cookery class if you wanted), and room to work. Lecture spaces do not require these objects be nearby, but it helps make things look more believable.
Pickup Artist Scam - Functional!
-Attend Lectures and Classes
-Work Out
-Be Romantic
-Drink Bar Drinks
-(Modded!) Practice Speech
This is a fun one. Don Lothario runs this out of his basement in my game and you must pay to enter, only to find it's just a barely finished basement setup. There is no Practice Speech requirement in the game, but I made a modded one. As a visitor, the actual roles don't matter for that- you can just practice speech all you want, but other Sims won't be seen doing it. The lecture board works great for Romance and Charisma classes. I'm not sure, but I think the "Be Romantic" action actually works like it does in Clubs and removes jealousy and even relationship requirements, which makes this extra funny- It's just people willing to practice dating on each other in Don Lothario's basement.
Gym - Functional!
-Workout
-Cheerlead
-Play Basketball
-Do Yoga
As long as the owner of this business, or one of the employees, is high enough Fitness skill, you can get mentored in Fitness. This makes it pretty much exactly like a normal Gym venue which spawns Fitness Trainers. As an added bonus, it can be pay-per-hour or pay-per-entry, like a Gym should be, instead of being free. This is a great use of the system- faster skill gains for a cost. Gyms in the normal sense don't serve much purpose because you can just workout free at home. The activities also make Sims on the lot do more than just use equipment, and it's fun to watch them be more active.
Disclaimer: My examples are made using several mods, but are functional without those mods. I use Marco's Business Overhaul to allow restocking of purchased items (so my visited businesses with buyable items don't run out of stock), and my own suite of various B&H mods and tweaks that adjust customer behaviors and such. But these examples listed do not rely on these mods for their functionality status. If you post an example that requires a mod please be sure to say so and if possible let me know how it works without mods! I am using "Fixed Classes and Lectures" by DownInSimsland, which makes your chosen available classes (on the board) stick. Without the mod, the available class list resets and ALL classes are available, so it's still functional, but kind of stupid.
