I'm giving my hobby lots a makeover rn and I'd like to know just how much I can mess with them.

For example, I got one that's being weird about the terrain and the easiest fix would be to throw it in the lot bin and put it back out. But I'm pretty sure the game will treat it like a completely new lot then...

So, how does it work? Is it some GUID/group/... kinda thing? Filename? Probably not the lot name - please tell me I can change those after I'm done...?

They are zoned as hobby lots, messing with them is fiddly but this should help:
https://modthesims.info/showthread....379#post5759379

Well yes, that's about what I'm doing. Maybe I should clarify my question.
I want to know what exactly it is about, say, Sue's Secret Kitchen that tells the game "this is the cuisine hobby lot".

It's the U0 of each lot in the LTXT as I mentioned in that thread, plus the hood type, plus the lotname:
Sue's (Secret) Kitchen U0 0x00000133
My Muse II - Art Studio U0 0x00000133
Peerless Park U0 0x00000133
Dreamy Fields U0 0x00000133
Platinum Gym U0 0x00000132
Desirable Discourse U0 0x00000132
Will's Garage U0 0x00000132
Aspirational Laboratories U0 0x00000132
Games of Glory U0 0x00000132
My Muse - Music & Dance Studio U0 0x00000132

Thanks, that's exactly what I needed!