Wow, thank you so much!!! This is incredibly useful knowledge, besides the context of this thread!
Through your method, NPC-owned businesses are possible! Fire stations, police departments, pizzerias...they can have the proper NPC owners! Thank you :D

It would be easier to have a playable buy the business, make all the changes you want to the lot, and then change the Owner Instance in the Lot Description in the neighborhood.package in simPE. I just tested it and successfully made a repairman own a community lot (which he also showed up on when I visited it), while still functioning as a repairman when I called for services.

In fact, if you don't plan on setting anything for sale on the lot or making any changes there, you could put in the NPC's Instance as the Owner Instance of an unowned community lot. The game would generate the Business Info when you next load the hood, and the business will work just as it should.


EDIT: Scratch that last part, it seems you have to actually have someone buy the lot for it to function properly.

I wonder if these methods would work with the Uni NPCs without having to age them up (seeing as they are young adults not adults)? From Khal Ulti’s example;

With young adult NPCs you can put on custom clothing if you don't have mods that unlock NPC clothing (AGED) for young adults body 0x40. Then NPC cannot put on its intended outfit GUID. For example you may want to have all staff in a colorful OFB uniform, regardless of the role. A downside of this is that they will walk around in those clothes when visiting. Teen NPCs won't work with some objects that require pushed interactions for teen, but work with most NPC roles, and can often have custom clothes too.

If you make a family and change the template GUID, the NPCs won't get some random flavor properties inited on them, like skills and hobby, and will stay blank, unless the specific NPC script gives them a skill. But if you make an NPC and give them family relationships, he will get the random properties that townies have, and you don't have to open simpe.

Great thinking, thanks!

I must thank @simsample and @Olderkj because your feedback was extremely helpful for anyone who wants to use townie-owned businesses, including myself of course! Your methods make it easier and allow service NPCs to become owners, and I had no idea if it was possible before your suggestions. I hope other simmers can be inspired by this open discussion and do some cool stuff in their games using townie-owned businesses!

I'm intrigued by the possibilities...but it has occurred to me that I use a townie-aging mod. I wonder how that might pan out? A non-playable owner would eventually die of old age, and hopefully the shop would just revert to an unowned lot again? or things might break. Might need to test that.

This is an interesting thread!

I found an older thread with some useful input:
https://modthesims.info/showthread....light=employees
- iCad explained the process very clearly, and Sunrader had a brilliant idea for installing an NPC 'manager'.

This is genius!!! I'm currently playing a medieval hood, and have been wondering how I was going to initiate the fire brigade and police, as everything is integrated, and the playable cops clashes with one of my other mods, so that wasn't going to work...I have officially found my answer.

THANK YOU!!!!!

This was a really cool read, thank you! I had no idea this was safe to do and this gave me so many ideas for my hoods :D

I didn't know this was possible. I have businesses that are owned by my sims parents. Since my sims are adults, the parents are put in an apartment (which I hate to play) and never played again, except when visiting their children. I'm going to try this out.

Sorry to bring up an old thread but I really love these ideas for townie/NPC owned businesses/lots!

I don't play businesses very often but love the idea of them passively there to visit, so have to check - if a townie or NPC owned a store which sold individual items e.g. electronics, or baked goods, would the items restock and lot reset back to normal when you visit the lot with a playable family each time?