That was the intention for lot types in TS3, but I don't know what's going on in TS4. Beyond that, the issue is that we now need several lot types for basic things or the AI won't behave correctly. Sure, a lot can look like something, but it won't function as such.

I've never understood the reason for lot types in the first place. Just let players decide what npc's that spawn on the lot and what objects sims will use - could be both object placement and boxes you tick. It would probably be a lot easier and safer to code in the long run - you could even have 'lot presets' like Bar and Night club or whatever - then let simmers make their own presets with available objects and npc's and let them choose in tick boxes what objects sims want to use on the lot - you could even have a percentage slider - et violá! Took me 10 secs to think of. WHY does EA have to make everything so damn complicated? Also just let us 'set' which sims in the neighborhood have 'npc' jobs. We should be able to make whatever wacky community lots we well damn please. For crying out loud!

In regards to the lot types since I don't own TS4 anymore (got it when it was free) I saw a video when someone said you can't have a bar on a community lot and have a bartender unless you "hire" them and pay 100 Simoleons. What is this kind of laziness, EA??

If you really want to discuss laziness, whenever you tend a bar, you don’t make any money. Why even do it? Then, if you own the lot, when you hire someone, it doesn’t count as a business expense, and they don’t make you any money - even if it counts as retail (like hiring a cook and selling their food).

You also can’t control what they cook... I hate it.

So, I haven't played Open for business in some time. So, I'm playing again and I'm immediately noticing how many little details EA completely omitted from retail.

- Objects can have varying markups (Some items are super cheap, some are super expensive).
- Sims will actually shop, and pickup multiple things to buy at once. I had 3-4 customer up about 10 things.
- Crafted objects can’t be restocked. Another has to be created (which I love because these cannot be purchased wholesale).
- Customers will actually complain about poor service to the owners, then storm off.
- Customers will be upset if too many items are out of stock.

Something else I noticed immediately is how build and buy mode was approached - especially in Nightlife. The game allowed you to build very specific things in a variety of ways.

For example: Nightlife features a very specific set of objects for bowling alleys/diners, pubs/restaurants, and nightclubs. It doesn't deviate them these themes and they opt for as much variety as possible. You know what you're looking at. They're still stylized while also mixing and matching with the rest of the catalog and other packs (like the bowling/diner sets goes very nicely with the stuff in Pets).

I've attached photos below. You know it's a classic style diner - you can tell by looking at it. You don't need to force several items together for it to look the part. It just does.

Same with restaurants- there’s no option to set the quality and pricing of the food, which I think is a pretty egregious oversight. That means that aside from the food, you can’t make further variations (i.e. a greasy spoon vs a gastropub).

Your sims can also only order one drink + one dish at a time, so if you want an appetizer + entree + dessert, you’ll need to order 3 times.

Complaining to the chef does nothing beyond hurting relationships, and no NPC sims do it on their own.

And let’s not get into the NPC AI...

I think there’s an option to set food quality, but it has to be unlocked and it applies to all food.

We all complain about having load screens, but the power of literally having one lot loaded at a time and nothing else is unmatched with the amount of depth we can give the simulation.

I miss the way you could use objects to create unique community lots in Sims 2. Nothing stopped you from creating entire malls with tons of npc's spawning. It would grind the computer to a halt, yes, but you could do it. (why oh why don't we have a 64 bit sims 2 *sigh)

There’s literally a mall in the OFB bin and it functions exactly like one.

You don’t have an NPC running around the lot with a tablet to ring people up. You can even add a food court.

Sims in 4 can’t even sit still at a restaurant, let alone work at a cash register.

Not really. Sims flock to one and random register TS4 could have taken and improved upon the system, but nope.

I must be misremembering again lol

Anyone know when Snowy Escape goes on Sale? Usually I this time of the year I usually get the latest EPs for half price, if it goes by Pets, Get Famous, University, atm the only EP I see on sale is GTW

You can get some deals on cdkeys, it’s still not half price on there though.

I actually think i need to wait a few more days, certainly wouldn't pay anymore than half price for a EP i heard so far, which I heard has been mostly negative i'm afriad...

But if It doesn't happen before christmas then there is something terribily wrong.

It looks like a best seller for them so you probably won't get until after the New Year.

Must have been a mod I used then, because I never had the issue.

I just tried it out. If a Sims is operating as a cashier in the same room (which is what the shops in the mini mall are anyway), they will go to that cashier. Otherwise, they will find a cashier in another room.

Well I remember by going to the furthest (in the other room) cash clerk than the one they were nearby from where they bought an item. Because of that, I remember wishing for a mod to fix it.

I think it's a bit odd having lots to filled set objectives. Why not just make a query? Like asking for opening hours and what kind of sims would go here.

Jet when I suggest I immediately regrets it. Their customer base are suppose to be teen, and thinking about it, I'm not sure this game engine even supports such a thing.

Sale on Sims 4 at Origin, 50% Snowy Escape etc., 25% game packs but haven't checked them all. qv:

Thank you! Been constantly refreshing Origin, trying to find out what on the earth is going on. It really looked like they were going to ignore the Sale this year, from what I was told a few days ago.

Best Seller, this pack?

I purchased Snowy Escape 50% discount, 599 TWD. I guess Snowy Escape sell not well in Taiwan.
I played with this pack for 3 hrs, got boring soon.
Building objects are not bad.

More like EA jumps on the chance to sell in this situation. Shops not open, families in Lockdown (particularly in the UK) so let's quickly sell them something they can gift that only needs to be downloaded and not carried home and posted!

I am getting very cynical these days. It might have been an nice gesture!

We bought Snowy Escape, Eco Living and Nifty Knitting all 50% off. They weren’t listed as on sale on the Origin site. Instead, we found the discounts by accident in the TS4 game’s load screen.

Only the Star Wars one wasn’t half off. It’s only 25% off. I wouldn’t take that one for free, though.

While it reasonably functional when it was new, two or three patches later including an EP, most of them don't even wear their costumes anymore.


Townies in Batuu are missing face masks