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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 26th Dec 2015 at 9:21 PM
Default Getting profit from "non social" Venues such as Museums
After taking a break from my other hood, I started a real BACC challenge (with some exceptions though, like I don't play townies and start with a random amount couples with randomized characteristics and funds rather than a single 20K sim and some of the careers are replaced with diplomas than skills/badges).

I still not that experience with OFB Businesses, especially when it comes to "non-social" venues like Museums, Libraries, Observatory (Science venue) and so on (hrmm... english vocabulary is a bit lacking here, what do you call these...? ). Clubs and Music venues are much easier to run, but a museum Im not sure as Ive never run those kind before. For the founders I rolled eight couple, the last one is a royal family and got 298K in starting funds, so I want to get some use of their money by creating a museum to unlock the archecture career because according to the rules, it need to cost 250,000.(The athletic career is already planned, a unowned puplic bowling venue). The family will probably earn money by working in a custom royal career as well as "taking care" of this hood's taxes, but I still want to run all of these community lots decently.

SO, How would you run a Museum Venue, Like, what would (or rather could) you add to these lots to get a decent income?
Its a museum, so I like to add some realism to it and not add tons of earning objects that doesnt make sense like pinpal machines.
(I heard somewhere that you can't have a retail when running a ticket machine venue so Im bit of a loss how to run this lot).
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Top Secret Researcher
#2 Old 26th Dec 2015 at 9:27 PM
You can't have retail when you're using a ticket machine?

That's news to me. ._. How do clubs make money?

Not-so-daily TS2 downloads @ my simblr.
Scholar
Original Poster
#3 Old 26th Dec 2015 at 9:31 PM
I mean, two different businesses at the same community lot, What I read was that the customers tends to focus only one of them when you try to run a business and forget the others. But I don't know how much of that is true though, it just something I heard.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 26th Dec 2015 at 9:31 PM
The tickets charge per hour - every hour someone spends in a venue, the price of the ticket is spent again.

Museums in sims are social - "view many" is a fun activity that can be joined. So I'd put in a lot of high-room-score items, in a space that's easily negotiated; make sure there's a place to fill hunger and energy motives; and just put in the ticket machine.Much more profit, for much less work, than constantly selling things and restocking.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Forum Resident
#5 Old 26th Dec 2015 at 10:21 PM
Peni is right. That's how my Fortune sim ran his ice skating rink. There is the skating rink with a lounge and arcade area. People buy a ticket outside and come in. I have a buyable pizza in-game, so my sim spends 10 simoleans to eat lunch and provide food for any other sims hanging around.

It's actually a very profitable business! I just have to figure out which of his sons will inherit the family business!

For my physical health, I can't eat cheesecake everyday.
For my mental health, I imagine eating cheesecake everyday.
It's a delicate balance.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#6 Old 26th Dec 2015 at 11:09 PM
A Museum is definitely a social venue. Decide if you want to sell items or sell tickets. Combining to two isn't the best setup. For example the museum could simply have a gift shop as it's money maker while getting in is free but you will find sims head right to buy and leave rather than stay and look so I would make it a ticket venue with the gift shop for looks only.
In one of my shops I have the morning for selling plates of food and come afternoon when they have all gone I turn on the ticket machine and sims can grab a plate to eat of exnems desert cart. I do remove all out of stock signs as things sell since having those around annoys sims, so this is one way to combine both selling and tickets. This business has 4 best of the best awards now so the reporter loves it.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
Original Poster
#7 Old 26th Dec 2015 at 11:34 PM
One reason I dont consider a Museum or art/craft related venues as social is that because you mostly watch the art or the sculptures only. Sure, for some sims, this can be fun, but compared to having a karaoke or chess games, I don't see much sims (that are not playable) who want to watch the objects that much. So long run, it feels it won't help the business star wise.

The ticket fee will be on low because all businesses in this hood will start at level one and with no business skills (the sims will have their skills randomized, but not their badges).

The starting funds are just for the buiding/furnitures because I hate building everything up as I play. (I prefer to create the lots first and back them up rather than start out 20K with only a stereo, panting, whatever on the lot. )

Joandsarah77. Yeah, thats what I was reading, the actual setup wouldn't be good - not that you "can't" do it. I read several threads where simmers had restuarant and shops together and it didnt work so well, so I was expecting it was similare, if adding a resturant or shop inside of the museum. While adding musical objects wouldn't make sense, as it wouldn't serve the point of being a museum if all customers are only interested in the games or the karoke for example.
Mad Poster
#8 Old 27th Dec 2015 at 12:11 AM
Oh, but haven't you ever been to a museum with friends? You walk around looking at the art/artifacts and argue about which artists are over- or underrated, which pictures really mean something and which are pretentious nonsense, read the signage and explain to your less historically knowledgeable friend how the sign is wrong, incomplete, or just didn't have room for the really cool part of the story, play the game where you treat the furniture displays as catalog displays and decide which pieces you'll want in your castle - if you have even one friend who's into it, it's much more fun than going by yourself. Don't judge by whatever boring field trips you went on in school, where the teacher controlled what you saw and you weren't allowed to wander off into the half-glimpsed, much cooler room that wasn't on the intinerary, or do any discussion of your own.

As for sims, I know you don't normally play premades or anything, but try it. Take an outing to one of the downtown art places and have the leader View Many and ask the others to Join. They'll wander around doing it for hours, especially if they've got arts and crafts enthusiasm.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Scholar
Original Poster
#9 Old 27th Dec 2015 at 12:27 AM
Peni Griffin.
Well, yeah I don't go to museum alot or any activies where you "view" things in general (except for movies). Even when I was kid I rarely went to those kind of activies. Not because they were "boring" but because I don't enjoy it. I used to like drawing and crafting, but I don't like to watch it. So I guess it affect my creavity when coming up stragegies for the sims. Im more of that kind of person who goes to resturants or shopping.

Ive empty templates for everything, so I don't play premades at all. I prefer to create my sims, mainly because I don't like how the premade looks and their stories.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#10 Old 27th Dec 2015 at 12:52 AM
A restaurant takes over everything, doesn't matter what else is there but if a Maxis coded restaurant is included in a building, that is what the entire place is.

Other ways around food issue since sims need food all the time are BBQ's, a uni cook top with the cook top patch from simlogical which means you will have a dorm stile cafeteria (I had that in my hospital with a simlogical pay door to it) or a simwardrobe buffet, the games party buffet table, one or more of the games food stands, some plates of Exnem foods or just a few snack machines.

I haven't got a museum in Coral Bay yet but sims who are low in fun do like to view things since it puts fun up, so one way would be to use the simblender or other mod to lower fun to half. You would also need to think about how much room is outside since some sims will end up playing water balloons instead of looking at items. Something fun and hands on would be great, but I can't think of a lot for that except for those career rewards for medicine and science for teen and up, an ant farm, perhaps a train set? For kids some doll houses (picked up a Victorian one and a castle of Around the sims today) there is a pottery wheel for kids by Nixsims. I also got some games from ATS today with the doll houses and they say are functional, perhaps in a retro room? Who says a museum is just for looking we have a great hands on museum down south.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
Original Poster
#11 Old 27th Dec 2015 at 1:41 AM
The restaurant isssue is something I learned about recently, so I have the simwardrobe buffets and a CC dessert cart that I use for most of my venues so that can act as mini cafeteria/kiosk when sims are getting hungry. I see many stores, sport/music venues where I live that has kiosk near by, so it doesnt seems to unrelastic.
A community lot I added recently that represent a science lab/observatory for my knowledge/science crazy sims has the simwardrobe buffets and a study/lab area on the upper floor with computer and books, so that probably should be enough to please the customers while using the ticket machine.

But strangely, I cant get outside the box when it comes to the museum. All Ive planned is creating a large building on a 3x3 (the biggest my comp cab handle) and it wont be much room outside. I like to keep gardens as small as possible unless its a lot that will based on the outdoor. Usually I often decorate the outside of the lots with plants and bushes plus a few benches here and there, thats it. Only ideas so far is to add some of the career/aspiration rewards or treasures.
Perhaps I need to google a little for pictures as it was ages since I visit a museum (have watches movies that was set in museums, but I cant remember them). When I was a kid, I do remember that the mueum in my town had a painting/craft school which I went to, but easels seems to be heavly coded so Im not sure if thats a good idea. The lot also need to cost 250K..
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#12 Old 27th Dec 2015 at 2:02 AM
I've thought about a swim with sharks tank like they do at places like Seaworld, you could make it so to get to the eating area or other area that sims want that they have to swim through the sharks to get there. I want to add an interactive museum this coming generation as I have a knowledge sim who I think it would suit.
How about Plumbobkeeps mining station? A piece of rock that lets sims take some coal or gemstone from. I don't think they do that autonomously though. Easels are strongly coded. Activity table perhaps? I use a mod that makes it less attractive to toddlers, not sure if it does that to kids or not.

The museum we went to down south here (Sydney Australia) looked more like a fun park then a stuffy old museum. It depends on the type-rare ancient artifacts you want to tip toe around or a more modern hands on science museum. Not to say you couldn't combine types either, one floor is for the 'mature' people and the other for kids and playful sims.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
Original Poster
#13 Old 27th Dec 2015 at 2:25 AM
Well, style wise anything but "futuristic" would work.
The hood isnt as pre-modern as my other hood was but it does not have any futuristic elements in it. Its set in a forest area though and around the 20th centuary-ish. The storyline I had in mind where that it was set in a time where their previous country were destroyed from a war, so artifacts theme would probably suit better than a theme/fish park. But then again, the musuem will be on the opposite side of the beach side where the rich sims lives so Im not sure. An aquarium area would help taking up some of the price though.

I try to keep CC objects minimal which makes it a bit difficult. For my Bowling venue, I ended up cheating by using move-object to add painting on top of eachothers because the lot were already big so I didnt want to add another floor.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#14 Old 27th Dec 2015 at 3:07 AM
Well if it's little cc I would pick something that is functional not just deco. You want them to do something since you find them looking at stuff boring. right? The mining rock would fit in with any era. A loom piano (have that in my medieval game but forget where it's from) Recolour of the ant farm, train would still fit and the doll house. Then there is the sewing machine. You would have to make sims selectable for some of those things. Then use game paintings and deco to fill in areas. If you don't use cc then you are left with what the game has.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#15 Old 27th Dec 2015 at 3:29 AM
Icad added autonomy to hobby objects. That would be good for a hands-on museum.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Scholar
Original Poster
#16 Old 28th Dec 2015 at 12:18 PM Last edited by Florentzina : 28th Dec 2015 at 12:43 PM.
I ended up making the museum more diverse (used different themes for each room) and downloaded the mods that make hobby and career reward objects autonomically as Peni Griffin mentioned. :lovestruc

But I got a little bit lazy with the layout. Just used theme for each room and then just plopped down stuff to get to the 250K price. So its a little bit "sloppy" done.
In order to keep them stay, I arranged the door so they had to walk through them all to get the exit and placed hobby objects and the cafeteria on the second floor.

Base/First Floor
A room for the manager and employers (will lock this room from visitors). I don't use community time so my sims can work on the business how long they want. I also enable study and sleep on community lot, so the manager has a bed in this room. A Art/Painting Room, A Sculpture room and Three rooms represent the BonVonyage themes (mostly sculptures) and a restroom.

Second/Upper Floor
A caferia using the simwardrobe buffets plus another dessert food cart object, A makeover/photo booth room (this one was rather random), along with 4 rooms for the hobby objects - flower arrangements, pottery/sewing, toymaking (also kids room), train set/ant formicarium.

I just have to see how it plays out when playing them. But I probably will make the visitors selectable once in a while though, which is also one reason I wanted this lot to be owned, so I can arrange the layout if it comes necessary. Now, I finally done with the first round of BACC (5 days/years rotations) with 30 playables (8 households) and SM population of 120 (SM = 4), with 10 community lots and 20,000$ in taxes. :lovestruc But the royal family will have it a bit tough because they'll only have 50K to build their little castle and most objects are high end. Mwoahaha.
The starting funds are not for pleasure but for community lots and the rest for a starting home, but my hood has loan system so I probably will use that build the layout of their house.
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