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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 13th Dec 2015 at 7:30 PM
Default Strategizing the multifunctional community lot
So I'm tired of going to community venues and nobody being there. It's kind of a effort to send my sims someplace--depending on the routing it can take ages to get there amd all the needs are decaying the whole time, and then you get there and there's nobody to interact with so it's all a waste. I read a comment either here or at Carl's or Nraas that an abundance of community venues means the inactives get scattered to them all and you don't get as many in each place. So I've determined to remove a bunch of lots I've placed--all those store lots that don't seem to deo anything at all-- and put the neato thingies they have into other lots.

I know one issue to watch out for--stuffing too many things into the lots so that they lag. So I'm going to test and see if they lag too much, and then take things out if they do.

But the big question I have is lot classification. There are so many different lot classifications: how do I determine which is the best one for a lot that has multiple functions? I had the impression before that the store lots were best installed as "Visitors Allowed" but that doesn't seem to be a very functional classification. Nothing whatsoever seems to happen at my (mostly store) lots with that classification. They always seem to be cold, dark and closed, with nonfunctioning objects and no people. Another reason why I want to get rid of most of them.

As long as I'm asking about lot classification and object functioning... the gambling items from the store don't seem to work for example--do they need to be on a casino lot? Is there a way to make a bar spawn a bartender if it is on a lot that isn't some kind of bar? What about registers? Do they each have to be on the specific kind of lot they're originally intended for?

Is there a list anywhere of items which can only be used on certain kinds of lots, or objects which must be placed together? (or which conflict in some way when placed on the same lot?)

What is your experience with multiple functions on community lots?
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 13th Dec 2015 at 8:14 PM
Good question- I'm wondering that myself.

Do rabbitholes work on any lot designation? For example, if I want to have a basecamp share a lot with some rabbitholes, will it work properly?

Do stylists only get assigned if a lot's a salon?

From my memory, I think bartenders get assigned to a Late Night bar no matter what- it's only the drink selection that changes.
Scholar
Original Poster
#3 Old 13th Dec 2015 at 8:36 PM
So the type of bar object that will determine whether a bartender shows up? I'll pay attention to that.
Instructor
#4 Old 13th Dec 2015 at 9:06 PM
I like playing in small or just empty worlds so I have a 50 x 50 lot filled with Just about every rabbit hole (in rug form) along with skill books, exercise equipment, and consignment registers and I plop it on a 'Visitors Allowed' lot. In my games, there's always people there, paparazzi, tourist, Sims from other households. There's nothing to do though. They talk, argue, read books, protest, work out...
Field Researcher
#5 Old 13th Dec 2015 at 11:24 PM
Yes, rabbit holes work on any base world community lot designations, not sure about base camp.
Yes, the Professional bar object spawns bartenders anywhere; the lot designation determines the type of drinks they will make. I currently have a bar inside of a multipurpose building that includes a gym (My RL trainer would be aghast!). I will try to make note of what drinks get served in that case. I SEEM to remember seeing some I'd not seen before.

I do same as above poster Luckk even in big custom worlds because I want crowded lots when I am trying to get my "breedstock" optimally matched up so they can get on with contentedly making more alien- hybrid babies for me.

Not certain about some of the other things you asked about, like registers and casino items, but I have used custom worlds where winery, food and POSSIBLY(?) relics registers worked (separately) on the same lot.

MTS does not allow us to delete our accounts. I will not be logging into this account anymore, so PMs would go unanswered.
Field Researcher
#7 Old 14th Dec 2015 at 2:39 AM
Interesting information nitromon. I did not know some of those things. You are always so helpful and I really appreciate that. Thanks for what you do here.

MTS does not allow us to delete our accounts. I will not be logging into this account anymore, so PMs would go unanswered.
Scholar
Original Poster
#8 Old 14th Dec 2015 at 4:27 AM
Thanks, nitromon. I appreciate you sharing your experience with multifunction lots.

I actually read that about the CPU rating in another thread, and checked it. It's 3, not high but not low. And I am in a low-population world (Lucky Palms, coincidentally). But I notice that I get decent numbers of sims in one of the bars, the consignment store, and the festival lot and not in any of the store lots, the salon, or the hangouts. Or the arcade I built, which may be because I made it poorly, I don't know.

One rabbithole that seems to generate a lot of sims in this town is the Desert Diner, where my active family's teenager goes to culinary high school and has an afterschool job. It generates so many that sometimes he spends his whole shift trying to get in the door, though he seems to get credit for working anyway.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me until now to just put down a bunch of sims and new housing. I made one family but it was specifically for a particular set of interactions I wanted to happen (of course something different happened instead, but oh well)
Mad Poster
#10 Old 14th Dec 2015 at 5:49 AM
Yeah, the main issue lies in that your sims can't be in two places at one time.

Think of the population pool as a pool of water, with the amount of water representing the number of sims in the world, and size of the pool representing the number of community lots. The larger the pool, the shallower the water will be- meaning that there'll be fewer sims to go around.

The solution would be to add more water (add more households), or to reduce the size of the pool (reduce/consolidate the number of community lots you have).

Some questions I have:

Quote:
Do rabbitholes work on any lot designation? For example, if I want to have a basecamp share a lot with some rabbitholes, will it work properly?

Do stylists only get assigned if a lot's a salon?

Do NPC sims who live in Late Night's apartment system ever visit community lots?
Alchemist
#12 Old 14th Dec 2015 at 10:14 AM
Here's my two cents on making good (non-lagging, attractive) community lots:

+ I've found that the "Visitors Allowed" and "(Big) Market" (if you have WA) lot types are best for attracting lots of sims. I currently have a broth- I mean a "Discreet Rendezvous Location" lot that is set to Visitors Allowed, and if I direct my sim to go there more often than not at least 3 sims will arrive either before her or soon after. However, this also depends on the time of day; peak hours seem to be 6 - 11 PM, possibly because most sims get off work around that time. Going there at 2 AM will ensure my sim will have no customers, lol.

+ If you build your own rabbitholes using the rabbithole rugs, use the Floor Skip and Hidden Room markers (you'll find them in BuyDebug -> Misc). Let's take the cafe in Champs les Sims for example: out of the 3 (?) floors it has, only the ground floor is usable in that only that one has furniture. You can either do something with the unused floor(s), or use these markers on them to make the lot easier to load.

+ Remove the celebrity-entry-only barrier ropes on premade bars and lounges, and add at least one more elevator per lot. I've found that bars with barrier ropes are dead (I disabled the celebrity system so the ropes are utterly useless), and that sims crowd around the elevator for far too long - sometimes not even making it up to the bar floor before it closes.

+ You can use mods to attract more sims to your lots and make them interact with objects and each other more. I use these:
Party Night Tweaks by thenay83
Arcade Tweaks by thenay83
Joinable Bubble Bar by Twoftmama
Moar Interactions by Buzzler
Better Bars/Clubs/Lounges/Venues by bluegenjutsu
Faster Elevator by thenay83

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dodgy builder
#13 Old 14th Dec 2015 at 8:18 PM
I've got the impression nothing really attracts more sims. It's been done like that to save low - end computers. Some has had success with multiple rabbit holes though, but finding the right combination could be critical. I do have the impression you need some mods to override the game settings. You might want to consider if your comp can handle it first.

Often it might be a clue what kind of lots and sims the world has. Like if there is many fitness fanatics they are more likely to find the gym interesting. No use though if you have very few fitness, but more couch potatoes in your world.
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