OFB Help

[gabrielorie]

Hi there,i just installed OFB and i am enjoying it but then my lot got crowded,i had to made 3 of my simmies find their own place,employees are peeing down themselves,whoogooing in my hot tub,sleeping when there are pleanty of customers waiting to gets their items cashed and my sim has red aspiration,red motives and she can't sleep because there are customers waiting to get sold :cry: .I used the ticked machine thing but with that she has no more customers :( .Is there anyone there who is good at the game give me any hints :| ?

BTW can you sell food and rewards objects?

[simsamu]

You can sell food I dont know about aspiration rewards as I have never tried. To sell food you need to put it in the fridge shelves under shelves in the surfaces section. I am afraid I have never run a home business so cant help you there. I prefer community lot businesses. Are you assigning employee's tasks? Also are you using the open/close business sign so your sim can close up shop and have a life and a good nights sleep?

[Simonut]

Hi there,i just installed OFB and i am enjoying it but then my lot got crowded,i had to made 3 of my simmies find their own place,employees are peeing down themselves,whoogooing in my hot tub,sleeping when there are pleanty of customers waiting to gets their items cashed and my sim has red aspiration,red motives and she can't sleep because there are customers waiting to get sold :cry: .I used the ticked machine thing but with that she has no more customers :( .Is there anyone there who is good at the game give me any hints :| ?

BTW can you sell food and rewards objects?

"gabrielorie" At the most there are two kinds of business home lot bases and community, they function the same in many way, but just different and how they are setup. Be sure to have a place for your employee to go for them to take care their needs, their own private bathrooms and a place to eat. Also use the option of "Locking Doors" this will control where your customers can and can not go, any gate or door can be set to limit access to.

Also you have the option to give your employee a break so that their motives stay in the green and not red after they finish their break time they will return to work all fresh and ready to do business. To keep your customer from dropping their bags on the floor because the cashier is too slow try to hire sims with Talent badges for the register and selling items to the customer. When you want to hire a sims it will show if they have any badges level like Bronze, Silver, Gold., and what they are good in doing.

One last tip their is a very well know modder on this site name "NUMENOR" who have a Cash Register Mod that a sims can practice on to build their skills so they can be faster on the cash register, they also gain badge level from it, it can be use on the lot, or business only. Hope this help you a bit. :)

[pinimon162]

the ticket machine isn't supposed to be for normal shops..it's for things like clubs or places where you'd pay to spend time there.
make sure there's a bathroom available for the employees and customers so they don't pee themselves, and when you see an employee, click them and choose what job they should do, so they stick (unless they're a bad employee!) to that job and don't wander off doing something else. I haven't played it in a while but it's something like select duty..and then there's sales, till, cleaner, stock taker, etc.
I'd make sure you have at least 2 tills so there aren't long lines of customers, and quite a few employees if the business is big. remember there's always 'maxmotives' if everything's getting a bit stressful and you need your sim to focus on selling!

[cheshirekat]

Get "Business Runs You" from MATY.

Practice running a business with those BlueWater Village pre-made sims first, so you get the hang of it. Unless you really care whether or not you ruin their businesses/lives.

I totally agree with simonut, make sure you utilize the option to lock doors so that your customers stay out of areas meant for your employees. And you have to assign your employees to a duty, like sales, cashiering, or restocking.

Take care of your employees needs before you open the business for the day. I usually start a business day by maxmotive all the employees when they arrive to work, before any customers get there.

If you don't set out a plate of food for your employees, and make a coffee or espresso machine available, you run the risk of your employees quitting. For their fun levels, I got that yellow toy "kick the cheat" (maty I think) so the employees will go kick that autonomously if their fun is low. Also got a scarecrow thing my sims can talk to if social is low. I see the townies talking to it when I put it on a comm lot and my sim is busy.

Read some of the previous "OFB" threads posted here.

[gabrielorie]

@simsamu are the fridges only for communtiy lots?Yes i assigned the sims with jobs,and where are the signs located?

I have all those things...Toilets,bathrooms and even extra bedrooms but they will prefer to play ssx3 even when their motives are green.

@Simonut everytime i give them a break they slack off...I hired Dustin broke (heavens know why) and he only keeps on vomiting,then i have 2 other sims with talent badges but they are expensive and everytime i pay them i will be left with no money :( .

I'll be sure to check that mod,thank you :bunny: .

@pinimon162 I always thought it would keep the customer rate down :o .And my employees are evey bad!They steal my money,throw up,keep customers waiting and a lot of other unsatisfactory stuff :( .The house is a small house,a starter but it has a lot of room for customers and just last night i got extremely fustrated with the game so i used the cheat,i feel dirty :lol: .This isn't my main family,just a copy of when their child was young so i can use all the cheats i want :anime: .

@cheshirekat thanks,i'll definately check it out :D .

Thank you sooo much for your help i really apreciate it :lovestruc .

[Shoosh Malooka]

The problem is that you are using the bandatron ticket machine. The difficulty is much higher and you will not make much cash even when you have the right objects for this kind of business ( jacuzzi, bubble blower ). You can easily make tons more with a retail store. But if you want to stick it out with the bandatron ticket machine then get an object that entertains many sims at once.

Why do you have so many employees? They are the one's who are breaking you, imo. I've had the same kind of business with ever only one employee, Jessica Picasso. Try the community lots skilling and enthusiasm hack at MATY so that you can at least train your lousy employess ( charisma, cleaning, etc ) with the impart knowledge interaction:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,11216.0.html

Edit:
You did set the price for the ticket machine? The cash register is for separate retail items ( flowers, cars, etc ). Anyway, with a home business and a ticket machine this means that anything in your house is fair game for any visitor to use unless you use locks to keep them out.

But selling aspiration rewards? Now THAT is an idea I must try.

[Kneon_Knight]

First , let me say that businesses are a colossal pain in the ass. The most succesful one I've had was a video arcade and pool hall, where I used the ticket dispenser and let the owner sit idly by while the money rolled in.

The sign you are looking for is under decorative, miscellaneous, btw.

Good luck with your business.

[potatoehead]

I've found that stores that sell expensive items (like furniture and electronics) are generally more successful than ones that sell less expensive items. Also, I've never had a profitable store that sold crafted items, nor have I ever had a profitable restaurant.

[gabrielorie]

@Shoosh Malooka I have the lovetub but its outside so sims don't pay for it :( .I got rid of that thing,its giving my a horrible reputation,even with the price on the lowest...

I only have 4 employees,one for each task.I kept the horrible ones because they are cheap but at the same tims is wrecking my buisness.That mod seems nice,i will check it out :)

Yes i did,on the lowest.And i'll save you the trouble of trying it,it dosen't work :cry:

@Kneon_Knight true that :rolleyes: .I destroyed my headphones with anger because of the crappiness of these customers and employees :| .And i found the sign,its is very very useful.Now my sim always has green motives,without cheats :anime: .And thanks so far so good :bunny:

@potatoehead my store is a furnature store (mainly because i don't have room for an electronic one).Crafted items are a waste of time...The only hand made thing that profitable are paintings.

EDIT: San you set the amount of customers allowed in your buisness?My sims' house is packed :| .

[Shoosh Malooka]

The ticket machine has no use if the business only makes retail objects to sell. Are you getting the frozen customers glitch? A customer will freeze up and block the line, causing the people behind them to throw their bags on the floor. Are you a nice boss? No, Kick some merciless ash on the employees or fire them if they are costing you money by doing squat, and I don't understand the vomiting. Since you are running a furniture crafting station you might want a fix from Paladin to maximize output:

Sims 2 -> Fixes -> Open for Business Fixes
It's the Crafting Station Routing Fix

[gabrielorie]

I stayed up all night last night since i posted and i have got a rank 7 home buisness and a rank 5 cafe buinsess :D That sign really worked wonders,and i didn't have to use any employees :bunny:

@Shoosh Malooka yes i have that glitch even though i don't use the ticket machine...I also have one where my sim will freeze up at the cash register when ringing up customers and one where her head will say ''no''.I don't make crafting items,they are too unprofitable,but thanks for the link it will come in useful :)


My home buisness where i sell furnature (i know use the i tile $5000 statue and sell it for $9000,its quite a profit :anime:
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6388/sims2ep3201009250014234.jpg

EDIT: Can you sleep in a community lot that you own?I tried but i only found the 'relax' interaction :(

[FranH]

There is a hack for that (isn't there one for everything?) called "Sleep on Community lots" by Squinge over at Insim.

[gabrielorie]

:anime: Thabk you FraneH,i'll check that out

[Shoosh Malooka]

You need Paladin's frozen customer fix at simwardrobe.

Can you sleep in a community lot that you own?I tried but i only found the 'relax' interaction :(

There is a way, but you need Bon Voyage. It's the Action Traveler's Action Tent. The other option is to find hacked beds.

[Simonut]

[QUOTE=gabrielorie @Simonut everytime i give them a break they slack off...I hired Dustin broke (heavens know why) and he only keeps on vomiting,then i have 2 other sims with talent badges but they are expensive and everytime i pay them i will be left with no money. [/QUOTE]


My Reply: gabrielorie when your sims slack off you do have the option to tell them to "Get Back To Work" if their need are full. If a employee's wage level is low,the more readily he or she will drop out of his/her assigned. Also it is base on kickout level for each need or mood the need and mood bars range from -100 to 100, so- 75 means the sims will drop out when the bar is 25% full.

You need to watch to see if your employee have gain new badges, if their pay do not match their new level they will slack off or sometime surprise you and quit or will call in sick. Now if your sims is really getting on your last nerves not doing their job you can get rid of them but it is better to "Lay them off " instead of firing them because laying off do not harm the relationship but if dismissed by firing it will drop the relationship.

On another note if Dustin broke keeps Vomiting he may have eaten some bad left over food, if not taken care of he can get very sick and some sims have been known to died from food poison. The best thing to do is to dismiss him for that day, and save your game and then go into his household and tend to him until he get better sometime bed rest will help him get better.

My last words is watch out for "The Reporter NPC" he or she will come into your business any time and review your business to see if it is good or bad. The only way you will recognize this character is every now and then he or she will quietly whip out a notepad and jot down notes. OFB is a very challenging part of the game to play your business can rise to a perfect 10 and fall right back down to a 5 or zero. :lol:

[gabrielorie]

@Shoosh Malooka thanks but i'm trying something new (and stupid)...Playing the game at one EP at a time :|

@Simonut Thats a lot of reading to do :lol: .I did that but the employee stopped being my sims' BF :( .

I also decided to not use any employees,they are like babies who need me to change their diapers :rolleyes: .

I can't remember him eating bad food but then again i havent played this game in a looong while so i probably forgot...

I got the reporter on my first day playing in a buisness and he said that its great :anime: .It is,it make me fustrated,especially when you try to help then buy something...

Thanks Guys :lovestruc

[Simonut]

@ gabrielorie you said that a lot of reading to do, so here my "last tip" to you find out everything yourself on your own do not ask for help or questions . We are all here to share and help each other we do not have to take the time to do so. Sometime one must find out things on their very own so carry on. :) happy OFB

[Shoosh Malooka]

One EP at a time is not really stupid but personal preference, I guess you want to isolate each EP experience so that it stands out on its own. I have all EP's and just play OFB and cast spells at bad customers. Good luck with your business and don't hesitate to use your business rewards perks. Too bad about not being allowed to sell aspiration rewards.

[el_flel]

My advice for businesses - because they do take some getting used to - is start a small home business selling just a few things and don't hire any employees straight away because if the business is small you won't need them. Build a seperate room for the shop and lock all the doors into your house! Nothing more annoying than having customers eating your food and watching your TV. Only keep the place open for a few hours a day - give your sim time to eat, bathe, sleep, restock and socialise! Once you've got the hang of running a basic business then start expanding. It gets much easier once you've got the hang of it.

If you don't mind using cheats then Simwardrobe (http://simwardrobe.com/) has some fantastic modded objects (under Sims 2 - Objects - Business Facilitators).

[cheshirekat]

I love that automatic cash register. With a couple of sims to handle sales and restocking, business can run really smooth because you don't lose time and energy waiting on customers at the checkout. After using that, I'd never run a business with just the regular cash register again. I think that is from Simwardrobe.

When the reporter comes, do a sales interaction on her several times to get the Best of Business award. I have the owner keep doing the interaction until she leaves, while letting the employees take care of other customers. I never let the reporter leave without buying at least a half dozen things, and at least two of them have to be the most expensive stuff in the store.

Unless your sim is lazy, have them run over to the customer before they start the sales interactions. Too much time walking is less time selling. (Actually, I always make my sims run everywhere to do something in my game. Otherwise it takes them nearly an hour to go from one place to another. Especially on large lots.)

[gabrielorie]

@Simonut I said it jokingly,I absoloutely love to see all these tips :anime: And don't take it offensive ;)

@Shoosh Malooka its kinda like a personal challange :) I also have all EPs and SPs and i've only played AL and OFB :| But if you cast bad spells at customers won't they lose their customer loyality?Thanks,but i am hesitating because my customers get scared away when i use them :(

@el_flel the house had an open floorplan so selling items would be in the kitchen/bedroom and livingroom :lol: And it does get really easy after a while...I am selling 8-10 $5000 statues at a time and only that so the customers will be forced to buy it MUAHAHAHA :bunny:

And ever since i got The Sims 2 i searched the gun mod and downloaded every single thing from that site :)

@cheshirekat I didn't use the automatic cash register,just the normal one and my buisness is going fine :up: .In my game the reporter is a man...Whats the Bust Of Buisness Award?I

And also run to get to places,its like they are teleporting :blink: ,The speed at which they are going...