Ideas for self-sufficient hood?

[Macaroodle]

Okay. I'm trying to make my retro hood more realistic. Maybe semi-self-sufficient or in-depth would be a better description.... Anyway, I've got a few sim-owned shops. So far I've got a bookstore that sells custom novels, an Italian restaraunt, a bakery, and a grocery store. I'm working on setting up a department store, a speakeasy (restaraunt w/bar), a florist, a tea room (restaraunt w/buyable food deco), a toy store, and a hotel (restaraunt w/wedding venue). I'm working on schools to be played with Simlogical's hacks- a combined elementary and high school, a parochial school (run by nuns who live there, so it's also a convent), a private boys' school with optional boarding, a private girls' school with the same deal, and a little schoolhouse for my more rural subhood. Once I figure out how to get one of the base hood uni hacks working right, I'm going to have a college downtown. There's two that I know of. I've only tried Squinge's so far, but there must've been some hack conflict, and I haven't felt up to tackling the whole sorting thing yet.

Maybe I should also add that I have a doctor that I'm going to teleport in when sims are sick. He's the only one in the hood whom I allow to make Grandma's Comfort Soup. What I plan on doing is make him selectable and have him make the soup. After the sim is well, he or she talks with him for a little while, then I have the patient send him money with SimWardrobe's checkbook. Different illnesses have different rates- a cold costs $200, flu costs $400, etc. I'm also going to have him charge $1000 per child delivery.

I have a therapist, too. He lives in a brownstone townhouse (http://www.modthesims.info/d/283455) with an attached office. He can remove sims' furiousness ($300 per sim), boost their aspiration to green, gold, or platinum ($500, $700, and $1,000 respectively), and boost family relationships. He hasn't had any child patients yet, but for adult patients I teleport them in and have them sit in chairs and talk for about an hour. Then I use my hacked objects to help the patient. When I get back to the patient's house, I send him a check with the checkbook. With child patients I might have them talk a little, then play with a dollhouse-type toy together. After that he'll talk with one or more family members, who'll then pay him (children have reduced rates).

My farmers sell their produce and fish to my grocery store owner in a similar way. I teleport him in, transfer the produce to his inventory, have them talk a little, look in my Seasons Prima guide to figure out how much it's worth, then have Grocery Guy send them the money when I get back to his house. He then sells it in his store packed in SimWardrobe's crates.

There's also a freelance artist who has a gallery for a home business and will take commissions. Again, teleporting and checkbooks will be involved.

But I feel like I need more. The Isle of Thyme custom hood tutorial archived here (http://www.freewebs.com/applevalleyhood/administrationlaws.htm#128799807) at Apple Valley recommends using SimSurgery with SimPE to make unplayable NPCs look like your playable ones (e.g. your playable police officers would look like the ones that come when you have a burglar), but I don't really want to do that. Sometimes I want my sims to interact with NPCs, and if I did they wouldn't be interacting with the "real one". Does that make sense?

What could I do with a courthouse? I was thinking of putting in a wedding arch.... Once I get a mayor I could have the couple send money to him after the wedding. Speaking of which, what could I do with a mayor sim? The Isle of Thyme tutorial I linked to up there suggests having him or her buy City Hall for a community lot business, then hiring the doctor, fire fighters, mail deliverers, etc. as employees. I suppose I could do that, but somehow I don't quite like the idea.... It kind of ties into the NPC cloning thing I mentioned, besides, it wouldn't feel right not having my civil servants in their "real" careers. I would like to have two political parties and two mayoral candidates per party- that I do know.

Someday I'm probably going to try out Simlogical's prison system and send lawbreakers there if their crimes are severe enough. Hey, I've got a couple mafia-type famlies already, so I probably ought to have a jail at some point!

So! Long story short, how can I make my hood more in-depth? Any suggestions would be very much appreciated! :)

[maxon]

I have a banker sim who loans money - the family story is that that family are wealthy. The point of the Isle of Thyme thing, as I remember, it was to have no 'extra' money coming in at all but to have all the money circulating in the hood from the mayor outwards. Hence the employing civil servants thing. I don't do that either so you don't have to go the whole hog if you don't want to.

I do have my NPCs cloned from playables through SimPE. I actually like it because it looks like the right people are turning up to do work on lots. I use the cheque to pay for services. I have the hospital mod too which you might like. Sounds like a lot of schools - I'll warn you, it can become tedious playing those. I use the prison too. There's a funeral mod (unfinished) so I have an undertaker (actually a family business). A divorce requires the services of a solicitor (someone in the law career with their own office). My original of the cloned post delivery person owns a post office (selling the buyable/sendable cards). I have a surprising number of vicars (for a completely non-religious person). I also have businesses and/or careers for all the service jobs - so the pizza delivery people also have a pizza parlour and so on. There are several pubs (I'm English). I also have a number of community lots which are just the sort of thing you'd find in a town like a cinema and train station. No-one owns them or the parks.

Half the fun is planning it out and fitting everything together. I use a spread sheet and have probably spent more time on that than actually playing the game. Well, that and building railway stations (my favourite is based on a typical British village station. It has a tea room and everything).

[DigitalSympathies]

These are my a portion of my updated notes for my own self-sustaining 'hood. I really like this topic as it's helped me think of things that I would've forgotten to put down for this place! I plan on starting this 'hood very soon.

Self-Sustaining Neighbourhood v.1

Bookstore:
Sells custom novels, notebooks, and skill books.

Florist:
Sells handmade flower arrangements and ceramics. This sim can also be hired to do landscaping and gardening work at your sim's house for §5 as a base fee, and §10 per hour spent.

Bakery:
Sells cakes, breads, and other confections.

Greengrocer's:
Sells sim-grown produce, caught fish, prepackaged foods, and homemade recipes.

Toy Store:
Sells children's goods, gifts, and toys. Sims can also sell their old toys and baby items to the toy store owner.

Department Store:
Sells higher-end home furnishings, seasonal gifts and decorations, appliances, perfumes, and clothing.

Local Dive Bar:
A place where sims can eat bar foods (Chinese food, hot dogs, chicken, etc), drink together, go on dates, and play some pool or arcade games. A family-friendly variation of this is a greasy spoon-type establishment. A more grown-up variation of this is the local pub.

Local Pizza Parlour:
A family-friendly establishment where they can order pizza, pasta, and wings, and the children can play in a fun environment whilst the adults can watch the game. A sim can buy a pizza to go here, or order it from home.

Fast Food Joint:
A casual, find-your-own-seat establishment that sells lower-quality (sometimes burnt!) burgers, chips, chicken, and pop for lower prices than that of a pizza parlour or greasy spoon.

Repairs Shop:
Sims can bring in their broken items or hire a repairman. §10 base fee, §50 for an hour's labour, §40 if it's in the shop itself. This shop also sells robotics and used electronics which sims, instead of deleting, put into their inventories and teleport to the shop and sell to the owner.

Housekeeping Service:
A sim from this service can be hired to clean your sim's home. For a live-in maid, they must be provided their own suite and charge §500 a week. For a recurring maid, an adult female sim with high cleaning points, who is in the custom maid career track, will be summoned to clean for §5 as a base fee, and §10 per hour spent.

Babysitting Service:
A sim from this service can be hired to look after your children. If the sim is hired on an on-call basis, a teen from the neighbourhood will be summoned and paid §20 per visit. If the sim is a live-in nanny, they must be provided their own suite and charge §800 a week.

Psychologist's Office:
Sims will be teleported into the psychologist's office and talk to the therapist for about two hours. The base fee is §250/hr. They can remove sims' furiousness (§300 per sim), boost their aspiration to green, gold, or platinum (§500, §700, and §1000 respectively), and boost family relationships (average session cost plus §20 for each additional sim).

Children will have a reduced rate of §150/hr. This sim also can issue orders for child and teen sims (and their siblings) to be placed into foster care with another family (preferably related) if they find any evidence of neglect, unresolable conflict (enemies with parents), or abuse.

Doctor-On-Call:
The doctor will be summoned to the lot of a sick sim for a base fee of §200, or, if they are above a certain tax bracket (§20,000 in the bank, or they've bought health insurance for §600 a week), the visit's covered by insurance and is free. If a sim is sick, the doctor will make them get a glass of water to take a pill that cures their ailments, or, if they are traditionalists, they can have some homemade comfort soup.

The doctor can perform occult-to-human transformations for §8000 under the table. Some things require him being at his office, such as abortions, plastic surgeries, telling the gender and number of children a pregnant sim is having, in vitro fertilisation, fertility treatment, birth control, exilir of life, massage therapy, and "experimental drugs," (stuff made with the medical station).

Stuff the doctor can do at home is cure a sick sim, transform an occult back to their human state, help a sim have a home birth (can go either way), help a sim commit assisted suicides (adults and above only), and give them potions to boost their fitness or help them skill faster.

Rates are as follows (all except plastic surgery and transformations are free when a sim buys insurance): Abortion §650, Assisted Suicides §6000 (upon consultation), Hospital Birth §2000, Home Birth §1000, Gender of Child §300, Plastic Surgery §2000, Potions §500, Massage Therapy §800, Experimental Drugs §0, Fertility Treatment & Birth Control §100, Exilir of Life §5000, Transformations $8000 (with one-in-24 dice roll of both getting caught and jailed).

If a sim who gives birth wishes to give up their non-occult child (as occults are illegal and in hiding in my game, so all births are kept secret) for adoption, the doctor will find an eligible adoptive parent for the sim's child before their pregnancy is up, and the adoptive parent(s) will be present for the birth and with inSIM/Sim Blender, the family ties and last names will be changed. Memories are not important.

Town Bank:
Sims with good credit and enough income can get loans and mortgages against their properties, with variable or fixed interest rates. Sims with bad credit or not enough income will be immediately turned down.

Sims can also cash their cheques and receive their weekly welfare stipend of §250 here, and get small loans for university expenses, weddings/funerals, or vacations, payable at nothing lower than §10/day. Repo men can also take anything bought with the loans (nothing else unless a sim files bankruptcy) back if a sim refuses or fails to pay back what they owe.

Post Office:
Here sims can post cards/letters, fax photos, and send packages to other sims, as well as rent a storage locker out back for §500/week. They can also buy newspapers and magazines here.

Courthouse/Police Department/Volunteer Fire Brigade:
Here sims can go on trial for crimes (town laws elaborated on another page) and be sentenced to a certain time in prison. If they fail to show up for their court appearance, they will get one seasonal rotation added to their sentence for every week that they fail to turn themselves in. Sims can also report crimes here, and get married for §200.

If your sim is caught on a community lot while drunk, they can be arrested and chucked in the "drunk tank," for the night until a loved one posts §100 bail to get them out. Police can be called for domestic disputes involving violence or threats, as well as murders, suicides, runaways, and other such things.

If there is a fire, sims from the volunteer fire bridage can rush to the scene to put the fire out. The mayor also can summon people to his office here for deals, shut down businesses, change welfare and wages, and change funding for public services such as schools and hospitals.

Daycare Centre:
Toddler and baby sims of working parents can be dropped off at the daycare centre, as well as children after school, for a fee of §3000/week. It's so expensive to mirror the rising costs of daycare. Sims can participate in fun games & activities, and skill building exercises.

Primary School:
Child sims will be expected to arrive at the school by 8:00 in proper uniform. They may show up as early as 6:30 to work on late homework or have breakfast. If a sim shows up out of uniform, their parents will be summoned to the lot and they will receive a two-day suspension and a week's after-school detention when they get back. There are four classes, Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class D, each with a certain number of child sims and an assigned teacher. Classes start at 9:00. Breakfast (for those in the breakfast program) starts being served at 6:30, and Lunch is at 12:00. School ends at 3:00, whereupon sims who want to can then do sports, ballet, or participate in a homework club until 5:00.

Secondary School:
Teen sims will be expected to arrive at the school by 8:00 in proper uniform. They may show up as early as 6:00 to work on late homework, finish up an essay, chat with friends, or have breakfast. If a sim shows up out of uniform or if they're caught in a fight, their parents will be summoned to the lot and they will receive a two-day suspension and a week's after-school detention when they get back. Any sims that cut classes will receive a week's suspension and two weeks of after-school detention. If a sim misses a week of school or more without being sick (sickness includes normal colds/flus, as well as births) or if they are not in mourning, they are immediately expelled.
Classes are in a rotation, half with the vocational skills controller, half that teach skills or are electives. Each sim can apply for classes in the fall (I have a very long age mod) and once they hit the days nearest to adulthood, they can drop the core subjects and only take what they need for skill building. After-school clubs include ballet, sports, chess, homework, shop/automotive and drama.

Thrift Shop:
Sells discount & used furniture, appliances, and clothing.

[julmoo]

How do you guys sell custom novels?
I tried putting them on shelves and marking them for sale but it's not possible for some reason.

[joandsarah77]

I play mine a little less intensively, but a few things I haven't seen mentioned are NPC jobs like maid, repo man etc. They don't pay much and are great for poor sims, although only certain sims can take some of the jobs. To be a nanny for example you must have finished studying parenting.

I have a church with a priest and he does the counselling. He has to learn couples counselling and anger management before taking the job. He has both a priests job as well as the church as a community lot. It sells books and has a wedding arch.

I use Monique’s computer to give and take money.

Tried the hospital mod but it would never work for me, even with every other download out.

There's a funeral mod
That sounds interesting, how is that going to work?

[omglo]

What could I do with a courthouse?

Someday I'm probably going to try out Simlogical's prison system and send lawbreakers there if their crimes are severe enough. Hey, I've got a couple mafia-type famlies already, so I probably ought to have a jail at some point!

You could have a judge who fines Sims who start fights or steal gnomes and papers. Maybe they could pay a fine or get sentenced to counseling to get their furiousness removed. Or once you get your jail going,, they could go there until until it fades on its own. There could be a town hall in the building for Sims to register their pets and pay for a marriage license.

Add in risky woohoo and set up a foster home for unwanted or neglected kids.

A real estate office that owns the deeds to the vacation homes

A salon for Sims who want a drastic make over or to dye their hair

The vocational training mod from Paladin could be used to set up a night school

[gulhare]

How do you guys sell custom novels?
I tried putting them on shelves and marking them for sale but it's not possible for some reason.

You need a mod for that. This is the one I use.
http://faiuwle.pbworks.com/w/page/7391063/Sims2Hacks

[julmoo]

Thanks gulhare! There are even more awesome mods on that website

Yay now my bookstore is even more realistic!

[Fnus]

Do you guys know if there's any way to *stop* automatic restocking of the shops? I want to be able to control how many times my shop can restock, but it doesn't really help if my sim visists another sim's shop, buys something, and then bam! It's magically restocked. Messes up the whole thing!

And how do you make a teen babysit instead of an old lady?

Oh, and thanks for that link to those great hacks. (:

[Darby]

And how do you make a teen babysit instead of an old lady?

There are a couple options for that.

Replacement nanny
http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,94248.0.html
Makes nannies teens, adults, or young adults. (You have to choose - can't have more than one age).

Watch Kids
http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,95096.0.html
"This mod allows sims to ask their friends to watch their kids on all home lots."

There's also a "babysitter" mod by AncientHighway that adds Babysitter to the service menu on phones. When you have a sim call for a babysitter, you get a list of all the sim's friends/acquaintances currently available (not at work) to be asked to come babysit. AH's website is long gone, and his mods aren't hosted anywhere, but I've got it uploaded to my MediaFire account. http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2v4nqnibpr6j14v

[juliejaz]

What is the hospital mod?

[Fnus]

Thanks Darby, that's super helpful! And fixes a lot of my problems! (:

[Simsica]

There's also a "babysitter" mod by AncientHighway that adds Babysitter to the service menu on phones. When you have a sim call for a babysitter, you get a list of all the sim's friends/acquaintances currently available (not at work) to be asked to come babysit. AH's website is long gone, and his mods aren't hosted anywhere, but I've got it uploaded to my MediaFire account. http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2v4nqnibpr6j14v

Darby, could you please tell us something more about this mod you posted? Specifically, with what EPs it works?

Thanks in advance :)

[Darby]

Oooh, yikes, I don't think I can answer that, come to think of it, Simsica. I downloaded it from someone else's upload myself, I think, and there wasn't any documentation. All I know for sure is that it works great in my game, and I've got a full install through M&G. So if there's doubt, back up and test?

Fnus, enjoy!

[Simsica]

Oooh, yikes, I don't think I can answer that, come to think of it, Simsica. I downloaded it from someone else's upload myself, I think, and there wasn't any documentation. All I know for sure is that it works great in my game, and I've got a full install through M&G. So if there's doubt, back up and test?

Fnus, enjoy!

Okay. That's enough info for me :)

[joandsarah77]

This is a great thread. :) I've already downloaded a few things. Has anyone used or currently using the PCSims Police Station? I got that off one of the links in this thread but wondered how old it is and if it would play nicely with AL? Otherwise I shall just test it out.

[maxon]

This is a great thread. :) I've already downloaded a few things. Has anyone used or currently using the PCSims Police Station? I got that off one of the links in this thread but wondered how old it is and if it would play nicely with AL? Otherwise I shall just test it out.
well, that site went bust a few years ago so it's pretty old. I find the PCSims models crude and don't use the mods for that reason - don't like the look of them. You could always change them though if you can find a suitable substitute. I do use some of the banking stuff though (you can only do so much to a modified till and it doesn't look bad) and they work well enough with my full EP-SP game. It's ultimately giong to depend on what BHavs PCSims altered and whether you have other mods that use those BHavs (or if they go tweaked in a later EP).

[joandsarah77]

I grabbed them off the Graveyard, it came with one picture and no instructions so it's all guess work. I've found only three objects in the buy catalogue (Think I will go take a look at the extracted files again) I also downloaded the bank set and quite a bit I think I will delete, as I'm only after objects that can't be replicated either by Maxis objects or newer better CC. I don't need another office chair or shelving clogging up my overflowing downloads folder. I think for 2006 or there abouts the meshes look very well made. I'll keep an eye out for weird behaviour.

Edit: I tested the police set with Julian Cooke and it seemed it was just cars appearing and driving past while Julian blew his whistle and lectured them. :lol: After a few cars I would get a pop up saying Julian is a good cop and get paid in 'fines' It was all quite funny, but not something I would keep.

The bank looks a bit harder to figure. What are the blue check books and credit cards? Seemed like townies wanted to immediately buy those credit cards and even Julian tried to-except he was the owner of the lot. Then there was some funny 'steal gnome' type actions on piggy banks, a funny pop up toy which also gave money. I may not bother with any of those as I have Monique's hacked computer and I downloaded an electric payer that looks like an ATM. It was a fun diversion.

[FranH]

The bank books and credit cards can be used by sims to have credit or save money. There are 'limits' to the credit cards, and you have to repay them, of course.
With the townies and nonplayables, it is an autonomous purchase, which means that if you see a playable buying them, and then you play that sim later, check their inventory-they will probably have about 10 credit cards and 3 bank books in there. It's a great way to get extra simeoleons into the house-but beware of the interest payments! :)

Among other things in that set for the banking is a gold bar-it is a useful thing to have, because you can enable it to be a 'reporting chart' item, which means that it changes value from time to time, and then you sell it for the highest value. The only drawback is that when you do enable the 'report', sims tend to stand and stare at it alot. Keep it in your inventory unless you have a locked closet, where it is safe from prying eyes! :p
As for the police station, I can't figure out still if it works on a community lot or a house lot-I do believe community, but I don't use it that often, either.

[joandsarah77]

Thanks for the extra info FranH. I used an owned community business lot as that is what I would want to use in my hood.
I saw the gold bars and the report function. It went up while I was testing and I saw sims looking at it a fair bit. Nothing compared to the "must buy credit card!" brain washed behaviour I saw. I'll have to test the bank books. There was also a money bag and it seemed to say zero? I'm assuming this is also something to make the bank or sims money. . There is also a type of podium where the sims talks on the phone, again making money. That might be okay as it's isolated to the bank. I just want the bank to look like a working bank.
I downloaded a set of certificates from here which are supposed to appreciate in value for sims who purchase them. I might use those. I'm just worried I'll end up with a lot of rich sims. I don't want things like that $15 dollar coin I see talk about as 340% in two weeks is too much cash. If coins in rl had that function I'd go buy myself a bag full!

I'd like my police to have more to do at the station, but that was kind of crazy. The cars appearing and driving past would get annoying fast. There wasn't even variety in the cars, just the yellow porsche and the low blue car.

[FranH]

Oh, the podiums:
2 of them are for 'bank employees' and they do typical bank routines. There is another podium, though, that is so cheaty it's not funny-but it's fun: you can make phone calls on it, make money while doing so, and gain charisma every few calls. I've used it with great success in one of my modern hoods as a 'between the jobs' telemarketing item.
(It's the blue podium, if you're looking for it.)

If a sim is down on their funds, set one up as a community lot and put in about 3 or four telemarketing podiums. Because they're supposed to increase fun, other sims who are in dire need of fun will start to use them as well, autonomously, and the profits go to your sim. So the telemarketing center can net you quite a lot of money quickly, if needed.

[joandsarah77]

It was a pale pine wood colour podium and I saw a skilling bar but I didn't keep him at it for long. Might be okay just for the bank as the sim who owns that can be rich-others no thanks, I have halved wages, slow skills and no 20 k handouts to keep them poor. So I don't want fast skills or stacks of money. So many items that could be great get wrecked by too much money or fast skills. Honestly if someone wants that they could just give them skills on the blender and use motherlode. I wonder if the invisible restaurant podium would work for looks or if they would start lining up for nonexistent meals. I'm after things only for looks really.

Edit: There were a few other things from the bank set I tried out today. Both pale wood podiums skill creativity (it says creativity anyway) The best thing from that set was an electronic stick which calls the burglar and the whole creeping burglar, cop fight scenario takes place. That could be rather fun to add to both to my bank and the police station.
I tried setting bank books for sale but they can't be bought that way it seems, the buy meter stayed empty.
I don't quite get why there are two cash register things as they seem to do the same things.
I tried chair which was also hilarious as Julian lent back with a cigar. :lol:

Some of that set seems worthwhile, certainly I will be keeping the electronic burglar stick and the safes as they can be opened. Might even keep that chair as a story prop.
None of it seemed to do anything weird to my game that I noticed so if anyone wants it I think it’s safe with all ep’s.

[Macaroodle]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! Sorry this reply is late, I've been meaning to post for a few days.

maxon- Thanks for the advice! I think I'll go ahead with all the schools- since I don't play rotations it might not get so tedious.

Digital Sympathies- I'm glad this topic helped you! Looks like you've come up with some great ideas. :)

omglo- Thanks for the ideas!

Darby- Thanks for uploading AncientHighway's babysitter mod!

Yeah, I've just re-discovered the Sims 2 Graveyard and have been going through the PC Sims stuff. I didn't care much for the police station either. Joandsarah, in case you're still interested: the items are: four different signs in misc for $10 each, a schedule in misc for $150, an interrogation station in misc for $250, and a radar in electronics for $2,750.

Some of it didn't seem to work quite right in my game- when I clicked on one of the signs it said "Repair", but it immediately disappeared out of the Sims' queue. From the catalog description of the schedule I figured it'd be functional (something about having two tasks and completing them will make your sim feel fulfilled), but they just viewed it like a regular wall decoration. The main police station sign says "Sign Up" when you click on it, but I can't see that it does anything really. The interrogation station is cloned from the law enforcement career reward. When you have the sim you want to be interrogated click on it, he or she sits down in the chair and you're prompted to type up the question you want him or her to answer. Either they pass the test or fail and they're shocked, as you might guess. Either way, it just seemed to keep on going- ask a question, pass or fail, until I X'd it out of my test sim's (Loki's) queue.

I've also tried out the dental station. Your dentist sim twirls into a doctor's coat and works on your patient sim in the chair, who loses bladder and hygiene. What's kind of creepy is that IIRC the dental tools look like power tools. :blink: Anyway, your dentist sim gains mechanical skill really quickly, and after a little bit he or she is paid $800. Not bad! I think I might try to make a home business out of it. With this one family I'm keeping track of how often they autonomously brush their teeth for a week. I'll compare it with other families to see what the average is, and below a certain number I'll teleport them in my dentist's office to get their cavities filled. :)

With their surgical station the doctor is only paid less- only $500, for some reason. I only tried it once and the surgery went on for several hours until I X'd it out of their queue. The patient sim got his needs maxed at the end. I guess I could hang onto this if I could figure out a good story reason for sims to have operations (I haven't looked into the hospital mod yet). Meh.

The PriestMarry hack is pretty cool, IMO- the priest/pastor/vicar/whatever sim stands behind the bride and groom and talks while looking at a pretend Bible. I had kind of a hard time with this one at first. What I found out is that the priest has to be made selectable for the whole ceremony and he has to get to the arch before both the bride and groom get there or they'll block his way. Evidently he just can't walk around. :faceslap: I think I'll have the priests and pastors own churches as community lot businesses so that I can send sims to church on Sundays if they seem like they ought to attend, so I'll have to teleport them in for weddings, I guess.

Their parcel point mod didn't work very well for me. Now, this may not be the case for everyone, because I didn't do the whole sorting process to figure out if I had a hack conflict or not, but I had a mom sim ship some food (groceries) to her grown daughter who has her own apartment, and after she put the groceries in her fridge she couldn't check her fridge's food level anymore. Just thought I'd let people know.

Buuuuut I ran across MogHughson's greeting card system (http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=385962) and a couple post (http://modthesims.info/d/279642) offices (http://modthesims.info/d/322366) and they look pretty cool. I think I'll have my mayor sim own a post office and hire a sim to sell postcards. :)

They've got a couple other medical hacks that I've downloaded but haven't uploaded yet- one's called "TestTubes-Medication" and the other's called "ChemistryKioskandMedicines". The Chemistry Kiosk looks like it has a lot of files... I wish their zips came with readmes! :faceslap: It'd be nice if I could use one or both of them for a doctor's office or a pharmacy.

[dwn2ridehtchck1]

I downloaded the chemistry kiosk and it came with medicines that you'd think you can sell but if memory serves correct i don't think you can

[joandsarah77]

an interrogation station in misc for $250 That did not show up for me.

I've downloaded the parcel station and sent a parcel but as he only knows townies I don't know if she received it. It certainly worked fine at the till.

I have a dental chair with what looks like power tools-I used it in a story of mine on the ninja. :lol: That did not give any money-which I liked. I'd rather things didn't give money out too easily.

Some of those other hacks I haven't heard about. Is that priestMary hack from the graveyard as well? Sounds interesting.

[DoReMiFaSoLaTiDo]

I think you need a plastic surgeon.

[fruitsymphony]

One idea is to have a flea market in the park. Because you only need a long table, and a cash register, and some things for sale, but you can sell clothes also of course.
But no need for a building. The sim who runs the market would technically need to own the park but the park can be set up with mortgage shrubs. The other sims in the hood could go on outings to the park and the fleamarket would make money.
Another business idea is to have a, (what do you call a garden where you sell plants. )
Because Sims always need more plants and shrubs for their gardens. You can sell small trees also and add deco such as dirt and shovels.

Edit: they can also sell some cheap plastic chairs as garden furniture.

[SusannaG]

A plant nursery.

[FranH]

The Flea Market idea is perfect for putting together a 'gardener's delight' lot. I've had a few of them: but the trick is to make sure there's a huge variety of flowers, and that you use the "moveobjects on" cheat to pile them up on one another. Sims go nuts looking at all the different flowers, and it's a great way to prettify the neighborhood-plus the business does very well.
All you really need is a place for the cash register, and a chair. the lot itself can be empty-but with a single wall to hold the 'open for business' sign that you'll have to have.

Always set the price at the very lowest cost-that's the sure fire way to make a lot of money-but having a few of Inge's hacks don't hurt either-especially her autorestocking one. Sorry, I do cheat at business. :p

[starryeyedSim]

I think it would be fun if you added a Furniture store and an Appliance store. Where some of your Sims run those shops (maybe combine into one big one like Home Depot) and when you move-in Sims to the neighborhood they all start out without furniture etc.

Then they would have to visit each one of these stores to buy what they need. A couch, a bed, a stove etc. Even bathroom fixture upgrades. Move into a vacant house and have to furnish it with the shops.

It makes for good business for your shop owners and makes the town more self suffiecent if they buy everything they need from other shop owners.

There could be more added. An Art gallery, a Home and Garden (landscaping) just to name a few more. At the H&G you could sell fencing, shrubs, flowers, (those that are custom that are view opitions only etc.) Fruit trees etc. at this venue you could also sell fountains and decorative yard ornaments.

In other words, everything you buy your Sim should be sold in some other Sim's shop or large store.

Don't forget about TV shops, electronics (computer stores with computer desks to go along) etc.

A Clock Works small shoppe, where nothing is sold but all kinds of clocks..that would be cool. Keep one or two unmarked so they will chime.

If I played this challenge I would have everything in Sims different shops and nothing could be bought from the catalog.

So, just about every Sim would run a shop and each would support the other. I think that would be great fun.

In the town where I used to live there was a specific Lighting company, sold nothing but light fixtures..so pretty when you entered...maybe your Sim wants to redecorate with nicer light fixtures and wall sconces.

Yeah, I would take that challenge to the max.

[FranH]

Oh, and for those cheap ones in the community, a pawn shop! You don't even have to buy a lot to get it started, and here's why:
Buy the lot, and furnish it with some counters and cheap furniture, appliances, etc. If you have other shops in the town, so much the better.
Run the business for a day or so, letting some sims buy things.

Then the next time you open the business, you have customers with stuff in their inventory-pause the game, make the customer selectable, take the stuff out of their inventory and add it to your store. Price it cheap, of course.

Then unselect the customer and let him rebuy the stuff he bought the day before!

Hey, it's the way pawn shops do work! :)