Help needed - coffee or bar business at home

[Nadira]

After successfully running a restaurant at home (I had recategorized the needed objects into a residential collection) I tried to have a home coffee-shop. But all visitors of the home-business simply ignored the coffee-bar and its barista.
Anyone knows any help? There used to be a hack at MTS2 for residential baristas, but can this used with OFB? (MTS2 seem to be down at the moment, at least I cannot access there). Or is there another problem that hinders townies to recognise a coffee-bar on a residential lot (while they crave for it on community lots)?
Also noted: Since OFB private bars on non-business-residential lots have been annoyingly upgraded in attractiveness, all private visitors and family have become addicted to drinking, even when there is enough food available! But when I had a bar with barista on my residential-business lot the same happened as with the coffee-shop: The bar was totally ignored.....

[Motoki]

You can't use the residential barista hack as it will make the npc come when you are running a business either home or community and that's not supposed to happen. Besides, they still ignore the npc anyway. 

There's a hack at MTS2 by EddieF66 that tones down the actractiveness of the espresso cart and expensive espresso machine. Oddly enough, they don't seem obsessed with the cheap coffee maker but that one has always been pretty worthless anyway.

If anyone does get a bar or coffee shop running well on a business home or community and the sims actually buy the damned drinks I'd love to hear about it because it hasn't seemed to work so well for me. Maybe they need less distractions?

[Nadira]

Hi Motoki, nice to hear from you. I like your sensible opinions very much! I tried and removed all distractors from the accessible area of the lot, and one of the customers was visibly hungry, and still they ignored the coffeebar as well as the drinkingbar - just as if they were not there.
Perhaps someone who knows a little bit about the way objects are rated and coded can look if there is something in the background that does hinder customers to recognize these objects as usable on residential lots (in difference to community lots). And if - perhaps this could be changed?
The strange thing is that there are no problems at all with the restaurant podiums, they work on residential lots as effective as on community lots.
I am getting already disappointed with OFB, since there is not enough variability in the businesses you can run. For the type of the family I am currently playing a beauty-parlour with a coffeeshop would just have been the thing that fitted them - I don´t want to run another restaurant, bakery, toyshop, flowershop ....

[Motoki]

Well I can tell you that when I put those bars on community lot businesses I own and am running, the sims still don't come to them. Of course, if I visit that lot with another sim instead of playing the owner then suddenly they all flock to the bars. 

The Prima Guide pretty much says nothing about putting bars in your businesses either. 

[Nadira]

Well I can tell you that when I put those bars on community lot businesses I own and am running, the sims still don't come to them. Of course, if I visit that lot with another sim instead of playing the owner then suddenly they all flock to the bars. 

Thats just what I find so strange! I know you do some modding yourself - couldn´t you find out why the behaviour is so different? (I am a very apt PC-user with all kinds of premade programs, but I am just a horrible coding dude!)

[Motoki]

My knowledge of simantics (the sims behavior language) is pretty much next to none, heh. I messed around with blindly modifying a hack or two and testing it, and I've messed with flags that make clothes and hair show up or hidden and for various age ranges, but I have yet to be abducted into the TS2 hackers secrety society. 

I'm afraid it's probably a job for someone else, though I do want to learn this stuff at some point if I can figure where to start and if time permits. Most of the people who know it already are mum on giving out information or are hardly the patient teacher type.

[Nadira]

Well thanks, I hope you will find time to plan your abduction some day ... So I will just have to be patient (not one of my greater qualities)
I am going offline and say goodbye (I am an the oldfashioned type ...). Was really nice to talk to you. I rarely post because most problems I can solve by trying and testing myself and by reading the threads - but in doing the last I have often come upon your statements and I do like the way you handle people and opinions - that´s just something I have already wanted to state for along time ...

[Ancient Sim]

I have an espresso bar on one of my business lots and no barista comes to man it.  I do have the residential barista mod in, so maybe that's conflicting with it.  It doesn't seem to work anyway, because I also tried an espresso bar in a home business and got no barista for that, either.  No one takes any notice of the drinks bar on either type of lot, either.

[Lady_Z]

I am getting already disappointed with OFB, since there is not enough variability in the businesses you can run. For the type of the family I am currently playing a beauty-parlour with a coffeeshop would just have been the thing that fitted them - I don´t want to run another restaurant, bakery, toyshop, flowershop ....

Out of the Lurk Closet...

I built a Casino..rectangular one story bldg with good restrooms..and the 'customers use showers and bathrooms hack'...The Casino has one of the twirly electronic thingies, a small dance floor with big boom box..poker and pool tables, lots of arcade games and comfort/10 couches in alcoves.  It has a private office with TV, bookcase, laptop for the Boss..only he can go in.  It has a buffet and 3 tables for 4, also a counter with an expresso machine.  Occasionally he fills the buffet and 'serves' expresso.
It has a small gift shop with windowed walls and a windowed door...3 low display tables and 2 higher ones.  He sells teddy bears, dolls and cute 'doo dads' like any Casino gift shop. 

Sims pay $35 an hour to come in and play games, shop, eat when the buffet is full, drink expresso, whatever.  They LOVE it...he is nearly out of the hole $$wise and lvl 5 with one guy helping sell/restock/cashier and clean up after buffet customers. 

I put in a lot of wild patterned walls, carpeting and those flashing, revolving dance floor lights.

My bars and expresso bars were ignored so I went this way for food and drink.

Z

[idtaminger]

I am getting already disappointed with OFB, since there is not enough variability in the businesses you can run. For the type of the family I am currently playing a beauty-parlour with a coffeeshop would just have been the thing that fitted them - I don´t want to run another restaurant, bakery, toyshop, flowershop ....

If you only play with what Maxis gives you, of course it's going to be boring. But if you use some creativity you can have practically any business under the sun.

The casino bit is a good idea. I hadn't thought of that one. I don't have any criminal career sims though, and this just seems like a criminal type business. Hmmm...maybe Dustin Broke. He was best friends with the burglar, after all.

[Regina]

Shoot, there are a lot of businesses one could dream up.  I just downloaded a visitor-enabled computer from MTS2 that can be used for an internet cafe.  Granted, I haven't done anything other than having one sim run a home-based business selling knick-knacks and whatzits, but it seems like there's definitely more to do than toy shops, robot shops and the like.

[Nec]

I built a coffee house in the shopping neighborhood with 2 espresso machines and the business computers, and it got plenty of customers - but I also made a little section with espresso and coffee machines for sale. That might have had something to do with it. I set up an outside espresso cafe downton by the bus stop, and no one used it....they all just sat at the bus stop - which looked cool for about 5 seconds, but that was it. I haven't tried the at-home one yet, but will today to see what happens.

The most successful businesses my sims have are in downtown, not the shopping district. The one that brings the most $ in is one that sells gargoyles, coffins, guillotines, and grave stones. The convenience store and the bars/clubs do really well, too.

The best home business I have is a motel with a bar in the back and a pool. With the community lot sleep hack from MTS2, people will actually stay and sleep, shower, etc.

I have not had an issue with any NPCs showing up, but I delete them all when I create my custom neighborhoods. That may be part of the problem. Maxis made neighborhoods seem to be so buggy - I never play them...I delete them.

What I would really like to be able to do is own businesses in the university neighborhood. A coffee house there would be really cool, I think.

[JadeEliott]

The best home business I have is a motel with a bar in the back and a pool. With the community lot sleep hack from MTS2, people will actually stay and sleep, shower, etc.

This sentence is confusing to me, is the motel on a home lot or community lot? You say home lot, but then how can the community lot hack work to make visitors sleep on the home lot?

I have not had an issue with any NPCs showing up, but I delete them all when I create my custom neighborhoods. That may be part of the problem. Maxis made neighborhoods seem to be so buggy - I never play them...I delete them.

I have a custom hood, Arenia, and the downtown is Whimsy Valley. I have noticed a lot less bugs than in Maxis hoods. Maxis admitted in the last chat that they use "special" tools to create their hoods for shipping instead of playing them up like we do and that is why I think they miss things that end up causing bugs:

JesusFreakPaul (Mar 16, 2006 3:18:41 PM)
I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but I never know which ones going to be answered. I seen a lot of people are asking questions about badges. When you make families for the EP's, pre made families or "Maxis Families" as we fans call them, do you guys actually make them from scratch like us, or just use special prgrams and set everything up to ship?

MaxisDon (Mar 16, 2006 3:18:41 PM)
We use special programs.

What I would really like to be able to do is own businesses in the university neighborhood. A coffee house there would be really cool, I think.

Totally agree. Some more for uni students to do. Perhaps this can be hacked?

[Nec]

This sentence is confusing to me, is the motel on a home lot or community lot? You say home lot, but then how can the community lot hack work to make visitors sleep on the home lot?

It is a residential lot. For some reason, when sims visit your playable sim's house they consider it a community lot - whether or not it is a home business. Why, I cannot explain. I have visiting sims crashing out at the greek house all the time, too. At any rate, ever since I installed that hack, anyone visiting the household I am playing helps themselves to the fridge, shower, and the beds. It's rather amusing

It would be very cool if someone came up with a hack that allowed the purchase of community lots in the Uni neighborhoods. If I had a clue (which I don't) I would do it. I am just learning about all the technichal stuff.

[LauraW]

I have a coffee bar I downloaded from MTS2 that is hacked for residential. I can assign a barista to the coffee bar. Customers use it all the time. I have not tried a coffee bar on a community lot yet. Now my bars and bartenders are a different story...I have seen one Sim use the bar. Otherwise, the bartender is sort of a waste of money.

[Nadira]

Some more on the coffeeshop business.
Scenario: Owned community lot, owner present. NOT ANY distractors on the lot. Only coffeebar and one table with 2 chairs.
a) Owner works as barista: No one is interested in drinking coffee. Customers only socialize.
b) Employee works as barista: Customers drink lots of coffee, but DO NOT PAY for it!!!!!!! Only when the owner herself drank coffee, she was charged the 15 simeoleons!

Conclusion up to now: Coffeebars are only intended to be used in combination with ticketmachines, where customes pay to have access to the coffeebar, but then do not pay for having a coffee. AND, even more important: To be accepted by the customers, the coffeebar must be manned with an employee, not with a playable sim (as the shop owner)!
THAT´S SO STUPID AND UNREALISTIC!
But it seems that´s the only way to play these objects, so I fear I will have to comply with Maxis rules (if no one is offering a hacked coffeebar in time ....)

I have already thought of combining ticket machines which offer access to coffeebars or discos with shops selling items in the same areas, but was not sure if people would still buy after having payed entrance to the lot - I am extremely happy to read at least that works!

[TheCheat]

The Espresso Bars and Juice Bars all work perfectly on my Business lots (Community only, anyways). I assigned a teenage employee I had to one of them and customers were paying just fine. Even Mrs. Crumplebottom, who isn't really a Sim, paid.