Do you visit the hobby lots? Are they useful?

[Alexx]

Okay-I just remember someone trying to actually kill their sim by a number of means on vacation, and it not working.

Mostly it not working because on comm.and secret lots sims have "magic hidden"extra +5 points for their hunger and energy.

[jsalemi]

Okay-I just remember someone trying to actually kill their sim by a number of means on vacation, and it not working.

Maybe nouniprotect also affects vacation lots, since I seem to remember having a sim accidentally die in the ocean (though my memory may be faulty).

[Alex]

I would assume your sims can die on vacation. Doesn't it affect the vacation score and make your sims have a "bad" holiday?

[Sivany]

I seem to remember a post a while back where someone was experimenting with trying to get their sim to die in the sea. IIRC in the end he repeatedly pissed himself and complained of comfort failue but essential motives like hunger and energy stayed just high enough to stop him dying no matter how long he was left in there. I assume this was an experiement without cheats though so I don't know how nouniprotect might affect things.

[Zazazu]

Wasn't it Trepie that did it?

In related news, I found that the only way (without hacks I'm unaware of *hinthint*) to get non-playables into the ocean is to drown someone in it. Then they all get in to see the death.

[Alexx]

Seems that game allow only"fast"(when hunger motive drop down very fast lower than -100)accidental death on comm.lots
But in any case nouniprotect cannot have any attitude to community or vacation lots.
In game I use my own mod that allow to die any sims on any lot except secret and hobby lots.Some of tourists already died from
lightining strike on vacations,but still noone in the sea yet...hope will see it in my game too.

[Roux]

(without hacks I'm unaware of *hinthint*)

Not sure if it works with non-playables, but you could try Inge's Get in Sea Patch.

On the original topic, I dunno. I spent all that friggin' time and effort to edit mine, that I am trying to use them at least occasionally. I just wish there was more tangible benefit from hobby enthusiasm aside from the 'Max Enthusiasm in X' power want and charging the LTA meter. If you enter a sim in a cooking contest, what matters is his cooking skill, not his enthusiasm in food and beverage.

[MsMaria]

Early on I was able to 'drown' annoying playables and remember getting a pop-up when I returned to the dead Sim's home saying that the sim died on another lot. Don't know why it wouldn't work for vacations as well. Also, the cowplant ate half my uni students who lived on other lots, (annoying uni peeps).

I may have to try the vacation route one of these days when I am feeling crabby, heh.

[edalbformat]

I made only ONE visit to this annoying secret lots and I went there with one BigFoot character. He wanted to enter a dance competition. I made him to enter the competition for Slap Dance. He lost.
A female dressed as tango (or flamenco) or whatever, won the competition - dancing smustle!!!!!!!
I thought I could choose which dance would be in the competition - Blaaaa!!!
I finished yesterday an object to reset everybody to NO enthusiasm at all. And finished also a mod to avoid that anyone gets enthusiasm. It is global and will nuke completely the crap.
I hated Uni because it added 28 unuseful crap characters to my game. This enthusiasm crap added 32 unuseful extras that keep on ringing my Sims to offer magazines (I'm decided maganalphabet, I don't read magazines).
The "Zone" does nothing, my Sims gets inventory clogged with some unuseful diplomas to go to lots that disappear, cannot be deleted and occupy space in my hoods that I have to fill up with trees.
Hate the crap.

[MadameUgly]

Hobby clubs are useful if you're doing a Poverty Challenge.

The nature one (only one I've ever visited) has a shower.  My poor ass sim could use the toilet and hose off.  VERY helpful.

And, since only certain sims can go to the secret lot, you can have a date there and not have to worry about some other random lover walking up and throwing a tizzy fit.

Other than that, the lot was unimpressive.

[edalbformat]

The cs stuff adapted by Pescado has a "nature toilet", a bush of bamboos. I use it to laugh and I laugh to tears.
And you don't need a secret lot to use the toilet, any commlot will do. To have a date with a lover? Man, book a vacation and bring the lover with you. No regular Sim pops up in vacation lots. Too poor? Use a trick: book a room in a hotel and keep full time visiting community lots. Go back almost at the end of the vacation and use a telephone to cancel it before the game says that it passed the time and you are going to be charged for the room. Instead you are CREDITED for the whole amount. 
There must be a spy around. Everytime you find a new gap, they fill up (and open even worse gaps   )

[MadameUgly]

The cs stuff adapted by Pescado has a "nature toilet", a bush of bamboos. I use it to laugh and I laugh to tears.
And you don't need a secret lot to use the toilet, any commlot will do. To have a date with a lover? Man, book a vacation and bring the lover with you. No regular Sim pops up in vacation lots. Too poor? Use a trick: book a room in a hotel and keep full time visiting community lots. Go back almost at the end of the vacation and use a telephone to cancel it before the game says that it passed the time and you are going to be charged for the room. Instead you are CREDITED for the whole amount. 
There must be a spy around. Everytime you find a new gap, they fill up (and open even worse gaps   )

I don't have BV, so the vacation thing is mute.

I did have my poverty challenge founder going to a regular lot (for the toilet and sink baths) but the nature one is smaller and runs smoother (and no stupid bingo game that she wants to hike to the ends of the earth to stand beside and wait for others to join her).

[Zazazu]

I don't have BV, so the vacation thing is mute.

I did have my poverty challenge founder going to a regular lot (for the toilet and sink baths) but the nature one is smaller and runs smoother (and no stupid bingo game that she wants to hike to the ends of the earth to stand beside and wait for others to join her).

It's "moot", not "mute". Although, honestly, I don't find vacations to be especially talkative.

[jolrei]

I don't have BV, so the vacation thing is mute.

I did have my poverty challenge founder going to a regular lot (for the toilet and sink baths) but the nature one is smaller and runs smoother (and no stupid bingo game that she wants to hike to the ends of the earth to stand beside and wait for others to join her).

It's "moot", not "mute". Although, honestly, I don't find vacations to be especially talkative.

To be totally fair, if she doesn't have BV, the vacations are moot, but are also so mute as to be nonexistent.

[MadameUgly]

 

Really, it was just a typo (moment of stupidity, rather).

[Zazazu]

It cracked me up, given that it's a real word. I tend to say things are "moo". Can you tell I've watched Friends too much?

[jolrei]

I tend to say things are "moo". Can you tell I've watched Friends too much?

Nope.  Can you tell I haven't watched Friends since its second season?

[miramis]

The fact we cannot change the hobby lots makes them useless.  I take sims there when I'm bored and can't be bothered to make a new place.  I have to be really really bored though.

[Zazazu]

Uh, yes we can.

[sloppyhousewife]

Hobby lots are useful as weekend homes and/or love nests. You can cook there, you can sleep there, you can bring friends, the bars come with barkeeper and your mess gets cleaned up (i.e. the lots reset after the visit) - what else do you need ? I think I'm going to change all the hobby lots to themed vacation lots (far east, tropical, sci-fi, medieval etc.) and charge the sims for their stay.

[unregister]

I've only used the hobbylots to satisfy the dance/cooking contest wants. The contests are won so easily because the townie 'competition' has very low skills levels.

One thing I've wondered about is how, repeatedly, a sim will meet with his or her spouse at the nature secret lot. Like, who is watching the toddler left at home?

For the most part, I feel that what can be accomplished on the "Secrete Lots" can be easily done elsewhere.

[nocomment]

Thanks for all the input.  I'm experimenting now, editing the lots.  Maybe I can make something I'll enjoy.  I'd like to use the lots, but I'm not sure how interested I am in persuing the hobby stuff.

[cwykes]

Hobby lots are useful as weekend homes and/or love nests. You can cook there, you can sleep there, you can bring friends, the bars come with barkeeper and your mess gets cleaned up (i.e. the lots reset after the visit) - what else do you need ?

Yes. The fact that sims can sleep on the couches is very useful.  Aren't hobby lots the only kind of community lot you can use without your sim having to go home from exhaustion?  Aren't they also the only kind of community lot where you can skill without the most awesome commskilling hack?

I'm using hobby lots for skilling or odd things where I don't want the whole family around.  You can send 2 sims to the cooking lot, for example and have them skill in turn on the choclate making machine.  The unoccupied sim can nap, cook, get hobby instruction or add to his bug collection. 

I've only used the hobbylots to satisfy the dance/cooking contest wants. The contests are won so easily because the townie 'competition' has very low skills levels.

I've had sims lose cooking competitions. The competition isn't always useless townies.  I suppose who is there depends on the balance of playables/townies in that hood and on how many playables are members/have the skills.

My main problem is the lack of sims on hobby lots - maybe it will fix itself as more playables become members, but I suspect I need to intprop something.  My arts and crafts lot has had the guru and the same 2 sims on it every visit.  Unfortunately one of them picked a fight with the guru on the first visit and they go at it every time now!

[sloppyhousewife]

Yes. The fact that sims can sleep on the couches is very useful.  Aren't hobby lots the only kind of community lot you can use without your sim having to go home from exhaustion?  Aren't they also the only kind of community lot where you can skill without the most awesome commskilling hack?

Sims can also sleep in beds on hobby lots, in fact, they can do anything they can do at home, except accessing inventory. It's pretty much like hotel lots, only without room service and the "check in" bit.

[J. M. Pescado]

My main problem is the lack of sims on hobby lots - maybe it will fix itself as more playables become members, but I suspect I need to intprop something.  My arts and crafts lot has had the guru and the same 2 sims on it every visit.  Unfortunately one of them picked a fight with the guru on the first visit and they go at it every time now!

Visitors on hobbylots include anyone with a membership card, so once more sims join, the visitorship gets somewhat larger. Otherwise it will be just the maven (who, incidentally, isn't even necessarily into the hobby he's in charge of!)