Business Controller: Business Runs YOU!

[floopyboo]

i brought it up because my servers were plonking down the customer's dinner then snatching it before they got a chance to eat it. While it's amusing to watch, I've lost a couple of stars over it.

[GayJohnScarritt]

   The only time i've seen BRY make my employees eat customer's food, is when the customers are done eating and there is food left on the plate.
   This happens when i send a playalbe on a date to another playable's owned business. 
   Once i get a restraraunt started, i rarely play that business lot tho, no Pets/BV.  I'll test and see if that happens for Seasons.

   Just finished with the test, and i stand corrected.  I have no idea if it's BRY telling them or if it's on their own.  So far, it's been the Podium girl doing it, she's done it 3 times.  She grabbed the plate as soon as a server sets it down for the customer.  I've also seen her eat a bite, stand up, sit back down and eat the rest.  Twice now, the plate she started eating (with food remaining), has been left, ungrabable except with move_objects on, then using the StuckObjectRemover on the plate and the chair she had sat on.  Owner has several plates and platters of food in his inv, but none have pulled food out.

[J. M. Pescado]

According to the code, this shouldn't happen. Employees will not macro-eat anything that is at a customer-reserved table flagged with a dining controller. And I haven't seen it in my game. Perhaps they are doing so in the occasional moments Maxis-Stupid manages to assert itself.

[Emma]

Employees keep getting stuck while macro>caffienate-ing. I had to delete Brandon and summon him back. Error log attached.

[EsotericPolarBear]

I must be missing something here.

My employees won't eat at all if I just have a kitchen set up in the employee lounge, and if I try and just serve food or use a buffet, they spend more time eating than doing anything else.  I've had more than one employee go on a perpetual break between eating, peeing and caffinating...and never going back to work!

Am I doing it wrong or do they just not know how to feed themselves?  My owned sims have no trouble eating at all, they just make a meal from the fridge.  But managers and employees don't.

currently, I'm just placing snapdragons all over creation to compensate, but I'd rather not use magical daisies for my "realistic" neighborhoods...

[J. M. Pescado]

I have never seen this problem, but I will continue to investigate.

[Zazazu]

I'm getting queue droppage on Business...be Salesperson. It's not really frequent; it happens perhaps every 2 sim hours. This has struck since installing FreeTime, and I am up-to-date.

[jsalemi]

I'm getting queue droppage on Business...be Salesperson. It's not really frequent; it happens perhaps every 2 sim hours. This has struck since installing FreeTime, and I am up-to-date.

I've had it happen in BV, but only with certain sims.  In that case it seemed like if someone came on the lot they were close friends with or very attracted to (at least 2 bolts), they'd drop out of the sales actions to chat or something. Real pain when I send a family out to work the business, and the one I'm not paying attention to goes 'off the reservation', so to speak.

[coyanshades]

I have just recently started using hacks and stuff from MATY, and I love most of them, they seem to be able to do more, and replace some things that are out here from others sites. I have in the past been using allot from Sim Wardrobe. the gardening controller he has is a great addition, But has problems keeping the employees busy, they take off, and wanter around, sometimes getting lose and forgetting about their work, So When I found this BRY, I thought super, this is perfect, and for the most part it really rocks. But there is a few problems.

Number one, the employees will not harvest anything, they take care of the plants, and do a wonderful job of that, they don't get lost, and they don't goof off. Having them stay on task, and going on breaks, and trying to keep their moods up on their own helps allot.

The other problem stems from the fact that they will not clean up after themselves, I have one set to janitor, and they will take out the trash, but will not clean bathrooms, or clean plates off of tables. I also use Sim Wardrobes auto fill buffet and when that food spoils, they refuse to clean it up. their environment will totally suck, with plates, and food oozing green, and they will still just pace, and do nothing untill somone else either drops edible food some ware, or drops something in the trash.

I thought I would be able to get rid of a few of the other hacks, Like DMA Stuff, the DMA Clock that will keep the employees needs in the green is nice, but I wanted to have them actually fend for themselves a little, but its not working out too good yet. Also, I have been using SW-Timeclock, it has the ability to set shifts, so that you can rotate the employees around to lessen the stress on them, and they will still do their duties, and with BRY It would work great, But its just not doing well. I think it might be all about FT, As even the built in Tidy function of OFB will not make any of them clean up the plates.

And, when having a fishing pond and setting like only 2 or 3 of them fishing, dont even try to get them to do anything else, you cannot even unassign them from the task as they will not stop, you cant talk to them, only way to break them away is to send them home. I took out the pond, then brought them back, set them to garden, and put the pond back in, they dropped and ran back to the pond, and we where back to the ignoring the owner again.. I tried to get them to do many things, but will not do anything but focus on the pond. I even fired them, then rehired them, and boom. right back at the pond. I had to actually get new employees to get them off the pond.
I don't have any logs to send in, ans all logs are blank, So Im not sure how to get any logs on the issue, But it is repeatable.. Soo, is this an issue with me? or the game? or something else I may have installed?

Thanks for your time, and energy in this, It is a perfect idea..

[mitchellcjs]

You must choose MATY BRY or SimWardrobe stuff.  They don't play nice together.

[coyanshades]

I Understand that, But without the gardening controller from SW, the employees will not harvest... anything, even with gold badges, Only the owner will harvest., and nobody will clean up the plates...

[mitchellcjs]

Are you SURE that you deleted all the SW stuff, and deleted the groups.cache file?  BRY harvests and cleans for me.

[coyanshades]

I will try that, As I didnt delete any of the stuff, just didnt use it, I will remove them, and try again, thanks..

[J. M. Pescado]

Number one, the employees will not harvest anything, they take care of the plants, and do a wonderful job of that, they don't get lost, and they don't goof off. Having them stay on task, and going on breaks, and trying to keep their moods up on their own helps allot.

Employees cannot harvest anything because any item harvested by an employee will, by default, go into their own inventory, and thus simply be pilfered. In order to enable employee harvesting, you must install the Fishing and Harvesting Fix. This will enable employees to harvest when BRY detects it is installed.

The other problem stems from the fact that they will not clean up after themselves, I have one set to janitor, and they will take out the trash, but will not clean bathrooms, or clean plates off of tables.

Really? That's not what I see. Be sure that your bathrooms are ACCESSIBLE to your staff. Male/female only bathrooms require an employee service route, generally a door punched between them or into the employee lounge. Otherwise your janitors get stuck trying to enter that room.

I also use Sim Wardrobes auto fill buffet and when that food spoils, they refuse to clean it up. their environment will totally suck, with plates, and food oozing green, and they will still just pace, and do nothing untill somone else either drops edible food some ware, or drops something in the trash.

Non-Awesome.

Also, I have been using SW-Timeclock, it has the ability to set shifts, so that you can rotate the employees around to lessen the stress on them, and they will still do their duties, and with BRY It would work great, But its just not doing well.

Non-Awesome.

I think it might be all about FT, As even the built in Tidy function of OFB will not make any of them clean up the plates.

I will look into a manual-plate-disposer. The game seems not to place enough priority on plate disposal, anyway.

And, when having a fishing pond and setting like only 2 or 3 of them fishing, dont even try to get them to do anything else, you cannot even unassign them from the task as they will not stop, you cant talk to them, only way to break them away is to send them home.

I have not observed this behavior, but you can try hitting "Unassign" first. That should wipe their queues when done.

[coyanshades]

Employees cannot harvest anything because any item harvested by an employee will, by default, go into their own inventory, and thus simply be pilfered. In order to enable employee harvesting, you must install the Fishing and Harvesting Fix. This will enable employees to harvest when BRY detects it is installed.

Ok, thank you for that fix. I didnt know that the items would go into the employees backpack, as with the SW Stuff it did not. And I kinda liked the fishing thing where customers fish would end up in mine.. quick way to get fish...

Ok, I know SW Stuff is Non-Awesome, But it was working kinda for me for awile, and some of his stuff is good to have like the packing stations for veggies, and fish, I hope I dont have to get rid of them all to make this work...

Thanks for the quick replys, and help, Im still working on it..

[coyanshades]

Ok, I finally just dumped out every hack I had except stuff from DC, and MATY, well, I'm guessing that had allot to do with my issues, although there where no hack conflicts, I'm guessing there was some arguing going on and confusing my poor sims, and their workers... as I am now getting better results from the janitor, actually cleaning, and even picking up plates.

After reading a few pages in this thread, I also found a few tips that helped with other problems I was having.

See, I took out the trash bin for the lot, and had only one trash can, and multiple compost bins, as I was using compost to fertilize the garden plots, I do this at my home lot also, and everyone drops everything to the trash, then takes it to the compost bins, and thus, I get compost. But to make it effective, you need to also not have a dishwasher, well, that was proving disastrous as all the cups from the espresso machine where going to the floor, and forgotten about, well, I put back the trash bin, took out the compost bins, added a dishwasher, and boom, plates go away... My janitor is actually cleaning up real good now.

Ok, 2 more minor issues,
On the matter of food, and eating. I have the kitchen set up(employees/owner/s only) I have a stove, fridge, counters, and dishwasher. Some of my employees do not have a cooking skill at all, will they still cook for themselves? or will they recruit someone that can/will? Or do I need to set something else for them to get food? I'm not trying to be rude, But Ive not had much luck finding any good setup plans for all of this awesomeness.. so I'm going by trial and error...

Next, regarding the BUY,
The set up on this is a little confusing to me, I'm not sure why, it all looks simple.
My bathrooms are set up like this.
Mens/Womens separate bathrooms, a door between them so the janitor has access to both, As they are only for employees/lot owners, I have the TP set to reject visitors. I have the stalls right next to each other in each bathroom, and in each bathroom the config for one matches the other one, But since the mens/womens stalls are far enough apart the TP Rolls do not get the config from the other bathroom, which is good. Now, I set to reject men from womens, and women from the mens rooms, But I'm seeing that lot owners will only use one stall, in the womans bathroom, it doesn't matter if they are men or not, they still use the womans room, now they go through the connecting door, but enter and exit through their gender based doors. So, I'm wondering is there a more detailed setup guide for it some ware? Its working better now than it was, But I'm still trying to get it just right.

Caffinating is a cool idea for energy, As I really would like to not use the PYP, for anyone, But they wont go get any until their energy is below 1/4 or less, is that a feature? can it be adjusted up a bit maybe? I'm still having employees going orange to red.

Anyway, I love this product, and this site for all the help it actually gives people.. Myself included..
Great job...

[J. M. Pescado]

On the matter of food, and eating. I have the kitchen set up(employees/owner/s only) I have a stove, fridge, counters, and dishwasher. Some of my employees do not have a cooking skill at all, will they still cook for themselves? or will they recruit someone that can/will? Or do I need to set something else for them to get food? I'm not trying to be rude, But Ive not had much luck finding any good setup plans for all of this awesomeness.. so I'm going by trial and error...

If the owner, manager or employees carry sacklunch in inventory, the employees will consume those. OFB-macrotastics is capable of finding a pretty wide range of cookables, but if the employee simply cannot prepare ANY food at all, and thus there is nothing to eat (or any other unresolveable motive condition arises which prevents work), Macro/BRY falls back on the dismiss/resummon to restore the employee to working condition. If your employee starts to leave the lot as a result, this is what is happening. Just ignore it and let it do its thing. It is smarter than you.

Mens/Womens separate bathrooms, a door between them so the janitor has access to both, As they are only for employees/lot owners, I have the TP set to reject visitors. I have the stalls right next to each other in each bathroom, and in each bathroom the config for one matches the other one, But since the mens/womens stalls are far enough apart the TP Rolls do not get the config from the other bathroom, which is good. Now, I set to reject men from womens, and women from the mens rooms, But I'm seeing that lot owners will only use one stall, in the womans bathroom, it doesn't matter if they are men or not, they still use the womans room, now they go through the connecting door, but enter and exit through their gender based doors. So, I'm wondering is there a more detailed setup guide for it some ware? Its working better now than it was, But I'm still trying to get it just right.

I have noticed that the business owners, if able to enter the room at all by any means, seem to ignore the gendering settings. I have not figured out WHY, but I have deemed the behavior harmless and given it a lower priority for investigation, since they never get stuck doing it. They seem to just be picking the closest bathroom by proximity search, and hey, it works.

[coyanshades]

Just ignore it and let it do its thing. It is smarter than you.

hehe, gee thanks...

Ok, i agree with the owner thing, so im off to check some of the other things I just got downloaded. You have much more available that I had originally seen, I just got your DC, and will now see what all the goodies are about..

[MaximilianPS]

i've notice that on some shops, the visitor are always the same...
on a specific case, i've made an electronic shop, that is controlled by a townie, on that shop, there are always just 2 persons and always the same, did you have the same behavior ?

[J. M. Pescado]

Sameness of visitation can be caused by sadorandom loading (EAxis), manually limiting your clientele to be so specific that those are the only two that fit (combo of noplayables or Customer Selector), or underpopulation in your neighborhood. If the shop is "controlled by a townie", then nobody owns it and BRY and Customer Selector do nothing, so blame EAxis.

[MaximilianPS]

If the shop is "controlled by a townie", then nobody owns it and BRY and Customer Selector do nothing, so blame EAxis.

ye ye.... another item to be added on the "blame EAxis for.." 

[Count Four]

Yeah, necromancy, mhmm. Sorry.

I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong, or if this is a problem with BRY.  I have a sim who owns an art gallery.  Customer accessible area contains merchandise and two public restrooms containing only toilet and sink.

Staff-only area in the back contains staff bathroom with toilet and shower, high-comfort sofa, Kick The Cheat, counter tops, waste basket, espresso machine and mini-fridge. 

The owner is the only worker, he has no employees. He has the gold business badges. He has food in his inventory, to wit; a platter of hamburgers, four plates chef salad and a pizza. 

BRY has him running around selling, restocking, cashering, BUYing, caffeinating, kicking, no problems. But he doesn't eat without my input.

BRY only makes him eat if I get the plate/platter out of his inventory and place it on a counter top. Then he'll go eat.
He doesn't go for the fridge unless I click it and tell him to feed himself.
He's been in the deep red hungerwise and still didn't eat, until I took the food out of inventory and put in on the counter, or directed him to feed himself out of the fridge.

From what I understand, they're supposed to pillage their inventories for food, but it's not happening. Did I miss something? Do I need to put in a dining table and chairs?  I'm at a bit of a loss here.

[Emma]

It's probably because of the mini-fridge. The sims can't cook proper meals with it-and even if you have food in inventory the sim will keep trying to utilise the fridge. Put in a full-sized fridge and see if it makes a difference.

[Count Four]

It's probably because of the mini-fridge. The sims can't cook proper meals with it-and even if you have food in inventory the sim will keep trying to utilise the fridge. Put in a full-sized fridge and see if it makes a difference.

Ah. 'kay, I'll give that a try and see if he can feed himself.

Edit: Big fridge works. In reference to comment below, I figured if the big fridge didn't work, I'd go without; but it's handy to have one on the lot in case I forget to fill his 'lunch box'.

[jsalemi]

Or take the fridge out completely, and the sim will also take the food from their own inventory.