I placed an office building, but NPCs moved in

[Leyira]

I placed an office building, two houses, and an academy for my two households to live in, work in, and my "college" sim to "go to college". I was able to move them into the homes, and I am fine with townies being at the academy of course, but how do I claim the office building for my Sims so that townies don't steal it? To evict them I would have to move my sim in, but it's not a residential lot. 

I wanted my "college" Sim to intern at the office where her dad "works" and meet my other household's "boss" Sim. Is this impossible? Or am I missing something? I've only played the Sims for a couple of months, so I know there is A LOT I don't know. Any help/ideas would be appreciated!

[dolldrms1 · Accepted solution]

@Leyira  Based on your thread title, I think you simply want a generic lot to which you can take your sims for the story you want to tell. If I'm correct, your building the lot as generic should have been fine.

NPC sims don't go to generic lots, let alone move into them. If I had to guess, I would guess that the lot you built on originally had a residential designation and you converted it to generic. If I'm correct, I think your game was hit with the bug talked about in this thread:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/FIXED-Lot-types-revert-to-Business-Incomplete-lots-on-map/m-p/...

As you will read, the bug was fixed in the most recent patch. Crinrict indicates that all her affected lots automatically reverted to the correct lot type but your office lot may not have, if sims were living in it. I would suggest entering the lot in build mode and checking its designation. If it's showing residential, go back to the map view and evict the NPC sims. You can then go back into the lot via build and change the designation back to generic. With the bug fixed, the generic designation should now hold okay.

As for gathering the sims you want to interact together on the generic lot, I think I would create a club with only those sims as members. Choose the generic lot as your choice for where to hold the club meeting. If for some reason it's not shown as a choice for a meeting place, you can always have them gather at one of the homes and then travel together to the generic lot. No NPC sims should appear to interrupt what you want to accomplish.

The Bluffs lot in Windenburg is a generic lot and I redid it for use by a teen only club in my game. Because it's designated by the game as generic, the club members are the only sims I see while there.

[PugLove888]

@Leyira, I'm not sure how much I can help with your problem but I do have a suggestion … but first I will ask a question: What type of lot is the "office building" listed as? 

Also, what packs do you have?  Do you have the Get to Work EP, the Dine Out GP , or the Cats & Dogs EP? I ask this because if you have these packs you can make the "office building" into a retail store, a restaurant, or a veterinary clinic respectively.  Then you can have your Sim purchase the building so it is theirs while it still retains its business designation, and not a residential one.  

I don't know if this is to your liking, and I'm not saying you have to buy these packs to fix your problem, but it is just an idea that you might like! 

[Leyira]

@PugLove888  Ohhh... That sounds like it might work. Right now it has a "Generic" designation. I went a little crazy when I started playing so I have every pack they've released lol If I made it a retail place or restaurant would I need to make it make money, or rather is there a punishment ("Fee"?) if you don't make money with your lot?

This is a very good suggestion! Thank you so much for responding to me!

[PugLove888]

@Leyira, thanks for checking to see what type of lot it was!  I would at least try a different lot type designation to see if that helps, but I think you will  have the most control if you switch it to retail, restaurant, or vet clinic and then have your Sim purchase it. (Use a money cheat if you have to -- it's your game and you aren't playing against anyone else!  If you don't' like using cheats, then do it just this once for story telling purposes! 

I don't play with owning restaurants or retail shops much in my game.  I have a few Sims that own them, but I don't play them much, at least not in a while.  I will tag another person named @SheriGR  who helps here that at least used to play more with shops to see if there is any penalty for not opening the lot for business.  I don't think there is, but I could be wrong. 

[SheriGR]

@PugLove888 @Leyira In my experience, though I have not tried 'living' on one for a while, in the case of both restaurants and retail stores I did have the household own a separate home. If I was playing the household I could keep having them come to the restaurant/business after work if they went home (just request click their icon thumbnail and choose 'bring sim here').

I just confirmed and if I try to move a sim into either one of my restaurants or into one of my retail stores I get the message that a sim cannot live on a non-residential lot.

I have not played using the generic lot trait. I don't think there is a penalty/fine for not opening the restaurant/store, but you may have increased bills (for owning the two lots) Probably not by much if the residence is simple.

A couple of things that I do remember about having sims living in these lots (while owning a different home): 

• I had some weird buggy stuff develop when my sims lived in the restaurant. In this case it was a large penthouse lot turned into a restaurant with locked household areas. The sims started randomly being angry with the spouse when in a bed or shower saying something about that being inappropriate behavior - and things would get a bit ugly. The other sim would not get into bed with them and both would get out of bed, etc.. Repeatedly. I also had a clepto that would not leave at one point.
• Living in the retail store worked out much better, other than the fact that they would usually go home after work and I had to remember to click them to bring them to the store. 

When you own a residence and 'technically' have them live there, it can even just be a lot with no home. I normally add a home and facilities so they aren't miserable if they go there since I play rotationally. (That way when I play other households, or I forget to 'bring' one of them to the other lot for a day or two, they can properly maintain themselves.) 

Have you tried locking areas (doors, gates) or giving it a private residence lot trait?

Hope this helps. If I missed something please just ask. Thanks! :eahigh_file:

[dolldrms1 · Accepted solution]

@Leyira  Based on your thread title, I think you simply want a generic lot to which you can take your sims for the story you want to tell. If I'm correct, your building the lot as generic should have been fine.

NPC sims don't go to generic lots, let alone move into them. If I had to guess, I would guess that the lot you built on originally had a residential designation and you converted it to generic. If I'm correct, I think your game was hit with the bug talked about in this thread:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/FIXED-Lot-types-revert-to-Business-Incomplete-lots-on-map/m-p/...

As you will read, the bug was fixed in the most recent patch. Crinrict indicates that all her affected lots automatically reverted to the correct lot type but your office lot may not have, if sims were living in it. I would suggest entering the lot in build mode and checking its designation. If it's showing residential, go back to the map view and evict the NPC sims. You can then go back into the lot via build and change the designation back to generic. With the bug fixed, the generic designation should now hold okay.

As for gathering the sims you want to interact together on the generic lot, I think I would create a club with only those sims as members. Choose the generic lot as your choice for where to hold the club meeting. If for some reason it's not shown as a choice for a meeting place, you can always have them gather at one of the homes and then travel together to the generic lot. No NPC sims should appear to interrupt what you want to accomplish.

The Bluffs lot in Windenburg is a generic lot and I redid it for use by a teen only club in my game. Because it's designated by the game as generic, the club members are the only sims I see while there.

[Leyira]

@SheriGR Thank you for your response! Sorry it took me this long to say that 

[Leyira]

@dolldrms1  Thank you for your response! I did end up making them a Club and it's been working great

[dolldrms1]

@Leyira  Thanks for letting us know you were able to resolve this to your satisfaction. I'm happy to hear creating a club is working well for you. I love the club system in TS4. I happen to think it's one of the best features the devs have introduced into the game

[PugLove888]

@Leyira, I'm glad that @dolldrms1 suggestions helped you!