The Hangout type lot?

[babaji_mendez]

I think this type of community lot is new to ambitions is it not? Anyway can you get npcs to staff the bar at these type of lots, if not then what is the point of them?

I visited the one in twinbrook and it was nearly empty and sims were just taking drinks from the bar, doesn't exactly seem right... :report:

[suzetter]

It sure doesn't. I think bars and cash registers should generate NPCs.

[babaji_mendez]

It sure doesn't. I think bars and cash registers should generate NPCs.that's a shame, It would be nice, hangouts are pretty pointless without people to staff the bar.

Don't even get me started on the shambles that are the cash registers :anime: EA should have laid down some ground rules for the registers before they started creating them a load of them.

[Srikandi]

"Hangout" is indeed new with Ambitions, and it does have a special feature... as I learned from looking at the xml. The new lot types attract sims with certain traits. Party Animal sims, for instance, like Hangouts. Clean sims like Laundromats. And so on.

I actually really like this new feature of lot types, and hope to see it used more in the future. Means if your sim is looking for a compatible mate or just a group of friends, they can choose their lot accordingly. In the future, it would be nice to see lot types that attract by age group too.

I'll look up the complete set of preferences in a sec.

Edit: here we go, pasted from an old thread:

Hangout attracts sims that have the Charisma skill and that have the traits Party Animal, Excitable, Childish, and it repels Loners.

The Junkyard attracts sims with the skills Inventing, handiness, logic, mooch, collecting.

The Laundromat attracts neat sims, and repels slobs.

[tjstreak]

I would seem that a good scripting mod, if it would be possible, would be to increase the attractiveness of the Hangout to the sims with the applicable traits. As it is, the hangouts seem to be pretty dead. Of course, that mirrors a lot of hangouts in real life.

[ani_]

I made my night club into a hangout, and it was fun having people drinking there. What was not fun was that you can't select a hangout as a party place, I had to change it to a small park before I was able to rent it.

[RoseCity]

I fixed up the Red Rendezvous a little bit and added a refrigerator so hungry sims could get something to eat and thus hang out longer. At first no one came there, but now it's more crowded.
Ani, I like the Get Drunk mod, it adds some much needed negative behavior to the game - I only wish getting a hangover was random! Or you could have one drink and just get buzzed.
I'm thinking of trying to remake the Swimming Hole hangout I had in my first Sunset Valley game. I made it for the teens but I didn't know any way to keep everybody else out.

[ani_]

RoseCity: thanks for the comment :) The drunk mod is my next thing to work on. I already fixed the autonomousy of the mod that got broken in the ambition update. And I will be changing the way getting drunk works, I just have not figured out how exactly. But something in the line of getting drunk being gradual, so you can have a few pints without getting the full hangover amount.

But back on topic. I'm planning on opening a new cafe/bakery using this lot type. I had a cafe in Riverview and it was marked as a small park for lack of any better option.

[grillcheesesammich]

that's a shame, It would be nice, hangouts are pretty pointless without people to staff the bar.

Don't even get me started on the shambles that are the cash registers :anime: EA should have laid down some ground rules for the registers before they started creating them a load of them.
Twallan has a great mod called The Register that "disables the auto-generation of merchants on non-vacation world".
Adds a menu when you click the registers in town.
You choose the sim to man your money machine.

Twallan's register mod (http://ts3.tscexchange.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=006ac408404550dfbc949c5960942b2c&topic=3820.0)

*edit-added link*