Can we no longer lock doors on community lots?

lucombre

This has been driving me crazy for awhile now… In my game, I can no longer lock doors on community lots (e.g. bars, lounges, nightclubs, restaurants, retail, marketplaces, etc.) The exception is I do have the option to lock doors for “everyone but __ club” if I’m controlling a sim who is a member of a club. For other sims, there are no options available at all.

I know I used to be able to lock doors for “everyone” or “everyone but employees” or “everyone but (a specific sim)” on community lots like bars and clubs - I used to have a nightclub that had ‘hotel’ rooms that I would use the door locking function for. But I got rid of that lot awhile ago. I noticed the locking doors issue a month or so ago but I have no idea how long it’s been like this.

Is anyone else currently unable to lock doors on community lots like bars, lounges, etc (except for club-related permissions)? (I’m on console so no mods!)

Cement

I never thought it was possible to lock doors on community lots, except for bathrooms I think. Unless you own the specific lot, locking doors shouldn't have been possible without mods.

crocobaura

It's not and has never been possible to lock doors on community lots if they are not owned. The club locking option is fussy, because you first need to make a club and I find that to much bother just to lock a door and the number of club members is rather limited. Sims don't visit "hotel" rooms unless you add a TV or some other highly attractive gameplay object. As long as you have just the bed and basic hotel room furniture, your sim can spend the night undisturbed.

lucombre

Ok… so to keep sims out of the kitchen at restaurants you have to own the restaurant? And there’s absolutely no way to keep them from going behind the bar on a bar lot?

I swear I wasn’t dreaming all those times that I used to lock doors for “everyone but __” in my nightclub 🤔😭

Simmerville

I don't know what is possible, but I think there are doors that give a different lock menu. There are at least two versions on residential lots, so thy might function differently on community lots as well? I guess doors that came with the Get Together have a menu focusing on clubs, while other doors give more options. At least they do on residential lots. That said, I don't think my restaurant guests flock to the kitchen, not even if they are extremely hungry... Maybe you placed some object there that attracts them?

lucombre

Simmerville wrote: »

That said, I don't think my restaurant guests flock to the kitchen, not even if they are extremely hungry... Maybe you placed some object there that attracts them?

They’re usually attracted by the fridge… But now that I think about it, are refrigerators actually necessary in restaurant kitchens? If not, maybe deleting them would help keep sims out of there, I will give it a try 😃

Simmerville

lucombre wrote: »

Simmerville wrote: »

That said, I don't think my restaurant guests flock to the kitchen, not even if they are extremely hungry... Maybe you placed some object there that attracts them?

They’re usually attracted by the fridge… But now that I think about it, are refrigerators actually necessary in restaurant kitchens? If not, maybe deleting them would help keep sims out of there, I will give it a try 😃

That will solve it, hopefully. The Chef never uses the fridge.

Admiral8Q

As far as I recall., (without a mod or two) there was no way to lock a door on a community lot.
What I do is switch to build mode and remove the door. Then when I want it unlocked, go back to build mode and put the door back in. Cheesy, I know. But without the ability to lock, that's the only option.

crocobaura

lucombre wrote: »

Ok… so to keep sims out of the kitchen at restaurants you have to own the restaurant? And there’s absolutely no way to keep them from going behind the bar on a bar lot?

I swear I wasn’t dreaming all those times that I used to lock doors for “everyone but __” in my nightclub 🤔😭

Restaurants only need the chef cooking station in the kitchen, if you add fridges or regular stoves sims will try to use them. Best way to keep unwanted sims out of certain areas is to not put there objects that attract them for autonomous use.

Admiral8Q

crocobaura wrote: »

lucombre wrote: »

Ok… so to keep sims out of the kitchen at restaurants you have to own the restaurant? And there’s absolutely no way to keep them from going behind the bar on a bar lot?

I swear I wasn’t dreaming all those times that I used to lock doors for “everyone but __” in my nightclub 🤔😭

Restaurants only need the chef cooking station in the kitchen, if you add fridges or regular stoves sims will try to use them. Best way to keep unwanted sims out of certain areas is to not put there objects that attract them for autonomous use.

Very insightful @crocobaura . I'll keep that in mind for restaurant venue lots. Could explain why I've had problems of not getting served. (PC visiting an NPC restaurant) Only the staff were using the fridge and regular stoves, but still yeah.

On a similar topic, I recently tried the detective career. It was quite amusing seeing the witnesses go take a bath, cook something on the barbecue in the backyard etc... at a crime scene. Meanwhile the other cops start flirting with each other.

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@lucombre Actually, I have been doing this a long time. (Only works on a lot you can set doors to lock specifics)
Put in a fence with a gate or half-walls on both sides of the bar. Allow access to only specific people (Sims). Even the invisible fence and invisible gate works. I have done that in my main residential in a painting area because I only want one Sim to be able to go there and use all the easels to paint. While also having that Sim not rather have to be locked in a separate room away from everyone else. That's no fun!

If the Sim(s) you are playing are own a business lot, then you can set the lock door functions for that lot. If it is completely NPC run, then you cannot. Also I tried this,if you buy it, set the doors to different lock modes, then sell it, the doors are all unlocked after that.

GalacticGal

lucombre wrote: »

Ok… so to keep sims out of the kitchen at restaurants you have to own the restaurant? And there’s absolutely no way to keep them from going behind the bar on a bar lot?

I swear I wasn’t dreaming all those times that I used to lock doors for “everyone but __” in my nightclub 🤔😭

I know when the active Sim rents a lot, they are supposed to be able to lock doors except for household, as if they were in their home lot, but that wasn't working for me most recently. Also, I've noticed on public venues, such as a concert stage, he can no longer lock the door just for him to keep fans and Paparazzi off of the stage. I believe the lock door thing has gotten broken.

mightysprite

I've never seen public lot doors able to be locked, except for clubs, unless it was a retail lot owned by my household.

I've been playing since 2020

lucombre

GalacticGal wrote: »

lucombre wrote: »

Ok… so to keep sims out of the kitchen at restaurants you have to own the restaurant? And there’s absolutely no way to keep them from going behind the bar on a bar lot?

I swear I wasn’t dreaming all those times that I used to lock doors for “everyone but __” in my nightclub 🤔😭

I know when the active Sim rents a lot, they are supposed to be able to lock doors except for household, as if they were in their home lot, but that wasn't working for me most recently. Also, I've noticed on public venues, such as a concert stage, he can no longer lock the door just for him to keep fans and Paparazzi off of the stage. I believe the lock door thing has gotten broken.

So glad to hear that someone else has noticed this issue (also frustrated though)! I’m starting to think that it’s a feature that very few people ever noticed to begin with and so whenever they nerfed it no one noticed either. My issue is that it really limits the options for making non-residential lots work the way you want them to, like the paparazzi issue you mentioned.

Now that I think about it, I took a large family on vacation a couple IRL months back and I think the doors were lockable then (for ‘everyone but _’). I’ll have to check if the option is still there now.

It’s so frustrating not to be able to play these lots as I want to anymore. I really hope they fix it (but I’m not too optimistic given that so few people even knew about it in the first place).

SERVERFRA

I’ve never ever been able to lock doors in Venues/Community lots. I’ve only been able to lock residential lots.