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Barrier to Entry System Tutorial - From Basic to Mind Blowing
ZeekSlider
Posts: 5,831 Member
I've been playing around with the Barrier to Entry System for the better part of the afternoon, and I feel confident that I've figure out how to use the system at all the various levels. As such, I'm passing this knowledge on to the rest of the community.
Keep in mind that the system does require some very simple logical thinking. I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, as there were several errors that I found as a result of how the commands work, but eventually, you'll be able to see how to set up your Barrier to Entry locks in order to perform the way you want them to.
Let's begin...
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LEVEL: Basic
How the Locking System Works
As described in the Store's Manual for the system, you can set up to four ( 4 ) different lock settings. Each one allows or excludes a specific kind of Sim based on the individual settings of the lock.
Within these four settings are two conditions: a primary and a secondary.
The Primary Condition is the first setting you pick for an open lock setting. This is the most basic locking filter and will be used to determine who can access an area through the Barrier to Entry System.
The Secondary Condition is an optional sub-setting that affects the Primary Condition that results in a more specific filter.
These conditions also work with the Exclude settings.
At this level, it is recommended that you use only one lock slot to test out how the various filters work. Once you have a general understanding of the system, you can actually set up some really interesting but complicated lock settings using the remaining slots.
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LEVEL: Advance
Two Locks Are Better Than One
While one lock is great, things can get interesting if you start to use two or more lock settings. Just like at the Basic level, you can set the other lock settings based on whatever Primary and Secondary condition you would like to have for that particular access point.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE that if a Sim matches any of the Allow/Exclude settings in a lock combination, they will be granted/blocked access.
Here's how we fix this problem:
But don't think you have to have an Exclude setting in order to prevent certain Sims from accessing your lot! Here's a fun example of how to Exclude while using only the Allow option.
Basically, any female Sim who is at the Adult age or older is allowed in, as well as any male Sim who is at the Young Adult age. Female Sims who are Young Adult and younger aren't allowed access; male Sims who are NOT Young Adults are also blocked from entering.
Again, if a Sim qualifies for any of the lock settings, they are either granted or denied access to the area accordingly.
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LEVEL: Head Spinning
Party of Three
Adding a third lock to a turnstile with the Barrier to Entry system can get a little more complicated depending on what you are doing. For this one, let's use an example from the Store itself: The Bachelorette Party with male Werewolves and no Zombies.
The suggested lock setting is this:
Since the system dictates that a Sim must meet a requirement from ANY of the lock settings in order to be granted/denied access, let's break this down to its most specific points.
Let's try another example.
Lucky Palms wants to open a casino with a cover charge based on what games you play. The owner has decided that if you play in the Slots area of the casino, you need a Blue Ticket. If you play on the Blackjack Table area, you need a Red Ticket. But if you want to play in BOTH areas, you need to buy a Green Ticket. However, the owner also has gotten wind that Simbots are invading the town and destroying all the Slots and Blackjack Tables they see for scraps! How do we set these gates?
Even though this scenario features two different gates, both gates require three lock settings. The first lock will be area specific. The second lock will be to give access to both areas. The third lock will be to prevent Simbots from entering.
Here's what the Slots area lock would look like:
And here's the Blackjack area lock:
With both these gates, any Sim who bought a Green Ticket has access to both those areas. Sims who only bought a Blue or Red Ticket can only access the areas they are allowed to. Simbots are denied access to both areas even if they bought any of the access tickets. Why? The Barrier to Entry System prioritizes Exclusions over Allowances.
This is the most complicated most builders will get with their lots using the Barrier to Entry System.
___________________________________________
LEVEL: Mind Blowing
Knowing Your Limits for Maximum Security
WARNING: THIS SECTION IS RESERVED ONLY FOR THOSE WHO ARE FOOLISHLY AMBITIOUS AND/OR KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE FOUR LOCK SETTINGS UNLESS YOU HAVE A FIRM UNDERSTANDING AS TO HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS. CERTAIN COMBINATIONS UNDER A FOUR-LOCK SETTING CAN AND WILL CAUSE ERRORS IF THE COMMAND LOGIC DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.
Now that that's out of the way, let's address some scenarios that would warrant using the maximum number of lock slots available with the Barrier to Entry system.
The Supernatural Hangouts in Moonlight Falls are getting sick of Humans coming into their venues and want to keep them out. They also don't like the fact that some irresponsible parents are bringing in their children as well, mostly because their Imaginary Friends keep messing things up by acting rudely. And then there's the Aliens!!
What would be the lock setting?
Well, for starters, this is pretty much an all-Exclusion setting since they want to keep several "undesired" out. And with such broad strokes, it's pretty easy to see what the four settings would be. The lock would be set like this:
Pretty easy, right? Let's try a more difficult one.
A Bridgeport Teen Club is about to open, but they want to keep out the Vampire population, unless they are at least a prominent Celebrity. If the Teen Vampires really want in, they will have to buy a Red Ticket. But word on the streets is that werewolves are moving in, and the new Teen Club doesn't want to mess with those kind.
So what are the settings?
You have an obvious age requirement for who can be allowed in, as well as an obvious Exclude setting. But the Vampire one is kind of a head scratcher. One would think this would be the appropriate setting:
If you came to the realization that the Vampire race would be able to be admitted in regardless of age, you'd be correct in finding the flaw in this design. The scenario would be impossible to execute due to the fact that if a Sim qualifies for any of the lock settings, they are granted/denied access. Because you are only allowed a maximum of four slots and two conditionary settings per lock, it is impossible to create a lock specifically for Teen Vampires who buy Red Tickets.
So what are you suppose to do now? You have to ultimately compromise. Here's one example of how to do that:
The redundant Secondary Condition of Teenage Sims insures that only Teenagers are allowed into the venue. If a Teen is not a Level 5 Celebrity or a Vampire, they have to buy a Red Ticket to get in. Werewolves still can't get into the club even if they bought a ticket. Bridgeport can open its Teen Club now, and all that's changed in the scenario is who has to buy a Red Ticket in order to get in.
But wouldn't a Level 5 Celebrity Teenage Werewolf get into the club under this setting? No. The Barrier to Entry system prioritizes Exclusions first over Allowances. Since there is a command that excludes Werewolves, that blocks any qualifications they may have had that allowed them to enter the lot. This is why the Exclude option is so important to your settings. If there was no Exclude setting, any Sim that qualified for the Allow settings would be granted access.
___________________________________________
TL : DR
The Important Points of This Tutorial
___________________________________________
Thank you for reading this, and I hope it is as accurate and helpful to you as humanly possible. The only ones that know the system better than myself are the ones that designed it. This is just a tutorial I drafted up based on hours upon hours of playing around with the settings.
Keep in mind that the system does require some very simple logical thinking. I'm not the brightest bulb in the box, as there were several errors that I found as a result of how the commands work, but eventually, you'll be able to see how to set up your Barrier to Entry locks in order to perform the way you want them to.
Let's begin...
___________________________________________
LEVEL: Basic
How the Locking System Works
As described in the Store's Manual for the system, you can set up to four ( 4 ) different lock settings. Each one allows or excludes a specific kind of Sim based on the individual settings of the lock.
Within these four settings are two conditions: a primary and a secondary.
The Primary Condition is the first setting you pick for an open lock setting. This is the most basic locking filter and will be used to determine who can access an area through the Barrier to Entry System.
Example wrote:"Allow Only Sims with Red Tickets"
This setting will only allow Sims who have purchased a Red Ticket.
The Secondary Condition is an optional sub-setting that affects the Primary Condition that results in a more specific filter.
Example wrote:"Allow Only Sims with Red Tickets who are also Young Adults and Older"
This setting will only allow Sims who have purchased a Red Ticket and are at least Young Adults.
These conditions also work with the Exclude settings.
Example wrote:"Exclude Only Human Sims who are also Teen and Younger"
This setting will prevent Human Sims ages Teen and Younger from accessing the area. All other races Teen and Younger can access the area.
At this level, it is recommended that you use only one lock slot to test out how the various filters work. Once you have a general understanding of the system, you can actually set up some really interesting but complicated lock settings using the remaining slots.
___________________________________________
LEVEL: Advance
Two Locks Are Better Than One
While one lock is great, things can get interesting if you start to use two or more lock settings. Just like at the Basic level, you can set the other lock settings based on whatever Primary and Secondary condition you would like to have for that particular access point.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE that if a Sim matches any of the Allow/Exclude settings in a lock combination, they will be granted/blocked access.
Under this setting, any Sim who is Human has to have a Red Ticket in order to pass regardless of age. The second lock does not prevent Teens and Younger from accessing the area if they bought a Red Ticket and are human. At the same time, the second lock allows Young Adult Sims access to the area without the need to buy a red ticket and regardless of race.Example wrote:1. Allow Only Red Ticket Holders who are also Human
2. Allow Only Young Adults
Here's how we fix this problem:
What happens here is that the only ones able to access the area now are Sims who are Human and have bought a Red Ticket. The secondary condition of the first lock setting also prevents any Sim who is not Human from using their Red Ticket to access the area. And since buying a Red Ticket is the primary condition of the first lock, any Sim that doesn't have one can't access the area no matter what. The second lock prevents any human Sim ages Teen and younger from entering that area even if they have a Red Ticket. This is because the Exclude Setting takes priority over the Allow Setting.Example wrote:1. Allow Only Red Ticket Holders who are also Human
2. Exclude Sims Age Teen and Younger
But don't think you have to have an Exclude setting in order to prevent certain Sims from accessing your lot! Here's a fun example of how to Exclude while using only the Allow option.
So what's happening with this lock combination?Example wrote:1. Allow Only Female Sims who are also Adult and Older
2. Allow Only Male Sims who are also Young Adult Only
Basically, any female Sim who is at the Adult age or older is allowed in, as well as any male Sim who is at the Young Adult age. Female Sims who are Young Adult and younger aren't allowed access; male Sims who are NOT Young Adults are also blocked from entering.
Again, if a Sim qualifies for any of the lock settings, they are either granted or denied access to the area accordingly.
___________________________________________
LEVEL: Head Spinning
Party of Three
Adding a third lock to a turnstile with the Barrier to Entry system can get a little more complicated depending on what you are doing. For this one, let's use an example from the Store itself: The Bachelorette Party with male Werewolves and no Zombies.
The suggested lock setting is this:
Example wrote:1. Allow Only Female Sims that are also Young Adult and Older
2. Allow Only Male Sims that are also Werewolves
3. Exclude Zombies
Since the system dictates that a Sim must meet a requirement from ANY of the lock settings in order to be granted/denied access, let's break this down to its most specific points.
Ultimately this is what we have going on. This party lets in Sims of both genders. The female pool are Sims who are strictly Young Adult or older. Some of them Humans, some of them Witches, maybe even a few Mummies; but they are all Female Young Adults or older. The male pool are Sims who are strictly Werewolves, but the age is anywhere between toddler to senior citizen. However, nobody in the party is a Zombie.Breakdown wrote:Allow Only Female Sims that are also Young Adult and Older - The Primary Condition is that your Sim must be female, with the Secondary Condition that she be at least Young Adult or older, in order to enter. Female Sims ages Teen and younger are denied access. This is regardless of race.
Allow Only Male Sims that are also Werewolves - The Primary Condition is that your Sim must be male, with the Secondary Condition that he must be a Werewolf, in order to enter. Males who are any other race are denied access. This is regardless of age.
Exclude Zombies - The Primary Condition is that if your Sim is a Zombie, they are not allowed to enter. There is no Secondary Condition, which means this applies to all zombies of both genders and all ages.
Let's try another example.
Lucky Palms wants to open a casino with a cover charge based on what games you play. The owner has decided that if you play in the Slots area of the casino, you need a Blue Ticket. If you play on the Blackjack Table area, you need a Red Ticket. But if you want to play in BOTH areas, you need to buy a Green Ticket. However, the owner also has gotten wind that Simbots are invading the town and destroying all the Slots and Blackjack Tables they see for scraps! How do we set these gates?
Even though this scenario features two different gates, both gates require three lock settings. The first lock will be area specific. The second lock will be to give access to both areas. The third lock will be to prevent Simbots from entering.
Here's what the Slots area lock would look like:
Example wrote:1. Allow Only Blue Ticket Holders
2. Allow Only Green Ticket Holders
3. Exclude Simbots
And here's the Blackjack area lock:
Example wrote:1. Allow Only Red Ticket Holders
2. Allow Green Ticket Holders
3. Exclude Simbots
With both these gates, any Sim who bought a Green Ticket has access to both those areas. Sims who only bought a Blue or Red Ticket can only access the areas they are allowed to. Simbots are denied access to both areas even if they bought any of the access tickets. Why? The Barrier to Entry System prioritizes Exclusions over Allowances.
This is the most complicated most builders will get with their lots using the Barrier to Entry System.
___________________________________________
LEVEL: Mind Blowing
Knowing Your Limits for Maximum Security
WARNING: THIS SECTION IS RESERVED ONLY FOR THOSE WHO ARE FOOLISHLY AMBITIOUS AND/OR KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO USE FOUR LOCK SETTINGS UNLESS YOU HAVE A FIRM UNDERSTANDING AS TO HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS. CERTAIN COMBINATIONS UNDER A FOUR-LOCK SETTING CAN AND WILL CAUSE ERRORS IF THE COMMAND LOGIC DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.
Now that that's out of the way, let's address some scenarios that would warrant using the maximum number of lock slots available with the Barrier to Entry system.
The Supernatural Hangouts in Moonlight Falls are getting sick of Humans coming into their venues and want to keep them out. They also don't like the fact that some irresponsible parents are bringing in their children as well, mostly because their Imaginary Friends keep messing things up by acting rudely. And then there's the Aliens!!
What would be the lock setting?
Well, for starters, this is pretty much an all-Exclusion setting since they want to keep several "undesired" out. And with such broad strokes, it's pretty easy to see what the four settings would be. The lock would be set like this:
The three races being excluded are Humans, Imaginary Friends, and Aliens. Doesn't matter how old they are or what gender they are; if they are one of those three races, they are not getting in. With the "Exclude Teens and Younger" lock not having a Secondary Condition, this age restriction applies to all the races that are allowed into the venue. This means no Teenage Werewolves allowed into the Supernatural Hangout anymore.Answer wrote:1. Exclude Humans
2. Exclude Teens and Younger
3. Exclude Imaginary Friends
4. Exclude Aliens
Pretty easy, right? Let's try a more difficult one.
A Bridgeport Teen Club is about to open, but they want to keep out the Vampire population, unless they are at least a prominent Celebrity. If the Teen Vampires really want in, they will have to buy a Red Ticket. But word on the streets is that werewolves are moving in, and the new Teen Club doesn't want to mess with those kind.
So what are the settings?
You have an obvious age requirement for who can be allowed in, as well as an obvious Exclude setting. But the Vampire one is kind of a head scratcher. One would think this would be the appropriate setting:
Now how do you think this lock setting would work?Example wrote:1. Allow Only Teenage Sims
2. Allow Vampires that are also Celebrity Level 5
3. Allow Vampires that are also Red Ticket Holders
4. Exclude Werewolves
If you came to the realization that the Vampire race would be able to be admitted in regardless of age, you'd be correct in finding the flaw in this design. The scenario would be impossible to execute due to the fact that if a Sim qualifies for any of the lock settings, they are granted/denied access. Because you are only allowed a maximum of four slots and two conditionary settings per lock, it is impossible to create a lock specifically for Teen Vampires who buy Red Tickets.
So what are you suppose to do now? You have to ultimately compromise. Here's one example of how to do that:
Example wrote:1. Allow Only Red Ticket Holders that are also Teenage Sims
2. Allow Vampires that are also Teenage Sims
3. Allow Celebrity Level 5 Sims that are also Teenage Sims
4. Exclude Werewolves
The redundant Secondary Condition of Teenage Sims insures that only Teenagers are allowed into the venue. If a Teen is not a Level 5 Celebrity or a Vampire, they have to buy a Red Ticket to get in. Werewolves still can't get into the club even if they bought a ticket. Bridgeport can open its Teen Club now, and all that's changed in the scenario is who has to buy a Red Ticket in order to get in.
But wouldn't a Level 5 Celebrity Teenage Werewolf get into the club under this setting? No. The Barrier to Entry system prioritizes Exclusions first over Allowances. Since there is a command that excludes Werewolves, that blocks any qualifications they may have had that allowed them to enter the lot. This is why the Exclude option is so important to your settings. If there was no Exclude setting, any Sim that qualified for the Allow settings would be granted access.
___________________________________________
TL : DR
The Important Points of This Tutorial
-
If a Sim meets any of the requirements allowing access to or blocking the use of a Barrier to Entry door/gate, they will be given or denied access as such.
-
The Exclude setting takes priority over the Allow setting.
___________________________________________
Thank you for reading this, and I hope it is as accurate and helpful to you as humanly possible. The only ones that know the system better than myself are the ones that designed it. This is just a tutorial I drafted up based on hours upon hours of playing around with the settings.
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Comments
I made a theater, and had one area with the gates set to...young adults and adults only. I was using this to keep kids and teens out of the bar area. No tickets were required.
So I placed my bars, two of them, some dance stuff, and added to more screens, off of the bar, for the sims to be able to enjoy a movie there, for free...once again no tickets required.
Suddenly my bars stopped serving food...I got very few drink options...I pulled any mods that controlled my bars, and it still happened. I cleaned my cache files, and the world cache files, and it still happened. I tried it on two different worlds, the bars, in all community lots, were not offering food.
I put the mods back in, took out the gates that controlled the entry into the bar area, that the NPCs had to pass through, in order to work the bars...The bars worked correctly, offering the drinks and letting my sims order food. It seemed having the NPC's having to go through the gate, to get to the bars to work, broke the bars through out the entire town....Has this happened to anyone else, or am I special?
What do the different ticket colors do? Thanks!
danivixen, the different colour tickets allow you to set up barriers for different areas.
Follow me on the Sims 4 Gallery - ID 'MariannaSims'
It's not uncommon for there to be compatibility issues with other objects. The most famous one goes to the Fountain of Youth and the Spellbook not playing nice with each other for the longest time.
I'm actually kind of surprised to learn that Bartenders couldn't do their jobs if they had to pass through the gates. I'll test that on my own later.
Ooh, ok. Thanks!
You can also use them to charge more Simoleons to a given area. For example, requiring the purchase of a Red AND Green tickets.
Oh man, you made me use my brain today!!! The smoke is making me cough! ;-) Thanks for posting. :-)
Pans
Then there are age specific areas for adults as well, such as designing a gambling area that only allows Elders to play so that none of the young hot-shot high-rollers can take their slot machines.
Right now, I designed a basement lab in a public building that's only accessible to Young Adults so they can get a head start on the Science Skill if they want.
If you are on Spring Break this week and are thinking about buying these PCIs, have fun learning how to use them!
>^-,-^<