How do you upgrade businesses and venues in Late Night ?

[ladybug53]

This is my very first time posting so hope it turns out ok. For the first time my sims has bought a business in Late Night. She bought the Prosper. I didn't know at the time that you would need to upgrade it. It showed to upgrade for $62,118. I now have upgraded a bunch of things but still need to upgrade for $41,303. I tried to upgrade the hot tub but the large one didn't fit. Tried to upgrade the floor and add furniture in the lobby but it's not allowed. Does anyone have any idea how to do this as this is my first time at trying this kind of thing.

[Joria]

Hi ladybug and welcome to the forum.  Well, I've got to admit despite all the upgrading and improving and changing stuff I've done I haven't tried to do a business.
Most of the buildings in Bridgeport can only be upgraded on the inside.  More, new furnishings and such.  One easy way to upgrade is in the rest rooms.  Add more toilets and/or urinals, put in more expensive light fixtures and sinks and such.  Areas like the lobby can't be upgraded.  It's a built in thing that simply won't let you do much of anything to some areas.  Many buildings in other towns can be upgraded with landscaping but not in Late Night, at least not as far as I've seen yet.  Some things, like the park, can be upgraded fairly easily with landscaping and adding features like chess tables and chairs.  I'll fool around with it and see what I can do if anything.  Maybe someone else has been more successful at it than I am.  Oh, wait!  I DID upgrade the library using Edit Town mode.  That one was a lot of fun.

[HtFde]

Well, unless a venue has 0 stars and thus produces no income one does not *have* to upgrade a venue - it *just* maximizes the profit if you do.

Unless there are specific requirements (like need a bench, 2 barbeques, etc.) you only have to sink in enough money to reach the needed amount of lot value to go to the next level - up to level 3, which is max.

As you do not have access to your family inventory you cannot drop expensive statues - but you can drop stuff from your normal inventory like heartshape cut pink diamonds, spire cut and grown Tiberium, self created pictures, etc.

You can also place an easel or a sculpting station in your venue and produce right there then place the end results on the property, thus increasing the value.

If you can't paint or sculpt you gotta buy things like pictures and statues and place them all over the place to increase lot value. Changing the floor and wall coverings and replacing the lamps, adding carpets and whatnot also works nicely. In a classic venue (i.e. not in a skyscraper) you can also add the fish window thingy which is a good boost for lot value - not sure, though, if you can do this in any of the new LN buildings - so maybe you'll have to stick to expensive furniture, statues, pictures, stereo, etc.

[ladybug53]

Thanks for all the info. I will go back and see what else I can do. I already did the bathrooms, curtains and wall art and did a few more things but can't remember what they were. My sims just bought the Grind and fixed it all up. That one was fairly easy as it kind of looks like a dump anyway.
Thanks for the help!

[ladybug53]

Wow!  Thank you so much!   I can't believe you went through all that trouble. Your my hero today!  I guess I probably should have purchased a smaller business to start of with.  When I go back and play this evening I will take all of your tips and update to the max.
Again a million thanks!

[ladybug53]

I don't know how you were able to add furniture in the lobby and outside . I have tried that many times but it keeps saying " Cannot add, change or remove " . All I still need is just under $16,000 . If I was able to put furniture and wall art in the lobby plus outside on the top floor it would do it . I will have to keep trying different ways and see what happens .

[Taxingwoman]

I have upgraded several spots and I know how difficult it can be. You change all this stuff and then you see that you still need thousands of dollars of upgrades. If you need another $16,00 my suggestion would be to place a few expensive  statues in corners or by the doors. You can always go back later and change things. I find that after my Sim visits  a place a couple of times, I get ideas for improvements.   

I don't know how you were able to add furniture in the lobby and outside . I have tried that many times but it keeps saying " Cannot add, change or remove " . All I still need is just under $16,000 . If I was able to put furniture and wall art in the lobby plus outside on the top floor it would do it . I will have to keep trying different ways and see what happens .

[ladybug53]

Statues did help an awful lot . Now down to only needing just a little over $2000 . I don't know if I want to know , if there is an other level to this one . This is my very first time at doing this sort of thing . My sims also bought the gym but that one tells you what is needed but there are other levels do do . Hope it's not too difficult . I might also try the park . Probable should have done that one first .

[ladybug53]

Still can't seem to be able to place furniture in the lobby . Not sure if you need to use a cheat . I'm not very good at those . Only seem to be able to achieve the motherlode cheat . All others don't seem to work for me . Will keep trying . Also the 3rd level for the gym seems a bit hard to do .

[mtglady]

@ ladybug53 - use the cheat rbbb [on|off]  or RestrictBuildBuyInBuildings [true|false] .  These are the same cheats but sometimes your computer system will only allow you to use one of the two. 
Either of these cheats will allows you to edit any lot with a public room marker on it, which are the bars and apartment complexes.  You should be able to then place furniture and other items in the lobby.  You may need to use the cheat moveObjects [on|off]  to place everything where you want it to be. 
Make sure you disable the cheats after you are done with your remodeling. 

Note - type the cheat in exactly as shown as most times they are case sensitive.  And if you type help into the cheat window then hit enter, it will list the cheats available to you.  For additional cheats you may need to type in testingCheatsenabled [true or false].  Type in help again and hit enter.   Some cheats are not available unless you have testingCheatsenabled on. 

[ladybug53]

mtglady , thanks so much !    I have tried the moveobject in my sims house first but couldn't make it work . Maybe with Vista 64bit it needed to be done differently . I will try the other cheats you posted today and hopefully I can get one to work .

[ladybug53]

Was finally able to make this cheat work for me ( RestrictBuildBuyInBuildings ) Now I'm at level 3 in upgrading the Prosper . It says , the value needs to be at $290,000 and I still now need to upgrade for $149,091 . This is becoming quite the challenge ! Thanks so much for all the advice posted .

[mtglady]

mtglady , thanks so much !    I have tried the moveobject in my sims house first but couldn't make it work . Maybe with Vista 64bit it needed to be done differently . I will try the other cheats you posted today and hopefully I can get one to work .

So glad you are getting things to work.  I am running Vista 64-bit also and find most things need to be done a bit differently.  I always have to type in the cheats several different ways before my computer decides to recognizes it.  Then I have to remember what I did the next time around  . 

On another note, I put in full length mirrors in my bathrooms and in my lobby area as well as using the most expensive statures where I could.  Also you can change the walls and floors using the most expensive wall coverings and flooring.  By recoloring these items you can come up with quite beautiful expensive looking decor and really rack up the bucks.