Community Lot- Pete's Pizza Place Now With V 2.0

[TallStar]

Pete's Pizza Place
Lot Size: 30x30
Lot Type: Hangout
Content: All EPs, Fast Lane
Come on in to Pete's Pizza Place, for some delicious food! The whole family will love it!




Extra Info: Since this is a community lot, there is no stove.
                 There is a fridge and a bathroom.
                 Also contains parking spaces and food registers.

But Wait! There's more! Order now and receive Pete's Pizza Place Version 2.0 for free! -remodeled because of my magnificent critics-

Extra Info: Version 1.0 contains 1 piece of LN content.
                Version 2.0 contains a lot more of LN content, so be careful if you do not own LN.

[Joria]

Awesome!  It really annoys me no end that we can't have stoves in our restaurant type builds. What do they think?  We cook at home and schlep the food, (now cold), to the restaurant?  Really?  I'm hoping the new SP will fix this by letting us have the ability to make a restaurant with a STOVE in it.

[TallStar]

I kknow, I tried a ton of different lot types to see if it mattered, but no matter what I couldn't get a stove in there. They don't even allow microwaves. 

[CarlosLordofTacos]

I hope I don't come across as picky or harsh, but I have some criticism that I hope you consider. I'm by no means some sort of pseudo-expert on dining out or anything, I'm just an everyday person who knows what's familiar! I haven't even eaten out in about a year, so if you can't relate I understand! The appearance of this building just doesn't seem 'right'. The exterior is a little industrial and lacking in form, as well as the interior being a little iffy. In my eyes, eateries fall into two broad sorts with their own 'feel' which I struggle to find with your lot:

The traditional, which usually has rich colours and older or 'outdated' décor, these tend to be decent and/or high end restaurants, pubs and British hotels/inns and certain foreign eateries (although many fall into the next category), usually ones serving Italian cuisine, Mexican or sometimes Chinese.  These can also be those dodgy, tatty places that make you wonder why they haven't been shut down by safety and hygiene inspectors or went bust and the only reason the furniture is so old is because either a) in all their years of unsuccessful business they couldn't afford anything new nor to restore and preserve or b) it's the old thing they could afford out of the second (third?) hand shop or find in the junk yard.

The retro/modern, this is anything from McDonalds, diners and takeouts to those pretentious places that you or I will never be able to afford to eat in! 'Retro' places fall in this category because they are usually very contrasting to the traditional category. Basically, if the furniture is from any period from the 50's to the year 3011 with emphasis on looking clean or neat, and the decoration is minimalist, it's modern! These span from the worst to the best with all the rest in between, more so than their contrast! These may also be a little more cheesy, which I think is a feel that a pizza place should have a bit of, even if just a tad, no whatever what category they fall into! Pun not intended

There may be 'mixes', but they have a 'dominant' category that stands out more. I don't think that's possible to avoid in a mix. Use your best judgement to pick whichever feel 'suits' your pizza place more and try to make it seem genuine, like a place you would eat in!

[TallStar]

Don't worry Carlos, my building projects are meant to be criticized lol.
I was trying to go with the 'traditional' theme, but I do really bad with themes. I'll start with one thing, and then my mind strays to something totally different.  I did incorporate dark colors, and I tried to make it look classy which is probably why you see the somewhat modern art. In the end I thought it looked like a pub, so I decorated accordingly with some leopard print rugs and the stained glass light fixtures.
The exterior was hard for me, I'm overally horrible at landscaping and the like. I wanted something simple and warm, but couldn't find a roof I like. I thought any hangout place would need some parking spaces so it has that.
I guess it really isn't meant to go together, like one of those restaurants where the decorations range from the 50s to the future, and it looks like some junkyard of memories. If only I could put pictures of employees on the walls lol.
All in all, it's an example of my terrible building skills.

[CarlosLordofTacos]

Don't put yourself down, practice makes perfect*! Exterior is my weakness too. But even the subtlest variation in the architectural structure from a simple box can make a difference.

*Unless the consequences of failure include dismemberment and/or death.

[TallStar]

It's better than even what the Sims has, they don't have a lot of everyday things.
Hmmm, an idea...

[CarlosLordofTacos]

A good idea would be to not work with more land than you can handle. If you are feeling overwhelmed, then it's likely you have took much more land than you need. I think you'd be surprised how many things you can fit in a "small" lot.

[Naga]

It's a good thing to take criticism. Here go some more critics, then! More like "flaws"-that-Naga-found.

Starting on the outside. There is no connective path from the parking lot to the restaurant, meaning the Sim would have to park and then go around again. You could use a little more landscaping too. The biggest "defect" on the outside is that it's very single-colored.

Moving on to the interior. It seems like it's wasting space, or something. Since you said it's a family place, there should be bigger tables around. The waiting area seems too uniformized. The balcony is too wide, and the cashiers should be next to each other (with some space between them) so that lines are easier to manage. Also, are you sure that the "I can see into the kitchen" effect didn't go too far?

I think that some more colored flooring and more variety on the wall painting can make it look really awesome. Since you mentioned it uses all expansions, have you considered placing spiral stairs and adding a second floor? Something like a little VIP area, for frequent customers.

[CarlosLordofTacos]

I never noticed it used all the expansions! Thanks for pointing that out Naga. I think the lounge chairs from LN would be great for this kind of place. I see that kind of seating in all the adverts for pizza restaurants on TV, so it'd be more than fitting.

[TallStar]

Ooh, great ideas Naga I might rebuild this.
I soooo wanted to use the lounge chairs from LN, but they didn't show up in Buy Mode for me. Everything except those did.

[CarlosLordofTacos]

Other things that might benefit this place would be TVs, an arcade, music (whether a band stage or wall speakers is up to you, although the later may be more appropriate considering it is a restaurant not a night club) and a playground outside for kids. Perhaps a party area? I'm never been to one, but doesn't "Chuck E. Cheese's" do birthday parties?

[TallStar]

Being updated for Version 2.0
Thanks to Carlos and Naga for the great criticism, I tried to add most of your ideas.

[Joria]

Tall star, those seats you are missing can be found in the miscellaneous part of buy mode in the comfort/seating area.  I had a hard time finding them too!  I love the rebuild.  Looks much more like a pizza shop.  Are you in the US?  Here in Oregon we have a place called Poppa John's.  It's a take-and-bake pizza place. No ovens!  They simply assemble your pizza according to your wants, you pick it up, bring it home and bake it in your own oven.  The hardest thing to get right for home made pizza isn't the toppings or sauce, it's the dough.  So take-and-bake is perfect for that.

[TheChronicR]

As Joria noted, this is a great build. Thank you so much Star! So putting this into SV 3.2.