Locking Doors?

[samoht04]

I think this came around in a patch, as I don't remember being able to do it when I got the game. If you lock the doors will that stop Burgulars getting in, or out? I am just wondering because I am trying to Burgular proof the collection basement. The burgular won't get far inside because of the burgular alarm outside the house!

[aws_137]

No. Locking doors doesn't prevent Burglars, Police, Firefighters or even the Repoman(I'm not sure of Death wandering around, though). It just prevents selected Sims from taking a certain path, which I find useful.

And before you can ask why I find it useful.
1. Lock Sims from intruding a toilet.
2. Murdering Sims.
3. Stopping guests from using a particular toilet.
4. Stopping guests from going into an area you don't any Sim to wander off to.
5. Having doors for aesthetical purpose. (I have a fence gate by my rubbish bin, but I don't want anyone to use that gate)

[Metropolis Man]

No. Locking doors doesn't prevent Burglars, Police, Firefighters or even the Repoman(I'm not sure of Death wandering around, though).

Ha. No, if a Burglar can steal your stuff despite locked doors, you can be assured a locked door will not prevent the Grim Reaper for finding a way in! 

[aws_137]

Uhh... That's what I meant? All these characters can break through locked doors. The Grim Reaper spawns from no where... But whether he can go through locked doors after doing his job(that is, when he is lounging around), is a question.

[samoht04]

I would say he can probably float through walls like ghosts can. Looks like the basement will have a long way in so the Police could get here before the idiot gets to the valuable stuff! Hmmm, murder room...

[Please use Preview before posting to correct typos.  -Pam]

[Eftyen]

My favorite burglar-stalling method is to make a maze of fence around your lot.  Obviously this requires some simoleons to do, but if you are protecting a collection of relics I'm assuming you can make a maze of cheap fence. 

Basically, fence in your whole yard as far out as the game will let you. 
Then build a second complete fence 2 squares inside the first one (prevents the cop from having pathfinding errors when attempting to arrest the burglar).
Put a short length of fence in the front of your lot connecting the two fence squares.
Make inner/outer openings in the fence on opposite sides of your divider.

Now anyone coming/going must walk all the way around your yard to do so! 
If there is an external burglar alarm, the cops are almost guaranteed to show up and arrest the burglar before he gets inside your perimeter. 
If you have a small lot, Include flights of stairs going up and down inside the fenced area (can be done above- or below-ground). 
Since I've already assumed your sims have a considerable budget, you can delete the divider in the fence during the day, and put it back up at night at a minimal upkeep cost.

If you have no idea what I just described, let me know and I'll post a screenshot to illustrate!

[samoht04]

I understood, but that does seem a bit extravagant. It's my Legacy Family. Will 200,000 do?

[aws_137]

You know what's another simpler way of stalling a burglar? Set your back door as your Front Door.

[Metropolis Man]

My favorite burglar-stalling method is to make a maze of fence around your lot.  Obviously this requires some simoleons to do, but if you are protecting a collection of relics I'm assuming you can make a maze of cheap fence.

And this is a better and cheaper idea than a $900 alarm that's guaranteed to stop a thief?   

[Eftyen]

The cheapest waist-high fencing is Playground Fence, at $5/unit.  You can completely surround a 60x60 lot with a double concentric path 2 units wide using 672 units of fencing, at a cost of $3,360, leaving a 52x52 area for use.  

If you don't mind it looking a little funny, you can put the gates adjacent to the openings in the fence at night, so using them wouldn't save a burglar any time and you wouldn't pay $18 every time you delete/replace them (using the cheapest double-wide gate).  

The reason I say this looks odd is that when you move the gates back to the center partition during the daytime, you'll leave a fencepost in the middle of an otherwise uninterrupted fence.

If you are starting out, you can still make a single, double-wide path around a 20x30 lot for about the same price as a burglar alarm, and this does work even better if your front door is opposite the fence gaps.  Thanks, aws, for that tip.

At the point of guarding your legacy, though, I believe it's more about being creative and having fun than strict efficiency.  Now I want to find out if the burglar gives up if he/she hasn't reached your door by morning...

[Pam]

We're floating a little off topic.  Let's float back, please.  Building maze fences isn't really the same as locking doors, which is the topic here.

[Eftyen]

Ok I guess the bottom line is, locking doors does not stop the burglar.  Locked doors are primarily useful only to restrict access of guests to various areas of your house, and the protection of valuables (such as relic collections) is better entrusted to burglar alarms and/or labyrinthine paths.

[Pam]

Excellent summary, Eftyen. 

[samoht04]

Thanks everyone! I was just curious because in Sims 2 they couldn't so I waited for the police to get in then locked the door, he didn't get away until the police won.