Opening Hours

# Opening Hours

**Give every venue in your world real opening hours, and let your own business open and close by itself.**

Bars that close at 2 AM, libraries that are closed on Sundays, a café that closes early on Wednesdays, a nightclub that only opens at night. When a venue closes, everyone goes home, and if you show up while it's closed, you'll be told to come back later.

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## ✨ Features

### 🕘 Opening hours for public venues
- Set hours for **every community venue type**: bars, cafés, gyms, libraries, museums, nightclubs, lounges, spas, pools, restaurants, retail and more.
- **Houses, rentals, parks and playgrounds are never affected.**
- Hours apply to the **venue type**, so setting hours for "Gym" sets them for every gym in your world.
- **Weekly schedule**: give each day its own hours, or close the venue for the whole day.
- Quick setup: **Every Day**, **Weekdays (Mon–Fri)** or **Weekend (Sat–Sun)**.
- Times can be set **to the minute** (5-minute steps), e.g. 09:30 – 18:15.
- **Overnight hours** work (e.g. a nightclub open 20:00 – 04:00), and **24-hour** venues too.

### 🚪 When a venue closes
- **30 minutes before closing**, you get a warning.
- At closing time, a notification: **"GYM IS CLOSING, COME TOMORROW!"** (or *"COME ON MONDAY"* if tomorrow is a closed day), with the next opening time.
- **NPCs leave the lot**: customers, staff, everyone.
- **No new customers or staff arrive** while the venue is closed.
- **Your own Sims walk outside**, with no forced loading screen. You decide where to go next.
- **Arriving while it's closed?** You'll see **"LIBRARY IS CLOSED CURRENTLY, COME LATER!"** with the next opening time, and any NPCs there leave.
- When it opens again: **"BAR IS NOW OPEN!"**

### 💼 Business hours for YOUR businesses
Works for your **retail store, restaurant, vet clinic and small business**, including a **small business run from your home**. Only the business gets hours, never your house.
- **Opens by itself** at opening time when the owner is on the lot.
- **Closes by itself** when business hours end, using the game's normal Close button. You still get the usual end-of-day summary.
- Warning **30 minutes before closing**.
- **Forgiving:** if the owner isn't there at opening time (at work, on vacation...), nothing happens. **No penalty.**
- You can still open and close manually whenever you want.

### 🛡️ Smart exceptions
These are **never** sent away:
- Sims on a **date or hangout with you**, and guests of **events you're running**
- Everyone on **your own business lot** (your business uses Business Hours instead)
- **Active career workplaces** (hospital, police station, science lab...)

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## 🎮 How to use
1. Go to any community lot (or your home lot if you have a small business).
2. **Click the ground** (grass or floor) and choose **"Opening Hours..."**.
3. Pick what to change:
   - **Opening Hours Mod: ON / OFF**: turn the whole mod on or off.
   - **Set Hours for [this venue]**: choose days, then the opening time, then the closing time.
   - **Set Hours for Another Venue Type...**: change any venue type from anywhere.
   - **Show Schedule**: see the week's hours.
   - **Remove Hours**: the venue is open all the time again.
   - **Business Hours: [your business]**: hours for your own business.

Your hours are saved **separately for each save game**.

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## 📦 Installation
1. Download and **unzip** the file.
2. Put the **`1simbol_OpeningHours`** folder into:
   `Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods\`
3. In the game: **Options → Game Options → Other → enable "Script Mods Allowed"**.
4. Restart the game.

⚠️ Keep the `.ts4script` file **no more than one folder deep** inside Mods, or the game won't load it.

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## ✅ Requirements
- **Base game** for venue opening hours.
- Business hours need the pack for that business:
  - Retail: *Get to Work*
  - Restaurant: *Dine Out*
  - Vet clinic: *Cats & Dogs*
  - Small business: *Businesses & Hobbies*
- Tested on game version **1.128.90.1030**.

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## ⌨️ Cheats (Ctrl + Shift + C)
| Cheat | What it does |
|---|---|
| `openinghours.menu` | Opens the Opening Hours menu without clicking the ground |
| `openinghours.status` | Shows the current venue, its hours and whether it's open |
| `openinghours.empty` | Test: sends all NPCs away and walks your Sims outside |
| `openinghours.hello` | Checks that the mod is installed and shows its version |

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## ℹ️ Good to know
- The Sims 4 only simulates **the lot you're on**, so closing happens on the lot you're visiting. Every other venue is checked when you arrive.
- When a small business opens automatically, the game charges its **normal opening fee**.
- Texts are currently **English only** (shown in every game language).
- Your saved hours are stored in `Mods\1simbol_OpeningHours\data\`. Deleting that folder resets all hours.

## 🔜 Planned
- **Doors lock and lights turn off** when a closed venue is empty
- 1-hour reminder before your business opens (with a "Travel There" button)
- Locked-door interactions (Knock, Sneak In...)
- Translations

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## 🔧 Compatibility
- **No EA files are overridden.** The mod adds its own menu and connects to the game through script, so conflicts are unlikely.
- Works alongside MCCC and other popular script mods.
- Mods that change how venues spawn customers or staff may interact with this mod.
- After big game patches, script mods can break. Check this page for updates.

## 🐞 Found a bug?
Please leave a comment and include:
- the file **`Mods\1simbol_OpeningHours\opening_hours.log`** (if it exists)
- any **lastException** file from your Mods or Sims 4 folder
- what you were doing when it happened

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**Made by 1simbol.** Enjoy, and let me know your ideas for future updates! 💛