Ticket machine

Ticket machines are objects available in The Sims 2: Open for Business and The Sims 3 Store that can be used to create venues by requiring visiting Sims to pay for a ticket in order to stay on the lot or access a certain room.

The Sims 2
The Electrono-Ticket Machine, sometimes referred to as the Bandatron, can be used in any owned business to allow owners to charge Sims for staying on the lot.

To set up the ticket machine, the owner (or a member of the owner's household) must set a price for the machine and then start charging customers with it. Any potential customer that comes in will stop at the machine and decide whether or not they will come in. If the price is too high, or if there are too few motive-satisfying objects on the lot (such as arcade games), they are less likely to enter. The machine works similarly to selling an item, except the idea of staying on the lot for a period of time is what's being sold. Once the sale is made, the customer will grab a ticket from the machine and enter the business. While there, they will be periodically charged the ticket price. The player can also choose to let Sims in for free while they are deciding whether or not to enter the lot. This will permanently grant them free admission onto the lot.

If a venue has a stove, it is best to put it behind doors that are locked so only household members and employees can enter, as customers may autonomously use the stove and occasionally leave food on the stove or in the oven, which can lead to an unwanted fire. If the player wants the venue to serve food, they can either build a restaurant, set up a buffet table, or have a household member cook the food in the kitchen, enter Buy mode, and move the platter outside of the kitchen. Customers that are hungry enough will autonomously grab food from it.

If a date takes place on a lot with the ticket machine on it, the date may autonomously go over to the ticket machine. This mod prevents the date from doing so, and both the selected Sim and the date will be paid for when the selected Sim buys a ticket.

The Sims 3
A ticket machine is included as part of the Le Cinema Plumbob set from The Sims 3 Store, alongside a turnstile and an upgraded door. The turnstile and door can be used to restrict entry to Sims who are in a certain age group, life state, or gender, while the ticket machine can be used to further restrict entry to only those with a valid ticket. NPCs can purchase tickets to enter the venue, but will not play the animation of buying a ticket when doing so.