I want to make some custom shops that are short enough to fit into more reasonably sized buildings. I intend to make them invisible to avoid graphical glitches, so I think I can handle the graphics, but I do have two questions for veteran shop makers:

1) Can a shop be clearance 0 with no problems? If not, what is the minimum clearance?

2) Can a shop sell both food and drinks? I don't think I've ever seen this, so I assume there's some problem involved.

Thank you ladies and gents!

1) If I remember correctly, the clearance level of the shops are pre-set. I don't think that you can change them. I would recommend that you don't create something without graphics though. You need to have the capability to delete shops if necessary.
No matter how you create a shop, it will always use an entire tile that doesn't allow you to build walls on the same tile at the same height as the base of the shop up until the clearance level is reached.

2) And yes, you can have a shop selling two different items. So both food and drink items can be sold at the same shop. Several of the shops I created for my tropical set sell two items. I don't remember if I had both food and drink, but I think that's an option.

Wouldnt the clearance of the shop you are creating depend on what existing shop you are using for a base?

For example, if you use the restroom or the ATM machine for a base, the clearance would only be 10 feet, or the clearance would be 15 feet if you use the Info Kiosk or First Aid Stall for a base. All others would be 20 feet.

Thanks a lot for the helpful responses! I guess I'll just use more or less invisible shops and a trainer to zero the clearances, which seemed to work okay with an invisible entrance. At least, I think it worked okay.

I do have some concern about mixing food and drink in the same shop. I could swear I once read a thread that explained that, while this was technically possible, it was unwise because drinks bought from such a shop didn't count toward quenching a peep's thirst, or something similar. If I'm wrong please tell me, as it would be very convenient to have food and drinks in the same shop!

I never even considered the problem of finding an invisible shop to delete it. Couldn't you always find it using the ride menu and get rid of it with the trash can button? Or am I wrong about that?

I think that it may depend on what you set the shop up as initially. If it's a food shop, it probably won't count on satisfying their thirst. But then they wouldn't be looking for drinks from a food stall either. So I would suggest keeping food items to a food stall and drink items to a drink stall.

BTW, which version of the OE are you using? A couple of versions don't really work well creating shops.

And I still recommend that you DO have some sort of graphics for the shops. It can be nothing more than a 5 x 5 pixel square in each view, but if you ever need to delete the shop, it's much easier than trying to find that single pixel.

Since you know close to 100% more than I do about making objects, I'll definitely take your advice and create an unobtrusive graphic for my shops. Thanks for pointing out the possible problem!

I just downloaded the object editor again, so I have whatever version is currently available. I've made a few objects but never a shop, so this will be an adventure!

I have noticed some odd problems with invisible objects. For example, the invisible path I downloaded works fine in most ways, but I can't seem to put benches and so forth on it! Weird, huh?

Or maybe you just can't SEE the benches...

Yeah, the benches tend to disappear when you place them on an invisible path. If I remember correctly, someone made paths that look like the land types, so you could always use those if need be. I just can't remember who created them or where they are available.
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