Restaurant City - Frequently Asked Questions - Q31-Q33 Added!

[boidae]

PLEASE NOTE THAT BY PLAYING ANY PLAYFISH GAMES YOU ARE AGREEING TO FOLLOW THEIR TERMS OF SERVICE. YOU CAN READ THE TERMS OF SERVICE HERE: http://static.playfish.com/legal/terms.html (Threads that break the Terms of Service will be closed or deleted.)

If you need to contact a moderator, the best way to do so is via PM, you can find the current list of moderators (and see which are currently online) here: http://forum.playfish.com/showgroups.php

Also note that moderators usernames show in Red and administrators usernames show in Green. So if the username you are speaking to is not red / green, you are not speaking to a moderator / administrator.

If you want to direct someone here, you can give them the link: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=524311 And advise them which question number to see!

1. How do I earn more ingredients?

You receive a free daily ingredient for your first log in to Restaurant City each GMT day.

You also earn an ingredient for each daily quiz you answer correctly!

You can purchase a select few ingredients each day from the Ingredient Market, the ingredients available for purchase change each day at midnight GMT. To locate the Ingredient Market, when inside your restaurant click and drag the screen so that you see outside above your restaurant. Here is what it looks like:


You can also buy any ingredient you like from the Market using Playfish Cash, simply click the “Cash Ingredients” button when viewing the Ingredient Market.

And, you earn one new ingredient for the first ever visit you make to each friend! (This is a once only ingredient per friend, not daily.)

2. How do I earn more coins?

You earn coins from serving customers at your restaurant. However, you can also earn coins by picking up trash; and clicking on the trees around your restaurant and your friends’ restaurants to ‘bump’ them.

If you have Arcades or Slot Machines in your restaurant you will also a coin each time a customer uses one.

Also, each day you will have the chance to do a task when visiting each friend’s restaurant (such as helping with sleeping bears, skunks, or penguins, etc)! Completion of the task will earn you coins! If you water a friend’s dry garden you will also earn a coin!

3. How do I hire employees and how do I fire them?

To hire one of your friends select the magnifying glass icon. Then just select the purple ‘Hire’ button of the friend you would like to hire!

To fire one of your friends, select that employee while in your restaurant view and then select the ‘Sack’ button. Note that you will be required to pay 200 coins as severance pay if you would like to sack a friend!

4. What is the advantage of levelling up a particular dish?

For each increase in level of a dish, you earn slightly more Gourmet Points when a customer has that dish. However, it is not one full point extra for each level, instead it is around an 0.2 Gourmet Point increase per level, so once you have a dish at level 2, most of the time you will still see just 1 Gourmet Point increase when serving it, but sometimes you will see a 2 Gourmet Point gain.

Also, the appearance of the dish being served improves as the dish is levelled up:


5. How do I learn and level up dishes?

To learn a dish, you need to gather all the ingredients required for that dish. Once you have the ingredients (which are displayed via the ‘Change Menu’ icon), select the ‘Change Menu’ icon and then select the pink ‘Learn’ button underneath your dish of choice. When you do this, those ingredients you gathered for that dish will be removed from your inventory, and you will now be able to serve the dish to your customers if you chose.

To level up any dish, you need to gather the same ingredients for that dish again, once you have all the ingredients required, again select the ‘Change Menu’ icon, find the dish you are wishing to level up, and then select blue ‘Level Up’ button.

After you have learnt or levelled up a particular dish and you wish to change what you are serving in your restaurant to the new dish, you need to click the picture of the dish you wish to serve (while in the ‘Change Menu’ screen). You will notice that a yellow circle then appears around the base of the dish to show that it is what you are currently serving!

6. How do the star ratings work and how do I get onto Gourmet Street?

When someone views your restaurant on Random Street they are given the opportunity to give it a rating out of 5 stars! Your rating is the average of the star ratings that people have given you while viewing your restaurant on Random Street. So if someone rates you lower than your current rating, it will decrease, alternatively if someone rates you higher than your current rating, it will increase!

To access Random Street, when in street view, select the blue “Go to Random Street” button. Once on Random Street you will see an icon which is a clipboard with a green tick labelled “Join Gourmet Club”, use that to set your permission as to whether you wish to have your restaurant appear on Random Street (with the possibility of reaching Gourmet Street) or not!

To make Gourmet Street you need at least 20 ratings, and to be one of the top rated restaurants in the game! You can check your exact current rating and number of ratings you’ve received by hovering your cursor over the stars in your restaurant (assuming you’ve joined Gourmet Club), so you’ll know just what you need to get to make it!

Ratings will be reset every now and again to give everyone the opportunity to make Gourmet Street!

7. What is Popularity and what is the maximum Popularity you can achieve?

Popularity is the number shown by the thumbs up icon towards the top right of your screen. The higher this number is, the happier your customers have been, so the more customers will visit.

The maximum achievable Popularity is 50.

8. How do I stop my Popularity going down when I am not using the game?

If you are worried about your Popularity decreasing while you are not using the game, you can use the ‘Redecorate’ button to remove any doors on your restaurant while you are not using it. This will stop customers coming in and getting upset if you are resting your employees, or your employees need food or rest. You can also put a table, plant, etc. in front of your door(s) to stop customers coming in.

9. What happens when my employees’ health decreases?

When your employees’ health decreases, your employees start to work slower. Once an employee’s health reaches zero, that employee will stop working altogether and will need food or rest before starting work again.

10. Do the more expensive stoves cook faster?

No, all stoves cook at the same speed.

11. How do I trade ingredients? (How does it work?)

When visiting a friend’s restaurant select the Trade Ingredients icon:


Select the ingredient you would like from your friend’s available ingredients, and then choose an ingredient from your own ingredients that you would like to trade for it. Then select the tick button.

If you are trading unlocked ingredients where you are giving an ingredient of higher quality (more stars), the trade will go through as a normal unlocked trade. If you are trading with a locked ingredient, or trading an unlocked ingredient that is higher quality than what you are trading it for, it will send a secure trade request!

When sending a secure trade request, your friend will have to accept the trade for it to go through!

12. How do I lock and unlock ingredients?

If you want to save an ingredient for a future dish, and do not want anyone to be able to trade that ingredient away from you, you need to lock it. To lock a particular dish, select the ‘Change Menu’ icon and then click on the picture of the unlocked ingredient you wish to lock. Once an ingredient is locked you will see a padlock icon appear on top of its picture so that you know it is locked.

If you wish to unlock an ingredient (for example one you’ve decided you’d like your friends to be able to trade from you), again select the ‘Change Menu’ icon, and this time click the locked ingredient that you would like to unlock. You will notice that the padlock icon is removed!

13. How do you move floor tiles and wallpapers?

To move a floor tile or wallpaper, you need to replace it with another one. The old one will appear as available in your ‘Floor Tile’ or ‘Wallpaper’ section of your Redecorate icon to be placed where you wish.

14. Why do I have some ingredients that do not appear in any of the recipes?

These are most likely ingredients that are for future, yet-to-be-released recipes!

15. Why do some of my customers have red circles with stars around their feet?

These customers are your friends!

Continued in the following post!

[boidae]

16. What do all the icons the customers show mean?

A green thumbs up icon means your customer was happy with their meal and service.

A red thumbs down icon means your customer was unhappy with the service. The icon that is shown prior to this will tell you more.

A seat icon means that there is no available seat in your restaurant.

A table icon with a plate on it means that the table the customer sat at needs to be cleared.

An empty table icon means your customer sat at a seat where there was no table available.

An icon showing a banana peel means that your restaurant has trash on the floor that you should clean up.

A covered silver tray with a clock icon means your food service took too long.

A red coloured drink with a clock icon means your drink service took too long.

A toilet icon means that there was no available clean toilet for your customer to use.

17. What are the levels and upgrades available?

If you click your Gourmet Points bar, it will tell you how many points are required for the next level and what you will be awarded!

Level 1
50 Gourmet Points
2500 Coins

Level 2
70 Gourmet Points
3rd Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 3
100 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 4
200 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 5
500 Gourmet Points
4th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 6
1,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Unlock 1st Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 7
2,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 8
4,000 Gourmet Points
5th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 9
6,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 10
8,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Serve 2 Dishes and 1000 Coins

Level 11
10,000 Gourmet Points
6th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 12
14,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 13
18,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Unlock 2nd Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 14
22,000 Gourmet Points
7th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 15
30,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Serve Drinks and 1000 Coins

Level 16
38,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 17
46,000 Gourmet Points
8th Employee and 1000 Coins

Level 18
58,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Unlock 3rd Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 19
70,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 20
86,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Serve 3 Dishes, 6x6 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Level 21
102,000 Gourmet Points
9th Employee, Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 22
122,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Unlock 4th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 23
142,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 24
166,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Unlock 5th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 25
190,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, 8x8 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Level 26
218,000 Gourmet Points
Larger Restaurant, Unlock 6th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 27
246,000
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 28
280,000
Unlock 7th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 29
320,000
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 30
370,000
Unlock 8th Garden, 10x10 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Level 31
430,000
Larger Restaurant and 1000 Coins

Level 32
500,000
Unlock 9th Garden and 1000 Coins

Level 33
580,000
1000 Coins

Level 34
661,000
1000 Coins

Level 35
743,000
12x12 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase Unlocked, Floating Crystal Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Level 36
826,000
1000 Coins

Level 37
910,000
1000 Coins

Level 38
995,000
1000 Coins

Level 39
1,081,000
1000 Coins

Level 40
1,168,000
14x14 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Level 41
1,256,000
1000 Coins

Level 42
1,345,000
1000 Coins

Level 43
1,435,000
1000 Coins

Level 44
1,526,000
1000 Coins

Level 45
1,618,000
16x16 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase Unlocked, Giant TV Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Level 46
1,711,000
1000 Coins

Level 47
1,805,000
1000 Coins

Level 48
1,900,000
1000 Coins

Level 49
1,996,000
1000 Coins

Level 50
2,093,000
18x18 Outdoor Space Expansion Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Level 51
2,191,000
1000 Coins

Level 52
2,290,000
1000 Coins

Level 53
2,390,000
1000 Coins

Level 54
2,491,000
1000 Coins

Level 55
2,593,000
Wishing Well Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Level 56
2,696,000
1000 Coins

Level 57
2,800,000
1000 Coins

Level 58
2,905,000
1000 Coins

Level 59
3,011,000
1000 Coins

Level 60
3,118,000
1000 Coins

Level 61
3,226,000
1000 Coins

Level 62
3,335,000
1000 Coins

Level 63
3,445,000
1000 Coins

Level 64
3,556,000
1000 Coins

Level 65
3,668,000
Egyptian Obelisk Purchase Unlocked and 1000 Coins

Continued in the following post!

[boidae]

18. I’m having issues loading Restaurant City, what should I do?

Make sure you have the latest version of flash installed. You can check what version you currently have here: http://playerversion.com . And can download the latest version from the Adobe website: http://www.adobe.com .

Clear your cache! Facebook has instructions for this here! And restart your computer!

Check that Java is enabled on your browser, for instructions on how to enable Java, check out this site: http://www.java.com/en/download/help/enable_browser.xml

Try loading using a different browser, or even a different computer!

Check this thread: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=935544 for more things to try!

If it’s around 6 am – 6:30 am GMT, try again in 10 minutes or so: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=977438

Sometimes people have this issue when they have a lot of friend’s on their list, you can try removing some (particularly relevant if you have over 150 friends).

Check out: http://www.playfish.com/support/

Use the Support Link if all else fails!

19. How do I add my Facebook profile link under my forum name?

Go here: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home Then select ‘Profile’. Copy the address that appears in the address bar, it should be something like: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...**&ref=profile (where the *****’s are your Facebook ID).

Then go here: http://forum.playfish.com/profile.php?do=editprofile

Scroll until you see: “Facebook Profile Page”. Paste your Facebook Profie link there.

Select ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom of the page.

If people advise you that your profile link does not work and re-directs them to their homepage:

When someone clicks your profile link, it initially tries to load it, but then re-directs to their home page. This is because your Facebook privacy settings are too high.

The privacy setting that this relates to is: http://www.facebook.com/privacy/?view=search

You need to set the Search Visibility to 'Everyone' to allow people to use your profile link to add you!

20. I think I have found a cheater, what should I do?

To report a someone you suspect of cheating, e-mail all details to cheaters@playfish.com. Ensure you include the user's Facebook ID.

21. What are all the forum user titles I can obtain?

The forum user titles are based on your number of posts (excluding those in the Contests & Games sub-forum) and are as follows:

Newbie = 0-19
Larva = 20-49
Plankton = 50-99
Fish Egg = 100-149
New Little Fish = 150-399
Little Fish = 400-499
Clown Fish = 500-699
Angel Fish = 700-899
Star Fish = 900-1499
Adventure Fish = 1500-1999
Captain Fish = 2000-2599
Legendary Fish = 2600-2999
Magic Fish = 3000-3999
Ultimate Playfish Fan = 4000+

22. How do I view how many times I, or another person, has posted in a particular thread?

View the thread from the forum it's in, where you see the list of thread names, total posts and total views. Click on the number of total posts which corresponds to the thread you are interested in, this will gives you a breakdown of posts per user.

23. I tried to sign up to the forum, but lost / never received my activation e-mail, how do I arrange for another one?

You can request a new forum activation e-mail here: http://forum.playfish.com/register.php?a=ver

You need to click the link in: "If you have lost your activation code or you have forgotten your username, click here to have the codes emailed to you again."

Or, you can just go here: http://forum.playfish.com/register.php?do=requestemail

24. How should I arrange my restaurant?

You should arrange your restaurant however you find works best for you!

If you want to take a look at some great guides to help you get started check out:

General Layouts: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=534672
General Layouts: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=640164
Island Layouts: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=545136

25. I purchased coins, where are they?

Any coins you purchase should arrive in a bag in your mailbox! So please check your mailbox!

Some transactions can take a little while to go through, depending on a number of factors, so please be patient if you do not receive them straight away!

Please note that Playfish Cash purchases should be added directly to your balance.

26. What is the purpose of toilets and cleaners?

Once you are level 8 or above, some customers will want to use a bathroom after eating their meal. These customers will not give you a thumbs up (to improve your popularity) until they have used the bathroom.

Therefore, if you do not have an available, clean toilet, the customer will leave with a toilet icon above their head, and will not increase your popularity. Hence, having enough toilets for your customer base assists your popularity.

A cleaner will be able to clean the toilets whenever they require cleaning, hence allowing your restaurant to continue running smoothly. In addition, they can clean up trash as well (this will add to your coins, gourmet points and towards your trash trophies, as if you cleaned the trash yourself). When there are no toilets or trash to clean, they will just generally act as though they are cleaning your restaurant, by scrubbing the floor, or similar.

27. Can I gift ingredients?

No, you cannot gift ingredients. Ingredients can only be traded with other ingredients as described in question 11.

28. How do I put a picture in my avatar or signature and how do I post a picture in thread?

Please see this thread for signatures and avatars: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=8540

Screenshot instructions are included in: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=8540

For adding a picture in thread, take a screenshot as descibed in the above thread. Upload it to an external website such as www.photobucket.com or www.tinypic.com

Take the code from there that has the [img] tags and paste that in your thread.

Or if you just have the image link, the tags are (remove the stars):
[*img]http://addressofimage.jpg[/*img]

The address between the [img] tags must end in the filetype (i.e. '.gif', '.jpg' or '.png').

29. How does the garden work?

On the right hand side of your restaurant (when inside your restaurant), you will see some new gardens. The first one is unlocked at level 6. Once you have a garden unlocked you will be able to grow some of your own ingredients!

To plant a seed, simply click the plot you wish to plant it in. Each seed costs 2000 coins.

Once you have planted your seed, if you hover over it you will see two times shown. The top time is how long until the ground becomes completely dry, you can water your seed to increase this time by clicking the plot where your seed is planted. The highest this timer will go is 9 hours. If your plant becomes completely dry, it will stop growing until you water it again. The lower time is the time remaining (assuming your plant always has enough water) until it is fully grown and ready to harvest, each plant will take 48 hours to grow (if it is kept watered). (Please note: H stands for hours and M stands for minutes.)

When you plant a seed, it will grow randomly into one of some set ingredients, these include:

• Basil
• Bayleaf
• Coffee Beans
• Coriander
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Oregano
• Saffron
• Sugar
• Tea Leaves
• Vanilla
• Wasabi

Once your ingredient is ready for harvest, simply click on the fully grown plant, and then confirm that you wish to harvest it.

30. Who is the Gourmet King?

The Gourmet King (Food King) looks like:

He may be found in your restaurant, in your friends' restaurants or even out on the street! If you find him and click on him he will give you the option of posting a recipe or ingredient to your Facebook wall. Once you publish this, any friend can click the link which says “Claim your free gift now!” to collect the recipe or ingredient. If your friends find him and publish to their wall, you can click their “Claim your free gift now!” link to gain a recipe or ingredient.

Please note that you can only receive a maximum of 5 ingredients in any 24 hour period. This means that if you have collected 5 within the last 24 hours, you will have to wait until 24 hours after the first to collect your next ingredient, and 24 hours after the second to collect the next after that, ensuring that you do not exceed 5 in any 24 hours.

Continued in the following post!

[boidae]

31. How are the ingredients for the market decided each day?

The three ingredients sold in the market each day are selected using a randomising algorithm, so no one, not even Playfish, know what is going to be on the market tomorrow before they appear! The prices are also selected randomly in a given range (2500-5000 coins). So if you are wondering why something is on the market, not on the market, cheap, expensive, etc. It’s all just the luck of the draw!

32. Why are my workers not working, and my waiters standing outside, even though everyone is fully rested?

This will occur if there is no space and clear path between your stoves and your tables for your waiters to deliver the food (your chefs will not start cooking unless there are waiters to deliver the food, and your waiters won’t work if they have nowhere to stand and/or a clear path). So if you have this issue, use the redecorate button to rearrange your tables and stoves, ensuring that your waiters will have a place to stand and a clear path between your stoves and tables!

33. I’ve seen restaurants with items stacked on Gourmet Street or Random Street, how do I do this?

This is actually a glitch; however as stacking decorative items should not harm your game (as many glitches can) and decorative stacking should also not give anyone an unfair advantage, this is allowed for the time being.

If you would like to learn to stack decorative items, check out this thread: http://forum.playfish.com/showthread.php?t=1618878

More will be added in time! If there’s a question you think should be on here, please post!

[boidae]

Reserved!!!

[boidae]

Reserved!!!

[Frecklz]

Great Work as usual Sonya! Your a Star! *huggles*

[Bams]

Can you add how to lock the ingredients too in the FAQ, please? This is awesome!

[boidae]

Originally Posted by Bams

Can you add how to lock the ingredients too in the FAQ, please? This is awesome!

Yep! It won't matter if I change the numbering at this point! *gets to it*

[devillyangelx]

Do I need to pay 200 coins when I sacked my ownself too?