Your first jobs, office and production route

1. Set up the character and navigate

Spend the available skill points before confirming character creation. A guided opening introduces the systems in order; sandbox presets can change starting resources and story availability.

Use J for the Journal and M for the map. Pin an objective and use its route marker. In command mode, right-click moves the selected character; Tab switches to direct TPS control when allowed. The screenshot's Talk to Luigi objective is Early Access evidence, not proof of a fixed 1.0 starting balance.

2. Complete street work before a major purchase

The wiki's Chapter 2 lists three successful pickpockets followed by doorman, hot dog and taxi work. Right-click a citizen for pickpocketing; use the newspaper job ad to locate doorman work. Completing the chapter awards 100 Feature Vault points, according to the wiki.

Feature Vault points unlock access. Cash buys items, properties and supplies. Keep money for wages, rent and stock rather than spending the entire balance on a building.

3. Open an Office and build the family

• Buy the basic Office from Real Estate; its wiki base price is $5,000. Chapter 3 then asks for three Office jobs and lists a $2,000 reward on that objective.
• Unlock family recruitment in the Feature Vault; the wiki lists 50 points and Office access as its prerequisite.
• Open Criminal Activities, then Family. Chapter 4 asks you to recruit a member and create the family there.
• Unlock handguns, buy a pistol at the Weapon Shop, and right-click it in the character inventory to equip. Complete the marked drive-by target to finish that part of Chapter 4.

4. Choose the next operating loop

For plants, acquire a room or house, a pot, seed, watering can and bug spray. Place the pot from the carrying character inventory, plant, care for it, harvest, dry on a rack, then process the dried plant at the Crafting Table. Unlock and purchase the required equipment separately.

For chemicals, use a placed Lab Table with ingredients and the Mix/Heat sequence in the lab guide. A warehouse Lab Room is a later automated system. In motel rooms, the manual Lab Table and Crafting Table share one placement slot.

If cash is short, return to taxi, doorman or hot dog work. A nightclub or warehouse has a $50,000 wiki base price before equipment and staffing, so buying one is not a complete operating budget.