I was asked how I made the roofs in Paternoster (my custom hood) and decided to write a tutorial. This is my first tutorial, so please feel free to ask if you don't understand anything.

I had more misses than hits when I started building the hood - but what I wanted to achieve was simple, triangular gables and a roof that is neither too high nor too low. This is how I ended up doing it.

Cheats needed:

Boolprop constrainFloorElevation false/true. False means the cheat is "on" and true means the cheat is "off."
setHighestAllowedLevel 16 - this cheat is needed for when you want to build higher than 3 or 4 levels. It is not needed for the lot in the example.

Very helpful for counting:
This wall by Psychosim: https://modthesims.info/d/397679/re...-edge-grey.html

Basic Principles:

First, you have to lower the same floor (on top of the wall) in 3 separate steps.
8 tiles wide is the perfect size for the side walls of a cottage with a simple triangular gable on each side of the roof.
If you understand the CFE cheat, this will be easy: you have to lower the same floor in 3 separate steps. This means having to turn CFE on and off and build and rebuild stacked foundations to do so.
If you want a chimney or something in the middle, you make the side wall wider – say, 12 tiles wide. The process is the same, but you will have 4 tiles in the middle that is not lowered.

Step 1
Build your lot. The instructions are for a lot that is 3 levels (foundation, first wall, second wall) high. (If you build higher or lower, you will need to adapt the process by adding more stairs or raising the terrain next to the house).

The lot looks like this – build walls on top of the rectangular walls like this and add floors to the top.

The floors must be the same color as the walls, and neither the walls nor the floors should have patterns on them. (I used the Snowden linoleum (I think) for the Paternoster lots). Don’t use the ceiling, it will warp.



Step 2
Place a set of modular stairs on the ground next to the house (1 tile away will do).



Step 3
Dig a ditch next to the lot that is as long as the wall (8 tiles).




Step 4
Stack the foundation next to the lot.
(Turn on Shift to do that).
The foundation must be 3 levels high, because the lot is 3 levels high.



Step 5.
Turn on the cheat:
Type: BoolProp constrainFloorElevation false
In the cheat box.

Step 6
Select the Level Terrain Tool and start on top of the foundation. Select 3 tiles on the left side and draw the tool right over the top of the building. Then do the same on the right side. (Or vice versa, of course).






Your gable is starting to form now and should look like this:



Step 7
Turn off the CFE cheat.
(Type boolProp constrainFloorElevation true).
Remove the foundation (I like to use the sledgehammer) but do not level the ground.
Put a set of modular stairs in the ditch to lower the ground by another 4 clicks.

Step 8
Stack the foundation next to the lot again.

Step 9

Turn on the CFE cheat.
Exactly the same, but you will now lower the floor by 2 tiles, starting from each side.



Step 10 (mostly repeating some steps here, for the last time)
Turn off the CFE cheat.
Remove the foundation as before.
Place the modular stairs in the ditch again to lower the ground by another 4 clicks.
Stack the foundation again.
Turn on the CFE cheat and now lower 1 tile at the end of each wall.


Step 11
Turn off the cheat, remove the foundation and flatten the ground next to the lot. You should now have proper gables.




Step 12
Lower the top in order to add the roof, it will look like this:



Use the long-gabled roof and add it between inner side walls.

Step 13
The roof will be too high for the gables. Lower it to a 33 angle works the best imho.



Finish the outside, and job done!