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Original Poster
#1 Old 13th Oct 2004 at 8:32 PM
Default [moved] Houses: Practicality Vs Size
After downloading houses from this site and others i have noticed something, all the houses go for awe rather than gameplay.

When you're building a house most people will start buiding everything really big and impressive because, most of the time, it does look better. i.e. a huge modern mansion looks more impressive than an old bungalow. However, when playing the game i find it soo much more efficient not to have to send my sims on a half hour journey to get to the bathroom and back. Or have to go up and down stairs before work.

I wonder why there aren't more houses to download for practicallity rather than impressiveness. This is what i am now trying to accomplish, a balance between great design and yet easier gameplay.

Do you find that big houses just aren't practical, or am i just being pedantic?

[ Edited ]
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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 13th Oct 2004 at 9:02 PM
There are many ways to enjoy this game.
If you like to enjoy achieving big success in sim's life or career,
your way of gaming and building small and efficent house is way to go.
But some other player enjoys this game in diffrent way.
They enjoys build magnificent house for its own shake.
I found that I spend more time to build big house than
time spent to play sims in that house.
I think that build awesome house itself is yet another
very good way of enjoying this game.

Of couse, I also enjoys build very practical and efficent
(both in time and money) house with limited resources.

See picture of house I built:
URL: http://www.mysims2.com/bbs/data/pds3/ÀÛÀºÁý_2¸¸½Ã¸ô.jpg

It costs only 19,249 simuleon including all the essential furniture
for newl-wed couple including quite expensive double bed ( 2,200 simoleon).

House file is http://www.mysims2.com/bbs/data/pds3/ÀÛÀºÁý_2¸¸½Ã¸ô.zip

What is your opinion about it?










[ Edited Wed Oct 13 2004, 09:11PM ]
Lab Assistant
#3 Old 13th Oct 2004 at 9:45 PM
I am so sorry mobius. I didn't know you could actually play TS2.
Guest
Original Poster
#4 Old 13th Oct 2004 at 9:53 PM
lol.
Test Subject
#5 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 5:00 AM
Great under 20K house zx1111. I wish there were more "Starter" homes available.



Actually I wish the game would even be more involved in construction. I read a lot of reviews on the Sims series from people who just buy the game for the house building. Seems like they could make an expansion pack just for house building. Home inspections, neighborhood zoning laws, and maybe even a little Duck work would really add to the game.


Lab Assistant
#6 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 5:11 AM
Well, the game gives the tools to build more sophisticated houses which is nice (compared to sims1) so why should we only build some 4-room bungalows?!
But yea I agree that the more complex the house is, the more tedious is it to play with the sims. Reasons for this are the gameplay like pathfinding etc. This is a programming issue and I wouldn't blame it on people who build sophisticated houses.
Test Subject
#7 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 6:31 AM
Yes, I agree totally. My first house project was inspired from a real life house that is up for sale not far from me (anyone have a spare 3 million+ bucks I can have?) in one of the upscale suburbs.

Unfortunately, due to the relative stupidity of individual sims, in order to keep them from dying of hunger on their 30-60 minute walk from one side of the house to the other, I have taken to putting everything a sim needs in each region of the house. Each floor has its own kitchen, dining room, bathrooms, and living quarters.

The problem crops up in that my sims will go to the nearest kitchen, make food, walk right past the formal dining room to the family dining room in another part of the house (which also has its own small kitchen and all the same appliances), set food at the table (and on an empty countertop in the bathroom of all places! - gotta remember to fill countertops with candles and flowers and such), eat a meal, then walk all the way back to the other side of the house to put the dishes in the washer.

They also have an annoying tendency to sleep in any bed in the house. If I design a room to be a child's bedroom, I don't want one of the parents crashing in it at night. Would be nice if you could assign a sim to a particular bedroom so they wouldn't just find the nearest room to sleep in when they're tired.

Anyway, I agree that most downloadable houses tend to wind up being ornamental rather than functional simply because the average sim goes psychotic when given overloaded with multiple choices on places to eat/sleep/relieve bladder...

Still, its nice to play with the design tool. If not for some limitations in the tools, I think Maxis could almost make a standalone 'Design Your Own Home' program, I've seen at least half a dozen at the local [short]Circuit City.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 6:39 AM
I think if you tell a sim several times to sleep in a special bed, they will remember after a while that it is his/her bed. But I could be wrong!

What I really hate is the sims disgust with weeds! As soon as if there are some weeds in the garden, their environment bar goes down to hell and they start cutting hedges or removing weeds, even total sloth sims do that! This is soo damn unrealistic! In real I never would care about weeds!
Firestarter
#9 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 6:59 AM
I have one really nice large mansion, but it's too large for the family in it. They don't use half the rooms. It's really a waste. I like medium sized houses. They're easier to play.
Guest
Original Poster
#10 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 7:11 AM
what does pedantic mean?


...just curious
[ Edited Thu Oct 14 2004, 07:12AM ]
Guest
Original Poster
#11 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 9:33 AM
I have a few small houses, will try to upload them for you soon...
Test Subject
#12 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 1:26 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ArkitekT
what does pedantic mean?


...just curious


Perdantic - Pertaining to one who shows off their learning for mere display

Guest
Original Poster
#13 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 1:44 PM
I couldnt resist being pedantic at the fact that you spelt pedantic wrong :P
Guest
Original Poster
#14 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 4:09 PM
" Perdantic - Pertaining to one who shows off their learning for mere display "

Too true ... hey that was at my expense.
Test Subject
#15 Old 14th Oct 2004 at 4:51 PM
I find alot of the houses for download to be rather unplayable as well, but I don't download them for that. First, they look awesome in my neighborhood. Second, they work great as filler for the neighborhood when making "NPCs" for the sims I actually play to meet. I build all the houses for families I intend to play myself. I have used some of the houses I downloaded though. The Country Estate over at Sims Estates 2 http://www.strategyplanet.com/thesims/simestates2/index.htm is a good home for playability with a small family. Well, AFTER you get rid of all the shrubs and flower beds. Good god, not even the gardener could handle even HALF that load in one day. lol
[ Edited Thu Oct 14 2004, 04:52PM ]
Test Subject
#16 Old 16th Oct 2004 at 9:22 AM
I suddenly feel the urge to put in an elevator (or better yet, a Wonkavator, so it goes sidewayys too!).

Or a teleporter. That'd be cooler. Of course even if such objects existed, they worldn't be much help unless someone managed to hack the pathing, too. Sigh.
Forum Resident
#17 Old 16th Oct 2004 at 11:32 AM
I download some large houses to place in the neghborhood, but no one is in them.

Just for the "environment" of the neghborhood.

Personally, I think 30-50k will be very very comfortable already.

Live for today, learn from yesterday, and dream of tomorrow.
.
A being under construction -- Even so, come.
Test Subject
#18 Old 24th Oct 2004 at 4:34 PM
There was a thread I started at thesims2.com that has a listing of tons of small-to-medium sized houses.

http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/messages.php?&threadID=01287bfcbdb3d1e5e8b4cd9f62df8dc3&directoryID=22

[COLOR=Red]ファック ブッシュ![/COLOR]
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