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Field Researcher
#76 Old 9th Dec 2004 at 2:12 AM
Having created several hundred houses, none of which I thought was worth uploading (until lately :P) I have found that a real blueprint for a human livable house doesn't work for the sims, and the reason is that sims don't work, or move, or cooperate like living folks. Sims get in each others' way, and will not do the "after you dance." They rant about having to walk around things. Putting 6 dining chairs at the table usually ends up in a sim being trapped and you have to delete the table to get s/him ors/her out. We cant double duty space in the game eg. the phone needs its own wall section with nothing in front of it, because sims won't reach over objects to get to it. SO the houses need to be a bit bigger than human scale. I did a Greene and Greene (my favorite architechs of all time) house and it was unplayable. My sims jammed up in the narrow stairs (the servants' back hall stairs) and one actually starved to death when I left the game running while I made supper. I love to see what is being designed on this site, and will follow this sub-forum with great interest. Tabbysgranhag
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Test Subject
#77 Old 9th Dec 2004 at 2:29 AM
Quote: Originally posted by SimSnake
For best results, I usually scale each room around the furniture and approximate. A good place to start is a bathroom, since toilets, tubs, and sinks are all "fixed" sizes, and need to fit in to the bathroom in a way people can use them.

For example, look at this plan: houseplan

The bathroom under the stairs looks exatly like a 2x3 room from the layout of the fixtures (you may need to adjust if Sims can't get in the tub though). From that size, the bathroom right next to it looks to be 3x3, with a 1x2 add-on. The rest of the house can be approximated using those sizes.

If you want, you can print out the plan, and sketch a light grid over each room. However, you should always take into account how fixtures work in the Sims, and make allowances for access and smooth gameplay. You'll probably add a square here and there to get things to fit, since it's not an "exact" CAD design program.

The fun part is getting the exterior painted, landscaped, and shrubbed to look exactly like the plan. You also have to judge how far back you want the house from the street based on the plan, and design of your neighborhood.

It's a fun process though, and takes a couple of tries to get right. The best part is the results are fun to play with! I'm working on making a "signature" neighborhood with a bunch of pre-made houses like this, where people just move in and "live" in them (like real life); without too much of the typical Sims evolving "anthill" box-buildings. It takes work to get a range of affordible houses, but fun as a design and creation challenge.


i Use a house design catolouge, i figure a sim square is 3 feet by 3 feet, things work out...
Field Researcher
#78 Old 9th Dec 2004 at 5:58 AM
Even if you use a house plan, isn't that kind of not really using your own creativity? It kind of kills the fun of planning everything out yourself and designing the whole look of the building, even if the sims 2 doesn't have many options to offer
Test Subject
#79 Old 9th Dec 2004 at 6:24 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Giniro
Even if you use a house plan, isn't that kind of not really using your own creativity? It kind of kills the fun of planning everything out yourself and designing the whole look of the building, even if the sims 2 doesn't have many options to offer


There's plenty of creativity in the interpretation of the plan, even I don't mindlessly stick to the drawing when tweaking the design a bit would make the house more liveable. It's like having a house "inspired by" a plan, rather than unimaginative "line for line" copying.

Every house has quirks, and dealing with them is part of the "strategy" of playing the game. Inexpensive houses are small, and don't have the room for everything. Other houses have interesting quirks in design or form, and I leave those in and play around them. Granted, show-stopping "bugs" in the design should be corrected, but all houses have their quirks.

Houses aren't "one size fits all" either. Some houses might be better for knowledge sims, while others cater better to romance sims. Family sims need lots of living space just as much as a romance sim needs comfort and privacy.

I could make every one of my homes the perfect "life factory," but where's the fun in that? It's like saying every golf course should be a 150 yard/meter par-3 hole, with no bunkers, doglegs, or water hazards - just because it's the most "efficient" hole in golf.
Test Subject
#80 Old 31st Dec 2004 at 1:56 PM
I didn't read the whole thread so I'm not sure if some suggested this but perhaps those that want a playable, functional home and know how to build one should try to get with someone who is good at making the outside look nice and together start creating homes... I can build playable homes but my outsides are pathetic and so I have never posted a home because of it. when I download homes I always modify it to suit my needs. It would be nice not to have to do this. I did get one great home I love to play but I can't remember where I downloaded it from.
Lab Assistant
#81 Old 31st Dec 2004 at 2:29 PM
I have never uploaded my houses as i have never completed any of them in the first place!! And it has a ton of hack.
Master Cocktail Shaker
#82 Old 31st Dec 2004 at 4:42 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Silvenight1
I would like to know in all honesty if there are builders that let their creative juices lead them to create the worse layouts possible.


I definitely get carried away with the creative juices, but unfortunately my lot designs often turn out too boring/predictable - squarish/symmetrical - but I do try to design with practicality and exterior aesthetics in mind (not the aqua coloured shopping mall one though lol - that was made the day after a 22 hour flight from Australia - and there's carpet on the exterior terrain lmao)

Anyhow, I cannot make or play on LARGE lots - I have never myself lived in a large home and I like the ease with which I can play my and others' medium/small lots. They feel more cozy and realistic to me - none of this clinical, cold, museum like emptiness or what some people may call minimalist spaciousness....

When perusing lots I always look for the same combination that I try to achieve as well - practicality (more toilets!) and somewhat of an aesthetic quality - although these things differ from person to person - and some designs should be enjoyed just for the fun of them, not to be judged on how realistic or expensive the structure looks etc.

I still think overall, no matter the size of your RAM small to medium lots are the best if you want to prevent RSI and/or the temptation to kill the Sim when they miss their ride to work/school.....

I also like to download furnished/decorated homes - I want to see more than just the outside - I want to see if the builder has any sense of the interior at all.....how they want it to feel, look, be played....otherwise, in my opinion, they have only completed half of the job at hand ...(mind you I didn't furnish some apartments I made earlier in October)....anyhow, that's my 2 cents worth...

Cheers,
nina

------------------------------------------------------
www.simsconnection.com

my bloggie
Test Subject
#83 Old 31st Dec 2004 at 9:39 PM
When using house plans, I tend to use the (incredibly simple) equation that one SimUnit is approx. 2 feet in standard measure. The houses tend to be a little larger than they should, but I like my Sims to have plenty of room to walk around in.

It's a give in that all house plans that you use are goign to need modification, because other than bedroom closets to accomodate those bulky dresers, Sims have no need for a "front-hall" closet, laundry room, garage etc...

My personal favourite site for house plans is Dream Home Source. In their search, you can look for houses that don't have a garage, anf that saves tonnes of time when looking for workable houses. I use these plans for all of my houses, because Maxis houses make me want to scream.
Lab Assistant
#84 Old 1st Jan 2005 at 1:14 PM
Whein build i think like an architect... it's of up most importance to me to build homes that are real floor plans either from memory or homes that i'm inspired by that i research into which does take time... i found it has taken YEARS of playing to get like this.... all my homes are freindly and i hate HUGE crap designs! i totally agree with the first post.... i build streets and every home on the lot is repeated to perfection call it OCD lol...
Lab Assistant
#85 Old 1st Jan 2005 at 1:32 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Motoki
I prefer furnished houses. I want to be able to download and use them right away. I don't see the point of just putting in the bathroom and kitchen stuff. You might as well just leave the house completely unfurnished and let the sims get those extra aspiration points for buying those essentials.

I also agree with J.M., used furniture is even better. If you don't want to play the house then put one sim in them, give him 3 or more logic with SimPE, have him meditate while the game is on fast forward, then go have a cup of coffee or something.


I remember one file to modify the speed of the animations, i hav modyfied it. I know how and see here for yourself, can be found in Which Drive:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Config and the text file TS2 Config. see:
#
# Configuration for the TS2 3D system
#

version 1

# Keep going even there's an error
ignoreErrors true

# animation speeds for simulator settings
set AnimSpeedMedium 1.0
set AnimSpeedFast 3.0
set AnimSpeedUltra 26.0(modified)

# load animations for permanent cache
sinclude "preloadAnims.txt"
I prefer furnished houses as furnishing can kill me and cya :howdy:
Lab Assistant
#86 Old 23rd Jun 2005 at 10:52 PM
I create lastly a very huge house, and I put their their two storeys windows.(Maxis has 3 models in all). It took me 5 min to furnish it. The best place to live (environment) is toilets, in my house. The rest is empty and the second storey stay infurnished for days and nobody goes their. They have enough place to run at the groung floor. I promise to make screnshots tommorow to show how talented I am and how the house if ugly, Give me a medal !
Test Subject
#87 Old 25th Jun 2005 at 6:08 PM
I build homes based on real house plans and tweek them a bit to make them more sim playable. They are modest from medium to large. Usually 3 bed 3 bath. check them out if you like. I put them on the EA site. My name is lilpeni202. I started to build b/c I couldn't find anything decent for my sims to live in.
Banned
#88 Old 25th Jun 2005 at 6:10 PM
It depends.

If a house is HUGE, I'll just use it for neighborhood aesthetics anyway. If its smaller, it needs to be good.
Lab Assistant
#89 Old 28th Jun 2005 at 4:11 PM
This thread is very interesting to a novice builder like myself. It's nice to know what people want and expect from a lot.
Field Researcher
#90 Old 29th Jun 2005 at 1:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by tabbysgranhag
Having created several hundred houses, none of which I thought was worth uploading (until lately :P) I have found that a real blueprint for a human livable house doesn't work for the sims, and the reason is that sims don't work, or move, or cooperate like living folks. Sims get in each others' way, and will not do the "after you dance." They rant about having to walk around things. Putting 6 dining chairs at the table usually ends up in a sim being trapped and you have to delete the table to get s/him ors/her out. We cant double duty space in the game eg. the phone needs its own wall section with nothing in front of it, because sims won't reach over objects to get to it. SO the houses need to be a bit bigger than human scale. I did a Greene and Greene (my favorite architechs of all time) house and it was unplayable. My sims jammed up in the narrow stairs (the servants' back hall stairs) and one actually starved to death when I left the game running while I made supper. I love to see what is being designed on this site, and will follow this sub-forum with great interest. Tabbysgranhag

Correct the path finding in the sims2 is terrible and un-logical. You must use double stairs and two tiles spaces everywhere you will have more then one sim at a time, sims don’t understand that you can follow somebody up a staircase. You need two dishwashers because if one sim is stacking the dishwasher the next in queue will wash the dishes manually instead of waiting a second. Think they should patch the path finding routines in the game; the staircases should be simple to fix with using no collision detection in them, sims walk them and can not stop in staircases and can meet in them so I see no reason to limit them to one sim at a time. You also have object problems you need place for all items and space around them to avoid problems.
I tend to make large houses, to get room for all items and to avoid problems. All the items you use also take up room, more so if you use reward objects and all sort of custom items. But I usually end up making the houses to big.
Most of the default houses look like real houses but don’t fit in the game because you need more space and many of the objects you need are large. For poor large familes I end up placing lots of stuff outdoor.
Scholar
#91 Old 2nd Jul 2005 at 3:50 AM
Maybe what I did in making housing is a little bit strange, I make the foundation first, then I buy most of the furnitures and arrage them on the foundation. Then I make walls. So I'm not thinking alot about the facade.
Field Researcher
#92 Old 2nd Jul 2005 at 5:42 PM
When i first got the game I was designing mansions and modern homes, large windows three or four levels high, and it was great but so unplayable. even though the rooms were large and looked good, it took forever to tell anyone to go anywhere, by the time one sim got to the loo on the top floor, well you can imagine. now I stick to two floors at the most, and simple layouts, no hallways. Much easier to play.
Guest
#93 Old 8th Jul 2005 at 1:01 PM
I find it hard to make lots with super large houses on them - simply because I am lacking furniture to put in them! I mean, what's the point in having three media rooms, when the Sims only use the one that is closest to them (usually the one near the kitchen or bathroom)?
Test Subject
#94 Old 8th Jul 2005 at 1:16 PM
I've been building houses for The Sims 2 for a while now just like Nina. I've learned to make a house as easy as possible for a sim to get around in.

I used to just make mid sized homes and use house plans as a base. Now I've streched out a little and I'm making "Mansion" sized homes, some of them are built looking at a floorplan too.

I always make sure I add an extra opening here or an extra staircase there depending on what I think the traffic could be for that area. Another thing I make sure of is that the file size isn't stupendous!! And also I always double check for hacks, occasionally you may find one of my custom walls in there but that's about it!

If you want to check out my mansions feel free to check them out at my site (in my sig) and if there's anything you want to suggest feel free to do so. My mansions are under Themes > Gone with the Wind.

Sims 2 downloads at www.simmetrical.com
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