Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 29th Jun 2009 at 6:52 PM
modular stairs and staircases
Dear builders,
after playing some days the sims3 I now wanted to enlarge my sims home.
When I began to play I built a u-shaped staircase. A little tricky but it worked. Now I wanted to add stairs the same way to a second floor.
I tried the whole night and the whole day. But I can't manage it.
The modular stairs just don't want to take place the way I want them to do.
I tried on empty lots from scratch on, no chance ...
I really hate those big, ugly stairs that come with the game. And I love the nice staircases you could build with the modular stairs and the cfe-cheat.
I searched the forum here, but I couldn't find some help.
Please - if anyone has an idea let me - and others - know. Don't let me die as stupid as I'm now.

btw I don't know what EA was thinking, when they did the building-section. Imo it's worse than ever ...
Advertisement
Test Subject
#2 Old 30th Jun 2009 at 10:39 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsjeanie
Dear builders,
after playing some days the sims3 I now wanted to enlarge my sims home.
When I began to play I built a u-shaped staircase. A little tricky but it worked. Now I wanted to add stairs the same way to a second floor.
I tried the whole night and the whole day. But I can't manage it.
The modular stairs just don't want to take place the way I want them to do.
I tried on empty lots from scratch on, no chance ...
I really hate those big, ugly stairs that come with the game. And I love the nice staircases you could build with the modular stairs and the cfe-cheat.
I searched the forum here, but I couldn't find some help.
Please - if anyone has an idea let me - and others - know. Don't let me die as stupid as I'm now.

btw I don't know what EA was thinking, when they did the building-section. Imo it's worse than ever ...


That's why I am not keen on building in The Sims 3, such a huge disappointment! I had some great plans for building but I find the building tools far too limiting, so back to Sims 2 for that I think.
In the Arena
retired moderator
#3 Old 12th Jul 2009 at 10:51 AM
have you solved this?
simsjeanie, have you figured this out? the staircases in TS3 require flooring on the lower floor (not just the landing tile), unlike in TS2 where you only need the top and bottom landing.
Lab Assistant
#4 Old 12th Jul 2009 at 3:15 PM
I figured it out, although to me it seems like chance. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I managed to build a U shaped staircase going down to the basement and up to the second floor. Half a wall is six clicks. I'll make a tutorial if you want.
Test Subject
#5 Old 12th Jul 2009 at 3:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Darim
I figured it out, although to me it seems like chance. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I managed to build a U shaped staircase going down to the basement and up to the second floor. Half a wall is six clicks. I'll make a tutorial if you want.





Yes, please make a tutorial on this.
Me? Sarcastic? Never.
staff: administrator
#6 Old 12th Jul 2009 at 3:35 PM
Half a wall is 6 clicks? I suspect it is really 8 just like TS2. A wall height is 16, modular stairs are 4. The easiest method for lowering the ground is not the terrain tool, but just placing a modular stair and sinking the ground.


eta: Tutorials for all kinds of split level stairs. Applies to TS2 and TS3.

http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/tutorials.html
Lab Assistant
#7 Old 12th Jul 2009 at 6:05 PM
Well, at least in my TS3 I have to use three clicks + a foundation to make the U stairs. That gives me the reason to believe that walls are 12 clicks high in total. As you've probably noticed though, the wall height and foundation height does not add up, so foundations might still be 4 clicks, but they stretch.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 17th Jul 2009 at 6:49 AM
Quote: Originally posted by HugeLunatic
eta: Tutorials for all kinds of split level stairs. Applies to TS2 and TS3.

http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/tutorials.html


The tutorial for advanced circular stairs doesnt work in TS3. You can get 3 4-step stairs but it refuses to connect the 3rd to the fourth. Same happens if you try to use two 8-step stairs. I just spent 3 hours trying to get this with no luck.

Darim could you give some screenshots of this u-shaped stair you built? I want to see if it's what I'm trying to do...
In the Arena
retired moderator
#9 Old 17th Jul 2009 at 7:29 PM
I could link 8-step stairs from ground floor to a level-3 house, but not higher (yet) - see screenshots. I've also packaged up some pics if the thumbnails were not clear.
Screenshots
Attached files:
File Type: rar  Tutorial - TS3 Modular Stairs.rar (1.25 MB, 520 downloads) - View custom content
Description: More step-by-step instructions than the thumbnails
Lab Assistant
#10 Old 18th Jul 2009 at 1:23 AM
Thanks, I'll try that out later.
Me? Sarcastic? Never.
staff: administrator
#11 Old 18th Jul 2009 at 1:59 AM
I believe the the max height is 5 floors, and with those stairs you do have 5 floors, it's just that 2 of them are landings. But they are still considered floors.
Site Helper
#12 Old 21st Jul 2009 at 5:56 PM
Quote: Originally posted by callumny
Is anyone successfully using clicks? It might work for some people; could have to do with mouse sensitivity.
No, I have found myself completely unable to get a consistent number of clicks using the mouse. It's so frustrating; EA has really ruined this feature.
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#13 Old 21st Jul 2009 at 6:38 PM
ellacharm3d, would you mind reposting your tutorial in a separate thread? This is something a lot of people are struggling with in TS3 -- how to get stackable stairs to work --, and if it were in a thread of its own it would be easier to find (and could be moved to the proper tutorials section by itself).

Also, can you doublecheck whether you've packaged everything you think? I just downloaded it and looked at the contents; here's what's in the rar for me:

outcome.jpg
27placingFences.jpg
26cleanup.jpg
25levelRoof.jpg
23removeATile.jpg
20removeSlopedTile.jpg
24placeStairs.jpg
22levelPink.jpg
21placeStairs.jpg
19levelBlueLanding.jpg
18addATile.jpg
17putColumn.jpg
16deleteSloped_a.jpg
15cantPlaceStairs.jpg
14placeStairs_b.jpg
14placeStairs_a.jpg
1StepCount.jpg

There are no pictures 2-13, hence why I'm unsure whether there's something missing.


Also, I agree it's hard to get used to the fact we can't use clicks as a measurement anymore .. the entire logic is opposite to how it was in TS2: it used to be impossible to elevate terrain to anything *but* integer numbers of clicks in TS2, now it seems to be based on float values instead with no way to get integer values short of digging holes with stairs. Which wouldn't be so bad, except that it limits everything to multiples of four =(.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Site Helper
#14 Old 21st Jul 2009 at 7:00 PM
Actually, both TS2 and TS3 use floating point elevations. The difference is that the game used to make it simple to choose a specific number of clicks and now they don't; ie, EA decided to break that ability in exchange for a more "organic" look. A very poor trade-off, if you ask me.
Test Subject
#15 Old 22nd Jul 2009 at 1:56 AM
I had the same problem with getting the last set to connect. I deleted all of the stairs and tried the 4th one (the highest one) first, then the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st. I tried different orders until it worked. (2nd, 1st, 4th, 3rd was the order that worked.) I don’t know if the order is what made the difference, though. Now it works no matter what I do, so I can’t duplicate the problem. I tried a new lot, even re-started my game. Maybe someone else can experiment with it?

Once I solved that, (or rather, it solved itself), I had circular stairs going from the first floor to the second floor.

However, I couldn’t get them to continue to the third floor. After a good deal of trial and error, I figured it out. When you connect two different floors, there has to be flooring under the entire staircase, not just the landing. See the blue tiles? (You can delete them after placing the stairs.)

To place the needed flooring, I had to delete the first two sets of stairs and the first landing, so that I could build a wall to support the flooring. Then I placed the upper stairs, deleted the extra flooring and wall, and replaced the stairs and landing I had deleted. Finally, I had a multi-floor circular staircase!

Unfortunately, my Sims can’t use the multi-level one. They go up the first four steps and come right back down again. Sigh.
In the Arena
retired moderator
#16 Old 25th Jul 2009 at 3:22 PM
Sorry, guys, I think the order was mixed up somewhere in the middle there. I didn't use all my screenshots detailing from step 1 to last - thus the missing numbers. I started with a Word doc, but I thought putting the instructions directly on the pics was easier, and got the pics mixed up with the instructions.

I have since build a house around the stairwell I used for this series. I'll see if I can put together the tutorial properly.

stay tuned....
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#17 Old 25th Jul 2009 at 4:21 PM
It woule be very nice of you if you could make a quick post here:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=2737209

when your tutorial is up, since I'm linking to this thread (for now) in that. Or alternatively, post here, since I have this subscribed as well. Thank you!

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
In the Arena
retired moderator
#18 Old 26th Jul 2009 at 7:39 PM
For those who need a step-by-step guide for 8-steps modular stairs in Sims 3, here's a how-to-guide, containing :
  1. [Tutorial] U-shape 5-level Modular Stairs.pdf
  2. demo.flv

in the rar file (apologize for crappy video quality, evaluating some video capture tools)

The screenshots I did for my previous post only had 2 levels that worked right in-game, because of the stair overlapping issue. This time, I staggered them so the stairwell needs to be bigger.

If your Sims refuse to climb the stairs, I find that it helped to level each section of floor (avoiding the stairwell). I got some houses to work this way, after much troubleshooting, when I noticed the floor tiles (those that have patterns) seemed 'wavy'.

Let me know if there're mistakes in the pdf. (..rushed job)
Screenshots
Attached files:
File Type: rar  modular stairs.rar (4.49 MB, 258 downloads) - View custom content
Description: contains pdf and flv
Test Subject
#19 Old 14th Aug 2009 at 5:01 PM
ellacharm3d:

great tutorial, I can place stairs above 2nd storey with no problem, but I'm runing into the same issue with callumny

Quote:
Unfortunately, my Sims can’t use the multi-level one. They go up the first four steps and come right back down again. Sigh.


I tried your suggestion of leveling the tiles to eliminate the 'wavy' thing, but no use.

is there anything i missed??
In the Arena
retired moderator
#20 Old 21st Aug 2009 at 3:39 AM
dancercl,
that happens to me too! I have no idea why sometimes the stairs are not accessible from one landing to the next when previous tests were fine. I found the workaround of removing and re-adding it sometimes works; PIA, I know, with all the CFEs you'd need to redo..
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#21 Old 18th Sep 2009 at 3:25 PM
This game ist driving me mad!
After weeks of no-simming because I was so frustrated I reread this post yesterday and tried again. And I finally managed to build a nice split-levelled staircase from the basement to the roof over four floors.
And then my sims couldn't use them. They get up one floor and then complain staying on the stairs.
When I remove the stair above it's no problem. There must be a kind of invisible border that debar the sims from walking through.
I put my poor test-sim on top of the roof (with moveObjects on) and told him to walk down. He vanished but suddenly he appeared at the first floor.
Do you think this may be, because the stairs create their walls under by their own? I deliberately left a gap in the walls, so the stairs showed self-supporting. But maybe the game thinks, that there would be a wall ...
Test Subject
#22 Old 25th Sep 2009 at 8:21 PM
I was referred to here from a picture on google...

Its the one of the stairs having a spiraling upward effect but with only a 1X1 square in the middle, so overall the stairs take up a 3X3 square...
This is the EXACT kind of staircase I need and cannot find a tutorial to show me how to do it! can anyone help me??

Plus... ellacharm3D...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE your changing picture thingy! Fringe is one of the greatest shows ever!!!!

The Sims 3 + Me = AWESOME
In the Arena
retired moderator
#23 Old 25th Sep 2009 at 9:27 PM
minimelo649,
there's a circular (somewhat) stair tutorial by Patul - check the Wiki or search his member name. Is that what you wanted?

The way TS3 is programmed, stairs cannot overlap as in TS2, so a small stairwell will not work if you go more the 2/3 levels high (depending on how many landings you use).

Bit off topic: ya, am into paranormal. My faves are Charmed, (as if you can't guess, ) Supernatural, Fringe, X-Files, etc...but let's not get side-tracked here.
Test Subject
#24 Old 26th Sep 2009 at 12:39 PM
YES!! That exactly what I needed! Im not worried about the extra tiles to the side, cuz Im gonna need to shove doors up there somehow! lol! Thanks so much Ellacharm!

The Sims 3 + Me = AWESOME
The other one
#25 Old 5th Oct 2009 at 2:18 AM
Quote: Originally posted by ellacharm3d
@plasticbox, tutorial up. I posted it here

I'm still trying to get the smallest stairwell possible in Sims 3, that 6x6 stairwell area is too big for my starter houses' floorplans. Smallest footprint so far for a 3-level house is 4x4, to counteract the overlapping limitation. I've been reading all you guys' tips and going over TS2 stuff again to get inspiration.

@tchoa91, great job, you catch on fast!
I had to re-do and bulldoze and rebuild countless times when I started doing this circular and split-level stuff even back in Sims 2 when using CFE and modular stairs were relatively easier


Maybe I am miss-interpreting what your goal is (I'm on a work pc at the mo *shhhh* so can't download your tutorial to have a look) but just going off the two pics I think I may have the basis for a smaller footprint stairwell.

I have 2 uploads with circular stairwells (1x closed, 1x open) that take up only 3x3 squares. I only did them to go up one level but I'm confident I could do numerous levels and the sims go up and down them just fine. Can see them here: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=365480

All that said and done I'm sure I've seen a 2x6 multi level stairwell.
Page 1 of 2
Back to top