Hey Zoo! I've been lurking this thread for a while and I'm excited to see a lecture on CFE (with which I am god aweful at :XD: ) by a good friend, Svlyn. Just letting you know, if you ever need any help teaching landscaping, I'm your guy! Doing yardwork for most of your life really gives a good eye for stuff like that.
I am having tech difficulties with photobucket none of my images are displaying It has taken me 12 hours to make what i have and now it does not work. I dont know what to do. I have a lot more lessons to make and now reworking this lesson might make it impossible for me to get done in time for this weeks lesson. I am very frustrated atm. I will talk to you about this zoo. I am going to see if i can fix this. But now i am not certain i will be done in time for saturdays lesson. I was already behind. I will keep you posted.
I would be interested in learning building and use of the cheats. Dabbled in it a bit but still have a looooong way to go.
I am definitely one of those who will have to look in when convenient. So will these online class stay up for awhile?
ccrhymes
Unless someone at the website deletes them, these lessons will stay up forever!
Charicharn, there is a first course (Building a Farm) that has a lot about building and some good uses of cheats, the links are all in post one of this thread if you are interested.
Charicharn and Niac: I will add you both to the class rosters so that we know to contact you if there is any sort of change in plans. Charicharn, I will also send you a friend request (Niac and I are old friends already) and if you will accept it then I can communicate on your comments.
What is the next lesson?? I want to sign up is the right forum?
It is absolutely the right forum and Welcome to Zoo U!
Sparkle, if you will look at the very first post in this thread it will tell you both about the current course (we have had one lesson and hope to have the second one this weekend) AND there are links to the first course (Building a Farm) which was three lessons.
You do NOT have to take the first course before this one, BUT you should do the first lesson on CFE before the one coming up.
I present my lesson and you attend and do the projects during the two hour time alloted and I will be here to assist with any questions and we have a discussion if you need it. I will try to answer your questions as best I can. I hope that helps.
I present my lesson and you attend and do the projects during the two hour time alloted and I will be here to assist with any questions and we have a discussion if you need it. I will try to answer your questions as best I can. I hope that helps.
with your pics, where you resizing them via html codes? Cause i've been having trouble with that, but if you just slap down the direct like in the img tags it should work. You might need to resize all your pics though.
with your pics, where you resizing them via html codes? Cause i've been having trouble with that, but if you just slap down the direct like in the img tags it should work. You might need to resize all your pics though.
Thanks, VG! I think Svlyn has it figured out now, but we can always use more help!
I present my lesson and you attend and do the projects during the two hour time alloted and I will be here to assist with any questions and we have a discussion if you need it. I will try to answer your questions as best I can. I hope that helps.
ok thanks! I can't wait!
Sparkle, I was going to send you a friend request (so that I could message you if there was problem or a change in class time or something) but it looks like your page is hidden. If that is a mistake you should check your settings.
Hey Zoo! I've been lurking this thread for a while and I'm excited to see a lecture on CFE (with which I am god aweful at :XD: ) by a good friend, Svlyn. Just letting you know, if you ever need any help teaching landscaping, I'm your guy! Doing yardwork for most of your life really gives a good eye for stuff like that.
OH wow Niac i would love a landscaping class from you. I think your pretty close to a master builder too..lol i like it that your encouraging me..lol
i would like to announce that i am really happy because i am ready for tomorrows class. lol PHEW. Photobucket hates me.
YAY!! Looking forward to it! I may actually have to be one of those people who does the class after it is no longer "live". I have unexpected company coming tonight and don't know how long they will stay.
About Photobucket: I kept getting notices that I was about to exceed my storage space on Photobucket and I finally broke down and purchased a paid account (which comes with unlimited storage). I haven't noticed it being as twitchy and hard to get along with since I went from free to paid. Maybe that is just my imagination and the next time I try to use it, it will be a disaster, but so far so good. *crosses fingers*
COURSE: Constrained floor elevation or CFE 101 class 2 Arches Part One
Class times
Saturday Feb 25
6:00pm to 8:00pm PST
****Please note i am pushing back the next class to
Saturday March 10
6;00 to 8:00 pm PST
Sorry for any inconvience.
I will be announcing class times on March 10 as i am now assuming one to two more classes are needed to fully cover CFE.
TODAYS FOCUS
Today you will learn semi arched, arched, and advanced multilevel arched bridge making. As well as simple pillar and fence arches, small gazebos and even how to make an arched garage. You will learn the steps that will allow you manipulate these technigues into any build you like you make. My goal in this class is to teach to technigues so you can make your own creations using CFE. I don't want carbon copies of what i make or others make. That's not the focus. My hope is to given you the buildings tools you need to make CFE active part of your builds. After today I would like to see you all use more arches in your builds. For those of you who are more advanced remember this is a beginner to beyond class. Hopefully you will learn a trick or two but this course is designed to introduce everyone to CFE and have us all use it in our creations.
Arches can be:
Bridges
Entrance ways
Ceilings
Patio Coverings
Gazebos
Pool coverings
Airship hulls
The Roofs of cathedrals
Biodomes (have not made one yet..lol but it could be)
But first, I would like a quick review on what we learned last week and also to reinforce the rules of CFE.
Last week we learned that a floor elevation can be between foundation level up to two stories in height. We learned that doors do not work in anything above two stories so careful planning is needed if you want to make an elevation higher then a story, also remember only once set of windows can be put per elevation. We also learned that you can vary the elevation of a level. We can frame a house with a fence or very the base height of a house for effect. As a rule i generally stick with foundation height for a house but there are times, as with my Caribbean Colonial, that using a fence and elevatiing the house just makes sence.
Now it's time to review the rules of the CFE which we will always review because I really want to make it clear to you that you can avoid a lot of pitfalls of CFE by following the rules.
RULES OF CFE:
1. CFE has height restrictions. The lowest level a elevation can be at is a foundation level otherwise known a 4 click level.
The highest a level equals two full wall elevations. No higher. You can pick any elevation between these to levels for your floor level.
2. Always lay down floor tile before you start leveling a structure above one story.
3 Doors should be placed right after you finish your main CFE construction. Check see there there is an opening where the door intersects the wall.
4. Check for missing floor tiles before you add rooms to your home. After you have made your room using CFE always angle the camera up to check for FLY AWAY FLOOR TILES and holes in ceilings. There is nothing worse then completing your build and starting to colour you celings and finding huge holes so you always want to check for these first and colour you ceilings first before you have added walls to your structure. I generally use white and change the colours afterwards i decide on colour opitions for each room. To colour the ceiling i use the white carpet and angle the camera up, click on the "colour all tab" and the game will colour every ceiling tile on that level level. Often this one action will fix any fly away tile issues. If it does not you need to find that tile and delete it, rely it, and then colour the ceiling again. ALWAYS Tripple check your lot for fly away tiles.
5. Stairs are ALWAYS placed LAST. Stairs can become unuseabal for sims when CFE is used so it's important to place them last to make sure this does not happen.
6. When making an arched roof paint your roof and ceiling textures BEFORE molding your roof. To recolour your Ceiling just click on a tile you have left that is Flat as angles tiles are not able to be recoloured. Recolour the flat tile and all the tiles in the ceiling will change colour.
7. Elevate walls higher rather then lower, while both work just fine, higher walls look a lot nicer in game.
8. Add lights to half levels to make it look like part of the room at night. I use buydebug lights because i have WA. If you don'.t have this expansion i think you can add ordinary wall lights and lower them.
9. Always turn off the cheat when your finished.
If you looked at the two lots I listed, The Rosweallean http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3780055 and Scurvy Devil http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3721674you will see that i built these without any rules and they are a mess, broken floor tiles, no roofs, holes in the ceilings, fly away tiles. I am actaully embarrassed by the Roweallean, I have been trying to rework it lately for Lunar Lakes but it's such a disaster that I am not sure i can. Tbh I would rip it down if it were not my only feature. Which kind of makes it even more shameful. Btw the garage door is on backwards too LOL. But both of those builds are excellent examples of what can go WRONG with CFE. IF you have not already please look at them from every angle, especially up towards to ceilings. It would be educational:)
ACTIVATING THE CHEAT:
Enter in control+shift+c
A grey rectangular type box will appear at the top of your screen.
Click inside that box and a text curser will appear.
Type in Constrainfloorelevation false, you are now able to manipulate floor elevations.
To undo this cheat, type Constrainfloorelevation true (Do not play the game with CFE activated as this will cause problems and stick your sims, always remember to turn it off after you have finished using it in your build).
LESSON ONE - BRIDGES
First lesson today will be on arched bridge. Bridge arches can very and be built using a few similar but varied methods.
First bridge we are going to make is a really ez larger...semi arched bridge (feel free to skip this lesson if your more advanced, but you might want to check out multilevel bridges:))
SEMI-ARCHED BRIDGE
This first arch is a semi arch and you can use this on lots such as my Mistletoe Farms to make a long extended bridge, it just looks more releatistic then a bridge built on two foundations and left straight. Here is an example picture of what this kind of bridge looks like on a lot.
How to make a bridge like this:
1.Start off with a foundation. I used a 8x3 but you can make it larger or smaller depending on pond or river size you wish to cross. Take your time with building the mound and always remember you can use conrol+z to back track in cause you don't like the height of the mound you just made. I try for a one click height.
2. Now build a mound a few squares away from the foundation. Use the raise elevation tool and i like the small square brush. Rememeber that you can use control+z to undo your terrain modifications if you feel they are too heigh or too low. Dont worry about the top of the mound being level at this point.
3. Phew, once you get the mound fully formed it should look similar to the picture below. Now take the foundation tool and build a foundation on the top of the newly formed mound.
4. Start at your desired height and work to the edge of the mound. Remember you vary the height by increasing the height of your mound, if fact, you can make your bridge up to two stories heigh but i doubt sims could cross it because the angle would be too step, always keep that in mind when using CFE.
And and add some more foundation if you need too.
5. Now Add flooring. (Any type of flooring will do. It does not matter.
6. Enter the Cheat. If you dont remember how here is a refresher:
Enter in control+shift+c. A grey rectangular type box will appear at the top of your screen. Click inside that box and a text curser will appear. Type in Constrainfloorelevation false, you are now able to manipulate your floor elevations.
7. Select the elevation tool, it's time to level up your bridge.
You should end up with something that looks like this.
8. Now it's time to remove your foundation under the flooring while keeping the flooring intact. But first you must deactive the cheat by entering in: Constrainfloorelevation true. Now select one square of the foundation with the demo tool, and highlight a straight line across and delete. First thing you will notice is the flooring will delete but you can just relay your flooring, do so right now.
9. Continue removing foundation all the way across the bridge.
10. You should end up with something that looks like this:
11. Enter in Constrainfloorelevation false again. Now use the the leveling tool to level off off each end of the bridge.
You should end up with something that looks like this:
12. Now CHECK YOUR CEILING and paint them, I use white rug tile and the paint all opinion. If there are any holes this will usually fix them imediately and the circle around your bridge with your camera angled up to check for flying floor tiles(the picture belows shows what it should look like. If you downloaded and looked at my Lot the Roweallean (http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3780055) you will know exactly what to look for. If there are no flying floor tiles and your ceiling is painted it's time to enter in Constrainfloorelevation true. NOTE: This step when using CFE is SO VERY important and will save you so much fixing time in the end. I think master builders use this all the time, where the rest of us struggle for hours or even days trying to fix issues with CFE ceilings after we already finished decoring. ALWAYS PAINT CIELINGS FIRST BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!! Check them for fly away floor tiles and holes. Save yourself time and trouble. I know i wish i knew this from the beginning but you guys will:) Getting off my soap box now><.
13. Now its time to add fencing and stairs.
14. Get rid of the extra foundation and mound.
15. Time to add water, and some foliage.
Congratz, for some of you just made your first semi arched bridge and basically the technigue for a fully arched bridge is very much the same. Check out the toturials below:)
ARCHED BRIDGES (Two methods)
Watch this vid made by thelighterdark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eK5gznR56A
This is an example of how to make a basic small arched bridge, if you dont know how follow the instructions and build an arched bridge. The tutorial is pretty basic, similar to one above only there is more of an arch in the bridge.
Try to make a bridge using this technique. Remember to always work on your structures and fine tune them to make them look nice and well rounded. I never use to do this and it makes all the difference in the world and master builders spend a lot of time making their work smooth looking and you should too. I use to rush my work because i wanted to get stuff up fast, now i know better. I would rather share a studio with ten really good houses with no mistakes then 200 sloopy builds. So always check and double check and play music and relax while you enjoy making a creation using CFE.
MULITILEVEL BRIDGES (Advanced)
Now for Mulitlevel Bridges which uses all the similar techniques as the arched bridge. You can make Mulitlevel bridges also, watch this vid and be amased as I was. I always learn something teaching this class it's awesome.
watch this tutorial by Asante http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqfCGqdZllE
For the purpose of this build we are going to start on 15 Summer Hill Court, Sunset Valley. This is a 60 by 60 lot so there is going to be a lot room to experiment. Bear with me i have never tried to make a bridge like this and I am so excited to try and teach it.
MAKING A FLOATING CATWALK
First, I am going to show you how to make a floating catwalk so you are able to make one for the mulitlevel bridge that will be making next.
1. start with a foundation.
2. Add flooring to your foundation.
3. Hightlight two rows of foundation with the demo tool and delete them. The reason why i delete two rows is usually the flooring will not drop out. I find if you use more then two rows flooring will drop away and it can be a hassale trying to fill in an empty square with no support. Best to just avoid that and take more steps instead.
4. Fill in the deleted sqaures of foundation with floor tiles. Go on to the next two rows and fill in floor tiles and repeat.
Until you get something that looks like this:
5. now delete each foundatin end and you will finally end up with a floating Catwalk.
Please ignore my typoes..jeez..lol "reedy".
Now that you have your floating Catwalk your ready to make a...
MULTILEVEL BRIDGE
This is very first time i ever tried to make anything like this. It took me quiet few tries to get something that was presentable so if this is your first time trying this don't panic. Remember practice makes perfect and try try again like i did.
1. Type in moveobjects true cheat and place down a pillar.
2. Now raise your terrian around your newly placed pillar.
3. Look at the last frame of the picture above, notice i have found a square of terrian which is close to the level the pillar. Now i flatten the hills i have just made to the level of the pillar. Or as close to it as i can get. Make sure to remove the pillar in the process.
4. Check out the front of your lot, it should look similar to the picture below.
5. Time to add foundation
6. Use the lower terrian tool to lower terrian beside your new foundation. I like to use the large square brush for this.(Gental slope)
7. Add another foundation, and begin to make another level(steeper slope).
8. Time to start the next level(steeper slope)
9. The next level(gental slope)
10. Add the last foundation, use two squares in row instead of one.
11. Enter in Constrainfloorelevation false.
12.
13. CHECK CEILINGS AND PAINT THEM!!!!!!
14. Add some stuff..lol
15. Time to clean up the lot and get it ready for whatever else you decide to put on it.
LESSON TWO - GARDEN GAZEBOS, ARCHES, AND COVERED GARAGES.
SMALL GAZEBO
Now that you can pretty much build any bridge out there. I am going to show you how to make a simple gazebo.
To do this lesson we are going to start it on 99 Landgrab ave in Sunset Valley.
1. start with a 2x2 square room.
2. Enter in Moveobjects true
3.add fencing on the top floor.
4. Elevation a mound make new elevation wall, and type in Constrainfloorelevation false.
Your should have something that looks like this now
5. Now..
6. CHECKING CEILING and paint it.
You should end up with something that looks like this.
7. Now lower the edges.
you should have something that looks like this:
8. Remember to double check your ceilings
9. Enter Constrainfloorelevation true
SIMPLE ARCHE FENCE COMBINATION
Now for a simple arch and fence combination(in the interest of saving time we are going to just add this to the lot that we are working on.
1. Your moveobjects cheat should still be active but if it is not enter in moveobjects true.
2. Now make a wall and add two pillars like the image below.
3. Now add a fence on your top level.
4. Delete the fence inbetween the two pillars.
5. Raise Terrian.
6. Now add a leveling wall on top of the mound.
7. Now level the fencing up.
8. Use the terrian tool and level the end of the fence over one of the pillars down.
Note how nicely the pillar and the fence meet now. Also remember control+z is your friend. Always back track if you go down to deep or are too shallow.
9. Do the same for the other side.
10. Enter in Constrainfloorelevation true. Now move the pillar and level the terrian.
Do the same for the other side and then move the pillars back in place. You should now have something that looks like this:
11. Enter in constrainfloorelevation true and moveobjects true.
OPEN AIR GARAGE WITH ARCHES AND ARCHED CEILING:
1. For speed of lesson we are going to continue to use the same lot. Make a small house with fencing and three pillars off the side. Look at my example.
2. Now level the edge of the garage like so..
The lot should look like this now..
3. Now level the center of the garage up by using the old pillar we build to level the gazebo up.
You should have something that looks like this now.
4. Time to add a car.
BEEP BEEP!!!
5. You can make it covered too, simply by adding flooring,and remolding it again. Note when you add the flooring it will flatten the arch you just made.
6. PAINT THE CIELINGS and check for holes.
7. mold the ceiling.
You should end up with a covered garage that looks like this:
8. Turn off your cheats:)
Btw you dont have arch it, but i would always suggest that you have the fencing insert into the posts for better realizm.
FUN ASSIGNMENT
Basically you know how to make arches, baby gazebos, arched ceilings, vary your floor levels, modify your foundation to fencing and make every kind of bridge possible now. I want you to have fun and make a ruined building. Make sure it has at least one arch, that arch can be mangled too, and your structure is on varied terrian. You use one window and door and see what happens to them when you modify the walls around them. Have fun with this,share your finished creations. Make them weird, warped and wild. They are ruins after all, get a feel for molding structures, CFE is a lot like clay. See how it bends and twists things. Also notice how ez it is to place stairs with CFE on. Also, when your plaining this structure decide on what siding looks best some sidings do now work with warped walls.
Here is my example.
I hope you have fun with yours and decide to share it with us:)
Thank you for attending today, I hope you learnt something. I was going to cover arched ceiling inside a house and a base of an airship, which is basically a reverse arch but i have run out of time. So that is were we will pick up next lesson. We will also cover arched house entrances, i know many of you want to build spainish style homes. We are hopefully going to work towards doing more complex ceilings also. I also think waterslides would be fun too. But for now, experiment with what you have learned, believe it or not you now know a lot about CFE. I hope you feel comfortable using it. See you on Saturday March 10 6;00 to 8:00 pm. Till then have fun and start to experiment with CFE.
Here is something to think about...how can you modify a tiny gazebo into a rose garden path? Hmmm..I will show you next time also if you don;t figure it out on your own:) Thanks again for attending.
I present my lesson and you attend and do the projects during the two hour time alloted and I will be here to assist with any questions and we have a discussion if you need it. I will try to answer your questions as best I can. I hope that helps.
ok thanks! I can't wait!
Sparkle, I was going to send you a friend request (so that I could message you if there was problem or a change in class time or something) but it looks like your page is hidden. If that is a mistake you should check your settings.
I don't like to FR people I just check forums, thanks though!
Svlyn, I'm here! I'm glad I am because I got something from the third tutorial video that will help me (I think) on a building problem I have been wrestling with. If it works as I hope I will post a picture!
Comments
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2
I would be interested in learning building and use of the cheats. Dabbled in it a bit but still have a looooong way to go.
I am definitely one of those who will have to look in when convenient. So will these online class stay up for awhile?
ccrhymes
Unless someone at the website deletes them, these lessons will stay up forever!
Charicharn, there is a first course (Building a Farm) that has a lot about building and some good uses of cheats, the links are all in post one of this thread if you are interested.
Charicharn and Niac: I will add you both to the class rosters so that we know to contact you if there is any sort of change in plans. Charicharn, I will also send you a friend request (Niac and I are old friends already) and if you will accept it then I can communicate on your comments.
Zoo
I don't know what is up with Photobucket. The link you gave me sent me right to your album, no problem, and all the image codes displayed.
Let's see if it will let me post one of your pictures:
If this works, I may have to help you get the photos for your lesson uploaded (which I absolutely will).
Zoo
It is absolutely the right forum and Welcome to Zoo U!
Sparkle, if you will look at the very first post in this thread it will tell you both about the current course (we have had one lesson and hope to have the second one this weekend) AND there are links to the first course (Building a Farm) which was three lessons.
You do NOT have to take the first course before this one, BUT you should do the first lesson on CFE before the one coming up.
I will put you on our class roster!
Zoo
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2
Thanks, VG! I think Svlyn has it figured out now, but we can always use more help!
Sparkle, I was going to send you a friend request (so that I could message you if there was problem or a change in class time or something) but it looks like your page is hidden. If that is a mistake you should check your settings.
OH wow Niac i would love a landscaping class from you. I think your pretty close to a master builder too..lol i like it that your encouraging me..lol
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2
YAY!! Looking forward to it! I may actually have to be one of those people who does the class after it is no longer "live". I have unexpected company coming tonight and don't know how long they will stay.
About Photobucket: I kept getting notices that I was about to exceed my storage space on Photobucket and I finally broke down and purchased a paid account (which comes with unlimited storage). I haven't noticed it being as twitchy and hard to get along with since I went from free to paid. Maybe that is just my imagination and the next time I try to use it, it will be a disaster, but so far so good. *crosses fingers*
COURSE: Constrained floor elevation or CFE 101 class 2 Arches Part One
Class times
Saturday Feb 25
6:00pm to 8:00pm PST
****Please note i am pushing back the next class to
Saturday March 10
6;00 to 8:00 pm PST
Sorry for any inconvience.
I will be announcing class times on March 10 as i am now assuming one to two more classes are needed to fully cover CFE.
TODAYS FOCUS
Today you will learn semi arched, arched, and advanced multilevel arched bridge making. As well as simple pillar and fence arches, small gazebos and even how to make an arched garage. You will learn the steps that will allow you manipulate these technigues into any build you like you make. My goal in this class is to teach to technigues so you can make your own creations using CFE. I don't want carbon copies of what i make or others make. That's not the focus. My hope is to given you the buildings tools you need to make CFE active part of your builds. After today I would like to see you all use more arches in your builds. For those of you who are more advanced remember this is a beginner to beyond class. Hopefully you will learn a trick or two but this course is designed to introduce everyone to CFE and have us all use it in our creations.
Arches can be:
Bridges
Entrance ways
Ceilings
Patio Coverings
Gazebos
Pool coverings
Airship hulls
The Roofs of cathedrals
Biodomes (have not made one yet..lol but it could be)
But first, I would like a quick review on what we learned last week and also to reinforce the rules of CFE.
Last week we learned that a floor elevation can be between foundation level up to two stories in height. We learned that doors do not work in anything above two stories so careful planning is needed if you want to make an elevation higher then a story, also remember only once set of windows can be put per elevation. We also learned that you can vary the elevation of a level. We can frame a house with a fence or very the base height of a house for effect. As a rule i generally stick with foundation height for a house but there are times, as with my Caribbean Colonial, that using a fence and elevatiing the house just makes sence.
Now it's time to review the rules of the CFE which we will always review because I really want to make it clear to you that you can avoid a lot of pitfalls of CFE by following the rules.
RULES OF CFE:
1. CFE has height restrictions. The lowest level a elevation can be at is a foundation level otherwise known a 4 click level.
The highest a level equals two full wall elevations. No higher. You can pick any elevation between these to levels for your floor level.
2. Always lay down floor tile before you start leveling a structure above one story.
3 Doors should be placed right after you finish your main CFE construction. Check see there there is an opening where the door intersects the wall.
4. Check for missing floor tiles before you add rooms to your home. After you have made your room using CFE always angle the camera up to check for FLY AWAY FLOOR TILES and holes in ceilings. There is nothing worse then completing your build and starting to colour you celings and finding huge holes so you always want to check for these first and colour you ceilings first before you have added walls to your structure. I generally use white and change the colours afterwards i decide on colour opitions for each room. To colour the ceiling i use the white carpet and angle the camera up, click on the "colour all tab" and the game will colour every ceiling tile on that level level. Often this one action will fix any fly away tile issues. If it does not you need to find that tile and delete it, rely it, and then colour the ceiling again. ALWAYS Tripple check your lot for fly away tiles.
5. Stairs are ALWAYS placed LAST. Stairs can become unuseabal for sims when CFE is used so it's important to place them last to make sure this does not happen.
6. When making an arched roof paint your roof and ceiling textures BEFORE molding your roof. To recolour your Ceiling just click on a tile you have left that is Flat as angles tiles are not able to be recoloured. Recolour the flat tile and all the tiles in the ceiling will change colour.
7. Elevate walls higher rather then lower, while both work just fine, higher walls look a lot nicer in game.
8. Add lights to half levels to make it look like part of the room at night. I use buydebug lights because i have WA. If you don'.t have this expansion i think you can add ordinary wall lights and lower them.
9. Always turn off the cheat when your finished.
If you looked at the two lots I listed, The Rosweallean http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3780055 and Scurvy Devil http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3721674you will see that i built these without any rules and they are a mess, broken floor tiles, no roofs, holes in the ceilings, fly away tiles. I am actaully embarrassed by the Roweallean, I have been trying to rework it lately for Lunar Lakes but it's such a disaster that I am not sure i can. Tbh I would rip it down if it were not my only feature. Which kind of makes it even more shameful. Btw the garage door is on backwards too LOL. But both of those builds are excellent examples of what can go WRONG with CFE. IF you have not already please look at them from every angle, especially up towards to ceilings. It would be educational:)
ACTIVATING THE CHEAT:
Enter in control+shift+c
A grey rectangular type box will appear at the top of your screen.
Click inside that box and a text curser will appear.
Type in Constrainfloorelevation false, you are now able to manipulate floor elevations.
To undo this cheat, type Constrainfloorelevation true (Do not play the game with CFE activated as this will cause problems and stick your sims, always remember to turn it off after you have finished using it in your build).
LESSON ONE - BRIDGES
First lesson today will be on arched bridge. Bridge arches can very and be built using a few similar but varied methods.
First bridge we are going to make is a really ez larger...semi arched bridge (feel free to skip this lesson if your more advanced, but you might want to check out multilevel bridges:))
SEMI-ARCHED BRIDGE
This first arch is a semi arch and you can use this on lots such as my Mistletoe Farms to make a long extended bridge, it just looks more releatistic then a bridge built on two foundations and left straight. Here is an example picture of what this kind of bridge looks like on a lot.
How to make a bridge like this:
1.Start off with a foundation. I used a 8x3 but you can make it larger or smaller depending on pond or river size you wish to cross. Take your time with building the mound and always remember you can use conrol+z to back track in cause you don't like the height of the mound you just made. I try for a one click height.
2. Now build a mound a few squares away from the foundation. Use the raise elevation tool and i like the small square brush. Rememeber that you can use control+z to undo your terrain modifications if you feel they are too heigh or too low. Dont worry about the top of the mound being level at this point.
3. Phew, once you get the mound fully formed it should look similar to the picture below. Now take the foundation tool and build a foundation on the top of the newly formed mound.
4. Start at your desired height and work to the edge of the mound. Remember you vary the height by increasing the height of your mound, if fact, you can make your bridge up to two stories heigh but i doubt sims could cross it because the angle would be too step, always keep that in mind when using CFE.
And and add some more foundation if you need too.
5. Now Add flooring. (Any type of flooring will do. It does not matter.
6. Enter the Cheat. If you dont remember how here is a refresher:
Enter in control+shift+c. A grey rectangular type box will appear at the top of your screen. Click inside that box and a text curser will appear. Type in Constrainfloorelevation false, you are now able to manipulate your floor elevations.
7. Select the elevation tool, it's time to level up your bridge.
You should end up with something that looks like this.
8. Now it's time to remove your foundation under the flooring while keeping the flooring intact. But first you must deactive the cheat by entering in:
Constrainfloorelevation true. Now select one square of the foundation with the demo tool, and highlight a straight line across and delete. First thing you will notice is the flooring will delete but you can just relay your flooring, do so right now.
9. Continue removing foundation all the way across the bridge.
10. You should end up with something that looks like this:
11. Enter in Constrainfloorelevation false again. Now use the the leveling tool to level off off each end of the bridge.
You should end up with something that looks like this:
12. Now CHECK YOUR CEILING and paint them, I use white rug tile and the paint all opinion. If there are any holes this will usually fix them imediately and the circle around your bridge with your camera angled up to check for flying floor tiles(the picture belows shows what it should look like. If you downloaded and looked at my Lot the Roweallean (http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=3780055) you will know exactly what to look for. If there are no flying floor tiles and your ceiling is painted it's time to enter in Constrainfloorelevation true. NOTE: This step when using CFE is SO VERY important and will save you so much fixing time in the end. I think master builders use this all the time, where the rest of us struggle for hours or even days trying to fix issues with CFE ceilings after we already finished decoring. ALWAYS PAINT CIELINGS FIRST BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE!!!!!! Check them for fly away floor tiles and holes. Save yourself time and trouble. I know i wish i knew this from the beginning but you guys will:) Getting off my soap box now><.
13. Now its time to add fencing and stairs.
14. Get rid of the extra foundation and mound.
15. Time to add water, and some foliage.
Congratz, for some of you just made your first semi arched bridge and basically the technigue for a fully arched bridge is very much the same. Check out the toturials below:)
ARCHED BRIDGES (Two methods)
Watch this vid made by thelighterdark
This is an example of how to make a basic small arched bridge, if you dont know how follow the instructions and build an arched bridge. The tutorial is pretty basic, similar to one above only there is more of an arch in the bridge.
MORE PRECISE METHOD OF ARCHED BRIDGES
Now, watch this bridge making technique, i would say this is more precise method of making arched bridges. http://www.thesimsresource.com/tutorials/view-post/post/13173/Creating arched bridges in Sims 3
Try to make a bridge using this technique. Remember to always work on your structures and fine tune them to make them look nice and well rounded. I never use to do this and it makes all the difference in the world and master builders spend a lot of time making their work smooth looking and you should too. I use to rush my work because i wanted to get stuff up fast, now i know better. I would rather share a studio with ten really good houses with no mistakes then 200 sloopy builds. So always check and double check and play music and relax while you enjoy making a creation using CFE.
MULITILEVEL BRIDGES (Advanced)
Now for Mulitlevel Bridges which uses all the similar techniques as the arched bridge. You can make Mulitlevel bridges also, watch this vid and be amased as I was. I always learn something teaching this class it's awesome.
watch this tutorial by Asante
For the purpose of this build we are going to start on 15 Summer Hill Court, Sunset Valley. This is a 60 by 60 lot so there is going to be a lot room to experiment. Bear with me i have never tried to make a bridge like this and I am so excited to try and teach it.
MAKING A FLOATING CATWALK
First, I am going to show you how to make a floating catwalk so you are able to make one for the mulitlevel bridge that will be making next.
1. start with a foundation.
2. Add flooring to your foundation.
3. Hightlight two rows of foundation with the demo tool and delete them. The reason why i delete two rows is usually the flooring will not drop out. I find if you use more then two rows flooring will drop away and it can be a hassale trying to fill in an empty square with no support. Best to just avoid that and take more steps instead.
4. Fill in the deleted sqaures of foundation with floor tiles. Go on to the next two rows and fill in floor tiles and repeat.
Until you get something that looks like this:
5. now delete each foundatin end and you will finally end up with a floating Catwalk.
Please ignore my typoes..jeez..lol "reedy".
Now that you have your floating Catwalk your ready to make a...
MULTILEVEL BRIDGE
This is very first time i ever tried to make anything like this. It took me quiet few tries to get something that was presentable so if this is your first time trying this don't panic. Remember practice makes perfect and try try again like i did.
1. Type in moveobjects true cheat and place down a pillar.
2. Now raise your terrian around your newly placed pillar.
3. Look at the last frame of the picture above, notice i have found a square of terrian which is close to the level the pillar. Now i flatten the hills i have just made to the level of the pillar. Or as close to it as i can get. Make sure to remove the pillar in the process.
4. Check out the front of your lot, it should look similar to the picture below.
5. Time to add foundation
6. Use the lower terrian tool to lower terrian beside your new foundation. I like to use the large square brush for this.(Gental slope)
7. Add another foundation, and begin to make another level(steeper slope).
8. Time to start the next level(steeper slope)
9. The next level(gental slope)
10. Add the last foundation, use two squares in row instead of one.
11. Enter in Constrainfloorelevation false.
12.
13. CHECK CEILINGS AND PAINT THEM!!!!!!
14. Add some stuff..lol
15. Time to clean up the lot and get it ready for whatever else you decide to put on it.
16.
17. Edit terrain.
18. Add a house.
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2
SMALL GAZEBO
Now that you can pretty much build any bridge out there. I am going to show you how to make a simple gazebo.
To do this lesson we are going to start it on 99 Landgrab ave in Sunset Valley.
1. start with a 2x2 square room.
2. Enter in Moveobjects true
3.add fencing on the top floor.
4. Elevation a mound make new elevation wall, and type in Constrainfloorelevation false.
Your should have something that looks like this now
5. Now..
6. CHECKING CEILING and paint it.
You should end up with something that looks like this.
7. Now lower the edges.
you should have something that looks like this:
8. Remember to double check your ceilings
9. Enter Constrainfloorelevation true
SIMPLE ARCHE FENCE COMBINATION
Now for a simple arch and fence combination(in the interest of saving time we are going to just add this to the lot that we are working on.
1. Your moveobjects cheat should still be active but if it is not enter in moveobjects true.
2. Now make a wall and add two pillars like the image below.
3. Now add a fence on your top level.
4. Delete the fence inbetween the two pillars.
5. Raise Terrian.
6. Now add a leveling wall on top of the mound.
7. Now level the fencing up.
8. Use the terrian tool and level the end of the fence over one of the pillars down.
Note how nicely the pillar and the fence meet now. Also remember control+z is your friend. Always back track if you go down to deep or are too shallow.
9. Do the same for the other side.
10. Enter in Constrainfloorelevation true. Now move the pillar and level the terrian.
Do the same for the other side and then move the pillars back in place. You should now have something that looks like this:
11. Enter in constrainfloorelevation true and moveobjects true.
OPEN AIR GARAGE WITH ARCHES AND ARCHED CEILING:
1. For speed of lesson we are going to continue to use the same lot. Make a small house with fencing and three pillars off the side. Look at my example.
2. Now level the edge of the garage like so..
The lot should look like this now..
3. Now level the center of the garage up by using the old pillar we build to level the gazebo up.
You should have something that looks like this now.
4. Time to add a car.
BEEP BEEP!!!
5. You can make it covered too, simply by adding flooring,and remolding it again. Note when you add the flooring it will flatten the arch you just made.
6. PAINT THE CIELINGS and check for holes.
7. mold the ceiling.
You should end up with a covered garage that looks like this:
8. Turn off your cheats:)
Btw you dont have arch it, but i would always suggest that you have the fencing insert into the posts for better realizm.
FUN ASSIGNMENT
Basically you know how to make arches, baby gazebos, arched ceilings, vary your floor levels, modify your foundation to fencing and make every kind of bridge possible now. I want you to have fun and make a ruined building. Make sure it has at least one arch, that arch can be mangled too, and your structure is on varied terrian. You use one window and door and see what happens to them when you modify the walls around them. Have fun with this,share your finished creations. Make them weird, warped and wild. They are ruins after all, get a feel for molding structures, CFE is a lot like clay. See how it bends and twists things. Also notice how ez it is to place stairs with CFE on. Also, when your plaining this structure decide on what siding looks best some sidings do now work with warped walls.
Here is my example.
I hope you have fun with yours and decide to share it with us:)
Thank you for attending today, I hope you learnt something. I was going to cover arched ceiling inside a house and a base of an airship, which is basically a reverse arch but i have run out of time. So that is were we will pick up next lesson. We will also cover arched house entrances, i know many of you want to build spainish style homes. We are hopefully going to work towards doing more complex ceilings also. I also think waterslides would be fun too. But for now, experiment with what you have learned, believe it or not you now know a lot about CFE. I hope you feel comfortable using it. See you on Saturday March 10 6;00 to 8:00 pm. Till then have fun and start to experiment with CFE.
Here is something to think about...how can you modify a tiny gazebo into a rose garden path? Hmmm..I will show you next time also if you don;t figure it out on your own:) Thanks again for attending.
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2
Also my next class is going to be moved to March 10th from 6:00 to 8:00 Pm PST.
Sims 3 Studio back in the day
My Sims 3 showcase
EA ID: svlyn2