Tha-a-a-nk you! This is excellent and highly helpful, SimGuruSemedi. Your tutorials are always so well-written and user-friendly. Bookmarking for frequent reference!
How do I return my houseboat to its port?
There are a few ways to return a houseboat to its port when it's out at sea. You can...
• Click on the button next to your Sim's picture. This is normally "Return Home", but switches to "Return Houseboat to Port" when on a houseboat. There is no button there when they are on the houseboat
• Click on the helm, hull, or wall of a houseboat and select "Return Houseboat to Port". That option doesn't show up. Only move boat and foghorn that's it.
• Switch to map view, click on the map tag of your port and select "Return Houseboat to Port". option doesn't show up
• Click on the ground at your port and select "Return Houseboat to Port". Option doesn't show up
I see an uncharted island, but when I get anywhere close to it, I lose the ability to interact with everything (houseboat, bathroom, swimming). I don't know what to do!
How do I return my houseboat to its port?
There are a few ways to return a houseboat to its port when it's out at sea. You can...
• Click on the button next to your Sim's picture. This is normally "Return Home", but switches to "Return Houseboat to Port" when on a houseboat. There is no button there when they are on the houseboat
• Click on the helm, hull, or wall of a houseboat and select "Return Houseboat to Port". That option doesn't show up. Only move boat and foghorn that's it.
• Switch to map view, click on the map tag of your port and select "Return Houseboat to Port". option doesn't show up
• Click on the ground at your port and select "Return Houseboat to Port". Option doesn't show up
Hi Honeygirl. If you clicked "Abandon Port" at any point, then you'll no longer get the option to "Return Houseboat to Port" because your houseboat isn't assigned to one. Click on your helm and select "Change Port" and then select an open port in the world. Once you do that, the options to "Return Houseboat to Port" should be available once again.
I see an uncharted island, but when I get anywhere close to it, I lose the ability to interact with everything (houseboat, bathroom, swimming). I don't know what to do!
Hi Burginbabe. If you try and click anywhere near an uncharted island that you haven't discovered yet, you won't be able to select or do anything (it's hidden!). If your houseboat is already near it, click somewhere else in the open ocean waters away from the uncharted island and select "Move Houseboat Here" to get away from the uncharted island.
I downloaded a houseboat from the exchange, and whenever my sims get off of the houseboat to get into the ocean, they can jump off but they can't get back on the boat and act like there is something obstructing their pathway;There is nothing in front of the ladder, any reason why this would be happening?
This is AWESOME! Thanks so much for this tutorial. I am on a request team and I KNOW we will be getting requests to build houseboats and ports. We already had someone inquire today about requesting a resort. This will really help us out so much. Thanks again!
I been trying to build a sim house boat yacht..but with out all the post sticking up..any ideas buy using moveobjects on...there are no boat blue prints so pretty bumbed..and there are no ropes to hold the boats to the ports so i pray my boat dont float away..
sim gurus is there a way to get the house boat from the producers walkthrough on to our game like in supernatural we could download the house the producer made?
Thank you so very much SGS. Following the instructions you outlined I was finally able to figure out how to work it. My Sunset Valley remake now has a houseboat port!
It's kind of sad that I have to point out that anything I say is only just my opinion and may be a different one from someone else.
Okay, I know how to add houseboats in CAW. You need to add them using the new button, add houseboat lot, then when you are in Edit in Game, edit the port lot, Shift+Ctrl on the gangway and then select "DEBUG Create and dock houseboat" and then Shift+Ctrl on the hull and "DEBUG Set houseboat lot" and select it! Et voila.
I will receive my copy tomorrow but I do have a question about houseboats.
Is it possible to have multiple houseboats on one port?
Can I place multiple gangways on a single port to allow multiple houseboats to dock there?
No. You are only allowed to place one gangway per port. Using cheats to place extra gangways will not allow additional houseboats to dock at that port. To dock, each houseboat needs its own unique port.
Does the basement/hull function like a nectar cellar ?
Can a basement built in a houseboat function as a nectar cellar?
Yes. The hull of a houseboat can function as a nectar cellar for aging your nectar and increasing its value.
Thank you so much Graham for putting this explanation togethor! it helped alot and now i'm ready to add some ports into a few worlds. Pity about Twinbrook since houseboats to me would make sense in the swampy parts. Oh well though ! I am looking forward to see what our World creators in the CAW forum can do with this!
How do you get boats (sailboat, windsurfer etc) to attach to the side of your house boat? Aren't you able to add those moorings to the side and get it to work? The houseboat I'm using (prebuilt as part of the world) won't allow me to do that.
Great, this should help a lot when I get Island Paradise in a couple of days.
16) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C to open the cheat console.
17) In the cheat console, type in "testingcheatsenabled true" without the quotation marks and press enter.
18) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C to open the cheat console a second time.
19) Type in "buydebug" without the quotation marks and press enter.
20) Switch to Buy Mode.
21) Select "Sort by Function".
22) Select "Debug" - it's a button that has a question mark on it.
23) Select the last tab named "Misc. Objects".
24) Find the object named "Gangway Style".
When I'm looking for something specific in Buy Debug, I find it helps to hit the * and set the sort to only the EP that has the item. Especially since I've got every other EP and half of the SPs, that's a lot of stuff to look through.
Great tutorial, thank you for taking the time to give us all that info. I can't wait to get my copy of IP.
I assume that we could also just copy ports from Isla Paradiso into another hood via the Lot bin, provided we place an empty Lot down of the required size - to save building them ourselves? Or perhaps there's already a port in the Lot bin for placing in other hoods?
The lots that are half-on/half-off the water have uneven edges. Placing a lot that isn't perfectly flat around the edges into a different lot makes it all funky around the edges. While you could do it I'm guessing that it will be more trouble than it's worth.
If you'll notice, all of the generic lots in the bin are pretty darn flat. Probably the only one that isn't is the Sunlit Tides Festival Lot. And that's only because it is created to replace a specific lot that already isn't flat.
Few more added. Also, astute observation bklienhart. That's exactly why there aren't any pre-built port lots. They won't align well with any sloped shoreline when placing them from the Edit Town bin.
How do you get boats (sailboat, windsurfer etc) to attach to the side of your house boat? Aren't you able to add those moorings to the side and get it to work? The houseboat I'm using (prebuilt as part of the world) won't allow me to do that.
How do I buy a boat or a car when living on a houseboat? There's no room to place the boat trailer or a parking spot!
It isn't intended that you place a boat trailer/parking spot on your houseboat to purchase a vehicle. We've actually added a new "Purchase Vehicle" interaction that's available when clicking on any trailer/mooring post/tie down/parking spot/etc that's on your home lot or any community lot in the world. You can buy a vehicle directly from those objects that your Sim will own and use.
In Isla Paradiso, many of the ports already come with mooring posts and parking spots so that you can do exactly this. If you're building a port in another world, I suggest adding those two objects so that you can easily buy vehicles for your houseboat dwelling Sims.
Why can't we build on the curved part of curved houseboats? I'd love to add some chairs for my sims to relax there!
Can I build or play on the curved area of a houseboat?
No. The curved section of the houseboat is part of the hull model, and is not a buildable or routable surface. The curved bow is purely visual.
I noticed in your producer walkthrough that Olivia was able to relax on her beach towel on the roof on the houseboat. I chose a prebuilt "starter" houseboat in game (You're On a Boat) and I can't get that interaction. How do I get that choice?
I'm sorry to go on about this(I made a topic about it) but the port thing not being in the normal build menu is really stupid, I don't like the fact that we have to DEBUG everytime I want to make a port for a boathouse, its rediculous and I hope to god its fixed sometime in the future, I'm getting the game today and I must admit I'm not too excited anymore about it, there have been too many complaints, too many asking about how to build a houseboat because there is no way of doing it normally, sorry but not all simmers use cheats thruout their gameplay and they should have put the port builds in the normal build part, just my two cents of course :evil:
Comments
How do I return my houseboat to its port?
There are a few ways to return a houseboat to its port when it's out at sea. You can...
• Click on the button next to your Sim's picture. This is normally "Return Home", but switches to "Return Houseboat to Port" when on a houseboat. There is no button there when they are on the houseboat
• Click on the helm, hull, or wall of a houseboat and select "Return Houseboat to Port". That option doesn't show up. Only move boat and foghorn that's it.
• Switch to map view, click on the map tag of your port and select "Return Houseboat to Port". option doesn't show up
• Click on the ground at your port and select "Return Houseboat to Port". Option doesn't show up
Hi Honeygirl. If you clicked "Abandon Port" at any point, then you'll no longer get the option to "Return Houseboat to Port" because your houseboat isn't assigned to one. Click on your helm and select "Change Port" and then select an open port in the world. Once you do that, the options to "Return Houseboat to Port" should be available once again.
Hi Burginbabe. If you try and click anywhere near an uncharted island that you haven't discovered yet, you won't be able to select or do anything (it's hidden!). If your houseboat is already near it, click somewhere else in the open ocean waters away from the uncharted island and select "Move Houseboat Here" to get away from the uncharted island.
This is AWESOME! Thanks so much for this tutorial. I am on a request team and I KNOW we will be getting requests to build houseboats and ports. We already had someone inquire today about requesting a resort. This will really help us out so much. Thanks again!
Zoo
I been trying to build a sim house boat yacht..but with out all the post sticking up..any ideas buy using moveobjects on...there are no boat blue prints so pretty bumbed..and there are no ropes to hold the boats to the ports so i pray my boat dont float away..
Thanks for the tutorial anyway!
Can I place multiple gangways on a single port to allow multiple houseboats to dock there?
No. You are only allowed to place one gangway per port. Using cheats to place extra gangways will not allow additional houseboats to dock at that port. To dock, each houseboat needs its own unique port.
Can a basement built in a houseboat function as a nectar cellar?
Yes. The hull of a houseboat can function as a nectar cellar for aging your nectar and increasing its value.
When I'm looking for something specific in Buy Debug, I find it helps to hit the * and set the sort to only the EP that has the item. Especially since I've got every other EP and half of the SPs, that's a lot of stuff to look through.
The lots that are half-on/half-off the water have uneven edges. Placing a lot that isn't perfectly flat around the edges into a different lot makes it all funky around the edges. While you could do it I'm guessing that it will be more trouble than it's worth.
If you'll notice, all of the generic lots in the bin are pretty darn flat. Probably the only one that isn't is the Sunlit Tides Festival Lot. And that's only because it is created to replace a specific lot that already isn't flat.
How do I buy a boat or a car when living on a houseboat? There's no room to place the boat trailer or a parking spot!
It isn't intended that you place a boat trailer/parking spot on your houseboat to purchase a vehicle. We've actually added a new "Purchase Vehicle" interaction that's available when clicking on any trailer/mooring post/tie down/parking spot/etc that's on your home lot or any community lot in the world. You can buy a vehicle directly from those objects that your Sim will own and use.
In Isla Paradiso, many of the ports already come with mooring posts and parking spots so that you can do exactly this. If you're building a port in another world, I suggest adding those two objects so that you can easily buy vehicles for your houseboat dwelling Sims.
Can I build or play on the curved area of a houseboat?
No. The curved section of the houseboat is part of the hull model, and is not a buildable or routable surface. The curved bow is purely visual.