When MOO has been used and if you try to move a piece of furniture one millimeter you discover that it can only go down in that exact spot--which is sometimes really hard to relocate.
Dang, I didn't realize there was an Anti Builders Meeting lol, Mines aren't THAT perfect, but they are authentic! Origin: Simday1
i didnt intend it as an anti-builders meeting. I hope it didnt come across that way. I thought this could be insightful for builders but also just be interesting to see if other people feel the same way about these things as we do.
I'm just glad I don't have the same name here as on the Gallery. Toilet rolls indeed.
I think most of your peeves are just a very personal question of taste. As a builder I always playtest my lots, but apart from that I choose what I like to see myself when it comes to colors and designs and I am well aware of the fact that not everyone shares my personal taste.
1. Using mods when claiming they don't. Goes for Sims too, of course.
2. Clutter Clutter EVERYWHERE. Sometimes to the point as your Sims can't navigate properly.
3. MOO MOO Everywhere. You can't move any mobjects, because not only are they over-cluttered, but they're placed there with MOO and the whole puzzle kind of falls appart if you touch it...
4. Rezising of everything.
5. CARS! Driveways! They look fake, and take up SO much space. Begone!!!
6. Forgetting fundamentals. I can deal with "no toilet paper". But when there is not a single computer desk in the whole house? What?
7. Layouts. Too big or too small. A super-cramped kitchen? With clutter everywhere placed with MOO? Where the Sims clip into all decorations when cooking? OF course. A five square miles large bathroom with one thing in it? In the same house? Most likely...
1. I can't say anything about it. I never use mods or cc, very hardly ever poses for my displayed Sims.
2. Yeeeees. Clutter. Some love it, some hate it. I have houses with very few clutter items and others that are stuffed with it. It depends on the story I like to tell with the house. And houses (too me at last) always tell stories... but I think, it is not a lot of work to delete some of these items if they are not wanted.
3. I moo a lot, but as I playtest, I don't think it is a problem. And I hashtag moo (apart from the few times I forgot)
4. Nope. I do resize sometime, it depends.
5. It depends. I do have cars and garages and driveways with cars or with the basketball thing. Sure they look fake, but actually a lot of things look fake in Sims.
6. Guilty. I do not always include a desk and a computer. Again, it depends on the house and its inhabitants and their traits. But I think, if someone wants to use the houses I upload and wants to have a desk and a computer, than they are free to add one. It is just like in real life. You have to personalize most of the houses.
7. A lot of my builds are actually adapted real life floorplans, so I guess, the flow of the houses are naturally and logical. But as I build a lot of historic houses, the floorplans are not always "ideal" for our times and may have the quirks and the feel of an "old house". I personally love it (I live in an old house myself) and my floorplan would not pass a lot of demands a lot of people have these days.
I think this is an interesting thread and I will bookmark it. For me as a builder it is very interesting to read, what people like and what they don't like. Thanks for all the feedback here! It is great to read honest statements about builds in general and for people like me who hardly ever play, it is good to read, what gamers want when they download lots from the gallery.
Generally going to extremes and having to use every pack ever just for the sake of it.
Sorry, guilty, . I do have some basegame lots in my gallery, but I do own all packs and when I design or build, I take items, clutter and furniture that fits my design and the picture I have in mind and usually and unfortunately I don't think about the packs they belong to.
PS: I like the rug!
You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
Maya Angelou
Please excuse my English and feel free to correct any mistake you find. It is not my native language.
Gallery ID: kjhgkjgkjhgk
People using moo
Geez i downloaded a house and wondered why my sims had problems with the furniture.
Turns out multiple beds were overlapping each other, same with the stuff in the kitchen.
The biggest thing that annoys me, especially if I download someone's house in the gallery and place it in my world, is the lay out sometimes. I often have to go in add edit things as they might of forgotten to place a door or there are some routing issues that makes it impossible for sims to go to one location to the next as something is blocking their path, etc...
As for the question about what moo means, it means move objects on. It allows to to place objects anywhere when you are normally aren't able to.
You're either using a wrong sized lot or you're putting a house on a lot that's the right sized but oriented differently. And people do make mistakes like forgetting a door, we're human.
It is more likely they use MOO without me knowing and I don't it much, so when placing the lot, there is a lot of clutter, items blocking paths, etc...I download this really nice mansion for this one vampire family (I normally don't play that family; but I wanted to test it out and they had a hard time getting anywhere without using their powers because they couldn't really move to one room to the next as there were objects in the way).
As for the layout, that is more of a personal preference; but sometimes things feel odd.
I'm just grateful whenever I don't have to build a house. If I can find something in the gallery, even thought 99% of the time I end up changing things around and fixing it up, it's still better than starting from scratch and coming up with something half decent by myself.
My EA ID is TranquilloSims - where I upload starter homes, family homes and some more ambitious creations.
LOL that reminds me, I downloaded a lot today for my new Sim and as I wanted her to use the toilet, she told me she could not route there. I was like "WTH?, why?" I then checked the bathroom and only then I realized that the builder placed the sink right in behind the only door that leads into the bathroom So I moved it a bit back and finally she could use the door...
I'm a builder and I use the 3 main cheats in all my builds. I try to keep clutter to a minimum but some builds really require them in my mind. I especially couldn't be half as creative without MOO so I'm always going to use that. Always.
Yup, I use MOO all the time as well. Mainly just so I can put soap next to bathroom sinks and maybe fix some of the wonky dresser clutter spots. I've tried to use more clutter in my builds from time to time but always end up hating it. (talvisims on the gallery .... gotta do a shameless plug here lol)
I think most of your peeves are just a very personal question of taste. As a builder I always playtest my lots, but apart from that I choose what I like to see myself when it comes to colors and designs and I am well aware of the fact that not everyone shares my personal taste.
1. Using mods when claiming they don't. Goes for Sims too, of course.
2. Clutter Clutter EVERYWHERE. Sometimes to the point as your Sims can't navigate properly.
3. MOO MOO Everywhere. You can't move any mobjects, because not only are they over-cluttered, but they're placed there with MOO and the whole puzzle kind of falls appart if you touch it...
4. Rezising of everything.
5. CARS! Driveways! They look fake, and take up SO much space. Begone!!!
6. Forgetting fundamentals. I can deal with "no toilet paper". But when there is not a single computer desk in the whole house? What?
7. Layouts. Too big or too small. A super-cramped kitchen? With clutter everywhere placed with MOO? Where the Sims clip into all decorations when cooking? OF course. A five square miles large bathroom with one thing in it? In the same house? Most likely...
1. I can't say anything about it. I never use mods or cc, very hardly ever poses for my displayed Sims.
2. Yeeeees. Clutter. Some love it, some hate it. I have houses with very few clutter items and others that are stuffed with it. It depends on the story I like to tell with the house. And houses (too me at last) always tell stories... but I think, it is not a lot of work to delete some of these items if they are not wanted.
3. I moo a lot, but as I playtest, I don't think it is a problem. And I hashtag moo (apart from the few times I forgot)
4. Nope. I do resize sometime, it depends.
5. It depends. I do have cars and garages and driveways with cars or with the basketball thing. Sure they look fake, but actually a lot of things look fake in Sims.
6. Guilty. I do not always include a desk and a computer. Again, it depends on the house and its inhabitants and their traits. But I think, if someone wants to use the houses I upload and wants to have a desk and a computer, than they are free to add one. It is just like in real life. You have to personalize most of the houses.
7. A lot of my builds are actually adapted real life floorplans, so I guess, the flow of the houses are naturally and logical. But as I build a lot of historic houses, the floorplans are not always "ideal" for our times and may have the quirks and the feel of an "old house". I personally love it (I live in an old house myself) and my floorplan would not pass a lot of demands a lot of people have these days.
2. As long as the house is easy to play in, it depends on game, as you said. If you're making a Wizard's Tower (or absentminded professor or Master Vampire mansion then yes, clutter, at least in the "laboratory" or library does look great.
There are two major problems with clutter builders should keep in mind:
Navigation - self explanatory.
Over-filling - The player has to delete all your detailed stuff just to fit in what is earned through the game (think "teenager". Cool with tons of dirty laundry and whatnot in the "teenage bedroom"? Sure. Less fun: Having to delete all that to fit in the school projects, career rewards etc).
Rent / Interest payments - Clutter that costs money adds to the weekly bills.
4. Two issues with resize:
Bad textures - Items that were never meant to be that big looks awful. And not only talking about 76 foot gnome statues, but if you blow up a house plant "as a jungle tree"... Just don't. Resizing to a smaller size is better for that reason.
When you move something and they go "Poof!" and become twice as big all of a sudden.
5. I just don't get the need for them. Is it an American thing? Can't have a house without a pickup truck?
6. Computers are essential to the Sim skill progression and gameplay though. I can't really see how anyone would not have a computer in their Sim house. To the point that I feel like not adding a computer is equally bad as to not add a fridge*. However:
The thing is that this is a big issue when you also have issues 2, 3 and 4. It takes what? 5 minutes tear out "your" sauna or meditation studio or dog kennel and put in a study so I can actually level skills without going to the library. But if I have to navigate through the extra level of "I can't even put a desk IN without using MOO the way this house is set up" annoys me.
7. Sure, I see that. It also depends on house and style. I LOVE modern houses, and apart from the aesthetics, this is a major reason: Somebody sat down and really thought about it. While a Victorian home is cute, it's just not... practical for use by anyone after 1945.
But again, it varies. Other houses from the same era are very different. Scandinavian and German cottages from the mid to late 19th century are both better equipped to handle extensions without looking like something Dr. Seuss came up with, and has a different floor plan to begin with (fewer and bigger rooms) for example.
That said, some "modern" architects were still not designing homes that would work for any real living family. There are a lot of "modern" houses that has 14 balconies, but no room for a toddler stroller anywhere in the hallway.
As for back yards... I feel this is another cultural difference. It's a very Anglian kind of thing. Scandinavian houses (old ones, at leat) tend to be either placed at the farthest back of the lot, or exactly in the middle, creating either a big BIG front lawn, or basically a "Circular" (square) single yard that wraps around the entire house. In fact, if saw a smaller 19th (or older) century cottage that was built up to the road, I would assume it has no yard whatsoever, and be very surprised if I found a large back yard behind it.
*I never build actual studies, unless it's a BIG house with a lot of spare rooms. I just put one book shelf and a minimum of one computer per bedroom, period.
LOL that reminds me, I downloaded a lot today for my new Sim and as I wanted her to use the toilet, she told me she could not route there. I was like "WTH?, why?" I then checked the bathroom and only then I realized that the builder placed the sink right in behind the only door that leads into the bathroom So I moved it a bit back and finally she could use the door...
Over use of MOO and clutter... especially with no warning labels. Also those builders that don't playtest. I'm downloading something to play not to dig through. My admiration goes in the toilet when the frustration of clean up starts.
^This. It's why I don't bother downloading from the gallery, to be honest, unless it's my own builds, lol. The use of MOO, mods, and CC always wreck a build and/or Sim, and there really isn't a reliable way for the gallery to sort it all out. It's one of the reasons why I don't use any of that extra stuff in mine. My builds will always work, and my Sims will always have the outfits and stuff I've uploaded them with.
I kinda wish any build or Sim using those extras would be uploaded to a different gallery entirely, tbh.
One thing I don't think has been mentioned yet is creating mirror walls where mirrors overlap each other. Those are extra annoying because the mirrors flicker a lot in game when zooming in and out. Flickering is a problem for many overlapped items (bookshelves, tables etc.) and I consider this as a sub category for MOO use.
I only use MOO for decorative objects in my builds, and so far I haven't encountered any playability issues. The game does have some weird limitations, though, like not being able to place anything close to a pillar, not even a carpet, or curtains having collision for some reason... That's when I pull up the cheat window.
The gym that comes with Windenburg forces sims to enter on one side of the building, go downstairs, go upstairs, and you will find yourself on the other side of a wall. I put a door in there and bypassed all that nonsense.
Worst. Gym. Ever! I never visit it by choice, but I did install a connecting door, too, just for the rare cases when my sims get invited there. Still, this lot will be the first to get bulldozed if I ever need free space in that part of Windenburg.
I only use MOO for decorative objects in my builds, and so far I haven't encountered any playability issues. The game does have some weird limitations, though, like not being able to place anything close to a pillar, not even a carpet, or curtains having collision for some reason... That's when I pull up the cheat window.
The gym that comes with Windenburg forces sims to enter on one side of the building, go downstairs, go upstairs, and you will find yourself on the other side of a wall. I put a door in there and bypassed all that nonsense.
Worst. Gym. Ever! I never visit it by choice, but I did install a connecting door, too, just for the rare cases when my sims get invited there. Still, this lot will be the first to get bulldozed if I ever need free space in that part of Windenburg.
I tried to use resize and/or alt key to place some plants close to a pillar, but when I placed that lot again the game would remove the pillar. Just check that this isn't happening in your builds.
I think most of your peeves are just a very personal question of taste. As a builder I always playtest my lots, but apart from that I choose what I like to see myself when it comes to colors and designs and I am well aware of the fact that not everyone shares my personal taste.
1. Using mods when claiming they don't. Goes for Sims too, of course.
2. Clutter Clutter EVERYWHERE. Sometimes to the point as your Sims can't navigate properly.
3. MOO MOO Everywhere. You can't move any mobjects, because not only are they over-cluttered, but they're placed there with MOO and the whole puzzle kind of falls appart if you touch it...
4. Rezising of everything.
5. CARS! Driveways! They look fake, and take up SO much space. Begone!!!
6. Forgetting fundamentals. I can deal with "no toilet paper". But when there is not a single computer desk in the whole house? What?
7. Layouts. Too big or too small. A super-cramped kitchen? With clutter everywhere placed with MOO? Where the Sims clip into all decorations when cooking? OF course. A five square miles large bathroom with one thing in it? In the same house? Most likely...
1. I can't say anything about it. I never use mods or cc, very hardly ever poses for my displayed Sims.
2. Yeeeees. Clutter. Some love it, some hate it. I have houses with very few clutter items and others that are stuffed with it. It depends on the story I like to tell with the house. And houses (too me at last) always tell stories... but I think, it is not a lot of work to delete some of these items if they are not wanted.
3. I moo a lot, but as I playtest, I don't think it is a problem. And I hashtag moo (apart from the few times I forgot)
4. Nope. I do resize sometime, it depends.
5. It depends. I do have cars and garages and driveways with cars or with the basketball thing. Sure they look fake, but actually a lot of things look fake in Sims.
6. Guilty. I do not always include a desk and a computer. Again, it depends on the house and its inhabitants and their traits. But I think, if someone wants to use the houses I upload and wants to have a desk and a computer, than they are free to add one. It is just like in real life. You have to personalize most of the houses.
7. A lot of my builds are actually adapted real life floorplans, so I guess, the flow of the houses are naturally and logical. But as I build a lot of historic houses, the floorplans are not always "ideal" for our times and may have the quirks and the feel of an "old house". I personally love it (I live in an old house myself) and my floorplan would not pass a lot of demands a lot of people have these days.
2. As long as the house is easy to play in, it depends on game, as you said. If you're making a Wizard's Tower (or absentminded professor or Master Vampire mansion then yes, clutter, at least in the "laboratory" or library does look great.
There are two major problems with clutter builders should keep in mind:
Navigation - self explanatory.
Over-filling - The player has to delete all your detailed stuff just to fit in what is earned through the game (think "teenager". Cool with tons of dirty laundry and whatnot in the "teenage bedroom"? Sure. Less fun: Having to delete all that to fit in the school projects, career rewards etc).
Rent / Interest payments - Clutter that costs money adds to the weekly bills.
4. Two issues with resize:
Bad textures - Items that were never meant to be that big looks awful. And not only talking about 76 foot gnome statues, but if you blow up a house plant "as a jungle tree"... Just don't. Resizing to a smaller size is better for that reason.
When you move something and they go "Poof!" and become twice as big all of a sudden.
5. I just don't get the need for them. Is it an American thing? Can't have a house without a pickup truck?
6. Computers are essential to the Sim skill progression and gameplay though. I can't really see how anyone would not have a computer in their Sim house. To the point that I feel like not adding a computer is equally bad as to not add a fridge*. However:
The thing is that this is a big issue when you also have issues 2, 3 and 4. It takes what? 5 minutes tear out "your" sauna or meditation studio or dog kennel and put in a study so I can actually level skills without going to the library. But if I have to navigate through the extra level of "I can't even put a desk IN without using MOO the way this house is set up" annoys me.
7. Sure, I see that. It also depends on house and style. I LOVE modern houses, and apart from the aesthetics, this is a major reason: Somebody sat down and really thought about it. While a Victorian home is cute, it's just not... practical for use by anyone after 1945.
But again, it varies. Other houses from the same era are very different. Scandinavian and German cottages from the mid to late 19th century are both better equipped to handle extensions without looking like something Dr. Seuss came up with, and has a different floor plan to begin with (fewer and bigger rooms) for example.
That said, some "modern" architects were still not designing homes that would work for any real living family. There are a lot of "modern" houses that has 14 balconies, but no room for a toddler stroller anywhere in the hallway.
As for back yards... I feel this is another cultural difference. It's a very Anglian kind of thing. Scandinavian houses (old ones, at leat) tend to be either placed at the farthest back of the lot, or exactly in the middle, creating either a big BIG front lawn, or basically a "Circular" (square) single yard that wraps around the entire house. In fact, if saw a smaller 19th (or older) century cottage that was built up to the road, I would assume it has no yard whatsoever, and be very surprised if I found a large back yard behind it.
*I never build actual studies, unless it's a BIG house with a lot of spare rooms. I just put one book shelf and a minimum of one computer per bedroom, period.
Very interesting points! While I give you full support for stuffing the house with clutter and furniture so it is not usable (I always playtest), other things are just a matter of personal taste. Like in real life: you never will find the perfect house just for you.
But unlike as in real life is the fact, that the gallery won't allow you to do a proper search for the lot you are looking for.
I wish, we could search for a specific amount of bedrooms and I do wish that there is a "playtest button" that you have to check manually, so builders, that do not playtest, would have to think about their build before uploading it.
People from all over the world play Sims and are used to the houses they find in their real lifes. Some want to have that integrated in their games, others don't - I think it is not possible as a builder to fulfill all needs and wants of the whole community.
I knwo about the odd yard thing with Scandinavian houses and I am always irritated by it. To me the yard is a private thing, where you can relax and you don't want to be watched by others so they are often in the back of the houses I build (depends on the lot, sometimes on the side). Putting the house in the middle of a lot, looks like wasted space to me and I never do it.
5. I just don't get the need for them. Is it an American thing? Can't have a house without a pickup truck?
Maybe it is. I come from Germany originally but live most of the year in rural Maine, US. Here you hardly find a house without a garage. Older houses will have a seperate building for it, with newer floorplans they are often incorporated in the house, So when I triy to build houses from my neighborhood, it would look odd if there isn't a garage.
Due to no public transport in my area at all up to long and harsh winters, a garage in real life is a must have. As I build realistic houses I incorporate them and sometime even with the pick-up in the driveway... (but most of the time I mark them with the apporpiate hashtag: like suburban or american or traditional and the time era they represent).
When it comes to floorplans I have to say, that I stick to american floorplans almost everytime and create a mastersuite in almost every build. In German houses this is not common. The whole family has to share one bath and sometimes in German houses you will find an oddly placed full bath (instead of a half bath) on the ground level where there is no bedroom and upstairs another bath and all the bedrooms. German floorplans often doesn't make a lot of sense, even modern ones.
Oh and there is the thing with computers: As I always move in playtest Sims (Singles or a family, depends on the build) while building I find them often almost attached to the computer. They will use it (like the tv) a lot. One of my playtest families have had their toddler taken away by social services - mom was at work and the father glued to the computer (no, not due to routing errors and I was on the phone... : ) I don't know about real in-game, as I hardly ever play, but thats why in bigger buildings I include a seperate office space for the computer, so that you can lock the door or I put no computer in at all and the player can add one later if needed and wanted, wherever he wants one to have.
Some of my starter homes have a cheap computer, others don't and the player has to earn them ingame.
But even so you surely will have to adjust the house you downloaded from the gallery, the adjustment won't take as long as building the whole house from scratch.
You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.
Maya Angelou
Please excuse my English and feel free to correct any mistake you find. It is not my native language.
Gallery ID: kjhgkjgkjhgk
I have to ask about mods and their affect on builds, that's a new one for me. I do have CC in my game, but I never use it for an original build just in case the CC gets broken due to a patch. I have two mods and they are always in unless we are expecting a patch, they go back in only if they are confirmed fine or are updated by their creator. I have never had a problem using things I have built while my mods were in while my mods were out, so I am curious to know if the mods problem is limited to the type of mod or if it is all of them.
When uploading a house, I put the number of bedrooms in a hashtag, as in #6bedrooms , etc. Since I usually use floor plans from magazines and websites, I usually keep the garage but turn it into a master suite or den. As for my biggest pet peeve regarding other builders, a lot of them use so many trees and bushes, I typically end up having to delete at least half of the landscaping because it makes it impossible to navigate around them.
People using moo
Geez i downloaded a house and wondered why my sims had problems with the furniture.
Turns out multiple beds were overlapping each other, same with the stuff in the kitchen.
For the garage issue, my builds have the garage door for looks only. There is no actual garage room, I usually put the kitchen there since there is no windows on that wall. It works well enough for me.
For me is a small detail which is easily overlooked but is very common both in RL and in game. That is placing the handtowel, the one one uses after washing ones hands, right beside the toilet itself. Often I find that the toilet and the sink or sink counter is place side by side which is okei. Such placement don't bother me none, especially as I am currently living in an aparment with such setup. But placing the handtowel there inbetween? Nope, nope, nope, NOPE!!!!! In the game, if there is no room on the wall at the other side of the sink, I usually place a folded towel on a counter/table beside the sink. That is the setup I have in RL at the moment. I have a hand towel on top of the washing machine which is beside the sink because the towel holder in the wall has fallen out and I haven't replaced it yet.
On other note, as an avid gallery diver there is only a few things I feel is a must and has already been mentioned. If using MOO, mention it. I don't mind downloading MOO houses (as I use it myself in my own decoration spree) but I need to know beforehand. Playtest your builds and don't overcrowd the counters. I LOVE clutter and I love to find (and place) clutter on desks and coffee tables, even bedside tables and windowsills but in the kitchen I find it better to sacrifice cluttering for better play. I do place the occational toaster or a water heater but I leave at least 2 counters bare if possible.
Where garages and enlarged toycars are concerned, I have to admit that that also doesn't appeal to me especially as my Sims don't drive or can own a car themselves. But on the other hand as a redecorator I just look at the garage areas as a new room to re-designate and redesign. For instance In my game test save I am redecorating a house from the gallery that does have a garage and a car and I have already deleted the car and am changing the garage into a sun/plant room with big open windows and uprooting the carpark into a nice front garden. I have put that build on hold for a moment until we get the newest expansion pack. Going to take advantage of the new features/build/objects from it.
A lot of garages irl are converted into guest rooms/houses, if you want to go with that idea. They'll be a good place to store those boxes of decorations that comes with Seasons too!
All the faux loft rooms with fake stairs constructed with tables or wall shelves. There’s so many of them! Why? They are clearly non functioning rooms. I totally appreciate good design and creative use of items, so some of them are very cool in that sense, but it seems like every tag I search is overloaded with those at the very top of the “most popular” sorting.
Also omg seconding too many lights. I get so frustrated when I go to delete a light and it turns out the builder used moo to stack five lights on top of each other. Your house doesn’t need to glow like Las Vegas at night.
A lot of garages irl are converted into guest rooms/houses, if you want to go with that idea. They'll be a good place to store those boxes of decorations that comes with Seasons too!
I have a beautiful large house I downloaded that fits right into Oasis Springs. It has a HUGE car port, but it's beautiful enough that just walling it in creates a great outdoor gym area under a shady roof.
Comments
I'm just glad I don't have the same name here as on the Gallery. Toilet rolls indeed.
1. I can't say anything about it. I never use mods or cc, very hardly ever poses for my displayed Sims.
2. Yeeeees. Clutter. Some love it, some hate it. I have houses with very few clutter items and others that are stuffed with it. It depends on the story I like to tell with the house. And houses (too me at last) always tell stories... but I think, it is not a lot of work to delete some of these items if they are not wanted.
3. I moo a lot, but as I playtest, I don't think it is a problem. And I hashtag moo (apart from the few times I forgot)
4. Nope. I do resize sometime, it depends.
5. It depends. I do have cars and garages and driveways with cars or with the basketball thing. Sure they look fake, but actually a lot of things look fake in Sims.
6. Guilty.
7. A lot of my builds are actually adapted real life floorplans, so I guess, the flow of the houses are naturally and logical. But as I build a lot of historic houses, the floorplans are not always "ideal" for our times and may have the quirks and the feel of an "old house". I personally love it (I live in an old house myself) and my floorplan would not pass a lot of demands a lot of people have these days.
I think this is an interesting thread and I will bookmark it. For me as a builder it is very interesting to read, what people like and what they don't like. Thanks for all the feedback here! It is great to read honest statements about builds in general and for people like me who hardly ever play, it is good to read, what gamers want when they download lots from the gallery.
Sorry, guilty,
PS: I like the rug!
Maya Angelou
Please excuse my English and feel free to correct any mistake you find.
Gallery ID: kjhgkjgkjhgk
Geez i downloaded a house and wondered why my sims had problems with the furniture.
Turns out multiple beds were overlapping each other, same with the stuff in the kitchen.
It is more likely they use MOO without me knowing and I don't it much, so when placing the lot, there is a lot of clutter, items blocking paths, etc...I download this really nice mansion for this one vampire family (I normally don't play that family; but I wanted to test it out and they had a hard time getting anywhere without using their powers because they couldn't really move to one room to the next as there were objects in the way).
As for the layout, that is more of a personal preference; but sometimes things feel odd.
Lets make this a reality!
Yup, I use MOO all the time as well. Mainly just so I can put soap next to bathroom sinks and maybe fix some of the wonky dresser clutter spots. I've tried to use more clutter in my builds from time to time but always end up hating it. (talvisims on the gallery .... gotta do a shameless plug here lol)
2. As long as the house is easy to play in, it depends on game, as you said. If you're making a Wizard's Tower (or absentminded professor or Master Vampire mansion then yes, clutter, at least in the "laboratory" or library does look great.
There are two major problems with clutter builders should keep in mind:
Navigation - self explanatory.
Over-filling - The player has to delete all your detailed stuff just to fit in what is earned through the game (think "teenager". Cool with tons of dirty laundry and whatnot in the "teenage bedroom"? Sure. Less fun: Having to delete all that to fit in the school projects, career rewards etc).
Rent / Interest payments - Clutter that costs money adds to the weekly bills.
4. Two issues with resize:
Bad textures - Items that were never meant to be that big looks awful. And not only talking about 76 foot gnome statues, but if you blow up a house plant "as a jungle tree"... Just don't. Resizing to a smaller size is better for that reason.
When you move something and they go "Poof!" and become twice as big all of a sudden.
5. I just don't get the need for them. Is it an American thing? Can't have a house without a pickup truck?
6. Computers are essential to the Sim skill progression and gameplay though. I can't really see how anyone would not have a computer in their Sim house. To the point that I feel like not adding a computer is equally bad as to not add a fridge*. However:
The thing is that this is a big issue when you also have issues 2, 3 and 4. It takes what? 5 minutes tear out "your" sauna or meditation studio or dog kennel and put in a study so I can actually level skills without going to the library. But if I have to navigate through the extra level of "I can't even put a desk IN without using MOO the way this house is set up" annoys me.
7. Sure, I see that. It also depends on house and style. I LOVE modern houses, and apart from the aesthetics, this is a major reason: Somebody sat down and really thought about it. While a Victorian home is cute, it's just not... practical for use by anyone after 1945.
But again, it varies. Other houses from the same era are very different. Scandinavian and German cottages from the mid to late 19th century are both better equipped to handle extensions without looking like something Dr. Seuss came up with, and has a different floor plan to begin with (fewer and bigger rooms) for example.
That said, some "modern" architects were still not designing homes that would work for any real living family. There are a lot of "modern" houses that has 14 balconies, but no room for a toddler stroller anywhere in the hallway.
As for back yards... I feel this is another cultural difference. It's a very Anglian kind of thing. Scandinavian houses (old ones, at leat) tend to be either placed at the farthest back of the lot, or exactly in the middle, creating either a big BIG front lawn, or basically a "Circular" (square) single yard that wraps around the entire house. In fact, if saw a smaller 19th (or older) century cottage that was built up to the road, I would assume it has no yard whatsoever, and be very surprised if I found a large back yard behind it.
*I never build actual studies, unless it's a BIG house with a lot of spare rooms. I just put one book shelf and a minimum of one computer per bedroom, period.
People!!! Playtest your builds!!!
^This. It's why I don't bother downloading from the gallery, to be honest, unless it's my own builds, lol. The use of MOO, mods, and CC always wreck a build and/or Sim, and there really isn't a reliable way for the gallery to sort it all out. It's one of the reasons why I don't use any of that extra stuff in mine. My builds will always work, and my Sims will always have the outfits and stuff I've uploaded them with.
I kinda wish any build or Sim using those extras would be uploaded to a different gallery entirely, tbh.
Updated with Werewolf Diaries (1)
Worst. Gym. Ever! I never visit it by choice, but I did install a connecting door, too, just for the rare cases when my sims get invited there. Still, this lot will be the first to get bulldozed if I ever need free space in that part of Windenburg.
Something wicked this way comes!
I don't use MCCC.
I tried to use resize and/or alt key to place some plants close to a pillar, but when I placed that lot again the game would remove the pillar. Just check that this isn't happening in your builds.
Updated with Werewolf Diaries (1)
Something wicked this way comes!
I don't use MCCC.
Very interesting points! While I give you full support for stuffing the house with clutter and furniture so it is not usable (I always playtest), other things are just a matter of personal taste. Like in real life: you never will find the perfect house just for you.
But unlike as in real life is the fact, that the gallery won't allow you to do a proper search for the lot you are looking for.
I wish, we could search for a specific amount of bedrooms and I do wish that there is a "playtest button" that you have to check manually, so builders, that do not playtest, would have to think about their build before uploading it.
People from all over the world play Sims and are used to the houses they find in their real lifes. Some want to have that integrated in their games, others don't - I think it is not possible as a builder to fulfill all needs and wants of the whole community.
I knwo about the odd yard thing with Scandinavian houses and I am always irritated by it. To me the yard is a private thing, where you can relax and you don't want to be watched by others so they are often in the back of the houses I build (depends on the lot, sometimes on the side). Putting the house in the middle of a lot, looks like wasted space to me and I never do it.
Maybe it is. I come from Germany originally but live most of the year in rural Maine, US. Here you hardly find a house without a garage. Older houses will have a seperate building for it, with newer floorplans they are often incorporated in the house, So when I triy to build houses from my neighborhood, it would look odd if there isn't a garage.
Due to no public transport in my area at all up to long and harsh winters, a garage in real life is a must have. As I build realistic houses I incorporate them and sometime even with the pick-up in the driveway...
When it comes to floorplans I have to say, that I stick to american floorplans almost everytime and create a mastersuite in almost every build. In German houses this is not common. The whole family has to share one bath and sometimes in German houses you will find an oddly placed full bath (instead of a half bath) on the ground level where there is no bedroom and upstairs another bath and all the bedrooms. German floorplans often doesn't make a lot of sense, even modern ones.
Oh and there is the thing with computers: As I always move in playtest Sims (Singles or a family, depends on the build) while building I find them often almost attached to the computer. They will use it (like the tv) a lot. One of my playtest families have had their toddler taken away by social services - mom was at work and the father glued to the computer (no, not due to routing errors and I was on the phone... : ) I don't know about real in-game, as I hardly ever play, but thats why in bigger buildings I include a seperate office space for the computer, so that you can lock the door or I put no computer in at all and the player can add one later if needed and wanted, wherever he wants one to have.
Some of my starter homes have a cheap computer, others don't and the player has to earn them ingame.
But even so you surely will have to adjust the house you downloaded from the gallery, the adjustment won't take as long as building the whole house from scratch.
Maya Angelou
Please excuse my English and feel free to correct any mistake you find.
Gallery ID: kjhgkjgkjhgk
MOO everywhere.
now THAT annoys me too
On other note, as an avid gallery diver there is only a few things I feel is a must and has already been mentioned. If using MOO, mention it. I don't mind downloading MOO houses (as I use it myself in my own decoration spree) but I need to know beforehand. Playtest your builds and don't overcrowd the counters. I LOVE clutter and I love to find (and place) clutter on desks and coffee tables, even bedside tables and windowsills but in the kitchen I find it better to sacrifice cluttering for better play. I do place the occational toaster or a water heater but I leave at least 2 counters bare if possible.
Where garages and enlarged toycars are concerned, I have to admit that that also doesn't appeal to me especially as my Sims don't drive or can own a car themselves. But on the other hand as a redecorator I just look at the garage areas as a new room to re-designate and redesign. For instance In my game test save I am redecorating a house from the gallery that does have a garage and a car and I have already deleted the car and am changing the garage into a sun/plant room with big open windows and uprooting the carpark into a nice front garden. I have put that build on hold for a moment until we get the newest expansion pack. Going to take advantage of the new features/build/objects from it.
Also omg seconding too many lights. I get so frustrated when I go to delete a light and it turns out the builder used moo to stack five lights on top of each other. Your house doesn’t need to glow like Las Vegas at night.
I have a beautiful large house I downloaded that fits right into Oasis Springs. It has a HUGE car port, but it's beautiful enough that just walling it in creates a great outdoor gym area under a shady roof.