before we begin, here is a link to my treehouse of which stack stairs is used. http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=6757760

Stack stairs is simply a single tile stair (it actually requires a 2x3 tile footprint to operate) but it seems to occupy a single tile so you can hide it within a tree or a column of wall.

it has been years since my last tutorial but everyone has done so well with their tutorial that I haven't felt the need for one; until now.

Sims 3 broke a lot of my favorite CFE tricks from Sims 2 especially my favorite spiral stairs and stacked stairs; both of them would work inconsistently. It was very frustrating when after building a working spiral stair, the stairs would stop working if a normal stair was built somewhere else on the lot. Deleting the normal stairs did not restore the workabiility of the already built spiral stairs.

Apparently after several years of waiting, someone, somewhere posted that if we build the stacked stairs in a north/south direction, the stacked stairs would work... thus I began earnestly seeing if this was true; so far this seems to work.

Thus step 1 to this tutorial is:

1. test which direction your stack stairs would work. Simply build two floors and stack the stairs in the same direction on top of each other, then have your sim attempt to walk up the stairs.

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0000_zps4f6c4538.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0000_zps4f6c4538.jpg&quot; /></a>

2. Once you have determine the direction that your stacked stairs would work, create 5 floor of 3x8 rooms and delete the front wall and middle tile of each floor as follows. The reason that we delete the front wall is that it prevents the enclosing walls from the stairs from being created.

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0001_zps8ad30611.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0001_zps8ad30611.jpg&quot; /></a>

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0002_zps93b0dd48.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0002_zps93b0dd48.jpg&quot; /></a>


3. type in the cheat "constrainfloorelevation off", then build a foundation wall at the back which would deform the floors as follows:

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0003_zps7668b0ff.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0003_zps7668b0ff.jpg&quot; /></a>


page up to the top floor and

4. use the level terrain tool to flatten the top floor; thus lowering the floor down to 1/4 height enough for a single tile stair.

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0004_zps5c1a0bd0.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0004_zps5c1a0bd0.jpg&quot; /></a>

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0005_zpsea9d6b87.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0005_zpsea9d6b87.jpg&quot; /></a>

5. page down one floor and repeat step 4 until you get to the bottom floor.

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0006_zpsc78900ab.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0006_zpsc78900ab.jpg&quot; /></a>

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0007_zps5c7d1b9e.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0007_zps5c7d1b9e.jpg&quot; /></a>

6. bottom floor... now.... use the hammer to delete the foundation which raises the floor to normal height....

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0008_zpsb69b3517.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0008_zpsb69b3517.jpg&quot; /></a>

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0009_zps0008d9fa.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0009_zps0008d9fa.jpg&quot; /></a>

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0010_zps269e13de.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0010_zps269e13de.jpg&quot; /></a>

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0011_zps5afaa544.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0011_zps5afaa544.jpg&quot; /></a>

7. delete the walls and extra flooring to get this...

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0012_zpsf76fe375.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0012_zpsf76fe375.jpg&quot; /></a>

8. save and exit so the stairs and floors can normalize.

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0013_zpsf9ae9b7e.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0013_zpsf9ae9b7e.jpg&quot; /></a>

9. use the cheat "moveobjects on" so you can add a tree just right behind the stairs.

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0014_zps77278e63.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0014_zps77278e63.jpg&quot; /></a>

10. test!!

<a href="http://s60.beta.photobucket.com/user/ralphaelninja/media/stackstairs/stack0015_zps424f40f4.jpg.html&quot; target="_blank"><img src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/ralphaelninja/stackstairs/stack0015_zps424f40f4.jpg&quot; /></a>

good luck