Omg building is hard! Lol

LiELF · January 2020

So, I'm not much of a builder. But I decided to give it a go in the spirit of the Tiny Living contest. (Really not expecting to win or anything, just for fun. I'm way too amateur, lol.) I figured I'd make it a little easier by limiting myself to base game items and making it a starter build with no cheats, no MOO, just simplicity.

Well. First off, it would seem that there are some categories in build mode that won't let you select "base game", so I had to ignore everything with an icon in the corner and try to work around it. In the end, I wound up with four different pack items in there somewhere that I couldn't find, so I deactivated those packs in Origin, tweaked the build, and uploaded it. Turns out, the price of the lot was off too, once you place it down, so it just went over the starter price. Gaa!

I was going to leave it be, but it bothered me, because I had written in the description that it was a starter. So I decided to tweak it further. I figured that while I was in there, I'd make it a 100 tile lot, like the challenge in the pack. So I deleted the porches and made a couple little finishing touches, tested the build, it stayed within starter price, so I uploaded it. Now it's showing that I used something from Outdoor Retreat! I'm about to send a Sim to set this place on fire, lol.

You'd think that I'd just give up by now. But it's going to bother me. So off I go to try to pick out that OR item and send it to the Abyss. I feel bad for the Gurus for being spammed by the hashtag and downloading all of the lots to look at. They're going to be like, "this one again?? *eye roll*. If anyone sees @SimGuruNinja , send him my apologies, lol.

SimGuruNinja · January 2020

No apologies needed. I'm sure it's fine. Spam away!

Netzspannung · January 2020

LiELF wrote: »

So, I'm not much of a builder. But I decided to give it a go in the spirit of the Tiny Living contest. (Really not expecting to win or anything, just for fun. I'm way too amateur, lol.) I figured I'd make it a little easier by limiting myself to base game items and making it a starter build with no cheats, no MOO, just simplicity.

Well. First off, it would seem that there are some categories in build mode that won't let you select "base game", so I had to ignore everything with an icon in the corner and try to work around it. In the end, I wound up with four different pack items in there somewhere that I couldn't find, so I deactivated those packs in Origin, tweaked the build, and uploaded it. Turns out, the price of the lot was off too, once you place it down, so it just went over the starter price. Gaa!

I was going to leave it be, but it bothered me, because I had written in the description that it was a starter. So I decided to tweak it further. I figured that while I was in there, I'd make it a 100 tile lot, like the challenge in the pack. So I deleted the porches and made a couple little finishing touches, tested the build, it stayed within starter price, so I uploaded it. Now it's showing that I used something from Outdoor Retreat! I'm about to send a Sim to set this place on fire, lol.

You'd think that I'd just give up by now. But it's going to bother me. So off I go to try to pick out that OR item and send it to the Abyss. I feel bad for the Gurus for being spammed by the hashtag and downloading all of the lots to look at. They're going to be like, "this one again?? *eye roll*. If anyone sees @SimGuruNinja , send him my apologies, lol.

I don't know why ... but somehow ... I think he knows.

And also, building IS hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. But once in a blue moon, when inspiration hits me, I like to believe that I produce something half decent that others will enjoy in their game. That being said, I am sure your build turned out great, you obviously put a lot of thought into it. Good luck with the contest!

LiELF · January 2020

Netzspannung wrote: »

LiELF wrote: »

So, I'm not much of a builder. But I decided to give it a go in the spirit of the Tiny Living contest. (Really not expecting to win or anything, just for fun. I'm way too amateur, lol.) I figured I'd make it a little easier by limiting myself to base game items and making it a starter build with no cheats, no MOO, just simplicity.

Well. First off, it would seem that there are some categories in build mode that won't let you select "base game", so I had to ignore everything with an icon in the corner and try to work around it. In the end, I wound up with four different pack items in there somewhere that I couldn't find, so I deactivated those packs in Origin, tweaked the build, and uploaded it. Turns out, the price of the lot was off too, once you place it down, so it just went over the starter price. Gaa!

I was going to leave it be, but it bothered me, because I had written in the description that it was a starter. So I decided to tweak it further. I figured that while I was in there, I'd make it a 100 tile lot, like the challenge in the pack. So I deleted the porches and made a couple little finishing touches, tested the build, it stayed within starter price, so I uploaded it. Now it's showing that I used something from Outdoor Retreat! I'm about to send a Sim to set this place on fire, lol.

You'd think that I'd just give up by now. But it's going to bother me. So off I go to try to pick out that OR item and send it to the Abyss. I feel bad for the Gurus for being spammed by the hashtag and downloading all of the lots to look at. They're going to be like, "this one again?? *eye roll*. If anyone sees @SimGuruNinja , send him my apologies, lol.

I don't know why ... but somehow ... I think he knows.

And also, building IS hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. But once in a blue moon, when inspiration hits me, I like to believe that I produce something half decent that others will enjoy in their game. That being said, I am sure your build turned out great, you obviously put a lot of thought into it. Good luck with the contest!

Thanks! I've just been meaning to try my hand at building because there is so much neat stuff in build/buy. I actually really got into it! But I don't know if it's something I'd do regularly, I'm a little overwhelmed with the amount of options (which is why I decided to do a limited build) and that one little simple house took me about nine hours of indecision, lol. I think I'm going to end up changing this little house again with pack items for my own use. Or maybe I'll just try another one when I have time.

I've always had respect for builders but oh, they are truly exalted in their talents!

Can't wait to see the awesome builds on the livestream! (Watching later in the day, after work.)

xMarianx · January 2020

I’m not good at building either, especially small houses. But I did mange to build a nice house. I think I called it «Tiny starter house», but it costs maybe 3-4 times as much as a standard starter house.
But it was fun, even If I don’t win.

I didn’t limit myself to only basegame items, but I did try to make things match, like windows & doors matching, interior matching etc. It’s hard and frustrating when not everything has the same colour options, even within the same pack.

LiELF · January 2020

xMarianx wrote: »

I’m not good at building either, especially small houses. But I did mange to build a nice house. I think I called it «Tiny starter house», but it costs maybe 3-4 times as much as a standard starter house.
But it was fun, even If I don’t win.

I didn’t limit myself to only basegame items, but I did try to make things match, like windows & doors matching, interior matching etc. It’s hard and frustrating when not everything has the same colour options, even within the same pack.

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself! It's really difficult to stay within the boundaries of a starter house. It forces you to keep it simple and there are so many fun things I came across that I really wanted to use. I think I may stick to the small lots for now until I'm more used to the build tools. This upcoming pack might actually be good for me in that regard. 😄

Matching doors and windows is really tricky, I agree! Along the way I had to expand to a general color scheme of about four or five colors to get any kind of balance because I actually didn't want to match everything too closely (I wanted a quirky house) but I also didn't want it to look like a color wheel vomited all over the building, lol. I probably shouldn't have limited myself to the base game because there were other styles that could have gone together better, too. I think I actually had a more difficult time with styles than colors, as far as base game is concerned.

Anyway, good luck to you in the contest! Maybe for the next one we'll both be more experienced. ☺️

Simmingal · January 2020

there is that thing in gallery that has like "show used items"

though it only shows that after you've already uploaded which is pure annoying

it is very hard to make just base game house tbh when packs obviously got all kinds of cool stuff

also some items steer ridiculously pricy on the catalog so you might have just used very pricy fridge or expensive railing or something of the sort

also trashbins are surprisingly expensive idk whats up with that

not to talk of landscaping if you used some

it gets easier with time really
I used to suck at building but now I'm rather addicted with it

LiELF · January 2020

Simmingal wrote: »

there is that thing in gallery that has like "show used items"

though it only shows that after you've already uploaded which is pure annoying

it is very hard to make just base game house tbh when packs obviously got all kinds of cool stuff

also some items steer ridiculously pricy on the catalog so you might have just used very pricy fridge or expensive railing or something of the sort

also trashbins are surprisingly expensive idk whats up with that

not to talk of landscaping if you used some

it gets easier with time really
I used to suck at building but now I'm rather addicted with it

I did try to use that "show used items" from packs, but when I clicked on it, it came up blank. So I think what happened is, I had deleted something that I almost used from those packs, but the game got bugged, thinking it was still in there. Only getting out of the game and disabling the pack, then going back in helped to resolve it. But boy, that was a pain. I had to do it twice.

You're right about the pricing too. I just wanted to put up like a $40 picture on the wall, but there's pretty much nothing under $100 in base game. And there were some pretty steep price jumps amongst other objects that made me raise an eyebrow. Now I understand the builders better when they say build mode is wanting, particularly for base game. It's totally true.

Hoverael · January 2020

Built another small house for two sims yesterday, 7x10 i think (it isn't a contest house). Due to windows 7 support ending, i've moved across to Kubuntu and that means unless EA starts supporting the Linux OS a lot more, my spell is effectively at an end and as a result i can't check to see what the exact dimensions are, but i know that i used all the space i could and it is on the gallery as 2 sim very basic house.

I might have another solution in hand with an old laptop, it will take some time to get it ready to play TS4 though. i can't even be sure it will even work at this stage. I've never had need for it and it's just sat under some boxes in storage all this time. IIRC it has a a dreadfully slow 5400rpm mechanical drive, so that needs urgent replacing!

anyway, you'll get the hang of it, it's just about building confidence with it, expanding the boundaries and pushing the limits of what you expect.

LiELF · January 2020

Hoverael wrote: »

Built another small house for two sims yesterday, 7x10 i think (it isn't a contest house). Due to windows 7 support ending, i've moved across to Kubuntu and that means unless EA starts supporting the Linux OS a lot more, my spell is effectively at an end and as a result i can't check to see what the exact dimensions are, but i know that i used all the space i could and it is on the gallery as 2 sim very basic house.

I might have another solution in hand with an old laptop, it will take some time to get it ready to play TS4 though. i can't even be sure it will even work at this stage. I've never had need for it and it's just sat under some boxes in storage all this time. IIRC it has a a dreadfully slow 5400rpm mechanical drive, so that needs urgent replacing!

anyway, you'll get the hang of it, it's just about building confidence with it, expanding the boundaries and pushing the limits of what you expect.

Thanks for the encouragement! I hope you're able to get your computer working. No way to update to Windows 10? I've never used Linux, but I feel like it's catching on more.

Hoverael · January 2020

I'm not going for windows 10, it was never my goal for the future. It seems like a dead end compared to what Linux has on offer these days.

Simmingal · January 2020

I just made row of tiny houses on this one lot and I haven't even started the insides but price is already at like 50k bruh whomst is gonna afford living here tho

vlad perhaps?

this is why I never actually play these fancy lots

elanorbreton · January 2020

I'm terrible at building. I have to have something to copy to be able to do it at all - real life houses, house plans, buildings from previous sim versions etc. And I definitely could not restrict myself to certain packs - so, well done you!

invisiblgirl · January 2020

It's landscaping that I can't do. Perhaps it's because by the time I get to the landscaping, I'm getting tired of building and want to get on with the furnishing or playing, but I see people's screenshots of their landscaping and have serious envy.

Hoverael · January 2020

I'll be honest here, i haven't done much landscaping either, infact i remember back to simcity 4 and i wasn't much good it at back then either at the turn of the last decade. I have played around with it a little, but i'm not sure where it all fits in just yet.

If i can get that laptop in good order, i might be able to do more and build confidence with it and eventually have a rudimentary understanding at the very least.

Mariefoxprice83 · January 2020

invisiblgirl wrote: »

It's landscaping that I can't do. Perhaps it's because by the time I get to the landscaping, I'm getting tired of building and want to get on with the furnishing or playing, but I see people's screenshots of their landscaping and have serious envy.

I can't do landscaping either,

halloweenchild · January 2020

Don't worry, I suck at building too. Same with landscaping. xD

GalacticGal · January 2020

I started building lots for myself back in Sims2. Now, I don't claim to be as good as so many others, but I'm pleased when I get the layout I want. That said, I was intrigued by the promises of the new way to build in Sims 4. I have to say, at first, I was totally daunted by it. It seemed almost as hard as World Building in Sims3, of which I could never wrap my brain around. In the end I failed to even create a world, let alone play it. So I uninstalled the device. With practice, I finally got the hang of building in Sims 4. Now I love it. Kudos to you for keeping at it. I, too, am bothered by that little detail that just failed to be what I was hoping it would be. I've been known to noodle with a lot, even when playing in it, in the game. Sometimes I just get a bug in my shorts and I have to do a quick remodel. IE change out the wall treatments. Nothing like a fresh coat of paint or new wallpaper to make a well-used (and growing tired of looking at the same thing) to stave off a move. Then they gave us those fantastic stair dynamics. I think I went through all of my two/three storied lots and changed the stairs. LOL

Best of luck to you on the contest. And don't count yourself out. Tell yourself you have as much of a chance to win, despite how experienced some of the other contestants may be. I managed to land the lead female role in the last play of my Senior year. Yes, two of the Best actresses we had on campus were trying out for the same part. I almost allowed self-doubt, of which I have always suffered, to grab a hold on me. I quickly changed my thinking, and voila. The part was mine.

I'm here to say that just being Nominated for Best Actress in truly an HONOR.

Admiral8Q · January 2020

I've looked into this. From what I see, you can select a filter for "basic game stuff only", here:

(I used the lightning bolt because it's way cooler than an arrow)

I chose toilets. So any toilets with the blue circle icon from expansions and packs are removed and I can't build them, even accidentally.

You can chose each pack individually or in a combination. Also with or without base game stuff.
For "Get to Work", there is only 1 toilet available. For "City Living" there are 4 toilets. 5 if you select both packs. That's without the Base game selected, select that and you'll get all the base game toilets PLUS any toilets in packs you select on the filter.

Finvola · January 2020

I'm a terrible builder, although I think I've improved slightly over time. I read and watch tutorials and look at layouts, which helps but I'll never be even an average builder. I don't have the eye for it but every now and again I'll make something that I'm satisfied with. It helps if I pick a house or floorplan I'm familiar with, like the house I grew up in for instance.

Admiral8Q · January 2020

Finvola wrote: »

I'm a terrible builder, although I think I've improved slightly over time. I read and watch tutorials and look at layouts, which helps but I'll never be even an average builder. I don't have the eye for it but every now and again I'll make something that I'm satisfied with. It helps if I pick a house or floorplan I'm familiar with, like the house I grew up in for instance.

That's awesome. I'm better at modifying and going from there on, myself.

I hope you don't mind, this is a house I've been working on practically since I started playing. Started with the 1 floor. I built it up to 2 floors, then 3 floors more recently. Finally, Connie, a major bookseller, has millions of simoleons. I managed to complete building (and fleshing out) this house in the last couple days and have been going nuts finishing it with my creativity.

She is third generation Calhouni, with kids of her own as teens. Now that there are three more babies coming within the family, I figured this would be a perfect place for toddlers and children. Technically I designed it for 3 toddlers and/or children and up to 4 adults.

Connie works from home writing books so with her there, there will always be at least one adult around.

kalaksed · January 2020

oh man, building is such a herculean task, i really do envy those that make it look so easy, even though i know many hours, if not days, tend to go into those builds

i'm more an editor, myself, as can probably be seen in my limited building uploads... out of a whopping 9 lots, two are updated versions of maxis lots (harbor quarter gym from get together and belomisla trailhead from jungle adventure) and three are works of other simmers (given full credit) that i'd modified in some way for my own use and uploaded at request (one turning a 30x30 into a 30x20 but trying to keep most of the same feel)... one of those three is just updating my previously uploaded version, changing some things, fixing some others
four of them are actual builds of mine, though, again, two are just updated versions of previous uploads... and while none of them are ultra amazing, i'm quite proud of what i managed in them... even though i constantly want to go back and tweak things...

tend to consider myself... at best, a halfway decent builder. most likely, maybe a 1/3 decent builder... i've always got huge ideas, it's just a matter of actually getting them out of my head and into the game...

as for landscaping... it frightens me... i'm absolutely no good at it, much as i try... even researching actual locations similar to what i'm working on (like the marine research center... lots of those, both in mainland and island areas, or the vampire-themed graveyard... ) and... lets just say again that i'm always impressed by those who can do it so well and make it look so easy

OneAdorkableGirl · January 2020

I'm right there with you. I've been trying to start up a save file to play through fully through all the content we currently have and I've made my Sim founder, but.. the house.. while I love how other creators make their houses, they're really beautiful.. I have to have spacious houses with room for Sims to do things, but not be super empty, but not cluttered, either.. and I can't play in houses that literally have no room to see the Sims in their space and take pictures.

But when I try to build a house because I can't find any houses that are what I'm looking for.. I end up getting super discouraged and saving the game and turning it off. Over the weekend, I attempted to build the house for my founder and I just got overwhelmed and disappointed because it just wasn't turning out how I wanted it to. I also tried taking a floor-plan and using that as a reference, but the 3 tile =foot thing confuses me and so.. it didn't turn out well, so I scrapped it and turned off the game.

Also.. interior decorating I enjoy doing, but I don't see how others use the games content and make such beautiful interior decorations. I have so much trouble finding the right lights, curtains and pictures to put up.. and just discourages me more.

ChampandGirlie · January 2020

Back in the day, I basically always built. My play style was to play one random family as they made progressively more money. They always moved into a ridiculous mansion that I built myself. I remember that their houses were so big that it would take forever to walk to the commute from wherever they were in the house. "Sorry boss, it takes me 45 minutes to walk from one end of my house to the other."

In this version, I switched my style to playing a lot of different households of different types. They all end up in different lots and locations. I haven't emphasized building but I'm willing to be less rusty as I have time. I tried entering this challenge. I can see if I have a photo of my result. I think I'm pretty creative aside from roofing and getting bored while decorating. I pushed through for the challenge.

Anyway, I like thinking outside of the box. Sometimes I renovate, sometimes I download and lately, I'm willing to build a bit more when I have the available lots for it. It's all a matter of what I have time for. I'm not as familiar with some of the advanced tools.

Also, my prior play style explains why I didn't get that attached to the pre-mades. I was always playing with my own sims on lots that I built. In this version, I've used more pre-existing lots and made more of a complex rotation.

JACKIEJOY · January 2020

I don't build very well but l enjoy it. I just started with basic boxes and went from there. Since I play in all my builds routing and functionality dictate the lay out. Landscaping is always an afterthought that sometimes doesn't get thought of. And I play walls down so decorating is often nonexistent. But if I like it or i get asked, I will put it on the gallery.

fullspiral · January 2020

LiELF wrote: »

Netzspannung wrote: »

LiELF wrote: »

So, I'm not much of a builder. But I decided to give it a go in the spirit of the Tiny Living contest. (Really not expecting to win or anything, just for fun. I'm way too amateur, lol.) I figured I'd make it a little easier by limiting myself to base game items and making it a starter build with no cheats, no MOO, just simplicity.

Well. First off, it would seem that there are some categories in build mode that won't let you select "base game", so I had to ignore everything with an icon in the corner and try to work around it. In the end, I wound up with four different pack items in there somewhere that I couldn't find, so I deactivated those packs in Origin, tweaked the build, and uploaded it. Turns out, the price of the lot was off too, once you place it down, so it just went over the starter price. Gaa!

I was going to leave it be, but it bothered me, because I had written in the description that it was a starter. So I decided to tweak it further. I figured that while I was in there, I'd make it a 100 tile lot, like the challenge in the pack. So I deleted the porches and made a couple little finishing touches, tested the build, it stayed within starter price, so I uploaded it. Now it's showing that I used something from Outdoor Retreat! I'm about to send a Sim to set this place on fire, lol.

You'd think that I'd just give up by now. But it's going to bother me. So off I go to try to pick out that OR item and send it to the Abyss. I feel bad for the Gurus for being spammed by the hashtag and downloading all of the lots to look at. They're going to be like, "this one again?? *eye roll*. If anyone sees @SimGuruNinja , send him my apologies, lol.

I don't know why ... but somehow ... I think he knows.

And also, building IS hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. But once in a blue moon, when inspiration hits me, I like to believe that I produce something half decent that others will enjoy in their game. That being said, I am sure your build turned out great, you obviously put a lot of thought into it. Good luck with the contest!

Thanks! I've just been meaning to try my hand at building because there is so much neat stuff in build/buy. I actually really got into it! But I don't know if it's something I'd do regularly, I'm a little overwhelmed with the amount of options (which is why I decided to do a limited build) and that one little simple house took me about nine hours of indecision, lol. I think I'm going to end up changing this little house again with pack items for my own use. Or maybe I'll just try another one when I have time.

I've always had respect for builders but oh, they are truly exalted in their talents! Can't wait to see the awesome builds on the livestream! (Watching later in the day, after work.)

I enjoy building in S4. It's so much easier than in 2 or 3. And thank goodness for that! Because I make a lot of mistakes, and in the old games you had to delete and restart. With 4, you can just "fix" it!

I'm by no means a good builder, but I have a lot of fun with it and I like giving my sims homes that are tailored to them and who they are.

Just keep trying and have fun with it!

The Sims Forums

Omg building is hard! Lol

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