I'm generally a community lot builder. I'm especially comfortable with building entertainment venues (such as bars, nightclubs, museums, parks, pools, etc). My favorites to build are nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and museums! Sometimes parks too, if I can think of a creative layout! The same goes for pools (I usually build water park themed venues when I do).
However, I completely fail at building gyms!!! I'm not gonna lie, I've never actually been to one in real life... lol And I've attempted to base mine on the ones that are pre-built, but I still fail every time! lol Even searching online for inspiration doesn't help me at all! Libraries also seem to be an issue for me... I've been to plenty in my lifetime, but I fail at building them on The Sims (without making them look extremely basic and box shaped).
Spas are more 50/50 for me... the ones I build either come out really nice or really awful! lol There never seems to be an in between with them. The same applies to residential homes. However, almost every house generally has the same interior layout (while looking different on the outside), which is an issue I try my best to stray away from when I'm building them... lol But they somehow end up being similar, regardless.
Which lot types are you most comfortable building? And which ones do you feel are some of your worst (if you have any)?
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I was originally the same way at first... I honestly never wanted to put the effort into building my own community lots... or even residential homes (aside from the one I'll actually be playing), but I one day decided to take it up and became addicted ever since! lol I love building in The Sims now!
I completely remodeled every single world (except for Glimmerbrook and Britechester, which I haven't gotten around to yet due to playing Sims 3 lately).
Sims 1: Hot Date
Sims 2: Seasons
Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff
Sims 3: Seasons
Sims 3: 70's, 80's, & 90's Stuff
Sims 4: Seasons
Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff
Sims 4: Strangerville Game Pack
Building from scratch is always tough. Takes play-testing either way though to see what works. Like in homes I try to get the kitchen sink(s) closer to the eating area than the bathroom sink(s), for example.
I think it's mostly about having an idea and then realizing how that will fit the sim behaviour assigned to a certain community lot. You could get really creative with how the actual lot looks like, no matter what type. In my game I have downloaded a gym that is mostly outdoor for example.
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Comfortable? i don't think of comfort on the subject, but rather what type of logical layout i can do. in the past i've had some complimentary comments about the way i layout parks for example, even one gym. it's just about organising and setting it all up appropriately.
You look at the base game gyms and there are things that can be changed immediately. for starters, there is a lot of open space, not enough showers and dedicated areas to change in with lockers.
The Oasis springs gym is a favorite of mine, because of the layout. with some adjustment you can get a lot more exercise machines in place, a nice sitting area and a place to grab a drink, be it water or coffee. If you reorganise the area where sims shower, you could get 5 or more in that one area that is criminally being underused.
The Willow creek Gym could do with the removal of a sofa, and expansion to bring more showers up on the second floor. the upper bar can be reorganised as well as well as a sitting area. The boxing room on the first floor can get more punching bags as well.
However considering it, you want a sitting area with access to coffee and water options, as well as waste bins for repairs on objects leaving rubbish behind. Then you'll want showers and at least 6 of them, this should be directly proportional to the machines you have, so for every shower you have two exercise machines can be placed down.
Also, restaurants. Too fiddly, too many BS requirements, not enough objects that sims visiting the lots will actually use.
Outdoor venues such as pools and parks are my favourite lot types to build. Nightclubs are good fun too.
I absolutely suck at anything that is supposed to go on big lot because first of all I ain't got patience to fill them out
and secondly I keep making the buildings way too small for the lot p_p
public venues? often end up like one giant box of idk what this was supposed to be
definitely not in my skillz
been trying to get better at some older buildings and roof thingies now
so I have feeling that if I get outsides right first and then do insides
that might help me with the problem ._. but dunno
I'm just always so fixated on making this or that room that I forget the outsides have to make sense as well
so I've just sort of flipped it with ''only build outsides of houses and do insides to them later''
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I did some building and remodelling in my Victorian save and it was fun, and I frequently build homes when I play legacy style, but most of the time I get eager to play so I just don't build lots that often. I keep thinking about building a world from scratch but it just feels like too much work and I will inevitably get bored quickly.
I've definitely built and edited some community spaces. Recently, I lightly edited Sergeant Pepper's Pub. I added Victorian carpeting, a fireplace and one of the coat closets from Get Together upstairs.
I mentioned this before but I built a movie theatre / bowling alley that I use a lot. It's boxy but I specifically wanted it to look boxy because most modern "funplexes" like that do look like that. It's dark inside because it's an all-weather indoor destination with carpeting that looks like "jazzy" movie theatre carpet. It also has a bar and a wall of popcorn makers. I send sims there when I want them to have fun without worrying about the weather.
I've renovated quite a few houses. More recently, I gave more building a try. It took more time but I ended up being attached to the end result.
My "weak" points are roofing and decorating. I really should probably do a roofing tutorial for anything beyond an easy roof. For decorating, I never used to put any clutter in my houses. Now, I do add a bit more but I prefer a less cluttered look than most on the gallery, I think. Now, I add a detail here and there. When I download from the gallery, I appreciate the effort but I end up pulling out some decor that just takes up space without functionality. In the kitchens, I like using functional appliances and having more than one bare counter for prepwork whenever possible.
Typically when building, I'll build most of it and then keep adding details or tweaking a place as sims move in and start using it. I make sure their basic needs are met first and then I add more details or decor. I also want the house to reflect their personalities so I don't want them all to have the same clutter objects.
My weak points are landscaping and large, sprawling, luxury homes. Sims life is so time critical that having spacious areas stresses me & I just don't like doing gardening or outdoor design in the real world so I don't have much interest in it in game.
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