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XQ Showcase. Latest: The Art of Charm

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  • fidlertenfidlerten Posts: 7,615 Member
    Yay!! I'm so glad that you got a Maxis Fave. Congrats for a worthy build.
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  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Thanks, @fidlerten . Of course, now I'm once again too busy to build....
  • WrathofCathWrathofCath Posts: 4,419 Member
    @Xinqun, I'm sorry I missed your Tudor Gables, earlier. It's so Charming both on the exterior and on the interior. I have to admit that I'm not sure what you mean about the gabled roofs, so I'll just have to have a look-see in game. :blush:

    The White Elephant is Gorgeous! So elegant! Love the alfresco dining area and the impressive vaulted ceilings throughout. Congratulations on the Well deserved Maxis Fave! :smile:
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Thanks, @WrathofCath ! No need to apologise for missing anything ... so much passes through the forum, I'd be unreasonable to expect anyone to follow my every build. Heaven knows it's only about a fraction of the time that I think of something to say.
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Wow, has it been a year? I've been fiddling on and off with the game ... mostly when I'm supposed to be doing something else. I'll admit that a lot of the time, what gets me going is a decision that one of the pre-made buildings needs to be (ahem) brought more in line to my tastes. I've reworked a bunch of the houses in Windenburg, but this one I'm especially proud of. It replaces the Von Windenburg Estate on the island, and bears veeeerry little resemblance to the original house at all. I did keep the original pool, though, albeit with the dimensions tweaked somewhat.

    Gallery link: Winterbourne Hall

    There's more to Tudor architecture than half-timbering. This was when glass started being used in houses, so there were some pretty neat things being done with bay windows and that sort of thing. Check out Hampton Court Palace, for instance: not a half-timbered wall in sight, but look at that bay window (an oriel window, I think it's called) over the gate! And all the chimneys! With that in mind, here's Winterbourne Hall. I imagine it as having been built for a retired Elizabethan privateer (ie, a pirate, arrr) out on the windswept bluffs overlooking the sea.

    wh01.jpg

    Yes, I did say on the windswept bluffs overlooking the sea.
    wh03.jpg

    House plans!

    Kid's room and toddler's room on the ground floor, accessed via a separate hallway. You can't see it, but there's a stair stacked under this one, going down to the basement.
    wh11.jpg

    Yes, I confess to a continuing love affair with enormous windows in bathrooms. If you live in a world where people somehow can't see inside through a window, you might as well take advantage of it.
    wh12.jpg

    And there's a basement games room, too, just like in the original Von Windenburg Estate lot.
    wh13.jpg

    Interior shots!

    The great hall! It's great!
    wh22.jpg

    The toddler's nursery. I figure that if you've got five bedrooms, you can afford to make one of them a nursery.
    wh24.jpg

    One of the upstairs bedrooms.
    wh26.jpg

    And the master bedroom. The small "end table" between the armchairs wouldn't normally be my first choice (there are much better options elsewhere) but one of the challenges I took on for this was to stick to only the base game plus Get Together, so there we go.
    wh28.jpg
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,522 Member
    Winterbourne Hall is a very nice Tuder style family home! :) The exterior design,roofing, wall pattern and windows are very nice! The hedging is nice and great hedge fenced outdoors chess nook ! Very nice layout and furnishing of the interior levels! The wooden flooring gives a nice feel to the home. Very nice great hall! The living and dining areas there are very nice! Very nice fireplace sitting area for Sims to relax near the fire, chat and listen to piano music. The candlelights are very nice touch. Very nice furnishing of the bedrooms! The toddlers bedroom is very sweet! The teddy and lady bird rug are very cute! Kids will enjoy playing with the dollhouse and toys from the chest,and reading books from the bookcase. Very nice red colour scheme of the master bedroom.
    It is a lovely home! :)
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Thanks, @rosemow ! I'm really pleased with it, too!
  • illusieillusie Posts: 13,816 Member
    Winterbourne Hall looks amazing<3
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Look! Twins!

    Gallery link: Twin Townhouse - West
    Gallery link: Twin Townhouse - East

    tt01.jpg

    Yep, I got my hands on the Discover University expansion pack, and I've been noodling around the pre-made builds. These twin townhouses are, of course, the result of me looking at these two builds...
    ttbefore.jpg
    ... and thinking, "Aha! I see what they're trying to do here. These are supposed to be upper-class terraced houses like you find in the fancier parts of London and Bath, right? I'm sure we could do better than this. I mean, this pack comes with exactly the sort of windows we want, so why not use them?"

    So yeah, terraced houses. Or townhouses, or brownstones, depending on your region. Pity we can't build right up to the property line and create a whole row of independent houses, but I guess the story here must be that there used to be two rows of houses, but most of them got knocked down, so these two are the only ones left. You can even see the one shoddily painted-over brick wall where another house used to connect.

    When I say these are twin townhouses, I mean they're twin townhouses. Except for some minor bathroom configurations because the showers aren't perfectly symmetrical, these two builds are pretty much identical to each other, only mirror-imaged. So let's just look at one of them.

    Let's say, this one.
    tt02.jpg

    Floor plans!
    Study/office on the ground floor. Great for people who work from home and have to meet clients there. Also solves the problem of there not being enough space for a living room on this floor.
    tt11.jpg

    The living room (or drawing room, rather) going on the next floor up means it has more room to spread out.
    tt12.jpg

    Bedrooms.
    tt13.jpg

    And a roof terrace ripe for development.
    tt14.jpg

    Interior shots!
    Study/Office
    tt21.jpg

    Dining room
    tt22.jpg

    Kitchen
    tt23.jpg

    Living room
    tt24.jpg

    Nursery
    tt25.jpg

    Bedroom
    tt26.jpg

    Bedroom
    tt27.jpg
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,522 Member
    The townhouses are lovely! :)Very nice layout and furnishing of the interior levels! The design of each level is very nice! Lovely warm brown color scheme ! The floor rugs are nice in the rooms,Very nice sofa and armchairs fireplace sitting area in the living room to enjoy chatting near the fire and watching tv. The curtained windows alcove in the dining room is very nice.
    They are very nice townhouses! :)
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Thanks, @rosemow ! I should probably go crosspost this to the latest works thread.
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    edited March 2020
    Gallery link: King's Hallow

    kh01.jpg
    From the lot description on the gallery: "Josiah King raised himself from the gutters of Victorian Liverpool to the head of a shipping empire, then built this mansion as a tribute to his newfound respectability. Its name is not actually a reference to King himself, but to the idea of legitimacy granted by royal favour - a king's (or queen's, given the era) blessing."

    (But actually, it was because I built it on the Hallow Slough lot in Willow Creek and the original lot name influenced the name of the new build on it.)

    It's got the Goth mansion across from it, which I rebuilt as a fantasy of Victorian wraparound verandahs and turrets; and then the lot next to it ("Parkshore", as I recall) was rebuilt as a Victorian "Painted Lady". King's Hallow is something in between the two of them.

    kh02.jpg
    (You know, the wonderful thing about verandahs is that you can use them to fill out empty spaces to help make your roof work even when your floor plan doesn't want to cooperate.)

    Floor plans:
    kh11.jpg
    kh12.jpg

    And just a few interior shots ... living room, master bedroom, and nursery.
    kh21.jpg
    kh22.jpg
    kh23.jpg
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,522 Member
    King’s Hallow is a lovely family mansion! :) Very great exterior design, roofing, porches/patios and balconies! It looks very ornate! Very nice outdoors dining patio, and great pool area. Very lovely interior layout and furnishings ! Very pretty wall panelling in the rooms and the colours are lovely! Very nice patterned flooring in the living room! The grandfather clock is homely. Sims will enjoy sitting on the seating watching tv, listening to stereo music and having a drink from the globe bar with the fireplace keeping the room warm. Very nice fireplace sitting area and vanity table corner nook in the master bedroom. The teddy in the kids room is cute! Very nice curtains.
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Thanks, @rosemow !
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Gallery link: UBrite Student Union

    ubc01.jpg

    I rebuilt Darby's Den, the University of Britechester student commons, and this is the result. It's basically a place where your university-going sims can spend their entire university education, without once going back to the dorms. I figured that the place needed a better student lounge and a few more amenities, like maybe a place to work out, a shower or two, and a bedroom where they can catch a nap between studies and debates. (Totally not for woohoo. The university frowns on that sort of thing. Frown frown frown.)

    Here's the back view. There's the afore-mentioned place to work out. Also a place for barbecues, and a side yard where you can kick a football around. I originally put a keg in that yard thinking it would be great for keg parties, but when the Spirit Squad held their kegger, they went and stuck their own keg right there in the cafeteria (yes, it fits) and ignored the keg I'd put out for them -- which later disappeared with them. So, no free keg for you.

    ubc02.jpg

    Interior layouts!
    Cafeteria and library-parlour: basically, the more public side of the student union.
    ubc03.jpg

    The student lounge is where they relax, play a bit of ping pong, watch a bit of TV, and maybe catch up on their studies.
    ubc04.jpg

    The bedroom is for hardworking students who need a nap. Not for woohoo.
    ubc05.jpg

    Interior shots!
    The cafeteria.
    ubc06.jpg

    The library-parlour.
    ubc07.jpg

    And the student lounge.
    ubc08.jpg

    No shots of the bedroom, I'm afraid. The Debate Guild president and one of his study-mates needed a bit of shut-eye, they said, and we're going to respect their privacy.
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,522 Member
    UBrite Student Union is a lovely makeover of Darby’s Den! :) Very nice exterior design, great tower and Sims will enjoy painting on the easels on the front porch. Very nice interior layout and furnishings! The brown colour scheme is very nice. Very nice cafeteria and dining area. Sims will enjoy eating food and having drinks when taking a break from studying.Sims will enjoy sitting on the sofa and armchairs in the library area chatting and reading books. Very nice lounge area to enjoy watching tv and playing ping pong. Very nice windows study desk area to enjoy using the computer.
    It is a very nice students venue :)
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Thanks, @rosemow ! I'm rather pleased with this build, too.
  • illusieillusie Posts: 13,816 Member
    King's Hallow and UBrite Student Union are both beautiful <3
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Thanks, @illusie ! And thanks for stopping by!
  • masajomasajo Posts: 5,993 Member
    Wow, two awesome new builds, love the story behind King's Hallow and UBrite Student Union is a fantastic 're-do' of Darby's Den with many more wonderful amenities. Beautiful work :)
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  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Thanks, @masajo ! For the student union, in particular, I hope people find it an improvement to their gameplay experience.
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    Gallery link: Science Centre

    I actually first built this ages and ages ago, back when we first got glass roofs. Remember when that was the new big thing? Now we have configurable stairs and ladders. Kids these days will never understand. Anyway, I looked at this again, did a bit more playtest-and-polish (the floors were originally High-End Concrete, but it turns out that sims don't like that indoors) and added the robotics station from Discover University. Voila.

    sc01.jpg

    And the view from the back. Here you can see the rocket ship launchpad that's at the centre of the build. The water all around isn't just a pretty detail, folks: it's a safety feature to keep any fires from spreading. Not that there could be any fires, of course. The rocket ship launchpad is absolutely 100% safe.

    sc02.jpg

    The interior hallway:
    sc03.jpg

    But the layout plans will probably give the best idea of what's going on.

    Level 1: there's the reading room on one side, and the science lair on the other. There's also a space, through the door from the science lair, for computer gaming.
    sc04.jpg

    Level 2: basically the toilets, and views down into the reading room and science lair.
    sc05.jpg

    Level 3: the robotics station (this used to be just another computer station until Discover University came out) and the observatory.
    sc06.jpg
  • rosemowrosemow Posts: 163,522 Member
    Science Centre is a lovely modern science themed venue for Sims to enjoy visiting! :) Very great exterior design, glass roofing, large glass windows bringing in sunlight! The rocket launchpad and water around it for safety looks great! The telescope is great on the roofing! Very nice interior furnishings and layout! The reading area with a number of bookcases along the walls and a table to sit at and read is very nice! Sims will enjoy playing chess. Very nice science lair, and it is great that there is a robotics station area on the third level. Very nice patterned rugs through the venue areas.
    It is a great science themed build! :)
  • HallgerdHallgerd Posts: 43 Member
    I really like these old English residences, but this modernist building is also wonderful. I watch it and wonder how the roofs are made of these slightly higher sides.
  • XinqunXinqun Posts: 612 Member
    edited July 2020
    Thanks, @rosemow , @Hallgerd ! @Hallgerd , the roof sides are a bit higher because they're actually one square deeper than the glass portions. Feel free to download and pick it apart to see!
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