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Has anyone made a project of just one, whole neighbourhood?
NRowe
Posts: 7,898 Member
I am lucky enough to be getting a better computer next week! A review of my Library has revealed some patterns.
Apparently I like playing mostly female YAs who live in San Myshuno.
I have about twenty Sims documented which I would, maybe, like to reintroduce into one cohesive save. Almost all are YA and about seven out of the bunch are guys.
In terms of building, I have redone a great many of the apartments in San Myshuno at one time or another. Enough that I am thinking I will makeover the entire neighbourhood and fill with my aforementioned Sims. This would mainly mean placing my previous builds over EA presets.
Has anyone ever made a project of just one neighbourhood? If so, which one and do you have any tips for making such a thing work??
Apparently I like playing mostly female YAs who live in San Myshuno.
I have about twenty Sims documented which I would, maybe, like to reintroduce into one cohesive save. Almost all are YA and about seven out of the bunch are guys.
In terms of building, I have redone a great many of the apartments in San Myshuno at one time or another. Enough that I am thinking I will makeover the entire neighbourhood and fill with my aforementioned Sims. This would mainly mean placing my previous builds over EA presets.
Has anyone ever made a project of just one neighbourhood? If so, which one and do you have any tips for making such a thing work??
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I was in a huge music festival mood awhile ago and was thinking how much I would LOOOOOOOVE to have a sort of Coachella/Lollapalooza type music festival in the game. I would have put it in another world, but as I thought more about it I decided something like this was better off as a vacation type thing, rather than just any old everyday lot that my sims could go to whenever they wanted. With that in mind, I turned to Selvadorada and Granite Falls, before deciding on Granite Falls as the festival site.
The first thing I did was plop down a festival site from the gallery on what was the national park (sorry nature). And things sorta evolved from there. Id never really did much with the campgrounds already in place, and I wasnt really thinking about doing any serious building at the time. Until I looked at the festival grounds and back at the camping lots and then the muses decided I was building. Ive noticed that I have more fun with my sims when I build my own lots to use, and felt that this idea would actually get me to play in Granite Falls more often.
I plan on actually making my own festival lot, but the one I have down already serves for good inspiration for when Im ready to make my own. But as for the rest of lots, I kept them all as rentals and tore them down. (With the exception of the Campground, I just added some tents and whatnot and a public shower and toilet area) I imagined that this music festival would offer swanky digs for attendees who wanted cabins, but at varying degrees of comfort and prices. The cabins are all cozy in their own way, but obviously the higher the tier of the cabin was, the more accommodations it offered and the pricier it was. And I had to make sure there was campground for those that just want to rough it. This was my most ambitious unintended project and Im happy with the results!
I wouldnt say I have any real tips to offer, but I will say what helped me is that I really really thought about what I wanted to do and what kind of story this had. Once the setting was decided upon, things settled into place really quickly. It also helped that I had a central theme in mind, and was able to build around it. And for the purposes of my build, I wanted to make sure that my cabins were at least relatively cohesive with each other. I think cohesion is important too. It looks right, feels right when there's a bunch of builds together that look as though they belong with each other in that area. I for example, wouldnt build a huge mansion in a neighborhood that's mostly commercial, nor would I build a colonial style house in an world like Oasis Springs. Doesnt look right and would bug me forever if I was playing it. And have fun with it too! Redoing a whole neighborhood is an undertaking, so remember to have fun with it and there's no harm with not looking at it for awhile or taking a break from it. Especially if the creative juices start running dry!
My campgrounds down belooooow
Tier 1 Housing
Tier 2 Housing
Tier 3 housing
Tier 4 housing
Campground
Lately I've seen a video on YouTube from someone who had rebuild an entire polish city. That looked fantastic. Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the player.
@InuMiroLover what a great idea! I now have to do this. And now i feel i have a great reason to wait for bands in the game!
I actually forgot that I've done parts of Willow Creek, Oasis Springs and Newcrest in the past. But in my current project I'll probably rebuild most of that again.
Anyway (I just logged on on my pc, this isn't something you can do from mobile easily), I'll see if I can think of some tips and tricks to make it work (although that does depend on where you want to go).
I think Glimmerbrook is my best world redo, it has houses, Sims with backstory (and a feud between the good, the bad and the crazy spellcasters) and a magic shop (because the one in the Realm is annoying).
What I usually do is think of a style I want to build - Glimmerbrook is not a great example of that, it's an interesting mix of styles. I generally tend to stick with the same style for each sub-hood (of course, small worlds are essentially the same as sub-hoods). For example, for Magnolia Promenade I went with retro modern - it's basically the entertainment district with a cinema, bowling alley, karaoke bar and diner.
Once you figure out what style you want to use, go look for inspiration on the internet. I have load of folders with blueprints and style images for a variety of building style. As I'm working on Windenburg right now, my Tudor folder has grown massively.
What also helps, is to know what community lots you want, where you want them and what clubs will make use of them. I also find it easier to build/furnish residential homes when I know what kind of Sim will live there.
I mean, I have like three or four different spreadsheets with all kind of info on builds and Sims I want to put into my save file.
Thanks for the advice to keep a build style consistent. I will definitely keep it in mind if tackling other worlds. I feel it is not such an issue in San Myshuno, where it’s all basically apartments.
Being patient is good advice too, though what I will be doing involves resuming stuff I have already spent time on.
Your Magnolia Promenade looks gorgeous @MDianaSims.
I redecorated the Torendi Tower penthouse as a Youth Centre once. It has some of that stuff like a cinema, a cafe, a yoga studio, gym and karaoke while still keeping the basketball court and pool. I’ve under-utilised it in my games so far, but the idea is to change the lot type to a gym for a workout and say a club to hang out/dance party at night.
I am glad I’m not the only one doing spreadsheets too @MDianaSims. I think my Mum thought I was a little crazy/obsessed.
Mine has all my Sims (sitting in the library) with various status like career, traits, where they live...
Because they are so many and I am a HUGE micro manager, I am wondering about how I’ll handle so many of them in one game...
I’m having to steal myself to let some go to their own devices (and MCCC)...
In my current game I used all of my favourite lots from previous games, plus some really lovely new ones I downloaded and some new tiny homes I created myself.
I keep them in the theme of the area they are built in and they generally look good with other lots in the area too.
Then I filled up every single house in every world lol. I brought in all the sims I have ever played (I tend to store my old game saves) plus the EA sims, plus a few remakes from other versions. Now I'm rotating round them all (I'm another spreadsheet user haha).
Tonight I played a sim and her daughter that I haven't played in about 3 years. It's great to see her mixing with my newer sims.
I have another save where I like to play challenges and tell other, more realistic types of stories and I have only edited either the homes my sims have lived in or the community lots (or added some I needed for a challenge/story), but I get frustrated with my surroundings and neighbors sometimes. I'm considering editing all of it to make it cohesive.
@InuMiroLover I love that!! Now I need bands even more.
I mainly moved it since in Oasis Springs I went a different direction turning it into like a farming, trailer-park, country-folk, and a few rich people that want out of the city life.
When I get back to Magnolia, I'll probably knock down that other empty retail store and put something else there.
This is the last screenie I took of Oasis Springs
I do go with a theme by neighborhood and by world.
1. I go through every pre-made household and change their hot weather and cold weather clothing.
2. I go through parks and add dog friendly and cat friendly traits to them. I also add a toddlers' playground and a swingset there.
3. I go through every house and vacation rental lots and add termostat, family portrait, and decoration box there.
4. I add three lot traits to every lot.
5. I add some new lots like a graveyard, big museum with a wedding venue, bowling alley, bookstore, fast food joint and more.
That's pretty hardcore! Nice!
I've been doing that as I see problems or things that could be improved. But I guess I'm new to the game. I don't go into every single world and every single household and have an agenda.
I'm more of a sim city person I guess in some ways. See and watch how things are working or where they aren't, notice how things are moving or not, then think of ways to improve it.
Like a zillion gyms and museums is not really necessary, lol!
What's the big community lot you have at the front?
Here's my current Oasis Springs:
And my Willow Creek:
It's a high-school. I haven't been able to figure out why the 'Back to School' pack isn't working. Though I've been too busy on other projects so I haven't put any significant effort in figuring out why.
Those trailer homes where the Landgraabs used to be is families setting up a farm. I haven't got around to planting yet. Eventually I guess.
These are older screenshots now, but gives you the idea.
Willow Creek has it's focus on family play. It has the typical suburban sub hood. Another sub hood is filled with a school, gym, study cafe's, hangout spots and a daycare. Then in the upper town I have victorian rowhouses and community lots of that sort as well. The community areas are mostly family friendly such as a rollerskating lot, cinema, karaoke bar and gym. The park has turned into a Christmas market for families to enjoy in the appropriate season.
Oasis springs has become a wealthy southern world. I imagine it is an extend to the California/LA world of get famous. The enclosed site area has turned into a sort of Malibu sub hood with condo's for those famous sims. The GF world just did not have that mid-class sub hood I needed. The community area has boho type of restaurants/cafe's. There is also a resort and spa for the wealthy sims. In the lower subhood area's I have put Spanish houses for mid-class families.
New Crest is family/city oriented. I have modern town houses lined up all in the same style. The lower area is filled with stores, cafe's and a shopping square. The city area has beautiful historical buildings like Vienna. There is an Opera/restaurant, hotel/spa and I have to add a few lots more in this category.
Magnolia Promenade is still a bit unsure and remains empty for now. I am probably going to only add restaurants, lounges and fancy clubs for wealthy sims only.
Windenburg remains 'European'. In the old town, I have Parisian buildings and Dutch styled houses across the subhood. The island has beach houses and some empty lots for future holiday homes. The country side is just what it is.. country, farming and an open air wedding venue of course. The modern city part is just filled with modern community lots like a library, club, party boat and gaming center.
San Myshuno is more like NYC in my game. I didn't like the Japanese aspects of it and just changed it into something more suiting to most of my Sims. I kept the subhoods as they are. The spice market remains a bit sloppy with abandoned warehouses as photo studios and nightclubs.
The art district has a culture center where sims can practice their interests, build up skills, meet others with same interests and perhaps practice for their goals. It contains all kinds of classes for sims (clubs) to join like a music class, art class, dance class, theater, local cinema, cafeteria, art gallery, bookstore and a conference room for promoting politicians/ practicing speeches.
The fashion district has a lot with only high end fashion stores for the wealthy sims. The business area has a office building complex for sims with all kinds of jobs to come in and work on those active careers. It also has a bank and cafe on the main floor.
Brindleton Bay has that cozy family town vibe. It contains family suburban sub hoods, beach homes and get away condo's. Near the harbor I build a fish market, restaurant and a pit stop all in one market. I also left the idea of the yacht club there, but replaced it with a better one. And the world needed a city hall. I feel this town is very close and all sims know each other pretty well and ride bikes to town to get their groceries done.
Del Sol Valley will always be LA. I replaced all the mansions with stunning modern realistic looking villa's from Sarina_Sims. It is amazing how real they look and without CC. Just beautiful! The boulevard has a red carpet award show, a very modern nightclub with a 3-star entrance, the biggest movie theater of all worlds with a little club in the basements for upcoming stars + a build in theater for the acting club filled with sims from town who are trying to get famous. I also build a typical LA food truck in the original park that was made by EA. Oh, and a fancy music theater with a VIP bar/lounge section.
The lower living area is replaced with better looking California bungalow houses as well as a minimalist tiny house.
Strangerville is on hold for now, cause the projects are too big to work on now instead of starting to play again soon. I am planning to change the lab into an area 51 lot with a spaceship base, military base and science lab where I have sims who work in those careers come and do missions, stay in for days and work on their skills/job tasks. The area on the hill is mainly a living area for those secret wealthy sims who in one way or the other work for the government. The houses will be eco-futuristic with unique designs. I saw TheSimStream making some perfect buildings I can place there. New pack could work out for this idea as well. In town I just placed some creepy abandoned houses and caravans.
Sulani is also a big project, but I made it into a holiday destination world. There are hotel resorts for both classes, expensive yacht boats for wealthy sims to throw parties on or buy/rent as their holiday homes.
Of course I also have more local areas that remain in their original vibe of the world.
Britechester is pretty new installed in my game, so just a few builds waiting in my library, but no steady plans.
Granite falls is supposed to be my ski resort world for now. I also have a scout camp there for kids and for the rest I have Scandinavian houses, planning on a Finnish bath house and perhaps a ski resort on a hill. Just struggling with the lots and sizes for these ideas.
Selvadorada is a world one of my sims travels often too, cause he is an archeologist. So i build him an archeology culture center that runs as a school to educate his students (club system) and go on missions. Haven't tried it out yet, but cant wait to play soon!
Omg, sorry for this loooooong comment. hope you enjoyed the read though
* Had to edit some typing mistakes I made :P
For Strangerville, have you found a way to edit the lab? Do please share if this is possible.
I used to have a scout camp in Granite Falls too, but it was disappointing for me. I made some groups of scouts with the club system and would meet there but none of the other scouts would really do the activities I wanted them to.
What sort of things will you have in your architecture centre? I placed a big base camp as a park in Selvadorada, it is based upon the Egyptian base camp from sims 3. I placed an architect table there but my sims can't use it because they 'don't own it'.