Yeah, I've downloaded lots from popular builders on YouTube, and at least a quarter of the time, it's unplayable in some way.
I remember one clearly since it was a recent discovery - a renovation of the Landgraab mansion by a popular YouTuber has an issue with the fridge. There's a counter 'behind' the fridge, so it's unusable. It took a long time for me to figure that one out. Not only are a lot of these fancy builds unplayable in some way, but the builders don't even playtest it first.
Restaurants - oh geez, yes. So many issues. Like @Ellupelluellu, I've resorted to just using Maxis' restaurants and either leaving them as is but maybe adding some extra decorations to jazz it up a little. I don't particularly care much for a fancy, cluttered, hyper-realistic looking lot - I care more about functionality.
Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
I have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night.
I don't think all builders are building with live mode in mind, some just want to create for the sake of making nice-looking things and I get that because I like touring builds or watching build videos on youtube just because I love how they turn out or to see their creative use of MOO.
However, maybe the community should get used to adding that kind of information when they upload something tot he gallery, not just whether it has been playtested ro not, but also whether it was made just as something to look at or to play in as well.
This is my biggest bug bare with YouTube builders you can see when they are building and placing items you cannot use the lot in live play. It’s so annoying. I love building and upload all my builds to the gallery. I never play test as I build them in build mode from the map but I only use the move objects cheat on things like windows, small clutter items etc and will turn the cheat off to place the main items for routing etc and I always put to use the cheat in my description. Why others can’t make functional builds is beyond me and use the cheats to the point you can’t even use the lot. It’s these reasons alone I build my own all the time and rarely download from the gallery.
The building community is fabulous, but there are many who do it more for the creative artistic freedom than the functionality of the game. You just have to kind of get to know who they are and avoid putting those in your game. It's such a shame because some of my absolute favorite builders who do amazing things with the build tools and objects, are some of those I have to skip over. It kills me because I want my Sims to use those lots so badly, the aesthetic will be exactly what I'm looking for but...if I can't play in it, I just can't use it.
I've found, though, that there are many builders who use the #playtested or #played hashtags on the gallery, so try using that to make it a little easier to find functional lots.
I use many of my builds and play test them all. The only times I've used MOO is for some outdoor plants and twice for windows that wouldn't sit right. Lately I haven't used MOO at all and tag builds #playtested and#nomoo.
There is just something so satisfying about playing in something I built.
I think it would be helpful if builders also had an optional list reminding them of things to check for before uploading builds. For example, to check the routing/pathing, thermostat/heating options, roofs (lack of electronics outside), mailboxes and trashcans ...
Even though I just build for myself, recently I've been building things that push the envelope of the game's capabilities, so I playtest as I go along because I build to play, but there are basic little things that can be missed. The bigger the build and the more objects there are, the more potential there is for a mess, especially now that platforms have been added. I personally try to balance between functionally and aesthetics, but it's difficult and takes a lot of time to test.
This is the back of a home I'm working on. Nothing about this is finished and I'm going to delete that pond/finish the yard/rest of the house, but everything works fine and lag free for me so far. I used a lot of platforms but idk I feel like many lots work well on some computers and horribly on others.
Because I don't want the responsibility of my stuff not working in other people's games, I don't share anything ever. But that's probably bad too. The next time I build something small, I'll try to keep this thread's tips in mind and upload it.
and they are at the top of most download or popular chart on gallery, I rarely download from gallery for this reason alone as most of them (in my experience) are unplayable due to abusing the MOO cheats and the good and playtested one are buried, not to mention not every playtested build are tagged with said tag, I download lot solely from modthesims since they play nice with the game and mostly dont use MOO.
Sometimes builders forget to have a survace to chop up your food on.
Or they forget that if people are buying Starter Homes, they don't have much money - unless they're tacking an extra 50 grand on - or they need storage room for their collections, or they need to be able to hang up their practice tools for whatever their job is. That's why Maxis' houses look so bad - they're cheap.
Some of the 20x15 builds that look fantastic and hold maybe two people, unfortunately cost, what, S100,000?
Prepping a list of mods to add after Infants are placed into the game. Because real life isn't 'nice'.
I have a similar problem with finding functional builds from gallery. It takes a lot of time to find lots that work and I often use same restaurants and other lots that I know are working well.
If you haven't checked out Silrosse's builds I recommend them. I love her restaurants and other lots too. They look amazing and I haven't had any problems with them yet.
This is why I do not download things from the gallery anymore unless it was from Maxis. I generally turn off the gallery in the game (better performance too) and turn it on when a new pack comes out to download Maxis New Prebuilt homes and sims.
@Beardedgeek That bit about having 2 cooking stations if more than 5 table is incredibly handy to know. I don't play with restaurants, but your suggestions make me want to have a try.
I have never had 2 cooking stations. the one time I tried to put in two cooking stations, it glitched. My chefs couldn't/wouldn't use either one, just stood there waving at me. I run two very successful restaurants and have just opened a third that is up-and-coming, all of them have more than five tables but only one chef and one cooking station.
It could perhaps be more ideal if I COULD use two. I will maybe try again at some point, but really my restaurants are making a lot of money.
I am specifically talking about AI run restaurants, not when you own a restaurant.
On the other hand, if your Chefs stand and wave, that means you have blocked the path to the station somehow.
and they are at the top of most download or popular chart on gallery, I rarely download from gallery for this reason alone as most of them (in my experience) are unplayable due to abusing the MOO cheats and the good and playtested one are buried, not to mention not every playtested build are tagged with said tag, I download lot solely from modthesims since they play nice with the game and mostly dont use MOO.
It is kind of telling that if the builder in question actually have a Let's Play, those buildings are always less detailed and complicated than the ones they upload. To the point that they sometimes apologize for the "simple design" or somesuch.
I am basically at this point as well. Too many one tile hallways. Too many routing issues. Too much non-functional clutter. Other than Maxis, I'm at the point where I'll usually only consider shells because I prefer designing the space for my sims. I've also been improving my roofing skills and I am fine with building more.
I've sometimes added a gallery lot and then pulled it out because it either didn't fit my space or more often, it had bad floorplan layouts. Generally, they have tiny hallways and tiny rooms that are overcrowded with stuff. I've also run into problems with excessive kitchen clutter such that the stove would malfunction. I had to go in and take parts of the kitchen out to get it to work. I mean, I can do that, but I end up preferring to build for myself.
I only play in my own creations but I like to download and admire some of the Gallery ones. You can find a lot of ideas and tips from them without plagiarising them on the Gallery. I find the simpler the home the better for the Sims to get around and enjoy themselves. They aren't particularly interested in great architecture!
I don't download a lot from the gallery, because I want to see pics of the inside before I download anything (and not the miniscule over head view that you see in the gallery) because you can't really see what you're getting. I download mostly from TSR or Mod The Sims, sometimes from Tumblr if the poster has pics.
I'm that person, that almost immediately deletes everything inside the house the minute I place it, so that I can put my own design stamp on it. I'll typically leave the kitchen cabinets/counters and bathrooms, but I always de-clutter stuff before I ever play. And, sometimes the pics look awesome but when you actually see it live, it's way too cramped and compact. I like clutter, but not an excessive amount of clutter, especially deco items on the floors.
Generally, I just build something from scratch for myself or I gut the inside of a downloaded house and change the floor plan to what works best for me.
I'm pretty horrible at landscaping and creating "curb appeal" and since I'm a visual person when I play, I like things to fit the vibe I'm going for in that world. So, I usually download lots because I like the outside aesthetics of it (landscaping, unique shape of the building, the window placements, etc.) then just change the inside to suit me.
Sometimes, I make up alternate saves, or make sure not to save on my main file, when I go gallery-home browsing. I tend to lean towards homes that more fit the asthetic of the area so I browse the lot hashtag primarly. And when I base something off of a lot that exists, I tend to lean more towards renos than full remakes of homes.
And yeah, I'll also de-clutter or change a home to suit my needs. But sometimes I just pick out a house that looks nice and just sit and maybe keep it in mind for future use.
I always build for myself first and then decided to share my creations with others. The houses I upload are the houses that I play in. They are the houses from my main save. I love building but I always make my sims homes practical and I always playtest them before adding them to the gallery. Some of my homes do require moveobjects on but I usually make sure to add that to the comments or the description of the house. I only use it occasionally to add clutter to some objects that have strange slots.
Check out my gallery for house builds! Username: aejp24
I build both for myself and for the Gallery. Though, I've only built a couple of community lots, a restaurand and a museum. For restaurants, I always plop down Maxis builds, after reading so many people having trouble with them from the Gallery.
With homes, I never use MOO, but I do use alt-placement for some decorations, outside plants and also some times for things like accent tables, livingroom chairs/sofas and coffee tables. I've never had routing issues at all from using the alt-key to place anything. I like that instead of MOO, because you can't place things where it absolutely shouldn't be placed. I make sure there is enough space to move around and that sims can use whatever it is they need to interact with.
For homes I use for my own sims, its more about function than beauty. I add the essentials and anything else my sims need for skills and hobbies. Decoration is not really a priority, as long as things work the way they should. Still like nice homes, though, but I never use much clutter and things I don't feel is needed in the home.
I'm not a famous builder (by far), but I usually test my builds superficially before I upload. So I'll have a Sim just walk around and do some basic stuff (cook, sit, shower, etc), and if that works I'll upload. I can't imagine people who spend days creating a perfect build putting in the time to also test every little bit of that build before uploading. I mean, most people adjust builds to their own taste anyway, so if some things turn out not to be functional, I guess they expect people to fix that themselves.
I build primarily for myself. Upon occasion I'll be so pleased with the way it turned out, that I will share it. I just spent the weekend building a brand new Mansion for my Global Superstar. This after remodeling (and quite possibly remuddling) his first home. I get bored with a floorplan and stop playing a game save. So, I decided to build him a new home. I thought I was so smart, too. Since we have to go through CAS to open a brand new save, I created Build Template. I dumped him into a tiny lot, then chose the lot I wished to build upon. I spent a day and a half, REAL TIME, which is not normal for me. But, I ran into a few snags, since I was using a floorplan from 'Designer DreamHomes' magazine. Of course all things possible in the real world aren't always applicable in the Sims game. I made a few alterations, as needed. Once I thought I was done, I brought Build Template over to do a 'walk thru', just to check the routing and make sure things worked okay. I'm so very glad I'm not in a hurry to upload this to the Gallery. Once I thought things were in good stead, I moved my actual family of Sims to said lot.
It's truly in playing the game, that you see what works and what really doesn't work. I found a few problems. The platform kitchen for some odd reason was too high. This was an alteration I made, not in the original plans. (How I didn't see that is beyond me. Build had no problem stepping up into the kitchen. :O ) But, alas, I went into build mode and tapped it down one click. Seems the French doors I placed from the Formal livingroom out to the back deck were missing. And so was an archway. I've had this happen before since we got platforms, but I'm uncertain if it's a bug or not. It's weird, that much is certain. Plus, I also discovered that the half-wall lining the walkway on the second floor (that overlooked the vaulted ceiling room, was nothing more than concrete. The wall-covering was lacking. That would be embarrassing. I also discovered that the security fencing had an exposed corner. I failed to have the ends of the fence meet in one corner. Not good when your Sim has a Stan and two Obsessed Fans (via Road to Fame). The Fans got into the house while my family was out and about. Not good. I now have to see if they made off with anything, as that has happened before.
I only do a little play testing when I build a new house. I uploaded one to the gallery this morning which I spent about half an hour testing last night. I've played a lot of Sims, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what's going to work and what isn't; for that reason, I don't believe exhaustive play testing is necessary for me to do. That having been said, the testing I do is to make sure that sims can use all the stairways and get into all the rooms. Additionally, I don't use a lot of clutter, and I try not to use the move objects cheat much, and never for otherwise useable items, like furniture or doors.
I do use most of the houses I create, although when I build something new I usually upload it to the gallery before I have extensively used it myself.
If anyone wants to check out my gallery uploads, my ID is: jjbadgett12
I mostly build my own but when I do download I have better luck looking at what is popular now rather than the most popular. Most popular is usually so cluttered and untested that the pathing is terrible.
For my own builds that I upload I do playtest. Everything I upload is either for my own sims to live in, or they will be visiting it so it's important to me that it's functional. MOO or alt placing is limited to a very small number or items or plants in the garden that are no where near where a sim will need to path. Still, when I upload late at night I still may find one thing I forgot when I check again in the morning.
There's also the #playtested hashtag. Hopefully everyone using it is indeed testing.
If I see a house on the gallery that would suit the family I'm playing, I place it unfurnished. That's the only way I've found to avoid routing issues with MOO. I also remove majority of plants that have been placed with MOO. I couldn't place a fridge one time because a bush outside was placed too close to the wall.
I do look for No MOO builds and appreciate the builders that take the time to playtest and mark their builds as No MOO such as @MDianaSims .
Comments
I remember one clearly since it was a recent discovery - a renovation of the Landgraab mansion by a popular YouTuber has an issue with the fridge. There's a counter 'behind' the fridge, so it's unusable. It took a long time for me to figure that one out. Not only are a lot of these fancy builds unplayable in some way, but the builders don't even playtest it first.
Restaurants - oh geez, yes. So many issues. Like @Ellupelluellu, I've resorted to just using Maxis' restaurants and either leaving them as is but maybe adding some extra decorations to jazz it up a little. I don't particularly care much for a fancy, cluttered, hyper-realistic looking lot - I care more about functionality.
I have loved the stars too truly to be fearful of the night.
Ha'aheo, e hoʻomau i kō kāua aloha, kau a kau.
However, maybe the community should get used to adding that kind of information when they upload something tot he gallery, not just whether it has been playtested ro not, but also whether it was made just as something to look at or to play in as well.
I've found, though, that there are many builders who use the #playtested or #played hashtags on the gallery, so try using that to make it a little easier to find functional lots.
There is just something so satisfying about playing in something I built.
Even though I just build for myself, recently I've been building things that push the envelope of the game's capabilities, so I playtest as I go along because I build to play, but there are basic little things that can be missed. The bigger the build and the more objects there are, the more potential there is for a mess, especially now that platforms have been added. I personally try to balance between functionally and aesthetics, but it's difficult and takes a lot of time to test.
Because I don't want the responsibility of my stuff not working in other people's games, I don't share anything ever. But that's probably bad too. The next time I build something small, I'll try to keep this thread's tips in mind and upload it.
Or they forget that if people are buying Starter Homes, they don't have much money - unless they're tacking an extra 50 grand on - or they need storage room for their collections, or they need to be able to hang up their practice tools for whatever their job is. That's why Maxis' houses look so bad - they're cheap.
Some of the 20x15 builds that look fantastic and hold maybe two people, unfortunately cost, what, S100,000?
If you haven't checked out Silrosse's builds I recommend them. I love her restaurants and other lots too. They look amazing and I haven't had any problems with them yet.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/924539/features-that-needs-depth-and-ways-to-improve
I am specifically talking about AI run restaurants, not when you own a restaurant.
On the other hand, if your Chefs stand and wave, that means you have blocked the path to the station somehow.
It is kind of telling that if the builder in question actually have a Let's Play, those buildings are always less detailed and complicated than the ones they upload. To the point that they sometimes apologize for the "simple design" or somesuch.
I've sometimes added a gallery lot and then pulled it out because it either didn't fit my space or more often, it had bad floorplan layouts. Generally, they have tiny hallways and tiny rooms that are overcrowded with stuff. I've also run into problems with excessive kitchen clutter such that the stove would malfunction. I had to go in and take parts of the kitchen out to get it to work. I mean, I can do that, but I end up preferring to build for myself.
I'm that person, that almost immediately deletes everything inside the house the minute I place it, so that I can put my own design stamp on it. I'll typically leave the kitchen cabinets/counters and bathrooms, but I always de-clutter stuff before I ever play. And, sometimes the pics look awesome but when you actually see it live, it's way too cramped and compact. I like clutter, but not an excessive amount of clutter, especially deco items on the floors.
Generally, I just build something from scratch for myself or I gut the inside of a downloaded house and change the floor plan to what works best for me.
I'm pretty horrible at landscaping and creating "curb appeal" and since I'm a visual person when I play, I like things to fit the vibe I'm going for in that world. So, I usually download lots because I like the outside aesthetics of it (landscaping, unique shape of the building, the window placements, etc.) then just change the inside to suit me.
And yeah, I'll also de-clutter or change a home to suit my needs. But sometimes I just pick out a house that looks nice and just sit and maybe keep it in mind for future use.
With homes, I never use MOO, but I do use alt-placement for some decorations, outside plants and also some times for things like accent tables, livingroom chairs/sofas and coffee tables. I've never had routing issues at all from using the alt-key to place anything. I like that instead of MOO, because you can't place things where it absolutely shouldn't be placed. I make sure there is enough space to move around and that sims can use whatever it is they need to interact with.
For homes I use for my own sims, its more about function than beauty. I add the essentials and anything else my sims need for skills and hobbies. Decoration is not really a priority, as long as things work the way they should. Still like nice homes, though, but I never use much clutter and things I don't feel is needed in the home.
Gallery: Kathykins
AHQ - Game help and Bugs
It's truly in playing the game, that you see what works and what really doesn't work. I found a few problems. The platform kitchen for some odd reason was too high. This was an alteration I made, not in the original plans. (How I didn't see that is beyond me. Build had no problem stepping up into the kitchen. :O ) But, alas, I went into build mode and tapped it down one click. Seems the French doors I placed from the Formal livingroom out to the back deck were missing. And so was an archway.
http://www.getfreeebooks.com/star-trek-original-series-fan-fiction-trilogy/
I do use most of the houses I create, although when I build something new I usually upload it to the gallery before I have extensively used it myself.
If anyone wants to check out my gallery uploads, my ID is: jjbadgett12
Gallery ID: jjbadgett12
For my own builds that I upload I do playtest. Everything I upload is either for my own sims to live in, or they will be visiting it so it's important to me that it's functional. MOO or alt placing is limited to a very small number or items or plants in the garden that are no where near where a sim will need to path. Still, when I upload late at night I still may find one thing I forgot when I check again in the morning.
There's also the #playtested hashtag. Hopefully everyone using it is indeed testing.
I do look for No MOO builds and appreciate the builders that take the time to playtest and mark their builds as No MOO such as @MDianaSims .