[TheDeadSim]

I was looking for some tips and other bits of important information regarding building in sims 3. I have built using sims 2 before and would like to know some of the key things to be wary of when building / uploading for sims 3 lots. Things such as lot size, location, whether the lot has to be flat, or tricks for uploading. I have been using sims 2 clean pack installer and I wasn’t sure if there was something similar for sims 3. I would just like to know the basics about building, packaging, testing and uploading. I was also never sure about the best way to test lots on sims 2 either. My usual building process is build, test, package, test the packaged lot, then package the updated lot. I repeat this process until I have the lot working properly then update the final packaged lot. Sorry to make my post awfully long and boring but I just want as much helpful information as possible. Thanks for any information you can give me 🙂

[LadyAngelKeymaster]

Re: First Time Lot Building

The best thing about the Sims 3 is the versatility when building. All items can be set in blocks or half blocks and at an angle. All items can be changed by pattern and colour so you can always have unique lots.

Building is the same in a lot of ways to the Sims 3 when it comes to placing lots etc. To ‘package’ a lot you click on the house in the town view to share it. Here’s some tips from MTS. The game launcher will have all your shared lots and Sims listed and from there you can upload them straight to the exchange or open the folder they are stored in to package them yourself.

My biggest pet peeve is that you can’t save your lot while building it…you have to exit to the town and save the game from there. If you forget to do this and the game crashes or something else horrid happens, you’ve lost your work. Also, you can’t zoom in from the town view, so I’ve often spent ages looking for houses I was working on when I’ve gone back to it after some time!

One of the best things is that you can evict families without losing the furnishings. Just click on the house you want to edit from the town. This gives you plenty of opportunity to test the game with Sims living in it.

I’ll try to post some more tips when I get time, but I’m sure someone else will be along who’s more experienced to give you some more help. 🙂

Please post all support requests in the forums if at all possible

[TheDeadSim]

Re: First Time Lot Building

Thanks LA 🙂

In addition to my first post I would also like to find out what EPs and SPs are the most recommended. What is more practical for people to download? I would like to make houses that almost anyone can download but are there building features which will be helpful in some EP’s that I could make use of. I am happy to get quite a few but I would just like to know which are the best if I get any. Is base game the best way to go?

[karen lorraine]

Re: First Time Lot Building

There is a version of clean installer for sims 3 called custard. If you’re uploading to MTS everything needs to be CAST (the design tool) and not the base pattern/colour.

When you take pictures if you click on a terrain paint you lose the square interface or you have to move a sim in. I’d also recommend using a lighting mod as it all appears quite dark and they suggest you turn on all your lights before taking the pictures.

I don’t play sims 3 very often but this is what I’ve gleaned from reading comments in the CFF forum over at MTS.

[LadyAngelKeymaster]

Re: First Time Lot Building

As regards EP’s and such, I have a few stuff packs and one or 2 EP’s but only recently as I found I didn’t need them to build, only if you want extra features to actually play the game, or to be able to download stuff that requires them. The game is so versatile when you build that, IMHO, packs aren’t strictly necessary. However, I did purchase World Adventures because I love Tomb Raider and WA has a lot in common with that. 🙂 And you do get extra items with each pack.

There is an AnyGame Starter for Sims 3, so even if you wanted all the packs you could still build with the base game. However, I haven’t tried that myself so can’t really comment on it.

As Karen says, you can’t really take proper pics without actually moving in a Sim, but that’s okay because you can move them out again without losing furnishings etc. And the lighting is terrible when building, which is why I add lights to rooms as I go, and you don’t need to be in nightime mode for them to turn on.

You also cannot enter community buildings, such as restaurants, book stores etc., which I don’t like.

However, it is a good game, both to play and to build, so it’s worth buying. However, Sims 2 will always be my favourite!

Please post all support requests in the forums if at all possible

[CheekyBugga]

Re: First Time Lot Building

Hey TDS I found this while looking for info on CFE for sims 3 for my Daughter https://www.thesimsresource.com/tutorials/view/id/12499/category/sims3/preview/0/ Hope it helps 🙂

[TheDeadSim]

Re: First Time Lot Building

Thanks for that link cheeky. Although I know how to do a garage already, the start of the tutorial gave some helpful information about flattening lots which will be quite useful.
I really appreciate the information you have all supplied me with as well 🙂
For now I think I will just get the base game and work from there. I will also have to try and search for the sims 3 version of the clean installer. May I ask you Karen, how come you have to use the design tool for everything when uploading to MTS and does that mean all furniture, flooring, walling etc.?

[karen lorraine]

Re: First Time Lot Building

Custardb https://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=390235
If you’re uploading to MTS I suggest you read thro their guidelines, they’re basically the same but with a few differences. https://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=MTS2:Creator_Guidelines/Sims_3_Lots_and_Houses

I spend a lot of time in the creative feedback forum for sims 2 and 3, mainly looking at lots, and the comment there is ‘you must use Create a style’. It might be a good place to start with your first house. There are some great builders out there and and they still use CFF.

[TheDeadSim]

Re: First Time Lot Building

I read in the link you provided at MTS about building lots. “Tip: Using Create a style-tool in TS3 can have a tremendous effect on how your lot will look. Please explore the possibilities of this tool. Selecting the patterns and colors yourself instead of using EA-made presets creates much more unique, and often better looking results.”
Does this statement mean that I should be not use EA’s provided textures and use custom content or should I just recolour EA’s provided textures? I am a little confused. Also if I recolour does that make it custom content or will it upload without the need for custom content. I like to build without custom content but I am prepared to use this create style tool thing.

[LadyAngelKeymaster]

Re: First Time Lot Building

The create a style tool replaces the design tool from the Sims 2 It just means that you can change the pattern and colour of any item in the lot just, so there is no need to have 2 houses the same, even if you use the same items, if you know what I mean! Here’s some more info.

Please post all support requests in the forums if at all possible

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