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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 4th Sep 2015 at 1:03 PM
Default Apartment issue
I'm building an apartment complex, and I had a hunch that it may be problematic to get it to accept them as apartments due to the way it's made, and I was right.

The back of each apartment has a little back-yard. It's fenced in, but I believe it's not accepting them as fully closed due to the backyard being 4 clicks below the exit from the apartment. The fence probably doesn't count as closed. I don't do a lot of raised-ground and fences, so I'm not sure what to do about it.

Any advice?


Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
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Theorist
#2 Old 4th Sep 2015 at 1:23 PM Last edited by ScaryRob : 4th Sep 2015 at 2:02 PM.
That's the same as having an apartment on a foundation, with all the associated problems. You can't avoid those problems by simply using walls instead of a foundation, because a level up is a level up, regardless. Besides, foundations are nothing more than two parallel walls.
There's a tutorial somewhere, or an "invisible" fence or something that someone made, that deals with this. I don't know the details, as I've never done this.
Also, would you mind not posting png pictures to discussion forums? They take too long to load. You're supposed to only post jpg's.
Constant Contestant
retired moderator
#3 Old 4th Sep 2015 at 3:00 PM
The game won't accept gardens for apartments that are built on a foundation. This tute should help you overcome the issue http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=437141

Want a specific style of house or community building? Why not take a look at my profile and see what I build and then come ask me to make it!
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#4 Old 4th Sep 2015 at 7:10 PM
Just to clarify gummilutt, the game works in layers and not relative heights. You can raise the ground layer above the roof in places but the game stills sees it as the lowest layer in your lot cake (it helps to think of layer cakes because, well, cake).

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Theorist
#5 Old 4th Sep 2015 at 11:09 PM
There might be another option, besides the tutorial with the CC fencing mentioned by KarenLorraine uptopic.

The Great Divide fencing seals off apartments, as shown in my own pictorial, here. The thing about this, is that it only shows the fencing being used outside an apartment. I see no reason why it wouldn't work just inside a door as well. Whether it would work atop a foundation I don't know at all, but I don't see why it wouldn't. Another option would be to make the patio outside the back door slightly larger, in order to be able to seal off the area using the Great Divide fencing.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#6 Old 5th Sep 2015 at 1:14 AM
I'm not sure I quite follow. I'm not trying to use walls instead of foundation, it's simply the design of the houses. It's based on a real life complex, not something I came up with. In the real world the back of the house is built into the slope, but Sims doesn't let me replicate that so a bit of air is the best I can do.

But if I understand correctly then the game does not allow there to be an exit from one level to another, and the outdoor-area is considered to be ground floor. That much makes sense to me. But the tutorial linked doesn't work. I replicated it, and it didn't work, so I did each step (with a visible fence) and tried to convert before moving on to the next step (exiting the lot without saving after each attempt, so each attempt is done fresh), and it accepts everything up until the part where I re-add the stairs. No stair, no message. Added stairs, message appears. Any ideas what's up with that?

EDIT: Rob posted while I was writing this. I know I could use great dividers to make the area common area, but that would mean the player can't make changes to the furniture or the garden, which I don't think is a good solution.

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Theorist
#7 Old 5th Sep 2015 at 3:30 AM Last edited by ScaryRob : 5th Sep 2015 at 3:42 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by gummilutt
EDIT: Rob posted while I was writing this. I know I could use great dividers to make the area common area, but that would mean the player can't make changes to the furniture or the garden, which I don't think is a good solution.


Quote: Originally posted by olc
@scaryrob i must add that the "great divider" that brings along PETS EP will prevent any pets to go to that area. so if for example you have a beautiful garden and you shut it down in a perfect square (even if it goes under a modular stair) will prevent any pet to go outside, since thats the task it was provided to. (to separate areas that you dont want your pets to go, like in the dinning room you can do a square around furniture and your pets or visitor pets will not be able to scratch those furnitures) besides using that inside an apartment can render an area useless, for example if you do the previous example inside any room on any apartment, the game will consider that area common, will rest that area from the rent payment but its a common area, so you cannot do any changes in there. plus many angry NPC`s that come to visit your lot will go mad if you lock your door, cause the visitor`s or even neighboor`s will wanna go there. (just because they cannot go lol)


OK yes, I see now how it won't work in this case.

I did play around with this some, so at least here are some pics on how you put a house on the edge of a hillside. This won't solve your apartment fencing problem though:

Theorist
#8 Old 5th Sep 2015 at 3:49 AM Last edited by ScaryRob : 5th Sep 2015 at 4:29 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by olc
@scaryrob just pointing out that the great divider, in any type of lot used in any floor will prevent pets to be able to use or even live in that lot. imagine put the great divider near the entrance. the pets will not even be able to enter into the apartment in this case. plus the game probably will detect the whole apartment as common area and just the tiles you leave around the door as "apartment" area.
by another aspect, this would be useful to do high-end apartments, with huge rooms, etc. if you put the great divider around the AL door, you will get like no rent at all since all will be considered common area. this is only useful to rent furnished apartents, that can be threated as hotels (since you cannot add or remove anything at all, but you are almost not paying any rent) plus no pets will be able to live inside.

In my testing, pets have had no problem crossing over the Great Divide fences. The can go outside to pee normally. In fact, I have never seen any kind of Sims, People Sims or Pet Sims, have any problems physically crossing over the Great Divide fences. The Great Divide fences are not a physical barrier to movement, they are an invisible barrier that seal off areas.
I just did some tests with the house in my pictures above and the dog in this case had no problem entering or leaving the apartment. This was with the Great Divide placed just outside the back patio door, on the foundation.

It looks like you're right about the pets. I just re-tested it and the pet dog can't come into the apartment.
Well, that pretty much negates my tutorial.
Thanks for pointing this out.
Theorist
#9 Old 5th Sep 2015 at 4:31 AM
Quote: Originally posted by olc
perhaps if you use it as a divider (and goes under a modular stairs) the pets wont get affected. perhaps its just for cats the restriction. not sure i just remember when pets came out that divider was used to keep pets off limits. perhaps its if you use it on a residential lot as i said in a room, or was fixed with a patch this issue or a mod. i just remember pets going mad that when i used it on some lots, and considering how i love pets, i stop using those at all.
going back to the problem in hand, i still suggest it is better do a deck yard or a greenhouse. here is a pic with an example with the solution of a greenhouse in the back yard, i think the greenhouse will be considered common area but will not glitch out the apartment since the only entrance its trough the apartment. did this example in like 5 minutes so forgive my rawness, but it explains what i would to do to a simple fix and dont have to do too much to fix this AL issue.
there will be no issue with the greenhouse seasons EP wall cause its considered a fence so it will divide the area as any fence.

You're right, I just re-tested and pets won't work with a Great Divide fence the way I proposed it.
I'll have to delete my tutorial. Thanks for pointing this out.

Gummilot, sorry for diverting this thread, it's back to you now.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#10 Old 5th Sep 2015 at 1:42 PM
I'm not interested in changing the entire design around by changing it to a deck or a greenhouse. It's based on a real house, and the real house has a garden. I want to make it work with as small a modification as possible.

It's nice to know that it's possible to build into the hill with foundation, but at this point I'll leave it the way it is since I'd have to re-do it from scratch. I'm not a big fan of foundations, they screw with the floor order, especially when not used in the traditional way.

So if anyone has any ideas as to why the fence-thing doesn't work in this situation and what I might do to fix that, I'd be very grateful.

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#11 Old 5th Sep 2015 at 3:38 PM
I'd have to try it I think - any chance you could temporarily post your lot and we could have a look at it ourselves in game?

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#12 Old 5th Sep 2015 at 6:20 PM
Thanks olc, your post made me realize that I wasn't connecting the ends of the fence to the house in those tests, and that's what the problem was, not the stairs. Now that I did both, it works.

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
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