Whew. Long title.

Is this even vaguely possible? And can an advanced-beginner builder handle it? I'm still not great with all CFE cheats.

This is the house I'm trying to convert:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/42353480@N02/7757351514/

I know how to do a partially-above-ground basement like the picture. That's easy, I know how to connect a garage to a foundation, which I can use to connect a foundation room to a non-foundation one. Even I can do that. So far, so good.

But is there any way you can connect those two sections together? I have scoured every tutorial my Googling abilities can locate. But I'm getting either the notched-wall effect, the out-of-control foundation effect that even cheats or constructive fudging can't seem to fix, or the most common result and the most dreaded of all when I use CFE ... I can't place the stairs. (The house plan does have a low split-level effect between the two sections. I do confess that split-levels aren't my forte. I can do only the basics.). Depending on which method I try, I get the "can't place step" (I have plenty of room!) or the "covered floor tile" message. (Nope. Not a tile in sight. Not even any that AREN'T in sight.)

I can't seem to find many Sims 2 houses that attempt this. I'm thinking there's a good reason why! I'm trying to avoid a second story, since that will make the house look clunky.

So ... is it my limitations or is it Maxis limitations? Or am I missing something so blatantly obvious that I will turn beet-red with humiliation?

Every time that you see a horizontal line between two vertical lines, you will need a new level. So, you'll need a level at the bottom of the basement, one at the bottom of the carport (probably ground level), one at the bottom of the din/kit (two steps up?), and one at the bottom of the liv rm (a half-flight up?). You should be aware that partial-height walls are not weather-proof.

Since you'll want your cars and sims to be able to use the ground level carport, you'll want to consider having both that and the basement at ground level. That shouldn't be a problem because the din/kit. gives you enough space to raise the ground level between those two areas.

If I'm wrong and the carport and din/kit are all at the same level, then you will have to have the basement be a separate level (because there is no way for one level to abruptly appear at a different elevation). Since there's no way to create a level of -1 (ground level is 0), your best bet is to use a special technique to make the basement at a higher level. This thread discusses how to do that. The first post contains the hard in-game technique; post #8 uses the GridAdjuster to drop the level underground. As well, the GridAdjuster now has an option for creating no-slope basements.

Great tutorial! I've been snapping these up wherever I can lately (saving many of them in case they disappear) and attempting to do various building tricks. Unfortunately, the Exchange got rid of so many of them. That's what I get for being interested in this almost ten years after the game first came out.

Unfortunately, with the first tutorial it looks like I'd have to put in another story, or give up the partially-above-ground basement. I was actually willing to give up making a usable carport for the time being. Though blessedly, the tute doesn't use CFE cheats. I use them often, and am OK with the entry-level stuff, but am really bad with houses where you have to use CFE more than three times or so to get the result you want (the tutes with the constantly-warping walls until the end). At this point, I stink at that. I tend to mess something up and have to start all over again, and even if I do succeed, I tend to get annoyed at the limits with windows and doors (which is why I've avoided the Unlevel walls for now). That's probably why this effort is turning into a massive fail project.

Your GridAdjuster, though ... even though I'd still probably mess things up at first, I'd have an awful lot of fun doing it, and may come up with results that aren't bad at all until i get things right! Some of my favorite efforts are the results I DIDN'T expect. Right now, I'm playing around with your Lot Adjuster (I really came late to the party!) for the first time, sticking with beginner levels for now and having fun doing those. The grid adjuster will probably be enjoyable as well. (I'd stick to beginner levels with that too, of course, for a little while.)

I should keep trying and getting better, I guess. Thank you! Downloaded and as soon as I can, I'll try it on my test neighborhood, or make another totally disposable hood.

EDIT: Alas. The grid adjuster DID get rid of the stupid dip, but I still can't connect the sections. I'm going to need lots more practice with it, however. My adjusted lots in my pure-junk hood came out looking really strange. I might have to go with the "regular" underground basement instead. Perhaps another time, though I do take comfort that there aren't dozens of downloads with the original idea. It can't be THAT easy to do, anyway!