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Theorist
#2001 Old 5th Sep 2021 at 6:59 AM Last edited by ScaryRob : 5th Sep 2021 at 7:12 AM.
Woah, I wasn't going to make quite such radical changes, haha.
A couple of things first. Assuming this is supposed to represent an older farmhouse, say from the late 1800's or early 1900's, I think you should go only with small closets. They really didn't have big modern closets with sliding doors in those days. (If it's supposed to be a more modern house, then disregard that.)
Also, I do think that a closet somewhere downstairs, preferably somewhere near the hallway, is an absolute must, for the reasons I gave in my previous post.
Also, I noticed you added a coat rack in your most recent pictures. To the best of my knowledge, the coat rack is not a good substitute for a small or large closet because as I remember it only allows Sims to change into outerwear and does not give them access to their entire wardrobe.

I do like the idea of the central hallway in your original layout, so I've come up with a few ideas that don't change that layout too drastically - check out the following pictures:

Pic#1: Here I've simply moved the bathroom slightly to create a space in the kitchen that makes more sense. The problem with this layout is that it makes the area around the staircase seem tight and cramped and the stairs themselves are completely closed in by walls. There still is no closet in the hallway, which I think is an absolute must-have. It also forces the door to that back room into the corner. I don't think this is a good solution.

Pic#2: Here I've moved the bathroom further into the room in the corner, making that room considerably smaller. The bathroom is also 1 square bigger, which allows a litter box in addition to the sink and toilet. I've also added a closet. In this layout, access to the corner room can only be from the living room, maybe through an arch. This is still not a good layout, imo.

Pic#3: Here I've done what I think makes most sense, namely, I enlarged the mud room in the back of the house by a row of three squares, which makes enough room for the bathroom and a small closet in the corner. The small closet is optional and the square could be used for something else, like maybe a pet food dish. Even if you put a small closet there, you would still need a more "proper" closet in the main hallway, imo. It makes sense to have the bathroom in that area, because older farmhouses often had bathrooms in those kinds of places, instead of in the middle of the house, because they liked to keep plumbing to a minimum and didn't want to have to go too far to reach the septic tank.
Now all that's left is placing a closet in the hallway, which I've done right next to the stairs. Again, the drawback to this is that it obscures the stairs, although the area is nowhere near as cramped as in Pic#1. This layout is a good option, imo, and if you don't mind the staircase being visually obscured I would go with this because it is the perfect place for the closet.
You do have the option, of course, of simply placing the small closet clothes rack into a corner somewhere, without actually making it a proper closet, but I think that would be somewhat unrealistic.

Pic#4: Another closet option, which opens up the staircase area, but greatly reduces the size of the corner room.

Pic#5: Another closet option, which both opens up the staircase area and leaves the corner room reasonably sized.

Pic#6: This just shows the layout of the bathroom in the mud room area, with sink, toilet and litter box. This is my standard layout for bathrooms of this shape.

From all of these options, I like Pic#3 and Pic#5 the best. It all depends on how open you want the staircase. I would go with #3 if it was my build.
Screenshots
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Theorist
#2002 Old 5th Sep 2021 at 9:01 AM
And actually, since you're open to more radical changes, I like this one even better. It would mean the upstairs would eventually be totally different, but I think we were headed that way anyway, as Catherine already pointed out. This one has two additional advantages over the previous layouts.
Firstly, it increases the size of the kitchen by one square, which is good because it was kinda smallish to begin with. The additional square now makes it a good size kitchen for a 4-Sim household, imo.
Secondly, the corner room at the right rear of the house is now a good-sized room that can be used for anything.
Of course, the small hallway closet is also still there.
Also, if you don't mind moving the large arch from the hallway to the dining room, it will allow you to better center the dining table and chairs, which was not possible before.
Check it out, I really like this:
Screenshots
Theorist
#2003 Old 5th Sep 2021 at 9:30 AM Last edited by ScaryRob : 6th Sep 2021 at 5:52 PM.
I can't seem to pull myself away from this, so here is yet another option, before I go to bed tonight.
If you're at all considering using that back room as a library, office, or something like that, you could have a door or arch going into it from the living room. This would allow you to move the small closet and put a window at the back of that long hallway, for some much-needed natural light in that area.
(Note to lurkers: The upstairs layout matching this downstairs is in my next post.)
Screenshots
Theorist
#2004 Old 5th Sep 2021 at 9:38 AM
Your mind about options is alike to estate sellers'
Quote: Originally posted by Johnny_Bravo
TS2 doesn't have laundry stuff.

It does. But it is artisanal. I usually prefer to place dish washer and trash compactor in utility to make look at least something close.

Here you can see more of my creations and conversions for sims 3. ;) I`ll glad to see your comments in.
Alchemist
#2005 Old 6th Sep 2021 at 3:09 PM Last edited by Johnny_Bravo : 6th Sep 2021 at 3:55 PM.
I'm not too fond of most the options as a whole to be honest. I do like the bathroom in the back, I've thought of that too. With my own option of having the bathroom opposite of the kitchen I can get away with the upstairs layout having an en-suite above it. I could also add one more bedroom. Is it feasible to have 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, one of which is downstairs?

For the sake of realism I could say it's a recent 'reconstruction', or modernization of an older farmhouse. Like my Plainfields home.

On that note, I recently found a real-life one. 18th Century Federal style home built in 1963.

Edit:
I've added the bathroom in the back, a closet, and a 5th bedroom upstairs. Looks like this:

The 1x1 space is where I'd put a trash compactor.
Screenshots

If you remember me, I'm awesome!
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Theorist
#2006 Old 6th Sep 2021 at 5:46 PM Last edited by ScaryRob : 6th Sep 2021 at 6:03 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Johnny_Bravo
I'm not too fond of most the options as a whole to be honest.

No problem, it's your build. I'm just throwing out ideas.

Quote:
With my own option of having the bathroom opposite of the kitchen I can get away with the upstairs layout having an en-suite above it.

I don't understand what the downstairs half-bath has to do with an ensuite upstairs.
Take a look at my attached picture for an upstairs layout (to go along with the downstairs layout of my previous two posts) that includes a 3x3 full bath ensuite, plus a 3x3 full bath for the kids, and all three bedrooms have large closets. The kids' bedrooms are fairly large too. The only thing you lose with this upstairs layout is exterior window symmetry, which in my opinion is not important.

Quote:
I could also add one more bedroom. Is it feasible to have 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, one of which is downstairs?

Not in my opinion, even if the downstairs had a full bathroom. With 5 bedrooms you'd have as many as 6-8 Sims sharing a house with only one full bathroom upstairs and a half-bath downstairs - not good, imo. Of course, not all bedrooms necessarily need to be used as such, I realize that, but since you're calling them bedrooms I'm assuming you intend to furnish them as such.

Quote:
I've added the bathroom in the back, a closet, and a 5th bedroom upstairs. Looks like this:

Well, now you're just toying with me.
Are you serious with that downstairs layout? If more rooms is what you're after in this house, put one or two more downstairs, instead of making the upstairs so cramped.
The front entrance now doesn't make any sense being tucked into the corner of that huge room. If you move the door over one square, it's not longer centered to the front facade of the house, which I assumed was something you wanted. And what does that huge room represent anyway? It's too big to just be the dining and entrance area.
The location of the closet and especially the stairs in the back make no sense at all either.

(Again, the attached picture of an upstairs layout corresponds to the downstairs layout of my previous two comments in this thread.)

Well, in any case, I sense I've overstayed my welcome to this particular discussion, so I'll bow out at this point, LOL.
Screenshots
Alchemist
#2007 Old 6th Sep 2021 at 7:09 PM
Nahh now I feel like your toying with me with that upstairs layout I'll see what happens with the house, I haven't been that motivated anyway.

I agree with the amount of rooms, the number of sims who could be living in the house rarely crosses my mind.
Quote:
I don't understand what the downstairs half-bath has to do with an ensuite upstairs.

Because of the plumbing that would exist in an actual house, it makes more sense to put a bathroom above a kitchen or another bathroom, right?

Quote:
Well, in any case, I sense I've overstayed my welcome to this particular discussion, so I'll bow out at this point, LOL.

I do appreciate it though, and I'll still need help in the future anyway :p


*Boots Rob out the door*

If you remember me, I'm awesome!
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Need help building? We'll help.
Theorist
#2008 Old 6th Sep 2021 at 7:34 PM Last edited by ScaryRob : 7th Sep 2021 at 12:55 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by Johnny_Bravo
Because of the plumbing that would exist in an actual house, it makes more sense to put a bathroom above a kitchen or another bathroom, right?

If you're going to worry about things like "wet walls" in addition to all the other things that are near-impossible or impossible to do when making a Sims house, you might as well not play the game because I think that just puts things totally beyond the realm of possibilities. It might work occasionally by chance, but not consistently by design.
This brings me back to square one, and why I asked all those question on the previous page. I didn't know what your goals were with this house, other than it was supposed to be a farmhouse. If I had known that wet walls were something that were important to you, I likely never would have involved myself in the discussion because in my opinion that goal is almost never realistically achievable in this game.

And no, I wasn't kidding with my upstairs - I really don't see anything egregiously wrong with it.

Also, I think a good number of people who still play this game use CC bunk beds for childrens' bedrooms, so there's no reason to assume that each bedroom represents only one child. That's actually the main reason why I usually make childrens' rooms a bit bigger, when possible, because I assume players might use bunk beds and the rest of the space in the room is used for things like desks for study and space for toys for two kids.
Alchemist
#2009 Old 7th Sep 2021 at 1:31 PM
The upstairs layout looks so funky to me, compared to rest. I had a chuckle, not saying it's bad.
Anyway, walls with plumbing are called walls? If yes, then yes, I tried to apply some logic with my knowledge.

Now that you've mentioned it, I may be too worried about realism in a game, lol.

If you remember me, I'm awesome!
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Theorist
#2010 Old 7th Sep 2021 at 4:33 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Johnny_Bravo
Anyway, walls with plumbing are called walls?

Wet walls.
Alchemist
#2011 Old 7th Sep 2021 at 5:40 PM Last edited by Johnny_Bravo : 7th Sep 2021 at 6:54 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by ScaryRob
Wet walls.


Yes, wet walls. I posted from my phone, typo At first I thought it referred to literal 'wet' walls

If you remember me, I'm awesome!
__________
Need help building? We'll help.
Theorist
#2012 Old 11th Sep 2021 at 6:39 PM Last edited by ScaryRob : 11th Sep 2021 at 7:02 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Johnny_Bravo
Yes, wet walls. I posted from my phone, typo At first I thought it referred to literal 'wet' walls

I'm now making my own version of this house. It's going to be Spanish style, no foundation, with arches around the front porch and a much enlarged back patio, with a second floor terrace above the patio, a guesthouse and eventual swimming pool. I also increased the width of the house to 12 squares, so now it's a 12x9, plus the little add-on in the back. Floorplan will be very similar to my last posts uptopic. It's starting to get fairly elaborate and I'll post pics when it's done. It will be a while yet.
Well, I suppose I could attach a couple of work-in-progress pics.
Screenshots
Theorist
#2013 Old 11th Sep 2021 at 8:47 PM Last edited by Victor_tor : 12th Sep 2021 at 12:12 AM. Reason: userStartup.cheat
Looks like you mirrored the whole house plan. Because I see the backyard addition now on the other place. The best thing you can do, you can do yourself. Great you figured it out and now decided to create the house your version.

Quote: Originally posted by CatherineTCJD
You need a userStartup.cheat (it lives in your Documents/Config file; and opens with Notepad)

I did not found userStartup.cheat

Here you can see more of my creations and conversions for sims 3. ;) I`ll glad to see your comments in.
Theorist
#2014 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 6:42 AM Last edited by ScaryRob : 12th Sep 2021 at 7:00 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by Victor_tor
Looks like you mirrored the whole house plan. Because I see the backyard addition now on the other place. The best thing you can do, you can do yourself. Great you figured it out and now decided to create the house your version.

Yeah, I mirrored it, because I wanted to extend the back patio toward the garage.
I've also gotten rid of my earlier guesthouse and replaced it with an orchard of ten fruit trees, so the back already looks substantially different from the above pics.

Quote:
I did not found userStartup.cheat

There's another option instead of using a userStartup file.
I use a small third party program called 'Lucas Easy Sims 2 Cheats 3', which you can get here. It's an older program and on my Win7 system the bottom of the "Done" button is graphically cut off, but it's still clickable and works. You have to remember to start this program before you start Sims 2.
Forum Resident
#2015 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 3:52 PM
Just finished with oe of my cute little cottages
on a 30x30 lot!
See i can build a cute little house if i wanted to

just need a cute little name
Screenshots

C.T.HOLKO88
Mad Poster
#2016 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 5:15 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Victor_tor
...I did not found userStartup.cheat

Here's the path:
Screenshots

Please ~ support my TS2 habit! Shop at my Etsy shops:
CatherinesJewelry ~ Artisan Jewelry
Catherine's MOUSE ~ Up/Recycled Jewelry
and Vintage Stuffeths
Theorist
#2017 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 5:15 PM
Quote: Originally posted by CatherineTCJD
Here's the path:

Found! Thanks Cat!

Tudorman, this definitely The House of Love!

Here you can see more of my creations and conversions for sims 3. ;) I`ll glad to see your comments in.
Theorist
#2018 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 5:42 PM
Progress is being made.
I'm about ready to rebuild this on the actual lot it's gonna sit on.
I'm open to suggestions on what else to put in the large open space in the back yard, other than some palm trees.
Screenshots
Theorist
#2019 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 7:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ScaryRob
Progress is being made.
I'm about ready to rebuild this on the actual lot it's gonna sit on.
I'm open to suggestions on what else to put in the large open space in the back yard, other than some palm trees.

You could name it hacienda.
Yeah. Hacienda of Love!

Here you can see more of my creations and conversions for sims 3. ;) I`ll glad to see your comments in.
Mad Poster
#2020 Old 12th Sep 2021 at 10:01 PM
I love the pool shape, Rob

Please ~ support my TS2 habit! Shop at my Etsy shops:
CatherinesJewelry ~ Artisan Jewelry
Catherine's MOUSE ~ Up/Recycled Jewelry
and Vintage Stuffeths
Theorist
#2021 Old 13th Sep 2021 at 12:07 PM
Catherine, I made it and added all yout text under testingcheats that was already there. Is there a chance to have such aliases for AGS? It doesn't work there.

Here you can see more of my creations and conversions for sims 3. ;) I`ll glad to see your comments in.
Mad Poster
#2022 Old 13th Sep 2021 at 2:55 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Victor_tor
Catherine, I made it and added all yout text under testingcheats that was already there. Is there a chance to have such aliases for AGS? It doesn't work there.

I no longer use AGS (it didn't work with the UC, at first) Now I just use different game folders - which, I know, doesn't address different game configurations... But, since the UC is abandoned/free - why would anyone not use it? Certainly not enough for me to worry over AGS for
So... sorry? I can't help you
I'm glad you got the userStartUp to work - it is a real sanity saver!

Please ~ support my TS2 habit! Shop at my Etsy shops:
CatherinesJewelry ~ Artisan Jewelry
Catherine's MOUSE ~ Up/Recycled Jewelry
and Vintage Stuffeths
Theorist
#2023 Old 13th Sep 2021 at 5:15 PM
Oh no switch folders sounds unsafe. Once I did it my game had stop recognising those folder and generated another without TM in name. And there was many times when I seen such cases. There is again tells a lot about TS2 works so much unstable for me. I hope others don't have such. I don't like it but I try to deal with it.

Here you can see more of my creations and conversions for sims 3. ;) I`ll glad to see your comments in.
Theorist
#2024 Old 15th Sep 2021 at 6:43 PM
Ok here is a confession post of two least sucessful buildings I made. As I promised before.
First is this

You might find this is a house from the lot bin. I failed to remodel its roofs. It just needs a total remove. And my eyes are bleeeding and my brain screams "Delete this1". It has so many room under the roof slope! OMG. After I saw that, I end up with move sim who lives there to another house. I can share its interiors.
Second is this house that was remodelled from another one by Watermelonsandal. Original house is here.

Maybe you find it seems to be okay. But when count all tiles you will find that my house became 3 tiles longer. And that broke everything! Huge room appeared under the roof. I found it too late and it became a sloped wall with fake senseless windows.e Then I decided to move this sim who lives there to another property too. Happily we have a lot of houses to choose from. And I can even build my own! Can you belive this? ^_^
Screenshots

Here you can see more of my creations and conversions for sims 3. ;) I`ll glad to see your comments in.
Theorist
#2025 Old 15th Sep 2021 at 8:38 PM Last edited by ScaryRob : 15th Sep 2021 at 8:59 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Victor_tor
You might find this is a house from the lot bin. I failed to remodel its roofs. It just needs a total remove. And my eyes are bleeeding and my brain screams "Delete this1". It has so many room under the roof slope! OMG. After I saw that, I end up with move sim who lives there to another house. I can share its interiors.

I don't mean to get too anally retentive, but there are two things about this house that immediately jump out at me as being unrealistic.

The first is the huge water trap in-between the roofs of the front part of the house and the back part. A water trap, in real life, is when a roof is pitched in such a way as to either have rainwater flow against the wall of a house, or is pitched in such as way as to create a catch basin where rainwater has nowhere to go except to accumulate atop the roof. Either one is highly undesirable in real life, and therefore is almost never seen in a modern house, because it won't be long before there are major leaks and water damage to the house. Occasionally, water traps can be noticed on some pre-20th century houses, especially in the Victorian styles that typically have many dormers and complicated roofs, but even in those the issue is kept to a minimum.

The second is the exterior stone wall on the second floor (the area above the entrance), which in all likelihood does not have a stone wall below it to support the weight. I see this a lot in uploaded houses, where the lot maker will have the first floor walls as siding, or some other inherent wood structure, and the upper floors as masonry/stonework. This is impossible in real life, because wood cannot support the immense weight of stone work, brick work or concrete above it. The worst example I once saw of this - and it's in the Sims 2 uploads somewhere way back - was a house with a lattice foundation and masonry stone work right on top.
Any house that mixes building methods and materials always needs to have the concrete, stone or brick to be the foundation and/or first floor, with the lighter building materials on the floors above. Lighter building materials include stucco, since that is simply a lath often applied to a wood frame.

Edit: After looking again, it does appear that the first floor walls are indeed masonry, so technically the second floor stone work would be doable, but my point remains because there doesn't seem to be any support for it near the entrance and I do see this issue a lot in uploaded lots in general. In this particular house, the stone work at the corners is fine, because it goes all the way down to the foundation, but the stonework on the second floor above the entrance area is unrealistic.

These are two things that I see a lot in uploaded houses.
 
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