I pulled this from the Super Seasons thread so it will be easier to find. The link to Maywood Glen is new.

The link to the Seasonal Lot Marker Guide

Graham uploads Festival Lot altered Maywood Glen from guide

Nice I guess we got the marker with the patch, so we can actually build those lots... just can't see the different seasons in game? Anybody tried this yet just for kicks? Hmm, maybe I'll have a go later on

I have to say, I liked what Graham did with Maywood Glen, but a WINDMILL, carted in just for autumn and then taken down again? REALLY?

Edit: I've been playing with this, and it works! You can use the lot marker in a patched game, and you can switch seasons in live mode by going into build/buy on that lot (need to use TCE for a community lot, then shift-click and "buy on this lot") and shift-clicking the season marker, so you can have a 5-state lot even without Seasons installed.

Having fun playing with seasonal decorations on the fishing hole in Moonlight Falls... picked that one because it has a pond big enough for ice skating (and no, you do NOT get ice or any other weather related effects this way, just cycles between the objects you've placed in each season).

Edit again: Hrm... slight glitch though... when you change seasons with a sim on the lot... the sim vanishes >< And I KNOW my sim is there, because his plumbbob just went to the men's room for a pee Changing the lot back to the season it was in when he went there doesn't help, nor does ResetSim... he goes home but he's still invisible

Soooo I guess I can't recommend using this to get shifting lots without Seasons :/ you can BUILD them... but don't try to PLAY them!

This is just a nitpick, Periandre, but you might want to change the name of the thread (and the wording of your link) for the sake of users trying to use the Search function for help on this somewhat complicated topic. There is technically no such thing as a "Festival Lot Marker". Festival Lots are a specific type of Community Lot which you can assign and which I believe add their own special functionality to the game. Seasonal Lot Markers are found in buydebug, can be placed on any type of lot, and don't have to have their function tied to any sort of "festival". Placing a Seasonal Lot Marker on a lot does not change it to a Festival Lot, but changing an existing lot into a Festival Lot (once Seasons is released) should automatically place a Seasonal Lot Marker near the edge of the lot.

When using the Seasonal Lot Marker, it is sometimes helpful to imagine yourself using Photoshop, with each Season/Mode representing a distinct layer. Common mode would be the base layer that you leave on all the time (and which contains the majority of your work), while the Seasons are each different individual layers that can only be turned on one at a time. Unfortunately, the game isn't as user friendly in this regard.

I've been experimenting with the new lot marker and I wanted to point out one possible error in Graham's post that might scare some people off: that being that grabbing a Common mode object does NOT automatically "pull" it into one of the other Modes that you happen to be in (Construction/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter) -- if you hit ESC immediately after you make that first mouse click.

Here's the quote from Graham's post:

What happens if I click on a transparent Common object while editing a different version of the lot?

If you're editing in Construction/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter and accidentally click on a transparent looking common object, you'll notice that it turns opaque. This means that you've pulled it away from the Common version of the lot and assigned it to whatever mode you were editing in.

This action can't be cancelled or reversed. Clicking the Undo button will not correct it. Once you've taken a Common object and pulled it to one of the other versions of the lot, that object will remain in that version of the lot. If you did this accidentally, the only thing you can do is delete the object, switch the mode of the lot that you're editing back to Common, and then place the object from the catalog down on the lot again while in Common mode.

I think what he meant was that if you click on an item to "pull" it out of Common mode and then click it again to place it in whatever mode you're currently in, you're stuck. But if you immediately hit ESC after "pulling" the object but before you click it again to place it, you can abort the "pull".

Also, it is important to understand that when you "pull" an object, it is gone from Common mode. If you want that object to appear in more than one Season mode, you should "copy" it instead to place it in each one. If you do not, you won't have an object remaining in Common mode to "pull" into those other Season modes. The fact that the Eyedropper tool and CAS allow you to copy objects and/or styles from Common mode without deleting the original is critical if you want to, say, do as one example suggests and have the deck chairs around a community pool disappear during winter (only). This is what I did in this example:

1. Proceed into buydebug and place your Seasonal Lot Marker as outlined in Graham's explanation
2. Turn MoveObjects ON
3. Switch to Spring mode
4. Using the Eyedropper tool, copy your transparent deck chair and place it on top of itself (repeat for each chair)
5. Switch to Summer mode
6. Repeat step 4 (since you didn't "pull" the objects from Common mode in step 4, they are still there to copy again)
7. Switch to Fall mode
8. This time, "pull" each chair from Common mode. This single task actually performs two steps: it places deck chairs in Fall mode and removes them from Common mode. It also means that they won't appear in Winter mode, because you haven't even begun editing that Season yet, and when you try, you'll no longer see the transparent chairs from Common mode to "pull" in anyway. Alternatively, you could "copy" the chairs like you did previously, but then you'd have to go into Common mode and delete them all to prevent them from colliding with the chairs placed during the first three seasons, as well as prevent them from appearing at all during winter.
9. Click on the Seasonal Lot Marker one last time and click Lock Common Objects In Place

Note that the above assumes that you are ignoring Construction mode, as it really only exists to create a sort of one day pause between seasons in the game. If you wish to modify Construction mode as well as the other Season modes, you'll have to repeat step 4 one additional time for that mode.

A few more points that may not be apparent at first...

You can only "pull" objects from Common mode into one of the other modes (Construction/Spring/Summer/Fall/Winter). You cannot "pull" objects back the other way, nor can you "pull" objects from one Season mode into another. You also cannot copy an item in any of those seasonal modes to create a duplicate in any other mode (nor use CAS to copy a style). So if you "pull" an object from Common mode into the wrong Season mode, or "pull" an object prematurely before you're done copying it into other modes, you aren't totally screwed, but you do end up making more work for yourself. This is why it is important to leave any original objects in Common mode intact until you're sure you don't need them anymore.

The game won't allow you to place seasonal objects in such a way that they interfere/overlap with Common mode objects, but it will allow you to place Common mode objects where seasonal objects would manifest (switching to that season shows both objects occupying the same place). For the most part, the game will allow you to place Spring mode objects in the same place as Summer mode objects (as an example) because only one seasonal mode is active at any time and therefore no overlap exists. I said "for the most part" because you will have issues with some parent/child object relations like tables/chairs.

Graham commented on parent/child object relations in his lengthy post/tutorial, and his example would allow one to set out some patio furniture year round, and then have the table littered with different clutter depending on the season. However, I have noticed that if you have a table placed in Common mode and you wish to place chairs around it during only two or three seasons (which, as you know, snap to a linked position off of the main grid), you can't. Well, you can, but not the way you think. You can leave the table in Common mode and add two chairs in Spring, but you can't place chairs in those same positions in Summer (due to some unseen overlap). You can, however, place chairs in other vacant positions around the table that weren't occupied in Spring. If you want to place a table completely surrounded by chairs in the same spot for more than a single season, you have to "pull" the parent object (ie: the table) out of Common mode and place it in all Season modes along with the chairs. Same goes for bars with chairs.

It actually is possible to make additions/adjustments to Common mode from within any of the other modes. This means, for example, you can shift trees & bushes around while working in Summer mode, and those changes will span all of the modes. You can even build walls and place other Build mode objects while in seasonal mode and they will automatically exist in all modes. This might make it difficult to remember what mode you're actually working in sometimes, so check the Seasonal Lot Marker occasionally to remind yourself.

CAS is extra tricky when used with the Seasonal Lot Marker and makes that original custom-CAS item all the more important to retain in Common mode. If you "pull" an object that you've modified with CAS into one of the Seasons modes, it is impossible to duplicate that item's unique "style" in other modes after the fact -- unless you go back to the original and literally write down which tectures/colours you used. If you stick with the limited number of EA CAS selections for an item, however, it isn't a big deal to recreate the same item from scratch in a different mode.

Likewise, if you like to place objects off grid or rotate them at odd angles that are not at 45/90 degrees to everything else, duplicating their exact placement over multiple Season modes is best carried out by copying them from Common mode and then deleting the originals when finished.

So, if you want to give the Seasonal Lot Marker a try, might I suggest "copying" everything from Common mode into what ever Season modes you want using the Eyedropper tool and then delete those objects from Common mode later once you are sure you don't need to copy them into any other Season modes.

At least for your first attempt or two.

So the too long/didn't read version:

If you want your lots to change with the seasons (i.e. leaves changing, snow, spring flowers, etc.) it must have the buydebug Seasonal Lot Marker somewhere on the lot? I'm assuming it will be invisible in live mode, sorta like the Hidden Room Marker things they gave us with Late Night.

@The Shoveler -- maybe this should go up as a tutorial in the wiki

No. The entire world will experience the seasons, with no exceptions. The marker is only required if you want objects on the lot to change depending on the season. For example, with the marker you could have a water slide appear only in the Summer mode of the lot, and carved pumpkins and other halloween decorations appear in Fall mode etc.

Looks like someone already did.

Or you can just save the style and then apply it to the other object, and then delete it afterwards if you don't need it any more.

There is that.

I almost never save styles, however, unless I want to transport them across different lots. With the Seasonal Lot Marker active, it's almost like you have six different lots layered on top of one another.