For Builders-- Tips on Creating A Builder's Blank Neighborhood

CREATING A BUILDER’S BLANK NEIGHBORHOOD:

1. Go to your chosen EA neighborhood. Use Save As and call the save BuilderBlankSV (or use the initials that represent your chosen neighborhood at the end).

2. Use the bulldozer to delete all houses. If there is someone living in the house you want to bulldoze the game will ask you if you would like to evict the family, choose yes. Once you have deleted all the houses delete all the families sitting along the left side of your screen (this is the clipboard and you want it empty).

3. Save again.

4. If desired, you can also clear out the commercial lots, but I recommend leaving the Grocery Store, the Bookstore, the Consignment Shop, the Pet Shop, and the Elixir Shop (depending on which expansion packs you have some of these may not be available). I tend to leave any place that I might want to send my Sim to buy something that I will use in my build.

5. Save again.

6. If you want, you can find a convenient lot and place the spawners from buyDebug to put the gem, insect, and fish spawners on the lot so that you can send your Sim to gather these items for use on your lot. You also may want to add a lot with Sim-made paintings and/or photographs to your Builder's Blank world, then have your Tester Sim go in and load up her inventory with art on these lots before proceeding to the lot where you wish to build. This is optional but it is a time-saver.

RECOMMENDED PLAYER-MADE LOTS:
Joolster's Peaceful Gardens (all harvestables, Base Game thru University):
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=7114188

Joolster's OM Gallery (lot's of Sim-made photographs, if used in your lots for upload, please include "photographs credit to Joolster" in the lot description):
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=6770419

Joolster's All Possible Sim Paintings on Easels on 1 Lot (up to 12/16/11 when it was uploaded):
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4926775

Joolster's Serenity Aviary (all birds and small pets in cages on lot):
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=6821187#

XOX1's Collector Island Park (all collectibles up to Pets EP):
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=4923248

ZooProfessor3's Greenwood Gallery (some Sim paintings but mostly LOTS of Sim photographs, including some that look like famous paintings and you have my absolute permission to use my photographs in your builds even those for upload):
http://www.thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=7177890


7. Save Again.

8. IMPORTANT: Each time you start a new build and you use your Builder’s Blank Neighborhood, immediately use the Save As command and save the neighborhood with a new name related to whatever you are building. That will leave your original Builder’s Blank Neighborhood empty and ready to use the next time you want to start a fresh build.

9. If you make a mistake and choose "Save" just use "Save As" as instructed in the last step and finish your build. Later go back to your Builder's Blank and bulldoze the lot you had started and then save again. Your Builder's Blank is now blank (of residential spaces and most other stuff) again.

10. The directions here are for making a lot that you then intend to upload to the Exchange or save to your library or both. You won't PLAY the lot in this neighborhood, you will only build it here.

Note: Maybe no one else is bothered by the pesky neighbors and the constant phone calls while trying to build, but it annoys me and using an empty neighborhood really cuts down on these things AND as a nice bonus it shortens load times and save times.

Am I allowed in here yet? I've been lurking for a while now!...

Great instructions, Zoo. I may use this to build, that is assuming my game doesn't seize up with all the saves.

--Wibble :D

WibbleLikeAJelly wrote:
Am I allowed in here yet? I've been lurking for a while now!...

Great instructions, Zoo. I may use this to build, that is assuming my game doesn't seize up with all the saves.

--Wibble :D

LOL! Okay, Wibble McSmartyPants! :D

PERHAPS a case could be made that I have you save excessively during this whole operation, but I have a really good computer for Sims and even it had some trouble doing all these world edits without problems. :shock:

I surely didn't want to have to start all over, so I saved multiple times in case there was a crash and SO SHOULD YOU. 8)

ZooProfessor3 wrote:

WibbleLikeAJelly wrote:
Am I allowed in here yet? I've been lurking for a while now!...

Great instructions, Zoo. I may use this to build, that is assuming my game doesn't seize up with all the saves.

--Wibble :D

LOL! Okay, Wibble McSmartyPants! :D

PERHAPS a case could be made that I have you save excessively during this whole operation, but I have a really good computer for Sims and even it had some trouble doing all these world edits without problems. :shock:

I surely didn't want to have to start all over, so I saved multiple times in case there was a crash and SO SHOULD YOU. 8)

Sure. Thanks for that, Professor Zoo McSmartyPants hehe :D

--Wibble :)

yanti68 wrote:
Great tips Zoo. :D :D Thanks a lot for sharing. :mrgreen: I would love to have a blank world and then fill it up with my builds. I only fear that my game wouldn't be able to handle all the custom lots. It tends to lag when I have too many of my builds in the world. :cry: :cry:

I know what you mean, but if you replace existing lots (and as long as you didn't go crazy on the new lots, making them all really memory and graphics heavy) then theoretically it shouldn't be any more of a drain than with EA lots.

By the way, the Builder's Blank is a tool you use to build EACH time, no matter where the lot will end up. So you would use a blank Sunset Valley and build the lots and upload to the library and then later if you wanted a custom Sunset Valley you could put ALL your custom lots on the Builder's Blank and use Save As to call it New Sunset Valley or whatever and that would be your current game. You would STILL keep a blank Sunset Valley for building. :D

I can see this would be very useful for not taxing your computer to show neighboring lots as well as your own.

But also for getting good screenshots, without neighbors' houses behind, beside or in front of your lot! I hate when I have to fight rooflines and trees

Great tips, Zoo!

Taryn

TarynTempestwind wrote:
I can see this would be very useful for not taxing your computer to show neighboring lots as well as your own.

But also for getting good screenshots, without neighbors' houses behind, beside or in front of your lot! I hate when I have to fight rooflines and trees

Great tips, Zoo!

Taryn

Actually, Taryn, those are all EXCELLENT points but none of that is why I personally always do this. Neither is it because load times are so much reduced (a thing mwjessica pointed out to me which is also true and also a good reason to use a Builder's Blank).

For me it was simply that I could not stand the aggravation of townies who wanted to bug me as I was building! I use a Tester Sim and if you do that and you don't use a Builder's Blank then you will get near-constant traffic to your lot with Sims who want to socialize with your Tester.

I thought it might curse the lot if I just kept walling them up or drowning them and selling their tombstones after they were dead so that their ghosts wouldn't annoy me either. So, this was my solution. :mrgreen:

I have a question that I think pertains to this subject...I hope so anyway. If not, maybe you can direct me to the right place to ask it. I did a house that is causing a lot of "lag" and "stalling" in my neighborhood and in others' also.) I was wondering if maybe I started out with a Builders Blank neighborhood and then slowly added my buildings and houses as I build them do you think that would help with the lagging and freezing that I am experiencing while trying to work on other projects? I guess what I am asking is if the number of custom builds in a neighborhood can cause my game to "lag, stall, and freeze"?
I'm trying to find out if a Builders Blank would help me or not. Thank you!

It could melwanda, a lot of times this is caused by a stuck sim or too many cars or whatever in your world. I use a mod to clean the neighborhood every night. To resetsims you can go into the console (shift+ctl+c) and type in resetsim * The asterrick will ensure all sims in the world will get reset. If you just needed to reset one sim, type in that one sims name in place of the asterrick. Hopefully this helps you.

If you added a lot of spawners from buydebug on your lots that will cause it too. When the lot is placed and rotated it makes a new copy of all the spawners and the old ones are left where they were.

melwanda wrote:
I have a question that I think pertains to this subject...I hope so anyway. If not, maybe you can direct me to the right place to ask it. I did a house that is causing a lot of "lag" and "stalling" in my neighborhood and in others' also.) I was wondering if maybe I started out with a Builders Blank neighborhood and then slowly added my buildings and houses as I build them do you think that would help with the lagging and freezing that I am experiencing while trying to work on other projects? I guess what I am asking is if the number of custom builds in a neighborhood can cause my game to "lag, stall, and freeze"?
I'm trying to find out if a Builders Blank would help me or not. Thank you!

Thank you for responding. I certainly did not know that. I don't know much at all about mods because I don't use them. Can you please give me the name of and where I can find the one you use to clean out your neighborhood everyday? Also, I wanted to mention that I just started my game over in a new world with new people and the only thing that I have added so far is a house that I did. I am still getting stuck. I do know how to get one sim "unstuck" but I've never heard of resetting all of the sims. When would I need to do that? Thank you again for your help.