GC's CFE Tutorials *Moved*
I will no longer be adding tutorials to this thread. However, when I find the time I'll be copying these tutorials over to my blog at www.gcsims.com, where I'll also be adding new ones.
Forum Discussion
More Versatile Saltbox Roofs
Introduction
Making a simple saltbox roof is easy and requires no cheats. Start by making sure autoroof is turned off.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/1.png
Next build your walls, leaving 3 rows of exposed tiles at the top of the first floor where the lower part of the roof will be. Add a gabled roof to the second floor and a shed roof to the exposed part of the first floor.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/2.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/3.png
Tidy up the heights a little bit if necessary, and viola, a saltbox roof.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/4.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/5.png
The problem is that sometimes you don't have 3 rows of tiles to spare. Sometimes you only have two, or even one. With only two rows of tiles to spare, and without the help of cheats, you'd end up with something like this...
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/6.png
...or this...
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/7.png
...which both look fine, but might not be exactly what you have in mind.
This tutorial will tell you how to get a seamless saltbox look with only one or two row(s) of tiles. As always, if you are new to working with CFE turned off, I recommend first reading my Learning the Basics and Tips and Common Problems sections.
Just for Show
This part of the tutorial will explain how to make purely decorative saltbox roofs, where the second story can't be used as living space. I'll explain later on how to make functional second stories.
Open the cheat console and enter the cheat placefriezes on. This tool allows you to place foundation-like structures, one third of the height of a normal wall, on any level of your build.
Select the foundation tool and click and drag over the area you want to cover with a frieze. Let's start by leaving one row of tiles exposed.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/8.png
We can now turn placefriezes off, and cover the top of our frieze with a gabled roof and the exposed row of tiles with a shed roof.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/9.png
The process for two rows of exposed tiles if similar, except that you need to place two friezes, one on top of the other.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/10.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/11.png
You can use this technique to create a variety of interesting and realistic roof shapes. Here's just one example.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/12.png
Livable Saltboxes
For a full height, usable second story, we have to make things just a little more complicated. If you were following along with the previous section, start again from scratch - this is a different method I'm now describing.
Let's start by creating both stories. This time round, we'll leave one row of tiles exposed. (The method for leaving two tiles exposed is very similar, but we'll get to that later.)
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/13-1.png
At this stage, I recommend adding any room divisions you want on the second story. It can be done later, but it will be less fiddly to do now.
Add a gabled roof to the upper level.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/14.png
Now we need to create supporting walls for the shed part of our saltbox roof. We'll lower the height later - for now, create them at full height, and add tiles to the top.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/15.png
Next, we build a two-story 'construction tower' off to the side of our main build. This tower will help us get the heights we need without messing around too much with our main build.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/16.png
Now we can finally turn constrainfloorelevation off.
Select the Lower Terrain tool, choosing the small square brush and the softest brush setting.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/17.png
Choose any ground level tile underneath the construction tower, and as gently as you can click four times in each of its four corners. This will lower the tile down by 1/3 of the height of a normal wall.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/18.png
Go up to the top level of the construction tower. One of the tiles there will have sunk down by the same amount as the ground below. Select the Level Terrain tool and drag across until you have lowered the first row of tiles on the main build down to the same height.These are the tiles that will be covered by the shed part of our roof.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/19.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/20.png
The build should look like this. I know the floating roof looks weird - we can fix that later.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/21.png
We can now add the shed part of our roof.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/22.png
Use the Level Terrain tool to bring all the tiles underneath the main gabled roof back to full height.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/23.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/24.png
The floating roof problem should now be gone.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/25.png
Now turn constrainfloorelevation on.
Inside, the second story should look something like this (plus any room divisions you've added - I don't have any in my example).
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/26.png
If you like, you can keep the dividing wall between the large full height area and small slanted area in place. I think a wonky ceiling adds character so I'm deleting my wall.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/27.png
Because I deleted that wall, my ceiling now looks like this. I you find there's a gap where your row of slanted tiles should be, try tiling the whole ceiling using the shift key.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/28.png
If you would like to create a saltbox with two rows of tiles beneath the shed part of the roof, the process is almost exactly the same, except that instead of lowering the ground by four clicks you need to lower it by eight clicks, which is the equivalent of 2/3 of the height of a regular wall. The result should look something like this.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/30.png
Delete the construction tower and decorate as you like. Bear in mind that you will not be able to use horizontal styles on the wall directly beneath the slanted ceiling, as that would draw unwanted attention to the height transition.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/29.png
As with the decorate frieze method, you can use these techniques to create a variety of roof shapes.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/31.png
Introduction
Making a simple saltbox roof is easy and requires no cheats. Start by making sure autoroof is turned off.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/1.png
Next build your walls, leaving 3 rows of exposed tiles at the top of the first floor where the lower part of the roof will be. Add a gabled roof to the second floor and a shed roof to the exposed part of the first floor.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/2.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/3.png
Tidy up the heights a little bit if necessary, and viola, a saltbox roof.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/4.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/5.png
The problem is that sometimes you don't have 3 rows of tiles to spare. Sometimes you only have two, or even one. With only two rows of tiles to spare, and without the help of cheats, you'd end up with something like this...
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/6.png
...or this...
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/7.png
...which both look fine, but might not be exactly what you have in mind.
This tutorial will tell you how to get a seamless saltbox look with only one or two row(s) of tiles. As always, if you are new to working with CFE turned off, I recommend first reading my Learning the Basics and Tips and Common Problems sections.
Just for Show
This part of the tutorial will explain how to make purely decorative saltbox roofs, where the second story can't be used as living space. I'll explain later on how to make functional second stories.
Open the cheat console and enter the cheat placefriezes on. This tool allows you to place foundation-like structures, one third of the height of a normal wall, on any level of your build.
Select the foundation tool and click and drag over the area you want to cover with a frieze. Let's start by leaving one row of tiles exposed.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/8.png
We can now turn placefriezes off, and cover the top of our frieze with a gabled roof and the exposed row of tiles with a shed roof.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/9.png
The process for two rows of exposed tiles if similar, except that you need to place two friezes, one on top of the other.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/10.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/11.png
You can use this technique to create a variety of interesting and realistic roof shapes. Here's just one example.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/12.png
Livable Saltboxes
For a full height, usable second story, we have to make things just a little more complicated. If you were following along with the previous section, start again from scratch - this is a different method I'm now describing.
Let's start by creating both stories. This time round, we'll leave one row of tiles exposed. (The method for leaving two tiles exposed is very similar, but we'll get to that later.)
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/13-1.png
At this stage, I recommend adding any room divisions you want on the second story. It can be done later, but it will be less fiddly to do now.
Add a gabled roof to the upper level.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/14.png
Now we need to create supporting walls for the shed part of our saltbox roof. We'll lower the height later - for now, create them at full height, and add tiles to the top.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/15.png
Next, we build a two-story 'construction tower' off to the side of our main build. This tower will help us get the heights we need without messing around too much with our main build.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/16.png
Now we can finally turn constrainfloorelevation off.
Select the Lower Terrain tool, choosing the small square brush and the softest brush setting.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/17.png
Choose any ground level tile underneath the construction tower, and as gently as you can click four times in each of its four corners. This will lower the tile down by 1/3 of the height of a normal wall.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/18.png
Go up to the top level of the construction tower. One of the tiles there will have sunk down by the same amount as the ground below. Select the Level Terrain tool and drag across until you have lowered the first row of tiles on the main build down to the same height.These are the tiles that will be covered by the shed part of our roof.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/19.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/20.png
The build should look like this. I know the floating roof looks weird - we can fix that later.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/21.png
We can now add the shed part of our roof.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/22.png
Use the Level Terrain tool to bring all the tiles underneath the main gabled roof back to full height.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/23.png
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/24.png
The floating roof problem should now be gone.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/25.png
Now turn constrainfloorelevation on.
Inside, the second story should look something like this (plus any room divisions you've added - I don't have any in my example).
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/26.png
If you like, you can keep the dividing wall between the large full height area and small slanted area in place. I think a wonky ceiling adds character so I'm deleting my wall.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/27.png
Because I deleted that wall, my ceiling now looks like this. I you find there's a gap where your row of slanted tiles should be, try tiling the whole ceiling using the shift key.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/28.png
If you would like to create a saltbox with two rows of tiles beneath the shed part of the roof, the process is almost exactly the same, except that instead of lowering the ground by four clicks you need to lower it by eight clicks, which is the equivalent of 2/3 of the height of a regular wall. The result should look something like this.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/30.png
Delete the construction tower and decorate as you like. Bear in mind that you will not be able to use horizontal styles on the wall directly beneath the slanted ceiling, as that would draw unwanted attention to the height transition.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/29.png
As with the decorate frieze method, you can use these techniques to create a variety of roof shapes.
http://i1146.photobucket.com/albums/o530/GreenCats1/CFE%20Tutorials/Saltbox/31.png
