Guide to Houseboats in game & in CAW
Houseboats! They're awesome, versatile, and totally fun... but they can also be tricky, especially when adding one to a world other than Isla Paradiso. Thankfully you've come to the right place. This ...
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Edit Town Tutorial
Follow this step by step tutorial to learn how to add houseboats to any world in The Sims 3. The tutorial shows off adding houseboats in Sunset Valley, but you can perform these steps in any world that has an ocean.
1) Load into the world that you want to add a houseboat to.
2) Once in-game, open the options menu and select Edit Town.
http://i.imgur.com/8CG70pj.jpg
3) Click the button in the bottom left named "World Editor".
http://i.imgur.com/iNMfyVo.jpg
4) Select a lot size from the bin. You're going to want to use a large lot that has enough room to add a houseboat on top of. Place it in the world so that it's partially over the water and partially on land.
http://i.imgur.com/xSBFneE.jpg
5) Click the World Editor button again to return to the normal Edit Town mode.
6) Select the lot that you just placed.
7) Click the button on the window that just appeared named "Change Lot Type".
8) Switch to Community, and in the drop down box select "Port" and accept.
http://i.imgur.com/WK7abDx.jpg
9) Select the lot which is now a Port, and click the "Build/Buy" button.
http://i.imgur.com/Ev6E8Au.jpg
10) Enter Build Mode.
11) Select the "Platforms, Foundations & Decks" section.
12) You can select anything within this category with the exception of the Platform. This will be used to make the dock that the houseboat docks at.
13) IMPORTANT: When creating your dock, you must start to create it on the ocean surface and then drag it back onto land. This is the only way to ensure that your dock is at the correct height for a houseboat to dock at. If you do not create it by starting to build it over the water, you will be unable to place the gangway object.
http://i.imgur.com/QrFC1ta.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/bVRrhdV.jpg
14) If you correctly performed step #13, you should have a dock that's at the correct height above sea level. Ensure that the dock also connects to land so that your Sims can reach it.
http://i.imgur.com/3jnRcGh.jpg
15) Add stairs that connect your dock to the land so that Sims can route onto it.
http://i.imgur.com/TbqMTUD.jpg
16) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C to open the cheat console.
17) In the cheat console, type in "testingcheatsenabled true" without the quotation marks and press enter.
18) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C to open the cheat console a second time.
19) Type in "buydebug" without the quotation marks and press enter.
20) Switch to Buy Mode.
21) Select "Sort by Function".
22) Select "Debug" - it's a button that has a question mark on it.
23) Select the last tab named "Misc. Objects".
24) Find the object named "Gangway Style".
http://i.imgur.com/SK0riz3.jpg
25) The gangway is a very large object, as it reserves all the space that all houseboats require. This ensures that any size houseboat can dock at any port. You may need to zoom your camera out to be able to place the gangway due to its large size.
http://i.imgur.com/2iC0jyE.jpg
26) Move the gangway over your dock. You'll see a large box appear in front of the gangway - this indicates all the space that the gangway needs to be successfully placed.
http://i.imgur.com/tiBEtMn.jpg
To successfully place the gangway, it must...
• Be placed along the edge of a dock. Error message = "Can't be placed through a wall." and "Must place the entire object in one of these places: on terrain on floor"
• Be entirely over the ocean water.
• Be placed in deep enough water (it can't be too close to the shoreline where the water is shallow).
• Be placed entirely within the confines of the port lot (it can't extend outside the lot). Error message = "Location out of bounds"
• Be placed at the correct height above sea level (if you followed step #13 correctly this shouldn't be a problem). Error message = "Must be placed at dock height above sea level."
• DO NOT use the "moveobjects on" cheat to place the gangway. If the placement isn't valid without using this cheat, then your houseboat will route fail when attempting to dock with it.
27) After the gangway has been successfully placed, I also recommend adding a mooring post and a parking spot to your port lot. This is not necessary, but will make it much easier to purchase a boat or a car when living on a houseboat in this port. Instead of having to find room on your houseboat for these objects, you can now click on a parking spot / mooring post to buy a vehicle directly from them. You can find these objects under the "Vehicles" section of Buy Mode.
28) Return to Edit Town mode once you're finished editing your Port lot.
29) Click on the Port lot again to select it.
30) Now that the Port lot has a gangway on it, it is now a fully functioning port lot and the "Set Houseboat" button is now available.
• If you simply wanted to add a functional empty port, you're all done.
• If you want to add a empty houseboat, continue on.
• If you want to import a houseboat from the Edit Town bin, skip down to step #35.
http://i.imgur.com/AyEVJow.jpg
31) Click on the "Set Houseboat" button.
32) Use the drop down box to create the houseboat size/style you wish to use.
http://i.imgur.com/qf5E6hy.jpg
33) You'll notice that a houseboat is created on your port, and that houseboat has its own map tag. Houseboats and ports are two distinctly separate lots, even though they can exist on top of each other.
http://i.imgur.com/c5eBW4y.jpg
34) You now have an empty houseboat that you can build on or move your Sim family to. You may also switch the houseboat to any type of community lot you like using the Change Lot Type button; the same way you would with any other lot in Edit Town. The remainder of the steps are for users who wanted to import a houseboat from the Edit Town bin.
35) If you want to import a pre-built houseboat from the bin, you should have just skipped to this step from step #30. Continue on...
36) Select a houseboat lot from the bin to import and click "Place Copy".
http://i.imgur.com/Ui9VmsA.jpg
37) You'll see the map tag of the empty port you created switch to a dock icon - click on it.
http://i.imgur.com/vO82n8n.jpg
38) You now have a built out houseboat docked at a port that your Sim family can move to. You're done!
http://i.imgur.com/NB6Tso2.jpg
Follow this step by step tutorial to learn how to add houseboats to any world in The Sims 3. The tutorial shows off adding houseboats in Sunset Valley, but you can perform these steps in any world that has an ocean.
1) Load into the world that you want to add a houseboat to.
2) Once in-game, open the options menu and select Edit Town.
http://i.imgur.com/8CG70pj.jpg
3) Click the button in the bottom left named "World Editor".
http://i.imgur.com/iNMfyVo.jpg
4) Select a lot size from the bin. You're going to want to use a large lot that has enough room to add a houseboat on top of. Place it in the world so that it's partially over the water and partially on land.
http://i.imgur.com/xSBFneE.jpg
5) Click the World Editor button again to return to the normal Edit Town mode.
6) Select the lot that you just placed.
7) Click the button on the window that just appeared named "Change Lot Type".
8) Switch to Community, and in the drop down box select "Port" and accept.
http://i.imgur.com/WK7abDx.jpg
9) Select the lot which is now a Port, and click the "Build/Buy" button.
http://i.imgur.com/Ev6E8Au.jpg
10) Enter Build Mode.
11) Select the "Platforms, Foundations & Decks" section.
12) You can select anything within this category with the exception of the Platform. This will be used to make the dock that the houseboat docks at.
13) IMPORTANT: When creating your dock, you must start to create it on the ocean surface and then drag it back onto land. This is the only way to ensure that your dock is at the correct height for a houseboat to dock at. If you do not create it by starting to build it over the water, you will be unable to place the gangway object.
http://i.imgur.com/QrFC1ta.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/bVRrhdV.jpg
14) If you correctly performed step #13, you should have a dock that's at the correct height above sea level. Ensure that the dock also connects to land so that your Sims can reach it.
http://i.imgur.com/3jnRcGh.jpg
15) Add stairs that connect your dock to the land so that Sims can route onto it.
http://i.imgur.com/TbqMTUD.jpg
16) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C to open the cheat console.
17) In the cheat console, type in "testingcheatsenabled true" without the quotation marks and press enter.
18) Press CTRL + SHIFT + C to open the cheat console a second time.
19) Type in "buydebug" without the quotation marks and press enter.
20) Switch to Buy Mode.
21) Select "Sort by Function".
22) Select "Debug" - it's a button that has a question mark on it.
23) Select the last tab named "Misc. Objects".
24) Find the object named "Gangway Style".
http://i.imgur.com/SK0riz3.jpg
25) The gangway is a very large object, as it reserves all the space that all houseboats require. This ensures that any size houseboat can dock at any port. You may need to zoom your camera out to be able to place the gangway due to its large size.
http://i.imgur.com/2iC0jyE.jpg
26) Move the gangway over your dock. You'll see a large box appear in front of the gangway - this indicates all the space that the gangway needs to be successfully placed.
http://i.imgur.com/tiBEtMn.jpg
To successfully place the gangway, it must...
• Be placed along the edge of a dock. Error message = "Can't be placed through a wall." and "Must place the entire object in one of these places: on terrain on floor"
• Be entirely over the ocean water.
• Be placed in deep enough water (it can't be too close to the shoreline where the water is shallow).
• Be placed entirely within the confines of the port lot (it can't extend outside the lot). Error message = "Location out of bounds"
• Be placed at the correct height above sea level (if you followed step #13 correctly this shouldn't be a problem). Error message = "Must be placed at dock height above sea level."
• DO NOT use the "moveobjects on" cheat to place the gangway. If the placement isn't valid without using this cheat, then your houseboat will route fail when attempting to dock with it.
27) After the gangway has been successfully placed, I also recommend adding a mooring post and a parking spot to your port lot. This is not necessary, but will make it much easier to purchase a boat or a car when living on a houseboat in this port. Instead of having to find room on your houseboat for these objects, you can now click on a parking spot / mooring post to buy a vehicle directly from them. You can find these objects under the "Vehicles" section of Buy Mode.
28) Return to Edit Town mode once you're finished editing your Port lot.
29) Click on the Port lot again to select it.
30) Now that the Port lot has a gangway on it, it is now a fully functioning port lot and the "Set Houseboat" button is now available.
• If you simply wanted to add a functional empty port, you're all done.
• If you want to add a empty houseboat, continue on.
• If you want to import a houseboat from the Edit Town bin, skip down to step #35.
http://i.imgur.com/AyEVJow.jpg
31) Click on the "Set Houseboat" button.
32) Use the drop down box to create the houseboat size/style you wish to use.
http://i.imgur.com/qf5E6hy.jpg
33) You'll notice that a houseboat is created on your port, and that houseboat has its own map tag. Houseboats and ports are two distinctly separate lots, even though they can exist on top of each other.
http://i.imgur.com/c5eBW4y.jpg
34) You now have an empty houseboat that you can build on or move your Sim family to. You may also switch the houseboat to any type of community lot you like using the Change Lot Type button; the same way you would with any other lot in Edit Town. The remainder of the steps are for users who wanted to import a houseboat from the Edit Town bin.
35) If you want to import a pre-built houseboat from the bin, you should have just skipped to this step from step #30. Continue on...
36) Select a houseboat lot from the bin to import and click "Place Copy".
http://i.imgur.com/Ui9VmsA.jpg
37) You'll see the map tag of the empty port you created switch to a dock icon - click on it.
http://i.imgur.com/vO82n8n.jpg
38) You now have a built out houseboat docked at a port that your Sim family can move to. You're done!
http://i.imgur.com/NB6Tso2.jpg
