aricarai wrote:
scorpiophoenix wrote:
If you want to know anything else just ask. I will not say what all I might say to you though. I seem to not always have a filter between my brain and mouth! :lol: I will say anything a lot of times.
Oooh, any personal beginner building tips you want to pass along?
My window placement always seems to come out and funny. And oh boy, is my landscaping shocking! :shock:
Start small. I would say start out with a starter and keep your budget low. And just keep building. The more you build, the more experience you gain.
I copied this from a post by Addict1220, who founded Build-n-Share challenge and it helps a lot.
A few tips for starters
Here are just a few tips to get you started. If you know a few more and are willing to give them up to the competition , feel free to post below with more info!
Walls:
Are expensive. Use alternatives whenever possible.
Open layouts work nicely for starters. Just use natural transitioning and create "areas" instead (ie. the kitchen opens onto the living room, instead of being its own little room.)
Simple foundation basements are nice because they are made out of foundation, which is cheaper, and they add a whole lot of room to your house. If you leave them bare with brick walls, they cost even less. (I would at least cover the floor, though.) Attics can be good for the same reason. If you use a pointy roof and the house is big enough, there is some area under the highest point of the roof that's usable. All it costs to utilize this space is a set of the cheapest stairs and some inexpensive flooring.
Diagonal walls can be a little awkward, but because they can go from corner to corner and are wider than regular walls, you get a "room" out of one wall.
Foundation:
Whether you are going to use a basement or not, hollow out the middle of your foundation floors. You really only need foundation around the outer edge of your home so your walls aren't floating in outerspace. When you use ctrl with the foundation tool, it erases foundation. If the area is still closed in with walls and a border of foundation, you usually are left with a floating floor. If the tile grid "disappears," start from the outside and work your way in. Each new row of floor will add the grid for the row after it. Soon, the whole room is covered.
Deleting the foundation has a second advantage: you can create little sunk-in areas with a set of stairs. Kind of a fun design twist that's cheap.
Columns:
Also expensive. You know that carport? Instead of columns, you might consider using a two-level patio foundation (the one with the wood slats). Build the patio foundation. Then, on top of that one, hit shift and drag another patio foundation. They stack and become taller. High enough for that carport roof.
You also don't "need" all the columns. If you're trying to get flooring above a column, use the column, add the floor, and then delete the column. Voila! Floating tiles. I wouldn't have a massive floating object with no columns, but a few less than you need helps pinch pennies when you're talking starter.
Wall coverings:
This is something I've figured out in Sims 3. I probably shouldn't tell you if you haven't done it yet...find the cheapest wall with no built-in pattern you can find (I use Flat Wall in the paint section). Click on it with the create-a-style tool. Go to your brick or whatever other more expensive pattern you want and select it. Your brick wall now costs about $3 less per panel then if you just did it the normal way.
Floorplan:
Always go small. More walls=more money. They're expensive, and you have to cover them. Make it big enough that the sim can move around. But if they outgrow the house, they can always add on later. This is probably the biggest money-saver for starters.
Windows:
Check window prices carefully. Some of the double windows will be cheaper than using two of the smaller ones. It's usually not by much, but if you're doing a whole wall of them, it can add up.
Build and build again:
The cool thing about starters is you can build them pretty quickly. I usually find the more I build consecutively, the more I can get in and for less money.
For me to, look at blueprints/house plans and take ideas and inspiration from them. You do not have to follow them but they can help with door and window placements and other inspiration. Also just use a search engine and look at different pics of homes like the one you want to create. You can get ideas for decorating, landscaping, and placement.
