@crinrict I've seen that post when I was scouring the forum for a post on this issue - I'd have added my reply to one instead of creating a new post.
Looking at that post closer, it seems like two parts of one big combined issue.
1) if you have a ceiling on a basement, you can't create a "balcony" overlooking the basement and the issue that OP in the other thread posted happens: placing stairs will cause the surrounding terrain to raise as they've shown.
2) If you remove the ceiling to create a "balcony" overlooking the basement, you can't place stairs leading up to the ground floor at all. You can still place a ladder to the ground floor, or as CGrant54 tested, a staircase all the way from the basement to a first floor though.
This is a demonstration of the possible staircase and ladder placements - after removing the basement ceiling to allow for a balcony overlook. The only thing that's not possible: a staircase directly between basement and ground floor within that open space. If the basement ceiling is present, the issue in the other post happens.
I think maybe you can merge the posts because they're related. Bottom line is: right now, the bug/issue/hopefully not feature is that you can't have balcony overlooks into a basement without something not working right.
bumping because i've been having this issue since I first started playing the game haha, thought I could just ignore it but it's such an eyesore that i had to see if others are experiencing it too. good to know I'm not alone! would really love to know if this could be fixed.
here is how it looks in my game -
when the lot is slightly raised:
when the lot is raised higher:
idk...is it supposed to look like this? lol
I am also having the same issue. This is a glitch or oversight that needs to be fixed ASAP. Stairs can be placed from main floor with a foundation extending into the basement, however the walls around the hole into the basement look really glitchy...almost incomplete as there are no walls surrounding it. . I tried deleting the ground in/around the stairs like I normally would for an "open to below" type balcony on the second/third floor, and then creating foundation walls around it to make the floor cutout into the basement look more natural, but then the stairs cannot be placed there and I get the error message "Incompatible With Terrain Constrain Blocks" as previously mentioned in someone else's reply. Its very frustrating that stairs CAN go to the basement with a foundation...but not the way you want them to. Stairs in general still have way too many problems that need to be worked through.... We are 6 YEARS into the game. How can you have an entire diagonal house but no diagonal stairs? Someone please answer me this. We also have no true "spiral" staircases like we have had in every previous Sims game. Please step it up EA.
As a disclaimer, I use a lot of custom content, however it is frequently tested after patches. I get the same issue with the Mods folder removed from the game file.
