Always changing builds and never satisfied. Need ideas.

I dont know if my comment will help in anyway but heres what I think, when i played the sims 3 i used too keep changing worlds my sims lived in once all the lots were filled dont know why but yeah ?, are all your worlds lots filled ?, if so maybe always have one lot empty, so if you feel like building youve got that space or it can be the lot that changes all the time in your game, so one sim week it could be a gym, the next a coffee shop etc

Save your unfinished lots to your Library. That way, if you want to revisit them later, you can. Even if you don’t make it the lot type you originally started out with, you will have the shape to make it something else.

I have a save file for just building and testing, and it's full of empty/unfinished shells. I just leave them there until the day I decide that I like it again.

I'm not sure if that's the advice you're looking for but I hope something I've said has helped in some way.

Those are good advices, and I also build in separate saves. I have several folders just for building, with different saves for each world. I also have building saves for build challenges, and for random building.

When a build is done I copy/paste the tray files to a folder on my computer, for safe keeping. Sometimes I put the builds half begun there as well, if I suspect it will take some time coming back to them.

I have a long document of building ideas that I often scribble down stuff in; and another long more structured list of what the lots in my play save should get in terms of buildings; communal or residential, purpose, style, household etc.

I keep a folder for saving pictures of buildings I see, for reference and inspiration.

Edit: When I buy a new pack that comes with a world, I playtest it in a new user folder, doing all silly things there are in the game, getting to know the premades and the world. By this I learn what I want to bring to my playsave, what premades to evict, what buildings I want or need and would fit the world architecture and have a purpose there, to fit my preferred playstyle.

I just got the Tiny Living pack and I'm obsessed with tiny house builds now haha. I have this mansion I've working on for ages now and get sick of before I can make any real progress though, so I feel you. Sometimes I download pre-made builds in the gallery and then just edit them a lot to fit a specific family (or a lot) and that satisfies my build need without having to start from scratch

Also, another thing I forgot to add:
When I'm planning out each world for my save file, I always screenshot the map view and decide what each lot for that world will be. I usually just edit in Microsoft Paint. The visual aide helps me see what needs to be added and/or changed before I build the first wall.

I number each lot and make like a little key to the side showing which lot type each lot will have. It also helps with planning out how many households I want in the world as well. I'm not able to get to my computer right now to show an example but I hope I make sense.

I have this problem too with some of my favourite lots but i feel like since I started to makeover whole worlds ive done that less

cause if i have idea i will usually find another place for it now because i will eventually need to fill out all worlds and if i do everything for one lot there is no progress

but also if i end up with the situation i just save whatever i built in library and use it elsewhere

also i do tend to take note of what lots i need in the world before building anything so that helps

You can always create a "new game" and use the Sim you have to create as the Place Holder. I called one Primary Build. Then you have access to as many lots as you need to build. Once you're happy with it, you can upload the build to your Library via the Gallery and then plop it into any of the actual game save you want. I did this to get all of my older builds into the current Tray. Yes, it took time, and I had to create several 'New' game saves, (I had several reserved Trays) but once I removed the duplicates, I downloaded one of each build, switched out the Tray for a brand new one that was empty and proceeded to upload each build I wished to keep. Then I destroyed all of those older Trays. It's good to clean house now and again. Even if you don't wish to finish a build, I would take SweetieWright_84's advise. Save it to your My Library via the Gallery.

I kind of have this idea, but I force myself to finish all my builds and if I don't finisha build or I can't decide what to do with it, I will upload the shells of my three best ideas to the gallery and based upon whichever gets the most likes is the one I will go with and furnish or sometimes I find myself prefering one over the other a few days later. No matter what, try to save all your stuff in your library or in a throwaway world. Sometimes I am only interested in making a shell and other times I just want to furnish or landscape. I also find playing with a family makes a house easier to furnish and they have to earn money to furnish the house or they paint/take photos to decorate it.

Thanks everybody for the great advice! I've been trying everyone's suggestions the past week and it's really helped. I actually finished a build in StrangerVille. Some things that I've been doing:

- Making smaller builds! Looking through the gallery I noticed most people don't even fill the entire lot with a build. Even on 64x64 lots the actual build is a lot smaller. This has helped me a lot because I always felt like I had to fill the entire lot.

- To go on the first point, not all builds have to be multiple levels. Another issue I always felt compelled to have multiple levels.

- Saving shells of builds. Great suggestion. I actually went back to a shell and decided I wanted it in another world.

- Multiple saves. Never had multiple saves but I do now. I use a separate save to play around with just renovating existing lots or if I want to completely re-do it.

Thanks everybody for the help!

It was interesting to know what you decided to try, thank you for telling us.

I think you are right about large builds, and how much they cover of the lot. I usually build small and max two levels for residentials, since there is no gameplay for it, and I value good routing. Communal lots that are visited less, can be more fancyful and irregular.