Fellow builders, do you follow real life floor plans? If so, how do you do it? I bought two books FULL of floor plans and when I tried to build one, even the simplest one, I couldn't do it. I know I don't have to follow the floor plan exactly, and I know that I could just build a house inspired by it, but honestly I'd say that I'm like a mediocre builder, lol. I've tried eyeballing and guessing how long the walls would be, but the house would either be too big, too small or nothing would match up. I wish we could still see the dimensions of walls when we drag them. I feel like maybe it would make following floor plans a bit easier. :/
I usually go approximately 1 square = 3 feet, so it's not too far off. However, it still is a bit tricky to get everything to line up correctly. Not every floor plan can be put in Sims, but I know there's people who can do a far better job of following them than I can.
I have built many homes from floor plans and use the rule of thumb 1 tile = 3 ft. like mentioned above by other Simmers. Except for very, very simple plans, I have always still had to improvise to make the floor plan work and be realistic in the game. For instance, a lot of times I don't include pantries or small hall, bedroom and utility closets depicted in the plans. If it's a large bedroom closet, I'll sometimes use those we got in GT, but not always. I usually just make some rooms a bit bigger.
I've never used grid paper to map things out, but I think that's a great idea! I just build the outside shell first, place windows/doors, the roof, then work on getting the interior room walls set up as best I can and place items as I go along to make sure my measurements will work, tweaking as needed. Once that's accomplished, then I paint all the walls inside and out, add wall decorations (using MOO if needed), and finally, landscape.
I've found so many cute houses I want to build but end up not doing them for one reason or other like; curved walls (as mentioned above), fancy windows that don't have a comparable version in the game, different levels of stairs leading up to the house and split levels. Hopefully with the new terrain manipulation tools we'll finally be able to do split levels. I'm hoping so anyway. I want to build my in-laws old house, but haven't been able to do it since it's a split level and has a sloped side yard and also a walk-out basement.
It can be such a challenge building homes from floor plans in TS4, but when it works out, it's so satisfying! Sometimes it's a lot easier too than just trying to build something on the fly from one of my own hair-brained ideas. lol Although, I tend to build on the fly more often than from floor plans and it usually works out fine. Just takes longer since I don't have a real guide other than my own sense of creativity. ;)
I love how you bought books full of floor plans! I tried floor plans a little bit, but the floor plans can become a little overwhelming to look at. I tend to look at pictures of house exteriors, and I'll create something that derives from it. I am more freeform with the interior and I will create a living space with the space created by the exterior.
I find when trying to build a replica of a real life building, a grid unit is equal to 1x1 meters or 3x3 feet. Of course many real life houses don't follow the grid format. I've had difficulty trying to match stairs in the game, as many houses have steep or winding stairs. I've also had difficulty (more so in sims 3) to build garages with a foundation. Sims 4 is so close, but we just need a garage door that goes through the foundation. Sims 4 has also been much better than sims 3 with putting functional objects closely together, such as in a bathroom. Many times toilets are right next to a bath tub. It's also a nightmare trying to accommodate split leveling.
I tried this many times. I either end up with rooms that are to big, or we don't have the right furniture to fit in the space. I like my sims homes on the small side, which means no clutter. I would love to see more of your houses made with plans.
"Anthonydyer;c-16765597" wrote: I love how you bought books full of floor plans! I tried floor plans a little bit, but the floor plans can become a little overwhelming to look at. I tend to look at pictures of house exteriors, and I'll create something that derives from it. I am more freeform with the interior and I will create a living space with the space created by the exterior.
I find when trying to build a replica of a real life building, a grid unit is equal to 1x1 meters or 3x3 feet. Of course many real life houses don't follow the grid format. I've had difficulty trying to match stairs in the game, as many houses have steep or winding stairs. I've also had difficulty (more so in sims 3) to build garages with a foundation. Sims 4 is so close, but we just need a garage door that goes through the foundation. Sims 4 has also been much better than sims 3 with putting functional objects closely together, such as in a bathroom. Many times toilets are right next to a bath tub. It's also a nightmare trying to accommodate split leveling.
Haha, thanks! I don't know why I've never thought of it before. The main reason I bought some was because like stated above, most of the time my builds are pretty mediocre and sometimes repetitive. I wanted a bunch of different homes I could build. I have seen another post here on the forums about the 3 feet thing.
About the garages, I do wish we could make proper ones! Hopefully one day. I've only made garages maybe one or two times, lol.
"Dannydanbo;c-16765613" wrote: With the upcoming patch, maybe detached garages can sit on the ground with no foundation while the house is on a foundation. We'll see.
And there's no need to spend money on plan books when those same pans are on the internet. That's where I find my info. When I wanted to build Hogwarts Castle for the magic school, I found a good plan online that I could rework to fit on a 64x64 lot. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.
The books I bought do have a website, too. Personally I just feel that books are better because they're right there in my hands and I can just easily flip through the pages. I do have a strange feeling that in order to have different rooms on foundation, you can only to use the terrain tool to do that, but we'll see!
I just start building, using the right lot size and build-mode grid are helpful. I’ve only built a few things inspired by real homes/building; sometimes if I get an idea I also look up what other sim builders have done. Another thing that I think helps me is when I build I also place basic items like counters and bookcases in rooms just to see if an area is too big or too small, then can add or shrink the space. I think it helps to know all the cheats in building as well, for me anyway.
"RedDestiny92;c-16764954" wrote: Start with something easy I had an older build as an example but I can't remember what plan I was using since I wanted to build anyways I did a new one I got close enough for my tastes.
See this is my issue with a lot of sims builds (including Maxis'), I feel like the scale is needlesssly big. I look at your original floorplan and to me the master bedroom is a 5x5 and the en-suite 3x2. At a rough guess your master bedroom is 6x7. I understand that space is seen as a luxury, but when a sim takes one in-game hour to go from one side of their house to the other, I see it more as a hindrance.
The pathfinding of the game is surprisingly good in small spaces, and since I play in San Myshuno the most I have tested it thoroughly.
I.e, my favorite Culpepper apartments, a 2 bedroom and a 3 bedroom, that I find plenty big enough to play in but most sim players would consider them closet-sized: https://i.imgur.com/1fTwt8Hl.png https://i.imgur.com/pJZlNyIl.png
I didn't have a floor plan but I had real life ref pictures to gauge the correct scale.
I follow floor plans and usually I look at the windows and doors and figure out which ones I will use by getting into build mode and seeing how big they are. Then I use grid paper to draw it out.
I don't worry about room dimensions very much. I mostly just look at the shape and try to get it to look as close as possible. But windows and doors are a good guide. I have also used beds and counters etc. to figure out how big I need the rooms to be. I usually I have some idea as to how I want to decorate the build before I put it down on paper. It is getting to the point now to where I know how big most beds and counters are so I don't have to spend as much time going into build mode.
I also look at the exterior of the house and try to copy it. I do that before I worry about how big the inside will be. You can always move things around. I even put in the closets at first. Sometimes I keep some of them and other times I want the space so they get deleted. I love building. Good luck with your floor plans. I hope they show how the house is supposed to look. That helps a lot.
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