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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 4:47 PM
Default A question on integrity of quality.
I would like to know in all honesty if there are builders that let their creative juices lead them to create the worse layouts possible. An example is the tendancy to create homes that claim to be mansions. Yet when the consumer downloads the lot they are trapped by poor designe flaws, or that the house is only built with a small bedroom and a long twisted series of maze like halls. I have seen real mansions before and they are designed to allow high levels of traffic to move through out the whole complex. And as a player this is annoying to me on many levels. So as a challenge I would like to see if the builders on this site will tell of thier true selves. Do you create nice looking trash or do you see the need for quality over whimsy? So do you? I will await to see if some one will answer this thread for us in the consumer market. Neh!
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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 5:36 PM
I am definitely guitly of building for outside looks, and hardly testing my buildings at all... Thankfully I got the mansion syndrome out of my system early on... But I could do more with testing my lots...

Now that I've started the AAA, I've got lots of critics waiting for me to mess up, so I'm certainly going to be more circumspect! It will keep me honest.

I think what makes a big difference is whether you're planning a design (starting from an idea, then trying to implement it), or just fooling around in Build mode. Unless someone says that they were trying to do something specific, I don't even bother downloading.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#3 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 5:50 PM
Ahh one honest sims builder. Is there more? I will now be more than willing to look easier at en7en. A good honest builder is rare and needed. Thanks for the honesty en7en.
Field Researcher
#4 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 5:53 PM Last edited by rentechd : 7th Dec 2004 at 6:00 PM.
Even in the real world there are those 'showplace' homes that I equate to be like the trophy wife - looks great but has little substance. People still buy those homes - it depends what you want I guess. I have a bunch of homes that I have downloaded that I would never move a family into but look wonderful in my 'rich' end of town. There re those homes that I love the outside of but had to gut the inside to make livable and playable. And almost all of these houses have been 'advertised' as extremely playable houses or have been given great ratings - but ratings for what? And playable for whom? Maybe they are or have been great playable houses for how the designer players or for how everyone else that uses the house plays but not for me. I don't know the answer to it.

I don't know that a great design outside and a poor interior for playing should necessarily prevent a home from being added to a download list. What would be nice is to see a multi-tier system of ratings, like:


  • "Great for Family" (means house has items like crib aloves, play room area, quiet sleep for kids)
  • "Great Exterior Design" (this would promise nothing about playability or the interior
  • "Great Interior Decorating"( good to look at inside but does not guarantee a good playable house but good use of decor)
  • "Great House for Family" using Need Mods" (means that kitchen does no lend well to cooking and the bathrooms are limited or hard to use)
  • "Great House for the Romance Sim" (there is a hot tub on every floor)
  • "Great House for Fotune Sim" (warning this is a overstuffed property with the top line of everything in the house whether it matches or not)

That sort of thing :o
Lab Assistant
#5 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 6:32 PM
Indeed! I think anyone who posts a lot should explain what their goal was. Whether something achieves its goal is less subjective than whether it's "good"...
Field Researcher
#6 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 6:37 PM
Most of the houses i build are just for the exterior design and not so much of the interior because there isn't much to offer. I mean you could have a layout for a kitchen but there isn't really much you can put in there. My goal for my houses were to make a unique exterior design and that is why the interior never really includes much because i have no idea what i'm to put in there. :D.. i wonder if i repeated myself twice.. >>;

Oh and I find just playing the sims normally is boring because there isn't alot to interact with.
Instructor
#7 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 6:40 PM Last edited by Motoki : 7th Dec 2004 at 6:54 PM.
Well if you guys just build for exteriors IMO you should either still test the interior to make sure everything is functional and nothing is blocked (and sometimes things look like they should work but the sims still can't use them) or else if you are unwilling or unable to test the house with sims living in it then I think it would be the polite thing to do to let people know this since many of us want a grab and go playable house and not to have to move everything around because the sims can't get to it.
Deviant Savant
retired moderator
#8 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 7:02 PM
I posted a rant not too long ago about this. There should be more space for a description and some sort of indication whether this a game house or something you built to show off. I downloaded a ton of houses for a new neighborhood I was creating. Out of over 40 downloads I kept around 8-9 of them. A couple of them were discarded because I didn't like them.. fine, that happens when all you get are those little pictures. All my houses on the exchange are play-tested, even if only for a few Sim hours.
Test Subject
#9 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 7:34 PM Last edited by Sadsack_988 : 7th Dec 2004 at 7:37 PM.
I love all this that I have read. Silvenight1 has some good points but I would like to add some things that are from my opinion. A house is also in need of the outer work as well. It needs to be pleasing to look at and not just a monstrosity of function. Am I the only one who feels this way? I need to feel that I am playing a house that is really possible. Ones that I see when riding around the city I live in. And so I feel that there needs to be a feeling of asthetics invovled. A good rendition of a place I know has to be cramped is fun to try out as a first house. Giving the feeling that they are moving up in the world is cool. But I do hate it when there is houses that are waked out shells that are just made for the look also. So a rating system is my vote. If I want fluff to have as a glorified extra should not be classified with the functional lots. I guess I am a middle ground player here, so sue me.

But as I said in anouther post I hate "playable" lots that are not playable. So I would love a rate system.
Field Researcher
#10 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 7:38 PM
When i build large lots such as the ones i've built in the past. They are too hard to actually have them as playable. I use all my lots as just scenery. So even though i would have them for download, they would only be there for looks because i don't want to jam the lot with objects to make my game even more laggy..
Field Researcher
#11 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 7:47 PM
Quote: Originally posted by CynicalChick
All my houses on the exchange are play-tested, even if only for a few Sim hours.


I know I have quickly learned who, on the exchange, who runs a sim through a play test of a house and who does not and end up going back to them when I need to populate a neighborhood.

It is very frustrating to see a nice pic, get a nice description that seems to have all the things you need and then move a sim in and 5 minutes later your saying 'how the $%^ did they get this to work"

SImple notes like "play tested" or "design only" as well as "house contains custom content" (if it does) and "furniture uses grid cheat" would provide so much information and not take much of the description. If a designer says play tested it should mean they walked a sim through a house, brought in another to determine that there were no constricted points that block when the area is use dby 2 sims and that they tested obejcts to make sure sims could reach/use/interact without blocking. If they say design only then I know they were going for a certain exterior/interior theme to stretch their building/creatie ability (which is wonderful in it own right) but don't have a clueto whether the place is livable.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#12 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:03 PM
Man I did not think this would get this many replies as it has. I am glad. I was afraid that none would stop and look. I am going to say that I will look for the poor designed houses and send them to en7en and his school. I am honored that this is taking ahold. I hope this all ends well. I don't know about the rating system but maybe a set up for downloads saying "for looks" and one "for play" is an idea I think might help. But thank you all for hammering this out. We all will profit. Neh!
Field Researcher
#13 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:22 PM Last edited by Darkmoon : 7th Dec 2004 at 8:24 PM. Reason: didn't like a sentence

I have posted 2 entries in my Blog on the Exchange ranting about this.
I have even gone that far to rate these Overblown,Overstuffed Houses and Houses containing Hacks like garages with cars etc. there with a 1 Star ratings.

I want Houses in my game which look good/different, but are still playable.
So, I have been designing now mostly my own homes instead of downloading any Houses from other sites or the Exchange.


Btw: Even Maxis doesn't know how to create playable Houses....there is a house in Strangeville which is absolutely terrible to use with more then 1 Sim.
(If I recall correctly it is green on the outside and has a small basement)

Its fun to be a Sadist.
*The Pain & Pleasure Principle*

Save the world and drown a politican today!

El diablo sabe mas por viejo que por diablo!
Lab Assistant
#14 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:34 PM
I don't like to build anything that isn't playable. Most of my stuff could be built in real life with only a few modifications. (ie: Addition of laundry rooms.)
Lab Assistant
#15 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:36 PM Last edited by hardonmachin : 7th Dec 2004 at 8:51 PM. Reason: more ideas
I have always wanted to make houses that are a play on the common flaws that you are talking about... One of them would be called "TEH BIGGET HOSE EAVR!!!!111" and I would upload that to the exchange, without wallpaper and no flooring for levels above 3, and a plain High slanting roof, and it would be a gaint square on a 5x5 lot, and it would make even the strongest systems crawl, and I would have 1 giagantic kitchen (~20x20) on the 3rd floor, and the dining room would be on the first floor, and all these horrible ideas...

and there would be 1 desk in a remote corner of the 3rd floor so that when a sim gets the mail they will try to place it there, and there would be 1 staircase from the first to the second and one from the second to the third, and those stair cases would be in opposite corners of the house, and the first floor would not have any actual flooring it would be grass, and there would be no windows, and there would be no lights, and there would be a flatscreen tv on almost every wall, and the 1 bedroom would be on the first floor, and the one bathroom would be on the 3rd floor, and maybe more to come...
Instructor
#16 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:38 PM
LMAO!!! And the sad part is, people would probably rate it 5 stars too. Look at those high rated houses and a lot of them are like that and they weren't doing it out of a perverse sense of amusement either, they were serious. :O
Lab Assistant
#17 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:45 PM
people on the exchange seem to rate things based on size, they deserve somthing like this...

Anyone: feel free to use that idea, I don't care. I just want to see it done! It would take more time than I am willing to spend.
Deviant Savant
retired moderator
#18 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:47 PM
Ok, LOL.. I have nothing better to do. I shall create a hideously ugly yet huge house and see what people think.
Test Subject
#19 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:47 PM
Default A question on integrity of quality
Quote: Originally posted by Darkmoon
Btw: Even Maxis doesn't know how to create playable Houses....there is a house in Strangeville which is absolutely terrible to use with more then 1 Sim.
(If I recall correctly it is green on the outside and has a small basement)


Ain't that the truth....Half of the houses that came with the game have bedrooms that you can't put in a double bed except with one side against a wall so only one sim can use it at a time.....Also all of the dressers are so out of scale to the other furniture that they look stoooopid.
Lab Assistant
#20 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:53 PM
Quote: Originally posted by bubblepop
Also all of the dressers are so out of scale to the other furniture that they look stoooopid.


Oh don't even get me started on those dressers. I've taken to designing alcoves to put them in. Otherwise they take up way too much space in addition to looking ugly as hell.
Guest
#21 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:53 PM
I build different houses for different reasons. But I don't upload a ton of them either, because usually after I have tested them, they flop. So I guess I am tester for playability. I like to build houses that look realistic, feel like a house I could walk around in, etc.

I get inspiration from local neighborhoods, and the home tours I go on (I am an interior decorating specialist when not playing the sims, lol). But I also make liberal use of cheats to make things look more aesthetically pleasing. But then again, I don't like my sims screaming at me because they can't use the fridge I sunk into the wall or some such.
Lab Assistant
#22 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 8:55 PM
i look forward to seeing your work CC...
Field Researcher
#23 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 9:08 PM
lmao. I built one of those huge ugly houses before.... i ended up deleting it. Oh yes, it also gets boring after finishing make the whole big house.. that is why they have hideous interior designs.. And the inspiration thing.. I've built one or two houses like the one with Orange county, California...

I find it stupid how people go for so much just to get cars and garages. The houses that i built with garages basically is just an empty room with a certain wallpaper... >>;..

Anyways those dressers scare me o_o.. they are large.. ugly and basically not much of a use.. I use them in game to change clothing every now and then, then i delete the sucker.. lol

i also hate it how pools can only be built on terrain ;_;..

- end of rant -
Test Subject
#24 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 9:35 PM
Back in the Sims1, I used to design my rooms by laying down furniture first, then putting down walls. It was prertty easy to get a bedroom right without pre-laying out first, but getting a dining room that could accomidate a 2x3 table, chairs, kitchen access, and have room to walk around it all was a pain. Stairs were put in so they wouldn't "block" my vision of rooms from my preferred playing angle, usually one in the center hall where it wouldn't get in the way, and another against the farthest wall from my view.

I'm wondering if houses based off of "real life" plans are less efficient than gameplay-efficient, box-like "life factory" houses. There was a contest on a German Sims2 site once to design houses off of an actual architecual plan. Here's one of the houses: house. They linked back to the plans site also: house plans. Hmm, this sounds like a fun thing for builders to do here....

I prefer natural-looking houses to ugly, hyper-effiecient designs. I guess that's part of the challenge of playing the game for me; how good can you make a house look, while keeping it reasonably playable?
Lab Assistant
#25 Old 7th Dec 2004 at 9:36 PM
Wow. I guess there is room for more than just "looks awesome" kind of feedback on houses, after all...

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