#20
30th Aug 2009 at 8:58 PM
This apartment lot is aesthetically pleasing and I have enjoyed playing a sim in the one-bedroom apartment. But there have been some gameplay issues with it.
I hope that a detailed report of them won't be taken the wrong way. I'm not writing this note because I don't like the lot or appreciate your work, but because I'd like it to play even better so it doesn't wind up relegated to my lot bin, going undeservedly unused.
1) The mailbox is problematic, for two reasons.
a) The fencing blocks the rent-payment slot on the side of the mailbox, making it impossible for sims to pay their rent unless and until the landlord comes knocking for it.
b) The location at the far right side of the lot is less than optimal, as sims who have been invited over, are returning from work, etc. wind up walking all the way over there, then back to the center of the lot to the front door. When sims enter through the portal at the opposite end, this results in a lot of wasted time and walking, which can't easily be cancelled. Moving the mailbox even a little farther towards the center would help.
2) There appears to be an issue with the placement of the diving board and/or the size of the pool. When sims mount the board, and after they've decided not to chicken out, I get an animation where they're trying to shoo something out of the way. They don't seem to think there's proper space for diving.
3) The counters in the bathroom of the one-bedroom attract a lot of non-bathroom activity--perhaps because they are the same counters as in the kitchen. Serving platters go there, magazines that have just been brought in or read go there, etc. My sim even brought a hot dog back and set it on this counter after grilling a platter of them out in the common area.
4) The hot tub is so darned attractive to the sims, and they stay in there so long, that I'd consider either not using hot tubs in apartment lots (especially when there's already a pool), or making available an alternate hot-tub-less version of any apartment lot posted. Guests always go there very quickly, at all hours and in all weather, and stay long past normal guest-departing hours. And then there's the landlord--I think his current record for staying in the hot tub is 36 hours straight.
5) Space is tight in the one-bedroom, and it should be tight. Still, it might be a good idea to take another look at the bedroom itself--there is almost, but not quite, enough room in there to add a desk. (There'd be plenty of room for it if the closet didn't need as much space, not only for itself but to remain clear in front of it.) As it is, the only option I came up with for my sim to use the Humble computer was for him to keep it in inventory, placing it on the dining table temporarily each time it needed to be used.
If you were ever interested in revisiting and revising this lot, addressing these issues (along with replacing the stairway in the two-bedroom which, if velvetmagras is correct, is the culprit causing the weirdness there) would make these apartments truly outstanding.