Confused on Foundations and Platforms

[Janna]

Sorry to be so dumb, but I am confused in the area of foundations and the platforms.  I have read of foundations,  but when I look at neighbors home it looks as if the houses are on platforms.
There is no foundations showing, unlike when I put one down for my house.

What gives, what am I doing wrong that my house isn't flat level on the ground and I had to add stairs; unlike I see on other homes?   

Do  I put platforms down?  That looks like what my neigobors' houses are sitting on and they are level to the ground, just walk up to the door and go in, no climbing of stairs.   

Thanks for any help given.

[macphile]

I am no building expert, so someone else can probably address this better, but are you sure their houses aren't built to the ground with just floor tiles around? Is there a visible demarcation of "platform" around the floor tiles outside their houses (where it sticks up a little)?

I have never tried building using platforms except for using them on the roof to create solar panels in Lunar Lakes, so I don't know.

[Ricalynn]

I don't think you can really build a house on a platform so they either use a foundation or they don't.  You don't have to use anything to lift the house off the ground if you don't want to.  It's completely a personal preference.   There was a very long time when I refused to use foundations because they cost so much.

[pallyndrome]

Janna, are you flattening the ground before you build? If you flatten the area you want the house on, you can just put walls around it and floor tiles inside without needing a foundation. Using foundation means you don't have to flatten the ground yourself. Play around, and see.
If you see a house that is raised off the ground without visible foundation, it's probably built with some kind of building trick to use foundation, then get rid of it with it still raised. Don't worry too much about other houses - get practicing with your own, and eventually you can look into more complicated building.

[Hosfac]

A lot of the premade houses don't actually have foundations.

[Janna]

Thanks for the help.
 
I am going to play around with the various tools, reading info here and elsewhere to try out stuff, LOL.  Right now I have been designing floor plans to use when I build a house.  I have looked at some free house plans and am tweeking them for what I want. 

I'm not ready to do basements yet but am going to have fun building one story houses right  now.   
Good stress release game.