The Diary of World-Builder - Cypress Lakes

[Chuckles_82]

I cant remember if you were allowing store content in the world or not but I saw that the laundromat was using a fence that I'm pretty sure came with Lucky Palms but not with the patch. Just thought you should know.

Eep! Thanks for catching that Gogo. Wow that's disappointing, because that fence just worked so well there. I'm not including store content, so thank you very much for pointing that out. Off I go to fix that pronto!

EDIT: Done. Replaced with the Bipartisan fence, with the same brick and trim as the building. I also added some vending machines which came with UL - perfect for this lot!

[Gogowars329]

Eep! Thanks for catching that Gogo. Wow that's disappointing, because that fence just worked so well there. I'm not including store content, so thank you very much for pointing that out. Off I go to fix that pronto!

EDIT: Done. Replaced with the Bipartisan fence, with the same brick and trim as the building. I also added some vending machines which came with UL - perfect for this lot!

See, now you're extra glad I noticed it because you now have vending machines! They would really go well there.

[Chuckles_82]

I had been thinking for quite a while now that I would love to have a church rabbithole - something like what came with Medieval. Of course if wishes were wings I could fly. Anyhoos, I've seen a lot of beautiful wedding chapels, and decided that my Peteran Holy Church would be the wedding chapel. The first location that I chose for it happeend to be zoned Private Venue. It couldn't have turned out better! So anyway, I did a little switcheroo with the cat-park, and it is now placed between the graveyard and the Heritage cottage. I made a few minor changes to the original so that it seemed to fit with the Mausoleum and graveyard.













I'm still adjusting the bar so that it will still be accessible. The current position is too far forward through the door arch. Hopefully some more play-testing will prove that stage fully accessible, too.

I'm very impressed that I found a way to obscure the yellow bricks on the bottom on the non-recolourable school-bell. I placed a few of those white display boxes around it This would look soo much better with some of the Gothic windows from the store, and the Romanza sets, but store-free it is! I I also made a nice centrepiece display using MOO by placing a small candle in the middle of the table, and the pink cherry blossom in a vase underneath the table. I've done some detail on the ceiling around the lights, but it is not very visible without going up close. You can just see it in the last shot.

[saltpastillen]

It looks great. Good fit with the graveyard. My only question mark would be the buffé table next to the pulpit.

[Chuckles_82]

It doesn't seem to be causing any issues, but representation-wise, it's a Holy Communion Table. If I had one without the serving dishes it would be better, but that's what I've got.

[Gogowars329]

I think it looks amazing but is there only one archway in the basement area? I think maybe adding one in the main hall would work well.

[Chuckles_82]

Hmm... I've tossed that idea around a little, and I think I'll come back to it later when I'm fresh. If I do that I could also replace the buffet table with the small ruffled end table from Generations. I've considered putting a piano in too, but it'll probably take up too much space, as the main hall is quite small quaint. I've looked at white chapels, and stone chapels, and everything in between, but I loved the stone. Now I'm not entirely sure if perhaps I should have made it white sideboards. Fresh eyes might help I think.

I did, however, get the bar set in the right spot, and have tested every seat, and moved the stage forward a square, to allow room for the proprietor to get on and off the stage, because clearly they can't just walk onto it, nooo. They have to yell and throw a tantrum because they can't go around the back.

[Vinyl]

I finally managed to get caught up with everything you've done, and wow, does it ever look amazing!  I love that you're sharing the process with us.  Not only is that so helpful, but it really highlights how much work is involved in creating a world.  I'm impressed with how steady you've been at making so many new builds.

Also, the idea of a daycare with private affordable apartment?  Brilliant.  Just the concept of using the public/private room markers to open up home-based employment options for newly created sims is genius. 

I know something of this magnitude can't be rushed, but each update makes me anticipate playing in this world a little bit more.  Instead I'd offer a cheerleader smilie, but there doesn't seem to be one.  So have some cheering on instead.  Chuckles, Chuckles, she's so grand, she can build it, yes she can!  Go Chuckles!!   

[Chuckles_82]

Thank you very much for the cheer squad It made me smile, and really did help motivate me to keep going - I was coming to the end of a roll yesterday. However, I have kept up my artistic spree, and continued my work on the skill house. You mentioned the pool and gym area looked Edwardian. Well, after looking it up on the wiki, then google images, I found some inspiration and some building techniques to come up with a completely new exterior. The only thing that stayed in tact was the stairs to the front door, and the basement area. I'll have to re-do the pool and gym (but I kept the floor and wall colours).

I don't normally build mansions, so this is a first for me. It's going to be another couple of days to do the inside.

I've put the griffins on the top, but I'm undecided whether to keep them. They are part of the registration pack for Ambitions - free store content, but still.



I made a start on ticking off some tidying up - making sure all buildings have ceilings - because as I worked out, they don't take very nice screenshots if you can see outside - double checking inside foundations and unused areas to make sure all wall coverings matched, and all terrain was painted (clearly grass doesn't grow underneath the house with no light). Next on that list is making sure the front of each lot is where I want it to be, and setting the front door, just to be sure.

[Swirl-Girl]

YAAAAAY! And Chuckles makes a goal!
I love looking at these updates! That house looks so much more real then most things I come up with.
Go team Chuckles!

[saltpastillen]

It looks great, and will look good without the griffins as well. I think that since they are registration items they are OK to use. But that's probably because that's the way it is in the building contests.

[ladyaya]

I think you should leave in any free store content/registration gifts that you use. If people don't have them, then they won't have them in Cypress Lakes. It's not like anything that's free or a registration gift is massive and would immediately be noticeable, right?

I love Cypress Lakes though, it's so beautiful^^
Are you going to add in a 64x64 or some other large sized lot so that people can play challenges there even if they're not official?

~Anna

[Chuckles_82]

Yes, it has a 60x60 lot. I couldn't squeeze in the extra 4, but Sunset Valley is 60x60. It will also have the appropriate starting price for dynasties. I'm leaving that lot, and 1 of each of the other size lots blank.

[Chuckles_82]

I have taken some progress shots of Waterfall Manor, and put them in their very own folder in the gallery. There's quite a lot, and something went wrong with the upload so I've got multiples of some and none of others, so I'll fix it in the morning and post a link.

For now, here are some of my favourite rooms. I love the kitchen (want one myself!), living room and master suite. The kitchen did have the arch in front of the stove, but my sim couldn't reach the stove that way So I've placed a bookcase behind it

Some of the rooms still need a few finishing touches - I need to do ceilings in CAW - unless there is a trick to getting the camera to tilt high enough? I've only managed to do that in CAW by using the TAB key. I also have quite a few rooms yet to do - so there's a few rooms with a jumble of stuff just piled in them waiting.


I've had to resort to using some of the free plants. Those plants were a perfect fit for that corner, and nothing else would do.








Sorry the last one is a little dim. I've turned the windows around, because I seem to have a problem with these bench tops glowing like they're trying to be a sun. I should have put a light in the room behind though to light up the back of the bookcase - it is white, not grey!

Anyways, I had to redo the entire basement as well, because with the remodel, I had to move the gym and indoor pool. And you can't have a pool and a basement Somewhere in the switch around I must have forgotten (or clicked undo too many times) to move across the switches for my safety system - so now I have to set that up all over again. Sigh. Nothing like a bit of practice!

[ladybug53]

Wow Chuckles ! Very impressive , all the rooms are very high class looking . I especially like the towels on the side of the tub . What a neat idea ! Anxious to see more .