How do you guys normally decide on the general form of a build

[norenegonc]

Hello guys! My question is about the overall form or shape of a build. I seem to always use generic geometric shapes in my builds, rectangles, octagons, etc. I notice a lot of builders here create very clever forms that are much more realistic (what I mean is that you never actually see a house that is just in the form of a rectangle hah). But when I try to do so, it always looks weird to just make random corners or have a room just jutting out in a random direction, like I am forcing the randomness of the form and that in turn makes it look awkward. So how do you guys do it, are you following real floor plans or is there a technique aside from general creativity that can be used. Thanks!

[Andy_555224]

Most builders get inspiration from real-life buildings, or use CFE to add different layers to roofs and such. It takes away from the box-iness of the building. I understand about the "forced randomness" aspect. It's rather a difficult thing to get over, but it can be done eventually. Hope this helps Nore.

[Susinok]

I have been using the Antique Homes website for inspiration.

http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/

They have house plans from the 19teens to the 70s. The 20s has some really nice houses in it, and many of them are a variation on a rectangle, gussied up to not look boring. I'll browse the site, print out a picture, and try to re-create it.

I play more than I build, so I don't fool around much with CFE or take very long in building. However, I now have a slew of older style houses I can add to my games. Now I need to find a website with modern home floor plans.

[Pam]

I have been using the Antique Homes website for inspiration.

http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/

Thanks for that link, Susinok.  If nothing else, it's interesting to see what floor plans were like 100 years ago!

[Dellena]

Awesome link, Susinok!

[enderkay]

Now I need to find a website with modern home floor plans.

A quick google search brings up this site: http://www.houseplans.com/

They have a section devoted to modern floor plans, and you can see all the plans without paying anything. Plus you can search by number of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. I saw several nice ones while perusing it.

[Twinmum]

We also have a thread here with some house plan sites - http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=1683.0

[folcon]

I know it's fun for me to find some blueprints and floor-plan to a house or apartment and try to recreate it.  But there are times its fun to just make it random, like really old houses that expanded with each generation, adding another room here, another room there.  Though still, things tend to stay somewhat rectangular at that rate.

it also depends on if what I am building is intended to actually be a playable lot.  I do a lot of on-line role playing games with friends, and depending on the RP, its fun to build some of the environment in Sims3 for reference pictures.  Though I haven't done much of that lately since I am behind on expansions, and thus behind on patches.  That and the build projects I want to work on need the expansions I don't yet have.  But a few of the things I have made haven't been fully playable so I could get as much of the desired build effect as I could get.

But overall, I just start with a square and start tacking on additional rooms to see where it goes.

[norenegonc]

Wow these websites are incredible thank you guys so much! I am learning so much just by looking at some of these designs. At first I usually shied away from floor plans because copying someone else's creation seemed... improper. But even though I yet don't intend to copy a house plan exactly, I see that you can learn a lot just by studying them. Indeed I feel like I know a lot more about things I used to largely ignore before, like roofing and differentiating sections of a house from each other. So thank you guys again for opening my eyes to these wonderful websites. I think I will utilise some of these ideas beginning with the autumn abode contest, so look forward to it hah! And thanks again!

[enderkay]

Wow these websites are incredible thank you guys so much! I am learning so much just by looking at some of these designs. At first I usually shied away from floor plans because copying someone else's creation seemed... improper. But even though I yet don't intend to copy a house plan exactly, I see that you can learn a lot just by studying them. Indeed I feel like I know a lot more about things I used to largely ignore before, like roofing and differentiating sections of a house from each other. So thank you guys again for opening my eyes to these wonderful websites. I think I will utilise some of these ideas beginning with the autumn abode contest, so look forward to it hah! And thanks again!

Another thing you could do is take your own house and try to recreate it Sims-style. Since you know it intimately, you should be able to build it just by fiddling around a bit and perhaps get some more inspiration that way. Unless your house/apartment is a rectangle, in which case that wouldn't help with your problem much lol.

[Chuckles_82]

 I often see a house I like, but can only see it from the front. So I build the front, then build everything else to match.

[Zyffyr]

I often see a house I like, but can only see it from the front. So I build the front, then build everything else to match.

I've done the same quite a few times. The front gives me the inspiration needed, and I just make things fit from there.

[Swirl-Girl]

I usually start with a nice shape for the great room. Interesting, but not wild. And I usually have am attached hallway to the bedrooms. Attached to the foyer and great room  is a half-bath, when the dining room is separate, make it small, because a dining room in the sims doesn't take up as much room as it would in real life. I usually enjoy a large kitchen with an island and a bar-stool, then a small table some what sectored off of the rest of the room for an eating nook. The great room will have skill objects, but the bedrooms are what really express the sim's personal style. I like to do my best architectural work in the bathroom, because it can either be a perfect architectural work of art, or a toilet and shower dumped in a shoebox.
(That was just a bunch of architectural blabber for you, sorry about that)

[Katie123urgreat]

I either get an idea in my head, gather inspiration from somewhere, build a house roughly similar to a house plan or just randomly start putting walls here and there. The latter might take a while, but it's great to sometimes have no goal in mind. Just go with the flow.

[norenegonc]

Thanks for all the ideas guys!