Building Contest 2012: 24 - A Winter Special Contest

[Twinmum]

First up I want to thank everyone who participated in this contest. I had a few hiccups and things didn’t always happen on time, but I think I did all right for my first attempt at running something like this. I also want to thank my extra judges - Saltypaws, the sweetest pea and mtglady.
I had a lovely time moving the family into each house and really looking around. The judges also said they loved all the houses.
Before I announce the winner and runner up, I’ll just run over how the final results were achieved.
Every entry started with 25 base points. Every entry was subjected to an identical questionnaire. Some of the things on this questionnaire were questions like ‘can every toilet be used?’ If the answer was no, then a point was deducted from the total, if the answer was yes, no points were deducted or added. Some questions related to bonus points, so if the answer was yes, then a point was added.  The total after the questionnaire made up part 1 of the scoring.
Next comes part 2 of the scoring. This is where the judges come in. Each judge gave a score out of 10 for three categories – 1)Landscaping, 2) Interior design and decoration and 3) how the build fitted in with the contest requirements overall.  With myself plus three judges, each entry had the potential to get 40 points in each of those categories or a total of 120 point in full.
Part 3 of the scores came from the member voting. The entry/entries with the least amount of votes got 1 point, the next ranked entry/entries got 2 points etc until we get to the entry with the most votes.
All three scores were then added together to give the grand total.
It might sound complicated, but it isn’t really.
So without further ado, let’s get to the final scores.  The breakdown of your scores will follow.

And the winner is Saltpastillen with a total of 133 point!
Runner up with a very close 132 points is Kochou1331.
Congratulations to you both. I’ll be contacting via pm shortly to arrange your prizes.
The rest of the scores are as follows:
Decima with 131 points
Hazelnut with 128
Alex with 126.5
Micler with 126
ladybug53 with 125
Dellena with 120.5
Neashaleigh with 104.5

[Twinmum]

A breakdown on points gained and lost
A note on points:
Following instructions is important. Usually there are reasons for certain instructions. In the case of houses uploaded to the Swap Shop, the guidelines to follow make it easy for people to see at a glance, basic information about the house. It was pointed out in the instructions to follow the guidelines set out by Carl for uploading houses. Those guidelines are as follows:

Houses
Name:
Lot Size:
Bedrooms:
Bathrooms:
Cost when placed on X lot:
Cost when placed on X lot unfurnished:
Requires expansion/Sims 3 store content:
This is a simple straight forward layout and easy to follow. Points were deducted for any information that was not included in this format. #Note that originally I did deduct points if the number of bedrooms and bathrooms were not listed, however, this became a little confusing because some people listed these in the format above (the preferred way) while others listed them in the description of the house (a little harder to find the info, but it was still there)so I refunded any points for those items that I had deducted.
Points were also deducted if things could not be used as they were placed.
Bonus points were awarded for a number of things including Albert having his own space – Albert is a technophobe, grumpy and hates children. It was important that he have somewhere to retreat to with something to do, so his own space could just be his bedroom as long as there was something like a bookcase or a radio in it. Note that a tv or computer in his space would have resulted in a lost point.
Having a storage room gained a bonus point, and being able to fit all the decorations in there gained an extra point.  There was mention of decorating the house for other holidays besides Christmas, so having other decorations in the storage area also gained a point.

Entries – Winter contest (in the order they were submitted)

1. Dellena – Memory Lane
1) Points – 31
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 27, Interior score: 25.5, Overall score: 32
3)Voting points: 5
Grand total – 120.5
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for a space for Albert
+1 for decorations in the front yard
+1 for storage room
+1 for decorations fitting into storage room
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for having a crib for the coming baby
+1 for garden for Andy
-1 for not listing unfurnished price

2. ladybug53 – The Louten House
1) Points – 31
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 33, Interior score: 28, Overall score: 32
3) Voting points: 1
Grand total - 125
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for outside decorations in the front yard
+1 for storage room
+1 for decorations fitting into storage room
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for nursery (note that a nursery could just be the inclusion of a crib)
+1 for an outdoor play area for Zoe
+1 for garden for Andy
-1 for being over budget

3. Neashaleigh – Winter Special Comp House
1) Points – 28
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 28, Interior score: 20.5, Overall score: 25
3) Voting points: 3
Grand total – 104.5
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for storage room
+1 for decorations fitting into storage room
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for outdoor play area for Zoe
+1 for crib
+1 for garden for Andy
-1 for unusable stairs (stairs going to basement storage room )
-1 for unusable fireplace (upstairs lounge area – rug or coffee table blocking the use of the fire place)
-1 for not listing unfurnished price

4. saltpastillen – X-mas X-travaganza
1) Points – 32
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 34, Interior score: 31, Overall score: 34
3) Voting points: 2
Grand total – 133
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for decorations in front yard
+1 for storage room
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for crib
+1 for an outdoor play area for Zoe
+1 for garden for Andy

5. Decima – Maywood Lodge
1) Points – 31
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 34, Interior score: 33, Overall score: 32
3) Voting points: 1
Grand total – 131
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for a space for Albert
+1 for decorations in front yard
+1 for storage room
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for an outdoor play area for Zoe
+1 for crib
+1 for garden for Andy
-1 for not listing the unfurnished price

6. Micler – Louten Family Home
1) Points – 30
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 29, Interior score: 30, Overall score: 30
3) Voting points: 7
Grand total – 1265
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for a space for Albert
+1 for decorations in front yard
+1 for storage room
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for an outdoor play area for Zoe
+1 for crib
+1 for garden for Andy
-1 for not listing unfurnished price

7. hazelnut – Louten Lodge
1) Points – 32
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 32, Interior score: 30, Overall score: 30
3) Voting points: 4
Grand total – 128
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for a space for Albert
+1 for decorations in front yard
+1 for storage room
+1 for decorations fitting into storage room
+1 for extra holiday decorations in storage area
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for crib
+1 for garden for Andy
-1 for not listing unfurnished price

8. Alex – Evergreen House
1) Points – 31
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 29, Interior score: 32.5, Overall score: 28
3) Voting points: 6
Grand total – 126.5
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for storage room
+1 for decorations fitting into storage room
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for an outdoor play area for Zoe
+1 for crib
+1 for garden for Andy

9. Kochou1331– Festive Louten House
1) Points – 32
2) Judges scores - Landscaping score: 31, Interior score: 31, Overall score: 34
3) Voting points: 4
Grand total – 132
Bonus and deducted points:
+1 for storage room
+1 for decorations fitting into storage room
+1 for decorations in front yard
+1 for a computer for Jake
+1 for an outdoor play area for Zoe
+1 for crib
+1 for garden for Andy

[Gogowars329]

Congratulations to saltpastillen for winning and to Kochou for coming second! Congrats to everyone who entered as well. I thought every entry was fantastic!

[Toni]

Congratulations to Saltpastillen and everyone else who entered. All your entries were fantastic!

[ladybug53]

Congratulations Saltpastillen !  Everyone did an awesome job on this great contest .   

[Neashaleigh]

Congrats saltpastillen.

Well done

[Decima]

Congratulations to saltpastillen and kochou!

I was hoping for loads of bonus points for noticing that Clare was having twins. At least she did every time I played the family in the house, so I put two cribs in. I was so proud of myself. Hehehe. Annoyed that I missed a few obvious things. Grrr.

Loved this contest, hope there are more of them in the future!  I'd love to hear people's suggestions on how I could improve.

[Twinmum]

Congratulations to saltpastillen and kochou!

I was hoping for loads of bonus points for noticing that Clare was having twins. At least she did every time I played the family in the house, so I put two cribs in. I was so proud of myself. Hehehe. Annoyed that I missed a few obvious things. Grrr.

he he, did she always have boys in your games? She did for me. I was going to make that a bonus point (having two cribs), but not everyone would actually download the family and so some people would be disadvantaged for not playing the family.

[ladybug53]

Clare also had twin boys in my test game . 

[Decima]

Twin boys in mine too, and I played it three times. (to make sure the twin thing wasn't a fluke.)

[Micler]

Congratulations to saltpastillen and Kouchou! Everybody did an excellent job on this contest. This was one of the most fun contests we've had so far! Thanks to samoht04 and Lilygirl for hosting these building contests, and especially to Twinmum for organizing and contributing a prize towards this one! It was a great way to end the year.

Thank you to everyone who voted for my entry! I'd love to receive any feedback on it.

Regarding the points for my entry, I have a question. Why was I docked a point for unusable stairs? I just checked again to be sure, but in my game they work fine. It wouldn't make any difference for the rankings, I'm just curious.

Clare also had twin boys for me! I thought that it just happened in my game.

[Twinmum]

Believe me, I checked and rechecked all the houses a number of times. When I first went through all the houses, I had them built on various lots around town and I couldn't use the stairs then. To be sure, I rebuilt the house on the intended lot and the sims still stamp their feet at the top because they can't go down.
I was talking to ladybug earlier about the importance of saving a house to the library, demolishing the original and instating the saved house because strange things can happen between when you save it and when it is installed. Using cheats when building seems to increase the chances of something going amiss.

[Kochou1331]

Congratulations to saltpastillen and all those who entered!  This was truly a great contest--all the entries were just fantastic! Also, thanks for all the congratulations!  I'm still a bit in shock.

Claire had twins in my game, too.  It actually really complicated my screenshot taking as Claire, when I banned her to the ground floor to get upstairs pictures, suddenly went into labor on me.  Nothing like having to evict a family with newborns to finish picture taking!    I felt like quite the evil Simmer.

[Twinmum]

Claire had twins in my game, too. 

I must confess that Claire having twins was no accident, I had her reading baby books and watching kids tv and listening to kids radio. I may have even given her fertility treatment 

I did enjoy running this and I'm glad everyone liked it. And I'll say it again, I loved walking through all the houses, they were all wonderful.

[Micler]

@Twinmum- Okay, thanks! I didn't even think about something going wrong between saving the house and when it's installed. That's a good tip for future building contest entries!