Building Contests 2013: Rules and Instructions

[Ausette]

Question about building in edit town. How do I get the plants to grow in the garden if I don't have the lot playing? I've noticed in other contest entries that there are people on the lot, but the rules say not to do that. I've been wanting to enter for a couple of months but don't know how to do gardens etc. without it being "Live".

Lady Bhugg

You can find harvestable plants in buydebug mode. To get to buydebug mode, open the cheat window by holding Ctrl-Shift-C at the same time, then type "testingcheatsenabled true" (without quotes) into the box and hit enter. After that, open the cheat window again and type in "buydebug" (without quotes). This should create a new category in the Sort By Function section of Buy Mode. Just look for the category with the question mark. Click it to bring up the buydebug menu, and from there click the picture of a plant to pull up the menu of seed spawners and harvestables. 

[samoht04]

Question about building in edit town. How do I get the plants to grow in the garden if I don't have the lot playing? I've noticed in other contest entries that there are people on the lot, but the rules say not to do that. I've been wanting to enter for a couple of months but don't know how to do gardens etc. without it being "Live".

Lady Bhugg

Also if you see a Sim in people's screenshots of their entries then that is allowed. Once you finish building you can play-test or use Live Mode to take pictures. However you can not build in that house once a Sim has moved in. All building must be done through Edit Town. 

[hazelnut]

All Entries must be built in either an EA World or the forum's world Union Cove.

    EA Worlds include: Sunset Valley, Riverview, Twinbrook, Bridgeport, Appaloosa Plains, Starlight Shores and Moonlight Falls.
    EA Store Worlds include: Barnacle Bay, Hidden Springs, Lunar Lakes, Lucky Palms, Sunlit Tides and Monte Vista
    To download Union Cove follow this link.

Since you've distinguished between 'EA Worlds' and 'EA Store Worlds', does that mean that entries are not allowed to be built in the EA Store worlds?

[samoht04]

Since you've distinguished between 'EA Worlds' and 'EA Store Worlds', does that mean that entries are not allowed to be built in the EA Store worlds?

You are allowed to build in EA Store Worlds, however you may not use their Content unless they are available in Retail Stores. The only exception to that is Riverview which is free. 

[hazelnut]

OK, thanks.

[RainBeau]

I have a question. What if during playtesting you discover a mistake you want to correct and re-upload? Will the lot depreciate? Do you have to start all over?

[Gogowars329]

I have a question. What if during playtesting you discover a mistake you want to correct and re-upload? Will the lot depreciate? Do you have to start all over?

What I do once I finish building is saved the lot to the library and also save the game. I play test the build and then quit to the main menu without saving to re-open the save.

[Decima]

When I finish building I save the lot to the 'bin' and then playtest it. Then when you've finished play testing you can delete the one you just tested and depreciated, and place the one from the bin back into the town. Make any changes you want, and then 'share' and upload.

Hope this helps. 

[RainBeau]

What I do once I finish building is saved the lot to the library and also save the game. I play test the build and then quit to the main menu without saving to re-open the save.

When I finish building I save the lot to the 'bin' and then playtest it. Then when you've finished play testing you can delete the one you just tested and depreciated, and place the one from the bin back into the town. Make any changes you want, and then 'share' and upload.

Hope this helps. 

I understand that it depreciates if you Live Mode/playtest it. I already saved it to the Library, but it looked like as soon as I went from Build/Buy to Edit Town it already depreciated, so I'm afraid if I go back to my saved lot it will have depreciated and I don't want to cheat.

Also, I can't open save files right now so sorry Gogo, but I can't use your method.

[Vinyl]

By depreciated, do you mean the house in your library costs less than the one placed in town?  There's always going to be a difference due to the cost of the lot.  Otherwise that's a very strange quirk of the game you've got - as far as I know and have experienced, depreciation can only happen when the in game clock starts changing.

[RainBeau]

Ohhhhh, it's the lot cost! Is that what they meant when it says use that number not the lot price? That confused me so much! Okay thanks Vinyl (and Gogo and Decima too, thanks guys )

[hazelnut]

I understand that it depreciates if you Live Mode/playtest it. I already saved it to the Library, but it looked like as soon as I went from Build/Buy to Edit Town it already depreciated, so I'm afraid if I go back to my saved lot it will have depreciated and I don't want to cheat.

Ther's quite often a difference anyway.  The price it shows as you're building isn't necessarily right: Twinmum found that it charges you twice for corner counters, for instance.  When you save a house to the library and place it again, the price gets corrected.

[PrincessMimi]

When people post "no CC or store content" in their list of expansion packs, is that suggested? Cause it's kinda in the rules already. Thanks for clarifying!

[samoht04]

When people post "no CC or store content" in their list of expansion packs, is that suggested? Cause it's kinda in the rules already. Thanks for clarifying!

It is not required but it can be an idea to get into the habit if you upload regularly to the swap shop. 

[samoht04]

Entry Rules:

• All Apartment Markers are Banned: Hidden Room Markers and Level Skip Markers etc, unless a contest specifically allows them.

Please observe the above rule addition. This is due to a dramatic decrease in lot value that can be used to a builders advantage. If there is an Apartment Contest you will most likely be allowed to use these markers, however unless it does not say you can - you can't. If you want to make sure it was not a mistake that we have not allowed the use of these markers do PM us to check.

If anyone is curious, my testing showed a reduction in the value of a build by 50,000 on using both of these markers, it appears they wipe the cost of the exterior due to the new apartment status gained by using the markers.