Sims 3 - The Official Building/Remodeling Showboat Thread

[gerrr00]

That is an amazing house!  Oh my!  I had to do a double take, I thought it was a real picture.  It is truly beautiful and you are very talented.  I love it.  I will waiting for it to be finished.

[Shenice93]

Wow that house is beautiful already Joria! I can't wait to see it when it's done.

[malkiot]

This like the holy handgranade of houses. Awesome - I love it. I'll definitely download it, given the chance.

If possible I'd try to decrease the angle of the garage's roofing, but that is personal preference.

Are the statues in the game or are they mods, if they're already there then I will have to look for them harder  if not, could you PM me?

[danefaith]

The abandoned vineyard is always one of my preferred vacation homes in Champ le Sims, probably tied with the town house directly next to the base camp (for convenience reasons).  I do like the modifications you've made to the original and am impressed by the boundary pushing you're making with the fountain feature.

[samoht04]

The houses and lots that people have been sharing are truly amazing, several times I just stared at the pictures! 

[Ausette]

WOW, so many awesome houses! I'm constantly amazed at what a creative bunch of people we have here. Truly fantastic work.

malkiot, that's a great mansion, but I'm afraid designing big houses make my head hurt. If you're not sure how to furnish it, The Intermediate Building Guide could provide some pointers. Nice job on the exterior, by the way .

I quite like your Grandma's house, Shenice. The colour scheme on the inside is very soothing, and I also really like the back deck and swimming pool area. I'm impressed you managed to do it on your laptop's touchpad, but I'd recommend buying a mouse for it straightaway. I couldn't imagine using my laptop without one. Now that you've recreated the house, I'd reccommend adjusting it to better fit The Sims (you can still keep the original version too). Personally, I'd get rid of the little hallway bit between the bedrooms by making it part of the smaller room, and I'd perhaps throw a little bit of living room furniture into the main room upstairs.

Beddy_Boop, the exterior of your modern house is absolutely amazing! The placement of the rooms and windows is just right. That said, I'd try to unclutter it a little. I'd get rid of most of the items on the room, perhaps by making an area in the backyard to put them in. If you want to leave a fair bit up there perhaps a railing around the edge of the room would make it look a bit more natural. I'd also trim down the garden a little, perhaps just making it a couple of rows of small shrubs or trees. As for the interior, I love the open rooms and the colours used but I'm not sure about the round rugs in front of the couches, perhaps you could use the larger rectagular ones instead? Apart from my nitpicking, I totally love it and and I'd love to have it in my game.

Joria, Joria, Joria. Wow. Just... wow. That's a truly epic holiday home. The roof (which I find one of the hardest bits) is pretty much spot on and the more I look at the lanscaping the more I love it. I like how you've turned the big vase sculpture into water features, I'll have to remember that one. I agree with malkiot that the garage roof is a little steep, but it's such a minor detail. Perhaps you could try deleting the garage's second storey and just placing the windows directly into the roof? Like the rest of us here at the Showboat, I'm eagerly awaiting for the finished product.

[Joria]

Thanks everybody.  I am really so loving playing with this chateau, and I really appreciate your kind words.  Eventually I will put this house up on our exchange.

That roof is a little steep, but I can lower it simply by replace the steeper version with the regular version.  I do want to keep that second, (and actually inside there is currently a third story), as this will be my artists studio.  I will have to add a bathroom for when inventor mode is on him, (he's a da Vinci), or when he's sculpting metal.  Either way he needs to be able to douse flames.  What you don't see is inside there is an elevator to the basement.  I made a ginormous, so far empty, basement in this house.  Not sure if I will keep it or not.

Tucked away in a bit of the accessible foundation area is a small nectary.  I'll probably do away with that and put that stuff in the basement.

Inside I removed all the stairs and replaced them with elevators, which I made as unobtrusive as possible.  Triple and double stairs take up so much space and some of the rooms upstairs were a bit cramped because of the stairwells.  Now you can zip from the attic to the basement with ease.

@malkiot:  everything I use is either a free item, SP, EP or store item.  I never use mods or 3rd party cc.  Just too risky.  So yes, the statues are store items.  The little fairy was a free item you got by buying the store cash, Gloria, (one with the basin), and the one with all the hair I THINK came with WA.  Not sure where the big vases came in but so far I have every SP/EP available and most store sets so it's hard to keep track.

In the interior of the house I used quite a few store items but whenever someone downloads a house if the store item isn't one you own the game just substitutes something you do have.  This time around  I used a lot from the Romatique collection but there was other stuff as well.  I really ought to make a list of all the things and where they came from so I can remember or at least have a sheet to check from.  I worked on the interior today as I want to think a bit more on the landscaping.  I'll post photos tomorrow.  Too tired tonight.

[samoht04]

Sorry it's late but here is that size comparison, hope it is good enough? Tell me if it isn't good enough, I can tell you that the largest possible lot size doesn't look big down on the lower area by the beach. 



Also I was bored earlier and just started dragging out walls in the box-diagonal shape and joined and linked and ended up with this, I am not sure if I want it to be a Club or a House? Or something else? What do you all think?

[danefaith]

Oh lol, perspective = achieved.  That's a pretty spacious world.

And the diagonal building made me lol audibly.  Make it a club!  If there's even enough room that is...

[Pam]

Carl has streamlined the instructions for how to send him items for the new Carl's Swap Shop.  I'm also going to send him some stuff so I can get familiar with the step-by-step process.  I'll add to the instructions as I can.  In the meantime, take a look at the new instructions and feel free to send a message to Carl if you have questions.  Here's the thread.

I tested the download side of things and it's just as easy as the Sims 3 Exchange.  I downloaded the house Carl put up and it installed directly to my Sims 3 launcher, then went straight into the game.  It will be awesome! 

[sculptress]

Hi all. I've been looking for a site like this for a while (Hats off to Carl & Pam) - a site that explores more than just the hard core game play but the architectural possibilities too. I'm a fairly new Sims fan but I've already spent an uncountable amount of hours on the PC designing houses for hypothetical situations and Sims. I have a confession before I go on - I have never played the game in the gameplay mode and don't have much interest in doing so...forgive me but I'm very content to just build.

I've trawled this thread from beginning to end, checking out the other designers out there. danefaith and samoht04 - your work stands out to me most as it is sympathetic to my modern tastes but to everyone else there's some great work and ideas cruising around out there as well. I look forward to joining the creative banter and sharing that I've witnessed on the forum as a guest.
Cheers, Em

[danefaith]

Oh my, I'm flattered.  I'm glad you enjoy my work and this thread as a whole.

Welcome to the forum, and our humble little building corner.  I hope you enjoy your stay.  Observation and expression are hugely important to growing your building skills, and I do hope we can be of service to you in that regard.

[danefaith]

So I hope you enjoyed my teaser a few pages back, just got done putting the finishing touches on my new modern home.  I call it, "Terribly Intellectual."

"A home, so avant-garde, it can only be described as terribly intellectual.  The cutting edge architecture is unforgivably modern and the amenities are pathetically luxurious.  This ostentatious abode is what living avant garde and high class is all about: negativity.  The air of class regarding the T.I. Estate is so potent, it'll not only disenfranchise you from your worries, but from your friends too!"




So in my continually experimentation with hand-made decorations I produced the an artsy panel in the front and a series of pillars in the back.  The pillars are topped with windows and a light is placed inside each one to create a luminous effect.



First story: Living room/carport, foyer, kitchen, meditation garden, lounge, pool.

So playing on the "so artsy it borders on ridiculous" angle, I had the crazy idea to combine the living room and carport, with a color scheme to match the parking space for an overall clean-cut, yet odd-ball atmosphere.  The kitchen features a bar and several seating arrangements, and every appliance you can think of!  The zen garden consists of a handful of the necessary skill items and has an earthy color palette in contrast with the prevailing metals and pastels that make up most of the house.  The lounge is chillaxed, featuring a bar and a bubble blower and some of the most romantic lighting at night!



Second story: Balcony, master bedroom, master bath, antechamber w/ home office, bedroom w/ bath x 2

The balcony has all of the gym amenities, and a jacuzzi and bar for cooling off afterwards.  The antechamber contains a stylish floating office next to one of the bedrooms.



Basement 1: Craft's room, bedroom, laundry room, nectary, "storage room" (collections).

The first basement floor is essentially utilities, consisting of a selection of skill items and a bedroom for the butler and/or your least favorite Sim.  The storage room is just a fun little design I through together to serve as a place for collections.  It also includes the board breaker.  Your martial artist's endless supply of oak boards and space rocks needs to come from somewhere, after all!

(cont.)

[danefaith]

Basement 2: Spa, lounge, bathrooms w/ shower, stage and dancefloor, pool.

But my favorite of all is the second basement, your own private club I've decided to dub, "Waterloo," for its aquatic colors and spa amenities.  It features two more bars (remember me saying this place is good for mixologists?) serving the chillaxed lounge and sauna, respectively, and a dance hall with the complete band stand for some serious jam sessions.  There's a private underground pool with lounge chairs and shuffle board to top off this slick establishment.

Sadly however, I discovered that adding "public room markers," does not, in fact, mean townies will come and go as they please, and it doesn't actually function like a public bar as I'd hoped...  Try as I might, I was defeated at Waterloo!

Que cera cera, I suppose.  It was still a fun build.  I'm debating as to whether or not I'm going to make this a Swap Shop exclusive.  I just might!  Its also been play tested and all items were accessible, including a few moveobject on maneuvers I didn't expect!  Also, I made sure to replace the bell peppers that withered and died.

And here's some close-ups for effect.


Living room/carport


Master Bedroom


Foyer


Waterloo Lounge and Sauna.

Complete T.I. Gallery.

[Lilygirl]

Another fabulous build, Danefaith! I love the basement sauna and pool.