I've been promising for some time that I was going to post some images of my current build. I just now realized that I actually had some screenshots that I could post. However, there's a few of things to keep in mind about this particular house:
- I'm building Legacy style. This will undoubtedly be expensive, so instead of trying to get a family rich enough to afford it (or using cheats to get them into a house they can't afford), I'm just building it around them. By the time it's done, the bills will pretty much be more than covered by properties purchased in town.
- Most of what I am posting now is not finished. It's basic and I'm well aware that it will require some "tying in" once I get more areas finished.
- Progress is currently paused due to Showtime. I've got a couple articles to write for the guide, but once we get it wrapped up I am anxious to get back to this.
- This is possibly the oddest and most ambitious build I've ever started.
So here it is: The Bio-Home Mark-3. A running theme with this build is "sustainable living" that will be appealing to Sims with the Eco-Friendly and/or Loves the Outdoors traits.
Before I started, I changed the 60x60 lot in SV to a community lot and placed the Butterfly Pavilion from Late Night to serve as the main above ground structure. I also placed the satellite dish while I was at it. It's just for decoration, and serves no real purpose outside of my personal aesthetics (it looks cool and somewhat "sciency"). Once placed, I changed the lot back to residential. Both community objects can be moved in build mode without issue.
The next part of the structure I had to build was a way to access the interior of the dome, which will eventually become the main living structure. Since there are no doors on the dome itself, it requires a basement, so I incorporated the entrance way into a small garage. That part is pretty much finished, with the exception of the roof (which will eventually hold solar panels) and possibly some decorations since the interior is a bit bland.
I thought the security gate from Late Night was a perfect fit for a home modeled after the concept of a secure scientific research facility. It required moveobjects to get it to fit as perfectly as it does, but that doesn't affect it's function (currently, 4 Sims use it daily). On the right side is a fenced in area that stores 3 bicycles, and behind it is a storage room that I used to hide the ugly, default trash can (thanks to Danefaith for that idea
). The car is a Renault Twizzy from one of the free Eco-Packs from the Sims Store. There's also a burglar alarm on the wall between the door and the gate, although you can't see it.
The basement access way has some function, with a bathroom, a safety workshop, a laundry area, a teleporter (thanks to the first generation), and a transmorgification station. The unfinished hallway continues farther back and will eventually lead to an observatory that will be accessed by elevator. Likewise, the bottom 3 floors have been barely touched as of yet.
The bathroom is pretty much finished. It has separately enclosed showers and utilizes the stalls so that multiple Sims can use it without shooing everyone else out of the room. I stuck the counter with an additional mirror in the back because there was an empty space there that simply looked odd. There are hampers in both shower rooms, which actually keeps most of the dirty laundry off the ground. The upstairs is technically "outside," so no laundry piles generate there.
The safety workshop is likewise done. It's got a very complex emergency Sim extinguisher (which is described in dramatic detail
here), as well as a space that has been set aside for a Time Machine that has yet to be invented. The sculpting station is here, too, because metal sculpting can set a Sim on fire. The laundry appliances are from the Bayside Laundry set that is no longer available for purchase. You can also see the beginnings of the family mausoleum on the 4th floor. It's just barely started, as only the first generation has died off so far.
The actual upstairs has been barely started, but this is the family area so far. Since this is essentially an outdoor build, I've decided to separate the various areas with landscaping objects. The walls were built for two reasons: this is right next to the access area and I didn't want to just have a hole in the ground, and on the inside of this side of the dome is a very ugly looking pipe structure built into the dome. It's fully enclosed, so I stuck a Hidden Room Marker inside so that you never actually see the pipe during live mode. This not only gives me a way to cover the stairway, it hides the pipe and gives me somewhere to stick a wall mount television. I'm not totally in love with this area just yet, but as I said it's subject to change as I tie it in with other areas in the future.
This is the beginnings of the sleeping area, and again it's extremely basic right now (the pictures are just to show the intended concept). I am currently using the more expensive WA tents, but I plan to upgrade them to Sultan's Tabernacles as soon as my adventurer Sim manages to get her hands on enough Ancient Coins. My plan is to include a small gardening area behind them (probably money trees) that is enclosed and autonomously inaccessible in order to keep the Sims from playing in the sprinklers constantly.
A few other things to note about this build is that, since there are no celings, I'm making use of the buydebug invisible lighting and the actual lighting fixtures are more for decoration than function. Due to this, all the actual lighting fixtures are set to dim so that the lighting at night time isn't glaring.
While it's pretty much just started (despite the fact that the first born of the 3rd generation has almost reached adulthood), I'm rather happy with what I have so far. I learned quite a bit from my previous two attempts from this, which has made getting started a lot easier. I have some ideas for other areas currently, but none of it's set in stone just yet. If you have any ideas that might be pertinent to the theme, I'd be more than happy to hear them.
