Having trouble placing lots

[simmum]

I think i may be being a bit dumb so first of all apologies!!

I'm trying to add the new playground that came with Generations into Twinbrook. This lot is 40x30 if i remember correctly. I've gone in to world editor and managed to put down an empty 40x40 lot but when i then go to place the playground no icon with the rectangle on it shows up for me to click on it and place the playground. What am i doing wrong?

Thanks in advance

[BellaClo]

Hello Simmum,

And no apologies needed  . I think that when you place a new lot with the editor feature, it's always set as a Residential lot. You'll need to change this to a Community lot type, pick No Visitore Allowed for instance, it's the 'default' lot type, or Small Park or Big Park are also good choices for the playground. The small one attracts less visitors, and the big one attracts more.

Then try again to place the playground, you should be able to place it fine on your newly created lot.

[simmum]

Hi, thank you for replying. I meant to say that i'd tried changing the lot to commercial, big playground and that still didn't work. Would you mind giving me a step by step guide (for dummies) for placing lots please? I just wonder if i'm omitting something really basic as i've not added any lots as yet. Sims 2 used to be so straightforward for this kind of thing 

[BellaClo]

Yes sure. Do you mind if I reply for tomorrow morning (+ 10hr from this post)? So I can install Generations myself and try to place this in Twinbrook. If I succeed, because I'm wondering if I haven't seen reports related to changing lot types and lot placement in post Generations games. If I do, I'll take screenshots to make the process cristal clear.

[simmum]

Hi BellaClo, right, i've gone back into Edit Town and realised the info i gave you was slightly wrong. There is an empty lot in Twinbrook which is 16 Puddlewick Drive (i think it's that number) and it's a 40x40 plot. It is designated as residential so i changed it to Communtiy Big Park but it still doesn't show when i then select the playground from the available lots. Also what does the rectangle icon above some of the empty lots mean? I've guessed the shaded out house icon stands for residential and when i changed the lot to community, big park the park icon showed up but can't figure out the rectangle one!

Thanks for helping me

[Corgi Cat]

Not sure if this will help, but I had trouble doing this also. I changed the lot type to Community No Visitors Allowed. Then it showed up and allowed me to place the lot. And it also automatically changed the lot type to match the lot I placed.

[simmum]

Ok thanks i'll give it a try!

[simmum]

It didn't work, very frustrating 

[BellaClo]

Hello Simmum, 
 
I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. I installed Generations, and gave it a little look... then another and another...  
The good news is that I have succeeded to place the playground several time, in different worlds. So it is possible. 
 
Here are the different lot icons when in Edit Town mode: 
 
Residential Lots: 

• a little square with nothing else = unbuilt residential lot
• an outlined house = unoccupied house
• a filled house = occupied house

 
 
Community Lots: 

• little square and bench = unbuilt community lot
• little bench = built community lot

 
There is an empty 40x40 lot in Twinbrook, indeed. Go to Edit Town and select it with the "arrow tool". On the description panel of this lot, hit the change lot type icon (home/bench icon). Pick up community lot, select "no visitors allowed" or "big park" in the menu, and validate (big V button). You should receive a pop up saying that the lot type has been successfully changed to community / what you picked. And the icon is changed too. Then you can place the playground from lot bin.
 
If this still doesn't work for you, here are some questions:
 
1. Have you try to place it in another world (Sunset Valley...)? With success?
2. Was this save game created before the installation of Generations (and the patches)? If yes, you could try in a new save to see if it works.
3. You could also try to place first another community lot from bin (firestation...), then bulldoze it and replace with the playground.

[Corgi Cat]

I started a new game with Anjou Falls and tried to place the playground on the same lot I did last time, but it wouldn't show as an available lot. I tried no visitors and big park but neither worked. I then bulldozed the lot so it became an unbuilt lot and was able to add the park to that lot.

[BellaClo]

Indeed, the lots need to be completely empty to allow some building to be plopped on it (mailbox and trashcan don't count for residential lots).

Sometimes, when a spawner is placed too close to the border of the lot, the item (seed, gem...) is spawned inside it. Then, the game considers that the lot is "built" because there is an object within its borders. A little hit with the bulldozer remove the spawned item and solve the problem.

[ejnarts1]

Corgi Cat, you mentioned you had a triangle showing up with the lot? Was it a yellow triangle with an exclamation point?

[Hosfac]

It doesn't really matter what the empty lot is set to prior to placing of the structure, so long as it's an empty community lot.  The structure itself carries with it the lot designation, and it will change the lot to the appropriate type once it's placed.

Sometimes, when a spawner is placed too close to the border of the lot, the item (seed, gem...) is spawned inside it. Then, the game considers that the lot is "built" because there is an object within its borders. A little hit with the bulldozer remove the spawned item and solve the problem.

I was unaware of this.  I've had issues placing buildings on some lots (especially after the town had been in play for a while) and after you mentioned this, it became apparent that this could have been the problem in at least some cases.  Thanks for that!  I'll be sure to try this the next time I have an issue.

[Corgi Cat]

Corgi Cat, you mentioned you had a triangle showing up with the lot? Was it a yellow triangle with an exclamation point?

I'm not sure what you are talking about, I don't remembering saying anything about a triangle.