Expanding Apartments?

[TheChronicR]

Is there any way one can expand an existing LN apartment? I mean, without the use of Edit Town, even with cheats? There is a shortage of space in the one my Sims are currently living in (it's cheap, cheap, cheap) and they just had a child. Is there anything I can do to expand their apartment to add a proper nursery? Thanks in advance.

P.S. - When I try building walls, it says "Homeowners association doesn't allow this".

[PJSim]

Without cheating I don't think it's possible. It's just a feature of apartments, like real life I guess.

[MoMoll]

I've never been able to figure out how to expand some of the apartments except for the loft near Waylon's Haunt, because there is enough room to add rooms upstairs. It's no longer a loft; but, there's more space.

[TheChronicR]

Without cheating I don't think it's possible. It's just a feature of apartments, like real life I guess.

Well, actually, I am not against cheating. I used moveobjects and restrictbuildbuyinbuildings - didn't help.

I've never been able to figure out how to expand some of the apartments except for the loft near Waylon's Haunt, because there is enough room to add rooms upstairs. It's no longer a loft; but, there's more space.

Is it in Bridgeport? Because this family I'm talking about lives in Sunset Valley, in a default EA (from the bin) apartment.

[Ausette]

"restrictbuildbuyinbuildings on" won't work unless you've already activated "testingcheatsenabled true". After that, you should be able to move walls and such. Took me a while to figure that one out  . Also, I'd recommend opening the buydebug menu so you can see where the room markers are, and move them around accordingly.

[TheChronicR]

"restrictbuildbuyinbuildings on" won't work unless you've already activated "testingcheatsenabled true". After that, you should be able to move walls and such. Took me a while to figure that one out  . Also, I'd recommend opening the buydebug menu so you can see where the room markers are, and move them around accordingly.

The case is... I had testingcheatsenabled activated. I guess I'll go turn on buydebug and see if that helps. Thanks Ausette.

[MoMoll]

Yes the building is in Bridgeport. I was going to move out because it's small; but, maybe I'll try the "restrictbuildbuyinbuildings on" to see if I can steal room from the bartenders next door.

[Hosfac]

Keep in mind that if you modify an apartment while a sim is living in it, the money comes out of their bank account.  If/when they move out, any items added to the outside areas of the apartment do not go with you.  Likewise, it does not add to the family's net-worth, so any money spent is essentially lost.

[MoMoll]

Thanks Hosfac for t he heads up! I'll try it anyways. I keep a sleeper file of my sim and play various scenarios from this file.

[TallStar]

I think the procedure is:
testingcheatsenabled True
moveobjects On
restrictbuildbuyinbuildings Off
buydebug

I think that works, but I've only done it through Edit Town so I don't know.

[MoMoll]

Ok Tall Star, I'll try that. My sims get wishes to live in penthouses and I need space. I should be used to it since for 15 years I've been living in a small Paris apartment after having a 4 bedroom home.

[Hosfac]

It might be easier on you if you knew what all these cheats actually do.  I'll do my best to explain them, and feel free to ask any questions if you still don't understand.

testingcheatsenabled true/false:  When active, it gives you more control over sims and objects if you shift+click on them.  It also allows you to activate other testing cheats.  Enter "true" to activate the cheats, "false" to deactivate them.  It's not recommended to leave this cheat active for a long time, as EA (and a few players) says that it can cause issues in your game.  Despite this, many players do leave this cheat active for extended periods of time without any issue.  I have never experienced any issues personally, so I don't know what those issues would be.

restrictbuildbuyinbuildings on/off:  This allows you to build or place objects anywhere on a lot that is designated an apartment building.  The presence of one or more of the various apartment markers is what designates a building as an apartment.  This is a testing cheat and can only be activated or deactivated if testingcheatsenabled is set to true.

buydebug on/off:  This opens up a new menu in Buy Mode that allows you to purchase and place objects that you can't normally buy.  Spawners, sculptures, profession rewards, tomb objects, the various markers and more can be found here.  This is also a testing cheat and can only be activated or deactivated if testingcheatsenabled is set to true.

moveobjects on/off:  This one you probably already know.  It allows you to place or remove objects without restriction.  This is a standard cheat and can be activated and deactivated with or without activating the testing cheats.

To build outside a living area, all you really need is "testingcheatsenabled true" and "restrictbuildbuyinbuildings off".  You only need "buydebug on" if you need to place apartment markers.  If you're modifying an existing apartment, those markers are already present so you probably won't need it.  The "moveobjects on" cheat isn't absolutely necessary either, but you may find it helpful in placing items in odd locations (like celing lights in front of a door or over a stairway).

[TheChronicR]

Thanks everyone, I somehow managed to fit them all in their tiny "master bedroom". Thanks for the help everyone!

Oh, and I just now realized that this should have been in the Building section... my bad.