Smaller Beach lots!

[MutantBunny]

A beach front dorm? lol. Nice. But no bills? Has this happened to other, land locked, dorms?

Maybe not snow--maybe Eas idea of sea foam?

[brownlustgirl]

I have been testing the 2X3 and 2X4 in Bluewater, the 2X3 only fits on each end of the coastal area, they work fine, no problems.  I could place the 2X5 along all the edges of Bluewater, except the ends. I totally appreciate someone making this, I can only play small lots, because my computer is slow and old.

Surprise, I have more success in placing these lots in Patul's San Tropez Neighborhood, over at MTS2. I don't know how to tell the directions in the game, but there's a coast area where I could place 2 2X3's and 2 2x4's lots easily. I wonder if that would help in your investigation on the lot placement.

[MutantBunny]

brownlust-I lust for brown too. It's a great color, and a great skin color too.

Thank you so much for the report. I will try that terrain too, thanks.

It seems that the lots play just fine. Hopefully, the lots are working as well for everyone else too--so few people have reported back....can I, should I assume that's a good thing? The difficulty placing them appears to be the reason EA offered up only the larger, easier to place lots--and they chose to ignore those of us that simply can't play the larger lots. Very EA of them.....

I used to  run only the smaller lots because my lots tend to be heavy in CC. I like details. I have a better PC now and I can run the larger lots, but I have developed a taste for the small guys. Hence, I was yearning for the smaller beachs and I like them so much better, even if they are somewhat harder to place, they aren't THAT hard--and in some spots they are the only ones that will place.

I'm glad to know others like them too. The credit for them goes to Mootilda and Inge for their hard work on the LA (lot adjuster) code. I only followed instructions and released them to the pubic.

[morriganrant]

I'm having no issues. Snow is falling as normal and I have mail, I've only had the time to test them as residental lots. I could have sworn the first time i placed them I had a few the same size, side by side, they won't do it now. I suffered a crash(unrelated I'm sure) and my neighborhood removed all of the placed (un-played)beach lots, they were the last thing I placed I believe so the neighborhood kind of reset. I will try to test a few as community or see if I have any dorm issues.

Edit: discovered one problem, minor. Some of them won't allow placement of driveways without moveobjects.

[MutantBunny]

ooo--I hardly ever use the cars. Simply don't care for their functions. I hadn't even thought to test it! So glad you did. Thanks!  What size and what terrain won't let a drive be placed? After placement with moveobjects on did it work correctly? Must try this and see what I get.

I have never gotten any, even EAs, beach lots to place side by side. The closest placement is one square off. Are you sure you had them right next to each other?

I have several community lots going. They seem fine. I want to try one as a dorm--which I will but after Xmas.Too much distraction right now. I'm going to have to set up a Uni for that test as I don't want to 'invade' my regular hood uni with a test. So UHG on that testing! It can wait.

[morriganrant]

I haven't been able to test them all yet but the one I'm currently testing is the 5x4. The 4x4 does not display any problem with the driveway. What happens with the 5x4 is that the driveway is un-placeable without move objects. When move objects is used, the driveway brings the ground up by around one click(of the raise ground tool). It's strange, the part of the driveway on the road side of the sidewalk is the normal height but the driveway is raised on the house side of the sidewalk. When the car is used (I had the sim install an alarm) it pops out of existence and back into existence later.

I will see if the same occurs on the others.

I know I had them right next to each other, I remember it being a pleasant surprise. I've been unable to recreate it. It was before adding the config changes that inge informed me off. It's a possibility that the game didn't like it and that is why the lots didn't stay in place between one session and another.

Edit: the 3x4 has no issues with placement, anywhere, including on the tiles that currently hold the mailbox and trashcan. The 3x3 shares the same trait.
The 3x3 also has a strange dip in two of the sidewalk tiles next to the trash can, as if someone lowered the ground on the edge of the sidewalk on the house side. The driveway does not bring this up unfortunately. (didn't one of Pbox's shrunken lots have this as well?) I can place a foundation on the dip and I have some open stairs that will extend over the dip in the sidewalk.

[MutantBunny]

Yes, I've had the dip develope too. It's solvable: I used the level tool, selected one squre at the edge and pulled across the lot, side to side, each row repeated the sameway. This levels the dip out without losing the slope of the lot. I have no idea why it forms. I thought it might be the beach lots as the dip seemed to form in the asame place each time I saw it, at the build area/beach area line. But if you say it was at the sidewalk and that you saw it on pbox's lot, that blows that idea.

I'm going to retrace your steps (in a few days) and see what I get. I'm going to try it on the Vulkano terrrain.

[pbox]

The 3x3 also has a strange dip in two of the sidewalk tiles next to the trash can, as if someone lowered the ground on the edge of the sidewalk on the house side. The driveway does not bring this up unfortunately. (didn't one of Pbox's shrunken lots have this as well?)

Not exactly sure what you're thinking of -- do you mean this phenomenon ("Disappearing front yard")? That's a general maxian issue with lot impostors, not related to the lot being shrunk.

[rohina]

Not exactly sure what you're thinking of -- do you mean this phenomenon ("Disappearing front yard")? That's a general maxian issue with lot impostors, not related to the lot being shrunk.

A flawless execution of the em dash!

Grammar Day 2007 - thank you for participating.

[morriganrant]

Not exactly sure what you're thinking of -- do you mean this phenomenon ("Disappearing front yard")? That's a general maxian issue with lot impostors, not related to the lot being shrunk.

I do not have access to that area. I thought that someone mentioned a weird dip, by a sidewalk, during the testing of the Shrunken lots. I may have been mistaken.

Mutantbunny: I can not raise that spot of land. It appears in red when I attempt to. I can place the foundation up to the sidewalk just fine on that spot and can use open bottom stairs, extending the stair over the spot and touching ground on the sidewalk. All other land around it is level with the sidewalk. I will take a picture when I next have my game running. I'm using another BlueWater template. I have a few set up, so I can test more of the lots.

[pbox]

I do not have access to that area.

A-oops, sorry. C+P:

"Disappearing front yard":

When looking at a lot from other lots, or from neighbourhood view, the terrain looks like shit:



(Picture nicked from aelflaed, thank you =)

This is an old problem, not related to the lot size or the shrinking. When you change the terrain of a lot, that change isn't incorporated properly into the "lot impostor" (the low-resolution model of the building that is displayed in neighbourhood view) -- I hate this too; there is no fix that I know about, although Inge has had an interesting idea: "MaxoidTom did say that he wasn't all that satisfied with the way the lot imposters were created, but we reassured him it was better than nothing - than just seeing wilderness around your current lot. So I think the problem happens at imposter creation time, not when you go in to play the next door lot. Presumably there is a GMDC for the imposter, so the adventurous player can try fixing it after saving the lot but before taking to bin." (see also here and here for previous Q+A)

The only remedy I know about is not to build a basement, or a very small one (so that the slope is hidden underneath the house).

--

Can you see the pic?

[morriganrant]

<Snip> Can you see the pic?

Ah, that may be what I had been thinking of, but that is not what is happening in my game. >_< I'm going to try to place it a few times, I want to see if the dip changes any. I thought it had been a 2 tile dip, I place another one (I had deleted the other last night) and it doesn't look like I remember, I was tired last night, so it's a possibility I wasn't paying enough attention.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/Bartimaeus/Sims/Snapshot-2.jpg

[MutantBunny]

pbox: nope, not the dip I'm thinking of which is a good thing. I'd hate to think this phenom was happening on all the LA lots! it's no bid deal because it is easily fixed. Just not sure why it appears. I'll get a picture of it the next time it appears.

Morriganirant: have you tried leveling with constrainfloorelevation false?

EDIT: I found a picture-- you can see the dip at the build/beach line.

[morriganrant]

Morriganirant: have you tried leveling with constrainfloorelevation false?

Yes I have, It remains red and unchangeable.

[MutantBunny]

I suggest you dump it and we'll try a new one the same size.

[brownlustgirl]

I am responding to the driveway placement.  In my game, because my computer's slow, I never use the long driveway piece. Lags my game too much. I use the extension piece for all my builds and although the animations are peculiar, I am satisfied with the gameplay. I also always build with "moveobjects on" because of the build mode cheats I use.  All I care about is the playability of the lot after building, and no crashing. So good so far.

Pic included in post:

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c278/mailchaser40/Pictures%201/snapshot_746d4800_946d4ab8.jpg

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c278/mailchaser40/Pictures%201/snapshot_0000000b_14717472.jpg

[eenaleor]

Concerning the bill issue: I built another dorm on an ordinary 3x1 lot and had no bills there either. I also made a "normal" college residential lot from your 2x3 one and the bills came as usual, so this wasn't related to your lots or at least I think so. Sorry I didn't look upon this earlier. Does anyone have an idea what could be causing the bill problem? I am pretty clueless.

[morriganrant]

I suggest you dump it and we'll try a new one the same size.

Am I the only one getting this issue? It's defiantly the lot, it's on everyone I place, I find it baffling that I'm the only one to report it. Or since I've reported it, it wasn't needed?

[MutantBunny]

Is it happening on ALL size lots??

You're not crazy, you're not really. 

I wish you'd post a pic of it--I think it is an issue I saw a few times but without a pic to be sure....  I think: it develops sometimes, or did for me, when the lot is placed and I think it has something to do with the mailbox and/or trash can being right there. The lots were NOT like that initially. I made sure all portals were placed well and all lots were as level as possible (they are on sloped ground...) For me the dip only appeared once or twice and I dumped those lots and started over. I think it may have something to do with the combination of items and the terrain the lot is placed on. It happened so few times for me, I didn't worry about it. And I think you might be the only one it's happening for! You're 'Special'. What terrain(s) are you on? You said which earlier, I think, but are you still on those?

There is a newer version of the lot Adjuster and I will make a new 5x3 and a 4X4 for you and we'll see if it resolves the issues. But you're gonna have to wait until after Xmas. Sorry....

[morriganrant]

I did post a picture, only as a link. I tend to delete things every-so often and didn't want to leave one of those Photobucket icons saying the picture was deleted.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v379/Bartimaeus/Sims/Snapshot-2.jpg

It's on every 3x3 I place, so it's that lot size. I'm using the BlueWater as a template. I have a few neighborhoods set up with the same template so I could place them in different spots and try them all. I'm not big on custom neighborhoods, unless I make them myself to suit whatever want I have at the moment. I tried using a few of Sleepycats, but they wouldn't place, I haven't tried placing them on a sleepycat neighborhood since the config adjustment though.

I'm sorry I have not been getting back to you. I've had a lot of hectic things going on right now, I'm only just getting to sit back down on my dear computer.

[MutantBunny]

That's similar to what I had--mine was the same location, but not as wide--only one square wide. I'll make a 3x3 after xmas and we'll see what happens then.

I'm sorry you have to wait!

[eenaleor]

I wanted to add this to my post but I forgot: I have the same issue with the 3x3 lot morriganrant described. I think all the other testers just didn't bother to post because it is really very easy to get rid of. It would be totally awesome though - and I only say this because you, MutantBunny, already mentioned you were going to redo the 3x3 - if it was completely flat this time
I do love Sleepycat's SC4 files.

[morriganrant]

I wanted to add this to my post but I forgot: I have the same issue with the 3x3 lot morriganrant described. I think all the other testers just didn't bother to post because it is really very easy to get rid of.

Is it? How? I tried flattening it. I tried constrainfloorelevation, I tried putting a driveway on the spot, hoping it would pull it up, I couldn't manage to fix it. The fact that the dip was in the sidewalk made it kinda permanent for me.

[MutantBunny]

Oh--well then....

That dip is something that appears when the lot is placed--I know it wasn't in the packaged lots as I made sure all of those were level, portals in the right places, etc. I have seen for myself that sometimes a dip all the way across the lot develops when it's placed, and then the dip at the mail box appears sometimes too. I really don't understand why.

Hopefully the new version is better and it doesn't have the issue. If it checks out of with Morrginrant, I'l post the file over at MTS2. I'l post here when/if I post it over there.

Has anyone tried the 1xs?

[morriganrant]

I tried them a bit as residential. Built a little shack. Seems fine. I will play with them a little more. I'm starting up my game now to test the new 3x3.

Edit: Tried the new 3x3 on the same areas that I had the old one. And it will not place. All the other #x3's will place in the same spot. This one stays resolutely, red no matter where I move it around, even though the distance from the water is correct. This is with the config changes that Inge supplied. >_< What neighborhood had you tested this one on? Now I'm curious whether it will place on that neighborhood in my game or if it's just not going to place in my game at all.