EAxis House of Fail: September

[HomeschooledByTards]

Giggy offered to let me go ahead and post the house I had in mind for this month on his thread, but it looks like it's been deleted.

This months House of Fail comes from Pleasantview. Some of you may remember it from the L&P screenshots from before the Sims 2 was released. It was one of the houses that got me excited about the game. Like a lot of EAxis houses it looks good from the outside, but the inside is full of fail. It looks like it would be a good house for a small family, but none of the bedrooms are large enough for a double bed.

Last month it was proposed that we make this into a contest and the winner would get to post the next months house. What do you think of that idea?

105 Sim Lane












Rules, copy-pasta'd from last month:

1. No CC.  Please indicate needed expansions and stuff packs so people who wish to download your lot know what to expect.  Pictures are required, either available for download, on a slideshow, or posted in this thread.

2. By entering this challenge, you agree to take constructive criticism.  If you wish to judge someone else's entry, you should be respectful but honest.

3. Your lot does not have to be Awesomespec, although it is encouraged.

4. You may move internal walls and add external walls but you may NOT move original external walls.

5. Lots may be furnished, unfurnished, or partially furnished.  You can even upload both furnished and unfurnished versions.

*PLEASE NOTE* Since this is an Eaxis-designed lot, it may or may not have level edges.  Place at your own risk.

New for this lot:
6. Front porch must remain. You may change the fence and delete the columns if you wish, or make the porch bigger.

7. (Optional) The balcony must remain.

(Use Clean Installer to install as I got this from my game which has all EPs/SPs. If not, you can get the original lot from a clean install of your game. Just rename the 'Sims 2' folder and run the game to generate.)

Download 105 Sim Lane as a Sims2Pack file

Use this link if you're using Internet Explorer:
105 Sim Lane in .zip format

[Alex]

Oh I like this house, but the upstairs is full of fail. I'll enjoy reworking this one.

Although, it's not really much of a rule if #7 is optional now is it?

[Giggy]

Actually that's one of my favourite houses but yeah the top floor is utter fail, so damn cluttered.

[Yecats]

Yay!  New house!

I used to love the whole victorian look, but I just can't figure out how to MAKE the victorian look.  All my houses end up looking like boxes with windows.

I'll have to graph it and work on it at work.




Can I still post the remake of the 'hidden' lot, or should I save it for next time?

[Giggy]

Can I still post the remake of the 'hidden' lot, or should I save it for next time?

Sure, I'd like to see it.

[Yecats]

For Giggy:



Its the non-custom-content-non-AL-probably-non-awesome Howls Moving Castle. 
Three floors.
Top floor is master bedroom/bathroom + skilling/crafting items.
Middle floor is childs room (shared) + 2 crib-pods.
Bottom floor is kitchen, dining, the one desk and living room.

Edit: Comparison picture:

2nd edit:
download from here: Howls Stationary Castle.rar
Additional photos here:

[HomeschooledByTards]

For Giggy:
<snip img and description>

Link! I want that house.

[Night Racer]

hold up....whats going on now? the other one was deleted?
so were doing this one and not the gaga baba lala nana house, yes?
anyway...this really is a great house...i cant wait to get stated

[Quinctia]

Did a quickie sort of renovation, and I didn't furnish it.  But I have good news to report!  It seems like the lot itself is level, and if you can wrangle around with constrain lot cheats a bit, you can get the entire lot flattened beneath the house so there's no more stupidness.  (Building around slopes can be cool in a hilly hood.  Adding random dirt piles around the house really isn't.)

Since keeping the balcony was "optional," I ditched it.  And yes, I do have a compulsion to add attached garages to nearly every house I make.

Front:


Back:


First Floor:


Second Floor:


It's not Awesomespec, but it's easily converted to be.  Stairs and kitchen are easily shut off, there's room in the front room for a One Desk, etc, etc.  Four beds and four baths, though one of the lower rooms could be used for sleeping if the house got crowded.  Two of the upstairs rooms will fit double beds now!

The house is just over 41,000.

Download Link.
Built with Uni/NL/OfB/Seasons

[Giggy]

that house looks great, although I would've chosen a different wallpaper for the exterior of the garage because of the uneveness of it but it looks great and is much better than the original

[floopyboo]

Downloadable original craptastic for those of us who don't have this hood installed/have the lot in use already, please?

[Alex]

that house looks great, although I would've chosen a different wallpaper for the exterior of the garage because of the uneveness of it but it looks great and is much better than the original

I'd just hide it with an extra tall hedge 

[Bugger]

Did a quickie sort of renovation

I like what you've done.  The house has this whole clean cut vibe about it.  I will be doing a renovation of this house myself, but not ballsy enough to share in a place that I may regret it later.  And I am anal about the roof of a house.  You have this one section on the back of the house (patio I believe?)  with a seemingly seperate roof over it. 

Don't get me wrong - this looks good.  But I wouldn't be able to do that because in my head I would be thinking about the rain water draining towards the walls of the home!  Haha... yeah I know there are no issues with sim's roofs caving in from rain water, but whatever.  I can't help it.

[Tingeling]

This house is one of my favourites to convert, I too enjoy the colonial/victorian style of it. This is gonna be fun!

@Quinctia: The house looks really cute! I would'nt have chosen that combination of windows though, seems a bit messy. The backyard looks great, and it was smart to move the stairs to the back. That small walkway in the back with the greenhouse walls are a great touch. Might steal that feature for myself ;P

[HomeschooledByTards]

Downloadable original craptastic for those of us who don't have this hood installed/have the lot in use already, please?

Oops, sorry. I uploaded the house to my server, but forgot to link to it. It's fixed now.

[Hecubus]

Link fails.

[HomeschooledByTards]

Link fails.

Hmm. It worked for me, but I went ahead and replaced the spaces with underscores and edited the link. Try it again. What error message were you getting? I can have my husband look at the server logs if it's still not working and try to figure out why.

[Quinctia]

I would've picked different windows, too--windows are one of my big weaknesses when adding CC to houses I make.  That and walls.  There wasn't a good Maxis stucco that matched with the other exterior walls, so I just went with the siding again because, while the brick generally doesn't show the wall warp as badly, I didn't think the brick fit for that part of the building.

SimBliss:  Just between you and me, the roof bothers me too.  The problem was that I had the right combination of tiles on that back portion that needed to be roofed that would not let me place the half roof in the right direction.  So I finally just gave up and gave the roof I could get up there a really low slope.

I dug the lot file out of my N001 directory in program files, renamed it to cx_0000nextconsecutivenumber and put it in my Lot Bin folder in My Documents.  Ah, the trials of those of us who don't use all the EPs and are too lazy to install Base Game Starter...

[Giggy]

1. No CC.  Please indicate needed expansions and stuff packs so people who wish to download your lot know what to expect.

Are the Life Stories converted walls and floors "legal"? I mean, it's technically EAaxis content, but not exactly intended for TS2...

Well they aren't legal because it's still CC, CC is still banned so no you can't use them.

[Yecats]

SortOfBoring:

If you NEED to use that certain bit of CC, do two houses - make one maxis-only, and the other CC-glorified.  That way you're still keeping within the constraints of the challenge with at least ONE of the houses you submit.

Also, don't forget to list the content used.  It's bad form to use CC and not give credit.

[Sknsarp]

Thanks. I kind of figured that, but just wanted to double check.

Next question: I've tried searching for the meaning of "Awesomespec" but I'm a bit lost. I think I get the basic idea (The One Desk on the first floor, kitchen/upstairs lockable behind doors, two separate crib areas for twin spawn...). Is there any other important point I'm missing? Or maybe a post I can be pointed to for clarification?

try this http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,7263.0.html I don't know if there is newer but it's the most info I can find (I may not be looking deep enough, I tend to do that... it's hidden in the war room.

[MaayaBee]

I downloaded the link and the Installer states that I'm missing an expansion pack. Anyhow, I manage to install using Clean Installer, but each time I try to go into the house, my game will crash.

I have all EPs up to Free Time and no SPs. I'm guessing the lack of AL that's the problem?

[HomeschooledByTards]

I downloaded the link and the Installer states that I'm missing an expansion pack. Anyhow, I manage to install using Clean Installer, but each time I try to go into the house, my game will crash.

I have all EPs up to Free Time and no SPs. I'm guessing the lack of AL that's the problem?

It's possible that is the problem, since I did use AL to package the file.

Restore the house from your neighborhood backup, it's more work but should work just fine.

Go to the directory the Sims 2 is installed in (probably c:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 2\). Then go to TSData\Res\UserData\Neighborhoods\N001\Lots\

Copy N001_Lot59.package and put it in My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\LotCatalog\

Rename N001_Lot59.package to cx_XXXXXX.package (where XXX is one larger than the last number in the list. If the last number in the list is 000167, XXXXXX would be 000168)

[Faizah]

@SortofBoring: I love what you did with the little TV nook there, took me forever to figure out what to do with that corner.

-----

I have all EPs, up to and including AL, but only FF and GL SPs on this computer. The exterior is mostly from OFB, the kitchen counters are from Seasons, the beds are from BV, the nursery is from FT, and the spiral staircases are from AL.

I went with a fantasy kind of exterior, and more of a neutral/country feel inside. I left the yard as is, as I'm not really into landscaping. I would've put a huge-arse greenhouse and a very square pond out there, and no-one wants that.

The lot is moderately awesomespec, and has been wanded. It costs $55,402, furnished, with 3+ Bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. The top floor is intentionally unfurnished, as a place for career rewards/witchery items, but can also be used for additional bedrooms.

Front:


Rear:




First Floor: Kitchen, Lounge, Skilling area, The One Desk, One Bathroom.

Note: It's possible to change the dining counters to a table, but walls must be put where the counters are removed, or the kitchen becomes unsafe. Burglar alarm by the door, smoke alarm by the stove, and phone on The One Desk.

Second Floor: Three Bedrooms, Twin Nursery, Two Bathrooms

I almost deleted the formerly exterior wall leading from the nursery to the crib pods. And by 'almost' I mean did, until I noticed and corrected my error.

Third Floor: Unfurnished. Potential bedrooms/additional skilling/witchery area.


The download. No CC included or necessary, though if you already have BUY, sleep clock, baby controller, and/or The Cheat, they should appear in the lot. I did use clean installer to make sure nothing tagged along for the ride, but it can't hurt to double-check the file after download.

EDIT: New download link. A couple of changes based on feedback, pictures are in a post further down.

[Giggy]

I love the little TV nook there, took me forever to figure out what to do with that corner.

-----

I have all EPs, up to and including AL, but only FF and GL SPs on this computer. The exterior is mostly from OFB, the kitchen counters are from Seasons, the beds are from BV, the nursery is from FT, and the spiral staircases are from AL.

I went with a fantasy kind of exterior, and more of a neutral/country feel inside. I left the yard as is, as I'm not really into landscaping. I would've put a huge-arse greenhouse and a very square pond out there, and no-one wants that.

The lot is moderately awesomespec, and has been wanded. It costs $55,486, furnished, with 3+ Bedrooms, 3 bathrooms. The top floor is intentionally unfurnished, as a place for career rewards/witchery items, but can also be used for additional bedrooms.

*images removed

The download. No CC included or necessary, though if you already have BUY, sleep clock, baby controller, and/or The Cheat, they should appear in the lot. I did use clean installer to make sure nothing tagged along for the ride, but it can't hurt to double-check the file after download.

That is very clever, keeping the exterior walls to the point of being original makes it more attractive, and a very good idea to add a third floor.
The only criticism is to move the chair by the fireplace but otherwise very impressive lot.