EAxis House of Fail: October

[Yecats]

I'll post my house once I finish shopping for house-type-stuff.  Just got me a freezer!  Now to get dining room chairs and a cupboard that'll fit in a hole.  LOL.

[mitchellcjs]

I'm not entirely certain I want to submit this after Witch's comment, but here goes nothing.  In my game, apparently the Curious brothers got sick and tired of all those stairs, moved away, and sold to a commercial developer.  The developer kept all the primary walls for stability purposes, but hated the warehouse look.

I turned 2 Coverup Way into a very expensive, odd-shaped, apartment complex.  There are five apartments, a rental office, a small playground, a fenced pool (for the safety of sim-kids), a hot tub, a rooftop common area, decorated foyers, elevator and stairs access, and a green area with water features.  (I actually live in a complex with a "green area", so I thought I'd include it.)  All the original walls are intact, and the original platforms are incorporated into the new levels.  I was actually just trying to make a couple more levels incorporating the left-side platforms, and it got away from me.  I was about to redo, and my brain said, "Wait!  It's obviously APARTMENTS!"

The furnishings are quirky, and the apartments are SORT OF themed.  Apartment 3, for example, is obviously for your 70's hippy sims, as furnished.  All objects have been tested and the sims can use them, even if they appear to be in odd positions.  I had a lot of fun with this one.

Prices:
1rst Floor: $3,350
2nd floor: $4,161
3rd floor: $3,383
4th floor: $3,022
5th floor: $1,533
Residential Version: $417,828

Exterior View



Apartment 1
First Floor, 2+(3) bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Currently:  Double bedroom, child/teen room, living/dining/great room, chess nook, exercise room, separated kitchen (currently an archway, but could easily be a door), mudroom, outside garden plots
Floorplan:

Apartment 2 (largest)
Second Floor, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Currently:  Two Double bedrooms, teen room, child's room, nursery, separated kitchen, deck

Apartment 3
Third Floor, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom
Currently:  Double bedroom, teen room, nursery, open plan kitchen, music room, living room, deck

Apartment 4
fourth floor, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom
Currently:  Open plan kitchen, dining nook, living/great room, nursery, teen room, double bedroom, deck

Apartment 5
Fifthe Floor, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Currently:  1 double bedroom, one bathroom, great room with open plan kitchen


Common Areas:

Decks
Upper Deck:  Hot tub, "sunbathing" loungers, telescopes
Lower Deck:  Bar, Chess, Grill


Pool:  Fully fenced for safety
Playground


Foyers
Middle floors: Seating, small atrium, elevator and stairs

Ground Floor: Seating, small atrium, elevator, stairs, fishtank, statuary, rental office entrance

Entrance (from the outside)
Including the "green section" and lighting.


More pictures: Here

Download the Residential Version
Download the Apartment Version

[witch]

Hur. Apartments are pretty cool too. I see your theming.  The odd shapes make the rooms more interesting.

[floopyboo]

I certainly can't top that, mitchellcjs. If I had to declare a winner this early in, I'd go with this one.

Brilliant, innovative & gorgeous use of space.

[Faizah]

Wow, mitchellcjs, that's awesome! I was half planning to do an apartment complex, where each stupid platform level becomes the landing for each apartment, but, man. I can't compete with that. I love the striking colour scheme, especially the exterior, with the bold balcony railing against the neutral walls. Also, way to use diagonals to your advantage! I hated the diagonal walls and doors of the original house, they just seemed so pointless and in the way, but this lot actually works.

[Strangel]

While attempting to open Emma's Flatness to start working on this, I keep crashing out with "Application will now terminate". I have up to seasons, nothing beyond. Halp?

[Emma]

Well I have later EPs/SPs installed than Seasons, would that make a difference? 

[J. M. Pescado]

Death to EMMA!

[Emma]

I'm guessing that is a yes then. Honestly Strangel, it is really, really easy to do yourself, you download and install Mootilda's LotAdjuster, back up your stuff (just in case) and run the program. Find the neighbourhood and name of the lot, click on 'advanced' and on the right hand panel, click on 'flatten'. Go in-game to check if it has worked. Easy-peasy.

[Mootilda]

In general, each EP changes the format of the lot package, so that they are not compatible with previous EPs.  Using the clean installer will not fix this.  As far as I can tell, all that the clean installer does (for compatibility) is to remove the version information from the package.  This doesn't resolve the fundamental incompatibility of the internal record formats.

So, it might make sense to use the BaseGameStarter and run just the base game to generate the lot, then use the LotAdjuster to flatten the edges.  This should produce a fully-compatible lot for this challenge.

I'd be happy to volunteer my services in generating next month's challenge lot, if people don't want to fool around with the BGS and LA.  I assume that one just uses the clean installer to remove the Curious brothers.

[Liz]

Holee crap, mitchellcjs, the apartment building is ORSUM! I've been trying to decide for weeks whether, what with my total lack of any interest whatsoever is playing apartments, it was worth getting AL just for the witchiness. Suddenly I'm thinking apartments might be kind of cool after all... 

[Emma]

I have empty templates for Strangetown so they have been purged that way, Mootilda. I used to use the AGS/BGS but had quite a few problems with the latest (Ikea) ones and uninstalled them. I am slightly wary of using them-has they even been updated for AL yet?

[Mootilda]

I have empty templates for Strangetown so they have been purged that way, Mootilda. I used to use the AGS/BGS but had quite a few problems with the latest (Ikea) ones and uninstalled them. I am slightly wary of using them-has they even been updated for AL yet?

Yes, they've finally been updated.  Numenor was away for a while.

[Emma]

Ok, thanks. I might install them again...gonna back up my stuff first though

[mitchellcjs]

Thanks for the compliments, guys.  I think the steampunk version is the best of the best.  I've actually replaced the Curious house with it in the real game.  If we were doing winners, that one would have my vote.

[jim]

This isn't much of a makeover, I'm afraid, certainly not a patch on SalixTree's or Mitchellcjs's (which reminds me forcibly of a hotel we stayed in once somewhere in Spain).  All I did is remove internal walls, add a couple of floors and wall in the stairways to the stars.  However, it is another of those businesses that just runs itself while the sims go off and do their thing.  Currently in playtesting it's bringing in $20,000 a day, enabling sims to buy vacation homes wherever they like, and demonstrating that sport is good for you and good for your wallet too. 

I bring you Jim's Sports Coverage.  It's big! It's bright! It's beautiful practical! It isn't awesomespecs, though. There's no nursery, though you could easily add another floor if you're hell-bent on spawning. My playtesters are the Picaso couple, who barely like each other and don't seem interested in the spawning process at all, so a nursery would be redundant.

Front



Rear. I know it looks as if it's not weatherproof, but it's obviously too high for even a flat roof. The sims don't complain they're not weatherproof, so I guess there is a roof, just not a visible one.



Ground floor layout



There's one of those magic little garbage chutes next to the snack machines, that never needs emptying. What I really need is some electrified floor tiles in this area, to zap the sims who trash up the place anyway.

Main entrance: here be the ticket machine.


Entrance to the pool area


First floor layout: there used to be more bowling lanes here, but they only ever play one, so I opted for costcutting over authenticity, these being troubled financial times.



A symphony in green ...


Second floor living accommodation



Kitchen: sims insist on serving food to everyone in the place, so this is the only table anywhere. Anyone know a way round this? I'm obviously doing it wrong.



Skilling/chilling zone



It's a mere snip (wanded) at $131,805. I have all EPs and no SPs. 
Available here:  http://tinyurl.com/4lc38l

[witch]

I do love that clean sleek modern glassy look. Just right for an entertainment palace.

[jim]

Trouble is, it's the same old, same old.  I need to get out more.

[fishy]

Hello, I am a little leery of unlurking but here is my submition for this month House of Fail. Apologies for the low quality screenies.



"Hi! I'm Ajay and I recently moved into the new swanky apartment called Curiously Curios Condos."

"From outside it looks sleek and and full of greenery!"



"At night, the apartment is well-lit so there is less fear of thieves coming by..."



"On the ground floor and roof, there are many amenities for the residents. "




"Other then me, there are 4 other families living in this condo..."





"Life is pretty good here.... EXCEPT that sometimes I feel that there are eyes watching me from the shrubberies. "


---------------------------------------------

Known design flaws:

Not awesome-specs.
Boring/cramp-y interiors.
Humble might trap himself or other people with his blasted computer.
Large amount of skygardens; flowers might wilt. nodeadflowers-hack recommended. (I placed sprinklers but they might fail.)



But still ,I managed to kept most of the platforms intact. Only 1 was reduced by 2 sqs, which was necessary to convert house to apartment. 
Curiously Curios Condo is Middle range apartments. Rent starts from around 800-1400 per week.

All expansions and Stuffpack required. No Mod/hacks/Customs.
Built from original unflat Curious Brothers House from Strangetown. Place at your own risk on superflat neighbourhood.
Get it here> http://www.mediafire.com/?kxjcnnmp2ox

[Giggy]

That looks marvelous.
I especially like the use of the AL roofing. it blended well with the tower

[mitchellcjs]

Very cool.  I like the tower of atrium and the quirky layout.

[witch]

Very cool.  I like the tower of atrium and the quirky layout.

Yeah, same. 

I did have a chuckle about the child's tower on the roof. I could just picture a little sim child cartwheeling down four storeys in the air,  from a misstep.

You've actually done some of the idea I had. I wanted to do a Hanging Gardens of Babylon type theme. However, I can't find any plants that trail over the edges of the platforms convincingly.

[fishy]

Very cool.  I like the tower of atrium and the quirky layout.

Yeah, same. 

I did have a chuckle about the child's tower on the roof. I could just picture a little sim child cartwheeling down four storeys in the air,  from a misstep.

You've actually done some of the idea I had. I wanted to do a Hanging Gardens of Babylon type theme. However, I can't find any plants that trail over the edges of the platforms convincingly.

Well since simkids don't sucide... 
I was going to put higher fences but it kind of ruin the look a little. Oh well, knowing simkids from Strangetown, they will probably float all the way down from the 5th floor!

@mitchellcjs ,Giggy  I was going to use the round roofs for mushroom/fungus growth like effect but the "can't reserve space under stairs" fail'd me. But luckily the AL roofing does look good too.

[PirateFaafy]

Well, I probably have no chance compared to the other awesome entries, but I thought I'd submit mine. I can put up a download link if requested. It's low CC, flat edges, all EP, no SP. ALMOST Awesomespec.

I felt that the Curiouses (Curioi?) would be well suited in a very modern-type living situation. Tell me what you think!



The view from the outside. Yay for gratuitous amounts of glass!



An aerial view. Glass, glass and more glass! Towers intact! There's a staircase (lockable) leading from the vomitorium to the deck/the second floor, in addition to the main stairwell.



Top deck floorplan. So... many... stairwells...



Second storey floorplan. A bare-bones furnished room for the expected baby, with a living room and lots of space for gigantic career rewards.



Ground-level floorplan. Kitchen, two bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, Living/skillbuilding room number 2, hall, stairwell, vomitorium (including The One Desk), and...



The connected greenhouse! This is my favourite part. Unfortunately, due to the spazzy nature of greenhouse rooves, I had to use normal flooring over the greenhouse to allow windows on the floor above. I used semitransparent flooring from MTS2, which also works on ceilings (!), which is lovely. I put down a few sunlamps, just in case the greenhouse walls aren't enough sunlight for plants to thrive. This greenhouse also contains a barbecue (untested for fire-causing ability as of the time of this posting) and a dining room.

[J. M. Pescado]

Transparent floors are for creepy people.