EAxis house of Phail: March 09

[kazebird]

I love the way you rotated the tiles on the gazebo, to make such a nice pattern.

Do you mind if I borrow the idea for some buildings of my own?

[Faizah]

Go ahead! Heh. I didn't actually rotate them though, that's a floor with a horizontal and vertical version. What I did was make a big X across the gazebo, then fill two sections with one floor, and the other two with the other, but rotating for two of the sections would also work. I did it in the September house too, probably even with the same floor.

[J. M. Pescado]

Is there any way to get a base-game compatible?  Or to post floorplans so I can re-build it?  I has no OFB.

Well, considering that OFB is one of the better expansions to use with Awesomeware, and the fact that it is readily available, I don't see why other people should put in extra work just to cater to your laziness.

[CatOfEvilGenius]

Not everyone wants OFB.  Or they might not have money to shell out for it.  Or they don't want to arr.  Witch was willing to take pictures.  We know witch can let someone have it if they're being annoying, that didn't happen.  Also, a lazy person wouldn't bother building a lot they don't have from floorplans, too much effort.  I honestly don't see why yecats request would rate a smackdown from the admin.  Well, other than this being MATY, I suppose.

[Zazazu]

I hate this lot. It is too big. Can I kill it?

I'm trying not to do apartments or a hotel. I have an idea, and it's something I actually need, I just hate big buildings at the moment. The past three houses I've made were a maximum of 144 tiles².

[chobeegal]

I honestly don't see why yecats request would rate a smackdown from the admin.  Well, other than this being MATY, I suppose.

My sentiments exactly. 

[Faizah]

I hate this lot. It is too big. Can I kill it?

I'm trying not to do apartments or a hotel. I have an idea, and it's something I actually need, I just hate big buildings at the moment. The past three houses I've made were a maximum of 144 tiles².

I know the feeling. I came straight from a series of 1x1s, so the apartments I've made out of this one all feel kind of large and sprawling to me, especially the red and dark blue ones.

[cwieberdink]

@MistyK, I really love this.  I don't often play mansions, but this is great! 

[CatOfEvilGenius]

the apartments I've made out of this one all feel kind of large and sprawling to me, especially the red and dark blue ones.

If I can fit most of one apartment into view on screen and still see sufficient detail, without zooming out too much, it doesn't feel sprawly to me.  Not talking about the entire lot, just one housing unit.  Personally, I would rather zoom out a bit in bigger lots, or scroll, than go up and down a lot in a multi-story 1x1 lot.  Half my sims often decide to do something interesting on the ground floor while I'm watching the other half of them on the 2nd story.

[Faizah]

the apartments I've made out of this one all feel kind of large and sprawling to me, especially the red and dark blue ones.

If I can fit most of one apartment into view on screen and still see sufficient detail, without zooming out too much, it doesn't feel sprawly to me.  Not talking about the entire lot, just one housing unit.  Personally, I would rather zoom out a bit in bigger lots, or scroll, than go up and down a lot in a multi-story 1x1 lot.  Half my sims often decide to do something interesting on the ground floor while I'm watching the other half of them on the 2nd story.

That's why you put everything 'interesting' on the first floor, and the second floor is just beds and bathrooms. Only one of my residential 1x1s doesn't follow that, because I was going for something specific.

[Yecats]

Pes hates on me because I am stupid and fail.  I'm used to it.

[danidear]

This house actually wasn't that bad, besides the fact it's most definitely not family friendly, and the way the outside was designed. In any case, here's my interpretation of this month's House of Phail.

It comes in at 172,373, and although it isn't Awesomespec, it still has the pool, and the veranda, which has been redone to fit the new design.

Edited because I fail at grammar.








download here

[cwieberdink]

This house actually that bad, besides the fact it's most definitely not family friendly, and the way the outside was designed.

Your sentence no verb.  But I like the pretty colors inside the house!

[jim]

Jim's Social Club

I was intending this to be a community lot, but then witch mentioned using the 'garage' as accommodation.
I pinched that idea, and made the Social Club a home business, convertible to a community lot quite simply
by knocking down the accommodation section. It's just tacked onto the original house, so would still leave
original walls intact.

The house has a double bedroom, two-crib nursery, and shower room downstairs, with a non-awesome
open plan lounge and kitchen upstairs, with a second shower room. The nursery is definitely cramped, I'm
afraid. (I have a 'no population increase' policy in my neighbourhood, so nurseries seem a bit redundant. I'll
get more use out of it converted to a guest room.) The fenced-off garden area has a fishing pool and a
greenhouse, to keep that food nice and sparkly. There are no external doors to the house, which is
probably a bad thing - access is by doors on the ground and first floor, connecting to the public areas.

The public parts of the building offer a gym, bar, sauna and pool/hot tub room downstairs, with snack and
barbecue facilities. There are roomy toilet and showering facilities, yet most customers have to be
'influenced' to use the showers. There's a definite green fug over the treadmills most of the time. The
garden area has axe throwing, log rolling and basketball areas. No-one has ever used any of these in four
days' testing, so you could probably scrap them and save a bit of money.

Upstairs there is a room for playing music with a microphone, a dj station and dancefloor. There's a TV
corner on the landing, a snooker and darts room. The terrace area has bowling and blowing (bubbles).

Income was running at about $5000 by day 4, which is a bit pathetic, but then my tester was doing nothing
to get customers, or keep them. She seems to have a drink problem.

I have all EPS, and M&G SP.

Cost: $185.089 (wanded and Clean Installer checked)

Front


Ground floor layout



Upstairs layout


Lounge:


Slideshow: http://tinyurl.com/bcy64x
Download: http://tinyurl.com/83tzlj

[eaglezero]

This is my third try at this house... all my other attempts were too sprawling, so I shamelessly ripped out the second floor. $103,000 wanded. Suitable for a family of six, more if you put floors on the second story. I didn't decorate too extensively because I was trying to keep the cost down. It's easy to lower it a bit more by going in and ripping out the extra fun things. As is, it houses my only pleasure sim, who is kept very happy getting drinks from the bar, bouncing on the couch, and going swimming. I did use a CC floor for the pool area because the matching tile is so pretty, but the other crap in the package can just be stripped out with the clean installer, I think.





Top-down view:



You can see that the areas you may not want guests to go (upstairs, the kitchen, bedroom area, and pool & nursery) are easy to lock.

Closer top-down view so you can see the rooms:



Pool room:



Study:



Living room:



Master bedroom:



Dining room:



Download HERE (right-click, save-as).

[SalixTree]

I agree with Zazazu, I don't like this lot either. I much prefer smaller lots.
Maybe this could be a dorm... hmm...
Or not.

[chobeegal]

I agree with Zazazu, I don't like this lot either. I much prefer smaller lots.

I'm going to add my voice to the "don't like" whine chorus. I just can't seem to get any inspiration toward this one. It's just too big and unwieldy. A real Albatross.

[witch]

Well, I'm thoroughly enjoying planning this one. I have the exterior and interior walls and doors up and am about to put in windows.    I can see it might be pain to furnish and will take a bit of time. Yeah, the house itself is large, possibly too large for a competition like this; however it's very refreshing after the series of tiny boxes we've been stuck with in recent months. After all, even rich bastards have to live somewhere.

So all you whingers and moaners, make sure you have some interesting suggestions for the end of this month, huh? 

@Jim: I do like your home business social club. I haven't had a home business since soon after OFB was released because I got sick of guests complaining about business stuff. I'm willing to give it another go now for this club. I can't remember who does it, but I like the idea of a secret club for the underworld. This would have to be for the cocaine barons and the like.

@eaglezero: You have a nice eye for colour and style, with some interesting combos. That banana striped dining area with the stripey wood works well and so does the piano desk combo. Matching woods has always been one of the most frustrating things about sims 2 for me. The house has a lovely exterior.

[jim]

The problem is, if you can't knock down external walls, you can really only keep the building pretty much as is, or build on to it. Not many people are going to want to make it bigger, I suppose. It might have given people more building options if they could knock down the pool area, and the terrace above it. I prefer big lots myself - those little tiny houses make me feel claustrophobic, and I can't stand feeling I have to navigate round furniture all the time, so this is a welcome change - and it is a genuine challenge. We may not get as many lots as usual, but I bet we'll see some interesting ones.

[Giggy]

Maybe for the next challenge have 2 lots going at once?
One small lot and one big lot for people with these issues.
It could be for the better? Otherwise if not possible then yes people if you don't want a big lot then FFS tell us a better alternative!

[witch]

The problem is, if you can't knock down external walls, you can really only keep the building pretty much as is, or build on to it. Not many people are going to want to make it bigger, I suppose.

Ahem.

*witch whistles casually

It might have given people more building options if they could knock down the pool area, and the terrace above it. I prefer big lots myself - those little tiny houses make me feel claustrophobic, and I can't stand feeling I have to navigate round furniture all the time, so this is a welcome change - and it is a genuine challenge. We may not get as many lots as usual, but I bet we'll see some interesting ones.

You know, if potential contributors are really struggling with the size, why not ignore the pool and balcony/verandah requirements? Knock 'em down! I ignored the trees requirement in last month's house. I also don't often build awesome spec, as suggested, mainly because I don't play that way and ultimately the houses are for me. After all, it's really all about the fun of building.

[Faizah]

The 'requirements' that change month to month are always optional, anyway. Just so long as you follow the 'leave external walls in place' (though not necessarily external) rule, you're golden. Replacing them with other types of wall, ie, greenhouse walls, is also generally allowed.

[devilsrope]

Some really pretty lots have come out of this boring, unwieldy house.

mistyk - I like the nature-y look of your lot. The house exterior, the landscaping, the outdoor living areas, the greenhouse, it all flows very nicely. The interior is nice as well, but the exterior as a whole is my favorite thing.

Anebrd - I hope you are feeling better, but I like the "snot green." I agree with Witch, your pictures are a bit small/dark, but I can see that any sim living there will never want for things to do.

Faizah - A very bright, attractive lot. For me, though, the darkish, monochromatic apartments don't reconcile with the light, traditional exterior. I want my cupcakes to have a gooey sugary filling; this one looks filled with rock candy. Yummy, but not what I was expecting.

omgdani - I like the blue stucco and the green dining room. And lots of wood everywhere; I love wood. The only thing that seems really weird to me is that the living room has a double wall. The windows on the outer wall are looking looking into a nothing-space beside the chimney. Why?

Jim - Another fun lot from you. Something about veranda bowling seems hilarious to me, in a good way. Especially after a turn off the bubble blower, I can see some serious damage occurring. Also, the statue staring in through the bathroom window? Awesome.

eaglezero - Yours is the only lot so far (mine included) that my computer could run without Sir Lagsalot annoying the hell out of me. *Makes note to upgrade her ramz.* The style is very simple and clean looking, pretty colors, and nice use of the 2-story windows.

I understand the "too big!" sentiments; this is a huge lot for me as well. For some reason, though, I've felt oddly uninspired by the smaller lots chosen the last couple months, but this large one interested me. I decided to make it into a community lot for throwing elegant parties/weddings. Since that's not really an option for sims (is it?), it's kind of a waste, but I had fun anyway. I borrowed some inspiration from Dundurn Castle for the exterior, because it's so lovely. I didn't keep the pool in the basement, but I did use the pool tool in that room to make up for it. Also, sorry the bar is so plain. Some cc on the shelves should dress it up. None of the EAxis content looked right to me.  The spot by the upstairs elevator is supposed to be a coat check, although it's mostly just an excuse for woohooing. If anyone wants a residential version, let me know. It would need some remodeling to be suitable for living (no kitchen, bedrooms, etc.). The community lot version was playtested, and everything works.

Slideshow: .
Clicking the pictures brings up a bigger version.

I have all EPs/SPs. Download here.

[kazebird]

That is just a beautiful lot. I love the ballroom.

Also, since BV (I think) you can have community lot weddings.

[witch]

@devilsrope: Very nice. It has a look of Larnach Castle, Dunedin, New Zealand, as well. I was trying to avoid the blocky look for myself but the way you have the pillars at the front soaring to the full building height gives a nice vertical to balance all the horizontals.

I haven't tried a community wedding yet but I will certainly give this lot a try.