Preferrable Houses

[DrBeast]

I don't download lots or houses whatsoever. Everything in my game is custom-made by me. Uh. Everything but the University grounds. I was new to the game when I made the new 'hood so I just played along with the existing SSU.

[sonofajoiner]

I like to download lots with basements, split-levels, spiral staircases and all the other stuff that I am too incompetent (and lazy) to do myself. And I vote unfurnished. I have never downloaded a furnished/decorated lot that I haven't immeadiately altered.

[Gus Smedstad]

I've never downloaded any houses because I don't know where to find decent ones.  The Sims Exchange is like the BBS, it's so full of noise that browsing through endless chaff to find anything worthwhile just doesn't seem worth the effort.

I selected "unfurnished," but on the other hand I think things like kitchen countertops, stoves, and the like make sense to include.  And lights, let's not forget lights.  I think a reasonable rule is to include anything you'd expect to find in a house that you just purchased in real life.  So you don't include beds, but you do include toilets.

 - Gus

[witch]

I have a couple of unfurnished & semi-furnished homes along with the monster ones. Variousimmers.net has been down for hours but you could search under 'bolshywitch' on the sims2.ea.com if you like.

[cwykes]

My PC is at the lower end of the specs, so I'm looking for something I can play comfortably.  I mainly download things on small lots as the PC copes better, my sims don't have to spend hours getting from A to B and I don't lose track of what the others are doing while I deal with 1 sim.

I don't want any hacks included when I download, but custom content is fine.  However, the house has got to be affordable by my sims.  I don't use money cheats and my established sims don't move because of the portraits career objects etc etc, so the only houses I'm actually going to play are starter homes and maybe a few second homes.  I downloaded a nice looking house from somewhere the other day - the price turned out to be 431,000$ - none of my sims are that rich or likely to be that rich!

I think there's a niche for small playable shops.  The maxis community lots are not very playable -everything is a long way to walk and my PC couldn't cope with them at all before I bought a graphics card. 

I also like a set of themed lots to give the neighbourhood some coherent style.  more tudor lots for veronaville - some of the maxis starter lots have badly place stairs for example. I made some small lots on a theme with water and willows along the back of each lot so you could put them next to each other and get a fake river on the neighbourhood map.  I'm sure one of you clever people could do a lot more with that idea and I'd love to know how it works in NL when you can see next door from your house.  This pic was taken a while back, the neigbourhood has grown since then!  I put them on TSR as I have downloaded so much free stuff from there, it seemed like a fair payback.  they also check lots for hacks which I like.  I'm cwykes there if you want to see individual  lots - PMs and comments welcome!

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[Zandi]

I perfer smaller to medium houses with out those freaking terrain paints!
I seriously ended up with over 100 of those freaking things at one point.... Took forever to be rid of them.
Custom content is cool I don't mind objects wall papers floors and what not though I end up moving the stuff in to the right floders with the clean installer so I have just skins ect in my downloads folder.
As for hacks I prefer to choose my own thank you. With my luck I'd end up with hacks that conflict with the ones I allready have.

I Hate that most people seem to focus on creation mansions of extreeme splender.
My computer can handle it but my sims end up wondering all over the place and my game ends up being played with an added mini game of pause and hunt the sims as I realize someones wondered  off.

[gethane]

I selected "unfurnished," but on the other hand I think things like kitchen countertops, stoves, and the like make sense to include.  And lights, let's not forget lights.  I think a reasonable rule is to include anything you'd expect to find in a house that you just purchased in real life.  So you don't include beds, but you do include toilets.

 - Gus

I'd agree from a realistic point of view, however, my new sims DEPEND on those "buy toilet," "buy shower," and "buy refridgerator," wants at the beginning for a nice start on a money tree

[humybyrd]

I tend to only download houses that have significant terrain changes.  I can make houses that are simple but the more spectacular ones like 'mike inside' with mountain paths and underground houses are things that are harder to do and I will get them to see how they are done.  I have never had a problem with terrain paints and have a high end machine so the lag is rarely there.  Some furniture like toilets and counters is ok but generally I will delete the furniture and redecorate the interior. Most of what I build I don't upload due to the size of the lots-I make recreations of historical places and they tend to be quite large.  Right now I am working on a New York Asylum called "house on the hill" and even without wallpaper and decorations it is well over the 100,000 mark, and so huge that most would not be able to play it.  I will get the ones from others along these same lines, like that beautiful mosque on mts2 which has custom content such as roofing peices so custom content really depends on what it is.  My rule is if its simple enough for me to build in a hour or so than I dont download it.

[Kristalrose]

I mainly build my own homes.  I'm a history buff, and so I love building period homes (and then converting a bedroom to a bathroom, LOL, I don't make them use outhouses, though I did with TS1).  But I like downloading community lots.  My favorites are the ones that look like little old towns, rows of brick two and three story buildings with little shops and resturaunts. 

I don't like downloading houses with custom terrains and with any hacks and stuff because I like to see what I'm getting.  It's okay if it has custom wallpapers, floors, and building objects, if I can see them and I like them.    I just downloaded a store from the BBS that had a wallpaper section.  I couldn't see that in the pictures and it wasn't mentioned in the description (just housewares).  So, all these blocks of Wallpaper were not noticable.  And they are hideous, and they are priced at $999, so they really aren't even usable!!  I had to take them out of my game. 

[lefty]

Hack-free and custom object free. I hate when I get a bunch of stuff I didn't download myself. I hate huge palaces that don't have a live-in-me feel.

Definately the same sentiments here. I like small to medium houses, with little to no custom content, and furnished.
I haven't got a creative bone in me, and furnishing/building houses is always a chore.

[ZiggyDoodle]

Call me Polly Paranoia; no downloads allowed; I build my own houses.

Probably the result of being warned as a child not to take candy from strangers.

[Dark Trepie]

First and most important thing:  Three bedrooms and two baths.  I like making all of my couple have two kids, a boy and a girl.  (although this has backfired quite a few times with the second pregnancy ending up as twins...   )

Second:  Small to medium.  Two floors or less.  Something that won't make my 384 megs of RAM cry.  (I will be upgrading this.  Most likely around Christmas)

Third:  Reasonably priced.  Some of these sims won't ever see $100k.  Though I am at the point where I've memorized most of the right answers to most of the chance cards...

Forth:  I like some furnishings as a way to tell me what the room is supposed to be used for.  I swear, some of these Maxis pre-mades says it has three bedrooms, but for the life of me I can't find the damn third bedroom.

Lately I've been going through the exchange looking for houses with driveways.  But they're few and far in between.  I'd love to find something with a two car garage, but it looks like I'll have to build one for myself.

Speaking of building myself.  My mom recently went to a Jim Walter Homes dealership and brought back a large stack of floor plans.  (They sell pre-manufactured homes that they build on site, so they kinda are real houses...I guess.  Kinda hard to explain)  Although converting some of these measurements on the diagrams to the squares in the game is proving difficult at times.  Some of the decks have angled stairs.  And you can't attach a garage to a house with a foundation, unless there's some boolprop cheat I'm missing.

[buddha pest]

The more bathrooms the better! At least three. Always.

Unfurnished, even of lights, because people are always putting in light fixtures that clash with the wallpaper. NO.

And yes, big enough bedrooms for double beds. What are people thinking when they make these teeny-tiny bedrooms? I like big airy rooms in general anyway.

And for the love of god, no weirdly placed shrubs that the gardener can't get to. I swear every single house I download ends up having those. Before the no route fail hack, I used to go looney listening to the gardener scream all day.

[Ness]

speaking of cars with double garages...  here is one that a friend made for me.

sparsely furnished, enough to give you the idea of what each room is, what is there may not be to your taste, but I liked it pretty much as is...  all because I grumbled about not having space for a third car, so she built me a house with space for 4!

there's a couple that I've done, but I'm nowhere near the standard of this one!

Ness

[nectere]

Generally speaking I only download wild feats of building imagination, enormous castles, crazy building techniques, specialty buildings like a clipper ship or some really cool looking cathedral. I never play these lots and I usually just plunk them down some place safe, figure out how they were built and then bulldoze/delete them, then try to build something better from the technique I just discovered.

Building is ultimately really the only reason why sims continues to keep my interest. I procreate my sims simply so I can build a new house and see how it plays.

[Gus Smedstad]

First and most important thing:  Three bedrooms and two baths.  I like making all of my couple have two kids, a boy and a girl.

I'm assuming you're talking about a second home?  I've never been able to manage more than 2 bedrooms and generally only 1 bath with $20K.  Since I've taken to using the "No 20K Handouts" mod, early budgets are often even more restrictive.

 - Gus

[Gus Smedstad]

And yes, big enough bedrooms for double beds. What are people thinking when they make these teeny-tiny bedrooms? I like big airy rooms in general anyway.

What do you consider a "big bedroom?"  My standard bedroom is 4x5.  That's big enough for a double bed and a dresser.  Larger always seems like a waste of space, since you don't want to do anything like put a TV in a room where a Sim might be sleeping.

Not to mention the jealousy problems that arise if a Romance sim gets caught in bed with the wrong person because someone wandered in to do something with an object in the room.

 - Gus

[Gus Smedstad]

Building is ultimately really the only reason why sims continues to keep my interest. I procreate my sims simply so I can build a new house and see how it plays.

I agree, but building has gotten so mechanical for me now that I'm considering downloading lots to play.  I have a lot of standard solutions to most rooms like bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens, and dining rooms.  I feel like the houses I build are all starting to look the same.

 - Gus

[nectere]

I use my (real) neighborhood for inspiration. I love architecture and I am always craning my neck while driving some place to take a quick collection of how some new or interesting house is built. When I run out of ideas I go searching for victorian houseplans, I have built some really neat (imo) 1800's victorian houses that I liked playing with.

However I have a habit (read addiction) of breaking things so I tend to delete my sim neighborhoods often and start over.


I also wanted to add that I often find some kickass inspiration from this site as well
http://www.webalice.it/mikebur50/index.html

[buddha pest]

And yes, big enough bedrooms for double beds. What are people thinking when they make these teeny-tiny bedrooms? I like big airy rooms in general anyway.

What do you consider a "big bedroom?"  My standard bedroom is 4x5.  That's big enough for a double bed and a dresser.  Larger always seems like a waste of space, since you don't want to do anything like put a TV in a room where a Sim might be sleeping.

Big enough for a double bed and sometimes a napping couch/lounge chair and a bookshelf. Sometimes some plants or a fountain. I'm big on bedroom fountains. I don't have dressers, ever. They're always blocking my view.

I've seen 2x4's that could hold a single bed. The End. It's workable for a kid, but it's so...claustrophobic. I'd rather have a big room that can hold 4 or more single beds and make everybody share it.

I usually have about a zillion sims to a house, so I like lots of empty walking-around space so they aren't crashing into each other and having actions dropping out of their queue.

[witch]

Ditto re looking round my own n'hood for inspiration. I also read the real estate flyers, sometimes there are houseplans, or get real house plans off the net. Haven't found a decent castle one yet for the vamp family I will have.

[Tanatha]

And you can't attach a garage to a house with a foundation, unless there's some boolprop cheat I'm missing.

Actually there is a boolprop you can use.  I found a tutorial attaching a garage to a house with a foundation that is very well written and photographed and easy to follow by SimSherry2.  She also includes how to build an arched carport as well.  And you can download the house she used for the tutorial (it has 3 or 4 wall recolors and the green glass tile she uses for the carport), if you wish.  I found I didn't need it though because the tutorial was so well designed.

http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/story_detail.php?asset_id=53552&asset_type=story&user_id=370

[rohina]

I found this a really interesting discussion; I didn't think I was a very good builder, until I downloaded houses. It's mainly because I have dowloaded houses that I thought looked good, and they are hardly ever playable. The rooms are too stupid, or there are missing doors, or other odd things.
I tend to put families I play a lot into houses I have built because I have a good idea of what design features work for playability. I like lots of bathrooms, too. I also spent some time learning how to make a basement because basements are fabulous for  those unsightly reward objects that you don't want all over the deck and the lawn.

[Myth]

I must say I am shocked by the poll results.  I've always assumed that most preferred unfurnished houses but in fact 35% want furnished and 40% do not care as long as the house is well designed.

I really appreciate everyone's input on this.  It confirmed some things I suspected and taught me things I didn't know.

[witch]

It confirmed some things I suspected and taught me things I didn't know.

I found this interesting too, this has also given me a new direction, I didn't realise so many people had trouble with the big lots. I'm going to create a sims2 folder with just the Maxis defaults and try my hand at starter homes. That fits more the way I play anyway.