Hecubus's Utterly Non-Awesome Yankee Barn - Reloaded

[Hecubus]

EDIT: Attempts to bring house to awesome specs completed...pics and new version offered at end of this post.

Despite my grousing about no custom content, I have capitulated, and I decided that having to build with no CC would be a challenge in itself.

And so, I bring you the Yankee Barn - based on a RL design.



Specs:
Lot: 4x4
Price: 177,560
Flatness: 100%
EPs: Uni, NL, OFB, Petz, Seasons

Features: one-car garage, master suite with private outdoor hottub, nursery suite, two additional bedrooms, 3 full- and 2 half-baths, living room with fireplace, family room, pool, greenhouse, pond.

It's a big place, with plenty of room for a growing family, or perhaps a growing commune. Gardens surround the house, and there is always room for more.

The kitchen/dining/living area:


What your peeping tom sees when he looks into the living room windows:


The master suite:


The family room:


The nursery suite (can be converted to bedrooms once your Sim has stopped spawning):


The kids' rooms - note that these rooms can be rearranged if the kids need to double up:


Random views that I think show off the house to its best advantage, including some floor plans:













BRIBE: Will do a forum-, writing-, or data-related editing/organizing project of your choice...and I'll build up to 10 custom lots to your spec. Oh, and I'll kill a few paysites.

************RELOAD***************


1. Added full perimeter fencing:




2. Moved composter to back yard where deciduous trees reside (although newspapers will need to be intercepted now):



3. Replaced beds with more comfortable/more energizing varieties (in other words, substance over style). Did a bit of redecorating as a result:





4. Added the homework desk to the family room:



New value: 186,651

[RaeKira]

Which EPs do you have? I noticed a Nightlife door and of course the car, garage, and driveway that I forgot to say before, some Uni walls, and of course Seasons... But are there any other packs?

[jsalemi]

Nice!  I have a rich family that was just waiting for a house like this...

* jsalemi downloads

[Hecubus]

oh, whoops. Will edit above, but meanwhile, I have Uni, NL, OFB, Petz, and Seasons. No stuff packs.

[kathy]

I really like the layout of this. Nice work sweetie 

[witch]

Me too - like the layout, I mean. 

Useful, functional and attractive. I especially like the use you made of the space between the house and garage. The nursey area is large enough and self-contained. Choice!

[Emma]

I really like this house too, the layout is really original. I like the pool too, from top-view it looks like a mouse The pool slide is the tail and the ladders are the whiskers. Cute!

[Hecubus]

I didn't realize the pool looked like a mouse until you said that! Heh.

The house is very playable...especially since I tend to banish kids to the second floor with a queue that keeps 'em busy for hours while I play adults.

I uploaded a new version, hopefully closer to El Presidente's specs.

[rohina]

1.5 for aesthetics. Very nice use of theme.

[J. M. Pescado]

Bribe: 0.2
Functionality: 0.2
Scenarios: 0.2
Cost Effectiveness: 0.4
Expand 0.8
Physics: 0.8
Aesthetics: 1.5

Technical: 0.375
Total: 0.305

Correct Behaviors
Level Edges - Will Not Damage Neighborhood
Anti-Wolf Fencing

Correctable Issues
WAY too many desks! Creates massive ambiguity over the nature of The One Desk, due to numerous False Desks
Fridge properly blocked from raiders: Extensive restructuring would be needed to correct

Fundamental Flaws
Sunken split-level room has nonfunctional windows and many nonfunctional lights, resulting in the area being permanently dark
Blatant use of illegal placements for flowerbeds and shrubs results in many being inaccessible!
Extensive rebuild of entire interior required to make this playable! Less work to just build a new one entirely!/color]

[Hecubus]

Shortly after Pescado explained my overwhelming failure, I loaded the game, and this lot blew up.

It's DEFINITELY Pescado's fault.

Just as well.

[Ambular]

Shortly after Pescado explained my overwhelming failure, I loaded the game, and this lot blew up.

It's DEFINITELY Pescado's fault.

Just as well.

Awww *Pats Hecubus*  At least you got a good aesthetics score!

[TaWanda]

Non-functional lights? What? How? How can lights not work in the game?
I like the house Hecubus, I think it's purty.

[witch]

When you make sunken lounges etc, the lighting doesn't work properly, a real nuisance because it means less design options. I think from memory some standing lights work.

[Ambular]

Non-functional lights? What? How? How can lights not work in the game?
I like the house Hecubus, I think it's purty.

When you make sunken lounges etc, the lighting doesn't work properly, a real nuisance because it means less design options. I think from memory some standing lights work.

Yeah, because you usually have a squished-down level in there somewhere, and if you put a lamp on the ceiling of the room or the upper portion of the walls the game will think it's on the next floor up and the light won't go to the bottom of the room.  There are ways around it though, if you place standing lamps carefully.  (Possibly table lamps as well?  I'm not sure...)

[Khaki]

For sunken rooms I usually use outside type floor lights hidden under a plant or something... sometimes table lamps placed on the floor behind some planty stuff looks ok too... then I also put lights on the upper portion as well... it still looks kinda funky cause there is always a strange shadow effect, but it does light the room...

[TaWanda]

When you make sunken lounges etc, the lighting doesn't work properly, a real nuisance because it means less design options. I think from memory some standing lights work.

Pity that the light won't reach the bottom of the rooms. I love the look of houses with split level rooms. I quit playing them, and also quit playing houses with foundations, because I couldn't take the bobbing up and down of the camera view any longer. 

[Hecubus]

For sunken rooms I usually use outside type floor lights hidden under a plant or something... sometimes table lamps placed on the floor behind some planty stuff looks ok too... then I also put lights on the upper portion as well... it still looks kinda funky cause there is always a strange shadow effect, but it does light the room...

yes, I just discovered that the low outdoor 'spotlight', even hidden under a table or bookcase, adds sufficient light. It just made my split levels playable again.

[witch]

Great, I used to enjoy the variety I had with the different levels. I'll give it a go.

[MsMaria]

I really like this house but I'm a bit confused after reading the posts. Is it playable or will the lot go splodie? Thanks. 

[Hecubus]

Heh, it's actually quite playable. I have had this lot - and variations - playing for a while. I REALLY think it was some new custom content that I used in the house yesterday that blew it up....but with the coincidental timing, it was too good to pass up an opportunity to blame Pescado.

[J. M. Pescado]

I really like this house but I'm a bit confused after reading the posts. Is it playable or will the lot go splodie? Thanks. 

It's not very playable without a full interior overhaul, as it has a vast number of huge glaring flaws.

[Zazazu]

For sunken rooms I usually use outside type floor lights hidden under a plant or something... sometimes table lamps placed on the floor behind some planty stuff looks ok too... then I also put lights on the upper portion as well... it still looks kinda funky cause there is always a strange shadow effect, but it does light the room...

yes, I just discovered that the low outdoor 'spotlight', even hidden under a table or bookcase, adds sufficient light. It just made my split levels playable again.

I use those a lot. I don't really like overheads as they get in my view, and haven't found sufficient wall lights I like. I either use the spotlights under stuff or these low-placed wall lights with a really shallow profile. The low ones work in sunken rooms, you just have to use the moveobjects cheat.

[Jelenedra]

In the house I was trying to build for this contest, I had a sunken room too. I used wall lamps and garden spotlights hidden underneath the furniture.

[jolrei]

When you make sunken lounges etc, the lighting doesn't work properly, a real nuisance because it means less design options. I think from memory some standing lights work.

I had a lot once that I designed with a sunken living/bookshelf/TV area, surrounded by other functional space half a level above.  All the other rooms were reached off this area.  The effect was quite good, but the sunken area was always dark, due to the light problem (even when the rest of the room was bright.  I finally sorted it out with table lamps and floor lamps.  I like the floodlight idea.