Building Contest of Awesomeness 2: Placement List!

[Ambular]

Here's the results for the second Awesome Building Contest!  Listed in order of total score:

Emma...........................0.79
BastDawn.......................0.77
Li'l Brudder......................0.767
Annann..........................0.72
SaraMK...........................0.682
Lorelei............................0.67
Flamingo.........................0.665
AmberDiceless.................0.652
reggikko.........................0.652
Eevilcat..........................0.585
Twooflowers...................0.565
Khan of Wyrms................0.53
dizzy..............................0.51
Khaki.............................0.505
Hegelian.........................0.5
Ilikecoffee......................0.467
carareynolds (RaeKira)......0.45
SnootCB........................0.435
ZiggyDoodle...................0.43
Marhis............................0.377
stormygsa......................0.36
Hecubus........................0.305
Kewian..........................0.295
V..................................0.185
      
In order of technical merit, exclusive of bribe:

BastDawn.......................1.08
AmberDiceless.................1.08
Lorelei............................1.05
Annann..........................1.0
SaraMK...........................0.97
Flamingo.........................0.908
Twooflowers...................0.908
reggikko..........................0.887
Emma.............................0.883
Li'l Brudder......................0.879
Eevilcat...........................0.841
Khaki..............................0.841
Khan of Wyrms................0.833
Hegelian..........................0.833
dizzy...............................0.817
Ilikecoffee.......................0.748
ZiggyDoodle....................0.716
SnootCB.........................0.691
carareynolds (RaeKira).......0.65
Marhis.............................0.629
stormygsa.......................0.6
Kewian...........................0.408
Hecubus.........................0.375
V...................................0.241

Elfpuddle........................Disqualified   
notveryawesome.............Disqualified   
Zazazu...........................Disqualified
TaWanda.......................Disqualified
katenigma......................Disqualified

Congratulations to the top scorers!  And special congratulations to V for earning the LOWEST SCORE EVAR!!!

[V]

Yay Me!!!

I'd like to thank all the hours I spent building that lovely house of mine! You hours were really great and could only have been better spent actually learning how to build a theme house properly. I'd also like to thank my mom for giving me a V name so I could have a theme that nobody else thought of yet. Of course I must thank Pes for having the contest so I would make the effort to build a house that was not squares on top of rectangles. Really, I never would have tried to make something like this if it hadn't been for this Awesome contest.

*music cues*

Oh! and thanks to Amber for keeping track of the scores so we could all know how we did. And thanks to all the people who thanked me in my thread and who downloaded my bribe!

*V is escorted from the stage still thanking everyone she can think of for this amazing honor

Thank you!!! *blows kisses* Thank you all SO much!!

[Emma]

See, it was all in the bribe Don't underestimate the power of the bribe! Now must go and make a stupid Goopy avatar.

*Emma cries

[J. M. Pescado]

Have you seen your Gooplets, EMMA? I made you a delicious cake!

[Emma]

Nope, haven't seen them yet. Going there now.

[BastDawn]

Woohoo!  Second place!     Congratulations, Emma, I knew I'd never beat your excellent bribe!

[Ambular]

Woohoo!  Second place!     Congratulations, Emma, I knew I'd never beat your excellent bribe!

Yeah, but if you look at the technical scores, you and I tied for first.  Which means we suck at bribery but pwn everyone at building.  XD

[Zazazu]

Yay! I didn't lose technically!

[Lorelei]

* Lorelei is shocked to see that she did not utterly PHAIL at first from-the-bare-lot-up house building attempt.

Had I won, the delay of contest results would have ensured I could not carry out my bribery attempts. This summer? Had free time. Now? Not so much.

[J. M. Pescado]

Your house, however, is fundamentally flawed by the non-level edges, though. It is thus unplaceable in any neighborhood that does not already have deformed terrain.

[Lorelei]

Your house, however, is fundamentally flawed by the non-level edges, though. It is thus unplaceable in any neighborhood that does not already have deformed terrain.

I understand this. What I am trying to understand is how to avoid the problem in a future. Is Veronaville just flawed in this fashion? Why would leveling the lot before building NOT work to avoid crimped edges?

[J. M. Pescado]

Levelling the lot before building does not work because the levelling tool is unable to alter the very edges of the lot, which is what causes the problem. A quick and dirty test of whether lot has TRULY level edges is to try the levelling tool and then seeing if the lot has any crimped edges on the side which did not level. Also, trying to place the lot so that it is right up against another lot which you also know is flat is a good test: Perfectly flat lots always tile perfectly, and require no seperation gap between that lot and another also flat lot on any side.

[Lorelei]

So you can't trust that bulldozing and leveling works. Gotcha.

I think the problem is that, to my eye, it looked level. I think the next step is for me to figure out which Maxis terrains and lots are known to be flat, and then make sure I build on and next to those.

Which side was (or sides were) crimped? Next time I load Veronaville, I can examine the lot closely so I know what a crimp looks like in situ. If it is a larger degree of slope, it is obvious to my eye.

[J. M. Pescado]

Which side was (or sides were) crimped? Next time I load Veronaville, I can examine the lot closely so I know what a crimp looks like in situ. If it is a larger degree of slope, it is obvious to my eye.

I recall the right side from the street was definitely crimped. Others may be also, You can tell, just by looking.

[notveryawesome]

I believe someone has mentioned in other threads that the Sedona neighbourhood-template is completely flat. I've never used it personally, so I really don't know if it is, or not. Personally, I use a custom 'hood that is very small and very flat.

I'm a bit disappointed that my entry was disqualified, but I certainly understand why it happened. I'd removed the files to make room on my server, figuring that JM had already downloaded the lot, since the contest ended weeks ago. That's what I get for assuming.

[akatonbo]

I still don't understand how LB's house could simultaneously get good marks and bad marks for the SAME FEATURES: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,8691.0.html

[J. M. Pescado]

That probably reflects my use of copypasta to form the initial template.

[Khan of Wyrms]

So you can't trust that bulldozing and leveling works. Gotcha.

Bulldozing definitely works, but the bulldozing activity must be done from the neighborhood view before placing your empty lot, not from within the lot once placed.  Just place an empty lot template down in the neighborhood view, to be sure select one larger than your desired lot, then select the bulldoze tool and clear it away.  This will leave a flat terrain for your lot.  If you want to verify the flat edges of any lot, just select a shrubbery (not a tree) and run it along the perimeter of the lot.  If it is placeable in every one of the perimeter squares of the lot, then the lot is level, because the game will not allow you to place a bush on terrain that is not flat.

[lowbart]

If you fail the shrub test, I suggest graph paper. I've used it a few times when I got careless and made a non-level lot or made one facing the wrong way when I wanted street parking.

[J. M. Pescado]

Street parking is an infraction of Awesomespec, as it obstructs the passage of carpool vehicles and incoming cars attempting to reach a legitimate driveway. The addition of the ability to walk reduces, but does not eliminate, the importance of cars, as one still cannot walk to work.

[lowbart]

Noted. (I did not know that). However, it only takes moveobjects, one left click, and one press of the delete key to eliminate street parking if it is unwanted.

Edit: Will there be another building contest in the near future?

[reggikko]

I think the problem is that, to my eye, it looked level. I think the next step is for me to figure out which Maxis terrains and lots are known to be flat, and then make sure I build on and next to those.

Viper Canyon, FTW. I always build any lots I will be sharing on that terrain.

[MsMaria]

Reg, where exactly is Viper Canyon? I am looking to build an awesomesauce house in the near future, as I have learned well from the Master.

[J. M. Pescado]

Viper Canyon is a premade terrain that ships with the base game. You can choose it when creating a new neighborhood.

[MsMaria]

Thank you, Pes. How I missed that from the base game no less, is beyond me. Ding bat Maria.