More Awesome Than You!

Being on the lazy side of late, I've tried to place the BV General Store into a custom hood on three separate occasions.  That damned lot sinks, creates ponds on both sides and on any nearby road, and trashes the terrain.  Have tried this with three different beach terrains by Sleepycat and each one has been destroyed.

Is this just another example of miraculous EAxis construction, or are such problems related to a custom terrain, elevation, or other whatnots??

Do any sims on the lot play "Abide with Me" while it goes down?  Srsly, I must try this - sounds rather fun.  I'll let you know if I find out anything useful (or entertaining).

Would it have specific coding specific to holiday hoods only that would make it incompatible with a base 'hood perhaps?

Have you tried it with one of the base hoods?

Does this lot comes with a basement?

I never tried it.

I've been afraid to, ZZ.  I'll try it tonight. 

Sleepy's beach terrains have worked fine with custom building, including importing a couple of my beachfront homes from the lot bin.  Since my latest version is screwed, will plop down a few other commercial creations just for the heck of it.

No basement, MissDoh.  It's just a vanilla commercial lot created by EAxis.

This wouldn't be the sort of U-shaped one with the food stand/shop/snackbar thing in the centre/courtyard, would it?

'Cos I placed that one in one of my 'hoods and it was fine (was not a beach hood).  I was thinking of loading it into my current beach hood (made with a sleepycat terrain) as well.

If nothing else works, you could just take the largest photos you can make of the store in situ, then load up your custom hood and build your own general store as close as possible to the original.

I built the Pango Mall as an all in one beach comm lot (fitness area, hot tub, sauna, pool table, clothing store, snack bar, ACR room with large sofa, all musical instruments for busking, washrooms change booths, hammocks, grocery store, pool, and on and on and on.  I wanted a tropical looking all-in-one spot, with thatched roof and all. 

Now I'm trying to find excuses for other comm lots - I might just do themed parks or something (a rustic park with axe throwing and flapjack stand, for example, with a few social interaction areas, play items etc.).  Another general store would (will) probably get modified heavily by me before being used.

Yup, that's the one.  It's a neat store and carries just about everything.   Thanks for the tip that it's fine in a regular hood; that will save me some time tonight. 

Be wiser than I was and back up your beach hood before loading ye olde general store.

Right - good advice.  Mind you, I usually build or load lots at the beginning of a play session, so if something goes wrong I can exit without saving.  Backing up would be the better option.

Now I can't decide if I want that lot in the hood.  I may just build a "woohoo park" - trees, swingsets, bathrooms w showers, hot tubs, change booths, snack bar, ACR adjuster...

You know, a nice "family" place.

The general store isn't the only one that causes that problem -- I had the same thing happen with a couple of other lots, some maxis and some downloaded.  They get the weird lake around them if you put them near the water (across the street from where the beach would be) on SCs hoods.  Put them further inland, or on a non-beach terrain, and they're fine.

Once the BV version of SimPE comes out, I'll probably do some terrain surgery to see if I can get rid of them.  I'd thrash the beach sub-hood, but I already have some families living in it and don't feel like moving them.

I have the same problems. Any buildings with lowered floors draw water in every beach terrain, not just custom terrains. Moving them further inland didn't help, so I bulldozed them. I guess I have to build my own, darn it. Emma has such a beautiful church, and it draws water in the middle of the lot. I will never, ever be able to replicate her stuff, I'm just not good enough as an architect.

I'm not giving up the main hood terrain. It's SC's, and I love it. I used the Tikkii Island template for a college hood. Because it's small, I used the SecretSociety3 building, which, of course, has a lowered floor. Which, of course, is now standing in water. I have absolutely no idea how to get rid of a Secret Society building, so I can replace it with my own. Meh, something else I have to figure out, I guess.

*Thanks for the heads up Ms.D. At least now I know that I'm not the only one with this rassafrassinconsarnit problem.

Didn't have that option.  Heron Bay Outfitters (the BV general store) looked quite nice after I placed it the second and third times.  The water didn't appear until the next time I loaded that subhood.

Also noted last night that I had a landslide in Bluewater.  Part of the mountain terrain slid onto a road.  Luckily the vehicles drive over it so it doesn't interfere with traffic, but am really impressed with the realism the California programmers have brought to the game. 

Appreciate the confirmation of the water issues, Veilchen and Jsalemi.  Misery loves company?   ;)

It does indeed, Ziggy. At first I thought it was a 'Vista hates EA' issue, but now I know it's a game issue. I should've known.

A landslide you say? Now I shall return to fault EAxis right off the bat and then be proven wrong instead of the other way around. Although, that landslide does add some disaster realism. Reminds me of the disasters that were part of simcity :D

Lucky Jolrei. Mine does the same Ziggy's does. It's fine at first, and only shows up at re-load.

Another thing I don't have time for. I am still trying to track down most of the stuff I lost when my computer went to its eternal rest and took all of my sims things with it. I suspected something was afoot, and had backed up all my important things already. I even went to the store and bought discs to back up my game stuff. Unfortunaltely, my computer decided to leave this veil of tears forever before I could get to it. I just found the PetStories conversions. JM's stuff was the last one I looked at, because I usually don't connect objects with JM. That'll learn me.

Lots of my original stuff were hitchhikers, so I have no clue where to get them. I had the GL stuff, and it came piggyback from somewhere - I wish I knew where it came from. Ah well, at least I got the important stuff back. Plus, there is always more rum to chug - arr.

When people say "lowered floors" do you mean at ground level, or below ground (i.e. sunken living room or basement)?  What happens if you place the lot and then replace all floors with new floor tiles?  Would that help?  Or are we stuck in beach hoods with having to build everything ourselves (not that that's so bad I guess, but ya know...).  I should note that my success with the BV lot in question was not on a beach terrain.  I will have to test it on a beach terrain and report back.  Likely it will sink into the ground (note to self: hire a band for the sinking.  Best be prepared).

There's a thread around here somewhere about replacing secret societies in custom universities etc.  Sorry not that helpful I know.

veilchen, with the use of an expression like "rassafrassinconsarnit problem" (rofl) I'm guessing that you are not the native German in your family and that either Mr. veilchen is the German, or you're both expatriates.  If I'm wrong, I'll just say I've never known a non-native-"American" speaker to spontaneously use it.  :D

Duh! I never even thought of that, Jolrei. No, they are not basements (hate them), but they were lowered floors, like the Crypt-o-night club's dance floor. I'll try that, maybe I can rescue the Emma church. Thanks bunches. I already used the search for Secret Society and came up with lots and lots of results. I'll try again with narrower terms.

There is no Mr. Veilchen, thank goodness. Are you trying to scare me? It being Halloween and all?
The expression 'rassafrassinconsarnit' was rightfully stolen from a friend here in the U.S.

She posted, I read, I swiped (and I'm not giving it back either, sorry Neriana). It goes so well with the German tongue, you see. I already have infected my family, now I'm waiting for my sister's report that the whole village is using it.
/me falls over laughing

Typhoid Mary - forum style..

Edited for typo. My aim is fine, thank you. My keyboard jumped right out of the way.... really!

Emma has such a beautiful church, and it draws water in the middle of the lot. I will never, ever be able to replicate her stuff, I'm just not good enough as an architect. (http://Emma has such a beautiful church, and it draws water in the middle of the lot. I will never, ever be able to replicate her stuff, I'm just not good enough as an architect.)

MicksMum made a lovely church that won a competition over at N99.  I don't know if she uploaded it there or at Everyday Sims Yahoo Group, but I think it works in the base game, anyway, it might be worth tracking it down as it might work in your hood without remodelling.

Thanks, ZZ. I'm not a N99 member, but I'll try the Yahoo group. I have roof issues, in that I can never get those non-ordinary roofs to look right.

Thinking about it, it must be a Seasons building, as I seem to remember snow.  But it's a nice country church such as you might find in England/New England, probably Scandinavia and Germany too.

I have an abandoned church I built for a family to live in.  It's base game, so pretty basic, and I didn't finish it, but I could look it out it you like and just finish it off.  I also have a completed non-conformist chapel in my Urban Jungle game, but unless I have it on a CD somewhere, I can't access it at present as I daren't start up my main PC.

How nice you are. Thanks ZZ, if you do have the spare time, I'd appreciate it.

Sorry about your computer. I just got done flipping over my dead unit. Oh well, I had it for 9 years, so I guess the corpse in my trunk has done its duty. It could've warned me that it was about to die, though. Instead, no beeps, no blips, no fanfare, it just stopped suddenly.

Well, I found it, and if possible I'll check it out tonight after I've sorted my recycling for collection tomorrow.  It's actually finished, various pics etc. all there in a folder, then I open it with Clean Installer and find it's picked up a load of custom content and recolours which unfortunately make the sims2pack pretty big, and I'd like to clean out the cc and make it smaller so it may be possible to e-mail it.  If not, I have an Online Backup facility which I could upload it to, I think.

Had to upload the pic as a .zip file, as I don't have an online photo account.

If you have problems finding MicksMum's church, let me know and I'll PM her and ask her to let me know where to get it.

That expression sounds like something a cartoon character used to say.  Can't remember which one, but I'm pretty sure it was one of the minor Warner Brothers characters, since those were the cartoons I primarily watched as a kid (and still do today -- thank heavens for DVD collections :)).

Yosemite Sam  :P

I bet it is the pond. I can see if I can fix it for you. I am pretty sure it was made on completely flat terrain and the only 'lowered part' is the pond. And thanks for the compliments on my church, I know exactly why you are one of my favourite people ;D

/me hugs veilchen

I just want to add, the bigger the lot, the more likely it is to draw water. Smaller lots obviously cover less terrain so less warpage occurs. Also the beach terrains are lower so there is less land. Never place a lot with lowered portions such as basements or ponds on a beach neighbourhood terrain unless it was built in exactly the same spot as you are placing it. Learnt that the hard way, I did... :-\

I suppose I shouldn't make assumptions - sorry.  Idea of a Mr. veilchen now expunged from my memory.

I am having a laugh at the idea of a German village where people use a Yosemite Sam cuss word.  My family is of German descent and I don't think any of them have ever said this, even though our familiy has been in Canada since 1921 (pre-dating the rassafrassin cartoon).

Now I'm worried about a house I built that I was saving for my sim's heir, once he graduates from uni - it has a sunken living room.  Hopefully that doesn't mean there will be a pond in the centre of the house.  Oh well, test and see, I guess.

All you BV players could do with a list of downloaded houses that have been tested and work, or not, and where they work, or not.  Every time one of you finds a house or comm lot that works without any of these problems, you could then just add it to the list!

Yup ;)

I've got a few downloaded lots that cause sinkholes in the middle of normal, non beach terrain as well. One even makes all the ground around it look like desert, which makes no sense since it's not even a desert lot. It worked fine before BV.

My fourth attempt proved fruitless.  Using yet another SC beach terrain, the BV general store sunk, this time changing the landscape to blinding sand (ala Neriana's) and my attempt to bail out without saving, as Jolrei suggested, didn't work.  The community lots seem to stick.

Since I really was looking for a small waterfront community, I tried the Twikkii Village terrain as a subhood.  I like the size and can set between 10 to 15 lots on those empty beachfronts, maybe more.  My fifth attempt was successful with placing the BV general store, so that lot's problems might be related to elevation.  It doesn't seem to like being close to sea level.

None of my own waterfront homes could be placed, with the exception of one home I had built on the lake in Three Lakes.  I was able to place that particular lot on the waterfront in each of the SC terrains, in Bluewater, and now in Heron Bay [ETA: the fifth incarnation of that subhood].  The lakefront geography of Three Lakes must be more friendly.

With all the fussing and moving things around, my landslide in Bluewater disappeared.  Drats.  Had wanted to take a photo.

Well, by the time you folks get all these glitches sorted out, maybe I'll have got my PC fixed, and maybe then I'll get around to installing BV!

This is a harmless effect produced by the lot having surface features below the waterline. It is not a bug. Place your lot on higher ground, and this will be avoided. On lots with "beach level" terrain, the water level is particularly low, and if you dig a hole in such a lot, it will flood and your lot will render itself in "beach sand" to reflect its adjacency to water.

ditto what JM said *laughs*  On my flat beach lot terrains, the ground can't get any lower without being under water.



I have been keeping the low terrain issues in mind when making new terrains lately and I think my newest terrain is my best yet --> http://www.the-isz.com/theisz/index.php?showforum=75

It still has flat beach lots but the upper areas should be ok for lots that have ponds or basements or sunken living rooms and stuff.

OK, hopefully my house will work then, 'cos the main floor is on a foundation - the "sunken" part is just "foundation removed" in the centre of the main room, so the sunken part is actually at real ground level, not below ground level.

Cancelling the "Titanic" band for now.

@ sleepycat - I noted the "higher ground" areas of your latest terrains.  Saving for later.

That looks very nice, ZZ.

I tried the Yahoo group thing. I found several that hat every day sims in their name, and I truly don't want to join all of them. One of them was called everydaysims_sims2. That one came closest, but to join you have to write a few words about why you want to join, it needs owner approval, etc. I want to join because I'm looking for a church made by Micksmum? Doesn't sound right, and I don't want to think up things about wanting to join a group I know nothing about.

Rassafrassingconsarnit certainly does sound like something Yosemite Sam might say. I love those old cartoons. Although, sometimes I root for Yosemite, Elmer, and Broom Hilda. Just because.

Thank you Emma. It is indeed the pond. I'll be trying out Jolrei's suggestion and lift the sunken floors. As soon as I can get my computer to stop being an ass and recognize the disc-drive. I hate Vista.

I appreciate the warning about building placement. So I'm guessing that downloading beach-lots is just a waste of time and space. Plus, if you have a hood with beach-lots, don't bother binning the lots for later use on different terrains. Thanks EAxis - a little warning would've been nice.

Well, yes and no.  Generally speaking, beach lots do not seem to transfer very well.  On the other hand, if you build a beach lot on a completely flat beach terrain and package it, it can be transferred to a new hood with similarly flat beach terrain (one might have to try several placements in the new hood to make sure it works properly).  I created a squalid beach hut that I shared that others have indicated works.  What you can't do, apparently, is share lots that are not completely flat, or put shared lots on beach terrains that are not completely flat.  Consequently, the easiest thing, to remain rassafrassincarnsarnit-free, is to simply build your own beach lots, and try to use flat beach terrains (a la sleepycat).

Veilchen, I sent Micksmum a PM to find out where the church is (Everyday Sims does have several Yahoo groups) and maybe if it's FSF, which I think it will be, I can get the church and e-mail it to you.  Funny thing is, I was a member of most of Sandy's groups, and now I'm not, and can only think it's either because I changed ISPs or I'm on a different computer - but I don't mind joining again!

My church is now cleaned up and ready to go.  The total .zip file size is just over 2MB, so it should e-mail I think.  (Or if necessary I can split it into two, one for the Sims2Pack and one for the info. But I'll try uploading it and see what happens.)

Well, I tried, but I couldn't upload the .zip - talktalk Online Backup is useless!  Back to square one.