House Layout?

[J. M. Pescado]

Another thing I do differently from Eaglezero houses is that instead of jamming skilling crap on a different floor, I try to locate all things that a sim would tend to use while awake on one floor if feasible, so that I can see the entire mess. The position of important key objects like The One Desk and The One Fridge are also worth considering.

[eaglezero]

Another thing I do differently from Eaglezero houses is that instead of jamming skilling crap on a different floor, I try to locate all things that a sim would tend to use while awake on one floor if feasible, so that I can see the entire mess.

I may have forgotten to mention that specifically, but yeah. Generally, the only reason I have ANY skilling crap on the second floor is so that sims who wake up at odd times or have weird job hours can be kept upstairs so I don't have to move back and forth.

I also try to get my houses small enough so that I can see everything from a mid-level (a la Sims1) zoom with no scrolling so that I don't have to waste time zooming out and back in or scrolling around to see things. Large lots are really inefficient in that respect. Usually the largest lots I play (other than some maxis pre-mades) are 4x3, not because my computer can't handle the large lots but rather because I'm tempted to build large houses on the large lots but then I get very angry and upset when actually playing. Well, not very angry and upset, but certainly minorly irritated.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that I think practicing skills in a mirror will wake sleeping sims up, so I keep them out of the bedroom. Blah, I'm too sleepy to wait for the game to start up and go check this, but can anyone confirm?

[J. M. Pescado]

I may have forgotten to mention that specifically, but yeah. Generally, the only reason I have ANY skilling crap on the second floor is so that sims who wake up at odd times or have weird job hours can be kept upstairs so I don't have to move

I don't generally watch sleeping sims at all. It's boring and I hate sleep.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that I think practicing skills in a mirror will wake sleeping sims up, so I keep them out of the bedroom. Blah, I'm too sleepy to wait for the game to start up and go check this, but can anyone confirm?

This is correct, yes. Mirrors should not be placed in bedrooms for that reason.

[ZiggyDoodle]

http://www.theplancollection.com/

Lots of choices.

[KnightSkyKyte]

I put the loo right next to the lounge which is right next to the kitchen, because I want the feeding and caffinating processes to be smooth.

In a straight line: fridge, empty counter, counter with blender, oven, empty counter, counter with coffee machine *this counter is right next to the lounge room* because I prefer sims to go with their coffee into the lounge in front of the TV. Of course, there is a loo right next to the loungeroom so when they caffeinate, they have handy access to the required amenities.

Dining table is about 3 tiles away from the oven.

Dining chairs (at dining table) are further away from the coffee machine than the nearest lounge chair (so the stupid sims will drink coffee in the lounge room, and not at the kitchen table).

[ChibyMethos]

Honestly, I find it easier to pick up some fee apartment giudes when I'm out shopping. Look through them and you'll find floor plans for real living spaces. Some 2 or 3 bedroom apartments make really nice starter houses.

Or I look for floor plans on the internet and print those. If A real person can use it, then as dense as our sims are they can (mostly) use it too.

[dadditude]

Check out the floor plans of real houses, I get a lot of ideas from those.

Seconded. Somewhere on MTS2 someone even worked out a ratio of number of feet on the real house plan to number of floor squares in the game--works wonders for scaling a house plan down to Sims size.

What I generally do is look through house plan sites, find a floor plan I particularly like, and then modify it so it's more realistic for Sims...take out laundry rooms and walk-in closets, add in more bathrooms, etc. I just rebuilt my Legacy family's house that way, and I'm really pleased with the results. Especially since I'm incapable of coming up with house layouts on my own.

I don't suppose you have a link to that thread, do you? Or, barring that, I don't suppose you have the information from that thread handy where you could re-post it here or send it in a PM...

[Tyraa Rane]

Check out the floor plans of real houses, I get a lot of ideas from those.

Seconded. Somewhere on MTS2 someone even worked out a ratio of number of feet on the real house plan to number of floor squares in the game--works wonders for scaling a house plan down to Sims size.

What I generally do is look through house plan sites, find a floor plan I particularly like, and then modify it so it's more realistic for Sims...take out laundry rooms and walk-in closets, add in more bathrooms, etc. I just rebuilt my Legacy family's house that way, and I'm really pleased with the results. Especially since I'm incapable of coming up with house layouts on my own.

I don't suppose you have a link to that thread, do you? Or, barring that, I don't suppose you have the information from that thread handy where you could re-post it here or send it in a PM...

Yep, I still have the link lying around here...here you go.

[starrling]

I too use house plans (sometimes).  Thanks for the link Ziggydoodle.  I use this:  http://www.coolhouseplans.com/

[MistyBlue]

Seconded. Somewhere on MTS2 someone even worked out a ratio of number of feet on the real house plan to number of floor squares in the game--works wonders for scaling a house plan down to Sims size.

I tried using that and it never quite worked out right. The rooms always seemed to be too small or too large. I base the dimensions off of how many windows the room has. Obviously, every window counts for one tile and you can generally tell a 2 tiled window from a 1 tiled window. It's a lot easier that way, at least for me. And most of my houses don't turn out to be humongous messes that I find elsewhere. Unless I wanted them that way, of course.

[ZiggyDoodle]

I tried using that and it never quite worked out right. The rooms always seemed to be too small or too large.

Aside from always using six tiles for my bathrooms, I tend to plop down the furniture first and build the room around it.

Bluewater Village has the nicest waterfront building sites in the game so my next project is to build a nice mansion with a horizon pool.

[LK]

Sorry to ruin your new building concept (basements and front terraces), but sims hate to use stairs. They will use them when they have no choice.
Another thing they hate is - walking on the bare ground; if there is a tiled pathway to the front of the house, and bare ground in the front of the house - they will go first on the tiled pathway.

I build all my houses on 5x5 lots, with at least 6-7 doors to the yard. But I put floor tiles all over the unused yard (bushes, trees, and flowers).
No basements, and no porches - straight on the ground, leaving 7 tiles at least between the road and the front wall of the house.

My sims never go to greet a visitor around the yard, always through the front doors, pointing to the road. Even if they are at the back of the house, they choose to pass inside the house to the front door.

Besides, I put tons of objects in front of the house and around - my sims move freely beside them.

Gali, I'm sorry, but that is totally ludicrous.

[neriana]

Basing Sim houses on real house plans works nicely, though Sims often need larger hallways. I use the same method as MistyBlue, basing the size of the rooms on windows. Also, all my Sim houses have at least 1.5 baths, and I give them a second full bath as soon as I can afford it. Basically, one full bathroom per 2 Sims works well. Rounding up, so 3 Sims get 2.5 bathrooms. I give the half bathroom the most convenient location for guests and the best environment score, so they'll prefer to use that one.

Stairs are fine, especially if you place two staircases when you expect many Sims to go up and down them a lot, but Targa's elevator tile mod is awesome. I've never, ever had Sims who had any problem whatsoever using stairs. Basements, porches, second floors, third and fourth floors if you use Targa's mod -- they all work fine, though paging through floors to see what all your Sims are doing can get annoying if you have a whole lot of Sims on the lot.

I always put the master bedroom on the first floor, and don't bother with a nursery for toddlers and babies. The crib can go in the parents' bedroom, and the changing table can go either in their bedroom or in the parents' bathroom. No one should have to go up and down stairs to deal with babies, it really throws things out of whack -- I learned this the hard way the first time I played the game and had twins with the first pregnancy .

To get Sims to prefer the front door, always make it the first door you place when building a lot. Ditto with the front staircase and porch. J.M. has a hack that helps with this too, the FrontDoor hack.

Huge lots are a serious pain in the butt. They're slow, and Sims take forever to traverse them. The biggest lot I use when not playing some kind of challenge that demands a bigger one is the largest medium lot. Gali's setup would give me conniptions.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I agree with that, I never use anything above medium. and then if the house is too big, it becomes unplayable.  I never have problems with sims using the front door, although I too use foundations a lot of the time.  But - I always make a really impressive front doorstep, and the stairs go nearly to the road, and usually I place the front door near to the mailbox and dustbin.

If sims don't like stairs, then how come they'll go up three flights in order to use a toilet or sit at someone's computer desk-chair, rather than a far more comfortable sofa in the lounge?

What I do do when I build houses, is build them initially in a play situation, if I'm satisfied I send a copy to a file for later, and check the house out while my sims are living in it.  If I spot problems,  I try to remember how I rearranged things in order to get the best possible arrangement when I finish the house off in a vanilla hood.  I'd upload more than I do, but I just can't be bothered, I'd rather just play, but there is one of mine at Simfreaks forum in a thread called Sara Bella Starr, which anyone can download.

[cabelle]

Sorry to ruin your new building concept (basements and front terraces), but sims hate to use stairs. They will use them when they have no choice.
Another thing they hate is - walking on the bare ground; if there is a tiled pathway to the front of the house, and bare ground in the front of the house - they will go first on the tiled pathway.

I build all my houses on 5x5 lots, with at least 6-7 doors to the yard. But I put floor tiles all over the unused yard (bushes, trees, and flowers).
No basements, and no porches - straight on the ground, leaving 7 tiles at least between the road and the front wall of the house.

My sims never go to greet a visitor around the yard, always through the front doors, pointing to the road. Even if they are at the back of the house, they choose to pass inside the house to the front door.

Besides, I put tons of objects in front of the house and around - my sims move freely beside them.

Gali, I'm sorry, but that is totally ludicrous.

You must play with aging off Gali. Otherwise I'm certain that sims born on one side of the lot would die of old age once they get to the other side. 

[vecki]

Sorry to ruin your new building concept (basements and front terraces), but sims hate to use stairs. They will use them when they have no choice.
Another thing they hate is - walking on the bare ground; if there is a tiled pathway to the front of the house, and bare ground in the front of the house - they will go first on the tiled pathway.

I build all my houses on 5x5 lots, with at least 6-7 doors to the yard. But I put floor tiles all over the unused yard (bushes, trees, and flowers).
No basements, and no porches - straight on the ground, leaving 7 tiles at least between the road and the front wall of the house.

My sims never go to greet a visitor around the yard, always through the front doors, pointing to the road. Even if they are at the back of the house, they choose to pass inside the house to the front door.

Besides, I put tons of objects in front of the house and around - my sims move freely beside them.

Gali, I'm sorry, but that is totally ludicrous.

I'm assuming you're also not a fan of nighttime, gali.  Afraid of the dark much??   

[shadow]

Wow! Just...WOW   

[Simlover]

Gali is just, well, extravagant!!

[MsMaria]

Gali, did you get those shower curtains on sale? Nice.

[gali]

He he, Blue-Sim is going to be eaten by the cow plant, by making my "home-sweet-home" retarded  .

First, I look if the sims are happy - not the "gods" (players). And of all the houses, this one was the most prefferred. I took out, on purpose, the "what is this" hack, to see how much they love this house, and got a plenty of hand-claps.

Second, I don't know if you have noticed, but the showers and the bedrooms, and the kitchen,  are very close to the road   - so it takes seconds  for the returning from work sims to be orderred to perform task there. The living room is far from the road, but it's used only on parties, and on hosting - very rare, because the sim have all living room's stuff close to the road too.

I have a lot of bathrooms, because I like to send the sims in the morning together to use the bathroom, and for each sim there is a bathroom.

And last, it happens that I see a lot a show named "Move to the Country" (BBC Prime), and there was wonderful ancient church, designed for modern living, with 3 stories. I can't forget the words of the buyer's wife: "you can't live on stairs". 

You can build thousands of house-layouts in the game, pretending to copy the real-life ones, on which you exclaim "Wow!" - but thet are not comfortable to the sims. Period.

MsMaria, I downloaded a lot of tubs with different colors, where from I don't remember....



 

[MsMaria]

Darn. Well thanks anyway.

[neriana]

You can build thousands of house-layouts in the game, pretending to copy the real-life ones, on which you exclaim "Wow!" - but thet are not comfortable to the sims. Period.

There are thousands of real house layouts that don't work for Sims, quite true. But there are thousands that, with a little tweaking, work perfectly for them. I don't think the layout in your screenshot would work for my Sims for one second, and I wouldn't want to look at it.

[Twain]

 

 

 

 

 

[TaWanda]

Gali! Sudden flashback. Way back when my son played TS1 (before he discovered Doom and Mortal Kombat LOL) he used to build his houses exactly the way you do. His teachers have told me that he has a highly developed abstract thinking process, likes to think outside of the box. Dare to be different, it's a good thing!

[Jorenne]

My real life house floor plan isn't entirely convenient or comfortable for me either, I'd still hate to live in a house like that though.

What I don't understand though is this:  Gali likes her house like that, fine and dandy, I don't, also fine and dandy.  Why is there always this spate of "you must play like I do, it is the best and only way"