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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 18th Jul 2017 at 1:37 AM Last edited by AndrewGloria : 18th Jul 2017 at 5:32 PM. Reason: Typos!
Default Community Spirit Contest - The Continuing Story
Oh dear! The Community Contest thread is closed and I still have stuff to post in it! I thought of PM-ing Jo and asking her to re-open it for a few days, but I created a new neighbourhood for it, and when I start a 'hood, I play it for years, not days. I'm sure other people created 'hoods for the contest too. And proper community spirit can take a long, long time to build. So I was thinking anyway about starting a continuation thread where we could post on the continuing adventures of the Sims we created for the contest. The idea is may be a little bit like the "What did you do with the XXXXX Sims?" threads, since we've all got the Sims that Jo specified for us to make.

Anyway my first post in this thread was really intended as a reply to the nice comments that Jo made about my community lot in Round 5. It's actually a little off-topic as I was comparing that lot with the very first community lot I made back in 2012 when I had just started to play. (Yes it is odd to start of a new thread with an off-topic post, but I was going to post this as a reply in the original thread, but when I clicked on "Preview Post", I got the message that the thread was no longer accepting new posts.)
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I feel this is your best lot yet, it’s very visually interesting. It also looks like loads of fun. I like how the walkway wraps around. I notice you took the tips and built the kids a sandpit there as well.
Thanks Jo!

I suppose I've been building community lots for longer than I've been building houses. Right at the very start of my game I wanted my Sims to go swimming, but I had chosen Veronaville, and Veronaville, as shipped, doesn't have a swimming pool. So the Veronaville Swim Centre was my very first attempt at building. This is what it looks like today:
It has changed and improved a bit over the years, but the buildings at the back were largely completed in my first month of playing. The plain brick building at the rear right is the toilet block and was the first building on the site. Infamously I sent Andrew there before I'd finished it, and inevitably he was caught short!. There was a building on top of a foundation, but no steps to get in, no wall coverings, and no toilets inside -- because I didn't know how to do any of that. Before I sent anyone else there, I opened up a Maxis community lot in build/buy mode, and looked to see how they did it. The building at the rear left is now the kitchen for the poolside restaurant, but was originally a self-service kitchen where Sims could prepare their own food. I have a picture of Andrew and Julian together in that building on 26th December 2012, and I only installed the game and started to play on 29/30th November that year. So yes, both those buildings date to my first month of Simming. (The small building near the entrance is a kiosk, and was built more recently (though it too is a few years old now). Also by the time of that visit (26 December 2012) all the lighting was already in place and much of the paving. When Andrew first went there a few days earlier, the pool was more irregular in shape and was just surrounded by grass. Two relics of my lack of experience and knowledge are the odd line of the perimeter wall, and the gaps on it, and the grey tarmac car park on the side road rather than the front road. It took me a long time to work out why my Sims never used that entrance! By the way, this is a 4x4 lot and the biggest I've ever built. I thought it needed to be big for serious swimming.

Comparing it to my contest lot here, I wonder how much (if any) I've really improved.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Somebody please reply so I can post my house for Jim Evans the Olympian athlete without a double post! I've got about 20 pictures selected for it, and I was about to start uploading them and writing my post when I realised the contest thread had closed.

All Sims are beautiful -- even the ugly ones.
My Simblr ~~ My LJ
Sims' lives matter!
The Veronaville kids are alright.
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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#2 Old 18th Jul 2017 at 1:51 AM
I'll reply. I'm chuffed you want to make a continuation thread for my contest Andrew. :D

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#3 Old 20th Jul 2017 at 1:09 PM
Default Jim Evans's House
There was a bit of a discussion in the Jones & Moltke design office about this job, especially about Mr. Evans wanting a modern house. Andrew's first response was, "I can't do modern."

I said, "You're still a teenager. If you can't do modern, who can?"

Andrew retorted, "That just shows how old-fashioned you are. 'Modern' went out in the 1980s!"

"I've got an idea," I said. I showed him the picture @Justpetro posted back in May of a modern hippie house with a Cape Dutch gable. "If they can do that," I said, "Maybe we could include a Veronavillesque gable in a modern house."

Andrew looked at the picture and thought for a minute. "Go for it!" he said. "Just let me see the final design before we actually build it."

This is the result:



Fortunately James Evans, better known to his public as Jim, is a very outgoing sort and doesn't mind being in the public eye. In this house only the bedrooms have curtains. The time when Olympian athletes were Corinthian amateurs, who had to scrimp to save up the fare to get to the hosting city, is long gone. Jim has ample funding both from public and private sources, and it has paid most of the costs of his lavish dwelling. The house includes a spacious well-equipped modern gym, and there is a large swimming pool in the garden with a running track round it. I think Jim's sport must be a triathlon of some sort; he keeps a BMX bike at the end of the house. He has named his residence Olympia House.

It's the first time I've used CFE (except for working through tutorials). I used it for the roof.

------ oooooooo ------

Well I'm sorry that took me so long. The weather here was beautiful for a few days. In Scotland when the temperature gets into the 20's Centigrade/Celsius (the 70's Fahrenheit) you really don't want to spend the day sitting at the computer! Once the official contest thread was closed, I felt I could go out and enjoy the sunshine, and post when the weather returned to its usual cool mediocrity. @CatherineTCJD , I'm sure it's very different to Florida, but possibly (at least on the east coast) a little drier than Seattle. Last month was the wettest June on record, so not really typical.

I'd love to know what the rest of you think of Jim's new house. It's by far the biggest and most expensive Sims' residence that I've tried to build.

I wonder if I'm the only one continuing to play the contest 'hood. I made it a new 'hood rather than a sub-hood of Veronaville mainly because I know my Veronavillians already have a strong sense of civic pride, and I wanted to see if we could develop community spirit somewhere new.

All Sims are beautiful -- even the ugly ones.
My Simblr ~~ My LJ
Sims' lives matter!
The Veronaville kids are alright.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 20th Jul 2017 at 5:53 PM
Andrew, I am glad that pic inspired you ! This is as interesting as that old-fashioned gable on the modern house

I have added the families I built for to my existing hood, but in a subhood I named Jo's village. The Walters and the Rodneys have twins, so they had to change their houses a bit
Mad Poster
#5 Old 21st Jul 2017 at 4:04 PM
Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
...The weather here was beautiful for a few days. In Scotland when the temperature gets into the 20's Centigrade/Celsius (the 70's Fahrenheit) you really don't want to spend the day sitting at the computer! Once the official contest thread was closed, I felt I could go out and enjoy the sunshine, and post when the weather returned to its usual cool mediocrity...

That sounds perfect to me! It was sooooo HOT yesterday - and we were out in it all day. UGH! It was my Mom's 77th birthday, and she wanted to eat dinner in Germany at EPCOT - so that's where we spent the day. (Hubster is a cast member, so we get in for free - YAY ) ...anywho - it rained in the evening, and when it stopped it was down to 71F. It was glorious!!! We drove home with the windows down and almost got chilly. Perfect!

Now (11:00 am) it's hot again (94F so far for today) *sigh*

This build is quite interesting; thank you for sharing it with us! It's a Verona-esque Falling Water It looks like a very accessible lot to play too. Good job!

Please ~ support my TS2 habit! Shop at my Etsy shops:
CatherinesJewelry ~ Artisan Jewelry
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Top Secret Researcher
#6 Old 22nd Jul 2017 at 6:02 PM
Haha, I love that you made a thread for the contest, AndrewGloria. I'm sure many families were made (if not only for testing purposes) and are still being played. I have a hard decision with my families. I made them in a whole new CC-free game, and so I'm not sure I will take the time to play them, but I would love to integrate them into my CC filled game. Since I'm 99.9% sure there is no way to move them, I would have to remake them and I'm just not sure I want to take the time to do that (right now), so that makes me sad.

I like that your Evans home has that HUGE pool on it. I also think it's kind of neat how it looks like they kept the entryway of the home, but tore down the rest to make it modern. Like house fusion instead of food fusion, ya know? I also see you're a fan of big spaces and bold colors. Makes it a good party pad!
Mad Poster
#7 Old 22nd Jul 2017 at 11:34 PM Last edited by gazania : 31st Jul 2017 at 11:52 PM.
Ohh ... and I can copy and paste the list of tips we learned from that contest (provided I can find the post number). Hold one ...

This is a WIP, since I'll have to re copy-and -paste, and I'm in-between doing things at the moment. The post numbers refer to the posts in the contest.



FINISHED! I hope!

As for the lots, I was so happy with my community art center until I realized that it was too large for the space where it was supposed to go! I'll have to build something else. Oops. But my Sims do like the lot ... unfortunately, though, sans toddlers and pets. Sorry, jo!

I still wish I could put my hippies in my good hood (cloned Sims, of course ... not the originals!), but when I posted a question about how to do them thoroughly correctly here, I was told that I should have made them in a fresh hood. Or something? I am a little confused. I thought I was doing things correctly. So for now, my Rhodes clones are packaged somewhere.
Screenshots

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#8 Old 23rd Jul 2017 at 12:04 AM
Jo's village. Thanks petro. :D

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#9 Old 23rd Jul 2017 at 12:54 AM
Gazania, all you have to do is run the clones through bodyshop before placing them in another neighborhood.

If you look at the SimPE clone file and the bodyshop clone file, you'll see that the first is much larger than the second. This is because there's more information in the SimPE package. What is this information? Well, if you put the SimPE clone into CAS, you'll find that it remembers all the outfits you chose for them when first creating them. If you put the bodyshop file into CAS, it will only remember the clothes the sim had on when you saved the package. Otherwise - we're not sure. And I believe there's anecdotal evidence that neighborhoods with SimPE clones in them show signs of corruption fairly soon. So it's best practices to place bodyshop clones rather than SimPE ones, to be sure that no unwanted data accompany it. You should never share a clone that hasn't been through bodyshop. If you want to use one yourself, well, that's personal choice and you do it at your own risk.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#10 Old 23rd Jul 2017 at 1:52 AM
That's fine gazania, not everyone is as crazy about toddlers as I am.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#11 Old 23rd Jul 2017 at 8:06 AM
Thank you, gazania, for that handy list

I have found that contests are often about helping each other; of sharing tips, and meeting new simmers!

Something special about this one though: there may have been one winner, but several stars were born. I really enjoy seeing the new creators uploading.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 23rd Jul 2017 at 6:56 PM
I'm still working on it. For some reason, there seems to be a traffic jam at the computer where I normally play my game! I fixed the links in the ones I posted, though.

I did like the newcomers' efforts as well. All of them were pretty darn good! And if my SDHB tests continue to prove fruitful, maybe I can finally join them. I admit to taking a break from testing. I actually wanted to ... err ... play my Sims 2 and 3 games and NOT think about building. That's pretty normal after one of my building frenzies.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Lab Assistant
#13 Old 25th Jul 2017 at 3:48 AM
Quote: Originally posted by AndrewGloria
There was a bit of a discussion in the Jones & Moltke design office about this job, especially about Mr. Evans wanting a modern house. Andrew's first response was, "I can't do modern."

I said, "You're still a teenager. If you can't do modern, who can?"


I love your house! I still can't get my game working properly so I can't finish my Elliot house.
Yours looks so cool. My Dayfdd Evans wants one (he's so fickle! lol)
Thanks for making the thread it should be interesting to see what folks are up to.
Scottiedoag
Top Secret Researcher
#14 Old 25th Jul 2017 at 6:36 AM Last edited by yavannatw : 25th Jul 2017 at 7:46 AM.
While I did make some Sims to go with the houses in the contest, I can't bear to move them in as the neighbourhood is a building one, so I'll have to copy the houses into another new neighbourhood and move them in (when I feel like playing Sims other than my regulars).

Edit
Postscript: As a consequence of entering this contest I'm finding that my decorating skills have improved and when I enter the houses of old families I'm appalled at my previously lazy decorating - some sparsely decorated, some with mismatching walls, floors and furniture. I have a lot to do...
Mad Poster
#15 Old 31st Jul 2017 at 10:37 PM Last edited by gazania : 31st Jul 2017 at 11:55 PM.
Sorry, folks. Real life absorbed me for a while, then for the fun of it, I did a kind of play-along and tried my hand at a small dance studio for the MTS theme just for fun the other day. More of an "How would I handle this?" than a serious upload. I just finished it yesterday, it's CC-d to the hilt, I playtested it for only one real-life day, and today is the last day to submit something and I would have no time to make any corrections (just made one when I last loaded the game, and am pretty darn sure I've missed some), and it's pretty simple in design. It was inspired by Sophie-David's Flamingo of Dance. Why, that Flamingo of Dance was screaming for a dance studio to put it in! While I know I won't get a badge, I found it fun to try to make a lot on my own to match the theme. I wouldn't be surprised if next month's theme provides fresh ideas. Maybe if I actually get myself together sometime and DON'T decide to do things at the last minute ...

Anywaaaay ... I've decided to try completing the "things we learned" list. I've passed Post #2000. I was looking for one of the tips for the dance studio, went to the list, and realized, "Crud. I didn't finish the list!" The last tip ended around post #2439, so I have a little more to go. I've had to fix a couple of links that aren't showing up for some reason, and re-post a Photobucketed picture. It was on another site, and I hope that the creator won't mind. I referenced the thread, and claim no involvement in this tutorial. It was just that all the other pictures had long disappeared, and I didn't want to lose the one that was left. I THINK I tried Wayback for the other pictures, but they didn't show up. If they did, I'll repost them. If Carizzo8 raises any objections, I will remove these pictures.

As for trying to recreate clones of my favorite older couple ... I thought I did it correctly the first time, but now, I'm not so sure. I absolutely didn't simply use the Sim PE info ... well, I did to make their clones in Body Shop, but I didn't simply plop the Sim PE files in the Saved Sims folder. Maybe I DID do it correctly. But when I read the bit about creating them in a fresh hood, I hesitated. I haven't done that in all the times I've cloned Sims, but I'm certainly no authority on non-corruptive measures. And with my proclivity for finding weird, little-known and even new ways to corrupt a hood, I MEAN I'm no authority. Many of the things I know are either in the Sims Wiki or things I found out the hard way!

I don't see lazy decorating when I see my older buildings, but I do smile at some of the things I did. I'll still use these buildings, but may revamp a couple. For instance, when I did a farmhouse some time ago (yes, I did one a while ago and forgot about it, but that particular contestant in this contest still did a better job!), I never knew the spiral stairs didn't have the routing issues that the straight ones did. As a result I'd .... errrr ... quietly stick a Targas elevation stair in there, thinking my Sims would get stuck. While I'll probably still use the Targas elevation stairs in a pinch, it appears I won't need them as much if I use a spiral staircase. That is nice to know. That might help me with a couple of other awkward stair situations in my buildings.

EDIT ... I finished that list! I think, anyway. I still assert that I've never seen so many tips from so many people in a contest. Wow.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#16 Old 31st Jul 2017 at 11:48 PM
Talking of babies and toddlers, we are about to have a new theme go up. Hint-hint.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#17 Old 31st Jul 2017 at 11:52 PM
I somehow make nicer roofs now Not the type that will get everyone cheering, but they really look better than before Seems as if I am mastering the art of the mix and match roof. I have tried it before - often - so apparently one needs practice - it really seems to be easier now, and I am sure this contest helped a lot!
Mad Poster
#18 Old 31st Jul 2017 at 11:57 PM Last edited by gazania : 1st Aug 2017 at 4:00 AM.
A toddler lot? (Remembers parenting rooms .... )

I considered for five minutes transforming my tiny dancing studio into a toddler dance studio, but I think that's really stretching it! The Flamingo does allow toddlers to get dance skills. Still stretching things. If I need a parenting room, though, I could make a really huge one if I remove one bathroom, enlarge the other, change the dressing rooms into the main parenting room, make the waiting area more toddler-friendly ....

NO, gazania! You CANNOT do this! No no no ....

But, but ... I could arrange the Flamingo to do a Mommy/Daddy and me session in the morning, and then parents could use it by themselves in the evening, and ... all I would have to do is fix a couple of rooms, and .... and ... I know what parenting rooms look like now, and ...

Slaps mind. NO!

Or ... maybe? I'd have to strip more CC, but if I opened it in a vanilla hood ...


Sorry. I like lot building, and other than a day care center or playground, a toddler lot is drawing a blank.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Mad Poster
#19 Old 1st Aug 2017 at 12:22 AM
I can imagine a row of dancing toddlers Lovely.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 1st Aug 2017 at 12:26 AM
And with a bit of work, it could have the flexibility I crave when building lots. All ages could use it, but with a re-working or two, it could include toddlers as well, though I'm not sure how I can close everyone but toddlers and parents out of a room ... I would have to use Visitor Controller for that one.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#21 Old 1st Aug 2017 at 2:02 AM
I am currently building a day care centre, but more wouldn't hurt. There are currently none uploaded in the sims 2 section!

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Forum Resident
#22 Old 1st Aug 2017 at 3:04 AM
Ganzia, thank you for the list of things you all learned. It will be a great reference post for newbies like me.

I am a TERRIBLE builder. Seriously, I am a *gag that is soooo boring* type of builder. Admittedly, watching you all build such beautiful, creative and elaborate structures was really intimidating. But it also spurred me into wanting to learn how to do better with my own homes. I'd better learn quick, 'cause pretty soon my Sims are going to get tired of sleeping in a lean-to or tent, or on a log, hammock or cot under the stars and are gonna start wishing they had walls and a roof.

So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
Mad Poster
#23 Old 1st Aug 2017 at 4:00 AM Last edited by gazania : 1st Aug 2017 at 4:52 AM.
Hmmm .... thinking about this, I dunno. I might pass on this.

Simply converting the dance studio to include toddlers is probably not going to be enough to satisfy the theme. I don't want to compete with joandsarah77. While I can think of other activities, no matter how I slice things, there is going to be a heap of CC, even if I go Maxis-only on the structure.

I might do another play-along with the intent to convert it to a child's lot once the theme is done. It's not that there isn't stuff for toddlers to do. It's just that unless I use a lot of CC, I doubt I can make something a little more unusual. I could try for a limited list, I guess. And who knows ... this contest has taught me that sometimes, you can come up with some unusual ideas! I'm deleting the dance studio pictures for now on this thread.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 1st Aug 2017 at 8:57 AM
Has the theme been published yet, for I can't seem to find it? And it is not a competition, @gazania - monthly themes are not judged or anything, it does, however, motivate creators to create something.
Mad Poster
#25 Old 1st Aug 2017 at 9:34 AM Last edited by gazania : 1st Aug 2017 at 10:42 AM.
"Competition" is the wrong word. I'd just rather not do something if I know someone else is going to do it.

And I'm sure we'll be seeing something soon!

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
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