More Awesome Than You!

MATY HOOD CONTEST
Welcome to the first (my first) Neighborhoods contest  ;D

Rules
1) NO CUSTOM CONTENT !
you can use all objects that there are in all expansion (UNI, OFB, PETS, SSN) and "stuff" packet.  (like FFS, CELEB., H&M)
but no custom stuff, the only one admitted is the Invisible Driveway & Extensions (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=90875)

2) THE LOTS Try to respect the description of the lots, and you must stay in the price range declared.

3) PLAYABILITY we suppose that at the end of the contest someone will play with it, so all house and community lots must have to be 100% working and playable.
That mean for example
- "no locked doors" just 'cause it's nice on that place but the sims are unable to use it.
- "no too small corridor" there are a long corridor but it's large 1 tile and 2 sims will stuck if they meet there.
- "no unable to use objects" i've placed a vase on a combination of other objects but the sims say he is unable to use/watch it

4) You have to present the lots with screenshots. Please made the it downloadable too, don't know where host it, you can use www.unbase.com (http://www.unbase.com/) (it ask for a payment subscription but ignore it, it's free) ;)
  if there more than one player for the same lot, the best one will be chosen by the forum, and if we'll have a balanced vote JM will chose for us  ;D

just an info.:
the lots with just original stuff will be pretty small, compressed with WinRar or 7Zip they should be about 1mb, the simplest house will be about 500kb, so you can play this contest also if you have a 56k connection  :)

5) Have Fun  ;D

The Neighborhoods
(http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/7942/n070hu9.jpg)
Description of the lots

- A THIS WILL BE RESERVED FOR THE WINNER !
Central Square. it's the main square, it will be like a square, with a fountain in the middle, maybe a coffe-bar some shops..

- B Market, it could have some buildings (shops) or a supermarket..
- C Saint Simmin National Park, must have a lake, some trees, and all stuff that usually are present in a park
- D Shops... mabye be coffee, bar,  cloth, and all that you wish..
- E Shops... mabye be coffee, bar,  cloth, and all that you wish..
- F At the start i was thinking about a pub or a disco, but it could be also a Sports center..
- H Amazing View Restaurant, that's a 5 stars restaurant, the typical place where you need the credit card and a full of money bank account :P


- 1 2 3 4 A packet of Villas starting from 18.000§ to 150.000§ with a place for a car. they should have (+/-) the same style, or color.
an idea could be... made 1 and then edit/change it 3 times
- 4b the lot 4b is the same thing for the other but it's a bit bigger the the other and the price start from 50.000§ to 170.000§
- 5 That a really villa in the middle of the trees near the national park, i think it should be amazing place to live, so starting price from 90.000§ (no limits)
- 6 That's a classical house on the center of the city his value it's a bit high 'cause near the 5 stars restaurant and in the middle of the town.
it will have a place for the car. and his price start from 19.999§ to 40.000§. the external is in bricks.
- 7 8 it's placed on the border of the "low side" of the town, it's the first of the starting lot, a nice home with parking. From 15.000§ - 20.000§  the external is in bricks.
- 9 10 this are the the place where the low-class sims live, 'cause MATY HOOD have a place for everyone ! From 15.000§ - 20.000§  the external is in bricks.

The Winner ?
The most quoted/voted/appreciated "lot builder" will have the honor to build the lot A (Main Square), and it will take the name of builder.
ex.:
"Square Emma", "JM Pescados Central Square", "Piazza SaraMK"  ;D

Where is it ?
you can download the Hood from here (http://www.max3d.it/ts2/n070.rar) (it will require all expansion)
the game base version is downloadable from here (http://www.box.net/shared/b841e775rv) (thnx alot SaraMK)

the hood have the lots with the letters / number indicated in the map.
There aren't characters actually.
When the contest will be completed i'll start a second one to made the NPC and Family contest to fill it.

I've used the number 70 so it shouldn't conflict with any other present hood.
usually 001 to 00x and sometime 099  :P
You have to place it in your Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods\
you will need winRar (http://www.rarlabs.com) to extract it

That should be all..
if there is something wrong or not clear just ask :)

Have Fun !

...means that for me, this contest is full of lose. The terrain file is OMG pretty, though, so I'll be stealing that. Who made? You made?

Sounds like fun, a project for my summer vacation maybe (once I get my game working again) (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,8881.0.html). Am I at a severe disadvantage by not having all EP/SPs? Is there a time limit?

yes, it's made by me every participant @ the contest should download it and working directly on the interested lot..
it's free to use for everyone  :)


Just the time to fill all empty lots .. i think you should have the time btw.. maybe.. LOL i've no idea, maybe 2 weeks, maybe 2 months  ;D

Well I sure could use the unconstrained time limit! As I can't enter my game at the moment, could you post the lot sizes so I can draw some doodles to get my thoughts in order?

at the end, the time limit depend by the success of the contest...

1 2 3 4  = 2x2
4b = 3x2
5  = 2x3
6  = 3x1
7 = 2x2
8 = 2x3
9 10 = 3x1

A B = 3x3
c = 5x5
D E = 3x1
F = 2x3
H = 3x2

Is it okay if I make some of the "low side of town" lots duplexes?

as you wish  ;D

Here are some problems I noticed.

A) A lot of dangling Wants & Fears, DNA, and Relationships.
B) Requires all EPs. I tried it with Base Game + Seasons and it crashed. Base Game + NL + Seasons... also crashed. Base Game + NL + Pets + Seasons is the only combo that worked for me.

I don't think I can do anything about B) but I can fix A).

Actually, let me retract that last statement. :)

I can give you a Base Game compatible version of this neighborhood, which seems to work (but I admit that this statement is being made after only 5 seconds of testing...). Deco that comes from EPs you don't have will vanish, and you will need to figure out how to get lot sizes that you don't have in your game, but, if the neighborhood Max uploaded doesn't work for you, my version might be your only choice.

(http://i19.tinypic.com/4qem1di.jpg)

Get it here if you want it: http://www.box.net/shared/b841e775rv

New Version: This one comes with all the lots already in the neighborhood. I had trouble with lot E in the previous version (it refused to go in, like it didn't fit into that spot). If you didn't have trouble with lot E, you don't need to re-download. http://www.box.net/shared/abi7roitzh

ehe.. indeed i've used my actually game configuration that require all Exp.
Btw, thnx alot, could i link the "base hood" on my first post ?

What do we win?

Nice idea, but not joining until results of Building Contest comes through. I might need to make my own 'hood....If I lose (likely) I will play. But I want to know what is the prize?

I could sponsor this by offering a free month's subscription credit.

I could give a kiss to the winner....   :-*
..ummm... the most quoted lot will have the honor to build the lot A Main Square, and it will take the name of builder.

ex.:
"Square Emma", "JM Pescados Central Square", "Piazza SaraMK"  ;D

I'm not square, I'm hip and cool. My mum said so....

Awesome! I want the full month subscription  ;D.
For the kiss, I assume I'm advantaged, as the travel expenses should be quite low.

Gee Pes, for that kinda effort I think you should offer at least a 3 month subscription.

I'm not interested in this hood contest but... Would you upload just the terrain w/pics file please?

I'm pretty sure the terrain is one of the Maxis ones that come with the game.

If you want all the deco, but a completely empty neighborhood, you can download one of my edited versions: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,8928.msg244846.html#msg244846

Absolutly offroad, SaraMK  ;D
this is a completly original terrain made by me..

i dunno why you are (everyone here) soo few cooperative..
on MaryLouSims2 (http://www.marylousims2.it/MyForum/viewtopic.php?t=1387) fuorm we need to start 2 thread to made it manageable  ;D
btw.. nevermind :P

btw i'll attach the terrain.. (i hope it's the right one)
have fun :P

Some very nice lots in the MaryLouSims2 thread.  Wish I could read Italian. :D

Wait a minute...are you seriously trying to chastise us because few folks thought your idea was worth giving up their ongoing projects and preferred gameplay style to spend hours--if not days, weeks or months!--to install and build an entire neighborhood according to your specifications?

I do hope you were attempting to be playful and not pissy just because most of us have no interest in adding yet another hood to our game, playing without CC, and restricting ourselves to building certain types of lots only in certain places.

Seriously, whatever tiny little flare of interest I may have had just evaporated. Screw it, I have enough projects in my life as it is.

Because we aren't 8-year-old little kiddies who go "Oooh shiny!", get all excited, and forget about it in three minutes? Sheesh. What Lorelei said.

By the way, what happened to lot G? It goes from A - F and then skips to H.

er... I do!  :D

I read the initial plan/proposal and thought, like others, well that seems like a time-consuming request and not particularly exciting. Then you tell us we're not responding as you wished. Well, hello, what's in it for us?

I wouldn't have said anything except I thought it was kinda cheeky to berate us for not flocking to the call, so to speak.

wooow .... you are slow   :o
well i suppose that you're much more fast that that...
usually i install, a hood in 2mins. and, usually i made a complex lot  in 30mins...
on our italian forum we are all over 30, but a pairs of element, it's just a way to have some fun with the other forum members...
indeed Numenor are with us :P
Some of us have discovered some "advanced" buildings technique from the others... nothing is useless  :P

I like the idea, but I don't do challenges. When I play TS2 at all, it is according to my rules :)

Besides, proper lot building takes me too long just to do it for a contest. Most of my houses are predownloaded (I like plasticbox's collections), and those few lots I've built myself are populated by old families, so I can't rip them out of my current 'hood without doing damage.

Bollocks. Not with building, decorating, landscaping and some thought. A box maybe.

It's a nice idea and I'll probably give it a go at some point but at the moment I'm tied up with playing an alphabet legacy challenge so it's not likely to happen in the next week or two. I also need to get back to writing code for my family tree viewer and finish off a bunch of assignments for a CPD qualification for work.

It's probably worth pointing out that while MaximilianPS' English is infinitely better than my Italian, I suspect that some of the subtleties of what he is trying to say are getting lost in translation hence the tone being a bit rude/abrupt and people reacting accordingly.

Like I said, I probably will join too, just don't want to make too much work for myself if I have to make my own 'hood. When it stops being fun, then starts to become a chore, then I stop playing.

quote from: MaximilianPS
quote from: witch

A simple lot takes me longer than 30mins. Show & tell-I wanna see your 30min lot.

i pend hours to made stuff like this one...
http://www.max3d.it/pub/cofanetto.jpg (http://www.max3d.it/pub/cofanetto.jpg)
6h 30'
most of the time gone during the renderings :P

2 days.. .... 11h for the render
http://www.max3d.it/pub/laserGameTribute.jpg (http://www.max3d.it/pub/laserGameTribute.jpg)


for sure not for this one...
http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2128/snapshot000000029381653tl5.jpg (http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/2128/snapshot000000029381653tl5.jpg)
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/1872/snapshot00000001338ed96cw7.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/1872/snapshot00000001338ed96cw7.jpg)

@ the end it's a game :P

The first two images have naught to do with the Sims2, so how much time they took you means nothing. It's also much more than 30 minutes. Making & decorating a lot takes longer than that. Typically, building a house takes me 3-4 hours..and I build a lot. The ten-story glorified rectangle obelisk took longer than a half hour.

Hm, why not start a 2 hour lot contest (30 min. would make a bad contest I think)? Rules are, you can plan out how you're going to build in your head but not on paper - no graph paper before starting. Start timer, start building - wherever you are when 2 hours is up, stop. Post pics. Everyone gets to vote on whether they think you cheated or not :p

I like that idea, Sagana. In fact, it would be even better if the 2 hours didn't have to be consecutive (i.e. You could build for one hour, take a break for a day or so and then build for another hour before stopping).

Would there have to be some ground rules about maybe, I don't know, a medium sized family home, or a family grocery or something similar? Then there's the old CC debate...

And?
I've heard that phrase millions of times in the ten years that I've been playing and I still never know what the person using it is trying to convey.  ???  Of course it's just a game, but people will have opinions on all the aspects of playing it and on the other players as well.

2hr lot contest=yea!

I don't see any reason why time would have to be consecutive. I also wouldn't bother deciding what kind of things could be built - anything goes. The point being to see what's the most elaborate/neatest/coolest stuff you can do in the time period (or who can build the most/best, or whatever).

But... I'd say whatever you decide to build, you hafta go ahead and try and finish that - so don't start something you don't think you can finish in 2 hours (or you'll have a partially done masterpiece, and the cartoons don't usually come out looking finished). But no - "ok, I can build a mansion, no I can't let's make it a 1-bedroom shack instead" (not that the shack is really easier to build *well*). Since there's a vote on who cheated - a 1 br shack on a 5x5 lot, people would probably think someone dumped an idea in the middle ;)

Also I'd allow custom content. These aren't for an awesome contest afterall, and Pescado probably wouldn't like them anyway ;) They also don't have to be put up for download at all anyway, just nice if the good builders want to. Time spent looking for custom content doesn't count against you though (lots of people will already have things anyway) - so count that in with planning time.

checked it but the bridge isn't connecting the roads on either side of the river (the bridge is actually in a different spot on the terrain, off all by itself)

Yey! My game is working! I'll download the neighbourhood (Thanks SaraMK for a base game hood file) and have a play :) I'm not much of a builder so you'll have to wait and see what I come up with. Dispite the backlash you've had MaximilianPS, I think it's a nice little project to work on over my summer vacation.

Here is a lot for lot 9 or 10.

(http://aycu04.webshots.com/image/20843/2002231526174494455_th.jpg) (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002231526174494455)

Lot is 30x10 and just under 20K ($19,196). Built with Sims down on their luck in mind. I went for a run-down/mouldy feel, I hope it comes off well. The lot is no more than two rooms deep when viewed from the long side, there is also only one storey and no foundation. This fits in with my playing style: I'm a lazy simmer who almost never moves the camera view. This lot has been play tested with a new CAS family of five: mum, dad, one child and two toddlers. While money was tight for the first few days, a job in the politics career soon sorted things out.

Images

Floorplan:
(http://aycu29.webshots.com/image/21188/2002235185432812974_th.jpg) (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002235185432812974)

Bedrooms:
(http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/20693/2002292917343278725_th.jpg) (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002292917343278725)

Kitchen:
(http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/21142/2002275415903698487_th.jpg) (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002275415903698487)

Lounge:
(http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/20420/2002236359722468180_th.jpg) (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002236359722468180)

Nursery
(http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/19420/2002293313076264118_th.jpg) (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002293313076264118)

Play testing sucessful:
(http://aycu21.webshots.com/image/19420/2002243796744262760_th.jpg) (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002243796744262760)

The photos were taken before play testing so there has been a little bit of rearrangement and addition to the house, also the swing was taken out to keep the cost down.

Features:
-> 2 bedrooms
-> 2 bathrooms, one off of nursery
-> Nusery for twins
-> Skill objects for all skills except creativity
-> Perimeter fence
-> One storey
-> One / Two room depth
-> Room for driveway or expansion
-> No custom content

Known faults
-> Main bathroom has a shower, not shower/tub combo
-> Noisy toys in the sleeping area of nursery
-> No lights
-> Lower end objects used through-out, including beds (though not the worst beds) and toilets due to budget constraints

FYI: Took me one hour to build (I had already planned it on paper though), one hour to play test and a further half hour to admend and package... And twenty of an hour to find an image host and write this post...

PRECAUTIONS

I have Uni and Nightlife installed so I guess you must have at least these expansion packs installed
I cannot run Clean Installer as I do not have .NET on my WinXP partition: Therefore use of clean installer is recommended

Instead of creating a whole hood, wouldn't it be a much better contest if everybody just picked 1 or 2 lots to build? Combine those into one hood and you'd have a true maty-build community, without having to spend oodles of time on it. Yes, the 'challenge' part of it would be gone, but I suppose the focus could be on the end result. It would definitely interesting to see a combination of different styles.

ETA: I'll give it a go and try and build community lot B, the market place. That is a 3x3 lot isn't it?

ETA2: FAIL! I got about this far with my lot, 'till I realised that I wasn't really going anywhere, the lay-out of the building sucked, and that it was just generally non-awesome.
(http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/6210/screenshotga9.png) (http://imageshack.us)
Notice the brown line stretched from one end of the lot to the other. That's what happends with my video card when I place too much fencing.

Nice entrance archway, though! I like that a lot. Haven't seen anything quite like it elsewhere. Is it constructed with cutaway walls, or is it one big piece?

That's two 1x4 walls, floorheight cheated a bit lower than normal, with a inside stage foundation plopped on top (EDIT: Maybe not, maybe a second floor also floorheight cheated lower than normal, I forgot that the inside stage doesn't warp well). Then she floorheight cheated the arch shape.

Quite nice. I really like it, just not the awnings. Maybe replace with a loungey-garden area and swings? Or somewhat. The main building is great.

Very clever!

*is impressed*

Zazazu is right with here second attempt. It's made of two 4x1 rooms with a 12x1 room on top, and then lowered to form the archway. Whilst on the lot it looks really nice, but from neighbourhood view the game shows horizontal floor tiles instead of curving ones, making it look like some kind of retarded staircase.

@ Zazazu, the awnings where supposed to represent the market stalls, I just hadn't placed anything underneath yet. Normally I make stalls by using a 15 degree roof, but I didn't want all 4 stalls + the building to have to some colour roof. Note that this lot is only half-finished, more 'green' was also going to be added in the form of scattered flower boxes.

I hate what 'hood view does to lots. I get landscaping showing where it isn't, roofs looking like they are detached...ick!

I madly hope that one of the new cheats we get with Bon Voyage enables individual roof color, just like we can now to individual slopes. After the ghastly auto-roofs of Sims 1, roofing is one of my favorite things.