Could you take some pics? I think it's easier to troubleshoot if we could see exactly what you mean. Overheads and perspectives, if you please!

I suspect there's some CFE action in your future...but it depends on where the second floor split is in relation to the sunken living room. You might also have to create a third floor floor and then delete it....but again, a view would help.

So I realize I fell asleep before I actually posted my own answers! Here we go:


I am mostly a builder/decorator. I'm not terribly girly, but I grew up with a mother who had a great eye for decorating, so i learned by example. I love building homes based on RL architecture - once the online sites started to bore me, I started getting books from the library. Fun! I'm working on a true-to-the-plans version of Fallingwater..it's the long-term project in the midst of other smaller ones (like the yankee barn which I PROMISE I'll rebuild sans curse!). I honestly have only gotten into playing families since I moved MATY sims into the game.


I do major decoration/buildling. I use the cutaway walls mostly, with the hack to choose visable paintings. I also use some of the custom non-cutaway walls, especially when I wish to maintain the look of a room or hide a garage. Whoever has the most toys wins is DEFINITELY my motto for my sims. Again, I have only recently gotten into playing sim families.


I've yet to get through two generations....previously, once i got a couple to spawn, that was about it. This time...well...I am DYING to know what MATY spawn will grow up to be like, so we might see a few generations.


I have blown up more hoods than I can count.


My sims tend to be overachievers....doing the relationship/interraction thing is not my style (odd, since I'm a director IRL)....but I'm learning. Maybe it's because I know my actors this time? <muahahaha!>


My sims tend to stay at home, but I LOVE building community lots. I find comm. lots best for meeting new people rather than meaningful story movement.


I LOVE city scapes, but I always include some more suburban looks...and a country house or two.


Nope. And yes, Pescado, "MOAR FIGHT" is a theme.


No. I tried in the beginning, but they annoyed me. I use Ste's visitor controller to ban pets. (Exception: Lorelei asked me to give her a tuxedo cat, so I will. I also am allowing cats on the Bast Moon Cafe lot....well, it's a natural, isn't it?)


I will be trying my first vamp WITH hacks as soon as I get a friend's self-sim. Otherwise, I don't do the supernatural stuff.



I generally like to make life harder...although I use jfade's career choosing flamingo, as I like to dictate the path of a sim...and I have used money cheats now and then (mostly to build the requisite perimeter fence)...or if I want a family to start off richer than most. I will also use the college adjuster to randomize skills if I start with adult Sims...seems stupid to be an adult and have less skills than a toddler!



I use a ton of CC....mostly, in fact. I go through spells of what I love...went on a kitchen spree for a while, then a clutter spree, an art spree, a garden spree. But i will drop everything for a good build set!   I limit hair and clothing...so much of it sucks out loud through a straw.



Mostly lots - at SFV at the moment. I have done a few recolors - but I find I don't have the patience for it that I do for building.


I am really enjoying this thread...glad IG suggested it. I also think it's interesting that the game is so flexible as to accomodate so many different styles of play.

Invisigoth and I were talking this evening about play style...and we realized that this discussion would make an interesting topic. Now IG suggested I start the thread, although, as she says, "since it was my idea I want you to credit me and never post it on the exchange or a paysite.  And also no changing my idea, recoloring, alpha edits...And you must link back to my profile whenever you mention this idea to anyone.  Including IRL."

So with that in mind....

How do you play? Please include details such as:

- are you more into building lots, decorating lots, creating sims, or playing families?

- lots: do you play highly decorated, with walls up/cutaway, with a focus on 'whoever has the most toys wins"? Or do you play barely decorated, walls down, with a focus on interractions/spawning?

- is genetics your thing? Do you like watching spawns, and spawns of spawns for how they turn out? Or do you barely get through one generation before you're off to the next family?

- do you build lots of hoods, or have you been playing one or two hoods forever?

- in terms of what your sims do: are you into relationships and interractions, or are you more into how they skill and climb the corporate ladders?

- do you play lots of community lots, or are your sims homebodies?

-city/country/suburban?

- do you do themes? (aliens, medieval, Victorian)

- do you play with pets?

- do you do the vamp/werewolf/alien/zombie thing, or are you more a 'real person' player?

- hacks: do you like to make life simpler or harder? insim? inteen?

-custom content: lots or a little? what do you have the most of?

- and finally, if you share your creations...what do you create?

Discuss.

When I burninated all my custom hair, my sims all got the default hairstyle in their color of choice...I don't remember what happened to the custom color sims.

It's worth it, though!

And about getting more CC - I am pretty much now in the habit of deleting stuff I no longer use/never really liked in the first place. And I also use the compressorizor, so it feels like i'm not taking up too much space!

That doesn't stop me from sneaking in a new pile of Piggi's recolors though....LOL

You are not. IN fact, I deleted all Raon, Peggy, and Rose hairs in my game because of how crappy they look in play. The only ones I have now are those that came with MATY sims.

I use amost exclusively XM, Nouk, and Seomi hair now.

Each of the above mentioned are on my must-have lists! I would also add the following for specific categories/objects:

JustSims2 - for great makeup by Barcelona, and some lovely haute couture

Windkeeper (TSR) - MUST-HAVE window sets (donation items bootified)

Dincer - for unique antiquities, including a stunning Nefertiti bust (donation items bootified)

Moune's Neighborhood - for her shelving system, which has become a staple in my game

ssalam style - for some lovely dresses and suits (sadly no longer updating)

Sterling Sims - for gorgeous walls and floors

Stylist Sims - for some gorgeous items, including a great spiral staircase and the Barcelona bathroom (donation items bootified)

Simply Styling - for their great textured walls, which are now a staple in my builds

Sims Kitchen - for just about everything...her Pottery Barn set is stunning in-game

"That happens in reality" 

Right. Hmm.

Gee, you've just attacked me, I'm bruised, torn, denigrated and traumatized. What shall we do while we wait for the police to drag your bum ass to jail? I know, I can whip up a roast! I can do those little potato crips you like..and how about crepes for dessert? I think I have some fresh fruit...

Bah.

If that's reality, it's a world I don't think I want to know about.

In other words, only with serious whining, kicking, and screaming will I be forced to read/watch the submissions for this contest.

For some nice women's dresses, try Ssalam Style - they don't update anymore, but the goods are there.

Lliella has some nice things, although her color palette is limited. Her donation stuff is in the booty.

Simply Styling's clothing looks great in game, too.

For some groovy, 60s retro stuff, Carnaby can't be beat.

For kid's stuff, I like SimSquirts and Evi at TSR - both in booty.

Good men's stuff is much harder to find: most of mine comes from Aikea Guinea at TSR, Sims Connection, and Fanseelamb at MTS2.

Also - I like some of Parsimonious's items...some is too quirky for my taste, but there are some lovely things there (including some great women's pajama sets).

I'm sure others will have good suggestions, too....there is a lot of nice stuff out there.

Heh, it's actually quite playable. I have had this lot - and variations - playing for a while. I REALLY think it was some new custom content that I used in the house yesterday that blew it up....but with the coincidental timing, it was too good to pass up an opportunity to blame Pescado.

I feel sorry for the judges....having to actually READ all of this shit.

::::shudders::::::

yes, I just discovered that the low outdoor 'spotlight', even hidden under a table or bookcase, adds sufficient light. It just made my split levels playable again.

Shortly after Pescado explained my overwhelming failure, I loaded the game, and this lot blew up.

It's DEFINITELY Pescado's fault.

Just as well.

Marriage is overrated. Let 'em live in sin.

A tip for getting the lower ground to be at the right height:

Level part of the ground to the top level (front door). Then place stairs (the expandable ones, not the fixed ones)...they should lower the ground four clicks at a time. You need a total of 12 clicks (3 sets of stairs) to get walls that will build correctly downstairs.

I can provide pics if you need them.

jfade's got two good items that help make cost of living more realistic - Driving Costs Money and Cat Litter Isn't Free.

Gee, Ste...sounds like a call for a trannie mod. [/hint]

You can build it on this: http://modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=189057&highlight=simopoly

i know this doesn't count, because it was just released...

...but just for the Lulz factor, I had to share this monstrosity building from Sky Sims:



But wait! That's not all!







i don't know when these were uploaded...but they almost make Buntah's houses look reasonable.

No, wait, they don't. They just take Buntah's ...um....taste to a new level.

I built a rather cool four-story modern residence for a city 'hood once...each floor had a distinct function, with the stairs running in a sort of spiral around the outside.

I'd share it, but the hood borkinated before I remembered to save the lot.

I've also used 1x1s for things like newsstands and other small single-purpose community lots...again, for cityscapes.

That's not a house, that's a Carvel ice cream cake!

I'm trying to figure out the whole 'bed of nails' thing they've got going at the top...as well as the untethered steel columns around the outside.

And...that is a smilie face on the roof, isn't it.

Umm.....

:::::blinks rapidly::::::

Okay, so there are a million things wrong with this build...I'm ....stunned into silence.

I didn't realize the pool looked like a mouse until you said that! Heh.

The house is very playable...especially since I tend to banish kids to the second floor with a queue that keeps 'em busy for hours while I play adults.

I uploaded a new version, hopefully closer to El Presidente's specs.

oh, whoops. Will edit above, but meanwhile, I have Uni, NL, OFB, Petz, and Seasons. No stuff packs.

EDIT: Attempts to bring house to awesome specs completed...pics and new version offered at end of this post.

Despite my grousing about no custom content, I have capitulated, and I decided that having to build with no CC would be a challenge in itself.

And so, I bring you the Yankee Barn - based on a RL design.



Specs:
Lot: 4x4
Price: 177,560
Flatness: 100%
EPs: Uni, NL, OFB, Petz, Seasons

Features: one-car garage, master suite with private outdoor hottub, nursery suite, two additional bedrooms, 3 full- and 2 half-baths, living room with fireplace, family room, pool, greenhouse, pond.

It's a big place, with plenty of room for a growing family, or perhaps a growing commune. Gardens surround the house, and there is always room for more.

The kitchen/dining/living area:


What your peeping tom sees when he looks into the living room windows:


The master suite:


The family room:


The nursery suite (can be converted to bedrooms once your Sim has stopped spawning):


The kids' rooms - note that these rooms can be rearranged if the kids need to double up:


Random views that I think show off the house to its best advantage, including some floor plans:













BRIBE: Will do a forum-, writing-, or data-related editing/organizing project of your choice...and I'll build up to 10 custom lots to your spec. Oh, and I'll kill a few paysites.

************RELOAD***************


1. Added full perimeter fencing:




2. Moved composter to back yard where deciduous trees reside (although newspapers will need to be intercepted now):



3. Replaced beds with more comfortable/more energizing varieties (in other words, substance over style). Did a bit of redecorating as a result:





4. Added the homework desk to the family room:



New value: 186,651