#I think my favourite little outcome of the extreme space/orientation restrictions were that I actually had a reason to put trash cans | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

rockethorse · 2 years

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When artistic visionary Ann Ghelld passed away, she bequeathed her beloved townhouse to the city as affordable housing for fellow creative types... on one stipulation; that nobody touched its eccentric and wildly impractical layout. While this final request has caused its share of architectural headaches, nonetheless, the Ann Ghelld Building survives in the heart of Sim City’s basket weaving district. Upon crossing its unusual threshold you might grab a coffee from Cafe Urele, pick up a bouquet or snacks from LlaMart Convenience, or simply catch the elevator up to any of its three apartments.

I love watching LilSimsie’s videos, even though we play different editions, and I particularly enjoy her shell challenges - where she uploads empty exterior walls and others have to make a lot out of it. I especially liked this one, referred to lovingly by LilSimsie & her followers as the “Big Mistake Shell Challenge” - because all the exterior walls are 100% diagonal.

This is just as difficult to work around in TS4 as it is in TS2, so I wanted to join in the torture! The (wonky) red lines mark the untouchable shell. I ended up really happy with the results, so I’m sharing this fully-furnished, cleaned, play-tested, CC-free apartment building in the hopes you’ll enjoy it too.

Important info, more pics & download link below!

🚨 PLEASE LOAD THIS LOT BEFORE MOVING SIMS IN 🚨

When you move Sims into an apartment, it’s difficult to safely alter anything outside, so please make sure to check that everything is as it should be before you move Sims in.

You do not need CC or mods to play this lot. However, it was made with a few common mods in mind, and if you don’t want to use them, please tweak the lot before playing:

Rugs have been placed off-grid. Either make sure you have Rugs Off The Grid, or delete/move rugs to avoid graphical glitches as seen in these previews.

If you don’t have Water Inaccessible Flowers and Trim Inaccessible Bushes then you may need to move/delete some landscaping and/or fences.

The ground floor was designed for use with Apartments & Shopping On The Same Lot. If you don’t use this mod, nothing bad will happen, but the bottom floor will not sell anything except via the vending machines & electronics kiosk. You can replace the convenience store with a common area such as an indoor pool, computer room, etc, or even another apartment; I honestly recommend leaving the cafe as-is, because your playable Sims can still work there as a barista.

There is no CC in this lot, but there are some deco "accessory” items not normally accessible by players (e.g. a saucepan). If you delete these you may not be able to replace them. Similarly, some items were placed with Shiftable Everything. If you delete some items you may not be able to replace them in the same positions without this mod.

A corner counter in the top apartment may not corner properly when the lot is placed. This can be fixed with moveobjects. Although it clips, it is considered within the apartment, so you can put objects on it without apartment cheats.

If you don’t use Shiftable Trash Chutes, your chutes may appear glitched (see below). This is harmless and can be fixed simply by replacing the chute. Note: the chute on the second floor was originally placed with the cheat setquartertileplacement on.

If you play with CC, then I also have some suggestions for where it might improve this lot:

The expensive computer in the cafe (I hate that hideous thing) would be much better as a laptop.

The flower plots on the rooftop would also make a great produce garden with Honeywell’s placeable garden plots.

You can replace a corkboard in the lobby with a jobs board.

The signs for Cafe Urele might look nicer with a recolour or swapped out for a cute sandwich board.

The bike racks by the basketball court look a bit bare without some deco bikes.

The bare brick wall at the back of the building is prime real estate for some graffiti.

The busker’s guitar out the front will look a little more appropriate with an invisible amp recolour and maybe a decorative case.

If you find all the lights overpowering, don’t forget to turn some off.

And of course, don’t forget to add fences, hedges, etc. that will make this lot blend in better with the surrounding lots in your hood.

The first apartment has two separate bedrooms; Currently, it’s furnished as though occupied by two unrelated roommates - one sewist and one musician - but it could also work for a parent and a child. It has this kitchenette common area as well as a small balcony.

The second apartment is the most “luxury”. It’s a cozy open-plan studio with a double bed, a small but quality kitchen, and its own balcony. This is ideal for a D.I.N.K couple or perhaps a single Romance Sim.

The top apartment is the smallest and cheapest, barely fitting a kitchenette and single bed, but there’s space to move out on the building’s largest balcony. Perfect for an artsy single Sim working or studying in the big city. (The little reading nook bumpout is my favourite detail.)

All bathrooms are more or less identical, with a toilet, basin, medicine cabinet, trash can, and shower. The second floor studio has a shower/bath combo.

I wanted the lot to have free skilling opportunities, so all residents have access to the rooftop garden and free use of the crafting station & chess set there. There’s also a bookcase in the cafe, a guitar on the street for busking, an outdoor gym, and a basketball hoop.

Sims should be able to access everything (except the flowers/hedges - see above) without routing errors, though of course, with such an “interesting” layout, your Sims might get a bit cramped and fussy. The only issue I ran into is that there’s nowhere on the second floor for the newspaper to be delivered, so it often glitches into the apartment on the left, regardless of which apartment you live in. You can retrieve the paper in buy mode without cheats. This is not an issue on the top floor.

Thank you so much for reading! I don’t remember the last time I shared a lot for download; if you do end up playing it, I’d love to hear how it went.

Download Ann Gheld Building [CC Free]

#the sims 2 #ts2 #sims 2 lot #I don't know what to tag this with lol #sniffles. looks at you directly. please clap #I never considered myself a builder so sharing lots makes me way more nervous than sharing CC!#if you like it then reblogs would mean ... the Sim world ... [staring at you with huge eyes]#in all seriousness though this was so fun I love shell challenges. It being entirely diagonal was SO interesting #in TS4 and TS2 alike a lot of items NEED to be on straight walls to function #TS4 doesn't have elevators or spiral stairs though so their stairs situation was even harder haha. I do feel bad about that #but placing things like toilets and counters etc was hard because they look best against straight walls #and some other items just don't function diagonally. like some of the dressers. or they do but need a 4x bigger footprint #and I couldn't use any of my precious walk-around/through blocks!! because CC free!!#I do adore Shiftable Everything though god bless modders #I'm experimenting so much more now that 1) I don't have to fiddle with OMSPs and 2) I know I can share it wantonly #I think my favourite little outcome of the extreme space/orientation restrictions were that I actually had a reason to put trash cans #in the bathrooms. Like that was the only place they would reliably fit #because all the bathrooms were so weirdly shaped because they all needed straight walls. so they all had little pockets #meanwhile the rest of the apartment typically didn't have space for a bin where it would be accessible in normal gameplay #I never put trash cans in Sim bathrooms normally because there's no need for one there even tho IRL it's probably like #the most common place to have a trash can after the kitchen #BAM. Lil bit of realism for you. Two sim birds with one sim stone #anyway I'm rambling. I had a lot of fun with this and I'm gonna do more shell challenges and maybe share more builds #there's also a little rockethorse easter egg for you to find if you do download it #thank you again for reading!#rockethorse lots

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