wgroome : You can still do the other rounds if you don't do this one. You don't have to drop out completely.

I'm sorry to hear that. Remember, there are still 3 1/2 days left before the round ends, if you want to change your mind again. Plus, as I don't do eliminations, you can skip a round; of course, the penalty being a 0 for the round.

I'd enjoy having you as a Judge/EJ on another contest, but having someone switch from contestant to judge in the same contest is outside the forum rules, I'm fairly sure.

I'll probably need another EJ, as I'm still waiting to get Round 1 scores back from one of the judges.

Too much soup lately, across pretty much every Sims' site I belong to, I wonder what's in the water?

I don't think that it is. As long as I'm not judging myself I don't think there's an issue, really, is there?

If we have an attached garage and it doesn't house any of the necessary items does it count toward our tiles?

It doesn't mention it specifically in the Contest Rules (Beeps' official post), so maybe it wouldn't be a problem? I don't expect wgroome would be particularly biased towards one or more contestants just because they've been a contestant themselves. If anything, maybe they'd give higher scores across the board as they know how hard this contest is! :-D (or maybe they'd be harsh judges with really high standards because they've tried it themselves and expect more from everybody than non-former-contestant judges - boo!)

Either way, it would be nice to get Round 1 scores back before Round 2 ends (I am completely aware that it's not your fault that that's proving problematic, kattenijin!) and maybe having wgroome as an EJ would make that possible??

I was just wondering if 1 3-tile bookcase is an acceptable substitute for 3 bookcases?

That would be ok.

I've PMd BP and I'm just waiting on her response.

You could end up having to judge it yourself kattenijin, which I know you would rather avoid, but I don't believe it's allowed for a previously judged contestant to judge. Unless bP would be willing to make an exception.

This is my entry for Round 2.
I call it the "Wanna Be Pueblo-nese House".
123 tiles exactly. No extra halves or nothing (I am quite proud of this feat )
I used all the objects required and everything is accessible and ready to use. (Which took a long time to achieve)
Made on a 15x15 lot so there really isn't much room for anything else.

Thank god for moveobjects and if there are any questions... I'm on here all the time anyway...

I would also like to note that the two aerial shots are different. One is situated from the back the other from the front. If you look at them both you can see all the objects. Because the way the walls are some of the objects were blocked depending on the pic...

Round 3 Entry - Converted Church
 

Whew I'm finally done. This has been a real labour of love. I count it as 130 tiles exactly. As you can see it's a converted church in my world's downtown area. The church became rundown and when the bridges were built to join the two towns either side of the river the priest relocated to the small cathedral on the other side. The old church was sold off for next to nothing and renovated into a 3 bedroom (+ tiny nursery) family home. My family have tried by ways of clutter and colour to make the cold stone building feel like a warm & cosy home.


Front View












I just wanted to add that the potty, an old record player/stereo and toybox are all under the stairs as you can't see them on the pics.

@sandymdh - That is lovely!

I won't even be able to start on mine until either tomorrow or Saturday. Sorry, but I'm having to prioritise coursework. I should be able to meet the deadline though

Round 1 Scores
 

*looks at empty in-box* *glares*

Since I don't want to keep you all waiting any longer, I've steped in as an EJ. Hopefully I can get someone else for the other rounds. I HATE when the host is a judge. *sigh*

On a happier note:

Scores!
Comments from all three judges have been mingled, and edited for redundancy, verbosity, and grammar.

• Lauratje86
  I really love this house, it's a total 180 from your previous entry. Give yourself a pat on the back for that. I would have liked to see the decor flow better with the theme of the house itself. Inovative design! I would have liked to see the area under the home used more, and possibly stairs to the roof.
  
  Total 1: 92
  Total 2: 87
  Total 3: 82
  Average: 87
  
• sandymdh
  Awsome idea! I think you may be slightly "over budget" though. More color would have been nice. A boat house! I love the steps leading up to the entrance. I would have liked to see some decor as unique as the house itself.
  
  Total 1: 90
  Total 2: 93
  Total 3: 81
  Average: 88
  
• Samethana
  Very spacious. I love the mis-matched chairs in the kitchen. More color variation! I really love this house, quaint, sweet, simple. It could be a little too simple; I like how you furnished the kitchen, but everything else just seems a bit too safe.
  
  Total 1: 79
  Total 2: 85
  Total 3: 75
  Average: 79.66
  
• wgroome
  You really have a knack for making tiny houses. I love the simplicity, the modern undertones, and the blue theme. I would have loved to see a little more creativity with the decor however. All the blue has me blue too. I think you could have received bonus points by removing a few tiles, and not have lost any of the character.
  
  Total 1: 93
  Total 2: 87
  Total 3: 85
  Average: 88.33
  
• wickedblue
  I like that you added more furniture than the basics. I love how it isn't at ground level, very nice touch. The exterior is great, and so is the interior, very cozy and something I can truly see a child being happily raised in despite it's size. If not for the landscaping, its probably the house I'd drive by without looking at.
  
  Total 1: 95
  Total 2: 78
  Total 3: 60
  Average: 77.66
  
• Sulyuki
  It feels unfinished for some reason. Love the sandbox! I love the architecture on this house, and how you managed to make it two stories. When I got a look at the interior, I see where doing so didn't quite pay off. I love the house, but it could have used some more creativity when it came to the decor.
  
  Total 1: 73
  Total 2: 83
  Total 3: 78
  Average: 78
  
• hotaru801
  Its a little too busy, sometimes less really is more! Spectacular, just spectacular. I would have given you more points if I could have. The shape, the decor, the landscaping, it's all so amazing! You deserve a cookie.
  
  Total 1: 100
  Total 2: 92
  Total 3: 85
  Average: 92.33
  
• picass0blue
  I really love the exterior, and the fact that it's a beach house. Sadly I would have liked to see just as much creativity inside as I did outside. I'm glad to see you were under budget, but it seems a bit too crowded and thrown together. It really needs landscaping, it feels totally unfinished. Cute idea though.
  
  Total 1: 78
  Total 2: 71
  Total 3: 72
  Average: 73.66
  
• Cloudburst
  Good job yet again! I am absolutely head over heels for this house! The only problem I have against it is the interior, there are a few things that remind me too much of your first entry. You need to add color, and stop playing safe. I do like the whimsical roof-line though.
  
  Total 1: 80
  Total 2: 98
  Total 3: 95
  Average: 91
  

The top three scores for this round are:

#3: wgroome 88.33
#2: Cloudburst 91.00
#1: hotaru801 92.33

Again, congradulations to you all!

A little farmhouse for this round:













I used all 138 tiles and all required objects are there, though I couldn't get photographs of quite a bit. I hope they are apparent in the overhead view.

Lauratje86 - Round 2
 

Everyone has made such lovely houses! :-)

Anyway, here's my attempt at Round 2. Coming in at 128 tiles (yay!), welcome to Rhodes House. The house has a general red & black theme (had you noticed that?! :-D), but the teenager and the child were allowed to pick their own colour schemes for their bedrooms. With a baby boy on the way, the child will soon have to share with his baby brother.....

All the required objects are in the house (except for the telescope, which is outside as we were told), and it's been fully playtested. The least obvious object is probably the second living chair - it's the square black thing next to the easel in the "study". I didn't have enough collage space to take more pictures, so I hope that the aerial view shows everything clearly :-)

External View:



Aerial View:



Collages:

Here's my entry then
I couldn't get many decent shots of the interior, but I hope everything is visible in the overview shots. I used 123 tiles of accessible area for this, and unless I've missed something, as far as I know everything is accessible.









(The dressers in the bedrooms are 'built into' the beds, hence they look a bit weird but they're fully usable)

Can I have more time, please? I've tried so hard to make it, but I'm too slow.

I can give you untill 12pm GMT-5 (noon) on Febuary 13. If anyone would like to make changes to thier entry they may do so by that time and not recieve a penalty.

picass0blue, if you need more time, you may use the extension too.

I'll be posting round 3 at the normal time though.

EDIT: Anyone interested in being a judge for the final 2 rounds?

^ Oh thank heavens, I was about to ask! But GMT -5 is like 8am here or something I believe? (I'm terrible with numbers.) If I absolutely can't have a further extension I will just have to go without posting in this round. In fact if I don't post would I be able to judge for one round? I'm thinking if the answer's no I would just switch to judging because I have NO free time but am committed to this competition...

Thank you for the extention, I was almost done, but it still took for ever to finish it. It's 123 tiles, not counting the empty tiles above the stairs. I do have all the required items, but I'm not sure if they all show in the pictures. The fridge is under the stairs, they couldn't use it where it was before so I moved it. I've tested and they can use everything. I used a two tile coffee table as the sideboard.

Wait, do tiles above stairs not count?? I thought they did.. Or was that just tiles under the stairs?

Both count, for interior stairs. The "issue" with stair tiles, is that someone thought that Sims 2 players had a space advantage, because the spiral stairs "wasted" less tiles; when in fact, they actually "waste" more. (At least, in my opinion.)

Now, I apologise for not getting Round 3 posted on time, I got totally sucked-in to Dragonage last night (Yes, Virginia, I play non-Sims games, lol!), and was too tired to type in the post. It will be up shortly.

EDIT: MTS will be down, I need to postpone my post.

EDIT 2: Round two is closed BTW!

Ok, looks like MTS is back up


At last! Your over-stuffed living situation has been looking up for a while, your eldest is married and in an apartment of their own; the middle child, while still single, also in their own place; and the "baby" of the family is finally in their first year of college! You've been slowly taking over their spaces for your own clutter, its time to turn those empty rooms into something for you to enjoy!

Then the phone rings, and rings, and rings! (What?! You thought you actually had SPACE this round?!) Your eldest's company just down-sized and laid him/her off, and that great apartment just went condo, so they need a "temporary" place to stay; by the way, "We're pregnant!" (Will that crib never go away?!). Your mother just got thrown out of the third assisted living comunity in a row for "wild behavior"; and your mother-in-law, who moved abroad when she retired (and whom you haven't seen in 5 years), just announced she'll be arriving for a six-month stay. Did I happen to mention just how well these two women get along? Just like oil and fire!

Using no more than 185 tiles, design a home for 7 sims and a baby. You may design in any style, on any lot, any number of floors. You may design an entirely new home, or add on to your previous lot. You may add outside terraces/decks in keeping with the scale of the home, and any landscaping/amenities you wish, again keeping in scale.

Please include all the furniture from the previous round, plus whatever additional pieces you think you need. There are no specific room requirements, but please keep in mind the personalities and relationships.

Rules, photos and scoreing are the same as in the aplication round. Tile bonus will be 1 point for each of 5 tiles saved.

Please PM me with any questions.

Are me allowed to replace items of furniture with bigger items of furniture? Mainly, can we/I replace the two single beds from the previous round with double beds - I'd like to be able to give the mother and the mother-in-law double beds rather than single ones if I have space. Just makes more sense to me that adults would have double beds, even if they were single. I'm single, and I have a double bed! :-D

I'm fairly positive there is a use for at least one of the single beds, with out it being assigned to either great-grand mother to be. The double beds for them would count as some of your additional pieces. The other single bed...I'm sure you can come up with something.

Aha, just reread the round outline thingy, and yes, that's one single bed sorted. Shall see what I come up with for the other one! :-)

Thanks for the quick reply!

**EDIT** Incidentally, I'd been hoping that we'd be back down to building a smaller house for this round, so I did groan when I saw it, but I'm getting rather enthousiastic about it now! I may have mentioned it before, but I'm really really enjoying this contest. Can't you make it a 10 round one?! :-P

If I remember correctly (I'm too lazy right now to double check) I can run up to 3 variations of the same theme, so maybe on down the line...

You will enjoy round 4 then.

I'm worried this sounds like we may perhaps need a back story... Do we need a back story? Or that it is gonna tie into the last round and I am gonna be pissed because I decided not to put in object X...

Am I reading something wrong? I see 7 total - including baby but then you say build for 7 plus baby.

I read: couple, couple+baby, mother, mother-in-law. Did I miss someone?

I figured college kid still needed a room for the times they get kicked out of the dorm... Christmas break and summer...

Edit: I'm sorry if I ruined the hint moment... But I could always be wrong... Who knows... *Confused look* Happy day before Half Off Candy Day!

More Edits: Since this round doesn't have specified rooms, is it possible for sims 3 users the put the extra dresser (which takes place of the changing table) anywhere? Or does it need to be in a certain distance from the crib?

No back story. You missed someone. Form follows function!

:P

Another question for you. If stacking stairs do the non-existant tiles where the upper stairs hang just over air (above the lower stairs) count?

Yes. Those tiles are being used by the stairs. The only tiles that do not count are "void tiles. Examples: collumns made by 4 walls with a void in the center, the upper floor of a two story room.


If I'm coming across as b*t*hy, I'm sorry, it's not personal. It just seems that EVERY round someone asks about the stairs.

I just wanted to ask about the stairs... nah

I just wanted to know exactly for how many sims we're supposed to furnish. I understand English pretty well but it's not my native language so I guess there's something about this just floating over my head since I also only see 7 sims in the description (8 if you count the college kid coming home sometimes).

7 sims and a baby.

Ok, I'm with ya now. Thanks for the answers.

This round is hella challenging but I love it.

I've been watching this thread without posting... am I allowed to be a judge if I haven't ever participated in a Contest? If so, I'll happily get involved .

Also I really want to ask where certain people got all the lovely custom content :lovestruc .

This is my old barn... No fancy names this time, it's just a barn.

It is a 4 bed(+nursery) 3 bath home.
I believe all the personalities and needs are accounted for. :-)





Measurements:
Main Area
9x9
Side Wing
7x4
Upstairs
9x5

To equal a grand total of 154 tiles. And every item has been tested, accounted for and can be used.

Extra notes:
~There is an end table under the stairs next to the fireplace (which can be poked).
~The two toddler skill toys are in the same corner. (The one shot that shows them both got blurry when I resized it. They cross over where the seating position should be but they are functional one at a time.)
~Though you can't see it in the aerial, the dining room does have 6 chairs and this can be seen in the interior shots.
~The telescope can't be seen in any of the shot (I just realized this) And I can't get any pictures right now so... I'll take what I get with that one.
~In the travelling grandma's room there is a night stand next to her bed, it is kinda dark though...

So, I've heard back from one judge, that they don't have the time to judge anymore, and I haven't heard at all from the other. I'm already filling in myself as an EJ. I've already tried to get people I know to judge, and no dice on that. I desperately need TWO judges! People who have posted entries in this competition may not replace the judges.

This has taken me an age - probably because it reflects my personality as much as theirs. So, I decided that rather than save points by using less tiles I wuld use my full quota and make something everybody in the house would like - particularly Mum & Dad who want some privacy and time to themselves.
They bought an old Victorian house and used the upper 2 floors as a family home with 2 bedrooms for them and returning college kid. What should have been a third bedroom upstairs is a cute study.
Hidden below the house (you can't see from the front) are 3 self-contained units, one each for Grandma Wild and Grandma Sane with a bedroom area, kitchenette and bathroom. The two 'bedsits' are separated by the couple with the newborn baby to prevent arguments.They have the same but with separate kitchen and nursery. All 3 units have their own yard and outdoor seating so everybody has their own space. Grandma Wild is at the back with no part of the house above her so she can't disturb anyone above.

So here's the front of the house;



Basement
Here you can see the 3 units, each has it's own cooking, bathing and sleeping area, the Grandmas also have seating and all 3 have a bookcase and outdoors eating area. No excuses to be loitering upstairs when the parents want some peace.


Ground Floor


First Floor


Exterior Images



Living Room




Guess which bedroom belongs to who - I think the alcohol and stereo give away the wildest member of the family! Having used all the tiles there are loads of extras, 2 extra toilets, 2 extra showers, 2 extra dressers, an extra sofa, 3 extra living chairs, a guitar, several stereos and a tv. Also 2 extra nightstands, 2 extra bookshelves and 2 extra sinks.

Wishing you luck with finding new judges :-)

That sucks! Have you tried asking baratron (the person who posted post #136 asking if they could be a judge)? I don't think they entered it as a contestant at any point.

I've pm'ed baratron, and haven't recieved an answer. It's lucky that I keep my hair as short as I do, otherwise I would have pulled a good chunk of it out by now.

I'd be happy to judge!

I can help you out as an emergency judge too. I've been lurking in this tread since the contest started, and I love all the tiny houses. Wouldn't mind it if some of these come up for download.

A very big thank you to Vampire of Death and appelsapgodin for vouluntering to step in as judges. I've pm'ed both of them, and hopefully, I'll be able to post round 2 scores soon. I'm going to let contestants change their round three entries based on round 2 scores, but would like to see those changes posted by Monday at the latest. I'm going to post round 4 on Sunday, to try to keep on schedule.

Oh, thank you for the extension. I'm not even close and was getting worried. I had it nearly completed when I realized that I forgot a room and had to basically restart.

It isn't an extension on the round, it's the ability to make changes to the entry after finally getting some feed-back. I'm really sorry about all the souping of the judges.

I haven't entered the contest! I would have, if I'd seen it earlier. But Round 1 was pretty much over by the time I did, so I just added "Love" tags to some of the houses .

Anyway, yes, we're in contact now. I just didn't see the PM yesterday. *kicks MTS for not having a more obvious "You have a new Message" system*

*Is reading all entries again and makes notes to judge.*

In an effort to try to make things more fair, seeing as how late we are getting round two scores, what I'm thinking of doing is extending round 3 entries/changes untill 12 noon GMT-5 on Tuesday, and hopefully getting round three scores by 12 midnight GMT-5 also on Tuesday. This will give only 4 days for round 4 to end on time though. Round 4 will be the easiest of the rounds; without giving too much away, lets just say that at a minimum, you have all already compleated at least 50% of it (probably more even). Is everyone ok with this scenario? The only other real option would be to extend untill Monday, and have 5 days for round 4. Round 4 is the last round by the way!

I just send in my scores for round 2. This was a hard round to choose fairly IMHO since you all have such different entries. Good luck to you all!

I've finished my scoring, and I'm just getting someone who has a brain to check the arithmetic .

I'm just waiting to hear from Vampire of Death. If I don't hear anything by morning, I'll EJ again, and post scores by 12 Noon GMT-5.

And my scores are in. Best of luck everyone!

Yay, judges! :-D I don't mind which extension option you choose, kattenijin. But then, I finished my house several days ago and am just putting the collages together now. I may make changes though, as there are some slight similarities in some of the decor between Rounds 2 & 3, so if the judges all hate it I may change it a bit! :-D But yay, I'm excited about getting the Round 2 results :-)

**EDIT** Actually, because the site's been down for maintenance/brokenness for the last 24 hours or so I haven't been able to get my entry up, so an extension for everyone would come in handy! :-) I don't have time to post mine now as I'm late meeting someone, but I should be able to do it late tonight or tomorrow morning if that's ok?

Round 3 scores
 

Sorry this is so late, but everytime I went to post, the site was down.

Scores!

General comment: Many of you are obviously going for the 5 bonus points for not using all the tiles. In several cases, it would have been better to use more, because the points deducted from other areas were greater than the bonus points.

• Lauratje86
  As much as I love red and black (and I do as they are my favorite colors), your house seemed too much of the same. Only the two green and purple bedrooms seem to pop. And some of your decor seems to clash with each other just a bit, but overall, I love the outside, the porch looks so inviting, and that play area looks so adorable.
  
  It's very black and red and I wanted to take marks off for the dark, tiny pictures that made my eyes hurt when trying to make sure you'd included everything! (But I didn't). You have used CAST awesomely. Though it does seem like cheating to put ALL the dressers and the toybox in the teenager's room!
  
  A dark and different house. Perfectly suited for the modern vampire family. Love that the style of the house is uniform, but leaves space for individual styles in the children’s bedrooms. On the other hand I would have liked to see a little variation in floors and wallpaper. (Different shades of red and black, tiles vs. carpet etc.)
  
  Total 1: 60
  Total 2: 82
  Total 3: 74
  Average: 72
  
• sandymdh
  This is such a brilliant idea, something I wasn't expecting for sure. The walls seem a bit cluttered in the last few rooms compared to the relaxed feel to the first few.
  
  Lovely building – nice "cheating" with the inaccessible tiles to make an interesting shape. However, I'm sure that potty under the stairs is not accessible. (It would need to be one square closer to the tall end of the staircase for the toddler to get in). I like the theming, but some of the pattern combinations are awful – the kitchen tiles do not go with the chair coverings or rug in the dining area.
  
  Absolutely gorgeous. Love it that the house used to be a church. Very creative use of the lay-out. Every room has individual personality, but still the house looks unified as a whole.
  
  Total 1: 88
  Total 2: 84
  Total 3: 93
  Average: 88.33
  
• Samethana
  I love this house. The rooms flow with each other seamlessly and the colors go so well with each other.I honestly cannot think of anything to improve its look. Great job!
  
  I love the style – it's very much what a typical British Victorian house could turn into given enough space for a modern extension. The only thing I wasn't sure about was the flowers on the front balcony – all black? How goth! Good use of clutter to make the house look lived in.
  
  I love the townhouse feel of this one. Beautiful garden too. Great use of layout and space. Colour-use is stunning too. The house is unified in style and gives personality to each room.
  
  Total 1: 89
  Total 2: 77
  Total 3: 83
  Average: 83
  
• wickedblue
  This is such an adorable house, so welcoming and the landscaping is gorgeous, I can tell there was time taken to do so. The items seem very suited to their spaces, though I would have liked to see a tiny bit more color. This house flowed very well.
  
  The external design of this building is positively EAxoid – not pretty at all. Also, while the outside has lots of wild plants, the inside looks sterile. I think that either the sideboard or the changing table is missing – I can see 4 dressers, which should be 5 if one of them is pretending to be a sideboard.
  
  I love this little farm house. Also great use of the space, nothing seems to be crammed in, but all is there. I adore the bedrooms. I would have loved to see just a tad more variation here and there, but that is really a minor nag.
  
  Total 1: 80
  Total 2: 62
  Total 3: 79
  Average: 73.66
  
• Sulyuki
  The interior of your house was very well decorated and each room seemed to have a theme/color, almost as if the sims chose how to decorate it. It had a fairytale look to if from the street, but the arch and high roof together make me think of a church. The flowers used around the roof were too wild and messy looking to go with the natural/clean look you were going for.
  
  Logical room layout with a bathroom that's accessible by guests without having to walk through sims' "private" bedrooms – good. The only negative point is that the poor teenager is shoved into the smallest bedroom while a non-existent younger sister has a huge room – I'd have swapped around the teenage and child's rooms.
  
  This house has such a romantic, countryside feel. I think it is very pretty. The garden is lovely too. Like the overall use of the colours.
  
  Total 1: 61
  Total 2: 84
  Total 3: 80
  Average: 75
  
• hotaru801
  This house is lovely. You have made a theme for yourself and stuck to it very well. The bright colors carry throughout and everything fits so well. Great job!
  
  The roof at the front is very strange, but I generally like the castle-style and the windows. Amazed to hear that all the objects are usable since there isn't enough space for a sim to walk in front of the sink to get to the bathtub in the corner bathroom. Some of the mosaic floors are great, but the green in the master bedroom clashes with that wallpaper! MY EYES!
  
  A nice maze of a house, with hidden room after hidden room. Such pretty floors and wallpapers. I also love the fact that this house really looks to me as if a family is actually living there. All rooms have personality and optimal use of available space.
  
  Total 1: 88
  Total 2: 82
  Total 3: 82
  Average: 84
  
• Cloudburst
  I love this house. It is very crisp and clean looking and the red exterior is such a nice contrast to the white inside. I usually don't go crazy over modern homes, but this one I would play. The insides make the out, keeping very little clutter and nothing at an angle. I would have liked to see some more color in the rooms, albeit a soft, pale color and a few more pictures.
  
  I like the modern design, but the house doesn't look real/lived-in. I really don't like some of the room layouts – the parents have to walk through the children's room to get to their bedroom, and EVERYONE has to walk through the baby's room to get to the kitchen. Unfortunately, you've missed quite a few essential points. There was supposed to be a fireplace in the study, and there was supposed to be a specific teenager's room.
  
  I love the modernist style of this house, but think it might have been executed a bit too simply here. The house could have used quite a bit more clutter, variation and individual touches for my taste. I am also missing the required fireplace in the study area, and the teen bedroom.
  
  Total 1: 86
  Total 2: 60
  Total 3: 66
  Average: 70.66
  

The top three scores for this round are:

#3: Samethana: 83
#2: hotaru801: 84
#1: sandymdh 88.33

Congradulations to you all!

Pop me down as EJ I always check my mails everyday but dont look at the thread all the time so if you desperate I am always here!!!

Lauratje86 - Round 3
 

I hope I'm still ok to post my entry - the site was down a lot yesterday and earlier today so I wasn't able to post it until now.

External View:



Aerial View - Ground Floor:



Aerial View - First Floor:



Collages:









Many, many thanks to Mootilda, who created the LotAdjuster, and to plasticbox, who wrote the tutorial on building row houses. I couldn't have made this lot without them! :-)

**EDIT** I can't belive I forgot to mention the tile count! It's either dead on or one under the tile limit, I can't remember right now. Either way, no bonus points for me this round....

I should have my entry up shortly. I have a comment about the scoring and comments posted. I'm not asking for my score to be changed or anything, it's just that I noticed the 2nd judge took off quite a bit of points while commenting that it seems I am missing some items and would just like to point out that all items are there. The sideboard is next to the refrigerator, with all of the pictures and a plant. There is a dresser for each room, two in the room that doubles as a child room/nursery, one of which is intended as a changing table, totaling 4 and the instructions stated 3 dressers plus a changing table. Like I said, I'm not asking for changes or anything like that, it's just frustrating to put that much effort into this challenge to have so many points taken off when all the items are there.

Right, here's my entry. I haven't got many pictures of the interior, but I'm trying to do this on my laptop at the moment and it's really frustrating. I've had a lot of work to do recently as well, but hopefully I'll be able to do a good job on the next round. Still, I'm happy with how this one went. I don't think I've forgotten anything (I'm sure i have though), but I used 169 tiles in total.

EDIT: Updated the house and taken some new screenshots. I realised I had indeed forgotten some objects, but I've put them in. I've double checked and I'm pretty sure everything's there now, but my tile count remains the same. The new shed next to the house is purely for decoration, and so is the dormer at the top of the house.











I don't think there's any hidden objects anywhere. The dresser under the stairs is acting as a sideboard, and the one in the master bedroom is the changing table. In case it looks weird having a crib right next to the bed, remember there's a lot of people stuffed in, so compromises had to be made to accommodate everyone. :D

If you extend it until Tuesday I might still have a chance. I had to restart it, I've been trying all weekend to finish, but I still have half a floor with no floors or wall paper. I'll try to have it done by tomorrow, (or today, it's either really late or early morning by now).

I wasn't able to get mine posted yesterday and am at work today. I should be able to get it posted after work. I hope this is okay? I don't recall you saying whether you were closing it on Monday or Tuesday.

One hint for the contestants who already posted:

Are you sure every object mentioned in the requirements for this round are included in your lot? Because at a quick glance stuff seems to be missing.

Speaking as a judge, I'm totally okay with the idea of this round closing on Tuesday. The fact the site ended up being down for all of Saturday makes quite a big difference. Not everyone is able to get online on a Sunday, and the idea is to use your marks from Round 2 to improve on Round 3.

Personally, I was desperate to see how my scores compared to the other two judges. I wanted to know how similar or not our tastes were. The answer is... not all that much, which is why you get three judges after all .

In case anyone is interested, I marked Round 2 "blind" - in other words, I did not look again at Applications or Round 1 entries. I can tell you that the houseboat was my absolute favourite house in Round 1, but not who made it. Houseboat, followed by the Eco House, followed by the crazy pagoda. Of course, my Round 1 opinions are fairly irrelevant since I wasn't judging then .


Thanks for letting us know. It's a good idea to point out to the judges where items are if you feel they might be hidden, as some contestants did in Round 2. To give you some idea of the time that judging takes, it took me around 3 hours to check each of the seven houses to make sure every item was included and that each of the rooms asked for were present (along with the fireplace in the study). I studied every photo in detail and checked off the items against the checklist. This is a big time investment, which I was willing to spend because I wanted to mark as fairly as possible. In total, I spent around 4.5 hours on Round 2.

I don't mind explaining my criteria here in the thread, for everyone to see. (Of course, I have no idea how similar it is to the other judges' )

• Do I personally like the house?
• Would people in general want to download this house? Does it offer something "different" from houses they already have?
• Does it seem like the house would be playable? Would sims be able to move around this house without getting stuck somewhere? (I actually commented in my PM to kattenijin that I wished we could ask for videos to prove that the houses were playable!).
• Has the contestant included all of the rooms that are supposed to be there?
• Has the contestant included all of the furniture that is supposed to be there? (-1 for each missing item).
• Do the rooms flow in a natural/logical order? Is it possible for visiting sims to get to the kitchen and bathroom without walking through "private" areas like bedrooms?
• How creative has the contestant been? Have they played it safe with all square corners; or struck out with weird wall angles, including stairs despite the fact it wastes valuable tiles, putting items in unusual places?
• Is there an overall "theme" to the house? (Houses with an obvious theme got more points than houses which were just houses, and houses with a particularly unusual theme, by which I mean things like the Round 1 houseboat and Eco House, got even more points).
• How well-decorated is the house? Does it have lots of pictures/paintings, rugs, curtains, etc.?
• Does the house look like a show home, or does it look real/lived-in? (I gave more points to houses with clutter, and items placed other than at 90º angles).
• Is the garden interesting, and appropriate to the size of the house? (If a garden was lovely but far too big for the house, I did not give it as many points).
• 1 bonus point for contestants who included BIG photos (click for full-screen) so I could see all the objects without getting eye strain!

There was also a fixed bonus for the tile counts. Thankfully, kattenijin as host was willing to check these, as I would have gone insane if I'd had to count them myself!

I should note that, when I went through the criteria above, my favourite Round 2 house did not actually get my highest score .

Several houses already posted in Round 3 appear to have objects missing. Contestants should go back to their entries and recheck them, and add more photos if appropriate or explain to us in words where the items are if not clearly visible.

As the third judge, I have started counting the objects early and everyone's house except for one is missing at least two objects. I am only going to be doing this this round because so many things appear to be missing. So, use this opportunity. The penalties are a bit high this round.

So, verify your objects or at least note that you won't be changing anything. But if you do intend on changing things and you can only find object missing (and one house is missing 5 I believe) you can pm me to find out what is missing.


As far as general points, as the judge above, I'll post some things I look at that they didn't already note. Not all of the mind you, no need to make it too easy.

-Complexity of landscape. Did they just throw in some plants of was there cheats and OMSP involved, etc.
-Does the landscape match the house style
-Does the feel of the house go throughout, is there flow?
-Did your pictures cover the entire house, was there a better area that could be photographed?
-Bonus Points for:
-clear, large photos
-having the photos that need judge above any extra shots and not having shots of rooms mixed so I have to go back and forth
-I would download/play your house
-ingenuity with furnishings. IE Creating a mirrored dresser with a standing mirror and a dresser.
-not an overwhelming amount of CC.
-If I can scroll through your pictures in one tab instead of having to open them 1 by 1


I take 2-5 points off for missing items. 2 would be for something small like a toddler toy and 5 would be for a stove or bed or an entire room.

I hope it's not too late. I think it's 170 tiles, I've made sure everything from the list is there and that they can use everything. I used the decorative china cabinet as the sideboard. There are three counters in the kitchen and a sink in each bathroom and in the kitchen. There is a bookcase in the room with the chess and one in the sunroom, the theird one is showing in the pictures. The two tile loveseat is attached to one of the double beds.

Hi all, just a quick message before I fall off the planet again. Apparently, I have a massive infection in my left jaw, and going to the doctor, then the dentist, and then taking the antibiotics/painkillers has wiped me out. Not exactly happy. I've pm-ed BP about getting a two-day extension for the MTS downtime, but haven't heard back yet. As it stands, I'm going to close this round at midnight TUESDAY, and post round 4 then too. I'm going to assume (eek!) that we'll be granted the extension, if not I'll just keep the contest through whatever the new last date would be anyway. We just might not be able to get that star.

Wickedblue: to keep who said what in the judging seekret I'v been asked to post the following:

"I didn't realise that the bookcase in the bedroom was as big as three tiles, so assumed that the two-tile item in the kitchen was another bookcase rather than the sideboard. Also I got your garden confused with another contestant's after looking at too many houses. Sorry!".

Your score has also been modified.

Ugh, that sounds horrible kattenijin! I hope you feel better soon!

Thanks to the judges who mentioned missing objects - I went through the list again and am missing a living chair, so I'm changing it now and then will upload a new aerial view picture to show the change.

Everything else is there, I think. I'm not sure if anything else is hard to spot, but I figured that there were a couple of things that people may not notice. Firstly, there are three bookcases - one in the kitchen/diner, one in the living room and one on the upstairs landing, which isn't shown in the collages. There are three dressers; one in each of the double rooms, and one in Boring-Grandma's room (the larger of the upstairs single rooms). They are all single-tile dressers, two from the Ikea SP and one custom one (the pine one in the red/black master bedroom). There are also 2 toddler toys - one in the downstairs hallway (the rabbit head) and one in the kitchen next to the highchair (a custom one, looks like a pile of pots and pans and works like a musical instrument, for Creativity). The fridge isn't next to the rest of the kitchen stuff, it's on the opposite side of the room, next to the bathroom wall and the door to Crazy-Grandma's room. The potty is the yellow blob on the upstairs landing. The sideboard is also on the upstairs landing, with plants and towels and stuff on it. It's visible in one of the Living Room collage pictures - the one with all the mirrors on the wall. I think that everything else is fairly obvious. I have checked about a dozen times to make sure everything is there, so judges, if you think anything's missing please let me know so I can tell you where it is! :-)

**EDIT** Ok, I added another living chair and changed the aerial view picture. Both living chairs are upstairs - one in the yellow double bedroom and the other in Boring-Grandma's room.

**EDIT #2** I asked Vampy what they thought was missing from my house, and they said that they weren't sure whether or not a 3-tile dining table had to have 8 chairs, or if there just had to be a minimum of 6 chairs. I have 7 chairs in my house, one for each of the household who can sit on a chair (ie everyone apart from the baby!), so I hope that that's ok......

I've updated my post now, so everything's complete. Thanks for the extension kattenijin, and hope you get well soon.

I feel fine basically, no pain or anything, I just look like a chipmunk with a load of nuts on the left side of my face. It's the combination of the medication that has me unsorted. Either by itself probably wouldn't be to bad, but both together, OI! Anyhow, we got our two-day extension, so when this round ends tonight, you'll have untill Midnight GMT-5 Monday Feb 28 to do round 4.

Oh shoot! The last few days have been nuts. I have no idea what time zone you are using when you say midnight so I'm going to very quickly do my collages and hope I get them posted in time.

kattenijin - ouch! Sorry to hear about your jaw. I hope you will feel better soon. And thank you so much to you and the judge for reviewing and updating, I wasn't expecting that at all. It's not like those points are going to make me the winner or anything but I feel validated anyway.

Edit: No one has posted so I guess that means I made it in time. Phew.

I went with a more contemporary building this time.


First floor:


Second floor:


Side and back of building:

I don't know if you can tell from my pictures, but there is an entrance. It's on the side between the rows of flowers.
There is a telescope on the balcony.

Pictures from the first floor:




Bedroom 1 is for the college kid upon his return. He's a bit cluttery.
Bedroom 2 is for the wild granny as you can see by the pills, alcohol and ashtray on her nightstand.
The Master Bedroom is for our original couple. Their room isn't very big but they have a great view.

There are 3 bookcases on this floor - 2 by the sideboard/wall cabinet in the kitchen/dining area and the third is in the wild granny's bedroom.
Each bedroom has a nightstand and dresser.

And the second floor:

Bedroom 3 is for the other couple. The nightstand is next to the dresser and there is an easel in there also.
Bedroom 4 is where the traveling granny will stay.
And the nursery - obviously is for the baby. There are 2 skill toys in there. If you are looking at the arial, the red toy pictured in the close-up shot is right under the light and the other one is on the rug.

I used all 185 tiles. All objects are there and are usable.

Round 3 is closed, will post round 4 as soon as I wake up a bit more, lol!

(These meds make me sooo *yawn* sleeee....p....zzzzzzzz!)

Round 4: All that's Old is New Again!
 

So, your lovely, cosy, tiny home was everything you ever wanted. Then you met that special someone, and things got a little tight, but you were "in lurve" and made do. Then one day...!!! Suddenly, tiny was NOT an option, however having a baby is expensive and there wasn't a lot of money left over, so...WAIT WUT?!! This sounds familiar!!!! Well, you didn't let me finish! Now, where was I?...Oh!

...so life happened and there were many changes, especially in the last year! One that you'd rather forget, but there are those pictures, that video, and heaven forbid, THREE newspaper articles! Will life never get back to normal?! Not that there's ever been a normal...

In this round you get your dream, sorta/kinda/maybe! Choose either your round 2 or round 3 home; and using 10% more of your current tile count (current tiles:135 + 14(10%, yes, you may round up)=149 tiles) create the future home of your dreams! And, yes! you may finally get rid of the crib! (woot!) Although there are no specific item requirements for this round, remember, it is your reward for all the years that came before. Make us go WOW!

Unlike past rounds there will be NO TILE BONUS for fewer tiles. You must ADD the required tiles! (but not go over! well, ok, maybe 1 or 2, possibly 3 if you can show your design really needed them. Like not having that wall end 1 tile short, or getting rid of that funky corner; oh wait! I've seen your houses! y'all LIKE the funky corners!)

Rules and photos are the same as in the aplication round.

Scoring will be: 45% Beauty, 45% Creativity, 10% re-design (ie: how well does the new lay-out compare to the old)

Please PM me with any questions.

So if we redo our Round 3 house we'd get 185 + 10% = 185 + 19 = 204 tiles, right? And we can use 2 or 3 extra if we really really need them?

Is the idea that we are designing this house for our original single sim, or can they still be married?

I'm looking forward to this round! :-D

You are doing this home for the current family. Currently, the only people living there are your original sim and their spouse, and possibly the college student when not in school. All the "overstuffed" sims have moved on. This round is about balancing the wants/desires/dreams against future unknown needs (not that these come into play in this contest...oohh!! Contest idea!! I AM EBIL!!! HEH HEH HEH !!!).

Hey, potential ideas involving you hosting another contest like this one in no way count as evil! Or even ebil! :-D

Okidoki. If I have a vague story in my head (and in my game at some point - I actually made the family for Round 3 and they're rather fun!) where the original sim got divorced and is now living with a new partner, is that ok too, or does it have to be the original spouse? After all, the incidents of the past year, with the pictures and the video and the articles and all, could well have involved stuff that could lead to a divorce :-D In my head it did, anyway!

It could potentially be a new partner/spouse. If you look at the pics I have posted for the round photo, it's about adapting space that wasn't functional to the way your familly "really" lives to something more usefull. (Although, personally I'd have extended the den/office out to the same depth as the family room addition so there is guest bedroom potential too)

As to being EBIL!!! (heh heh heh!!!) if you look back at the previous contests I've done, they are all very twisty . To give you a hint of how twisty the idea is, try to imagine designing in one round for the unexpected of the next. Like having to fit round three needs into round two space. (well, maybe a small addition). EBIL!!!!

Is that 10% more than the tiles for the round or the tiles we used for the round? Either way I have no idea how many it is, I can't count in %. How close to the original house does it have to stay? Is it ok to keep some parts exactly the same and do a complete makeover on other parts?

10% more than you used. For most of you, this will be 204 tiles including the additional 10%, I think only Cloudburst and Hotaru used less tiles last round.

*Stares* So... My computer is in the shop and right now there is a 50/50 chance that when it comes back it will be wiped... If the horrible happens... Can I attempt remaking one of my homes in the same design? Or is that gonna be a no no? Because if everything is wiped all I'll have to go by is what I posted here... Either way, I'm gonna post something. I have come to far! Lolz!

Oh and I do Georgia math (Yeah, below the Mason Dixon Line is a scary place)... So I'm guessing... (.1 * number of tiles used) + number of tiles used = what we have to use this round? I'm pretty sure I'm right but just in case...

Eww!! I hate when my comp is in the shop. I would try to re-create as best able from the pics you've posted. Minor discrepencies can be hidden by your re-design. They must be doing something right down there, you got the math right.


I've been in the shop myself today, 4 hours at the dentist, plus 1 hour travel each way, ugh!

My Round 3 scores are in. Woo! :lovestruc

There's at least one house in this lot that I actively want to download once the contest is over .

For me there is more than one that I want to download. You all set up your game a notch this round.

I have a busy day today, but my scores will be in later tonight... need to type out the paper notes I did yesterday and send them off.

Agreed! There are one or two from this round I'd quite like to see available for upload, and about half a dozen I'd consider downloading from the entire contest so far.

(and obviously I'm quite fond of mine too!) :-D

My scores are in. Good luck to you all.

Round 3 scores
 

Scores!

• Lauratje86
  This is a lovely set of apartments. I would certainly download this from the site. However that is not a complete positive. This house is so downloadable because it lacks a little personality which would make it easy to adapt it for one of my own families. (Something I like as a downloader, but not as a judge.) It would have been nice if you’d added some curtains or rugs. Just a little extra. All comments aside: you did a great job on this one. I love the style of the house and adore the wall with the masks.
  
  Yay, a terraced house! (I miss those in Sims 3). This house is simple, classic, and seems deceptively spacious. The garden is lovely. However, I felt there weren't enough traces of the personalities of either the original couple or the eldest child and partner who have moved in with them. I also felt that with this room layout, there is potential for the warring grandmas to meet on the upstairs landing, get into an argument ("She got a bigger room than me, and I'm here to LIVE whereas SHE's just VISITING."), and cause the baby to start screaming!
  
  I love the idea of row houses, and I love to see that you added houses to either side just to finish the look. You should try a different inside style; some lighter, cleaner colors probably would have fit the interior a bit better. Some items were hard to find and I missed them several times. You also seem to be missing items.
  
  Total 1: 75
  Total 2: 72
  Total 3: 80
  Average: 75.66
  
• sandymdh
  This house is a bit crammed, but a joy to look at. I think you really did a great job at making this house suited for the family that is described in the contest. I really like the basement. Love the bedrooms. The fulness and mix and match madness of the house really suits the crazy family. I do wish you could have given a bit of your personality and chaos to the other contestants, and turned it a slight bit down on your own, that would have balanced out all the entries into perfection.
  
  This is a really brave house design, using so many extra squares and building cheats to create the bedsits. Hooray for basement windows! Logical room layout with all personalities catered for. I did feel that the décor within each bedsit clashes horribly, but this was perhaps intentional, giving the impression of items salvaged from previous homes? I love the study, and am amused that the college kid's room has relatively few books and CDs, as if most have been taken to college.
  
  Such a cute house. I like the small rooms and how they each have their own personality. Very nice. I love how you continued the story
  
  Total 1: 82
  Total 2: 83
  Total 3: 76
  Average: 80.33
  
• wickedblue
  Pretty. Clean. Well thought out design. Maybe a little too perfect for my taste. (I would have liked if sandymdh had given you a little spark of chaos.) Give it just a little more personality with clutter. I would certainly download this house, though. As I said above to Lauratje86 too, I look at a house differently as a judge than a player. Great entry, nontheless. Good job again.
  
  I really love this house and its garden. The college kid's room and nursery are both awesome – very well decorated, and there was a strong sense of all of the personalities except for travelling granny. The house feels real and lived-in. Really, my only criticisms are that the parents of the baby's bedroom should be next to the nursery, and a double-width upstairs landing might prevent the inevitable sim blockage once the seven adults have visitors over. Other than that, very well done.
  
  This is a very lovely house. I love the exterior as well as the warm tones on the inside. It had a nice lived in feel and every room did have its own personality. If your pictures would have been zoomed in a bit more and a bit clearer, that might have improved your score.
  
  Total 1: 76
  Total 2: 86
  Total 3: 85
  Average: 82.33
  
• Sulyuki
  Lovely house too this one. Missing a slight bit of personality here and there maybe. I would certainly download this one too. As I said before, this is not really the best opinion I can have as a judge because that does mean I think your house has the kind of blandness that would make it easy for me to personalise it to my game and family without too much trouble. Anyway, I do think you build a gorgeous house with a beachy-feel to it. Very light and clean and pretty. A little clutter would have made it just a little better. Good job.
  
  This is an interesting house built in an attractive location. I like the idea of the sunroom, and the nursery is great. However, I really don't like the lack of windows along one side of the basement, or the long walk outside needed to get from the basement to the upstairs living area. Even in a place with perfect weather, it would be annoying to have to do that multiple times per day! I also thought the bedrooms are in a strange order - shouldn't the parents of the baby be next to the nursery? It feels like a show home – there aren't enough traces of the occupants' personalities.
  
  I like the beach theme, its cute and I love the sun porch, but the Victorian living and dining didn’t really seem to match with the sea/lake side theme. The house looked lived in but not overly cluttered. You were missing items.
  
  Total 1: 78
  Total 2: 62
  Total 3: 55
  Average: 65
  
• hotaru801
  What a cute little barn. I really like the exterior in this entry too, it looks authentic. I’m not too sure if the inside of the house has been build at its most practical, the space isn’t used to full advantage imho. Creative design, though. I do think you accounted for all familymembers and their different personalities and I can really see you tried to give every room its own uniqueness and identity.
  
  Nice theming, and I love the orchard! Having so many people living in the house, not all of whom have jobs, the sims will need to save money - so being able to grow their own crops is useful. Logical room layout with all personalities catered for. However, one bookcase appears to be missing, and I'd have preferred only 2 photos of the outside, so that another of the 8 photos could be used for clear shots of the inside, without such wide-angles. I felt that some of the patterns on wallpaper etc. were too intense for the size of the rooms, which made me feel claustrophobic in combination with the lack of windows. Consider using building cheats?
  
  I love the barn, looks wonderful! I don't want to say the rooms are cluttered, but I will say they are a bit busy. It takes away from the room when you have to look at all the patterns and designs. I think you are missing a bookcase.
  
  Total 1: 76
  Total 2: 75
  Total 3: 82
  Average: 77.66
  
• Cloudburst
  I like to give extra attention to the outside of your house. I think it is beautiful. Lovely combination with the bricks and woodwork. I wouldn’t mind living there myself. You really came back into the game with this entry after a dissapointing round 2. I don’t think the crib by the bed is weird either, it’s an elegant solution in a full household. I do think the house would have gotten just that little extra personality with a rug or plant in the interior here and there. Good job on the whole.
  
  The outside of this house is visually very interesting. I rather like houses which use the same flooring continuously – it seems more realistic somehow. However, there are some odd structural defects. There are two holes in the upstairs floor that you can see through! And neither of the curtains chosen lines up with the windows: the upstairs curtains don't cover the top of the windows so light would shine through (if they were real), and the downstairs curtains are out of alignment horizontally. It is also an odd choice to have only one double bed in a house with two couples. I could not tell who was supposed to have which bedroom.
  
  The house was very pretty, I liked the very warm feeling to the interior and the style was consistent throughout. I’m very happy you rechecked your items. It really improved your score and the closer, clearer, interior shots earned you a few more. Great job!
  
  Total 1: 83
  Total 2: 58
  Total 3: 79
  Average: 73.33
  

The top three scores for this round are:

#3: hotaru801 77.66
#2: sandymdh 80.33
#1: Wickedblue 82.33

Congradulations to you all!

Thanks for the comments :-D

My basic idea behind the house was that the original sim & spouse had bought the house for themselves, decorated the kitchen/diner and master bedroom in black/red according to their tastes (like their Round 2 house), but then had to add an extension (Wild-Grandma's room/bathroom) and decorate the rest of the house to suit the unexpected extra household members rather than being able to have the entire house to their tastes.

Unfortunately rugs (bigger than 2 by 1 tiles) don't place right in my game, no idea why! :-( It's a shame, I used to use loads of rungs but now I can't because they look really weird. I agree about the curtains though - I never use curtains normally so I forgot to put them in, and when I noticed it was too late to change it. My Round 4 house will have curtains though! :-D

Was the visiting grandma's room bigger? I had it down as being smaller, or at least less personalised so it could be used as a general bedroom when she left.

May I also ask which items judge 3 thought were missing, if I lost points for them, as I did check very thoroughly. There was some debate (between me and Vampy) as to whether or not I needed to have 8 chairs with a 3 tile table or if 7 was ok, but other than that I think that everything was there.....

Thanks again for the scores/comments, I'm working on my Round 4 rebuild now - having laptop and game issues so it's taking a while - grrrrr.....! Should be done on time though!

What items did I miss?

lauratje86: dresser and toddler skill object.

Sulyuki: changing table and a nightstand.


There was quite a bit of cross-pm-ing about objects, where they were and what they were. If we can't tell that item "x" is item "x", with 4 pairs of eyes looking...

Any lost points for missing items that may actually be there, if applied to scores, would not change the outcome in any significant manner.

I'm not doing this for the scores! As far as I'm aware, the only way I could win would be if nobody else posts an entry for Round 4! :-D And I like seeing people's houses, so I hope that doesn't happen!

I did write out where all the objects were that I thought you guys may have trouble spotting, as quoted below, with the bits about the dresser and toddler toys in bold. This was to make it easier for you all to find everything, as I worked hard and put lots of time and effort into including all the required objects and didn't want them to be overlooked! If people (like me) are using cc and objects from lesser-used EP's and SP's is could be easy for you and the judges to miss something, or think that it's something else!

As someone posted previously (maybe wickedblue?) - it's not about the scores as much as having our efforts recognised! Getting a slightly higher score for not having missed any items may not change the ranking, but it will make me happier to know that the score really reflects my house.

Here is my entry for the final round. Which house I picked was an absolute no-brainer for me as I would have loved to have used the inaccessible space in the upper converted church house before but was limited by tiles. I think I am either spot on with tiles or maybe 1 tile over but you'll see that I was guided by the space available.
As it has been several years since my couple lived in this house some items have inevitably been replaced and some of the rooms redecorated. I have tried to tone down the colours and clutter a bit in this one (I blame the fact I live in a brand new house and in the UK this means it's cream/magnolia throughout which is probably why my Sims' houses are so colourful)! My couple are heading towards retirement and cutting down on their working hours so have given up the exercise machine and moved to lower impact activities, Mum has taken over the teenager's room for her painting and sewing hobbies and Dad has created a music room out of the previously inaccessible area in the upper front of the home. Some pictures are the same - the exterior ones anyway as no exterior addition has been made.
Here are the pics;


Front View


Ground Floor


First Floor









I have been saving my recently created houses for the world I'm making but I am making a CC free version of this with a cellar which I will probably upload if people want it. Maybe the boat too though it is on a weirdly sized lot.
I also want to thank Kattenijin and all those who have given up their time to judge for such a fun contest :-)

There are no changing tables in TS3, I assumed we were still suppose to replace it with a two tile dresser. There are four dressers that are clearly visible in the pictures.

All four nightstands are showing more or less in the floor plan pictures. Two are also easy to see in the other pictures. The only ones you could have missed is the one in the sun room, which is in the corner of the picture. And the one in the bedroom with a double bed and a love seat. That one is showing a little bit in the corner of the picture of that room, and is quite visible in the floor plan picture.

I thought I pointed out anything that would be hard to see, apparently I wasn't clear enough. Not that I have a chance anyway, I'm going to get the lowest score of the ones that did all rounds. That is if I manage to do this one, it's not going very well.

I am gonna ask earlier than normal for an extension into Tuesday... I am supposed to get my computer back on Monday, but if I don't I will have to attempt to re-download sims 3 on another computer and remake one of my homes minus cc... so yeah... But if I can post it before midnight it will be posted before midnight on Monday...

The normal end of the round is Tuesday, March 1st at 12pm GMT-5. I've forgotten to change that in the first post. We got an extension due to all the downtime MTS had.

Sulyuki:Even after adding in the extra points for missing furniture, your average score for the round only goes up two points. I think you are too focused on the wrong issue, kind of like when people were focused on getting the tile bonus points, but loosing more points in other areas than they gained through being under the tile count.

I gave everyone the benefit of the doubt when judging and didn't take of any points for missing objects if I saw something that could vaguely replace the object that was missing.
Which meant that I didn't take of any points for it with any contestant.

Lauratje86 - Round 4
 

**EDIT** Tiles! I forgot about tiles! I think I am 2, maybe 3, over. I used extra tiles to extend the extension and add the first floor (second floor for you Americans!) extension. As you can see, it would've looked weird without the extra 2/3 tiles as the two floors would've been different sizes..... I hope that's ok!

Original Couple left the new modern home to their children so they could retreat back to the familiar comfort of their farmhouse but first, some renovations had to be done.

Starting with a fresh coat of paint on the outside:




Some walls were knocked down and others were added:


New furnishings and converting the teen's room into a larger, private office:


The child room/nursery was expanded and converted into a guest room ready for a visitor:


Master Bedroom got a bit of a makeover too:


Perfect for a couple to spend the rest of their days. In peace.

I originally used the full 138 tiles on this house so 14 tiles were added this round.

I moved the house to a slope with the best view I could find. I'm trying for Victorian btw. Last time it was 169 tiles, so I added 17 tiles.

Exterior.
Upper floor.
Bottom floor.
Bedroom, bathroom and casual living/study.
Dining room/living room and sunroom.
Master bedroom.
Garden.

I accidentally killed a Sim while testing the lot, It was only the second playable TS3 Sim to die. It took me about a week or two to kill the first one.

I won't be able to make it for this round. I just got my computer back and it is gonna take longer than expected to have the game up and running. I might have everything reinstalled by midnight... I would have to work until the wee hours of the morning... *sigh*

If I could give an extension, I would. As it stands, we're pretty much maxed out. I guess thet we just need Cloudburst's entry to complete the round; which closes in two hours. If anyone feels a sudden need for any last-minute changes, you'd better do them now!

Round 4 and the contest are now closed!

I'll pm the judges in the morning; round 4 and final scores will be up by Friday night I hope. Good luck everyone!