Caves and Constructing Undergound
Date Posted: 13th Mar 2009 at 6:05 AM Views: 3141

Unfortunately, it’s been some time since I last attempted to draft the tutorials for both slanted walls and sunken basements/caverns. Real life has been keeping me rather busy. However, after reading a few messages and journal comments I thought that I’d clarify the later technique just a bit .

Creation of this basement type consists of combining multiple levels, twisting some, and then raising the ground level above them. This technique doesn’t involve the pool tool, hacks, and/or mods. Just utilization of the CFE cheat.



For coreycorey – here are some quick pics to provide you with a better idea of how I merged levels and then pulled the ground atop them. In the pics, I’ve tried to demonstrate how one can lift the ground over the flooring and walls without affecting either, which is key, especially if one were interested in constructing a cave.

Hope that this sheds some light on the process.


*NOTE: Raw screenshots taken in game can be found here -- http://s27.photobucket.com/albums/c...RE/Underground/ (no postwork/photoshopping)

Recent Comments for: Caves and Constructing Undergound
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By MCO798 (25th Oct 2009 at 6:50 PM)
Erm, where's the tutorial? I don't find it. Not published?
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Mootilda (10th May 2009 at 5:42 PM)
Alexus123, simfreakforever has posted a tutorial for this:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=326029

I don't know whether V1ND1CARE needs to write a second tutorial, unless there is a simpler technique available.
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Alexus123 (14th Apr 2009 at 6:32 PM)
I've got a question.. At the last update here, You said you would write a Actual sunken basement tut.. are you still planning to do this?
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Krzy256 (9th Apr 2009 at 2:38 PM)
V1nd1care when publish advice for the construction of underground?
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Moonstruck Muse (28th Mar 2009 at 9:10 PM)
Awesome. I'm still fiddling with trying to do this, myself. I'm not quite sure what the twisting and combining part is, unless you possibly make a sort of U with the walls? So... build several walls, take the middle part, flatten the levels to 0, then perhaps raise the ground, then get the walls back up with the (unflattened) edges or by some other means? I mean... is that what you mean by twisting, or did I fail to capture the concept? But then what is done with the first level....

Regardless!
It's quite a feat. Really, I'm amazed that you found something so complex to do so late after the game's release; just proves how much this game has to offer, I suppose. Thank you kindly!
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By V1ND1CARE (27th Mar 2009 at 10:23 PM)
TelQuessir – Sorry that I couldn’t respond sooner but I was out of town. To answer your questions:

- It is the twisting and combing of multiple levels that allows one to manipulate the terrain as you desire. This is very important.

- As for the number of floors to combine, that honestly depends on what you’re attempting to build. (Personally, I try to combine extra levels so that I have more room to play with in the event that I want to change the design. It saves me from having to scrap the lot and restart the process.) At least 3.

And as for making a wall disappear – congratulations! Bending the game and breaking its rules is always a euphoric moment

Rapsheba555 – the technique is extremely tedious and unforgiving of the slightest mistake, but well worth it.
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Rapsheba555 (19th Mar 2009 at 11:53 PM)
*sigh8s* I THOUGHT that I had gotten the caves thing to work, but it failed at the last second. :\ I had the levels all pretzeled up, and I ALMOST got the ground above them, but at the last second i managed to screw up somehow. >XP Bah. Good tut on the 0-points wall though.
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By TelQuessir (19th Mar 2009 at 9:47 PM)
Woe is me, I need help understanding how to pull the ground up over a floor... =(

I have been trying to make a real cave for over 5 hours now with no success. I even went back over all the tutorials concerning garages, split floors, stairs and mountain-side housing... nothing new in there to help.

I am pretty decent with CFE useage, although your tutorial gave me more insight since I have never made a wall shorter than 4clicks.

I can bury stairs and partial walls but am unable to get the ground to rise above a floor tile... is it the "combining and twisting" ? how many floors should i combine? 3? and are you saying we should invert a wall? ... i have tried to make negative height walls.. not doing to well at that, tho i did manage to make a wall "dissapear" with the zero height step in your tutorial - I was so proud

Any help - simplified for dummies of course, would be greatly appreciated, thx.

~big fan
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By V1ND1CARE (19th Mar 2009 at 6:41 PM)
QBUILDERZ – you’re correct in that the level that you see is not directly on the ground. You have to combine and twist multiple levels as in my tutorial, in order to trick the game.
The invisible tile is only needed so that one can see into the ground, but it’s not essential to the process. It just depends on what you’re building and what you’d like to be visible.

Voonoodle – the link is fixed. Sorry about that.
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By V1ND1CARE (19th Mar 2009 at 6:37 PM)
DD – After having reread my post, I suppose that my brief summary of the work does sound somewhat sketchy and confusing. However, it does reflect how I’m able to do this. The first step lies in condensing multiple levels atop each other while twisting some in the process to resemble a sort of half pretzel. Only after having done so can the ground be manipulated as you wish without it affecting any of the other levels.

(yikes, no edit button so reposted with EDIT) My tutorial on http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=190663 for Reducing Wall Height Below 4 Clicks is the trick. (Just an additional note -- yes, you can reduce the wall height of multiple levels at a single point utilizing this method. For constructing underground, you have to.)

I’ll try to provide more information in another entry.

the alien among us – I’ve resumed work on the True Basement tutorial and am planning to combine it with How to Build Underground since the process for each are relatively the same. The only difference between the two lies in ground height.

I’d state an ETA for the tutorials but as I’ve decided to restart them from scratch, I’d rather not since I’d hate to disappoint people if I couldn’t finish either by the date that I set.
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Deluxe Designs (18th Mar 2009 at 8:53 PM)
Hey there, thanks for the link V Also Voonoodle the problem is that you need to replace the part of the link saying "db" to "www", that should fix the problem of accessing it
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Voonoodle (18th Mar 2009 at 8:51 PM)
Yeah i am new to this building thing and to mts2, maybe that is why i cannot get onto the page...
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By QBUILDERZ (18th Mar 2009 at 8:47 PM)
In addition to other post right down there V (we need an edit button, deperately)

Does it require the invisible floor tile? And does the "undo method" plat a large role in this? I was thinking maybe to raise the terrain to where you want it, do the wall reductionn on the house etc. then flatten. turn of CFE then undo to raise the terrain back up without effecting the walls themselves.
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Voonoodle (18th Mar 2009 at 8:46 PM)
V1nd1care, it says that server is only available to staff (the link you gave me) know another way i can get to it?
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By QBUILDERZ (18th Mar 2009 at 8:43 PM)
What I don't understand is, Your tutorial says you can't edit the walls directly on terrain, the only thing I can think of is that the wall it self actually ISN'T a first floor wall, but a 2nd or higher that was reduced to negative points, if that is possible.

As for making it look like a half pretzel, which half is it?

I am trying to work through this and figure out the method given the little info we have. If it requires all reduction, I have known how to do that, so one part down. But as for cutting the hole into the ground without having the jagged edges, i am stumped.

*sits and waits for more*
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Phaenoh (18th Mar 2009 at 12:46 AM)
Its like Christmas! I'm so excited to hear that you are working on the tutorials again!
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By the_alien_among_us (17th Mar 2009 at 1:01 AM)
V1ND1CARE: That looks so cool. Could you give us an ETA on the tutorials
Caves and Constructing Undergound
By Deluxe Designs (15th Mar 2009 at 6:08 PM)
I still don't get it I don't understand the process of being able to pull up the ground without effecting any of the surrounding walls or floors, any feedback would be dearly appreciated

Many Thanks,
DD

vB Journal Version 1.5.0 Beta 3
vB Journal Copyright © Anthony Scudese