If my images seem small it is because i can only run my game on a small resolution and making them bigger isn't possible.

i decided to makeover this house for the singles because i'm sure this house was meant for them.

i decided to give most of the girls double beds because...single girls need loving too right?







Rooms For each girl:
-Leopard print bed-is chloe's because she's a romance sim.
-small single bed room-is kristens because she doesn't plan on staying in strangetown long.
-room with desk and stripey bed-loas because i'd envisage her as wanting a bland workable room being more serious than chloe.
-room with orangish bedding-is erins,if you look close enough you can see a picture of loki and circe on her wall

Entry Round 1 - The Beaker Family
 

I have chosen the Beaker family. I picture them as a very clean and neat family who live in a sterile, modern house. So that is what I build. I added another level for the Beakers which includes their bedroom and private bathroom as well a doorway to the flat roof where they can stargaze. I kept the basement and turned it into Nervous's room and place where Circe can perform her experiments. To access the basement, I made a secret staircase. The door to these stairs and so the basement can only be entered by the Beakers. On the ground floor I turned the small rooms at the front in two lab's; one for Circe and one for Loki. For the kitchen and living room I deleted the walls to integrate both and have a sense of an open space. Finally, I surrounded the house with a chain mail fence to fend off unwanted visitors. The Beakers don't do very ethical experiments after all.



More pictures behind the spoiler.

@emerald1234 - the house is pretty.

Your screenshots are a bit small - can you take bigger ones? (I know you are new to this, and I can see them well enough, but they should really be bigger).

Also - you should get rid of the gridlines.
That can be done by: go into cameramanmode (press tab) - or (easier for me) - press F10 and they should mostly go away.
Don't worry if they are not perfect immediately, by the end of this contest you will have learned how to take nice ones You can edit your screenshots and your entry until the deadline and there is still one day left. Strongs

the reason that the pictures aren't bigger is because my game window is pretty small and its the only window i can play the game on,if i can't make the pictures bigger will i be disqualified?

I doubt that, @Emerald1234 - I can see your pics well enough. I think you should just explain that in your entry so that the other judges will know why they are smaller - that should be fine then

I'm here, still not well -but I think with the one I missed we have 10?

Get well soon, Jo. We have 12. I logged on this morning to see five new entries! Great job everyone.

@Kukamuukaanmuka I hope you can get the rest of your pics in.

Thank you! Karen counted 12 as well.

Guys ignore what I said above, there is one day left on the clock.

@yavannatw , just did , all the pics and the story also Just took some time as I got carried away as usual, It was supposed to be just few words story

So yep, updated my entry

Spectre Family 73 Road to Nowhere
 

Hi, I'm Ophelia Nigmos (or so it says in my underpants; I can't really remember for sure). I just moved into this place with my elderly relative, Olive, and we've done the place up a bit, so I thought I would show you.





I hope you liked my tour! If you live in Strangetown, maybe you could fill me in on some details. Like, where are my parents? And why am I wearing a tie?

@simsample Great to see you here!

Also can everyone make sure that the family you choose is easy for the judges to see.

Sim Sample, Where did you get the Mini Nervous from??? Love all your cc. I can't wait to see where your story leads whether it is official or a play-along.

Mini Nervous? Hunts for mini Nervous... Where?

Going to check the table and start on judging sheets. It's 8pm here so I won't close the application round until the morning-my morning.

@Emerald1234 I just noticed your pictures, did you use a screenshot program? Fraps, Gadwin there are others. Make sure to use Tab to remove the UI and if you can at the least make your floor plan shots as large as the front shot. Judges have a big task and having as large a picture as possible helps them out. By the way, the one time I made over this house, I made it over for the Singles.

I also want a mini Nervous :lovestruc

Table updated, we have 13, maybe somebody will make it lucky 14? Also, you will now see all the family names in the table rather than 'entry' this will help us all keep track.

i'll try to make the improvements now.

Mini Nervous Subject (pictured in Olive's room) is by a creator called MimiX5 or Mimiextra5 but doesn't seem to be available any more. I uploaded it here:
http://simfileshare.net/download/566153/

Round 1 Entry - The Spectre Household
 

Strangetown council decided that this little house would be suitable for a two person household, with a little redevelopment. So, the Spectre household was selected as owners.




The Council has decided that the landscaping should stay true to the desert environment, and developed the grounds accordingly. Olive was unimpressed. She seemed to think too little space had been left for her own outdoor interests.

The new open plan upper floor allowed plenty of entertaining space for the outgoing and sociable Sim the council assumed a professional party guest must be! The ground floor was converted into two reasonably sized bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.

Ophelia was rather surprised to get the larger of the bedrooms, but Olive explained that this was so she had space to study. Actually, a secret door in Olive's room leads down to the old basement.

What do you do down there, Olive? Grow mushrooms?

N.B. The book case in Olive's room is a functional 1 tile secret door. The cooker hood is a smoke detector.

Jo, I think you'd better make me a play-along. I'm not going to finish my house by the deadline -- Real Life and that basement have combined to make it impossible. If I'm not mistaken that basement floor is 20 clicks below the main ground floor level, which explains why the ladder I was trying to use isn't long enough to reach! So, to save Ajay having to jump when he reaches the top rung of the ladder, I'm going to have to raise the basement floor level. Which might need CFE, which I've only used once before. Also, as it is just now, I can't place walls on that floor. I'm sure I can work it out eventually. But what I can't do is fix that floor, finish furnishing and decorating the house, arrange the garden, load the no-red-lines mod, start FRAPS, take and post all the pictures and write up my post in the next four and a half hours, while simultaneously attending to all my Real Life tasks!

Anyway you've got 14 contestants now without me -- 15 if HugeLunatic (or anyone else) submits an entry. Which looked very unlikely only a few days ago! I put my name down because I was afraid of the contest not going ahead -- I certainly didn't want to keep anyone else out of it. I think I'll enjoy the contest more as a play-along -- I can be a bit free-er if I don't have to worry about scoring.

And besides, all the entries so far are much better than my house!

Ajay should just learn to teleport

Round One - Loner
 

A small, modern home for Ajay, based all around his favorite color, black. It has an office for him to work from (and make money), and a telescope for counting the grains of sand in his backyard (instead of stars in the sky).

Oh ya, entries 14 and 15 just as I came on to close application round. Congratulations @Aysarth and @Mordant17

I will be getting the judges sheets together today.

@AndrewGloria Sorry you missed out. :/ Please do.

Applications are now closed. Any more applications will now go on the play along table.

Judges can you check in.
@gdayars
@Justpetro
@yavannatw
I have the judging sheet ready. Can everyone open Word documents? I tried changing it to .txt but it said it would not keep the cells or clickable text. If you can PM me and let me know thanks.

Checking in, @joaandsarah77 - Yes, I can open Word documents

@simsample, tell me I haven't completely lost my mind... Your avi was different yesterday wasn't it? lol. I'm glad to see it's back to the "classic" Sim pic (if I'm not crazy). I was quite shocked when I saw posts from you without Sim staring at me from over the rim of his glasses :P

@justJones I don't know, I thought simsample's new avi was hot stuff. :P

@justJones


@joandsarah77

Well, I am happy to be winked at once in a while again

Ah yes, @simsample, it was the simmerized one I saw, lol.

@joandsarah77, I didn't say the new one wasn't nice Just that it wasn't what I was used to, lol

Some thoughts as a first-time judge, who has just started to work on the judging sheet, which I want to share with the contestants
You have worked hard, some contestants harder than others, but I appreciate what all of you have done.
I will try to be fair, and I hope that my comments will be helpful along the way - I will try not to make mistakes (I know to err is human, but I will still try).
If you are disappointed with your score later, I can tell you that I have ended up stone last in the first round of my first competition, but managed to take 2nd place in the end, because I just worked harder.
Never forget to have fun - you should enjoy it
Good luck to everyone!

A round of applause for our judges!

This round will take longer to judge since judge 1 is moving house. If she can't judge I will step in as the emergency judge. If anybody is lurking who would like to be emergency judge feel free to put your hand up though as hosting is quite enough for me really. I only put myself down as nobody had volunteered for the position.

I will volunteer to be the emergency judge if you would like to have me? I have plenty of lots on my profile. Here are a couple of my uploads Northfield University Dorms, and my latest The Shelley Bungalow

Thanks Karen, that is much appreciated. Putting you down on the judging table.

I just realized the last entry on the table shows Aysarth's entry again.

@Justpetro @yavannatw @gdayars Fixing this. It may not fix it on the judging sheet though.

I really am struggling with the basement in this house. The trouble is that the floor of the basement is 20 clicks below the level of the floor above instead of the usual 16 clicks. I wanted to use the basement as a bedroom for Ajay with an en suite toilet and wash basin (and possibly a shower), and an additional small room that he might use for private study. To save space I wanted to use a ladder I have (actually the Climbing Mesh from Phaenoh's "It's all Wood" playground set). But the ladder isn't long enough (It's for a 16 click difference between floor levels), and when I try to place new internal walls in that basement, it just says "Covered by Floor Tile".

So basically I want to raise the basement floor level by four clicks. I thought I'd do this by using the "Split Level Interior Foundations". But, though I could place floor tiles on the raised floor, I couldn't place walls or the ladder there. I'm wondering if I can use CFE to raise that floor by 4 clicks without distorting the walls. I see other people have successfully added dividing walls inside that basement.

It makes me glad I gave up trying to take part in the contest proper -- I'm "just" a play-along now. But even as a play-along, I'll really have to post my entry soon. If I don't think of something quickly, I'll just have to finish the rest of the house and move Ajay in. And deal with the basement later. I'm actually doing this in my regular Strangetown (which I've only played for one rotation).

@AndrewGloria I didn't even need to use CFE. I just used the terrain tool to raise one point of the ground 4 clicks, then raised the other three points around that square by 4 clicks too. The terrain level tool then allows you to make the rest of the basement level to match.

I always use a Maxis wallpaper that has a skirting board on it to do this- if you place one of those on the basement wall, you can then see how much you need to raise the terrain to make it the correct height (unlike walls, you can raise the ground right next to foundations with no problem). Once you have that right, you should be able to place walls in there with no trouble.

I also use wallpaper. Another way is to simply leave the basement as is. I would have made this place over for Ajay and left the basement. Just seems to be the easiest choice.

Thanks simsample and Jo! I'll do that tomorrow.

I think we need to have a party around here right now Unfermented fruit juice for the judges, fermented for everyone else. Contestants should use the opportunity, since they will have to be building again soon.

BBQ and wine at the fermented fruit juice bar

I'll be the first to join the party!

and i'll be second!

Me three!! Any rosewine, perhaps, Justpetro ? :P

If you want rosewine, there will be rosewine!

Thanks for the fermented juice. Much appreciated.

(this glass is the wrong shape though.)

Cheers!
Prost
Santé
Salud
Salute
Skål
Kippis
Sláinte

Kippis to you too! <3

Very suprised I was (and like Yoda I sound like now) to see that in there :D

I purposely put that in there for you

Round 1 Play Along : Ajay Loner
 

I felt like playing along, so here we go. Ajay has to keep himself busy if he is going to be a loner, so he has plenty of things to do. He can also count the new, clean sea sand grains in his backyard systematically, square by square, now. He makes robots for a living, which he sells to the (aliens in the) air. Visitors have to find the entrance at the back themselves






I had fun Edit: Added a clearer screenshot of the floor plan.

Since I don't know how to pm pictures @yavannatw I am placing how the cells of the judging sheet should look here. You should be able to type in your scores into the cells on the sheet that I uploaded. If downloading the sheet is still giving issues I could try dropping it into a PM on Discord. The sheet you sent is fine, but if we can fix it so the real sheet works that would be preferable.

When are you planning on posting round 2? I am curious to see what we are getting next.

I was waiting to see how long the judges might take/giving judge one longer due to moving house, but Karen, the emergency judge is going to take over for judge 1 this round. Probably in 2-3 days? I don't want the judges to be overwelled which can happen if rounds are posted right after each other.

Round 1 - Play-along - Ajay Loner
 

Ajay required "a masculine home and a way to make money". He toyed with the idea turning the basement into a dungeon and abducting Sims and holding them for ransom there. But he decided he's not like that, and anyway there's more than enough of that sort of thing going on in Strangetown already. But there doesn't seem to be a hairdresser in Strangetown yet, do he'd open a barber's shop in his house and earn an honest Simoleon that way. When he couldn't find anyone selling barbers' poles, he decided to paint the whole front of the ground floor in the red and white of the traditional pole. That would be a good way to advertise his business.

Required Pictures

Additional Pictures

Mistakes
Late on, when Ajay was moving in, I spotted a couple of mistakes which might have cost me points (if the judges spotted them) had I been a proper contestant. There was no light fitting in the upstairs bathroom -- I'd simply forgotten it. I also omitted 3 panels of wall covering in Ajay's bedroom. As I was so near the financial limit, I couldn't fix these within the budget. I could of course have managed it by replacing some item of furniture with a cheaper alternative, but this entry was late enough already! Ajay fixed both problems the next day.

I apologise for being so very late. With hindsight it was a mistake to try to makeover this house and help Andrew with Jones's Outfit of the Day challenge at the same time, when I also have quite a few Real Life commitments. As Andrew keeps telling me, I'm hopeless at managing my time.

Yah, another play along. Thanks @AndrewGloria :D

Okay I was going to post the next round, but I'm not feeling so great so I will try later tonight (my tonight) If not I will post it tomorrow.

Round Two is posted!

I had a feeling it was going to be that house at some point Am I correct in saying we only have to leave the outside walls, and can remove the pillars/stairs/weirdness on the roof?

That's right. Just leave the walls in red, the rest is fair game.

Tips for contestants
 

Here are some ideas from me that contestants can keep in mind:

1. Let the outside and the inside of the houses complement each other. Some of your lots have carried the outside theme over to the inside very well. While you are probably not going to lose points if yo don't do this, it may be a factor when we get to a tiebreaker.
2. Use ground cover. Not only is it free, it can really make a garden outside interesting. Not only does it make plants look better if you put some garden soil or dirt underneath them, ground cover also make nice footpaths.
3.Remember to leave enough space for Sims, especially around dining tables.
4. Try to avoid large rooms with very little in it. Either make the rooms smaller of try to fill it. While the budget is tough, the career rewards are free.
5.Remember to add something for each Sim. A child certainly has to have at least one toy or something to show off his/her hobby/interests.
6. Turn a very ugly space (the basement) into a beautiful, workable living area. Even if you are allowed to ignore the basement, some contestants did spectacular work down there which can NOT be ignored :
7. Make the back of the lot pretty too!

Here are some pics from contestants for inspiration. Believe me, there were many, many more, so I can't post all of them.

1, Try to make a stunning roof, but if you can't, make a neat one. Flat roofs can work too, especially with a god-looking edging.



2. Make use of wallpaper. And use a fence sometimes.



3. Use plants and pretty stairs



4, Use colour and a funky chair



5.Use the available space, including the area around the building:

Thank you for the helpful tips Justpetro! And thank you for posting the next round JoanandSarah! I have a hard time deciding if I choose the Grunt family or the Single Ladies family. I look forward to start building!

That's a nice big footprint, so suitable for a larger household. I think I will use the Smiths.

May I suggest you leave each round in the original post, rather than removing it altogether? Maybe hide in spoiler tag?

I'm really posting to express my agreement. Since it's a Maxis building, you can of course see the original in Strangetown. And I actually have a copy of that building on its original form in my Lot Catalogue if that helps anyone. The main thing that's missing now is the price. The limit is §40,000.

HugeLunatic, I'm sure Jo will still welcome you to Round 1 as a play-along. From your previous posts, it seems that you've already done a lot of work on that house, and it would be a shame not to let us see it. Please join us in the play-along table.

I agree as well - it is something that should stay for anyone who wants to look at the contest later too.

I also agree. It will be easier for anyone who wants to look at this contest halfway or when it is done.

Looking forward for our next reno! EDIT: Actually, never mind, I see it has already been posted. That house... Another tough one, but I think we'll see some great makeovers from every contestant.
Also, I've just installed a new camera mod which allows me to take better pictures. Yay! I think I will build this lot from scratch, in case I feel like sharing it after the contest's over.

And Justpetro, great advices!

While you are building, I will take the judges and Jo drinking

Good luck on the next round everyone. I look forward to some spectacular makeovers.
(I think one of the reasons I didn't get into Strangetown was that I didn't like any of the houses and couldn't be bothered making them over.)
Now I'm off to the bar.

I took it away so that it wouldn't get messy underneath the post because of Modyourpanties being down, but I can put them back.

Beaker Family 2 Cover Up Road
 

Hello, I'm Loki Beaker, and boy has it been a strange few weeks! I seem to have lost my memory- my wife has too- so we are not really sure where we are or what we are supposed to be doing. We were assigned a new home, and we've been busy remodelling it to suit our tastes- or at least, what we feel our tastes might be.

Cool stuff simsample I love the windmill on the roof! :D

Scores should be posted sometime later tomorrow-my tomorrow. Right now it's 9.40 pm and I have about half done.

Thanks Jo! I might try to work in some of the columns but I'm very glad not to be stuck with that roof!

Circe's pet!

I will look at your great work later, @simsample, first I have to stop laughing.

just droppin' by to let you guys know I'm alive and well--well intrigued by this new contest!
strangetown is a place I really didn't like form the get go so it's interesting to see all these creative takes on those ...bothersome (for me) structures!

man I have a lot to catch up on

Hi, @kanzen, you are always welcome at the fermented fruit juice bar

I am doing up the rest of the score tables today, I hope your bar is open petro!

Application/Round 1 Judging Scores and Comments

Notes from Judge 1
General
I have deducted half a point where I thought applicable in every category across the board; and where I had to, I gave the better entry more points (because some of you did a lot of things right, but other contestants just did it better). That narrow entrance has playability issues and you should have moved it. If there is no other entry/exit door on that floor, you made the playability issues worse.
The landscaping was a bit disappointing — the rules say you can change the terrain. It is a requirement to give something to every sim living in the house and some of you forgot to do that.
Credit to those who remember to put lights outside.

Dining chairs and tables need space around them to be used by sims without playability issues. There should really be one tile around the table and the chairs, especially if you use more than 2 chairs.
Some of you have done everything right, but other contestants just did it better 😊

Notes from Jo
Due to comments being in a table I had to remove all comma's (they create cells)
For grid free photos click either the 3 dots or the swatch tool.
Take plenty of photos and get in close with floor plans so that the judges can see everything easily.
Don't forget the needs of each family.
I will be adding comments later, but for now on with the scores!

Thank you judges for the scores and comments.

@Justpetro , I would very much hope to have a cold Fanta with ice from the bar? I have planted so many roses up there near the sky at the ex Curious house that Í have no desire to have rosewine, maybe ever again :P

@Kukamuukaanmuka; You may have a cold Fanta, although I don't think it is the correct way to celebrate winning a round myself. What you really should have is a big bottle of champagne, and handle it like a princess does (a South African one, of course)

Congratulations to all the contestants; you all did well, and this is still wide open! Reminding you all again that I grabbed a second place in my first contest after ending stone last in the first round

Ah forget Princess Charlene, drink it like Patrick Stewart!


( Does Danny Riccardo ever stop smiling?)

There is more champagne in the bottle (Yes, DannyRic stops smiling when Max crashes into him)

My 2nd favourite Aussie - Jo is number 1

Ah yes, Jo is my number 1 too.

Aww you guys. :blush:

darn, Justpetro has the same timezone as I have (yes still living pretty opposite side of the globe, but at the same line if we draw a line from north to south ) So she must be at sleep as I assume not as nightowl as I

I need my Fanta , lol, I refuse to have anything what is stronger than milk :D

You might want to check the table to be sure it links to your entry and that your scores are correct since I can make mistakes. If you click on 'Score' it will take you to the page that the comments and scores are on. If you click totals it will order the table so you can see where you are ranking.

Also if you feel the judges missed something or you have any query over your comment or score feel free to say so.

Round 2 - 2 Cover Up Road
 

Right off the bat, I noticed Kristen, Chloe, and Lola were VERY interested in the environment. Erin has medium-low interest, but she's the outlier. I decided to give the ladies a nice environmentally-friendly makeover of 2 Cover Up Road with as much flora as possible (but not a full lawn, since that's a waste of water and not good for the environment.... *cough* looking at you, Mr. Pollination Tech #9). I also wanted to give Kristen a place to work out, Chloe a cool pad to throw parties at, Lola a space to work, and Erin a place to... uh... enhance her psychic powers.

Pics of the girls enjoying their new home:


Outside of the lot:


Greenhouse:


Ground floor:


Upper floor, main room and Lola's office:


Lola and Chloe's room:


Erin and Kristen's room:


Required pics below:
(due to the size of the lot it was hard to get good top-down photos, so I have several for each floor)

Cool! Love it. :D

Thanks @joandsarah77 I always hate making over the Curious Brothers' house whenever I start a new playthrough of Strangetown, but it was really fun to design the lot for another family! I'm really excited to see what everyone else comes up with, especially since the higher lot value limit means we can do more decorating

@Modder How did you find the budget on the last two lots? I am only guessing at what I think is a reasonable figure.

I really appreciated the detailed feedback from judge one, but judge twos seemed a bit brief. They deducted several points, but their comment was all positive. Although I'm clear on where the lot could have been improved, I would really have appreciated hearing their specific reasoning.

Also, @joandsarah77 the points from judge two only add up to 23, making my total 69.5, not 70.5

Oops, sorry @Mordant17 I will fix that.

Looking good, @Modder
@Ka....(simmer with the really loooooong name) - we should at least pour the Fanta into an empty champagne bottle, I think
@simsample - I will put Mark at number 3 of my list of favourite Aussies then
The fermented fruit juice bar is open! For normal people and for Fanta drinkers!

Pretty good, I like the amounts so far. They seem appropriate for each lot.

@Modder Just a heads up: The recliners don't work on the diagonal, there are playability points at stake here :P

Wait, really? I've only had that issue with the cheap plastic, wooden, and tiki chairs. The other recliners work fine

Hope everyone has seen their scores and knows that the second round has been up a few days.

@Yvelotic2001 Very industrial stylish. I like those lights.

@NatteryakToad Creepy. I like the cow plant down the basement.

@muridae I like the outside and the cutouts. I also like that you used those funny front areas for something else.

@Simoleon37 Cool slanted window openings. Also quite creepy, don't think I would want to be their 'guest'.

@Kukamuukaanmuka I love the use of water and that you moved the entrance. I was hoping to see the entrance moved.

@Modder I love that your house looks like a lab and that you changed what those little front areas are used for.

@quycksylver Happy to see those front areas used for other purposes. I like the retro vibe.

@motheringthesims Interesting was my first thought looking at the front. I like the colour scheme and that large footprint bathmat.

@randomlyyellstuff Very nice roof line and pretty colours. I like how you decorated.

@Flickstar Good thinking to use that small area for a nectar bar and dining area. I like the 'friendly' kitchen. Cool oven.

@Emerald1234 Good job fitting 4 ladies in this place. Nice bathroom floor tiles.

@Marleen267 very sleek and modern. I like how those two small areas became lab rooms.

@simsample Clever use of keeping that roof. I like the family painting next to Olive.

@Aysarth I like the orange feature wall and mushrooms down the basement.

@Mordant17 I like your kitchen placement, clever. Also a moved entrance! yes, I was looking for that.

Thanks, Jo. The idea for using the cutouts was my main reason for throwing my hat into the ring in the first place, so I'm glad you liked them. I can't play at the moment, as my main computer is in storage while decorating goes on and the laptop would melt if I tried to play on that. It can just about cope with building though, so the contest is very timely.

My scores all add up fine, thanks.

I do have one question for the judges, as much for the benefit of anyone who might house the Smiths in future as for my own curiosity. Do they consider PT9's lawn to be mandatory? I made a design decision not to break out the terrain paint and add one, as I considered that it spoiled the aesthetic of what I was aiming for with the house exterior, but as his bio also listed cloudwatching and stargazing I gave him roof access and a telescope instead.

Jill's interest in the sea is a fair cop though. I simply ran out of money and couldn't afford the pool I wanted to build her, or even a suitable toy. So I did the best I could by starting to dig a pool with the terrain tools, since that was free, but knew it was a bit of a kludge. When I can get back to the main computer and SimPE/Photo Studio again I shall give her a nice seascape painting to make up for it.

I think the target spend is challenging, but reasonable. I could probably have done with another 5K for house one, but it was my own decision to house a family of four and use all those expensive cutouts. I think it would have worked out fine for a smaller household.

It's me that wants the lawn green. Mainly because I don't believe PT9 would have anything else-and the families are the ones doing the makeover. Even if it's only a small patch that showed he was trying for a green lawn. Having the lot feel like it was that family doing the makeover is an important part of the challenge. Without that there would not be much of a challenge since the only rule is to keep the shell.

I was expecting people to pick the smaller families this round to save money, but whatever family you pick is fine.

That's fine. Lawns are good. I'm sure he'd start sowing one the moment he moved in. Just thought I'd check so that everyone else who uses the family knows to add one.

@muridae
As a judge:
The thing about this competition is that you are not just building a house, you are building a house for a specific family and with specific individuals in the family. If you look at PT9's bio, it is not just that he likes it, his lawn is one of the most important things in his life. That is why it should be there.

With a tight budget, it is still very important not to neglect any family member. If you have left out the telescope (sims can stargaze without one; it is also expensive) you could easily have given Jill a toy or two (and some nautical wallpaper would have been perfect).

I really hope you will continue, because your house was a very good start. We all make mistakes when we take part in contests (I may hold some kind of record there myself - forgetting required stairs and required second bathrooms at times). That is how we learn to build better in the end.

May I just explain why I didn't use terrain paint in my house. I usually do use green terrain paint in my lots. But this is Strangetown, and Strangetown is in the middle of a sandy desert. Moreover I was building a house for Ajay Loner, who is reputed to like counting the grains of sand on his lot. Now grass doesn't grow in a desert without a lot of watering, and Ajay didn't show any interest in anything like that. (In fact PT9 seems to be the only resident of Strangetown with any interest in gardening, and he only does it to show how human he is. Olive I'm sure has her own reasons for digging in her garden. ) So I left Ajay's garden full of sand, so he has plenty of grains to count. He put a few plants round the entrance to his barber's shop to make it look attractive to customers, because that's where his income is going to come from. But that's the full extent of his interest in plants or gardening.