Groundwork: A Foundation Challenge




Sometimes, it is awesome having unlimited freedom. It is nice – sure! I’ll make a giant mansion with a pool on the second floor!
Yeah, I want that bathroom to have a hot tub in it! – but eventually, all the glitz and glamor of being uninhibited wears away.
There is just no challenge to it after a while and some people, like me, get very bored…very quickly.

This contest aims to fix that by testing your skills a little bit, and putting some challenge back into your game!

The idea is super simple – instead of building your house to a set of criteria, or trying to stay on budget, I will provide you
with a footprint that you must build on, decorate, landscape, and deck out, with a catch, to the best of your ability. Don’t forget
that all of this will be done while competing against the other entrants!

Much like the previous foundation challenge I hosted – “Building Blocks” – this contest will attempt to challenge you in more
ways than just changing shapes. Instead of each round increasing in shape complexity, each round will bring a new hitch
(with the exception of R1.) This might mean split levels, diagonal segments, basements, any combination thereof, and even more.
Join in on the action and have a great time with the rest of us!

*Note* This is a TS3 only contest; based on what I have planned, replication in TS2 would be very difficult / impossible.

• No altering the foundation is allowed
  o Its shape should still be clearly visible from top down.
  o No adding more foundation on
  o No taking any foundation off
  o No adjusting the height
  o Aesthetic changes are allowed (ex. Painting, adding or removing plants, wall hangings, etc.)
• Building away from the foundation
  o As stated above, the top down view should still resemble the original lot. This means no over hangs for more space and no
  adding basements. However, you are permitted to add a shed, car ports, garages, etc. and attach them to the lot as long as
  they don’t add more livable space. For example, garages can only be used to house cars, not store an extra bed.
• Lot Size
  o The lot size will be included in the post. You are not allowed to place the foundation on a larger sized lot than what is given.
  o You are allowed to rotate the lot any way you would like.
• Custom Content
  o Is allowed.
  o MTS encourages the creation and use of CC, but everyone deserves their credit. You don't have to list each bit of CC,
  just the creators that made it so they get their work highlighted.
• Pictures
  o You are REQUIRED to upload the following pictures with each round:
  ----->• Front picture
  ----->• Back picture
  ----->• Floor plan pictures
  o Extra pictures are recommended, but not required.
  o No photoshopping please!
• Time and Extensions
  o Each round will last for a ten day period.
  o Extensions are allowed, but there should be a valid excuse.
• Questions
  o For the most part, this contest relies on people being honest. The more you adhere to the rules, the more fun it is for
  everyone. Try not to bend the rules; if you think you can exploit something, try not to – it ruins the game for everyone. If
  you want to make sure that what you’re doing is allowed, just ask down below and I, or someone else who has done
  these before, will help you out.

• Structure: 25 Points
  o Everything related to the physical building of the house is scored here! The following criteria are what we will
  be looking for in this category...
  ----->• Curb Appeal (front of the house)
  ----->• Structure as a Whole (sides and back of the house)
  ----->• Roofing
  ----->• Interior Layout
  ----->• Aesthetically Pleasing
• Landscaping: 25 Points
  o Don't forget to make the yard look fitting, too. Gardens, driveways, terrain paint, and sculpting bring a lot of dimension
  to a house! Don't forget this important category!
  ----->• Is there landscaping?
  ----->• Does it fit the theme? (desert, lush, forest, etc.)
  ----->• Aesthetically Pleasing
• Decorations: 25 Points
  o The inside is just as important, if not more important, than the outside. Make sure you keep these key points
  in mind for a high score!
  ----->• Space is Filled
  ----->• Good Flow (no stomping sims)
  ----->• Coherent Style
  ----->• Matching Colors
• Presentation: 25 points
  o Now, you gotta show off your work! To get the last few points on your score, hit on these points for a guarenteed
  25 points!
  ----->• Pics at least 800x600
  ----->• Clear, Detailed Pics
  ----->• Detailed / Descriptive Post
• Bonus Points: 20 points
  o These are awarded hit or miss. You either get all of the points or no points at all.
  o Is your house set to a theme? How neat!
  ----->• +5 bonus points
  o You took extra pictures and they are gorgeous! They show off the lot really well!
  ----->• +5 bonus points
  o WOW! Your lot was a standout all around! You really went the extra mile!
  ----->• +10 bonus points

Entering is simple! All you need to do is download the attached file labeled "Round 1" and complete it. Once you've done that, take
the required screenshots (posted above) and some bonus point screen shots (also above) and make an awesome post showing
your entry off!Since entry rounds are normally longer than the subsequent rounds, you will have 14 days to complete your lot and
enter it. After those two weeks, the judges and I will close off entries, give you the next foundation, start scoring your previous
round, and post the scores up for everyone to see!

If you'd like to be a judge, all you need to do is post your interest, say a few qualifications (like how awesome you are, any other
contests you might have participated in, other things you've judged, etc.) and I'll let you know if we need you or not! I'd like to have
a cap of five judges, unless there are a large amount of entrants.



Round 1 over!
SCORES


Round 2 over!
SCORES


Round 3 over!
SCORES


Round 4 over!
SCORES



Here is a list of scored contestants and their entries:

Contestant	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
King_Deadly	Belinda GreenWork	Cozy Elegance	--	--
Levini	Spirit of Painted Rope	Spirit of Glass and Shimmering Lights	--	--
Bhanse1	Villa di Lusso	--	--	--
Elegant Rubble	Sunflower Grove	Clearwater	Student Rental	You Can Take the House out of the City
Fairycake89	Mrs. Miggins' Pie and Bread Shop	Castaway	Gramarye	Arrivederci Morgana!
Fuzzlechan	Aurora Abode	Graduation Place	--	--
Aisquared	Strictly for Singles	Pondside Retreat	Wood and Stone Modern	Strictly for Richer Singles
Sionelle	Alessandro's Elixirs	Zoolie's Interstellar Cantina	Hong Kong Highrise Penthouse	Khizanat Kutub al-Hikma
Diwtay	Garden Siesta	Open Concept Split Level	A Fairy/Elven Forest Home	Grimm's Mansion
Rikachu	Fancy Titles	--	--	--
P13579odds	Grandma's Country Cottage	--	--	--
Jerman	Brick 3 Story	Grandma's House	--	--
Mandimoo33	Feels Like Home	--	--	--
LucyBorgia	Artist's Cottage	Old Dressmaker's House	Searching for Surf	Quarry House
Lewjen	Still Loved	Hidden in the Trees	Sprung Up	--
Elephants	Susanna's Place	--	--	--
Rosebud1773	Modern Bliss	Modest Luxury	Colonial Cottage	--
Mage4Dragons	Tower House	Louisa's Luxury	Hill Top Manor	Spider Cube
Auronette	Summer Breeze	--	--	--
Cutsocks	Serho Concept Cottage Model #46	An Occidental Orientation	Carnegie Library	Alvarez-Rosenthal House
Volvenom	Brick Hipster	--	--	--
Armiel	Sonate to Pink Bushes	Autumn Colors	Colors and Bushes	--
Architectlings	Dissoudre le Béton	--	--	--
Miles2007	The Franconia Cottage	--	--	--
ReyaD	Meadow Family Home	--	--	--
Beccapixie10	The Ardmona	Moonshadow	Simmington State Library	Taylor Family Home
Simsgirliexd	Baie Blomme	--	--	--
Morgaroni	Il Gardino Cinese	Sweetwater Loop	The Modern Beach House	--
Evairance	Black White and Red	--	--	--
Buckley	Standpretty Cottage	--	--	--
Sahmormakmom	Mom and Pop's Glen	The Inheritance	Lazy Afternoon	Abandoned Airstrip RND4
AdonisPluto	Witzenhausen Tudor	Dagressi Modern	Little Modern	--
Taesang	Pounawea House	--	--	--
Ohthatsimschick	Old English Cottage	--	--	--
Yogi-Tea	The Canary House	Dragonhill Castle	Moonbase Beta	The Village Holiday Resort
quileutegirl	Tiny Tudor Farmhouse	--	--	--
NaiyasFury	Suburban Pride	Derelict and Decrepit	Country Manor Vineyard and Nectary	A Fisherman's Dream
Dreamfoil	Middle of Nowhere	Middle of Nowhere 2	Middle of Nowhere 3	Middle of Nowhere 4
Poundingheart	The Simple Cottage	--	--	--
Sunnaie	Sunny Side Up!	--	--	--
Isteffensimlady	Hiding in Plain Sight	Hiding in the Mountains	The Woodword Porterson Mansion	--
Klf1	The Border Hoose	Oriental Re-Orientation	Il Casa Per Libre	The Horse / Inheritance / Bookcase
Klf1	Designer Dream	--	--	--
Deluxe Designs	No.3 Plimco Drive	Dwindling Water	Khadija	--
SatiDelenn	Grandma's House	Ruins of the Mother	The Bear Pitt	--
Soulofsilence	Reflection Pond	Relictus Castle	--	--
Missroxor	Mid-Century Mini	Ye Olde Witch's Cottage	Papa Mario's Italian Bistro and Coffee Shop	--
Saramaa	Glade Road 114	Kate's House	The Pastel Dream	Elements
Slkjdfv	Basic Family Home	Cabin in the Woods	--	--
IshigreenSA	Nursery Friendly Home	Three Levels	Simlan Church	The Science Station Lab
Marbi	Bright'n Blue	Modest Modern	Stonehurst	--
Creativemommy1985	The First Modern	Chocolate Slice	--	--
Saiyru	The Greengrass	--	--	--
HedfonezX	Zen Gardens	Old World Charm	The Cargo Van	--
Craggles	Cosy Little Cottage	--	--	--
Nanette37	Cozy River Cottage-	--	--	--
Fenisa	Simple Beach House	--	--	--
Fukothepixie	On The Breeze	15 Mercedes Bends	Terrace Vineyard	--
Fairycake89	Villa Contento	--	--	--
Slkjdfv	Modern Bachelor Pad	--	--	--
Tamlyn	Cabin in the Woods	The Dorothy Lane Centre for Arts	Victoriana	Old Warehouse
Klaarjte68	Primrose Farm	G.A.T.E. Modern	Three Cherries	Stonehill Cottage
Harlequindusk	Humble Family Abode	--	--	--
Fenisa	Family Beach House	--	--	--
Menaceman44	Greens and Blues	Aqua Fitness Activity Centre	Mystery Manor	Supporting Cubix
Gogolinopz	Fairytale Retreat	Tudor for Two	La Hacienda Loca	Bayview House
Qnshr5	Call of the Wild-ish	Ardin Nectary	Boarding School House	Mediterranean Knock-Off
WriterChick	Shabby Chic Second Empire	--	--	--
Saramaa	Swedish Country Home	--	--	--
Selaroche	My First Competition	--	--	--
Cocoli	The Lonely Red	The Inspiring Abode	The Bloody Manor	--
Kmoldovan	Weeping Roses	Cherry Manor	--	--
Kahemeh	Chalet Encombre	Tabloid Dream	Lighthall House	The Old New Barn
Invisibleturtle	Sweethaven	Pirate Castaway	Razzle Dazzled	Mother of Invention
Sulyuki	Country Home	Casa Alla Cascata	Merton Manor	Grandviews
Fenisa	Writer's Retreat	Blue in the Mountains	Hidden in the Trees	Fireman's Loft
Crinury	Modern Gingerbread Formal	--	--	--
Charmedqueen	Javanut Cafe	--	--	--
Yogi-tea	Academy of Sun Shangxiang	--	--	--
Ajabilene	Vista Breeze	ECOasis	Forsyte Manor	Celebrity Beach Mansion
Aeval99	Frankencottage	The Vinter's Cottage	Hacienda Hell	--
Nanatoana	French Blues	Country Blue	Mountain Blue	Azul Espana
Snailpaste	Willow Cottage	Almost Boathouse	Oceans Edge	Underhill Home
Matts_Dad	MiniModern	464 Shoreline Drive	251 Foothill Drive	56 Oceanview Drive
Morphead	35 McDougal Drive	Oxford Hitch's Modern Craftsman	--	--
Rosebud1773	Victorian Summer	--	--	--
jhd1189	The Professor's House	The Dornish Water Gardens	Amazon Theatre	--
kmoldovan	Grandma's Haven	--	--	--
Tee Hee Hee	Ariocarpus	The Knott Residence	The Finnspiration Center	--
Electra225	Bamboo Grove	Lost Temple of the Stars	Blue House	--
Aree	25 Left Ave.	--	--	--
Silenscupio	Modern Writer's Retreat	Birchwood	--	--
lace_and_metal	Just in Time	--	--	--
ReyaD	Bleep	Blaine's Legacy House	--	--
snailpaste	The Beached Bachelor	--	--	--

Here is a list of late-comers who still made wonderful entries. They will not be scored, but check them out anyway!

Player	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4
Jones7659	Fairie Fields Coffee House	--	--	--
Wittymore123	Oak Lullaby	--	--	--
_Phae_	Prescott Street 22A	--	--	--
Plirtoo	Beach Home	--	--	--
FinnKid	--	--	Robottien kotitalo	--

Here is a list of judges and stuff:

1 - Qbuilderz
2 - PlayinSafe
3 - Seemyu
4 - TVRdesigns
5 - BlakeS5678
6 - GigaRevival

The judges scores will be kept anonymous through the whole competition so you guys don't attack them. Much like
last time, they will be assigned a color on a Google docs sheet, they'll fill out the scores, the averages will be calculated
and posted here on this post. Last time, it was a bit messy, and I aim to keep it simple and easy to do this time
around for both the participants and the contestants.


Answered Questions





















Participant Resources

ModYourPanties -- You can use this site to host images as long as you have an MTS account.
Advice on Picture Taking -- A hint from AdonisPluto on taking grid-free pictures.
Armiel's Builder's Island -- A flat, quick loading world that makes the challenge lots easy to access.
The Building Blocks Foundation Challenge Thread -- Can be used for some quick ideas and as a guide to see what's to come.
vB Code List -- Learn some stuff to make your post nice and tidy.


Additional Credits:
Entrants to my previous challenge -- you guys were awesome!
The creators and their intellectual property I used to make the banners up there ^^^

Contest Approved

• Do not post replies and/or contest applications before the contest host has checked in on this thread, or your post will be deleted.
• DO NOT WRITE USELESS POSTS like "Hey cool contest, I think I might join." Reserve type posts and useless posts about coming back with an application will be deleted.

Checking in, everybody. I just need to find where I put that first foundation file and we can get this started :D

Hey is this for sims2 and 3? or just sims3?

Unfortunately, I only have TS3 installed on my computer at this point in time, so this will be a TS3 competition only. Sorry for the inconvenience

ok, but it's not very clear from your blurb which game it's for. Pity cos it looks like fun but i'm a sims 2 builder.

I apologize once again for misleading you -- I have updates the title and first paragraph to be more clear to avoid this from happening again

That is a shame, was hoping it was going to be sims 2 as well!

Ooo! This looks like fun! I'd love to be a judge! Since my contest just ended, I have free space to do so!

Hey Q! Sounds great!
If you need another judge, please sign me up.

Qualifications: judge [Building Blocks] & participated in at least 2 other contest

PS- I love that you used pics from previous contest entries. That's really nice!

I'm certain it's just me being dim because it's way past my bed time already but I'm not seeing the attachment :/ Sounds fun, I'll need to see if I can squeeze in some time somewhere to give it a shot

You're not all dim, missroxor. The foundation file's hiding from Q (post #3).

Haha, so I was being a little dim then Thanks for pointing that out, I must've just read the checking in bit and skimmed past the rest of that post

Goddamnit! I could've sworn...ugh.

Give me 5 minutes, I need to switch computers.

Edit -- it is up! Now, I'mma go advertise a bit

Hey Q, I'll put my name in for judge. Obviously if we have to list qualifications... haha. I dunno. I build them? Pretty well, I would think.

Does round 1 have a particular theme? If so, I must have missed it. If not, then I take it this is just "build on this foundation", correct?

Yes, R1 was going to have a gimmick, but I decided against it. Nice and straight forward for round 1!

Excellent, thank you!

I think I might be on the slow side when I ask this: are things from the expansion packs allowed to be used?

Of course! Use everything you've got if you'd like!

I know this is a really long shot, and it's unlikely. But, would love to be a judge if you'll have me. While I don't necessarily meet the qualifications I have been building houses for The Sims since 2005 and have experience, (I play The Sims 2 and 3 all the time to this day) , in no way am I saying I'm perfect though. I have ton of time on my hands and it really would be a total honor if I could help out.

You seem really passionate about the game and I really like that! Sure! I'd love to have your help

Thank you so much, I guess I was really enthusiastic sounding.

is there a preferred world/lot for this?...not sure if i saw anything saying that..

Sunset Valley may be a good choice seeing as it has lots of flat area that can be used and looks pretty generic, but you can choose anything you want really. If you have a certain theme in mind you could choose a world that corresponds with that theme, all in all only your lots will be judged so it's not that important.