Hello again everyone!It all started when i wanted to add stealth stairs at the dormer of my new house . I did some search and read all of SimMasterRalph's great stealth tutorials (his tutorials are a must read) but none of them was referring to a 2-story house and none to a house build on foundation consequently they didn't work in my case.After trial and error i figured out how to add stealth stairs on a dormer that's on top of a 2-story house build on foundation and this is what i'll share with you this time.It's very easy and very useful!

Note: (text for each picture is below, just to avoid confusion)

~How to make stealth stairs on a dormer or attic that's on top of a 2-story home built on foundation~.



This is the house i currently work on, it is not finished yet.I painted the dormer white for tutorial reasons only.Stealth stairs are great for attics or dormers because of the amount of space you save and while you read this tutorial you will see what i mean.Let's begin!



top down view) Go to foundation level and add a square of foundation that is parallel to the yellow tile that's inside the dormer like shown in the picture.It's always good to do that at least 3 tiles away from a house but 2 will do here since i don't have more space (it's a 3x2 lot)



On top of the foundation add walls and continue to second floor >>



and add another box of walls like that.Now it's time to turn on the cheat boolprop constrainfloorelevation false . (note:if your house is foundation- but one story you just need one box of wall)


Go to foundation level again and use the small lower terrain tool and carefully click 12 times on each corner of the foundation to lower it.This is the most important part of the tutorial, do it slowly and in case of mistake just undo.You need to count carefully cause if it's 13 or 11 clicks the next steps of the tutorial won't be successful.



Now it should look like this if you go on top floor.



Before the next step make sure you remove windows and any other objects that are in the dormer and on the second level of the house below the dormer, we will need empty space so we can add the stealth stairs and not encounter weird deformations lol.

First off delete the left corner tile (floor) inside the dormer and then drag the level terrain tool from the top of our wall box to the tile shown in the picture .


Turn this cheat on: moveObjects on.Now select the stair tool (pick a stair of your liking, i used the wood one) and place it like shown.Make sure there is at least one tile extra below the dormer, if not delete any walls and place
them one tile away.You can see in the room on the left how i moved furniture to leave the space empty

After you add the stairs it will look like that but don't worry we will fix this in the next step.

Here is how: Use the level terrain tool and drag from the left corner to the right corner to level the deformed walls

Level the ground we lowered earlier also and then delete foundation and walls, we don't need them anymore.Turn off the CFE cheat like that: boolprop constrainfloorelevation true.Test the stairs with a sim and if you are succesfull save the lot, if not make sure you lowered the foundation here with 12 clicks exactly cause this would be the only part that could go wrong.

The stealth stairs look like that in dormer view .Add a railing fence on one side of the stairs if you wish like shown.

And they look like that in second floor view.This little piece of stair looks peculiar doesn't it? I have a decoration suggestion though so don't worry.

Surround with walls ,except from the tile shown which must remain open in order not to block the stairs .I will make this room a walk-in closet and i will pretend these are step stairs lol If they are left in the middle of the room they look weird and by doing this we make it more realistic.You can of course just enclose the whole room with walls and make it a bathroom, add a door anywhere as long as you leave space for the stairs.

Here is the master bedroom, not finished decorating yet but i think the walk-in closet looks great and is a great camouflage for the stealth stairs that lead to the dormer which you can use and decorate as you wish.I'll make a study-office room.

Here is our dormer with stealth stairs , Herb Oldie will now demonstrate. "Heeerb!Grab a book, will ya?"

It kinda works like teleporting..

I will leave Herb Oldie in peace now...This tutorial is an alternative that wouldn't have thought if not for SimMasterRalph's stealth stairs tutorials which can be found here http://thesims2.ea.com/mysimpage/up...sset_type=story
I decided to put it together just because i didn't find one anywhere.The final version of this lot is submitted and pending approval ;-)(edit:house is approved and on my uploads :-) ) .If you encounter any problems or just want to leave a comment feel free to do so.

Till next time...

~corvidophile2~

PS: (I would appreciate it if a moderator could review this tutorial and move it to the tutorials section if approved)

Great tutorial I will certainly be puttin this to good use.
Thanks again

fev

Thanks. Really helpful.

Cool... a nice way to do it.


Linkage for connecting/modular stairs


1. Normal usage:

Daihtnaoz7
Split Level Stairs
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sto...eFramework=true

InvisibleSims2
Staircase with a Landing (on the foundation)
http://invisiblesims2.com/stairtutorial/stairs.html
Stairs with several landings
http://invisiblesims2.com/stairtuto...andings/01.html

JadeEliott
Easy Corner U Stair Tutorial
http://mysticmusings.typepad.com/ar...corner_l_s.html

Jonesi
Stair behaviour when making split level staircases
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=110440

KevvvvvG888
Grand Staircase
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sto...g&showFrames=-1

MikeInside
Advanced Internal Modular Stairs on a Foundation
http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/b...all2/index.html
Advanced Modular Stairs in the Middle of a House
http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/b...wall/index.html
Circular Stairwells for Advanced Users
http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/b...ll/index.html#2
Circular Stairwells for Beginners
http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/b...ll/index.html#1
Dummy Stairs
http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/b...airs/index.html
Modular Stairs
http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/b...airs/index.html

niol
How to make U-shaped/180 degree stairs with 2 landings
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=100825

SimMasterRalph
Enclosed Spiral Stairs
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sto...&user_id=136631
Spiral Stairs Inspirations
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sto...&user_id=136631

Tiko
Creating 3-Storey Walled Spiral Stairs On A House Foundation
http://website.lineone.net/%7Eandre...llTutorial2.htm
Creating Spiral Stairs On A House Foundation
http://website.lineone.net/%7Eandre...llTutorial1.htm

tkdjunkie
OFB Easy U-Shaped Modular Stairs *NO CHEATS*
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=136165



2. Stealth Stairs:

corvidophile2
TUTORIAL:Stealth Stairs in dormer/attic on a 2-story house built on foundation
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=167685

Frillen @Maxis...(search "Frillen" @ Maxis)
Tutorial: Magical Bits'n'Pieces 1
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sto...&user_id=126444

niol
Tutorial more property-infos for connecting/modular stairs updated 1st May,06.
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=151575

SimMasterRalph
Stealth Stairs (Intro to Stealth Stairs)
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sto...&user_id=136631
Stealth Stairs for Dormers
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sto...&user_id=136631
Stealth Stairs Variable Size
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sto...&user_id=136631

Fantastic =) I have looooved stealth stairs since I first saw Ralphs tute. This is an invaluable tutorial - I added a downloadable Word version (as I make one for every tute I keep hehe) and am moving to the tutorial section =)

Thanks everyone and thank you Loverat so much for adding the downloadable version i don't have word installed in my pc so i couldn't do it .

this is realy helpfull!! I never can't do that byfore!

...Awesome.

I've loved stealth stairs since I figured out they existed, but never know how to make them. Now, I do. ;D

i can not get this thing ´cause i can not see the pictures

All of the pictures are gone...

The pictures are gone! My brain cannot comprehend tutorials without pictures! *falls to floor in pain* But really, it seems like a nice tutorial. Any chance of putting the pictures back up?

You can download the word document, it contains the pictures.

Excuse me, THE PICS?!?!