The Challenge Name is based of a cheat, which you will be using it a lot through the challenge.

The Principle is simple:
1. Choose (an) EAxis lot(s), either from the premade hood or the "Lots and Houses bin" or both.
2. If it's a residential lot, turn it into a community/hotel/secret lot / If it's a community lot, turn it into a(n) residential/dorm/greek/apartment lot.
2.5 I really advise you to read this before using this cheat If you don't want to bork/destroy your game!
3. After doing the following, you may redesign it only utilizing Buy Mode. Adding/Changing/Removing architectural features (position of doors, walls/fence, foundation, etc.) are forbidden. At the very least keep them minimal (e.g. add an elevator If you want to, but don't over do it).
4. You may upload your creation here.

Rules:



Inspiration for this challege: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXWP5_2G3dM

ETA of 18-08-02: Rule change.

I might try this when I have the time. Those lots in the the 'Lots and Houses bin' are just sitting collecting dust.

Congratulations SneakyWingPhoenix on starting the first "Build Prompt" challenge! I think I'll have a go at this when I have a little more time. I might relax your rules a little, at least to the extent of adding plate glass windows when converting a house into a shop. I'd try to keep the "look and feel" of the original though.

I like the idea of challenges that don't endanger my Sims!

Cool. Please do share the results.

Sounds interesting ... and (mostly) harmless. And I change lot zoning all the time with hotels, so it's not THAT foreign to me. In fact, I HAD to change a hotel to a residence because it did not work as a hotel, but works great as a residence. The challenge sounds fun!

CC is allowed?

@gazania Certaintly. Use as much as you want!

Geesh. This is more challenging than I thought.

Not being able to add walls either can be a challenge in my case. I need to create bathrooms without using walls. I THINK I might have one option using the buy mode, but it may not work. So if I pull this off, please be aware that it ain't easy making a bathroom without adding walls ... unless you do that trendy thing of open bathrooms. (Yes, those are a thing.)

Link about open bathrooms:

https://www.refinery29.com/bathroom...out-walls-trend

EDIT ... I do see a possible important exception to the no-build-mode rule (other than changing wallpapers or floors, I would guess). Sorry.

If you want to make the lot a dorm or a hotel, you would have to switch out the doors; otherwise, the lot won't work properly. I FINALLY found a lot that I could use for the purpose I wanted to try, but geesh, it's going to take a lot of work. Many lots would require me to at least move the doors or get rid of one, which is breaking the rules of the challenge. You can't touch anything that would be in build mode, if I'm reading this right.

However, changing to a dorm or hotel would require the Myne or the Solidity door. You really can't get around that.

And I would have to see if doing that will even make the place Freezy-resistant. Yes. I'm going to try a hotel. Yes, I seem to like punishment. But for me, it is a MUST that the housekeeper work correctly; otherwise, IMO, the lot will not be successful. It may not work, and I may have to start over again with another type of lot. And no, I will not use the Chris Hatch cheat unless necessary. I want it to work without it

As I've read, you can make a residence a commercial lot IF you use a buyable phone, so I think I'm good there. I hope.

As for converting community lots into dorms/hotels, I guess their respective door could use a swap. So yeah, that could be an except. Heck, I might loosen up and allow building design to be swappable as long it sticks to the building plan (changing doors into different ones, swapping wall covering and flooring. Though thanks for your observation - now for my poor attention to detail I have to add an exception

As for bathroom privacy goes, well the viable and the only suitable choice would be is to use that ugly (If you're stuck in vanilla setting) public bathroom stall and that cheap shower with curtains. Unless there's a hacked object that not only makes the plumbing alone cosmetically privacy-friendly without a walled room, but adds a function that doesn't invade sim's privacy using those objects - you can of course freely go with that

As for the lack of walls, you can utilize moveobjects or alike method because If you can remember - I didn't forbid the use of cheats for this challenge. Most of the cheats for the building are used for flexibility and realism (allow45Degree, snapobjectstogrid off, roofslopeangle), and often aren't considered to be cheaty despite that's where they are accessible.

ETA: So I figured I'll update you guys on this post, oppose to the original post so it doesn't end up confusing those that are playing it in progress.

Things that are allowed:
- Changing pre-existing doors of the lot to another (as long it remains a door and not an arch, vice versa applies as well).
- Changing walls into half walls and vice versa, as long such barriers aren't demolished or build new from scratch.
- Changing fence from one to another, as long as their attribute is consistent (you can't change a fence that blocks routing to an opposite one that allows to step and walk over it).
- Create a pond and a garden plot.
- Changing wall covering and flooring.
- Swapping stairs with elevators and vice versa.
- Usage of cheat is allowed.

Things that are not allowed:
- You aren't allowed to change doors into arches, and vice versa.
- You aren't allowed to add/demolish walls.
- You aren't allowed to create a new floor/story level that didn't come with the pre-existing lot setup.
- You aren't allowed to remove a top floor/story level by one that did come with the pre-existing lot setup.
- You aren't allowed to change windows.
- You aren't allowed to remove plants such as trees, bushes, shrubs, flowers, etc.

Simplification:
Leave the building as it is without adding a new level/story or shrinking down. Walls can't be added or removed Doors/arches can be changed (though windows not), but not into one another. Plants must remain on the lot. All rooms must be accessible.

You may change furniture and wall/floor covering. Create a pond or a swimming pond If you have to. Anything else that isn't mention is allowed.

I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I finally found a Maxis house that might do plausible job as a hotel. Two rooms have to share a bath. That should not cause Freezy to do her thing, but I can't be sure until I play the lot. Years ago, I remember some real-life B&Bs sharing a bathroom, and this is an old house, and there is plenty of room, so I think I can get away with it. But I haven't unleashed the housekeeper yet. That NPC is the final determinate as to whether I post this here or not. The dining arrangement is a bit odd, though!

The one problem I see is that the house does not have double doors going in and out. That has caused freezing in the past.

I did one ever-so-slight bending of the rules. It is easy enough to switch back.

Well, post when you can. Really looking forward to see your guys creations

And ... I'm getting Freezy. Surprisingly, the problem isn't what I thought. There are two more things to try. One isn't aesthetically as pretty, but it can work. The other is to try the Chris Hatch mod. If neither works, I might have to repurpose the building ... quickly.

EDIT ... Neither is working, though the Chris Hatch mod delays the freezing for quite a while. In all fairness, you did NOT specify that the lot had to be Freezy-resistant, so I can just post the pictures, and, since I've already decided to use this as a B&B in my game, work on what I see is needed to make the lot more Freezy-resistant on my own. THEN I can move walls and stuff around. No, I would not upload the lot because in good conscience, I would not do that for a lot where I know the housekeeper freezes, even if it takes a Sim day for her to do it, but uploading isn't required, either. I thInk I'll go that route.

Alright. That's fine. Nobody has to upload their lot If they don't want to. Rules are here so to give a structure of the challenge being, well challenging. It something really isn't working out (from a technical or gameplay standpoint) and you're certain that there is no workaround or just isn't working out, you may skip a rule or two, though try to stay true to some rules and the challenge, and not stray much. Besides, I can't patrol you guys from doing that's not allowed except for giving such guidelines.

I think it's time to post my failure.

The good news is that you do get 24 hours of non-Freezy antics, so it's a great overnight hotel. I have an idea of what is causing it. Since she does not freeze in the winter, I am presuming that something in the outside layout is causing the problem, and I have an idea how to fix it. However, to do so, I would have to re-landscape the entire front area, and that is DEFINITELY a no-no. So for now, it stays as is.

I bent two rules:

1. The color combo in the Maxis version in the front just hurt my eyes. It really bugged me. Hideous! I got rid of the pinky-purple windows, used the Maxis green version, and used a recolor for the non-stained-glass windows.

2. You wrote that we couldn't get rid of the current plants, but I did not see anything about not adding any. I made one rule for myself, though ... doubles only. No different plants.The nasturtiums are in my Buy mode. No dirt terrain beneath the trees or nasturtiums because that's going into Build mode. I did not use the dirt tiles because I wasn't sure if adding dirt tiles went against the challenge.

And now for the pictures. The original was Maxis' Deco Domicile.



I really, really need to thank Karen Lorraine for giving me some leads for the Art Deco stuff. OK, a LOT of leads. The peacock feather-motif wallpaper might not be strictly Art Deco, but I liked how it worked with the objects.

In the 20s, there was a great fascination with the Middle and Far East. That is why you'll see some Asian items in the lot, as well as the Casablanca box on the mantle. (I knew this because I am greatly interested in historical fashion, but as a quickie source: https://flapperstyle.wordpress.com/...tion/exoticism/)

You didn't require my posting the price. You probably don't want to know!

Oh, and a few shots of the original Deco Domicile:



On a different machine, so different defaults and CC. In-game camera.

I did not use MTS' image service because I really can't upload this, so I don't see the need to use MTS' resources in this case. Once this challenge is over, I am getting the original community lot-version out of the bin, trying to remember just what changes I made (I made quite a few!), and working on making this Freezy-resistant for my hood; hopefully without the CH fix. If I do upload this at any point, I'll have to reconstruct it in my clean game, and I cannot guarantee that everyone will find the lot Freezy-resistant, which is why I'd be reluctant to EVER upload a hotel. Even some Maxis hotels aren't immune to Freezy's charms.

The good news about Deco Domicile is that making it Freezy-resistant wasn't hard at all. The building lent itself to being Freezy-resistant after I fixed a few things, and I gave the place the three-day-guest test. The initial test worked fine in a day or two, but I had to help someone move, so Deco Domicile had to wait.

I had to switch ALL leaf-dropping plants and replace every flower with plastic or non-tending flowers. I also took out the middle wall between the bottom two rooms and gave Freezy plenty of room to roam. I switched the main floor bathroom and made the single bathroom upstairs into two bathrooms, but had to add some space and move a lot of walls to make sure Freezy didn't get cornered.

I made other fixes. of course, but those are cosmetic. The banquet room, the front gardens and perhaps the bathroom layouts were the places that needed the most of my attention to keep that maid from staying in one place.

About the only hassle with my changing the lot from residential to commercial to hotel after the fixes is that for SOME reason, dogs keep going on the lot until I ban them. No, I do not have a mod for dogs on community lots, unless it hitch-hiked with another mod. Since I'm not in the habit of adding a whole lot of mods, and the only ones I recently added was the Chris Hatch housekeeper mod and the salon mod here (but this happened before i added the last one), I don't think it's a mod conflict. I just have to remember to use Visitor Controller when the Sims enter the lot. The banning of critters does not take if I do the banning just once. Also, for some reason, I get a message that the Sim is off from work on the first day of arrival, whether the Sim is supposed to work that day or not. It does not affect the Sim's career status. I never had either before with the hotels I've made, but I usually make community lots, then change them to hotel. I don't think I should worry that much about it.

Anyway, I had been wanting to do a B&B for a while. I was going to use a Victorian-style house, but a Deco-esque one is fine too, I think. Thank you!

Imgur is being wretched, so let me try my alternate service. I'm not quite sure what is going to surface here ...

Well done on your two creations I would have posted my yesterday before your second lot, but due to technical issues and some pictures missing (probably since their not imported into neighborhood album) I didn't. What I have done is change the Ranch Retreat lot into an hair salon / spa type of spot. I will try to upload my creation today. I think it turned out fairly weird for a horrible builder like me, lol.

Hmmm - seems an interesting challenge ... only I deleted all EAxis hood and lot content years ago. Does anyone know of a website with the original lots for download?

Well, the second version would not have met the challenge requirements because I did too many structural changes and deleted the original gardens entirely, so the non-Freezy-resistant version is still the official one. I just wanted to show that changing a few things around after the challenge to make the lot a hotel without the freezing housekeeper wasn't too hard*. I think the main culprit was probably the gardens and trees. Experience has taught me to use non-shedding, no-care plants on a hotel lot. Whenever I see plastic or no-care CC plants, I download them ASAP.

I can't wait to see the other entries.

As for trying to get a Maxis lot back again, perhaps you can rename your current game and start a fresh game as if you're preparing a new lot for upload and grab the Maxis lot that way. Or use a method similar to the one you use to get an original objects file back. You'd have to find a way to renumber the lot, though, so that may not work. Of course, Lot Compress it or otherwise remove Sim references before using it in the good game.

Another way would be to take pictures of that lot and rebuild it from the ground up. Fortunately, many Maxis lots are fairly simple to reconstruct. I had to do that with this hotel, since I prefer to make lots in an unplayed hood, even in my own game. Of course, I made this lot in my PLAYED hood initially. Oops.

*I still can't figure out the wandering pooches, though. Methinks that will be my last residential-to-community-to-hotel lot, unless I find out it's due to the Chris Hatch mod or something like that, and I can simply remove that mod. And I wouldn't be surprised if there is some quick and easy way to fix it in Sim PE, but I haven't a clue because my Sim PE education level is around first or second grade. At least it's not kindergarten, I guess.


EDIT ... Oh! Here is a clue from our own Simsample! It's back from 2006, though, so watch out if there is anything here that we found corrupted hoods or games later. I didn't see anything myself.

http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=1401134

Ugh no - I'm not having the game regenerate anything.

Actually, thinking about it, perhaps this is not the challenge for me. I'm intrigued by the idea of starting with something and repurposing it but in general I dislike EAxis neighbourhoods and lots so much I'm not sure I can get on with them in my game. So perhaps I should miss this one out. Good luck though to everyone who takes part. Sorry.

My attempt (apology for the bad quality, forgot to change the settings of in-game camera:

Cool! I wouldn't mind visiting this lot if it existed in real life?

Though I'm wondering ... what lot was it originally? I think if others enter, it might be fun to see what the lot looked like first.

@maxon - you can download one of Jawusa's non-default hoods - they are empty of sims, but have all the buildings. I think I want to try this, but have to study the rules first

Ranch Retreat

I have always liked this little lot, which plays quite well if you need a house urgently. So I decided to change it into a flower shop. I changed the wallpaper and floors (edit - and the roof), recolored the hibiscus trees, landscaped and redecorated - and although I am sure some people would like an office or a staff bathroom, I am fairly certain that this lot will work quite well as an owned business. Pics attached.

Wow ... nice! I made flower and plant lots ages ago ... I keep forgetting that nurseries/plant shops make great business lots. My daughter constantly liked making those because your Sim could make a pretty good profit.

Thanks I love flower shops in RL, so I love playing them too.