Oh dear. That's a shame. I had that trouble with the graphics card in my old laptop, luckily for me fate was kind and killed it off completely so I had reason to invest savings in a better quality one. I hope you'll be able to find a solution to your trouble soon.

Hello, Ijoined you guys because i wanna learn what you know- how to build big fabulous houses. So far, the only thing I know is how to make houses and apts cheaper by using the cheapest cc, lol. I know a little bit about design, but it takes a lot of planning for me.

Really the best thing to do, at least as far as designs go, is to familiarize yourself with what works in real-world buildings first. There's more materiel out there that you can draw from, and it forces you to think "how could I do that in the Sims?" instead of just seeing someone else's creation, and thinking "I see how you did that, I wish I had done it!" If you live somewhere where there's a decent-sized secondhand bookstore, you can usually find books of floorplans and architecture magazines cheap, otherwise, stores like The Home Depot usually have a decent selection. Figure out how real-world architecture works, and it translates nicely into the pixellated world of The Sims.

It's also a good idea to pick out and have a go at styles that you have a personal interest in. Personal experience tells me that it is a good idea to have a look at what others have done to get an idea of what's been achieved already and also to pick up any tips/techniques, having done this, it's then a good idea to look at real life buildings and think about whether they would be achievable in the game, given all the constraints that it brings. This is how I've improved my building skill over time, I saw what others did and picked up on techniques they were using such as the use of the CFE and MoveObjects Cheats and then tried to apply them to my own thought process when building a house in game. A good thing about MTS is all the fantastic creators it has, you only have to trawl through the downloads section to get ideas. Having drawn on both real life and in-game influences the next step is to play around in your own game and find what works for you.

I've started playing the Wild Wild West world again and have been working on finishing a couple of my houses there, My white gothic revival home has had its exterior re-finished.

First of all I'd like to say that your works are awesome, I've been following this thread for a while and I ask myself how can you build houses that big...
I'm working on a big house right now (well, big according to me, I usually build smaller houses) and it's taking a lot of time to be finished... and the more I do the more the game lags (I tried to lower the effects but it's the same). There are some thing which I don't like but it was just an attempt. Anyway, here are some some screenshots:

It looks great! Have you considered uploading it?
I've been working on something a little different; I've been making a 50s/60s Diner.
It's still a little experimental as I'm not sure whether to use the pink and blue or the red and yellow neon lights outside or the windows on the left or the right hand side of the entrance?

I really like it, I've always thought that sooner or later I would have built it, since TS3 team decided to make of it a damn rabbit hole. The red and yellow choice is the one I like best, it's a pity that TS3 lightening is so bright.

Paola: That's a nice house you have there. I'm interested in seeing some of your smaller homes

Fergus: I like your Idea of rebuilding the Diner to a functional lot, way better than a silly rabbit hole.

Well thanks. But if I'm honest, it was inspired by a music video for a song by one of my favourite singers; Kacey Musgraves. I rather fancied the idea of creating the kind of 'rough and ready' rural diner sung about in the song.
I also thought I'd try something different and go Spanish with my most recent creation. I'm not sure how authentic it is though as I'm not too familiar with the Spanish style, but I like it. I want it to be a historic taste of Spain.

I'm actually having trouble with compatibility issues and have no idea what is going on with that! Still cant figure out what's wrong! Ugh!!!

No matter how frustrating it is, you shouldn't focus on it. Take your time. There are more important things in life.

That would drive me crazy. When I get a design idea in my head I need to translate it into the game ASAP so I don't forget it; that's probably why I have so many half-finished lots in all of my games. For example, I realized what was bugging me about my Spanish style house; and I had to get on to making the changes ASAP to make sure I didn't forget.

I like the landscaping so far.

Last night and today I've been working on 2 upper-middle class Suburban homes. One in Praerie style and the other one in.. Craftsman? I don't know.

I'm too lazy to put them here in IMG tags right now.

God, I love cfe. I did something similar with my Bendito Manzanar, but didn't extend them out past a floor the flooring. I like yours better, mine is too subtle to the point of invisible.

I also like the way you canted the tips, and the contrast between the white and green is spectacular. Great work!

Yup, CFE is a great thing.

I'm kinda jealous. I may borrow that use of CFE some time in the future. Both houses look great. The Praerie looks very Californian/West Coast as it looks to have some Californian Bungalow influence on its styling as well as the Prairie, and also a little bit of Raised Ranch/Bi-Level thrown in for good measure. The other home looks to be in the Traditional style as it is partly Neo-Colonial and partly Mid-century modern, but only very slightly the latter. If I were assessing the homes in real life and assigning them probable build dates, I'd say 1910-1948 for the first home due to the Prairie and the Raised Ranch influences, and for the second one; 1936-1950.
I look forward to seeing what you do with the interiors. If you need any help, I could certainly suggest a few examples to inspire the interiors of each of these wonderful homes.

Don't tell us that you're jealous about that CFE work, because it's the simplest thing you could do with it

I'm also jealous of how realistic and beautiful your creations look; especially the Prairie styled one. It just looks so much like you could have plucked it out of suburban California. You're able to pick and execute a design flawlessly. I just can't seem to get quite as high a quality. Just looking at some of your homes you could easily forget that they were created in the Sims.

Oh wow, thanks

I have a problem, though. Somehow the world in which these 2 were being built got lost, and I didn't save the houses
I won't be able to recreate them for the next 7 weeks, because a) I'm in a clinic for 6 weeks next friday and b) I broke my right hand (my mouse hand)

Oh dear. Sorry to hear that. I hope you mend well soon.
I was looking at you 'Return to the Sixties' lots again and decided to have another attempt at creating something tacky from that era. This time I came up with a Neo-Colonial styled home. The interior is going to be incredibly tacky.

The exterior looks nice. I actually can't imagine a tacky interior with that

I've found another upper-middle class suburban house. Pictures tomorrow.
Be prepared, it's green.

Oh, trust me; white plastic with gold trim, vinyl, turquoise blue, shades of pink and vertical wood paneling everywhere... It's positively ghastly. I can't believe how carried away I've gotten with a style I practically loathe. South Fork ain't got sh*t on this house.
Also, if you're not going to, would you mind if I took a stab at recreating that gorgeous Prairie style home for use in my game?

I'll probably recreate it as soon as I can, but do your thing. You could sumbit it, too. If you'd like to.

Shit. Forgot the pictures.

I couldn't possibly do such a thing. I'll leave that to you seeing as it's your wonderful creation.