I look forward to yours then =)


They're good sunlight barriers and very stylish xD I had my blistering hot country in mind so all the shade is welcome in my book.


Thank you =) I'll try to upload them today or tomorrow.
I want to make an unfurnished version with uniform colors instead of red/blue/yellow so players can choose which unit they want freely without being limited to the furnishings/colors already there. Plus cheaper rent lmao

Did I read somewhere that under-stair storage units are allowed?

Not if they're CC. You could put stuff under the stairs as deco if you want to though.

Glad I play tested my lot. Found a couple of object placement faux pas that I was able to correct. I have tested one of the unit for noise, it passed with flying colours . Now let's see the other 3.

Round 1: Rowhouses
 

City Nests



Number of Units: 3

The City Nests are a row of town homes for lease located across from the City Hall in downtown Scandalica City. The facade of each unit contains brick and then a solid color plaster exterior marking the entrance on the second (Main) story. These are for long term living, fully furnished and decorated.

The bedrooms that share walls with other units are sound proofed by either a closet or items that muffle neighborly noises. Each Unit has a lower, main floor, and upper floor with differing layouts. Each unit also contains 2.5 baths, with a toilet on each level, phone connections on each level, and a private patio in the back accessed from the main floor. All Units are outfitted with sprinklers and security systems.


The row houses are owned and maintained by the same landlord, so there are some similarities found throughout each but each unit has it's own distinct aesthetic.
Please read below for more details on each of these units.

*Note about pics: I re-purposed 6 of the 8 'extra structural shots' Gummi allowed for unit pics on top of the 4 count so each unit contains 6. Also the chairs are pushed in to show how they would look when a sim is living there and I pulled them out so they would act normally for desks/tables in play testing afterward.




I hope you enjoyed the tour of the City Nests! I do plan on uploading this.

EDIT:
Ellu asked a very good question and I want to clarify for any other judges - but the stairs are not modular with the stage landing, they are a custom stairs objects called 'Sims 2 Half-Landing Stairs ' from Simlogical.

I've got apartment mania! I've never done a contest before but this seems like a great start since I love apartments. Quick question: are cc gates allowed as well? Thanks!

YAY! Welcome newcomer I can't wait to see what you build! Be sure you read everything carefully from the first post And, if you have any questions - don't hesitate to ask. We are a friendly bunch and enjoy helping each other.

As for CC gates - I would think yes. Because CC fences are allowed, and CC doors... and gates are just doors for fences.
BUT - the decision is up to the host/Gummi. So, until she chimes in, the answer is: ???

I spent last night play testing, and everything seems to work, but I noticed one oddity. I had a family rent a furnished apartment, and then visited the neighbours. In one unit, one of the neighbour's seats was missing and in another a bedroom was almost empty. However, when my testing family moved into those apartments, the furniture was there. I don't normally decorate apartments beyond bare essentials, so I've never seen that happen before. Is it normal? Could it be because a couple of the items on the lot had been placed with the quarter tile placement or moveobjects and overlapped? Other items placed that way did appear at neighbours' units, but all the missing objects were either placed with the quarter tile or were pieces of overlapping deco.

I haven't noticed that, but I can double check later and try to have one of my tenants visit their neighbor. I have plenty of items on quartertile.

I didn't even think to ask, but my first entry has CC gates to go with the black fence. (A Maxi's gate would look pretty stupid with non-matching CC fence.)

Sorry for the lack of replies for the past two days, I've been working night shifts and that leaves little to no time for anything but eating, sleeping and working. Haven't worked there since last summer so I'd forgotten just how intense it gets, will give you guys a heads up next time I have double shifts planned

Really fun to see the entries coming in! Always really cool to see the different directions people go from the same instructions. I hope many of you will consider uploading your creations



Nope! You've got backyards that you could shave off a couple of tiles from to bring the rent down under 6k, so unless you can motivate why the backyards have to be that size that counts as going over budget. The idea is for you guys to have to actually try and think about prize and only go above if you really need to for a specific reason, so either come up with a good reason (many Sims it not in itself a good reason, see my example in reply to Charmful on one of the earlier pages) or find a way to reduce rent



Will do! Glad you'll be tagging along in some manner



Welcome! Very fun that we have a couple of newcomers As for question, as Catherine already deduced the answer is yes. CC fence gates are allowed since they are doors for fences



Hasn't happened to me as far as I can remember, but I don't visit surrounding neighbors much as I find it's a bit buggy in general, so it could be I just don't do it enough to have come across it.

guess I'll be chopping off the backyard lmao

Since you are only very mildly over the limit I suspect one or two rows from the back will be enough

I have no idea is it normal but happened to me too

I trimmed the backyard and added a privacy treeline outside and a jogging track =))
now it's down to 5,600-ish max
that good? xD

Sounds great Just make sure you update pictures for the judges

Speaking of pictures, I have talked to all three judges and they are okay with an increase. So from round 2 you will be allowed to have 6 pictures per unit

That sounds like normal, vanilla behavior and nothing to do with how you placed the objects. I've noticed that neighbors rent apartments in much the same way playables rent unfinished apartments--not everything stays, only the essentials do. And even then, some stuff you might consider essential/permanent don't show up--that second counter in the bathroom, the double bed in the master, the computer at the desk, or the dishwasher, etc., can all come and go.

I finished my playtesting and I found I successfully noise proofed the bedrooms. Layout problems were corrected and everything seems to be working fine, so I think I am ready to set up my application. I will do that in a moment.

EDIT: Do we have to take pictures of every unit's rent or can we just take a picture of the minnimum and maximum rents shown from hood view. At least that's what other contestants have done so far.

Another quick question: Do Store items count as CC? Oh Baby, Cubic, etc? Thanks again! This is so fun!

@Yvelotic2001 - rent pictures can be the range from the neighborhood view, the only time Gummi required each rent's unit (composited) is if it goes more than the recommended price she laid out on her first post.

Noted! <3
I'll update it a little later...

From Round 2 on; this first one we still only get 4. I know, I misread it the first time, too, but that's an important clause.

We get four per unit but can re purpose any of the 8 'extra structure' shots for units per post #99

I have a few questions.


1. I'm a bit a bit confused by the change in picture limits for future rounds. In round 1, it looks to me like the maximum number of shots was based on 4 shots of up to five apartment units (4*5=20). In future rounds is the maximum based on 6 shots of up to four units (6*4=24)? With the final round having 6+ units, will all the 8 additional shots have to be used for the extra two apartments, or will showing only some apartments be OK, or will the maximum number of shots change again?

2. In rounds 2 and 3, can the units be detached?

3. Are we allowed to use career or aspiration rewards in the apartments?

Thank you.

Round 1: Rowhouse

This contest started just as I was building an inn/tavern for my new fantasy-medieval town, and I decided to expand the building and convert it to a four-plex. It then reminded me of a converted coach house I lived near as a child, so I expanded the building further to include garages - at some point the inn had been re-purposed. The newest renovation has resulted in an apartment building with four units, all have modern plumbing, electricity, telephones, fire and burglar alarms, and fireplaces. Bedrooms are fully sound-proofed, with units 1 and 4's rooms on adjoining walls being blocked by furniture, and the bedrooms in units 2 and 3 not sharing walls with neighbours. Despite that, unit 2 and 3 will get to experience the some of the joy of apartment neighbours in their living rooms, as the landings of their stairs are not sound-proof.

Most of the pictures were taken in build mode in my uninhabited Build neighbourhood - chairs are still out for these. A few images were taken in Live mode during another playtest in Veronaville as the camera mod I am using is more flexible in Live mode (letting me get far enough back for the full lot shots) and I wanted to show the functionality of item placement.

Required Shots:


I don't often add a lot of clutter to my lots, but I had a lot of fun playing with it on this lot. Each unit was decorated for a specific group of sims.
For the units, I used one additional shot per unit, so there are five pictures behind each unit's spoiler.






CC used includes the modular stairs linked above, Sunni's Justa Medieval Door and her matching apartment door default replacement, and leefish's expansions of the OpenMe doors and windows.