Apartment Mania
 

Do you love apartments? Do you think we need more apartments? If you do, then this is the contest for you! I love apartments and almost all of my Sims live in one at some point in their life span. There are a lot of fabulous apartments out there, but I think we could use more variety in the types of apartments available. And what better way to go about that than have an apartment mania contest!

Qualifications to host: Judge in wanderlust contest

Contest setup
The contest is only for TS2. It will have four rounds. For each round you will be tasked to build an apartment complex that's either a specific style, or geared towards something specific. There is no application round. To apply you post that you are interested in participating, and make sure you include the words "apartment mania" in your post. Contestants have one week to sign up, then the first round starts. Each round is 2 weeks, when one ends the next one starts right away. Judges have one week to finish their scores. This means you won't get your scores until half-way through the next round, so be prepared to make some changes based on feedback.
-> Total contest duration 10 weeks (1 week application, 8 weeks for rounds, 1 week final scoring).

20 contestants allowed. Also room for 10 play-alongs. If a contestant drops out during the first round (defined as posting they are not participating, or failing to submit an entry by the time round 1 ends), the first play-along will be offered to take their place and so on (please note play-along has to have submitted their play-along entry before timer ends!). After that board is final and whoever is in, is in.

APPLICATIONS EXTENDED
Since there is still room in the contest I have decided to continue to allow applications until the first week of round one is over. Please note that entering late does not give you more time to finish round one, your build must be submitted by the time timer for round one runs out. Come join our apartment building fun!

Beginners allowed but not beginners contest
Beginners are very welcome to join, but scoring will be done assuming some experience. If you haven't built a functional apartment before I would suggest signing up as a play-along. Apartments can be tricky to build as they are finicky with their requirements, so some experience is advisable. But if you want to give it a go you are most welcome to

Rules

CC - Windows/Doors/Fences/Stairs only
For all intents and purposes consider this a CC free contest. But because I know how limiting it can be to try and make exteriors look nice with maxis content I have decided to allow CC for windows, doors (arches are considered to be doors), fences and stairs. This way you aren't limited to the choices Maxis gave us, and can do things like open underneath stairs or use the many great window add on sets.

If I have missed some kind of CC that is needed to make your apartment design function as an apartment please let me know what it is and I will let you know if it's allowed.

CC exceptions
There's lots of CC out there, and if you want to use something that is only required on your end and would not be required for a potential downloader, then you may. Examples of CC that would be allowed is SEP, sky boxes, water texture default replacements and so on. I would encourage people to present the lot as it would look to a downloader in their game, but it is up to you. Note that you are not allowed to use mods to cheapen price on furniture to save on rent (magic wand etc).

If you want to be absolutely sure it won't result in penalty I'd suggest you double-check with me first, just to avoid misunderstandings.

Budget & size
There are no strict rules on size or budget of lots (except round 2 which has budget restrictions). This is because I want you guys to be able to be as creative as you want to be, and not be limited in your vision. However, I recommend you keep rents at a reasonable level so that Sims could actually afford living there and try to keep lot size at a reasonable level, so that your lot is playable on an average computer. You don't have to, but it's appreciated

Recommended rent: If it's for two Sims, 6000 and below. If it's for one Sim, 4000 and below.
Recommended size : 4x4 and below

Rent and size is judged in host bonus points. If you choose to go above the recommendations, please explain why in your post and if I think it makes sense I will still award you the host bonus points. Each is 1 point, so ignoring this will at most cost you 2 points out of the 80 possible points per round. For more information about scores see below.

Screenshots
All screenshots must comply with MTS creator guidelines (found here). Photoshopping not allowed, except for rent-picture. You may add text tags on floor plan shots if you want to, but no editing outside beyond that.

To facilitate judging all screenshots must be attached to your post.

Required screenshots
- Front view picture (low enough angle to show structure well, remove any obscuring landscaping for this picture)
- Back view picture (Must show the entire back view, if it can't fit change angle or do two pictures)
- Floor plan (one per floor of structure + one at ground floor level of the entire lot)
- One picture showing rents for each unit, please crop together all rents in the same picture. (see below for help on this) - apthack allowed (doesn't affect rent so if you want to show prices with apthack in place that's fine)
Note: Required screenshots gives you 1 picture per floor. If you do more than one structure and one to screenshot them individually you will have to use your bonus shots.

Additional shots
You may add an additional 8 shots of the structure (what part you show is up to you), and an additional 6 for each unit up to a maximum of 24 pictures of units. So the maximum you could have is required screenshots and 24 + 8 = 32.
Note: Picture limits were raised for round 2 and on. Numbers listed above are the round 2 and onward limits.

Rounds
Round 4 - Big complexes
In this final round we want to see you stretch your wings and build something big! Style is up to you, but we want to see something that screams apartment. That means at least two floors, with units on top of each other, and at least 6 units. We know some people dislike having non-playable neighbours, but in this round we want to see something intended to experience all the aspects of apartments and that means non-controllable neighbors!

There's no need to go gigantic and build 10 story buildings. If you want to do 6 small units that's up to you. By big we mean room for many households. There has to be at least one unit that is on top of another, but if you want to have units that are two-stories as well that's up to you.

Requirements
- Must have at least 6 units
- Minimum 2 floors (ground floor and foundation is considered the same level for this purpose)
- At least one unit that is on top of another unit
- Fully furnished units



Judges & Scoring
Judge 1 Kukamuukaanmuka
Judge 2 Goldenbtrfly
Judge 3 CatherineTCJD

Emergency Judge Taking applicants (reserve: gummilutt)

Scoring
Each round you can get a maximum of 80 points. Each judge can give up to 25 points, and there's an additional 5 points host bonus you can get. Play-alongs aren't scored, but get comments from gummilutt.

There are five categories, each category can give up to 5 points
Deco: In this category you are scored on how aesthetic your lot is. Is the exterior nice? Is there good landscaping? Is the interior decorated? Are the colors harmonious?
Build: In this category you are scored on how well built your lot is. Will it function as an apartment? Did you make good choices on roof, windows/doors etc?
Playability: In this category you are scored on how playable your lot is. Do you have a good layout? Is the flow of the lot natural? Will Sims stomp a lot, or have to make long trips to back and forth to take care of needs?
Creativity: In this category you are scored on how creative your build is. Did you make smart choices on the build elements you used? Did you use your space well?
Requirement: In this category you are scored on how well you met the requirements of this challenge. Using CC (except windows/doors/fences/stairs) means no points in this category. Did you follow the listed requirements? Did you follow the spirit of the challenge set?

Host bonus - 5 points
To save time for judges, I have decided to pick 5 things that would be time-consuming for them to check and turned them into a host bonus awarded by me. I will check all entries and give you one point for each of the 5 things you've achieved, for a total of 5 possible points.
1 - Noise-proof bedrooms
2 - Each unit has unique furnishings
3 - Rent is reasonable (see above for recommendations)
4 - Size is reasonable (see above for recommendations)
5 - Required screenshots are included

Contestants & Play-alongs

Contestant	Total	R1	Score	R2	Score	R3	Score	R4	Score
Peni Griffin	286.5	1st	68	2nd	71	3rd	72.5	4th	75
NatteryakToad	286.5	1st	67	2nd	72	3rd	71.5	4th	76
Karen Lorraine	304.5	1st	76.5	2nd	78	3rd	77	4th	73
HugeLunatic	146	1st	72	2nd	74	-	-	-	-
yavannatw	286.5	1st	73	2nd	72	3rd	74	4th	67.5
Phantomknight	302.5	1st	72.5	2nd	76.5	3rd	76	4th	77.5
Charmful Winner	313.5	1st	78	2nd	78	3rd	78.5	4th	79
lauratje86		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
stitching	306	1st	73.5	2nd	76	3rd	76.5	4th	80
Magnolia	307.5	1st	78.5	2nd	76	3rd	75.5	4th	77.5
kanzen	226	1st	75	2nd	73.5	3rd	77.5
Yvelotic200	302	1st	75.5	2nd	73.5	3rd	74.5	4th	78.5
Treehawk	135	1st	64	2nd	71	-	-	-	-

Play-Along	R1	R2	R3	R4
Kukamuukaanmuka
AliaD85
PenelopeT	1st
ekrubynaffit		2nd

Round 1 scores
Round 2 scores
Round 3 scores
Round 4 scores

Countdown Timer
End of round 4
Judging round 4 ends

Helpful information

Rent screenshot
To make your rent screenshot, finish your apartment build and change lot-zoning to apartment. Then go to hood-view and hover over the lot with your mouse-pointer and it'll show the rent span. Take a picture of that and add to your post

If you go over rent-recommendation and only some units are over-price I suggest you do individual unit rent shots by moving a Sim in to the lot and clicking on the doors of units to get their prices. That way you only have to motivate higher rent for the relevant units. If all units are over-price and need explaining then no need to do individual shots

Managing your rents
Apartment rent is a combination of floor space inside the apartment, and cost of fixtures. If your rent is too high you need to either reduce the amount of space, or use cheaper items. You are not allowed to use mods to cheapen the cost of items to reduce your rent.

Building apartment
If you've never built an apartment complex before, there is a simswiki-article on building apartments. Among other things it has the cheat required to change lotzoning to apartment.

There's also a lot of helpful information on sims wikia about how apartments work. Read article here.

Noise-proofing bedrooms
Neighbors in surrounding apartments generate noise which will disturb Sims, and wake them up if they are sleeping. So if you want a well-functioning apartment it's a good idea to noise-proof bedrooms. There are two ways to do this. Either you make sure the bedroom does not share a wall with a neighboring apartment, or you can block the noise. Noise is technically an object, and needs free space in front of the wall to be able to work, so if you make sure every tile in front of a shared bedroom wall is taken up by an object, there's no space for noise to be created. For more information on noise, see the sims wikia article linked above.

The Great Divide Fence
The low fence you can walk over from Pets is problematic in apartments. If you enclose a space in a room with the great divide it will be considered common space and will cause neighbors to barge in to the apartment to get to the perceived common area. This can be used to your advantage in some situations, but unless you know what you are doing I suggest you stay away from this fence.

If you do use it, I strongly suggest you explain your use (why did you use it? how will it affect how the unit works?)) to the judges so you don't risk losing playability points.

Building backyards on apartments with foundations
Requires extra preparation to work, one method is using an invisible fence. Tutorial - invisible fence.

Useful tools/mods
- Mootilda's LotAdjustor, to flatten edges and enable building 1 tile from the edge
- Mootilda's Turn lights on/off mod
- For prettier screenshots red pause line remover

Thank you Jones for accepting it I hope you all like the concept and I look forward to seeing all of the awesome apartment builds!

Don't forget the magic word in your application posts!

How does one noise proof bedrooms? Does this just mean bedrooms should not share a common wall?

Sorry, Peni and Yvelotic, you posted before Gummi checked in which is against the rules as stated in the moderator approval post. You'll have to repost.

Ah, sorry. Apartment Mania, since I've been building apartments lately anyway and may already have something that just needs CC replaced in all or most of the categories. Sign me up. And I hope I don't wimp out on you.

I'm so very excited and honored to be one of the judges, and to see what everyone makes! I really love this contest idea. I think it will inspire me to play more apartments.

Forgot to add that in tips, thanks for reminding me. To noise-proof you either make sure the bedroom does not share a wall with a neighbor, as you suggested, or you blocking the wall with objects. If there's no room for a Sim to stand where the noise is and bang the wall in return then noise can't be created. I believe some decorations also block it, but not 100% sure on that one, need to re-test

Glad to you have you Peni!

Thank you Gummi for accepting me as a judge

I will be a playalong also, as I do love apartments myself AND with allmost no CC , means that at least my dl folder will not get any bigger :D

I'm totally up for Apartment Mania!

With regards to the No-CC aspect, where do we stand on default replacement roof trims and floor edging?

ETA: And default replacement bedding?

Apartments and Hotels are my favourite things to build! So I feel that I really must give this a go!

Apartment Mania, Apartment Mania,
Gotta give it a go!
Apartment Mania, Apartment Mania,
Let's dip my toe!

Sorry about that. I love the concept of this contest, but I'm already participating in Jo's contest and my exams are coming soon, so signing up for this one might be a bit much. I might join as a playalong, though, or even as a full time contestant if by the end of the month you still have a free slot.

Having no interest in either playing or building apartments (I just don't like playing them); I do look forward to see the entries. Good luck to everyone!

Woohoo! Wonderful to see the apartment love Signing you up NatteryakToad and Karen Lorraine! Yavannatw, you forgot something crucial in your post :3

I'd love to see you as a playalong Yvelotic, I loved your builds in wanderlust and would love to see what you come up with for this contest. But I think you are wise to be hesitant, no good to over-stretch. Could do a unofficial play-along, build if you feel like it and post if you want to, but no pressure to do it in any kind of time-frame

I have some ideas for this round and the last already, but my focus right now is finishing this round's reno for Jo's contest when I don't have a book in front of my face. So I won't guarantee I will be able to finish this round on time, though I will try. Thanks for having me as an unofficial playalong nonetheless.

In case I do end up as a contestant, I'll write another post with the magic words

Do you still need a judge? If so - I'd like to apply... What info do you need?
I've participated in many contests, and judged in Karen's Campus Contructor and Jo's Community Spirit contests.
I've also built/uploaded several apartments - which you can see in my profile here on MTS.
Let me know if you need me to post anything else to qualify

Awesome Catherine! I was actually hoping you'd be interested, was going to PM you and ask but now I don't have to Signed you up Need an EJ still, but regular judges now sorted

Sounds great Yvelotic! If you want to be a official play-along you are welcome to be that too, just thought it might be less pressure for you this way. And of course super welcome as a contestant if you decide you want to try that, as long as there's space left

Great. Now I have to redecorate the unit in the apartments I was contestifying last night, to take out all the orange.

LOL! Peni - now I gotta clean the wine outta my keyboard

I wish a mortgage application were as easy as saying "Apartment Mania!"

I feel you on that HL! Hopefully moving this summer so dealing with bank is happening in a near future Added to board



Sorry, realized I forgot to answer your questions! Default replacement roof trim/floor edge yes, default replacement bedding no. Basically, if color can be changed in game with recolors default replacements are a no-go, since that's really just another way of doing a recolor and if that was allowed you could by-pass the custom content rule on all maxis content. But if there's no way to change it in game, then default replacements are okay.

Apartment mania! You can tell I haven't had a good read of rules yet. Sign me up and I'll see how I go.

*screams like a dolphin from the dephs of the MIA sea* OH APARTMENTS I LOVE THEE!! APARTMENT MANIA OOOOO APARTMENT MANIAAAA
I'm just gonna be a play along. I'm an admin at a forum RP right now and I'm also doing art commissions for a living - so who knows when I suddenly bibidibobidibluescadooed outta here again??
but apartments are just my jam. I can't miss out on this.

Added both of you to the board

I'm terrible at building, so I do not want to participate, but I was wondering, are the lots generated by these contests typically uploaded somewhere? I do not see the ones from the Strangetown contest uploaded, but this contest looks promising, since I am always looking for more apartment lots for my game.

It's up to contestants whether they decide to upload contest lots. I haven't because I used a lot of cc. If you see one you like during the contest ask them if they would like to upload afterwards.

Adding to what @yavannatw just said, in this contest when very little CC is allowed it might be a higher change for them to be uploaded, as cannot have tons of CC
(unless of course one uses a different cc window , door, stair or fence everytime they make one )

Question~! @gummilutt
are the apartments supposed to be fully furnished or just fitted with kitchen and bathroom?

I want in on all the apartment mania! Sign me up please!

This should be fun!

Like you I hope a lot of them will end up uploaded kestrellyn, want all of the new shiny apartments for my game I was sad so few of the lots from Wanderlust got uploaded, would have liked a lot of them for my BV hoods.

Signed you up Phantomknight



If you look at the requirements listed in each round you'll see it says fully furnished So yes, all apartment units must be fully furnished and ready to be used as is.

Hi Gummi, I'm considering this. I have a question about the bonus category of 'Each unit has unique furnishings'. Does this mean units cannot use the same counter tops, toilets, showers, etc (that usually are a part of the unit before move-in) or does it mean it can have basic coherency on those pre-move-in objects but maybe uses different sofas, beds, end tables and other personal items a sim would bring when they 'move in'?

Additional question:

Since round one you mentioned one unit should be geared toward a family - what would a reasonable rent be. You mentioned "Recommended rent: If it's for two Sims, 6000 and below." But 3 or 4 sims - can that be higher because of the amount of sims/items for these sims?

Same counters/toilets/shower is fine. Not that many options for bathroom-items, would be rather unreasonable to demand those be different More options for counters, but if you want to use the same one that is okay. The idea is to encourage people to go the extra distance and make each unit feel like a different home, as you see a lot of identical units in uploaded apartments. For example, while it's hard to avoid using the same items for bathrooms, you can change the feel of them by changing the placement so that each bathroom is a little different in terms of layout. Or perhaps have a free-standing sink in one, but a counter with a sink in it in another. Same thing with kitchens, perhaps all units have the same color counters but odds are the people who live there would have different appliances. Maybe someone has a blender, whereas another only has a microwave and a third has nothing at all. Little details like that As long as it's clear you've tried to give variety you will get the bonus. Judges may have different ideas of how things should be though, can't speak for how they'll judge these things in their deco-category

As for rent-question, since a family usually only has two breadwinners (or one!) being a family as opposed to a couple really doesn't change income, so 6000 is still the guideline. I've only ever managed to build one apartment with a rent that went over that (6005) and that one was two stories with a backyard and jampacked with the most expensive objects possible. So 6k should give you plenty of legroom

I have no idea what kind of visions you guys have though, and if you need to go over for some good reason then that's okay. Examples of good reasons would be "I wanted a unit for a family of 8 and even though I used cheaper items it's still over 6k", "I really wanted to build something with extravagant gorgeous back yards for the nature-loving Sims, and that added so many tiles it was impossible to keep rent under 6k" or "I wanted to build a luxury complex for the richest of rich Sims, and the landlord insists on high rents to scare off any sub-par Sims". As long as there's a clear thought-through reason for the high rent I'm on board Same with space-limit.

I added the explain-clause specifically so that reasonable deviations could still pass, and I choose to have size/rent as host bonus rather than part of judging-criteria specifically so that if you ignore it in a way that I don't understand it won't cost you that much either way. I figured 3 points total (size, rent and units being different) is low enough that you could ignore it and still have a chance at winning Please note though that during round 2 rent is part of judging criteria as well, since in that round it's part of the requirements and therefore included in the requirement-category of scores.

Apartment Mania:
Play testing
A
Rent-controlled
Tower of a place that needs
Moar Space! Which costs
Even pricier rent!
No CC
Tough time for me, but
Sign me up

That is one very creative way to sign up Charmful, very fun! I've signed you up

I haven't entered a contest for quite some time, but this does sound fun! So, apartment mania, here I come! :-D

@gummilutt, Is the invisible driveway recolor allowed?

No, driveway recolors. I'd like to say yes because it does allow a lot more variation and creativity in the yard-department, but so does a lot of things and if I make one exception there's bound to be another and we'll end up with terribly complicated CC-rules

Bummer. I was hoping to get some more variety for garages (as I personally hate when the driveway sticks out against the rest of the floor) and for the front of the lot. I get it, though.

Oh, well, back to making faces with my window layout then.

I'm a little nervous, but can I join in as a play-along? I love apartments, but this would be my first contest. Even the idea of being a contestant makes me nervous, but I'd definitely like to try this!

I think I may have figured out how to use Clean Installer for my downloads, so I should be good uploading my lots!

You don't have to upload your lots for the contest, just pictures of them.

That's actually really helpful. I'm really excited about this now!

Yeah I hear you Phantom, I'm not a big fan either but I think you guys will do great

And of course AliaD85, you are very welcome! I'll sign you up as a play-along If you change your mind and would like to be a contestant just let me know.

This week I've finally been able to play Sims 2 again, and I've started a new 'hood. It currently has no apartments, though I was planning on building at least two. I've got apartment mania, so this sounds like a great chance to finally join a building contest. Please sign me up!

I love this contest idea! Please sign me up too.

Wip!!!
 

had some freetime today :3c
none of the bedrooms from different units share a wall! woohoo away my sims, woohoo away

it was one heck of a challenge to furnish without CC
oh ikea stuff pack~what will i do without you?

edit: I removed the japanese style bathroom and made 2 bathrooms instead. gotta remind myself that sims lack the discipline japanese people have =)))
2 bathrooms should stop them from cramming into each other.

For build cc, are we limited to variations on Maxis items, such as the add-on sets, or can we use completely new styles of windows, doors, or fences? For stairs, are different ones like Marvine's ladders or modular rock steps allowed or should we stick to open underneath and mirrored versions of Maxis?

@rachael525, you need to mention "apartment mania" in your post in order to sign up:

"To apply you post that you are interested in participating, and make sure you include the words 'apartment mania' in your post."

You may use any window or stair you want, those were just examples If it's in the listed category, it's allowed. If it's something strange that judges may not recognize as being from that category you might want to mention what it is in your post. Have signed you up

Rachael, waiting for the magic words.

Quick question: would putting bushes or hedges behind 'fences' have points counted off because they aren't accessible in a vanilla play way? Because I have the mod which allows gardeners to ignore that so it wouldn't be a problem in my game of trimming shrubbery behind a 'fence'

Charmful, I was thinking about the same thing! Normally when I put a lot of bushes on a lot like this, I use plastic hedges and limit the amount of gardening for the landlord, but that's cc, so I can't use it for this. My guess is that the mod won't be either and we'll have to get creative.

That will be up to each judge to decide, so I can't give you a clear answer. But if I were participating I would count on losing points for that, since even if the player has that mod it decreases the playability of the lot since it makes trimming/watering much slower.

Thanks, I will reconsider the lawnspace then in tandem with fences

Posting some in-progress pictures! Also doubles as a way to practice uploading pictures, so that's useful, too.

oooooh what a neat trick
I did somethig similar but I think it's more attractive for other players to have options if they want to add those things themselves

Yeah, @kanzen, I see you actually separated your buildings on the second floor, which gives your sims privacy and add an interesting dimension to your build by playing with shapes a little. I could see how you could use different walls to either make the breaks pop with color or texture. Very cool.

For me, it was more about functionality. I knew I wanted this build to look seamless and since furniture layouts can vary from one apartment to the next, I opted for a space break. And I didn't really plan on having closets--or fireplaces for that matter--but, since the space was there, I used it. When I build I always try to tuck away closets in whatever natural nook I can, if I include them at all. I'm a very big supporter of square and spacious rooms. (It's the sim way! ) Whenever I look at lot uploads or anyone else's layouts, I always find myself rethinking the layout and squaring off rooms. I'm always thinking "Why didn't they make that wall flush with the rest? They could fit another bathroom there!" So if I can find a way to fit a recessed closet in somewhere, I'll do that first.

@Phantomknight
Haha, you and me both. I always rethink people's layouts out of habit. Sims are such bothersome creatures you just have to make sure they don't die from not stepping over a teddy bear!
Anyways...I read you dislike your chimneys? You can try building walls around your chimneys if the shapes and height variation bother you. It could add a more modern architectural flare if done right.

That's right! I forgot about that. Great idea kanzen!

Are we allowed to use 3rd party programs like LotAdjuster and GridAdjuster?

Yes, we can use those programmes (says so at the bottom of the first post )

Are we allowed to use custom invisible/transparent floor tiles?

Oops, I should probably read things more carefully.

Nope, no custom wallpapers/floors As I wrote in the post exceptions will only be made if I've missed some category that is required for an apartment to work as an apartment.

What about custom garage doors/recolors? I mean technically, they're doors, right?

Also, how many contestants are needed for the contest?

My guess would be that since they aren't in the door category they wouldn't count but you'd have to wait on final say from the host. I also I believe 10 is the minimum to start a contest.

Charmful is correct. If it's not in the door category it doesn't count

And yes, 10 is minimum so we need one more. But MTS rules allow 2 weeks to reach that, so if nobody signs up before timer runs down we'll either extend application round another week, or if mods let me, allow people to enter until the first week of round 1 is over. I'd prefer the latter, to stick to the planned timeline.

Hey! Apartment mania!

I'd love to join too please! It's perfect timing too since I'm starting a new hood and building all the lots from scratch. And I LOVE playing with apartments and need to build a bunch more so this is the perfect kick in the pants I need! Sign me up! :D

Also I had a question, I was wondering if the stair wall fix mod is allowed? They show up in the stair category and are obviously stair related but I just wanted to double check if it's okay.

Welcome! Stair wall fix is allowed, since it's technically a window which is allowed And also thank you for posting it, been trying to remember where I saw that haha.

And we have our 10 contestants, yay!!

Ah, I see. I had misinterpreted that as being CC which was required to make the lot functional rather than CC which was required in order to make functional apartments. Thank you for answering.

I'm excited that we have enough contestants now for the contest to go ahead! :-)

Huzzah! For all you brave apartment builders Have fun! I can't wait to see what all ya'll come up with...

Since I'm a Judge, I think it's only fair to make sure EVERYONE knows I'm really not the biggest supporter of the color orange.
I know, I know, sometimes it just can't be helped, oranges are orange after all...
And, if it's your favorite color, *shudder* and you think you can impress me with your delightful use of it - then, go for it.
But, don't say I didn't warn you.

See what I did there? With the orangest smilies available... Uh huh!

A quick update from me, as well as a question regarding playability.

This is what I've got so far for my build. I thought about adding a driveway in front of every unit, but I also liked the idea of a large pedestrian walkway. What do you guys think? My playability question here is: Is it possible to have cars in apartments when the unit doesn't have a garage (just a driveway)? And if I choose to leave the pedestrian walkway, I will have a driveway with parking spaces on the side. Can these also be used? If not, I will leave them decorative, as I think having parking spaces in an apartment complex makes sense.

If it can't be achieved through ordinary gameplay, can it be done with mods? Maybe MogHughson's Park in the Car Park mod?

P.S. - I think I will finish on time to be a contestant, gummilutt

If you have a driveway outside of the units, I don't think anything can be placed there by the tenants but you can place a car there while building the apartment (at which point the car becomes a public car that any resident can use). IMO, having a public car like that is actually very useful (although it causes your residents to desire to buy increasingly more expensive cars, which they can't do - I've made a small mod that fixes this, if anyone is interested).

Hooray! So glad we managed to get 10 on time I have decided to extend applications anyway, because the more the merrier! Round one starts in 38 minutes as planned and will last two weeks, but applicants may still enter for the first week of round 1 if they want to. Late entries have the same timer as everyone else. I've updated timers in first post with an application close timer and a round one ends timer

Can not WAIT to see what you all build! Pictures so far look very interesting. I'm taking a leaf out of Ellu's book and building a play-along entry just for fun. Just hope I can finish it on time



Thank you, you are right in that it wasn't clear enough. I've clarified a little, hopefully it's clear now. Sorry about that!



Wooohoo @ possibly being contestant. Would be great fun to have you

It is possible to have cars, but since the driveway is outside of the active complex you have to place cars on the driveways before the Sims move in, and any Sim from any complex could use any one of the cars. You won't be able to sell or recolor or do anything to them when playing the active family, stuck with whatever you put there before moving Sims in. Don't know about the second question, hopefully someone else does

The driveway extention placed with deleting the sidewalk do work, just only missing some animations

About mods, @gummilutt shall correct me if I am wrong, but the parking lot mod by Mog is not most likely allowed, as it is not needed to make apartments work and includes extra peace of CC
BUT, you can use this mod (again gummi correct me if I am wrong) http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=515924

As that acts like the SEP (allowed) and similar, only needed for placement, can be played without the mod. Here is the part by Moo herself:

My first apartment's been ready for three days; but I've been struggling with getting the whole thing in-shot for the front, rear, and full-lot plan views. (And also my husband's Health Crap. Which is pretty exhausting but really motivates me to focus on something else.) So I just downloaded some camera mods and I hope I can get all the pictures taken tonight or tomorrow. I may not be the best, but I can strive to be the first!

another WIP
 

changed mine quite a lot after I remembered that no garage cars are public cars lmao
also due to some miscalculation, the middle unit is smaller, has no ensuite bathroom, but has "equal" room sizes. could be a perfect fit for adult siblings or friends.
the corner units are more suitable for families with small or teenaged children.

I have more questions. For Round 1, I am a little bit uncertain about what kind of build is permissible, possibly due to the different uses of the terms "townhouse" and "row house" in different countries/regions. Can the build be in any style etc provided that the requirements are met, or does the build have to be similar in style to the example pictures?

Personally I would describe Example 1 and Example 2 as terraced houses and Example 3 as a semi-detached house, so I wouldn't actually describe any of them as townhouses or row houses, which is leaving me uncertain as to what kind of build is allowed for this round! The requirements state that the 2-4 units must be side by side, not on top of each other. At least one unit must have two bedrooms and children's/toddler's furnishings and all units must be proper, long-term homes. I assume that all of the 2-4 units have to be attached to each other? Provided that all of these criteria are met by my build, are there any other requirements in terms of style, layout etc? I have a couple of ideas but I'm not sure if they'd be considered as row houses/townhouses or not..... Does row houses/townhouses just mean houses which are attached side-by-side, or does it mean something more specific?

Also, are CC arches allowed, for the exterior of builds, seeing as we can use CC doors and windows?

@lauratje86, I don't think the units have to be attached, not all townhouses are. I think townhouses just tend to be in closer proximity to each other and maybe have less yard. Google defines townhouse as "a tall, narrow, traditional row house, generally having three or more floors," which fits with what I know.

And @kanzen you could totally stick an ensuite in the middle unit, if you wanted! Just sacrifice some hallway:

Option 1: Flip the sink and the toilet in the upstairs bath and move the door to the middle of them, giving access to the largest room. Enclose the walkway next to the stairs, making a 2x3 bath accessible only from the hallway.

Option 2: Shrink the upstairs bath, moving the wall behind the sink to in front of it. Rearrange the plumbing; the toilet would have to be in front of the back half of the tub or the tub could be replaced with a shower. Then enclose the space next to the stair, making a 2x4 bath.

Option 3: Shrink the master by four tiles, moving the wall shared with the hallway back into the bedroom one square (don't need to move the bottom half of the wall, the two tiles shared with the bathroom). Move door of the bathroom to in between the sink and the tub. Either flip the sink and the tub or move the sink one tile down (to where the door used to be) so that a counter or other deco is behind the door swing. (Plumbing placement would really depend on the fixture you used and where sims get into and out of the bath, so if you change so things, just remember to watch the door swing.) A new 2x3 bath can then be placed in the hallway space above the new ensuite. This option makes a wider hallway.

I'm sure there are other options, too. See what I mean though, about looking at other simmers' floorplans and sticking in bathrooms?

@Phantomknight
yes I see what you mean but I prefer my hallways a bit bigger since sims like to be sims in hallways =)))
I also put a shower in the garage and the main living floor. so...unit 1 and 3 have 4 bathrooms and unit 2 has 3 xD it's kinda excessive already..

dear oh dear look at all the space we can use =))))
heck maybe i'd edit it again.

I think they just need to be attached to each other, the examples given are just ideas. I am going for a row of Georgian terraced town houses, UK style.

I'd been operating on the assumption that they needed to be attached to each other and in a line, with each unit's access along the frontage (as opposed to a compound where all units face each other). My ideas are based loosely on a courtyard inn or renovated stable/coach house, with 4 units that form a U. The centre two units are taller than the two that form the wings, but all have about equal portions of the building's frontage. The units would all have yards, but there would also be common area in the U.

Aaaargh! It's hard trying to build a decent parking lot without invisble driveways. I'm using a combination of Mootilda's Rotatable Driveways and moveobjects on to build the parking spaces on the side, overlapping them to make the cars seem like they are parked right next to one another. And because having the driveway all the way up against the windows looked bad, I also made them overlap shrubs, using a low fence to hide the "growing on concrete" aspect of them. They should be functional. I will test when I'm done.

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

Fantastic progress pics so far - so creative. Mine is rather stodgy and dull in comparison. I worked on one of my already existing apartments to save time but think I should have started from scratch but I have no time. Nearly ready for pic taking when I get a chance. I wish we knew how much an apartment might cost before rezoning and putting a Sim in.

^agreeeeeee. I'm not done yet but have a sneaking suspicion that the rent on mine is going to be over what is suggested for two sims.

Not familiar with Mogs parking mod, I use Mootildas, but if user has to have it for driveways to work then yeah not allowed.



I had a hard time figuring out how to explain that round, since as you say terms vary and english isn't my first language so had to use wikipedia/google images to try and find terms that would convey what I had in mind. You got it though, by rowhouse/townhouse I meant attached side-to side. As long as it meets requirements and is attached side-to-side, style beyond that is entirely up to you. I will update requirements and clarify that units must also be attached side-by-side since it seems that isn't a given depending on definition of rowhouse/townhouse. If anyone already built something not attached I am sorry, I hope it's not too much work to make them attached.

CC arches are okay, since they are just another version of a door.



I hear ya! It's pretty easy to check though. Just move it to catalog, put down two copies and zone one to apartment and it'll tell you price-range from hood view I checked after getting shell done before adding any furniture so I'd know how much the floor space itself adds, and if I needed to reduce size of back yards. Turns out I did

I was worrying about that when I started work on my option 2 yesterday, but then I remembered gummilutt is right--it is really hard to go over $6000.

I have apartments in my hood that are several floors and 4 double bedrooms each with a garage as part of the unit and they are still less than $6000 in rent. They are still too pricey for most of my sims, however.

Building apartments is easy. Taking pictures is hard.

That camera mod seems to be crashing the game - at least, it's crashed three times today in a configuration that hasn't crashed in months, and the cameras are the main thing I put in, and it was always while dealing with moving the camera around. However, I only have one more apartment to take pictures of, and then it's making the composite(s) and picking the four best pictures from each unit. I'm afraid the front and back views will have to be composites, as even with the camera mod I couldn't frame the width of the lot from sim's eye level. The overhead camera, however, worked.

@Yvelotic2001
those shrubs will be a maintenance nightmare with the small fence and cars in the way of the landlord...

I'm finished building/decorating. Now it's to play test mode.

With only 4 pics per apartment it's going to be a tough choice whether to take a pic of an extra bedroom, hobby room or top furnished hallway. Lounge and kitchen are the most important and a bedroom. Forgot to take a ground level top down pic of the whole lot, but nearly there.
I needn't have worried about going over budget. The most expensive apartment is under 4,000.

Seeking clarification: We only do individual (photoshopped) rents of each apartment if over budget? Otherwise hood view?

@gummilutt is it too late to ask for a transfer to contestant? xD
apparently the switch of creativity helps my writing and drawing rather than hinder it.

If I doesn't work when I play test it, I'll find a way to make something work to hide that ugliness. Like I said, Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

EDIT: Does anyone know why counters don't connect on corners if placed below the landing of a modular staircase? It's really annoying me. If I can't fix that, I'll have to completely redesign one of the kitchens, which will be a PITA.

I think we are allowed to composite images, so if you wanted to take a pic of kitchen and dining, for example, you could put them into one picture. I definitely need more that 4 pics per unit to show things off so I plan to combine bedroom interiors into one, bathrooms into one, etc.

Well wait...now I went back and looked at screenshot rules and don't see mention of it being allowed but I could have sworn I saw something somewhere about compositing. @gummilutt - are we allowed to composite pics like Cat does with a two for one? Or must they be straight 1up pics?

Edit: We are not unless it's for rent that goes over the suggested limit or if front/back required pics can't fit into one frame.

If we're following the MTS screenshot guidelines, then we prefer you not to do that as it makes the individual images very small, but it's gummi's call.

It's Gummi's call, of course, but I think (obviously) that compositing/collaging 2 pictures together is fine. Just remember to keep each picture as large as you can. If I can't see something, I can't judge it. With only 4 pictures allowed - there's NO way I could be a contestant! The more pictures, the merrier, I think

ETA:
I wouldn't collage more than 2 pictures - or they will be too small.
Remember on the 'overhead' shots - get as close as you can and keep the walls up (so judges can see if fridges are in front of windows - its happened before - and find the telephone, etc...)

Progress screenshot
 

This is as far as I've got

I'm only compositing the front and back views, because nothing I do makes them fit, and the rents. Otherwise I wouldn't. Take lots and lots of pictures and pick out the best four per unit, that's my plan; or at any rate, the four per unit that best shows off the apartment as a whole. It's how professional photographers work, after all. Sometimes they'll take two or three rolls of film, and only use one picture.

I take the sim's eye views during playtesting, and now I've found a problem with that last unit, so...it is what it is. I can probably bear it if somebody beats me to First Entry.

Correct As for the 4 per unit, remember you have an additional 8 pictures for "structure". What part is up to you, so if you want to use those for the units that's up to you. It's there in case you have a lot of common area, or if you feel some unit needs more attention. If you guys all think 4 per unit + 8 is way too little I'm open to increase limit, if my judges are okay with that.



Not too late, as long as applications are still open that's fine. I will move you tomorrow, off to work in a minute.



Nope, no editing at all except for room tags if you want think they are needed. As Karen pointed out, it makes the pictures smaller which is a PITA for the judges.

Exception to the no editing rule : the required screenshots. If your front/back is too small to fit in one frame you may composite them into one, but it's also fine to do two pictures (would recommend it since bigger = better), still counts as one as far as required screenshots go. And rent-picture if you went over the 6k rent and want to show which units do and which don't.

Thanks for clarifying. It's good to know I could repurpose some of the 8 structure images to show units. I have three floors on each unit so I can def use that now I know there's no compositing them.