I discovered how to make a swimmable lake:



Sims now swim in the lake over at Riverblossom Hills Community Center, instead of only fishing, fishing and more fishing. When it's not frozen in winter, that is. The stairs could use more work, but I kinda like how makeshift it all looks, it fits Riverblossom Hills.

That's one of the best swimmable lakes I've seen! Great job! I've downloaded lots with swimmable lakes (and the CC associated with it, such as invisible tiles), and the effect looks ... odd ... in my game. I don't even see the tiles in yours, and your picture does not look like you super-Photoshopped it or otherwise altered it.

About those PBK chickens, geese and ducks. Good news is that you can get them on a hotel lot IF you use the coop. You do not get the hens with the nesting box.

Bad news is that if your hotel has a housekeeper, he or she keeps feeding the chickens, and I suspect the little clean fanatic/thief is pocketing the eggs. I have no proof of the latter, though. DEFINITELY the food, however ... I caught mine doing it.

Is it safe to select the housekeeper to get rid of the eggs? Though I would guess if the inventory is full of eggs, the housekeeper won't be taking any more, I hope. I might just continue to make the place a berry farm and forget about the poultry altogether.

This B&B I'm working on is STILL giving me housekeeper routing issues. I learned a couple of other things about that NPC. Almost everyone else probably knows these already, but here goes:

1. No matter what I try, the housekeeper does NOT like main buildings (not hotel rooms, bathrooms and rooms where she doesn't clean) with single doors. This is the second lot where I've seen this. Possibly, you might be able to cheat and put two single doors together, or even leave just one tile between them. But leave room for a double-door, just in case.

2. The housekeeper likes Echo's fruit trees as much as the ground crops, and won't stop picking them. They can even make her freeze. However, she won't touch the PBK berries, nor the Maxis trees (so far ... does anyone notice her spraying them? I have not so far, and I have a few on the grounds).

I'm still having a routing issue with the !@#$ housekeeper, though she is taking longer and longer before she freezes. I'm suspecting something (I made a one-tile dividing wall for a toilet, and I don't know if she likes that), but need to test it out. Now I remember why I saved that hotel that finally worked after days of trying (the Yurt Hotel, not the infamous "Box Inn", which was five boxes with roofs and took me ten minutest to make!), and I reuse it again and again. Hotels aren't as much fun as beach lots, but they aren't a picnic to make.

That housekeeper is truly a bunch of trouble!

Thanks, gazania! It's funny, I tried the tutorial the first time around on an empty lot, and when I made the tiles invisible, the edges would show. When I made the lake over at the Community Center they just disappeared. Maybe it's random in my game? Odd. And yeah, I took the screencap right out of my TS2 folder, too lazy to photoshop or use a screencap program :D

PBK chicken and farming things are seriously tempting me now that I'm playing a farmer hood *shifty eyes*

That looks amazing. How are you hiding the edges of the tiles?

Edit: Never mind, I see your answer above - I need to stop leaving threads open for ages before posting in them, or at least refresh them to see if there have been updates before I do.

A farming hood is great. But I would NOT use the PBK chickens, ducks and geese on a lodging lot. A vacation hood community lot ... perhaps. (I haven't tested it yet. Too busy with the vacation lodging lot.) But NOT a vacation lodging.

In addition to the housekeeper feeding the fowl and possibly pocketing the eggs (ewww), she can freeze if you decide your Sim is going to feed the birds or check for the eggs at the exact same time she's about to go to the coop. Great. I give up.

My B&B farm is now a fruit farm. Take that, you trouble-making housekeeper! (I suppose there isn't a mod to torment her, is there?)

Two more tips to keep this pest from freezing:

1. Be careful about any deco around where a housekeeper cleans (such as some curtains), and try not to put the Soilidity door right near an adjoining wall. He or she will freeze pretty easily if denied very easy access. Leave plenty of room anywhere you think the housekeeper will go. The one in my vacation hood didn't seem to like the bathroom door near an adjoining wall, either.

2. I'd avoid putting a range hood or cupboards over a stove. My housekeeper didn't seem to like it when she cleaned, and again, she ... yup ... froze. YMMV.

On a good note, once I removed the coops, a lot of decor (so much for toilet paper holders), cabinets and range hood, and re-arranged the room doors, I didn't see her freeze once in the two days my Sims stayed at the B&B. I packaged THAT baby in a hurry! I could also put something IN the former coop, too. Rebekah's working butter churn may be interesting, and it doesn't APPEAR to be a custom NPC from the look of it. I could be wrong. Or I could put a candy-making machine that I already have there for my Sims to try (maybe ... providing the housekeeper doesn't touch it!). Or I can use the Maxis toy bench or flower station. Or that beer keg in case the housekeeper continues to drive my Sim (and me) mad.

But no chickens or Echo crops. And I might want to stay away from anything autonomous that could attract that housekeeper.

I FINALLY figured out how to flatten the beach lots and make them smaller! Much thanks to Vimpse for the tutorial. The houses will make fine vacation houses for my Sims on the bay (read: not as rich) side of the hood. (Which is STILL a test hood for the real thing! What a learning experience this has been over the last few weeks!) I'm about 3/4 of the way done. I do plan to save the hood before attempting to put the Bigfoot lot in, just in case I really mess up, and have already lot-tested all of the lots I've built so far (at least fourteen new builds as of this moment within the last four weeks ... whew) in a main hood.

Oh, and thanks to the tip on this site, I figured out how to do a two-step foundation. I probably should have done this for some of my Colonial houses, but I am NOT re-doing them! At least my warlock's house has it, though.

@ saturnian and @ ihatemandatoryregister Whatever the Sims are doing under the sheet while during woohoo that make the bed jump sky high.
I will only ask those Sims pixel to "please share" so I can have a new discovery.

A sim sold a painting and and said 'whoppa!'. A couple of guys were eating grilled hot dogs on a community lot, while chatting about who-knows-what and one said 'bendy, bendy, bendy'. I love listening to their reactions, but would also love to know what the heck they're talking about. (:

I discovered that if a pixel owns a community lot, and puts in the dessert cart by Exnem, it charges all the visitors for their pigging out! $15 for a eclair! Wow..that's some expensive pastry!

@RedSimmies
That swimmable lake looks great! I've never had the patience to make one of those, although I've wanted to for a campground sort of situation. So...One day.

I just wanted to say that if you DO decide to do something with the stairs, a very easy solution would be to install and use the "open-underneath" version of those stairs. That way, you don't have all those bits stretching down into the water. They're here, if you're interested: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=221958

@Duine
My favorite is something that toddlers say, when playing with toys. It sounds suspiciously like "f#@& it." Like, maybe they're getting frustrated with that toy if the pegs won't fit in the holes or something.

https://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=508536

Yeah, I know, but I wanna make my own, so I can learn and experiment with it. Just...haven't gotten around to it yet.

That there is something about the Sims 2 pets that must be somehwat realistic. Every time I play a household with a pet my real life cat will literally sit and stare at the screen.

I think she wants a spin off of just pets to play on her own.

My cat used to watch NCI when it was on, he would come running through the house meowing, jump on the arm of my chair and sit through the whole thing. Sometimes I play youtube videos for cats, he's an adopted feral, now an indoor cat and terrified of the outside if a door opens, but does like seeing birds and squirrels in the videos.

@Icad Either the teen or adult female, when using the military career reward thingy, will say screw this at about skill level 4, not sure of exact # but it's early on in the skills.

Oh, yes, lol. Why didn't I think of the open underneath stairs? I even have them installed in my game, yet. Must have just grabbed the first stairs in the catalog in my excitement to finish!

I felt like a champ when it was done, though.

If you think life is boring, and want a source of frustration, try a non-basic hotel with the housekeeper. The housekeeper is the bane of my existence. To whomever I offended at Maxis that caused me to be afflicted with this scourge ... I am so, so sorry. Just tell me what I did wrong, and I'll try not to do it again. (It's what I wrote about Sims 4 ... isn't it?)

If you want to be hitting your head against a wall, try a beach hotel. Extra things to be aware of.

If you want to go totally out of your mind, try a beach hotel on a flat lot.

I thought I had a pretty collection of bungalows. I spent a couple of days on this lot, staying up way too late to work on them. I managed to get them looking similar to the house plans, much to my delight. The bungalows met the typical hotel requirements ... or so I thought.

First, they were too close to the water. Fine. That was my fault. Flat beach lots can lull you into a false sense of security. Fixed 'em.

Then I kept getting the shuttle dispatched, whether I wanted it dispatched or not. Exceedingly confusing and annoying (far worse than even the frozen housekeeper), but I've seen this before. It's the game's way of telling you there is something very wrong with your layout. I fixed it ... again, so I thought. I added a boardwalk and made sure that any Sims could drive a truck on it. I figured that flat lot or no, the game is still thinking , "Beach Lot!". This doesn't seem to be an issue with houses, though. Strange.

That almost worked. Now my Sims had one day to stay there, and I noticed that the notices were tied in with the .... (dramatic music) ... arrival of the housekeeper. I'm guessing that if the housekeeper or concierge experiences any trouble in your layout, any at all ... even a misplaced fence, as I saw in one try ... the game decides to call it quits. I noticed that no Sims visited the lot until well into the visit, even with enticements. This is not good. The Sims usually flock right away to the hot tub or the other usual diversions. They may not check in right away, but they DO swarm on the lot.

So I figured I'd remove what I saw as other possible routing impediments. The Sim checked into two rooms at two different times. I got the "one day" notice, but no shuttle. Progress! So far, so good. My spirits lifted.

Then I checked the Sim into a third room. I went over every detail, making sure I did absolutely nothing that we know as wrong with a hotel room. I checked a few times, just in case I missed something. Got the shuttle again. I have utterly, positively no idea what is wrong with this room. I'm stumped. If it were any more open, my Sim would be showering in a bathroom with no walls. Never mind that. The Sim would be showering outside.

I forgot to add a main point. This is a vacation hotel in a MAIN hood. Not on a vacation lot. There should be no shuttle. I knew I forgot something important to add.

Anyone here who has done a bungalow hotel on a beach lot and got it to work deserves my utter admiration. I see very few here, don't see a whole lot on TSR (MAYBE a little more than a half-dozen obvious bungalows, if that), and BV came out several years ago. So I suppose I should take some comfort in that.

Anyone who has done bungalows on a flat beach lot and succeeded... I'm not worthy! (Gets on knees and pays homage.)

Oh, and I have come to the conclusion that the housekeeper hates me. After several 100% successful visits in my B&B, she froze again on a current visit. That's it. He or she is staying there until my Sim feels like leaving. I give up on that, too. Congrats, you wretched thing. With the help of move_objects to get you out of the path of any Sims, you are now decor. I might pay a little more attention to the Batbox, though. Maybe I missed something.

But no more flat beach lot bungalows. Ever. Not even on a bet.

EDIT ... I love punishment. So I'm trying my bungalows on a regular beach lot. I'm leaving lots of room on the sides. One problem might have been that I built the bungalows as far as I could put the walls, and if the accursed housekeeper, a Sim, and/or the concierge got blocked, there was nowhere they could divert their path. Well, there was, and a truck could fit on it, but we all know that Sims aren't the brightest bulbs when it comes to routing.

Problem is, my bungalows were boxy "tiny houses" to begin with, and it looks like I'm making the Bungalow Beach Box Hotel, the child of my infamous Box Hotel. (If I need to take comfort in something again, though, of the paltry dozen or so beach bungalow lots I've seen, about a third to a half would be considered boxy by many here. I guess I can join the ranks!) I will not be deterred yet, though. I will make these boxy wonders, see if they work, save the prototype and THEN add stairs and decks if the mood overtakes me. And these bungalows will be on the ground. One thing I found out is that my hotel staff hates bungalows on foundations with little porches. Looks cute in the house plans, but they're wretched in-game. Just my experience.

I just discovered that you can change the lure your sim uses without stopping their fishing.

Some Sims will get up and put their book back on the bookshelf before doing the oh crap there's a fire dance.

@ FranH I have that cart on a community lot but not own, I guess the Sims don't get charge on a non own lot, well I have never notice if they do or.
Next time I go into my game I will take notice. Thanks for sharing now I know from what you have said that on an own lot they are charge.

I put Exnem's dessert cart in the dining room for one of my rich sims. But everyone seemed obsessed with stuffing themselves to fatness (guess the advertising was too high) so I eventually stuck it in someone's inventory and only pulled it out when there were guests over. But I didn't know about the charging part. Didn't notice anything, but maybe it only works for community lots. I know one of his other things (the bread basket?) can be set to charge or not.

I'm lazy. XD I only make my own when there isn't already one.



Do you have the Housekeeper/Bellhop fixes from Sim Wardrobe? The Housekeeper will freeze regularly otherwise.

Yes. I do have the fix.

I believe, though am not sure, that in my case, I'm trying hotels that don't quite fit into Maxis' idea of a hotel. The B&B is in a place that could actually be a house. A large house, but still a house. For the most part, she does her thing just fine, but every once in a while (a long while now, thanks to hours of trial and error), she gets stuck.

It doesn't help that I put things in there that Maxis hotels don't have, such as the Uni NPC cook. He's in a converted barn, but she still wants to clean there. I'm learning to be very careful where I place the stove. She seems happier if there is absolutely nothing around the stove except for the adjoining counters, so I shortened the island counter where the NPC puts the plates. That seems to help at least a little.

The bungalows were on a beach lot and had individual foundations and stairs. I see so very few examples Googling (there are examples, but they're rare) or anywhere else. Most people either make ground-level bungalows or use boardwalks/decks to keep things flat and/or on one level. I can see why there aren't many of them! I could probably use bungalows with foundations and stairs on a normal lot, but the game just didn't seem to like them on a beach lot. It looks like you also have to be ultra-careful with the slope and the edges of the lot, and you don't get much wiggle room on a beach lot. I know more-experienced builders have already written that. I guess I needed to learn the hard way.

Strangely, the cheap motel I devised in two hours works great, even with the Uni cook. But I'm suspecting that's because the room is a huge box, there are three double doors and a whole lot of room around the stove. Plenty of space for the housekeeper to maneuver. It may not be the prettiest dining room, but it works. So I'm learning from that as well.

Sorry to hear you are having troubles with your B&B, gazania. I downloaded a lodge from this site and converted it to a B&B and have been able to play it with no trouble with the house keeper with fix from simwardrobe. The B&B allows the sims to cook themselves or their partner's meals in a communal kitchen on top of optional room service. Is it just routing problems and frozen-ness your housekeep is having? What do you mean when you say 'bungalows'? How are they different from a standard hotel lot that comes with the game?

@FranH

Is it that card https://tehsims.com/sims-2-download...-cart-by-exnem/?
I have it on a owned bar and I don't recall my sim getting money from it.

I think the main problem is routing. The housekeeper has a certain routine that if you disturb it, one of three things happen:

1. The housekeeper will wait for the obstacle to pass. To give credit to Maxis, this happens at least half of the time. I'd place it higher than that. (Fancy that. I actually wrote something good about Maxis and the housekeeper!)
2. The housekeeper will freeze, and nothing will get him or her going again. Move_objects does not work. The best way to fix this is to see just where the housekeeper freezes. Most of the time, that's where the obstacle is, and most of the time, it's because there is not enough room for the housekeeper to carry on.
3. You'll get the stupid "shuttle" notice (the shuttle comes to pick your Sim up right away) if you REALLY messed up the layout. This is, by far, the worst of the options, and it takes far longer to figure out. Definitely a "do not want".

It sounds pretty simple, but a smaller B&B-like dwelling with Sims milling around can lead to routing issues I couldn't imagine when I first started, such as how my housekeeper froze if I put the Solidity door or a bathroom door too close to an adjoining room wall. I finally found a place in the B&B where I can put an extra double door without it looking really awkward. It won't make my saltbox very historically accurate at all, but I've been revising so much lately I think that might be a moot point! I'll see if she likes that door.

And I meant beach bungalows. They are separate buildings apart from the main lobby. I believe Twiikii island has one, but it's much larger. Right now, I'm finishing up on my bungalows v, 2. This time, I've simplified even further. These really are more Son of the Box Inn-type places and less "Oh, let's see what I've learned" stuff. I was very careful near the sand, left at least two tiles of room between every building, everywhere that the housekeeper SHOULD be going is flat, flat, flat. I tried to leave even more space near the Solidity doors, etc. And no NPC cook. Not this time. I do have the diner food stand, and as far as I know, the housekeeper stays away from that. (Glowers at the housekeeper.) Quite a far cry from my original version with the cozy dwellings on their own foundations, each with a small porch and a couple of plants, but them's the breaks. I want to get the basics in, then test this lot. Wish me luck!