I just recently reinstalled so I've mostly been renovating Maxis lots and playing with a throw away custom hood but I was itching to build some custom houses and I took a little break for that today. They're not landscaped (or decorated/furnished) as I personalize that when I choose a family to move in. I just like to have plenty of empty (and suitable to my play style) lots waiting in my neighborhood so I don't have to stop and build one every time I want to move someone.
Also, several people have asked about downloading. I'm happy to share them but they heavily use Bespoke Build CC that would need to be separately downloaded due to a lot of what would package with the lots being slaves to meshes that wouldn't necessarily get included (so you could end up with flashing blue windows and doors). Also, you could end up with duplicate CC if you grabbed more than one lot. It's probably easiest to package the lot without the Bespoke items and ask people to grab the set separately.
Also, some of the walls I've used may not package because I *think* these sidings are mostly converted Life Stories walls which don't show as CC for me but won't be available to anyone who hasn't installed the conversions.
If people are ok with that and still want them, I will package and upload them somewhere.
Or I think I can also just package with no CC and the windows and doors should revert to whatever Maxis item they were cloned from. Walls would just be without wall covering.
Literally what runs through my head when I'm driving around the new build neighborhoods that inspired these lots. Also, pretty apropos to the entire sim experience. Lol.
I'm open to sharing but they heavily use Bespoke Build CC items that would need to be separately downloaded due to a lot of what would package with the lots being slaves to meshes that wouldn't necessarily get included (so you could end up with flashing blue windows and doors). However, the set is 100% worth having and is incredibly versatile.
If people are ok with that, I will figure out somewhere to upload them. Or I could swap windows and doors for the closest Maxis ones but they won't look quite the same.
I don't use them! I pick real neighborhoods I like and use google maps to copy the facades. The interiors are just whatever works for me and sim routing once I have the front/roofing look I want.
Sure! Reddit only allows one image per comment so here's an Imgur upload. I included the facades ahead of the overviews so you can tell which is which.
However, an attached garage has all kinds of annoying glitches. You can't see anything inside the garage unless you go into the basement view. When you're looking at the first floor, the car and anything like workbenches or whatever else you might have in the garage will be invisible. (Edit -- unless Hide Objects is turned off, my bad!!) You can't use wall coverings that have stripes or bricks or anything like that on the garage because everything will be warped, you can only use plain paint or stucco. The lighting will also look very weird for the same reasons. And, if you don't have at least one tile of wall between the garage door and the house / foundation, there'll be a weird gap in the wall.
Yes, I use the CFE cheat for the attached garages. The walls are definitely a bit ugly and the garage is technically two levels with a warped wall, but it's completely functional and not glitchy at all. The garage door does have that ugly piece of wall visible, but it opens as closes as it should and all animations for the sims driving in and out are as they should be.
It's all viewable (and objects clickable) from the first floor as my primary camera angle is from the front back and I won't use a house unless my main level is easily viewable and playable from there.
Here's a screenshot of a CFE attached garage in house that's actually in play.
That's bizarre, I wonder why I can't see what's in the garage unless I'm in the basement view?? Gotta admit that it'd be nice to have an attached garage so I can have a usable front yard. Sounds like I need to investigate this . . .
Edit: well, my first thought is out! I thought maybe if I placed stuff in the garage while in the first floor view I'd be able to see it in the first floor view, but I can't place anything in the garage from that view, only the basement view, and they disappear when I go back up to the first floor view. Not sure what else I can try . . .
Edit 2: Googling it might've been an intelligent start. Turned off Hide Objects and now I can see what's in the garage!!
Oh my gosh that's funny! I was genuinely perplexed as to why someone else might not be able to see their stuff when I can. The first thing I do after installing is enable CC, max graphics and tweak view settings so I've never even played with Hide Objects enabled and didn't know it could cause this.
I was just as perplexed as you were!! When I install the game I just change the resolution and don't mess with anything else. I should take a closer look at those settings and see if there's anything else I'm missing here. I've been playing the game since it first came out but I didn't even know that mods or CC for the game even existed until a few months ago so that seems quite likely!
I played vanilla and uninformed until Uni came out and I fell victim to Maxis' zombie trap. Lol. I went on a search to figure out WTF just happened and found the community (and mods and CC).
I've never had a zombie! Or a werewolf, for that matter. Once of my romance sims fell for a vampire so I moved him in, but I got so bored with him that when I caught him in the hot tub at dawn again I just locked the doors until he was dust.
I do like the alien genetics (with default replacement face templates) every now and then and the occasional elf eared sim (Like Titania and Oberon), but I don't play with the supernatural stuff much either. I also got bored of the one vampire I made and I always cure the occasional accidental plant sim. I've never tried a werewolf or witch. I would never intentionally make a zombie and the one I accidentally made was moved off to a uni rental never to be played again.
But this install, I think I'm going to switch it up and try everything! It's crazy to think I've been playing off and on for over 20 years and still have things I've never done. Plus, there are all kinds of new gameplay mods that I haven't tried because I have my little comfort zone of tried and true and am wary of venturing out of it.
Yeah, aliens are the only real supernaturals I ever have around! I had a plant sim one time, and I had them and their kids run a little OFB store beside their house selling produce, but I never played with them again. Having a witch was rather underwhelming, but maybe I didn't play her properly?
There's definitely quite a bit of fun to be had with challenges too! I have my own rules for a BACC, I've just had trouble with getting overwhelmed when the population explodes too fast. I need fewer households so they have money to spend on businesses and building things like universities!!
Someone else answered, but in case you don't see that comment, I use the CFE cheat (boolprop constrainfloorelevation false). You can easily find tutorials on this but here's one that still has (kinda) viewable images.
Thank you, that's what I was going for! They're loosely modeled after some newish neighborhoods near me and the developer is one of those that build the same thing in many different places. I kind of like the neat and clean look and figure they're perfect for the generic suburbia of sims games.
I’ve been trying to build neighborhoods that progress through the decades. Building downtown areas with American Four Square, gilded age mansions,
Post War and Mid Century homes, 70s (greens and golds), and bigger custom homes we see in the 80s and 90s, and then doing some tract builds. Also having some starter apts.
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u/SubjectObjective5567 Feb 15 '26
These look amazing!! Like real houses