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Backdoor Lane 57 -- Urban Apartment House (4 units)

by plasticbox Posted 25th Nov 2008 at 11:15 PM - Updated 13th Mar 2009 at 11:35 PM by plasticbox
 
25 Comments / Replies (Who?) - 22 Feedback Posts, 2 Thanks Posts
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Test Subject
#2 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 12:21 AM
Yay, more apartments from you! I hope you have even more planned :-)
Zombie Socks
#3 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 12:22 AM
Plastic Box stikes again! This is lovely!

Nintendork Island | Please call me WWW!| Despite what avatar says, loves all of mts <3
Mad Poster
#4 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 4:36 AM
yet more wonderfulness from the box that is of plastic!

"When life gives you lemons, see the lemons, feels the lemons, BE THE LEMONS!"

Take a look-see, hmm...? Go on, click them:
The Super Mario Project, Nintendorks Island-Celebrating 2 Years Online!
Site Helper
#5 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 6:15 AM Last edited by Mootilda : 26th Nov 2008 at 6:46 AM.
Plasticbox, are you aware that any wall shared with a neighbor will generate noise? It might be best to try to avoid putting a bed right up against a shared wall, since this may keep your sim up all night long.

The funny thing is that there is no noice from the common areas, even when they contain musical instruments, TVs and stereos. And, the person who lives above you is as quiet as a mouse. But, a neighbor's tiny powder room, when it shares a wall with your apartment, will generate horrific noise which will send your environment score plummeting.

Not quite realistic, but those seem to be the rules.
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
Original Poster
#6 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 9:11 AM Last edited by plasticbox : 26th Nov 2008 at 10:26 AM.
I didn't know that, thank you (I don't have AL .. I guess it comes to OSX in 2013, if ever). Actually, in the case of this lot, that is perfect! It's only the old lady's apartment that has a shared wall in the bedroom =) it would fit a lot of clichés if she came complaining at the poor guy next door who's up all night with food poisoning. Maybe he can ask the girl upstairs for asylum?

But in general, this sounds annoying and unrealistic. Is there a hack for this? (Or at least a deafness plugin for elder sims?)


Also, taking the opportunity to sneak in more pics: an overview of the old lady's apartment, a top-down of the middle floor, and a backside view of the lot.
Screenshots

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Site Helper
#7 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 3:21 PM
I thought that you might not know, and that this might be helpful info for you. I don't play with the sound on, so it took me a while to figure out why my sim's environment scores were in the red.

When I realized what was happening, I specifically made a building with a 1-tile wide buffer between my apartments - the buffer contained powder rooms and closets for the two apartments. I assumed that this should be pretty safe, but I was wrong. Obviously, most people hold parties in their powder rooms!

As far as I know, the only available fix is to leave 1 space between all shared apartment walls. EA says that closets and bookshelves against the shared wall also help with the noise, but I have no evidence for or against this yet.

I'll let you know if I find a hack.

Oh, I forgot to say: I'm really enjoying your small apartment buildings. It's so nice to find something small and easy to play.
Wiki Wizard
#8 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 5:07 PM
Stunning thanks! :D


It's ok, we all laugh-snort occasionally!
Check out some of my other stuff here.
Test Subject
#9 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 7:34 PM
I tried to enter the lot and it crashed my game. What did I do wrong? That never happened before!
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
Original Poster
#10 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 8:22 PM
"Enter" as in, Build mode (uninhabited), or when moving in a sim, or when it was already inhabited?

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Test Subject
#11 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 8:38 PM
I placed the lot in my neighborhood, wanted to enter it to have a closer look around - but it never loaded, just crashed the game. And when I tried it again, same things happend again. Even deleting the lot doesn't work, because every action I try with the house make the game crash. I guess the house will stay where it is an be an nice decoration
Lab Assistant
#12 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 10:30 PM
I am having the same problem. I am unable to enter the lot. It just keeps loading and loading. Any ideas?
Not actually evil.
#13 Old 26th Nov 2008 at 10:35 PM
I should just name my 'hood Plasticville, it's going to be so full of your work.
Do you need testers for this lot? I could take a look at it in an AnyGame...

Please spay or neuter your pets. --- Cat Music Video! --- my meshes
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
Original Poster
#14 Old 27th Nov 2008 at 2:10 AM
It would be good if those for whom it doesn't load could give a little more information .. like, what game/s are you running? CC? OSX or Windows or Vista? System specs? How are you trying to enter the lot (live mode, build mode)? Testingcheats enabled or not? Etc ..

It has been hanging for me once before, but since 1. it didn't for others, 2. it technically isn't really any different from all the other recent lots, and 3. my game likes to crash and hang no matter what, I decided to post it anyway. I've seen/done nothing out of the ordinary in Build Mode, in any case.


Fake Edit:

OK, I just wanted to repackage it in case the file somehow got corrupted .. now it didn't load for me, either (In Build Mode .. which worked before, obviously). Aren't you glad that the LotAdjuster is making backups! (Thanks, Mootilda =)

So I restored from backup, redid the last few edits, and packaged it again. I'll update the OP in a second; can you try that one? (The zip looks the same, but the lot package is named "Second Edition" now.)

Let me know if that works for you. If not, I don't think I can fix it – the LotAdjuster backup is the only backup I have.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Site Helper
#15 Old 27th Nov 2008 at 3:52 AM
I'm getting errors with the second edition, all related to the fireplace. Can't seem to attach the error log right now, but I will later if you'd like.

Windows XP
All EPs and SPs except the Store items
Debug mode
MATY director's cut, but I'll try again without any CC

Three or four nearly identical errors. I chose "Delete" for each error and was eventually able to edit the lot.

Object id: 285
name: Fireplace - Colonial - Chimney Cap - 0,0
Error: Reference to tree tree parameter when no parameter exists.

ETA:
Same error without any CC
Error message now has one additional line:
Hit Breakpoint Primitive.
Lab Assistant
#16 Old 27th Nov 2008 at 8:04 AM
Windows XP
All EPs and SPS except the Store items
Normal mode
Most of MATY director's cut
Try entering in build mode without any Sims living there

The lot gets placed in the neighborhood just fine, but won't let me enter in build mode.

-S
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
Original Poster
#17 Old 27th Nov 2008 at 10:30 AM Last edited by plasticbox : 27th Nov 2008 at 11:37 AM.
Mootilda: so you can't enter the second one either? And once you delete the fireplace, you can? (Is the fireplace beng deleted, actually? How does it look like when you do enter it .. is the top part of the chimney still there, and the fireplace itself?)

Right -- I removed part of the chimney in this lot, and perhaps the game doesn't like that .. maybe that is the problem. I've noticed before (in the Blue/Green Star lot, iirc) that a fireplace with a deleted chimney wouldn't visually light up right away but attributed that to the game not liking my graphics card (I have no Seasons fish either, and no see-through snow cursor -- those things simply don't work under OSX). Maybe there's more to it than that.

Strange thing though is that the Green Star / Blue Star lots I posted not long ago also have their chimneys removed, and nobody reported problems with those. Major differences are that the Green/Blue Star requires Seasons in addition to NL/OfB/Pets, and that this lot is shrunk and the Green/Blue Star isn't.

Has anyone had problems with shrinking a lot with a deleted chimney before? (it's not a terribly common thing to do, though ..) Is it perhaps worth investigating whether the LA is hicupping on that?


Soneen, you are also talking about the second version, yes?

I'll post a no-chimney version as soon as I can .. perhaps you can give that one a try.

Thanks for testing, so far! =)


ETA, question to AL (and M+G? and BV?) users: there are new fireplaces in AL, right? And in BV too? Has there anything changed about the behaviour of fireplaces with those EPs? Asking because I'm able to enter the 2nd edition in Build mode just fine, I've turned testingcheats on now, no errors. This is in NL+OfB+Pets though.


ETA2: Third edition is up .. I didn't want to deprive the old lady of her fireplace, so I changed the floorplan a little in order to accomodate the chimney. (I wish there was a way to force the walls behind the fireplace to stay up, like the walls around the lift do .. the sight of that chimney is less than pretty)
Screenshots

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Test Subject
#18 Old 27th Nov 2008 at 4:55 PM
Just want to drop a quick note on converting Backdoor Lane houses to AL apartments. I have attempted this with most of the rowhouse-style residences and none of them convert correctly for me. I'm not sure, but I think it's connected to the open-underneath stairs. I can't remember exactly what led me to this conclusion and I have to run off and cook Thanksgiving dinner right now, but if anyone's interested I'll go over my hood later this weekend and post my findings.

The only Backdoor Lane house that I converted properly into apartments is the orphanage. All the rest have problems with improperly designated common spaces.

PB, I have loved your houses for a long time! Thanks so much for making Backdoor Lane!
Test Subject
#19 Old 28th Nov 2008 at 1:56 AM
scmegan: I've converted quite a few of them. As for the homes w/ basements, I had to change them around by getting rid of the stairs that led to the basement (& I then converted the entire basement into an apartment).

Also, the homes with backyards (and stairs that led to the backyard) were not easily converted, so I got rid of the stairs and made tiny balconies. As for the backyards, I kept them parted off and put in fences. The sims could, after all, "Lock" the fences...I think. I haven't tried it out yet.

The only row houses that were really very much trouble to convert were the ones where the entrance to the basement is within the house as it took me a little while to figure out what the problem was.

Also, I don't have much of a "common" area and the apts seem to work fine. The neighbors just kind of hang outside and when the landlord orders a pizza on Saturdays, they'll just place it on the ground if there's no table around.
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
Original Poster
#20 Old 28th Nov 2008 at 2:21 AM
Thanks for the feedback, that's interesting to hear =)

Not sure if I get the thing with the basements .. the game doesn't like when an apartment is partly at ground level and partly on a foundation? Or is it only a problem when the basement has access from both in- and outside? And does it matter for common areas whether they're on multiple levels?

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Site Helper
#21 Old 30th Nov 2008 at 5:43 PM Last edited by Mootilda : 2nd Dec 2008 at 5:21 PM.
Sorry about not getting back to you sooner... real life was very hectic this week. I'm hoping that things will slow down soon.

My guess is that the game has changed with one of the newer EPs, so that removing part of the chimney is now a problem, where it wasn't before. For some reason, EA likes to break things which previously worked, or remove abilities that worked in previous EPs. Selecting "delete" on the error messages deleted the entire fireplace in the game, and allowed me to load the lot.

I'm not sure how much time I'll have today, but I'll download and try to test your newest version when I can.

[Update:] Seems to work just fine. I believe that you've fixed the problem. [End Update]

As far as making this into an apartment building: AL has some problems with doors into fully enclosed spaces which are on a different level from the door. There are several articles on this site about workarounds for this issue. When I get your lot loaded, I'll try to determine what's causing the problem.

It's too bad that EA takes so long to port things to the MAC.
Test Subject
#22 Old 7th Dec 2008 at 1:12 AM
babiet386, were the houses you converted livable as apartments? I moved a sim into Backdoor Lane 47, and only the first floor was recognized as an apartment. The second and third floors were considered common space: I couldn't place or move any furniture on the upper two levels, and I could see the furniture on his neighbor's second and third floors. This house doesn't have a basement, so I'm not sure what the problem is. The only thing I can figure is that when I take out the open-underneath stairs, I can change the lot to an apartment without getting any errors. But the floorplans often rely on having those stacked stairs. Perhaps the new spiral staircases are a solution.
Lab Assistant
#23 Old 8th Dec 2008 at 3:25 AM Last edited by PollinationTechnician79 : 8th Dec 2008 at 3:34 AM. Reason: Ooh, btw!
Thanks so much for this PB. Love the lot, it works just dandy for me.
Just a note to those who convert to apartments, before using changelotzoning, be sure to move the mailbox one tile to the right. When the mailbox changes, the rent slot is blocked on the left by the entrance stairs.

For those having trouble when converting for Apartment Life, there can only be one way in and one way out. If there is a back door, the space it leads to must be inaccessible to other residents, like a little fenced garden. Eaxis believes in fire traps
Alchemist
#24 Old 13th Dec 2009 at 9:49 PM
Thanks for this its great, for those that may not know, when building apartments with a foundation and stairs out the back you can keep the stairs if you follow these steps.

1. Delete the stairs
2. Add two peices of foundation onto the bit that had the stairs
3. Get an invisable fence http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=179868 and put that around the open areas of foundation including the two peices you just added
4. Delete the two bits of new foundation
4. move_objects on and place you stairs in the same spot as original and viola now your apartment will convert!

Rome wasn't built in a day

Need help finding building items, check out my building blog https://bestbuilditems4sims2.wordpress.com/
Test Subject
THANKS POST
#25 Old 10th Sep 2015 at 2:53 AM
thanks
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