William as a play along you can use the wheel, for contestants no. My main reason is simply that other people do not know how to extract things and I want to start from a base line that says most people here are beginners and do not know how to do such things. So if one does and uses that ability, that isn't fair on the others. I know personally as someone who does not make CC that it feels rather depressing to have that happen in a contest.

Also I am so sorry you bulldozed your lot! I have exited without saving before now which was bad enough.

I spent ages on my lot last night until quite late, then realised I hadn't saved at all. I prayed that this wouldn't be the time my game decides to crash... Whew! So, sorry to hear, William!

gazania, you haven't done anything stupid! No doubt you tried to do everything in the unoccupied house, but only found some problems when you moved Sims into it. The difference is probably something like a tiny strip of moulding along the top or bottom of a wall section. And the total difference is only three Simoleons -- in a §35,000 house! You remind me of an accountant worrying because there's a couple of cents difference between the two sides of a billion dollar company balance sheet. Both versions are under the limit. I very much doubt if Jo or the judges will be worrying about three Simoleons, so don't you worry about them either. There was nothing wrong with your way of working and there's no need to change it!

Peni's right Nateryak toad, that really is amazing. While I'm struggling just to build the house, you've managed to do al that illustrated back-story too. I don't know how you did it in so short a time. I take my hat off to you!

@joandsarah77 Is the pic of the roof needed? If so, that would make six required pictures. (I'm having to cut back on the number of pics!)

Well here’s my no CC entry (as before, I only have RLS in game files, but it’s established it’s fine and it still counts as no CC), I built a house for Rodney’s Does anyone remember my full of blue Moroccan buildings I shared here months ago? I decided to go into that direction with this entry, however, I mixed it with modern style. Everything would look much better and more obviously eclectic with more money available (and the poor garden wouldn’t be so empty ), but well, I at least tried It’s annoying that the lamps that give warm light at night are relatively expensive, so I could use only a few of them and, as before, use a few ceiling lamps too, which are much cheaper. If you wonder where those lamps are, I hid them in walls, like I do in all my lots (I did that in the application building too), so each room is light enough at night I decided to get rid of them to save money and I used cheaper lamps instead.
All the requirements and wants are met – there’s a pool, a barbecue area, 3 party objects (a bar, juice keg and balloons), and the random object (the garden lamp) is used, and I hope I didn’t skip anything. I added a fire alarm, and like in the first round, I hid it in a wall and took a special picture of it. And because of all that editing I managed to reach exactly 35k

Hi

I do understand and I'm NOT building to upload. As I worded it wrong, I do package my lots to use in the future and this is a concern of mine.

Loving all the entries. Can I ask you all to put the family name up the top and easy to see.

Taking pics in game and uploading them. I tried one of the programs recommended, but still not sure how to use it properly.
This pic is of the house for the 2nd round (I'm playing along in my own game). Clearly it is way too small to see anything.

Mine is ready, pics are taken and everything, but I am waiting for the scores to come out, to see if they have any good advice for me on this round

Fraps is really easy to use. Just start it and in game press F10. Then go into the Fraps screenshot folder. You'll have to convert BMP files (save as) to JPG using an image editor.

I'm ready to load but have 18 pics. I guess I'll exclude the roof one.
Edit: I had 2 shots of a bedroom so can exclude one and have the roof.

You can have 18 if you have a 2-story house. And isn’t the picture with a roof one of the required ones?

Also I recommend Fraps too, I’ve been using it for 10 years or more and I can’t imagine taking screenshots in games with anything else

roofs are required...

But it isn't listed as required though :
Picture Rules

All images must meet MTS Screenshot guidelines.
All but the first image must be placed under [ SPOILER ] tags.
You may edit your pictures up until the deadline.
Each round requires:
1 shot showing the front.
1 shot showing the back
1 shot showing the price. (If you have the needed EP simply show the price on the lot.)
1 shot of each floor plan as close as you can.
1 shot over the entire lot down at foundation level.
You are allowed another 12 extra photos to show off your lot to its best advantage. So 17 shots total. If your house has a second story that is a second floor plan shot making 18 pictures. You don't have to do this many but you can if you want to.

Since I have a 2 storey house, then I guess I can allow myself one more picture. So I will go edit my post, and add a top view roof pic.

It is in the scoring
Build skill up to 5 points
Is the build interesting? Is the roof suitable?

If the judges can't see your roof you will lose points on it.

Those notes are not only for the judges but also so you know what you will be judged on.

Top down is not always the best angle. But if you have a shot of the house front and back that should include all of the roof. If you have a spare shot a top down one is handy to add.

This is driving me to the point of wondering about my existence.

I was taking pictures of the lots. When the Newmans moved ino the one, the lot was valued at 34,987. The empty lot was valued at 34,987. Fine. There is probably that molding that AndrewGloria mentioned, though I even checked that a number of times. Looking at the walls is getting me fuzzy-eyed now.

However, when I went to take the picture of the occupied lot and went to show the value (since it is the higher of the two), the lot is now valued at a little over 32,500.

I added nothing. Subtracted nothing. Everything seems in place. I barely played these Sims, using mostly the pause button. Probably Gigue or Sarabande (the cats) ruined something, but what they ruined is a good question. Or maybe the house value diminishes if a Sim buys a bird, a womrat and fish. I have no idea. I plan to show the unoccupied lot's value, since it is the higher of the two. But what happened is beyond my comprehension. Everything is still there! Is Maxis messin' with me?

Very interesting Gazania. i think you might be on the right piste(track??) about the value of a house lowering if animals live in it. It would make sense anyway. And if pets ruined something..they ruined for about a bit less than 3000! That is a lot..or some expensive items you had there.

That's why I said to take the price picture once you are finished before moving in sims. Just in case something changes.

I wonder if using an object causes it to start depreciating?

I've been going through the hassle of installing the rest of my stuff packs, to make CC free a little easier. Aside from M&G and Ikea, I don't think I've ever had any installed on this computer (which I've had since 2010). It's a pain, though. The automated installer errors out every time. I'm think it's because I'm not installing them in the right order, but it means I have to the edit registry keys by hand (or reinstall, but shuffling 30 or so discs around is worse!). And it's finicky and I can't find where I've typoed.

I took a break from that to start building. I really wanted to do the Lambert's because I'm happy with how my tree house turned out. But, I'm at 28k, without any wall coverings, very little flooring, some furniture, and no windows. 7k to do all that and decorate seems unlikely so I think I'm going to have to switch to another family.

I can say my house value didn't lower when my family moved it- with their cats and dogs.

I'm finished with mine and want to just post it to be done... I've been messing with the price for so long I can't remember why it matters to me any more. Lol- as it trying to use up all the money.

So I used this foundation for Dave Elliott, computer nerd into bikes, and his daughter, Samantha, who loves flowers and dancing.
The Elliotts are pretty happy with it. Dave was also happy there was a second toilet, because Samantha likes to hog the bathroom to play around with makeup (when she's wearing costumes from her treasure box) and she's not yet a teen.
No CC. Note: column built with cfe wall not foundation.




Sorry about top-down shot of one bedroom. For some reason I couldn't get a wide angle shot.

Here's a rather stiff portrait of Dave and Samantha


An additional photo for judges to show I didn't use foundation for column

Looking at your houses (I mean all the entries, not just posters above) it seems like you have much more furniture than I do, I have no idea what happened with all the money when I was building, I don’t feel like I used it, it just disappeared 

Rosebine, I love your house, especially the treehouse! "No money, no deco" she says... are we looking at the same house?! I love that you splurged on the vanity.
Phaenoh, I am LOVING your apartment complexes. Really. They have such a unique, but familiar feel to them, because they are apartments. I can totally still see the initial shape.
Peni Griffin, your home is eclectic, fun and full of heart. I love how you combined such different colors and prints.
NatteryakToad, wow! You managed to take a TON of pictures and I love how you really got into the spirit of the family. Beautiful blue colors too!
Voeille, your color scheme and landscping is amazing! I have never really used those Moroccan items, but now I want to! Haha!
yavannatw, you have such well planned and coordinated rooms on your lot. I like it!
Gazania, such lovely colors and pet planning to make them comfy. Clever to put a sink and trash bin in the room with the cat litter!

I hope it was OK to comment, if not, please edit/delete this. You guys are amazing. I just had a wave of "geez, you are out of your league" wash over me. Haha!

By the way, I was the one who asked about uploading. *waves* I only mentioned it because I don't want to take new pictures if I do *try* and upload it here, that's all. No biggie. I will cross that bridge when/if anyone wants any of my houses in the future.

Okay... I'm not a story write no matter how much I love reading them.

I think my house theme came from the neighborhood in which I chose to build it- Veronaville.

Newman Family (Round 2/No CC).... 2 Elders, 2 little dogs, 2 bigs cats, 1 zombie eating Wormrat, and a bird that talks too much.
In my mind the Newman family enjoyed their careers, which they spent most of their lives doing, and while they didn't have children, they are now enjoying their feathered, finned, and furred babies.
They're elders now but still have hobbies; they're contemplating rescuing more pets into their family.
There's an old solar room that now houses Popeye, the talking bird, and little Zombie Eater, the wormrat. They have a great view of the outside even if they can't get to it.

The front entry was my focus from a house I saw while driving to class. The home does have 2 bedrooms upstairs with the spare bedroom waiting for a new purpose (empty-ish). There's a big side yard for the dogs to run, a bench under a tree for when the 2 footed friends want to rest from all the fetch playing and pet the cats.
The special item for all the pets is the bay window (besides all their accoutrements). The cats and dogs will vie for their turn to sit and watch the world- content in their own, clever world. The cats were given a plant to eat, if needed (imaginary catnip).

On with the Pictures....




**There are 19 pictures because of the required roof shot that's not listed as required but was commented as require. iirc
Redone! Fingers crossed it's right- this time.

I love your roof! Very cute with the stone/wood wall panels!
Your house has a charming interior. I love this

I finally got all 17 of my pictures. It wasn't easy picking which ones to use!

The ideas for these lots by all of you have been immensely creative so far! So many different approaches and all are really nice, yet very functional. These judges aren't going to have an easy time of it this round either!

Sweet Mystre ... I like your pet lot! I didn't see your slip in on there. Interesting placement of pet items ... I didn't think of the litter boxes being REALLY away from everyone. Those could be really pungent. I'm amazed you got a second story in there! The colors are soft and calm.