I think extending the Mansard roof to the rear would cause an overhang there, which I don't want. I could possibly do something with a second overlapping Mansard roof, but once I placed the chimney there, the valley "grew on" me, and I now think it gives the house character. It forced me to put a dividing wall underneath it though, and the unusual arrangement of the rooms inside the house "grew" from that. Again though, I think it gives the house character.

Mine too! I feel it's a house I'd like to live in though, and the Walters seem very happy in it. They're the real judges! I gave them the §25K, so, when we built the house a little bit under the budget price, it gave them a little spending money. In addition to that Dean got a promotion after only one day, and Janette is getting her maternity pay, so they're really all right financially. Now that the pictures are all taken, I'm letting them spend some of it on furniture, and even the odd CC item. (Like all my Sims, they've now got Neder's Variable Meal Servings, so they cook the right amount of food for the number of Sims who are going to eat it.)

What's not doing so well is the actual community spirit. They've been in the house for two days and neither of them has met anybody yet! This is virtually unheard of in my game. You can't have community spirit without having someone to talk to! I have generated 7 townies but they haven't met any of them. (I saw one of them walking past the house in a magnificent full-length medieval style dress, but Dean was at work and Janette was in bed sleeping -- she's taking it as easy as possible.) The absence of community lots in the 'hood was a problem, so I have started to build some small shops, but I fear Janette may be confined to the house by now. (She's in her second trimester and I really have very little experience of pregnancy and birth.) The way things are going, it looks like the child will be born during the day on Thursday when Dean should be at work. I can't bear the thought that she should be alone when she gives birth. When Mrs. McBain gave birth in Veronaville (my first birth) she had a midwife in attendance. (Well, a Sim in the medical career path!) There isn't much time for them to get to know anyone to invite them round before the birth now. And none of the existing townies is in the medical career. (I've checked in SimPE.) So I think I'll send Dean to one of the shops I've built to see if he can get to know someone. And I'll give him a vacation day -- he really must be there for the birth of his first child, especially if no-one else can be there.

I can't have the old hippie couple in one of the contest lots because I don't have the required EPs, but I think I'll just add them now on a lot of my own, so the Walters have some neighbours to meet. Needless to say they have had no welcoming party. The Rhode's (the hippies) could be a very interesting family to play. I think I'll give them a grown-up daughter who lives somewhere else in the neighbourhood.

Andrew why not make a midwife and move her in with them for a few days? Just make sure you make sure she and the husband have negative chemistry, or even set relationship flags and make her a kindly relative come to help out.

@cowplant-simmer @Phantomknight and Drew the I am still in need of those foundation pictures and Drew your floor plan.

What a good idea Jo! I'll make the Rhodes' adult daughter Julianne the town's midwife. I don't know if she'll move in. There's plenty of room in that big front room for a temporary single bed. At some point in the future they might even divide it to make an extra bedroom. At the moment it's the room where they have space to dance together. Or she might just come for the day. I could always use a teleporter to summon her if the little one arrives unexpectedly. But it might suit Julianne to stay with the Walters for a few days between moving out from her eccentric parents and finding her own place.

I was thinking Julianne might need a female friend, it sounds a bit lonely. Obviously she has her husband but at time like that you need female friends.

Julianne Rhodes is the daughter of the hippie couple, and (soon to be) the local midwife. She doesn't have a husband -- at least not yet! Janette Walters does have a husband of course (Dean Walters) but she doesn't know anyone else in the neighbourhood. I'm confident Janette and Julianne will become friends, and Julianne will provide all necessary support at the birth.

I've made the hippie couple with their daughter Julianne in CAS, and I'm having a lot of fun building a lot for them. I've found there's a lot of stuff in Uni and Nightlife that's ideal for hippies. Although the Rhodes and their lot won't be part of the contest (or even the play-along) I think I'll post pictures of it here, as it might give some ideas to people who are playing them as part of the contest. Usually I'm a rather conventional builder, but Seumas Rhodes and Sharon aren't remotely a conventional couple, and I'm building them a decidedly unconventional place, out in the country, well away from everyone else, where they can happily grow old disgracefully together. Once they moved in, Julianne will move out to find her own place as soon as she decently can. She's probably had it up to here with the hippie lifestyle.

Guys, I'm not sure if you're scolding me (for not uploading more often.. or ever ) or praising me (for my apparently magnificent building skills ). Joking aside, I really don't want to sound like I'm pretending, or being falsely modest, but I really am extremely self-critical. And I'm not talking only about healthy self-criticism which motivates person to do or be better, but extreme and brutal, constant self-evaluation. If it's self-destructive and dysfunctional, it could even be a symptom of a mood disorder, personality disorder etc. Although, let's not become too dark and twisty (which I'm known for ). Anyway, the point is - extreme self-criticism can even distort reality, make one believe he perceives things more clearly than others, since his point of view is sharper and more critical, freed from positive illusions (there's even an expression for that in psychiatric, psychological and behavioral science, known as "depressive realism"). It is not something usually linked to objective reality, so outer validation can't always neutralize it, although it's flattering, and encouraging, and very pleasant. :lovestruc Peni Griffin is right, it does prevent happiness and is completely useless (she calls it devil, I usually call it "my inner demons" ). In life, in general, it can make you function significantly slower than others, since you're constantly reevaluating everything. Btw, the part gummilutt quoted, nicely showed how much my English spelling sucks. I often do that: "to" instead of "too", "then" instead of "than". Yesterday I wrote "lunch" instead of "launch". I hope native speakers don't mind those mistakes, it can be an eyesore.

Few months ago, I opened a thread in CFF determined to upload something for TS3. By the time I finished the lot, it became ugly. So that lot, especially meant for sharing, ended up buried in my old files, marked as not upload-worthy after all. I thought, if even I don't like my own lot, why would anyone else like it, want it, or need it? Apparently, novelty of my lots wears off very quickly for me. Then I become overly critical. That being said, in the process of building, I do like what I'm doing, and I'm enjoying it very much. A second look usually destroys the magic. About gazania's comment - lazy didn't refer to building, it refers to uploading. Because building is fun, uploading is stressful . I'm going to try to overcome this issue, since I did like the feeling of giving something back to the community that gave so much to me.

Jo, I think the thing with my featured upload is usefulness and play value, not the aesthetics itself. I think the main virtue is that it included all activities of the specific theme, it had good use of game-provided objects, it related to real life sport centers and was convenient for the players. I was actually surprised no one here tried that idea before. That's how I actually created it - I needed something like that . I don't think it always measures the quality of one's building style. It can, but sometimes it's the idea that sells it, or playability, or the impact on a game itself.
I would of course prefer that you don't change that rule and specify it even further, because that would mean I've already interpreted it wrong and used it how I shouldn't. But, it's your contest, your vision, so it's your call.

I don't mind 3 days delay. Yesterday I downloaded a mod for TS3 that'll keep me occupied for a while. I think I'm a rare example of a simmer who equally enjoys and plays both TS2 and TS3. But I must admit, I slightly prefer the TS2 community. I don't know if it has to do with average age of the members (there was a thread about it once), or the personality in general, but the fact is that I'm most comfortable among TS2-ers.

Sorry for a long post, I wanted to respond and explain everything.

Perhaps you should find yourself a friend that you can give your lots to while you still like them, that uploads them for you. Then the public can tell you via download statistics if they like it or not. Because it sounds like you can't trust your own judgment because your demons are in more control that you are.

Sorry for the off topic thing, but I don't like hearing about talented people who are inhibited by their own demons. It's sad and if we can help we should.

Whew! Just checking in to report that I'm over halfway done in the judging arena (only 8 left to go!) I gotta stop for today though... my head is pounding You guys are really a tough lot to judge! I'm only coming up with a three point spread here I plan to finish up and get things turned in tomorrow - K?

Wow. I'm amazed you got THAT far, CatherineTCJD.

MystAngel, from some of the posts here, many of us are very, very self-critical about our lots. This is only the second building contest I've entered, and I lost the first one. To be fair, I didn't understand the nature of the previous contest. That contest emphasized decor and landscaping; two aspects that aren't my strong points. I did wind up with a lot I enjoy using in my hoods, though, so it wasn't a total loss. This contest won't be a loss, either. I'm already using my cottage in my hoods, though it's dolled up to its original form that shot the 25,000 limit.

I did not see a single bad lot here. Not a single one. All are excellent jobs.

If you want bad lots, I submit the infamous Box Motel. Or Inn. I forgot. However, since I actually made a Box Inn that works great and I use it in all my hoods, Box Motel it is. You might see an occasional reference to it in the forums. I put together something that took all of ten minutes to do to test Freezy the Housekeeper's routing and what minimum requirements you'd need to get a working motel where she doesn't just stand there like a statue.

ANY lot here is 100% better than the Box Motel! Any lot. I kept that in mind when I submitted my contest lot! Don't believe me? You will now!



In all fairness, I stuck a pond in there. That was my landscaping. So would I get points for that?

Actually, submitting that broke the ice for me. A bunch of us got a chuckle (because I honestly don't think anyone would take this seriously!), and we still joke about it as being one of the worst builds anyone has seen here. A building I designed in 2007 looks 98% better than this!

This is a critical thread. Make no mistake about it ... we're all looking at competitive entries as well as our own. Some of us are thinking, "Dang. Why didn't I think of that?" or looking at our own entry and thinking, "It's so plain/crap, made a mistake/etc." The style of lot-building some of us do can be a little damaging to our ego just a little, because we imagine the families living there, and the house is a part of that. So it's not only the lot, but the story behind it. And the judges are looking at us as well, and their job is to pick out those small ooopses. Many of us are pretty nit-picky of our own lots now, and I would say that for some of us (me included, all kidding aside about the Box Motel), it's a little stressful. Are people going to laugh at us? Is anyone going to think, "YECH! That's awful!"? Are the judges going to be producing a 5000-word negative critique about our submission? Did we miss something important?

I agree with gummilutt ... perhaps someone can upload your lot for you, and once the download count hits 100, then you can look at it. Your Farmhouse-style lot is not a common architectural style in Downloads, and I think it would be very much-desired here. And I don't see it taking more than a few days at best to hit that 100 number, and that is probably one or two days too long. It's a great build; both practical and pretty. Please believe that.

My 2007 lot got 80 downloads in a week on another site. It was buried deep in another thread, the site didn't have nearly as many users, and it wasn't a good build (auto-roofing, an incohesive rambling style, though not a box, etc ... the routing worked well, however). Oh, and that thread got yanked in a few weeks when the OP deleted it in a fit of pique, taking my upload with it. Your lot is far, far better. My 2007 lot was not as bad as the Box Motel, though. If I got three downloads on that one, I would suggest that the downloader either get more sleep or cut down the caffeine.

I would hate to see such a pretty build like your lot be put aside. Please reconsider.

I actually like that Box Motel thingy Have some good memories of you testing and swearing at the housekeeper!

Usefulness and play value are excellent things, in no way inferior to aesthetics, MystAngel. Certainly not in this game. Some players get a lot of enjoyment out of remaking other people's creations just to fit their own aesthetic, without it devaluing the creations at all. A lot of people who download Widespot have to tear all my buildings down and start over from scratch, and some of them (fewer than I expected, though) even do plastic surgery on the sims. But they still play the hell out of the characters and situations I set up for them, and it's incredibly rewarding seeing them have fun with what I made, even when it doesn't look quite like what I made anymore. It's been incredibly rewarding - at a time in my life, by the way, in which more tangible rewards avoid me like the plague.

The thing about creation is, it's work. Fun and fulfilling work, for the most part, that we often start in a spirit of play, but completion and perfection require commitment and when all's said and done, it's work. By the time you've made it as good as you can right now, you're tired, and you hate the sight of it. When I'm working on a book, I know from experience that it'll look different to me based on where I am in the process, and that this is part of the process and in no way, shape, or form reflective of its actual quality at that point. In the beginning, when all I've got is the bright shining vision in my head of what I want to write, it's always the next big award winner, the book that catapults me to the height of literary fame and enables me to afford to buy up every neglected and run-down building in my historical district, fix them up, and rent them cheap to other creative people, building an intellectual and creative mecca all around me! (Castles in Scotland are for people with small dreams.) During the saggy middle, when I have no idea how to get where the story is going and all the big exciting choices have already been made, it'll be a drab, uninspired, derivative, silly, pointless muddle of a book that should never have been begun. It'll cycle between those extremes the whole time I'm working on it. By the time I've gone through several drafts, cut the length by a third, worked up a pitch and a query and a synopsis, and have it ready to start making the rounds, I always think it's crap. But if I let it sit for a year and reread it all I always realize that hey, it's pretty good; and sometimes it cycles all the way back up to "award-winner," so I've learned to ignore the "it's crap" feeling. If I can't identify a specific problem that needs work, into the mail it goes, regardless of how I feel at the moment, because I know that how I feel has nothing to do with the book itself.

The thing is that getting your creation out into the world where it can enrich the lives of others is easily the hardest, least immediately rewarding, unpleasantest part of the work. But a book that hasn't been read is only half-written, and a lot that hasn't been played is only half-built. And while nothing's wrong with being the only one who plays or reads your creation; or with only sharing it with half a dozen people you know ahead of time will like it; but nothing's particularly right with that, either. Keeping a creation to yourself limits your possibilities.

People speak of sharing Sims2 creations as "giving back to the community," and it is that. But seeing other people enjoy what you created, and do things with it you would never have thought of doing, is of considerable value to you, too. It gives you something to lever that stupid devil back into his closet with, something to bar the door with.

I haven't been able to make any money with writing for awhile now, for Reasons, and living in a capitalist society where money is the measure of value it's easy to begin to feel valueless in a situation like that. But during that time, people have also been doing marvelous creative things with Widespot and Land Grant University; and that is not valueless. I've seen people develop artistically using things I made as a medium, and though I can't take credit for their accomplishments I can take pride in having been part of it. It may not be as valuable as what I wanted to be doing professionally during that time; but it is not nothing.

I bet if you take that S3 lot out of the lotbin and look at it today you'll see that it's either a pretty good lot, or that you now see exactly what you need to do improve it. You just hit the lowest part of the cycle during the course of that thread, and didn't have the faith to carry you beyond it. Sometimes you just need a break from a project, some time to get some distance and build some skill that isn't quite where you need it to be. It might even just be your self-confidence skill.

@CatherineTCJD Cat you have tons of time, don't rush. I gave you guys two whole weeks to judge so you could get a feel for how long was needed. I really did not expect anything before at least a week.

Oh! Hallelujah! Hubby is off tomorrow and we're supposed to be going house-hunting. So, who knows? I'm glad I don't have to rush :lovestruc

I wasn't sure how long everyone would need what with jobs and life so I set it at two weeks. If you can get it in sooner that would be great since it will take some time for me to put them all together. But it's only what, the second day officially?

I'll put offtopic in a spoiler, to avoid moderator warning (although, I still might get it ).



Gazania, this really made me chuckle:



I don't think anyone's newbie creations were brilliant, this picture is actually quite charming.
And I agree, there are no bad lots here. I saw them all, some I really liked, some left me indifferent, but none were bad.

Catherine, wow, that was fast. I guess if all the judges finish before the deadline, Jo might speed the things up to accommodate impatient contestants. But I don't think all the judges can maintain such fast pace, especially not for all rounds.
Judging is really the hardest part. You have to be careful not to hurt anyone's feelings, but still take everything in consideration and be fair. I guess you have to go through each entry few times, check for requirements first, all the rules, playability and so on. I suppose it can get pretty stressful before you get to the fun part - aesthetics. And all that for every contestant. You also have to elaborate, if I remember correctly. It really can be time consuming, especially considering number of the participants, and I completely understand why it's important to give judges enough time to feel comfortable and enjoy their duty.

Yeah ... one of the motel units had a glass-less skylight effect. Or was it an open-air effect? And that one was the one I chose for the vacationer. Needless to say, she got a little wet. The housekeeper worked just fine, though, even in the rain! If nothing else, this motel was Freezy-approved. Freezy worked like a charm.

In all fairness, this was simply a test lot because I was having problems with the housekeeper while building hotels/motels. We even found problems with the housekeeper and certain Maxis lots. The housekeeper freezing is not a unique problem. I wasn't trying to build anything fancy (as one could see!) Still, my ten-minute lot does have its reputation.

@joandsarah77 I was finally able to add the extra picture (I decided to change hard drives and do a complete reinstall right before I saw you changed the picture rules, ). Please let me know if I need to change anything!

Yeah, one thing was a little suspicious - screenshot resolution . Do you know how much time has passed between a moment I learned basic building skills and a moment I learned I could use external program for better screenshots? My earliest building beginnings can't even be witnessed, I didn't even know how to properly extract, save and transfer valuable gameplay to be used in future installed games, so I just deleted everything. Even if I could find some old boxy screenshots, they would be small and blurry and you would hardly see anything.

Anyway, little details like these are also part of the fun.

I had insomnia and the new sliders to play with last night, so I went ahead and made a contest neighborhood, copied the bungalow into it, and made the Walters family. I had a lot of fun with the asymmetry sliders, and went ahead and made the toddler, since it's all furnished for her anyway, to see how they blended. Rufus, Alberta, and June are all moved in and getting busy.

I have a vague plan to download all the contest houses that get uploaded and put them into this hood, though obviously I only need one copy of each family. But it beats reorganizing my files as an insomnia project. And Rufus wants to be a city planner while Alberta wants to graduate three children from college, so they'll need a growing town to live in.

Twenty-four more hours now!

I'm anxious for the next round!

I'll be posting it tomorrow morning. :D

Hopefully the new foundation gets posted before I leave town, so I can download it and work on it while I don't have the internet

I will post it in the morning which is about 18 hours away for me.

Love the premise of this contest, Jo! And thanks for the tip to rename the Sims2 (Deluxe in my case) folder to get a vanilla game, despite my pause lines!

Initially I considered entering as a Play Along, but after it took me 8 hours of dithering to come up with an entry, I couldn't commit to more. Still, here are my pics for the first round: