@Kukamuukaanmuka; You may have a cold Fanta, although I don't think it is the correct way to celebrate winning a round myself. What you really should have is a big bottle of champagne, and handle it like a princess does (a South African one, of course)

Congratulations to all the contestants; you all did well, and this is still wide open! Reminding you all again that I grabbed a second place in my first contest after ending stone last in the first round

Ah forget Princess Charlene, drink it like Patrick Stewart!


( Does Danny Riccardo ever stop smiling?)

There is more champagne in the bottle (Yes, DannyRic stops smiling when Max crashes into him)

My 2nd favourite Aussie - Jo is number 1

Ah yes, Jo is my number 1 too.

Aww you guys. :blush:

darn, Justpetro has the same timezone as I have (yes still living pretty opposite side of the globe, but at the same line if we draw a line from north to south ) So she must be at sleep as I assume not as nightowl as I

I need my Fanta , lol, I refuse to have anything what is stronger than milk :D

You might want to check the table to be sure it links to your entry and that your scores are correct since I can make mistakes. If you click on 'Score' it will take you to the page that the comments and scores are on. If you click totals it will order the table so you can see where you are ranking.

Also if you feel the judges missed something or you have any query over your comment or score feel free to say so.

Right off the bat, I noticed Kristen, Chloe, and Lola were VERY interested in the environment. Erin has medium-low interest, but she's the outlier. I decided to give the ladies a nice environmentally-friendly makeover of 2 Cover Up Road with as much flora as possible (but not a full lawn, since that's a waste of water and not good for the environment.... *cough* looking at you, Mr. Pollination Tech #9). I also wanted to give Kristen a place to work out, Chloe a cool pad to throw parties at, Lola a space to work, and Erin a place to... uh... enhance her psychic powers.

Pics of the girls enjoying their new home:


Outside of the lot:


Greenhouse:


Ground floor:


Upper floor, main room and Lola's office:


Lola and Chloe's room:


Erin and Kristen's room:


Required pics below:
(due to the size of the lot it was hard to get good top-down photos, so I have several for each floor)

Cool! Love it. :D

Thanks @joandsarah77 I always hate making over the Curious Brothers' house whenever I start a new playthrough of Strangetown, but it was really fun to design the lot for another family! I'm really excited to see what everyone else comes up with, especially since the higher lot value limit means we can do more decorating

@Modder How did you find the budget on the last two lots? I am only guessing at what I think is a reasonable figure.

I really appreciated the detailed feedback from judge one, but judge twos seemed a bit brief. They deducted several points, but their comment was all positive. Although I'm clear on where the lot could have been improved, I would really have appreciated hearing their specific reasoning.

Also, @joandsarah77 the points from judge two only add up to 23, making my total 69.5, not 70.5

Oops, sorry @Mordant17 I will fix that.

Looking good, @Modder
@Ka....(simmer with the really loooooong name) - we should at least pour the Fanta into an empty champagne bottle, I think
@simsample - I will put Mark at number 3 of my list of favourite Aussies then
The fermented fruit juice bar is open! For normal people and for Fanta drinkers!

Pretty good, I like the amounts so far. They seem appropriate for each lot.

@Modder Just a heads up: The recliners don't work on the diagonal, there are playability points at stake here :P

Wait, really? I've only had that issue with the cheap plastic, wooden, and tiki chairs. The other recliners work fine

Hope everyone has seen their scores and knows that the second round has been up a few days.

@Yvelotic2001 Very industrial stylish. I like those lights.

@NatteryakToad Creepy. I like the cow plant down the basement.

@muridae I like the outside and the cutouts. I also like that you used those funny front areas for something else.

@Simoleon37 Cool slanted window openings. Also quite creepy, don't think I would want to be their 'guest'.

@Kukamuukaanmuka I love the use of water and that you moved the entrance. I was hoping to see the entrance moved.

@Modder I love that your house looks like a lab and that you changed what those little front areas are used for.

@quycksylver Happy to see those front areas used for other purposes. I like the retro vibe.

@motheringthesims Interesting was my first thought looking at the front. I like the colour scheme and that large footprint bathmat.

@randomlyyellstuff Very nice roof line and pretty colours. I like how you decorated.

@Flickstar Good thinking to use that small area for a nectar bar and dining area. I like the 'friendly' kitchen. Cool oven.

@Emerald1234 Good job fitting 4 ladies in this place. Nice bathroom floor tiles.

@Marleen267 very sleek and modern. I like how those two small areas became lab rooms.

@simsample Clever use of keeping that roof. I like the family painting next to Olive.

@Aysarth I like the orange feature wall and mushrooms down the basement.

@Mordant17 I like your kitchen placement, clever. Also a moved entrance! yes, I was looking for that.

Thanks, Jo. The idea for using the cutouts was my main reason for throwing my hat into the ring in the first place, so I'm glad you liked them. I can't play at the moment, as my main computer is in storage while decorating goes on and the laptop would melt if I tried to play on that. It can just about cope with building though, so the contest is very timely.

My scores all add up fine, thanks.

I do have one question for the judges, as much for the benefit of anyone who might house the Smiths in future as for my own curiosity. Do they consider PT9's lawn to be mandatory? I made a design decision not to break out the terrain paint and add one, as I considered that it spoiled the aesthetic of what I was aiming for with the house exterior, but as his bio also listed cloudwatching and stargazing I gave him roof access and a telescope instead.

Jill's interest in the sea is a fair cop though. I simply ran out of money and couldn't afford the pool I wanted to build her, or even a suitable toy. So I did the best I could by starting to dig a pool with the terrain tools, since that was free, but knew it was a bit of a kludge. When I can get back to the main computer and SimPE/Photo Studio again I shall give her a nice seascape painting to make up for it.

I think the target spend is challenging, but reasonable. I could probably have done with another 5K for house one, but it was my own decision to house a family of four and use all those expensive cutouts. I think it would have worked out fine for a smaller household.

It's me that wants the lawn green. Mainly because I don't believe PT9 would have anything else-and the families are the ones doing the makeover. Even if it's only a small patch that showed he was trying for a green lawn. Having the lot feel like it was that family doing the makeover is an important part of the challenge. Without that there would not be much of a challenge since the only rule is to keep the shell.

I was expecting people to pick the smaller families this round to save money, but whatever family you pick is fine.

That's fine. Lawns are good. I'm sure he'd start sowing one the moment he moved in. Just thought I'd check so that everyone else who uses the family knows to add one.

@muridae
As a judge:
The thing about this competition is that you are not just building a house, you are building a house for a specific family and with specific individuals in the family. If you look at PT9's bio, it is not just that he likes it, his lawn is one of the most important things in his life. That is why it should be there.

With a tight budget, it is still very important not to neglect any family member. If you have left out the telescope (sims can stargaze without one; it is also expensive) you could easily have given Jill a toy or two (and some nautical wallpaper would have been perfect).

I really hope you will continue, because your house was a very good start. We all make mistakes when we take part in contests (I may hold some kind of record there myself - forgetting required stairs and required second bathrooms at times). That is how we learn to build better in the end.

May I just explain why I didn't use terrain paint in my house. I usually do use green terrain paint in my lots. But this is Strangetown, and Strangetown is in the middle of a sandy desert. Moreover I was building a house for Ajay Loner, who is reputed to like counting the grains of sand on his lot. Now grass doesn't grow in a desert without a lot of watering, and Ajay didn't show any interest in anything like that. (In fact PT9 seems to be the only resident of Strangetown with any interest in gardening, and he only does it to show how human he is. Olive I'm sure has her own reasons for digging in her garden. ) So I left Ajay's garden full of sand, so he has plenty of grains to count. He put a few plants round the entrance to his barber's shop to make it look attractive to customers, because that's where his income is going to come from. But that's the full extent of his interest in plants or gardening.