I have no motivation for any of my projects, and that always makes me feel bad since I know some people really like seeing new posts of mine...

While I am definitely a fan of your majestic builds, I also understand lacking motivation for building. Your builds wouldn't be half as amazing if you just built without desire, inspiration or a plan. I know mine could look better and I have used your dedication and care as inspiration from time to time.

Why don't you play for a while and see where that takes you.

Just a hint-go into your game and ask yourself, "what building have I not built yet?"

Versailles comes to mind for me..but the game would probably collapse and die from the sheer size of it.

Lord knows, I've tried-but everything over 3x3 size makes it lag unbelievably.

@Zarathustra -I've been lacking inspriration to play so I just went into the game to start building more apartment lots because I've been lacking enough up to date options in my game and would love to not have to keep editing them every time I place one down.I also started playing a BACC to build up a town and came up with some ideas for story and drama suitable for a small community just starting out.

I can't wait for winter to begin in Dodge so I can see how this one will turn out.

managed to build a house with a foundation and an attached garage! I know this is ho-hum for most of you but it's my first and I couldn't be prouder. It's still a bit boxy to look at but I've come a very long way from the boring boxes with hipped roofs I usually build.

Well done @Clashfan , split levels are tricky! Especially the lighting.

Thanks, @simsample! I'm feeling quite chuffed next up is trying to tackle dormers. I've never been able to make them work.

I always find dormers easier to make using the wall tool and not the pre-made dormers.

@Clashfan -Great work on that house!I've built dormers using the build tools like walls and roofing after covering it with floor tiles.Functional walkout basements might be another great idea to try out.I've done a few different types of those over the years of playing.

*jumps up 'n down in excitement* ... I did it! I did it! I figured out... all by myself (well with the help of Mootilda's tute) how to make a subhood. Just took me like forever to understand what to do. Didn't matter how many times I read it .. it still took me a while to understand what I was supposed to do :D

No. My highest EP is Open for Business. As you may recall I play the Sims on a netbook with an onboard graphics chip. From what I've read here, burnt-out motherboards started with Pets, so I think I'm safer sticking to the first three EPs. Anyway I've got some mods that I believe were never updated for the late EPs and I feel that, by and large, I've got my game playing just the way I want it.

To be honest, my game has more than a hint of utopia about it, and, if I don't like something in real life, I tend not to like it in my game either. I really don't like the idea of anyone, real or Sim, having to pay rent all their life for something that will never be theirs. Moreover I believe that in TS2 rents are high in comparison with house prices, so with my aging-off playstyle, renters in in my game would pay many times the value of their apartments in rent.

Tybalt and his girlfriend Lexie are planning to buy the large double house in Chorus Court next door to Gloria and Andrew. The plan is to run a boxing-themed pub in one of the houses, while Tybalt pursues a new career as a boxer. (I hope I can find suitable CC for the pub.)

I always use them for three generation families, like my real life family. My folks love having their grandkids around, but even better is being able to send them back to us when they get tired of dealing with kids.

Pets is the one I can't imagine playing without. I've always had a pet in RL and most of my sims end up with at least one.

Oh, yes- I remember now! (Sorry, I'm only recently back here after a long absence due to bereavement, I seem to have forgotten more than I remember! ) I agree with you about the rents, the AL rents are pretty high- just like they can be in real life- but I really love the interaction of the apartment townies with each other, so I do like apartment play.

That's a great idea, I might try that myself for some of my multi-generational families. That's definitely something @AndrewGloria could try, too!

@Simsample -I grabbed a haled rent Mod from here to fix that overpriced EA rent in the apartments because I've always hated that.My apartments cost half of what they would if I didn't have that Mod in my game.I used the version compatible with apartment lot rights from Simlogical as I also hhave that and a rental agreement clipboard.I also have the NPC townie neighbor generation disabled with a global Mod and just use CAS generated playable townies in their place if I needed neighbors in apartments or the empty unit can also remain empty until a family moves in.I just don't use apartments yet in Dodge because the town is just startint out and has a small population as it's only a year old.

I finally talked myself into installing a lifespan mod. I guess I never thought I needed one before but since I've come back to the game I've really noticed how shortchanged kids get. Maybe it's because I have so many kids right now that it's really hitting home. I'm loving it so far but I do notice an issue with ACR as far as the "Try for baby" percentage chance. I'll have to think about it. It makes sense but I'm going to have to work out how that translates to my gameplay. Kind of interesting to add in a biological clock though.

I happen to like usin BO's aging mod as it allows me to set different agein for individual sims. The way it's done doesn't affect the % either. I have inteen, but as BO says, I make sure it loads last.

My condolences.

Thanks @Charity , I lost two cats, my father and Neil Peart all in a couple of years.

*hugs* ... too short.

In real life I live with my mother, aged 91, and in failing health, with very limited mobility and perpetually short of breath, and with our little cairn terrier, Fudgey, aged 16, blind for nearly two years now, and with visible tumours which are probably malignant. Myself, I feel quite fit, but I'm only one year (and ten days) short of my threescore and ten.

I think those are the main reasons why I'm so keen to keep Death out of my game, where I have a little bit more control. I kind of like the company of young, happy fun-loving Sims.

We've (almost) always had pets (cats, dogs, and some smaller pets) in real life, and, yes, I'd rather like my Sims to be able have them too. But not of course at the expense of wrecking my game. So, if I ever move my game to a computer with better graphics, then I'll very seriously consider adding the Pets EP, even though it will mean me having to update some of my most important mods. I'll also want to mod out Werewolves; I'm just absolutely not into any of this supernatural stuff. I like my game to be like Real Life, but a little bit better.

I think my Sims are, like myself, fellow players in this game we call "life".

I agree @AndrewGloria , I've been rather keen to not have too much death in my game lately. I did have a death of old age this week, but that sim had a great life and died during a party, and that's the way I'd have wished my loved ones to go! So I didn't mind too much.

Thanks for the hugs, @Charity !

Oh my, @AndrewGloria if I'm doing the math right with your location and mine, you share my oldest son's birthday! He'll be eighteen this year. It's a great day for a birthday, neither scorching hot or up to your ears in snow, end of the harvest season here.

I've been slowly converting my build mode recolors from one creator to another. Today I finished up with stairs and fences. This means the next time I load the game I'm going to have a heck of a lot of fixing to do not only residential but on community lots as well. It's a slightly daunting task.