I have a post about this somewhere... yes, it's possible; I've done it. However, there will be no "drive into garage" animation, since there will be a level difference between the road and the driveway. I'll have to look for the thread. [Update:] Looks like my notes are in post #85 of this thread.[end update]

We also have a way for sims to travel between two levels which are at the same elevation. I assume that this is what you mean by the "ramps" thread:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=402863

Basically, you can use an invisible modular stair to traverse two levels which are at the same elevation. First, create a 2-click (or more) elevation difference between the two levels, so that you can add a modular stair between the two levels. Then, adjust the levels so that they are at the same elevation. Finally, make the stair invisible. The animation isn't perfect, but it works fairly well.

About garage I'm thinking to create a shopping center and I want to make an underground garage using Mog's hack to park in the lot and not on the road.
I don't really care about car animations as long as sims animations are fine.

If you want sims to enter into the building from the garage, then my tests in post #85 will work well. If you want sims to exit the garage to the outside, then you'll have odd sim animations if you use the invisible modular stairs.

The odd sim animations you said only happen when exiting a garage door or every time a sim travels to a "lower" floor using the invisible recoulor?
e.g.from (floor = 2) to (floor = 0)

The odd sim animations only occur with the invisible modular stair. You won't need that object unless you are trying to have your sims exit the garage via the garage door; if so, you'll need some way to get your sims from the underground level to the sloped driveway. I would recommend that you just have your sims exit the underground parking, via normal stairs or an elevator, into the main building. This will avoid the need for the invisible modular stairs.

If you have further questions about this, could you please start a new thread in the Create / Sims 2 / Building forum and we'll move this conversation there? It really makes sense to put all of this information into one separate thread, so that people will be able to find it easily. You could even write a tutorial, once you've got everything working...

Here's a link to the conversation, for anyone else who is interested in no-slope basement garages:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=433850

Today I was trying to build a curved roof and I run through your notes about curves on this thread

First of all the terms (Phase,Amplitude,Period) was understantable to me, as not an english speaker (I didn't knew what they ment),but I have some basic knowledge in Physics!

The term Phase is simmilar frequency?

Despite all this, the problem I have is with the game and not with understanding the terms!

Take a look the curved roof is smooth from the one side and rough to the other!

http://postimage.org/image/2nglolaas/

These are my options:

http://postimage.org/image/2ngx9cpr8/


The sun might not be related as I rotated the lot to all four directions!

Frequency is basically the same measurement as period. From this site:
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/waves/u10l2b.cfm

Think of the lot tiles as seconds. So, period is the number of tiles in a cycle (one hill and one valley). Frequency would be the number of cycles in a tile, which doesn't make as much sense because you can't fit one cycle into one tile.

Phase shift just specifies where to start the cycle. For example, do I want to start the cycle (the zero point just before the hill) at the first tile of the range, or at the 5th tile of the range? Phase can help you to select the portion of the curve that you want: Do you want a hill? Do you want a valley?

It's hard for me to tell what the problem is from the pictures. Which EPs and SPs are you using? Could you package the lot and attach it, so that I can examine the internal structures?

In my AnyGame I have University,Seasons,Freetime

I have included in the folder pictures with the options,the results,the TestLot itself and a a picture !!!PLEASE SEE THIS ONE!!! wich is refered to an unrelated question!

The picture is either a function of your graphics card or the graphics options that you've chosen; the roof is perfectly smooth on my computer. However, if I reset my options, I can create the effect that you are seeing. I've included snapshots of my original options and a set of options which make the roof appear to be rough; if you play around a bit, you should be able to determine exactly which option is causing your problem.

You can move the entire roof down a bit by adding a flat relative elevation of -1 click.

Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if there was a simpler/easier to understand tutorial for less-experienced builders, namely when it comes to adjusting the foundation height? I have it figured out for the most part, however I'm at a loss at what to do when placing in windows and doors. They all have gaps above them, and reading back through the comments I understand that you used decorative beams and columns to rectify that. However, I was wondering if there was anything else I could do besides that using the GridAdjustor to fix the issue, or barring that, if you could recommend a few of the creators who make the beams you use?

I never use CC. I'm not quite sure where you got the idea that I use custom content beams; I don't.

If you want a wall to have doors and windows, then the wall height must be exactly 16 clicks. Anything more than 16 clicks will create gaps and anything less than 16 clicks will make the wall overlap the door or window. This also helps if you want your house to be weather-proof (if you have Seasons); any wall which is 16 clicks and covered with floor tiles will be weather-proof; any wall which is not 16 clicks will not be weather-proof.

Once you understand that, then there's basically one trick that I use to create varying heights: create additional "dummy" levels which are not 16 clicks and wallpaper them so that they appear to be an extension of the existing 16 click walls.

If you download any of my lots, you'll be able to see that I create all living spaces with 16-click walls and then I add levels above or below those living spaces to add interest to the houses. Those additional levels tend to have the "interesting" shapes: too short, too tall, slanted, curved, etc. None of the non-standard walls have doors or windows.

There are a number of tutorials about creating dummy levels; although I'm not sure which ones are the best. The wiki has some articles about this technique:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title..._Mode_Tutorials

As well, MikeInside has some good tutorials:
http://mikeinside.modthesims2.com/

You might want to ask in one of the modding forums. In the menu at the top, choose Create / Sims 2 / Building. Take a look through the threads there to see whether there's anything useful to you and feel free to ask questions.

The ConstrainFloorElevation cheat (CFE) can be used to do a lot of the things that the GridAdjuster does, so you might want to look for tutorials which use CFE as well. Once you understand how dummy levels work, you can decide whether CFE or the GridAdjuster is better for what you're trying to accomplish.

I hope that this helps and answers your question, or at least points you in the right direction.

Is it possible to drop the ground without affecting hovering floor tiles above it?

If the floor tiles are on the ground, then they will drop with the ground. However, if the floor tiles are on level 1, then you can adjust just level 0 and the floor tiles will be unaffected.

Ok. If I could explain my issue, you could let me know if this program would be of any use to me, or perhaps there is a cheat or hack that would be easiest for what I need. If that's ok?

I built a dock house and deck over a beach using a beach lot. I dropped the terrain at the beach line further inward in order to extent the beach. When I picked up the lot and moved it into the lot bin to copy it, and then placed the lot down again, the beach floor that I had lowered the floor elevation automatically fixed/corrected itself and now there is land underneath my piers and deck where there was once water! When I try to drop the land again using "constrainfloorelevation false" it also drops the floor tiles above it.

Is there a way to manipulate the ground and lock the floor tiles in place so that they do not warp? Or, is there a way to tell the game by using a cheat or hack to keep the floor elevation that it was set to intact when I place the lot in the neighborhood? Or to lock the tiles in place?

Does this program assist with that?

Thx

If you adjust just level 0, you should get what you want.

Alternatively, you could try lowering the terrain without the constrainfloorelevation cheat. I can usually adjust the terrain as long as there are no floor tiles on that level. However, if you turn CFE off, then all levels will be affected by your change.

I understand about using CFE, but the ground that I am altering is where the beach water is, and that ground cannot be altered without using the CFE cheat. When you say adjust level 0, am I able to do that in build mode or only when the game is not running? I tried to run the exe file while my game was running and it wouldn't show any of the neighborhoods. I also need to lower only part of the lot, and not the whole thing.

I know that you have a tutorial, but it's sooo foreign to me. I don't understand it. I am just randomly trying adjustments to crossing my fingers, lol. I did try it and all of the furniture disappeared, and I guess 16 clicks was way to many, lol.

The GridAdjuster is a separate program, which must be run when the game is not running because it modifies the game files.

You can specify a small part of the lot by typing in the number of tiles that you want to modify from the front of the lot and from the left of the lot.

If you want the ground to be lower, you'll need to specify a negative number. The ground level (level 0), especially the road, usually starts at an elevation of 0. The water level is usually at -.5. So, if you want the ground level to be underwater, you might want to specify a ground level of -4 or more. 16 clicks is the height of a wall, so -16 is pretty deep.

I'm not quite sure how fast I will get an answer on this, but thought I would try anyway. I am workin' on a house that I want a 1/2 foundation. I have tried everything in the tutorial given, but I am not understanding how to make the walls higher. I got the foundation give to where I wanted it to be, but now I cannot place stairs for the porch, and the walls are all the way down and will not raise. Is there someone who can please help me. Thanks.

Perhaps you should take a screenshot of your GridAdjuster parameters, or at least tell us exactly what you did (ie each value that you typed in).

If I wanted to change the foundation to 1/2 the size of a normal foundation, then I would choose:
Level: 1 to 1 (the ground is always level 0, so the foundation is the next level up)
Pattern: Flat
Elevation: 2 clicks, which is 1/2 the size of a normal foundation (4 clicks).

That is, unless you mean that you want the foundation to be 1/2 the size of a normal wall, in which case the elevation should be 8 clicks.

If I wanted to adjust every level above the foundation as well, to make the height of a normal living space, then I might choose:
Level: 1 to <maximum>
Pattern: Flat
Elevation: 2 clicks
Add per level: 16 clicks, which is the size of a normal wall.

To be honest I don't even remember what I did. I do know that I have been tryin' it for the last 4 hrs and have tried so many different ways that I don't know what I did last time. I will try what you have suggested and let you know. Thanks for the quick reply back.

Since there's a possibility that you've adjusted other levels, you might want to restore from your backup before trying my suggestions.

Hi, are you still patrolling this thread? I have an issue and a question.
I want to make the walls of my garage and my foundation-stacked house the same height. How would I go about doing that? I figured out that I need to change the level 0 elevation up, but to what click/decimal?
Also, will changing that elevation make it possible to put the garage up next to the house, or will I need a different tool to place both tile-by-tile?
Please and thanks!

Level 0 is the ground, so you don't want to change that. The ground level is usually at an elevation of 0.

The top of the foundation is level 1 and is usually at an elevation of 4 clicks. If you change the garage walls to be 4 clicks high, you'll need to add another level on top of that to make the garage usable. A standard livable area is 16 clicks high.

So, I would think that you might want the following levels:
Level 1 Elevation 4 clicks (foundation)
Level 2 Elevation 16 clicks (garage ceiling)
Level 3 Elevation 20 clicks (house ceiling)

Alternatively, if you want a high-ceiling on the garage, you could use the following levels:
Level 1 Elevation 4 clicks (foundation)
Level 2 Elevation 20 clicks (house and garage ceiling)

This program is a godsend. Thank you Mootilda. Quick question. When the per level clicks are set at 0, do you know of a way to allow a sim to traverse between the two levels without using stairs?

Ramps, Underground Basements, Enclosed Courtyards and Traversable 0-Click Levels:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=402863