Tutorial: How to build tiny houses on tiny lots
So, you want to build tiny cozy houses without CC, BaseGame-Compitable and they shall be starter-homes? You don't know how? So you're right here.
In this tutorial I will show you how to build houses on tiny lots like 1x1 or 1x2.
Certificate: Idiot-Proof.
Inspired/Requested by htlovescats.
Please don’t blame me that this tutorial is just a mix of a lot of other tutorials. I know that and I wanted to put all this knowledge in one pot to build tiny houses as I did.


Index
1.--Requirements
1.1-Skills
1.2-Programs
2.--Preparing your Lot for Building
2.1-The right size
2.2-Segmenting the lot
3.--Step-by-Step-Building-Furnishing-Shrinking
3.1-Building
3.2-Basic Furnishing
3.3-Shrinking
3.4-Some more Furnishing/Finalize it!
4.--Optional: Edit Walls after shrinking
5.--Other Stuff
5.1-Why don’t you try…?
5.2-Credits
5.3-Paperstuff

1. Requirements
1.1 Skills
For building tiny houses you should have some skills already unless you want your house looks like a whole mess.

1.) Elemental Building Skills
If you don’t like the look of your houses you already built don’t try this tutorial. The difficulty of this tutorial is at least advanced or if I’d have to put it in numbers: 8/10

2.) Skills using the “bp cfe”-cheat
Skills using the “boolprop constrainfloorelevation false/true”-cheat are recommended. They are not necessary but they make it possible to use space better while giving the house a better look.

3.) Building Stairs with landings
As the bp cfe-cheat. Building Stairs with landings can save a lot of space or placing the stairs more compact.
Checkout The Sims2Wiki-Site for more Information and tutorials.
Alternative: Spiral Stairs

4.) Roofing Skills
The biggest issue of tiny houses is –as long as it’s no rowhouse- the height. Too tall houses which are only about 8 tiles broad look in my opinion stupid.
So you should know how to build rooms in the roof and attics and all the stuff.
A very good tutorial:
Tutorial: Bigger Attics by plasticbox

1.2 Programs
1.) LotAdjuster by Mootilda
The heart of Minihouse-Building. This program is must-have. Without this program you won’t be able to use more tiles on your lot. Please be sure you have read the instructions and warnings aso.
LotAdjusted houses CAN CAUSE ISSUES. The chance isn’t that big if used right but please BACKUP YOUR GAME.
I warned you. Don’t blame me for corrupted game-files and all that stuff.

2.) Optional: Numenor’s AnyGameStarter.
You want to make your Basegame-compitable or you want to exclude all your stuff packs? No problem: Numenor’s AnyGameStarter will help you. Just click on the link and follow the instructions.

2. Preparing your Lot
2.1 The right size

You can’t just start with a 1x1 lot. You have to use a bigger lot. If your lot shall be 1x1 in the end you have to start with a 3x2 lot at least.
Why? (open the spoiler)

So if your house shall be x*y at the end you have to start with a lot that’s (x+2)*(y+1).

Still didn’t understood? (open the spoiler)


//TIPP//
I’m usually starting with a 3x3 lot because when I see I can’t put it in a 1x1 lot I can easily go on without starting a new lot. So my alternative size is 1x2.

So place your lot on a nice flatten area in your neighborhood and load the lot.
To get more to know about sideways-driveways look at the last tipp of 3.4 in this tutorial.

2.2 Segmenting the lot
Inside you should place some fences to easily see where you can build and where you can not.
The fences have to stay EXACT 10 tiles away from the right, left and back border. This is the zone you can’t build ANYTHING in because this area will be shrunk at the end.
Now you should have a little square in the middle of the lot right at the street. Place some floortiles next to the fence inside the square. In this area (the floortiles) you also CAN NOT BUILD in but at the very end you can place some objects or landscaping in it.

Now your lot should look something like this:


3. (c)Step-by-Step-Building-Furnishing-Shrinking
At the very beginning you should know if your house shall be CC-free or not. If it shall:
-Save your game and leave it
-Go in your Sims2-Userfiles-Directory
-Rename your Downloads-folder (e.g. Downloads-Backup)
-Go back into your game
-Follow the Tutorial[…]
-Rename your Downloads-folder back to its original name

3.1 Building
Now it’s your turn. Build a little tiny house using your skills. The rules are:
-Don’t place anything outside the fence-square.
-Don’t place anything on the placed floortiles.

//TIPPS//
*Start with an easy shape like a rectangle or a square. You can adjust this while placing the rooms.
*Let some place for landscaping or a backyard.
*Don’t use foundations if you don’t want to build a cellar. Foundations just let your house look tall (looks stupid).
*NO DIAGONAL WALLS! They just take space and are kinda useless.
*Play with the size AND place of your rooms. It’s hard to find the right position for your rooms.
*THINK MINIMAL!
*Combine rooms to one big room (e.g. dinningroom, livingroom, kitchen).
*Separate combined rooms by using different floor-tiles or wall-colors. Also half-walls are nice.
*Don’t use that many windows. Windows are expensive. But for the front you can use more windows. They let the house look prettier.
*A nice roof is very important.
*Be sure for how many sims your house shall be. When it’s for 3 sims so only build 3 chairs in the dinningroom. Don’t build rooms or things you won’t need.
*The Bathroom doesn’t have to be accessible from the hall. Put the door to the bathroom right in the bedroom. That saves space.
*Optimal size for bathrooms: 2x3
*Optimal size for bedrooms: 4x4 or 4x5 if you also want to have a cabinet.
*To let your house look more modern put a flat roof on top instead of an angled roof.

3.2 Basic Furnishing
Put some interior in your house but only VERY basic but everything included. NO DECORATIONS! And DON’T PUT ANYTHING OUTSIDE THE HOUSE. You can put things outside when you have shrunk the house. First only use the cheapest interior you can get. Leave some place for luxury stuff or skillbuilding objects like a hometrainer or something like that. If you see there’s not enough space in your house: edit it. Because after you have shrunk the house you can’t edit all walls without ruining everything.

This is your last chance to edit the walls!

3.3 Shrinking
You have finished 3.1 and 3.2? You really did? Are you sure? Okay… so delete the fences and floortiles you placed in 2.2
-Now save your game and leave it.
-Start Mootilda’s LotAdjuster and press Start.
-Select your Neighborhood.
If you used Numenor’s AnyGameStarter you also have to select the directory of your AnyGame-Files with the button "Browse". Press Next.
-Select your lot and press Next.
-Press the Advanced-button and tick “Enable shrinking”.

Now select following parameters on the left half of the window:

LAST WARNING. When you press next you can’t edit the shape of the house anymore
-Press Next.
-If you have done everything right there should be no errors.
-Exit Mootilda’s LotAdjuster.
-Start your Game.
-Now find your lot. There could be some Graphics-bugs at the lot but don’t panic.
-Load the lot and change anything (move a object or buy a new one).
-Save lot and exit it.
-Move your lot to a different position. Now everything should look alright.
-Checkout the price of your lot.
-Load the lot.

3.4 Some more Furnishing/Finalize it!
You checked out the price and you know now how many money is left. Now you can replace the basic furnishing with more luxury things. Also decorate it! You are now also allowed to place objects outside the house. Put some landscaping on it!
The most difficult thing is that there’s so few space. Some interior-examples:

Bathroom:
Bathtub, toilet, sink or shower (fits all in a 2x3 room)
Kitchen:
Oven, fridge, 1 free counter, 1 counter with sink, bin

//TIPPS//
*You got at the beginning a lot of money left. Don’t throw it out for useless stuff.
*Spend your money first in a good bed, kitchen and bathroom
*Try to mainly use wall-hanging objects (e.g. telephone, TV, paintings, aso)
*Use the “boolprop snapobjectstogrid false” and the “moveObjects on” cheats to put objects very next of each other.
* Place the mailbox and the trashcan right on your lot and not so close to the street because there can be issues with the cars for work (Your sims can’t maybe get in/out of the car and your game stucks!)
*It’s not impossible to put driveways on a that tiny lot but you have to use a trick: This tutorial by siudadasiudada explains how to place driveways along the street. But EXPERIMENTAL USE ONLY! There can be issues.

4. Optional: Edit Walls after shrinking


5. Other Stuff
5.1 Why don’t you try…?
…to build (fake)rowhouses like explained in this tutorial by plasticbox.
Rowhouses can be build taller without looking bad.
…to build a pool inside your minihouse?
…to put some splitlevels in your house?
…to fix my typing-mistakes? (write me a PM)
…to thank for this whole bunch of work?
…something completely different. Just be creative!

5.2 Credits
Credits to all the guys I mentioned in the tutorial:
-Mootilda
-Numenor
-Plasticbox
-Siudadasiudada
-And all the authors of the great tutorials in the Sims2Wiki

Also thanks to:
-The whole ModTheSims2-Community and Staff
-All the free time I had

5.3 Paperstuff
-Don’t post this tutorial anywhere else.
-The pictures (smiley’s and icons excluded) used in this tutorial are done by myself and copyrighted.
-Don’t claim this tutorial as your own.
-I am not to be claimed for corrupted game-files or anything like that. I said there might be issues with shrunk lots.


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I wanted to let the tutorial look better but the [Size=][/Size] and [color=][/color] vb_codes didn't work.

All in all, a well written tutorial. Just a couple of other thoughts;

When creating your initial lot, you might want to think about the direction of the sun on the lot. This is set when the lot is created and can never be changed. Having the sun at the front of the lot can really improve the look of the house from the front, which will improve people's first impression of your house.

Sun direction also affect whether you can place a sideways driveway. For a sideways driveway, the sun needs to be at the front right or back left. The sun direction will also affect whether cars on a sideways driveway face left or right.

So, before you start building, you should make sure that the sun is where you want it; just build one wall segment and check the shadows. If the sun is not where you want it, you need to create your lot facing in another direction in the neighborhood, which means that it must be created in another location in the neighborhood. You can always move your lot back to your preferred location after you've made sure that the sun is where you want it.

LotAdjuster button names:
- The first button is labeled "Start".
- The button which allows people to choose an AnyGameStarter game is "Browse".
- The button which performs the shrinking is labeled "Finish".

There is another advanced option which is probably a good idea for small shareable lots: set "Lot Edges" to "Flatten". This allows these small lots to be place side-by-side.

Thanks for your ideas... I involved them in the tutorial with quotes. And I edited the buttonnames in the shrinking-step.