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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 1:08 AM
Default Will anyone build my castle?
I've been trying to work on a castle and i just can't work with the space i've got, i don't know how to, i've built a castle before but it wasn't that good i'm better with smaller buildings but i want just 1 castle in my game (and i went for a pink and white castle with a bit of grey and a little brown like the windows and the tapestrys), i've been trying to put in different shaped rooms but i don't like anything that i do myself it's awful, so i'm giving someone else a challange (Someone with The Ultimate Collection as i have that too). I've built the outside interor, added windows on the ground floor, towers, some curtains, tapestrys and a bit of flooring and railing and a door upstairs to give you an idea of where it's going, a kind of a medevil/fairytale kind of look.

There is 3 floors, the bottom floor is the largest then up above it's got smaller spaces for bedrooms or a room for whatever else depending on how big you make the bedrooms, i've added a room on the ground floor where i think a bathroom will look great but you can change it if you want if it's in the way of how your building rooms. The towers are not really big enough for spiraling staircases they are more for fancy so you will need to make stairs some where else, it's all measured out precisely so it's not a pain to work with. I'm just at a road block on this one but i'm not THAT good at building, getting better but i need to work on how i can use space better, i don't want to delete this though as it's so pretty. What do you think? please will someone help?, here is some screen shots.





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Mad Poster
#2 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 1:58 AM Last edited by simmer22 : 12th Aug 2014 at 2:18 AM.
It's a very cute castle!

Not much of a builder myself, but just a few tips - remove the inner walls of the inner towers, except for what shows on the outside. That will leave a bit more room for staircases or whatever else you want to put there, and you'll also save yourself the trouble of having to put lamps in all the floors of the towers.

There's also not a lot of room for living inside at the second floor, so if you need more space you might want to consider making the entire castle a bit bigger. Some of the larger towers might be better as 4x4 instead of 3x3 (let the straight sides be 2 tiles long, or alternatively even larger at 3 tiles with the diagonal sides spanning 2 tiles). Then you'll have room for small sleeping quarters or a tiny kitchen or a playroom, or whatever else you want to put in the towers. They'll also work much better as stairwells.

Something like this?


There's plenty of room for a bigger castle on your lot (unless you're planning lots of landscaping around it), or keeping it mostly the same size but with more usable rooms, so perhaps save this one and start a new (perhaps on a bigger lot), and see which one you end up being more satisfied with?
Theorist
#3 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 2:09 AM Last edited by ScaryRob : 12th Aug 2014 at 5:06 AM.
Let me give you some general advice.

1) Castles are big by definition, much, much bigger than even most large mansions, so you really need to start with the largest sized lot. Even if you don't think you'll need it, I can see you will because you also need to put the proper landscaping around it.
2) Castles generally don't sit on flat ground. OK, there are some that do, kind of, but unless you really know what you're doing it will look weird to have this huge building just sitting on flat ground. Typically, they are at least on a hill, or even a mountain. That's all part of the landscaping I mentioned in #1 above. So you need to raise the entire lot by at least 1 story (16 clicks). Yes, the entire huge lot, it makes things much easier in the long run.
3) Since the castle will sit on a hill, you need to keep it back from street far enough so you can make a pathway or stairs that gradually lead up to the castle. I don't know, try about 10 squares back from the street, thereabouts.
4) All castles have basements. Even if you don't want to make a basement, it will look odd if the castle does not sit on a foundation. In real life, castles are heavy and have elaborate foundations primarily for that reason, so they don't sink into soft ground. There are many reasons why basements, especially in castles, will come in handy. So put the whole thing on a foundation.

That's my basic advice, for starters. To summarize:
Largest lot
Raise entire lot by at least 1 story (16 clicks), higher if you don't want your basement to sit at ground level
Back from street about 10-15 squares
Use a foundation

ps- If you really want to get it right, be prepared to rebuild from scratch, maybe more than once. You're using the right method by taking screenshots of the floorplan of each floor, which makes rebuilding a snap. Typically, you'll need to rebuild because you won't be happy with the positioning of the building on the lot, at least that's my experience. You will see that rebuilding is not only fast and easy, it is also fun. Well, at least for me, usually.

Edit: Well, looking at your first pic again, maybe you don't need the biggest lot, but I do think you need a bigger one than what you're using, especially if you take my other advice.
Also, there are many fine looking castles in the download area. Doing a search for "castle" of the Lots&Housing subsection brings up 293 hits. The same search for No Custom Content brings up 37.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 3:59 AM
I think you've gotten some good advice in this thread already for ways that you could improve the castle on your own, but if you're still trying to find someone else who'll build it for you, there is this thread which is a list of creators who will take requests- you may be able to track down someone who'd be happy to take off from what you've built so far! Good luck!

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Instructor
Original Poster
#5 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 5:01 AM
ScaryRob - It's not meant to be a huge castle and huge ones just have too much space, there is only a limited number of rooms you can make so the ground floor definitely has the space for more than just a dining room, kitchen, sitting room and toilet. Not all castle are on a hill, maybe gothic style castles for warlocks or vampires would look great on a hill but mine is the lighter side of the magical world so it's not meant to be that scary caslte on a hill, there is lots of castles made by people not on a hill ether, i copied the style from one on google except i didn't want to add so many towers and i give it a bit of flair with the walls on the sides to go with the fairytale look, you use all floors for the highest towers too so you can't raise it other wise the taller towers would have no roof, the rooms go up only 3 floors but the highest towers go up 4 floors. I may add some walls but not sure it would fit. I may add another tower top in the middle of the top towers for fancy.

Simmer - i like your ideas, removing the walls but the towers aren't big enough but i don't wanna make all the towers more chunky, i had the initial idea of making the middle towers the ones with the spiral stairs too as it centralizes everything downstais between rooms but i will have to make the middle towers bigger as i would have to do the same to the towers on the other floors the same as the ground floor, 7 x 7 will defintely be the perfect size for them.

Zara - I may ask as i still don't know how id make the rooms, i'm so stuck on that part, been trying to make my mind up on it on and off for the past week and a half but just keep staring at the screen lol, my brain is unable to make use of the space.
Undead Molten Llama
#6 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 5:31 AM Last edited by iCad : 12th Aug 2014 at 5:49 AM.
I think that part of your problem in trying to realize this is that Disneyland castles like this, used as residences, don't really exist in the real world. The closest one that I can think of off the top on my head is Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. It has a much different layout than what you've got here (and there's a reason for that; see below), but if you do a bit of research about it, it might give you some ideas. But for the most part, buildings like this are the stuff of imagination, a place where stories and fairytales are set, and for that sort of thing no one really gives a thought as to how livable such a thing would actually be in the real world. The answer is that it wouldn't be. At all. The overall design of such a place is just not conducive to actual real, practical, day-to-day living, which is what you really need in order to do any actual Simming in the place, as opposed to the lot simply being decorative, in which case all you need is a fully-realized exterior.

Anyway, because you've got so much space in the interior here. unless you make the rooms gigantic in order to utilize all the space and yet still have each room have an exterior wall, you're going to end up with a lot of windowless rooms, So, the main problem is that the basic structure, when you don't consider the towers, is a big box with another big box sitting on top of it and another big box on top of that. In other words, LOTS of interior space, very little exterior wall real estate. For practical living purposes, this is a bad design, which is why real-world castles, even of the more "fantasy" type like Neuschwanstein, are not shaped like this. Instead, they utilize long, thin rectangles, sticking them together in different ways. Such a shape gives a better interior space vs. exterior wall real estate ratio, so you can create more practical living spaces that include windows.

So, ultimately, I would suggest that you scrap this design as a livable lot because it's likely not going to work whatever you do, and I suggest doing a little Googling, looking for castles/palaces built in the 19th century, which are going to be more the style you want if you want to keep with the fantasy theme. Most such castles/palaces are open to the public and their floor plans of at least the space open to the public are available online. They will give you lots of ideas for a more workable, livable castle lot. Don't bother looking at medieval castles; those were primarily fortresses and not built for comfortable living, Moreover, they are not usually one contiguous building but rather several buildings, each with a different purpose, enclosed with often multiple curtain walls.

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Theorist
#7 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 5:35 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Pygsmyemm
you use all floors for the highest towers too so you can't raise it other wise the taller towers would have no roof, the rooms go up only 3 floors but the highest towers go up 4 floors

OK, I should have realized you're not using the building cheats, which allow you to go as high as 16 stories, among many other things. Without using the building cheats, you are really limited to what you can make. I mean really limited.
At the risk of sounding snobbish, which I don't mean to be, all I can tell you is what I would tell anyone else, namely, that if you intend on making any decent lots for this game, you must learn to use the building cheats. There is no getting around it, sorry.
They're not hard to use and once you do it a few times, it becomes second nature. I myself can't build the simplest of houses anymore without using some kind of cheat.
Here's the link to all the building cheats, as well as other very useful cheats: http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php...p:Sims_2_Cheats

The one, single building cheat that most builders use 90% of the time is the ConstrainFloorElevation True/False cheat. Another 9% is the MoveObjects cheat and the remaining 1% are various others, such as the HighestAllowedLevel cheat, which lets you build up to 16 stories. So there are only a handful of cheats that most people use on a regular basis.
There's a program I use that allows easy use of building cheats, so you don't have to actually type in the cheat code all the time, here: http://www.aussietopenders-sims2.com/Programs.htm
Theorist
#8 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 6:09 AM
There are three Neuschwanstein Castle versions in the download section: http://www.modthesims.info/browse.p...&gs=1&f=38&gs=1

Unfortunately, they all have Custom Content, but even if you prefer not to download and install them, you can still look at the pictures, especially the floorplans, so you can see how they're laid out and get ideas.

And, yes, do a search for Palaces too.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#9 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 6:23 AM
You can build decent lots without using CFE. I use it when I feel it's needed, but I don't go out of my way to use it and prefer it when it doesn't affect the building, like making a dummy level to make the roof higher. CFE often comes with it's own set of problems, like triangles in the ceiling, lines or cracks in walls or just not being able to see properly from a split level. So in one way it can make things look nicer, but it can also look worse or just be a pain in the bum.

Move objects on, quarter tile cheat and snap grid off, are vital though for any kind of decorating.

Op I think your castle is really cute although I do think being up a hill a little does help. I would not build one too high. Again I'm both a player and a builder and nothing is more aggravating then a huge whopping castle far up a hill on a huge lot with a million steps to get down to the road. Does it look good, yes it can look marvelous, but how does it play? Terrible. Even with a super gaming computer with no lag you will still have the problem of a trampolining camera and sims who can't make the bus or car pool on time. I will also say it does not have to be huge. You can get small castle as well. It's good to have a choice. It's up to each builder of course, but if you build something to be played it needs to be practical and this often has to look different to something that is for looks, maybe as hood deco. I would do as Simmer22 suggested and utilize that inner area. Since it's fairy tale in theme I would go for lots of pretty landscaping with a pond and a nice arched bridge. The bridge would need CFE so if you are not comfortable with that just make a pond with rocks, terrain pint and plants.

Also you would do better to have posted this in creators feedback rather than general discussion.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#10 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 3:55 PM
You could include a courtyard, to utilise this design. I wouldn't be put off, you can start a new castle with all of these ideas, but you can probably also use this as well. Open up the centre part and you suddenly get a lot more light.

If you need to move a building within a lot, you can use the LotAdjuster to do this, it's not as daunting as it seems.

To start the rooms, you could start building with furniture and put the walls themselves in later, it gives you a chance to move things around. Things like a very fancy dining room or banquet hall take up more room than you think, stone floors make rugs a feature (that's 2x3 space gone in your room already and you want to centre the furniture around this) and you can fill a space in a large kitchen with kitchen islands and a double fridge/double stove. There is an aga type stove somewhere which takes up two tiles (one decorative).

I use the sims as a psychology simulator...
Scholar
#11 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 6:57 PM
iCad: I think that part of your problem in trying to realize this is that Disneyland castles like this, used as residences, don't really exist in the real world. The closest one that I can think of off the top on my head is Neuschwanstein in Bavaria.

But they do! Not used as residences any more, of course. Disneyland is actually based on Prague Castle, which is really like that. I have seen it with my own eyes (and liked the Cubist architecture better, but that's a different discussion). And if you take a mosey through travel books of Central Europe, you'll find more of them scattered around the landscape, each more improbable than the last.
Instructor
Original Poster
#12 Old 12th Aug 2014 at 9:08 PM
Well this is sims 2 so you can make your sims live in them if you want to lol would suit witches, warklocks and vampires, i don't know how i'm going to do this, i looked at Neuschwanstein Castle and it's ok i guess, not much furniture inside mostly just decoration, lots of space it's just mostly huge hallways with a few seats, that must of been boring to live in lol. I'm thinking i might keep it the one i have and add more bathrooms as you can't have too many of those in the sims lol 3 always suffice, or i will make the castle even smaller with the same design but still make the middle towers bigger for spiral stairs. We will see how that turns out though, if not i will find someone to build it, easiest way to start off a castle is just make a square first then add in the towers and whatever wall flairs you want, that's how i started my castle and why it's measured out so well, just with the limited uses for rooms with what objects we have from EPs it makes it harder to use big space.
Mad Poster
#13 Old 13th Aug 2014 at 4:36 AM
Quote: Originally posted by lucy kemnitzer
But they do!

Yes! Yes, they do
They exist and are regular-Joe residential houses! Check out this Blog and this Other Blog ....see? I'm thinking of building one myself Seriously! As a matter of fact, there's a small castle down the road from me that's currently for sale (it's out of my price range, though.) 'Course, there's a larger castle just down the road from me too, and it better never go up for sale! LOL!

I really like the look you've got started there. An inner courtyard is an absolute must, I think. HINT - if you 'cheat' and don't completely enclose the courtyard/outer wall, you will have natural light shining in from the inner courtyard windows. I've got several houses sitting on my desktop just waiting to be uploaded... and, I think, 2 (or 3?) of them are castle-like average homes. I've got a maxis remodel in process right now from Desiderata Valley - I'm doing it over as a "modern" tower-house style castle.

As someone above me posted - it's the Sims!!! Have fun, be creative. If you get tired of the project, take a break for a while and come back later. Search Google pictures for inspiration. Dream. Try things out, and rebuild on a whim. Just - PLAY!

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Instructor
Original Poster
#14 Old 14th Aug 2014 at 5:52 AM
I tried building it smaller but problem is the towers don't look as good no more and you can't add as many around the outside without making the rooms even smaller so if you want more towers you've got no choice but to build it the size and shape i already did, so... just build more bathrooms in so your other rooms aren't so big and make the middle towers bigger.
Inventor
#15 Old 14th Aug 2014 at 11:40 PM
Rose Leslie (the Scottish actress who played Ygritte in Game of Thrones) grew up in Lickeyhead Castle, where Clan Leslie (her family and ancestry) has lived for over 500 years.

I just thought I'd point that out.

One of my college dorms is styled after a mott-and-bailey castle, complete with a surrounding moat (and two barbicans with "lowered drawbridges" over it), a refectory, a keep, a tower at each corner and interior stairs leading up to the battlements. I even had the sense to put the toilets in rooms overlooking the moat (where, in the days before indoor plumbing, the contents of the toilet's chamberpot predecessors could be dumped out the nearest window and into said moat). There are passages inside the outer walls, since I built the dorm with collegiate vampires in mind. It's on a 6x5 lot, as I recall, and the fastest student on the lot gets to claim the largest, poshest dorm room at the top of the keep. I'll try to get some decent screenshots of it. It's definitely not a Disney castle; it's comparatively ugly, yet functional and a bit sinister-looking, and it does look like it could outlast a siege. Mickey Mouse wouldn't want to live in my castle, but Dracula might.
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