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- Common Threads - pre-made lot bin
#1
7th Aug 2017 at 10:18 PM
Posts: 2,698
pre-made lot bin
this thread is to be about what we do with the lots that start in the lot bin.me; in past times playing, placed them in one custom neighborhood and some copies of them in Strangetown.
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#2
7th Aug 2017 at 10:32 PM
Posts: 9,946
Thanks: 416 in 15 Posts
I usually just ignore them. Sometimes I put one down and massively renovate it. Maxis wasn't very good at building lots.
I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister
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I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister
Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
#3
7th Aug 2017 at 10:35 PM
Posts: 8,857
Thanks: 3118 in 87 Posts
The Ranch Retreat has saved me quite often when I really needed a cheap house that works I am very fond of that one.
Windows 10 and the Ultimate Collection
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=568275
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=614833
Windows 10 and the Ultimate Collection
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=568275
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=614833
#4
7th Aug 2017 at 11:03 PM
Delete them mostly.
"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
#5
7th Aug 2017 at 11:11 PM
Posts: 6,208
Thanks: 116 in 1 Posts
I use them: most of my Sims live in Maxis houses. Usually I modify them: sometimes to make them more playable; often just to make look different -- so they don't look straight-out-of-the-box Maxis. I have now used all the base game lot houses, and the Celebration SP houses. I think I've used most o the Nightlife houses now, except for the biggest "Town House", though I do have Sims living in one of the ones that Maxis placed in Downtown (35 King Street is used as a hostel for teenage townies who have become playable, but haven't yet found a place of their own; Craig Royce [aka The Slob] is the warden). I haven't yet used the OFB community lots or the lot-bin University dorms, but I still regard both OFB and University as new to my game. I've had OFB for about two and a half years, and had University installed since the end of January!) At the moment, the only university I'm playing is Peni's Land Grant University (LGU). I'm likely to add one of the Maxis ones to LGU, as I think dorms are the best place to introduce new students to university life, but I'll modify it to try to bring it up to the standard of Peni's dorms, and keep the common "look and feel" of the LGU dorms. That's all my EPs/SPs, so that's all, the Maxis lot bin buildings I have.
I'm primarily a player rather than a builder, and I don't want to build everything from scratch.
I'm primarily a player rather than a builder, and I don't want to build everything from scratch.
Test Subject
#6
7th Aug 2017 at 11:12 PM
Posts: 22
Thanks: 78 in 1 Posts
I'm quite fond of the value Victorian and the large townhouse that came with nightlife.
A lot of them are too small I don't like putting anything less than 3br really.
A lot of them are too small I don't like putting anything less than 3br really.
#7
7th Aug 2017 at 11:30 PM
Posts: 1,909
Thanks: 30 in 1 Posts
I use them all the time
"Oh look, my grandchild is now an elder. They grow up so fast. Gee, I wonder when I'll finally graduate college." Sims 2
"Oh look, my grandchild is now an elder. They grow up so fast. Gee, I wonder when I'll finally graduate college." Sims 2
#8
7th Aug 2017 at 11:46 PM
Posts: 6,241
Delete them, and put into the game far, far better created lots that actually play easily and without all the problems attached to them: House of the Fallen Trees is the most infamous example..
The smaller the better, I've found. EA/Maxis believed in the 'California Cool' thing mostly in designing them. Not everyone lives on the beach.
Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
The smaller the better, I've found. EA/Maxis believed in the 'California Cool' thing mostly in designing them. Not everyone lives on the beach.
Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
#9
7th Aug 2017 at 11:50 PM
Posts: 2,337
Thanks: 4870 in 69 Posts
Ages ago, I plopped a couple of them down and did some remodeling of them. However, after realizing that 'remodeling' really just meant practically re-building, I stopped even thinking about ever using the bin lots again. Some of those lots require so much tweaking, that it is almost easier and faster to start from scratch.
“Seize the time... Live now! Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.” ― Jean-Luc Picard
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#10
8th Aug 2017 at 1:11 AM
Posts: 1,381
There are some that I use a lot, like the Just Right bungalow and modified versions of the Ranch Retreat, the Bonny Bungalow and the Downtown bungalows. I like the Sporty Shack and the Bohemian Bungalow (perfect for the Ottomai), which are much bigger and surprisingly inexpensive once all the furniture is deleted. The Craftsman is okay, and so is the Grand Estate Manor. For the most part, though, it's the cheaper lots I use; Maxis didn't seem to have much of a handle on playability when designing the more expensive houses.
#11
8th Aug 2017 at 1:27 AM
I put all of them in my "House Holding Hood" then delete them from the bin.
I have used every one of them in one way or another.
All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
I have used every one of them in one way or another.
All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
#12
8th Aug 2017 at 1:55 AM
Posts: 669
I am embarrassed to admit that I use most of the cheaper ones on a regular basis. Install before last, I gutted my favorite houses (no furniture, no hot tubs, minimal landscape, minimal exterior walls, patios, etc. ) and kept copies of them in my bin as my go-to houses. Most of the time, I'd start with an inexpensive house and add on rooms or plop in a staircase and add an upstairs. Depending on the size of the family, I think the ones I used the most were Ranch Retreat, Sporty Shack, European Townhouse, Craftsman's Pride and the tiny house built over a pond.
The reason I use a lot of the Maxis homes is that I stink (big time) at making my own houses, and I was always afraid to download custom houses (all that talk about the hug bug virus). I've since installed BO's NoSimLoaded, and have downloaded two custom homes--but still have not installed them in my game. I guess I'm just a big chicken. Also, my Sims rarely sell and upgrade to a better house because of the depreciation of everything. In most markets, homes go up in value (well, except for the mid-2000s here in the US). I think I saw some sort of mod (a for sale sign, maybe) that is supposed to fix this. I'll have to take a look.
One day I will learn how to make a decent house. Hopefully, I'll have learned by the time my next generation of Sims are ready to live in something beside a tiny bamboo hut!
So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
The reason I use a lot of the Maxis homes is that I stink (big time) at making my own houses, and I was always afraid to download custom houses (all that talk about the hug bug virus). I've since installed BO's NoSimLoaded, and have downloaded two custom homes--but still have not installed them in my game. I guess I'm just a big chicken. Also, my Sims rarely sell and upgrade to a better house because of the depreciation of everything. In most markets, homes go up in value (well, except for the mid-2000s here in the US). I think I saw some sort of mod (a for sale sign, maybe) that is supposed to fix this. I'll have to take a look.
One day I will learn how to make a decent house. Hopefully, I'll have learned by the time my next generation of Sims are ready to live in something beside a tiny bamboo hut!
So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
#13
8th Aug 2017 at 3:02 AM
Posts: 1,258
The Victorian Value is a miracle. If I've got a large household and I don't know what to do? VICTORIAN VALUE. The Subjects live in one. Faith, Herb, and their foster kids (the Newson bunch) live in one. I used one as a student house in Widespot's college. And the Ottomai were thisclose to living in one, except that the farmhouse looked tailor-made for them.
Here's what I did with the floorplan for the Subject house: http://aegagropilon.tumblr.com/post...any-sims-into-a
Here's what I did with the floorplan for the Subject house: http://aegagropilon.tumblr.com/post...any-sims-into-a
#14
8th Aug 2017 at 4:33 AM
Posts: 227
I just ignore them for the most part. The way they're made just bothers me because they're usually so big but I'm also usually griping at the idea of making houses myself so I'll either bite the bullet and make a few houses I can quickly turn into other things, or everyone moves into the Derelict Dreamhouse.
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#15
8th Aug 2017 at 4:40 AM
Posts: 7,361
Thanks: 2940 in 27 Posts
#16
8th Aug 2017 at 7:43 AM
Quote: Originally posted by SIMelissa
The reason I use a lot of the Maxis homes is that I stink (big time) at making my own houses, and I was always afraid to download custom houses (all that talk about the hug bug virus). I've since installed BO's NoSimLoaded, and have downloaded two custom homes--but still have not installed them in my game. I guess I'm just a big chicken. |
@SIMelissa
The Hug Bug isn't a virus it's just maxis code that has become active and it isn't only lots that can make it active. Mods that add options to your sim pie menu once pulled can as well if they don't have a fall back GUID. It's really nothing to worry about. Sims having been on a lot that you install is of far more concern.
"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
#17
8th Aug 2017 at 8:17 AM
Posts: 8,857
Thanks: 3118 in 87 Posts
I already mentioned the Ranch Retreat.
Yet some of the houses in the bin are very playable; I think I have used most of them over time. (Some are not). I have changed some of them to my liking, but since those in the lot bin are still cheaper than my makeovers, I still use them. The cozy co-op (I think) is a very nice little house. I also like the sporty shack, the bohemian bungalow (yes, it's ugly, but is comes with a computer and a dishwasher and has lots of space); the Hearty Home and a number of others. Doc Alan's Hangout and the FreeTime Recreation Center (or something) almost always will be found somewhere in a subhood - because they work - I place a very high premium on working; changing some wall paints, floors and lowering the roof pitch are sometimes all that is needed.
Interesting, the Victorian Value. I have used it, more than once, but it is not one that works for my playing style, I guess. I stick big families, if needed, into the Hearty Home.
Windows 10 and the Ultimate Collection
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=568275
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=614833
Yet some of the houses in the bin are very playable; I think I have used most of them over time. (Some are not). I have changed some of them to my liking, but since those in the lot bin are still cheaper than my makeovers, I still use them. The cozy co-op (I think) is a very nice little house. I also like the sporty shack, the bohemian bungalow (yes, it's ugly, but is comes with a computer and a dishwasher and has lots of space); the Hearty Home and a number of others. Doc Alan's Hangout and the FreeTime Recreation Center (or something) almost always will be found somewhere in a subhood - because they work - I place a very high premium on working; changing some wall paints, floors and lowering the roof pitch are sometimes all that is needed.
Interesting, the Victorian Value. I have used it, more than once, but it is not one that works for my playing style, I guess. I stick big families, if needed, into the Hearty Home.
Windows 10 and the Ultimate Collection
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=568275
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=614833
#18
8th Aug 2017 at 8:39 AM
Posts: 669
Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
Interesting, the Victorian Value. I have used it, more than once, but it is not one that works for my playing style, I guess. I stick big families, if needed, into the Hearty Home. |
I love the look of the Victorian Value from the outside, but I find the upstairs portion to be a bit annoying. I always cut down a bedroom and turn it into a bathroom. Then, it works for me -- except when they are all at the stop of the stairs and can't figure out how to move out of each other's way.
I like to take the European Townhouse and add a big rectangle room downstairs (family room) and a couple bedrooms upstairs, making it a nice roomy house. Of course, that's after my Sims have scrimped and saved and had a kid or two.
So many things to learn; so few brain cells to process the info needed to learn things!
Shipwreck Island
#19
8th Aug 2017 at 9:05 AM
Posts: 8,857
Thanks: 3118 in 87 Posts
It is nice outside I remember finding it hard to decorate and furnish that one and I ended up knocking down walls and adding stairs and ruining the look in general - maybe I should try again some day.
Windows 10 and the Ultimate Collection
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=568275
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=614833
Windows 10 and the Ultimate Collection
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=568275
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=614833
#20
8th Aug 2017 at 10:04 AM
Posts: 1,257
Thanks: 1033 in 5 Posts
I love Craftsman's Pride and the Family Farmhouse. They are perfect for large families. Apart from those, I usually build my own. I made an alternative to these two houses just so I would have some more variation in my hood!
https://scibirg.tumblr.com/post/159...hs-lots-of-room
Paladins/SimWardrobes downloads: https://simfileshare.net/folder/87849/
https://scibirg.tumblr.com/post/159...hs-lots-of-room
Paladins/SimWardrobes downloads: https://simfileshare.net/folder/87849/
#21
8th Aug 2017 at 12:25 PM
Posts: 12,355
Thanks: 855 in 4 Posts
I've deleted them to save space. I think I have a copy of the files somewhere though.
#22
8th Aug 2017 at 5:00 PM
Last edited by gazania : 9th Aug 2017 at 9:54 PM.
Posts: 4,778
Thanks: 160 in 7 Posts
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
@SIMelissa The Hug Bug isn't a virus it's just maxis code that has become active and it isn't only lots that can make it active. Mods that add options to your sim pie menu once pulled can as well if they don't have a fall back GUID. It's really nothing to worry about. Sims having been on a lot that you install is of far more concern. |
Also, if you're really concerned and nervous (I admit I am), you can try using the Orb. You should have NSL in your game in the first place as well.
Start a new game (not a new hood ... a new game), stick in No Sim Loaded first. You will need a second mod as well ... Cyjon's Smarter EP Check. I would consider both of them essential mods. They ought to be in everyone's game anyway. Anyone who doesn't have it yet? Make haste and get them in your game!
http://www.leefish.nl/mybb/thread-1665.html
Download the Orb in this thread: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=588910 (Never use it on an occupied residential lot. I'll say that from the get-go. What happens is fixable by not saving, but it can raise your blood pressure! Unoccupied lots ONLY! I prefer to use it on unplayed community lots, but you can and probably should use it for certain vacation lots, even if they've been played, as mentioned in the thread. The Orb is good for other things as well.)
Load your lot in the vanilla game. Turn on boolprop TestingCheatsEnabled true. Put the Orb on the lot, then quickly undo or delete it. Save. (If you look at that thread, you'll find that I had to actually PUT the Orb on the lot ... not just click on it in the catalog.) Go back into the lot. Save. Turn off the testing cheats (false).
Find the OETreeDetail file. It should be in Logs subfolder in your Sims 2 folder. Take a look-see. If you do not see "SocialDownloadTest' anywhere, you're about as fine as you can humanly be in this game. As you might know, I've been testing this Orb using an actual (formerly) hug-bugged lot.* I have checked more than two dozen times now, both with this lot and other lots that weren't hug-bugged at the moment but might be if that bugged lot gets plopped in an unprotected game with the bug still active. (I tried almost a dozen and a half times with the one lot alone.) I have even tested the lot after using the Orb on it and repackaging this scoured lot several times in a vanilla hood without NSL. Yup. I even went there (don't do that, please). No trace of SocialDownloadTest anywhere.
There will be Social files, but the file you want to look for is SocialDownloadTest. Don't worry about the others. If you are bugged, SocialDownloadTest will really stick out. You'll notice it! In my case, I saw multiple instances of it. I would be extremely shocked if you missed it.
If you don't see "SocialDownloadTest" (you probably won't, though, if NSL is in there in the first place), you're golden ... well .. maybe 99.9% golden. Lots are the #2 cause of SDHB. The main cause of Super Duper Hug Bug is actually a badly-made social mod or hack. One or two somewhat-popular mods actually have caused hug-bugging. The essential mods listed in this forum, however, do NOT have it. Period. ACR does not have it either, by the way; nor does InTeen. There have been no reports of Pescado or Squinge mods causing it, nor anything from Simlogical, Plumbbob Keep, Leefish or Simbology. There is no cause for alarm with mods from those. Nothing by Mootilda (RIP) has it. know I missed a few well-known sites and creators. There is a popular mod here that can cause it (the surfing mod), but the creator makes it quite clear it can.
If you still see the pest (and I'd be really, really surprised if you did at this point, since I never have), try the Orb again. Re-package the lot after you clean it. But in my experience, NSL and the Orb are exceptional at keeping that nuisance at bay. Actually, I re-package the lot anyway after scouring it, even if I don't see the pest.
You might want to clean Sim references too, while you're at it. Do that before you re-package.
*How did I get a lot with it? I stupidly started a vanilla hood without using NSL at the get-go, by the way. Then I put a bugged lot in the game. Duh on my part. NSL should be one of the first things you put in your game before you start playing hoods or putting in CC lots ... even in test or contest games. That was my bone-headed move.
HOWEVER ... I would do this only if you're really worried or if you plan to upload a lot. Most of these are just extra, above-and-beyond steps. 98% of the Sims players out there who don't want to upload a lot simply go the NSL route alone, don't see anything wrong, and play their merry way without any problems for years and years. SDHB is not a virus. It doesn't harm your hood or your game. It's a nuisance. A pest. It's a gnat. NSL (and the Orb, if you plan to upload a lot at some point) helps keep that gnat outside, where it belongs!
Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.
RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
#23
8th Aug 2017 at 5:42 PM
Posts: 55
I know a lot of people hate them, but the lot bin houses will always hold a special place in my heart. They're kinda part of my cherished earliest memories of the game (which, presumably, doubles as the reason I'm largely indifferent towards the lot bin houses that came with later expansions and stuff packs). Ranch Retreat, Victorian Value, and Cape Cod Classic are my favorites.
After a decade of playing the game, I'm still hilariously bad at building, which means I still use bin houses a lot. I'm not a big fan of using uploaded lots; not because I don't think they're not good -- honestly, an overwhelming amount of creations are utterly fantastic -- but because they are so good, and the essence of the Sims 2 to me is forever cemented in the boxy, EAxian creations with 434 doors leading to a bathroom and that one lamp in every room. Something about the clunky awkwardness of the earliest bin houses is so utterly endearing to me, that I can't bring myself to expand or remodel any of them beyond changing the wallpapers and the color of the exterior walls and roof to add a sense of diversity to my neighborhoods.
Do you ever hear a song so beautiful you want to financially support the artist, but you can't because the artist is a common wood pigeon?
After a decade of playing the game, I'm still hilariously bad at building, which means I still use bin houses a lot. I'm not a big fan of using uploaded lots; not because I don't think they're not good -- honestly, an overwhelming amount of creations are utterly fantastic -- but because they are so good, and the essence of the Sims 2 to me is forever cemented in the boxy, EAxian creations with 434 doors leading to a bathroom and that one lamp in every room. Something about the clunky awkwardness of the earliest bin houses is so utterly endearing to me, that I can't bring myself to expand or remodel any of them beyond changing the wallpapers and the color of the exterior walls and roof to add a sense of diversity to my neighborhoods.
Do you ever hear a song so beautiful you want to financially support the artist, but you can't because the artist is a common wood pigeon?
#24
8th Aug 2017 at 8:24 PM
Last edited by gazania : 9th Aug 2017 at 4:53 AM.
Reason: Brevity is nice sometimes, even for me.
Posts: 4,778
Thanks: 160 in 7 Posts
The only lot bin house I sometimes get rid of is that really huge one, and I haven't even done this in my current incarnation of my hoods. I am no fan of huge houses.
I love to build lots. They might not be the best lots, doggone it, but what I might lack in skill, I more than make up for in proliferation.
Even so, I still keep my Maxis lots in the bin. Sometimes, I just don't feel like using my lots or building or downloading new ones, and they are my go-to resource. And sometimes, it's fun to use one of these and get a wee bit of nostalgia before I tear out the insides and re-do them to my specs.
Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.
RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
I love to build lots. They might not be the best lots, doggone it, but what I might lack in skill, I more than make up for in proliferation.
Even so, I still keep my Maxis lots in the bin. Sometimes, I just don't feel like using my lots or building or downloading new ones, and they are my go-to resource. And sometimes, it's fun to use one of these and get a wee bit of nostalgia before I tear out the insides and re-do them to my specs.
Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.
RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
#25
8th Aug 2017 at 9:15 PM
Posts: 330
Thanks: 4844 in 15 Posts
I sometimes use a lot bin house, but only when I'm feeling inclined to gut it and fix the interior layout. I really hate bathrooms with three doors, object staircases in the middle of the house (modular all the way, baby) and kitchen at the front of the house. I think I use them most when I want something small for a single sim. I tend to overbuild when creating a house for a single, so constraining myself to the foundation of a small EAxis house helps prevent a single dude or a retiree living in a place big enough for a family of five.
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