NOTE: I first posted this in the Game Help forum, but the question was locked with the recommendation that I post this here. Please help! Thanks!

I have searched through the site, and while I have learned a lot about AL, I still have a couple of questions.

1. I do not have the option in build mode to change, add or delete walls in an EXISTING unoccupied apartment lot. Should I be able to? (I would prefer not to use a cheat.)

2. After building a new apartment, is using the boolProp cheat the only way to make it usable as one? For noobs like me, I find it hard to imagine that EA didn't make it simpler, but I have not found another way to zone it correctly.

Thanks and sorry in advance if I DID miss answers to these in my search!

No; you'd need to rezone it to residential first to amend a completely unoccupied apartment block.



Not 'boolprop' but the lotzoning cheat. You have to zone an apartment as an apartment to get it to work as an apartment!
http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?...ng_an_Apartment

Actually you should be able to open up the build mode options on an unoccupied lot:

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthre...857#post2018857

That second cheat there. It does work but bear in mind that it -won't- throw errors if you make your apartment somehow invalid - do something that confuses the game's way of recognizing an apartment and it'll break the apartment. Better to use the lotzoning cheat to re-zone residential, exit to neighborhood, re-enter, and do your editing so if something is wrong, it'll error at you.

I ran into this adding a gate to a fenced in yard with that second cheat on an unoccupied lot - it doesn't error, but suddenly shows 0 apartments. Also bear in mind that if you're already under build tools you'll have to switch to a different area of the user control panel (buy mode and back works easily enough) for the options to show up. The greyed-out stuff won't come back immediately.

I'm not sure why you're afraid of using the cheats but that is the way to do it. It's not really CHEATING since it's just using the cheat console but you're not gaining any game advantage from doing it.

Thanks for the information. I'm not so much afraid (well, maybe a little bit because I don't want to crash my game... again!), but am amazed that EA didn't put this functionality into the game directly. Regardless, I do appreciate your help and have already given it a try. All went well.

Thank you very much!

That's because it uses the 'University' base in that the residents are just tenants and tenants normally do not get to knock the walls down and rebuild places. All they can do is maybe paint the walls and furnish the unit.

Cheats are just tools that allow you do do certain things. Stuff like BoolProp constrainFloorElevation true/false can really mess up your lot walls if you don't know what you are doing - but that specific tool is very important for people who build attached garages or 1 and 1/2 height walls.

Also I consider moveobjects on true as a requirement for decent landscaping - however if left on in build mode, that one will make placing windows and door placement a bit of a challenge. (It's also handy for arranging your sims for pictures.)

boolProp snapObjectsToGrid true/false is fantastic for arranging furniture. However, windows or doors will not snap into place when that is on.

boolProp allow45DegreeAngleofRotation true/false (Does that have a boolProp in front? hmmmm) and boolProp individualRoofSlopeAngle [15 - 60] are very handy cheats. :D

So, The lesson here is don't be afraid of cheats. Learn what they do and how to use them. It's like driving a car. Yea, you can crash your car if you don't pay attention but hopefully you have learned how to control the gas and brake and steering before you attempt to drive somewhere. :D
Cheats are my friend!

(I am not at my game computer right now and am writing those commands from memory. I hope I got them right! You can find them by clicking start, program files, ea, Sims2, etc and opening the readme.)