• Realism: Lots based on an actual building type or specific building should look like what it supposed to resemble (for example a castle should not just be a huge building with stone walls, but should look like an actual castle). Lots not intended to be realistic can be more fanciful, but should still have some logic to them, and be aesthetically pleasing.
• Architecture: The way the lot is built should be unique, interesting, and more than just a basic box with four walls and a roof.
• Playability: The layout of the lot should make sense and allow sims to get around easily, with access to all the items they would want to interact with.
• Roofing: The roof pieces should connect each other nicely, and not leave gaps or connect at odd angles. The roof should fit the structure, look nice, and not just be an auto-roof (or resemble one).
• Furnishing/decoration: While we strongly encourage you to give lots at least basic furnishings (bed, toilet, shower, sink, fridge, lighting, etc.), it is not absolutely required to upload to MTS. Your lot can be an empty "shell" but should have a fully built structure, wall and floor coverings, and landscaping.
• Landscaping: Your lot should have nice landscaping that fits the overall style, with most styles of lots having at least some well-placed plants and terrain paint, while fancier lots should have more.
• Create-a-Style: Get creative with and explore the options available with the CAST tool. Just make sure your finished CASTing works together with your lot's style, makes some sort of sense, and doesn't require sunglasses to view. Generally this should mean:
  • Use textures that look appropriate on surfaces. For example, some of the EA stone textures look great applied to a couch when the colours are tweaked to look like velvet. So you shouldn't feel too constrained by the categories. But most houses probably don't need a leopard print toilet or a wicker bathtub.
  • Your textures shouldn't be too bright/saturated, or too dark. Try to use full-saturation colours sparingly, and if you're making something black, you usually shouldn't use 100% black as it just looks like a "hole" without any dimension to it. Try using dark grey instead.
  • Avoid using some of the EA stone presets or very busy patterns in large areas, as they look very "repeaty" and can create an overwhelming effect.
  • Try to use harmonious colours that work with the lot's style. Look at real-life decorating sites or magazines for inspiration
• Flat lot: Whenever possible, lots should be flat around the edges, so they can be placed easily in peoples' games. If a lot is not flat, there should be a good reason for it (like a beach or a house built into a hillside). Make sure to tell people that the lot isn't flat, if you do this.
• Other content: If you have made content for your lot, you must also provide additional pictures and/or information for your custom content (like polygon counts if you've made a mesh). Make sure you see check the appropriate category from the Creator Guidelines to see what we require. Tip: Consider uploading content you have made separately first, to the appropriate section (buy mode, walls and floors, etc.) so people looking for that type of content can more easily find it, and so you can show it off better with its own separate pics and info. Then you can just link it as credit to yourself when uploading your lot.

Once you have finished building your lot in the game, you will need to save, then Edit Town. You may upload either a Sims3Pack or a package file.

Sims3Packs

• Select your lot and click the Share button on the lot panel.

• Enter the lot name and description on the next screen, and then click the checkmark. When it's done, you'll have a new .sims3pack file.

• Lots are saved to the Exports folder: My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Exports

Package Files

• Select your lot and click 'Edit Details' to give your lot a name and description.

• Click the Save Copy to Library button on the lot panel.

• Lots are saved to the Library folder: My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Library

• Files will be given a name like ebf_0x123456789abcdefg. Right click and rename to something with a unique, identifying name, like username_RedBrickVictorian

• Did you use custom content when making the lot?

If the answer to that question is no, great! It will be much easier to fill out the required information for your lot. If you did use custom content, then you need to consider the following:

• Should I share my lot with no custom content in it?
  

There are two file types of custom content: .package files, and .sims3pack files. Package files never include themselves in your lot file, but sims3packs may be included (though not always). If you have used sims3pack content, you may need to clean your lot file in following cases, so that the files are not actually included:

• Did you use a lot of sims3pack content? Consider cleaning your sims3pack with CUSTARD to reduce the file size.
• Do the creators of the sims3pack content allow redistribution of their content? If their policy says no, you must remove their content from your .sims3pack file with CUSTARD.

Make sure to read the Other section in the bottom of this page, so you'll know what custom content you can and can't use when uploading a lot to MTS (included or not).

• Download and install CUSTARD
• Open your .sims3pack in CUSTARD
• Untick any custom content files you don't want to include
• File > Save As and save your file with a new name.

Once you have cleaned out your file, you must create a "shopping list" for the content. This means finding the download pages for all the items and linking to them in your upload description. See the Information section for how to do that.

For instructions on compressing your files into an archive, please see: Creator Guidelines: Creating Archive Files.

• Do not include multiple archives with the same contents - that is, please don't put your files in both a .zip as well as a .rar because some people only want .zip files. Choose one format.

• Do not double-compress your files... a .rar file inside another .rar file (or any other archive inside another) doesn't compress it anymore, and it makes it so we can't see the contents without downloading, and also just makes an extra step for the people downloading.

• The file size limit on MTS is 50 mb. If you exceed this limit you will need to split your archives. This should probably never come up except for large worlds for The Sims 3, or huge sets of smaller items.

• Lot size: The lot's size, for example 20x30
• Lot price: The price to purchase the lot - both the unfurnished and furnished prices
• Included custom content: List custom content that has been included within the lot file or the archive, with links to the download page. Items that should be listed as included are:
  • Sims3pack custom content items that are part of your sims3pack lot file (not cleaned out with CUSTARD)
  • Package files or sims3pack files you have manually added to the archive alongside your sims3pack lot file (usually content you yourself have made)
• Required, but not included custom content: List custom content you have used on the lot, but not included within the lot file or the archive, with links to the download page. This is a "shopping list" for your downloaders and will include:
  • Sims3pack format content you have cleaned from your lot file using CUSTARD
  • Package format content that you have used on your lot.

Every item used on your lot - included or not - must have a link and credit to the creator, and if the item is not included, your link must go directly to the place where the item can be downloaded (not just the main site or the creator's profile). This should look something like: "Wood Pattern 3 by Armiel: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=511126" - what the item is, the creator's name, and a direct link to where the item can be downloaded.

If you made your lot without CC, you of course don't need to list any. A note: "No CC" or "Made without custom content" is nice to have, but not mandatory.

In TS3 lots can be installed regardless of the expansions (EPs) or stuff packs (SPs) it was built with, as long as the downloader has the same patch version or greater. EP/SP specific content will just leave empty spaces. If you've used a considerable amount of content from an EP/SP, or the items used are essential to the look of the lot, you must list it as being required.

Please list the base game version that the lot was built with. This will look something like 1.63 - 1-dot-something. For information, see: Finding Game Version

Tip: If you would like to create lots which require only the expansion packs actually for the build features you're using, you can use johna's AnyGameStarter.

• Front view: A picture of the front of your lot with all levels showing, from a low enough angle that it shows the structure well.
• Floorplans: An overhead picture of each floor.

If your lot is a makeover of a pre-built EA lot, we also need comparison pictures from the original unmodified version:

• Front view: A picture of the front of your lot with all levels showing, from a low enough angle that it shows the structure well.
• Floorplans: An overhead picture of each floor.

Keep the following in mind for your screenshots, especially the required ones:

• Size: 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall is a good size for the smallest pic you would want to upload. Your images can be up to 2560x1440 pixels, and 800 kb, so you have lots of space to work with!
• Lighting: For most things, it's best to take pictures in an interior room with good lighting. For lots, pictures should be taken during a nice sunny day, for floorplans, take the pictures with the lights ON.
• Clarity: Neither blurry, nor pixellated/crunchy. Do not size up small pictures to make a large one as this will blur them, and make sure not to use too much compression/too low quality when saving your images.
• Distance: Take your pictures so that your creation fills the screen without anything cut off at top or bottom - neither zoomed in too close, nor zoomed out too far.
• Distortion: If you resize your images, retain the aspect ratio so they don't get stretched or squashed. Take care when zooming in and out with the camera that you do not create a fisheye effect on your pictures.
• Photoshopping: Do not apply filters like sharpen, contrast, etc. to the required pictures, as downloaders want to see what your creation will look like in their game, not your skills at using Photoshop.
• Attached: All required images must be attached directly to the MTS upload, not just inserted using the img tag, so that even if the pics get deleted from your Photobucket (or other host), the upload on MTS is still complete.
• Show all items: For most areas, if you are uploading a set, you must take all the required pics for each item in the set. If there is an exception, it will be noted.
• Picture limit: You may upload up to 100 pictures for a single upload thread, so feel free to add some additional pictures just to show off your work to its best. Of course, keep it reasonable - nobody needs 50 pics to show off one sim or hair.
• Inline pictures: Inline pictures are those that use the [img] tag to show up in with the description text. So that it doesn't take too long to load, please keep this to no more than 4 pictures done inline, unless you put them inside an [infobutton] tag. To do this, see our guide on post formatting.

Please remember, for your required pictures:

• As packaged: Your pictures should show your lot as you have packaged it, so that what downloaders see is what they'll actually get, or need to download, for the lot to look the same in their game.

• Unobstructed views: If your lot has dense foliage blocking the view of the house.
• Comparison pictures: If your lot is based on a real building.
• Back picture: Showing the lot from the rear.
• Other pictures: Showing the rooms, landscaping, etc. from a sim's eye view, to give an idea of the feel of the lot.

• If your upload is rejected or marked as changes required and you're not sure why, ask in Creator Issues.

• If you're not sure whether your lots are ready for uploading, use the Creator Feedback Forum to get feedback on it.