MTS2:Creator Guidelines/Lots and Houses

Lots and Houses

Introduction

So you want to share your lot that you've slaved over building and decorating for all to bask in your greatness? It's easy to do as long as you comply with all the necessary requirements. The less guesswork, the better! Please take the time to read through these guidelines as some key items have changed and may affect your upload. Pay close attention to what is required, and your upload will spend less time in the moderation queue and the more likely it is to get approved. Thanks!

Quality

Uniqueness/Effort

Is your lot special, unique, and different? Or is it a box that anyone could build in five minutes?

This is probably the hardest one to quantify, but it's one of the most important aspects: is your lot interesting enough for others to be worth the effort of uploading, hosting, downloading, and installing it? Most good creators spend hours upon hours even on simple creations. Not every lot has to be an elaborate castle, but we expect you to not just quickly slap together something and expect it to get accepted. We will not accept lots without wall covering or flooring. Try to put some effort into what you create, and it will not only show through in the quality, it will also be a lot more fun to make!

Aesthetics

Does your lot look nice? Does it have a good flow to it? Is the way it's laid out attractive, interesting, and enjoyable to look at? Does it make sense as a style? It doesn't have to be perfectly realistic, but it shouldn't be fugly.

Playability

Is your lot going to be good to play with? Does it have a good layout that won't have sims stomping and complaining every few seconds? Strive to make lots that are not only nice to look at, but actually good to play with. Exceptions to this are lots that are not meant to be played with - mazes, lots designed primarily as decoration for neighborhoods, and movie or picture sets.

Remember, in TS3 houses can be purchased furnished or unfurnished, so you should furnish your houses when you upload them.

Tips:

Remember that while a lot may look big and grand, it may be extremely frustrating to players that sims spend two sim hours hiking from the front door to the kitchen just to make a sandwich.

Even in very small houses you should try to avoid making corridors only one tile wide - sims will get stuck all too easily. Make sure that objects your sims will need are actually useable: double beds for example must be accessible from both sides - sims can't climb over each other.

Realism

Does your lot look like what it's supposed to look like? Not all lots have to be realistic, and fanciful ones certainly shouldn't look like your everyday house, but if your lot is based on a real building or real type of building, it should look like what it's supposed to look like.

For example, a castle should not just be a huge building with stone walls, but should look like an actual castle with appropriate windows, roofing, wall coverings, landscaping, etc. You can look up pictures of the type of lot you're trying to build on Google Image Search for some good ideas.

Roofing

Though roofing is usually one of the more difficult parts of building, your roof should look right for the lot, and pleasing to the eye. Sometimes you may have to redesign part of a lot, or choose a different type of roof to make a roof that looks right.

Tips:

Don't just use the autoroof tool - actually work on designing your own roofs using the different roof tools. This usually gives you a much better result.

Remember to use the roof angle tool to adjust your roofs to an appropriate angle for your building. Lower angle roofs often look better than higher angle ones, especially on smaller structures.

Landscaping

All lots should have some type of landscaping - and even cheap starters or grungy industrial lots will look a lot better if you add a tree or shrub and apply a little terrain paint in the right places.

Tips:

Terrain paint doesn't cost anything in Build Mode, and the standard Maxis terrain paints can look very nice - try painting a bit of soil underneath trees and shrubs, dirt around the house and where sims will walk, a garden path, etc... You'll be surprised what a difference it makes.

Don't randomly plunk down a tree or two just to have some landscaping: put some thought and effort into your placement.. Look at some real gardens or landscaping websites for ideas.

Screenshots

People want to see what they're downloading! Your screenshots sell your upload - if people don't like the look of your screenshots, they're not going to download - and if your screenshots are too bad, you won't get your upload approved.

All of the screenshot images below can be clicked for larger versions. You wouldn't want to upload them with as small of pics as are displaying here anyway - we're just using smaller pics so this thread loads quickly and is easy to read.

Screenshot Basics

You need to make sure you have nice big, clear pictures that show off what you've made. They can't be too blurry or pixellated, and you need to know how to use the game's camera controls properly, so make sure you review the information on that link thoroughly before continuing.

Tip:

For instructions on:

• Taking large, clear pictures (bigger than the game will allow)
• Changing your in-game settings for best graphics quality
• Camera controls

See: Screenshot Basics

Big Enough

Your pics should be large enough to see the detail of what you've made.

Tips:

MTS2 allows images up to 1280x1024 pixels and 195 kilobytes so you should be able to upload nice big pictures. See the information above under "Screenshot Basics" for info on taking larger pics than the game will normally allow.

Don't take small pics and just make them larger in your graphics program - this just gives you a blurry pic that's bigger in dimensions with no additional detail.

Required Screenshots

We require certain screenshots for lot uploads - if you do not include these screenshots, your lot will not be approved!

1. Exterior Shot

Show the entire lot from the outside as it is seen from the street. Make sure you show it with all levels visible, and the roof on.

2. Interior Floor Plans

Show a basic layout or floor plan of the lot, ensuring that for each building on it, the entire level is displayed. (This pic needs to present the complete layout and not just a collage of individual rooms.) This is best accomplished with an overhead shot. If you want, you can label the rooms on your floorplan so that it's obvious what function they have.

Make sure that you display the floor plan for each playable level on your lot if there is more than one accessible floor.

3. Comparison Picture

If your lot is based on a real building (for example, a particular castle, a particular chain of supermarket, a house from a movie), then please include a comparison picture of the real building. We understand there are some major limitations in the build tools and lot sizes, so it may not be possible to reproduce a building exactly, but it should bear a close resemblance as best as can be achieved with the tools available.

Screenshots as Packaged

Please make sure your screenshots show your lot as you have packaged it. Downloaders want to see what they're actually getting. You may show an additional shot or two of the lot fully furnished if you have uploaded it unfurnished, but then you need to mention that those are not how the lot is packaged, and include a list of the items you show in your furnished pictures so people may get those items if they like. Make sure not to include pay content in any of your screenshots or in your packaged lot.

No Over-Photoshopping

While it can be tempting to get artistic with your screenshots in Photoshop, please don't. Screenshots need to be just as things look in the game, with no extra filtering such as contrast, sharpen, blur, saturation, etc. Also, please don't too crazy when it comes to adding text - make sure your text is in blank areas of the picture or covers an absolute minimum of your creation. Remember, you're showing off what you've made for the game, not your skill in Photoshopping your pics.

Enough Light

Your main screenshots should always be daytime screenshots, as they make it much easier to see what your lot looks like. We will only accept nighttime screenshots if they are sufficiently light enough to see your lot clearly, and they should only be used as optional, extra screenshots. Make sure your lights are turned on, and your game options are turned up enough that light makes a difference.

Distance

Please take your screenshots so that your lot fills the screen, not zoomed out too far or zoomed in too close. Screenshots taken on the lot should show the whole lot, zoomed in so that the lot is centered in your view. You shouldn't have a lot of blank space on the sides, or cut off the edges of the lot in your picture.

Centered

Make sure that your building is the main focus of your screenshots, and adjust your camera angle so that the lot is centered and fills the whole image. Don't take your pictures at an angle that shows something irrelevant like the sky, the street, or the house next door, while cutting off your lot.

Angle

When taking your main front view picture, drop down to a low level with the camera, so that you are taking your pictures basically from a sim's perspective. Many beginners make the mistake of taking pictures from high above the lot, from the normal perspective one would have as a player. This gives mostly a picture of the roof and not the lot itself, and really doesn't show off the lot very well.

No Gridlines or User Interface

When taking your screenshots, you should take them in Cameraman Mode (using the TAB key) so that you don't get the User Interface (the blue control panel) in your shots. You also have better control of the camera in Cameraman Mode.

In TS3, you will have to move in a sim to the lot to take your pictures in Cameraman Mode, and without the gridlines. While this is a bit of a hassle, the camera controls (and resulting pictures) are MUCH better that way.

Detail Pictures

Detail pictures are not required for your upload to be approved, but they can show downloaders what your lot will look like from a sim's perspective.

Packaging Your Lot

Once you have finished building your lot in the game, you will need to save it and then Edit Town to return to the neighborhood. From there, 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 on your computer...

Lots are saved to the Exports folder, which is located in My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Exports

Right Info and Right Files

Once you have your creation made and screenshots taken, you need to make sure you have all the fiddly bits in order when uploading.

ZIP or RAR

You will need to put your .sims3pack file(s) (as well as any additional .package files for custom content that did not package with the lot) into a RAR or ZIP file to upload here. Please see here for instructions on doing so. Please do not include both a ZIP and RAR with the same contents - just choose one.

If you are uploading multiple lots on a single thread, please package these separately, one ZIP or RAR file for each lot. This makes it easier for people downloading who may only want certain lots and not everything you've uploaded.

Please do not double-compress your files - you should not have a ZIP inside a ZIP or a RAR inside a RAR. This does not compress the files any more and just makes an extra step for downloaders.

Upload in Sets

If you have created several items in a set, or similar items in the same sort of theme at the same time, please upload these together in a single set, all on one thread (instead of all separately, one by one, on different threads). This is easier for everyone: on our upload moderators, as they only have one thread to review rather than several... on you, as submitting a single thread is much quicker and easier than several... and on downloaders, as they can get everything they want all in one place rather than having to hunt around.

Multi-Post Lot Uploads

In the case of lots, because of the many screenshots required for particular lots, if you are doing a large set of lots all on one thread, it may be easier to create a thread that has no actual lot downloads in the first post, and then has the downloads further on in the thread. For an example, see this upload by plasticbox.

If you would like to do a thread that way, then create a new thread in the Creator Issues forum. Only you and moderators will be able to see your thread in that forum. Use the first post for general information. Be sure to include at least 1 screenshot as well as one actual attached file (you can put a readme.txt file in a zip or rar for this attached file) on the first post so that your thread will show up properly on your profile once it is finished.

When you have finished organizing your thread and you are ready to have it go into the upload queue, contact any moderator listed at the bottom of the Creator Issues forum and ask them to please move your download into the upload queue for moderation. There it will go through normal moderation, and can be approved, rejected, or asked for required changes.

Lot Picture as Main Thumbnail

If you have based your lot off a real house or house plan, please choose an actual picture of the house you've built (i.e. an in-game picture) as your default thumbnail. Don't use a photo or drawing of the original lot – people want to see at a glance what they'll get in-game, not the picture you used as inspiration. Also, please edit the thumbnail as little as possible – a border or a title is fine, but a collage with real photos or drowning the picture in photoshop effects are not.

Good Title

You'll need a good title for your upload – something descriptive, like "Cozy Tudor Cottage" or "Ultra-Modern Mini-Mansion", is good. Something non-descriptive like "My First Upload!" or "Nice house" is not.

Good Description

You'll need to write up a little basic description of what your upload is... you don't have to get too fancy, but you do need to write something to get people interested.

For instance, "This 3 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath split-level Tudor cottage will be perfect for a small family home with room for expansion. It features a small garden, with room for adding a garage if you choose." Something like, "This is my first upload... I don't know what to put here..." really doesn't make it sound like you've put any effort into it - and will reflect poorly on your creation.

You don't have to write a novel, just something that makes it sound like it's worth taking a closer look at.

Lot Size

Please include the lot size in your upload description. You can find this on the lot info panel under Edit Town. While lots can be moved to larger plots, they cannot be moved to smaller ones, so this is important.

Lot Price

Please include the lot price in your upload description - both the furnished and unfurnished. You'll see this at the top left of the screen when in build mode.

Additional Stuff

• 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 lot is ready for uploading, use the Creator Feedback Forum to get feedback on it.