Tutorials:TS3 Sims 3 Apartments

Creating a Custom Apartment

Creating an apartment is just like creating a home, but with a few extra steps! In a nutshell, you are going to build your lot, furnish only one room, then leave the rest empty. Other sims will, oddly enough, not live with you on the lot. Although unrealistic, it saves a crap-ton of time for you when making them. Additionally, as mentioned before, you don't pay rent. Your sims technically purchase the building and then pay bills as they normally would, so leaving out unnecessary things before hand will dramatically lower the original price to buy.

The Process (Note: Pictures needed!)

1. Purchase the lot you wish to build the complex on
   
2. Build the lot and make it look snazzy
   
3. Place the rooms on the inside (remember what room you want to be playable!)
   
4. Type in the following cheat: testingCheatsEnabled true
   
5. Type in the following cheat: buyDebug
   
6. Go to the sort by function tab in the buy mode section, click on the qestion mark, go to the misc. subsection, and look for three silver balls. The only ones that are important are the "Public Room Marker" and "Hidden Room Marker". Take the public room marker and put it in a foyer or pool area, etc. This will become an area that your sim can visit, but not edit. The hidden room marker is what creates the "NPC" (non-playable-character) rooms. Place this object in an empty room and it becomes a place where your sim can't visit nor edit.
   
7. Go back to the playable room that you want sims to live in and make sure that there is a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen so the basics of sim survival are there.
   
   1. To have an apartment wall mailbox download an unlocked one.
   2. Type in the following cheat: RestrictBuildBuyInBuildings on
      
   3. Place wall mailbox. The standard mailbox will then disappear leaving just the wall mailbox.
8. Turn off any cheats you no longer want active
   
9. Save your lot and move a sim in!

After this, your lot will be totally playable. When making taller buildings make sure that all hallways, stairs, and elevators are publically marked. Any other rooms not marked as hidden will allow your sims to enter into, making it a house rather than an apartment. Using these methods you can even go as far to make row houses or duplexes for your sims to live in!