davinasims

[davinasims]

The first "new" build is done - Crick Cabana.

This lot contains kitchen, dining room, living room and bathroom on the ground floor. The first floor has four rooms. One was furnished as a bedroom, one is an office space, one an atelier. The fourth room is empty.

The total cost of this build is round about 45.000. This is mainly because my boyfriend uses a mod that increases the starting funds for families, so this is right in his range when he starts out.

Until next time!

DavinaSims

[davinasims]

Row House Planning

Hi again!

As I described yesterday, I will turn the Daisy Hovel and Garden Essence lots into row houses, which are not uncommon in that area. Both sets will be from the 19th century, with the Daisy Hovel ones being slightly older. So, how do I approach this?

The Building Materials

Before I even start, I do my research on the building materials used for these. To figure things out, I looked at images from one of my inspiration cities, Boston. As far as I can tell from these images, the common building material is brick. For Windows, we see paned windows, usually one over one or four over four. The Roof is either individual front facing gables, or the whole row covered in one side facing gable roof. As roofing material, I found shingles.

Some of the Boston Row houses I saw feature a round bay area at the front, which I will avoid, because of the limitations of the game. I can also see that most of these houses have a high foundation and English Basements.

Measurements

I found floor plans of these kinds of houses, which state that they are usually 20 feet wide. Following this, I used Sahm and Beans Floor Plan Converter to figure out, how wide these would be in the Sims worlds. The result gave me 8 tiles to work with for each of these houses. When it comes to length, I had to dive into the floor plans I found and calculate it myself. These houses are 50 feet long, which corresponds to 19 tiles. I will add 3 tiles on each side, to have space for my basements and stairs outside, so they will in total be 25 tiles long.

Daisy Hovel

Daisy Hovel is a lot with a 20 x 30 footprint, with 20 tiles facing the street I am building at. Of these, I have to subtract 2 tiles on each side, since the last tile on each side can’t be covered with structures. It can be covered with tiles, though. Just not walls or fences. This leaves me with 18 x 28 as a realistic measurement to work with.

Given the 8 tiles I need for the houses, I can put 2 of them next to each other. The length of 25 tiles fits nicely, but won’t leave these houses with a garden. Which is fine. The space will be just enough to fit two planter boxes and maybe a bench outside. I will see when I decorate.

Garden Essence

Garden Essence with its 40 x 30 Footprint, facing the street with the 40 tiles, will leave me with a 38x28 tile footprint to work on. Half of it will be reserved for a community space, giving me 19 x 28 tiles to work with. This leaves me with an additional 2 houses, 3 if I want to have a smaller community space, or 4 if I don’t incorporate one at all.

Architecture

The floor plans I reference show these houses with an English Basement, Ground Floor and two upper floors. The newer version also has a cellar below the English Basement, for coals and additional storage. Laundry, kitchen, pantries and dining room are placed in the basement. The ground floor has two parlours, a library and a portico. First and second floor contain bedrooms and bathrooms. The first floor (or second floor for Americans) has the master bedroom, a bath room, two additional bedrooms and one sitting room. Last, we have the second floor with a nursery, four additional bedrooms, several wardrobes and access to the roof, which I will omit, because it’s not needed.

This will give us 8 bedrooms in total, of which I would convert one at the second floor to another bathroom. I would also add a bathroom at the ground floor and in the basement as well. Sims need more than you think. This will give us a total of 7 bedrooms to work with - enough space for up to 8 sims, if you don’t have some of the bedrooms as skill rooms or for other purposes.

The newer design

The newer designs I use for the Garden Essence buildings has a slightly different floor plan. The cellar has the coal-vault, and the furnace for heating. Since I use for rent, this will be amazing, since these things can cause the events to trigger.

The basement contains a dining room or library, the kitchen, a storage room, a pantry, built-in china closeets, toilet, several other closets and of course, the laundry-part, which is integrated into the kitchen. On the ground floor, we have the vestibule close to the front entry, a parlour, a formal dining room and closets in the dining room. Sadly, the dumbwaiter can’t be imitated, but with the event furniture, I could work something out - or just turn this part of the house into the library and have the dining room in the basement.

The first floor is a bit more elaborated in this design, containing two large bedrooms, a small bedroom, a bathroom, 2 dressing rooms, rooms with cupboards and wardrobes. The second floor will mirror the first floor, and, if there is one, the fourth floor contains 2 larger bedrooms,2 smaller ones and 3 closets - als well as access to the roof, which I will omit again.

This floorplan provides us with 10 whopping bedrooms to work with, or 9, if I convert one in the third story to a bathroom.

Summary

As you can see, these houses have enough space for large families, but will probably be too large for smaller families. One solution could be, to build one floor less and have them smaller in general. Another solution could be to drop the idea of the basement, or convert the basement into another smaller flat. How I will approach that is something I decide while building it.

The lots I will put on the gallery will have the kitchen and bathrooms furnished, while the rest has just the floor plan, but for my own save, I will fully furnish them, suiting for the families living here. I will, of course, account for the necessities a sim has in the furnished version, but I want to keep those as close to the original as I can.

Sources

For this planning, I referenced several images on google, and used the floor plans presented here as a reference for my building plans. Next time, I will probably show the buildings I created!

Bye!

DavinaSims

[davinasims]

No plan survives...

Hi there!

Time for another update - and another change in plans. The reason is, of course, the new pack that will come out next month! I am looking forward to it, which may be because the German name is more fitting than the English one. If I had to translate it back to English, it would be “From Hobbies to Business”, which is exactly what’s in the pack description. The ability to turn a hobby into a business. Of course, the new opportunities call for some changes! Well, and my lack of experience with California does, too.

Coldwater moves to East Coast

During my research for this save file, I discovered that I can’t deal with California in the majority of my worlds. This is why I decided to move Coldwater, which will comprise Willow Creek, San Myshuno, Newcrest and Ravenwood to the East Coast. The New England states have a lot more in common with Europe, especially when it comes to historic architecture. And I won’t have to deal with the earthquake-dependant impact on architecture, which is also a win for me. During this relocation process, I decided to move Chestnut Ridge to Kentucky, so it will also be more towards the East Coast.

To explain my reasoning with architecture a bit more, let’s talk about this, first.

Climate

The first thing I want to talk about is climate. Not as in climate change, but as in climate zones. I live in a Temperate Zone, so this what I am familiar with. California, on the other hand, has five major climate types which I would have to take into consideration. New England, on the other hand, has a climate that is similar to the one I am familiar with - snow in winter, warm in summer. With the Atlantic ocean influence, I can imagine these conditions far better than I could with California! Think about things like rainfall, temperature, building materials and so on. And, most obvious, the roof pitch!

Earthquakes

While New England also has these, they are far less frequent than they are in California. This does have an impact on architecture, like building materials or even basements. In New England, I can easily put a basement on a house, without breaking the charm of the region. This is something that you would also find in Europe, especially in Germany, so this is something I am familiar with.

A wise person once said “The difference between East Coast and West Coast in the US is larger than the difference between Sweden and Italy” - and I think this is correct. While I still have Oasis Springs, Del Sol Valley and San Sequoia reflecting California, I will be more happy with the move. And so will my boyfriend, who is the main person I am building this for.

The Change of Planning

Of course, this means I also have to think about the change in planning for my different city parts. Let’s walk though the architectural styles of Massachusetts, where I want to locate Coldwater from now on. Of course, the city would have a longer history, dating back to the early 18th century. This will leave me with a variety of building styles to choose from:

Georgian

Federal

Greek Revival

Gothic Revival

Italianate

Second Empire

Stick Style

Queen Anne

Shingle Victorian

Colonial Revival

Besides these styles, there are of course some more modern builds, following the 1950s. But I want to keep them to a minimum and focus more on the historic structure first. This also means, that I have to think about the history of the different parts of Coldwater before I start rebuilding what needs to be rebuilt.

Willow Creek

First, I will have a look at Willow Creek. This will remain one of the oldest parts of Coldwater, with a founding date approximately around 1680 - 1700.

Foundry Cove

Foundry Cove, however, was a later addition. In the early 19th Century, there was a Window Factory here, which went bankrupt in 1945, following the war. Today, the former factory has been transformed into a night club with some more adult additions in the upper stories, while one of the former buildings has been transformed to the laundromat/apartment you’ve seen before. This is a building I will keep. The Garden Essence lot will have two townhouses as residential rentals, while the remaining part of this lot will become a small market place/park for the community in this part of town. The transformed factory will be on Bargain Bend, while the Laundromat/Apartment will stay on Streamlet Single. The Daisy Hovel lot will also have row homes, which were constructed for the factory workers and serve as rentals today. This will leave us with the Crick Cabana lot, where I will place the house of the former Foreman of the factory as a Georgian style starter home. The building materials in this district will be Brick and Stone, to pay attention to the fire risk from the factory when the houses were constructed.

While I am at this part, I will also take a moment of time and think about the degree of furnishing. While a Georgian Home has space enough for up to 6 sims, I want to have it as flexible as possible. Therefore, I decided to build residential rentals fully furnished, while empty houses for sale will only come with a kitchen and bathrooms. This keeps the prices as low as possible, and will allow you to furnish the house as you like. For my boyfriend, however, I will create a fully furnished version, since he will have a mod to increase starting funds. And he would otherwise start deleting windows. I know him!

Courtyard Lane

Courtyard Lane, the northeastern Part of Willow Creek, will still contain a Micro Home on the Rindle Rose lot. I will, however, try to build one in a colonial style, which was popular in this region until well into the 1950s. The other builds will all be Residentials, including a small farm on the Brook Bungalow lot. Stylewise, I will stick with the Colonial Revival and Shingle Victorian styles, dating the construction of this neighborhood to the late 19th until mid 20th century. Most of these builds will be suitable for families with up to 8 sims, but those which I leave empty will be just furnished with a kitchen and the bathrooms, as stated above.

For the farm, I will create a space for a small farm shop on the lot, where cooking, fruits and vegetables, as well as meat, can be sold. This, as well as the laundromat, will play well into the functionality of the new pack, so I am pretty excited to build this.

When it comes to building materials, I will stick to siding options and shingles with some stone in this part of town.

Pendula View

Pendula view comes with 4 lots I have to build. I think, I will again stick to a certain timeframe when these houses were built, and pick from the respective building styles present in this timeframe. Since Pendula View is one of the oldest parts of town, I will build Georgian and Federal houses here, and maybe add a Greek Revival into the mix. Most of these have been in one family for centuries by now, so the lots will show some sort of Generational Wealth attitude, even if we are not talking “richest of the rich” here. I still plan to build a restaurant here, probably on the ground floor of a Georgian, which has been split to maintain the building and keep it in the family.

Sage Estates

The two lots of Sage Estates will belong to the wealthiest families of Willow Creek. They have been around since the founding of the city, and they love to show it off. Therefore, both of these will feature a Georgian build, in case of the larger one, including stables and extensive landscaping. Magnolia Blossom Park, which I will just include here, will still be a park and it will still have the small café in it.

Crawdad Quarter

Last, we have Crawdad Quarter. This is the “Business area” of Willow Creek. While I will put three families in here, they will all live above their shops. I will also keep the Library/Café combo planned before. When it comes to building styles, I think about some sort of Colonial or Federal builds, with the shop space planned during construction.

With all this out of the way, I will now gather floor plans and other things I need, and start rebuilding. Probably, these things will go much smoother now.

Until next time,

Davina

[davinasims]

The current build status from Foundry Cove. The two shotguns and the little brick box there are already furnished, while most of the ranches are still awaiting there furniture and decorations. The two ranch homes closest to the viewer and the two shotguns are rentals, the brick building houses the laundromat and an apartment above.

[davinasims]

Planning Willow Creek

Hi again!

As you can see in the image, I am not using the EA-Standard-Map for Willow Creek, but a map replacement by 20th Century Plumbob. This will be the case for all of my worlds, because these map replacements are simply amazing. With that out of the way, let's move on!

If you've seen my last post, you already know that Willow Creek belongs to the suburbs surrounding San Myshuno, which is called Coldwater in my Save File. Willow Creek has been founded in 1850 and has grown ever since. Today, it is home to some of the oldest and most established families of Coldwater, but it also has a fair share of working class homes and rental homes.

The Build Styles

With Coldwater being located in northern California, I did some research to limit the building styles to something that could be encountered in this region - especially, I limited the time when these houses were built.

As a result, I decided that the whole world will contain Italianate Victorians, Queen Anne Victorians, American Colonial Revival and Craftsman builds. Foundry Cove, which will become the working class type of neighborhood will feature some of the aforementioned styles, but may also have California Ranch Style homes.

Community Lots

This is, obviously, a hard task for me, but I will dedicate four of the present lots to community lots. I will, however, not cramp them all together into one neighborhood, but spread them out over the whole world, to encourage my boyfriend to actually travel around.

Laundromat

In Foundry Cove, I am planning to place a Laundromat, because not all of the homes will have their own washing machines or any other means to do their laundry.

Park with Café

Magnolia Blossom will still be a park, but I will rebuild it and add a café to the lot, where sims can enjoy their walks and just have a bit of coffee.

Book Café

This was a hard decision, but I think I will use the bigger lot in Crawdad Quarter to create two businesses in one place - a library and an attached café.

Restaurant

In Pendula View, I will dedicate a lot to build a restaurant. It will, however, have an appartment above, so it will need some mods to be functional. I am still hoping for multi-purpose lots in the next expansion, though!

Residential Lots

Next, I need to decide on the kinds of residentials I want to build, and which building style I want them to be in.

For Pendula View, this is actually easy. I want the buildings there to be Queen Annes, which leaves me with Italianates and Colonial Revival for Sage Estates. These two neighborhoods are the oldest in Willow Creek (and their inhabitants are very proud about this). Most of the houses there are in their families since forever, and have been extended in the same style over and over again. Of course, they are at least modernized - somehow.

Crawdad Quarter will mostly show Craftsman Builds, made from stone and the local woods. Foundry Cove will have mostly Ranch Homes, with the biggest lot being a rental with two Ranch homes on it. Last, we have Courtyard Lane, which is the most eclectic neighborhood. Here, you'll find anything from the aforementioned build styles, and also a modern micro home!

And that's it for today! Next time, I'll be planning the sims who will live in this world and find out how many I'll need to prevent the game from spawning random townies!

Until then,

Davina

[davinasims]

Setting the goals

Hi, and welcome!

However you landed here, I'm glad to see you. This page is dedicated to something I will create over... well, probably the next hundred years. I am planning to do my own save file, to share with my boyfriend and start our new games from it. To do so, I should start by setting some goals for myself:

Each world has to get lore, buildings and sims to go with it.

CC is allowed and will be used.

Each sim world will roughly be aligned with a real life region and has to fit in (at least somehow).

There should be no random townies spawned, all jobs have to be filled with custom sims. And yes, I will hate myself for this!

Where will I start?

To start this project, I got the srsly blank save file from Curseforge and created a Notion template, which will keep track of everything related to the save. I will improve it while I work on it, and maybe even show you some screenshots of it.

Second, I decided where to locate the worlds:

San Myshuno will be located in Massachusetts and will form the center of a fictional city.

Willow Creek, Newcrest and Ravenwood will be suburbs of San Myshuno

Oasis Springs will be located in Coachella Valley

Granite Falls will be Rocky Mountains inspired

Magnolia Promenade will be roughly Paris inspired

Windenburg will be located in Bavaria, Germany

Forgotten Hollow will be located and inspired by Romania

Brindleton Bay will become a location in the Hamptons

Selvadorada will be a tourist location in Brazil

Del Sol Valley will, of course, become Los Angeles

Strangerville will become a location somewhere in the mid-west of the US.

Sulani will become inspired by Hawaii

Glimmerbrook will be a village in the Black Forest, Germany

Britechester will be Oxford-inspired

Evergreen Harbor will be Baltimore-inspired

Batuu is... well... Batuu.

Mt. Komorebi is somewhat difficult. I am not familiar with Japan, so I will have to do my research.

Henford-on-Bagley will of course be located in England

Tartosa will become Italy-inspired

Moonwood Mill will be a village in Canada

Copperdale will be located somewhere in the Lake District of Great Britain

San Sequoia will be San Francisco.

Chestnut Ridge will be Texas-inspired

Tomarang is another world where I will have to do my research before locating it somewhere.

Ciudad Enamorada will be Spain-inspired

While I will, of course, do my research, I am a German, so it will probably be more like a movie-version of the respective locations. Well, I think this is a good start.

See you next time!

DavinaSims