Post by Jon on Jun 29, 2003 18:04:47 GMT
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2. Creating a Family
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ah, your first family (besides the Newbies). Unless of course this isn't your
first, you created one earlier, and are now reading this to find out what went
wrong. Either way, we're going to create a Sim Family! Nothing fancy, mind
you, just something to get started with.
We're going to create two Sims for this family. Two is, in my opinion, the
best number to start with. It isn't so hard to control as, say, eight, and
the extra person gives you a great advantage over having just one.
What we're essentially going to do is to divide the tasks that our two family
members are going to have. One person is going to get a job, and the other
is going to take care of the house, cook, clean, and be the primary socialite.
You really don't need to employ both people at this stage of the game. This
really helps in the mornings when one person is getting ready for work
(shower, toilet, etc.) the other cooks breakfast. When the woker goes off to
work, the other one stays home, cleans up, and meets the neighbors who will
all drop by (not all at once). Then later in the game, this Sim will call up
those neighbors and try to make them into Family Friends.
a. Creating a Sim
So now we need to create some Sims! Two, in fact. The stats that you
can give them effect what the Sims want to do, not what you will make
them do. So a low Neatness isn't all that bad if you are going to
be forcing them to clean up anyway.
Try to keep your Sims distinctive and different. The stay at home
Sim needs to be outgoing, nice, and playful, while the worker Sim
needs to be active and outgoing. Beyond that keep the stats somewhat
average.
Note: If you keep a stat blank (that is, empty), then that person
will be the opposite of that stat. So if he or she has no
Nice, then that person will be mean, and prone to piss others
off. That makes getting friends difficult!
Another thing that stats effect is what type of recreation they most
enjoy. Inactive people love the TV, while more active would like
Dancing or other more interactive entertainment.
For now we don't want anymore than these two adult Sims. Now let's build them
a house. (or if you'd rather not build your own house, there are several
already on the street)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Building a House
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our objective with building the house is to create a livable area and have
enough money left over to actually put THINGS in the house.
Here's our objectives: We need a good sized house (not large), with three
rooms (living room/kitchen/dining room, bathroom, and
one bedroom). The Sims don't need their own private
bedrooms, so don't bother.
We're going to start the house 2 or 3 squares away from the nearby path. Now
we create the Living Room/Kitchen. A good size for this is a smallish
rectangle, about 11 x 6 squares. Build the entrance door near the mailbox and
trashcan. Now off to the side of the house build a 4 x 4 room to be your
bathroom. You don't need any larger at the moment.
------------
| | Key:
| |
| Bedroom | e - Door -- - wall
| | Tr - Trash == - sidewalk
| |
----------------e------------- Note: Two horizontal characters
| | | is one "square" of SimLand.
| e Bath | So -- is one 1 x 1.
| Kitchen | room |
| | | Note: To build a "square", hold down
| Living |-------- the shift while building a
| Room | wall outwards.
-----------e----------
=======================
Tr
As you can see, this is a very small type of house, but is perfectly suited
for two people. This is a "basic" house, and as your family grows you will
need to add to it. Notice that there isn't a wall between the kitchen and the
living room. This is quite intentional to aid in the parties that you will
be throwing here!
Once the basic floorplan is done, we need to apply wallpaper to the outside
of the house, and to each room individually. The last few wallpapers are
specifically for the outside, aluminum siding is cheap (§7).
Note: To apply a wallpaper to every available surface, hold down the SHIFT
key, then click. If you're doing this to the outside, it won't
effect the inside, and if you are doing a room, it will only do that
room.
For the kitchen I would use the Deep Jade or the Tuscany Tin (§6). The living
room you can do separate from the Kitchen if you want, although you can't use
the SHIFT function if you do, as they aren't really separate rooms. In the
bathroom I would go with a "Too Turquoise" (§6).
Now we need to add flooring (can't go around on bare grass indoors!). Both
the kitchen and the bathroom have matching floorsets (if you chose Tuscany,
the best flooring would be the Il Perrinni Italliante tile (§20)). In the
bedroom I would go with the simply Blue Carpet, it's cheap, and effective.
Windows: Each room needs quite a number of windows to keep the room bright
and happy. This effects one of the Sims' needs, that of Room. So
place windows around each room until it is as bright as it can be.
Don't forget this! Also, when you start furnishing a house, you
need to place Lamps for when it gets dark.
Note: Don't bother with a second story yet, you don't need it, and you can't
afford it! See Section 8. Expanding the House for more information on
Second Stories.
Tip: A backdoor is a useful thing to have, as it allows your Sims another
way in or out (if the main entrance is blocked), and can provide for
a nice patio outside as well. Try putting in a flamingo in the
backyard, just for fun.
Alternate Floorplan 1:
------------
| | Key:
| |
| Bedroom | e - Door -- - wall
| |-------- Tr - Trash == - sidewalk
| e |
----------------e----- Bath | Note: Two horizontal characters
| | room | is one "square" of SimLand.
| e | So -- is one 1 x 1.
| Kitchen | |
| |-------- This alternate version moves the
| Living | bathroom up 2 squares and builds a
| Room | door into the bedroom.
-----------e----------
=======================
Tr
Now that we have a house, we need to get things in the house!
2. Creating a Family
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ah, your first family (besides the Newbies). Unless of course this isn't your
first, you created one earlier, and are now reading this to find out what went
wrong. Either way, we're going to create a Sim Family! Nothing fancy, mind
you, just something to get started with.
We're going to create two Sims for this family. Two is, in my opinion, the
best number to start with. It isn't so hard to control as, say, eight, and
the extra person gives you a great advantage over having just one.
What we're essentially going to do is to divide the tasks that our two family
members are going to have. One person is going to get a job, and the other
is going to take care of the house, cook, clean, and be the primary socialite.
You really don't need to employ both people at this stage of the game. This
really helps in the mornings when one person is getting ready for work
(shower, toilet, etc.) the other cooks breakfast. When the woker goes off to
work, the other one stays home, cleans up, and meets the neighbors who will
all drop by (not all at once). Then later in the game, this Sim will call up
those neighbors and try to make them into Family Friends.
a. Creating a Sim
So now we need to create some Sims! Two, in fact. The stats that you
can give them effect what the Sims want to do, not what you will make
them do. So a low Neatness isn't all that bad if you are going to
be forcing them to clean up anyway.
Try to keep your Sims distinctive and different. The stay at home
Sim needs to be outgoing, nice, and playful, while the worker Sim
needs to be active and outgoing. Beyond that keep the stats somewhat
average.
Note: If you keep a stat blank (that is, empty), then that person
will be the opposite of that stat. So if he or she has no
Nice, then that person will be mean, and prone to piss others
off. That makes getting friends difficult!
Another thing that stats effect is what type of recreation they most
enjoy. Inactive people love the TV, while more active would like
Dancing or other more interactive entertainment.
For now we don't want anymore than these two adult Sims. Now let's build them
a house. (or if you'd rather not build your own house, there are several
already on the street)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Building a House
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our objective with building the house is to create a livable area and have
enough money left over to actually put THINGS in the house.
Here's our objectives: We need a good sized house (not large), with three
rooms (living room/kitchen/dining room, bathroom, and
one bedroom). The Sims don't need their own private
bedrooms, so don't bother.
We're going to start the house 2 or 3 squares away from the nearby path. Now
we create the Living Room/Kitchen. A good size for this is a smallish
rectangle, about 11 x 6 squares. Build the entrance door near the mailbox and
trashcan. Now off to the side of the house build a 4 x 4 room to be your
bathroom. You don't need any larger at the moment.
------------
| | Key:
| |
| Bedroom | e - Door -- - wall
| | Tr - Trash == - sidewalk
| |
----------------e------------- Note: Two horizontal characters
| | | is one "square" of SimLand.
| e Bath | So -- is one 1 x 1.
| Kitchen | room |
| | | Note: To build a "square", hold down
| Living |-------- the shift while building a
| Room | wall outwards.
-----------e----------
=======================
Tr
As you can see, this is a very small type of house, but is perfectly suited
for two people. This is a "basic" house, and as your family grows you will
need to add to it. Notice that there isn't a wall between the kitchen and the
living room. This is quite intentional to aid in the parties that you will
be throwing here!
Once the basic floorplan is done, we need to apply wallpaper to the outside
of the house, and to each room individually. The last few wallpapers are
specifically for the outside, aluminum siding is cheap (§7).
Note: To apply a wallpaper to every available surface, hold down the SHIFT
key, then click. If you're doing this to the outside, it won't
effect the inside, and if you are doing a room, it will only do that
room.
For the kitchen I would use the Deep Jade or the Tuscany Tin (§6). The living
room you can do separate from the Kitchen if you want, although you can't use
the SHIFT function if you do, as they aren't really separate rooms. In the
bathroom I would go with a "Too Turquoise" (§6).
Now we need to add flooring (can't go around on bare grass indoors!). Both
the kitchen and the bathroom have matching floorsets (if you chose Tuscany,
the best flooring would be the Il Perrinni Italliante tile (§20)). In the
bedroom I would go with the simply Blue Carpet, it's cheap, and effective.
Windows: Each room needs quite a number of windows to keep the room bright
and happy. This effects one of the Sims' needs, that of Room. So
place windows around each room until it is as bright as it can be.
Don't forget this! Also, when you start furnishing a house, you
need to place Lamps for when it gets dark.
Note: Don't bother with a second story yet, you don't need it, and you can't
afford it! See Section 8. Expanding the House for more information on
Second Stories.
Tip: A backdoor is a useful thing to have, as it allows your Sims another
way in or out (if the main entrance is blocked), and can provide for
a nice patio outside as well. Try putting in a flamingo in the
backyard, just for fun.
Alternate Floorplan 1:
------------
| | Key:
| |
| Bedroom | e - Door -- - wall
| |-------- Tr - Trash == - sidewalk
| e |
----------------e----- Bath | Note: Two horizontal characters
| | room | is one "square" of SimLand.
| e | So -- is one 1 x 1.
| Kitchen | |
| |-------- This alternate version moves the
| Living | bathroom up 2 squares and builds a
| Room | door into the bedroom.
-----------e----------
=======================
Tr
Now that we have a house, we need to get things in the house!
