MTS2:Creator Guidelines/Sims 3 Lots and Houses/Sandbox

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Guidelines for Sims 3 Lots

I really will write a better introduction later honest...

Creating your Lot

Some sort of intro on creating your lot bitsy here

Quality

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?

  • Realism: A castle should not just be a huge building with stone walls, but should look like an actual castle, and supermarket should look like an actual supermarket. You can look up pictures of the type of lot you're trying to build on Google Image Search for some good ideas.
  • Architecture: write stuff here
  • Playability: The layout of the lot should make sense and be routable. Make sure sims have enough room to move around the house, and that they can access all items that can be used.
  • Roofing: The roof pieces should connect each other nicely, and not leave gaps between each other.
  • Landscaping: Don't let a Finn write this section and nitpick a ton

Tip: Using Create a style-tool in TS3 can have a tremendous effect on how your lot will look. Please explore the possibilities of this tool. Selecting the patterns and colors yourself instead of using EA-made presets creates much more unique, and often better looking results.

A small tutorial here.

Uploading your Lot

The following sections contain information about how to package, archive and present your lot.

Packaging your Lot

TS3-LotShare.jpg

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.

TS3-ExportedLot.jpg

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

Custom content

Remove Custom Content with CUSTARD

Custard01.jpg
Custard02.jpg

Before uploading your lots please scan it with CUSTARD. Content that is installed from sims3packs will package with lots, and some patterns will package even if you didn't use them on the lot. Note: Presets of EA patterns do NOT package with lots.

  • Download Custard
  • Open Sims3pack
  • Untick cc you don't want to include
  • File Save As...

Content Required But Not Included

When you went through all of the custom content which is required for your upload, you may have found some items which you could not include and had to remove them.

For these items, you can make a "shopping list" for downloaders. Create a section in the text of your post, starting in bold, saying, "Content Required But Not Included" and then list each item which you had to remove, along with a credit and a link to the exact page where it may be found.

  • Take care not to hotlink the necessary file as this drains the other site’s bandwidth.

In the event that this exact page cannot be linked to (i.e., site policy, JAVA difficulties, etc.), please link to the desired site’s home page and then provide adequate instructions to direct players to the necessary file. For example: ExampleSimSite.com > Downloads > Bedroom > Pink Fusion Set

That way, the download can get those items separately. If they download them separately and get your upload which was packaged with those items included, then the removed items will show up properly when people install it.

Compressing your file

To upload your file(s) to MTS, you will need to compress them into an archive file, which makes them smaller and allows you to include many files in one download. The archive file formats we currently accept are .zip, .rar, and .7z.

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

Screenshots

The only way people can see your lot before downloading and checking it out in game is from the screenshots you take for your upload. Taking clear, large screenshots (as a rough guide you should aim for at least 600 pixels) will encourage people to look at and download your lot. Please don't use filters, we want to see what your lot will look like, not how good you are at photoshopping.

You'll need to include at least:

  • Exterior Shots: A front and back shot showing the exterior of your lot.
  • Floorplans: Overhead picture of each floor.

You may also want to include:

  • Unobstructed views: if your lot has dense foliage blocking the view of the house.
  • Comparison pictures: if you lot is based on a real building.

Title and description

It's important that you include certain information so that players know what to expect when they use your creation!

The following information should be in the text description for your upload.

Title

You probably already have a name for your lot - it makes a good title for your upload.

Description

You need to write a decent description for your upload. You don't have to write a novel here, just at least a few sentences about your lot. It's nice to let people know you've put some careful thought into your creation. If your English is not good, you can ask for help writing a description in Creator Feedback.

Please include the following information in your description:

  • Lot size: Mark the lot's size, for example 20x30
  • Lot price: Mark both unfurnished, and furnished price
  • Included custom content: List custom content that has been included within the lot file or the archive, with links
  • 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

More info about custom content, how to tell what gets included or not, what kind of CC is allowed and what isn't, above on the Custom content section.

Game version and required EPs/SPs

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 you must list it as being required. Please list the base game version that the lot was built with. Finding Game Version

  • If you would like to create lots which require only the expansion packs actually needed for the features you build you can use johna's AnyGameStarter.

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 lots are ready for uploading, use the Creator Feedback Forum to get feedback on it.
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