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Alchemist
Original Poster
#1 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 11:41 AM Last edited by Sunrader : 1st Mar 2019 at 7:20 PM.
Default How do you build your tiny lots?
We were randomly thinking over in Random Thoughts about building on 1x1 lots. Let's share pics of the architecturally adorable here, but also your tips, ideas, favorite CC for tiny lots, philosophies - Do you have some guiding principles, purpose...? Are they always functional/playable, or just stinking cute?!.... Let's talk tiny!



I'll start by answering @aelflaed
Quote: Originally posted by aelflaed
Sunrader, how do you make that 2-step-high foundation? I have never found a way that was easy enough to bother with on a regular basis.

First of all, I start with your lovely sunnyside lots - again, thank you. I love those. Even now that I have the lighting file in place that lets me change the direction of the sun, your lot is my go to, and I'm so happy you're back.

Then, I just use Moo's Grid Adjuster. It's really easy, and I can save basic lots with that 2-click deck and use them as bases for new lots, so I don't have to do it every time if I don't want to. I strongly prefer the proportions of a 2-click deck for most of my tiny buildings and often a 2-click dummy wall under the roof as well.

For many of my tiny lots, like the one you asked about, I have a basement underneath for mundane things like bathrooms so I use GA's Basement pattern with -14 elevation and leave 2-clicks above ground for the foundation, but for some without basements, I just use Flat on GA to make that level a wall that's 2-clicks high [like Shastakiss did in her tutorial - thanks Justpetro]. You could also sink a 4-click foundation down 2 clicks with Flat, either by setting 2 as the height or by decreasing the height from current elevation. I'm working up a youtube tute to make GA a bit easier for casual users.

Btw, no rules here about lot size, of course. I built a tiny house recently on an existing large lot for the Crumplebottom challenge. It still had all the characteristics and difficulties of a tiny house plus the lot issues. http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...579#post5499579 If your building fits on a 1x1 or nearly so, whatever you're into, I'd love to hear about it.
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 12:55 PM
And then Shastakiss has a ridiculously easy tutorial on "Little Decks" - here: https://sims2artists.com/index.php?topic=5121.0 - which is the one I follow when making houses with low foundations.
Alchemist
Original Poster
#3 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 1:02 PM Last edited by Sunrader : 1st Mar 2019 at 2:47 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
And then Shastakiss has a ridiculously easy tutorial on "Little Decks" - here: https://sims2artists.com/index.php?topic=5121.0 - which is the one I follow when making houses with low foundations.


That's a really good one. I used it to get started, too. The only thing is that Shastakiss said there that she didn't really know how it worked, just that it did in the way she showed, so if you have more levels or want something slightly different, like a basement with a 2-click deck like mine has, you need more info and options. Those are buried in Mootilda's posts in the Grid Adjuster thread and also are very helpful. http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=327439
Mad Poster
#4 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 2:57 PM
I always play my tiny lots as businesses-because I don't like customers hanging out playing games, it limits them to just buying stuff and then leaving. Blocking off any sides works to keep the lot from having that happen. They're also faster to load in game.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
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Forum Resident
#5 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 3:14 PM
Generally my tiny lots are townhouses or rowhouses - in the middle of a sprawling, packed town, how likely is it that you'd see a small house with like 50 acres of land? I like to get the Maxis-made houses and make them tiny lots because they have soooo much space around them its crazy.

You can call me Diddy (or Eve, if you want to go by my real name) :)
My Simblr is simping-simmer. Come and join me there for a chat!
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Alchemist
Original Poster
#6 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 4:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by didyouevenmakeasound
Generally my tiny lots are townhouses or rowhouses - in the middle of a sprawling, packed town, how likely is it that you'd see a small house with like 50 acres of land? I like to get the Maxis-made houses and make them tiny lots because they have soooo much space around them its crazy.


They so do. I always make them smaller, too. Who needs to watch sims walking? Are you using Lot Adjuster? Any good tricks you've found?

Quote: Originally posted by FranH
I always play my tiny lots as businesses-because I don't like customers hanging out playing games, it limits them to just buying stuff and then leaving. Blocking off any sides works to keep the lot from having that happen. They're also faster to load in game.


I'm doing some tiny businesses, too, and cutting back on the facilities - no, we do not have public restrooms here. I'd love to see some examples of routing and other issues you've worked out...

I was working on this one recently and came up with these routing solutions. I really wanted this 1x1 to look like a busy, tiny restaurant even though it's just a hot dog stand, so there's a combination of content and routing to make it work but I'd still love suggestions. To start, they serve only soup (because that what fits the cooking animation), there are extra stools with deco soup bowls and spoons to look like they are in use, the restaurant gives away cupcakes to keep the sidewalk tables outside looking lively and because I like cupcakes. There are two doors to stop route failure. There is a toilet behind one of Numenor's no-cutaway walls (the other has cleaning supplies just for fun). I'll probably put a walkthrough deco door there, but I can't see it when playing, so haven't minded so far. It is a dive, after all! The only issue is the functioning soda machine that I'm hoping to find a fix for. Because it's cloned from the fridge, sims stand two tiles away to use it, so it isn't autonomous there. I've already extracted the simlish soda cups used with it for clutter, too, so any suggestions to make it work better are welcome.



This tiny office has a basement but only for the employee. There was a ladder like this, originally, but I just discovered targa's ascension portals so I'm experimenting with those, so nice for some things. Only the employee can enter this locked second entrance and have access to the basement. There's another front door for customers.



Sometimes they have Veranka's all-in-one or the entrance around the back like I have at my library so I can keep all the wall space inside. All my businesses, big and small, put up nocutaway walls around restrooms and other interior walls, because it looks more realistic to me not to see those cutaways when the camera is inside the room. What kind of things do you guys do?
Instructor
#7 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 4:28 PM
Check out this hood. I'm currently playing it. All tiny houses.
http://www.modthesims.info/d/319898...-with-lots.html
Alchemist
Original Poster
#8 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 4:44 PM Last edited by Sunrader : 1st Mar 2019 at 4:54 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by suzymarie64
Check out this hood. I'm currently playing it. All tiny houses.
http://www.modthesims.info/d/319898...-with-lots.html


Plasticbox has great small lots. How's the hood playing for you? Have you found any issues? Gotten any new building ideas?
Field Researcher
#9 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 4:48 PM Last edited by cord11 : 1st Mar 2019 at 5:00 PM.
I find 1x1 lots to be just a little too small. An 8x8 house can work, but it's cramped. Instead I like making houses on 1.5x1 and 1x2 lots when I go small, having a little yard is nice. 1x2 is the perfect size for modern Canadian west coast suburban new builds that well I can't say affordable in real life, are the entry level detached house. Now how do you get .5 of a lot width you may be asking? Simple! Just use up 5 tiles on a custom road while the lot itself is road-less! I mess around with the portals myself and just don't really ever use services, get sims to walk to work, I just need a mod for them to walk home too. :/

I got a few pictures of one yet to be moved into place. You can see it's soon to be neighbours in the background too. It's got a basic interior layout, though I think I'm going to change the 2nd floor a little bit by moving the bathroom over 2 tiles and expanding the bedroom.

WowoW it's a badly hidden owo UwU Yeet skeet Idk what I'm doing
Alchemist
Original Poster
#10 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 4:55 PM
Quote: Originally posted by cord11
Now how do you get .5 of a lot width you may be asking? Simple! Just use up 5 tiles on a custom road while the lot itself is road-less! I mess around with the portals myself and just don't really ever use services, get sims to walk to work, I just need a mod for them to walk home too. :/

I got a few pictures of one yet to be moved into place. You can see it's soon to be neighbours in the background too. It's got a basic interior layout, though I think I'm going to change the 2nd floor a little bit by moving the bathroom over 2 tiles and expanding the bedroom.


That sounds really interesting. All my sims walk everywhere, too. I'd love to know more about portals that make that look better.
Can you show us more about the roads and portals and your example?
Field Researcher
#11 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 5:02 PM
The next time I open my game yeah. I've been considering writing a tutorial on it to get that badge for a while :P

Also are the pictures not showing up? Ugh I'll fix that later

Both might take a while, real life is busy

WowoW it's a badly hidden owo UwU Yeet skeet Idk what I'm doing
Theorist
#12 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 6:00 PM
I like tiny lots, but the downside is when your family grows it's hard to expand so they'd have to move. I created what I call my grow up house, in that I built the exact same house in 3 different lots. The first one is just a single story studio apt for single or newlyweds. The second is a two story two bed w/ roof access for more outdoor space. The Third, is a 4 story 4bed, I think, also w/ roof access. I set them all up w/ mostly the same stuff from the previous lot so to give the impression that addition to the house was made, but kept all their old stuff.

I don't have any pics atm, but I'll try and get some when I get the chance.
Scholar
#13 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 6:02 PM
honestly, I do love them. But every time I build such ones, I use many VeryBadWords, and then when I try to squeeze into one ofthem some families I use EvenMoreOfSuchWords.

Still love them, though.


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Forum Resident
#14 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 6:35 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
They so do. I always make them smaller, too. Who needs to watch sims walking? Are you using Lot Adjuster? Any good tricks you've found?


Hmm, I guess I have a trick to make a custom size/shape lot?

Use LotAdjuster to make two lots overlap, and then, using fences, you can make two houses of a custom size.

For example, say you have a part of a road that is 3 lot tiles, and you want two equally sized houses. Overlap two empty lots with LotAdjuster, build the houses, and place a fence 15 tiles away from the road on both of the houses. Now you have two houses that have a size of 15 tiles x whatever the width of the lot is.

Do you get what I'm saying? I'm not good at explaining

You can call me Diddy (or Eve, if you want to go by my real name) :)
My Simblr is simping-simmer. Come and join me there for a chat!
You can also find me on the MTS or PBK Discord servers under the name 'Evenfall'.
Want to know the latest news in Carregffynon? Click here!
Forum Resident
#15 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 6:41 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
And then Shastakiss has a ridiculously easy tutorial on "Little Decks" - here: https://sims2artists.com/index.php?topic=5121.0 - which is the one I follow when making houses with low foundations.


I love that tutorial Justpetro- thank you so much for sharing!
Alchemist
Original Poster
#16 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 7:17 PM
Quote: Originally posted by didyouevenmakeasound
Hmm, I guess I have a trick to make a custom size/shape lot?

Use LotAdjuster to make two lots overlap, and then, using fences, you can make two houses of a custom size.

For example, say you have a part of a road that is 3 lot tiles, and you want two equally sized houses. Overlap two empty lots with LotAdjuster, build the houses, and place a fence 15 tiles away from the road on both of the houses. Now you have two houses that have a size of 15 tiles x whatever the width of the lot is.

Do you get what I'm saying? I'm not good at explaining


It sounds really interesting. Can you show a picture?
Undead Molten Llama
#17 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 7:39 PM Last edited by iCad : 1st Mar 2019 at 8:05 PM.
I only use really tiny lots for residences if I'm building more than two floors. Which I don't do often because I don't like playing houses with more than two floors. It's hard enough sometimes to keep an eye on the little buggers if they're spread across 2 stories, much less 3+. I can play a single Sim in a small, one-story 1x1 house easily enough, but only rarely do I have single-Sim households for long because I find them boring. They get a platonic roommate or two or a live-in romantic partner or they'll have a kid -- via aliens or otherwise -- to make things more interesting for me, as a player. Once there's more than one Sim on a lot, I generally want more room than a 1x1 single-story house can have. Sometimes I'll build a second story, but usually I just move them to a bigger lot. Or, more often, start them in a bigger lot in the first place. I don't often build anything larger than a 3x3 lot, so most of my lots are on the small side, anyway.

So for me, tiny lots are usually businesses. And they're generally function-over-form. They serve a purpose, and they don't have to be pretty. 'Cuz, y'know, strip malls aren't usually pretty, and I'll often put several "joined" 1x1 lots next to each other to create a "strip mall." Sometimes I make a prettier 1x1 business, but not very often. And I don't usually use the premade 1x1 lot templates because that reduces you to a 6x6 space, which isn't quite enough, in my opinion, for either a business or a one-story residence. So, I build on larger lots and then use the lot adjuster to shrink them. Then I have an 8x8 space to work with, for a 1x1 lot.

And yes, I often overlap lots using the Lot Adjuster, if only so that fences between neighbors can look better.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
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Alchemist
Original Poster
#18 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 8:11 PM Last edited by Sunrader : 1st Mar 2019 at 9:07 PM.
Here's a tiny lot question - when we build a tiny lot, the thumbnail in the bin is also really tiny - too tiny. I remember finding a way to put a better thumbnail in the lot bin, but I can't find it or remember it. Do you guys know how?

Quote: Originally posted by iCad
I only use really tiny lots for residences if I'm building more than two floors. Which I don't do often because I don't like playing houses with more than two floors.


I don't like going up and down either, that's why I build basements to put boring things like bathrooms. Let em go in peace while I play whatever's going on topside.
Instructor
#19 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 8:31 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
Plasticbox has great small lots. How's the hood playing for you? Have you found any issues? Gotten any new building ideas?


No issues, I actually remodeled a few of the lots. And added a lot of my custom content. Just don't try to build basements in any of them. They will end up under water. It's a cute little town.
Alchemist
#20 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 8:40 PM
smallest lot with a building I built; I think it was a 3x5. a residential.
smallest lot sizes in game; most of those have been either pre-made lots or temporary lots.
Alchemist
Original Poster
#21 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 9:04 PM Last edited by Sunrader : 1st Mar 2019 at 9:16 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by mdsb759
smallest lot with a building I built; I think it was a 3x5. a residential.
smallest lot sizes in game; most of those have been either pre-made lots or temporary lots.


Do you mean lot size? Isn't that big?. My computer would balk. Don't they have to walk forever on a lot that size?
Mad Poster
#22 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 9:19 PM
I don't make 1x1 lots much anymore, but when I did, I did the typical trick of making a larger lot, using Lot Adjuster, presto, shrinko, changeo. I use this technique with 1x2s, etc.

Most of the time, if I make tiny lots, I don't make residences. Like some others, I like to be able to expand a residence if need be without making a mini-skyscraper. Sometimes, though, those teeny lots are good for dorm houses for single students .. more affordable. However, only my Sims from upper-middle-class families get the single houses .. or those with some sort of deep, deep need for privacy,

Tiny community lots are good for bank branches (credit unions in real life can sometimes be in pretty small buildings), starting industries for entrepreneurial Sims, etc.

Oh ... forgot coffee houses. For some reason, I tend to put my Barstucks coffee houses on small lots.

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RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Mad Poster
#23 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 9:46 PM Last edited by FranH : 2nd Mar 2019 at 2:23 AM.
Quote:
I'm doing some tiny businesses, too, and cutting back on the facilities - no, we do not have public restrooms here. I'd love to see some examples of routing and other issues you've worked out...


I use one of Mootilda's tiny lots (very customized)-stripped down to have only a couple of displays, products, cash register and one door. (I cheat badly, too-ecstasy flamingo for the win!)The lot holds about 10 pixels all at one time, and they look around for a bit, and then leave after paying for their purchase. I don't allow pixels to start playing games, and if they do, they get zapped off the lot. Unpleasant customers do as well.
"This is a business, not a playpen!"

I also use Inge's automatic teleporter to bring in customers and everything is automated. But very profitable. (Inge's auto restocker is always on..)

Note: the reason I don't ever use them for residences is that they're liable to glitch at the carpool. The length is too short for some vehicles, such as a school bus and definitely a limo!

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Mad Poster
#24 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 9:55 PM
I have tried the mini-lots, and they're good, but I mostly build my tiny lots now with the lot adjuster, so I can have that extra one tile on every side. If I want row houses or properly downtown looking lots, that's what I do.

Either my sims don't have much yard, or they have only backyard. I have a three-story rowhouse apartment building with a shared backyard by using the pets ground fences around the concrete patios, the kids can go out their back doors and play on the grass. Since the families I have in those are all related, the kids get to play with their cousins after school every day. The only thing that drives me nuts is the inability of sims to invite their apartment neighbors to birthday parties. No, that's your brothers and your sister and their families, they should be able to come to the birthday party for your toddler! Then if I summon them in, they wander back to their own apartments midway through.

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Mad Poster
#25 Old 1st Mar 2019 at 10:25 PM Last edited by Rosebine : 2nd Mar 2019 at 12:10 AM.
I love building on 1x1 lots. I built a convenient store. I admit, if there are many sims on the lot...it gets complicated to pay for whatever you want to buy lol. I had to take a mod out...I had too many sims.
I also made a Welcome community center, for sims who just moved in, to find a job and meet others.
For houses, I really love the Empire architecture and for tiny houses or rental houses, it works quite good. Well, even the community convenient store has that style, but a bit less..fancy.
I'll take some pictures next time I am in game.
Convenient store, Dépanneur


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