George Bish Editor
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Inside this issue we’ve got some smashing community lots designed for summer fun (well, most of them) such as parks and other venues. Don’t forget that most of these lots are avaliable for download for free, so be sure to click the link when you get to the Lot Stats at the end of each article.
Admitedlly not very summery but it’s still a great build by the STeam.
There’s no chance of your Sims finding a summer romance if they’re in dirty clothes!
Take the Sunset Valley Central Park and turn it into something beautiful and useful.
Study hard! Or at least take out some books to look a bit smarter at your summer parties.
A beautiful park for your Sims to go picknicking...or get to know each other better in the bushes.
Most schools nowadays look run-down and in need of renovation. And whilst we don’t actually know this for a fact, the school in Sunset Valley was probably like this as well. So our resident community lot maker took this as a challenge and created Clifftop High School, a lot that could be a functioning rabbit hole with the Rabbit Hole Rugs found on ModTheSims.info. This school boasts a unique ‘sky library’ (see the picture above) which as ceiling to floor windows and comfy chairs as well as 5 Apple iMacs (search it up on TheSimsResource) and three large aisles of books. The library sticks out over a first-floor balcony with planters, picnic tables and a science station. The school’s mixed science lab/classroom has doors leading out onto the balcony. The second floor also has a 24-seat auditorium and a speakers podium alongside an Art studio and two large toilets for boys and girls. Down on the first floor there are four classrooms that could be used for any purpose. The science lab connects to a classroom via a door,
allowing for there to either be one class split into two or two classes using the separate facilities. The science lab also has access to the balcony which could commonly be used for experiments.
Down onto the ground floor which has a reception area which has no roof until the very top of the building allowing for an open atmosphere. The reception area links to a small staff room with a kitchen, sofa, dining tables and television which in turn links into a small first aid room with one desk and two beds. The reception area also links onto the administration corridor, which links to three large offices—one for the head teacher and two for deputy heads. From the reception area it links to the ground floor corridor which links to a Humanities classroom, the canteen and a computer lab. The canteen houses up to 30 children as well as three cooking staff. There is a clearly defined queue and recycling area. All in all, this is a very good community lot for your Sim’s kids. Turn over for the lot stats.
Whilst most Sims would rather just have a washer and dryer on their lots, Sims on a budget would opt for the ‘Laundromat’ where they can wash their clothes for free. Now, with this beautifully designed lot, more Sims might want to leave the comfort of their own homes to come and wash their clothes at the Ready & Set Laundry Store by RomerJon17 of ModTheSims.info. This lot’s beauty starts on the outside, with bright walls limited to either red or green surrounded by wonderful landscaping of bamboo trees and flowers. The minimal look works very well with the modern style of the whole building, with large windows and four different coloured laundry signs. This lot will only work with Town Life Stuff installed, which can be bought for about a fiver now. The interior has seven washers and seven driers as well as sinks, washing up powder and a waiting area with sofas and a TV. This is near the large windows. Overall, there isn’t really much to say. The design is stunning and works well, but, it’s a Laundromat, and there isn’t much to say. But I would give it five stars. Definitely. Look over the page for the lot stats and where to download it.
TOWN CEN
Another great build by a member of the ModTheSims community, Sun
to make the town centre much more convenient. Better yet, eve
NTRE
nset Town Centre is designed to replace Central Park in Sunset Valley
erything is base game and there’s absolutely no custom content.
Anyone who’s played The Sims 3 will know that the town centre in Sunset Valley is disorganized. Everything is separated and most things are out-oftown. This lot, made by Sorbesque from ModTheSims.info, is designed to bring everything to the town centre.
Also, some good news for our S without powerful machines—t very good for slow machines. I playtests, there was no lag and render time. It was easy to pla town—bulldoze Central Park a from the bin.
This lot has a diner, spa, business office, bistro, grocery store, bookstore and a cinema, so everything your Sims need is within walking distance from one another. Obviously, if the base game rabbitholes aren’t your thing, you can easily replace them from Build/Buy mode, but they look just as good in this lot.
All in all, this is a great lot, and for Sunset Valley. Turn over fo stats and a download link.
This lot is more than just convenient, however—it’s also beautifully landscaped. Every detail down to the last flower and terrain paint has been thought out and goes well with the town and the design of the rabbitholes, as well as looking stunning, but still easy on the processor. This lot makes much better use of the 60x60 lot that Central Park used to be on, and is much more useful. Sims can sit under the trellace to cool down or play on the park. [Is it only me who has grown-up Sims who immediately flock to the swings when at the park? - Ed.] Whilst this lot might be a bit hard to transform into a festival ground if you’ve got The Sims 3 Seasons installed, it still looks great in every season.
Simmers this lot is In our d very little ce in our and place it
d is ideal or the lot
“The Central Park of Sunset Valley, as we know it, is nice and all that, but one would mostly hang around in only two major spots of that whole lot; the grilling area and the fountain. So it's really a waste of space to only use one third.�
If you’re planning a summer party, why not take out a bunch of books to make yourself look smarter? But, then again, you might go against that when your friends dare you to try the drunken cinnamon challenge. The Sunset Valley Campus Library looks great and works great. If you’ve got The Sims 3 World Adventures installed, you can effectively create a ‘loaning’ system, except you have to pay and you get to keep the books. Inside there’s also a computer lab, a conference room, a basement with restrooms and a beautifully landscaped and designed outdoor reading area with benches. This place has ten bookcases, and allows lots of space for your Sims. In our playtests, it worked smoothly and fitted into the neighborhood of Sunset Valley, but we imagine that it would look just as good in neighborhoods such as Twinbrook (Pets) and Starlight Shores (our editor’s personal favourite, from Showtime). However, if you plan to download this, look out for the non-included custom content that is in most of RomerJon17’s content—there’s always a full list in the download description. Turn over the page for the lot stats and the location of the download.
Perfect for picknicing By RomerJon17
By far the most summery creation in this issue, Bella’s National Park is a beautiful large park for your Sims to beat the heat in this summer. It’s the ideal size to replace the boring Central Park in Sunset Valley and has much more to do. It has two lakes for your Angler Sims to practice in, as well as a playground to keep the kids occupied. If it all gets too hot, you can go indoors into the café, which can be made functional with the use of the barista bar from The Sims 3 University, or with a food register from The Sims 3 World Advemtures. As with all of the designs we’ve featured this issue, it works very smoothly, even on less powerful machines. However, there’s a little bit to be desired in terms of render time because of the large amount of foliage in this lot. However, it’s still a beautiful lot and works well in Sunset Valley. No lot stats for this one—just a download link below.
This is the part of the magazine where we have interviews, building tips and much more. This issue, we’ve got a guide to building on houseboats with Island Paradise, and an interview with BuildItFilmItM from YouTube.
We’ve been lucky enough to talk to the very talented BuildItFilmItM from YouTube.
A low-down on how houseboats work in The Sims 3 Island Paradise as well as some building tips.
Our editor introduces his current household to us every month—he likes to change it up quite a lot.
Show us your talent for getting epic screenshots, and we might just get back to you with an epic prize!
Got a lot of paitence, perseverance and a love for building? This is a challenge for you...
We got a chance to talk to the house-building extraordinaire BuilditFilmitM from YouTube about his houses, and the thought process behind them.
I would have to say that Tropical Tides is my favorite. I really like the color scheme, and the layout. It has a center room, completely open to the weather, making it a great place to relax outside, while still inside the home. The landscaping is also some of my best. I really like the big flower beds, and plant covered car port.
It's a mix of both, actually. When a new expansion pack comes out, I'm always excited to try out all of the new live mode features. I also review all of the expansions and stuff packs on my channel, so I always try them out for about a week. After that, I'm pretty much in build/buy mode until the next pack comes out!
For my more modern builds, I'm always using 1/4 walls or "friezes". They can add so much detail to any lot, and can make great "half way" points between two floors. You can also use them when split leveling to create attached garages to foundation. I also add verandas to many of my builds, as a way to add more detail to the overall lot.
It depends. Sometimes when I'm in a building mood, I just like to jump right into the game and start experimenting with different floor plans. Other times, I like to research the style house that I'm building and draw out every wall, door, and window before I even enter the game. Both methods I've found to produce an equally nice product that I'm happy with in the end.
I've been building houses in The Sims for about 8 years! I was never much of a PC gamer in the early 2000s so I had no idea that The Sims existed anywhere else than the PlayStation 2. (My console of choice). Even then, I loved building one storey houses with no roofs in the console version. After I discovered YouTube in 2007, I saw The Sims 2 for PC, and was stunned by the great building tools. Of course being so new to the game, I picked up The Sims 2 Open for Business before buying the base game! I was so disappointed. Although once I bought Double Deluxe, I made it my mission to collect every expansion. Ever since, The Sims has been my favorite game franchise, and I'm probably going to keep playing for as long as they keep being made!
George Bishop fills u s in on how h ou seboats work in the newest expansion pack, The Sims 3 Islan Paradise, and offers some building tips for those th want to set sail for good in Isla Paradiso.
nd hat
In The Sims 3 Island Paradise (EP11), we were given the chance to take our Sims out on the water for the first time. If you have Sims who’s hearts are out on the water, they’ll love to come and live on a houseboat, a new type of lot for your Sim’s houses. It’s basically only avaliable in Isla Paradiso, the world that comes bundled with EP11. It is possible to build ports for houseboats in other worlds, but it would be very fiddly and hard to do. When you load up the lot selection screen, you can choose one of quite a few ports around the world, and can then choose the type of houseboat you want. The only free one is a small barge. You can choose from four sizes and between a barge and a curved bow ship. There are extreme space limitations on a houseboat, so you’ll have to be careful. It’s best to build a rooftop garden and use ladders as opposed to stairs. However, place ladders outside or else you’ll have a gaping hole in your roof. Build right to the edge of your lot, and paint the actual barge by just zooming out and pressing shift to cover the entire barge with paint. You can also use CASt to paint it. You’re never locked down to one port with a houseboat and it’s free to change port, even though prices are displayed whilst you choose a port. It’s worth building up a Handiness skill though and upgrading the boat to autopilot— because it takes ages for your Sims to drive it.
Meet my
Sims
He’s a proper ladies man. He has the Master Romancer lifetime wish (he wants to WooHoo with 5 different Sims in 5 different places). He’s a very handsome young adult who’s slowly working his way through the ladies in Isla Paradiso, taking them back to his houseboat for some fun on the water.
His hear lifetim $40,000 fro man, and so a house
rt is out on the water, and has the me wish of Deep Sea Diver (make om diving). He’s not such a ladies o far hasn’t found love. He shares boat with his room-mate Marcus.
We want you to send in your entries fo tion. Simply take a screenshot or have fits this theme:
“Buste
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smagazineofficial@g The winning picture will be featured in the next issue and get snapping!
or this issue’s photo competiyour Sim take a picture that
ed!”
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gmail.com you’ve got until then to enter! Good luck and
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USE ANY CUSTOM CONTENT YOU LIKE—BUT NO CUSTOM BUILDINGS, YOU HAVE T BUILD THEM!
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MUST HAVE AT LEAST 1 OF EACH RABBITHOLE (BISTRO, THEATRE, ETC)
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ms 3, empplete be en-
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VE LOTS
And now we’re going to showcase the best houses we’ve found this month and put them together in a nice, neat section in SMAGAZINE this month. Flip to the front or the back to see how you could have your creations featured in the next issue. Also—sorry from the editor! We only have 3 houses this issue because of time constraints. More next time.
Kicking it off with a house made by the S Team, it’s much better on the inside than on the outside. By a lot.
An epic island paradise for your Sims to live in whilst they’re off diving or managing their resort.
The favored house of our star guest BuildItFilmItM.
We’re certain that this house looks a lot better inside than it does outside. The colourful, bright and very individual interior style uses a lot of custom content from ModTheSims and Around The Sims 3, as well as content from most expansion packs. The floor plan of this house is nice—there’s an open plan living/dining/kitchen area near the front door, as well as sliding doors that open out onto the back garden. Then, there is one narrow hallway leading off from the living room that has doors opening out into the double bedroom, bathroom/laundry room and the study/gym/spare room. This house might not have a lot of room for large expansions, it’s very nice to meddle with the interior design. All of the rooms in this house feature fully painted walls that feature different colours in each wall (created using CASt), such as a teal-blue in the main living space, green in the study and orange in the bedroom. This house is fully furnished with luxury furnishings, yet leaving a contemporary and modern feel around the house. This house will set you back about §32,000 but it isn’t up for download, due to the huge amounts of CC. It’s a really nice house. It has the potential to start as a bachelor pad and then move on to bigger things, such as becoming a family home with two bedrooms—but with quite a tight squeeze. Want to remodel this house? Change it in the same way it was built—cheap materials changed using CASt to look quite sophisticated. Turn over on to the next page for the lot stats.
Welcome to Isla Paradiso, where the sun always shines and there’s adventures aplenty. More importantly, welcome to Coastal Shells, a beautiful house built on it’s own private island by Steph Sims. Coastal Shells is a two-storey house with a large back and front garden. The back garden features a hot tub, swimming pool and a dock for your boats.
Inside, there’s 4 bedrooms for your Sims to sleep in, so there’s plenty of room for expansion. There is a lovely living/dining area inside, and the house also features two upstairs bathrooms and one downstairs bathroom. The house also has an indoor swimming pool as well, so you can still take a dip, even if it’s raining outside (that is, if you have The Sims 3 Seasons installed). This house is perfect for sunny or rainy days, as it also has a large fireplace, a grand piano (that’s just one of the many skill objects in the house) and a few computers dotted around the house. Also, did we mention that the dining area has a twostory high ceiling? However, the thing that sets this house apart from other houses is the beautiful detailing and landscaping. The entire house is beautifully adorned with plants and wall decorations, and the house has a beautiful lush green garden. Still want to know more? Turn over for the lot stats.
Tropical Tides 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom house for families
Tropical Tides is BuildItFilmItM’s favourite house of his—we don’t blame him. This house is a beauty. We definitely saved the best ‘til last! This is a two-storey house with plenty of spacious rooms and beautifully decorated areas. On his website, it reads ‘Come home to paradise! This 3 Bedroom, 3 Bathroom home is perfect for a medium sized family, with beautiful ocean views.’ This house looks best in Sunlit Tides, the world the house was originally built in, but we’re sure it’ll look just as good in Isla Paradiso, the new world that comes bundled with The Sim s 3 Island Paradise.
DOWNLOAD it here
George Editor
e Bishop