Finding Back Used Wallpapers & Floors
Having difficulty finding back specific wallpapers and/or floors that you've previously used in your build? Always needing to squint and spend an enormous amount of time to find that one option can become old quickly. Even to the most passionate of builders!
But then I read about this clever trick somewhere. While this tip won't give you that precious ‘picker tool’ first introduced in The Sims 2, it will save you a bit of time!
While in the Wallpaper or Floor tool, hold CTRL while hovering over a wallpaper or floor. This will show you the price (give or take 1-2 simoleons), giving you an accurate clue on where to look.
Neat!
Invisible Objects
Yakko's Invisible Floor
What inspired me to write this article in the first place, was my wheer inability to find an invisible floor tile for a long time. “Probably doesn't exist,” I almost concluded as my Google-fu didn't give me the results I was hoping for.
But fortunately, I was proven wrong by Yakko's invisible floor:
I've found this to be mainly useful for use with skylight objects, but theycan be used in any other creative situation where you think you might need them. Very useful building tool for anyone still playing The Sims 1!
Pros:
- Easy and hassle-free to use
- Allows for creating skylights and other creative uses
Cons:
- None that I could find
Invisible Door
If you're looking for an invisible door (or wallpaper), you might consider using these Intersectable Door Cutouts by Poetica Palace:
Go To Details (Poetica Palace)
These may come in handy in situations where you'd like the game to generate roofs, for example. If you have any other uses, don't hesitate to let me know!
Pros:
- Easy to use, just like the invisible floor
- Makes it possible to create roofs aove certain areas (for patios and other uses)
Cons:
- The top part of the wall will still be visible
Invisible Burglar/Fire Alarms (Infinite Range)
Bothered by being able to see the burglar or fire alarm hanging about in your builds? If so, you can find an invisible burglar/fire alarm here!
Pros:
- Both objects are invisible and don't require you putting them against a wall
- Objects have an infinite range
Cons:
- The burglar alarm only goes off and doesn't catch the burglar…
- And the fire alarm doesn't extinguish the fire! :P
Modern Goodies
As you might've noticed from my builds, I'm quite the fan of modern architecture! Who knows, some day I'll branch out to the more traditional kinds of lots—but as it stands right now, I'm always on the lookout for modern objects.
While this won't be a comprehensive list, these will serve as a good starting point for building your modern lots!
HoneyB
This website had some great stairs, railings, doors, windows and other items for this game. Highly recommended!
Go To Archive (Saving The Sims Archive)
Natural Elements
Natural Elements offered a large range of sets and goodies for building your dream houses.
Go To Archive (Saving The Sims Archive)
Simply Styling
I love using the Simply Styling sets in my builds, especially the Coco and Dio living room sets.
Go To Archive (Saving The Sims Archive)
Editing Beyond Boundaries
This one may already be known to the more seasoned builders, but is still worth noting! Feeling limited by the boundaries The Sims 1 imposes on your building creativity?
Map Editing
If so, you may be relieved to use the following cheats (entered by opening the cheat prompt by pressing SHIFT-CTRL-C):
map_edit on
This cheat allows you to edit the boundaries used in the current lot of the game. This allows you to build on those tiles, or to change the floors on sidewalks and roads.
Activating it puts you in the map editing mode. You'll notice th epatterns on the screen, indicating which tiles you're allowed to build on. You can either activate or deactivate the tile by clikcing on it individually, or by clicking and dragging.
When you're done editing, open the cheat window again and type:
map_edit off
You can now use the default controls again. Congratulations, you regained some power over your map!
Moving Mail Box & Trash Can
The following cheat allows you some control over the placement of the mailbox, trashcan and some other items:
move_objects on
However, I found that The Sims 1 still limits you even with this cheat enabled (it doesn't allow you to put computers on any kind of table, for example).
But this may still be a useful cheat to edit beyond the boundaries a bit!
Conclusion
I hope you'll be able to build some amazing things using the tips provided. Please feel free to let me know if you have any other great tips!
Keep building and Sim on! :)