Building Contest Rules

[AriaGirl77]

For each contest a sim or group of sims will tell a story to explain what kind of house they are looking for.  It will be your job to build them the home of their dreams!  Each story and set of specifications will be provided with the rules of each individual contest.

The following rules will apply to every contest unless otherwise noted.

Procedure:

Once you have completed their home please upload it to the Sims 3 Exchange.  For instructions on how to upload to the Sims 3 Exchange, click here.  In the Lot Description on the Exchange you must mention that it is an entry for a building contest on Carl & Pam's Sims 3 Forum.  Then return here to submit your entry.  You may include up to 5 single images of your house.  Please use the photobucket instructions for uploading images rather than the in-house image uploader.  We'll be able to see the full size image with Photobucket (or another hosting service) where as the in-house service only provides thumbnails that have to be clicked.  In addition, you must include the following information:

1. Name of your house
2. Link to your house on the Exchange
3. Lot size
4. Items used from The Sims 3 Store
5. Description of the house

Rules:

1. Players must go into Edit Town and build on a vacant lot, making sure the final value of the lot does not exceed the requirements of the contest before you exit Edit Town mode.  Ignore any reduction in value once in live play mode that may be caused by depreciation.
2. No discussion is allowed on the submission thread until voting is complete.  Any posts for anything other than submission of a house to be judged will be deleted.
3. The use of mods or third party custom content is strictly prohibited.
4. Expansion Pack items & free items from The Store are allowed.  Please make note of any such items on the entry form.
5. The "moveobjects on" cheat is allowed, but no others.

Judging:

Contestants will have 1 month to submit entries.  At that point, a poll will be posted and everyone will have the opportunity to vote on which 3 houses they think are best.  Voting will be locked at the end of the voting period, after which the winner will be determined.  Homes that do not meet the basic requirements outlined under Job Requirements will be automatically disqualified.

[AriaGirl77]

If you have any questions at all, now's the time to ask!  I will be traveling to attend a funeral June 23rd-29th and I'm not sure if I will have computer access while I'm gone.  I will post the official contest thread on July 1st, and at that point you can get started on your marvelous creations.

[Pam]

Thanks Aria!  I made this post sticky so it will stay at the top of the board.  Everyone should note that these are the general contest rules and that each individual contest will be subject to these rules, as well as the special rules for that particular contest.

[pallyndrome]

Sounds good. Hope this doesn't sound like a stupid question, but how do you work out lot size?

[Pam]

I imagine lot size will be part of the individual contest rules each month. 

[pallyndrome]

No, I meant, is there a way to check lot size after you've finished building? Or do you have to remember what it was from when you placed the lot?

[AriaGirl77]

I'm pretty sure that when you upload to the exchange it will tell the lot size.  But it's simple enough to jot it down before you start building so that you know for sure.

[samoht04]

When you go into Edit Town Mode and select your house/lot then it will show up in the same panel that opens as the upload one.

[Twinmum]

Just a question about the 5 screenshots. So they to be posted here - I'm guessing just the lot itself goes to the exchange. Also, do they have to be straight screenshots or can we merge 2 pics to be one.

like this


Guess I'm going to have to get used to the exchange as I've never used it before.

Norma

[Pam]

I would say straight screenshots.  Not everyone knows how to put an image inside another image and we want to keep it fair.  Everyone will have five images of their house to post on the contest thread.

[Schipperke]

Guess I'm going to have to get used to the exchange as I've never used it before.

Norma

I've never used the exchange either.  Can someone explain how it works?

[Archer0]

There's lots of guides on the web that explain this procedure.  It's pretty simple.  Here's a nice one I googled at the official Sims 3 website:

http://www.thesims3.com/contentDetail.html?contentId=28671

It came from this thread:  http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/205.page

The Creative Corner forum on the official site, has a plethora of information on building in general too.  I found it invaluable when I started building.  I am by no means even an amateur yet, just a newbie still.

Edit:  Hopefully they get all the problems cleared up with the exchange before this contest starts.  There's a sticky on the official Sims 3 forums as of 6/18 where they are recommending people NOT upload or download anything from the exchange.

http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/217837.page

^Edit:  6/23  There's an update on the link right above this.  Apparnently they are saying it's ok to upload and download again to the Exchange, but it's possible people may have downloaded a corrupt file that will slow down your game dramatically.  Thanks to a forum poster, they have instructions listed on how to remove the file.

[dannyr783]

Some things to consider...

Will moveobjects be allowed in the contest? Aslong as the stuff remains functional, it should be fine. If not on the inside, in my opinion, it should be allowed for landscaping, to combine flowers and stuff.

Will constrainelevation false be used?? I don't think it should be allowed, since it creates some ugly side-effects, and isn't entirely needed.

[AriaGirl77]

Archer0 - Yes, I'm hoping they clear up the exchange issues before we start.  If they're still having problems by then obviously we won't be using the exchange and will only vote based on screen shots, which is a bummer because I had planned to download every contestant's home to check it out for myself. 

dannyr783 - I will allow moveobjects, but that is the only cheat allowed.  I'll edit the rules to reflect that.

[Pam]

Aria,

We'll need our own step-by-step instructions on how to upload to the Exchange.  Would you mind writing them?  Then they will need to be attached as part of the rules for every contest.  Thanks!

[AriaGirl77]

I can certainly do that.  I'll have it ready on July 1st.

[howrseluver1999]

I am new to Carl and Pam's Sims 3 Forum, so I have a question to ask, do I have to join the building contest?   

[Pam]

I am new to Carl and Pam's Sims 3 Forum, so I have a question to ask, do I have to join the building contest?   

No, not at all.  It's completely voluntary for those who wish to participate.  Same with the challenge tournament.  We're just trying to provide activities for our members who wish to be involved.

[Joria]

Is there a time frame/limit for this challenge?  I'm working on Crazy 8's but am pretty sure I can also do the building.  I"ve been dying to do one anyway.  Just make my 8's Sims house the house, or is that not fair?

[samoht04]

Is there a time frame/limit for this challenge?  I'm working on Crazy 8's but am pretty sure I can also do the building.  I"ve been dying to do one anyway.  Just make my 8's Sims house the house, or is that not fair?

The time frame is 2 weeks to build and 2 weeks to vote.

I see nothing wrong with that but you may have to build the house before moving the sim in to keep it fair, after uploading it and putting your entry on here then move your challenge sim in. There is no point in making these houses and then not having other sims move in to them. So basically as long as you build the house first, but make sure it meets the challenges requirements!

[Pam]

Is there a time frame/limit for this challenge?  I'm working on Crazy 8's but am pretty sure I can also do the building.  I"ve been dying to do one anyway.  Just make my 8's Sims house the house, or is that not fair?

Each building contest will have a specific set of requirements to be met and you'll have to build your house fresh to submit it to the contest for voting.  What you do with the house after the contest is up to you and the restrictions for whatever challenge you're working on.  The first Building Contest is due to start July 1, but AriaGirl is away for personal reasons and hasn't been able to post the rules.  We may have to postpone the first contest until August 1 to allow her time to get everything ready and organized.

[Joria]

I already have at least 3 stories and houses in mind and have been jonesing to get going on this.  I hope Aria is doing ok, so if she needs more time, hey, we can all wait awhile and just hone those ideas to perfection.  Right?  I can really see this contest as an ongoing thing.  Meanwhile, there is no way I'm going to be higher than the last slot in that Crazy 8's challenge!  I think I've already logged in more days than you did.  Ah well, chalk it up to learning experience and head for the next challenge with a high heart.

Edit:  Pam, I just happened to think.  If we are not allowed any cheats except move objects, it's going to be very difficult to build the home of their dreams with the short amount of funds you start off with.  I think motherlode should be allowed up to a certain cash amount to be determined by Aria or you, or it would have to be a starter home and nothing else or you will spend all your time trying to make money for the Sim(s) that are going to use it.  It would mean, once again, making a new Sim, going through the process of setting up his/her cash reserve, and THEN building a house, and that could take more than a month to accomplish.  Am I right or am I missing something?  Or would you just take any random Sim and build in Edit Town mode?

[Swede1992]

Yeah I agree with Joria; the familyfunds cheat would logically be my choice for fine-adjusting the economic level of the family (for other times when the money bar maybe is a little higher as well). Or are we supposed to build the house without a family in Edit Town and just watch the value meter?

[samoht04]

The Idea was to build it within a budget of a single sim (for this challenge) So there would be no need for the money cheats unless it states that you will.

@Aria - Maybe you could upload the challenge sim to the exchange?

[Twinmum]

I wouldn't think we need the actual sim. I just assumed we go into edit town and build a house with no sim, just build within the 16,500 budget. Keeping within that budget is possible, it's no different to making a new sim and moving them in to a house with the standard starting funds.

Norma

[Pam]

There's no need to have a Sim.  Just to into Edit Town and build on a vacant lot.  The value of the finished lot cannot exceed the amount specified in the rules for that month's contest.  The amount for the July contest is set at $16,500 and is to be a starter house, but using the other criteria when designing it.  As we continue forward with more contests, the values will change along with the specific criteria.  There won't be any need for money cheats because when builting on a vacant lot without a Sim, you don't have financial limits.  You just build until you get what you want.

As for having stories and houses already in mind, I don't know if that will help you much with the contests here.  Each contest will be designed by AriaGirl with help from Samoht.  They will be deciding the background stories and the requirements for each contest.

Thanks everyone for all the comments and questions.  Like I've said before, this is a work in progress and we're learning as we go. 

[Joria]

For each contest a sim or group of sims will tell a story to explain what kind of house they are looking for.  It will be your job to build them the home of their dreams!

It should say in the rules, "chosen by AriaGirl" or whatever.  It doesn't seem like the house of their dreams would be someone elses idea of a dream otherwise.  So that was a little confusing to me therefor my coming up with a bunch of story lines and houses to match.  Hey, nothing says I can't build a story house of my own just for fun, right? lol

[Pam]

I'm sorry that wasn't clear, Joria.  The story for each contest will be provided with the rules of each contest.  I'll edit the rules to hopefully be more clear. 

[Gheez]

Hi, thought I'd post here, rather than in the actual entry bit (for the July '10 contest). 

I've just created and uploaded to the exchange the house I created as an entry in the contest.  (I enjoyed the contest, by the way, made a change from just moving houses in the other challenge.)  There were two 'oddities'.

One
I typed in the web address as requested, however, on the description on the EA site, the web address has changed to:
www.carls-sims-3-forum.com/index.php/topic,****.0.html

If I should enter any future building contests, would you be able to advise what web address you'd like us to include as I guess we're not going to be able to include the 'actual' web address?

Two
Hopefully this won't affect anything either but I've got a message above the 'add to game' button. The message is under the heading 'contains' and tells me to 'please update my game'.

I don't really understand. My game is up-to-date, according to my launcher.  I've got base game, WA and Ambitions.  Launcher says that the version is 4.2.32  (base 1.14.11, WA 2.9.10 - I, rather nerdishly, wrote those down when I updated and installed Ambitions a few days ago.)

I've looked at the other entries and they also suggest that I need to update my game.  So it's not just my house with a possible problem.   However, this might not be a problem at all - does anyone know if it is just an issue with the exchange?

Apologies if this sounds all confused, it's gone 2.30am here and I really should have called it a night long ago.

[Pam]

When I uploaded my entry, I just typed "http://www.carls-sims-3-forum.com" as the web address.  It didn't make a link, but anyone can copy/paste it into their browser.

As for the "update your game" issue, I got in touch with Electronic Arts Customer Support once about that and was told that it's just an error in the Exchange.  If you don't have any notices to upload any updates, you're fine.  The houses with that notation on them should still work for you.

[Gheez]

Thank you very much.

I'll use the link that you suggest in the future and thanks for explaining about the error on the Exchange.

[Da Vinci]

What is the price limit?

[Metropolis Man]

what is the price limit?

This will vary month to month. Check the July contest thread for its particular specifics.

[samoht04]

Each challenge has it's own Price Limit and the one for the July Challenge is $16,500.  But It will vary from the type of challenge and size etc.

[Da Vinci]

Thanks, this should be fun! does the interior of the house count?

[samoht04]

The Price is the whole house which you need to make for the challenge so for the July Challenge it is a starter home within the budget all furnished.

- The July Contest submitting time ends soon so you better hurry! -

[AriaGirl77]

Our first building contest ends July 17th at midnight!  Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

[The Illuminator]

I just can't do this *sigh* Every time I try to build a nice starter home, it turns out to be too expensive, or it's just horribly ugly... I'd rather wait for the next building challenge; there will be one, right Ariagirl?

[AriaGirl77]

Yes, the next challenge is slated to start August 1st.

I'm sorry you're having trouble with the current challenge, Illuminator.  Have you looked at the other entries to get some ideas?  The easiest way to cut cost is to purchase less expensive furniture. 

[samoht04]

And don't go overboard on size, reduce the space to the minimum, it saves some cash and looks better than an empty space you can't afford to fill. 

[Da Vinci]

When can you reveal the specifics for the next challenge? I cant wait!

[AriaGirl77]

You can be sure that all will be revealed in due time.

[Pam]

I just can't do this *sigh* Every time I try to build a nice starter home, it turns out to be too expensive, or it's just horribly ugly... I'd rather wait for the next building challenge; there will be one, right Ariagirl?

Have you looked at TommyT's article on beginning homebuilding?  There's a lot of great information on how to keep costs down.  Click here to visit Beginner: House Ideas and Design Tips.

[The Illuminator]

Have you looked at TommyT's article on beginning homebuilding?  There's a lot of great information on how to keep costs down.  Click here to visit Beginner: House Ideas and Design Tips.

Of course I did Pam! Thanks for mentioning though. I won't try this challenge, but you'll see I'm quite a builder with a larger budget!

[Pam]

Well, to be honest, I surprised myself with my entry.  I never thought I'd be able to build anything worth submitting to the contest.  But I was wrong and I was proud of myself! 

[MomOfMany]

I have a silly question. I would like to participate in the August challenge but don't know how to go about making a house without the family. Do I make a start with a new town load up or do I go to an existing town that I have a family in and edit there?

[Pam]

I opened one of my families and used Edit Town to build the house on an empty lot.  I took the interior pictures while still in Edit Town, then took the outdoor pictures in Live Mode.  It won't change your family's money, either.  When you build in Edit Town everything you do just adds to the price of the lot.

I hope this is helpful. 

[MomOfMany]

It is thanks Pam!

[MomOfMany]

And now I have another question. Which price should be used? The price it says before you stop building and go back to edit town or the price in edit town after it has been built. Seems trivial but mine dropped a good 3,000 once I exited building and reentered edit town.

[Pam]

It's the value of the house while you're building it.  I don't know why it would reduce itself when you go back into the town.

[Twinmum]

Yes, the price thing is strange. I've noticed it just a couple of times, mainly when I have been very conscious of the price. For example, for this latest contest, I started building a house last night before bed and I got seriously close to the price limit. I saved it and turned in, then when I reloaded it this morning it was down about 1500 - not nearly as much as I need to shave off but it's a start. The price change does seem to be a one off thing for each lot though, it won't come down again next time you go back to it.

Norma

[Pam]

Now that I think about it, this might be associated with depreciation.  It happens when you buy a house in-game, but I didn't think it would happen to a house under construction.  I'm going to ask AriaGirl and Metro to stop by this thread and give their suggestions.

[LenaLJ]

I saw that too last time - but I just thought that I had deleted some items. But the more I think about it, I can't remember that I deleted something before saving and exiting.

[MomOfMany]

Now that I think about it, this might be associated with depreciation.  It happens when you buy a house in-game, but I didn't think it would happen to a house under construction.  I'm going to ask AriaGirl and Metro to stop by this thread and give their suggestions.

That is what I assumed it was but then I wasn't sure which price was the correct one to use to I will hold off on posting anything till you let me know for sure.
I don't know if this is to much to ask here if so I will move it but for August they want a garden is it possible to put in vegetables from build mode or is there a different way to do that?

[Metropolis Man]

That is what I assumed it was but then I wasn't sure which price was the correct one to use to I will hold off on posting anything till you let me know for sure.
I don't know if this is to much to ask here if so I will move it but for August they want a garden is it possible to put in vegetables from build mode or is there a different way to do that?

My recommendation last night to Pam and Aria was for participants to ignore the deflation that occurs after leaving Edit Town. Everyone has x simoleans to work with per contest and that's all that's important.

[MomOfMany]

The deflation takes place in the edit town mode when you finished building. So the price that should be used is the price before you finish building? Correct? But then I have an additional question what about those who build part of the house then save and come back to it later. Then get deflation from leaving the build mode? Does it then need to be built in one sitting?

[AriaGirl77]

As long as no one is living in the house it shouldn't depreciate in value.  I will do some testing to make sure that this is true, but I'm nearly certain that you have to have a sim living there to get depreciation.

For the August contest the only thing that is expected in the garden is a place for one, you do not have to plant any plants in order to meet the requirement of having a gardening space.

To make things more clear I have amended the rules to say that your value should be what you see in the window in Edit Town mode before you exit.

[MomOfMany]

I saw the amendment for the rules and wanted to clarify that I never left edit town mode. And I haven't saved my file it is still open on the computer. What I did was complete the house then click the edit town button that takes the place of the original live mode and that is when it depreciated.

[AriaGirl77]

I didn't know that you could choose Edit Town as an option when you were already in Edit town mode.  That's so odd.  I say as long as you met the price points before you did whatever it was that caused the depreciation then that's fine.  Just include the amount pre-depreciation (if you remember it) and call it good.  The exact numbers aren't that important anyway, the important part is that you didn't exceed the amount given in the rules.  If it depreciates AFTER that, then so be it.

[MomOfMany]

I do remember it but people who don't finish all at once will have an advantage as far as money goes. Because when you build the house it says the value in the top and when you save the house the value will depreciate.
When you finish the home do you just hit the save while still on the lot then? I am confused as to what I might have did differently if no one else is seeing this depreciation. When I finished with the house and lot I went back to the edit town screen (you know where it zooms out and you can see the whole town). There is a button where the live mode normally is in game play and if you hoover over it it says edit town mode and that is what I click on when I finished with the lot. Is that not the correct way of doing it?
Also have you had the chance to test out the depreciation yet? Because I am wondering if maybe I did something wrong.
Sorry if I am being a pain just trying to figure out what I have done so differently.

[Pam]

I've asked moderator TommyT to come by and see if he knows anything more about this.  He's got a great deal of advanced building experience and may have some thoughts to add.

[Twinmum]

As long as no one is living in the house it shouldn't depreciate in value.  I will do some testing to make sure that this is true, but I'm nearly certain that you have to have a sim living there to get depreciation.

No, it can depreciate without sims living there. I don't mean to drag this out, but just wanted to clear a few things up, so I've just been building and I thought I would test a few things. To start I began a new game and instead of selecting a household to move in, I went straight to Edit Town, selected a block and started building (no sims living there). When you are building, you have to select edit town again to save, which I did a few times and the value stayed the same. I went back in and did some more building, decorating and furnishing and while still in build mode the value of the lot was 26,747 furnished and 24,102 unfurnished. Then I went back to edit town and saved. At that screen then, if I hovered over the house it said the value was 25, 487. So to further test, I selected a household to move in and hovered over the house and it said the value was 25,487 furnished and 22,842 unfurnished.
I would hazard a guess and say everyone that builds would have this depreciation on completion, but might not realise it. So I would take the post depreciation price as the final price, as this is the one important to somebody buying the house. Of course that call is not up to me for the purpose of the contest, just my opinion.

[Pam]

@Twinmum:  After seeing the depreciated price from the map view, did you go back to that lot as if you were going to build on it some more?  If so, did the depreciated price show up in the upper left corner?

[Twinmum]

Yes, I then canceled the family without moving them in and returned to edit town and selected it to continue building and the prices now showing in build mode are the lower ones.

Norma

[Saltypaws]

I am going to throw my two cents worth in.  I just built my little house and the price stayed the same no matter what I did.  I stopped building and took note of the price, unfurnished and furnished and both stayed the same when I went out of it and then when I moused over the house icon, still the same.  I went back in finished up, saved, took note of the amount, went back out and it is still the same, no change.  So not quite sure what the difference is.  I also started building without a sim in the house.

[Pam]

Well, this is a weird situation.  Let's see if anyone else has anything to add and see how Aria wants to handle it.

[Twinmum]

Salty, did you add anything from buy mode? I just went back added a few items from buy mode and I had the depreciation happen again on saving. Then tried again but just added things from build mode, fireplace and a huge pool to really up the price and it stayed at 34,890.

I don't understand it, but it seems to be furnishings that depreciate, but not all. But then, when you buy a house and select unfurnished, you still get things like counters and major appliances and plumbing so maybe somethings have a builtin code to depreciate straight away while others take a bit of time with sims in the house. Just a thought - shoot me now if I'm rambling lol

Norma

[Saltypaws]

I added some furniture and some counters, but nothing still changed after that.  I tend to agree, that it might be furnishings, I just don't know why one would depreciate and not another.  There is probably a good explanation to this, but my brain is screaming at me that it needs to sleep.  I have been building and writing all day, I need a nap. lol.

Well, hope it gets figured out.  I am sure it will eventually.  Night all.

[AriaGirl77]

Off to test and see if I can replicate what you did.  Thanks for the additional info, it helps.

[AriaGirl77]

This is so strange, I don't know how you're having this problem Norma.  I just went into a new game, new lot, built a tiny house, and then went into buy mode and bought the most expensive items I could, including paintings and appliances.  And then I clicked edit town, and the value was unchanged.  And then I went into play a sim and have them call to "move" and see if the value would be different that way, and it wasn't.

If anyone else has any idea why this is happening I'm all ears!

The whole point of the rule though is to limit the amount that people can spend on their house.  I want to put everyone on the same playing field as far as budget is concerned, so if you are getting a cheaper value, and then able to go back in and spend more money than everyone else, then that's a problem.  Although at this point, I'm not sure how to fix it.  I hate to make you re-do your work, so hopefully someone will have a smart idea on how to fix it.

[Twinmum]

I can understand the need for everyone to be on a level playing field, but I really did think everyone's game behaved the same, it is mentioned in TommyT's home building guide -

Build Mode Discount?: I'm not sure on the specifics of this, but if I enter Edit Town mode and choose the Build/Buy option, click on an empty lot and build a house, then return to Edit Town and then choose Build/Buy on the same house - its final price is lower (that's a lot of commas!). Perhaps the game considers the house 'used' like in The Sims 2? Regardless, its a good way to save a few simoleons.

I might do some more testing  and start a thread on the building board (so as not to clutter up this one) I thought if I could get a few people to build basically the same thing,  use the same furnishings etc. and see then if there is a difference between results.

Norma

[Pam]

I might do some more testing  and start a thread on the building board (so as not to clutter up this one) I thought if I could get a few people to build basically the same thing,  use the same furnishings etc. and see then if there is a difference between results.

Norma

That's a very good idea.  Go ahead and start a new thread about this issue, if you haven't done so already.

[TommyT]

I've had the same results as Twinmum and momofmany, I always experience depreciation in both build and buy mode objects - even before Sims move in.  Even if I build a house in one sitting it depreciates as soon as I hit edit town mode to save.  This is with me building through the construction option when you click on a lot, not with an active household Sim building on their own lot.

[samoht04]

Post results in this thread - http://www.carls-sims-3-forum.com/index.php/topic,1669.0.html

There isn't much we can do about the Differences in Building costs apart from warn people or suggest a certain lot to build on.

[Metropolis Man]

Perhaps the simplest way to handle this dilemma for future building contests is this:

Aria creates a stock character(s) and loads them via cheats with the exact amount of money each participant is allowed and puts them on an empty lot of her choosing. Then, she uploads the saved file to the Exchange for everyone to grab and build the house. I don't know enough about building/depreciation and all the Edit Town stuff to know if this would be better or not. But, instead of working in Edit Town, this way, everyone would be playing the same saved file.

[AriaGirl77]

I think Metro's idea is really good.  It does exactly what I want it to do, plus it allows people to save and exit as they like without penalty.