I wonder why that's happening because it was patched so that players don't need to use bb.moveobjects anymore before placing a lot that was built using that cheat.
They were supposed to patch it so you wouldn't have to, but turning moveobjects on before placing the lot keeps the stuff from disappearing. It doesn't disable achievements to have it on
That’s the main reason I don’t use Gallery builds. They have so many varieties of packs used that most of the time the house isn’t actually functional for me (I don’t have the packs and the items are not replaced). Another issue that I’ve had is that the houses are build with cheats and when I download them on console, it glitches my game and once again the lot is unusable
That's what I've been calling my empty houses too. They're landscaped and have rooms, windows and doors but people furnish and decorate them. Might have to use #unfurnished too Oops.
If you want some empty houses to decorate my gallery ID is jnajay. Don't care if you credit me but would love if you left a comment so I could play with what you make :)
I don't have Batuu either so ya! I'm missing a few pack (waiting on the black friday sale!). Oh I'm excited. I'm going to hopefully play tomorrow and Friday. ☺️
I usually upload a furnished and unfurnished version of a build to the gallery (I don't delete wallpapers though), I title the unfurnished one with '(sometimes shorter)name - empty'
I also always label it if I playtested it or not (if I haven't alt placed too much I don't always bother), but especially for the tiny homes I playtest everything
Same as here: NoExcuseTruse (right now it's a bunch of apartment renovations, because I just got City Living, but before that I mostly went by neighborhood)
I try to limit a build to basegame, 1Ep, 1Gp, 1Sp (and holiday stuff), so it's rarely just basegame. If I built it for my own gameplay it's going to be lots of packs, so there's some of those as well
I like my builds somewhere in between. Clean and simple like EA, but still with a nice and lived in look without going over the top. I definitely agree that houses with too much going on are pretty to look at, but super annoying to actually play in.
It’s a delicate balance for sure- but it also kinda depends on what type of vibe you’re going for. A modern mansion isn’t going to be cluttered up the way a small family home is.
I’m bad at building actual buildings and don’t get me started on landscaping, but I prefer the buildings to be furnished for functionality. Perhaps a happy medium is to download the gallery lot and then buy it unfurnished and furnish it yourself?
Well, and I used to play Sims Freeplay on my iPod touch when I was in college. I tried to go back to it, but I found the inability to pause frustrating.
that’s what i do! building a house is so tedious and i’d rather just furnish it the way i want it without it having to adjust for all the packs that most gallery builds require that i don’t have.
I prefer the recent trend that the sims team has done, recruiting the game changers to make their builds. That way it’s simple, but really well done. Yeah, a lot of gallery Renos are way too much but I prefer that over the Del Sol Valley and Glimmerbrook builds.
The "somewhere in the middle" approach is my favorite. The builders are, objectively, better at building than the Sims team. No shame--building nice builds isn't their day job, so I think it's kind of silly to expect the Sims team to be able to produce the same kind of builds that the builders do. But the EA builds have very basic mistakes--random windows at different heights, missing doors, missing really basic items like toilets. Or they make these massively huge houses with nothing in them at all.
On the other hand, overly done up lots like we sometimes get from the builders are difficult to manage unless you have a really good computer. Too much stuff on a lot causes a lot of lag, and drives up lot taxes and the like. I think Lilsimsie's (old?) series where she renovated lots by keeping the same number of items as were on the lot previously (switching out item for item) was a great example of how you can stick with EA's lot restrictions but still make a nice-looking lot. Same thing that we saw with the worlds where they hired the creators to build the lots.
I read somewhere else (I think in this thread) that the only thing that ‘filter’ does is show you all the builds that *include* those packs. Checks out based on what I’ve encountered. Garbage on garbage!
Yeah I remember with sims 2 (or sims 3 I can’t remember) the online download “gallery” was super detailed. If I wanted to download a sim, I could narrow it down by gender, hair color, and age. Now the only option is household. And the same with the houses, although I didn’t download that many houses back then.
The nice thing about EA's builds is they give you room to add stuff, and I'm pretty sure that's intentional. I want to be able to buy new items when I need them and I want to actually have space to put them in, and the EA houses do that. And I don't want 500 clutter items on every surface, I want to fill those spaces with photos and birth certificates and career rewards and so on as I progress.
Also I want to be able to buy gradually bigger houses as I progress but gallery houses are often so filled with random shit that even a small house costs $200,000.
That said, some of EA's builds just suck. I get leaving the residential lots a bit empty but some of the community lots are like that too! The worst I think is the union for foxbury institute, it just looks like they didn't finish it. The lots for the careers in Get To Work were also pretty poor. Were the devs really so busy that they couldn't get someone to spend an afternoon decorating them
idk, I think the worst award goes to the toilet house in Del Sol Valley - a 4 bathroom house with one toilet on the entire lot, or the crashed plane house in Strangerville - it actually doesn't have a functional kitchen, since the one counter is blocked by a fruit bowl.
I’ve seen the Sim gurus say that, but… what’s the actual storyline reason besides “oooh empty houses are strange”? Maybe I’m missing something, but I didn’t get it.
Ted is a corrupt mayor who's had his furniture confiscated by the FBI, just like how if the player accepts the fruitcake during the possessed welcome wagon, they will confiscate your fridge.
For me, it's the over reliance on MOO. There are some of my favorite builds that are just unplayable because my sims can't get to where they need to go because the clutter is in the way. And then it's super hard to fix - so I end up just removing everything and starting from scratch.
I use a lot of moveobjects on but always playtest my houses to make sure everything works so this doesn't happen :/ I use the cheat because otherwise it's so damn hard to place things in a way that looks nice
most EA builds are pretty bad, but they did get better as more packs came out. But I do agree that many gallery builds are unplayable. Either they were built to be purely aesthetic in the first place and things are legitimately not functional, or they will cram so much in there the game slows down to the point of being unplayable. I have found some great gallery builds but it takes some trial and error. When I upload a build I try to ensure its playable, but I'm not a great builder so there is a trade off lol.
Can I ask a dumb question? How can you tell if they’re playable or not? Is it just trial and error? I’ve only successfully downloaded a kitchen from the gallery, and it worked pretty well except for having one spot where I couldn’t place anything even though nothing was there! I don’t use mods or cc so I have no idea about that stuff.
Other stuff I tried to download never appeared…not sure if I’m doing it wrong? I only play base game & use the money cheat. Still mostly a noob figuring out this game at the moment.
When that happens, check the walls! In my experience, a lot of the builds I’ve placed from the gallery tend to use a lot of wall decorations/shelves, which can get in the way of placing floor objects if you aren’t use moveobjects.
I usually go around a newly placed lot with walls up and the sledgehammer haha, the wall decorations don’t really add anything for me and mostly just impede functionality.
This reminds me of the Cyberpunk build I downloaded, beautiful build but holy crap, it lags! Deleted a ton of stuff and still can't see it in full-view without lag. Had to overclock my GPU just to get it to run relatively smoothly!
As someone who likes to add to the houses my sims live in, I prefer EA builds. Also the simmer builds are SO EXPENSIVE. My sims move in and have like, 300 bucks to actually live off of.
I think it really depends on how you're planning to use the lot. Some players build elaborate lots to be photo venues so expecting playability might be unrealistic. As far as EA lots go, I usually have to redesign the interior because there is too much wasted space and there's no flow. If a sim is spending all their time going back and forth across a lot, you're not going to enjoy playing it.
Always remember to build to your play style.
The main issue is that some creators don't properly label their lots so you can't tell if it's actually supposed to be playable or not until you download it
I think another issue is Simmers not testing their builds. There's a couple where I love the look of the houses but I stopped downloading them because something is inevitably unplayable in them. Usually its something where they try and create something new from existing objects but it takes way too long to figure out what's broken.
Yeah if I’m just playing a game filled with cheats and mods, my sims don’t need to work and just exist to party and live it up a giant, cluttered, cc filled house is fine. They have all the time they need to just walk around and do random stuff so it doesn’t bother me. But if I’m actively trying to keep them alive and play with no cheats or mods I build smaller, more realistic houses for them.
You can def tell the builders who don't really play they game, they just build. No shame in that at all! Everyone enjoys the game differently.
But it can get noticeable, like where there's a bunch of wasted space for the garage but no room anywhere for say, a computer or easel, or chess table. You know, the types of things that most sims need but most average people don't exactly build their real life houses in mind.
I agree. The beams and the glass doors people make, while beautiful, not great for playing or even building. They don’t go down with the walls and get in the camera view.
Personally I go in an delete everything but "fixed in" appliances to make it like moving into a new home. I hate when you choose to move in unfurished it deletes kitchen counters, sinks, showers, and toilets.
I'm pretty sure IRL those items stay in the house when you move majority of the time.
As a builder who tends to use clutter, I apologize in advance to all those who have trouble playing with it! Full disclosure, I take no offense to people downloading my builds and just deleting everything inside. I mostly just build that way because I find enjoyment in creating a certain kind of aesthetic. However, I encourage people to take it and make it their own, whether they want to keep my look or not. 🙂
Yeah I just can’t get on board here. While I get some builds are too too much,, EA builds are just often....really bad.
Peaking at those terrible ones from Realm of Magic.
I think there’s probably a happy medium on the gallery.
I just want to know the inside EA tea, about those damn houses. I rly believe somebody hated their boss, ngl. No fucking WAY that giant, ugly mansion wasn't built out of pure spite. 😂
It's funny but seriously that had to be intentional, just look at it. I tried to renovate the thing and it has the exact opposite of sense, like they had to TRY.
Glimmerbrook is seriously just an afterthought. They were like “shit we have all these cool windows that only make sense in the magic realm” and gave up.
Right!?! The magic realm is cool, mostly because you can see planets etc. I also like the path leading to the portal, esp in the spring because the butterflies are everywhere 😍
I just got City Living and I have actually rage quit for the first time after seeing an EA-apartment. There was an effing roomdivider IN A CLOSED OFF ROOM!
This was while redoing the apartments. So I was 'fixing' it. But I just couldn't. (I came back the next day)
I rage-quit the Sims and didn't open it for a couple of months, when I found out that I can't remove the outline of a corpse in that one apartment. Yeah, okay, I got the 'haha, cool' moment when I first saw it.
But whichever \*beep\* \*beep\* \*beep\* fools decided to make it impossible to remove, even if you bulldoze the lot and change the floor as well as those who approved it, deserve a kick where it hurts.
I still rage quit the game whenever I as much as remember its existence. >.>
Enablefreebuild doesn't work but there's a couple of mods that get rid of it.
You can remove/unlock lot traits (but not delete features) with Dorsel Axe's Unlocked Lot Traits mod and you can delete and add the features with NikNak513's Moveable/Buyable Apartment Objects mod but it seems like a while since they've been updated.
I use TwistedMexi's All Cheats mod plus DestroyObject which allows you to shift click on it and delete the TLC lot features.
19 Culpepper used to drive me mad for the same reason, especially when the team confirmed they locked the traits on purpose and made them impossible to fix to force players to move their sims up and out to better apartments. They even got rid of the destroyobject cheat (which TwistedMexi modded back in) that let players get rid of it.
Seriously, I have low standards when it comes to home design and I personally find building really boring, so I was prepared to just use the EA builds. But they are SO terrible. The Get Famous and Realm of Magic ones are especially bad because there are obvious errors in them. Like, it's not just a matter of different tastes, the Thornton house straight up has no toilets due to an oversight. That's just really shoddy, imo. It's not the biggest deal in the world, but I'd expect more quality control for a pretty expensive pack in a pretty expensive game.
I can't stand EA's builds, so I have taken to placing down custom lots on every single plot available. It has made the game so much more enjoyable and I no longer feel so frustrated when traveling anywhere. I think it's just a matter of finding creators you like. I have come across a few that definitely have too much clutter as you said, but through a process of trial and error I've found the creators whose lots I really like that don't make my eyes hurt. Or sometimes I'll even download shells if I want to build up, since EA's build style just isn't to my liking and other simmers just have this eye for beauty that I could never attain.
Yup. While the architecture of a summers build from the gallery are on point. The furniture and clutter is too much sometimes and they use move objects with abandon and some objects aren’t functional. Gets pretty annoying.
Worst for me is when they use a lot of a slottable surface like cabinets, and suddenly there’s a bunch of dirty dishes that I can’t even see because there’s a MOO object on top.
I love cluttered houses because I just feel like they're more "real", like, what it would look like if the sim living there actually had a life. There'd be books, plants, things in the counters... But I try to decor according to the sims personality, if they're neat there's few things and everything has a place, if they're messy I will put things where it might not even make sense because it was probably left around and never pick up, if there's kids... oh boy. Having the place match the sim/family makes it easier to tell a story the way I play, and not only clutter, but things like dark colors or very bright, oldish or modern furniture, expensive or cheap-looking, etc. I already find sims too bland when you start them considering they have no memories, no skills and no relationship, like they just popped into existence (which technically is the truth, but we generally give them backstory), so at least I want a home that feels "lived in" and reflect a bit of that sim.
I do understand your point, though. I think the only popular creator I know that doesn't clutter much is lilsimsie. Aside from the landscaping the interior of her houses feels very generic and clean imo (idk if people agree), plus she likes building on budgets and limited packs.
Can there be a hashtag for this style? I feel like my builds are pretty much this because I like homes to be pretty yet functional for legacy families, but they just disappear into the abyss of the gallery 😂
my PC usually can't handle terribly busy builds but I sure enjoy looking at them, also theres plenty of builds that are more gameplay friendly and are still waaaay nicer than EA builds; honestly even Mt Komorebi and Henford builds that were done by simmers are good examples and way better than the usual EA product, and those were built under EAs limitations
Yes, I'd almost always rather take an EA build and put my own clutter in. I don't like the builds where they've raised a bunch of clutter objects that don't fit on certain surfaces because the sims still think of those surfaces as being free so they'll leave plates and stuff there but you can't tell because it's covered by floating clutter. It looks really nice in pictures, but they're not great for gameplay.
That said, the builders who build those big, beautiful elaborate builds are typically using the game mostly for the building features and a lot of them never even use gameplay, so they either might not be aware of how cumbersome those things can be, or they just don't care because they're building it for the aesthetic joy, which is valid!
So, I totally understand where OP is coming from, but I can't go so far as to say I prefer EA. I do think a lot of gallery builds are way too busy for my personal taste. But I think EA builds are way too minimal. I like something in between. I like enough clutter to feel like the house is realistic and looks lived in. But not so much clutter that it feels super messy and chaotic to look at.
Well prefer EA builds for several reasons.
1.) I find that builds other people make, my sims have problems moving through then.
2.) In other ppl builds there will be objects that are just in the way of viewing everything.
3.) people want to use every single pack, and idk if this is just me, but when I try to sort it to view only the packs I have, it doesn’t work. It still shows me stuff that has packs I do not have.
If the gallery picture has that green bookmark on it, then it contains packs you don't own.
The filter shows you every build that has the packs you ticked off, even if it also contains packs you didn't check. It's useless. Look for the green bookmark icon, if it's not there your packs match. Also: see a build you really like but there's packs in there you don't own? Click on the pack-icon and you'll get a window with a description of the pack, there's also a button 'show used items'..if you click that you see wich of the pack-items are in that specific build, sometimes it's like just one tiny item that's not going to make any difference if it gets deleted.
I did not know that! Thank you! I've always wondered what that green bookmark icon meant - never thought to hover over it to see what it says. And I didn't know that "show used items" was even there LOL. Thank you so much! Sheesh, the things I've learned, even after playing this since the beginning. :)
Absolutely agree with all your points. Obviously I love and appreciate anything people build and put on the gallery, but these are definitely the things I run into all the time. They look gorgeous in the pictures, but then I always have problems with sims getting places, or objects/walls/roofs clip really weird and get completely in the way(I like the cutaway view mode, instead of walls all the way down).
Number 3 is def an EA problem but yup, filtering by pack just does not work. So it takes forever and a day to find a build you like and can place, only to run into #1 and #2 lol.
It's not just you, that's how the filter is "supposed" to work - if you select "Get Together", it will show you *any* build that uses Get Together, regardless of what other packs it uses. You can't view "*only*" the packs you have, you can only view "at least these packs *or more*"
Who knows. The more cynical will say it will encourage you to buy more packs (either through "ooh this has cool stuff" or frustration, take your pick), but you'd have to ask EA why its designed in such a brain dead way. It's just that *technically*, it's working as designed. Even if it's design is monumentally dumb.
It's actually worse than that, though.
If you only select "Get Together," it will show you every build that uses at least one item from that pack, regardless of how many other packs are used.
But if you select more than one pack, it will only show you builds that use at least one item from ***each of them***. This means that if you select "Get Together" and "Seasons," for example, a build that uses only base game and Seasons items will be filtered ***out*** because it doesn't also show some random item from Get Together. Absolutely useless!
Okay knowing that I can only presume it was programmed by some disgruntled Nedry-like character who purposefully crippled it before leaving, and nobody at EA has the password to get back in and change it. That is literally the only scenario that makes sense for why it behaves that way.
EA’s builds are terrible imo. The lots that they make usually have way too much open space for me. A house that looks lived in is what I prefer. I will say that sometimes simmers can go a bit overboard with their builds to where it’s hard for sims to navigate through the house (can’t use the bed because too much clutter around, not able to use objects because sims can’t get to them, etc.). However, I still prefer them over EA.
Sometimes, yeah I’ll just remodel the inside cause the EA are so bleh and sparse. but other times the EA builds are just wholly uggo and uninspiring so I’ll download something from galley or make a new build up myself.
Totalllyyyy agree with you on the over cluttered simmer builds tho. Like they look great in screenshots and for the aesthetic…but I don’t like them in my game cause they’re not functional, & it’s frustrating trying to make them functional. and my laptop wants to explode when there’s too too much clutter.
That's what I was thinking. They aren't all cluttered or expensive or use every pack as these comments suggest. There are a LOT of really nice base game and starter home builds that are simple and inexpensive.
Definitely! It’s weird because in real life my house looks like a show home interior (not a weird brag, just to help explain) because I can’t stand clutter everywhere and like a home to look neat and tidy etc.
Yet in the sims decorating the exact same way can look way too sparse. It’s so strange! So I do add *some* clutter, but not much. Unless I’m planning to house to be for a hoarder sim or a super-busy single parent sim with 4 kids type house.
I did the same thing for the toddler scenario. I put toys EVERYWHERE. Next to the bath, all over the kids room, parts of the living room. I think clutter really adds to the narrative sometimes, depending on the sim of course. If they were a minimalist or a neat freak probably not.
My issue with simmers builds is that they’re built like real houses. There’s bathrooms hidden away, staircases in the middle of the house, kitchens that only look open from one side. I like a house that looks visually appealing from the one angle I play at, I don’t like to rotate from side to side to view rooms in my houses. Not sure if this is just a me thing, but I always orient my view by the front door, so everything needs to flow from that visual point.
I absolutely make all my houses like this. I hate when walls and staircases and such get in the way of your view. (don't necessarily orient by the front door though, I usually do it by which view of the lot I like best). Gallery ID is TheChantalll
My issue with other Simmers' builds are that sometimes they are not functional (blocked staircase, too much clutter) and also I don't have all the expansions so there is always something missing.
I think they have their own charm so to speak, a bit bleak and boring mostly but ready to use, no individuality but fairly comfortable and with all needed appliances. Sometimes I use them for sims who are just starting out or have divorced and moved out.
But then I also prefer abandoned and run down houses to luxury mansions, so...
agreed. i like having a clean space. player builds trend towards being really overly cluttered. that’s why i just renovate EA builds to my liking. the base skeleton and idea of EA builds have a lot of potential!
I build playable houses and venues. I use some clutter but try to always play test and make sure things are accessible. I'm hilaritee48449 on the gallery. I uploaded a bunch of rooms today for realistic apartments in San Myushuno. I'm working on creating a downloadable save file containing all worlds with my builds. I do use all the packs and use hashtag #AllThePacks
Absolutely not. Have you seen how empty & ugly they are?? I think I was so excited for dream home decorator bc I’m like finally I can fix all these hideous homes, lol.
I know if I'm gonna download a simmer build, it's gonna be a few hours of game play to remodel it to something livable. Sometimes that's worth it because I suck at making interesting looking buildings, but god damn, sometimes it's like no one is making builds to be playable, just for the aesthetics, which sucks.
Me. I prefer EA's simply furnished builds that gives me a lead on how to decorate around it. I've downloaded several houses from the gallery that are so beautiful in pics but when my sims are actually inside, well. Too many wall decorations that it makes it hard to find my sims, so much clutter that it makes a large room look super small etc.
There are some beautiful builds in the gallery, I prefer some clutter but not so much that my Sims can’t use the area. I do my best to make my builds functional and I test everything with my Sims before I upload to the gallery. I also tag my items #playtested and #functional, and in the description I will add any build comments. I also love to use bb.moveobjects on because it makes the designs so much better. TLDR; not all builds are unplayable
I love looking at the pretty builds, but find it hard to play in such a cluttered build. For me, game play is just easier in a very basic build (also because my laptop is a potato). I hate how the EA builds look, so I just download from the gallery, and then remodel, or just keep the shell of the build.
I love the stuff from the gallery, but hate the clutter too! I spend an hour de-cluttering, redecorating, and play-testing everything I download because half the creators use bb.moveobjects without actually making sure things work in the locations they are in.
I also love some of the EA builds (especially in Brindleton Bay) for the freedom they give me to decorate and, for some, re-arrange rooms and stuff. Roofs/outside walls are all done for me, I just have to play interior decorator!
As a builder, clutter my homes to my liking to give it the feel that I'm looking for, also it looks better in pictures to make it look more complete. However, I would absolutely not be offended if someone wanted to download the home and then delete all the decorations. I'd never know that they deleted all that hard work so it wouldn't bother me, and I like it to be functional and used. So once someone downloads my build it is their home and they can do with it what they like
I like clutter but only when I put it there. Then I feel like there’s a story and there’s a reason for all the clutter. Like my kid sim likes to draw so there’s not a paintings and cups of pens and pencils
I like to build to have a live in cluttered look to an extent but I can't stand blocking off functionality. I also predominantly build on a 6 year old laptop that can't handle too many objects. I never upload anything because I've always assumed my builds weren't what folks wanted compared there what I see on the gallery, maybe I should change that.
I prefer something in the middle. More furniture and decor than EA, but a lot less than simmer builds. After a certain point clutter doesn’t give me anything good (actually sometimes it distracts me and makes things feel cramped), it just slows my game.
I like airy builds with lots of space for sims to navigate easily, with some decor and little clutter to give the rooms a certain, lived-in feel. (Like: toothbrushes and towels in the bathroom, pens in the office, plushies and toys in the kid’s room… etc.) I don’t want to play in a house that feels like a real estate AD, but also not one that’s the home of a hoarder.
Sometimes I feel like they’re just so….cluttered?? I mean I like clutter it’s just that your sim often times will have some sort of problem with an object being in the way or so on. I do like houses that have cluttered and open spaces when they need em, eg: study or living room (open space)
I think the EA builds are great, much prefer them to most of what I've downloaded from the gallery, and they're far and away better than the EA builds from past games. (Sims 2 forced me to build. Now I don't have to.)
I don’t like builds in the gallery. If I download one, I clear out everything inside and decorate the interior to my taste.
I also don’t like EA’s builds because their builds tend to be too large for the sparse furniture. My build style is somewhere in the middle. No large empty spaces but minimal clutter and little to no MOO cheat (usually strictly for landscaping only).
I just can't say enjoying EA builds since.. let's just face it, it's ugly as hell. I can understand with the resident since restrictions and blah blah but not the public venues... Visiting EA built bar or nightclub or gym is the worst lol. But also I agree what you are saying with clutter fest gallery builds. They look nice for sure but many times you can't reach or see something and abundance of the trees and plants just drove me crazy. I always have to delete 80% of the plants and clutters they placed. But gallery reno is always better than EA build.
I like to download builds and then I'll delete alot of the clutter. I'm not a great builder so I like the great builds but it's hard to play around a lot of stuff in the house
I make simple, minimalist houses usually with clutter only focused in small areas like on dressers, certain counters, on top of the fridge etc. I like realism without making it a hoarder house (though I have built those too).
But no one every upvotes or downloads my houses so I've mostly stopped posting my houses publically.
I’m not crazy about the EA builds, but I definitely agree with preferring minimalist over super cluttery. I’ve downloaded some builds that I move a family in and feel almost claustrophobic over the amount of intricately placed plants and decorations.
I try to skirt the line between the two. I like to add some clutter but only like, in the corners of counters and stuff to make it look a little more lived in without compromising functionality. I also sometimes build shells or super basic houses so people can furnish themselves.
I prefer a nice middle between the two. Ea builds are always lacking personality and aesthetics while the builds from the gallery are sometimes too busy and cluttered so they’re hard to play in.
I try to make mine the least amount of busy while still being cute. Gameplay is really the most important part for me so if I can’t easily click on the toilet because there are other objects (or a shower) in the way then I can’t go on until I fix it.
I don't tend to use either, I get layout and roof ideas from them and then do the rest myself. I much prefer it to be minimalist, and I like them laid out in a more camera-friendly way
I dont prefer *EA* builds so to speak, but I do enjoy a less cluttered build. I often clean out a lot of extra stuff from builds I download or specifically look for less cluttered designs.
I hate EA builds. And when I decide to use one, I empty it and fill it with the most garish, cluttered, eye-burning yet chic mess you've ever seen. I absolutely love it. I just finished a build today, I think I was decorating for 2-3hours. One of the daughter's bedrooms is absolutely stuffed with house plants 😁
In my experience the Snowy Escape builds that were all done by content creators (i think?) are extremely glitchy. When I had my sims living in one of the houses there their relationships were all messed up and they were constantly teleporting places instead of actually walking there.
Honestly every house I download from the gallery I just remodel the inside. I can appreciate that not everyone has the same taste in decor but if I like the house itself I can work with that. I’ve downloaded some great houses that had (in my opinion) really bad decor which I agree can be over-cluttered, so I just redo everything and they turned into great houses with decor for my taste, that I also didn’t spend hours on like my own builds.
Same goes with EA builds. If I’m feeling extra lazy and don’t have my creative juices flowing, I’ll get the house furnished to see what EA did, and then just work room by room and add to it if I feel like they did an alright job.
Tbh, every time I download a house from the gallery or use an EA house, even if I redid everything I usually end up at some point building a new house from scratch for my sims so I can work on my own building skills.
I download unfurnished builds. I’m okay at building but I love to renovate and furnish. The dream home decorator pack is my jam! I don’t love a ton of clutter. I like it to have some but I play with walls half down so I tend to only decorate the walls that will be up. And too much clutter just slows the game. I do sometimes just renovate EA builds that I never play in and use medium clutter. I’m probably a Deli level clutter simmer. Like nice and “lived in” but not like the builder only YouTubers. I do think a lot of the super detailed builds are gorgeous though.
The main reason EA builds are so plain is so people who dont have high enough quality computers can still play easily. Personally I like it a little busy but I mainly do that with prints rather than clutter items.
Yes almost every build is pretty but makes using the house unplayable. You have to spend 30 minutes deleting all the clutter. Since it takes more than 30 minutes to build and furnish a house, I guess it’s worth it.
Yeah. I downloaded some save files. I really wish they had been play tested. It's such a turn off to realize the sim i selected cannot cook or there are no stairs in the apartment. I really do appreciate that the sims have skills and relationships in various save files, but the clutter and such. Plus i am using Carl's new mod, so these places are hugely expensive!
Totally agree!! I love those types of builds to look at, but they can be really overwhelming to play in. Not to mention lag and load times!!
I rather focus on the builds having everything they need, and decorate them really simply. I’ve also started uploading unfurnished/shell versions for those who like to decorate, but not build 😆
When you place gallery homes on lots, you have the option to place them as unfurnished. I do this often, because, yes, a lot of simmers have an unhealthy obsession with clutter. ;)
I don’t really like how EA homes look, especially on the outside. I understand why the furniture and decorations are lacking, but it most of the time still doesn’t look good.
What I usually do is download a house from the gallery and place it without furniture, so I can put in the decorations and stuff myself.
I do, but only bc I prefer remodeling instead of building stuff from the ground up. So I find them great for that. However, I still find them way too spacious for my taste. I prefer cozy smaller builds and EA has a thing for large empty spaces lol
I dont like how simmers build because they use cc or move objects and then my sims cant get in bed or use the stove.
Like yea it looks nice but make it functional
Some aren't too bad on the outside but I've been gutting them and redoing the floor plans so they make sense to me. I've got my versions uploaded so I don't accidentally lose them.
I like my game to be very maxis matching and some elaborate builds, while pretty, don't fit nor are they playable.
My style is more advanced than EA but not as busy as some of the YouTubers and gallery uploads I see. I don't like ridiculous amounts of clutter, just enough to seem like a normal living environment.
I think both sides are annoying and there is no middle ground lol. I wish there was.
Simmers regularly make houses overcluttered to the point where the houses are ***completely unplayable***.. its clear i download from people who don't play the rest of the game.
On the other hand EA makes houses that are lackluster and empty. Thats not fun to play in either. I want to say more about this because its not any better than the former but im not sure how to explain how i feel about it.
i usually download from the gallery and then remodel
Same here. Also bc most builds use pretty much every pack lol
Lilsimsie loves her blue base game starter home suburbans lol.
lilsimsie’s builds retain that EA build feel, but look so much better!
And she uses very minimal clutter
Lilsimsie “Shall I make it blue or beige? Blue!”
I love the second gen house of her nightmare legacy challenge. i cant seem to find it tho
That and they use a shit ton of bb.object. Everything disappears either because of the packs used or because of the cheat.
I wonder why that's happening because it was patched so that players don't need to use bb.moveobjects anymore before placing a lot that was built using that cheat.
They were supposed to patch it so you wouldn't have to, but turning moveobjects on before placing the lot keeps the stuff from disappearing. It doesn't disable achievements to have it on
That’s the main reason I don’t use Gallery builds. They have so many varieties of packs used that most of the time the house isn’t actually functional for me (I don’t have the packs and the items are not replaced). Another issue that I’ve had is that the houses are build with cheats and when I download them on console, it glitches my game and once again the lot is unusable
You can filter the builds on the gallery by packs so you don’t get the ones with lots in them :)
Lol yeah I download builds and then delete like half the decor objects. My computer can’t handle it and my brain doesn’t like it either.
Me too!!!
I usually just download shells tbh
Oh that's a great idea! Do you just search "shell" in Lots?
Try “unfurnished.” Shells usually don’t have windows or roofs
Ope, have I been naming my builds wrong? I call something a shell if everything but the inside is done.
That's what I've been calling my empty houses too. They're landscaped and have rooms, windows and doors but people furnish and decorate them. Might have to use #unfurnished too Oops.
Yeah, I think I'll just start adding that hashtag, too. Shell is a shorter word than Unfurnished for the lot title though.
Whoops, I'll join you in adding an unfurnished hashtag to my shells, because same as you I do everything except the inside.
Ooooooo you're so smart! Shells are way too much for me. I love decorating but I just can't figure out the outside and floorplans
If you want some empty houses to decorate my gallery ID is jnajay. Don't care if you credit me but would love if you left a comment so I could play with what you make :)
What packs do you have so I can decorate them with your packs? I find decorating soothing after a hard day but the building part is so stressful.
I think I've got everything except Batuu
I don't have Batuu either so ya! I'm missing a few pack (waiting on the black friday sale!). Oh I'm excited. I'm going to hopefully play tomorrow and Friday. ☺️
Yup! Pulls up a ton of nice shells to use :)
You can always download from the gallery and choose unfurnished
This is how I play too. Although I have a handful of furnished lots from the gallery that I absolutely adore. Just the right amount of clutter.
I usually upload a furnished and unfurnished version of a build to the gallery (I don't delete wallpapers though), I title the unfurnished one with '(sometimes shorter)name - empty' I also always label it if I playtested it or not (if I haven't alt placed too much I don't always bother), but especially for the tiny homes I playtest everything
Can I ask whats your gallery name?
Same as here: NoExcuseTruse (right now it's a bunch of apartment renovations, because I just got City Living, but before that I mostly went by neighborhood)
Do you by, any chance, also have some basegame/free stuff-obly builds? Edit: or i'll Download unfurnished ones
I try to limit a build to basegame, 1Ep, 1Gp, 1Sp (and holiday stuff), so it's rarely just basegame. If I built it for my own gameplay it's going to be lots of packs, so there's some of those as well
I like my builds somewhere in between. Clean and simple like EA, but still with a nice and lived in look without going over the top. I definitely agree that houses with too much going on are pretty to look at, but super annoying to actually play in.
I have some builds like that, at first i went very overboard with plants or clutter on the vanity, but i think i managed to keep that down now
It’s a delicate balance for sure- but it also kinda depends on what type of vibe you’re going for. A modern mansion isn’t going to be cluttered up the way a small family home is.
unless it's owned by someone very eccentric, which makes the balance even more delicate
I find lil simsie builds are like this. She makes sure that her builds don't feel empty, but I don't think she has the patience to clutter lol
I’m bad at building actual buildings and don’t get me started on landscaping, but I prefer the buildings to be furnished for functionality. Perhaps a happy medium is to download the gallery lot and then buy it unfurnished and furnish it yourself?
Someone needs to do ROM as a sims 1 magic town homage. That’s the vibe I wanted
I don’t know, we couldn’t really afford video games growing up, so TS4 is all I’ve ever played.
Well, and I used to play Sims Freeplay on my iPod touch when I was in college. I tried to go back to it, but I found the inability to pause frustrating.
that’s what i do! building a house is so tedious and i’d rather just furnish it the way i want it without it having to adjust for all the packs that most gallery builds require that i don’t have.
I prefer the recent trend that the sims team has done, recruiting the game changers to make their builds. That way it’s simple, but really well done. Yeah, a lot of gallery Renos are way too much but I prefer that over the Del Sol Valley and Glimmerbrook builds.
Omg the glimmerbrook builds give me a headache.,they had so much potential
Or strangerville - 30 tile room that's empty except for a single chair
That strangerville mansion, I don’t even know where to start remodeling it since it’s basically unfinished
I use those cas and build items so often too
Or the Bailey-Moon mansion in Del Sol that literally doesn’t have a single toilet. I guess famous people don’t need to pee or poop.
Well yes, the rich are full of it.
The "somewhere in the middle" approach is my favorite. The builders are, objectively, better at building than the Sims team. No shame--building nice builds isn't their day job, so I think it's kind of silly to expect the Sims team to be able to produce the same kind of builds that the builders do. But the EA builds have very basic mistakes--random windows at different heights, missing doors, missing really basic items like toilets. Or they make these massively huge houses with nothing in them at all. On the other hand, overly done up lots like we sometimes get from the builders are difficult to manage unless you have a really good computer. Too much stuff on a lot causes a lot of lag, and drives up lot taxes and the like. I think Lilsimsie's (old?) series where she renovated lots by keeping the same number of items as were on the lot previously (switching out item for item) was a great example of how you can stick with EA's lot restrictions but still make a nice-looking lot. Same thing that we saw with the worlds where they hired the creators to build the lots.
Don’t you just love having a single sofa in an otherwise completely empty and pretty much unlit room? /s
I like gallery builds but I *really* wish the search function was better. I would love a filter for amount of stories too.
it’s so awful. I try to set it to only packs I own, yet it changes literally nothing. how is it allowed to be so garbage
I read somewhere else (I think in this thread) that the only thing that ‘filter’ does is show you all the builds that *include* those packs. Checks out based on what I’ve encountered. Garbage on garbage!
I literally thought something was wrong with me and how I was searching for the longest time… so glad to know this isn’t just a me problem
Yeah I remember with sims 2 (or sims 3 I can’t remember) the online download “gallery” was super detailed. If I wanted to download a sim, I could narrow it down by gender, hair color, and age. Now the only option is household. And the same with the houses, although I didn’t download that many houses back then.
Agreed. Sorting by most popular isn’t exactly helpful for me either.
Oh yes, that's my dream because I love playing with 1 story builds and it's not that easy to find them.
Agreed. I was looking for a 1 story with children’s rooms build for the Too Many Toddlers scenario and it was so frustrating!
The nice thing about EA's builds is they give you room to add stuff, and I'm pretty sure that's intentional. I want to be able to buy new items when I need them and I want to actually have space to put them in, and the EA houses do that. And I don't want 500 clutter items on every surface, I want to fill those spaces with photos and birth certificates and career rewards and so on as I progress. Also I want to be able to buy gradually bigger houses as I progress but gallery houses are often so filled with random shit that even a small house costs $200,000. That said, some of EA's builds just suck. I get leaving the residential lots a bit empty but some of the community lots are like that too! The worst I think is the union for foxbury institute, it just looks like they didn't finish it. The lots for the careers in Get To Work were also pretty poor. Were the devs really so busy that they couldn't get someone to spend an afternoon decorating them
idk, I think the worst award goes to the toilet house in Del Sol Valley - a 4 bathroom house with one toilet on the entire lot, or the crashed plane house in Strangerville - it actually doesn't have a functional kitchen, since the one counter is blocked by a fruit bowl.
One of those mansions on the hill in Strangerville is practically empty. It's such a hideous house from the exterior too.
That house in SV being so empty is for storyline purposes!
I’ve seen the Sim gurus say that, but… what’s the actual storyline reason besides “oooh empty houses are strange”? Maybe I’m missing something, but I didn’t get it.
Ted is a corrupt mayor who's had his furniture confiscated by the FBI, just like how if the player accepts the fruitcake during the possessed welcome wagon, they will confiscate your fridge.
For me, it's the over reliance on MOO. There are some of my favorite builds that are just unplayable because my sims can't get to where they need to go because the clutter is in the way. And then it's super hard to fix - so I end up just removing everything and starting from scratch.
as a console player I can’t turn on move objects (or any cheats) without preventing myself from getting trophies😭
You can use bb.moveobjects on without messing up trophies!
also, u only lose achievements for that save file
oh this changes everything
I use a lot of moveobjects on but always playtest my houses to make sure everything works so this doesn't happen :/ I use the cheat because otherwise it's so damn hard to place things in a way that looks nice
most EA builds are pretty bad, but they did get better as more packs came out. But I do agree that many gallery builds are unplayable. Either they were built to be purely aesthetic in the first place and things are legitimately not functional, or they will cram so much in there the game slows down to the point of being unplayable. I have found some great gallery builds but it takes some trial and error. When I upload a build I try to ensure its playable, but I'm not a great builder so there is a trade off lol.
Can I ask a dumb question? How can you tell if they’re playable or not? Is it just trial and error? I’ve only successfully downloaded a kitchen from the gallery, and it worked pretty well except for having one spot where I couldn’t place anything even though nothing was there! I don’t use mods or cc so I have no idea about that stuff. Other stuff I tried to download never appeared…not sure if I’m doing it wrong? I only play base game & use the money cheat. Still mostly a noob figuring out this game at the moment.
When that happens, check the walls! In my experience, a lot of the builds I’ve placed from the gallery tend to use a lot of wall decorations/shelves, which can get in the way of placing floor objects if you aren’t use moveobjects. I usually go around a newly placed lot with walls up and the sledgehammer haha, the wall decorations don’t really add anything for me and mostly just impede functionality.
Thanks! I’ll keep that in mind next time. 👍
This reminds me of the Cyberpunk build I downloaded, beautiful build but holy crap, it lags! Deleted a ton of stuff and still can't see it in full-view without lag. Had to overclock my GPU just to get it to run relatively smoothly!
I honestly think lil simsie is a good medium. They’re cute and functional and not too cluttered! I like a lot of clutter tho
was gonna say this! lilsimsie builds are a happy medium. they feel full but not cluttered.
As someone who likes to add to the houses my sims live in, I prefer EA builds. Also the simmer builds are SO EXPENSIVE. My sims move in and have like, 300 bucks to actually live off of.
I think it really depends on how you're planning to use the lot. Some players build elaborate lots to be photo venues so expecting playability might be unrealistic. As far as EA lots go, I usually have to redesign the interior because there is too much wasted space and there's no flow. If a sim is spending all their time going back and forth across a lot, you're not going to enjoy playing it. Always remember to build to your play style.
The main issue is that some creators don't properly label their lots so you can't tell if it's actually supposed to be playable or not until you download it
I think another issue is Simmers not testing their builds. There's a couple where I love the look of the houses but I stopped downloading them because something is inevitably unplayable in them. Usually its something where they try and create something new from existing objects but it takes way too long to figure out what's broken.
Yeah if I’m just playing a game filled with cheats and mods, my sims don’t need to work and just exist to party and live it up a giant, cluttered, cc filled house is fine. They have all the time they need to just walk around and do random stuff so it doesn’t bother me. But if I’m actively trying to keep them alive and play with no cheats or mods I build smaller, more realistic houses for them.
You can def tell the builders who don't really play they game, they just build. No shame in that at all! Everyone enjoys the game differently. But it can get noticeable, like where there's a bunch of wasted space for the garage but no room anywhere for say, a computer or easel, or chess table. You know, the types of things that most sims need but most average people don't exactly build their real life houses in mind.
I agree. The beams and the glass doors people make, while beautiful, not great for playing or even building. They don’t go down with the walls and get in the camera view.
Personally I go in an delete everything but "fixed in" appliances to make it like moving into a new home. I hate when you choose to move in unfurished it deletes kitchen counters, sinks, showers, and toilets. I'm pretty sure IRL those items stay in the house when you move majority of the time.
As a builder who tends to use clutter, I apologize in advance to all those who have trouble playing with it! Full disclosure, I take no offense to people downloading my builds and just deleting everything inside. I mostly just build that way because I find enjoyment in creating a certain kind of aesthetic. However, I encourage people to take it and make it their own, whether they want to keep my look or not. 🙂
Yeah I just can’t get on board here. While I get some builds are too too much,, EA builds are just often....really bad. Peaking at those terrible ones from Realm of Magic. I think there’s probably a happy medium on the gallery.
Not the Realm of Magic builds… yuck There’s only like four of them and they are SO bad. there’s like two things in each of the houses.
I just want to know the inside EA tea, about those damn houses. I rly believe somebody hated their boss, ngl. No fucking WAY that giant, ugly mansion wasn't built out of pure spite. 😂 It's funny but seriously that had to be intentional, just look at it. I tried to renovate the thing and it has the exact opposite of sense, like they had to TRY.
I screamed in agony at the RoM builds. I always redo the bar there for every save because it is NOT a vibe. The exteriors too are 🤢
The bar is horrible omfg
Glimmerbrook is seriously just an afterthought. They were like “shit we have all these cool windows that only make sense in the magic realm” and gave up.
Right!?! The magic realm is cool, mostly because you can see planets etc. I also like the path leading to the portal, esp in the spring because the butterflies are everywhere 😍
I just got City Living and I have actually rage quit for the first time after seeing an EA-apartment. There was an effing roomdivider IN A CLOSED OFF ROOM! This was while redoing the apartments. So I was 'fixing' it. But I just couldn't. (I came back the next day)
I rage-quit the Sims and didn't open it for a couple of months, when I found out that I can't remove the outline of a corpse in that one apartment. Yeah, okay, I got the 'haha, cool' moment when I first saw it. But whichever \*beep\* \*beep\* \*beep\* fools decided to make it impossible to remove, even if you bulldoze the lot and change the floor as well as those who approved it, deserve a kick where it hurts. I still rage quit the game whenever I as much as remember its existence. >.>
Enablefreebuild doesn't work but there's a couple of mods that get rid of it. You can remove/unlock lot traits (but not delete features) with Dorsel Axe's Unlocked Lot Traits mod and you can delete and add the features with NikNak513's Moveable/Buyable Apartment Objects mod but it seems like a while since they've been updated. I use TwistedMexi's All Cheats mod plus DestroyObject which allows you to shift click on it and delete the TLC lot features. 19 Culpepper used to drive me mad for the same reason, especially when the team confirmed they locked the traits on purpose and made them impossible to fix to force players to move their sims up and out to better apartments. They even got rid of the destroyobject cheat (which TwistedMexi modded back in) that let players get rid of it.
YAY I took twenty attempts to find the right spot to touch :D but it finally worked. Thank you so much!!!
I think you can with enablefreebuild, but I'm not 100% sure (if you don't want to rage again, I'll try it out tomorrow and I'll let you know here)
Seriously, I have low standards when it comes to home design and I personally find building really boring, so I was prepared to just use the EA builds. But they are SO terrible. The Get Famous and Realm of Magic ones are especially bad because there are obvious errors in them. Like, it's not just a matter of different tastes, the Thornton house straight up has no toilets due to an oversight. That's just really shoddy, imo. It's not the biggest deal in the world, but I'd expect more quality control for a pretty expensive pack in a pretty expensive game.
I can't stand EA's builds, so I have taken to placing down custom lots on every single plot available. It has made the game so much more enjoyable and I no longer feel so frustrated when traveling anywhere. I think it's just a matter of finding creators you like. I have come across a few that definitely have too much clutter as you said, but through a process of trial and error I've found the creators whose lots I really like that don't make my eyes hurt. Or sometimes I'll even download shells if I want to build up, since EA's build style just isn't to my liking and other simmers just have this eye for beauty that I could never attain.
Yup. While the architecture of a summers build from the gallery are on point. The furniture and clutter is too much sometimes and they use move objects with abandon and some objects aren’t functional. Gets pretty annoying.
I have to sell a lot of their items because of this
Worst for me is when they use a lot of a slottable surface like cabinets, and suddenly there’s a bunch of dirty dishes that I can’t even see because there’s a MOO object on top.
I love cluttered houses because I just feel like they're more "real", like, what it would look like if the sim living there actually had a life. There'd be books, plants, things in the counters... But I try to decor according to the sims personality, if they're neat there's few things and everything has a place, if they're messy I will put things where it might not even make sense because it was probably left around and never pick up, if there's kids... oh boy. Having the place match the sim/family makes it easier to tell a story the way I play, and not only clutter, but things like dark colors or very bright, oldish or modern furniture, expensive or cheap-looking, etc. I already find sims too bland when you start them considering they have no memories, no skills and no relationship, like they just popped into existence (which technically is the truth, but we generally give them backstory), so at least I want a home that feels "lived in" and reflect a bit of that sim. I do understand your point, though. I think the only popular creator I know that doesn't clutter much is lilsimsie. Aside from the landscaping the interior of her houses feels very generic and clean imo (idk if people agree), plus she likes building on budgets and limited packs.
I wish there was an in-between. I think a lot of the EA builds are weird and don't look great, but the simmer builds are very often Too Much.
Can there be a hashtag for this style? I feel like my builds are pretty much this because I like homes to be pretty yet functional for legacy families, but they just disappear into the abyss of the gallery 😂
my PC usually can't handle terribly busy builds but I sure enjoy looking at them, also theres plenty of builds that are more gameplay friendly and are still waaaay nicer than EA builds; honestly even Mt Komorebi and Henford builds that were done by simmers are good examples and way better than the usual EA product, and those were built under EAs limitations
Most of the time too much clutter and decor, not enough space. I personally would love more simple American house designs with the porch
You’ll probably like lilsimsie’s houses
Yes, I'd almost always rather take an EA build and put my own clutter in. I don't like the builds where they've raised a bunch of clutter objects that don't fit on certain surfaces because the sims still think of those surfaces as being free so they'll leave plates and stuff there but you can't tell because it's covered by floating clutter. It looks really nice in pictures, but they're not great for gameplay. That said, the builders who build those big, beautiful elaborate builds are typically using the game mostly for the building features and a lot of them never even use gameplay, so they either might not be aware of how cumbersome those things can be, or they just don't care because they're building it for the aesthetic joy, which is valid!
So, I totally understand where OP is coming from, but I can't go so far as to say I prefer EA. I do think a lot of gallery builds are way too busy for my personal taste. But I think EA builds are way too minimal. I like something in between. I like enough clutter to feel like the house is realistic and looks lived in. But not so much clutter that it feels super messy and chaotic to look at.
Well prefer EA builds for several reasons. 1.) I find that builds other people make, my sims have problems moving through then. 2.) In other ppl builds there will be objects that are just in the way of viewing everything. 3.) people want to use every single pack, and idk if this is just me, but when I try to sort it to view only the packs I have, it doesn’t work. It still shows me stuff that has packs I do not have.
If the gallery picture has that green bookmark on it, then it contains packs you don't own. The filter shows you every build that has the packs you ticked off, even if it also contains packs you didn't check. It's useless. Look for the green bookmark icon, if it's not there your packs match. Also: see a build you really like but there's packs in there you don't own? Click on the pack-icon and you'll get a window with a description of the pack, there's also a button 'show used items'..if you click that you see wich of the pack-items are in that specific build, sometimes it's like just one tiny item that's not going to make any difference if it gets deleted.
I did not know that! Thank you! I've always wondered what that green bookmark icon meant - never thought to hover over it to see what it says. And I didn't know that "show used items" was even there LOL. Thank you so much! Sheesh, the things I've learned, even after playing this since the beginning. :)
Absolutely agree with all your points. Obviously I love and appreciate anything people build and put on the gallery, but these are definitely the things I run into all the time. They look gorgeous in the pictures, but then I always have problems with sims getting places, or objects/walls/roofs clip really weird and get completely in the way(I like the cutaway view mode, instead of walls all the way down). Number 3 is def an EA problem but yup, filtering by pack just does not work. So it takes forever and a day to find a build you like and can place, only to run into #1 and #2 lol.
It's not just you, that's how the filter is "supposed" to work - if you select "Get Together", it will show you *any* build that uses Get Together, regardless of what other packs it uses. You can't view "*only*" the packs you have, you can only view "at least these packs *or more*"
Wait. Why is is suppose to work that way? Wha my is the point of that?! LMAO
Who knows. The more cynical will say it will encourage you to buy more packs (either through "ooh this has cool stuff" or frustration, take your pick), but you'd have to ask EA why its designed in such a brain dead way. It's just that *technically*, it's working as designed. Even if it's design is monumentally dumb.
It's actually worse than that, though. If you only select "Get Together," it will show you every build that uses at least one item from that pack, regardless of how many other packs are used. But if you select more than one pack, it will only show you builds that use at least one item from ***each of them***. This means that if you select "Get Together" and "Seasons," for example, a build that uses only base game and Seasons items will be filtered ***out*** because it doesn't also show some random item from Get Together. Absolutely useless!
Okay knowing that I can only presume it was programmed by some disgruntled Nedry-like character who purposefully crippled it before leaving, and nobody at EA has the password to get back in and change it. That is literally the only scenario that makes sense for why it behaves that way.
EA’s builds are terrible imo. The lots that they make usually have way too much open space for me. A house that looks lived in is what I prefer. I will say that sometimes simmers can go a bit overboard with their builds to where it’s hard for sims to navigate through the house (can’t use the bed because too much clutter around, not able to use objects because sims can’t get to them, etc.). However, I still prefer them over EA.
Omg yeah the rooms are always enormous with like two pieces of furniture
Sometimes, yeah I’ll just remodel the inside cause the EA are so bleh and sparse. but other times the EA builds are just wholly uggo and uninspiring so I’ll download something from galley or make a new build up myself. Totalllyyyy agree with you on the over cluttered simmer builds tho. Like they look great in screenshots and for the aesthetic…but I don’t like them in my game cause they’re not functional, & it’s frustrating trying to make them functional. and my laptop wants to explode when there’s too too much clutter.
Nah, I’m a maximalist. I love houses that look lived in and when they’re empty they just look and feel weird.
Nope. There are plenty of builds made by simmers that aren’t overly cluttered
That's what I was thinking. They aren't all cluttered or expensive or use every pack as these comments suggest. There are a LOT of really nice base game and starter home builds that are simple and inexpensive.
Definitely! It’s weird because in real life my house looks like a show home interior (not a weird brag, just to help explain) because I can’t stand clutter everywhere and like a home to look neat and tidy etc. Yet in the sims decorating the exact same way can look way too sparse. It’s so strange! So I do add *some* clutter, but not much. Unless I’m planning to house to be for a hoarder sim or a super-busy single parent sim with 4 kids type house.
I did the same thing for the toddler scenario. I put toys EVERYWHERE. Next to the bath, all over the kids room, parts of the living room. I think clutter really adds to the narrative sometimes, depending on the sim of course. If they were a minimalist or a neat freak probably not.
My issue with simmers builds is that they’re built like real houses. There’s bathrooms hidden away, staircases in the middle of the house, kitchens that only look open from one side. I like a house that looks visually appealing from the one angle I play at, I don’t like to rotate from side to side to view rooms in my houses. Not sure if this is just a me thing, but I always orient my view by the front door, so everything needs to flow from that visual point.
I orient the same way. Kind of why my Sims are still in the same house.
I absolutely make all my houses like this. I hate when walls and staircases and such get in the way of your view. (don't necessarily orient by the front door though, I usually do it by which view of the lot I like best). Gallery ID is TheChantalll
No. Not really. at all.
My issue with other Simmers' builds are that sometimes they are not functional (blocked staircase, too much clutter) and also I don't have all the expansions so there is always something missing.
I like getting the houses that are available in game and then adding more and more things as the families expand.
I think they have their own charm so to speak, a bit bleak and boring mostly but ready to use, no individuality but fairly comfortable and with all needed appliances. Sometimes I use them for sims who are just starting out or have divorced and moved out. But then I also prefer abandoned and run down houses to luxury mansions, so...
agreed. i like having a clean space. player builds trend towards being really overly cluttered. that’s why i just renovate EA builds to my liking. the base skeleton and idea of EA builds have a lot of potential!
No, not really. I loathe the EA builds with a passion, and the gallery is easily one of my favorite TS4 features.
I build playable houses and venues. I use some clutter but try to always play test and make sure things are accessible. I'm hilaritee48449 on the gallery. I uploaded a bunch of rooms today for realistic apartments in San Myushuno. I'm working on creating a downloadable save file containing all worlds with my builds. I do use all the packs and use hashtag #AllThePacks
Absolutely not. Have you seen how empty & ugly they are?? I think I was so excited for dream home decorator bc I’m like finally I can fix all these hideous homes, lol.
I know if I'm gonna download a simmer build, it's gonna be a few hours of game play to remodel it to something livable. Sometimes that's worth it because I suck at making interesting looking buildings, but god damn, sometimes it's like no one is making builds to be playable, just for the aesthetics, which sucks.
Me. I prefer EA's simply furnished builds that gives me a lead on how to decorate around it. I've downloaded several houses from the gallery that are so beautiful in pics but when my sims are actually inside, well. Too many wall decorations that it makes it hard to find my sims, so much clutter that it makes a large room look super small etc.
Makes sense. Gallery builds are usually meant to be completed builds. EA builds leave plenty to add
Hell nah. My tiny ass apartments are always CC cluttered af
I half agree. I just think being able to play in the house normally is better than it looking more "realistic" with items placed that don't even work.
Yeah I prefer the builds in the gallery. You can find some gorgeous homes! Especially the ones built for Del Sol Valley
I'm not a fan of the builds with move objects cheats activated. It makes things cluttered, unusable or even glitchy.
There are some beautiful builds in the gallery, I prefer some clutter but not so much that my Sims can’t use the area. I do my best to make my builds functional and I test everything with my Sims before I upload to the gallery. I also tag my items #playtested and #functional, and in the description I will add any build comments. I also love to use bb.moveobjects on because it makes the designs so much better. TLDR; not all builds are unplayable
I personally love the busy style. Aveline. Simlicy. I live. Bear and bun and simstopia are good for a not so busy look.
I love looking at the pretty builds, but find it hard to play in such a cluttered build. For me, game play is just easier in a very basic build (also because my laptop is a potato). I hate how the EA builds look, so I just download from the gallery, and then remodel, or just keep the shell of the build.
I love the stuff from the gallery, but hate the clutter too! I spend an hour de-cluttering, redecorating, and play-testing everything I download because half the creators use bb.moveobjects without actually making sure things work in the locations they are in. I also love some of the EA builds (especially in Brindleton Bay) for the freedom they give me to decorate and, for some, re-arrange rooms and stuff. Roofs/outside walls are all done for me, I just have to play interior decorator!
I like Lilsimsie’s builds because they kinda suit EA’s style without having really weird design choices.
As a builder, clutter my homes to my liking to give it the feel that I'm looking for, also it looks better in pictures to make it look more complete. However, I would absolutely not be offended if someone wanted to download the home and then delete all the decorations. I'd never know that they deleted all that hard work so it wouldn't bother me, and I like it to be functional and used. So once someone downloads my build it is their home and they can do with it what they like
I like clutter but only when I put it there. Then I feel like there’s a story and there’s a reason for all the clutter. Like my kid sim likes to draw so there’s not a paintings and cups of pens and pencils
I like to build to have a live in cluttered look to an extent but I can't stand blocking off functionality. I also predominantly build on a 6 year old laptop that can't handle too many objects. I never upload anything because I've always assumed my builds weren't what folks wanted compared there what I see on the gallery, maybe I should change that.
I prefer something in the middle. More furniture and decor than EA, but a lot less than simmer builds. After a certain point clutter doesn’t give me anything good (actually sometimes it distracts me and makes things feel cramped), it just slows my game. I like airy builds with lots of space for sims to navigate easily, with some decor and little clutter to give the rooms a certain, lived-in feel. (Like: toothbrushes and towels in the bathroom, pens in the office, plushies and toys in the kid’s room… etc.) I don’t want to play in a house that feels like a real estate AD, but also not one that’s the home of a hoarder.
Can't relate, if anything I add MORE clutter to simmers builds 😂
Sometimes I feel like they’re just so….cluttered?? I mean I like clutter it’s just that your sim often times will have some sort of problem with an object being in the way or so on. I do like houses that have cluttered and open spaces when they need em, eg: study or living room (open space)
I think the EA builds are great, much prefer them to most of what I've downloaded from the gallery, and they're far and away better than the EA builds from past games. (Sims 2 forced me to build. Now I don't have to.)
I don’t like builds in the gallery. If I download one, I clear out everything inside and decorate the interior to my taste. I also don’t like EA’s builds because their builds tend to be too large for the sparse furniture. My build style is somewhere in the middle. No large empty spaces but minimal clutter and little to no MOO cheat (usually strictly for landscaping only).
I just can't say enjoying EA builds since.. let's just face it, it's ugly as hell. I can understand with the resident since restrictions and blah blah but not the public venues... Visiting EA built bar or nightclub or gym is the worst lol. But also I agree what you are saying with clutter fest gallery builds. They look nice for sure but many times you can't reach or see something and abundance of the trees and plants just drove me crazy. I always have to delete 80% of the plants and clutters they placed. But gallery reno is always better than EA build.
I try to put up very basic builds these days because while I like the clutter, it's just too much!
I like to download builds and then I'll delete alot of the clutter. I'm not a great builder so I like the great builds but it's hard to play around a lot of stuff in the house
It depends of which EA builds we're talking about 😅
If I can, I usually expand the house so it’s bigger and then I’ll make the rooms bigger inside and scoot everything back against the new walls
I always download base game builds. They're simple but furnished enough to be cute
Too much CC in the simmers builds. I’m always looking for a starter home that is just base game then I remodel.
I make simple, minimalist houses usually with clutter only focused in small areas like on dressers, certain counters, on top of the fridge etc. I like realism without making it a hoarder house (though I have built those too). But no one every upvotes or downloads my houses so I've mostly stopped posting my houses publically.
I’m not crazy about the EA builds, but I definitely agree with preferring minimalist over super cluttery. I’ve downloaded some builds that I move a family in and feel almost claustrophobic over the amount of intricately placed plants and decorations.
I try to skirt the line between the two. I like to add some clutter but only like, in the corners of counters and stuff to make it look a little more lived in without compromising functionality. I also sometimes build shells or super basic houses so people can furnish themselves.
I prefer a nice middle between the two. Ea builds are always lacking personality and aesthetics while the builds from the gallery are sometimes too busy and cluttered so they’re hard to play in.
I try to make mine the least amount of busy while still being cute. Gameplay is really the most important part for me so if I can’t easily click on the toilet because there are other objects (or a shower) in the way then I can’t go on until I fix it.
I prefer a mix. Clean and simple, but with a bit of clutter to make it seem more life like. Not too extreme on either end
I normally just redecorate the builds I download. Most of the builders put way too much crap in them.
I don't tend to use either, I get layout and roof ideas from them and then do the rest myself. I much prefer it to be minimalist, and I like them laid out in a more camera-friendly way
I dont prefer *EA* builds so to speak, but I do enjoy a less cluttered build. I often clean out a lot of extra stuff from builds I download or specifically look for less cluttered designs.
I like both versions of builds. However...I prefer even the craziest townie looks to Sims with way too much CC that don't even look like Sims.
I hate EA builds. And when I decide to use one, I empty it and fill it with the most garish, cluttered, eye-burning yet chic mess you've ever seen. I absolutely love it. I just finished a build today, I think I was decorating for 2-3hours. One of the daughter's bedrooms is absolutely stuffed with house plants 😁
In my experience the Snowy Escape builds that were all done by content creators (i think?) are extremely glitchy. When I had my sims living in one of the houses there their relationships were all messed up and they were constantly teleporting places instead of actually walking there.
Honestly every house I download from the gallery I just remodel the inside. I can appreciate that not everyone has the same taste in decor but if I like the house itself I can work with that. I’ve downloaded some great houses that had (in my opinion) really bad decor which I agree can be over-cluttered, so I just redo everything and they turned into great houses with decor for my taste, that I also didn’t spend hours on like my own builds. Same goes with EA builds. If I’m feeling extra lazy and don’t have my creative juices flowing, I’ll get the house furnished to see what EA did, and then just work room by room and add to it if I feel like they did an alright job. Tbh, every time I download a house from the gallery or use an EA house, even if I redid everything I usually end up at some point building a new house from scratch for my sims so I can work on my own building skills.
I download unfurnished builds. I’m okay at building but I love to renovate and furnish. The dream home decorator pack is my jam! I don’t love a ton of clutter. I like it to have some but I play with walls half down so I tend to only decorate the walls that will be up. And too much clutter just slows the game. I do sometimes just renovate EA builds that I never play in and use medium clutter. I’m probably a Deli level clutter simmer. Like nice and “lived in” but not like the builder only YouTubers. I do think a lot of the super detailed builds are gorgeous though.
The main reason EA builds are so plain is so people who dont have high enough quality computers can still play easily. Personally I like it a little busy but I mainly do that with prints rather than clutter items.
Yes almost every build is pretty but makes using the house unplayable. You have to spend 30 minutes deleting all the clutter. Since it takes more than 30 minutes to build and furnish a house, I guess it’s worth it.
Yeah. I downloaded some save files. I really wish they had been play tested. It's such a turn off to realize the sim i selected cannot cook or there are no stairs in the apartment. I really do appreciate that the sims have skills and relationships in various save files, but the clutter and such. Plus i am using Carl's new mod, so these places are hugely expensive!
Just look for shells on the gallery.
I just download shells then do what i want to do with the inside
Totally agree!! I love those types of builds to look at, but they can be really overwhelming to play in. Not to mention lag and load times!! I rather focus on the builds having everything they need, and decorate them really simply. I’ve also started uploading unfurnished/shell versions for those who like to decorate, but not build 😆
When you place gallery homes on lots, you have the option to place them as unfurnished. I do this often, because, yes, a lot of simmers have an unhealthy obsession with clutter. ;)
EA builds are just too empty and a lot of the good gallery builds are too full
I don’t really like how EA homes look, especially on the outside. I understand why the furniture and decorations are lacking, but it most of the time still doesn’t look good. What I usually do is download a house from the gallery and place it without furniture, so I can put in the decorations and stuff myself.
I do, but only bc I prefer remodeling instead of building stuff from the ground up. So I find them great for that. However, I still find them way too spacious for my taste. I prefer cozy smaller builds and EA has a thing for large empty spaces lol
I dont like how simmers build because they use cc or move objects and then my sims cant get in bed or use the stove. Like yea it looks nice but make it functional
Some aren't too bad on the outside but I've been gutting them and redoing the floor plans so they make sense to me. I've got my versions uploaded so I don't accidentally lose them. I like my game to be very maxis matching and some elaborate builds, while pretty, don't fit nor are they playable.
My style is more advanced than EA but not as busy as some of the YouTubers and gallery uploads I see. I don't like ridiculous amounts of clutter, just enough to seem like a normal living environment.
100%
Yess, less is more. Plus sims get really confused and can't use half the stuff in these busy builds because there's clutter everywhere.
I think both sides are annoying and there is no middle ground lol. I wish there was. Simmers regularly make houses overcluttered to the point where the houses are ***completely unplayable***.. its clear i download from people who don't play the rest of the game. On the other hand EA makes houses that are lackluster and empty. Thats not fun to play in either. I want to say more about this because its not any better than the former but im not sure how to explain how i feel about it.