Halloween House

Hello again Simmers,

I am trying to finish up another WIP.  Again.  Yes, I have another work-in-progress.  Not sure if this will make the finish line but I'm hoping.  The interior layout is kind of a mess but the outside of the house is pretty much set.

There are some finishing touches needed for the exterior but this is about the look intended... It's kind of Twinbrook-style with the swampy yard.  But that banyan tree to the right is spooky and it seems to fit... right?
Anyway, I hope to have this done this week and to have it up on the Halloween thread that simGuruPoptart started.  Maybe it'll be featured?  It's probably too much to hope considering I was lucky to get 2 of my previous Halloween lots featured simultaneously.
But you never know.

Brief Sad News

Well, (insert BIG sigh) I lost the town I was working on in CAW.  CAW is still a beta tool, and as such, suffers from some software issues.  I was getting corrupt data into my saves somehow and CAW started crashing.  So, I've put world-building on hold indefinitely.  I'm so frustrated by the loss, I can't think of building another world right now.  But I do want to try again.  I've seen some fantastic worlds come out of everyday simmers and I'd like to try and be another.

In other news, I'm still building in Sims 3 itself.  So there's no sign of that stopping any time soon.

Mulberry Farms - Pets-friendly farm

I have a new lot to share!

This house is called Mulberry Farms and is for a competition going on over in the Gift Gathering section of the official forums.  Betty_me is hosting the contest to find the best farmhouse that is ready for the nearly-here Pets Expansion Pack.

This is the real house my creation is based off of:

I actually live in a very rural area of Georgia, tons of cotton farms all around.  This house has always struck me as eye-catching.  Maybe it's just that rich red color, I don't know.  But shortly after moving to Georgia in 2010 I knew I wanted to re-create this house.  It was fun to build, I must say.

Here's what my version looks like:

and here's a slideshow with tons more pictures, including interior shots.  This is a CC-Free lot.  However, there are various store items.
This isn't a complete list, but does entail the ones that I can think of off-hand that I used:
Frontier Finds Kitchen & Living (mainly just the stove, cabinets, counters and sofa)
Fall Fruition (free items)
Harvest Bounty (free items)
In the Dawn of Sims (free items)
Eye of the Bolder '10 (free items)
Regal Living items (mainly light fixtures)
Contemporary Comfort Bedroom
"Cornucopia" - painting from Hewnsman set
Generation Clock - free item
Club Vaindenburger - club chairs only
Shhh-It's a Library Door - from the Hewnsman set (this is the front door of the house)
Provence Set - mainly just the cabinet with the cooking stuff on it

If you're curious to download the lot, you can download it Here.  Please be sure to give it a rec' if you like it.

New Craftsman

I have to say my favorite style of home is the Craftsman style, generally one story, homes.  I love them especially, when they're sort of dated like the 50's bungalows.  See?

They're so homey, so warm and inviting.  Definitely my favorite style - and I love building them.

So here's another Craftsman-style home I'm working on in Sims-land.  There are CC patterns and the windows are CC, but hopefully that won't stop people from enjoying and downloading.  If only EA would create more building options for simmers like me - then I wouldn't resort to CC to get what I'm looking for.

Hope you like - I'm sure I'll be able to finish this up by next week or so.  And for anyone who's curious, this house is a 2 car garage, 3 bedroom/2 bath house.  It'll be a nice little family home.

I Got Featured ... x2!

So, I just found out that two of my Halloween creations got featured by the gurus on the Sims 3 site.  Major coolness.  Each lot was featured within 2 minutes of each other.

The first is my Bates House

It is the infamous house from that old thriller "Psycho" and even carries a evil ghost inside.

Then there's the previously mentioned Addams Family house I re-created from the original sitcom.

If you're interested, you can download and rec the houses here:

Addams Family House
Psycho/Bates House
**Please note: If you download the houses, they contain multiple store items and 1 set of non-transferrable CC found at Mod The Sims...
The CC is just a bunch of patterns that really made the lots look fantastic, I think.  You can find the CC here if you're interested in having it.  I would recommend it, otherwise items won't look as they were intended when the game loads the lots.  It is safe in case any of your are wondering.

 ~Happy Simming~

My New World

So, if anyone's interested here are some shots in-game of the progress of the world.  So this is going to be a New England style town -- as yet unnamed.  It's on a large map - so about the size of Sunset Valley, and will have a lot for sims to do.

 This is the island where the lighthouse is located.  There is one commercial lot on the island that I'm thinking will be like a historical landmark and house that sims can visit.  There's a walking trail that goes around the island as well and there's some spawners for various things that sims can find as well.

 Here's a zoomed-out pic of the whole island and the bridge that connects it.  That bridge was a bugger to place, I tell you.  But it looks good, now, right?

 The shot above and the next few below just show the lay-out of the rest of the town.  There's going to be prime beach property (as seen above) and the the left is where the beach hangout will be.  The whole expanse of sandy beach will be accessible to sims and they will be able to fish the ocean as well.

 The shot is a little more in-land, where the Historic District and downtown area will be.  I don't think I'll be placing high rises, but I will have a few clubs and bars for sims to visit.

 This is a close-up of the warehouse(located on the dirt road) and the junkyard.  The other streets that fork off from that will be the trailer park.

Here's pretty much the whole expanse of he town.

I still have to finish placing trees - I'm only about half-way through on that. Yes, just half-way through.  I'm sure you're thinking there's probably enough trees, but New England is covered in trees so I'm going to be placing more.  That gets a little monotonous, but someone's gotta do it.

The lots have pretty much been placed, commercial and residential.  Once I finish placing all trees, spawners and environment items (like hot air balloon and rainbows) then I can push forward with actually building the lots and placing the rabbit holes..... yay!
So, what's your opinion?

I'm stepping into CAW-Land

CAW = Create-A-World Beta tool that is free for download on the Sims 3 website.

I've already had my proverbial rows with this beta tool.  I'm telling you, building a world isn't easy but I'm determined to see it through.  I've kind of got the world sculpted out and painted.

I'll show pics when I'm not feeling lazy overwhelmed with stuff.  For now, look forward to a completely new world from yours truly.

Here's a hint to the style I'm going for:

Beaches
Coastline