General Issues:
Some known issues that have nothing to do with the shrinking, so there's no need to report them here (copied from the old d/l thread since I can't link back to it):

"Disappearing front yard":

When looking at a lot from other lots, or from neighbourhood view, the terrain looks like shit:

(Picture nicked from aelflaed, thank you =)

This is an old problem, not related to the lot size or the shrinking. When you change the terrain of a lot, that change isn't incorporated properly into the "lot impostor" (the low-resolution model of the building that is displayed in neighbourhood view) -- I hate this too; there is no fix that I know about, although Inge has had an interesting idea: "MaxoidTom did say that he wasn't all that satisfied with the way the lot imposters were created, but we reassured him it was better than nothing - than just seeing wilderness around your current lot. So I think the problem happens at imposter creation time, not when you go in to play the next door lot. Presumably there is a GMDC for the imposter, so the adventurous player can try fixing it after saving the lot but before taking to bin." (see also here and here for previous Q+A)

The only remedy I know about is not to build a basement, or a very small one (so that the slope is hidden underneath the house).


Taxi movie displacement:

When moving in a family, the taxi in the in-game movie appears on the footpath and grass (or in some other odd place), rather than the road. Known issue -- this will probably happen quite often on my lots, it's because I'm moving the mailbox and the game somehow uses the mailbox to figure out where to put the taxi.

If it bothers you: enter the house before moving in anyone, move the mailbox to the default location (and delete any extra boxes -- you'll need to use "moveobjects on" for this), save and exit, and then move in your sims.

This does not affect gameplay at all, it's not related to actual cars, only a visual glitch with the movie.


Filled-in basement windows:

Sometimes, in the basements I build, the basement windows don't appear correctly -- the hole in the wall does not show up, it's as if they were filled with wallpaper. This is because of the slope outside the windows, and yes it is a bit annoying. I try to build unannoying basement windows wherever I can, however in this house there was not enough space for that.

To fix this, either exit and re-enter the lot and hope for the best (this sometimes works for me), or

1. flatten the ground outside the windows
2. move the windows somewhere else and back (or just grab them and let go)
3. move the ground back up.

A quicker and easier way: you can also try to put a piece of foundation in front of the windows (inside the basement) and then hit undo.


Carpools blocking each other:

This is normal with mini lots -- there is only enough space for one car at a time, so your sims need to get into the car and drive off to make room for the next one (they can't lie on the couch until 08:59). If you want small lots, you will have to put up with this. This is one of the reasons I don't use regular driveways anymore (not on small lots at least): the driving-off animation is only one more thing blocking the road (plus, it makes my game lag and is boring to watch).


"Disappearing street lights"

When you move a family in and out again, the streetlights will be gone -- they count as furniture, which is not terribly obvious, so they are removed along with all other furniture. This is not a bug, it's simply how the game works. You can try using Inge's Stay Things Shrub to get around this if it bothers you.

Good luck everyone, fingers crossed!

I've been testing this with Uni & NL (using BaseGame Starter), fresh CAS sim, 1 sim week. No crashes or other oddities.

It's a good lot from me!!!No 7PM crash or other stuff!!!Tester in NL/OFB & SEASONS!!!The Hood was the 1 4 SEASONS!!!Got CC & hacks )

My sims live happily for 4 seasons now, with all EPs and Stuff Packs.
They made a snowman, had a snowball fight, play "toss football" at the side of the house,
and today they got a genie lamp delivered on the doorstep!
Not a single problem. Thanks,

I love your Backdoor Lane series... its so different to the boring suburb houses.. not all of our sims are lucky enough to live in big houses with rolling hills and landscaped gardens!

Hi Plasticbox - thanks for your message. I've DL the house and will give it a try (looks great BTW) and report back on any issues or indeed and non-issues.

I've just tested so far for a sim week with a CAS family on my cc & hack free account. No crashes. No weirdness. I have all EP up to & including FreeTime, just H&M stuff pack. 4 gigs RAM, Sapphire ATI Radeon X1950Pro. Will test on my hacked & cc'ed account as well, but it will be a couple of days before I get a chance.

Feedback Report:

I was going to report that this lot was playing very well - which, in fact, it is though I had a small problem with it (see below).

First: I have all EPs and the Xmas pack but otherwise no SPs. I'm running the game on my new machine with Vista.

The house played very well - both without problems and for playability - it's a nice lot and I will be using it in my regular neighbourood if possible.

I have been through all seasons (snows, rain and hail, storm etc.) with a family and had many of the usual events (birth, marriage, birthdays, got a dog, etc.). I also had a good number of the usual visitors to the house (mail person, paper person, maid, bug person, hobbies whatsits, etc.). I was also able to happily leave the lot and go shopping or send them off hiking. All portals and phase shifts (day-night, seasons) on the lot seem to be working well.

The ONLY problem I had was when placing a greenhouse. The first time I tried it, I decided I didn't like the roof and deleted it. But part of it got left behind. It looked like a graphical fault so I exited the lot without saving. When I went back in, the half deleted roof was still there (see picture). I don't know whether this is just a bug or a problem with the lot. I will try to reproduce it on a copy of the lot and will let you know if I can. If I don't post again, it will be because I couldn't reproduce it and we can put that down to a one off bug (with my game).

HTH

maxon,

thanks for the feedback! =) That is strange with the greenhouse roof .. is it the same as what happened to this person?:

http://sumomo.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=259975

If yes, then it looks like just another game bug .. seems to happen on other lots too. (Have you tried the Stuck Object Remover from MATY to get rid of the roof? Or the sledgehammer tool?)

I'll have a look at the link. Anyway, the roof had gone away once I had shut the game down and restarted so it does look like a game/graphic bug and not the lot. There is something else I noticed and want to check with the lot and I'll post again shortly. I won't say what it is until I've checked and I'm sure of what I'm saying.

Hi plasticbox

Despite my best efforts this lot refuses to crash for me. Yay!

I tested both with and without hacks, with new and existing neighbourhoods and new and existing sims.

The one tile border is a definate improvement for townhouses over what we had before. I'm of to download the lastest lotexpander and experiment with my own houses. This is a really nice house too and easy to play - thanks very much!

Ah ok, thanks for letting me know. Yes, I've seen that sort of graphic glitch too on various random lots (with awnings mostly), that's not a result of the shrinking.

Thank you for testing and posting, Rascal and KariMinger! =)

I tested this lot for 5.5 sim days with no problems at all.

Just a quick update to let you know the 'problem' I thought was a problem, isn't. The lot is working 100% fine in my game AFAIK. I now have a street of them in my main neighbourhood.

this is so cute! I cant wait to try it out

thank you