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Original Poster
#1 Old 5th Jul 2005 at 6:29 AM
Default Using Real Floor Plans
Hi, I'm brand new here and I joined up because I love seeing how everyone uses the building tools to get a variety of results. I keep turning up things that never would have occurred to me to do on my own, but that would be really fun to try. I've gotten some pretty neat ideas here on architectural styles and design tips, and have learned about some interesting idiosyncrasies of the game. One thing that I haven't seen a lot about is the use of real floor plans to build houses in the game. I don't know if anyone else likes to do this, but it's how I started out, by checking out books of architectural house plans from the library and trying to reconstruct them on my own. I still like doing this, although it's not like I'm any kind of architectural mastermind or anything.

Anyway, my reason for this post is that sometimes it was really frustrating trying to figure out how to get things to scale, or to look right at all, when I was working with floor plans. I thought maybe I'd share a couple of the things I figured out about this, and if anyone else had something they wanted to mention, they could too.
  • Scale: One thing that drove me crazy was trying to figure out how to translate something like 10'8" into the grids the game uses. What I sort of worked out for myself is that one square in the game is roughly (VERY roughly) two feet. This isn't always a ton of help, though, when your floor plans don't have measurements for every dimension and you're trying to build as accurately as possible. What I always do now is I find the first standard sized bathtub in the house, because all bathtubs in the game are 1 x 2 squares. I always make a photocopy of the floor plan, and then I use a small plastic ruler to measure roughly how many squares each room should be. Some adjustment is often necessary, because hallways should be at least 2 wide, and so on, but this makes it easier to cobble together something that you can start with.
  • Saving time: If you're like me you hate having to "sketch" out all the rooms and walls with the wall tool, then tear it all down again so you can build a foundation underneath. What I do now to avoid this mess is I use a piece of graph paper and a pencil to convert my marked up floor plan into square format. What I like to do then is measure a box that would enclose the first floor completely, make a foundation on the lot that is the same size as that box, draw the walls, and delete the foundation squares that don't end up being needed. I find that this makes it much easier to visualize how your house will sit on the lot, too.
These are just a couple of tips I had that I thought might be useful to some of you who are basically beginners like me, but I might think of some others later on and add them. Please feel free to add any comments, tips of your own, or constructive cricitism you can think of.
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Forum Resident
#2 Old 5th Jul 2005 at 1:40 PM
according to the SC4 transition, one tile is supposed to be 1x1 meter. in SC4, 1 tile is 16x16 metres and in sims2, one sc4-tile is 16x16 house tiles.
Guest
Original Poster
#3 Old 6th Jul 2005 at 1:01 AM
Hey, good to know. So 1 square is 3.28 feet wide, then. Thanks for the information.
Lab Assistant
#4 Old 29th Jul 2005 at 6:15 PM
Wow! I love to use house plans too, and yes, I get very frustrated trying to work out scale, lol. The worst part is the lots we can place have ample width, but you have to use a really big lot to get the house length to fit. But I had a couple of tips to add too.

First, try real life house hunting. I had a lot of fun going to various subdivisions or mobile home places and picking up house plan leaflets. Plus, it's nice to get a realistic view. A lot of the paperwork you can pick up even has elevation pictures (as some house plan books) to make sure you're making it look how it should.

Next, I cannot stress how helpful graph paper can be. Oddly enough, the system I've been going by is in two parts - the graph paper squares can go one to one in terms if sims square size, and use furniture, and furniture can often dictate room size. So, I sketch while I design in the game in the shape of the original house plan and try to fit it in the selected lot (gives a backup too later if I have to re-create the house!)
Stupid people are stupid
#5 Old 30th Jul 2005 at 8:12 AM
Quote: Originally posted by deemsterhood
Hey, good to know. So 1 square is 3.28 feet wide, then. Thanks for the information.


I'm sorry to say this, but this can't be right. If you want to use real floor plans (i like to use them too), you have to make sure you have the right measures.

If 1 square is 3.28 feet or 1 meter wide, then a bed would be 9.84 feet or 3 meters long. A real bed (all the measures i give are normal in The Netherlands unlees i say otherwise) is 1.40/1.60 meters (4.66/5.33 feet) wide and 2 meters (6.66 feet) long. If a bed in TS2 is 3 squares long and 2 squares wide, 1 square would be between 0.66 and 0.70 centimeters (2.2 and 2.33 feet).
This goes for the couches too. I have two couches at home, 1 is a twoseater and 1 is a threeseater. The small one is 1.40 meters long (4.66 feet). That's exactly 2 squares in TS2 *if* you make the squares 0.70 meters (2.33 feet). The larger couch is 2.05 meters long. If i make the TS2 squares 0.70 meters long, that would be 0.05 meters short of 3 squares. Those are exactly the squares the couches are wide in TS2.
A normal door is 0.85 meters (2.83 feet). But in my home i have 2 doors from the 70's which are 0.72 meters (2.4 feet) wide. That would be pretty much the same size as the doors in TS2.

If you take a look at the sims themselfs, the babies are a bit shorter then 1 square. So they would be somewhere between 0.50 and 0.60 meters (1.66/2 feet). That's pretty much the size of a human baby.
An adult sim is 2.5 squares tall. You can check when they are in bed. 2.5 squares, if the square is 0.70 meters (2.33 feet) would be eactly 1.75 meters, again normal everage human size.

So, my conclusion is; 1 square is 0.70 meters or 2.33 feet.

As i said before, i like to use real floorplans myself but i never use the measures because they don't always line up perfectly. I always use my instincts to see what size it must be. When i build my house i want my masterbedroom to be at least 6 by 6 squares. A kidsbedroom i want to be at least 3 by 4 squares. An en-suite bathroom has to be 3 by 3 squares and a family bathroom has to be 4 by 4 squares to work properly. That's what i'm thinking.
Test Subject
#6 Old 30th Jul 2005 at 8:27 AM
Wow! I didn't know it takes so much math to get houseplans to line up right. I usually find one of the smallest windows in a house (or maybe a door), and figure that that is one tile. Then I guesstimate that out thoughout the house, and that usually works pretty well. You just need to do the smaller sections first, or the ones with more windows or doors and it can line up about right. If I'm building a house on a foundation I usually build a huge square or rectangle of foundation with the edge at the point where I want my front porch to end. Then I just draw out the walls on that and delete the excess foundation (kind of like cutting a pattern out of fabric). I think that makes it a lot easier. I've also noticed that you need to be careful in which floor plan you want to translate into the sims. Some have a lot of diagonal walls, which makes it harder to decorate (even with the 45 degree angle roation cheat). I love using floor plans, it really helps when you have an idea of what you want to build, but have no idea how the floor plan should be.
Stupid people are stupid
#7 Old 30th Jul 2005 at 9:22 AM
I was having trouble sleeping and tried the maths to fall asleep :P. As you can tell, it didn't work.

I'm not using the measures on the floorplans at all. I do what looks right. And it works perfectly. Sometimes i make the plans a little different. I convert garages into a bedroom with an en-suite, things like that.
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 4th Aug 2005 at 12:46 PM
Thanx for all this advice - I've built houses before, but to me they've never seemed to come out to my satisfaction. I have taken everything that you all have said, ( houseplans, scale, etc) and I now feel confident that I can make some great houses. Thanks again, and look out for my uploads! xx
Guest
Original Poster
#9 Old 4th Aug 2005 at 1:12 PM
I can help! GoldFist to the rescue!
I do quite a lot of conversions from floorplans, and I've come to offer my advice.

Grid paper is invaluable. Use it to get an even, sim-friendly design.

Before you start, reassign the space taken up by closets and laundries. There are no sim equivalents, and you usually need the room anyway.

LETS GET BUILDING :smash:

Build foundations first, even if it ends up being too small. You can extend if you have to, and you don't have to start again.

While building rooms, you should have an idea of what they will be. Once you've put up walls, start putting furniture in straight away, and think about the space sims need to operate without complaining. This way you dont have to redo other rooms to give it space.

Once you've built your home, explore it with the free camera, to see if it feels right. It might sound weird, but if I put effort into a house, it has to have the right kind of atmosphere. But that's just me.

I find bathrooms need more room than on plans, simply because sims will try to do the avoidance dance, and get stuck.

This is all I can think of. I hope it helps :D
Lab Assistant
#10 Old 4th Aug 2005 at 11:30 PM Last edited by SimTaarna : 4th Aug 2005 at 11:32 PM. Reason: Because my grammar sucks!
Quote: Originally posted by GoldFist
I find bathrooms need more room than on plans, simply because sims will try to do the avoidance dance, and get stuck.


I know exactly what you mean here! My house has a 2nd bathroom that would be around 3x2 in sim squares, with the toilet next to the tub/shower. Naturally this wouldn't work in the game, because there'd be no access to bathe. I'd actually have to make the bathroom as a 4x2 for it to work better, so there's a blank square between toilet and tub. This would then mean throwing off the scale a little for surrounding areas, so it still fits together as it should.
Test Subject
#11 Old 4th Aug 2005 at 11:40 PM
You know in Sims 1 I used to do this alot and did exactly the same things you are doing... I've done a few on TS2 and I like the results most of the time... my biggest problem has been building the house and finding out it's not on the right position in the lot!!!! ARG! I hate that. I wish there was a way you could pick it up and move it around.
Oh well I never thought to post about this though Good post.
Stupid people are stupid
#12 Old 5th Aug 2005 at 3:27 PM
Quote: Originally posted by moonlights_rain
You know in Sims 1 I used to do this alot and did exactly the same things you are doing... I've done a few on TS2 and I like the results most of the time... my biggest problem has been building the house and finding out it's not on the right position in the lot!!!! ARG! I hate that. I wish there was a way you could pick it up and move it around.
Oh well I never thought to post about this though Good post.


I'm having this problem too. My houses are always on a foundation and i finf the easiest way to see if the house is in the right position is to lay down the foundation. Decide before you want to build if you want a swimmingpool and where you want it. Mine are always on the back of the house. Do you want a pond and where. Such basic things i usually try to figure out before i start building.

I use real floorplans for my homes, but as i said earlier i never use the precise measures because often they don't match. On the plan the two walls come together but when i try to build it they are always off.
Lab Assistant
#13 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 10:46 AM
I asked my dad for the architectual plans for our house and I made it. Looked very real but had trouble finding objects and walpapers etc.
Lab Assistant
#14 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 3:30 PM
I've always been a big culprit of build a square house, make it functional (ie, everything around the edges) and then ended up being only so-so happy with it. When I started looking at what other people could build, I was flabbergasted... their's actually looked like real houses!

I noticed a lot of the houses I was admiring actually looked like real houses, especially the top down "floor plan" view... so I googled house floor plans and have a look at a few. Now, my only problem is I have about 50 printed out that I want to build!!!

One issue I have had, apart from the already mentioned getting it to line up right, is a lot of real houses build things on angles. A kitchen counter for example might cut across on an angle, and I just can't place an oven on a 45 degree angle (no expansions yet... so not sure if you can later on or not).

I never thought I would see the silver lining to the new estate being built either... hello 38 floor plans I picked up on the weekend! "no ma'am, I really am buying a house, I'm just very.... picky."
Stupid people are stupid
#15 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 3:42 PM
I'm having the same problem as you, envious.
It's really hard to build them accurate. I can't do it, that's why i always try to see what looks good.
And for things like kitchencounters on 45 degreeangles, i have the EP but i don't use it for things like counters because it looks awful.
The only time i use it is for furniture. You just have to do what looks right. Because a real floorplans don't always work in TS2.
Instructor
#16 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 5:00 PM
I use the windows and doors of the plans to get a idea of how to translate the plans into the grid.

But as I think some said real floor plans dont translate well, a lot due to game being grid based as real floor plans are not.
Field Researcher
#17 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 5:38 PM Last edited by momicajack : 8th Aug 2005 at 5:42 PM.
Default Floorplans
Gee I love this thread! I've been doing this too for some time now. I had printed a bunch off, then told my daughter I was using floor plans, and of course she took a bunch from me and starting doing it too. Of course, she has always been very talented on her own when it comes to building houses, but I find that "painting with a blank slate" seems to be difficult to me sometimes and without very many decent results. I love using the floor plans, even if they are not exact to scale, as they are a great guideline for not only sizes, but the layout of the house to make it more efficient. If I'm working on my own and try to deviate from the plain square/rectangular kind of house, sometimes I get all into it and then discover if I had only done "this" or done "that" it might have worked out better. That's where using floorplans comes in handy - some smart architect already thought of all that stuff and we just have to follow their lead. I also like that you can print out drawings of what the house may look like on the outside, as that is helpful too.

As for the comparison measurements, I have always gone off of "one sim-square = three feet". Depending on whether the real measurements equal 1/2 foot or less, I "round" down and if over 1/2 foot I "round" up - just like in math when you round decimal numbers down or up. If it looks like a tight fit, I will round up rather than down, depending on the overall size.

I also try to make my rooms at least 5x5 simsquares if possible, as anything smaller won't hold much. Using the space that would be a closet in a floorplan helps in that regard.

Like said before, the bathrooms are sometimes so unrealistic in size in the "real" floorplans and you have to work around that. Also, using furniture, cabinets, beds, ect. for comparison measurement is helpful too. I just wish the next expansion pack would make it to where we are able to build a wall flat on the round, then place a foundation right up next to it and build the house on top of that without the walls turning all funky on you! Hopefully they might be doing that in the new one since they will have cars and you gotta have a garage for your car that enters the house. I would hate to think that all your houses would have to have either a detached garage or no foundation on the house part if you want the garage attached! And you know, most of the floor plans you find that are so cool looking usually have a garage that you step down into from the house that is on a foundation.

OH WELL, enought jabbering. Have fun building ya'll! :smash:
Lab Assistant
#18 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 6:11 PM
If your able to put thing on a 45 degree angles how do you do that?
Test Subject
#19 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 7:00 PM
angel f ...if you look close at the beds you will see that they do not take up the whole the the squares. It takes that many squares to make an onject because you can not use half squares for one thing and the other half for something else.

Keeping that in mind, if you use the boolProp snapObjectsToGrid false you can place objects closer together and have a the scale count closer to the 3.28 ft. range when placing the furniture. This is what I come up with anyway. I do not think there is a perfect way to get the real measurements correct to real life.
Test Subject
#20 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 9:21 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Envious
I never thought I would see the silver lining to the new estate being built either... hello 38 floor plans I picked up on the weekend! "no ma'am, I really am buying a house, I'm just very.... picky."


LMAO!!! :haha: I did this same exact thing... I was actually looking to purchase a house but haven't yet but actually I built the sim houses and played around with them and it helped me get a better idea of the house I would actually like (laughs again I'm a weirdo) The guy was all too happy to hand over floor plans because he wanted me to buy a house with them...
Lab Assistant
#21 Old 8th Aug 2005 at 11:42 PM
The cheat code boolProp allow45degreeangle of rotation t/f doesn't work for me. Is there another one.
Field Researcher
#22 Old 9th Aug 2005 at 3:38 AM
Sunny, do you have University EP? The allow45degreeangleofrotation t/f code works only with the expansion pack. The first time I tried it, I thought it didn't work. I later found out that you use the < and > symbol keys to make it rotate 45 degrees at a time. Of course, if you've already done that, I don't know what it could be.
Stupid people are stupid
#23 Old 9th Aug 2005 at 9:04 AM
Stupid people are stupid
#24 Old 10th Aug 2005 at 10:22 AM
Quote: Originally posted by HWT53
angel f ...if you look close at the beds you will see that they do not take up the whole the the squares. It takes that many squares to make an onject because you can not use half squares for one thing and the other half for something else.

Keeping that in mind, if you use the boolProp snapObjectsToGrid false you can place objects closer together and have a the scale count closer to the 3.28 ft. range when placing the furniture. This is what I come up with anyway. I do not think there is a perfect way to get the real measurements correct to real life.


I agree on the fact that a bed doesn't take up the whole of the three squares, BUT since TS2 doesn't support the use of half squares, if you want to use the real messures from real floorplans you have to go with the three squares for the beds. You just can't use two and a half squares.

If you use that cheat you still need to use the squares, i found you can't put two chairs in one square, it doesn't fit and your sims won't use them. You can put them a little closer together but not much. That cheat is purely cosmetic.

You said it yourself, you can'r use two and a half squares for one object and the other half for another object. If you keep that in mind, three squares would still be two meters.
Lab Assistant
#25 Old 18th Aug 2005 at 6:55 AM
momicajack thank you for answering my question, I did know about the keys, I will try it. Thanks
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