Mall Preview
Apr. 27th, 2009 06:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
simgaroopI still need to furnish and decorate 6 spaces, but I could say that the mall is currently 60% finished. When I'm stressed, I become anal. And when I'm anal, I want everything to match, so I even made a couple recolors to fit my "design" :P.
As you can see from this picture. I've changed a bit the original design of the mall to fit a couple of unexpected malfunctions that couldn't be fixed without the use -I suspect- of advanced building cheats that I ignore (hence why I refuse to build anything with a roof, because I've never been able to place one).
On the left there's a very small bus stop. I'm still deciding if I should build one with what I have in the games or leave that cute CC one. Anything to keep the size of this lot as small as possible!
Random shot of the entrance. Instead of a fountain, now there's a palm tree. There will be fountain way at the back, so the visitors can sit and rest near it.
I also knocked down some walls, because the fancy murals I had made it impossible for game play (they kept blocking the view, even when the walls are half down, and I want this lot to be playable too!).
The food court. It was originally downstairs, enclosed and at the back of the mall, but I was forced to move it up here because the pineapple and the log from two food stands were showing up on the floor above. So, it traded places with the bowling alley. It is also now on the front of the mall because by the time I realized the bleeding issue, I had already built the coffee shop and the cinema, and considering the time I spent with them, I refused to knock them down.
The playground :). With some toys as requested. Above it you can see part of the coffee shop exterior, which includes games like chess, mahjong and "Who woke the Llama".
The space themed bowling alley, which was built without custom content. It also includes pool and poker tables, a couple soda machines and a jukebox.
This mini market/grocery store is at the front of the mall. I dislike the colors of the original game, and I found some neat purple and pink recolors of the decra chill, the fridges and the icecream freezer, so I recolored the veggie stands to match. I debated for a long time if I should go with the purple or pink theme, so I guess I'll use my pink recolors some other time.
(The original recolors are from Shannanigan and they come in white, pink, black and purple. I did the recolors for all four options and will upload them during this week, although I think no one is particularly interested in the veggie stands :P).
I want to recolor the magazine stand, or at least find a white recolor. And the final version will probably not include as much clutter on the back (it all depends on the file size). I tried to use Maxis objects as much as possible, but there aren't many food/grocery options within the game.
The Bridal Shop. I'm still not 100% happy with the wallpaper and will probably change it(and I've just realized it's also purple :S).
Most of the stuff on sale is from the Maxis game (in particular, the celebration SP).
Window of the Toy/Baby store.
It originally had more custom toys, but I exchanged those from options from the Maxis games (or extracted clutter). I also discovered some cute "MySims" figurines and pretended those are toys too.
The Magic Shop (which is also purple, WTF? I'm going to change the market to pink at this rate).
I currently have no idea how to stock a community lot with the magic reagents from Apartment Life. I have a hack that makes them buyable, but I need the lot to zoned as Residential, and I'm afraid that all the commercial counters would disappear if I rezoned it.
So, until I figure out a solution, it'll include these custom potions.
Hair Salon
The H&M Store
The shoe boxes are from Sims2Code. Depending on the size of the lot, I might delete them in the end :(.
The Services area, with ATM machines (deco), public phones and the restrooms.
Considering the cigarette machine is a hacked object, it won't be included in the lot to avoid conflicts. It is there at the moment because I need it for story purposes.
I'll probably replace it with an electronics gadget kiosk.
The absolute winner in the poll: The Coffee Shop. With the exception of the walls, floor and a couple fake food items, all comes from the Maxis games.
The Coffee Shop also has a small stage for poetry recitals or amateur comedy shows.
Small music venues will take place somewhere else ;).
Finally, my absolute favorite lot so far.
The Cinema.
Some of the deco objects are from Olemantiker, but were written in English and with random pictures, so I recolored them to fit my simlish preferences. The Marquee now says Bella Donna Cinema, and you can see the Free Time movies and some of Tim's work in the posters outside.
Snack shop
Ticket Booth
And the movie theater.
This is what I have so far. Some things will probably change as I work on this lot, but I expect to finish it during my house arrest :P.
As you can see from this picture. I've changed a bit the original design of the mall to fit a couple of unexpected malfunctions that couldn't be fixed without the use -I suspect- of advanced building cheats that I ignore (hence why I refuse to build anything with a roof, because I've never been able to place one).
On the left there's a very small bus stop. I'm still deciding if I should build one with what I have in the games or leave that cute CC one. Anything to keep the size of this lot as small as possible!
Random shot of the entrance. Instead of a fountain, now there's a palm tree. There will be fountain way at the back, so the visitors can sit and rest near it.
I also knocked down some walls, because the fancy murals I had made it impossible for game play (they kept blocking the view, even when the walls are half down, and I want this lot to be playable too!).
The food court. It was originally downstairs, enclosed and at the back of the mall, but I was forced to move it up here because the pineapple and the log from two food stands were showing up on the floor above. So, it traded places with the bowling alley. It is also now on the front of the mall because by the time I realized the bleeding issue, I had already built the coffee shop and the cinema, and considering the time I spent with them, I refused to knock them down.
The playground :). With some toys as requested. Above it you can see part of the coffee shop exterior, which includes games like chess, mahjong and "Who woke the Llama".
The space themed bowling alley, which was built without custom content. It also includes pool and poker tables, a couple soda machines and a jukebox.
This mini market/grocery store is at the front of the mall. I dislike the colors of the original game, and I found some neat purple and pink recolors of the decra chill, the fridges and the icecream freezer, so I recolored the veggie stands to match. I debated for a long time if I should go with the purple or pink theme, so I guess I'll use my pink recolors some other time.
(The original recolors are from Shannanigan and they come in white, pink, black and purple. I did the recolors for all four options and will upload them during this week, although I think no one is particularly interested in the veggie stands :P).
I want to recolor the magazine stand, or at least find a white recolor. And the final version will probably not include as much clutter on the back (it all depends on the file size). I tried to use Maxis objects as much as possible, but there aren't many food/grocery options within the game.
The Bridal Shop. I'm still not 100% happy with the wallpaper and will probably change it(and I've just realized it's also purple :S).
Most of the stuff on sale is from the Maxis game (in particular, the celebration SP).
Window of the Toy/Baby store.
It originally had more custom toys, but I exchanged those from options from the Maxis games (or extracted clutter). I also discovered some cute "MySims" figurines and pretended those are toys too.
The Magic Shop (which is also purple, WTF? I'm going to change the market to pink at this rate).
I currently have no idea how to stock a community lot with the magic reagents from Apartment Life. I have a hack that makes them buyable, but I need the lot to zoned as Residential, and I'm afraid that all the commercial counters would disappear if I rezoned it.
So, until I figure out a solution, it'll include these custom potions.
Hair Salon
The H&M Store
The shoe boxes are from Sims2Code. Depending on the size of the lot, I might delete them in the end :(.
The Services area, with ATM machines (deco), public phones and the restrooms.
Considering the cigarette machine is a hacked object, it won't be included in the lot to avoid conflicts. It is there at the moment because I need it for story purposes.
I'll probably replace it with an electronics gadget kiosk.
The absolute winner in the poll: The Coffee Shop. With the exception of the walls, floor and a couple fake food items, all comes from the Maxis games.
The Coffee Shop also has a small stage for poetry recitals or amateur comedy shows.
Small music venues will take place somewhere else ;).
Finally, my absolute favorite lot so far.
The Cinema.
Some of the deco objects are from Olemantiker, but were written in English and with random pictures, so I recolored them to fit my simlish preferences. The Marquee now says Bella Donna Cinema, and you can see the Free Time movies and some of Tim's work in the posters outside.
Snack shop
Ticket Booth
And the movie theater.
This is what I have so far. Some things will probably change as I work on this lot, but I expect to finish it during my house arrest :P.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:40 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:40 am (UTC)Really, I'm VERY impressed. Wow.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:45 am (UTC)Question. If you are building community lot shops, but don't plan on owning them, can you just stock the shelves with whatever you want, add a cash register, and townies will show up to operate the shop? I built this complicated lot with all these tiny shops...and then realized I didn't know how to actually stock the shops. >.>
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:53 am (UTC)I have no idea how would the community lot works. The ideal would be to operate it as a home business, but I guess that a mall as large as this one can only be afforded by someone like Malcolm Laandgrab.
Right now, I'm trying to include something that the sims would use/buy stuff from inside each shop (a videogame rack in the toy shop, those mountain themed souvenirs in the magic shop, the magazine rack in the cinema) so the cashiers that will supposedly generate once the lot is working will have something to do.
To avoid the strain of so many NPCs, I also added a couple deco cash registers, like one at the cinema. Once I playtest the lot, I'll let you know how it worked out.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 12:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:28 am (UTC)Regents must be like the fish. I had rezone to residential to put the buyable fish in the cold display cases, but all of the unique commercial items stayed when I did that. What you'd probably really want is fully extracted ones
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:30 am (UTC)Just an idea, if you're afraid that things will disappear if you turn it into a residential lot you can always test it on a different lot. You can make a community lot with some things that you have in the mall (such as counters, cash registers, or anything else you think might disappear) and can test it on that one first.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:51 am (UTC)Nah, don't worry. It didn't sound rude to me at all and I appreciate your suggestion :).
I'll try it out.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:41 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:41 am (UTC)It looks awesome! Pretty, beautiful, and amazing. The cinema/cafe are my two favourites, and I can't wait to download this.
I think you being anal makes this even better.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:42 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 02:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 02:18 am (UTC)I can't wait to download this!!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 02:32 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 07:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 07:34 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 09:58 am (UTC)It burns the eyes.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 10:49 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 01:29 pm (UTC)I recently downloaded your school.I LOVE the gym especially I plan to use it for school dances like i had when I was young I don't think I thanked you for that lot so I figured I would put it here. Thank You!!!!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 04:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 05:29 pm (UTC)But the whole thing is really great too. I love how much Maxis stuff you've used too.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 05:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 07:15 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 08:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 08:18 pm (UTC)I love your attention to detail with these lots :)
You said you're probably not going to include that cigarette machine - May I ask where it's from? That makes the third one I've seen (and the second one I haven't found yet!)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 08:24 pm (UTC)Sure, it's from PC Sims:
http://files.sims2graveyard.com/
I'm not going to include it with the lot because it's a hacked and unsupported object that may conflict with other hacks or crash games. Since there's no info about its compatibility with other mods/EPs, I better leave it out.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-04-28 10:49 pm (UTC)Well, Yay! - Now I have a screenshot of it to put in my catalog!
Thank You! :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-05-01 02:45 am (UTC)I'm looking forward to seeing your finished design and to downloading it.