sandbox, everything is brick I dont know how to do surface finishes.

[DesmondClouds]

i do not know how to do any surface finish while in sandbox, i know you can play and test play it but going back to altering the property just sets it back to bare bricks. is there a way to paint and do surface finish while in sandbox mode?
also here are some things i recommend to add to the game : bay or bow windows, better roofing options for steep roofs with different foundation shapes other than square. Double sink vanities with cabinet space underneath, more door options for exterior doors.
there's so many more but I'm going to keep it at this for now

[Rai]

Are you asking how to lay surfaces?

If so, you just go into the tool menu and select the paint brush. Then, push "Q" on the keyboard and it'll bring up the surface settings. It doesn't react the same way it does if you are the person remodeling an already completed quest house.

You don't have to press anything to "purchase" or lay the surfaces. Just select the surface you want, press "Q" again to close out of the menu, and start painting by single clicking on one portion of the surface and then clicking again on the end part (it's similar to painting).

[stubaz]

I'm afraid I must be dumb, I can't figure out how to surface anything in sandbox mode. Either that or I have a bug in that part of the game. I've spent a couple of hours in total, trying to follow a few instructions and all I can achieve is either the surface I choose is duplicated or it chooses the surface of red brick. I can get a box of tiles sitting on the floor I wish to tile, but that's all. Why should something supposedly easy be so darned hard to do?

I've played every video I can find, but they never show the routine they simply assume you already know how to surface a floor or wall.

Could someone please explain the complete routine from start to finish and describe exactly which icons need to be clicked on and be as elaborate as you can. Thank you.

[mrsddixon66]

Originally posted by stubaz:

I'm afraid I must be dumb, I can't figure out how to surface anything in sandbox mode. Either that or I have a bug in that part of the game. I've spent a couple of hours in total, trying to follow a few instructions and all I can achieve is either the surface I choose is duplicated or it chooses the surface of red brick. I can get a box of tiles sitting on the floor I wish to tile, but that's all. Why should something supposedly easy be so darned hard to do?

I've played every video I can find, but they never show the routine they simply assume you already know how to surface a floor or wall.

Could someone please explain the complete routine from start to finish and describe exactly which icons need to be clicked on and be as elaborate as you can. Thank you.

It would be quicker and better to understand if you search this in youtube, as there are some excellent videos showing exactly what you are asking. GIGIGaming I think is the right person, has some very well done videos.

[mrsddixon66]

Originally posted by mrsddixon66:

Originally posted by stubaz:

I'm afraid I must be dumb, I can't figure out how to surface anything in sandbox mode. Either that or I have a bug in that part of the game. I've spent a couple of hours in total, trying to follow a few instructions and all I can achieve is either the surface I choose is duplicated or it chooses the surface of red brick. I can get a box of tiles sitting on the floor I wish to tile, but that's all. Why should something supposedly easy be so darned hard to do?

I've played every video I can find, but they never show the routine they simply assume you already know how to surface a floor or wall.

Could someone please explain the complete routine from start to finish and describe exactly which icons need to be clicked on and be as elaborate as you can. Thank you.

It would be quicker and better to understand if you search this in youtube, as there are some excellent videos showing exactly what you are asking. GIGIGaming I think is the right person, has some very well done videos.

Sorry, GIGIGames not gaming. Try her videos if you haven't already. She explains things really well.

[CyberDiva]

Originally posted by stubaz:

I'm afraid I must be dumb, I can't figure out how to surface anything in sandbox mode. Either that or I have a bug in that part of the game. I've spent a couple of hours in total, trying to follow a few instructions and all I can achieve is either the surface I choose is duplicated or it chooses the surface of red brick. I can get a box of tiles sitting on the floor I wish to tile, but that's all. Why should something supposedly easy be so darned hard to do?

I've played every video I can find, but they never show the routine they simply assume you already know how to surface a floor or wall.

Could someone please explain the complete routine from start to finish and describe exactly which icons need to be clicked on and be as elaborate as you can. Thank you.

I can help you. :)

Alright, so in Sandbox mode...

1. There is no need to purchase the tiles you want, as you will access them a different way.

2. Open your tools window (Default: Right-Click) and select the Surface Finishes tool. It is the
paintbrush icon in the second row, third from the left. We do not have the tiling tool here, so we use a paintbrush, instead.

3. With the tool selected (a paintbrush in your hand), press Q. This opens a Customize box with two options. The default Material is red brick and the default Rotation is 0.

4. Left-click the red brick image, or whatever it is you have showing in the Material section.

5. At the top of the new Customize box you have seven tab options in the following order, from left to right:

• Paint (Blue paint dripping down tab)
  
• Stone (Gray brick tab)
  
• Wood (Diagonal wood tab)
  
• Wallpaper (Green rainbows on yellow background with upper left corner turned down tab)
  
• Metal (Tab is a gray rectangle with a diagonal light sheen going from left to right)
  
• Other (three circles in a triangular pattern tab)
  
• Grimy (tab with a tiny bit of red brick on the left, and the majority is a black, gray, and white mess)

This is where you select whether you want paint, tile, wood, wallpaper... All of it.

.

Let us suppose that we want some nice stonework instead of ugly red bricks.

We are going to select the Stone tab, which looks like a tab of gray brick. In this tab, you will see all of the available basic stone types. For example: Gray Granite, Stone Blocks, Subway Tiles, etc.

A. Choose your base stone type from this Stone tab. What do you want the stone to be made out of? for now we will select Gray Granite.

B. Once your base stone type is selected, it returns you to the first Customize screen you saw, with some additional options.

Since we selected Gray Granite, we now also have an option in this window for Cut Pattern and Color. The Rotation option was removed because it is now located elsewhere. Worry not, you can still select a rotation in just a moment.

Now we define our granite beyond the base option we chose.

C. I want my gray granite to have a special pattern to it instead of the boring no-pattern stuff. Click the barely visible box to the right of the words "Cut Pattern." It will be on the far right side of the window you are looking at, between the other two boxes there.

This allows me to see all of the available patterns than I can apply to the stone. The first box at the top left, the plain white one currently selected, indicates that I have not chosen a pattern at all.

I would like to apply this stone as siding on my house, so I am going to left-click the bright orange colored diagonal stripes box, which is in the top row, last one on the right.

D. You are returned to the Customize box showing your stone selection and now your Cut Pattern you just selected. You also still have your Color option. Notice that now you also have a Rotation option and a Cut Pattern Size option.

Rotation allows you to change this particular pattern so that it is either a horizontal (left to right) stripe, a vertical (up and down) stripe, or one of two diagonal (upper left corner to bottom right corner or upper right corner to bottom left corner) stripe.

If you look at the bottom left of your screen, you will notice that you have a rather large square with a paintbrush image on the bottom left of it and a Q there. This is where you can PREVIEW what you are selecting. Each time you change the rotation, the image in that large bottom left corner box will change to show you what you are selecting.

You will also notice that the preview color is the same color I have set my stone to. Likewise, when you change the color and the Cut Pattern Size, the preview box will show you what you are selecting.

The default Rotation is set to 0, which is a stripe going from left to right. I am going to leave this here, because this is what I want.

E. Cut Pattern Size allows you to make each individual element of your chosen pattern larger or smaller. The higher the number here, the larger each element. So when I move cut pattern size to a 2, my stripes become much bigger. I am going to set this to a 2 for now. Sometimes you have to play with the size to get what you want by selecting options and trying them out in your house...and then changing it to see if you like something else better.

F. Last but not least, I want to change that ugly gray color. So I am going to left-click the box to the right of the Color option on this Customize page. You will find it is still the option on the page below Cut Pattern.

G. Unlike in Story Mode, we do not get multiple tabs. Instead, our Color Palette we are presented with has -all- the colors here for you on a single page.

Scroll down until you find a color that you like and select it. Though some of these colors may appear the same, each one is different, even if it is a slight variation on the color.

It will not tell you the name of the color when you hover over the colored square with your mouse.

I am going to select one of the Black options. When I left-click my color choice, I am sent back to the Customize page.

H. My selections are complete, but let us say that we suddenly decide we want to change something. A color, a pattern, the type of stone.... You can left-click any of the boxes in this Customize page to change your choice.

If I happen to left-click the wrong box, that is okay! Just right-click anywhere on your screen and it will take you back to the Customize page!

I. Now that my options are set, I want to right-click anywhere on my screen. This makes the Customize page go away, but you will notice at the bottom left of the screen the options we chose to use are still there.

IT IS TIME TO TILE!

a. Place the white dot that is your mouse pointer in this game over the ugly brick or other surface that you want to tile. Just like in Story Mode, you cannot tile grass and some other surfaces. Your white dot mouse pointer will turn into a white square on your screen when you are hovering over a place where you can change the surface.

b. On the left side of your screen, above your tile preview image, you will have the words "Clean Stains" in a white box. On the right side of that box is a toggle followed by the letter V.

NOTE: IF YOU CHANGED THE KEYBINDING ASSOCIATED TO CHANGING ITEM ORIENTATION IN SETTINGS > KEYBINDINGS, YOU NEED TO PRESS THE LETTER YOU SET THAT TO instead.

Alternatively, you can mouse-click to manually turn it on or off.

This is important to pay attention to if you are building a house and have already placed stains onto your surface. Having the Clean option on will remove those placed stains. Having it off will keep those stains in place. if you have not placed stains, do not worry about this option.

c. At the bottom center of your screen you have three blue bubbles: "Copy Surface Finish", "Hold <left mouse button image> Find surface finish in store", and "<left mouse button image> Select first point".

• Copy Surface Finish: This is good for when you lay down new bricks or an item that can be tiled and need it to match another surface you have already placed elsewhere. Just place the square box on the surface you wish to copy and press the R key (or whichever key you have assigned to it)

• Hold <left mouse button image> Find surface finish in store: Use this to find a pattern you have already laid down. If you are placing wood on a platform, for example, and need the same wood but for it to face another direction, this is a good option to use. Just place your white square over the surface and hold down the left mouse button.

• <left mouse button image> Select first point: This is what you are going to use to tile the surface you are trying to change.

We want to use the third option listed above, to turn those ugly red bricks into something beautiful. I want to change a single wall, so I am going to place the white square over the top left corner of the wall, as far over as it can go on that wall. I am going to single left click that spot.

d. The options on the bottom of my screen have now changed because I have "selected the first point". On my screen I now have a light blue square. As I move my mouse around, that square becomes larger, changing its shape to further cover the wall and end wherever my mouse pointer rests.

If I messed up and selected the wrong starting point, that is alright! I only need to right-click and that light blue square highlight goes away. I can then choose a new starting point and left-click once more. One of the two options on the bottom of my screen will remind me that I can right-click to cancel my last point (read: selection).

The other option now on the bottom of my screen tells me to select the last point.

e. Since I want to change the entire wall, and I first clicked at the upper left-hand corner of the wall, I want to drag my mouse pointer (and thereby making the light blue box larger) until it reaches the bottom right corner of the wall I want to change. I can now see the entire area that is going to be altered.

f. I am going to left click again at the bottom right corner of the wall. The moment I do, the entire wall will change and become covered with my chosen surface.

If I want to make changes to my surface or choose another surface entirely, I can always press Q to go back into my Customize settings, make the changes I want, and apply my changes to my chosen surfaces. I can even resurface places I just surfaced if I do not like my choice the first time.

I hope this helps!

[CyberDiva]

Originally posted by mrsddixon66:

It would be quicker and better to understand if you search this in youtube....

I fully understand preference of a written guide. Not everyone can learn from YouTube videos. They do not help me in the least, either. Different people learn differently. :)

[stubaz]

Thank you, I just found your MEGA tutorial. I've copied it to a text document and will print it out so I can read it whilst playing. Unfortunately HF2 has decided I'm only allowed to work on one house and nothing more, not even Sandbox. But as soon as it's fixed, if ever, I'll be trying out your advice. Thanks again and happy building.

[stubaz]

Very little bugs me more than trying to find information on YouTube. It's overrun with News anchor wannabes and teenagers trying to make their fortunes instead of getting a job. I found one only today telling everyone the Voyagers twins communicate with Earth by using Earth's satellites. People are being fed utter garbage by the ton and they believe every bit of it.

When it comes to tutorials, many of them didn't bother going to school so they know little about teaching others. Yes there are some good teachers using YouTube but trying to find tht good one teaching what you want to learn is like finding that elusive needle. Thankfully I've found an excellent tutor right here on Steam. He's written two tutorials, one of them relating to the subject I was looking for. He must be good I read his first one and I picked it up straight away.

It's just a shame that one big bug has put pay to my using HF2 until it's fixed. Hopefully in the not too distant future, I'm getting withdrawal symptoms.

[CyberDiva]

Speaking of tutorials, I am working on changing that massive post over to an actual Guide and polishing the wording a little to make it even easier to follow. I will post you a link here when I finish the thing so that you do not have to print it out. :)

[Genie51]

Just came across your January post, how to do surfaces, step by step, as I was having trouble with that, too. I also copied your lengthy post, then saw you planned to turn it into a guide to make it easier to follow, I searched your later posts to see if you ever did but didn't find any more on it. Are you still working on it, or...??? My issue is creating grass in a yard that turned to brick after the June update. The WHOLE house, all my work, turned to brick, so I opened it in Sandbox to try to fix it, but the grass has me stumped. Thanks!

[Moving Target]

First demolish any brick covering the area where you want grass, if the ground underneath is earth or sand use the 'LAND PAINTING' tool (third row down, green square with a paintbrush and a brown strip) Once selected you will get a tool tip in the bottom left corner, press this button. In the new window there are 4 squares, left to right they are grass, dry earth, dark earth and sand. Click on the square for grass (when selected it will have a yellow border) The 2 squares below this are the application methods, left is a sphere that paints the ground as you move over it (select higher intensity for faster application) the right hand choice is like painting a surface, click on the ground and drag to apply. Once the ground has been changed to grass you can change the type of grass using the 'EDIT GRASS' tool on the bottom row, once selected you will get a tool tip in the bottom left corner again, press this button and use the wheel to select the type of grass you want then apply it by sweeping the sphere across the green area you put down, mouse scroll wheel increases the diameter of the sphere.