BUILD MODE CRITIQUE - build mode is needlessly complicated and should be simplified

[big bungo]

build mode is *rough*. it's overly complicated for no reason and is very, very clunky. sure you could get used to it after maybe playing for a long time, but there's genuinely no reason for it to be this way. it just creates an accessibility problem where there shouldn't be one. i'm not talking about it "being too hard for younger players", i'm almost 30 and have been building in the sims for over 20 years and I'M struggling with this. building should be fun in any game that features it, not frustrating to the point of not wanting to touch it at all.

off the top of my head, here are the things i have issue with:
-walls do not automatically connect to each other when you manually build walls next to pre-existing walls, and you instead have to click on the wall to stretch it against the wall beside it, which causes texture clipping.

-you can't just delete a single section of a wall, you have to delete the whole wall and redo the entire thing.

-in order to build a foundation, you need to build a room, raise the floor, and then delete the walls. why? there is no reason for it to be this way. foundations should be their own unique tool, not directly tied to and hidden behind room creation.

-you can't just select a floor tile and drag it across the floor to easily create whatever formation you want manually. you have to place down a massive square tile (that can't be placed down anywhere near furniture by the way) that you have to manually resize yourself to be smaller. it does not start out as a small 1x1 tile and cannot be adjusted into a formation that isn't a square or a rectangle.

-the ground isn't actually a part of the world, it's a floor tile that you have to set to have a grass texture on it. how are players supposed to do landscaping and create beautiful and natural looking gardens if the ground itself is a floor tile? there is soil in the outdoors, there are supposed to be patches of soil beneath trees and bushes. players may want to have small parts of their lawn not have grass.

-there are needless build and furnishing restrictions that have no reason for existing. you can barely overlap anything. you try to place a window against a wall with a piece of furniture near it, it gives you a "Furniture cannot overlap" message even if the window itself wouldn't overlap with the piece of furniture in front of it. you try to place a floor tile on the ground that has furniture in the area, it gives you a "Furniture cannot overlap" message. you try to place a window at the bottom of a wall against the floor, it gives you a "Cannot place on the corner of a wall" message (even the developers are aware of this one because the house preset that loads in when you enter the build creator has a sliding door with no floor attached on the other side acting as a window because you can't place windows low enough). there are no reason for these restrictions, and they *need* to be loosened significantly.

-building off my last point, you literally cannot build fences on a floor tile. this includes grass which, as i said, is a floor tile. this restriction should not exist and is EXTREMELY frustrating.

-if you want to make a room that connects to the house but isn't built on the same level/on the foundation, it's not possible. you can *attempt* to, but the wall height will not line up and there's no way to put a roof over it because the walls cannot connect and because the walls are not the same height.

-this is more a visual thing, but when placing handrails around a hole in the floor, the handrails are not built along the edge of the floor tile and there is instead a large gap between where the handrails are and where the edge of the floor tile is. it looks really ugly to the point that i can see myself not using handrails/fences at all and instead just using half-walls.

i will say that, at least when it comes to furnishing, the "place freely" button is very much appreciated. i was annoyed that it seemed like you couldn't move furniture to be right up against walls, but the "place freely" button allows you to do this and does not have any placement restrictions.

as it is currently, build mode in its current state is fine for making very, very basic builds. the issue comes with wanting to get creative with the layout and do more interesting builds. is it possible? yes. the house presets have shown this to be the case. but will it be "easy" or enjoyable for most players? absolutely not. build mode needs a lot of work, especially when it comes to placing walls, fencing and flooring, as well as the ground being a floor tile.

i'm making this post in hopes of the developers taking my feedback into account and make adjustments. feel free to leave your own gripes with build mode here in the comments as there may have been things i've missed/didn't notice or didn't think to bring up because they weren't too much of an issue for me.

[big bungo]

Originally posted by Houstonheart:

The interfaces defiantly need to be refined. Not simplified as much as presented better with better fast options, as well as camera movement.

better over head camera movement for wall placements and surface snapping.

camera movement definitely needs work, i agree. the slow start off into faster moving is very jarring and makes moving the camera and zooming in uncomfortable and difficult

[scancarrelli0520]

Originally posted by big bungo:

build mode is *rough*. it's overly complicated for no reason and is very, very clunky. sure you could get used to it after maybe playing for a long time, but there's genuinely no reason for it to be this way. it just creates an accessibility problem where there shouldn't be one. i'm not talking about it "being too hard for younger players", i'm almost 30 and have been building in the sims for over 20 years and I'M struggling with this. building should be fun in any game that features it, not frustrating to the point of not wanting to touch it at all.

off the top of my head, here are the things i have issue with:
-walls do not automatically connect to each other when you manually build walls next to pre-existing walls, and you instead have to click on the wall to stretch it against the wall beside it, which causes texture clipping.

-you can't just delete a single section of a wall, you have to delete the whole wall and redo the entire thing.

-in order to build a foundation, you need to build a room, raise the floor, and then delete the walls. why? there is no reason for it to be this way. foundations should be their own unique tool, not directly tied to and hidden behind room creation.

-you can't just select a floor tile and drag it across the floor to easily create whatever formation you want manually. you have to place down a massive square tile (that can't be placed down anywhere near furniture by the way) that you have to manually resize yourself to be smaller. it does not start out as a small 1x1 tile and cannot be adjusted into a formation that isn't a square or a rectangle.

-the ground isn't actually a part of the world, it's a floor tile that you have to set to have a grass texture on it. how are players supposed to do landscaping and create beautiful and natural looking gardens if the ground itself is a floor tile? there is soil in the outdoors, there are supposed to be patches of soil beneath trees and bushes. players may want to have small parts of their lawn not have grass.

-there are needless build and furnishing restrictions that have no reason for existing. you can barely overlap anything. you try to place a window against a wall with a piece of furniture near it, it gives you a "Furniture cannot overlap" message even if the window itself wouldn't overlap with the piece of furniture in front of it. you try to place a floor tile on the ground that has furniture in the area, it gives you a "Furniture cannot overlap" message. you try to place a window at the bottom of a wall against the floor, it gives you a "Cannot place on the corner of a wall" message (even the developers are aware of this one because the house preset that loads in when you enter the build creator has a sliding door with no floor attached on the other side acting as a window because you can't place windows low enough). there are no reason for these restrictions, and they *need* to be loosened significantly.

-building off my last point, you literally cannot build fences on a floor tile. this includes grass which, as i said, is a floor tile. this restriction should not exist and is EXTREMELY frustrating.

-if you want to make a room that connects to the house but isn't built on the same level/on the foundation, it's not possible. you can *attempt* to, but the wall height will not line up and there's no way to put a roof over it because the walls cannot connect and because the walls are not the same height.

-this is more a visual thing, but when placing handrails around a hole in the floor, the handrails are not built along the edge of the floor tile and there is instead a large gap between where the handrails are and where the edge of the floor tile is. it looks really ugly to the point that i can see myself not using handrails/fences at all and instead just using half-walls.

i will say that, at least when it comes to furnishing, the "place freely" button is very much appreciated. i was annoyed that it seemed like you couldn't move furniture to be right up against walls, but the "place freely" button allows you to do this and does not have any placement restrictions.

as it is currently, build mode in its current state is fine for making very, very basic builds. the issue comes with wanting to get creative with the layout and do more interesting builds. is it possible? yes. the house presets have shown this to be the case. but will it be "easy" or enjoyable for most players? absolutely not. build mode needs a lot of work, especially when it comes to placing walls, fencing and flooring, as well as the ground being a floor tile.

i'm making this post in hopes of the developers taking my feedback into account and make adjustments. feel free to leave your own gripes with build mode here in the comments as there may have been things i've missed/didn't notice or didn't think to bring up because they weren't too much of an issue for me.

I completely agree regarding the issues with differents levels within houses. While the stairs worked perfectly for the entrance, they didn't function properly inside. My Zoi cannot navigate the interior stairs, despite them being the same height and concept. Furthermore, the level differences have caused significant problems with the exterior walls, resulting in an actual hole in the facade.

Now, I will have to modify the levels, which will mean more hours of construction because if I change the level, the stairs and some other elements of the second and third floors disappear.

Also, someone help me with the camera !! The more floors, the more difficult it is to navigate with the zoom and the camera :(

I see a lot of potential in this building mode. I sincerely hope the developers pay close attention to it, as it's a core experience for many players.