How To Build Houses On Slopes in The Sims 3

Slopes are the bane of a Sims 3 player's life because they pose a challenge for building on. However, in real life, as we all know, the ground is not perpetually flat. We can also see that some of the lots that come in the base game have been made on sloped ground. So how did they do that? And how can you free yourself from plain two dimensional lot building?

You're going to need the following tools to build houses on slopes in The Sims 3.

The constrainFloorElevation [true/false]  cheat. This is a powerful cheat that can create wavy walls and all manner of madness, so beware that once you start using it, things won't be as easy as they were when you were in the basic mode. Use the false command to make yourself master of all the terrain you see.

Patience. Weird things will happen when you go off the beaten path. If having the occasional door hanging through the middle of a wall bothers you, then building advanced houses may not be your cup of tea. Most issues are fixable with a little time and patience, but you will need to be prepared to make mistakes.

Outline your sim's home. Do this on a flat lot. You don't have to build the whole thing, in fact, it is better if you don't, because you're going to be facing some interesting challenges as you build your sloped lot and the fewer complications you have, the better.

Ctrl + shift + c to bring up the cheats menu and type 'constrainFloorElevation false' (without the 's). Now go to terrain tools and  use the 'raise terrain' tool to raise the terrain around your house to the desired levels. During this process you will see your sim house perform some weird contortions and develop wavy walls. Don't worry, this is all part of the plan. If you are working with multiple levels, note that you will need to flatten the area around walls with doors in them, otherwise you won't be able to place doors in those locations.

Did you know that the 'level terrain' tool can be used to level more than just the floor of the lot? Go up a level to the top of your home and use the level terrain tool to straighten the tops of the walls out. You will notice that you are now left with a home where the walls are of varying heights. Super! This is also the time to install stairs and doors where necessary.

Turn off the cheat by typing 'constrainFloorElevation true' into the cheats menu. Leaving this cheat on will wreak havoc on the rest of your lot. You may notice that your home still has peculiar quirks from the use of this tool. With a little practice, you can create very natural looking homes on multiple levels and slopes, but it does require patience and the willingness to mess with elevation until everything is just right.