The Sims 2: Nightlife/New Build Mode Features

The Sims 2 Nightlife comes with new features that enable you to build more complex lots. This article reviews each of them.

1/2 Walls
Found in the walls category, 1/2 size walls allow you to divide up the space in a room without creating a new room. Most of these walls have uncovered wall coverings on them with just a decoration on the top. Others have upper halves made up of glass. They can also join at diagonal corners. Because they don't make new rooms, they don't also block light flow, nor can they support doors, arches or gates. Finally they can't support upper storey floors.

Sloped Flooring
Previously, floor tiles could only be placed on flat surfaces. They'd also flatten tiles if they could as well. However if a tile can't be flattened, you'll find that floors can now cover them as well.

Driveways and Garages
If your sims wan't a car, they must first have a driveway. Driveways can only be placed in these conditions. None of these tiles can have objects on them, however they may have floor tiles on them. You can also add an extender piece to create a larger driveway for the car.
 * Seven tiles left of the house.
 * Ten clear tiles deep in the house.
 * Five clear tiles wide of the house.

Garages can also be built for your sims cars. To build a garage simply select a garage door and between the driveway and extension piece. This is the only place garage doors can go. To finish the garage add walls around the extender piece. To make sure your sims can reach the car, make sure there's enough space to add a door to the garage walls.

Another option for your cars is to build a carport. To do this, first construct a room where you wan't the driveway to be then add cover the top with floor tiles, the same way as making an upper storey. Make sure the floor tiles go one tile over the wall. Secondly, add four columns on the ground floor outside of the wall. Make sure they reach the floors. Thirdly, delete the walls and add the driveway, you now have your carport. For an example of a carport see the downtown residence 201 Custer Boulevard.

Terrain Smoother
The terrain smoother is found in the Terrain and Elevation panel in Build Mode. It smooths our rough terrain without flattening it. This allows for a more natural look if that's what you want.

Roof Pitch
A new cheat allows you to change the angles of roofs. To do this simply bring up the cheat menu and type in 'roofslopeangle' then type in a number between 15 and 75. This number corresponds to the angle of the roof. It affects all roofs on the lot.

Diagonal Pools
Diagonal pools can now be built in your sims homes. This self-explanatory tool also allows these new pools to overlap straight rectangular pools. Pools can also be built on single tiles as well. Note that pool objects can't be built on diagonals so your pools still require a rectangular section.

Columns
Objects may now be placed under connecting column arches.