Making the Overlord Castle

Hey, fellow Simmers. In those post, I will be going into some details on how I remade the original house the Overlords moved into, into the Overlord Castle that 2nd-generation heir Midnight now resides in. A few things you should know about this building project from the beginning:

-I am not a building pro in the Sims. You will never find me making videos of amazing houses I've built or uploading outstanding pieces of architecture to the Exchange (unless someone actually requests it). I don't understand the cheats to constrain the floor elevation or use friezes, nor do I usually think to use "moveobjects", so this castle was built entirely without cheats. If I can do it, you can do it too.

-To my knowledge, I did not use any custom content in the building. I used items from my expansion packs, but I don't think I have anything that I downloaded from the Store in the castle.

-I did switch out furniture and other possessions, but I made this castle with roughly 40,000 Simoleons, so you don't need much to imitate it. Some of the changes I made before the big overhaul, so I tried to calculate that into the total above.

-I did a lot of stuff with the landscape and I added a second story to the house. Otherwise, the basic floor plan of the house is unchanged. I never added, removed, or tweaked the foundation or any of the lower outside walls.

Okay, that said, let's introduce the house. I don't remember the exact lot name of the house, but it's a small Victorian style house with a name like "Small Elegance." It's an inexpensive lot. Here is the before and after shot of the whole lot (one was shot at night, the other during the day, so hopefully that won't affect your viewing that much).

As I said, the basic layout of the house is unchanged - I did add a second liveable story to the castle and a third unlivable story (that is, the Sims can't access it) to create the turrets and the roof. I removed all the trees from the lot. A castle in the forest is a nice touch, but Rufus Overlord wanted a moat really badly, so I had to clear the trees to fit the moat (sorry, there's no rabid alligators in it). Over the moat is a bridge leading to the castle. There is space behind the castle for a garden (which will be required during the second generation of the Overlord legacy), but no room for a parking spot. If the Overlords ever own a car, they'll have to keep it in their inventory. I think a car sitting on the lot would detract from the medieval castle feel anyway.

This is something I added to the lot. It's got a sad, tomb-like feel to it and looks really appropriate for an evil overlord's castle. It actually leads down to a dungeon. I'd show you the inside, but that might reveal some spoilers for Chapter Twelve...

I didn't actually want the castle door on the same side as the original one (I think it would look much better just straight across from the stairs), but I'd have to alter the kitchen layout on the inside to move the door and I couldn't think of how I'd redesign the kitchen.

Here's the living area. Originally it had a bookshelf and a dorky TV, but I replaced it with a nice-looking seated area. I only had so many Simoleons to work with, so it's not as spruced up as it could be. I tried to avoid putting electronics in the living area, though - I wanted it to feel really castle-like on the first floor especially and they didn't have electronics in medieval castles. Perhaps when Midnight and whoever's in her full house start earning money, I can place some electronics on the second floor, where it's a little more relaxed.

This is the dining area. As you can see, it was pretty pathetic when the Overlords first moved in. The door on the left led to a room, which I demolished to make way for the stairs to the second floor. It really opens up the space and I think it just looks better. Minor touches include changing the door to the master bedroom and finding a medieval overhead chandelier.

The kitchen was entirely redone - with the exception of replacing the stove and a couple of counters when Bambi burned them, I never remade any aspect of the kitchen while Rufus was in charge. It desperately needed to be redone. It was much too cheery and cheap-looking to be an Overlord's kitchen, and I was getting sick of the constant "Tastes Like Fridge" moodlet. If you're wondering where the sink is in the redone kitchen, I forgot to add it. It will definitely be there by the next chapter.

The master bedroom was one of the first things I redid when I first bought the house (a good bed is the first thing I buy for my Sims - the less time they spend sleeping, the more time they spend doing other things, and it's a killer to wake up grumpy from a cheap bed when they have work in the morning). For Midnight, though, I redid the master bedroom once again. I also bought Midnight a nice wooden dresser with a mirror, which is out of sight behind the camera.

And finally the master bathroom. The redone version is the same one I showed you in one of my chapters - I didn't redo this bathroom again while I was building the castle. Still, it's a vast improvement over what it once was.

I haven't taken any pictures of the second floor largely because it is empty. Midnight doesn't really have a need for much else (plus I didn't want to leave her with less than 2,000 Simoleons), so when more money starts coming in and she can afford more luxuries, the upstairs will be filled. The second floor was mainly a necessity when Rufus and Bambi had three kids running around and there was absolutely no room on the first floor for their beds/cribs and toys.

And that's the Overlord Castle! It took me about two, two-and-a-half hours to finish it. I'm really happy about it. Finally a house I made that doesn't look completely like a box. :P

Feel free to comment! I'd love to hear if you like the design and how I might be able to improve the castle in the future.