The Double-Fence Technique and functional, enclosed backyards for apartments on foundations [TS2]
That title sounds like I'm writing a PhD...
Basically, if you've ever tried to add a backyard to an apartment on a foundation, you've probably received an error about invalid apartments, even if the backyard is fully fenced.
This is because the level with the foundation is considered "open" since you can't fence across the stairs from the foundation down to the back yard.
One way to solve this issue is by fencing in the "air space" above the back yard by using walls and the constrainfloorelevation cheat, so that both the ground and foundation levels are fenced-in, hence "double fence". If you have any experience making apartments, and using the CFE cheat, it's really easy!
It's also just a nice tutorial on how to "stack" fences for aesthetic purposes.
Step-by-step guide:
1. Start with a residential lot that is not, and has never been occupied. Build your apartments the way you want them, leaving space for the back yards. Remember to use the correct apartment doors.
Stunning.
Now for the back yard.
2. Press ctrl+shift+C together to open up the cheats console, then enter "boolProp constrainFloorElevation false".
3. Now build a wall that encloses your back yards as desired for each individual apartment.
4. Go in to Terrain Tools in Build Mode (the shovel icon) and drag the flatten elevation tool (the first one) to flatten the whole walled-in back yard area, just as you would flatten bumpy ground.
Like so.
You may get these floating triangles at the corners of your walls. That's fine. Just temporarily delete those walls, then undo. The floating triangles should be back in place.
6. Now, pick another fence, and fence in the entire back yard area on top of the walls and foundation you put down. Don't forget to connect it to the house.
If you like how this looks, you can stop here! Use whatever wall coverings you want on the walls and skip to step 10. If you want to use walls for the lower portion, but want your back yards to have outdoor lighting, go to the "Fiddly Bits" section at the end of the post, then go back to step 10. Otherwise, continue:
7. Open up the cheats console again (ctrl+shift+C) and type in "boolProp constrainFloorElevation true".
8. Using the wall tool, delete the walls you placed on the bottom underneath the fence. The top fence will now appear to be floating, like so.
9. Add back in whichever fence you prefer on the bottom in the same place that you had the walls.
This is just one example. Try mixing and matching different styles of upper + lower fences (or walls) to see what you like.
10. Your apartments are pretty much ready now! Save before you do anything else, and check for any aesthetic issues like fence directions or posts, wall coverings, etc. The absolute safest thing to do is to save, go back to the neighbourhood, then package your lot to a file, before you load back into the lot to continue.
If everything else in your apartment is ready for people to move in, then you can simply open up the cheats console (ctrl+shift+C) and type in "changelotzoning apartmentbase".
If you have done everything correctly, the mailbox at the front of the house should change from a residential mailbox to an apartment mailbox as soon as you enter the cheat. There will be no pop-up or anything else.
If you get a pop-up saying something about an invalid apartment, that means you didn't enclose the back yard properly with BOTH fences, OR there is something else wrong with your apartment. This is not a general tutorial for building apartments. If you don't have any prior experience building apartments, please check this guide to troubleshoot why you might be getting an error.
But if everything worked well - congratulations! You now have your very own apartment building on a foundation with functional, fenced-in backyards. Save, exit to the neighbourhood, and try moving someone in. You should now be able to move, place, and delete objects in the back yard just like any other room in the apartment.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
You can now actually control your own back yards!! They will no longer be considered a part of the common area, and you can place, move, and delete furniture within them just like any other room in your apartment. Apartment residents should also stop trying to get into your back yard so frequently.
You don't have to use custom invisible fences or unlock the hidden in-game invisible fence if you don't want to/can't.
Aesthetically, you can have taller fences without obstructing player vision, as the upper fence will disappear when playing on the ground level.
Cons:
You're technically paying for the same space twice, which can get expensive with TS2 apartments. However, most players have their own way of balancing apartment rent costs, so this isn't a huge deal.
Since you have to be able to place a wall first, this limits you to placing your fences within 2 tiles of the edge of the lot (by default) or 1 tile (with the Lot Adjuster). You may be able to use the Lot Adjuster to get some fences flush with the edge of the lot after they've already been built, but I haven't tested it yet. If you want to experiment with it, make sure you do it before you convert your lot to an apartmentbase just in case something goes wrong.
Fiddly Bits:
"I don't want the top fence to be visible!"
Use the "Great Divide" room divider "fences" from Apartment Life, the unlocked invisible fence from this post, or a custom invisible fence as your upper fence. But if you're using invisible fences, and don't want the double fence effect, you would probably prefer this tutorial.
"Can I use walls or half-walls instead of fences?"
Sure can! You can stack half-walls on top of fences, fences on top of half-walls; if you follow the tutorial, they basically behave the same.
You can certainly use full-height walls as your upper fence, for a really enclosed courtyard effect. You can even use windows for a screened porch vibe. I don't recommend using full-height walls for the lower fence because it will be difficult to connect them to the foundation, but if you know what you're doing, go nuts.
"I want to use walls as my fence, but I want my back yard to have outdoor lighting!"
If you unlock the pool walls by following this tutorial, and use them as your lower fence, then your back yards will retain outdoor lighting. The tutorial may look overwhelming but it's actually incredibly easy and requires no knowledge of things like SimPE or cheats.
Above: A yard enclosed with regular walls (left) VS a yard enclosed with pool walls (right).
"I want to have a gate to my back yard!"
If you try to add a gate to the lower fence you'll just get an "invalid apartment" error message. But, you can trick the game though by using those same "Great Divide" fences from Apartment Life. Simply surround the gate with a Great Divide (on either side, though preferably outside of your yard, to give yourself the most space). This will enclose the gate within your apartment, but Sims will be able to walk over the "fence". I usually put down a floor tile to make it look like a mat.
Remember that the upper fence MUST remain intact in order for the apartment to function. However, you can replace the portion of the top fence above your gate with a custom or unlocked invisible fence so that your Sims don't look like they're walking through it.
When you move in, be sure to lock this gate as quickly as possible; sometimes apartment neighbours will try to enter via the gate uninvited. If you lock the gate, the behaviour SHOULD lessen or stop (but apartment neighbours can be annoying like that without mods).
"Can't I use an invisible fence to enclose a smaller portion of of the upper layer? Then I wouldn't have to pay for the back yard twice."
You sure can. This is a great tutorial that explains how to do just how to do that. In my opinion, though, invisible fences can be a pain in the butt to keep track of, and not everyone wants to or is able to use them. This is just an alternative!
