Mike True is a jack of alltrades – sometimes a modeler, sometimes a texture artist and always a builder.He created The Lucky Simoleon Casino, a new venue in the world of Lucky Palms.Mike, can you tell us what it was like to build this awesome venue?

It is always an exciting challenge to build a venue for The Sims 3 Store and The Lucky SimoleonCasino was no exception. Fortunately, I was given some really great objects towork with for this lot and that made my job much easier. Unique assets such as thecasino tower sign, multi-story column, fountain and window really dictated theretro theme and helped to inspire me as I built the venue.

My favorite asset was the column, which was really thetaking-off point for the whole lot design. It also presented challenges, as thecolumns are available in three varying heights. This meant that I needed tocreate at least a three-level building. Observant players will notice I had thesame challenge on the Gothique Library venue. I made a somewhat controversialdecision right off the bat by opting to build a sprawling casino on a largelot. I wanted the player to imagine a slightly updated version of a classic casinothat had once hosted Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack! I tried to give a hint ofpossible stories players could tell in the venue, ranging from a familyvacation to a sizzling romance or even the perfect heist.  Whether players build their own amazingcasinos with these assets or alter this one to fit their style of gameplay, I hopethat they will place the casino and start playing in it right away.

A large and flashy asset like The Lucky Simoleon Casino Signis something that I had a lot of fun implementing.  When building with this asset, you can certainlyplace it on the corner of your lot and be done with it, but I wanted to suggestthat it can be used in other ways as well. I actually used it twice –once on anelevated platform and once anchored into the ground, incorporated into thebuilding itself. This placement started to dictate the size and shape of thebuilding. I typically try to avoid building cavernous spaces, but casinos inreality are huge and often crowded.  Iput a lot of thought into the size of the casino floor and made sure to includeenough slot machines and gaming tables so that Sims would have many choices forentertainment.

When I build, I usually sketch out the play areas withflooring and go back and forth from building the interior and exterior so thatboth are interesting as well as believable. Once I have a good concept of the floorplan and exterior, I start placing objects and filling out the interior space.I will add some colors and textures as ideas hit me, then complete the exteriorwith walls, fences, columns and other features, adjusting my choices until I amsatisfied. I follow this with a second pass on the interior. Landscaping isoften my favorite part, as I see the venue start to come together at thispoint.  My final step is to checklighting for the interior and exterior during day and night.  I like to step away from building the venueat this stage and return to it a bit later, tweaking my choices until I am satisfied.The team will then review it and make a few changes before it is tested forrouting, performance and gameplay, and edited accordingly. 

I am excited about The Lucky Simoleon Casino venue. I thinkthat players will enjoy it and I hope that it inspires them to build a casinoof their own!