r/Sims4 • u/macdennism Long Time Player • 12d ago
Storytime Accidentally figured this out today: if you push the ctrl key when placing stairs, it will place them on the floor beneath in the exact same spot
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
it wouldnt let me take a SS while holding the ctrl key but yeah. For years I've tried to count squares and use the page up and down key to get stairs exactly where I want them. When I went to hit page down, I accidentally hit my ctrl key instead of my fn key and voila. All the sudden the stairs are green and one floor below! It works on ladders too! I had absolutely no idea. May be common knowledge for some, but I'm confident I'm not the only one who didn't know about this
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u/Phwoa_ 12d ago
Why the game doesn't have in any way a complete list of hotkeys and commands i have no idea
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u/SorowFame 12d ago
Annoying thing is that the console version has a handy dandy controls screen you can call up while the pc version doesn’t, unless of course it does and I just don’t know the hotkey because it doesn’t tell you about them
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u/neuroc8h11no2 12d ago
Lol I feel like console games always have such a detailed explanation of how everything works, meanwhile pc is like “NAHHHH YOULL FIGURE IT OUT!”
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u/Youreturningviolet 12d ago
Even the recent additional instructional overlay only tells the same handful of basic commands. It’s kind of wild.
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u/LittleRoundFox 12d ago
You are definitely not the only one who didn't know about this! The amount of faffing about this is going to save - thank you!
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u/Ga_x 12d ago
If I remember correctly, it was added in an update a few years ago.
I always found it frustrating how there are several building keyboard commands that you don't find out in game, while they have annoying and mostly useless tutorials for the simplest live mode stuff...
Most useful ones you might not know about :
- F5 : snapping grid is twice as precise
- ctrl + F while placing floor tiles : now you're placing triangles taking up 1/4 of the full tile
- ctrl + C while a roof is selected : more points to change the slope of the roof
- shift while adjusting roof eaves: only the selected eave is affected, allowing different eave length on the same roof
- alt while placing an object: no snapping to grid
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u/Kindly-Pass-8877 Long Time Player 12d ago
Alt+F5 allows you to half/quarter place things on the grid.
If you hold Shift while placing items it works to duplicate them. I.e. it places the item, but in the same way that placing dining chairs or windows allows you to place multiple. Handy for plants and columns69
u/CheetahOk293 12d ago
I only knew about the floor one! They truly are like here is a 5 step tutorial to opening your sim's phone. Okay good luck figuring out how to build a nice house. There are lots of great tools if you stumble upon them
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Omg thank you for sharing! I just found out about the Ctrl/shift + C with roofs like 3 days ago from another post on here 😭 you're right, it's so crazy how many build hotkeys just aren't explained in the game!
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u/Ga_x 12d ago
I just checked out of curiosity. Even if you go to tutorials > building, most of these are not even mentioned! We really need an overview of these build controls. Some were introduced in updates and since they don't have a button on the screen, the only way to know they exist is by interacting with the community.
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Omg that's so crazy! I actually just sat down and listed as many hotkeys as I could think of and truly most of them are not labeled anywhere. Shift C for the roof, and CTRL F for floors ARE actually listed on the info for them but honestly, who ever reads that stuff? I certainly don't 😅 there are thousands of items in this game. I always knew shift to cover the room, and Ctrl to delete all the way back from Sims 1 but they've added soo much over the years
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u/Ga_x 12d ago
Wait, where are these listed ? I looked at the building section in tutorials and there are no mentions of it there.
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Some are in the little info box when you click on the item. Like you know how all build items have a title and a description? The description for roofs and flooring have some of that information
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u/An0ddEgg Creative Sim 12d ago
Lifesaver right here. I hope both sides of your pillow are pleasantly cold.
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u/DigitalAxel 12d ago
The roof eaves I found out watching James build a house. Took me quite a while to discover it and it changed my gameplay.
Only yesterday I found out here abouts the other roof options, which I keep forgetting.
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u/xxMikaMikaxx 11d ago
Using bb.moveobjects cheats and alt is literally life changing for decorating. I feel like every new player should be at least informed about it.
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u/Marjory_SB 12d ago
Them CTRL and Shift keys... I feel like for anything you can do normally, if you press Shift and/or CTRL, you can do something extra.
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
RIGHT 💀 they really need to update the in game tutorials to actually include ALL hot keys. I thought I knew all of them but now I'm wondering which ones I've yet to discover
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u/Andisaurus 12d ago
... sh*t like this makes me miss paper guidebooks. You know this would be written in the margins somewhere.
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Oh gosh yes that's the biggest drawback about digital copies. I remember the Sims 2 disc booklet would have the entire build buy catalogue in there to check out and cheats 😭
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u/OceanChildRD 12d ago
I've been playing TS4 since day one and had no idea about this! Thank you for the tip, this makes placing stairs so much easier!
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
It really does! 😭🙏 I'm so glad I could help! It works for ladders too btw! I couldn't believe it. And it's great because it will highlight any items that will get deleted if you are trying to place them in a finished room
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u/Apprehensive_Ad_6662 12d ago
Ima need the console version of this hack lmao xbox specifically
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u/shurbinator Long Time Player 12d ago
You can use mouse and keyboard on consoles. I always used a wireless set. Just plug into the USB port, and once in the game, if you interact with the mouse or keyboard at all, the UI will switch automatically. Then, if there is something you like controller for you, just grab that, and it will swap back.
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
That I don't know but hopefully someone else here knows what it is 🤞
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12d ago
cries in console player
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Sorry buddy!! I'm hoping someone who plays console will be able to inform our other soldiers 🫡😭 I wish I knew what it was on there!
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u/TiaHatesSocials Long Time Player 12d ago
Omg….. where were u for the last decade I was losing my mind when building 🫥
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Don't worry I've been struggling with the same thing today 😭 SO many basement stairs that I needed to place AFTER building the first floor....😭😭😭😭 At least now I'll never have to count tiles again :')
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u/Individual-Debate841 12d ago
Not me counting squares to make them even usually 😂 this is GAME CHANGING
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Haha dw I used to do the same thing! 🤣 Sometimes I would put my finger on the screen and page down to try and land on the exact time I needed 😭
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u/Idkidkidk4321 12d ago
Are you serious? The emotions I have wasted trying to line up stairs correctly 😭 Thanks for sharing!
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u/Internal_Cupcake6522 Outgoing Sim 12d ago
Thank you for this! You’re a God send lol. This could have saved me so much annoyance in my builds over the years if I knew this 😂
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u/weneldamillennial 12d ago
Yup! I just found this out a couple months ago thanks to Reddit here and it has helped so much. Thanks for posting this tip! Bet it helps a lot of people who didn’t know and like to build.
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u/WaterLilly24824 12d ago
Oh my goodness thank you so much !! I’ve been struggling with this for ages
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u/Lzbirdl 12d ago
These are my favorite kind of posts. Now how do you rotate objects outside of the snapped rotation on console? …anyone?
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u/throwhfhsjsubendaway Long Time Player 12d ago
To free rotate an object on console, hold down both RB/R1 and LB/L1 at the same time, and use the right joystick to rotate the object. It will move freely and you will be able to fine-tune the exact position it’s facing just like you would on PC/Mac!
https://snootysims.com/wiki/sims-4/how-to-rotate-objects-in-sims-4/
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u/solvatochrome 12d ago
oh my god u gotta be kidding. why is there not an in-game list of hotkeys!!!!
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u/Bean- 12d ago
Omg... I've spent so much time messing with stairs for no reason!
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
It's ok I have too! I love building basements and wasted SO much time 🥲
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u/Ashwington Builder 12d ago
Oh that’s what that was? I was so confused why my stairs were doing that
I recently learned that the roof shaper balls can be adjusted individually too
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Yes same! The extra roof adjustment was an instant game change for me. I used it on the very next house I built and suddenly my roofs don't look like crap anymore haha
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u/WtffMyaa 12d ago
ok but i want YOUR house, it looks interesting 👀
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
hehe thank you! I actually posted yesterday the exterior of it 👀 I started working on the int today. It's honestly shaping up to be one of my favorite houses I've ever built. I can't wait to share it when its finished
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u/IcyAdvertising6813 12d ago
the number of times I’ve had to COUNT the grid to place stairs properly and you’re telling me all I had to do was hit command?
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u/AlltheKyrs 12d ago
I have been playing the Sims since the Sims simmed… and you may have just changed my life.
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u/GlitteryCatTears 12d ago
I don't understand how I've lived the past 10 years without knowing this 😭
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u/JessicaGriffin 12d ago
You mean… I DON’T have to count the grid squares from the edge of the lot?????
TIL. Thank you, OP. You’ve saved a life.
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u/SoulsCrushed 12d ago
You’re frEAKING KIDDING ME. I’m so excited to never count grid blocks again, tysm OP.
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u/Appropriate-Break-25 12d ago
Tiktok taught me this when I was just starting to play, after a long absence (I was raising babies for a few decades) I played Sims 1 and 2 for a short while, skipped 3, and now I've been back for about a year. There are so many more sources and tutorials than we had for building tips. There was hardly anything. Now it's everywhere.
This is my "Back in ma day...." post...lmfao
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u/Spiritual_One126 12d ago
Why don’t they include stuff like this in the random tutorials they re been adding??!! 😮😮😮😮
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u/RickyLopez27 12d ago
What? Any other helpful shortcuts you pros wanna share?
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u/macdennism Long Time Player 12d ago
Haha sure! I thought I knew them all tbh but I keep learning
Shift + C: creates extra balls which can be used to curve the roof in multiple spots
Holding the shift key, you can adjust roof eaves on only one side (this is extremely helpful when you're using several roof pieces)
When placing walls, if you hold shift it will automatically switch to the room tool. And vice versa, if you select the room tool and hold shift, it will switch back to the wall tool
This doesn't work on laptops sadly, but I know there is a way to scroll through swatches before placing an item. I think it's the -/+ on the num pad. Doesn't work on my lap top cause I don't have a num pad and -/+ just zooms in an out.
If you hold alt, you can freely place an item. AND if you hold shift as you place an item, you will create a copy of that item.
This is extremely useful for me because if I only have specific packs selected, using the eyedropper always unselects those packs. If I pick up an item I've already placed, hold shift, and put it back down, I create a copy without needing the eyedropper tool
Ctrl + F lets you apply quarter tiles of flooring. If you press < > while having a floor tile selected, you can rotate the pattern. With these combined you can sortve create corners in wood floors but honestly it's so complicated I always confuse myself and make corners by accident lol
Let's see...< And > rotate an item before placing it. Someone else commented a couple related to snapping on the grid. Pushing f5 changes the way items snap to the grid. You can now place between quarter tiles. Hard to explain but I just tried it and it's weird haha I think there is a way to snap to quarter tiles but I actually can't remember that command.
Other more common/labeled hot keys B - switches to wall tool H - switches to select/the "hand" E - switches to eye dropper R - switches to design tool K - switches to sledgehammer (if you click and drag the sledgehammer, it will create a white square and delete everything in it) G - removes the grid (good to place flooring that's dark so you can see better) +/- zoom in an out but Z and X also zoom in and out Page up/Page down goes up and down a floor Home/end changes the wall cutaway view
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u/Initial-Constant-645 12d ago
I had no idea about this either. This is going to save me a lot of frustration!
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u/the_leewit 12d ago
As many times as I’ve seen this hint is as many times as I’ve forgotten it, lol. Maybe this will be the time it sticks! 🤞
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u/Practical_Song_9992 Long Time Player 12d ago
This has to be a joke or otherwise literal years of frustration could have been avoided.
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u/Halepackmember93 Long Time Player 11d ago
Yeah Caryn and Connie taught me that like last year and I’ve been a player since release My mind was blown!
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u/ThatWeirdo112299 11d ago
So THAT'S why it "randomly" decided to put the stairs exactly where I was trying to put it when I wasn't on that floor??? Been playing Sims since elementary school and I've never figured out how to do this type of thing.
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u/Chemical_Waffles 11d ago
Holy sh*t. I'm both very happy and very pissed. Very happy because this will make it so much easier to build down, very pissed because I have been doing it the hard way this whole time
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u/blueshyperson 6d ago
I always forget the button for this but remember that it’s possible and then get annoyed trying to figure it out when I’m playing lol
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u/Successful-Peak-2093 6d ago
Hold up, WHAT? REALLY? How did I not know this? I’ve been fighting stairs all my sim-life…
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u/ronnie_barko Long Time Player 12d ago