+ Building a Gypsy Wagon in 10 easy steps!

About this tutorial:
This simple tutorial will show you how to make a great Gypsy lot. You won't need any special knowledge, skills or building cheats!

Requirements:
If you haven't done so already, download and install the following set:
Build your own playable Gypsy Wagons

Optional extras:
If you want to decorate your lot with rushes and fencing as used in the picture, you also need to download the following:

Old Beach Fence
*FREE* EA's Swamp Rushes for Residential Lots (requires Ambitions)




About the Gypsy Set
This set contains everything you need to build the two types of wagon shown in the picture. Most pieces in the set can be used on both types, but there are separate roofs and doors for each van: roof pieces and doors labelled Traditional are for the 3-tile wagon, and roof pieces and doors labelled Wayfarer are for the 4-tile wagon. The fences used on the wagon balconies are recolours of the base-game "Static Fencing" (wood rail and white struts). If you downloaded the entire Gypsy set, you'll find this fence has 4 new recolours for use with this set.

1: Lay out your caravan bases
First, lay floor tiles where you want your caravans to be. The colour doesn't matter (this is temporary only). For the large caravan, the floor must be 4 tiles wide. The small caravan must be 3 tiles wide. They can be any length. My caravan plots are:

Large (shown in pink): 4 x 6 tiles
Small (shown in blue): 3 x 5 tiles

To finish, add an extra row for the outside balcony and steps (shown in yellow)



2: Surround with foundation
Now add a single line of foundation all the way around each base.

To avoid the dreaded "cannot level terrain" error, make sure the land is level in the immediate area around each base before you begin, and draw your foundation outwards from each corner of your base.






3: Add your real flooring to cover the hole
Delete your temporary floor bases (the blue, pink and yellow tiles).

Now, on the foundation (not terrain) level, fill the hole with a nice wood flooring! Just cover the hole, not the foundation.







4: Delete foundation and add walls
Delete the foundation. You won't need this any longer. You should now have two floating wood platforms!

Now add walls for the caravans (don't forget to leave one row for the steps and balcony).








5: Add doors
We need to add the doors before anything else.

There are two styles of door (one with the top open, and the other fully closed).

The 2-tile Wayfarer door is meant for the larger caravan (it's the same door, but centred across 2 tiles so it will sit centrally on the 4-tile caravan).





6: Add fence, stairs and windows
For the larger caravan, add the Gypsy steps on 2 tiles. Add 1-tile-wide steps to the smaller wagon.

Add Gypsy windows where you'd like them.

Finally, add fencing. If you downloaded the full Gypsy set, look for the EA "Static Fencing" fence (the wood and white fence). There will be additional recolours that match the Gypsy set.




7: Add wallpaper and ceiling
Add a simple, easily recolorable wallpaper (I used a white paper with a simple skirting board at the bottom).

Add floor tiles to the top in readiness for adding the roof pieces. Note: this floor is optional. You can instead use the 'moveobjects on' cheat and add the roof pieces without flooring underneath.





8: Add the roof pieces
The roof, shaft and wheel pieces are all found in the buying catalog: Decor > Miscellaneous

Add the roof pieces. There are two roof styles, with the Traditional Gypsy Wagon roof for the smaller caravan, and the Wayfarer roof is for the larger caravan. Both roof types have end and middle pieces.






9: Match your wallpapers
Now select one of the roof END pieces (only the end pieces have any wood pattern) with the Pattern Tool. This will open the game's Create-A-Style pattern palette.

Select the bottom-most wood pattern and drag it over to your wallpaper (enlarge the image on the left to see this being done). This will match your wallpaper to the wagon roof pieces. If your wallpaper has more than one texture (like mine which has paper and skirting), the game will ask which colour to change. Repeat this for any other areas of your wallpaper that need to be recolored (I'll use the cream-coloured paint for the skirting). Copy your new wallpaper inside and outside your caravan.



10: Add wheels, shafts and then decorate!
All that's left to be done is to add the wheels, shafts and some decoration. I used the larger wheels. I placed the shafts at the back of the wagons (to put them at the front next to the steps you'll need to use the 'moveobjects on' cheat). To finish, I added some swamp rushes and fencing (see download links at the beginning of this tutorial) and a bit of landscaping (trees, water and the decor boat that came with EA's Riverview town).

Furnish the caravans how you want them. I managed to add a living area, double bed, kitchen and simple toilet/shower room into these two caravans, but larger families will appreciate an extra caravan or two!

Keywords:

trailer | gypsy | build | wagon | caravan