A Loophole Lil Tutorial for Swimable Lakes...read on to find out how....or how not to build a successful swimable lake....she's got the rudimentaries down, but she often makes mistakes.

Hi, let me introduce myself...I'm Lily Pig, also known as Loophole Lil by my associates. I've been in the 'design and decor' business for a couple of years now, and along the way I've learnt a few tricks of the trade. It's not often that I move into a property that I'm working on, but this time I couldn't resist the opportunity for a little R&R whilst I work.

But R&R can sometimes be so dull, I'm not sure I can take the pace....seriously *yawn*, it's incredibly tiring doing nothing, and there's a piece of land behind me that's ripe for a bit of landscaping.......

In fact, this would be perfect for a lake, one that I can swim in. I can see it now, all crystal blues and sparkles on the water, a few plants here and there, a deck jutting into the water to dive in from....mmmmmmm.....

This is where I'll begin, in the shade of this willow tree, how uncoincidentally perfect. Anyone would think that this spot had been chosen specifically for the purpose of a small lake!

First, I'll choose a suitable lake bed terrain paint, and use it to draw the outline of the shape that I would like the lake to be.....I'll have to ensure that it's big enough to swim in....I don't want a pretty puddle after all. It's taken a few attempts to get the shape right for my requirements, but it didn't have to be specific, just no sharp or square edges....a nice natural.....errrrrrrr........deformed kidney bean shape!

I've used my chosen terrain paint to 'colour in' the shape of the lake. This will make it easier to dig within the shape itself and is far mor effective when adding the water terrain paint. It'll give the lake a more natural feel.

Now it's time to dig using the 'lower terrain' tool. I'll start by lowering the terrain in one place, by four clicks. It's important that I use four clicks or one of two things can happen.....I'll either end up walking across the lake because it's not deep enough to make my programming believe I shouldn't (and this will look odd and possibly prevent the lake from being swimable). Or....errrr.....sorry, I've forgotten the second reason, but I'm sure there is one, honest!......so four clicks is just about right, but it's good to experiment.

After digging down my original four clicks, I dig beside where I dug (ya follow), until I have dug out one small square that is exactly four clicks deep. This leaves a flat dent in the bottom of the lake, that will ease my use of the 'level terrain' tool. NOTE. IF I WERE TO ACCIDENTALLY USE THE 'FLATTEN TERRAIN' TOOL WHICH COMES WITH THE PETS EP, I COULD KILL MYSELF AND FLATTEN THE ENTIRE PROPERTY......but I have never made this accidental choice, so I'm not entirely sure...please do not take legal action......anyway, moving swiftly on.....

I'll use the 'level' *cough* that's the 'level' terrain tool, to level the terrain...duh!...within the outline of the lake, but I won't level right up to the edges of the lake. I'll leave the equivalent of one square of lake terrain paint all the way around the lake.......

....because this will provide the visual edges of the lake. I'll keep doing this until the entire lake, except the edges, are four clicks below my starting level.....

...like so. This is the lake bed that I have ended up with. Had I taken the 'level' terrain tool right up to the edges of the lake bed terrain paint, then right now, the edges of my lake would be grass, and not lake bed....which would be okay and workable, but look pretty naff.

Now for the decking, which is essential if I want to get in and out of the lake. I've made sure to start on the land side of the lake, and drag the decking tool into the lake bed, this prevents a thirty foot deck from appearing....I don't do high dives....of course it often goes the opposite way and you get a little warning notice saying 'can't level terrain'.

Perfect...so far so good...it could all still go wrong, so at some point I'm going to have to get my kit off and take the plunge to make sure it's all working.

Now for the steps, I'm going to use two steps beause it makes a girls life easier when she has guests. I've chosen the green steps because they'll fit in with the cabin nicely, but you can use whichever steps you would like, it's just a colour choice.

I'm also using railing...green to go with the steps...but railing is optional too.

I had some green wooden floorboards that were just 'laying around' in my custom content file, a girl should never go anywhere without her cc and change of knickers.

This is the fun part, my controller has typed into the cheatbox (found by holding down shift+ctrl+c), the words *moveObjects on*. This has allowed me to place a diving board and ladder on the decking.

Bring up the cheatbox again, and type in *moveObjects off*, just to be on the safe side...I don't have to worry too much, my controller does it all for me....moving on...can you see the little blue arrow on the left of this photograph? Yes? Well, what I'm doing now, is using the 'raise terrain' tool to raise the terrain around the edge of my lake by one click, it's another preventative measure as far as 'walking on water' is concerned....so do this all the way around your lake, just one click will do it.

To ensure that I and my fellow sims, are not going to walk across the lake, my controller is going to get me to stand on one side of the lake and then directly opposite she's going to click on the ground and select *run here*.....if I run across the lake, it's back to the drawing board, possibly lowering the entire lake bed by one more click.....anyway, here goes....and.....eureka, I ran around the lake....this part works!

Time for a breather, my contoller has yet to learn any of the specifics needed to get a sim to pose for her....which is why I am unable to look at the camera and I'm sitting as though poleaxed....I am quite relaxed I assure you, I just don't look like it.....anyway, if you have no objection, I'll continue the rest of this from my seat.

This is the bit where it all starts to look a bit more like a lake, choose a water terrain paint and start to apply it to the bottom of your lake, it's okay to go up the edges of your lake a little with it, but don't go to the top, it'll look stupid, trust me....water doesn't go uphill in nature and your eyes know this, even if your brain doesn't.

When you've 'filled in the lake', you can either decide to leave it as it is, or you can add more water terrain paints, this gives it the feel of movement, use as many or as few as you like, until it looks as you want it to.

You can still leave it as it is, but I think that a bit of greenery around the edges of the lake, added to the lake bed terrain, make it look slightly more authentic, but that's just me, like I said before, the terrain paint choices are entirely yours.

I've added several greenery terrain paints and one floral terrain paint to the edges of my lake....that's it with the paints, all done....what d'ya think? It looks okay doesn't it.

Now, I know it's tiny, but can you see the *raise terrain* arrow, middle left of the photo? Well, what I'm doing here, is making the water surface 'bumpy', just here and there, I'm raising the lake bed by one click....but not anywhere near the diving board or ladder, it's not necessary and affects the ability to swim, so if you choose to go with the 'bumpy' look, keep it away from the decking.

Time for that cheatbox again, okay this time type into it *moveObjects on*, press return, then bring the cheatbox up again and type *boolProp snapObjectsToGrid false*....press return. These two cheats, when used together, allow you to place any object virtually anywhere. We need it to make the reeds and lilypads that we are going to add, look good. The same applies to the placement of reeds and lilypads as it did to making the lake bed 'bumpy'......don't put anything near the ladder and diving board, it affects swimability...but have fun with it.

This particulary photo shows the 'bumpy' and the reeds and lilypads a bit better...plus I'm in this photo, which is always a good thing! Okay, now you need to bring up your cheatbox again...type *moveObjects off*, hit return, bring up the cheatbox again and type *boolProp snapObjectsToGrid true*, hit return. My controller finds that to avoid silly mistakes, it is always best to turn a cheat 'off' when not using it....because she's made enough building blunders to last a life time, which is why she mostly leaves it to me nowadays.

......and I'm done, don't it look purdy? Can I hear the sound of applause? No? Well that's because we haven't reached the fun part yet......I better go change into my bikini for this bit.

Right, this is where I hand over to my controller again, whilst in play mode she has clicked on the diving board and chosen *dive*, which is why I'm currently standing here contemplating whether or not I'm going to actually dive....*shrugs* Hey, I built it, so I should trust it right? Okay, I'm gonna jump.....

.....Come to mama, it works....but be warned, when a sim dives/jumps into a swimable lake, it ain't pretty. It looks more like we fall in, through the board, not from it....now to make double sure, I'm going to have a little swim. My contoller has the options of *go here* etc, like she would have if I was walking, because this only looks like water and is not programmed to respond in playmode as water....so if you want to get a sim to *swim here*, choose *go here*.

.....and I'm swimming....can you see my head? It's just above the 'water line', and thankfully, there are no lilypads or reeds in my way. However, should you have accidentally placed either in the way, and your sim gets a bit stuck ( as we often do), just pause your game, select the object that's in the way with the little 'grab hand'....and delete it. Okay, now that I'm in...gotta make sure I can get out....

........and I can....this looks as odd as the diving in bit...sims tend to suddenly be swimming above the ground when they reach the ladder, then they get out. Obviously to get out of the lake, you click on the ladder and choose *get out*.

Time to sit down and enjoy the view I think. It's been a while since I built a lake, and now I'm genuinely bone tired, so hopefully I'll see you all again at some point....I expect I'll have to move on soon....so many houses, so little time.....I hope that this has helped anyone who has read it.....

....on a final note, my controller has said that anyone who reads this and would like more help, can contact her either on the BBS or through her guestbook...she would also like me to thank everyone for the custom content that she has allowed me to make use of throughout this tutorial. Well, that's all folks, until next time....enjoy your swimable lakes:)