Hello..I'm Daihtnaoz7 and this is my tutorial on split level stairs (as if you could'nt guess from the title). No, the lazy oaf you see before you is not I. His name is Test Subject #42 ( honestly I don't remember his real name nor care to!)

On with the tutorial ! While #42 stares into the open expanse of space (perhaps trying to find his home planet no doubt...), I will try to enlighten you as to how I built my split level staircase. This is no easy task and takes a lot of extra planning. One dilemma that presented itself is that you should actually build your stairs before the rest of the house due to elevation problems and such. For those of you that design as you go, this may not appeal to you. Also for the " anti-cheat" players, this process is also made easier by using the " moveobjects on " cheat.

Moving ever onward..begin by raising a single square of land four mouse clicks high. Note that you probably won't be able to use a foundation under your house as the first landing will be considered as a foundation from now on.

From the top of your dirt mound, build a section of fondation 1 x 3. The third square of foundation will be removed later as it is only a means to an end.( The same may be said of my test subject but thats for a later experiment!)

Next, build wall sections 2 squares away from the foundation. These sections should be in the shape of a wide U. Begin to build more sections as shown and add floor tiles as needed to accomplish something like what is shown in the picture.

From now on everything will proceed from the top down. Start placing stair sections from the tallest platform to the next. i only use the "Holy Smoke" stairs for this because they are the only ones that don't have the "support area" underneath. Remember to only make your sections as you move from top to bottom to prevent placement problems with the landings.

Now select a railing wall for your landings and begin to place them and delete existing walls as you go. ( Yes, top to bottom again.)

Place handrails on each side of your stairs. This is completely optional as I have never seen a sim plummet to their doom from the side of a staircase or balcony, ( Maybe an expansion pack will include this option...I'm thinking " Tragic Tendencies" would make an appropriate title.). Now where was I ? Oh yeah, now delete the two sections of foundation under the first landing and leave the third as it is. Note how the floor tiles disappear. The third section of foundation finally shows it's true purpose by letting you place the missing floor tiles on the landing one after the other !

You can safely remove the last of the foundation pieces and if everything was done right you won't wind up with a huge pile of junk metal ! (just kidding.) Well there you have it, a shiny new split level staircase. Now to put # 42 to work!

Mind you that my insurance does'nt cover such wreckless actions. Thats why I call on gullable #42.

Success!! Now that # 42 has a higher vantage as to contact his kin, I shall draw this tutorial to a close. Not however without making a few statements to help stave off some of the questions that are sure to follow. #1. This construction will by no means reduce the ammount of space needed to reach a second story, if anything it will consume more. #2. You will no doubt find that the amount of useable levels for building will be constricted from the normal "five" total. The landings seem to count as floors. #3. you will find complications in building next to or around the "midway landings" as you cannot build connecting walls at split levels. #4. You may notice a few occurences of disappearing / reappearing furniture when you look from a high vantage and "page up" a story from a lower level. The furniture does'nt really go anywhere, it's just visual. Well that does it. Enjoy!