This tutorial will show you some methods and ideas that I used to create my open air atrium. To get the hang of creating something like this, you should practice the steps in this tutorial and remember that this process can be VERY frustrating. You will be using a few cheats to make most of the structure, so if you dont know how to cheat yet.... you're about to learn!

Begin by typing the " boolprop constrainfloorelevation false " and "moveobjects on " cheats in the cheat window. Next build a 7x7 square of walls and repeat on the second story.

To make everything easier we'll build some guide walls and floors as shown here. They should be 9 wall sections long ( just 1 section wider than the square building on each side) with flooring on both levels. Try to use a flooring that shows the "grid" shape. This may help prevent you from losing track along the way.

Now on to the next step. Build a grid of border fencing on top of the square building. You can use any type of fencing you like depending on the look and style of the building you want to make, it's really up to you. However, I should note that I like to use fencing that somewhat matches the posts I want to use for the vertical parts of this structure.

Delete the second story walls and use the fencing tool once again to make sections along what will be the front and back of the building. Note that the new fencing sections should be 1 length shorter on each end like what is shown in the picture. Making them the full length of the existing wall below will cause major problems later and maybe the fatal implosion of your brain. ( test results may vary.)

If your brain is still intact, then you may now apply flooring to the lower room and delete the walls. I use the blue vynil flooring because it has a pattern that will help you line up the posts later on. (trust me this can get very annoying.)

Once again using the fencing tool, lay sections as pictured above remembering to leave gap in the middle of both walls to act as a doorway. Are you having fun yet? Me neither. Carrying on....

This is where it begins to get tedious.. Type in the " boolprop snapobjectstogrid false " cheat and select a post of your choice. I use the plain old squared edge posts because thy are the only ones that seem to look good with the ups and downs that will later shape this structure. Again it's your choice. Being as you now have free control of where you can place the posts, I suggest you place them in the small squares at the edge of the flooring pattern. Remember not to place any at the outside corners of the floor as they too will cause severe head trauma and a runny nose later on. If you are really finicky this step can take a while.

Now lower a section of land towards the end of your guide wall using the medium sized brush. Just one click will do.

Level the land under your guide wall to the same level of the area you just lowered. Make sure you cover enough to get all the flooring sections above to be flat with no sloping.

Using the leveling tool on the second story floor, drag the tool from one corner to ...

the one across the way. This will lower all of the grid sections on that level by one. This results in...

the fencing sections that were hovering above the posts will now appear to be connected with the posts below!

As if placing one level of posts was hard enough.. it's time for the next level. Just try to center the second story posts on the ones below. This may still take a while. Whatever you do, don't place any flooring onder where these posts will go! For some reason the flooring becomes unselectable and can cause you a lot of backtracking and headaches.

Moving on.. Lower your already low section of land by 2 clicks.

Level it out as before.

Now on the third story, level all the flooring to the new lower level as before.

Now everything gets even more fun. Go to the second story floor of your front guide wall and relevel the back wall with the leveling tool.

Repeat this step on the third story.

For those of you who are now lost....it won't get any clearer...sorry. Moving on! This is where we will begin to make the arched shape. Using the terrain tool lower the point shown in the picture above by 1.

Level the square next to it to acheive whats in the picture.

repeat this on the other side at an equal distance from the center.

Now on the second story floor use the leveling tool from the square shown...

all the way to the square across the way.

Repeat this on the other side. Remember to keep things the same on both sides of the building as much as possible because it can get very confusing very fast.