SimTower How To 3

This page contains instructions on how to build a tower similar to the PM_Grand. It is a happy, no-cheat tower.

Part 3 - Floors 30 to 89

Building a Solid 3-Star Tower

1. Add an Express Elevator positioned 1 Condo to the left of Elevator 1 Left or elevator B (View a layout picture of all the elevators) between the 4th and 5th condos (on the 2nd floor) from the left side. (Call this 30 Express or elevator A). Turn off the 15th floor. Put 4 cars on 1 and 4 cars on 30.
2. Add two Express Elevators to connect the Parking spaces to the SkyLobbies for the Office Workers. On the second floor, there are 20 condos, put one of these Elevators between the 9th and 10th Condo from the Right side and the other between the 9th and 10th Condo from the Left side. Call these Parking Express Left or elevator K and Parking Express Right or elevator M. This should leave room for an Express Elevator that will be put in later exactly in the middle of the tower. Stretch both shafts from B-5 up to 30. On Parking Express Left or elevator K, turn off B-3, B-2, B-1, the Main Floor and 30. Have 4 cars parked in the basement & 4 parked on 15. On Parking Express Right or elevator M, turn off B-3, B-2, B-1, the Main Floor and 15. Have 4 cars parked in the basement & 4 parked on 30. Both Parking Elevators stop on B-5 & B-4. If an Elevator car is parked on the Main Floor, you won't be able to turn off that floor until you move the Elevator car so it is parked on another floor.
• These two Parking Express elevators will serve all the Office workers. At the busiest times of the day, it is best to ensure that the elevator is as full as possible before it moves or else it will move when it only has a few passengers on it. Therefore On both of these expresses, open up the Elevator Window by clicking with the magnifying glass on the top or bottom of the elevator shaft. Click on WD and on the button between 7 AM & Noon. Then click on the up arrow beside "Standard Floor Departure" to change it from 0 to 30. The only other time that these parking expresses are really busy is when the office workers go home, so click on WD and on the button between 5 PM & 9 PM, then change the departure wait to 30.
3. On 15 Express or elevator X, pull the elevator up so it does not go into the basement at all.
4. Add 2 Recycling Centers below the first two.
5. Fill the remainder of B-5 with parking spaces. Now B-5 should be completely filled.
6. Place a Local Elevator on the 30th floor on each side of the tower centered between the 4th & 5th Condo (on the 28th floor - note that the 28th floor is narrower than the 2nd floor so this elevator should not conflict with the "30 Express" elevator or elevator A in step 1). Call these elevators, 30 Left or elevator D and 30 Right or elevator S. Stretch these elevators to run from 30 to 44. Place 2 cars on 30, 2 cars on 38, 2 cars on 40 and 2 cars on 43 in each elevator shaft.
7. Place 5 escalators from 30 to 35 between 15 Left or elevator C and 30 Left or elevator D and another 5 between 15 Right or elevator R and 30 Right or elevator S. On 30 Left or elevator D and 30 Right or elevator S, turn off floors 31 to 35.
8. On 30:
• Add 1 hall on each side of the tower (right at the edge.)
• On the right side only, add a Medical Center next to the hall.
• Add 1 Fast Food on each side making sure that they don't extend past the Elevators.
• Add Lobby all the way across the middle of 30. Make sure that there are no gaps in the Lobby. All Elevators that stop on 30 must touch the SkyLobby.
9. The following instructions are for floors 31 to 44. The same layout will be used on 46 to 59, on 61 to 74 and on 76 to 89.
10. On 31, put in 2 Restaurants, 4 Shops and 9 Fast Foods.
• Later repeat this layout on 46, 61 and 76
11. On 32, 33, 34 & 35 put in all Offices.
• Later repeat this layout on 47, 48, 49, 50, 62, 63, 64, 65 and 77, 78, 79, 80
12. On 36, put in 3 Housekeeping Units, 7 Twin Rooms and the rest Single Rooms.
• Later repeat this layout on 51, 66 and 81
13. On 37, put in 1 Security at the edge of each side of the tower. Fill the rest of 37 with Condos.
• Later repeat this layout on 52, 67 & 82
14. On 38, put in all Offices.
• Later repeat this layout on 53, 68 & 83
15. On 39, put in all Condos
• Later repeat this layout on 54, 69 & 84
16. On 40, put in all Offices.
• Later repeat this layout on 55, 70 & 85
17. On 41, put in all Condos
• Later repeat this layout on 56, 71 & 86
18. On 42, put in 2 Housekeeping Units, 9 Suites and the rest Twin Rooms.
• Later repeat this layout on 57, 72 & 87
19. On 43, put in all Condos
• Later repeat this layout on 58, 73 & 88
20. On 44, put in all Offices
• Later repeat this layout on 59, 74 & 89
• While building, sometimes you may have to let the tower run for a few SimDays, in order to get income from the offices. Be sure to check the evaluation often, just in case everyone is not "Excellent". The odd Sim will be only "Good". Often the Office workers that use 5 flights of escalators are only "Good", but they should never be "Red". Restaurants and FastFoods turn "Red" every day, just after they open, so this shouldn't be too much of a concern. If there are other "Red" or a lot of "Good", it is possible that there is a problem. Maybe the instructions were NOT followed properly. Check the unhappy Sims to try to see what the problem is.
• It's a good idea to check the "Hotel" evaluation after 5 PM to make sure that the Housekeeping is working OK. Occasionally, 1 room might be left Dirty on a floor, but it will be cleaned first on the following day.
• Sometime while completing 30 to 44, you should reach the 4-Star level. Keep building the tower upward and we'll put in the Subway & complete the basement in How-To Part 4

45 to 59 Section

1. Place a Local Elevator on the 45th floor on each side of the tower centered between the 5th & 6th Condo on the 43rd floor. Call these elevators, 45 Left or elevator E and 45 Right or elevator T. Stretch these elevators to run from 45 to 59. Place 2 cars on 45, 2 cars on 53, 2 cars on 55 and 2 cars on 58 in each elevator shaft.
2. Place 5 escalators from 45 to 50 between 45 Left or elevator E and 30 Left or elevator D and another 5 between 45 Right or elevator T and 30 Right or elevator S. On 45 Left or elevator E and 45 Right or elevator T, turn off floors 46 to 50.
3. Add an Express Elevator positioned 1 Condo to the right of Elevator 45 Left or elevator E and another Express to the left of Elevator 45 Right or elevator T. Call these 45 Express Left or elevator I and 45 Express Right or elevator O. Stretch these two from 1 to 45 & turn off 15 & 30. Have 4 cars on 45 & 4 on the Main floor in each Express.
4. Pull Parking Express Left elevator or elevator K up to 45. Move two of the cars in the basement so they are parked on 45 now.
5. Add 2 Recycling Centers beside the first 4. Total now 6.
6. Half fill B-4 with parking spaces.
7. On 45:
• Add 1 hall on each side of the tower (right at the edge.)
• On the right side only, add a Medical Center.
• Add 3 Fast Food on the left side and 2 Fast Food on the right side making sure that they don't extend past the Elevators.

• Add Lobby all the way across the middle of 45. Make sure that there are no gaps in the Lobby. All Elevators that stop on 45 must touch the SkyLobby.
8. Fill in 46 to 59 the same as 31 to 44

60 to 74 Section

1. Place a Local Elevator on the 60th floor on each side of the tower centered between the 4th & 5th Condo on the 58th floor. Call these elevators, 60 Left or elevator F and 60 Right or elevator U. Stretch these elevators to run from 60 to 74. Place 2 cars on 60, 2 cars on 68, 2 cars on 70 and 2 cars on 73 in each elevator shaft.
2. Place 5 escalators from 60 to 65 between 45 Left or elevator E and 60 Left or elevator F and another 5 between 45 Right or elevator T and 60 Right or elevator U. On 60 Left or elevator F and 60 Right or elevator U, turn off floors 61 to 65.
3. Add an Express Elevator positioned 1 Condo to the right of Elevator 45 Express Left or elevator I. Call this 60 Express or elevator J. Stretch it from 1 to 60 & turn off 15, 30 & 45. Have 5 cars on 60 & 3 on the Main floor.
• Because of the long elevator ride on this express; it is best to change the Standard Floor Departure on this elevator to 30 for all time periods on WD and also on WE. (That is twelve different times that you have to click it to 30.)
4. Pull Parking Express Right elevator or elevator M up to 60. Be sure to turn off 45. Move two of the cars in the basement so they are parked on 60 now.
5. Add 2 Recycling Centers beside the first 6. Total now 8.
6. Fill the rest of B-4 with parking spaces.
7. On 60:
• Add 1 hall on each side of the tower (right at the edge.)
• On the right side only, add a Medical Center.
• Add 2 Fast Food on the left side and 1 Fast Food on the right side making sure that they don't extend past the Elevators.
• Add Lobby all the way across the middle of 60. Make sure that there are no gaps in the Lobby. All Elevators that stop on 60 must touch the SkyLobby.
8. Fill in 61 to 74 the same as 31 to 44

75 to 89 Section

1. Place a Local Elevator on the 75th floor on each side of the tower centered between the 5th & 6th Condo on the 73rd floor. Call these elevators, 75 Left or elevator G and 75 Right or elevator V. Stretch these elevators to run from 75 to 89. Place 2 cars on 75, 2 cars on 83, 2 cars on 85 and 2 cars on 88 in each elevator shaft.
2. Place 5 escalators from 75 to 80 between 75 Left or elevator G and 60 Left or elevator F and another 5 between 75 Right or elevator V and 60 Right or elevator U. On 75 Left or elevator G and 75 Right or elevator V, turn off floors 76 to 80.
3. Add an Express Elevator positioned 1 Condo to the left of Elevator 45 Express Right or elevator O. Call this 75 Express or elevator N. Stretch it from 1 to 75 & turn off 15, 30, 45 & 60. Have 5 cars on 75 & 3 on the Main floor.
• Change the Standard Floor Departure on this elevator to 30 for all time periods on WD and also on WE. (That is twelve different times that you have to click it to 30.)
4. Pull Parking Express Left elevator or elevator K up to 75. Be sure to turn off 60. Move two of the cars in the basement so they are parked on 75 now.
5. Add 2 Recycling Centers. Total now 10.
6. You should not need any more parking yet.
7. On 75:
• Add 1 hall on each side of the tower (right at the edge.)
• On the right side only, add a Medical Center.
• Add 3 Fast Food on the left side and 2 Fast Food on the right side making sure that they don't extend past the Elevators.
• Add Lobby all the way across the middle of 75. Make sure that there are no gaps in the Lobby. All Elevators that stop on 75 must touch the SkyLobby.
8. Fill in 76 to 89 the same as 31 to 44

View a layout picture of all the elevators

Questions, Suggestions and comments are welcomed.

Download - a copy of the tower that I build while writing these instructions. (It is not exact, but it is close.)
MAC Download - a MAC Version of this tower built by Perry using these How_To Instructions.

Last real update 2004-08-19; minor changes 2007-10-18