I wanted Belladonna Cove to feel special and more urban, because as the main hood, I see it as the economical and political center of SimCity. It is the largest neighborhood in the Sims 2 with 49 lots (4 more than Downtown) and 14 playable families. And I also added a lot more community lots because most careers will be based in this neighborhood.

I had three main goals when starting this renovation :

Making the game look prettier, because in my experience, the games become so much more entertaining when it’s also beautiful to look at. For me, staring at boxy houses with mismatched windows breaks my suspension of disbelief, so when the environment is visually pleasing, I tend to feel much more invested in the game.
Making Belladonna Cove look more like New York (though I’ve never set foot in New York, so it’s more about vibes than authenticity). I used a lot of references pictures from real life houses and buildings to get some inspiration. I really want each sub-hood to have its own identity.
Adding more realism to the game. You will notice that all houses have numbers on the facade, doorbells, electrical boxes (which is this amazing mod), heating, light switches in every room, etc. It’s not perfect, but I wanted those house to feel like they could exist in real life, not just being a « Sim » house. I thought of adding « for sale » signs to all the empty houses, but there are so many of them in Belladonna Cove, it would have made the hood look silly. (That being said, I did feel like a realtor, taking all those pictures of empty homes).

Here is the list of all the lots in Belladonna Cove, sorted by type and in alphabetical order. The newly added lots are at the end.

If a lot does not have a linked post, it means that I haven’t finished it yet. 🙂

I don’t expect any one to go through every single lot (although you can, if you want to!). This page will serve as a nice little index, so that I can refer to a specific lot when I mention it in the story recap.

Ultimate Uberhood

In which I attempt to combine all Sims 2 neighborhoods

Lot renovations

Apartments

Residential lots

Community lots

New Lots