Row Houses, Edge and Light Issues...

I've noticed through trial and error that many of the row house types do not fully extend to the edge of the lot, so when you place row lots along side each other, no matter how closely, there are gaps between the houses. Also, the default unoccupied model of the row house? It creates a bright light source (fireplace) that bleeds through everything, adding to light source created lag/frame rate loss.

From atop a hill in my POT, I can see lights everywhere from those little buggers, all unoccupied default row lots. I've noticed the lights also sometimes turn on and off depending upon the level of detail rendered due to distance. Up close, the lights are on, then it varies as you back away.

I was pretty sure I remember hearing that row lots were intended to improve rendering in POT's since they would effectively block line-of-sight if placed in long... well... rows. Having gaps between them and extra lighting created negatively effects performance.

• Here are some suggestions:
  • All row lots which are unclaimed should have an empty fireplace that does not have wood in it, and it should not produce light even if clicked. Why would a fire be burning in an empty house? A huge fire hazard
  • For all row houses which are slightly smaller than the lot, fluff up the outer walls slightly or fluff up the corner trim so that the row houses, when placed side by side, do not create a gap between them, effectively hiding all things you'd see through that gap. Not only (I'm assuming here, I'm no expert) would this improve rendering, perhaps after optimizations allowing rows to block rendering, it would also cosmetically be MUCH nicer.

Of note, you'll notice that the back sides of rows are the worst culprits. Even the best ones that fully extend to the side edges of the lot do not reach the edge of the lot on the back side, so when you place the back of a row to the side of a row, there is an even larger gap... and back to back? The worst.

Thought I'd share, sorry if I'm off base and don't understand something.