Green-fingered partner to Visual Home deluxe. 3D Landscape 2 Deluxe (Focus Multimedia, 2001) £9.99.Visual Home Deluxe (Focus Multimedia, 2000) £9.99.Slightly fewer bells and whistles than Architect 18, but still hi-tech. Punch Professional Home Design Suite Platinum (Fast Track, 2003) £49.99.
Whoever comes up with that will have really cracked it. There are even video tutorials and, for the terminally confused, technical support is just a phone call away.Īs with all programs, this one lacks a "logic" button to make furniture move when you alter walls, make staircases meet floors, or stop you when you're about to do something stupid. However, you tend to be blasted with pop-ups as you click your way around the plans.
Generally, the instructions are clear, and once into the project, you can summon help by clicking on an object or you can keep the online manual open as you work. Viewing is temperamental, though, as the little walking figure and the helicopter both have a tendency to race out of control. These are priceless opportunities to get a real feel for your design - and spot any glaring errors. To take a tour, you use the exciting but exasperating LiveView 3D Walk-Through or Fly-Around. As it stands, the manual is aimed squarely at those building a house from scratch.Ī great way to get started is to take a virtual tour round some of the ready-made house designs. Chapters about popular tasks such as designing a bathroom or planning an extension would be a help if the manufacturer is serious about appealing to both. It's set out in chronological order, starting with the foundations and is quite technical.Ī fabulous addition would be an introduction acknowledging the program's two broad user types - architects and artists - and explaining who should concentrate on what sections. The (bulky) manual offers guidance on everything from placing stud walls to which plants are suited to the soil type in your garden. But if you're thinking of doing several projects, it could be a shrewd buy. Of these, Punch Home Design Architectural Series 18 is one of the most comprehensive, offering everything from garden design to home renovation and self-build, an expenses estimator and "RealModel", so you can assemble a scale model of your masterpiece.Īt £89.99 it's pricey, so if you only want to fit a new kitchen, it might be a little over the top. Some offer landscape garden design, others claim to do the lot. Happily, several software packages cater for the DIY-obsessed. Flouncy interior designers and "let's-build-a-house" wallahs challenge us to create the perfect home. The nation has gone home-improvement mad. However, I should come clean and admit that I completed the entire project at my PC. Designed it before lunch, had the roof on by late afternoon and laid out the garden after dinner.