Kbird1

I stripped your plan down to a single floor due to other issues and auto built the 2 upper floors with a gable roof auto ( 4/12) and then did as above instructions, going 12/12 on the 2nd floor so ridge meet nicely. I don't know the real ceiling heights for the build so you will likely need to play with this some. M. PLAN FILE : BeachHouse_MHD.plan

It should work fairly easily doing it like Michael showed above, ie built a 3 story building ( 1/2 height 3rd story?) and let chief put the Roof on Auto, turn off auto roof and then on the 2nd floor draw a roof plane over the Hip walls ( can draw 1 and copy reflect it to other side ) and then join them together. Then cut the notches, using 2 breaks to get the "U-shape" plane. I usually pull this cutout wider than the house and then let chief "snap" the cut back to the walls. I'll take a quick look at your plan above..... Mick.

As Ryan mentioned it doesn't show if the Walls are Aligned or more than about there own width OFF ( seems wider in X14 to me ) Otherwise Chief assumes the misalignment is done on purpose .....if you nudge the wall over with the arrow keys the icon will appear when it's "within range" of the auto align tool. M

Nice use of a Style Palette! M.

I think you missed this Roland.... M.

this is helpful for that...... M.

It sounds like you may need to be over on HomeTalk as it sounds like you have Home Designer Pro ($600), not Chief Architect Premier ($3000) ? https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/ also good to do for both forums is: https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/topic/18908-signature-here-at-chief-talk/?tab=comments#comment-155662 But the New Layout Option , should be seen in File > New Layout , while in PLAN VIEW, which will open a new Layout file , which you need to SEND the Plan views too. https://www.homedesignersoftware.com/support/article/KB-00527/creating-a-layout-in-home-designer-pro.html Mick.

Yep, I think you will be happy ........ enjoy it.....

Constantly, as Chief uses UNDO_Plans...... which are copies of the Full Plan, these aren't held in memory but in the Undo Folder.... ( see Preferences ) 512Gb would be minimum these days for an SSD , large drives ate typically a little faster and with some a better warranty , so I'g do 1TB min , 2TB if in the budget. I personally prefer Nvidia Cards , but that maybe another Budget decision? a 3070 or up with 8GB of Ram should be fine. M.

A driver won't help if your Videocard has the problem above unfortunately, running the DirectX Capabilities Tool linked above should tell you. More here too.......... https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-03146/identifying-the-shader-model-of-your-graphics-card-in-windows.html Mick.

1st thing you check is to see if the Laptop is using the Nvidia card or not in Chief? If not look at tis old post of mine from 2020 https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/topic/29075-making-chief-use-your-nvidia-graphics-card-if-needed/?tab=comments#comment-248117 then you should try turning off GPU Raytracing in Preferences...... but it seems your Laptop only has 2GB of VRAM ( Video Memory ) , https://www.msi.com/Laptop/GE72-2QD-Apache-Pro/Specification https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-gtx-960m.c2635 Chief recommends at least 4GB nowadays but that doesn't mean it won't run, but you haven't actually said what the Issue is either or what the Error message says etc.? Though you may have run into the known incompatibility of some DX12 cards with Shader 6 capabilities not having support for a certain subset of DX12 capabilities known as "Extended formats TypedUAVLoad" that the new Chief Lighting engine (x13 on ) now uses .... NVIDIA GeForce 700 - 900 Series Graphics Cards Products & Versions Affected: Chief Architect X13 and newer, Home Designer 2022 and newer Platform: Windows Description: Some graphics cards, such as the NVIDIA 700 series, may support shader model 6, but may be lacking a critical feature called "Extended formats TypedUAVLoad". If a graphics card does not support this feature the card will not function with newer versions of Chief Architect software. Information on determining if your graphics card supports this feature is available HERE. <<< LINK Solution: If you have another computer, check to see if it meets the system requirements. Contact Chief Architect for alternative solutions.

I agree with Mike, this is not a Real Dormer, and Chief's "Auto Dormer" Tools won't deal with this well, so just learn how to do it manually, as it not as hard as it may seem to notch a Roof plane at the Ridge and pull it down opening a Hole to allow the 3rd floor Walls to pop up. Chief has a KB article and Video on doing manual Dormers ........ https://www.chiefarchitect.com/support/article/KB-00449/creating-a-manual-wall-dormer.html https://www.chiefarchitect.com/videos/watch/1521/manually-drawing-dormers.html?playlist=95 and I think Eric ( @solver ) may have some too IIRC. Mick.

consider using the Wall Material Region (WMR) for Tile, I've been using them since we got WMR's, 1 Click does the whole Wall , or you can draw them as needed, (click and drag) they also auto cut around Window and Doors. M.

Calling Sales is your best bet , and express your dissatisfaction if needed and get a refund.... but try over at HomeTalk as well...... https://hometalk.chiefarchitect.com/ M.

Well one other option I see now I read you SIG. is to pass only the 2080Ti down and get yourself a 3080Ti, 3090 or even a 4090 if you think your SIM needs it...I don't think a 4090 is needed for Chief, it just isn't pushing the 3D capabilities of the card ( or DirectX12 ) to the limits IMHO. I game occasionally too, so went with the 3080Ti (EVGA FTW3, at the time the 3090 was WAY overpriced, not now) and am happy with Frame rates etc , of course if you have the budget a 4090 won't hurt If you don't mind scratch and dent..... EVGA still has some 3080Ti stock..... they have officially stopped making Graphics cards though, at least Nvidia ones for now so no 4000 series from them. https://www.evga.com/products/ProductList.aspx?type=8&family=GeForce+30+Series+Family&chipset=RTX+3080+Ti

You can't "down-save" Chief Plans, there is no backward compatibility only forwards. ( never has been actually ) Also might be worth a look at the reasons Not to Paint Can Exterior Walls in chief as Steve Mentions.... https://chieftalk.chiefarchitect.com/topic/31850-paint-can-tool-material-painter-best-practices/?tab=comments#comment-250698 M.

You could do it by turning off the layer > Walls, Layers and then making the Walls, Normal layer - Line Color Gray but not sure if that is the "look" that is required? I also use the same gray (RGB 152,152,152) for the Doors, Windows, Stairs etc in the Roof Framing Layer Set. ( Make sure Walls, Main Layer only is OFF to see Walls full width. )

For a $100 I would go 64GB as I think that system is easily a 5yr system for Chief and who knows what's coming.... (mis-read I thought it was a 32vs 64GB question, not 4800vx 5200mhz - so save the $100.) And probably a lesser Videocard ( 3080Ti? ) - unless you can use a 4090? Gamer too ? and use some of the extra $$$ on a 2TB NVME and a 4TB internal HDD or SSD (Storage + Backups) , maybe two if you are a pack Rat M.

You could look at the BF Sales or at EVGA's BF Sale, they have 1600 Series and Up available for $200 and up..... 2000 series from $250 etc https://www.evga.com/articles/01593/black-friday-2022/

Try the Wall Layers Edit Tool > on the Edit toolbar , in Plan View and pull the Layers to the Corner if need ( you will see 4-5 edit handles ) M.

Also Ok here on Nvidia Driver 526.86 GR Driver..... both X13 and X14 M.

No, it's not a Dormer as you mentioned I believe, just the second Story Wall inset say 400-600mm from the Wall below, with a "notch" cut in the lower Roof Plane to expose it. Mansard roofs are always a bunch of Manual Work in CA but do-able ( start Auto and then move the two planes as needed ) especially this one which seemed easier than one with true Dormers, which CA tends to have Issues with joining the Interior Walls in my experience, but here the Walls are not Cut but bumped against the Roof Framing. Mick.

Okay...was just wondering why you are having to pay for the Repair / replacement... the AIO and labor should be $0?

Last time I downloaded them, the textures were just .jpgs ? unfortunately you have to get the Hatch patterns separately and add them to the Material you are using in Chief as Chief doesn't have TechnoBloc as a Chief Library yet. @Chief_Content

Chief walls always look for a roof plane above them and Stop if found , this is standard , so if something else is going on you will need to provides pics ( screen snips) and perhaps the Plan or a test plan showing the Issue. Mick.