I recently purchased Sierra's Home Design Suite, which included Home Architect 4.0 as one of the 8 products included. Being somewhat versed on what it takes to build and design a new home, I figured this product would help me get to the next design level. After reading several epinions and browsing around the net I decided to go make my purchase.

Installation:
The whole package was contained on 3 CD's and didn't take up much space on my hard drive. The install program was very easy to figure out and had simple on-screen prompts leading you through what needed to be done. I had no trouble installing this software or any of it components.

The Software:
I went through the tutorial and quickly read through the manual to get a quick feel for the interface Sierra used. It was very easy to figure out and I had no difficulty running the software on my Pentium 200 MMX w/64mb of RAM.

The interface is really easy to use and simple to figure out. Please note that no one I know can design a dream house in a day. Constructing and laying out a design can take days or weeks of precious time. Everything you could think of needing to design a home is included with this software. There are some design functions however that cannot be done.

Designing custom homes with multiple levels cannot be designed with this software. I tried my heart out to create a sunken living room in a sample design and the software just wouldn't allow it. This was a major disappointment, as this was going to be a feature in my next design.

Support:
After going through the whole tutorial and reading through the manual I found no possible solution to my elevation situation. I got on the horn and called up Sierra's Tech. Support Department. I was connected with a rep. relatively quickly and explained my situation. The rep. I spoke with explained that customizing elevation of floors and foundations was not a feature of the software. She also explained that not many versions of home CAD programs had that feature. She also said that not only could I not do a sunken floor, but also I could not do a split-level home.

At least she was honest. I told her that I had already taken the UPC symbol off the box so I could send it in for the rebate and that the store would not likely take it back. She told me to write a short letter explaining what was up and that Sierra would take it back. I was impressed with the resolution since the software was of no use to me.


Recommended: No