I absolutely LOVE the idea of all his stuff. However, I am about ready to pull my hair out when it comes to tryin to USE some of it, namely the embankment and marina.

Does anyone else use, has used, is using these items? What are the tricks or any tips on how to get the pieces to play nicely with each other so they all line up and look nice?
I've put in and and pulled out the embankment and marina a couple times now, but each time I get the same results and give up. I don't wanna just give up this time ... I want what everyone else has ... a nice lookin hood :/

I see the various pictures of other peoples hoods and they are just gorgeous and full of deco and yet when I try it it looks like a 2 year old got hold of it. I give up in frustration as I can't ever seem to get it to look even just decent. I don't expect to be able to do as well as others who've been workin on theirs for months or years, but just somethin that looks cohesive and not just planted, is uneven and not connected, and/ or just plain looks outta place.

Do you have a camera mod? You need a camera that zooms in to be able to place deco so it lines up.

I do .. but I don't think it gets close enough. Not sure who mentioned it, but I did try the one that Jessa did and for some reason I can't get it to work for me. I put that in and my camera goes wonky. Not sure atm which I have .. could be Sophie-Davids. I looked a numerous ones and have switched them out. I'm givin up for tonight err .. today? .. lol. It's quarter after 2am for me so I'm gonna call it a night. Maybe when I get back to it I'll have better luck... gotta stay positive.

Ah a shame because that is the closest camera available. What is the zoom on it?

i have the embankment set but i need a world that makes it look nice - i used the modify terrain cheat (in a throwaway hood thankfully) but it flooded everything.

i can't get the night lights to work though - i have Better Nightlife or whatever it's called, though.
EDIT: cleaned my downloads folder and it worked!

How are you trying to place it? One thing I learned a good while ago when placing neighbourhood decor is not to place things freehand but to use the < and > buttons to keep things lined up.