layers, options and madness

Wow...let me ask, does anyone else have this problem and how the heck do you handle this.
We have always done larger residential projects. Now we are getting into small track homes.
For one project: These are the basics, and easily controlled w/ layer control 1st floor plan 2nd floor plan elevations mep cabinets framing
then there are 6-8 options (affecting all layers) 6 additional elevations (each requiring a plan change)
How does one keep up with all of it?
jojo

6-8 is a lot of options, however, if you have to do it and you have to do it in one drawing I would suggest a layering protocol with prefixes and/or suffixes which you can control at the command line.
mep mep-option1 mep-option2.... groundfloor groundfloor-option1 groundfloor-option2...
Then .-LAYER>>f>>*-option1>> hides option 1 entirely, and you can build this into a button macro. Make all the buttons you need. If you stack these buttons into flyouts in a custom toolbar, you are sailing. I have something similar on my custom toolbar page.

exactly what I'm ding...it's just getting very complicated for the guy drawing it.
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Like I said....6-8 is a *lot* of options. Did you make him a toolbar?

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I think I would make each option a completely different drawing file. just my opinion

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What happens if they want option a,b,d & e? Do you make a separate drawing file for all the possible combinations?
They want to see the plan as if that is the only way it is...not an additional sheet of options to pick from (wouldn't that be easy!!!)

I know I'm new here, but picture doing it 30 years ago.. & prior. (is this the definition of a true architect/artist(e),/visionary?) Seems Autocad and any software in any field is supposed to make us all less 'Stressed' as a human race, but it's seeming to prove to be the dead opposite. Trying
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just

Ah the good old days!
I remember the poignant, painful howl of the draftsman who erased his way *through* a sepia with his electric erases as his world collapsed into a singularity of despair under a looming deadline ; }
BTW, jojo, I was think that depending on the amount of information on the options that it might be smarter to put it all on a single option1, option2, etc. and fake the pens/colors if necessary. (That's my default approach.)

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Well, I'd like to do that, but the layer control is so complicated anyway, and my boss knows enough to be dangerous....
jojo

ERASER!
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In a previous post Michael Bulatovich wrote...
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Ah! I remember those days too. The worst was when I leaned over a vellum and some ashes dropped out of my pipe (back when I still smoked). Damn near set the drawing and me on fire. I quit smoking at work shortly thereafter.

Michael Bulatovich wrote:
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Do you remember the "sticky-back" approach to frequently used details? The guy sitting next to me trimmed a number of these "sticky-back" details ON HIS MYLAR DRAWING! ! ! Needless to say it was sliced to ribbons. Ah yes, the good old days!
I also remember not necessarily going through the drawing, but having to erase a large area and no longer having any "tooth" on the drawing front and having to draw on the back with a grease pencil. ugh
But for jojo's answer, duplicate layers with "Option 1 M-Sup-Diff, Option 2 M-Sup-Diff, etc". Had to do that on a Forest Park civil job. They were revamping the lakes and wanted a running water creek from lake to lake. I believe there were 3 phases, existing with new phase 1, then existing with phase 1 existing with phase 2 new, etc. Used lots of colors to tell layers apart.
Good luck.

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..and when I had to change *your* change there was no tooth on the back either....just clear, shiny, slippery, transparent plastic. I'd have to do a new sepia with the usual loss in line quality.

Michael Bulatovich wrote:
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Yep, you are correct, those were the "good old days". My company did not use sepias. We just had icky drawings after awhile. I do like computer drafting for that very reason - changes. The drawing still looks good when printed. However, all the "personality" has been removed from the process in order to make everything look the same. In my case that is good, my lettering was average at best. But those who had beautiful lettering, really brought something special to their work.

Amen.
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my lettering sucked, but I can rock on the pc..... in comes the CAD jockey of today that grew up on video games, out goes the artist of old. :-)

I like surprising people with what my drawings can tell me, and how fast I can make them.
At my last job(~1997), a client and my boss where standing behind me discussing some possible changes to a well developed set of drawings. We were saying stuff like, "You could move this, slide this over here, and put that there...". At one point, they fell silent, and I turned around to see both of their faces looking kinda stunned. The boss later told me it was because I could draw them almost as fast as they could say them....
Computers have been good for me too : )