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Paralives Field GuideParalives Field Guide

Build guides

The built-in fireplace trick

Paralives ships fireplace objects and separate chimneys but no way to recess them natively — so builders draw the chimney breast themselves with ordinary wall tools, seat the fireplace inside, and recolour everything to match. Two creator builds show every step.

Start the walkthroughStyle the room around it
A finished dark-wood Paralives fireplace with flames burning in the firebox under a wall-mounted TV and a game controller resting on the mantel shelf
The finished demo build: a dark surround flush to the wall, TV above, mantel shelf styled — all done with stock build tools, no mods.

How the built-in fireplace works

There is no fireplace tool in Paralives build mode. Both demo builds get the flush look the same way: they shape the wall around the fireplace with walls and transform handles, drop the fireplace object into the recess, then use Style Creation so surround and wall read as one piece. Everything below is shown on screen in the two source videos — nothing here relies on mods.

  • Fireplaces are real catalogue items — searching "fireplace" lists stoves, inserts and mantel pieces.
  • The built-in look is faked with a drawn wall spur or a thickened wall segment behind the firebox.
  • Style Creation recolours the fireplace's Chimney and Base parts independently of each other.
  • Chimneys are separate objects you can stretch to size — one creator covers the roof's white line with them.

Group 1

Build the chimney breast

The built-in look starts with geometry, not furniture: a short piece of wall pushed into the room gives the fireplace something to sit inside. Panda Builds extends the whole wall inward around the chimney breast — a trick the narration credits to fellow creator Devon Bunky — and notes it only fits where the room has depth to spare: one of the three fireplaces in that build got the treatment, the other two had no room for it.

  1. 1

    Draw a wall spur where the fireplace will sit

    With Wall Placement Mode active, a short wall segment is drawn straight into the room, forming the sides of a recess. The on-screen readouts show the segment's angle (124°), its length (1.1 m) and its price as it is placed — the spur only needs to be as deep as the fireplace is.

    Drawing a short angled wall spur with Paralives Wall Placement Mode so the fireplace can sit recessed inside the living room wall
    Wall Placement Mode shows the angle, length and price of every segment while the recess takes shape.Watch at 0:05
  2. 2

    Or extend the whole wall inward

    Panda Builds takes the same idea further and extends the room's wall inward around the chimney breast, so the brickwork becomes a solid protruding block instead of a flat wall. The narration credits the trick to creator Devon Bunky and points out the cost: it needs free depth, which is why only one fireplace in the house got it. The white outline in the frame marks the wall section being worked on.

    Brick chimney breast extending into a Paralives living room with the newest wall section still outlined in white
    The extended wall turns the fireplace wall into a protruding brick block — the room gains dimension instead of staying a rectangle.Watch at 13:00
  3. 3

    Stretch a chimney to size outside

    Chimneys are separate objects, and Panda Builds places one on the roof gable, then drags the vertical transform handle to stretch the brick stack to the right height. The same narration mentions a second use for resized chimneys outdoors: covering the white line the game draws along the top of a wall.

    Stretching a brick Paralives chimney taller with the vertical transform handle where it rises past the roof gable
    The blue handle stretches the chimney stack; no fireplace has to be attached for it to work.Watch at 2:56

Group 2

Seat the fireplace in the wall

The fireplace itself is a catalogue object, and it needs no chimney attached. Search the catalogue, place it against your new recess, then make surround and wall agree with each other in Style Creation — the panel treats the piece as separate Chimney and Base parts you can recolour independently.

  1. 4

    Find the fireplace in the catalogue

    Typing "fireplace" into the build catalogue's search box pulls up every option at once: freestanding stoves, simple firebox inserts and full mantel pieces. The frame catches the moment the chosen surround is being dragged into place, with the rotate and transform shortcut list open beside it.

    Searching the word fireplace in the Paralives build catalogue to bring up stoves, inserts and mantel fireplaces
    One search surfaces the whole fireplace family — the piece selected here is still in its default light wood.Watch at 0:20
  2. 5

    Seat it against the wall

    The dark surround sits flush against the room wall with the logs already visible inside the firebox, and the wall paint palette is open on the left — the next move in this build is making the wall behind the fireplace agree with the piece in front of it.

    A dark Paralives fireplace placed against the room wall with logs in the firebox and the wall paint swatches open
    Logs come with the object; the recess behind it is plain wall, ready to be painted to match.Watch at 0:15
  3. 6

    Recolour the parts in Style Creation

    The Style Creation panel splits the fireplace into named parts — here Chimney and Base — each with its own colour: a wheel, a hex field and pattern categories like Rocks & Stones. A dark brick pattern is being applied to the Chimney part while the rotation gizmo stays live on the piece, so fit and finish happen in one pass.

    Recolouring the Chimney part of a Paralives fireplace in the Style Creation panel with a dark Rocks and Stones brick pattern
    Chimney and Base recolour separately — this surround goes near-black brick without touching the hearth base.Watch at 0:25

Group 3

Dress the mantel wall

A flat firebox is only half the look. Both builds stack the wall above the opening: a TV mounted over the firebox, a stretched shelf as the mantel, then clutter on top until the breast reads as one designed piece.

  1. 7

    Mount a TV over the opening

    A flat screen fills the wall above the firebox, and the catalogue is open on the TVs category to swap it for a different model. Wall-mounted this way, the TV turns the breast into the room's focal wall before a single shelf goes up.

    Browsing the Paralives TVs catalogue while a television sits mounted on the wall above the fireplace opening
    The TVs category is open, but the screen already hangs above the firebox — swap models without unmounting.Watch at 0:30
  2. 8

    Stretch a shelf into a mantel

    A plain light-wood shelf is dragged across the breast between firebox and TV, then pulled wider by its resize handle until it spans the opening as a mantel. The shelves catalogue on the left offers longer and shorter planks if the first pick doesn't reach.

    Stretching a light wooden shelf across a Paralives fireplace with the piece resize handle to create a mantel
    One shelf piece, stretched to span: the mantel is furniture, not part of the fireplace object.Watch at 0:35
  3. 9

    Pile on the mantel clutter

    Panda Builds dresses the finished brick breast the traditional way: framed art above, plants, vases and small objects lined along the shelf. The catalogue of clutter pieces is open while each item is placed by hand along the mantel.

    Decorating a brick Paralives fireplace mantel with framed art, plants and vases picked from the clutter catalogue
    Art above, objects below — the clutter catalogue covers both rows of the mantel wall.Watch at 14:00

Group 4

Finished rooms

Three ways the demos end up: DeLeeCreations' dark TV fireplace at night, Panda Builds' brick breast with bookshelves built around it, and a freestanding wood stove for rooms where a full breast would be too much. In every shot the flames you can see are part of the build-mode demo — none of the source videos shows a Para lighting one.

  1. 10

    The finished firebox shows real flames

    In the completed build the firebox renders with flames burning behind the glass, under the mounted TV and soundbar. Every shot of this fire is from build mode — the demo never shows a Para lighting it, so what triggers the flames in play is not covered by the sources.

    Flames burning in the firebox of a finished Paralives fireplace with a TV and soundbar mounted above the mantel
    Flames glow behind the firebox glass in the finished surround — shown here in build mode.Watch at 0:52
  2. 11

    The room around it

    At night the same wall carries the whole room: the lit firebox under its TV, a dark dresser with a lamp and framed art beside it, a striped rug in front. Nothing in the scene is fireplace-specific — it is the ordinary catalogue arranged around the recess the walls created.

    A Paralives living room at night with the fireplace lit beside a dark dresser, striped rug and framed wall art
    Dresser, lamp, rug: the built-in fireplace reads as architecture the rest of the room furnishes up to.Watch at 1:02
  3. 12

    The extended breast, finished

    Panda Builds' protruding brick block ends up reading like part of the house rather than an addition: mantel shelf across the opening, a landscape painting hung above it, a glass-front dresser beside it under the vaulted ceiling.

    A finished Paralives fireplace set into a brick chimney breast with a landscape painting above the wooden mantel
    Painting, mantel, dresser: the extended wall furnishes like a built-in piece of the house.Watch at 13:30
  4. 13

    Furnish up to the brickwork

    The breast keeps its depth useful: a white bookshelf stands against the brick beside the fireplace with a glass dresser on its other side, so the protruding wall becomes the room's storage wall instead of dead space.

    A Paralives fireplace wall extended into the room with a white bookshelf and glass dresser built alongside it
    Bookshelf against brick: the extension's depth earns its keep as storage wall.Watch at 15:00
  5. 14

    Variation: a freestanding wood stove

    The same chimney breast also takes a stove: a black freestanding firebox with a flue pipe rising up the brickwork. Panda Builds counts three fireplaces in this house — this is the format for rooms too small for a full recessed surround.

    A black Paralives wood stove with a flue pipe rising up a brick chimney breast in a dining room
    Stove plus flue against brick: the small-room version of the same chimney breast.Watch at 21:00

Paralives fireplace FAQ

Does Paralives have fireplaces?
Yes. Searching "fireplace" in the build catalogue turns up freestanding wood stoves, simple firebox inserts and full mantel fireplaces. Chimneys are separate placeable objects, not part of the fireplace piece.
How do you make a built-in fireplace in Paralives?
Both demo builds fake the flush look with ordinary wall tools, no mods: draw a short wall spur (or extend the wall inward, as Panda Builds does around its brick chimney breast), seat the fireplace object inside the recess, resize with the transform handles, then recolour the piece in Style Creation so surround and wall match. Heartchanted's no-mods tutorial follows the same sequence.
Are fireplaces functional in Paralives?
What the sources show: the finished firebox renders with visible flames in build mode. None of the three videos demonstrates a Para lighting or interacting with a fireplace in live mode, so its gameplay behaviour is unverified — treat these builds as decorative unless you test it yourself.
Can you build a chimney in Paralives?
Yes — chimneys are their own placeable pieces and can be stretched with the transform handles, as Panda Builds shows on a roof gable. The same creator also uses resized chimneys outside to cover the white line the game draws along the top of walls.
Does a Paralives fireplace need a chimney?
Not in these demos. DeLeeCreations' built-in sits against an interior wall with no chimney attached, while Panda Builds adds exterior brick chimneys as a separate decorative layer. Nothing in either video shows the game requiring one.

Keep building

Curved walls

Bend the wall instead of extending it — curved room edges with the same wall tools the fireplace recess uses.

Wall tools, thickness and heights

The full reference for the tools behind the trick: drawing, thickening and resizing wall segments.

Half walls

Another wall-tool illusion: railings, split levels and pony walls built from pieces the game never labelled for it.

Decorating guide

Clutter, gallery walls and colour — how to style the mantel wall once the fireplace sits flush.

Living room ideas

Whole-room layouts that give a focal wall like this something to anchor.

Fences

More fake-it-with-build-tools spirit: the fence foundation trick, gate-free fence planning and boundary fences drawn at any angle.