windkeeper / Blog

Author: windkeeper | Posted Dec 18, 2006 | 2 comments

Work in progress - toy Santa :). I just finished the actual 3D model, still need to work on a texture. *Edited to add* Here is my attempt at a lamp version of Santa. I think it would make a good lawn scrulpture as well. Will attempt that too :)

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Dec 18, 2006 | 0 comments

If you wish to use my creations in uploaded lots or create recolors for the meshes, please read the following:

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You may not ask for free items, this is against TSR rules.

You may not upload my creations to any other website, as a standalone or packaged in lots.

You may not include my meshes with your recolors. You must link to the mesh instead. Link example:
http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/sims2/376601/
where 376601 is the mesh ID number, found under More Info link of the mesh.

You may recolor any of my meshes that include permission to recolor. Look for May be recolored: Yes note above item description. Note, many of my sets include master-slave meshes. In that case only the master mesh is recolorable, and that is the mesh you need to use when creating recolors. All the dependant (slave) meshes will pull their colors from the master mesh. Look for - MASTER MESH - note in item description.

You may include my TSRAA items to TSR submitted lots. Look for TSRAA sign above item description. Note, because I'm one of the featured artists, if you include my creations, your lot will be moved to the pay section of this site. Also keep in mind, if you are using master-slave mesh sets, make sure that master mesh is included into your lot.

Thank you,
Wind

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Dec 10, 2006 | 8 comments

Changes again. Setting all the content except featured artists to be free is taking a tall on TSR. Subscriptions are dropping. To help promote subscription, free rotation of our creations is limited or even completely stopped by now. It's hard to say what will it be in the future. But I support this move and strongly believe that TSR subscription is well worth it! You will not find a better selection for this price at any other sims site!

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Dec 2, 2006 | 3 comments

Tokyo Windows set turned out to be huge! I had to split it up into 3 parts, publish dates Dec 5th, 10th, and 15th. There will also be a superset published right after the 3rd part that includes all 3 sets, just for the convenience of downloading all in one. Windows come in 1-tile, 2-tile, and 3-tile size with no expansion pack required. Lots of round windows (including beautiful 3-tile wide), matching sliding doors and regular doors. Diagonal doors and windows also included.

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Dec 2, 2006 | 3 comments

Due to recent changes in TSR free items policy, it is now up to me to select the free rotation items among my own creations. But before you start asking for something to be set free, here is what you should know:

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I am allowed to set only a small percentage of my items to be free at any time.

Newly released items cannot get into the free rotation for at least several months.

I cannot set my mesh to be free just because recolors by other people are free.

You are not allowed to ask for free items, see TSR rules.

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Archive Items: you may notice that a number of my old creations are also in a free section. Those are what I call archive items – they are at least a year old and they do not carry enough value to remain in a pay section. The archive items will always remain free. Currently my archive includes all walls, floors, and ground covers, facial hair, makeup, eye colors, as well as several old objects and clothing.

My plan is to have a weekly rotation, this will allow me to rotate as many sets as possible. I will be changing the free sets every Sunday.

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Nov 30, 2006 | 3 comments

Did you know that you can subscribe and receive news (blog updates) from minisite owners at TSR? How? Subscribe to RSS feed of that blog.

What is RSS feed? RSS feed or Web feed is a way to receive website news without actually visiting the site. Somewhat similar to a website newsletter, only it doesn’t come in a form of an email but has a different format. Here is a better explanation. TSR provides this format for all minisite blogs and the front page news.

To read RSS feed you need an RSS reader – a program similar to email application. If you have Internet Explorer 7, it comes with a built-in RSS reader. You can also get a free reader from the web, they come as stand-alone applications or web-based readers.

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Instructions for IE7 users:

To subscribe, go to minisite of selected artist and open artist’s blog. Click on RSS feed link.



On the page that opens, click Subscribe to this feed link, then click Subscribe button in a popup window. Done!



To view subscriptions, click Favorites icon in IE7 (yellow star) and switch to Feeds tab. All your subscriptions will be listed there. Blogs or websites on your list that were recently updated, will appear in bold.



Click on the site\blog name to read the update.



Other sites. You can use the same method for any other site that provides RSS feed. You either locate the link to the feed or simply check the feed indicator icon on IE7 toolbar. The icon is grayed out by default and lights up orange if the feed is detected on a page. Click on that icon to view the feed, then decide if you wish to subscribe.

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Useful RSS feeds:

TSR News and Updates
SimPE updates

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Nov 28, 2006 | 0 comments

I've included some shadow fix packages into my Atomic Plus set but have discovered several more shadow problems since then. One was reported by a user (thank you, wildstar24) and I found two more - that's additional 3 shadow fix files. You can also get these files at MTS2 in hacks section.

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Nov 24, 2006 | 3 comments

A large project I'm working on, inspired by Japanese Shoji style. Full size modern windows with Shoji screen insets. The sreen part is semi-transparent, though you can't tell that from the picture. The screen inset will also come in bamboo texture (for oriental look) or in simple glass (ultra modern look). There will be several more windows, both round and rectangular shape. Matching doors are also on my todo list.

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Nov 22, 2006 | 1 comments

I'm working on a few more windows, Lafenetre style. They have a typical window design so I named them Lafenetre Classic. Just like all my Lafenetre windows, these ones will also be linked to the original Maxis Lafenetre window and use all its colors. Look for them in my Calendar next week.

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Author: windkeeper | Posted Nov 22, 2006 | 13 comments

To speed up your game load, remove the intro movies from the game folder. The two movie files are located in "C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Movies" folder. Just delete both files there, but not the subfolders. The files to delete (or remove) are:

_ealogo_audio.movie
_intro_eng_audio.movie

To skip the neighborhood movie that you get when you load Pleasantview, Strange Town, or Veronaville, rename the neighborhood while you are in neighborhood selection screen. The fly-over-hood movie never starts afterwards.

Both methods not only save you from pressing buttons to bypass the movies, they also save time because the game doesn't need to load the movies.

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