Member Blogs

Aussie Native

For a sneak peek at my upcoming lot "Aussie Native' check out my upcoming items pod on my page.  It will be available Aug23. Hope you all enjoy!

Thanks :D

Mesh-y Me **Warning- Lots of pictures**

Well I'm about ready to reach through my computer to whoever has the Workshop and are doing the preliminary beta testing for the objects, grab it and say, "Gimmie that!!"

I'm at one of those points where I know I can do well, but I'm still afraid that I just think too highly of my skills. Self confidence has never been my strong point. So instead of just sitting here saying that I am a mesher, I'll showcase some of what I have done for Sims 2. Most of these objects have not been uploaded anywhere because the sets I intended them to be in are incomplete, or were just never finished because of technical difficulties (uv mapping, would not work in-game, could not figure out how to get them to work in-game, etc.) The meshes are not the highest quality that I am capable of, I often have to reduce the poly count to fit within the constraints of the game. How I would love having no poly counts!

To boast, or not to boast...

One of my biggest strong points with meshing is converting things from Sims 1. Over the course of Sims 2 there was painfully few meshers who had taken the time to do this, and it's definitely not easy. The only real meshes in Sims 1 were the Sims themselves, everything else was a sprite. What you are left with are painfully small pictures in perspective that had the tendency of mirroring the left facing pic for the right facing one (less work for the artist.) Even the 'full size' picture of the objects is very small. Here's an example of a full sized Sims 1 screenshot:

Now, after you have the screenshot, the picture needs to be yanked around and trying to get it out of perspective and make it like it was a straight on shot. Often being stretched ten time larger than the original picture, making it exceedingly blurry. A lot of the time I think about how much interpretive work this is. There is nothing straight forward about it.

All I know is that I bend my mind inside out figuring how, if this was a real world object, it would be built. I have a huge mental catalog of how things are put together, built, and made as well as considerations like proper materials and structural integrity. Yes, I do this for fun!

It may not seem all that difficult (based on what can be seen in this screenshot) but a lot of these objects are bigger with more simple lines to them. The more curves and roundness to an object, the more difficult it can become. The black bracket for the hanging plant I'll use as an example. First off I'd have to sit and examine the picture for a while (ten minutes to a half an hour if I'm lucky) to figure out the construction and how it was (hypothetically) made and attached to the wall. Were the decorative curls welded on, or was it cast as a single piece? I assume it would have been cast iron (because it's so black and has been common in the past). Eventually I'd get around to actually doing the mesh, making painfully sure that all the curls were placed right, forming the part against the wall right so it would actually look attached to the wall when it was finished, and all of that doesn't even include the plant! (And in case you are wondering, I have never done that mesh... lol)

Now the point of all that was to illustrate that even something like the 'simple' window, really is not all that simple.

This window is one of those instances that I really was frustrated at having to stick to a poly count. I was so used to staring at the mesh very, very closely and was getting frustrated at how 'blocky' it was. In retrospect, it's just fine. I think this is something that I have to learn to adapt to, even though I don't like it. I'm learning that textures really make a lot more difference than just adding color to something, an alteration my mind doesn't like making.

Here is the completed window in Sims 2. Sometimes it surprises me when I'm looking at my finished meshes next to the original screenshots and thinking, "Wow, I did that!?!"

Sometimes I wonder how much I'm off my rockers because I love sitting there shifting vertices around for hours on end. :D

Am I a bit of a perfectionist? I think maybe a little...

My most successful object to date has been my Makin' Magic Bed.

Before I updated the meshes to be base game compatible, I had over 12,000 downloads of just the meshes (not my recolor). As of today, there has been another 4,500 downloads. This really boggles me. Even my brother said he sticks it in every one of his houses because he likes it so much (not because his little sister made it).

It took me over a week to do just the headboard (that I duplicated and squished for the matching foot board). I spent at least 45 minutes working with the original screenshot trying to take the perspective and distortion out of it before I could even start meshing.

Fun fact: The leaves were actually made by hand. I literally created the faces individually by connecting the vertices. *laughs*

I know better than that now, but I also know why the front of the drape never looked right. I looked at the mesh again today and just started laughing. I had no idea what smoothing groups were at the time (3 years ago) and the whole bed is yellow except the front of the drape that is bright purple in the smoothing groups.

I also didn't know about the per square poly count then either, and I spent SO much time stressing that the poly count was too high! I'm still checking to see if it is or not, but I think it was lower than it could have been... (I think it is about half of what it could have been for that size object!)

Please, just don't look at the UV map for this thing... it most likely will make you ill. I still can't believe I mapped it in UVMapper Classic. UGH! Is it any wonder that I demanded that my Hubby get me the Pro version?? This is one object I'm considering updating for Sims 3, but may require a complete mesh remake especially now I have a lot better idea of what I'm doing! Besides, the drape is as thick as a blanket! *laughs*

Ya win some, ya lose some...

This one was a rather difficult one to do, mostly because the details of what the main post should look like you can't really tell what it should be exactly. It turned out similar in some ways, but different in others. I had never seen a light like this before in my life so I felt like I was going at it a bit blind.

I was really excited to do this because I so severely missed it on my Sims 2 community lots.

A few years later I realized that it was broken. It lights everything except the light post mesh itself. I still don't know how to fix it.

All of the matching banners that came with the original light I had to completely remake from scratch. None of the images could just be slapped on my mesh and be up to the Sims 2 graphics standards.

Perhaps that's one of my downfalls? Simply being too good at what I do, I'm not sure if people ever realize that I don't (and can't) just pull something out of Sims 1 and 'upgrade' it to Sims 2 (or 3.) Perhaps people just don't care, I'm not sure.

Rebuilding images can be an impossibly difficult task, most especially because the art style of the original creator needs to be mimicked as well.

Some things from the Makin' Magic expansion I still miss desperately that have less complicated meshes than some of the objects that I have done. But the issue is that I'm at a complete loss of how to redo the artwork. I love the Sims 1 so much because it was the most stylized version of the game. When they did a theme, it left you just saying "Wow." It seems like the further the game goes, the more watered down and generic the styles are (Sims 3 hair anyone? *Yuck!*) Even the description of the objects that I've paid attention to in Sims 3 really lack the fun and humor of the two previous versions of the game. Bad puns do not replace quirky cleverness...

This is my longest work in progress so far, mostly because of a few factors. For about a year and a half I wouldn't touch it because back of the stove would flash on and off whenever the stove door would opened or closed. Numenor at Mod finally explained it to me because I never had a reason to assign vertices to joints before. I am SO glad that I know how to do it now, but it had confused and angered me for a long time.

The burners had a few issues, mostly they are an odd shape, I wasn't sure of how to give them the right shading and texture. The biggest issue is from the function of the stoves. In Sims 2 & 3 (from what I have seen) all the Sims cook on 6 burner stoves, but only use the one in the center front. For my stove that means they will be cooking on the burner knobs...

*sigh*

Its details like those that drive me batty. How many people actually have a 6 burner stove? Even if you did, what a waste to only use one burner!

Overall proportions of the stove had to change because of the animations. Sims 1 version is shorter and more square, while mine is more upright because I based it on a Sims 2 stove mesh.

The reason I have the wallpaper up there is because it illustrates my earlier point of remaking textures. This is an actual full-size screenshot of the wallpaper that matches the tiles on the back splash of the stove. I put it on a diagonal wall so I wouldn't have to yank it out of perspective as stated before. The tiles on the back of my mesh are actually smaller versions of the original remade tile I made that is 700 pixels square. I'm still amazed at how (relatively) close it looks. A lot of the time I have to stop and think about what I thought it looked like back when I played Sims 1 regularly to help fill in the missing details, like what this tile should look like on a larger scale.

My last major issue, as is very obvious, has nothing to do with the mesh but with the copper texture. I have tried everything that I know how to get it to look like it should and it still looks bad. The good news? I'm hoping that with how Sims 3 has changed the way textures (and metals) are done that I can finally get it to look right.

I have thought very extensively on if there is a way to make the mesh more detailed, but also keeping the count down. Sounds like a contradiction, right?

The best compromise I have thought of so far is to break up the stove. Having all the decorative objects, pans, shelf, and even the back splash all separate. I think it's best this way because of multiple reasons.

1.) Recolorability- As is, the game allows 3-4 recolorable parts for an object. So what parts would I make recolorable? There are a minimum of 6 areas that have different textures. Copper pieces, wood shelf, tiles, black stove, tan stove pieces, and the brick base.

2.) Texture quality- All the texture of the stove is on a single 1024x1024 size texture. If this were broken up between different objects it would make it more possible for slightly higher quality textures (copper pieces especially) but I think it would make things look MUCH better than they would be as one object when recoloring with any other textures. I try very hard to make my meshes relatively easy to recolor, and this one has been especially difficult because of the sheer amount of different pieces that fit onto a single texture.

3.) Mesh quality- This applies most especially to the hanging pans. If you look at the large flat skillet, you can easily see how blocky it is. I have not been happy with this at all but was trying to fit everything on one mesh like the original appears to be. tyring to stay within the poly count for a single tile.

4.) Customization- "But I want a different picture on the backsplash!" "Wow, there are way too many pots!" "Can I please get just the shelf and kettle without everything else?" I know that everyone plays their game just a little different, that's what's so cool about our Simming world. Even I wouldn't want the same exact stove in every one of my houses that would want that style. Sure doing it this way makes the 'original' stove take a higher poly count and more textures overall, but the option is given to the individual player on how they chose to use it, and what their setup can handle. The shelf clutter and the pots will all be individual items (most likely countertop clutter versions too!) the shelf will be a wall decoration, the backsplash will be a painting (easy recolors!) and then the stove with the brick base. This also means that you can position the shelf clutter anywhere on the shelf that you want on the shelf, even if it is across the room from a completely different stove!

Do you think that anyone would notice if I just made the decorative pieces work with the existing game's cowpoke stove? That would eliminate one more nearly pointless mesh to download and fill the game with... Would they catch on fire? Who knows, that could be a plus! *laughs*

The top two pictures are my tombstones (the 2nd being covered in snow from Seasons). I need to remake the mesh for the middle one because it is a bit too low poly count, and the blockyness really shows when the snow is on it. I'm glad that Sims 3 has a large variety of tombstones again, but you can still never have too many especially without the extra attached ghosts! What is written on the tombstones I made intending for two recolors, one in English, and one in Simlish. They are meant to be funny, although in a rather morbid way. As complex as it is, I really had a lot of fun making the large tombstone.

The third pic is of all of the tombstones and urns from all of Sims 1. This is a set I would really like to complete, but the last picture indirectly shows the problem.

"The cat tombstone looks great, but I don't see the problem!"

I don't even know anymore how many times I nearly gave up on this mesh. I think it sat there with no front legs and a tail for about a year. Oh, and you see that it has no texture? I cannot for the life of me figure out how to map it. The other problem being is there is just the cat mesh, no dog mesh. I want to start crying my eyes out thinking that there is still another animal mesh to do... Fleshy, body type meshes are not my strong point, and also why I don't do clothes meshes. They don't make sense to me. Even doing an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower, or the Leaning Tower of Pisa would be easier to do than an animal mesh. I have been really thrilled about this set but the only way I can think on how to get the dog tombstone done is to pull the pet dog mesh from Sims 2, reduce the polycount and alter the mesh so it doesn't resemble the original (but still looks like the dog on the tombstone) but it wouldn't be completely my own work. Although I know on my own I can't do that mesh from scratch. All the remaining ones will be fun and easy, just not the pets.

Earlier this year I tried to get a group together to see if we could have a group effort to remake the Sims 1 lots for the Sims 2. The lots themselves have been remade before (MellySim on Mod before she and all her uploads went *Poof*) but I wanted to recreate the stuff in the houses as well. The only problem was that I was the only mesher, and most of the other people didn't have Sims 1 to get screenshots from. I had been hoping that it would be a group effort, not me racing around doing everything but what I wanted to do...

So here are the things I got completed before getting thoroughly burned out. We were working through the Goth house as somewhere to start (I had started on the tombstones already), even though I think there was some objects that could be imposable to make and function properly, like the one tile fish tank. There are a few more meshes and other pieces in this set that I did too.

The Sims 1 bushes with the brick bases turned in to a monster of a set (25-32 pieces!) that I was working with someone to have them use the repository technique but at one point I got thoroughly confused as to what part I was at! I also remade the Sims 1 easel but I think it will work with the Sims 3 easel floor placement better. I also had remade one of the carpets, the bathroom's green tile walls and floors, and a very close version of the living room wallpaper.

 This is my version of the Tragic Clown painting as well as some of the recolors I did. I did not actually make the pictures in the recolors, I found them with the Google image search.

And the really big one from the Goth's living room. This is a really cool one to recolor because it's a two tile object and the pictures look great!

You can also see some of the remade wallpaper behind the painting as well.

This fencing was by the stairs in the 2nd floor room of the house. Isn't is SO nice to build buildings with more than two floors? Sims 1 didn't even have foundations!

Also the Sims 1 version didn't have gates. I had to think of what would look like it fit with the fence beacuse I didn't want it to look out of place.

Now these two fences are odd. I always loved how they looked, but for some odd reason the original creator of the fence had the diagonals be a different pattern from the straight pieces. In Sims 1 this was all one fence.

The gates on these were definitely a lot easier to do, and I think I love this fence even more now than I did in Sims 1.

The only problem is that the need to be remapped because when they have any actual (non-black) texture on them it looks vile.

Despite all of the Sims 1 conversions that I have done, I do have some original projects as well. I was so tied of log cabins looking like cardboard boxes! This was the beginning of my Loggin Kannuck set that consists of the log end corners for regular walls and foundations, matching wallpapers, and coordinating flooring.

The textures are much higher quality than the picture looks.

The wallpaper was a real pain to do because I had to line up the camera in-game with one of the corner pieces just right to get the perspective right and the lighting to show properly.

Snowy versions of the wallpapers I added the snow by hand in Photoshop and was very happy that they turned out so well. The snow affects from Seasons just make this look perfect, although I made the lot just for the screenshots.

Even now I wish I could spend my winter holidays there and sit by the warm fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa!

I was intending on making this more of a more full set of "back woods" type log cabin furniture and building objects. Granted that it would fit with the stuff from the Vacation expansion cabin furniture, but with a lot of other pieces to fill out the entire set. My idea for the sink still makes me laugh.

I made a column that looked like a really big log (you can see the bottom of it in the upper left of the table picture.)

This is the basic table I made for it as well, although I'm not sure if it is a bit too basic. Maybe it just needs a table cloth.

One of the reasons why I like this set so much I think is because I really like playing with wood textures. For me if I map something and can slap on any random wood texture and it looks great, I know I've done well.

Similar set to this one that I have worked on is an apple crate furniture set. I could make at least 100 recolors for how many old fruit crate lables I have and that's no exaggeration. I originally started on it to have some more country store type crate shelves to work with Open For Business and it started to grow from there. I've also wanted to make some decorative canned food stuff too. That's another huge collection of labels I have that I really want to use.

Needless to say I love meshing and I hope I can find somewhere to fit here on TSR.

P.S. Please forgive me for the painfully long post or if I may have exceeded a picture limit. I didn't see anywhere that stated if there was any. I did resize most of the pictures to try to keep it a bit more tamed...

Lots of Love,

~Corsetcrush

Instead of that...

Well, the Black Modern Living set looks horrible ingame so I decided I'd make a Lamp Recolor Set. :)

Modernistic

I will be making modern houses for a while, it's fun to design the exterior and this will also help me familiarize about cheats and wall/roof designs. Wish me luck in my future creations.

OMG Screenshots

I seriously could scream...!!! LOL

I clicked on (Yes) to Publish, on my screenshots and now they are showing under Screenshots on TSR and also my Profile.

I feel so silly. I have figured out though, that once you have submitted the screenshots and they are on your Profile Page, you cannot submit them to TSR Screenshots Section on this website. It won't do it for me anyway.

Woohoo.... I can now let other people see my creations hopefully on a wider scale. hehe.

100000 Downloads

When I uploaded my first outfit I never thought that I would ever get to reach this number and now there're even more. At that time I thouht that I'll create clothes for a while and then I'll stop, but I was wrong because it's so addicting, even more than the game itself :D. I had to take a break, because I had some exams at school and to study for an English exam. When I decided to upload something new I thought that it would be for the sake of the good old times when after doing my homework I rushed to the computer to see how many new comments or downloads I had :D and of course for those who still play the game. I was suprized by the huge number of downloads.

Thank you to all who download my creations !!!

I hope you enjoy your game :)

P.S. I will continue uploading as I have tons of ideas :D

my creations of Edward Cullen and Kanye west for the sims 2

Heyy guys just letting you know i have submmited My versions of edward cullen and kanye west and should be ready by monday to be published!! Have any questions pm me or sign my guestbook peace!!

More time please!

In the past week I have been more busy with other things than Sim related ones. I wish there where more time the other way around. This means that I have less time to play the game and have no screenshots either to upload. I'm concentrating in the little time I have at the moment on learning more in the Workshop and some clothing might come next week. I hope.

I have created a poll and hope you will participate.

Happy simming!

about me..? hmm...

Yep, you guessed it ... I'm new here!  Wow, I didn't think there was this much stuff for my Sims2 game ... and I didn't think there was this many talented artists out there creating new items on a daily basis and sharing their work with others (like me!) for free!  I appreciate all of the effort that goes into every detail that the artists spend on their hard work!

Keep up the gr8 work out there, Simmers!!!   ;)

More clothing are coming!

I've submitted a new dress last night and i'll work on shirts meshes today! I'll research some beautiful make-ups too!

And cuties, THANKS THANKS AND THANKS for the comments and downloads! You rocks!

See ya!

Free Schedule through Sept.

Here you go! Happy downloading! :D

Aug 22 - 29 - Covington Court
Base Game - No CC

Aug 29 - Sept 5 - Chrysalis
Uni/NL/OFB/SEAS/BV - No CC

Sept 5 - 12 - Parkview Contemporary
Base Game - No CC

Sept 12 - 19 - Carlotta Bay
Uni/NL/OFB/SEAS/BV - Beach Lot - No CC

Love and hugs -
Illiana

Story Time

Well, everyone is talking about stories at the moment it seems to me, so I will talk about it a little too.

Did you already check out Barb & Fred's new story Valley of Dreams? We have been working very hard on chapter two. It's almost finished and needs to be edited. Barb and I already took all the shots and this time I had a little more screenshots so I will submit part two. It is such a fun story! It gives me the "FEEL GOOD" feeling! Tomorrow the house where Barb and Fred live will be up for download! It's a great house to play!

I will be on vacation for 3 weeks as of Thursday, maybe I will pop in on occasion to say "hi" if I have internet access somewhere. Have fun simming boys and girls!

Story Went Missing

Well, Part 7 of my Learning to Love story went missing off the site a little earlier :-/ I have heard of stories going missing occassionally but this is the first time it's happened to me! It should be back on the site sometime soon, though, so never fear :-D 

HI ALL MY LOVING FANS

Hi Guys,

Yeah there is probably only two or Three of yous, but I still appreciate you coming back and leaving me lovely and wonderful comments.

Thought I would give you all an update:

Due to the change over to sim 3 this site hasnt been working well for my uploads. The minute the site changed its Submission Bar, I could no longer upload sets, Yep I am as confussed as you are!!

But after a long time of cracking the poopies, I deceided to upload my first two sets in singles... I know this would be annoying, but hey, if people take time to read my additional notes they will see that you can just easily search "Summer Skool Collection" or come straight to my page to get the remander items!! People may prefer a different colour then the set anyway, so its not like its a bad thing.

And everyone who has booked marked me, knows where I am at, and it doesnt take long to squiz through all my downloads to find the set. (They are always together there)

I have like 5 sets just sitting on my computer waiting to be uploaded, so its not like I have stopped creating all together.

To my everyday life:

My twin sister has finally got a boyfriend, so she has stopped creating. She has only Made One, but hey, she didnt upload (Hot Chick42) I know weird name, but we were 12 when we made the login name, and it was used for EVERYTHING we signed up for.

Now at the pleasent age of 20, I have been with my partner two years and living with him for a whole year. So, it may sound long time for some, others a short time. But I'm being whisked away come this October to a lovely Romantic holiday place... and hmmm... My partner is not very good at keeping things from me, Nor hiding things!! So when I came across my engagement Ring!!!!! The suprise was ruined!!

But I still have to wait till the day I recieve it. My thoughts are on the romantic getway?? what do you think??

He already knows that Marriage is a few years off. But after a nice conversation, he just wanted to show that he loves me and wants to make that commitment!! Awwwwww... My heart still sinks after this long being with him!!

Anyway, thanks for your support

Hugs and Kisses, love you all

Story Update

My intro and chapter one of my story disappeared fom TSR so I have resubmitted them.

I will try and finish chapter two ASAP but I have started back college and I will have much less freetime now but I will try and update at least every week with a new chapter xx

Stories

I'm started working on a story I came up with the idea when I was rebuilding Riverview. and ofcourse my dear friends Fred en Barb(spitsmagic) thanks........

I started to get Ideas for a story line I've already Created some of the characters in this story.

The house I'm gonna use for it is just finisht after some days of working on it some rooms aren't quite ready yet but I think it will be fine the house has 7 bedrooms 5 bathrooms  a huge attic roof terras with acces and a lot more. oh three towers or so to. There will be some famous from TSR passing by in this story you might know them. I'm not saying who. I believe the people already might know who...................................

Any way the story is about a the first house of Riverview so it plays in a old house duo the fact of some artists from the EA site I've got some materials. with these materials I could really make the house looks old very old I hope there will be more of that stuff. I hope to finish the storiy soon. It's my first so............

 Oh also vote on the poll

Back to school

New Object Set Coming Soon

I'm going to be making a Black Modern Living Set just like my White Modern Living set but with black recolors. I will also try and make a lamp to go with it.

New Hair Recolors

Whee!! I have eight new hair recolors so be sure to go download those.

Minisite!

Hello cuties,

Today I had a surprise: I was able to customize my page as a courtesy from the admin. I'm very happy! Now you can see my Upcoming Items & stuff and more items are coming, because i'm really inspired right now! *-* haha

See ya !

Downloads

Oh...My...Good...Lord...

I have over 20.000 downloads it says on my minipage... I'm overwhelmed. Next week I'm on vacation and will be back on September 18th...I hope you will visit my site from time to time...just uploaded two more lots. A nice Dutch farm house and Fred and Barb's place from our story Valley of Dreams.

Thank you ALL for downloading, reading and rating and especially commenting on my downloads, stories and screenshots. I DO so much appreciate that...Love you!

NEW STORY

I invite all of you to read a new story called "WITCHES". It has been written by my 8-years-old daughter, she loves writting. This is a 3 chapters story, and the first two chapters have been just published. I hope you enjoy them.

Your comments will be appreciate by my little girl.

She is very happy because her stories are published, and she is very thankful to all the ones left nice comments to her Cinderella 2009.

Thanks for your time!

Hello TSR! This is Corsetcrush checking in!

I'm a 30 year old Stay-at-home Wife who has been Simming since before the first expansion of Sims 1. At the time it was common to have box art that was MUCH better that the actual fact of the game. I remember seeing the Sims 1 at Walmart and thinking that the game didn't ACTUALLY look like that. I was shocked when my husband told me that it was the actual Sims. It all seems so laughable now because of how blocky the Sims were, but the only game series that I had played through on my own before that was King's Quest or maybe some Nintendo games...

I have been a gamer most of my life in one form or another but towards the end of Sims 1 I finally caught the modding bug after one of the sites I visited (now long forgotten) said that she used Milkshape and Photoshop Elements (because it had layers! *laughs*) I knew that I would like doing 'computer artwork' because I would sit for hours on the weekends, in my free time when I was about 12, shifting pixels in the paint program that we had on my mom's first computer (a black and white Mac Classic.) If you take a piece of computer paper and fold it in half width wise, the screen is smaller than that. I was really frustrated though with getting started so late into the modding for Sims 1 because there was a lot that I felt I was hugely behind everyone who had been doing it for years.

When I found out about the release of Sims 2, I was nearly bouncing off the walls for months. I was like a kid before Christmas, reading everything I could find about it in gaming mags. The only down side was we didn't have access to the net at that point in time and by the time we did, I felt completely lost all over again. Photo skinning was becoming a bigger deal, alpha layers we being used all over the place, and new clothes and hair that was unimaginable in Sims 1 could be found everywhere. I slowly came to realize that I wasn't necessarily behind everyone, I'm just bad a clothes! Once I started down the path of meshing, I've never looked back. I love it!

In all honesty, I was not looking for Sims 3 to come out. I liked the seamless neighborhood idea, but was revolted by the EA pic of the plaid car... Give me a break. I thought that they had ruined the objects and how they were made. The whole hood aging at once I was not fond of either because I like to micromanage all my Sims. So I actually waited two months after the release before having my husband get it for me as a 10th wedding anniversary present. *Grins* Addicted? Only if I admit it...

Now that I'm having a chance to look at the game I'm blown away by the possibilities. I made a LOT more meshes for Sims 2 than I ever got around to publishing, either because feeling that they wouldn't be good enough to get through other moderation ques, or having no idea what textures and whatnot would attract interest to my objects. Now with Sims 3 (once I learn how the textures work now) I am completely thrilled of how this has been reworked. I have been amazed in my own game of how I can truly make custom clothes for my Sims for however I'm feeling at the moment.

Why TSR?

#1) Beginners have a chance. From what I have read of the upload policy as well as some of the Sims 3 downloads available that I have seen, everyone is not forced into a mold of what we should like for our game. The list of 'guidelines' on Mod is enormous! I do not think that word means what they think it means. Guidelines are general boundaries, not high walls blocking in a vary narrow path. Mod has ceaced being friendly to the new players, or just the inexperianced modders. I like a mix of realistic and cartoony styles of Sim stuff, but Mod is getting so heavily into the 'Realism is better, non-realistic is crap!!' I just don't play that way. I have seen some stuff that has been rejected (by a new modder) that I would have LOVED for my game, but it was rejected because it wasn't realistic enough.

#2) TSR Workshop. I want to spend my time meshing and making things for our Simmies to love, so if something can be done easier and faster, I'm there! I appreciate what WesH and everyone else is doing on the objects front, but I'm getting SO tired of it being such a mess to get an object made.

#3) The crayons in my box have multiple colors. I have been on a lot of the major sites for quite some time and just recently realizing that they have their own color (in a metaphorical sense). I also realized that I have a different color that really is not the same as any of them, but TSR from what I can see at the moment is at least similar.

#4) Divide & Conquer. I came to TSR to check out the Workshop. Even though I had a month subscription back in 2004 I have not come here except a very few times since. This time I decided to stop and look around and was very surprised at what I found. Not only do they have a profile page for me, I can post my screenshots and a ton of other things. On Mod they have gone out of their way (it seems) to keep the social part of human nature seperated from the stuff for a game. That seems very silly to me and often made me feel very alone on a huge site. Everything has to be kept in a very strict box there, and if you veer from that, someone will grouch at you (it seems to me anyway).

#5) Snobbery & Camaraderie. The longer I spend my time on Mod, the less I feel welcome. All I want to do is to make stuff for the Sims games and share it with like minded players. What did I see when I was there today? Another modification to their rules for uploads. Didn't they think the list was long enough already? Being dyslexic, I can't read through the whole exsisting list and still comprehending it once I'm finished. This makes me feel like I could NEVER do anything that would be "Mod worthy" as I refer to it when I'm talking to my husband. Despite the fact that I know I can mesh exceedingly well, my problem usually is having to reduce the faces and vertices because to get things to look like I want them too, the counts are rather high. You can do either very high quality, or you can do something that will work for 'everyone' despite the fact that there are always people running the game on computers or laptops that are not up to the task. I'm also someone who could be called a texture snob, because I like higher quality textures that look great in the game, not pixelated. Even just the short time I've been on TSR, I feel completely welcome, and it has blown me away! I feel like I might have a chance again to do stuff for TS3 and be able to actually share it. So much stuff I kept to myself before because I was daunted (and honestly horrified) by the expectations of Mod. I feel like on TSR I have the chance of being part of a community, not just a gear in a download site. For being a free site, I'm shocked to realize how snobby they have become even in the last few years.

#6) The FUN of gaming. TSR has actually made me pumped about modding again, feeling like I am someone important. I can have a whole community around me and actually feel very welcome to contribute. For goodness sake, I uploaded four pictures and actually got comments on them! I posted a pic in a thread on the Mod social site and was grouched at because I accidentally made it the wrong size. I want my game to be fun, if it isn't what's the point?

Am I still scared about being 'sub par' on TSR as well? Sure, but that's only been because of the experiances elsewhere. I have two houses uploaded on Mod are not the greatest of things. Am I really that bad at building? It's not one of my strong points I admit, but both of the ones that are there are from requests that had very specific guidelines that the person wanted for the lot. I am rather proud of my 'family home for eight' because the person wanted a single floor house for her family of eight. It was rejected the first time I tried to upload it because the back corner of the lot was left undecorated. I had done that on purpose. I know I don't really download lots because they are too heavily decorated and I would often have to rip out half of the landscaping before I would be happy with it. I have been building lots again in Sims 3 and seeing how I can expand my building abilities and hopfully at some point upload them to TSR. I have made lots for myself in Sims 2 that were leagues beyond what I uploaded to Mod.

I have been modding for years but still feel like a noob. I'm hoping that TSR will give me the room to grow and learn that I need to build up my confidance to be able to do the stuff I hope to eventually create.

Thank you TSR for making me feel welcome as a modder again. I'll try my best. :D

Any Requests and thank you!

Heyy everyone i just wanted to ask if you have any requests for the sims 3 i have done requests such as robert pattison eminem obama and such others soo if you have any requests just let me know!! Oh and thank you for all my buddies on tsr for helping me and supporting me XD 

                                     ~ShOrTiE~

Interviewer

I've offered several people an interview, you know, maybe get some people to visit them and visit me. I want to be famous for interviewing famous people! XD Makin' any sense yet? I think it'd be a good idea. I just have to wait until the two lots I created upload, I mean how long do these things pend for?! .o. If anybody wants to be interviewed, drop me a comment in my Guest Book or whatever they call it here. Talk to you later~

Garden Cottage

My garden cottage is available now! The picture of it was featured on the front of the TSR on 8/18!It made me so happy! Enjoy and thanks again to everyone. 

please help me!!!

can someone please tell me how to get the items i have downloaded into my game?? i tried what my friend told me but it didn't work. could someone please help me out by replying or commenting on my blog?? thanks in advance!!

by the way if it helps I have the sims 2 double deluxe, apartment life, open for buisness, university, H&M fashion stuff,teen style stuff and seasons.

Johnny Depp Sim

I sat down today and finally made a sim I've been trying to make since June and I have to say I've very pleased with him, He has been approved and is currently waiting on being published. I hope you all like him xx

Story Delays

Well...assignment time has come around, again. :( My stories may not be coming out as often as they have been due to this, but I will still be writing them! The time between when I get each new chapter out will vary but I will be trying to get them out as soon as I can :D

Objecting to no objects?

I know.  No objects yet.   STILL no objects!!!  That's because there's no objects-ready Workshop released yet, and no discovery on the cause of those scaling textures either.  The wait is killing me (and I hope no-one just said 'good!'...)

The texture problem is a nuisance.  We don't yet know WHY some (most?) but not all objects are scaling their textures.  In the picture above, my oil drum tables have mapped perfectly (both shading and textures are just where they're meant to be) but the radio (I know - exactly the sort of crud I'd make!) has the texture scaling problem where the wood and circular speaker texture has stretched too far down and too far to the right. Same with windows.  A few are absolutely fine, but one or two in the set have their shading falling in the wrong places, giving window frames the appearance of inexplicable bruises! The only items that have been totally fault free to date are the stairs.

And an absent Workshop means that I cannot make Sims3Pack objects.  This is ultra-important.  Any creation you install as a basic package file (including patterns) will not package with any lots you intend to upload.  As a builder myself, I know what a pain in a certain rear part of the anatomy THAT is!  Given that when we install patterns as Sims3Pack files they DO upload with lots, I'm hoping like heck that the same will hold true for objects too.

And no, I DON'T know what I was thinking when I made that radio.  I had a collection of knobs and grids to play with so they were slapped together to make a box that looked like it should DO something - so a radio was born - badly mapped!

Clothing are coming!

Hello cuties,

Today I've submitted two clothing types : dress (new mesh) and shoes (new mesh too!) and it'll be posted soon (I hope).

Just wait! I hope all of you like it.

Bye!

A Few Issues

Hi Everyone

I am currently experiencing issues with the following:

- Uploading Screenshots to TSR (Not my Profile)

- Entries in Guestbook

I like to keep things organised and in order and my Guestbook is now driving me mad as it says i still have entries in it regardless of me deleting them all at one stage ? ? ?

Unsure whether its me doing something wrong with uploading my Screenshots to TSR. I don't have issues uploading the screenshots to my Profile? Am i doing something wrong? Do i need to download a Wizard or Package for this to take effect?

I have posted the Screenshot issue and Guestbook issue in the Forums but only really had responses in respect of the Guestbook as i am not the only person having this issue.

I have submitted to Support issues to TSR Help Centre and both of them have a status as Unhandled? What does that mean?

Can anyone help me... please...

Cherrybooboo :(

Thank you all!

I just wanted to express my thanks to everyone who downloaded my creations and wrote such nice comments about them. I’m so thrilled to be a Select Artist now and it wouldn’t be possible without all of you.

25,000+ DOWNLOADS!!

Wooo! Thanks you guys for downloading my creations and showing your support! It means so much to me. It's awesome to see that I have so many downloads in such a short time span! ;]

Thank You and New Sims 3 uploads

I'd like to thank everyone for their lovely comments!I'd also like to let everyone know that I've uploaded the garden cottage and my twilight sims. For now, you can view them in my photos. They will be published on 8/20.Thanks again everyone and happy simming!

Gone Again

I'm off on holiday for another few days and will be back on monday. Meanwhile my new lot: Wallaby Residence has just been published, so check it out. I'm proud to say that it's featured!

See you all on monday,

Alasdair

Thank you, thank you!

I just wanted to say a big thank you to all the artists that are creating for the Sims 3. I went on a little downloading spree last night and some of the creations are just amazing! Clothing wow! Lots wow! The game really is so much better with all the custom content. And I know it's only going to get better and better further down the track. I think we (and our simmies) are truly spoilt here at TSR. ;)

Contrary to popular belief...I am NOT dead!

Hi there all you simmers out there! *Waves spastically* I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth (as some have so fervantly hoped), but am merely dealing with "Real Life". ;)

For those who don't care. Stop here, and continue enjoying the site! Thank you.

For those that do, I have two children I am VERY fond and proud of. My oldest is 19 years old, and this week is his last week home before returning to college, so things have been a bit hectic. *Sigh* How DARE they grow up and move out on mama! :P My youngest is 4 years old...and he is ALL daddy. (Which means I have 2 four year olds running around the house. Hehehe!) So if I'm not taking my eldest out for college shopping and doing last minute checks and laundry...yes, the neverending job...then I am chasing after one energetic 4 year old and following the trail of clothing to my husband. ACK! Plus there's that real life job and all...man! I remember the days when I used to say, "Hey! I can be on the site all the time because I don't have a life!" Bah! Life-Schmife. I'd rather be building than going to work. LOL!

Anyhoo, what this means to YOU is that I have not forgotten that I owe a lot of people a HUGE thank you for so many wonderful comments on my lots, beautiful notes in my guestbook, PMs, and requests for assistance in my Cave Thread. (Yes, arwensmom, I am going to take a good look at your pictures and see what I can figure out...) I have just finished testing, pond stocking, and garden growing a new lot that will be available soon, and got it uploaded tonight. Now, I am just beat. So, if it's ok with you...or not, hehehe...I will be answering everyone tomorrow when I actually have a day off of work. YAY! Thank you ALL for your patience, and your encouragement! Without you...well, then there's really no point to me! (((Hugs!)))

Love and hugs -
Illiana

Back in the saddle

Ok, so it wasn't that much of a break but the last few weeks spent not creating that much seems to have done the trick and I'm now feeling refreshed and inspired to create once more.  Along with a new look I now have a series of new lots in progress.  Whether they'll all get finished is another question, I'm still waiting for someone to invent that 48 hour day!

I have been playing Sims 3 a lot more too and dare I say it but I actually went back and fired up my Sims 2 game and revisited some of my old pixilated friends.  I now find myself torn between the 2 games and enjoy playing them both almost equally despite Sims 2 loading times.  (I always make sure I have a good book at the ready while it loads up!)

One of the things I have noticed since I've been building for Sims 3 is that lots take so much longer to complete so I don't expect to be quite as prolific as before.  I've always been a firm believer in quality over quantity and I take pride in adding detail to my lots both inside and out and all that takes time!  If it's not good enough for my game then you won't be getting to play it, and I do play many of the lots that I publish here.

So, I'll be hanging around TSR for a while longer yet (sorry!) and now that I've bored you all to death I'm heading back to the building site!  Keep on simmin'!