's Blog

Don't forget the simple tutorial...

The Alpine Windows are out! I'll now leave a suitable pause in case you wanted to applaude or anything......

Now, PLEASE NOTE that you need to use a special building technique (otherwise known as 'cheat') to place them directly under roof gables as pictured on the set preview picture.

And the reason why I'm mentioning this here (as well as littering the window set with various mentions) is that the accompanying tutorial felt a little bit shy this morning and chose to remain invisible to the masses, and so some downloaders might be thinking those windows automatically place beneath a gable when they need a bit of a helping hand (as we now know: (otherwise known as 'cheat'). The 'cheat' is actually very easy, but if you've never dared use a building cheat before, then this tutorial shows you exactly what you need to do.

The tutorial IS most simple, and I thank Illiana for both mentioning the method AND allowing me to write the tutorial so you can know about it too. And if you like mountain abodes, Swiss homes, log cabins and such, then you're going to adore Illiana's finished home - soon to be uploaded here at TSR. What's so incredible (to me, at least) is that Illiana's home is pretty much all Maxis content - except for the occasional window or two! ;-) Maxis content (how on EARTH do people manage that with such good results???)

However, DO NOTE that you need the Nightlife or later expansion pack for this building cheat; the cheat doesn't exist in the base game, nor in University. If you have any later expansion pack though, then you're in luck! All is not lost if you don't have any expansion packs though, because the windows themselves work in any version of the game and you can do lots of different things with them - you just won't be able to place them
under roof gables.

Build mode poll results

It's quite about time to close my latest poll. I simply didn't have the time to write down a summary until now.

The question was: Which of the following build mode items do you use in your lots? Check all that apply.

Well, a lot of people took part to this poll, exactly 432. And the results are quite interesting too.

Awnings 28.57% (124)
Columns 48.39% (210)
Connecting Columns/Arches 30.41% (132)
Elevators 30.88% (134)
Half walls 67.28% (292)
None of the above 14.29% (62)

I've chosen the answers among the "neglected" build mode categories. Half walls got most of the preferences and I've already made some of those.
I'm planning to make more half walls, as well as columns, as soon as I've finished a couple of other projects.

Busy~sick ~Busy!

Hello Everyone!
Between preparing our taxes for our business, being busier than ever at the clinic, fighting a cold then the flu, I've been trying to learn how to do object recoloring!Thank you for your comments! Here are a few pictures:

I've actually learned how(thanks to some great tutorials here on TSR)but haven't had the time to figure out how to package my creations to submit them! Sometimes I'm brain dead! Eventually I'll get it all figured out. In the meantime, I will submit some of my new creations in my new houses! I hope you will enjoy them!

Starter houses

Hi, I'm back again ! Now, you see, with a few houses under 20000�. I often create them using base game items to make them possible to use for you all. Sometimes I use amazing windows and doors created by TSR artists, especially Windkeeper. I often use some my recolors and walls and floors, you'll find them inside the Sims2Pack. I'm sorry, but one thing I don�t know very well - what EP are EA walls and floors coming with, for this reason maybe some of them you'll see walls and floors undecorated , in that case use the ones you have in your game. Let your Simmies are happy in these houses. And you ? Enjoy the game !

This is too much! THANK YOU! (600,000 downloads)

This is too much...

I cannot believe that I reached 600,000 downloads in just 2 weeks! Oh my goodness! This is just more than I can swallow!

Thank you sooo much to everyone who made this possible! To all those who have encouraged me, downloaded and/or commented and kept on encouraging me to keep on creating, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

I never imagined that I will reach what I have achieved when I first began here... thank you so much to all of you, and to TSR!

Keep on Simming and God Bless all of you,
~Alyosha~

Fixed the Problem for Now

I thought I would give those of you who read my blog and who enjoy my lots an update. I have uninstalled Bon Voyage for the time being as I could not find a remedy for my crashing problems. Since uninstalling it, I haven't had ANY problems with playing or creating lots, so all of my forthcoming lots will only include EP's up to Seasons. So until there is a "fix" for the crashing from either Nvidia or EA, I will not be uploading vacation lots in the future. Hopefully, though, there will be some kind of remedy for this as I did enjoy playing Bon Voyage and sending my simmies on vacation. I have two new lots waiting to be published; one is pending and the other is uploaded but not submitted. Here is a sneak peak at them:

Coming soon: Rue d'Arles!

Bonjour!

Finally I am getting something ready!

I have built and tested two houses of my new Rue d'Arles Collection. One starter house with 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom (Terracotta House #1, small lot, price 19.900�) and a two bedroom house with a pool & a new Maxoid Monkey's car included (Terracotta House #2, small lot, price about 45.000�). Those are ready to be submitted quite soon.

I have also tested the Bistro d'Arles, but found several mistakes in it and will fix the lot as soon as possible. The Bistro is a mixture of a French outdoor caf� and an English pub. There's also a small food store included.

Rue d'Arles is a collection of lots built in a provencal / Southern French style. In real life spent a lot of time there 5 - 10 years ago: Aix-en-Provence, Marseille, Arles, Camargue and I like the houses that seem to have grown from the landscape. It just can't be denied that there's a certain charm in that area. The warmth and the rythm of life is something quite different than here in the north where especially in the winter time you definitively need to get back in as soon as you've "tasted" the air outside... rain, dark hanging clouds, daylight that lasts only 4 hours... I have to say, though, that Le Mistral was quite a cold surprise and the provencal winter can be quite tough, too. But actually all this has nothing to do with the new lots! I'll submit a couple of screenshots so that you can see (if anyone is interested...!?!) what the new look is like!

There will be more houses and more community lots in this collection. I have several ideas, but once again my work is seriously damaging my sims2-creating-time...!! No, actually one should not say that because having a job is something to be happy about, don't you think??!!

Thank you Cyclonesue again for the very beautiful wallcolors and my everlasting favourite the invisible driveway. And thanks to Maxoid Monkey as well, I like the new car a lot!!!

A bient�t, mes ami(e)s!!!!
Tiina:))

Taking my time

I faced some problems with my computer and I had to have it formatted by my son and had also of course to reinstall EVERYTHING!!! Thats why I haven't produced anything for some time! I hope I'll be uploading some new creations asap!

Taking a break

I've been under a lot of stress here at home with homeschooling the kids and everything that I've let myself get run down. I will be taking about a week off to try to get my health back to normal levels. Most of you know I have Lupus, and I'm currently in the middle of a pretty nasty little flare. I'm exhausted, cranky, my joints and muscles are killing me, etc. I don't currently enjoy doing much of anything at the moment, and I'm hoping that a few days of rest will get me back on track.

If I don't respond to your messages right away, it's not personal. I promise.

Thanks for understaning.

Cris

I don't know who you are

...but I wanted to say thank you to all of you who have bookmarked so far. Your support, even if somewhat invisible because I can only see it in my kudos score, is really encouraging and it makes me want to give my best to this community. Thanks guys and happy simming! :)