darqstar

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Yeah, it's me


Yeah, I'm around again.

I left originally because my mother was ill. Ill as in "there is a good chance she'll die" ill. And, when she got over the worst of it, it left her so weak that I was spending all my free time going up and helping my father with her. And the recovery was a very long time.

Finally though, she started making some progress. We celebrated her 81st birthday in November. While we were celebrating, our apartment was robbed. I lost my computer and all my Sims games. Along with a bunch of other stuff. It was a really bad time in our lives, not because of losing the stuff, although that was bad, but my cat Goten, who is a big old friendly doofus, was terrified for weeks whenever there was a noise by any of the windows. Terrified as in running and hiding and when I would drag him out, he'd just shake. Whoever robbed us must have hit him. He probably ran up to see what was going on, like some big, friendly, orange lummox, and they must have hit him. I don't think they yelled at him, because when you're robbing a house, you don't yell. If they'd just pushed him, he would have been fine, he's been pushed a lot. The way he was acting, he must have been hit. We never hit him. We rescued him from the streets and I know people on the street used to kick him, but we never did. It was awful seeing him like that. My whole attitude was, "Okay, it's bad enough you took our stuff, but damn it, you don't mess with my cat!"

In December, I was finally able to hobble a computer together. When I wrote to tell Atwa that I needed an extention on my leave, I found out that they had to remove me from my select artist status because I guess they figured I'd been gone too long.

At that point, I decided that any "hobby" where I can lose my standing because my family is sick and I get robbed, isn't something I'm really into anymore. So, I put it behind me and pretty much stopped doing anything Sims, including playing the game.

I've been playing lately, just playing, and doing a bit of downloading. I never really played the game as much as I wanted to before, because I was all caught up in creating. Now I want to actually play a bit.

Yes, there are times when I have the urge to create, and I've even got some sets of bedding I made that I considered uploading, but eh, I'm not too sure anymore. I mean, Sims 2 has been around for a long enough time that there are tons of things out there. And, there are so many people making stuff that are a zillion times better than I ever was, I don't know if I'd even make Select Artist now, as I did then. I see people who are select artists now that are doing just...breathtaking stuff. Stuff that would have garenteed them Feature Artists status back when I was creating.

Sims 3 will be out soon enough it seems and then will there even be any market for Sims 2 content creators? As for Sims 3, I strongly doubt this old computer will be able to play it. Also, if I'm hearing correctly, being able to change colors of items will be as easy as a couple clicks of the mouse, so I doubt there will be much need for a recolorer. And I don't think I'll ever master meshing. The whole process to mesh was just way too much for this old brain. Not the actual creating a mesh, but all the steps involved in how to just get it into the game, the time it took to again and again check the item, etc. For someone with ADD, it just got to be too much.

So, yeah, I'm around, but I don't know if I'll get back into creating. If I see a need I can fill, I might, but with tens of thousands of walls and floors and recolors of almost every shade and hue, I don't see where I'm really needed anymore in the Sims custom community.

Well, that's my story. In case anyone was curious...

Warmest Wishes
Darqstar


Jaedle ∙ Oct 5, 2008

Hi, I don't know if you remember me but I have had some bad times the last couple years too and am only starting to play the Sims again. I am really sorry to hear of your tragedies, and having lost my 18 year old cat recently, I know how awful it is when your pet is terrified or hurt. Also lost both my parents to rather unpleasant causes long before that. Please whatever you do, don't let a hobby run your life. Use it to escape only if it IS an escape, and spend as much time with your parents and your pet as you possibly can. I don't know if you will even see this, but I hope my good thoughts reach you. My sister was diagnosed with severe anemia, my significant other dumped me, and I have a raging dental problem, Raynaud's phenomena, and other issues ongoing, so...if you write to me and I don't answer immediately, I am probably just having my own dramas(hope not). Hang in there. I will be thinking of you, and your work is beautiful.

estatica ∙ Sep 8, 2008

Hi Darqstar! When I became more active at TSR, you were long gone, so I never got the chance to leave you a comment and say how cool your work is. Even if you don't have a badge any more, you'll always be a Select Artist to me and I am really glad to see you are back to TSR \:\)

MoonlitMaiden ∙ Sep 8, 2008

Hi Darqstar,

Today is my mother's 79th birthday, so I completely sympathize with your situation. Mom's in good health (knock wood, cross fingers, thank God) but I know that I'd drop everything to care for her, or my 81-year old Dad, or my disabled sister if the need arose. And I'd feel exactly the way you do if TSR demoted me because of that. Maybe you should talk to Silvia (Spaik)? She's our new SA connection to TSR. I know if you have to take a leave and you let TSR know, they're very flexible.

It's just horrible what you've been through and how I wish I could give you a big hug. As for the unspeakable slime that hit your cat, there's a special place in hell for people who abuse animals. Things can be replaced, but the trust of an innocent creature is a fragile thing.

I want you to know that I just downloaded every one of your beautiful recolors of Paleolanth's Shaker Dining set, and I didn't do it because I thought your work is inferior! Look, I don't even do recolors, I just convert adult clothing to

Cyclonesue VIP ∙ Sep 7, 2008

It's good to see you back, Darqstar. Times have been utterly horrible for you of late and so I hope all will become easier now.

If you ever do feel like returning to creating, never be put off by the idea others are 'better'. A colossal amount of artists are certainly better and more skilled than me, so I just make stuff that I like, and just happen to share it too. I don't care that others are better (of course they are - they can do animations, clever behaviours, better meshes when I'm still stuck on a few primitive shapes). But the way I look at it is that, even if only one person downloads, then hopefully that's one other person besides me playing with something they're glad I made.

I'm glad to see you back and wish you well. \:\)

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