The Texture Challenge

Wow, what can I say about The Texture Challenge?

Well, I think I can safely say that many of us would never have had the courage to recolor objects without the continual support of the participants in the TC thread. I would still be recoloring walls and floors. I was terrified when I downloaded SimPE and started it up, but the kind words in the TC gave me the courage I needed to press forward and venture into the unknowns of SimPE.

A big thank you goes to DOT for starting us off. It was her push on 17 April 2006 that got Atwa started. And speaking of Atwa, a very special thank you goes to her. Without her, I really feel that the TC would have died long ago. This is why I suggested to a fellow newbie that we do something for her.

The following links will lead you to the other 5 people that helped in the TC50 Tribute Set for Atwa.

Dabuschckah
gayle_afcb
tlkaska
vanilla_sim
wordcobbler

Another thank you goes to girl_from_mars and Thomas, who helped us keep our little secret while coordinating the release of our joint project for Atwa. Without them, it would have been difficult, to say the least. Maybe impossible to do it the way wanted.

I would like to extend my thanks to all the people in the Texture Challenge. You've all been so kind and helpful.

And while I'm extending things, I'll extend a hand to anyone who wishes to join us. Whether you're new at recoloring or an old pro, we'd love to have you join us. If you're new, this is a great place to get your feet wet. Head over to the forums and see us sometime.

The Object Editing Forum (we're in the Sticky section)

The collection of textures

Tribute To Atwa

On April 17, 2006 a �Challenge� was issued: �A game started by the wonderful and talented Laprin of Sims1, in the Skinning Forum here at TSR. I am attaching a texture and hope that willing recolor artist will create an object using that texture.� ~ DOT

Would anyone respond? One, two, three, four�.Less than eight hours later the challenge was on! At 6:54 a talented young artist by the name of Atwa �just had to have a go�.

As the artists began to create, something happened that no one could have predicted. Objects were being produced that were too good to keep to themselves. Atwa asked in excitement, �Shall we all submit our work maybe???�

The group loved the idea, but how would they do it? �When submitting, maybe we should call it similar so we can point to all the creators...? A name perhaps we all can use?� she suggested.

Everyone loved the idea. Sww-sww-sww wondered aloud, �Texture challenge? Or something like that?� Atwa ran with it �Yes, sounds good�.� And after uploading her sets she announced, �I went with the "Texture Challenge�This was fun.... "

As the weeks went on real life began to take its toll. Computers began to crash and artists became distracted. But Atwa trudged along, sometimes single-handedly, and kept the Texture Challenge alive.

Did her dedication and perseverance pay off? On March 7, 2007, almost a year later, she told this ever-growing group �I have an announcement�We have now a new category in themes.�

This week, because of Atwa�s perseverance and endurance, �Texture Challenge� is proud to release its 50th texture. To show her our appreciation the newest members on this team have dedicated 6 individual sets comprised of 4 of her vase meshes re-colored in all 50 textures released to date.

Atwa is a kind and patient person who is supportive and willing to give honest feedback. She takes feedback as graciously and openly as she gives it. She helps creators old and new with their questions. If she doesn't know an answer she generally can point the questioner in the right direction. She is always a pleasure to talk to and her creations are highly anticipated.�Thank you, Atwa!

Show her your appreciation by taking the time to add these lovely meshes to your game. You will want to drop by Atwa�s mini-site for more of her creations. Be sure to stop for a moment and give her a bit of feedback on her works or even just leave her a guestbook message to say hi! She will appreciate it and so will we.

Trojan.Zlob and Smitfraud Virus

Oh, man! It's been a long couple of days! I've been working to remove a backdoor Trojan called Zlob which, apparently, is associated with the Smitfraud Virus that my poor computer contracted.

Poor Herbert! Yes, my computer's name is Herbert...he runs better if you talk nice to him, so I named him. It just made sense.

Anyways, back on topic...I believe I have eradicated the virus. This particular pair are particularly tricky. They tell you via a pop-up from the SysTray that your computer is infected with MalWare and point you to a website where you can download some Anti-Spyware software. This anti-spyware program is actually Rogue Spyware. The pop-up is official-looking. Fortunately, I was never inclined to click on the pop-up bubble "to get more information" and only read about that online while researching how to get rid of it.

Once the Trojan was removed, a different message appeared telling my that NetWorm-i.virus@fp had been detected. Further research pointed me to a SmitfraudFix program.

It seems to be okay now. I did lose a few files to corruption while my PC was infected, but other than that, this was a fairly benign virus.

If this problem ever happens to you, I'm more than happy to share my research finds. I bookmarked the good stuff.

Poll about polls results

Here are the results for the Poll about polls.

Question: What types of polls do you like the most?
Ever changing polls about anything 81.82%
Polls relevant to downloads/custom content 0%
Polls about anything (non-simming stuff) 0%
Ever changing polls about downloads/custom content 9.09%

Question: How often do you like polls to change?
Once a week 63.64%
Every other week 9.09%
Once a month 0%
It doesn't matter to me 18.18%

Question: Why do you vote on polls? check all that apply...
The Kudos 45.45%
To help creators figure out what downloaders want 72.73%
Because they're there...why not vote? 63.64%
Other...please post a comment in the blog entry 9.09%

It seems that most people like polls about anything as long as they are constantly changing and they like them to change about once a week. The last question was just out of sheer curiosity...

What I'll do is change my poll on Wednesdays (to coincide with the Texture Challenge).

The new poll is about the Texture Challenge. I'm trying to get a feel for how many people actually know what it is and download our creations.

Old Poll Results and a New Poll

The old poll went well...sort of... There were votes from all over the place. Several US, a couple Poland, one from India, Greece, Hong Kong, Austrailia, Russia, Germany, Denmark, South Africa and Romania! That's so cool, people from all these far away places voting on my poll... :D I put up a new poll about polls. It'll likely run for a week, perhaps two.

1st Poll Results

I only let it run for a couple of days, but it served it's purpose. I edited my avatar. That one was a close one. Per Paleoanth's suggestion, I resized it and got rid of the black behind it. I'm sticking with the current banner. I tried one thing suggested, but it didn't work out. And orange it is!

My new minisite!

I've finally got it! Thanks to the wonderful creators in the Texture Challenge and the wonderful downloaders at TSR.

Many thanks go to Paleoanth who has allowed me to butcher her wonderful meshes and who has stopped by to hand out Kudos faithfully. Without her, I would likely still be making walls and floors. I never would've been searching for an answer to some random question about recoloring and happened onto the Texture Challenge thread. Thank you!

And the TC participants...what can I say about them? Except to say that they are an absolutely fantastic group of creators! They are a bottomless pit of information and support. Never have they failed to answer any question I've had.

My minisite is pretty boring as of yet. I don't even have my Downloads tab, yet. But I'm working on getting it going.

With my new minisite, I've uploaded a new avatar as well. I remember watching that episode of Winnie the Pooh when I was a kid. :D