Ms Barrows - surely a saint for the Sims community

I don't usually have a lot of nice things to say about people, or at least that's what people think; but I have to tell you, MsBarrows counts right up there with Blessed Teresa of Calcutta for her charitable work in explaining the repository method to me in clear concise language that even this thick-witted Russian could understand.

I won't deny the pretty pictures helped guide my unsteady hand through a process that had been mind-boggling for me because so many others before her had left out one tiny, yet all important, detail: You must include the custom object marker in the names when you are working with other custom objects as the source of the textures: ##0x1C050000!

One simple little detail that too many others had neglected to mention in their explanation. That tiny bit of assumed knowledge held me back in understanding the repository method for over a year.

I mention this because a great deal of the Sims Community doesn't speak English as a first language so expecting them to go crawling through 500+ posts to find one remark expressing a "commonly known" bit of information is not a reliable method to yield frequent success.

In the time since Ms Barrows went to the especial effort to explain the repository method to me, I have become increasingly reliant on the method, so her value to me as a mentor has really paid off.

I wish that more people in this world were as thorough, generous, and patient as MsBarrows. She really is a clear example of the best sort of person in the Sims Community.

Blarg - Toes and the joys of diabetic complications

I have spent the past week getting daily shots of vancomycin HCl because of my stupid toe (see the early blog entry "Gravity and me" for how I ended up with the ugly toe). Between fever and daily "cleaning" of the bad toe, I haven't been terribly chatty or "up". Seems I spend more time getting shots of vancomycin than not these days.

I have lots of ideas on all manner of things, but strangely none of my whimsy is turning towards making medical stuff for The Sims 2... As often as I see the inside of hospitals and doctors' offices, I have more than adequate experience and visual input for making the stuff, just no particular desire to mimic the reality of my life in the game.

I suppose I should make a medical/hospital set, it would be too good a prop set for story-writers and film-makers to ignore. Oh well, add that to the ever growing list of profession-oriented theme objects I need to make for the game.

One day at a time...

These days I make objects and post them as soon as I have debugged them, rather than holding off until I have the complete set. I know this may be a little frustrating for people who prefer to download whole sets, but this way I get it on-line sooner rather than later. Sure, whole sets are a great thing, but delaying release usually means procrastinating in the making phase, if the way is always clear for the next item... well, there is nothing more offensive to an artist than an empty canvas LOL

Casino Mazhik: Thoughts on Art Deco

The Casino Mazhik series of objects is strongly influenced by the Paris Exhibition of 1925, the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, the 1937 Paris Exposition, and the 1939 New York World's Fair, New York City's Broadway & Radio Music Hall, films like "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "Hellboy", television programmes like "The Adventures of Ellery Queen", "Agatha Christie's Poirot", "Mystery!", and books like P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster series and the varied works of Evelyn Waugh. Certainly, there are many other sources and places when Style Moderne, or as it has come to be named: Art Deco, had a flourishing. Too many to make a proper list of influences, but I will take a moment to mention the contributions of the French La Société des artistes décorateurs and the German Staatliches Bauhaus schools, as well as subsequent movements such as "raygun gothic", "streamline moderne", and "Populuxe" styles. The beauty and multi-cultural look of high Art Deco designs borrows from a number of world cultures past and present, as well as the geodesy of the futurist Norman Bel Geddes and the mechanised Metropolis visions of Antonio Sant'Elia and Angiolo Mazzoni. I am hoping to show the bright and happy side of this era, rather than the "metalisation of man" that represents the darker aspect of the period. In a way, this may tie into my "Lost American Highway" project. Let's hope I can get that one back on the road soon.

International Man of Mystery Stuff

If you've been paying attention to the figures on the survey poll on my main page, you'll see that lots of people (over 1000 at the time of this writing) have responded and the over-whelming view of the people responding to the poll is that there is not enough male-oriented content in The Sims 2. Following my own bent for the less travelled path, I am starting my way down a experiemental series of objects for story-tellers and film-makers that will hopefully aid them in spy-thriller plots. I am partially hindered by a desire to maintain a sort of realistic look to these items, but not so realistic that it will look too much like a James Bond set. Realism is great, but I don't want to drift too far from the basic look and feel of The Sims 2. I will be trying to recreate some of the objects in another game, Evil Genius, to fill in the opposition's array of goods. I am not certain where this will lead, but it already is adding Art Deco content and some high-end designer content that will be suitable for playboy billionaires and stylish villains. The main goal is to fill in some of the gaps that have been left by the expansions, to make as much as possible of the new objects base-game compatible, and to keep a rather playful mood in the new objects. The current series (Casino Mazhik objects) is being a real challenge to keep in a low-poly range. The original Maxis buffet in the base game is far from low-poly, so adding the new base didn't improve matters. I think the hardest part of all has to be not making something someone else has already made for The Sims 2. Also, trying to make my new objects in a similar theme to the work of other artists here at TSR (Cyclonesue, Padre333, Aikea_guinea, and so many other excellent artists). Certainly, a Tokamak Fusion Reactor or a Arclite Siege Tank will not step on anyone's creative toes, but what on earth will it look good with?? More importanly, what good will they add to the game? Hopefully, I will have better sense than to try to recreate Halo 3 in The Sims 2. LOL

Gavity and Me

Between always being sick and general clumsiness that comes from being fuzzy-headed because I am sick, I have managed to enjoy some of the more dramatic effects of gravity the past two weeks -- climaxing yesterday in a spectacular fall with a thoroughly bloodied toe with a bruised nail bed that hurts like all hell and a swollen knee that is beginning to look like a Jackson Pollock painting. Wheeeeeeeee!

Who needs pain pills? The USA doctors certainly don't think anyone needs them, so I will be laying in bed a lot, crying like a little girl every time my toe brushes the sheet the next few days.

This year isn't off on so great a foot, you might say.

...New SimPE... meh....

You'd think by this time I would be used to SimPE being constantly possessed by unclean spirits from the infernal pit. I don't blame anyone for these little, annoying... really really annoying... hiccoughs that SimPE suffers. Nevertheless, I am vexed by them.

One version clones stuff without a problem, the next version won't clone these items. Take for instance the tombstones and urns for departed Sims.

I could previously clone them in the Seasons-ready release just prior to the BV-/TSS-compatible version. But now, nopes. I end up with a package with a single item that is already deleted. Go figure.

Or let's consider the Arte nouveau armoire, in the pre-Seasons version of SimPE, it cloned without a problem; the next two versions of SimPE won't clone it properly. That's how I made my Artist's Loft wardrobe.

I don't want to seem ungrateful for all the hard work that goes into making and updating SimPE, but I'd be ever so much more grateful if it didn't constantly mean losing some functionality.

I admit, I don't know my head from my buttocks when it comes to .NET programming; but I am pretty handy with VB, C, and C++, and when it comes down to brass tacks, all programming is pretty much the same. 4th and 5th generation languages are several orders of magnitude easier than the 2nd and 3rd generation languages I was taught "back in the day", but that doesn't mean they're without difficulty or risk of error. *sigh*

I really am thankful, but -- like I said -- I'd be even more thankful if things that used to work didn't stop working with every new release.

First thoughts on Free Time

I have to say, this is the first EP that adds something I have wanted  since the first day I bought The Sims 2 -- Sports and other stereotypically "guy" activities. I know ladies do these things too, but so much of the game is already so heavily gender-biased toward the ladies, as the recent poll on my member-page at TSR shows male-oriented content of every sort is a much needed addition. The poll clearly indicates the majority of players feel male-oriented content was/is seriously lacking from TS2.

The way I see it, only Nightlife  and Seasons  EPs are the must-haves  released to date. They are the only ones that add to the immersion and verisimilitude of the game, FreeTime EP looks to finally add something that is equally important for game immersion and verisimilitude: Real-life activities...

Sure, the other EPs add things, I even like some of them, but I don't consider them must-have.

Other than the bugs due to inadequate QA testing -- which we all know to expect at this point, the only thing I am hating about this new EP is the return of the dreaded, miserable Sad-Clown NPC... I have been finding creative ways to kill him since the original game.

I will be watching for the first mod to nix that hateful so-and-so... I hope it involves fire and explosives >_<

I'm sure it is just a matter of time before the annoying Mime and Saxaphone player make their return. We already have Mrs/Ms. Crumplebottom, and she has all the charm of a real-life Gladys Kravitz (USA TV-series "Bewitched" reference). I have a great affection for all the NPCs... an affection I might say is equal in every way to the affection I have for bathroom tile mildew.

Diagonal-functioning Painting Set: Artist Credits

The works used were found in newsgroups and on a variety of blogs, it is to be understood that the originals remain the copyrighted work of the original artist were applicable. About half are in the public domain. If you like the modern works, I encourage you to consider looking at more work by these artists. The artists deserve 99.99% of the credit, so my great and sincere admiration and thanks to them. Base Object: "lost" untitled modern work: Maxis/EA RC №1 "SimCity At Night": Maxis/EA RC №2 untitled orange flowers and Italian villa: Guido Borelli RC №3 "Oxbow Bend on Snake River with sunrise,fall color and relfection. Teton National Park, Wyoming": Dennis Frates RC №4 "Lake Lucerne": Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902) RC №5 "On the trail": Homer Winslow (1836-1910) RC №6 "Oak Trees, Lullingstone Park": Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) RC №7 "Dreaming": Karen Hollingsworth RC №8 "Cavern Creatures": Mark Sullivan RC №9 "Lord of the Rings: Bree (Matte Painting)": Mark Sullivan RC №10 "Polar Express: Observation Car (Concept Art)": Mark Sullivan RC №11 Japanese Ukiyo-e movement landscape: Hasui Kawase (1883–1957) RC №12 Untitled quick study: Jared Shear RC №13 "The Mast Grove": Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin (1832-1898) RC №14 "Zarosshy Pond": Vasily Polenov (1844-1927)

Happy Holidays!

For those of you who celebrate a Winter holiday:



Happy Yule - Merry Solstice
Felix Saturnalia - Felix Dies Natalis Solis Invicti
С Рождеством Христовым и С наступающим Новым Годом!
Veselé vánoce a šťastný nový rok!
Prettige kerstdagen en een Gelukkig NieuwJaar!
Häid Jõule ja Head Uut Aastat!
Hyvää joulua ja onnellista uutta vuotta!
Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar!
Noflike Krystdagen en folle lok en seine!
Joyeux Noël et bonne année!
Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr!
Καλά Χριστούγεννα και Ευτυχισμένο το Νέο Ετος!
Kellemes karácsonyt és boldog új évet!
Gleðileg jól og farsælt komandi ár!
Selamat Hari Natal dan Tahun Baru!
Buon Natale e felice anno nuovo!
Linksmų Kalėdų ir laimingų Naujųjų Metų!
God jul og godt nytt år!
Wesołych Świąt i szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!
Feliz Natal e próspero ano novo!
Crăciun fericit şi un an nou fericit !
Veselé vianoce a Štastný nový rok!
Vesel božič in Srečno novo leto!
¡Feliz Navidad y próspero año nuevo!
God jul och gott nytt år!
Maligayang Pasko, Manigong bagong taon!
Yeni yılınızı kutlar, sağlık ve başarılar dileriz!
Веселого Різдва і з Новим Роком!
Chúc Giáng Sinh Vui Vẻ và Chúc Năm Mới Tốt Lành!
Whatever your religious affiliation or lack of affiliations,
Happiest of Holidays and Best of New Years!

-- Яша/Yasha

The Art of Household Cleaning and Management for The Sims 2

The Art of Household Cleaning and Management for The Sims 2 How to keep your lots sparkling clean with three easy principles. Principle one: There is no other cleaning agent more powerful or forgiving of lacklustre hygiene than our friend: Fire. A new house is a clean house, and what better cause for a new house than a fire? It was, after all, the resulting re-housing and re-furnishing after a house fire that originally inspired Will Wright to create The Sims, so what more natural way to honour his creative genius than to celebrate the hygienic, cleansing power of fire? Principle Two: When fire is not readily available, there are several easy ways to make your Sims' homes more inviting for fire thanks to the creative thinkers at Electronic Arts:

• The fireplace
• Broken televisions and computers left unrepaired
• Dirty kitchen appliances
• Dirty counters
• Dirty sinks, showers, and commodes (in addition to the nasty menace of clogging and death by flies)
• Weeds on the lawn
• Untrimmed hedges
• Trees in sore need of pruning
• Dead fruit trees
• Dead leaves whether in piles or scattered about the lawn.
• Piles of trash and plates of rotten food (in addition to the nasty menace of death by flies)
• Indoor cooking with an outdoor grill is a fool-proof means!

As can be readily deduced, you should do nothing whatsoever to alter the degree of hygiene on a lot until our friendly helper fire comes along! If you take my advice, then never patch or add any mods to your game that defeat the joyful arrival of cleansing fire! With the addition of the Seasons Expansion Pack, Jovian lightning adds to the many ways that our friend, Fire, might enter the lot. Principle Three: The source of all uncleanliness in The Sims 2 is the Sims themselves, regardless of their gender, age, or species. In all instances, it is best to allow none of them on your lots. Here, a judicious use of the moveObjects  cheat works wonders. If you find you cannot play the game without Sims, then it is important that you preserve and augment the game's already high mortality rate (See Principle One). Although I have not had the joy of seeing this, some people report that Sims will spontaneously combust from a prolonged exposure to the Sun's healthful rays. This confirms my suspicions about the Sims being filthy beasts, since only dirty things catch fire in the game. I hope this helps you each and all to achieve the harmonious happiness of tidiness we all seek and crave. Kindest regards and best wishes for good cleaning, Miss Yashenka Pipipantz Pyrological Hygienist Arkham, Mass.