Semester has Started... have you noticed?

Hi everyone,

I am very sorry for my absence over the last couple of weeks. I am three weeks into semester, and I'm getting closer to finishing my degree. The work is hard, and I'm really struggling to fit everything into my shcedule. I simply have not had time to even start up my game, and I haven't had much time to hang around on TSR either. The good news is that my mid-semester break coincides nicely with the release of Get To Work, so I plan on taking some time off to sim! I still have to work though, so I'm still unsure how much building I'll get done. I promise you'll see something - I'm starting to get withdrawls!! - but it might not be a whole lot.
Thank you all for sticking by me. I'm nearly up to 300,000 downloads, which is incredible! I really can't express how grateful I am to all of the wonderful people on TSR who download my creations and leave lovely comments. You guys make my day every time!

Cheers!

Time for an Update

Hello, Simmers!

I have been rather lazy not posting any new blog entries for ages now, so I have a few things to talk about.

First up, I am now a Select Artist for TS4 and I have reached 200,000 downloads. Which is a HUGE deal. That means that I've had 40,000+ downloads of my creations since returning to the community at the beginning of this year. I am incredibly thankful to everybody here for your support, you are a large part of the reason I create for the game, and it is very rewarding to see that people are enjoying my work. Thank you to the lovely people who have left comments in my guestbook and on my creations - they really do make my day, and I apologise for not always replying to every single one.

I am currently on a break from uni, which doesn't happen very often for me because I am doing half of my degree via distance education and my courses are not always well-timed - they tend to overlap so that I don't get any holidays! It is short-lived, however, since semester 3 starts in four days. I am studying part-time over christmas, so I should still have plenty of time for creating, but I'm not going to make any promises. I probably won't be publishing a new lot every day, though. That much you can count on!

The last thing I would like to talk about is speed-build videos. These are fantastic. I have been watching a few of these on youtube. Everyone develops their own techniques for creating with every sims game, and some of us discover things that others haven't. I have picked up on a few things watching these videos that have really helped to diversify my creations. I also realised that I have some techniques of my own that I haven't yet seen out there, and I'd like to share them. I have made a speed build video for one of my lots, Fairdale Avenue. I don't have a youtube account though, so u haven't uploaded it anywhere. I'm also tossing up as to whether or not to record myself narrating the build. I'm not entirely sure that you guys want to hear me talking for 4 straight minutes. So let me know what you guys think, would you like to see a speed build from me?

Happy simming!
      Jaws

Sims 4 is here!

Okay, okay... so I'm a litlle bit late to the party!
Truth is, I was on prac teaching at a local school when the game came out, so I had to wait a week until I could play it. And even then, I think I played with a family for all of two days (in between study, of course) before I dived straight into build mode. Since then, I've been constucting houses in between every lecture and assignment, so you'll be seeing a fair bit from me in the next few weeks!

So far, I'm liking the new build mode. The tools were kinda clunky at first, but I'm getting used to them now and they're almost convenient. I am DEEPLY missing a few things, though. Not having pools or garages is making it difficult - these are things I used to incorporate into nearly every house! I'm a little disappointed to not have create-a-style anymore, and I feel like it makes decorating very boring; all of my interiors look the same (I apologise for that, I'm not very imaginative when it comes to the inside of houses... exteriors are where it's at). And the lack of building cheats is super frustrating! I never realised how much I relied on "constrainfloorelevation" and "moveobjects" until they were gone...

I am currently working through my sketchbook of old house designs from the Sims 3, trying to see what I can recreate in the new game. However, I keep getting distracted by new ideas, so it might be a while before I get a lot of those out.

That's all from me for now, folks. If you have any requests, feel free to PM me and I'll give it my best shot.
Happy simming!
Jaws.

All New Suburban Series

Hi, all!

I'm here to tell you about a new range I've started building! :) I'm sure you've seen a few of them already, they're small-mid size and easily-playable homes for your sims to enjoy.
The inspiration for the Suburban Series came from a realisation I had that so many of my lots are just plain huge - with way too many rooms and that cost our sims a fortune! And then I for one hardly ever end up playing them because they're so big, or expensive, and my sims really just need a cozy little family home.
So I have started a new line of family homes fit for the suburbs! There's a bit of everything, from modern and contemporary to traditional town houses and even some pretty neat retro homes to boot. There's somethig for everyone, so keep an eye out for them in the days and weeks to come! :)

And just quickly, before I go, I'd like to take a moment to celebrate that today marks my 100th published creation for the Sims 3! Yaaaay! A big thank you goes to everyone who downloads and appreciates my work - you make creating that much more fun!

Happy simming!

I'm back!

Hi, all!

So it's been a LONG time since I was here last (nearly four years, I think!), and I'm very sorry for that. A lot of things happened, and life just sort of got in the way. I am about to start my second year of univeristy, so I haven't exactly had much time for simming, and I probably won't when study resumes again in March... but I'm making the most of it now. I have a few new creations to submit, which hopefully you will all enjoy, and I will try to keep up with TSR and my sims more often. :)

Also, a big thank you to everyone who left comments on my creations and stories while I was away - I just had a chance to read through all of them, and they absolutely made my day. :)

Computer issues... again.

Alas, after battling with my computer and losing every time for the last year and a half I have had enough!!!

My father works as an IT specialist and for my birthday last year put together a computer for me that I was assured would run the Sims exceptionally well. And it did when I first got it and back when I was creating for the Sims 2. However, since then we have battled with blue-screens, crashes to desktop, freezes, unexplainable errors and every horror imaginable.

Originally we thought the problem was the game. I mean, it's quite well known that Sims 3 does not like to run on quad-core processors. We have replaced the hardrives, mother-board, graphics card... pretty much every component in the damn thing and it still crashes. Only now the problem has become so bad that I cannot even open my game. The machine will blue-screen before it even loads. It crashes form the desktop at least five times a day (quite often two or three times in quick succession). Itunes, mozilla firefox, messenger, and even microsoft word won't work most of the time, which is now interferring with my school-work. Basically, I can't do anything... which is driving me insane because I have a sketchbook full of ideas and I can't even open my game!!!

So hopefully *nudge nudge* santa will come early this year and bring a new computer with him! ;)

In the meantime though, I'm organising to"borrow" a family member's laptop so I can still create. So you can still expect to see the odd creation from me in the coming weeks and months, just not a frequently as I would like!

A whole lotta change

First of all, I'd like to thank all those wonderful people who have left comments in my guestbook or on my creations. You guys are awesome!

And now for the reason behind my delay with getting back to you guys and getting more houses out. My family and I have recently moved inter-state. We now live in the sea-side town of Hervey Bay, Queensland. For any of you not familiar with Australian geography, it's just on the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef... It's absolutely lovely and I'm enjoying the tropical, sunny weather!

Things are finally beginning to settle down. My computer has been set up for a while now, but we haven't had very good internet access. I've had time to build heaps! But I can't upload yet... :/

The good news is that I have a huge range of modern and traditional houses, big and small, ready to upload as soon as I get a reliable internet connection (which should be by the end of the week *crosses fingers*), including a set of four modern beach homes!

Good News and Bad News

The good news is: *drum roll* we're currently testing a solution to the computer troubles!!! And so far, it's looking good. Hasn't crashed once yet! We've updated the computer to windows 7.

The bad news is that since it was running on Windows XP before, I had to completely wipe the computer and do a clean install. Admittedly, I had a few things backed-up, but I've lost a fair bit. Including my story neighborhood. So I am very, very sorry to any Another Life fans. :(

Anyway, since I am installing the game as we speak you can start expecting a few lots (though I don't know how much I'll get done with school starting the day after tomorrow) over the next few weeks, and maybe another story... if I'm feeling particularly inspired. ;)

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and an update!

   Hello again.

I hope you all had a wonerful Christmas (for those who celebrate it)! I also hope that this coming year wil bring you lots of happiness, fortune, love and (of course) sims!!!!!    I hope all the good memories from the naughties will stay with you forever and you can look back on what has been a wonderful decade and smile.

  Now for the update part:

I am incredibly sorry for the delay in my creations and stories... The good news is that school holidays last until the 29th January and my computer is fixed!!! Hooray!!!! I've had plenty of time since Christmas to create and I have four (I think. Maybe five) New lots coming out that I have uploaded...and a few more that are awaiting finishing touches and will be uploaded and published some time in thenew year. I'll give you a sneak peak at two new lots coming out soon:

And I'll leave you with another invite to join TheSimShack!

    I'm sure you've heard it all before, but it's a great place. Full of friendly and familliar faces! If you're looking for a relaxed forum atmosphere, or just to make new friends, it's perfect! There's lots of games and places to promote your own creations, too! And, of course, lots of information about the games!

Check it out at   www.thesimshack.com   (copy and paste into url)

50, 000 Downloads!!

I really, truly, honestly have to thank everyone who downloads my creations.

 I mean, can you imagine my excitement when I log on today only to find that I've conquered the 50, 000 download mark? 

So I'd like to give an extra big by giving an extra big thannkyou to those people who leave comments, or even take the time to press the little love-heart "thank" button. It meas a lot, it really does. I hope you guys continue to enjoy my creations in the future!