pulling my puzzles apart

Today at work I spoke to both a Michael Dawson and a Kevin Johnson. If anyone understands why that is totally fucking awesome, you deserve a gold medal!

I have decided that I don't think I like TS3 all that much. There are some really awesome things about it, but if I weight the good things against the bad things, I think the bad things would win. My main problems are:

The way the Sims look. First of all, the quality of the skins and the eyes is terrible; I'm praying that someone, somewhere will make default replacements eventually. That would help, but there is a second problem that I don't think can be fixed: they all look so similar! The sliders in CAS are so restrictive that you simply cannot create a truly unique Sim the way you can in TS2. Custom content has a lot to do with it, too, as different lipsticks or eyeshadows can change the way a TS2 Sim looks drastically. And I don't think there's any way to make that type of custom content in TS3.

Not being able to experience most of the community lots. When I first heard about the new features in TS3 I thought the seamless neighborhood was an incredible idea and I was so excited to be able to do everything and go everywhere without having to load different lots. But you can't do everything and go everywhere. Your Sim can, but you can't. It is not fun to follow watch your Sim disappear inside a restaurant or the spa and wait idly until they come back out.

The speed of the game. Not only because I'm an impatient person, but it feels like 75% of my gameplay is spent waiting for my Sim to wake up or to finish work. In TS2 you could just zip through that and play again. But with TS3, you have to wait, and wait, and wait, and then you get to play for a little bit, and then it's time to go to work so you have to wait, and wait, and wait some more. It's extremely frustrating. It doesn't even feel like I'm playing a game most of the time, just sitting around, doing nothing but waiting.

Lastly, the game is boring. It really is. They boasted that TS3 was a huge expansion from the limits of TS2. Lot-wise, it is. But gameplay-wise? It's the exact opposite. With all the various expansions for TS2, there was so much do do! I didn't expect the base game of TS3 to have all the bells and whistles, but I definitely expected to be able to do more than putter around my house and maybe visit a neighbor from time to time. I just started editing the screenshots I've been taking for my TS3 legacy, and I don't even want to post it because it's so damned boring. I thought for a minute that it would get better once there were more Sims in the house, but my TS2 founders were always interesting on their own!

The point is, I'm pretty close to giving up on TS3. I am going to keep playing it for awhile longer, at least until I have a couple of babies, to get the full experience. But I have a feeling I'm going to be uninstalling it, until custom content is made and/or an expansion is released. I'm actually really looking forward to playing the Wilders again... it's been a couple of weeks, and I miss them!

Tags: sims

My opinions. Let me tell you them. In a handy pros and cons format. ( Cut because this turned out really long. )

I just got TS3, y'all. Don't worry, I'm planning on at least playing through the current generation of the Wilders because there is no way in hell I am abandoning the first aliens I have had in four years of playing! But once they're grown, I'll probably start playing TS3 exclusively. Well, if I'm satisfied with it, of course! I cannot wait to start playing; I'm off work tomorrow so I'll be spending the entire day with TS3!

LAST TIME: The boys graduated college, and Ford returned to Westmoreland and bought a house on the beach. He was abducted and knocked up by aliens, and asked Danica Dallas to be the surrogate mommy to his babies. All fucking four of them.

WARNING: This is reeeeeeally long.

( Who needs a toilet when there's a baby on the floor just waiting to be peed on? )

LAST TIME: Shephard and Ford went to college, and Ford was declared heir. He romanced—or at least tried to—several girls in the dorm, and found himself the object of obsession of the only girl that Shephard had any interest in. Ford won a fight with the Unsavory Charlatan and met my FAVORITE SIM EVER, Danica Dallas!

( Close encounters with the pollinating kind )

LAST TIME: Everyone almost died because they ran out of food and had no money to buy more. Shephard made it through childhood disaster-free, but Ford was taken away by the social worker and magically returned via the powers of boolProp. Lesley and Kenneth became exhibitionists.

( I can make all your dreams come true... with three easy payments of only $99.95 )

I decided to tackle the lofty project of making my own face template replacements. I'm about halfway there in making the faces themselves, but the programming part of it is going to be where I want to throw my hands up in defeat. When that happens, I need you guys to say things to make me feel guilty and shameful about even considering quitting, all right?

My plan is to use Sims gathered from all over the internet as starting points. Why? Because every player has their own style that comes out when creating Sims, and as a result, most of their Sims will have a similar look. I'm definitely guilty of this myself! So, in order to have a set of Sims who all look completely different from one another, I figured, why not use Sims made by completely different people?

Here's some previews of the faces I've made so far. Let me know what you think? ( Cut! )

LAST TIME: The sixth generation began with boys Shephard and Ford. Kenneth nearly died several times because stalking Lesley > eating. Lesley became a good witch and sparkled until I got an anti-Cullen hack.

( Please do not feed the wild animals )

This is the first lot I've ever uploaded. I hope I did it right.

Fairweather Suites is an apartment complex that has seen better days. Its seven bi-level apartments feature peeling paint, filthy floors, and decrepit decor (and alliteration, apparently). Six of the suites have one bedroom, while the larger corner suite has two. There is a central common area with a patio table and chairs, a grill, a swimming pool, a playground, and a basketball net. The laundry room doubles as a rec room, with a jukebox, pinball machine, and photo booth. It is built on a 3x3 lot.

The rent ranges from $1,582 to $1,988. In order to rent it furnished, you must either download Carrigon's Apartment Door Hack (you'll need to register for the board), or follow the cheat at the bottom of this Wiki. The decor is rather sparse, because A. why pack a lot full of things you won't see once townies move in, and B. it allows you to personalize your individual Sims' homes.

Now, there's a little issue with the CC. Particularly, the Maxis object recolors I used didn't package with the lot. Fortunately, I remembered where I got all of them from, so I included them, in separate folders, in the zip (ETA: They actually are included now. Please redownload!). Unfortunately, I had to include unnecessary recolors for the beds, closet, and spiral stairs, simply because I didn't know which one was which. There are also some unnecessary recolors in the package file itself, but not many. And last but not least, I'm not sure if the bedding is included... and I got it years ago, and have no idea where. If you run into any problems with the CC, please let me know and I will try my best to resolve the issue.

Apartment Life is, obviously, required; as is Nightlife, as I used objects from it. I also have University, Seasons, and Free Time, and while I don't think I used anything from them, you may require them to run this lot. You also must have the Color Enabler Package for the Maxis recolors to work.

SORRY ABOUT THE TL;DR. ONTO THE GOOD SHIT.

( THE GOOD SHIT. )

LAST TIME: Lesley lived a fabulous life of absolute poverty. Her jilted lesbian lover stole all of her newspapers, her precious few possessions caught on fire while she was having sex with her former school headmaster and present betrothed, and she prepared for the birth of her first child by putting a roof over their heads (but no walls). All in all, it was pretty sad.

( Ignorance is bliss. )

I just noticed that the bandwidth has been exceeded on the new Photobucket I made only eighteen days ago for the last Wilder update.



That means one of three things:

A. 873 people have read the last Wilder update (see post title).
B. Someone is hotlinking my images to a very wide audience (see post title again).
C. Photobucket is FUCKING BULLSHIT.

Now I have to wait until the bandwidth resets on the 27th to do the next update. Unless I just make another new Photobucket.

LAST TIME: The triplets went to college, where Lesley and Lane continued to be archenemies, and Luca tried and failed to be the peacemaker. Lesley was declared heir, and post-graduation went to live in an ominously empty lot.

WARNINGS: This is a really fucking huge update.

( Generation fire strikes again! )

LAST TIME: Grandma got run over by a reindeer. Lane and Lesley's fights were entertaining, but Luca was a great big bore. Astrid and Evan continued being the friskiest couple in the universe, except for when she started flirting with her coworker.

WARNING: LOTS OF NUDITY BECAUSE I GIVE UP CENSORING CENSORS BECAUSE ANIMATED BOOBS AND BUTTS ARE JUST TOO HARDCORE FOR THE INTERNETS.

( And the gold medal for synchronized pooping goes to... )

We are the Youth: Retextures of Yu #015
DOWNLOAD

Young Modern Station: Recolor & Alpha Edit of Peggy #00560
( Preview and Download )

This is pretty much all I did this weekend.



Half-Full Glasses: Retextures of Yu #014
DOWNLOAD




Polystyrene Hat: Recolors of Yu #014
DOWNLOAD

The Band is Back Together: Recolors of Yu #010
DOWNLOAD

LAST TIME: Smith Van Dien was puzzled by TV dinners. He met, bedded, and wedded a woman named Sylvia. Sylvia refused to consume anything but milk, right out of the carton. Babby was formed.

( I'm all out of interesting cut lines. )

( Yes, I would jump off a bridge if everyone else was doing it. I mean, it wouldn't be very fun being the last person alive after they all drowned themselves, would it? )