Tuesday, December 30, 2008

New Clothes Alert!



Okay, so I got a bit carried away. Fifty-eight different pajamas! Yeah... there should be enough there to please everybody.

I'm so tired of pajamas... you have no idea.

Monday, December 22, 2008

My First Real Age Conversion!

Today I tried making my first age conversion using the repository technique. I thought it would be a simple project. Hah! Actually assigning the existing textures to the mesh wasn't that difficult. But getting the mesh to look decent sure was! I think all the elbows are in the right places now.
I sure hope nobody else has converted these already. I've never seen anything like them, but you never know. In any case, I learned how to do something new. That's always good.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

New Clothes Alert!



Yeah, I know I said I was going to take a break. But I was tired of seeing my babies in nothing but a diaper. Poor things. So I made some clothes for them.

Friday, December 5, 2008

I'm kind of annoyed at the moment...

Of course, as a creator, we like it when people appreciate the work that we do. But you know what's not appreciated? Criticism. I'm not talking about legitimate things like "the texture looks a little blurry" or "the mesh is kind of choppy when it animates". I'm talking about things like "can you make this with boots instead?" or "I wish you would make more colours of this" or "I don't like the shape of this mesh".

For all those folks who like to download Sims clothing but who don't create it themselves, let me explain something. Making Sims clothing is a time-consuming activity. It's not a matter of finding a photograph of a cute skirt and pasting it onto a mesh in five seconds. If only it were that easy! Most recolouring (especially if it involves new textures, and not just the original texture with a hue adjustment) can take a while. Hours. And when you throw meshing into the equation (especially if the creator in question is not an experienced mesher), the time involved really jumps. You have to create the mesh package, stick together the appropriate parts, make sure all the normals are correct so the mesh looks smooth, make sure all the bone weights and assignments are in the right places so the mesh animates correctly, make sure you create a fat morph (preferably one that doesn't explode), and make sure your Sim's sandals don't make suit-of-armour sounds when she walks. You can't just whip off a mesh and its recolours in an hour. If it's something simple, you might be able to get through it in an afternoon. If it's more complicated, it could take days.

If you don't like something, don't download it. That's simple, isn't it? Just be mindful of what you say when dealing with creators. They've probably worked for a long time on their creations, and to be told (after all of the hours of fighting with MilkShape and SimPE) that their work would be better appreciated if they'd just made this colour or that shape or these shoes is not exactly pleasant. Just be grateful that the creators are willing to share their stuff with you (for free!).

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

New Clothes Alert!

They're up! These are my two entries for the Creator Challenge. Check out the threads for more colours and colour combinations. I hope your Sims enjoy them!


Little Hoodlums Collection for Toddlers @ MTS2


Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Whew! All done!

I finally finished and submitted my main entry for the Creator Challenge at MTS2. It feels good to get that project out of my hair. I think I spent longer on that one than I did on any of my other Sim clothing... with the possible exception of my Back-to-School Collection for Kids. This set I just completed wasn't quite that big... but it did have twenty separate pieces on four new meshes.

I was looking at this post recently and it struck me how many uploads I've submitted to MTS2. There are seventy-five different uploads of various size; some have one dress, while others have a whole set of items. But... seventy-five uploads? Wow. That really makes it look like I have no life, or that I do nothing but make Sim clothes. In reality, it doesn't seem like I've spent that much time being a clothier of small Sims... but the numbers don't lie.

I think maybe I should take a break for a while and let my Sims enjoy what they already have. They're so spoiled...

Monday, December 1, 2008