Daman19942's Creations

Playing The Sims since the early 2000s. I build lots and the occasional Bodyshop item. Uploads here and MTS and (formerly) TSR. He/Him.

[daman19942]

The context for my previous post.

I hate to speak ill of one food dish, but Crepes Suzette ruins lives! Not only did Tina burn it and light it on fire on the stove, but she also lit herself on fire trying to present the already burnt dish to the family.

Tina catches fire, but the sprinkler above the stove saves her. But somehow, Elio, the youngest child, runs into the room and he then catches fire. The sprinkler sends Tina running away, so I have to direct Carmelo to try and extinguish his son. He has maximum body skill, but even he is no match for the flames of the Suzette.

Tina, having run away from the sprinkler, hits aspiration failure over the death of one of their children, right as Javier and Ana decide to fight (I think Javier had a drink that initiated this, because they had been good sibling friends before. Oops!

[daman19942]

Proof of life post! Haven't been able to spend much time with TS2 lately, but I have been playing this weekend and took this screenshot from the last few hours of Carmelo and Tina's (now disastrous) family vacation to Three Lakes.

I think it is one my favorite pictures I've taken playing this game. Something about the height and distance of the camera, and the multiple moments of classic TS2 chaos unfolding within one family (and indeed one room). Tina is pleading with the Grim Reaper, while Carmelo watches two of their kids fight at the same time.

Just one reason why I'll never quit this game. Full post of these events to follow (it won't make sense chronologically, but no one should be following me for gameplay posts. I'll catch up eventually never)

[mcmansionhell]

mcmodernslopcore

Howdy, howdy, folks.

For many years (ten now, about which, more soon) McMansion Hell has featured many prominent and diverse atrocities from all over these great United States and sometimes beyond them. However, most of these posts have consisted of houses built during the McMansion Era proper -- from the 80s up through around the early 2010s.

This is for a number of reasons. First of all: I like these houses because they are insane. Second of all, they are indeed quite different from one another -- they represent the owner's idiosyncratic if poorly rendered desires and fantasies. They are heavily psychologically loaded buildings. One family dreams endlessly of Tuscany, another wants to recreate the mall. All interiorize previously exterior forms of consumption.

These houses were also very expensive to build compared to their contemporary iterations: all real, solid wood cabinetry and trim, wrought iron railings, marble floors, elaborate murals - none of this is cheap. This is not to say that I'm nostalgic for the classical McMansion (though many are) only that it, like, most other facets of architectural and everyday life, have become progressively cheaper and more bland.

The McMansion never truly goes away. It merely changes shape over time. One of the shapes it currently takes is a particularly loathsome imitation of contemporary high architecture (specifically the kind of houses architects love to build for celebrities in California) executed in the most wretchedly parsimonious manner possible. It feels cheap to use the word 'slop' but their indiscriminate nature - the way they have no regard for why or how the things they imitate even work - allows it. Of all the building forms that could be generated with AI, this is the most likely. At any rate, behold:

Yes this is a real house. Yes you can buy it for $6 million in, yet again, Barrington, IL. It has 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms totaling 11,600 square feet. But most importantly, it looks like dogshit. Ten layers of Photoshop have been used to gussy it up which makes it appear entirely ersatz. Were it not for the interiors, I myself would have trouble trusting my own eyes. Part of the reason it looks so unreal is because the design itself is absurd, as though someone created four equally ugly vessels and threw them up one by one.

In 2017, in a now-deleted essay for Curbed (RIP - they destroyed the archive) I called these types of houses McModerns, simply because they were McMansions dressed up in modernist garb, which they wore no differently than they would Neo-Tudor or Mediterranean (broadly construed.) These houses don't warrant a new neologism, but they do feel like a degraded or perhaps even gonzo version of even that old concept. Slop works fine too, especially because half of what's in these images isn't real.

Much fascinates me about these houses, however one of the most unique elements vis a vis the last 30 years of building is how overtly and almost hostilely masculine they are. Anything that can be construed as feminized - color, softness, ornament - has been ruthlessly purged. They also rip off tech industry minimalism which only ads to their bro-ey nature. While previous iterations of McModernism (think new builds in Colorado with fake wood exteriors) scream dads with IPAs, these houses scream Reddit to me. They are Elon Musk-adjacent in sentiment.

By the way, this is what that room looks like without the fake furniture. It's basically a sunroom.

Whole Foods would like to call in a robbery.

Because these houses are designed by men, for men, no one involved has learned how a kitchen works. Many are calling this setup the "grindset tiktok video kitchen." This is the kitchen you see in those day in the life of an AI startup founder videos your algorithm forces you to watch against your will.

Virtual staging is actual literal slop. In fact, one can say that they were one of the first iterations of the ontological crisis we now face, one of the first instances where one is forced against one's will to question reality, what one sees with one's own eyes. Beyond that, I think virtual staging is literally a form of lying. You can use it to make a space look bigger or smaller than it is. In this it also has a lot in common with AI. This dining room has nothing to do with the world I'm living in. These chairs are not my problem.

It's actually AMAZING how much of what's in this house, beyond the furniture, is fake. Every single material is fake. The stone is aluminum paneling. The plants are plastic. The concrete is printed on some kind of surface (as evidenced through its repetitive pattern), though it's hard to say from just pictures. I don't even trust the floors!!

Ok if you haven't read Kelly Pendegrast's amazing essay "Merchandizing the Void" about how houses are all like stores now, HERE IS THE LINK. Some ideas never die, they just evolve, king. Like you.

Please, I'm very cold.

Unfortunately there are no pictures of the rear exterior of this house, so this is where we will have to conclude for today. That being said, these houses and their antecedents are developing a design language all their own that will, in time, be as culturally rich to us as the houses of yore. The problem is they are less visually interesting. They are houses made to scroll in and scroll right by. Expect to see more of them here, but only if they have something, anything to say.

If you like this post and want more like it, support McMansion Hell on Patreon for as little as $1/month for access to great bonus content including a discord server, extra posts, and livestreams. (Don’t worry! This doesn’t adjust for inflation! Now’s the perfect time to join!) By the way: new subscribers can buy a year of McMansion Hell for just $12!

Not into recurring payments? Try the tip jar! (I would seriously appreciate any and all tips because I am in the process of moving house!)

[daman19942]

Quick shoutout to @heathensimmer for pointing me in the direction of Puhlinnos_Sims2's website. Greatly enjoying having the "Order Drink for Sim..." interaction back in my bars and restaurants.

I feel like this was available before EPs were released, but maybe I am misremembering? Anyway, please enjoy having the ability to order drinks for dates, outing members, or the Downtown Diva (if she won't pay attention to you otherwise).

[morepopcorn]

Sims 2 Fame WIPs

If you watch Tea Addict's Twitch streams (and if you don't, you should), you may have heard us mentioning a Fame mod in passing.

This is in the earliest of stages and is completely subject to my whims about what I feel like working on, but since I've posted WIP pictures in various places and because someone on Reddit asked, I'm sharing an update here, too.

Under the cut is a window into the chaos that is my WIP folder.

Custom phone call where you can sign up for an agent and opt into the fame system. Your Sim won't get famous unless you want them to. My husband made the icon for me 🤩

Recreation of the buffet from Superstar. Took a pause on this while I learnt about how to do shape keys in Blender from a Discord thread where I bothered Latmos about it 7 months ago. Will add cucumber sandwiches and other such delicacies soon.

Recording Studio booth - not functional yet. Need to work out why the sounds are playing so fast.

Theatre marquee that lights up correctly thanks to Crisps&Kerosene's extended standard material shader. Bonus director's chair as a dining chair and a bar stool, and advertisement bench in the background.

I'm taking my time, switching tasks to keep things fun and learning new things when I need to. I'll post occasional updates when I have something cool to show.

[daman19942]

Sounds super exciting! Love hearing about the ambitious projects folks are cooking up, especially when they can connect TS1 to TS2. Will be monitoring this!

[simmer-until-tender]

the united states government rn

[daman19942]

LBB DeeDee 4t2 GP05 Hoodie Sleeveless & Hoodie with Running Shorts

Another @deedee-sims creation that I knew I needed to convert for LBB as soon as I saw it. Do I need to keep making more Athletic attire? Probably not, but I was feeling rusty, and it was nice to play around in Milkshape again.

Comes in two versions: The first is Top-only and comes in 5 of the original 10 colors. These work with every LBB Bottom mesh that I've tested it with.

The second version is a Full Body mashup of the Hoodie and my LBB 4t2 WeBluePeace GP02 ShortsRunning. Uses a handful of colors from both. I figured these pieces paired well, and not everyone uses Separates, so you get options!

The Top is categorized for Everyday, Athletic, and PJ. The Full Body is just categorized for Athletic. Compressorized, BSOK'd, no morphs, screenshots and swatches included.

Credit to Syn for the shapes, @deedee-sims for the 4t2 mesh and textures conversion, WBP for the running shorts.

Download LBB DeeDee 4t2 GP05 Hoodie Sleeveless: SFS Download LBB DeeDee 4t2 GP05 Hoodie Sleeveless with WBP Running Shorts: SFS

[alienara-simblr]

🌆 TS1t2 Project : The Downtown Map 🚕

long post, read carefully

🌃 After a lot of work and a few mishaps, here's a complete, multi-purpose map. It is indeed a re-creation of Downtown from The Sims 1 but also of the Sims 2 one. That way, there are no limitations on possibilities. No need to add two Downtowns to your neighborhood !

🏢 I've also added Maxis apartments for an urban feel and/or to allow for the creation of a BelladonnaCove-style neighborhood.

🏙️ If you download the map without the lots, you'll have a great starting point for creating the SimCity of your dreams 🗺️

⛰️ I used the horizon to connect the landscape to that of The Sims 1: the vampire district will lead to the village of Creepy Hollow, on my MagicTown map, behind the misty mountains.

🏝️ I also used a cruise ship to fill the horizon of the shoreline. It's more aesthetically pleasing and helps create a link with the future Vacation Island. Since this part of the landscape represents a small town, I thought it could be OldTown, where I wanted to create a small area for the cruise ship's port 🛳️

🏢 It's a very decorated map, suitable for experienced users. I've created a lot of details and hidden corners for all sorts of scenarios you can create by adding an empty area beneath the decorations. Think vacant lots, dark alleys, stories of cops and robbers, superheroes... Personally, I'll use them to create gang war stories between werewolves and vampires 🐺

🏗️ CONTENT NEEDED :

If you don't have and/or don't want a content from that list, the concerned content simply won't show off in your neighborhood. The game will simply delete it from the file. The problem with this game feature is that if you forget something and want it, you'll have to download it and then reinstall the entire neighborhood. Otherwise, your game will retain a map from which it has removed elements.

Windenberg Skyline by @tony-veis Great Sky of Totalitarism by @lowedeus (Tower) Redbud Tree CUSTOM version by @suratan-zir Dead Trees by @mustluvcatz-reloaded 4t2 Simslabs Bonehilda Statue by @nonsensical-pixels Placeable Cliffs by @greatcheesecakepersona Kharkiv Church & Chimneys by @lowedeus Nessie the Plesiosaur by Psychosims TS3 Hello City Buildings by @curiousb Neighborhood Fog by @jodeliejodelie Neighborhood Ghosts by @jodeliejodelie Small Embankments by @jodeliejodelie Parking Slots Spaces by @vorpalcowplant Duarns Building by @criquette-was-here Vervainwort Buildings by Criquette Soccer Field by Criquette Busy Road Vehicle Set by Criquette Cobblestones Footpath Pieces by Criquette Street Tables and Benches by Criquette The Bus stop and Post by Criquette Rural Road Charm’s Asphalt Tarmac Pieces by Criquette Telegraph Poles by Criquette The Fence & Hedge set by Criquette Even more fences set by Criquette Smuggled Deco by Criquette (Giant FS13 Harvester) Smuggled Deco part 2 by Criquette (Gran Mill Storage) Street Lights Set by Criquette Cruise Terminal by Criquette (ship) 4t2 Street Lights by @beautifulnerdkitty Building by @ethanmcgregor (artbuilding, fashion distritcs, warehouses) Smallest Maxis Watertank by Psychosims Trash Piles by @lordcrumps Anno 2070 Tech Residence by @cityof2morrow (battery) Industrial Cylinder by @leoz94 (i think it's ts4tupik) TS1 Watertower (remade from Nutti 4t2 watertower) by me ⚠️ Some of those CC needs the Better Nightlife Mod (or any mod that contains it) by @criquette-was-here to appear !

🍃 DEFAULT REPLACEMENT TREES

You can chose to keep the Maxis ones or use one of those : 🌲 Neighborhood Pine Forest Defaults by @teaaddictyt, @lowedeus & @shastakiss 🌲 OR my Darker Recolor of the previous set : SFS - Mediafire (it’s the version used on my pictures, obviously) 🌳 & Linden Redux Replacement Trees by @criquette-was-here & @lowedeus (also exists as custom trees)

🌉 You will NEED @criquette-was-here's "7tiles humpbacked bridge" for the neighborhood, but the choice of the bridges depend on which roads you are using. 🔹IF you are using MAXIS roads, you need these bridges (and you will have to place them yourself on the completely remade neighborhood) 🔸IF you are using @criquette-was-here’s Rural Charms Roads, you will need her Unified Brigdes 🔹IF you are using, like I do on those previews @lordcrumps's Grungy Road, you will need THIS brige I recolored.

🏘️ LOTS

I used several lots for this Downtown, some of them aren't mine : 🔴 Of course, for the TS1 Downtown part you'll need to INSTALL : 🔸my "Downtown Community Lots" for the CC involved 🔸the related items from my TS1t2 Lots Mastermeshes post 🚕

🔵 The TS2 Downtown Lots are from @thedudewiththedragontattoos' Downtown Revamp, because they are soooo much better than Maxis ones and I didn't wanted to remake Maxis or custom lots. It's already a lot of CC for you to handle with this map, but for those, you will simply need very good and multi-purpose CC : 🔹The Bespoke Set by @honeywell-mts (everyone should have it anyway 😉) 🔹 4t2 Vampire Graves by @tony-veis 🔹 4T2 City Living Murals by @moocha-muses​ 🔹 Public Bathroom Deco by @nekosayuri​ 🔹 Simlish Neon Signs by @polllinationtech​ 🏬 More infos on the original Downtown Revamp Post. There is a no-CC version of these lots, but the amount of CC of those is very low, (the Bespoke Set is needed for my TS1 lots anyway) and very useful for my past or future creations, so why not put the better lots in the Downtown anyway ? I invite you to check the @thedudewiththedragontattoos' work no matter what.

🟣 The 🪾House of Fallen Trees by @plumbtales in the vampire district, because it's an iconic TS2 Downtown lot, but I invite you to check their Dark Villa, quite suited for the Downtown Vampire vibe 🦇

☑️ CHECK LIST

💾 Did you make a backup of your Sims2 folder ? 🌁 What neighborhood do you want and how to install it ? 🚕 Did you INSTALL the TS1t2 Downtown Lots if needed ? ⚒️ Did you check the master meshes post for the Downtown lots ? installed everything ? 🌲 Did you install the neighborhood decorations from this post ? 🙏 Did you send a prayer to the Gamer's Gardian Angel ? 🦑 Did you exorcised the Pink Soup out of your PC ? ✅ Then you're ready to GO !

Every file have been checked, but If something is wrong, contact me ASAP

💾 DOWNLOAD Downtown Neighborhood

🟥 Downtown MAIN + Lots : SFS - Mediafire 🟨 Downtown MAIN Empty Hood : SFS - Mediafire 🟩 Downtown as a Downtown + Lots : SFS - Mediafire 🟦 Downtown as a Downtown Empty Hood : SFS - Mediafire

To install the MAIN HOODS, you have to put the neighborhood folder in your TS2 document folder : …/My Documents/(Your Sims 2 folder)/Neighborhoods/ To Install the DOWNTOWNS, you have to put the neighborhood folder in your TS2 “Nightlife” installation folder : (Your TS2 Installation repertory)…/EP2/TSData/Res/Neighborhood Templates/

☕ All the content on this simblr is FREE but you can also support me on KO-FI

[daman19942]

Sooooo much to discover in this post, but it gives me many, many ideas for new neighborhood. Can't wait to do a deep dive into all these posts and lots this weekend.

[paluding]

Sims 2 - Making tall buildings actually playable

I've always hated how the camera jumps up and down when playing tall and slim buildings. Turns out, it's really easy to fix! It’ll take you less than a minute. All the details under the cut.

All it takes is opening the LiveCamera.txt file in your Documents>Cameras folder with a text editor and changing these two parameters near the bottom to a higher value. Doesn’t matter if you're using a custom camera mod or not. Those parameters should be there. I have set mine like this (remember to save a backup just in case you don't like these changes).

It might seem a bit extreme, but I still think it’s fine.

-The top parameter, floorheightsamplerange, handles how much the floors “extend out”, so the camera object can stand on it mid-air. The higher it is, the further the floor will extend. This will make it so your camera will be able to stick to the floor you’re on, even if you pan away from the building. No more annoying jumps up and down!

-The parameter below that, floorheightsampleinnerrange, handles the transition between sticking to the current floor and dropping to the ground level once it goes past the edge. The higher it is, the smoothest the fall will be.

I’ll note though that the behaviour of these parameters might not be 100% accurate with how the game actually works, but from what I tested I think it’s pretty close as an explanation. If someone knows better how this Live Camera works, please let me know and I’ll try my best to correct any inaccuracies.

Save the .txt file and check how it works in game. It might feel weird at first, but personally I find it so much smoother and easier to handle. If you’re not happy with these values, close the game and edit those parameters until you find your sweet spot. Unfortunately, you will have to close and open the game every time you change it to check how it works.

There’s so many cool Custom Camera mods out there that I thought it’s probably better to just show how to edit those 2 parameters than editing and reuploading all of them.

So yeah, that’s it. Now you can play those tall lots without getting a headache. Go ahead and send your college simmies to that hideous Sim State Tower with a hot tub on top of it. Now you’ll be able to see what’s going on up there.

[daman19942]

That's the pink soup bathroom. We don't go in there.

[daman19942]

The least realistic thing about The Sims 2 is that landlords will come over and fix your things if you ask them too.

[peanuttysims]

unhidden maxis objects with modified objects.package

for a while i've been using objects.package modified by me to unhide most objects that sims use during interactions and it's now a MUST HAVE for me when it comes to no cc decorating!

they're all in the decorative -> all category and cost 0$ except for sellable objects like those from flower station, sewing machine, etc (yes, i unlocked these as well!), those have their original price so they won't be at the beginning of the catalogue

objects don't disappear if you share a lot with someone, so it's really cool for custom neighborhoods and lots

download

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS READ PLS!!

this file doesn't go into the Downloads folder, so please don't place it there, for this to work you have to replace the original objects.package here:

Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Mansion and Garden Stuff\TSData\Res\Objects (if you have Ultimate Collection or Legacy Collection the Mansion and Garden folder is called SP9)

i dunno if there's any potential consequences, but i recommend having a backup of the original objects.package file in case something goes south, personally my game is fine though and it's been like a year since i've modified the file

enjoy :3

[teaaddictyt]

Asking for stuff (as usual)

Putting a request out to the TS2 community on Tumblr for someone to pretty pretty please convert some of the animations for kids from this Sims 3 chemistry table... if not just the whole thing so my little scientists can have a cute chemistry set.

I'll do all the BHAVs. I just need the anims. 🥲

would also really help possibly with the school mod I'm working on... yep, that would just be really great, cool, thanks 🙈

[daman19942]

A genie, a shrink, a vampire, and an alien-vampire-zombie hybrid, aka the Sims 2 University experience summed up in one photo.

[daman19942]

Omar's genie lamp plan to resurrect Teo doesn't exactly go according to plan. The Genie remains unperturbed, but Omar crashes out into aspiration failure and resorts to begging for money in broad daylight. Luckily, he avoids motive failure (for the time being).

[daman19942]

Vampire Gallagher gets greedy and bites Taeyeol at the first toga party of the semester. This dormie doesn't seem to mind, which is mildly concerning. Later, Omar lashes out at Gallagher for turning new members in front of the guests, but Gallagher blows it off.

[daman19942]

Please welcome the newest class of recruits to the Tri-Annyas fraternity, Gallagher Newsom, Teo Terrano, Taeyeol Park (dormie, but still welcome), and Omar Washington.

Omar and Teo are not helping change the perception of Tri-Annyas, which has recently garnered the reputation as the "vampire" frat on campus. It also doesn't help that Teo dies of Vampire-related motive failure shortly after joining.