#sort of a tutorial

[equinoxts2]

Sort-Of Tutorial Rambling: Sims 2 Sims without last names

I'm debating whether I should keep using last names for my sims or just ditch them all. With so many newcomers in Lake Lulla, I've been thinking about this a lot, and - although some of my sims, particularly the mi-Avira line and some of the RPG crossovers, do have last names that are significant to them - I've been secretly annoyed by the need for them since I started playing the Nuidya. Nineteen years ago, nearly.

Using SimPE, it is entirely possible to have a sim with no last name. I just never used that, because I didn't want to break anything. But I've been doing some experimenting over the last few months, and my findings are: Sims 2 does not require last names. Household names, maybe. But not last names. Not once they're out of CAS.

Just like, if you make pets on their own in CAS and don't add a last name, the household will be given the temporary name "Pets" - if a sim with no last name moves out of a household, the new family in the bin will automatically be given the name of the household they left. It doesn't break anything in the slightest! The blank last name field is passed to offspring, the same way it is for pets' litters, and it even works with mods like the Last Name Copier.

I'm loving this discovery, and I think it would add a lot more to my gameplay if I zapped the clan lineage aspect, which has bugged me for the past few generations of LL.

[lazulines]

So I was asked about tutorials. 

This is a rough one, since I wasn’t asked anything specific as of typing. I’d like to reiterate that what works for me may not work for you, and I’d take this as more of...one of the many ways you could approach art. I’ve also said this on my other social media, but I’d be happy to answer more specific questions if needed.

[fool-errant]

Okay - so completely apropos of nothing - I decided to slap together a little minor thing to explain color - lighting - and how it pertains to human skin. Basically- color theory and lighting is like the “what color is the dress meme” except even more annoying.  Now since I just slapped this together - I’m going to just use generic white guy du jour for our examples today. Maybe if I’m feeling better/ bolder/ wiser I’ll cover other skin tones but right now lets just get started.  Our example today is Chris Pratt, I needed a white guy we could all agree is a white guy - so I typed “Chris” in search engine and let it decide who our subject would be. These are all photos I randomly grabbed from the google so context I’m a bit hazy on for some of these. 1 - Okay to start - is Chris tanned - just threw this in more to be like “look white dude got melanin.” (A friend informs me that people were accusing him of blackface or painting himself darker to play an ethnic guy, but no - tanning happens people) I’m not sure what they are lighting him with but the back lighting highlights also help show dramatically how skin reflects light especially in sweaty action movie situation. We don’t think about it often but skin reflects A LOT.  2 -  this one - the lighting/ the background really shifts the colors and they are very cold. I thought it was just the effect of the background but the swatches are still a bit colder than I expected.   Also I think this has a polarizing filter on it or powder on him- cause theres few obvious highlights or shine on him.  3 - not sure whats with the gaffers tape on him, but moving on. Sunlight is when colors tend to be their most “pure” - at least in photography sense-  artificial lighting tends to tint things or mess with the color temperature we just rarely pay attention to it - his skin is reflecting a bit of the water - and sun. Also note the skin looks warmer when its against the blue water but when against the white the color swatches look bout as cold as number 2.  4-  Another beach  - but different day - different lighting - his skin is reflecting on itself and the sand - making him a bit warmer and orange-ish in the shadows than the previous one. Also the gray water behind him helps exaggerate that.  5 - SKIN REFLECTS LIGHT - the yellow light in this gives him a hue shift - also looks like there’s a secondary light that gives a reddish pink/purple tone. This is helping emphasizing the colors around his eyes and mouth.  Also note that the deepest shadow around his shirt collar is reddish orange instead of a darker yellow like one would “assume”  it should be.  6 - Not much to say about this- this is pretty much baseline lighting conditions. No environmental situation shifting the colors. This may not be “natural” or “pure” lighting but this is probably what we think of as default. Plain even white lighting. So not sure I managed to say much - hope I helped point out that lighting effects color pallets and skin reflects colors a lot and things are rarely the colors we thought they were.  

[iddstar]

Sometimes something can seem really obvious to some people, but not obvious to others. I’m going to start sharing various art tips I’ve picked up or been told over the years that I really REALLY wish someone had told me sooner. You may already know this, but in the event that you didn’t - now you do.

[iddstar]

Maybe it’s obvious, maybe it’s not. The point is, now you know.

[shadow-raven22]

Hello there! Not a request— but I had a question. Apologies if it’s been asked before

In this post:

https://www.tumblr.com/shadow-raven22/804050934191833088/agereagedre-account-is-itty-bitty-wolfman-can

What app do you use to put gifs into a moodboard like that? And if it isn’t an app, how do you do it?

Thanks in advance! ^^

No worries! Also it hasn’t been asked before cause this is actually the first time I’ve made anything like this! I tried a bunch of different ways to accomplish something like this with websites like picmix and although it worked the quality was drastically lowered and there was a picmix symbol on the bottom so I looked for another way. Though the way I choose is super complicated and costly if you don’t already own the app procreate on an iOS device. I used procreate to implement the gifs first onto 32 individual frames and then added the background with the other images, and a foreground for images I wanted on top! I also used picsart for the squares and this website for compressing the gif. Feel free to use the mood board template! It looks like this in the app!

[xshrimpcake]

How do you draw hair?

Rinse and repeat. 

If you wanted techniques about how hair directional flows etc I tried making one but it didn’t turn out too well :( 

[namikala]

Finally figured out where to play the ‘Namu Amida Butsu’ game~! The game about the 13 Buddhas. I kept seeing it being mentioned in magazines like Dengeki Girl’s Style as being out already but couldn’t find where to download it… Then I saw in the game info box in one of the articles about the game that for android phones, you can play it on their website.

So I went to hotoke13.jp and clicked on that big yellow button to enter the game. Next, there are several different ways for you to sign up, e.g. Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I think it’s the same choices as the ones you get in ‘Boyfriend (Kari)’. Then there’s a tutorial and you’re asked to choose one of three starters. I chose the redhead.

It’s a pretty straightforward card game. You get a gacha ticket for your first log-in. I got the gray-haired guy from it. Then I got the pretty pink-haired guy from the prayer (?) points gacha.

Anyway, the last image shows your ‘my page’. The buttons at the top from left are ‘my page’ (flower icon), ‘story’ (book icon: basically, you walk around different areas and defeat area bosses), ‘gacha’ (ball icon), ‘worship’ (hands icon: it’s similar to the expedition mode in ‘Tourabu’) and lastly, ‘menu’. 

As for the buttons on the image of you leader, the orange one is ‘story’, green is 'gacha’, purple is 'strengthening, evolving’ and blue is 'deck formation’. 

Under the image of your leader is the round button for 'news’ (it tells you if you have things in your mail box like drop items) and the big blue button is 'worship’ again, same as the button on the top bar. The time at the bottom is how much time you have left on your expedition. And that should get you started!