I could answer this really quickly for you, but instead Iâm going to take the opportunity to thoroughly cover all your questions and give some advice. Running a Simblr isnât difficult or complicated, but diving in headfirst can be a bit tough, so letâs get to it. :)
When youâre posting pictures that youâd potentially want people to like and reblog, itâs a good idea to put your best foot forwardâif you can run high quality graphics, do it. If you canât? Donât worry about it! It isnât your fault if you canât afford a beast of a computer, run a HQ mod, etc etc. I know I canât. But do the best that you can without frying your computer.
Unfortunately, people are attracted to what is visually appealing, and low quality graphics⌠arenât. But donât let that stop you. If you canât flaunt the flashiest graphics, make peopleâs jaws drop with other things: good writing, humor, CC, etc. Donât say âI canât make a simblr, my graphics are terrible!â before you even try.
Alsoâyour graphics are probably better than you think they are. 95% of pictures I see on Simblr are edited to look the way they do. If, however, you canât run anti-aliasing and all your edges are choppy and such, I suggest you look into a slight upgrade, **if your screenshotsâ appearance is important to you**. My graphics card modelâalthough nothing special, still runs most of the graphics options at full pretty wellâis only $20 on eBay. Donât feel like you HAVE to upgrade, Iâm just saying it wouldnât break the bank to do it if you have some spare cash.
To get the most bang for what you already have though, here are my suggestions:
Focus on having these options as high as possible; the rest are not that important.
Poses open up an infinite possibility of what your sims can do in-game, which can be a really huge bonus for story telling. There are simply some things the EA animations wonât allow you to do. That doesnât mean that you NEED to use them, though. I use them in my stories pretty sparingly, and most of the ones I do use I make myself because itâs for something very specific.
I recommend you open yourself up to trying them out, but donât rely on them. I think it shows a lot of creativity to tell a story without depending on poses as a crutch, but if you want to break the mold, go for it!
I will say this, thoughâusing poses can be a pain, but they are really awesome for photoshoots of family photos, modeling, etc. Also, they bring a lot of variety, since at this point most everyone has seen every in-game animation a million billion times. Itâs what you DO with them thatâs important though, not THAT you use them, so donât feel obligated. If you master how to use Animator, you can do some pretty awesome things without ever having to use a pose.
If itâs something you want to dip your toes into, Mura wrote an AMAZING guide a while back on using poses and animationsâit will cover the basics, and more: http://muraisawesome.tumblr.com/post/37702671001/the-following-post-is-a-very-long-one-containing
Is it necessary to edit? No. Is it helpful? Sure! My graphics arenât the greatest, so editing makes a big difference in their visual appeal. Editing helps polish photos, enhance them, make them more realistic (or less so), but:
Editing can only make a good picture better; it cannot make a bad picture good.
So what do I advise? Before learning how to edit, learn how to take good screenshots. THAT, however, is a mixture of a lot of different things, so Iâm going to boil it down into this series of pictures.
Hopefully that gives you some ideas. If youâre still wanting to learn how to edit though, I have a buttload of tutorials on thatâmy biggest suggestion is just brightening and saturating pictures slightly. Some very very small tweaks can make a lot of difference.
However, if editing does do one thing very well, it is give your pictures a personal touch. After a while, plain screenshots can look genericâadding a little flair can help avoid that.Â
It can really help people visiting your blog for the first time to have everything clearly marked and linked so if they want to find something, they can. I have my blog indexed up the wazoo and is probably more extreme than necessary, but even just making sure to tag your pictures properly is good. Having a really nice, simple, clear theme can help with this, too.
5.) Keep It Clear of⌠Stuff
On the line of tagging pictures properlyâtag your non-simming posts properly, too. Mark things that arenât sim-related under #non sims, #personal, #saviorhide, etc. And, if you can, try to keep all that stuff to a minimal. I consider Kaleekalo my main blog so I post a lot of personal stuff here, but I recognize a lot of my followers donât really care and donât want to see it. Thatâs fine! Try not to step on anyoneâs toes, and tag like a pro. Itâs only polite. :)
Weâre all trying to be part of the community here, so donât pee in the punch, okay? Simblr can be a notoriously toxic and dramatic place to be, but itâs a whole lot less so if you donât fan the fire. If you want to be a jerk, fine by me, just donât be surprised when you lose followers or get backlash.
This is hard. I know it is. Itâs so easy to become a fangirl/boy and want to emulate your favorite simblr⌠but I thoroughly advise that you donât. Firstâit isnât as flattering as you might think it is. Secondâin a community with thousands and thousands of people, it is so easy to be lost and ignored when you donât offer anything new and different. Donât try to follow the crowdâBE YOURSELF.Â
You might get more followers trying to copy another simmerâs style, but you lose out on having your own identity if you do. Itâs perfectly fine to be inspired by someoneâlordie knows Iâve gotten ideas from other simblrs many many timesâbut never lose sight of what makes your sims and pictures special and different.
8.) Donât Post Too Much or Too Little
This is JUST a suggestion, because a) some days you will play more than others, and sometimes you will want to take really long breaks and b) itâs your blog and YOU DO WHAT YOU WANT, GURLFRIEND. But. I admit to enjoying when simblrs are pretty consistent. Opening a flood gate of posts and drowning the dash gets some people up in a tiffy, and posting too little can make you float by unnoticed. A good solid middle ground makes everyone happy. :)
This, however, is very hypocritical advice, because I post pretty willy-nilly. I try to use my queue but I find it more frustrating than anything most of the time.
This is another bit of hypocritical advice because I like living in this little bubble world of mine, but Simblr IS a community and getting involved, telling people they inspire you, asking for help (politely), reblogging and saying nice things, all are really great things to do. Honestly, most people here want to be your friend, theyâre just as scared as saying hi and being friendly as you are. If you can be brave enough to be the catalyst, do it!
All the above advice is absolutely pointless and should be immediately ignored if you are not having fun doing it (except for #6. Please donât be a dink.) Youâre doing this as a side activity for a game, so if you arenât enjoying yourself, youâre doing something wrong and should change it immediately. Alsoâdonât measure your âfunâ by how many likes, follows, etc you get. It takes time to build that up, and sometimes, it just wonât happen no matter what you do. Donât value yourself based on that.Â
If you only ever get one follower, shower that follower with the love they deserve. Make the most of it. Find your niche and let yourself shine. Donât waste your precious time worrying about what other people likeâworry about making things YOU like. F*#% all the rest. :)
theartofmadeline
areudirty
blakekathryn
