This is something I started in January and I finally found the will to finish what I started! Yay! It's my very first clothing conversion so it's not perfect by any means but it's good enough for my game :p
4t2 Arethabee's Noah Cargo Pants paired with Madlen's Bonnie Boots
Download -> SFS
AF-TF | Casual | Thin & Fat morph | 24 swatches | ~2600 poly
These same pants were converted before by others in the community: diwasims and e-neillan so pick whichever best fits your vision :P me personally i wanted BAGGY pants and HUGE shoes lol
Swatch under the cut!
If you keep up with my ramblings, I have been trying to find a semi-transparent zombie skin that fit a true maxis match game experience. I tried the wishing tree at GOS, but with no luck. However, an amazing creator named loldesu on MTS has created one that I have found to be the best. You can find it here!
Hi all! Quick update on a previous post I made. I have added the semi-transparent maxis zombie skin as a request on Garden of Shadows' Wishing Tree! If you or anyone you may know would be willing to complete this I would be eternally grateful! Or even just sharing this post would be greatly appreciated! <3
And hello again (double upload today, that's a new one!). This time I am here to bring you a subhood version of the wonderful neighborhood of Berrybury by Oceansmotion/Aoife. I've been dying to see this hood attached to a Veronaville without having it have to be the main hood, and this was my work around for it!
I followed the same steps as I did for the previous hood Opening Valley to make this a subhood. Everything else about this hood has been kept the same, except for the ID. This subhood version is renamed BERRY, for Berrybury of course lol.
All credits go to Oceansmotion/Aoife for their incredible work on this hood and for giving me permission to upload this version. Please do check out the hood if you are interested in this as a main hood!
Hi everyone! This is a bit different from my usual posts (not CC this time!), but today I come with a neighborhood originally created by Walabia called Opening Valley. This hood only came in a main hood version, and according to the comments, this neighborhood came with stealth hoods attached already which doesn't make it that easy to make into a shopping district.
What I did was I followed this tutorial by Jawusa to remove the stealth hoods. There are some random townies that were generated already in the creator's version, so they still exist. I did not edit nor remove them so you can do whatever with them. None of them are the typical social townies or townies from Pleasantview that are the norm in vanilla maxis hoods (yay). It's up to you what you want to do with them.
I also ran Opening Valley through Hoodchecker just to make sure it's in the best shape I could make it. I followed this tutorial by Mootilda to make a shopping district/subhood version of the hood.
Main hood version is named N277, same as the original. Subhood version is renamed to B277. If you have any hoods with this ID, I'd suggest using Advanced Renamer to change it to whatever you'd like.
If you encounter the issue where names have been randomized (which is normal in subhoods), I would recommend using this tool to change the names back to their original names.
I made this version because I wanted this as a subhood, and figured others may be interested as well. All the same requirements as Walabia stated, all EPs/SPs. I am uploading this myself as they have not been active in quite a few years.
This is my first time delving into anything like this, so please let me know if you encounter any issues!
Credits to Walabia for both their lovely neighborhood and the picture thumbnail for this post!
Hello all! This is a little different from my usual kinds of posts, but basically I've been wanting a way to grab a newspaper for whatever reason that I may need it (such as things like the poverty challenge), since I use this mod to prevent newspaper delivery. I would just upload what I created, but tbh I'm not very comfortable with SimPE and would rather guarantee it'll work for you in your game if you're interested.
Starting off, Credits to Numenor in this thread for how I figured this out. Their method was mostly correct, but it needs to be from the latest pack that you own (in the case of UC/Legacy users, that will be M&G Stuff).
Step 1: Locate the objects.package file in your program files. Whatever is the latest pack you own is where you will want to look.
For UC/Legacy/M&G Stuff Owners: Program Files/EA Games/(Whatever Sims 2 version you have)/Fun with Pets/SP9/TSData/Res/Objects
For Whatever Other Version: Find Whatever Expansion Pack/Stuff Pack is the most up to date and continue the same TSData/Res/Objects route.
Step 2: Right click and open the file in SimPE. You might have to make this a setting by finding SimPE in your programs to do it that way.
Step 3: Locate the Object Data (OBJD) section in the Resource Tree. It has a symbol that kinda looks like 2 sticky notes.
Step 4: Sort the OBJD files by name by left clicking the name button. It should look like this if you did it correctly. This is in an alphabetical order.
Step 5: Scroll and find the OBJD labeled Newspaper. Right click and select extract it and put wherever you'll easily find it (for me I usually put this in my regular Downloads folder on my PC).
Step 6: Click file and close on SimPE.
Step 7: Right click the SimPE file generated and open in SimPE.
Step 8: Click Newspaper in the Resource List and choose where the Newspaper will appear in your game's catalog under Catalogue Sort. I would recommend what Numenor suggests, which is Misc., Misc., but you can choose wherever you would like. Here are the settings you must select for it to appear in this part of the catalog in game.
Step 9: Press Commit (above Object Type). Then press file and save as to name it Newspaper.package (I tried different names, but it tends to not work when you want it to show up in game. There probably is a work-around for this, but like I said I'm not a professional).
Step 10: Add this file to your Downloads folder (I find it doesn't seem to work if you put it into subfolders, so I would say just leave it in the base Downloads).
And you're all set! It should show up in whatever section of the catalog you chose (in this tutorial's case Misc., Misc.). Here it is in my game.
Like I said, I'm very much so a noob at SimPE so it has been working for me at least. Hopefully this works for you as well if you wanted the newspaper here like I did.
Possible solutions if it isn't working: Try opening the simpe.xml file in SimPE instead for Step 7 and follow the same steps after. For some reason it was being hella finnicky for me, so I'm just gonna leave this as a potential solution if the simpe package isn't working.
Hope this was helpful! Also mainly wanted to leave this as a sort of archive to Numenor's steps on how to do this, because their guide on MTS didn't work for me (I was using the BG's newspaper object data, which results in errors because of Seasons adding the weather forecast to the newspaper).
So I saw these really lovely recolors by CreeSims for the heart bed from Apartment Life, but as far as I am aware the bed only has 3 beddings available in a vanilla game. Does anyone know of where there's a mod/fix to enable all beddings for that bed?
I've been thinking about different hood combos after messing up my uberhood. Right now I play Pleasantview + Strangetown (a classic), but I need some ideas for the other hoods as combos that fit thematically.
My ideas I have so far:
Veronaville + Berrybury by Aoife
Desiderata Valley + Bluewater Village (combines hobbies with businesses, what more could you ask for, plus adds more fun sims to boring Valley)
Ones I'd love some recommendations for (custom hoods are fine as in they're not too crazy big)
Riverblossom Hills + ? (I imagine some ppl might say Widespot, which is fair, but I already am playing that hood separately)
Belladonna Cove + ? (I thought of Downtown, but I feel like city plus another city feels excessive, plus different vibes)
Feel free to leave any other suggestions because I'm honestly stumped for when (or if) I wanna play some of these hoods again.
So I have seen plenty of different iterations of zombie skintone default replacements and of course some made using the zombie overlay mod by midgethetree. I used to use this one by Lifa, which so far for me has been the closest to an overlay idea I would love. I was wondering if anyone has seen (or is a more talented modder/creator than I am) an overlay that is fully maxis match to the Sims 2? As in the overlay just will make the skintone underneath more pale and keep the different spots from the original zombie skintone. I feel like this could be universally useful for different skintones that people use, because most overlays I find are too opaque.
I'm planning on looking for help on this on gardenofshadows, but I'm waiting back to see if my account will get registered.
Another thing. Has anyone ever actually tried making the vacation destinations into playable hoods/subhoods? I lowkey love the idea of having Three Lakes as like a shopping district of Riverblossom Hills, but I've never seen anything like that. Plus the vacation hoods are just cool stylistically.
Random early morning thoughts. Has anyone ever made like a grand high neutral witch lot? Like we have the good and evil versions in the magic hood, but no lot for neutral witches. Doesn't even have to be in the stealth hood, just a fully actualized lot would be cool to have.
i know there are a billion posts out there like this but i am calling all ts2 and/or ts3 blogs bc i need to follow more of you guys and i KNOW there are veterans/newbies out there i havenโt discovered/rediscovered yet, so can yall reblog this?
Didn't expect to be posting so soon, but thanks to a wonderful user on simblr.cc named Equinox, I realized the issue with some of the CC I have been posting. I did not upload the correct files and for that I apologize for anyone who wasn't able to use the CC they downloaded. The files should be working correctly now.
If you notice any other issues with content I have created, let me know and I will see if I can (with my limited skills) try and fix them! No promises since I have 0 expertise on editing meshes! xx
All links have been updated on the previous posts that were not working properly on here as well as my simblr.cc. Thank you!
Hey y'all, just wanted to post that I have officially uploaded all of the CC that I have created here onto simblr.cc, so if you're interested feel free to check me out there!
A quick-ish guide to the culture of The Sims 2 modding community.
Are you new to The Sims 2 community? Are you coming from more modern games, either in The Sims franchise itself or other contemporary games? Are you excited to start your #brand and become a #simfluencer and post your #earlyaccesscontent to support your #sidehustle?
Have a seat, then! Let's chat.
Hello, friend! My name's Pooklet. I've been playing since 2004 and creating since 2007. I'm by no means an expert in most forms of content creation itself, but I've been around since the heyday of The Sims 2, I've watched how community opinions have shifted (or not) since practically the beginning, and I'm hoping to give you a basic outline of the community culture that you can expect to encounter as a newcomer.
A very brief history of Sims 2 content monetization:
People have been trying to monetize content since there has been content to monetize, all the way back in the days of The Sims 1. We tend to call them "pay creators" and their websites "paysites." Some big names in this arena include The Sims Resource (their free-with-ads model is a relatively recent development, which is why you will find people to this day calling them T$R), PeggySims, Newsea, and many others that you can find on this handy website:
Paysites Must Be Destroyed
Now, if you have a glance at that website, you might be saying to yourself:
"But, that's illegal! I own the copyright to my custom content!"
Alas, no! Due to the wording of the End User License Agreement for The Sims 2, no custom content creator owns their creations for this game (or The Sims 1, or 3, or 4, for that matter, but we're talking about 2 right now). It all belongs to EA at the end of the day, and by installing and playing the game, you have agreed to these terms. Which means you have no individual, protected copyright, and it is perfectly legal for someone to download your paywalled content and then reupload it for free for others to enjoy. And they will!
Furthermore,
You are not making anything alone.
Everything from modding resources, to tutorials, to the mods required to fix disastrous glitches in the game code and make it playable at all, to the third party programs used to make any and all custom content, such as SimPEโall of these have been provided to you for free by other creators, many of whom have a usage policy that asks that people not use their freely-provided tools to make a profit. Although no one can be forced to follow a creator's policy, it is generally considered good manners to not try to make a profit off of someone else's free work. And if you are using these tools to make paywalled content, that's exactly what you're doing.
Pay creators have been ignoring these policies since the beginning of time, and so free creators likewise ignore their policies against sharing their paywalled content. Pay creators have also tried lots of different ways to keep their content exclusive, everything from trying to track leaks with slightly altered files to actively filling their content with malicious code. It has never worked.
Free creators have always found a way around these barriers. In fact, it's taken as something of a challenge to undermine monetization efforts. As you can see from Paysites Must Be Destroyed, there are entire teams of players devoted to reuploading paywalled content for free.
A culture of sharing.
The Sims 2 is something of a time capsule. At 20 years old, it predates a lot of the hyper-capitalist hustle culture that has infested every creative hobby. It is from a time when monetization was an outlier rather than the norm, and a much maligned outlier at that. This attitude has persisted for 20 years. Believe me when I say, you won't be the combo breaker. Especially now, given that The Sims 2 is not the most contemporary in the series and the community has shrunk considerably, down to the people who have either been here for a very long time, or newcomers that understand the community culture.
Also, it's just kind of not a great idea in general to try to make money off of a 20-year-old game with a pretty small community?
Like, I get that The Sims 4 is really saturated with pay creators and it's hard to get a foot in the door. I get that you might look at The Sims 2 and think that the small pond will give you room to be a big fish. It won't. You might get a handful of people willing to pay for your content, but at least one of those people will be resharing it for free.
Paywalls vs. optional donations.
Okay, so hopefully you now understand why people don't like it when you put content behind a paywall. But what about those Ko-fi and Paypal donation links you sometimes see at the bottom of people's downloads? Why is that okay, but a locked Patreon tier isn't? Well, because they're voluntary. No one is obligated to pay for that content to be able to download and use it. It's just a way for someone who does have a little extra cash to basically "tip" a creator whose content they like. You have no way of knowing whether the person who posts those links is actually receiving any donations. And that's kind of the point. Whether or not they receive any donations, they are still sharing their content, because they enjoy the hobby of making and sharing content.
"I can't make a living off of that!"
No, you can't. Because that's not what we do here. That is not part of our community culture for all the above reasons. If you want to make a reliable income off of your hobby, you're going to need to get a different hobby. Try Second Life! That is a community that actively encourages monetization. The Sims 4 allows for "early access" monetization. There's options out there for you, if what you want is to make a profit off of your creations for a game.
"Fine, what about monetized link forwarding services?"
Link forwarding services historically have malicious trackers or viruses embedded. People will also strip those and provide direct links to each other. Or they just won't download your content.
"What if I want to make YouTube videos of someone else's written tutorials and I enable ad revenue on them?"
Personally, I still think that's a dick move. I love video tutorials, I'm a very visual learner myself, and although you might feel entitled to compensation for reciting the steps of someone else's tutorial into a microphone and then editing and uploading the video, you're still monetizing someone else's freely-provided content. I would consider this an 'ask permission' scenario, one in which you tell the person, explicitly, that you will be making ad revenue off their work. If they're fine with that, then you're good! (For the record, I'm not fine with that.)
edit: more of of my thoughts on monetized youtube videos over here.
"What ifโ"
Look, no one can stop you from trying to monetize your content, or worse, someone else's content. But you will have the exact same arc as every pay creator who came before you: your efforts will be undermined at every turn, your reception in the greater community will be chilly at best, and it will become a battle between you and the folks resharing free reuploads of your content until any fun you initially had making content is gone.
"The steady erosion of every known social safety net beneath the crippling weight of end-stage, line-goes-up capitalism and the yawning abyss of poverty over which I am dangling has imbued me with such anxiety that I cannot engage with a hobby that precludes monetization. I am exhausted. I know no other way."
I get it, friend! I have lived in poverty all my life. I do not begrudge the impulse to find a way to make passive income off of your every waking moment. Increasingly, it seems like that is the only way to survive! Unfortunately, you will not be able to do that with this specific community. We know that we have something special here, having resisted monetization's encroach for so long, which makes us fight all the more viciously to maintain it. You are entitled to try to find ways to supplement your income, just not here. Personally, I consider that a feature, not a bug.
Bonus Round: Remember, That's Not Just Yours!
I said it earlier, but I want to reiterate: you are not making any TS2 CC alone. You are making it with tools, resources, knowledge and code that people have provided on the condition that they not be used for pay content.
To use myself as an example, "my" hair textures are a blend of resources provided by other creators. Namely, Nouk's original hair texture was edited by Vintage D, which I then further edited over the years, using parts by the creators Ephemera and Helga. It would be extremely shit of me to say "well, I think that the time that I put into my edit is worth money, so I'm charging for it" when the edits that I made would not exist without the work of those people. And it continues on down the line with edits that other people have made of my texture blends and color actions, and the content they make with them.
(If you see someone charging for these, btw, lemme know. I'd love to have a talk with them.)
In closing,
The knowledge base, the resources, the coding required to make any and all working content for The Sims 2 has been compiled for 20 years. Please understand, I'm not trying to denigrate anyone's creativity when I say: you cannot bring anything wholly "new" to TS2 CC-making, something that uses no one else's resources or programs, something you can point to and say "no one helped me with that. I did it all on my own. It is my property." Nor should you aspire to! The fun of The Sims 2 community is to share and share alike, to credit each other for our contributions, to hype each other up and iterate on shared works and resources. We've been doing it for 20 years, and hopefully we'll be doing it for many more! Wanting to be a #simfluencer is utterly antithetical to the community culture. No one is influencing anyone else. You need to leave that shit at the door if you want to be invited in.
TL;DR:
Don't show up to the commie circle-jerk trying to charge for handjobs. We're already giving them to each other for free, and nothing about your wrist technique is special enough to justify the cost.
Even now I've seen Sims 2 creators who pay wall their content. I'm not really familiar with everything with making pay walled content free. Does anyone know where or if there's somewhere either on the paywalls must be destroyed forum or elsewhere to essentially request assistance with this?
