Paisley Bird PJ's for Girls

Last week I found a lovely set of pyjamas for girls on the net and decided to recreate them for TS4. So yesterday I fired up Photoshop and got to work.

First of all I created the bird using the pen tool and my trusty felt and embroidery Photoshop action scripts adding a few flower shapes:

Then I went ahead and created some paisley bird style images for the pattern:

I then hand tiled these into a 256 pixel square file and defined the pattern into Photoshop:

After putting everything together, my pyjamas look like this:

And if you would like to see these PJ's in CAS, I have created a video for you:

These particular pyjamas have been uploaded to Mediafire and as Mediafire are selling upgrades at half price at the moment, I decided to go ahead and pay so that you don't get all the nasty ads. Click below to download the files:

DOWNLOAD HERE!

I hope you like these pyjamas just as much as I enjoyed creating them! And don't forget to either follow my blog and/or subscribe to me on YouTube to get notified of more free stuff outside of TSR – don't miss out!

~ Minicart (Jules)

Satisfying My Craving...

What I am very disappointed about with The Sims 4 is the fact that there are no toddlers in the game.

One of the many differences between the original The Sims and The Sims 2 was that our Sims would grow from babies to toddlers to children then teens and adults through to elders and die of old age, as this picture shows:

This was something that we didn't have in the original The Sims and was I think, the main selling point for the second generation of The Sims franchise.

This feature of the game continued on in The Sims 3 with the addition of the young adult life stage added into the base game, whereas with The Sims 2, we gained this particular life stage with the first Expansion Pack, University.

From what I have read on the internet however, the fact that toddlers were not added to The Sims 4 have left some Simmers happy of the situation as they didn't like the toddler life stage and others, like myself, unhappy because of the deletion of something that we have been so used to over the last ten years.

Having toddlers in the game means two things for me - playing with families and custom content. As I like to play families and create toddler clothes, the deletion of the toddler life stage was a double whammy.

Of course, the non addition (or should I say, the deletion) of toddlers in TS4 not only creates a void in the lifespans but also the loss of interactions such as teaching to walk, talk and potty train. In addition, we have less custom content in the way of toddler clothing, toys, cribs and baby changing stations to name just a few.

It would be nice to think that EA/Maxis will put back what they have taken from us in a future Stuff or Expansion Pack or even a free patch together with the option to age up the toddlers after a few hours or a couple of days, for those who do not wish to have them in their game.

Meanwhile, my craving for creating custom clothing for toddlers has taken it's hold and so I spent some time over the weekend making Polar Bear themed pyjamas for toddler boys for The Sims 3.

I also decided to make a video to 'showcase' the outfit and so that you can see what it looks like in CAS:

And here is the image:

These toddler pyjamas are available for download over at The Sims Resource if you are still playing The Sims 3 and would like them for your game. Click on the link below to be taken to the download page:

DOWNLOAD HERE!

I hope you like these pyjamas for toddler boys and I really do appreciate any feedback, good or bad!

Take care and have a great day!

~ Minicart (Jules)

Unleashing Ones Creativity

My Bird and Bunting pyjamas for girls are now available for download over at The Sims Resource.

Creating custom content for The Sims 4 takes me back to TS2 days as the way of creating is basically the same.  It's just a pity that EA/Maxis hasn't released a 'Body Shop' and wallpaper and floor tool, like they did before.  Of course, in a way, that doesn't really matter as there are fantastic modders and programmers out there who make tools available for us so that we can continue to release our creativity making custom content for fellow Simmers.

At the moment I am using Color Magic and S4PE together with Photoshop and have made a few items, all of which can be downloaded at TSR.  However, once the TSR Workshop for The Sims 4 is released then I will be using that.  I don't know how different it will be compared to Color Magic and S4PE but it may mean that I will have to endure another learning experience.  But that's okay because I enjoy learning stuff...

Back to my Bird and Bunting pyjamas - I created the bird for the top in photoshop with shapes and the pen tool and ran each shape/colour through my felt style action script to create this:

I then created some buntings with different patterns:

I used this to hand-tile a pattern and then defined that in Photoshop and used the pattern for the bottoms:

Here is an image of the end result:

 
I had a lot of fun creating these pyjamas, as I do with all the things I make.

Since creating for TS4, I decided to make a small video for each item to show what the content looks like in CAS.  This is something else that I really enjoy doing and these videos seem to be quite popular.

So, here is the video I made to 'showcase' my Bird and Bunting pyjamas:

You can download my Bird and Bunting Pyjamas for girls over at TSR via the link below:

DOWNLOAD HERE!

I hope you like them and I really do appreciate any feedback, good or bad.

Take care guys and have a great day!

~ Minicart (Jules)

Neglecting, Procrastinating and Blowing Up Computers

Oh, here I go again, neglecting my blog for nearly a year.  Well actually, it's been nearly 10 months....

Lots of things have been going on during these few months; my computer blew up, I've been unwell and of course we have the release of The Sims 4 which has kept me busy making new stuffs and of course, playing.

There's also the YouTube channel which has also been keeping me busy, with The Evil Witch of Dragon Valley, The Davenports and Custom Content for The Sims 4 videos.  The Barrington-Smythe Legacy is no more it seems, since my computer blew up. 

However, having received The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection for free from Origin (it was up for grabs a few weeks ago), I think I may start afresh.

Even though I played the original The Sims, The Sims 2 is still my favourite out of the first 3.  Of course, we also have all the expansion and stuff packs for TS2 which makes the game even more awesome.

Having said that, The Sims 4 is awesome too, (apart from a couple of things which I am unhappy about such as no toddlers, no family tree, no change of name after marriage, to name but a few).  I love the fact that the dating scenario is back from TS2 (as per my previous post of January this year).  I'm sure TS4 will get more awesome once we have expansion packs and stuff packs and hopefully weather, pets, holidays, open restaurants, etc.


I'm actually really looking forward to seeing what EP's and SP's EA/Maxis come up with for this Simlish sequel.  Hopefully the old favourites as well as some new ones.  I'm also curious for more information on 'The Sims 4 Premium' service as briefly seen in The Sims 4 Gameplay Walkthrough Official Trailer in July and which you can read about on Gamespot if you haven't already read/heard about it.

I know a lot of people say that TS4 has cartoonish graphics but I love the graphics in this game and the fact that I have more control over my sims than I did in TS3, much like in TS2, which is probably one of the reasons I love it.

Feel free to check out my first look at The Sims 4:

I'll try not to leave it for another 10 months before I post on here again....

~ Minicart (Jules)

Lack of Blogging and The Sims 4

There's been a serious lack of blogging on this site and I really must learn to do better.  I couldn't believe that it's been 8 months since I made a post.....

Alot has happened over the past few months within the Sims community with the announcement of the upcoming Island Paradise EP and also the Time Travel EP to be released later this year.  The biggest announcement is of course, The Sims 4, due to be released some time in 2014.

There was much speculation of this new Sims game mostly due to the fact that the domain TheSims4.com was purchased by EA some time ago and supposed concept images being posted on the website of an ex EA employee.

The announcement of The Sims 4 may have come too soon for some as I'm sure there are those who have lost interest in The Sims 3 and will be patiently awaiting the release of The Sims 4 before purchasing any other The Sims games.  However, if you are a die-hard Sims fan like myself, you will be wanting anything and everything that EA release regarding The Sims franchise.

I'm a little sad that we never got a Vacation EP for The Sims 3.  Although Island Paradise looks a little vacationy (vacationy?), it isn't a sub-hood like World Adventures or the vacation EP's we had for 1 and 2. I personally would have liked to have been able to take my Sims on a vaction to Island Paradise from Sunset Valley, much like we can go from the neighbourhood to one of the World Adventure worlds or to University.

Since the announcement of The Sims 4, I reinstalled The Sims 2 and started playing again (hence the lack of posts :-)).  I must admit that I feel the gameplay of The Sims 2 is so much better than 3.  Don't get me wrong - there are a lot of things in The Sims 3 that I love, such as the fishing skill, cooking and gardening and all the related books that go with it.  Learning all those recipes and what you need  to catch certain fish is great gameplay in my opinion and should be taken across to The Sims 4.  However, there are many more things that were in The Sims 2 that I missed in 3 such as open restaurants, babies with limbs, slower eating, dating and outing scenario's, creating a group on your phone to invite out (as opposed to being automatically grouped up in The Sims 3 which I really dislike), and many other things such as the Wobbly Wabbit Head Charisma bunny for toddlers. 

The open world and graphics of The Sims 3 is a lot better than what we had in 2; loading screens were a bit of a bind.  However, since re-installing the game on a faster computer than I had before, the loading screens only take a few seconds.  It is much better though to be able to just leave your house and go to the park in an open world, without having to watch a boring loading screen.

Here is a list of all the things I miss from The Sims 2 together with stuff from 3 that I would love to see in 4, plus a couple of ideas, (which I originally posted over on the official site):

• Wobbly Wabbit Head Charisma bunny for toddlers;
• DIY channel on TV for handiness skill;
• Babies and cars like in TS2;
• Cleaning skill back;
• Fears and memory system back;
• Comfort and environment needs back;
• Group system/scenario back - fed up of my sims being grouped up or put in a date when I don't want them to;
• Date system/scenario back;
• Pottery wheel/sewing machine for creativity;
• LOVE the science stuff in TS3 UL;
• Keep the gardening/cooking/fishing like we have in TS3 - put greenhouses in the base game;
• Bring back gardeners;
• Bring back the tools that we were given at around level 4 of each career in TS2 - i.e. cleaning gun for Law Enforcement, Indoor Golf for Business, Running Track thing for Military, Operation Dummy for Medical, Podium for Political, Chocolate maker for Culinary, Cow Plant for Science, etc;
• Bring back gold/platinum aspiration levels so that as in TS2 certain items can be 'purchased' with lifetime points such as the baby milk and the money maker machine.  These could only be used when the sim was 'gold' or higher.  Once a lifetime wish is accomplished then the sim should be platinum and stay platinum as in TS2;
• Open restaurants;
• Slower eating/chatting at the table etc as in TS2;
• A weight thingy like we had in TS2 - if a sim eats too much they put on weight and have to exercise, again like we had in TS2;
• Need to purchase food from the store or have it delivered as opposed to it magically appearing in the fridge;
• Need to purchase clothing instead of having everything available in CAS;

Bernards Botanical Dining from The Sims 2:

 

In addition, I loved the music from The Sims 1 and 2 and I remember that we had The Sims 1 music in 2 on the stereo entitled 'Shopping'.  I also love the idea of having famous people singing their hits in Simlish as we have in The Sims 3.  I'm assuming that with the Sims 4 we will get new music but I would love to see the music from all the other games incorporated into 4.

I'm sure there are a lot of other things that Simmers remember and would like to see in The Sims 4 and also have their own new ideas for the game.

On the other side of the spectrum, I have noticed there are a few people who state that they will continue with The Sims 3 as they 'don't want to start a new game all over again' and stating that 'this is just a money-making racket for EA to re-do all the old expansion packs'.  I have to disagree with this and James from The Sim Supply explained why brilliantly in a video he posted on YouTube:







I, for one, am really looking forward to The Sims 4. Getting more information and seeing some screenshots (and a trailer) is something I and many others are really excited for.  Remember guys, Tuesday June 18th is coming up for apparently more information on The Sims 4 so I'm really looking forward to that.

Well, that's about it for now; will try and keep up to date with posts in future (I think I may have said that before)......

Cheers and Happy Simmin'!

~ Minicart