#ts4 base game refresh

[seyvia]

𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕜𝕟𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕒𝕤 "ℕ𝕖𝕨 𝔾𝕚𝕣𝕝"

now on my gallery (:

Bio: This household seems to have stepped right out of a TV sitcom. What wacky misadventures will the perky Zoe, easygoing Mitchell, uptight ladies' man J, and intellectual Gavin suffer this week? Tune in and find out!

[theamberplumbob]

Base Game Renovation: Johnny's Trailer

Johnny’s tiny trailer couldn’t be more different from the massive mansion he grew up in. Instead of a cold, empty, modern mansion he has a cozy, colorful space to personalize however he likes. It might not be much, but it’s his, and he’s making it count. That includes his front garden, which he managed to landscape on his own. It’s his second proudest achievement, next to his first comedy special, that is.

Available on the gallery under ID: pinie72

[dystopianam]

MY THE SIMS MEDIEVAL DOWNLOAD FOLDER (2025)

The old list somehow got "corrupted" and Tumblr wouldn't open it or let me edit it when I could rarely open it, so I created a new one! (I specify that in this list there will only be the cc and mods that I USE, not all those existing for TSM!)

I hope I didn't forget anything because I made this list from my phone, but if I did I'll update it from time to time!

LIGHTING MODS

Game lighting mod: You can use any The Sims 3 Lighting Mod, HERE you can find a masterpost with every TS3 Lighting Mod that exist! (You can only use one at a time, no more than one together)

CAS lighting mod: Realistic CAS Lighting by @nectar-cellar

COMPLETE KINGDOM RETEXTURES

(I use one theme at a time depending on which one inspires me at the moment. DO NOT use them all together.)

Autumn Kingdom by Harrykotiej: HERE!

Winter Kingdom & Fantasy Kingdom by ChickieTeeta: HERE!

ALL 4 Seasons Kingdom by MariaCherry: HERE! + Snow on all roofs for Winter theme

A Dark Kingdom Retextures by MariaCherry: HERE! 

Fantasy Kingdom by MariaCherry: HERE!

ONLY TERRAIN RETEXTURES

(You can only use one terrain replacement at a time.)

Desert Terrain by @mariacherry

Mud Tracks replaced with stone ones by @mariacherry

Terrain replaced with TS4 terrain textures by @mariacherry

ONLY TREES RETEXTURES

(You can only use one trees replacement at a time)

Lilac trees by @mariacherry

DEFAULT REPLACEMENTS

Moon Default Replacement: Moon-Moon by @potato-ballad-sims

Stars Default Replacement: Milky Way by @nilxis

Default Babies by @mariacherry

Default Books by @mariacherry

Default Food by @mariacherry

Default bread by @mariacherry

Default rose by @mariacherry

Town Wall Replacement by Shimrod

Wooden Default CAS Room by @mariacherry

Wood Loading Screen by @mariacherry

Better Quality Headlines effect by @xiasimla

Frontal camera for the sim thumbnail

Less exagerated sims expressions for the sim thumbnails poses (Only retouched ver.)

Softer outline when placing objects by @mariacherry

MISC THINGS

NoIntro - Base+P&N

No Pause Line by @mariacherry

Increased font size by @mariacherry

ShimrodsTSMCamera 

The Sims 3 Camera (This one doesn't go in Mods folder and it's compatible with the one above)

Reshade Presets: I use these presets! 

CREATE-A-SIM CC

HAIRS: 4tM Hairs here,  here and here

DEFAULT SKINTONES: I don’t use any.

DEFAULT EYES: I don’t use any but I use THESE contact lenses.

CLOTHES & ACCESSORY: I download them all on Sauris blog here and sometimes on @mariacherry blog.

3D EYELASHES: You can find S-Club Eyelashes for TSM HERE

MAKE-UP: Face Scars (Can’t find the link) - Ear Blush

18+ (NUDE DETAILS)

 Female Skin Details (3D Nipples)

 Male Skin Details (Private Parts)

SLIDERS

I use THESE body sliders (All of them)

THESE neck sliders (You only need Neck Width and Neck Tilt)

And THIS height slider

ESSENTIAL & BIGS MODS

Grim Medieval Core

Grim's Medieval Auto Save

Treeag - TSMAutoDisableClothingFilter 

DeeDawg's Unlocks Manager

Watcher Hand

Watcher Hand - Urnstone

Medieval Life 3.8 (18+)

SMALL MODS

AutoCollect Interaction Mod

CallBirdLessOften 

Forsaken+Shimrod SocialsBothFullVersions

Improved barrels

Books and Medieval Recipes + Forsaken Recipes

Well 50 buckets

Drunk as a Skunk

P&N All Birds Available

Cleanliness: Near The Watcher

Scrab and Sweep floor

MoreInteractionQueues20 (Old, I use another ver. now. It's this one below.)

Queque actions from 5 to 20

SimRecruit_TSMCombatAdded

A Wizard with Good Memory + Less Energy Cost for spell 

“Refresh the bath water” available for everyone 

Exp for Playing the Fiddle 

Joint Walks and Hunting

Improved bath 

Laundry 

Ring the Bell 

Play With Teddy Bears 

Simmodder99's Mod Library

Shimrod's Mods

Blue Eyes Bug fix

Childhood V2

Collecting Stones & Herbs

Fishing trip avaiable for everyone

Important events

Medieval Route Fix

Increased chance of being eaten in the forest

Sleep when you want to

Training with a mannequin lowers hygiene

More Interactions (Can’t find the link anymore)

Another TSM route fix

[sejianismodding]

🎁 [BG] SGFX + Resource Override - Main Menu + Custom Background Template + Camera Angles

☠️ REMINDER: Double-check the OP for updates!

⚔️ Requires - TS4: Base Game

🌠 New Arrivals - 2/5/2025

☄️ Updated - NIL

🚀 Initial Release - 2/4/2025

🎁 Download & Discussions: https://www.patreon.com/posts/121348052

🗺️ Modding Announcements: https://www.patreon.com/posts/109291501

🪄 My SGFX Overrides Collection: https://www.patreon.com/collection/1306589?view=condensed

💬 This isn't as straightforward as it looks. This is a collection of mods meant to make your journey simpler. It includes:

STEP 1 (MANDATORY) - Download the SGFX Override what primes the Main Menu for custom backgrounds, PERMANENTLY HIDES the Household thumbnail, and adds the Household and News/Marketing "toggle" found in other third-party overrides. Press "S" to toggle.

STEP 2 (OPTIONAL) - Grab one of my two Camera Angle Patches for the SGFX Override what re-enables the Household thumbnail (when toggled) in two different camera angles - a closer and lower front-facing "LONG SHOT" and a tweaked top-down isometric "HIGH ANGLE". You have the choice between a cute isometric angle and a boring standard front angle for your Household thumbnail. 🌠 An additional "NO HOUSEHOLD" patch is included for use with third-party overrides.

STEP 3 (OPTIONAL) - Grab my D.I.Y. Custom Background Template (A.K.A. my Resource Override) so you can make your own custom backgrounds. All you need to do is ensure my SGFX Override is up to date and your backgrounds will always work. Technically, these resource overrides might work without an SGFX override if you are in Offline Mode because that's how the EAxis code is configured. These resource overrides will work with other third-party Main Menu Overrides, but might require renaming for load priority (load order) if those overrides contain custom backgrounds - yes, it's this simple. It will work with @ellesimsworld's template with renaming and @lunarbritneyy's Online Backgrounds Disabled override, but it will not work with @simmattically's Refreshed Main Menu because that's a different beast entirely.

STEP 4 (OPTIONAL) - Grab a custom background by yours truly in 16:9 (1080p) widescreen resolution or 21:9 ultrawide resolution. EAxis broke image centering on the Main Menu in Update 1/14/2025 and I don't know if they fixed it yet, but those of you with ultrawide and oddball resolutions should not have to suffer. If you need a different resolution, just ask.

💬 F.Y.I. No, this does not allow you to swap backgrounds with a hotkey. That's a @simmattically special unless I'm mistaken and I ain't about to wholesale lift another creator's invention. You will have to manually swap these custom backgrounds. The one with load priority will appear in-game, so you can technically create a sub-folder wherever you have these and move the one you want to see into that sub-folder and the game should load it first. If that fails, you can rename the one you want to be alphanumerically ahead of the others, or you can ".packageOFF" disable the ones you don't want, or you can just move them in and out of your Mods folder.

💬 Every piece of artwork or promotional image I share will be credited in the Patreon post.

📸 The internet is horrible right now:

[extralively]

Satoru's apartment (Part 2)

We're back! After Part 1 covered the living room area and kitchen, we'll take a look at the bedrooms this time around!

This is Satoru's apartment that I built in TS4 based on my fic series Under the Cover of Shadows, and it's essentially what I imagine what Satoru's apartment would be like!

As a refresher, this is the layout of the place:

Let's go take a look at Satoru's own bedroom now, shall we?

This is it! It's pretty open and spacious (I struggled a lot making it, and I'm not sure I'm 100% satisfied with it even now lmao), and following the same idea that I mentioned in Part 1, that Satoru in general doesn't populate his place with a lot of personal items, it's much of the same here. There are a few every day items scattered around, like slippers, wallet, phone, tablet and whatnot, but most of his precious keepsakes are kept secure and out of sight.

(The photo strips he took with Yura during that one summer vacation are kept in his bedside table drawer. He likes to look at it every now and then.)

(Also Yura tends to sleep on the left side of the bed and Satoru on the right, and as you may notice, it's her side that has an alarm clock on it lol)

Here is Satoru's bathroom, and you can see it was actually built like a western-style one instead of the Japanese-style bathrooms he grew up with in the Gojo Estate. I guess Satoru just wanted something different for once ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(This is also the biggest bathtub I could find to put in there, but I still imagined it even bigger ʘ‿ʘ✿)

Nowadays, there's a lot of Yura's stuff scattered in his bathroom, and while Satoru wasn't too used to sharing a space with someone else at first, he actually got used to it pretty quickly.

And this is Satoru's closet! Just imagine there are a lot more clothes in there lmao, all of it designer stuff because of course.

Those rack/shelves on the right are essentially all Yura's stuff now. She used to bring in an overnight bag when they got started with their "arrangement", but then she slowly started leaving more and more stuff behind so now she doesn't really need an overnight bag anymore. She could comfortably spend several days in his place without needing to go back to her own apartment lol

Now on to the guest bedroom!

This is where Yura stayed in a couple of times, in particular before and after her trip to New York. Not a lot of people have stayed in this bedroom, to be honest. Satoru doesn't usually have people over aside from Yura, Shoko, or the Fushiguros.

(I hadn't initially envisioned the desk there, but actually building it made that area feel so empty lol. So I thought it fit nicely!)

And finally, the guest bathroom. There was a particular scene in chapter 23 (The Aftermath p 1) of Out of the Shadows that has Yura having an emotional crisis in this very bathroom, and I think this must have been the first room of Satoru's apartment that I properly envisioned along with the guest bedroom! We only got to "see" his own bedroom much later, so I also didn't think it up until then.

Alright, there are still a few rooms left for me to post, but this is generally it! And boy oh boy did this entire apartment give so much trouble lmao and I'm not even done with it yet. It was really hard making things look somewhat closer to the picture I had in my head while working within the constraints of The Sims lol. I think this was especially daunting because it's supposed to be a ~luxury~ apartment, so I had try extra hard to make things look ~fancy~, but I was having a lot of fun! And I also downloaded SO MUCH stuff that my game looks completely different now lmao my inner architect was happy.

[naturally-dazed]

i think when it comes to gameplay for ts4 the packs i use the absolute most are

get together (night life and world)

city living (apartments and NO MORE SUBURBAN HELL, plus the jobs)

cats & dogs (obvious)

seasons (obvious)

get famous (fame and career)

growing together (obvious)

spa day (specially after the refresh)

dine out (i never was interested in running a restaurant, but i need them as places to go out to!)

parenthood (obvious)

laundry day (realism)

bust the dust (realism, but modded out dust bunnies and whatnot)

Movie Hangout (why is this not base game fr)

everything else i could live without but that's like a summary of what i tend to overuse in my game to the point where in my mind that's base game and everything else is extra stuff i havent explored even though i always download new releases once its available (for free lmao)

[toxics-sims-adventures]

TS4 Pack Asset and Lot count

The Base Game Sims 4 - September 2014 - Alot - WC:21 OS:21 [both 5 non residential, 1 secret] NC:15

Expansion Packs Get to Work - April 2015 - 519 (202 {79 just Makeup} CAS, 317 BUILD) + World - 4 [3 non residential, 3 hidden, 1 secret]

Get Together - December 2015 - 429 (108 CAS, 321 BUILD) + World - 27 [12 non residential]

City Living - November 2016 - 383 (114 CAS, 269 BUILD) + World - 29 [6 non residential] =15 (Not counting single apts as 1 lot)

Cats and Dogs - November 2017 - 505 (188 {92 for human} CAS, 317 BUILD) + World - 16 [5 non residential]

Seasons - June 2018 - 317 (148 CAS, 169 BUILD) - N/A

Get Famous - November 2018 - 399 (140 CAS, 259 BUILD) + World - 11 [5 non residential, 1 hidden]

Island Living - January 2019 - 300 (136 CAS, 164 BUILD) + World - 14 [3 non residential]

Discover University - November 2019 - 301 (120 CAS, 181 BUILD) + World - 13 [6 uni housing, 4 non residential]

Eco Lifestyle - June 2020 - 296 (126 CAS, 170 BUILD) + World - 15 [4 non residential]

Snowy Escape - November 2020 - 312 (134 CAS, 178 BUILD) + World - 14 [3 rentals, 4 non residential, 1 hidden]

Cottage Living - July 2021 - 292 (132 CAS, 160 BUILD) + World - 11 [1 rental, 2 non residential]

High School Years - July 2022 - 447 (197 CAS, 250 BUILD) + World - 12 [1 rental, 5 non residential]

Growing Together - March 2023 - 391 (196 CAS, 195 BUILD) + World - 12 [1 rental, 2 nonresidential]

Horse Ranch - July 2023 - 347 (148 CAS, 199 BUILD) + World - 13 [1 rental, 3 nonresidential]

For Rent - December 2023 - 329 (142 CAS, 187 BUILD) + World - 9 [7 residential, 2 nonresidential]

 > Total: 15 packs - 9 years - 5,567 (An average of 371 assets per pack) - 200 (An average of 13 lots per pack)

Game Packs Outdoor Retreat - January 2015 - 154 (74 CAS, 80 BUILD) + Vacation World - 6 [5 rentals, 1 non residential, 1 secret]

Spa Day - July 2015 (Refreshed 9-7-21)    194 (62 CAS, 132 BUILD) - N/A

Dine Out - June 2016 - 151 (26 CAS, 125 BUILD) - N/A

Vampires - January 2017 - 202 (72 CAS, 130 BUILD) + World  -  5

Parenthood - May 2017 - 138 (51 CAS, 87 BUILD) -  N/A

Jungle Adventures - February 2018 - 209 (41 CAS, 168 BUILD) + Vacation World - 7 [5 rentals, 2 non residential, 1 hidden]

Strangerville - February 2019 - 142 (40 CAS, 102 BUILD) + World - 12 [3 non residential]

Realm of Magic - September 2019 - 129 (55 CAS, 74 BUILD) + World - 5 [1 non residential]

Journey to Batuu - September 2020 - 249 (115 CAS, 134 BUILD) + Vacation World - 0 [3 hidden]

Dream Home Decorator - June 2021 - 194 (59 CAS, 135 BUILD) -  N/A

My Wedding Stories - February 2022 - 166 (86 CAS, 80 BUILD) + World  -  9 [1 rental, 2 non residential]

Werewolves - June 2022 - 188 (110 {26 for scars} CAS, 78 BUILD) + World - 5 [2 non residential]

 > Total: 12 packs - 8 years - 2,116 (An average of 176 assets per pack) - 49 (An average of 4 lots per pack)    

Stuff Packs Luxury Party - May 2015 - 53 (41 CAS, 12 BUILD)

Perfect Patio - June 2015 - 44 (12 CAS, 32 BUILD)

Cool Kitchen - August, 2015 - 52 (29 CAS, 23 BUILD)

Spooky - September, 2015 - 70 (37 CAS, 33 BUILD)

Movie Hangout - January 2016 - 61 (27 CAS, 34 BUILD)

Romantic Garden - February 2016 - 41 (19 CAS, 32 BUILD)

Kids Room - June 2016 - 71 (30 CAS,41 BUILD)

Backyard - July 2016 - 83 (24 CAS, 59 BUILD)

Vintage Glamour - December 2016 - 68 (27 CAS, 41 BUILD)

Bowling Night - March 2017 - 55 (20 CAS, 35 BUILD)

Fitness - June 2017 - 50 (17 CAS, 33 BUILD)

Toddlers - August 2017 - 51 (28 CAS, 23 BUILD)

Laundry Day - January 2018 - 68 (20 CAS, 48 BUILD)

My First Pet - March 2018  -  72 (37 CAS {11 for human}, 35 BUILD)

Moschino - August 2019  -  62 (24 CAS, 38 BUILD)

Tiny Living -  January 2020  -  66 (32 CAS, 34 BUILD)

Nifty Knitting -  July 2020  -  61 (38 CAS, 23 BUILD)

Paranormal - January 2021  -  71 (32 CAS, 39 BUILD)

Home Chef Hustle - September 2023 - 70 (45 CAS,26 BUILD)

 > Total: 19 packs -  8 years - 1,169 (An average of 61 assets per pack) - 0 (An average of 0 lots per pack)

Kits Throwback Fit - March 2021 - 23 CAS

Country Kitchen - March 2021  -  15 BUILD

Bust the Dust  -  March 2021  -  5 BUILD

Courtyard Oasis -  May 2021  -  22 BUILD

Industrial Loft   -  August 2021  -  26 BUILD

Fashion Street - October 2021  -  26 CAS

Incheon Arrivals - October 2021  -  22 CAS

Blooming Rooms - November 2021 - 24 BUILD

Modern Menswear - December 2021 - 24 CAS

Carnaval Streetwear - February 2022    25 CAS

Decor to the Max - March 2022  -  23 BUILD

Moonlight Chic - May 2022  -  33 CAS

Little Campers - May 2022  -  25 BUILD

First Fits - September 2022    24 CAS

Desert Luxe - September 2022    27 BUILD

Pastel Pop - November 2022    24 BUILD

Everyday Clutter  - November 2022    20 BUILD

Sim-timates Collection - January 2023  -  24 CAS

Bathroom Clutter - January 2023  -  31 BUILD

Greenhouse Haven - April 2023  -  27 BUILD

Basement Treasures - April 2023  -  26 BUILD

Grunge Revival - June 2023  -  25 CAS

Book Nook - June 2023  -  25 BUILD

Poolside Splash - Sept 2023  -  29 CAS

Modern Luxe - Sept 2023  -  28 BUILD

 > Total: 25 packs    3 years  -  603 (An average of 24 assets per pack)     0 (An average of 0 lots per pack)

[rheallsim]

Saturday morning Gabby finds herself at the exclusive Oasis Spa and Wellness Centre, ready to get her relaxation on. 💪

The first thing she does is settle in for a nice foot massage and pedicure.

[This gorgeous lot is called "Oasis Spa and Wellness" and is by Wooldrop on the Gallery! <3]

Pedicure done, she moves on to a massage. She's determined to sample everything this spa has to offer.

All right, what's next? 🤔

[theamberplumbob]

Base Game Renovation: The Pancakes House

When the Pancakes were first married, Eliza’s parents gave her a massive sum of money to get their lives started together. Eliza spent most of it on the historic home of her dreams, leaving little left for furniture. She hoped Bob’s income would enable her to furnish it the way she’d planned, but that doesn’t seem to have panned out the way she thought. That won’t stop her from trying, though.

Available on the gallery under ID: pinie72

[minty-plumbob]

7, 11, & 13 for the ask game 😊

7. How do you create/style your sims in CAS?

I tend to pick their traits and aspiration first to get an idea of how they would style themselves. 😊 I use randomize a lot! I usually adjust minor details (skin details, teeth, colors). Then depending on their traits, they could either enjoy more boho, comfortable, chic, or everyday clothing. I tend to lean towards more comfortable/everyday wear haha! I also like picking certain colors for them and re-using some clothing items or accessories.

11. What type of pack are you hoping they make next?

I would love to have a pack with more interactions, activities, and hobbies! I really enjoy small interactions that sims do. As well as any wacky/fun interactions.

I downloaded some ts3 to ts4 conversions of arcade machines and they're so fun! I love that children, teens, adults, and elders can play with them. 🥺💗

Honestly, I would also really enjoy a small refresh of the game. Extended family members would be so nice (aunt, uncle, cousin, in-laws, etc.). I would love to bother in-laws and pester family members more easily without being considered acquaintances/strangers (my sim married into your family!)

13. How long have you been playing the Sims and how did you get into it?

I started with sims 3, so around 11-12 years! I definitely know I got into it from watching YouTube videos (specifically callmekevin's old ts3 series lol). I think I started with the base game and pets. I vividly remember moving into the rundown swamp house in Sunset valley!

[mystical-evergreen]

Gestantion Based Aging by Almighty Hat

Recently I’ve dipped my toes into TS4 and have really enjoyed Morbid’s decades challenge and it’s aging pace. It feels refreshing almost to spend time with my toddlers and build relationships with my adults. I love checking off each day and counting down to the next historical event in queue or birthdays.

So, when I decided to turn back to build a little more of Criladith (BTW, I finished the entire of Round 1 [Sometime I’ll sit down and queue] but made some mistakes [Accidentally added an unsafe NPC to a household without checking who they were, looking at you Judith] so I decided to rebuild it clean as I noticed some weird things happening, ANYWAY) I rediscovered Hat’s mod(Thank you Niamh-Sims). I’d always liked a short life span, similar to Pleasant Sims but now I’m not too sure.

Soo, what’s y’all’s experience with gestation aging? Did you use it for a medieval game? Did you feel it was paced well?

[fracturedmoonlight]

Frac And Davina Get Wasted - Booze ‘N Lose Edition

Just because modern civilization was extinguished in nuclear hellfire, doesn't mean that your sims can't still have a good time! Welcome to the casino, where you can drink away your sorrows and gamble away your hard earned caps. Or perhaps you just enjoy the taste of a cold and refreshing Nuka-Cola from the vending machine. Who are we to tell you what to do?

This project has been two years in the making and contains gambling, gaming, alcohol, furniture, and even a jukebox! So, let's get onto the good stuff.

Album of Additional In Use and Action Shots

Download Get Wasted - Booze 'N Lose Edition 

Makeshift Bar First, you need a place to go to enjoy all these things and if you can't find a bar because it was blown to smithereens, just make a new one! There are various dining chairs, and barstools made from tires, bits of metal, and leftover pieces of chairs. If you're lucky you'll find something intact. Included also are some counters/islands/and various size tables made out of old barrels and rusty metal. Don't forget your scrap shelf for storing things before your flimsy scrap bar. Last but not least...a privacy poor toilet. That's okay, privacy went out the window years ago. Alcohol There are alcohol kegs where your sim can go up for a drink and drink varying amounts of alcohol. There's also a hidden bar inside of a globe which was converted from TS4 and retextured and also made functional the same as the alcohol kegs. There's also the bar tap and the shelf full of liquor bottles that will dispense a large bottle of alcohol that can then be shared by several sims. Or just enjoyed by one. There's also the moonshine still. Two, actually. One function as the bar tap/alcohol shelf above and the other is an Elixer of Life in disguise. Soda Vendors These are done in Sun&Moon style dispensers. Sims can choose from Nuka-Cola, Sunset Sarsparilla, or Vim Pop. A sim simply walks up to a machine and can choose a drink which is then dispensed from the machine. They can pick it up to put it into inventory for later, or grab it and drink it right there. Note, once a drink is taken from inventory and placed down, it is considered in use and cannot be moved without cheats. Gambling Your sims must have at least 5 simoleons to partake in gambling but they can try their luck on the slot machines, the roulette table, and the craps table. With the Roulette and Craps table, your sim can Gamble a Small amount which means they will lose or win $5-200. To Gamble Big it's $300-1,000. To Gamble Risky it's $5-1,000. Your sim has a 50/50 chance of winning or losing because that's what was easiest to do with the coin flips in the BHAVs. The true variable is how much money they will win or lose. These don't exactly function the same way that the real games work, but my excuse is that maybe they didn't know how to play the games during the apocalypse. Gaming There are quite a few different tables, including a couple that you can play for money. The Blast Radius table, the Checkers Table, and the Card Tables can create a financial gain for your sim. The Blast Radius and Checkers tables are also family friendly which means that everyone of all ages can play for fun. They are both based off of the Mahjong table. As a result, Checkers can support up to 4 people, which is a little awkward but you can simply just put down two chairs or embrace the fact that the apocalypse changed the rules of checkers. There are also a couple of chess tables, which function the same as traditional chess. However, chess pieces are easy to lose so there are default chess pieces included which are comprised of random items such as dino toys, rocketships, wooden soldiers, and even hula girls. There's a Myshuno game also included called Brain Teaser. It functions the same as the regular Myshuno game but instead of them pulling out plumbbobs, they pull out a cube with a puzzle on it. The premise is that the brain gives them challenges and they must use their keypad cube to find the answer. There's also knife throwing, which is cloned from the Maxis dartboard. Sims can choose from a wooden target to throw knives at or some varying poster and painting recolors. There's also a Mobster target that the sims can throw knives at. Sometimes the knives will float a little bit in that one but for the most part it works pretty well. There's also a game called Don't Wake the Alien, which is cloned from the "Maxis Don't Wake the Llama." Instead of the llama, there's an alien and instead of sticks, there are pencils. Other than that, it works the same as the original. There are also two pool tables in this set. They work the same as the regular Maxis pool tables. Default Replacements This set comes with sevreal DRs for bar accessories, card tables accessories, and pool tables accessories. Credits: Sunni, Leefish, MidgeTheTree, Porkypine, Echo, Fire_Flower, SimSlice, Raynuss, The Highrollers, Bethesda

[memento-sims]

4t2 Eyebrows Tutorial

I got asked about how to convert eyebrows from TS4 so I made a short tutorial. I hope it’s easy to follow! I'm very bad at these things lol.

1. First, we need to extract the eyebrows texture. Open the package file in S4S. Choose any color you like (it doesn’t matter since we only want its alpha). Click on “Export”, give the image whatever name you want and make sure you save it as .PNG!

2. Now open Body Shop. Create a new project and clone any of the base game eyebrows. Do not import to game or close BS yet!

3. Go to Photoshop and open the face template I made (download here). See that red area? That’s where the eyebrows go. I usually make them smaller than that tho.

4. Open the .PNG you extracted with S4S. Select only one of the eyebrows, copy and paste it on the template. Use the red area or the wireframe as a reference when resizing the eyebrow.

5. When you’re done, duplicate the eyebrow layer and flip it horizontally. Merge. Double click on the layer to open the “Layer Style” window, then select “Color Overlay” and choose a pure white. Create a new layer and make it black. This will be the alpha for our eyebrows!

6. Click on “Save As...” and go to the project’s folder. See those two files with “alpha” on their filenames? Overwrite them with your new image. Save as .BMP! The other two images are the color of the eyebrows. You can fill them black for now while you preview the eyebrows on BS.

7. Go back to BS and refresh. Ta-dah! You should have some new pretty eyebrows now! You can now import them to game and start making recolors or keep tweaking the alpha (repeat from step 4) until you’re happy with them. :)

[rheallsim]

Gabby splurges for the gold face mask (she deserves it), and lounges in the hot spring, before moving on to the sauna.

Aww yeah. This was the best idea ever.

After the sauna it's manicure time, before she hears about an Energy Centering Yoga class happening in a few minutes… she runs upstairs and joins in.

Dang… I didn't know she was that flexible. 😳

…and looks like neither did she. Ouch.

Still, her acne gone, and feeling like a whole new woman, Gabby finishes her day at the spa and heads home.

"Yeah, I have to make this a regular thing."

We'll see, Gabby, we'll see.

[whyeverr]

TS4 Rebrand Critique

I don’t make a habit of talking about my day job on tumblr, but I thought it might be... fun? informative? thought-provoking? for me to share a fairly thorough critique of the newly announced branding update. 

Disclaimer: These are my views/opinions based on my career in brand strategy and design and lifelong obsession with The Sims. Anyone/everyone is free to disagree with me. (I have definitely seen people sharing that they like the updates and that’s cool, everyone gets to have their own opinion!) If you disagree and you’re respectful about it I am happy to discuss. 💗 So, let’s start with the good stuff, yeah?

The good: 

The Sims 4 has had great renders from the start (RIP Babs, your cover girl days have come to an end), and the latest update is no exception. The shift to filling almost the entire frame (instead of just the bottom half) is a strong one, though the way the logo is layered in does create a feeling of separation between two rows of characters on the basegame cover. I like seeing the renders for the DLC front and center as well on their respective covers.

The bad:

I don’t think it’s an inherently bad move to refresh the plumbob—despite the fact that it is arguably the most iconic and easily recognizable symbol of the Sims franchise. We have, after all, seen evolutions of the plumbob throughout the course of the series. However, I do think it’s a bad move when the change doesn’t really have a rationale beyond looking cool and lacks the versatility of the original. 

SimGuru Lyndsay even said in the live stream that they aren’t using this new plumbob for the in-game, above your Sims’ head specifically because it doesn’t function well at small sizes: “The more straightforward green [plumbob] was easier to read when it was smaller.” If you’ve taken a design course, read an article about logo design, or even made icons for your tumblr theme or whatever, you probably understand that scalability is pretty goddamn important. If a core part of your brand—new or old—limits it use to only certain applications, that weakens your brand. And if you’re only using the new part of your brand in some places, and still sticking to the old in others, that really weakens your brand.

The Ugly: 

The justification for the new plumbob in the logo and loading screen is that it ties in with the rest of the graphics refresh, through... delusion? As far as I can tell—from squinting really, really hard at icons that are now REALLY hard to decipher thanks to their vibrant, multicolor fills—the new treatment has more to do with the now antiquated, low poly style they’ve been using for years now. The background patterns, too, have seemingly nothing to do with the new plumbob treatment, at least in terms of form (I would expect to see that weird, curved bisecting line appear throughout if this were really tied together). 

Instead, the only way the new plumbob appears to be tied to the rest of the graphics refresh is through color contrast. Blue and green have always been the primary brand colors of The Sims (and bringing blue back to the forefront is a throwback move that, executed properly, I think a lot more folks would’ve been on board with). Here we see these colors as never before, with a Mountain Dew-esque green palette for Stuff Packs and a near-indistinguishable selection of blue and teal blue for Game Packs and Expansion Packs. To be charitable, this could be a design oversight, but a slightly more cynical person might say that this might be considered a dark pattern—blurring the line between two products with different price points and different levels of detail, a difference that casual players already have a hard time distinguishing.

Bottom line: 

Brand evolutions are super tricky. I’ve seen clients fall victim to half measures and updates that are rooted in trying to freshen things up and make themselves feel pretty or “a little more energetic and bold” instead of facing the real problems. There’s a saying in the marketing world that as soon as you are getting tired of something, your audience is just getting used to it. To me, this smacks of a short-sighted decision to “freshen things up” because a new coat of paint will beguile the masses into believing that was what they really wanted, not a color wheel, or cars, or open worlds, or restaurants that actually function, etc, etc, etc. And as much as we all know and love this franchise, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Random thoughts: 

The new loading screen legitimately looks half-finished and the blue seems waaaaay desaturated compared to the rest of the graphics.

Why dear god are the trailer previews in overlapping tiles on the menu screen? 

Also on the new menu screen: Why is there so little padding to the right of the logo?

The icons weren’t always super clear to begin with (e.g. the laundry basket, the hot tub), and now the multicolored fill makes some of them really challenging. (I legitimately did not recognize Get Together without the purple hexagon.)

Why didn’t they use the multicolor fill on the container and white as the icon fill? (a la the Instagram logo) 

Legitimately the only design-forward part of this is the blue-on-blue plumbob background behind all these new graphics.

It’s going to take me 800 years to find any EP items in Build/Buy and CAS. I am going to be using the shit out of Filters. 

[caithyra]

So, I know these are mock-ups and far from finalized, but I’m not very impressed that only Mortimer gets a good skintone (especially as the Calientes’ nearly undead undertones clashes horribly with their hair colors, you would think they’d at least try to match with them). In TS1 and TS2, the women had a much more vibrant undertone which actually fits well with the cartoony style of TS4.

Other than that, it seems like they are aging up Bella? But if so they’re going to need to add another set of nasolabial folds to get the result above, since the current adult nasolabial folds are deeper like Mortimer’s.

I wonder if they will make aliens Base Game to add to the Caliente DNA, or some way that if you start a new game with Get to Work installed that they have aliens in their family tree... Of course, then we better get a GtW refresh to make up for it if aliens end up in the BG!