purpleflowerbread

[purpleflowerbread]

"

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.

" 😆

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 SimPE—all 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 if—"

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.

[purpleflowerbread]

[ts2] waaneco art - in 30 swatches 🍒

Waaneco kindly let me use their simphotos and turn them into paintings! 💜 there's 30 swatches in total, all with a white frame.

credit: waaneco

Mesh included.

DOWNLOAD - dropbox (4.44mb)

[purpleflowerbread]

@hemfbg Louise Cardigan for TF and EF (requested by @myprotagpersona)

Another cc-ception moment, because these cardigans are originally from an outfit I converted 😅 They have fatmorph, come in the original 6 colors, and you can choose if you want them repo'd to the AF files (that you can find here), or not :)

Download Louise Cardigan TF&EF Repo'd - Alternate

Download Louise Cardigan TF&EF Standalone - Alternate

[purpleflowerbread]

Also a problem for autists :D Though I genuinely enjoy curating lists of things >.> so maybe its not a problem in the same way

Case in point: I have art references dating all the way back from 2007 that I still haven’t categorized 😭

[purpleflowerbread]

[ts2] simlish travelposter rc on lmwhjs square mesh

Since we aren't exactly swimming in simlish paintings, and I only use simlish in my game I decided to convert some more of thimblesims amazing simlish art 💜, this time on lmwhjs addon(s) because I can *always* use more simlish art! :-) there’s 17 swatches in 515*512 res for better quality. Frame recolors can be found here

credit: thimblesims, lmhwjs

>>mesh(es) required!<<

💜DOWNLOAD💜 - dropbox (1.45mb)

[purpleflowerbread]

French Country Kitchen Set for The Sims 2

This is a 4to2 conversion from ShinoKCR, low poly. All items except for the bar stool, all recolors.

DOWNLOAD HERE

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If you want to support my creations, you can send me a donation with Paypal or Ko-fi ☕ If you want to ask for a Paid Commission, HERE you can find more details. Thank you ❤️

[purpleflowerbread]

Besties Me and My Cat Set for The Sims 2

These are 4to2 conversions from SixamCC, low poly. This set contains all you can see in the pictures, walls and floors too. All recolors and a collection file are included.

For the cat condos you can use the “One More Cat Slot Please” by Episim

DOWNLOAD HERE

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If you want to support my creations, you can send me a donation with Paypal or Ko-fi ☕ If you want to ask for a Paid Commission, HERE you can find more details. Thank you ❤️

[purpleflowerbread]

[TS2] for a cozy family - sofa & lamp recolors 🌹

i07jeuu dropped this bomb set yesterday & ofcourse I had to recolor it! well parts of it. I love these big couches, they just look so comfy. And you know me and lamps by now 😏There's 15 swatches for both, swatch in the preview. Lets pretend I didnt forget a coffeecup on the floor, yaikes

4t2 livingroom for a cozy family sofa master - 15 swatches

4t2 livingroom for a cozy family standing lamp - 15 swatches

credit: i07jeuu

>>Meshes required!<<

💜DOWNLOAD💜 - dropbox (2.3mb)

[purpleflowerbread]

Flowers & Chair Set for The Sims 2

These are 4to2 conversions. Chair and glass vase are from PsychicPeanutKitty, flower vase and heart bush are from Leosim, lamp is from ZeroCatSims. I lowered the polycount for all the items, they are low/medium. All recolors included.

DOWNLOAD HERE

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If you want to support my creations, you can send me a donation with Paypal or Ko-fi ☕ If you want to ask for a Paid Commission, HERE you can find more details. Thank you ❤️

[purpleflowerbread]

Happy birthday @episims 🥳🎂🤗

I hope you're having a wonderful day! I made some stuff for you, because you are awesome! 💖

3t2 Tiered Skirt

Just a lovely, colorful skirt! For teens, adults, and elders, they have the appropriate morphs. I made 6 recolors, but here's the PSD for recoloring. I paired it up with those cute camper shoes from BV! You can choose if you want the other ages repo'd to the AF files, or not.

Download 3t2 Tiered Skirt Repo'd - Alternate

Download 3t2 Tiered Skirt Standalone - Alternate

4t2 EP11 Shirt Bell Sleeve

And a cute top for the kiddos! Has fatmorph, and comes in the original 12 colors :)

Download - Alternate

💖💖💖

[purpleflowerbread]

4t2 - Kids Light

The set includes 8 functional lampshades.

They are found in: lighting - Table lamps.

The file is compressed and the preview is included.

The original file can be found here.

Credits: @irinaseverinka

Thanks: @pforestsims for all the help and patience, @pinka-style for the preview.

Download Here.

[purpleflowerbread]

Skirt (TF) replaced with @deedee-sims lucilla-sims 4t2 EP14 Skirt Embroidered Short and 4t2 renorasims Bloomin Skirt

SkirtUBoots (TF) replaced with @deedee-sims 4t2 renorasims Bloomin Skirt and @platinumaspiration Joliebean's Harmony Skirt

I made this quite a while ago and forgot to share! I realised I'd only done a bunch of short skirts as separates so wanted to offer a little bit more variety.

Just to clarify 'Skirt' is the first 7 swatches, SkirtUBoots is the remaining 6. If you just want one replacement and not the other, they'll work fine individually 😊 Hope you guys like! Happy Sunday, yall x

Download Skirt: SFS | MF

Download SkirtUBoots: SFS | MF

[purpleflowerbread]

Plain knit recolors for v-neck crop top 4t2 conversion by @platinumaspiration (s4 original by Greenllamas)

Platasp 4t2 greenllamas Violet top for AF

7 recolors & mesh tweak

Download: BOX | MEGA (folder) | SFS polycount: 2306

My mesh edit includes a fix by @letomills

*This is for The Sims 2

more pics under the cut:

My mesh edit: extended wrists (more skin under the sleeve), redone wrist bones, edited shoulder bones, corrected shoulder asymmetry.

My plain recolors will show in the catalogue next to Platasp's stripey 4t2 recolors (pic above).

/Please note I use darkened settings for Sim Skin Shader, so these colors will be a bit brighter in your game/

[purpleflowerbread]

I feel like this is what it would actually take to get medical tests carried out on representative samples of people 😅😭

A supervillain unleashes a disease on the world in order to weaken his enemies and monopolize the cure. But his team of goons didn't test it on women. The unaffected female hero(es) confront him and the fight devolves into a conversation about lack of female representation in medical testing.

[purpleflowerbread]

Fabulous Set

Hi!

Today i bring you this set, by syboulette. Everthing belongs to her Fabulous set (obviously), except by the acrylic makeup box, that you can find in her 2022 advent calendar.

A small detail that you must know is that since the game only allow two subset recolors and the vanity has three, i had to put the mirror frame on a separate mesh. you have to place the vanity then add the mirror frame separately. I hope that wont bother you :). I also put the vanity desk, puff and mirror separately, as you can see in the collection file:

Anyway, download 💄Here💄

[purpleflowerbread]

Lunar Lullaby Set for The Sims 2

This is a 4to2 conversion from Kate Emerald, medium poly. All 10 recolors included. Items are functional.

DOWNLOAD HERE

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If you want to support my creations, you can send me a donation with Paypal or Ko-fi ☕ If you want to ask for a Paid Commission, HERE you can find more details. Thank you ❤️

[purpleflowerbread]

[ts2] 4t2 the cluttercat clutter - 27 meshes 🎀

27 meshes in total, all low poly. Collectionfile included. Enjoy 💘

~ alarmclock-bohobox-bubblegum magazine-creative book-cupcake-greenery single plant-leather notebook-loveletterbox-magazine set1-makeup clutter-makeup essentials-medium planter-nike airforce-rattan basket-relax essentials-roses-single vintagebox-slippers-small bookpile-small planter-starsbox-stepladder-stories pile-umbrellastand-vanitas cloque-violin ~

Credit: thecluttercat

💜DOWNLOAD💜 - sfs (2.6mb)