#i just got into downloading reshade and it is life changing

[nornities]

How to use DXVK with The Sims 3

Have you seen this post about using DXVK by Criisolate? But felt intimidated by the sheer mass of facts and information?

@desiree-uk and I compiled a guide and the configuration file to make your life easier. It focuses on players not using the EA App, but it might work for those just the same. It’s definitely worth a try.

Adding this to your game installation will result in a better RAM usage. So your game is less likely to give you Error 12 or crash due to RAM issues. It does NOT give a huge performance boost, but more stability and allows for higher graphics settings in game.

The full guide behind the cut. Let me know if you also would like it as PDF.

Happy simming!

Disclaimer and Credits

Desiree and I are no tech experts and just wrote down how we did this. Our ability to help if you run into trouble is limited. So use at your own risk and back up your files!

We both are on Windows 10 and start the game via TS3W.exe, not the EA App. So your experience may differ.

This guide is based on our own experiments and of course criisolate’s post on tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/criisolate/749374223346286592/ill-explain-what-i-did-below-before-making-any

This guide is brought to you by Desiree-UK and Norn.

Compatibility

Note: This will conflict with other programs that “inject” functionality into your game so they may stop working. Notably

Reshade

GShade

Nvidia Experience/Nvidia Inspector/Nvidia Shaders

RivaTuner Statistics Server

It does work seamlessly with LazyDuchess’ Smooth Patch.

LazyDuchess’ Launcher: unknown

Alder Lake patch: does conflict. One user got it working by starting the game by launching TS3.exe (also with admin rights) instead of TS3W.exe. This seemed to create the cache file for DXVK. After that, the game could be started from TS3W.exe again. That might not work for everyone though.

A word on FPS and V-Sync

With such an old game it’s crucial to cap framerate (FPS). This is done in the DXVK.conf file. Same with V-Sync.

You need

a text editor (easiest to use is Windows Notepad)

to download DXVK, version 2.3.1 from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/releases/tag/v2.3.1 Extract the archive, you are going to need the file d3d9.dll from the x32 folder

the configuration file DXVK.conf from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/blob/master/DXVK.conf. Optional: download the edited version with the required changes here.

administrator rights on your PC

to know your game’s installation path (bin folder) and where to find the user folder

a tiny bit of patience :)

First Step: Backup

Backup your original Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path! The DXVK file may overwrite some files! The path should be something like this (for retail): \Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin (This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located.)

Backup your options.ini in your game’s user folder! Making the game use the DXVK file will count as a change in GPU driver, so the options.ini will reset once you start your game after installation. The path should be something like this: \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 (This is the folder where your Mods folder is located).

Preparations

Make sure you run the game as administrator. You can check that by right-clicking on the icon that starts your game. Go to Properties > Advanced and check the box “Run as administrator”. Note: This will result in a prompt each time you start your game, if you want to allow this application to make modifications to your system. Click “Yes” and the game will load.

2. Make sure you have the DEP settings from Windows applied to your game.

Open the Windows Control Panel.

Click System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings.

On the Advanced tab, next to the Performance heading, click Settings.

Click the Data Execution Prevention tab.

Select 'Turn on DEP for all programs and services except these”:

Click the Add button, a window to the file explorer opens. Navigate to your Sims 3 installation folder (the bin folder once again) and add TS3W.exe and TS3.exe.

Click OK. Then you can close all those dialog windows again.

Setting up the DXVK.conf file

Open the file with a text editor and delete everything in it. Then add these values:

d3d9.textureMemory = 1

d3d9.presentInterval = 1

d3d9.maxFrameRate = 60

d3d9.presentInterval enables V-Sync,d3d9.maxFrameRate sets the FrameRate. You can edit those values, but never change the first line (d3d9.textureMemory)!

The original DXVK.conf contains many more options in case you would like to add more settings.

A. no Reshade/GShade

Setting up DXVK

Copy the two files d3d9.dll and DXVK.conf into the Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path. This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located. If you are prompted to overwrite files, please choose yes (you DID backup your folder, right?)

And that’s basically all that is required to install.

Start your game now and let it run for a short while. Click around, open Buy mode or CAS, move the camera.

Now quit without saving. Once the game is closed fully, open your bin folder again and double check if a file “TS3W.DXVK-cache” was generated. If so – congrats! All done!

Things to note

Heads up, the game options will reset! So it will give you a “vanilla” start screen and options.

Don’t worry if the game seems to be frozen during loading. It may take a few minutes longer to load but it will load eventually.

The TS3W.DXVK-cache file is the actual cache DXVK is using. So don’t delete this! Just ignore it and leave it alone. When someone tells to clear cache files – this is not one of them!

Update Options.ini

Go to your user folder and open the options.ini file with a text editor like Notepad.

Find the line “lastdevice = “. It will have several values, separated by semicolons. Copy the last one, after the last semicolon, the digits only. Close the file.

Now go to your backup version of the Options.ini file, open it and find that line “lastdevice” again. Replace the last value with the one you just copied. Make sure to only replace those digits!

Save and close the file.

Copy this version of the file into your user folder, replacing the one that is there.

Things to note:

If your GPU driver is updated, you might have to do these steps again as it might reset your device ID again. Though it seems that the DXVK ID overrides the GPU ID, so it might not happen.

How do I know it’s working?

Open the task manager and look at RAM usage. Remember the game can only use 4 GB of RAM at maximum and starts crashing when usage goes up to somewhere between 3.2 – 3.8 GB (it’s a bit different for everybody).

So if you see values like 2.1456 for RAM usage in a large world and an ongoing save, it’s working. Generally the lower the value, the better for stability.

Also, DXVK will have generated its cache file called TS3W.DXVK-cache in the bin folder. The file size will grow with time as DXVK is adding stuff to it, e.g. from different worlds or savegames. Initially it might be something like 46 KB or 58 KB, so it’s really small.

Optional: changing MemCacheBudgetValue

MemCacheBudgetValue determines the size of the game's VRAM Cache. You can edit those values but the difference might not be noticeable in game. It also depends on your computer’s hardware how much you can allow here.

The two lines of seti MemCacheBudgetValue correspond to the high RAM level and low RAM level situations. Therefore, theoretically, the first line MemCacheBudgetValue should be set to a larger value, while the second line should be set to a value less than or equal to the first line.

The original values represent 200MB (209715200) and 160MB (167772160) respectively. They are calculated as 200x1024x1024=209175200 and 160x1024x1024=167772160.

Back up your GraphicsRules.sgr file! If you make a mistake here, your game won’t work anymore.

Go to your bin folder and open your GraphicsRules.sgr with a text editor.

Search and find two lines that set the variables for MemCacheBudgetValue.

Modify these two values to larger numbers. Make sure the value in the first line is higher or equals the value in the second line. Examples for values: 1073741824, which means 1GB 2147483648 which means 2 GB. -1 (minus 1) means no limit (but is highly experimental, use at own risk)

Save and close the file. It might prompt you to save the file to a different place and not allow you to save in the Bin folder. Just save it someplace else in this case and copy/paste it to the Bin folder afterwards. If asked to overwrite the existing file, click yes.

Now start your game and see if it makes a difference in smoothness or texture loading. Make sure to check RAM and VRAM usage to see how it works.

You might need to change the values back and forth to find the “sweet spot” for your game. Mine seems to work best with setting the first value to 2147483648 and the second to 1073741824.

Uninstallation

Delete these files from your bin folder (installation path):

d3d9.dll

DXVK.conf

TS3W.DXVK-cache

And if you have it, also TS3W_d3d9.log

if you changed the values in your GraphicsRule.sgr file, too, don’t forget to change them back or to replace the file with your backed up version.

OR

delete the bin folder and add it from your backup again.

B. with Reshade/GShade

Follow the steps from part A. no Reshade/Gshade to set up DXVK.

If you are already using Reshade (RS) or GShade (GS), you will be prompted to overwrite files, so choose YES. RS and GS may stop working, so you will need to reinstall them.

Whatever version you are using, the interface shows similar options of which API you can choose from (these screenshots are from the latest versions of RS and GS).

Please note: 

Each time you install and uninstall DXVK, switching the game between Vulkan and d3d9, is essentially changing the graphics card ID again, which results in the settings in your options.ini file being repeatedly reset.

ReShade interface

Choose – Vulcan

Click next and choose your preferred shaders.

Hopefully this install method works and it won't install its own d3d9.dll file.

If it doesn't work, then choose DirectX9 in RS, but you must make sure to replace the d3d9.dll file with DXVK's d3d9.dll (the one from its 32bit folder, checking its size is 3.86mb.)

GShade interface

Choose –           

Executable Architecture: 32bit

Graphics API: DXVK

Hooking: Normal Mode

GShade is very problematic, it won't work straight out of the box and the overlay doesn't show up, which defeats the purpose of using it if you can't add or edit the shaders you want to use.

Check the game's bin folder, making sure the d3d9.dll is still there and its size is 3.86mb - that is DXVK's dll file.

If installing using the DXVK method doesn't work, you can choose the DirectX method, but there is no guarantee it works either.

The game will not run with these files in the folder:

d3d10core.dll

d3d11.dll

dxgi.dll

If you delete them, the game will start but you can't access GShade! It might be better to use ReShade.

Some Vulcan and DirectX information, if you’re interested:

Vulcan is for rather high end graphic cards but is backward compatible with some older cards. Try this method with ReShade or GShade first.

DirectX is more stable and works best with older cards and systems. Try this method if Vulcan doesn't work with ReShade/GShade in your game – remember to replace the d3d9.dll with DXVK's d3d9.dll.

For more information on the difference between Vulcan and DirectX, see this article:

https://www.howtogeek.com/884042/vulkan-vs-DirectX-12/

[softpine]

can i just word vomit for a min...

there was a point in late 2023 where i felt like i overstayed my welcome on simblr and i planned on just wrapping frozen pines up as quickly as possible and moving on. continuing to write when it's clear that the audience for it is dwindling felt so embarrassing that i almost didn't even want to put effort into it anymore, because i was afraid it just looked pathetic (obligatory disclaimer: no one made me feel this way, you're all so lovely, it's just the nature of seeing a community change over 7 years). writing already feels very personal to me and it's becoming increasingly harder for me to put my work out there (again, for reasons unrelated to simblr and entirely related to mental illness 🤙🏻). i know my story is so long that it deters new readers, and so sporadic that it makes old readers drop off with time. this has really been bothering me lately because i don't know what i can do to fix it. i don't think there IS anything i can do.

but. okay. don't make fun of me for saying this. dan and phil returning to youtube kinda changed my mindset? they may be pulling a fraction of the views they got in their peak, but they're happier than they've ever been and they're working on things they actually want to do, not things they think will be particularly popular. seeing that has made me realize that it is possible to keep finding joy in a community that has largely moved on without you. obviously my little blog is nowhere near the same scale, so this feels kind of silly, but i've been thinking about all the things i used to do on simblr that were never fun for me, i mainly did them because i knew they would get notes or because i felt like i had to do it. making cc, lookbooks, sim requests, reshade help (oh my god the reshade help), lot downloads, etc. they DID get notes, but i can't imagine spending my time doing any of that stuff ever again tbh.

on top of that, it makes me sad to scroll through my dash and realize that i don't recognize most of the people i see anymore. i still talk to some wonderful people here who i consider friends and that's invaluable to me (💖), but the broader community aspect is something i no longer feel a part of. and believe me, i know i'm at fault here because it's not like i'm going out of my way to talk to new people or participate in trends like i used to. i don't blame anyone except the passage of time!!

frozen pines, and simblr by extension, played such a gigantic part in my life when i needed it the most. and that's not to say that i don't still care about it, because i absolutely do, but it's a different kind of feeling. i've always promised that i would give frozen pines a satisfying conclusion rather than silently abandoning it someday, and though i do intend to keep that promise, i know it's possible that i might never get there. but i don't want to let my own insecurities get in the way of something i really enjoy doing. writing is an intrinsic piece of me that i'll never quit doing, but sharing my writing on tumblr is something that can't (and shouldn't) last forever. i know that. but i'm going to enjoy it to the fullest while we're all still here together 💞

to anyone who's still reading my silly story after all these years (especially those of you who still check in on my blog even though you're not on simblr anymore): thank you thank you thank you THANK YOUUU. you don't have to change a single thing about what you're doing. this is not me fishing for compliments or putting down an ultimatum, this is just me trying to make sense of my feelings.

but with all this being said, i've decided to quit simblr and start my own exclusive streaming service for $60 a year, i hope you'll all support me as i increase my production value 😌

(just kidding. ily. okay that's all)

[thesweetsimmer111]

Get to know you - Sims Style

Thank you to @rstarsims3 for the tag! 😊 What’s your favorite Sims death? None, I never let my sims die anymore because I get too attached to them 😂

Alpha CC or Maxis Match? I prefer Maxis Match, but I don't mind throwing in a bit of Alpha here and there.

Do you cheat your sims weight? I've only ever made one of my female sims less buff, but she proceeded to get very buff again so I just left her.

Do you move objects? Yes, but mainly just decorations and things like that.

Favorite Mod? I don't really play as much anymore, so it's hard for me to tell but I definitely cannot live without NRaas Mods and LD's Smooth Patch that's for sure.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack? Probably the first EP that I actually wanted was either Generations or Pets, because my mom already had other ones that I wasn't interested in enough to remember (definitely Late Night though, I do remember one time randomly turning one of my mom's families all into vampires when I was like 7 or 8 😂).

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing? aLIVE.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? My most favorite would be Mari Martinez, who was a gen 3 sim from my old legacy save from a couple years ago that I happened to really like. She went through a few changes though 👀 Left is how she is now and the right is her from the legacy save. The one on the bottom is her and her husband Enzo 🥰

I do love this family right above as well though, I used to play them a lot before and occasionally now 😄 Have you made a simself? I have, my profile pic is actually supposed to be me and my dalmatian dog Disney (who's passed on now). It doesn't really look like me at all though because my sim making skills are pretty bad and even the hair color is too light but you get the general look 😅 Which is your favorite EA hair color? I've always preferred brown hair, but I like any hair color.

Favorite EA hair? I like a lot of hairs, I don't know which one to choose from.

Favorite life stage? Young adult and toddler stage 😄

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? I'm actually more in it for the creation of mods hehe, but I do like to just sit and play sometimes, especially in TS2, and I do love building houses but mostly in TS2 as well because it does get a bit frustrating with TS3 and how laggy it can get with the create-a-style tool.

Are you a CC creator? I've made a few things here and there, so I guess so!

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad? I have a couple friends, there's definitely a lot of lovely people here as well and if anyone wants to be my friend I'm open to it 😊 Do you have any sims merch? Sadly, no 😔

Do you have a YouTube for sims? I did once upon a time, it was mostly just me sharing my process of creating animations but I kind of just left it. How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing? When I first started playing probably over a decade ago I just used to create couples and make them have like 5 kids, then kick the kids out when they reached adults then make the couple have more kids and the cycle pretty much never ended 😂 Then I started to play more legacies and tried challenges, but as always I got too attached to my sims and I couldn't continue them. Then I got into making mods and so here I am, I don't really actually play much anymore. Who’s your favorite CC creator? I love most of the stuff from @xiasimla, @sim-songs, @johziii, @nectar-cellar and a few others.

How long have you had Simblr? I think 2 years now? I just used to lurk around and download CC at first but then I decided I wanted to post my things here too 😄

How do you edit your pictures? Sometimes I don't edit them, but if I do I use Photoshop to enhance the vibrance and add in a bit of depth of field. Though I've finally gotten reshade to work now so I probably won't edit them anymore.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite? My favorites are Generations, Pets, Seasons, Island Paradise and Master Suite Stuff. I'm sure most people have already done this but if you haven't then I'll tag you! 😄

[sbeep]

Skyrim SE Mod List

I keep my mod list very vanilla-friendly, with a couple of exceptions such as a hairstyle mod. No body-morphing mods or glamour overhauls.

Essentials for modding:

Unofficial SSE patch

Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE)

Top Recs:

RaceMenu- character creator overhaul, allows mesh sculpting.

YOT (Your Own Thoughts), changes in game text to first-person narrative.

Alternate Start/Live Another Life- allows you to select the vanilla intro or jump into the game in other starting scenarios. I like the shipwreck one!

Ars Metallica- expands the blacksmithing and crafting systems (got this for my Tal playthroughs, no shock there)

Multiple followers framework- have a party of followers, not just one. Customisable within the game.

Aesthetic and Wardrobe:

KS Hairdos- there are a LOT in here and I only use 3 of the 900 lmao. TIP- run this one as a manual download and install, I can never get NMM to extract it properly.

Common Clothes and Armours- kitbashed (mixed and matched) gear to make new combos and clothes. 

Heavy Armoury- additional weapon types.

Environment

Happy Little Trees: improves tree quality across the map.

Post/Effects

ReShade. This can work on most games and I prefer it to ENBs because my brain is very smooth. Check out a guide if you’re new to it!

Gameplay/Questing

Beyond Skyrim: Bruma- expands the game to include Bruma, the town in Cyrodiil with a large nord diaspora and plenty of new things to do. (Also got this for Tal’s playthrough, the town where he was born).

Personal Mods

Kato, Eivør and Nedalla custom followers.

[brandinotbroke]

I was tagged by @episims 1. What’s your favourite sims death? My Sims rarely die of anything other than old age, but I think the satellite death is pretty neat.

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? I find that a mix of both gives me more freedom and helps me make my sims look more unique.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? No.

4. Do you use move objects? Yes.

5. Favorite mod? ACR, which is quite funny because I did not want to download it for so many years because I liked being in control of my sims. Now I prefer to give them some more free will, makes the game more dynamic. Moral of the story: Try some new things from time to time.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? Unleashed for The Sims 1. I feel old now.

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? I used to pronounce it as in "alive", but lately I somehow switched more to "living". I don't even know why.

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? Fun fact, but I've always prefered to play with the premades. It's not just a trend for me lol

9. Have you made a simself? Years ago but I never really played with her. As I said, I've always prefered the premades.

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? Can I mix TS3 and TS4 traits? Coward, night owl, foodie, loner, friendly.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? None of them, I use default replacements for a reason. But if I had to pick one, I think the red ones are the least terrible.

12. Favorite EA hair? They're all bad.

13. Favorite life stage? Young adults, in both TS2 and TS3.

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? I SUCK at building.

15. Are you a CC creator? If conversions count, kind of?

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? There are some people I talk to from time to time, yes.

17. What’s your favorite game? (1, 2, 3, or 4) 2 > 3 > 1 in this order. TS4 isn't even on the list.

18. Do you have any sims merch? No.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? No.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? When it comes to play style, I give my sims more freedom now than I did years ago. I embrace the chaos. When it comes to visuals, I have switched from alpha to clay hair about a year ago. I hated clay hair at first, now alpha is starting to look weird to me lol

21. What’s your Origin ID? get this FILTH off of my computer

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? This is like asking me who my favourite child is (psst, it's @platinumaspiration)

23. How long have you had a simblr? About one and a half years, I think.

24. How do you edit your pictures? For CC previews, I crop them and add some very basic shadows and slightly tweak the saturation if necessary. I don't do much though, ReShade does most of the work. I don't do anything with gameplay screenshots other than cropping.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? Ngl, it would be kind of funny if EA finally added a funeral party to TS4 to officially kill the game off and release TS5.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? For Sims 2 and 3, I honestly can't tell you, they all have something great about them. For TS4... whichever added San Myshuno, I guess?

I tag @horusmenhosetix, @platinumaspiration and @kestrelteens. Feel free to ignore.

[nonsensical-pixels]

The Sim Tag 💚✨

i got tagged by @profesionalpartyguest and @cobycobsy2k! ty mm besties 💘

What’s your favourite sims death? -> death by cowplant. iconic.

Alpha CC or Maxis Match? -> rn i'm gravitating towards maxis match, but i've done both styles and they're both fun to play with!

Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? -> hell nah. let them live their pixel lives.

Do you use move objects? -> 24/7

Favorite mod? -> @bstu's edited gussy up. i just use it constantly, it's a must have. cba to actually send my sims to the store for clothing or wait for gussy up to go through every single menu when i just want to grab a wedding dress.

First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? -> ts3... on android. my granddad got it for me when i was ~5. ts4 pales in comparison to that grainy goodness.

Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? -> aLIVE MODE

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? -> my profile pic sim! her name's lili. rarely use her anymore now that i've switched to true mm but that whole gang of toddlers are just so cute to me.

Have you made a simself? -> gigantoborkodoggo and me are living the high life

What sim traits do you give yourself? -> bookworm, geek, dog lover, shy, socially awkward

Which is your favorite EA hair color? -> the maxis red in ts2 (especially on nina's default hair) is just superior

Favorite EA hair? -> it's hard to decide butttt i do love a lot of the mansions & gardens hairs. especially for men.

Favorite life stage? -> toddlers in ts2. they're chaotic but i love them sm.

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? -> im bothhh.

Are you a CC creator? -> (checks my 10-page-long downloads blog) maybe?

Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? -> a ton!! there's so many sweet people on here.

What’s your favorite game? -> ts2 foreva

Do you have any sims merch? -> i have one (1) shirt with a plumbbob that i'm too big for.

Do you have a YouTube for sims? -> i have an account for commenting on sims videos but otherwiseeee nope.

How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? -> i used to just throw in every single piece of cc i downloaded and hope for the best. at one point in my main pleasantview i had poppet, pooklet, remi, sunshine, and hard mm hairs... all thrown in at once. nowadays i stick to one style per game folder.

What’s your Origin ID? -> nonexistent

Who’s your favorite CC creator? -> there's too many to count aaaaaaa. love everyone on here and all my mutuals, you guys make HAWT cc 💖

How long have you had a simblr? -> a year and 3 months

How do you edit your pictures? -> most of the time i don't edit them at all! reshade is more than enough for me.

What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? -> i want a south-east asian inspired pack for ts4!! like i won't BUY it but my culture's rarely represented in the sims and i'd LOVE to convert that pack for ts2.

tagging my simscord besties @skittlesplays | @sunise | @oceansmotion | @makingformyonesimmer | @brattyful | @time-p1ays | @lunnaris-sims | @antoninko | @roxanna-moxie and everyone else who wants to do this! (pls don't feel too obliged to do it!! love u guys <3)

[mdmszee]

SIMS GET TO KNOW TAG 🙈💭

ahhh thank you so much for tagging me @weindenburg !! love answering questions like these :)

1. What’s your favorite sims death? death by being hysterical bc that’s the best way to die haha

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? i am very much a maxis-match girly! no shade to alpha cc, just not my style :P

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? nooo, not at all, i want the game to be as realistic as possible!

4. Do you use move objects? yes! building without it is a legit nightmare

5. Favorite mod? i can’t choose just one but my top three favorites are UI Cheats, More CAS Presets and anything from twistedmexi!

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? wasn’t too long but I got the cats and dogs expansion pack bc i was so hesitant to make all my sims have pets hehe

7. Do you pronounce "live mode" like aLIVE or Living? LIVing

8. Who's your favorite sim that you've made? so far, it’s the lovely Mona Kaiser! idk but it’s like she came out exactly how I pictured + literally every outfit goes on her perfectly she’s just so ahhhh 🤭

9. Have you made a simself? yes I did! and I’m really happy with how she came out and I’m starting an LP on her :)

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? clumsy, socially awkward, loyal

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? it’s gotta be either the third brown color swatch or the last blonde swatch that looks like a light blonde!

12. Favorite EA hair? i don’t have all the expansion packs yet + I mostly use cc hairs 😗

13. Favorite life stage? INFANTS AND YOUNG ADULT >> but tbh as long as I have the long lifespan setting on, I enjoy all of them bc I accomplish so much more stuff

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? 10000% in it for the gameplay! I suck at building so I’ll download anything from the gallery + edit it as quick as I can so I can jump back into the game!

15. Are you a CC creator? nope but I love supporting them ! <3

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? I’d like to think I have a few, yeah! I’m a newbie on here so I’m making my way as I go + I’d love to connect with more simblrs!

17. What's your favorite game? sims 4 hands down

18. Do you have any sims merch? nope!

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? not yet but I’m thinking of starting pretty soon sooo 👀

20. How has your "sim style" changed throughout your months/years of playing? it’s gone from completely vanilla to obsessed maxis-match connoisseur

21. What's your Origin ID? mdmszee 🪴🫶🏾

22. Who's your favorite CC creator? can’t choose one, but here’s a few: @dogsill @aharris00britney @christopher067 @imvikai @greenllamas @simstrouble @nucrests @softerhaze @clumsyalienn @oakiyo @okruee and a bunch more that I can’t remember rn but anyone who makes maxis-match cc has my heart >>

23. How long have you had a simblr? since February! I’m not new to sims, I’ve known + played the game since 2013 💀

24. How do you edit your pictures? sadly I don’t edit pics yet but I’ll probably end up using photoshop just to tweak some things bc reshade carries most of it

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack is your favorite so far? growing together, cottage living, seasons, snowy escape, island living, parenthood, spa day and outdoor living :)

26. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? all of the ones I listed up there ^^ but in terms of what I want from the sims team - an expansion pack centered around kids bc they’ve been neglected for sooo long

I had a great time answering these questions! I’ll definitely do an updated version for some of the questions on here if I’m up for it 👀..

I’ll tag @d4isy-nukes , @edenella , @towniediaries and anyone who wants to participate! <3

[chuubachelor]

I love these tags!! One of my favorite simblr (@profesionalpartyguest) tagged me on this one 💖 Anyone always feel free to tag me on those because I love it.

1. What’s your favourite sims death? Cowplant! On my current uberhood Olive is growing her garden with her new pet Cowplant that also grants her to live forever (since she drinks their life essence)!

2. Alpha CC or Maxis Match? Maxis Match all the way, always and forever.

3. Do you cheat when your sims gain weight? I'm gonna be honest, I don't cheat but I don't like the Sims 2 fat body type, it doesn't represent a fat person imo. Any other sim game is better regarding this.

4. Do you use move objects? I do, but I'm more of a functional player, I want every animation and routing to be perfect, so I avoid using it every time.

5. Favorite mod? New Lifetime Wishes, ACR (gotta try this edit version!), Community Time Mod and Monique's Hacked Computer.

6. First expansion/game/stuff pack you got? Here in Brazil, especially back in the day, you would find pirated Sims games more often than originals. It wasn't different for me! I got Sims 1 Pets because I was an animal lover gal 💖

7. Do you pronounce “live mode” like aLIVE or LIVing? Didn't even knew there was a different way to say it other than aLIVE

8. Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made? I don't like creating Sims on Sims 2 very much, but I love to create myself and set it as a random townie on my hoods. :)

9. Have you made a simself? When I used to play Sims 4 more often I used to, a lot! On Sims 2 I'd say I'm a very FaceType 01 or 02 girlie, no fun face very standard. I'm often said irl I do look like a Sim, which is funny to me (because I agree).

10. What sim traits do you give yourself? Creative, Cat Lover, Kleptomaniac (sorry I like to steal from big corporations), Loner and Eccentric.

11. Which is your favorite EA hair color? I love them all, but I'm a simp for black hair.

12. Favorite EA hair? female: updoo and male: caesar

13. Favorite Life Stage? Adult

14. Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay? Mostly gameplay, but sometimes I get the itches to build (mostly decorate).

15. Are you a CC creator? No, but since I'm a designer I'd love to try some wall decor, paintings or even clothing CC.

16. Do you have any simblr friends/a sim squad? I have some mutuals, but not many! I like everyone here and would love to make friends, but my shout-out goes to @shitysimp who always likes my posts and is a sweetheart 💖

17. What’s your favorite game? The Sims 2, I like the other ones but The Sims 2 represents a very special time in my life.

18. Do you have any sims merch? No I don't, but I feel like buying some wall decor in the future, maybe just the promo image of Sims 2.

19. Do you have a YouTube for sims? I do but it's abandoned, I was creating a NSBC for Sims 4 but got bored and left the game to play Sims 2.

22. Who’s your favorite CC creator? @platinumaspiration @profesionalpartyguest @sammysundog @microscotch and many others many many others, you guys are amazing! From Sims 4 i love @clumsyalienn.

20. How has your “sim style” changed throughout your years of playing? A lot, I've been playing this game since 2002, I believe. I try to stay out of downloading a bunch of things since it kinda makes the game laggy and me not likey laggey gamey.

21. What’s your Origin ID? I don't play Sims 4 anymore.

23. How long have you had a simblr? A few months.

24. How do you edit your pictures? Photoshop, but mostly I only use the reshaders in the game and am ok with how it looks.

25. What expansion/game/stuff pack do you want next? I want Sims 4 to continue launching many packs so my favorite CC creators for Sims 2 convert them 💖

i'm tagging @shitysimp @gaypleasantview @budgieflitter @simm-mouse

[oceanfromthesims]

☘ introducing the main characters ☘

meet holland and her grandma lucille. holland grew up on lucille’s farm in newcrest, but after her father got a great job opportunity and her mom got pregnant. together they left lucille and the farm to move to san myshuno. 

holland felt good in san myshuno. she loved the city life, her friends and the romances, but in her heart she always missed the farm life and being with her grandma. lucille would cook with her, show her how to raise chickens and where to find rabbits.

recently the family got the news that lucille is getting more and more sick. she is in constant back pain and just cannot handle the farm on her own. the only option was to sell the farm and get lucille to move to san myshuno as well, but holland didn’t like that at all. they just can’t sell the farm where she had so many wonderful childhood memories. so she decided to transfer to the high school in newcrest, pack all her things and move back to the farm. her parents didn’t like that idea at first but in the end they supported her. 

now holland is living at the farm again. and she is happy. does she miss her family and friends? yes. but she is ready to make new memories and meet new people. she is an introvert so that might not be too easy for her but she will try her best. 

Hey guys, thank you so much for reading this and showing interest in this story. I am so glad that I found my way back to Simblr. When I did my Legacy Challenge last year and the Story I had fun but after some time I felt pressured that I had to do amazing screenshots, crazy edits and felt insecure from looking at all the amazing pictures here. But that took away the fun for me and I stopped playing Sims. 

Because of a friend I just got back into playing Sims and I am in love again. But this time I want to do it differently. I won’t thrive for perfection. I know I am not the best at taking screenshots or editing them. I also don’t know how to use Photoshop and I can’t install ReShade on my Mac. I asked my boyfriend for a picture editing app and that’s (VSCO and Snapseed) what I will use. 

The story that I am playing right now is a weird mix between a Legacy Challenge and some rotational gameplay, because that is something I always wanted to do. But it can change in the future. I just want to have fun.

Last thing, some of the Sims are from the gallery or downloaded from various Sim Dumps. I will try my best to tag the creators, because without them I wouldn’t have so much fun playing this game. But sadly I don’t always write them down or forget who created them. If you see your Sim or CC here let me know, I will tag you. If you don’t like me using your CC or Sims for my gameplay let me know as well. But I hope that won’t happen :)

That was a lot of information. I am glad to be back and I cannot wait to follow some more people here and check our your creations, gameplays and edits.

♡

[madeofcc]

December talk and update ... (This is pretty long)

Hey everyone and welcome to all my new followers :)

December is starting, as well as holydays vibes, and I just wanted to share some news as I like to do once in a while ... First of all, I hope that you’re all okay and feeling well these days and if not, I’m sending you all the good karma that I can to make you feel better ! This time of the year can be pretty hard for a lot of us but know that you’re not alone and always feel free to contact whenever you need.

About my life, nothing special to be honest, except that I’m super happy for Elliot Page that I’ve followed for years and will probably follow ‘til the end of time . I’ve been playing the sims recently in order to see what the sentiments bring and I was as happy as disapointed to discover that I like this new gameplay addition but I am also super tired to actually pay for a game that get’s impossible to play fully without any glitches ... When I think about the price that I already pay (even if I don’t have a lot of pack and I bought them on sale), it’s certainly the most expensive game I have ever play with and also one of the most broken one ... So now I just need some space to download the all stuff ... I guess this will be very helpfull for the future of Destiny Harbour (especially if I get DU and Strangerville) ... Also, as you may have noticed I’m still enjoying a lot The Last of Us part 2 (that I enjoy way more than the sims, mainly because of the glitches that aren’t there to ruin the fun) I got it last month and I’m doing it for the third time. I could debate for hours about this game but I will not unless someone wants to share some thoughts about it :)  

About Destiny Harbour, I took the screenshots I need for the first chapters of part 2 of season 1. This new part should  include 5 episodes, and here’s the plot :

3 months after the previous events, Spring is bringing nature back to life, as well as feelings and sunshine ! Romance is starting at Brindleton Bay ! Or could it be hate ? While some will play with the devil, some will get lost on a dangerous investigation and others will ... die ... And in the middle of that, Destiny, who has to pass this final exam ! Will this be finally the end or a beginning ? 

So ?? Excited ??? I hope so because I’ve decided to change to way I post the chapters. If you’re a diligent reader, you might have noticed that I posted DH chapters during the weekend and below the cut. Well, I decided to change things a bit in order to work better on the story I guess. Now the chapters will come when they’ll come, which can be any day but I will try my best to not post daily and ruin your dash (or should I ? :P) . I also changed the reshade preset I used previously and the transition will appear between new chapters coming very soon. The story will be posted also differently, not below the cut when it’s not a violent scene. For those, I will post it as before, below the cute with triggers warnings. I hope it’s not too much, always feel free to comment or DM me if you have thoughts about that or just want to say hi and interract even :)

Thank you so so much to follow me, again, I hope you’re well and I’m here if you feel lonely. Take very good care of you little ghosts :)

[callsignbaphomet]

I'm embracing my inner FromSoft sweaty and downloaded two mods that make TTW a little harder. I have the difficulty set to normal and I've died more times than I care to admit. I downloaded Bleed and added the Roy/Sawyer mod on top of it. I've never seen Muties eat that many bullets before in my life, holy fuck. I'm still working on Moira's book, currently in chapter 4, but took a detour to do Blood Ties. It's a neat experience, I love all the changes TTW brings to the table which are complimented by those two mods.

I've been wanting to do some difficult runs in Skyrim and in Fallout 4 as well so I'm setting up a profile in MO2 for FO4 to do just that. Apparently Horizon is the mod for that kind of playthrough. I was rewatching some old EpicNate videos the other day and the video pretty much covered difficult creatures in FO4 and it just got my mouth watering with a potential for getting my ass kicked in a Fallout game. Granted I always said TES and modern FO games can be a hell of a challenge in high difficulties and yes, even to the levels of SF games. Yes, this is a hill I'm proudly willing to die on. I got a taste of it several years ago in Skyrim but I wasn't in that mindset at that time. Getting one shotted by a wolf wasn't on my to do list at that time. Now? I got a hard on just thinking about it. On top of that I have the Modern Firearms mod which is a mod I refuse to not have on any FO4 modlist for a lot of reasons but mainly because vanilla weapons are gross af but y’all have already heard me complain about that too much already. What that mod does as well is also increase the difficulty because it ain’t just YOU running around with those guns, named enemies and more powerful enemies on a normal difficulty can and will one shot you before you even know they’re aiming at you.

Anyway, I especially look forward to the Far Harbor DLC in this setting cuz two of the most messed up creatures in the entire game is in there, a little hard to come across but I’m gonna hunt them down so help me. Modding is gonna take a while because Horizon doesn’t jive with a lot of mods that I normally use so I gotta either leave ‘em out, find a work around or find a patch. Might take a while. Oh! And I’m super hype to try out Reshade because I always used ENBs but since I played...The Division I think...I’ve been using Reshade and it’s a lot better than ENBs especially setting it up. I have a few I wanna check.

[nikashepard]

2.5D zDepth Animations Tutorial

Due to the popularity of this post, I decided to write a simple tutorial for whoever wants to try the same thing with their favorite game. This method will work with every title that supports ReShade and Depth Buffer (and pretty much every static image you want to animate).

What is ReShade?

It’s more or less a mod that alters the original graphics, adding in more effects (like lens flare), different tones and fixing bad looking edges.

What is the 2.5D/Parallax effect?

2.5D is a method used by many editors to animate a completely still picture, from simple sceneries to characters. This creates a sort of 3D depth on your pictures, used a few times by many professionals to bring famous paintings and advertisements to life.

Note: This tutorial is mostly about scenery animation faking a camera movement and adding in a 3D space between layers. For the Parallax animation on characters I’ll write a separate guide.

What you need:

• The game (duh) (in this case I’ll use Assassin’s Creed Syndicate as example) • ReShade (I find myself more comfortable with a previous version, because I somehow cannot achieve the same results with ReShade 3+ at the moment. This should easily work with the latest version too, but for any problem or if you want to follow the guide better, grab ReShade 2.0.4f from here) • An editing program like Adobe Photoshop, anything that allows you to separate parts on layers and fill empty areas. • Adobe After Effects

A basic editing knowledge is required, along with a good understanding regarding Adobe programs in general. If you make graphics and gifs you’re already a step ahead, but you actually don’t need to be familiar with AE to do the animation.

The tutorial will include four parts:

1) In-game screenshot w/ Depth activated 2) Editing/preparation for AE 3) Compositing 4) Animating

Part 1: In-game Screenshot with Depth Buffer

1) If you are using ReShade 3+ you can follow this tutorial regarding its installation, otherwise copy the ReShade folder, ReShade.fx and ReShade64.dll (or ReShade32.dll if the game is 32bit) into the main game path (where the exe is, so to speak), then rename ReShade64/32.dll as dxgi.dll.

2) With ReShade 2 go to ReShade directory > Presets > Default and drag Shaders_by_CeeJay.cfg into Notepad, then scroll down to the very last line where you see a shader called DisplayDepth. Next to #define USE_DisplayDepth change the value from 0 to 1. With ReShade 3 press Shift+F2 and look for the same name, if you properly downloaded it along with the other shaders of choice it will most likely be already activated. It is highly recommended to set a hotkey for this effect so that you can easily turn it on and off in game (for example, #define Depth_ToggleKey VK_F12). 

3) Open Pipeline.cfg and look for the line #include EFFECT(CeeJay, DisplayDepth). Select it, cut it away and then paste it to the very top before any other shader listed. This will allow you to obtain smooth shapes instead of jagged edges (you should also play around with AA options, specifically SMAA and/or FXAA, both included in CeeJay.cfg). Sadly I’m not sure how the setup works in ReShade 3+.

4) Now that your options are properly set you can start the game. Find an area you like and want to shoot, then press F12 (or any other key you chose for it). If the game has a photo mode or custom made free camera tools, you should totally use those for the best results. You can check this post for a few listed titles and all their respective links.

ReShade allows you to automatically store your screenshots directly into the game’s folder by simply pressing the print screen key. This is how the scene looks normally, without UI and with the free camera activated.

This is what happens when you turn DepthBuffer on.

Note: If all you get with Depth is a fully white or black screen, chances are you need to “reset” by simply entering the fullscreen mode (and switch back to borderless/windowed if that is what you usually like playing with). ReShade usually reloads whenever you apply a modification to the settings, but if even after this the effect doesn’t show up it probably means the game has no DepthBuffer support (or there is some incompatibility somewhere, which may be related to other shaders).

Part 2: Editing

1) Grab your depth screenshot and open it with your editing program of choice, I use Photoshop. In order to animate this, you have to create different layers (renaming them for an easier use in AE, but that is up to you) being sure each hole is covered, or else the empty part will definitely show up in your animation.

2) Make a selection around the areas you want to separate, I’m starting with what is close to the “camera”. Try to be as precise as possible to keep most of the details, especially around the character. Once you’re satisfied with your selection press CTRL+X to cut it out and then paste it into the same position, a new layer for it will be automatically created.

3) If you hide the layer you’ve just made, you will obviously notice an empty shape on the background right where you cut it. The easiest way to fill that properly is by selecting the layer (CTRL+LMB on it), inverting selection and going to Modify > Fill > Content-Aware.

As you can see the empty area has been filled completely, but a few fixes are required. You can use the clone stamp tool or the healing brush, in this case I choose the latter because it makes the process quicker.

It can be a bit tedious in some places... especially if there are a lot of buildings or trees, depending on your scene. Photoshop covered the outline using the existing content to generate the missing parts as I dragged the brush over it, but you may want to use the clone tool as well and even draw here and there where the brush failed.

Repeat the process for all the other layers you want to separate and then rename everything to know what you’re gonna edit in AE (again, this is optional). You can also make the back layer bigger to hide imperfections behind the other layers, which won’t be too visible while animating. Further edits will be done in AE later anyway.

Part 3: Compositing

1) Save the PSD file and load Afer Effects. I’m currently using the CC 2015 one, but even if you have an older version this method will work without problems.

Go to File > Import > File and select your PSD. 

Be sure the importer is set on Composition and Editable Layer Styles is checked, this is essential if you want to work on each layer.

2) Double-click on the left to preview the PSD and convert every single layer into 3D. To do so simply check the third square on the right, under the cube icon:

Now we need to add a Camera. Go to Layer > New > Camera and leave the options untouched (the default configuration should be okay for this).

3) Right under your preview you should see a button called Active Camera. Switch to Custom View 1 to move the layers and create depth between them.

All you have to do is select each layer in the lower panel and move it using the blue arrow (z direction) to push it backward or forward. Use the order you’ve got as reference for the best result, then change the view to Active Camera again when you’re done.

4) Now that you have changed the original positions you need to fix their size to fit the composition. Select all layers at once, press S and activate the little watch icon that appears followed by the effect name (Scale). You will see three values then; place your mouse over the 100,0% one and drag it to the right or left in order to resize the layer(s). Use the directional arrows to also move them up or down eventually.

The stopwatch is absolutely fundamental, because it tells where to place each frame in the timeline. Whenever you apply an effect or any modification you need to be sure it’s recorded at the very start, this way it will affect the entire sequence and you won’t risk to only see it taking action in a few frames later instead.

5) You can move the upper bars in your timeline to change the final time. A few seconds for this kind of animations will suffice, I always set it around 4s.

Part 4: Animating

1) Now we can finally animate, woo!!

It is highly recommended to make all the planes bigger than the composition, so that you can move them around without risking to get empty spaces. In this case we want to fake a camera movement with a sort of 3D perspective, like the gifs I’ve posted in that photoset.

Let’s start from the first layer. Click on it and press P (position) to store the current location on the first frame, then move the time indicator at the end of your sequence. I want the main layer to slide horizontally, thus I will move the red arrow on X axes.

As soon as your first animation is stored, another frame will be generated at the end of the timeline. After Effects automatically creates all the frames between the first and the last one, if you are happy with it select the second layer and do the same, then the third and repeat. You can also use the R (rotation) key to add more realism. Remember to ALWAYS check the stopwatch on frame 1 before doing anything else.

You can preview the animation with space bar, the rendering times change according to the amount of virtual memory installed on your PC.

For a nice camera shake you can follow this tutorial.

2) Once you’re happy with your animation you’re ready to export it. You can pick a simple video option, but that usually requires a second rendering in Sony Vegas or any other program for video editing to fix the bad-looking fps drop. I suggest you to export in frames instead, especially if you plan to make gifs. Go to Composition > Add to Render Queue, a new panel will appear on the bottom. Click on Lossless and pick PNG Sequence next to Format, then on Not yet specified (output to) and select a destination on your computer. Press Render, wait and it’s done! Again, the rendering times will highly depend on your RAM and composition size. The bigger, the slower; if you play in 4k you should reduce the screenshot size to a common 1920x1080 at least, even smaller after that for the final gif (tumblr has a 3MB limit).

Result:

Questions? Send me a note!