Sunday Picspam
Jan. 11th, 2009 04:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orikesHey look! It's Sunday Picspam on a Sunday. That's a first, isn't it?
With the holidays over, I finally had a weekend to myself. Friday gaming was canceled due to colds and flu-like symptoms. I still went out to dinner with some friends and played a bit of Wii at one of their houses. Beyond that, most of the weekend was spent either taking down and packing up Christmas decorations or simming.
This was the first time I'd actually had a chance to PLAY in the new neighborhood. I'd obviously done lots of work getting things set up and I'd staged several scenes in the new 'hood, but for the most part, I hadn't just played.
Oz was quite pleased to actually be played since this meant he got to learn all his toddler skills. Again.
Spoilerish because Ian is, y'know… SMOKIN'.
Literally.
Before I could play, I needed to get the various pets set back up in their houses. I wasn't going to need them for any of the staged scenes for 4.9, so I put off getting them back in the various houses. Since I do have some playing to do for 4.10, I wanted to make sure the furry family members were all set up. This meant a tour of several houses. Ian had been visiting the Turners before I made him a vampire and I forgot he'd still be there. It took him a little to realize he was about to burst into flames, but eventually self preservation kicked in and he fled home.
(You'll also notice he is AGAIN suffering from flashing blue teeth. It's chronic for him.)
Over at the Thayer house, Ophelia was proving that she didn't really hate kids. Either that or she was trying to fling him into the side of the house. She does, at least, prove that a woman with skill like hers can do ANYTHING in heels.
(No Noahs were harmed in the making of this picture.)
One of the more interesting things I saw while shooting was a jogging zombie. It almost felt cruel watching Heather lurch on past the Turner house. She was dressed in exercise gear and she was obviously moving from point A to B, but I don't think even a generous description could call her locomotion jogging. Lurching, yes. Jogging, no.
Did you know that guests can greet walk-bys?
As with Ian, I'd summoned Brody to the lot when I was getting things set up to establish his relationship to Micah and the rest of the house. While I was watching Heather lurch on by, he ran out of the house and immediately started flirting with her. After that, they went off to the hot tub for some alone time. I really do need to get them their own hot tub.
Did you know that cats approve of 70's vintage Mustangs?
I wish there was a way to get Droop as a kitten again. I realized I wanted to include some of his kitten pictures in the next update, but I don't have any of him interacting with Miranda, just Dean. Unfortunately, I don't know how to de-age a cat. I'll make do, but it's still a little frustrating. Yet another instance of me not getting the pictures I needed when I should have.
Now, I bring you an interlude with Buttercup, Pomeranian Extraordinaire...
"We meet again, human."
"It seems that way, doesn't it, small canine." Dagmar looked down her nose at the little dog with a big personality. "Things are different this time, though."
"How do you mean?"
"It means that this incarnation of me is no longer afraid of small dogs." Bending down, Dagmar stroked the top of Buttercup's head, "Aw, isn't she a cute widdle puppums."
"Grrr."
"Oh, and even her growl is cute!"
"You haven't heard the last of this, mail carrier!"
"Oh, I think we have, dog. I'll see you again a couple of days. Maybe I'll bring you a doggie treat next time."
"A treat!?" Buttercup's tail started wagging before she suddenly remembered, "Curse you Dagmar Bertino!"
BALIN IS BACK!
I know that Balin is a pretty common name for the Leader of the Pack, but I wasn't 100% certain my new one would have that name. Luckily he spawned with the right name. I think he may also have the mismatched eyes that Balin had. It's a little hard to tell under the glowing yellow.
One of the primary reasons for me to play the Legacina house is to get the third baby born. This was the second baby bump, so the next time I play, I should have the last baby of the generation (unless someone throws me a really unexpected lullaby).
Lea, I also wanted to say thank you for these nighties. I was delighted to see that they have a preg morph with them. Shelby was also grateful because at least this preg morph doesn't make her look like she's carrying a baby elephant.
I love the idea behind the preg morphs that have been created for most Maxis outfits, but I do wish they weren't quite so BIG. I know the creator did that deliberately since they felt the default baby bumps were too small, but… blah. Ah well, beggars can't be choosers.
One of the other things I did while I had a chance to play was to start getting some of Matthew's businesses set up again. The main house is only going to own the furniture store and the clothing store, but I do want to get them back up to ten again. Partially because I got them there to begin with, I want them there again, dammit. Also because I wanted to get Matthew the business perks again. I did give him his badges, though, since I didn't want to start completely from scratch.
One additional reason that I wanted to do this is that he and Persephone are not permaplat. Persephone wasn't permaplat in the old hood because she still needed that sixth grandchild. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get that LTW to roll up for her. I think this is possibly because I already set her secondary aspiration of popularity. So, instead, I'm trying to get her 20 best friends. Matthew is working on earning $100k. Hence, getting the business started up again.
Man is it mind numbing to work on the businesses again. It renewed my vow that anyone who rolls Top 5 Businesses gets an immediate re-roll. Even with 'Business Runs You' from MATY, it still sucks donkey dookie.
Interestingly, the store was continuously visited by the witches. I never caught if they were on the lot at the same time, and neither bought anything (despite Matthew's best attempts at getting them to browse), but they did show up. The good witch did that sunlight thingy while the evil witch caused it to start thundering and lightning. Well, at least I think she did. There was a crack of lightning, her cackling, and then it was storming. It could have been coincidence.
My other goal for playing last night was to get Louise into private school. As I said to Marina, I was hoping to get Vince. Instead, we got Korey. I'm not really a fan of Korey, but he gets the job done. Lou got in easily. Persephone got them 20 points just for greeting Korey while they got 40 points for the tour and 50something for the stuffed rainbow trout. Bigfeet are definitely good for some things.
Speaking of Bigfeet, they're also very good for hugs.
Lou kept rolling me wants I couldn't fulfill right away or at all (sorry, Buttercup is enough pet for any one household, no matter how small she is). The only want of hers I could fulfill was the 'Receive Bigfoot Hug'. Steve was happy to oblige, even he was exhausted from me making use of his badges (the house now has a water wiggler, a jack-in-the-box, and several snapdragons).
Oz completely approves of the jack-in-the-box.
I also got my first haunting of the new hood during playing. Taylor looks a little peeved. I'd be peeved too if I had to die once in the old hood and then twice in the new one. Luckily for everyone, he stayed in the mausoleum and didn't really venture out. I'm hoping it stays that way for a while with the ghosts, but I imagine someone will find thier way into the new house eventually.
The other project I worked on this weekend was mostly a distraction. Jenn (Ndainye) had mentioned she had extracted some of the Life Stories houses for her hood. I was curious about them, so I got my hands on them and gave them a look over. They're all very cute, even if the lots are a little too small. I believe most of them are 3x2 which means small but playable house and no yard.
This gave me an excuse to play with the Lot Adjuster from MTS2. I am happy to say it works as advertised and now all those houses are on 3x3 lots, giving me room to expand and have a back yard. A couple I made 3x4 for a little extra room. I'm currently still fussing with about six of them, seeing if I can get the lot edges flattened so I can place them directly against another lot.
I also experimented with new eyes this weekend. I didn't keep them in, but it was interesting to give them a look over. These are the Easy/Lucky/Free set which is a default version of Phobia's modified version of Sarhra's eyes. Yeah, that confused me too.
Basically, they're a default replacement set of eyes that have been set up to work with the more cartoony animations. This is something I'm keenly interested in, because while I like my eyes, I'm tired of some of the more overly expressive eye animations looking weird.
Unfortunately, I really wasn't quite happy with them. The colors are just a little off from the eyes I'm using now. While I'd like a darker brown, the dark blue and light blue just didn't feel right for me. (Oz has the same eyes as Elijah, so you can compare his first pic with this pic of Elijah to see what I mean).
My original plan was to see if I could take my current eyes and edit them onto a less shaded 'white' background, much like these eyes. I may still see if I can do that.
If you're looking for a good default replacement set, these eyes are definitely worth looking at, though. They're not as flat as standard Maxis Match, but they do work with the cartoony animations.
And that's it. I'll leave you with a picture showing that Oz is following in his father's footsteps. *sniff* Like father, like son.
Not to mention that he's just friggin adorable. I know the nose is going to be huge when he's an adult, but he'll always be my baby. :)
With the holidays over, I finally had a weekend to myself. Friday gaming was canceled due to colds and flu-like symptoms. I still went out to dinner with some friends and played a bit of Wii at one of their houses. Beyond that, most of the weekend was spent either taking down and packing up Christmas decorations or simming.
This was the first time I'd actually had a chance to PLAY in the new neighborhood. I'd obviously done lots of work getting things set up and I'd staged several scenes in the new 'hood, but for the most part, I hadn't just played.
Oz was quite pleased to actually be played since this meant he got to learn all his toddler skills. Again.
Spoilerish because Ian is, y'know… SMOKIN'.
Literally.
Before I could play, I needed to get the various pets set back up in their houses. I wasn't going to need them for any of the staged scenes for 4.9, so I put off getting them back in the various houses. Since I do have some playing to do for 4.10, I wanted to make sure the furry family members were all set up. This meant a tour of several houses. Ian had been visiting the Turners before I made him a vampire and I forgot he'd still be there. It took him a little to realize he was about to burst into flames, but eventually self preservation kicked in and he fled home.
(You'll also notice he is AGAIN suffering from flashing blue teeth. It's chronic for him.)
Over at the Thayer house, Ophelia was proving that she didn't really hate kids. Either that or she was trying to fling him into the side of the house. She does, at least, prove that a woman with skill like hers can do ANYTHING in heels.
(No Noahs were harmed in the making of this picture.)
One of the more interesting things I saw while shooting was a jogging zombie. It almost felt cruel watching Heather lurch on past the Turner house. She was dressed in exercise gear and she was obviously moving from point A to B, but I don't think even a generous description could call her locomotion jogging. Lurching, yes. Jogging, no.
Did you know that guests can greet walk-bys?
As with Ian, I'd summoned Brody to the lot when I was getting things set up to establish his relationship to Micah and the rest of the house. While I was watching Heather lurch on by, he ran out of the house and immediately started flirting with her. After that, they went off to the hot tub for some alone time. I really do need to get them their own hot tub.
Did you know that cats approve of 70's vintage Mustangs?
I wish there was a way to get Droop as a kitten again. I realized I wanted to include some of his kitten pictures in the next update, but I don't have any of him interacting with Miranda, just Dean. Unfortunately, I don't know how to de-age a cat. I'll make do, but it's still a little frustrating. Yet another instance of me not getting the pictures I needed when I should have.
Now, I bring you an interlude with Buttercup, Pomeranian Extraordinaire...
"We meet again, human."
"It seems that way, doesn't it, small canine." Dagmar looked down her nose at the little dog with a big personality. "Things are different this time, though."
"How do you mean?"
"It means that this incarnation of me is no longer afraid of small dogs." Bending down, Dagmar stroked the top of Buttercup's head, "Aw, isn't she a cute widdle puppums."
"Grrr."
"Oh, and even her growl is cute!"
"You haven't heard the last of this, mail carrier!"
"Oh, I think we have, dog. I'll see you again a couple of days. Maybe I'll bring you a doggie treat next time."
"A treat!?" Buttercup's tail started wagging before she suddenly remembered, "Curse you Dagmar Bertino!"
BALIN IS BACK!
I know that Balin is a pretty common name for the Leader of the Pack, but I wasn't 100% certain my new one would have that name. Luckily he spawned with the right name. I think he may also have the mismatched eyes that Balin had. It's a little hard to tell under the glowing yellow.
One of the primary reasons for me to play the Legacina house is to get the third baby born. This was the second baby bump, so the next time I play, I should have the last baby of the generation (unless someone throws me a really unexpected lullaby).
Lea, I also wanted to say thank you for these nighties. I was delighted to see that they have a preg morph with them. Shelby was also grateful because at least this preg morph doesn't make her look like she's carrying a baby elephant.
I love the idea behind the preg morphs that have been created for most Maxis outfits, but I do wish they weren't quite so BIG. I know the creator did that deliberately since they felt the default baby bumps were too small, but… blah. Ah well, beggars can't be choosers.
One of the other things I did while I had a chance to play was to start getting some of Matthew's businesses set up again. The main house is only going to own the furniture store and the clothing store, but I do want to get them back up to ten again. Partially because I got them there to begin with, I want them there again, dammit. Also because I wanted to get Matthew the business perks again. I did give him his badges, though, since I didn't want to start completely from scratch.
One additional reason that I wanted to do this is that he and Persephone are not permaplat. Persephone wasn't permaplat in the old hood because she still needed that sixth grandchild. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get that LTW to roll up for her. I think this is possibly because I already set her secondary aspiration of popularity. So, instead, I'm trying to get her 20 best friends. Matthew is working on earning $100k. Hence, getting the business started up again.
Man is it mind numbing to work on the businesses again. It renewed my vow that anyone who rolls Top 5 Businesses gets an immediate re-roll. Even with 'Business Runs You' from MATY, it still sucks donkey dookie.
Interestingly, the store was continuously visited by the witches. I never caught if they were on the lot at the same time, and neither bought anything (despite Matthew's best attempts at getting them to browse), but they did show up. The good witch did that sunlight thingy while the evil witch caused it to start thundering and lightning. Well, at least I think she did. There was a crack of lightning, her cackling, and then it was storming. It could have been coincidence.
My other goal for playing last night was to get Louise into private school. As I said to Marina, I was hoping to get Vince. Instead, we got Korey. I'm not really a fan of Korey, but he gets the job done. Lou got in easily. Persephone got them 20 points just for greeting Korey while they got 40 points for the tour and 50something for the stuffed rainbow trout. Bigfeet are definitely good for some things.
Speaking of Bigfeet, they're also very good for hugs.
Lou kept rolling me wants I couldn't fulfill right away or at all (sorry, Buttercup is enough pet for any one household, no matter how small she is). The only want of hers I could fulfill was the 'Receive Bigfoot Hug'. Steve was happy to oblige, even he was exhausted from me making use of his badges (the house now has a water wiggler, a jack-in-the-box, and several snapdragons).
Oz completely approves of the jack-in-the-box.
I also got my first haunting of the new hood during playing. Taylor looks a little peeved. I'd be peeved too if I had to die once in the old hood and then twice in the new one. Luckily for everyone, he stayed in the mausoleum and didn't really venture out. I'm hoping it stays that way for a while with the ghosts, but I imagine someone will find thier way into the new house eventually.
The other project I worked on this weekend was mostly a distraction. Jenn (Ndainye) had mentioned she had extracted some of the Life Stories houses for her hood. I was curious about them, so I got my hands on them and gave them a look over. They're all very cute, even if the lots are a little too small. I believe most of them are 3x2 which means small but playable house and no yard.
This gave me an excuse to play with the Lot Adjuster from MTS2. I am happy to say it works as advertised and now all those houses are on 3x3 lots, giving me room to expand and have a back yard. A couple I made 3x4 for a little extra room. I'm currently still fussing with about six of them, seeing if I can get the lot edges flattened so I can place them directly against another lot.
I also experimented with new eyes this weekend. I didn't keep them in, but it was interesting to give them a look over. These are the Easy/Lucky/Free set which is a default version of Phobia's modified version of Sarhra's eyes. Yeah, that confused me too.
Basically, they're a default replacement set of eyes that have been set up to work with the more cartoony animations. This is something I'm keenly interested in, because while I like my eyes, I'm tired of some of the more overly expressive eye animations looking weird.
Unfortunately, I really wasn't quite happy with them. The colors are just a little off from the eyes I'm using now. While I'd like a darker brown, the dark blue and light blue just didn't feel right for me. (Oz has the same eyes as Elijah, so you can compare his first pic with this pic of Elijah to see what I mean).
My original plan was to see if I could take my current eyes and edit them onto a less shaded 'white' background, much like these eyes. I may still see if I can do that.
If you're looking for a good default replacement set, these eyes are definitely worth looking at, though. They're not as flat as standard Maxis Match, but they do work with the cartoony animations.
And that's it. I'll leave you with a picture showing that Oz is following in his father's footsteps. *sniff* Like father, like son.
Not to mention that he's just friggin adorable. I know the nose is going to be huge when he's an adult, but he'll always be my baby. :)
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-11 09:52 pm (UTC)About the witches and business. The evil witch is just that. When she shows up NOT only does she do the thunder thing she also alot of the times spawns roaches on the lot. Which is a major pain for you, customers, and owners. Watch out for that.
I just recently finished the 5 top business and every single day one of the witches would show up.
Now its not so bad if one of your owners is a witch and can perform the spell to clean the lot instantly of the roaches. Which I did, thank goodness.
Well theres my two cents on that. lol
Oz is a cutie, normal nose or not. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 02:50 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-13 05:28 pm (UTC)Good luck tho! I would not want to redo all 5 either.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-11 09:57 pm (UTC)Also, where'd you get the nightgown Shelby's wearing?
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 02:51 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-11 11:06 pm (UTC)Aw poor Ian, but at least he decided to flee before he burnt to death.
The wicked witches are the business owners worst nightmare, and they seem to turn up more times than the good witches too. I've had so many customers complain about cockroaches on the lot as soon as the witch makes them appear. I feel like shouting at them "yes I know, it's thanks to the green person over there, and I'm trying to get someone to get rid of them if you would just stop complaining to them for a minute."
Urgh looking for default eyes. Good luck. The reason I ended up making my own was because I couldn't find set of colours I liked on a sclera that wouldn't freak me out or cause oddities when sims were being expressive. I hope you find some or manage to whip up your own.
Oz really is a sweetie.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 02:53 am (UTC)The next time I go into the business, I'll pull out the visitor controller and see if I can ban the witches from the lot. I've already done it the hard way once, I don't want to deal with a mess just to get them back to where they should be.
It is a pain trying to choose the right set of default eyes, but I wouldn't go back to plain old Maxis eyes again. I'm really intrigued by the Lucky/Easy/Free set because if you dig deep enough, they've got default replacements for all the supernaturals as well as BigFeets. If I can find colors close enough to my blues, I might make the switch. Maybe.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 12:00 am (UTC)I hate it when the witches show up to my community lots. I don't have a lot of drag in my game, but whenever a witch shows up, my game locks up for almost a full minute. It always pulls through, but man is it annoying.
I might have to give those eyes a try at some point. I like the eyes I have in now, but they get those gaping black holes around them in some animations, and I'd rather they didn't. I'll try these maybe after my next chapter. I might give Di's a try too since I like them a lot in her game.
I love Ophelia swinging Noah in those heels. She's quite a woman. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 02:55 am (UTC)That's the problem I have with my eyes too. They're not as bad as some, but still, smustle animations tend to show the darker part of the eye which looks weird. Otherwise than that, I like my eyes, so we'll see.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-13 03:17 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 12:01 am (UTC)Oz is still absolutely adorable, I love his little hawaiian shirt I just want to cuddle him!
For what it's worth I really like your old default eyes, though I know you've said you have some problems with them.
Good luck with getting the businesses back up that sounds like painful work. Don't know much about what the witches actually do when they turn up, apart from lag all my community lots like ten ton trains, though I have noticed they tend to antagonize each other if they are on a lot at the same time. Also the good witch is a phone stalker. Though maybe that's just my hood...
Oh and Dean and the cat in the Mustang: so much win I can't even stand it!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 02:57 am (UTC)I haven't done too much with the witches yet. That good witch is the one that went on a date with Beta once. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 12:33 am (UTC)This is very nice and wonderful picspam. I enjoyed The Encounter between Dagmar and Buttercup. The mail carrier gets the last laugh!
I do like the default eyes you tried out but your old set is so you. Next time I need a change I might try them though.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 02:59 am (UTC)Oz is an adorable baby. I'm thinking I'll get one day where he and Lou are children together. If I time things right, he and the new baby will have a birthday together. He'll turn into a child and the new baby will turn into a toddler. Yay!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 06:19 am (UTC)Oz is such a cutie, and Ian is defiantly smolding with the vampire look ;D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-13 03:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-12 01:56 pm (UTC)And Oz is freaking adorable. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-13 03:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-13 03:21 am (UTC)I love Lou and Oz. They're so cute! All the kids this generation are coming along great.
I'll have to look for the lot adjuster at MTS2. I actually don't mind a few of the maxis houses and would use them more if the lots were larger.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-13 03:46 am (UTC)