I'm Still Here And CAW

GEPOSTET AM 05.02.2010 00:59

I haven\'t updated this blog in while.  That\'s about to change.  Since World Adventures was released, I\'ve been splitting my game time between The Sims 3 and Dragon Age.  But, now that I\'ve (finally) completed Dragon Age, I\'ve been focusing on The Sims 3 and the new Create A World tool.

It took a little while for me to warm up to CAW, because it\'s not exactly the speediest tool in the world.  It doesn\'t take long to learn how to use it, but it does take a while to overcome the quirks and its shortcomings.  It also takes a very long time to design a worthwhile world to play in.

After several attempts on large worlds that I never got to a point where I could play-test, I decided to create a simple, small and flat world that I could use to design lots, play-test game concepts, and to see how CAW designs actually work in the game itself.  This has worked out well. 

I may share that world soon, but I\'m soon going to return to design a full-fledge game world worthy of my pride in artistic design. Since the Exchange has been flooded with **** ugly worlds, I\'d rather not give people the idea that I\'m not capable of a quality world.  What can I say?  I\'m a perfectionist!

Just Playing

GEPOSTET AM 13.07.2009 08:18

Why haven\'t I posted any stories?  Because the new system for doing so with TS3 sucks.  Uploading a 100+ pics takes forever.  Then you have to fight with the online authoring tool.

No.

I\'ve done hundreds upon hundreds of recolors of objects, wallpaper, and clothing.  Why should I upload that?  There are thousands of recolors already uploaded.  How many unique recolors can be done with the limited textures and stuff provided?  I don\'t feel like I\'m contributing anything.

I wish there was a way to simply import a texture so that I could have something to claim as my own.  Recolors are lame.  Well, they serve their purpose, but I do recolors now without a second thought.

Plop down a sofa and a rug.
Enter recolor tool.
Pick the channel colors for the sofa.
Drag them to the rug.
Boom.
Done.

Again, why bother uploading that?

What I\'d love is to make some unique t-shirt designs like I did for TS2.  I made a few cool band t-shirts and some other nifty designs.  I also can\'t seem to get the latex/PVC affect on some meshes in TS3 that I could have easily done with Photoshop in TS2.

So, for now, I\'m just playing.

With the weekends being crazy lately, I\'ve just been playing during the week when I\'m not working or sleeping.  I\'m now on the 4th generation of a family I moved into Riverview.  I surrounded their lot with community lots, including a 2nd diner, a park, and a lake.

I learned you can\'t just make a community lot with a lake and have fish appear there.  Nope, you need to have one of your sims stock the lake with fish.  You can read about how to do that if you search the web for it.  But I\'ll tell you how.

Have a sim fish.  Having a sim with the Angler trait makes it easier.  Have them catch at least 10 of a type of fish.  They don\'t have to be any particular quality.  With 10 of a type of fish, you get the option to stock a body of water anywhere in town.  If you want a community lot to get the hook logo - signifying a community lot that specializes in fishing - just stock the water in the lot with 5 different types of fish.

My current sim family has been working for 3 generations to perfect their garden.  Now 4 generations with the Green Thumb trait.  I almost have perfected all the garden varieties, except for the meat plants that my sims haven\'t received opportunities for.

Waiting for opportunities for gardening has become a huge annoyance.  How on Earth are your sims supposed to acquire all these plants if they never get the opportunities for them?  Frustrating, I tell ya!