|~*Flowers & Gardens*~| May 2011 Theme

[Tenshii~Akari]

 ....   I know, this is straight out terrible, right?

Everyone, I am deeply sorry for getting things started so late this time, and I know it's getting old and tired of me to keep this up all of the time.  First, curse my final examinations for college.  Secondly, curse work and the hefty tutoring time devoted to standardized test prep for the kids.  Lastly, curse outdated technology... my old laptop died a horrendous death last week, and since we have a new internet setup in the house, the PC no longer had internet access due to the router now on another level of the house... luckily, I now have a new beauty that had me busy transferring important files from my old hard drive-turned-external storage.   So now that everything's finally finished and mostly taken care of, I can get back to work like I'm supposed to.    

So with my lame excuses out of the way, on with the show!

Spring has sprung, the grass has ris’!

Wonder where that birdie is...  

The monthly theme for May is here, with new growth and celebration of the beauty of Spring!  This month, things that fit in with Flowers, Gardens, or anything Spring-like are more than welcome.  If you have anything to share that revolves around this theme (new houses/lots, springtime objects, spring/flowery clothing, flower-loving sims, etc.) please feel free to share away.  


~* As always. . . Happy creating!! *~


Guidelines

    * - Please follow creators' policies regarding use of textures and meshes in things you upload here.

    * - Make sure to post pictures of what the outfit looks like, and all shots need to be in-game.

    * - If you are not including the mesh with your upload, you need to post a working link to where your downloader can get it. Booty links are allowed.

    * - Please make sure to label your post for the upload's required game (ex: you upload an outfit that requires Sims 3 and edit the post title accordingly)  If your content requires an EP or SP, please be sure to also make note of it somewhere within your post.

    * - Credit for all included content MUST be listed. You may take a screenshot of the Clean Installer and use that if you aren't able to type out a list, but a Clean Installer list is the BARE minimum required. If you don't credit, your download will be removed until you can fix it.

    * - You will need to use an alternate hosting source. (i.e.  Mediafire, 4share, etc.)  Once you've uploaded your file to a hosting place, you post the link along with the pics of your creation, and you're set to go.

    * -THEFT IS BAD. If we find out that a download posted here is stolen, it will be taken down, and the poster will be contacted. If proof that the upload was not stolen can't be provided, the poster will be banned. So, please do avoid stealing other people's work. It's bad for everyone and especially bad for you. Don't do it.

Creations

Flower Themed Tops for AF by AnniClan
Flowery Garden & Cottage by AmyLuthien
Wildflower part I - Female Swimwear by Tenshii~Akari
Wildflower part II - Male Swimwear by Tenshii~Akari
Wildflower part III - Wild Cornrows with Bandanas by Tenshii~Akari

[AnniClan]

Me first!

A whole bunch of flower themed tops!!




Top row from left: Butterfly garden crop top, Tulip crop top, Purple floral tankie, Daisy crop top
Bottom row from left: Yellow rose T, Purple rose t, Rose on black tank, Multi flower tankie


No meshes needed, all base game compatable.


Download seperately. You're just getting the file, no Readme, which is as follows: May be shared freely, please do not upload elsewhere.



Butterfly Garden Crop Top


Tulip crop top


Purple floral tankie


Daisy crop top


Yellow rose T


Purple rose t


Rose on black tank


Multi flower tankie

[AmyLuthien]

Cool Anni!  Thanks!  (or should I say "Tanks"? lol) 

I'm working on a house for this months theme . . . hopefully I can finish it! 

[0BretttterB0]

What if I made a sim named Rose or Lily or something along that lines? And maybe put her in a house with a flowery garden?  I'm happy about this now, anything to distract me from making my pediatric hospital (which is a nightmare at the moment.... )

[Tenshii~Akari]

Anything is welcome!  As long as it's something fitting with the theme, it's all good. 

I may actually have something in time before next month hits... just have to do some final tweaks and testing before I have it up, though. 

[0BretttterB0]

Merph. That's the noise I'm making when the game wont allow me to package a lot without crashing... 

So I guess I'll make some flowery clothes of something...

[Daytonaraceway]

Brettter, does the lot have a lot of CC? I have too much on a lot. Or when my DL folder has too much in it.

As for me, I was in the process of making a house but it got corrupted. So tired of the crashing and slow game play.

[0BretttterB0]

There were a lot of custom flowers, that was probably the problem. Eh, well, some of my neighborhood sims can enjoy it... I suppose.


Shirts, I said I would make them. I will, I promise. Right now. Before I get distracted.

[Tenshii~Akari]

I know, I know, I'm slooooow with the next theme as usual, and of course with what I promised late last month.     Had several issues crop up, and surprisingly most of them were actually Windows Update related... the others were due to the inner perfectionist in me and my tendency to go overboard after long breaks... you'll see what I mean in a few hours.    

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to each theme, and those who still plan on contributing!  I'm going to go ahead and post June's theme in a few, but please don't be afraid to post whatever you may still have for May's theme here.   

[AmyLuthien]

Well, better late than never . . .  


This month I made a Flowery Garden & Cottage for your Simmie to live in.  This quaint little cottage is very tiny, really only suitable for one Sim to live in comfortably, but the surrounding garden more then makes up for the fact your Sim will be forever alone!  I built this cottage on the diagonal, so while it looks good, it can be a little awkward to play it until you get used to it, and I had to 'fudge' a bit in regards to sinks etc.  Sinks, stoves and counters I found out, will not work when placed diagonally - your Sim can't reach them.  So what I did was made invisible recolors and placed them facing straight.  The sinks work great, but the stove is fussy if you try to click it and use it, it's best to just click the fridge and let your Sim figure out how to cook their meals.  If you're still having trouble, tilt the camera angle up till you're looking straight down as best you can, the click just in front of the stove, the invisible recolor sticks out a bit.

Exterior

Click for larger picture.

Garden

Click for larger picture.

Interior & Garden Shed

Click for larger picture.

CONTENTS
This lot as it is, costs §46,418.  The interior is lightly decorated, just enough furnishings are included so your Sim won't throw a complete conniption fit before you can finish decorating it!  Some of the work (mainly textures) is mine, some of it (mainly meshes) is other people's.  I've included a list of all the objects I used (see below) and I've included a Creator's List with links (also below) to where I got all the custom content.

I have all the Sims 2 EP's and the following SP's:

• Celebration!
• H&M^® Fashion
• IKEA^® Home
• Kitchen & Bath Interior Design
• Mansion and Garden
• Teen Style

I widely use items from all of these, so expect to need all of them to play this lot.


I wish to bring attention to my personal file-keeping habits.  Every single file I ever download, I edit.  I mark where it came from (website name and URL) and the file name in the description (makes it easy for me to find it if I want to recolor it.)  Occasionally I may change the actual object.  I'll make backs transparent on large mirrors, or give it a whole new texture if I really didn't care for the original one.  If you already have some of these objects in your game, unless you want my notes or edits, do not let these files overwrite yours!


CREATOR'S LIST
Click the name to visit the site if you'd like, all links open in a new window.  There may be a few sites on this list that no longer exist, but I felt it was right to give them credit for their work, even if they are gone.

4Ever Sim Fantasy Eight/Three's Atelier Anno Sims Around the Sims Artistic Habitats Avalon Sims Besen's Sims2 Black Pearl Sims Blacky's Sims Zoo Exnem's Sims Garden of Shadows Mango Sims Marina's Sims Mod The Sims Nengi's Spot Parsimonious Pimp My Sims Reflex Sims Retail Sims Sim2me Sim Wardrobe Sims 2 Collage Sims 2 Sisters DEAD SITE Sims Crossing Sims Design Avenue Sims Mod Board DEAD SITE Spiffy Sims DEAD SITE Tarox The Sims Resource Vita Sims DEAD SITE XM Sims

POLICIES
And now for the usual Terms and Conditions stuff.  Please don't swipe my work and claim it as your own.  Do not upload it to paysites or the Exchange (that would be swiping my work!)  You may re-use my work (recolors, walls, terrains, floors) and upload it with any lots you care to make and share with others, it must however, remain free of charge.  I'd really appreciate it if you did not take this house that I spent a lot of time creating, and upload it to another site.  I don't mind if you want to share it, just send people back here to get it.  There's a good reason why I ask this - in case of a problem, I can fix it and re-upload the lot here.  I would have no ability to fix any problems should they arise, if this house were hosted somewhere else.  Other than that, I cannot force you to comply to my wishes, I'm just asking nicely!  



DOWNLOAD    
OK! OK! SHUT UP ALREADY AMY AND GIMME THAT FLOWERY GARDEN & COTTAGE!!  

DOWNLOAD THE FLOWERY GARDEN & COTTAGE
19.9 MB
If the Save To window doesn't show, you may need to right click/Save As.

** IMPORTANT ** Please note that there is an extra folder named "Missing Objects" included in the .rar file.  This is all the recolors, master files or other necessary files that didn't make it into the .sims2pack which are needed for the house to work correctly.  Just copy them into your downloads folder. Do not delete them or ignore them!  Things will start to flash blue if you do!


Troubleshooting
If after installing the house, you can't find it, try this:

Spoiler for TROUBLESHOOTING:

Troubleshooting
It happens occasionally, you install the house and it doesn't show up when you load the game! If that happens, I found a pretty handy way of fixing the problem. I didn't write this, and the original was in Polish, then badly translated into English. But I did re-write it a bit to cut down on the superfluous ''contects''  (took me a bit to figure out they meant ''contents'' lol) Anyway, credit given where credit is deserved, I found this on Sims2 Design, and it was originally written by Margierytka.


If after installation, the lot doesn’t show in the game:
   
1. If you don’t have CleanInstaller yet, you must download and install it: Download Sims2pack

2. Clean Installer needs Microsoft.NET.Framework version 1.1 (or higher) to work correctly, you can get it here: Download Microsoft.NET.Framework

3. After installation of CleanInstaller and Microsoft.NET.Framework (or checking that these programs are installed), go to My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Teleport
   and delete all files you find there.

4. Install the packaged lot with CleanInstaller, do not delete any of the contents with this program! Install everything. Close CleanInstaller.

5. Go back to My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Teleport and delete all files which are there. You have now deleted the "invisible" lot from lot catalog.

6. Re-open the packaged lot with CleanInstaller and click the house icon "Select lot file only" (top, right side.) Be sure to install ONLY THE LOT.

7. Start the game.

8. The lot will be in lot catalog, ta-da!

Enjoy!


« EDIT: This is a Sims 2 lot!»

[Tenshii~Akari]

Very nice, Amy!    I'm really loving the garden and tool shed there.  Reminds me of my aunt's house with the exception of the fountain. 


So a few "hours" have passed.     Took me long enough to finally get some last-minute annoyances fixed (since I'm a dope and forgot that I didn't re-install my favorite camera mods) I'm still not completely done, as this is only Part 1 of 3.  I'll have the other parts up as soon as I can.     So without further delay:

Part I - Female Swimwear







Introducing "Dazzling Digits"

| Hands Preview 1 |

| Hands Preview 2 |

| Feet Preview 1 |

| Feet Preview 2 |

| UV Map |

That's right... new meshes over a year later from the last set I've released.   Wish it hadn't taken so long, but circumstances kept me from getting back into content creation like I wanted to.   

This project originally started off as an improved swimsuit mesh for children... however, after putting together a new hair mesh, I felt it would do justice to have all of the other age groups and males to have the same opportunity to get new and improved digits.  These are nothing but modified Maxis hands (for those who have meshing knowledge, a simple subsurf adjustment/tweaking) and newly created feet (made from scratch for once... I actually converted these from one of my other personal 3D projects I made while being unable to play Sims 2 for a while).  Nothing special... just serves as a possible middle definition alternative between already created high-definition hands & feet on other meshes and the traditional "block" appendages.   They look a little on the odd side, but then again, not everyone has perfectly shaped feet.   

Naturally, these do hike up the poly and vertex count of each mesh just a bit, so if your computer happens to be pretty darn sluggish when it comes to processing graphics, I would suggest using caution. (...although if your machine is used to running lots that have multiple sims with Sexy Feet and very detailed hairs/Newsea, Peggy, or other hairs of the like just fine, I'm pretty sure you won't notice much difference.)

Also an important change...

I've compressed all of my content into 7-Zip files.   This will be something I'll probably be doing from this point onward.  Be sure to download it... in my personal opinion, it's less annoying than WinRar since it's completely free, just as easy to use, and opens up a variety of archive types including .zip and .rar... you're definitely going to need it to extract the files this time as all are .7z files.  If you so happen to find that it's utterly impossible to install 7-Zip, I'll do my best to try and get zip files uploaded as an alternative when I get the opportunity.

As always, my main download links are Mediafire files.  Box.net is my backup/alternative source just in case anyone tends to avoid Mediafire for legit reasons.   Please be sure to let me know if there are any incorrect links/issues that crop up... I have a very long list of links, and it's very well possible that I could have made a mistake in linking something here.  It's been a long three days, so I wouldn't put it over me to slip on that. 



Toddler Female Swimming Diapers
*NOTE* Categorized as both Swimwear and Underwear

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces:  4800
Vertices:  3064

PF Mesh

Toddler Female Textures

Child Female Swimsuit w/Alpha Skirt

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces:  5502
Vertices:  3525

CF Mesh

Child Female Textures

Teen Female Swimsuit w/Alpha Skirt

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces:  5998
Vertices:  3792

TF Mesh

Teen Female Textures

Adult Female Swimsuit w/Alpha Skirt

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces:  6016
Vertices:  3807

AF Mesh

Adult Female Textures

Elder Female Swimsuit w/Alpha Skirt

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces: 5018
Vertices: 3242

EF Mesh

Elder Female Textures

Known Issues

• Clipping of the alpha mesh... in some poses, it's inevitable no matter how much I try to adjust, so the meshes are built to minimize as much clipping as possible.
  
  
• Mesh "seams" due to Blender3D's part. In certain lighting, you may notice some odd discoloration around the neck area and where the waist and alpha skirt meet.  I still have not found a solution to solving this issue other than possibly fixing the meshes in Milkshape via Cat's Normal Smoother.  Unfortunately, I don't have that, nor access to it on a friend's computer any longer as he's since gotten a new one several months ago.  (That, and I've never been a big fan of Milkshape at all.  Don't get me wrong, it's a useful tool, but what can I say... I'm so used to being able to rotate and flip camera angles while editing that I can't stand the limitation of it's editing angles.)   
  
  
• Fat Morphs.  There aren't any.  *dodges stray bricks and stones thrown*  This isn't by personal preference at all... I would absolutely love for all of my meshes to have the necessary morphs so that they may be even more useful for everyone.  However, for some odd reason when importing the morphs back into the original file, nothing changes in-game/ in Bodyshop.  I'm pretty sure it has something to do with how SMD files exported from Blender3D are formatted a little different from Milkshape files, but then again I'm definitely no programing guru.   
  
  
  Mesh/Texture Policy
  
  I love seeing people use anything I make... it makes me feel a little bit useful in a way.     I only have a few simple things that I request and hope it's not too much of an inconvenience to consider:
  
  Yes, you may...
  
  Share, modify, convert, or use parts of my meshes/textures for your own Sims projects (All I care for is credit for the original base and a link back just in case I make updates to the mesh.)  Please ask permission only if it's to convert to games/programs outside of The Sims franchise, so long as the exchanging of money for content isn't involved.  I don't ask for money for my stuff, and neither should you... especially if it includes part of something I worked hard on.   
  
  Re-texture on your own free will
  
  Distribute with sims
  
  No, you may NOT
  
  Redistribute/post meshes or re-textures of these meshes on pay sites (which means NEVER ON TSR).  100% Free Sites Only please. 
  
  Claim as your own original creation.  (Yes, there are actually still people out there that do this. It's not cool at all...)
  
  
  Special Thanks and Crediting
  
  As always, to all the wonderful people who put in so much work for each content creation tool (SimPE, Blender SMD Importer/Exporter Script, Wardrobe Wrangler)
  
  Marvine, whose alpha skirt was a huge help for bone weight referencing
  
  All of the downloaders... I'm grateful that you see my content as worth being checked out, so a very big thank you to everyone!   
  
  Be sure to keep a lookout for the next two editions of this project.  Hope you all enjoy!   
  
  

[Dominie]

Wow to all of you guys!  Thank you all so much, these are great gifts and soon I will finish cleaning Anni's house for her to upload.  Maybe..just maybe I can finish up a lot i think will qualify here too..one I was almost done with and then broke my laptop.

[AnniClan]

Wow, great stuff!!!

[AmyLuthien]

lol Tenshii!  I'm loving those swimsuits, particularly the ones with the pareo attached!    Thanks everyone!

[Tenshii~Akari]

Thanks a lot!    Those were one of two of the things that had pushed the release date forward... couldn't figure out what I did wrong with the animation of the Child mesh until a few hours before I posted... weight painting is such a pain. 

I have to extend my apologies for those with slower connections, as I have another image-heavy post ahead.  I just realized again tonight how slow things can load if loading times are going real slow at certain intervals.. 

Part II - Male Swimwear



Introducing the "Wiry Guy" Bodyshape

I've been waiting for this one for over a year now.     Basically, it's yet another variation on Marvine & Beosboxboy's Slim Bodybuilder shape... and as the name implies, we're talking serious awkward ectomorphic proportions.     This originally began as my take on an Urbz-styled male bodyshape, as it's clearly my second favorite game in the franchise following close behind Sims 2 when it comes to the looks of the base sims.  (Yes, I already know I have "strange" tastes for those of you out there who aren't fans of cartoony looking sims.)    I was heavily dissatisfied when I first got Sims 2 that there weren't any flexible options for body proportions, and I guess that stuck with me a bit, because I really liked the bodyshapes in The Urbz. I just had to try my hand at making something more similar to the male shape. That, and I kind of know a guy who is literally these meshed proportions in RL... and he's darn good lookin' to boot.     I've gone ahead and made a teen version also.  More will be available from the bodyshape series in the near future.

Anyways, enough about that garbled stuff.  As stated in Part I, I've compressed all of my content into 7-Zip files.   This will be something I'll probably be doing from this point onward.  Be sure to download it... in my personal opinion, it's less annoying than WinRar since it's completely free, just as easy to use, and opens up a variety of archive types including .zip and .rar... you're definitely going to need it to extract the files this time as all are .7z files.  If you so happen to find that it's utterly impossible to install 7-Zip, I'll do my best to try and get zip files uploaded as an alternative when I get the opportunity.

Due to the fact that all of these meshes also have "dazzling digits" attached to them, they'll be a little bit higher poly than normal.  As stated in Part I, if you've been running lots with extreme high-poly stuff already, you shouldn't notice much of a difference.

As always, my main download links are Mediafire files.  Box.net is my backup/alternative source just in case anyone tends to avoid Mediafire for legit reasons.   Please be sure to let me know if there are any incorrect links/issues that crop up... I have a very long list of links, and it's very well possible that I could have made a mistake in linking something here.  It's been a long three days, so I wouldn't put it over me to slip on that. 

(BTW, there's also a special "bonus" mesh and textures for adult and elder males included.)   




Toddler Male Swimming Shorts
*NOTE* Categorized as both Swimwear and Underwear

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces:  4766
Vertices:  3067

PM Mesh

Toddler Male Textures

Child Male Swimming Shorts

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces:  4945
Vertices:  3201

CM Mesh

Child Male Textures

Wiry Guy Teen Male Swimming Shorts

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces:  5292
Vertices:  3381

TM Mesh

Teen Male Textures

Wiry Guy Adult Male Swimming Shorts

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces:  5292
Vertices:  3381

AM Mesh

Adult Male Textures

Elder Male Swimming Shorts

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces: 5018
Vertices: 3242

EM Mesh

Elder Male Textures

(*~Special Bonus~*)



Slim Bodybuilder Adult Male Swimming Shorts

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties
Faces: 5274
Vertices: 3394

SBB Mesh

SBB Textures

(*~Extra Special Bonus~*)

**Preview Pic coming soon... just imagine normal Maxis-shaped males with the new hands and feet attached, and I'll get it up as soon as I can.**

Maxis Adult & Teen Male Swimming Shorts

Spoiler for Mesh Details:

Mesh Properties

AM
Faces: 5018
Vertices: 3244

TM
Faces: 5018
Vertices: 3255

AM Mesh

AM Textures

TM Mesh

TM Textures

Known Issues

• Clipping in certain areas... in some poses, it's inevitable no matter how much I try to adjust, so the meshes are built to minimize as much clipping as possible.
  
  
• Mesh "seams" due to Blender3D's part. In certain lighting, you may notice some odd discoloration around the neck area.  As I've mentioned in Part I, I still have not found a solution to solving this issue in Blender, nor do I have access to a fully functional version of Milkshape at the moment.   
  
  
• Fat Morphs.  There aren't any.  *dodges stray bricks and stones thrown*  This isn't by personal preference at all... I would absolutely love for all of my meshes to have the necessary morphs so that they may be even more useful for everyone.  However, for some odd reason when importing the morphs back into the original file, nothing changes in-game/ in Bodyshop.  I'm pretty sure it has something to do with how SMD files exported from Blender3D are formatted a little different from Milkshape files, but then again I'm definitely no programing guru.   
  
  
  Mesh/Texture Policy
  
  I love seeing people use anything I make... it makes me feel a little bit useful in a way.     I only have a few simple things that I request and hope it's not too much of an inconvenience to consider:
  
  Yes, you may...
  
  Share, modify, convert, or use parts of my meshes/textures for your own Sims projects (All I care for is credit for the original base and a link back just in case I make updates to the mesh.)  Please ask permission only if it's to convert to games/programs outside of The Sims franchise, so long as the exchanging of money for content isn't involved.  I don't ask for money for my stuff, and neither should you... especially if it includes part of something I worked hard on.   
  
  Re-texture on your own free will
  
  Distribute with sims
  
  No, you may NOT
  
  Redistribute/post meshes or re-textures of these meshes on pay sites (which means NEVER ON TSR).  100% Free Sites Only please. 
  
  Claim as your own original creation.  (Yes, there are actually still people out there that do this. It's not cool at all...)
  
  
  Special Thanks and Crediting
  
  As always, to all the wonderful people who put in so much work for each content creation tool (SimPE, Blender SMD Importer/Exporter Script, Wardrobe Wrangler)
  
  Marvine & Beos, whose original bodyshape played a role as a base for the older males' meshes
  
  All of the downloaders... I'm grateful that you see my content as worth being checked out, so a very big thank you to everyone!   
  
  Be sure to keep a lookout for the final part of this project real soon.  Hope you all enjoy!