Maxis Premade Sim Genetics

[strangetomato]

I've been thinking about the Good Genes III contest at GoS, and what really interests me in it is not wondering if the ugly would breed out (I think we all knew it would, given three generations), but which Maxis sim features you're left with. Planning for those three faces to blend with an attractive (and hopefully unique) final result is what made it so interesting to me. A lot of people go the Face One/Face Two route, but are their sims interesting enough to win the contest? Pretty is pretty, but what stands out enough to win? It remains to be seen, I guess. I know I'm more interested in seeing the diamonds in the rough, making pretty from unexpected gene choices. I'd like to see people receive bonus points for using a sim like Chester Gieke or Malcolm Landgraab, but lose points for every Brandi, Ajay, Don, or Cyd (or any other Face One/Two type).

Speaking of odd gene choices, I'm surprised that so many people have used Oberon (he's at least as popular as Don Lothario), because his nose is so wide and he's just not as conventional as the other sims that get re-used frequently. Also, Lilith Pleasant gets used a LOT and have you ever seen what that nose looks like on a male sim? It's intense. I'm really surprised that I'm the only one so far (I think...) that has used Ripp Grunt. He has really attractive features (for a man, at least... his daughters need to worry about the chin). Are any of the choices surprising you?

I've been thinking about devising my own variation on a Maxis sim breeding challenge, but have people start with Face One and aim to remove it, but still end up with something attractive. I'm not sure I'm up for the work of designing it, but it'd be something fun to do. Perhaps I'll suggest it for a Maxis_taste challenge.

Comments

[remisims.livejournal.com]

That would be interesting, I'd be up for trying it.

[muslemura.livejournal.com]

From pretty/boring to pretty/interesting - I like the idea and think you're right, it could work as an Maxis_taste challenge :)

Ripp's genes always work out well in my game, I even like the chin on girls, except sometimes when paired with a face shorter than the standard length... I've had some a bit too interesting results - yikes!

[rome-raven81.livejournal.com]

I don't really use maxis faces myself but since I finally got the megahood to work in my game and I'm noticing some pretty interesting faces. Also after seeing the results of the Good Genes III, I'm liking the results. I would be interested to give this a try as well. When? That's the next issue to challenge.

[emmelfish.livejournal.com]

Sounds like an awesome challenge, you should certainly do it for maxis_taste. :) I love the unique facial quirks of the premades, I get especially narked when I see simmers messing around with surgery and transforming the likes of Vidcund, Florence, Malcolm and Klara into Face Ones (had a big discussion with meetme2theriver about it recently), the results are boringly vanilla. Big love to the Ripp chins and the Frances noses!

[rustyrosesims.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that as I looked through the submissions - you should suggest it.

(And I'll admit that I was impressed with your result of combining JRO's genes. Here's rooting for you!)

[nimsims.livejournal.com]

the ugly didn't get bred out of mine... i ended up with duck bills up to the very last one. used 3 premades and a game generated townie... kinda jealous at the pretty people lol i used nervous subject, pascal curious, and ophelia nigmos as my maxis sims...

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

So and Uglification Challenge using only Maxis stock?

Interesting.

A few drops of Ottomas, a dash of Landgraab, and a sprinkle of Roque and you might end up with a "Chucky"!

(and don't you fret, Chester will get a shot with Sy Snootles--the minute I saw the challenge Chester made the list of "what ifs"--my submission may not be pretty but it's going to be different, that I can guarantee!)

[needlecream.livejournal.com]

I think your challenge sounds amazing, I bet people would get some really interesting results from that.

[sillysoraya.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a fun idea! I'd be interested for sure, I like to expeiment and see outcomes from very different facial structures mixed up!
I once started this plan to breed this face one-ish sim with every sim in Pleasantview. I got pretty far, and some of the kids were extremely cute and different. Mortimer Goth makes lovely children, as does Marylena something-or-other and Dina :]

[orikes13.livejournal.com]

I think the attraction to using Oberon is that he was a unique face AND he has the elf ears. Those elf ears are like crack, I tell you. Oh, and don't forget the red hair.

When doing my entry, it was much more fun to use sims that hadn't been used too much.

I found myself breezing past the people using the face one/face two sims. It really felt like every other entry was using Brandi or Cyd. Or some combination of the pretty sims. Many players still have a very narrow perception of what's considered pretty in game. I know I've never considered using face template replacements because there are actually quite a few of the Maxis faces I like.

I'd LOVE to see a Maxis Taste challenge that's similar to this, but gives bonus points for using the less attractive sims. I seriously considered doing a run with Nervous and Sharla Ottomas. :)

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

I thought about using Ripp but didn't because you did. (Also I was using one from each base game neighborhood, and I knew I wanted green, so that narrowed who I could use from Strangetown).

Oberon's nose isn't bad at all. I really like it. Plus it is a lot smaller on female spawn, and he's got a great overall face shape. I think pointy ears are popular as well, so that might be a factor in the frequent choices. But you're right, he's much less conventional, and when the pack is choosing mainly Ajays and Cyds it makes you wonder.

I like your challenge idea. :)

I actually have no idea where Chester Gieke lives, I don't remember ever seeing him except in other peoples' stories!

[mae-o-nays.livejournal.com]

One thing that strikes me with most of the attempts so far is that I prefer the second-to-last generation to the last. A lot of the 'interesting' is bred out by the end. The trouble with using Sims like Brandi Broke (face 1) or Lola/Chloe Curious (face two) is that those face presets seem to be incredibly dominant. As much as I love Brandi as a character, she can make some really boring kids.

Breeding the interesting in would be a cool challenge.

[honorkid54.livejournal.com]

I tried to use sims that nobody had used. In the end, I ended up using Puck, Benedick Monty and Ophelia.

One of the choices that did surprise me was Dina Caliente. Her features are a little bit odd, but on the resulting child her face actually provided some pretty nice genes. Someone did use Malcolm Landgraab, and the resulting child wasn't bad looking at all.

[drankmywar.livejournal.com]

To be honest I don't think that winners are going to be just based on the end result, photo quality/photo editing usually comes into play as well. I guess it's not fair, but presentation goes a long way.

I'm still trying to get mine done, but Sy decides to crash my game every time I try to select her, so I'm not sure if I'll even be able to.

[(Anonymous)]

I think Ripp was used one more time.
I was suprised by the amount of people that used Oberon too, someone even used PT9!