Vamping it up.

[strangetomato]

Quite some time ago (has it really been years, already?), simgaroop and I were planning to do a collaborative story. We decided to focus on the Tricou mystery, since we both like to play with the Maxis storylines and this was one of the game's better mysteries to unravel. We were both new to it, since neither of us had ever written about them, played them, what have you.

It never got off the ground, unfortunately. I think we both have a tendency to explode things, make them overly complicated, and the combined effect of both of us doing this caused the project to crumple under the weight of our excess of enthusiastic ideas. We eventually lost interest, which is too bad. (Maybe one day we'll work on another project, eh Simgaroop?) Our episodic fantasy/supernatural/superhero/teen drama, featuring those downtownie teens as the main characters (working title: Fallen Trees) never saw the light of day.

I did write a couple of little snippets, though, and I recently dusted one off, thinking it might make an interesting little short to get myself back into writing. The recent surge of Tricou-related posts on my flist has also gotten me thinking again about the mythology that Simgaroop and I were working on. Some of it has already worked its way into my S,HWC universe, as previously seen here (that drabble was written while it was all still a secret project). It'll probably never get told in any amount of detail, but I plan to sneak in some snippets of it ( the Cordials have a connection to it, as does Titania). It'd be a shame to waste story ideas.

I know I'm getting getting my flow back again when I start making cc for a story project. It seems this is actually working! :) I've been playing around with this on and off all day. I'm sure the sim below needs little introduction for anyone who's played with her. Her looks are quite distinct.

 

 

This is what I've been working on: an edit of Phobia's vampire default. It's pretty simple. All I did was layer my red Just Alien lips on the mouth and then erase the outer edges of it, to make it look like a blood stain. I did the same to the eyes, leaving only the inner part of the eye as red, showing the eye colour of the sim (in this case, you can clearly tell that Rainelle has light blue eyes).

What do you think? Do you like the effect on the eyes and lips? I'm thinking I should maybe work on the edges of the red centre of the eye to make it blend better, and also adjust the colour of the red lips to make them darker. Other than that, I'm pretty please with the way this turned out.

 

 

Comments

[petchy-14.livejournal.com]

Funnily enough, this Red-eye overlay is how I imagine vampires in my mind that are still actively feeding, so this is really cool :D [Fully-red eyes are either in need of blood or fully replenished.. not quite sure in my head yet] I'd love these [Lips and Eyes] as CC make-up, as well as a default! :D

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It's really cool that it lines up with your idea of how vampires work. Will you be using that for a story project?

I can certainly set aside the eyes and lips as makeup when I'm reworking it. Would you prefer the eyes as full-face makeup or actual lipstick? I'd do the eyes as contacts, I assume.

[petchy-14.livejournal.com]

It could well fit into a Story Project, but I'd probably never get around to writing the thing, sadly! Maybe if I tried really hard I write it like a novel, and do it in Julnowrimo... *ponders*
I have been turned off Vampires for a good while now, actually. All the "Teen Vampire 'novel'" craze has kicked me off, but if it's made Dark, Sexy, Twisted and Realistic.. You've got my vote! (LOL)
I would really LOVE to hear the indepth story of the Tricou family, actually...
DRABBLEDRABBLEDRABBLE~? (LOL)

For the Eyes and Lips; They'd work better being Contacts and Lipstick, yes. However, I don't think Lipstick is Multi-layerable, so maybe Full-face for both (but separated and Multi-W)?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm really not one for vampires either. Well, I love True Blood, or at least I used to (haven't been following lately). This is just how I imagine Rainelle ended up. Vampires (and all the supernaturals) exist in my story universe, but they don't really have much to do with S,HWC.

It would be nice to include a couple of options, so people can pick and choose. Thanks for the input! :)

[pnkpnthr334.livejournal.com]

I love the look of the eyes! It would be nice to be able to see the Sim's real eye color, but still have that bloodthirsty redness.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'm going to play around with transparency at the edges and make the red portion slightly smaller, I think. I think it'll be a nice balance between the two.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

I LOVE it. :D The improvements you mentioned sound good, but either way, I'd very much like this for my game if you decide to share. :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you hear you'd be interested in using them. I'll have to make sure I upload them once I make the changes.

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! I'd love to try those if you ever share them. You know I'm super picky with the skin defaults, but I love the effect on the lips and the way the colors blend in the eyes looks so cool!(And on that same note, I agree with petchy about these as lips and eye sets. It'd be wonderful!)

Also, love Rainelle's look, btw! Perfect!! <3 (And that whole project sounds very interesting, maybe one day, you could consider playing around it :P)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Awww, thanks. ^_^ I really glad you like it.

I know all about your pickiness, because I relate to it! XD The one thing that would throw it off for you would be the use of Phobia's eyes. Right now, the red section still has the light highlight and features from her eyes, so it wouldn't work with a different eye default (though it would work with any combination of sclera — Phobia's, Anva's, or the Maxis sclera, like in Josh's set).

The idea could easily be adapted to your eyes, though. In fact, I could whip you up a version using your eyes, if you want.

And I'm glad you approve of Rainelle's look. I was really going for something true to her orginal look, but more "vampy" (in every sense of the word). :P I love how Sentate's new vampire dress has the same plungin neckline as her default dress. It works out well.

The story was far too complicated! XD I think I might be able to spin parts of it into a story on my own some day, perhaps (if I get Simgaroop's blessing to do so), but there's too much of it to let it all leak into S,HWC. I see the core of that story taking place partly before and after the key events of my story.

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

The one thing that would throw it off for you would be the use of Phobia's eyes
lol you know me well! :P I was thinking exactly that in the back of my mind! XD

And thanks bunches for the offering, but don't you worry about me ^_^ Maybe once you finish, if you ever upload this officially, you could allow me to try updating my vamp default blending this texture with my eyes somehow (with all credits, of course).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said, we're a lot alike that way, and we need our eyes to be just the way we like them. ;)

It really wouldn't be that much work for me, but if you really want to work on it yourself, I could share my .psd file with you. That way you can switch out or edit whichever parts you like! I'll add it to my upload when it's finished. It's no extra work for me.

[tanathir.livejournal.com]

It's very nice! I don't do Maxis matchy eyes in my game, but if I did I would go with these for my vampires. I like the hint of original color, it's a kind of tribute/remnant of who they were before vampirization.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Thank what I was thinking... this way they won't all have the exact same eyes.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

This looks great! Rainelle really is perfect for eye modelling ;)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. ^_^

Rainelle's not bad for the lip modelling either! XD One has to wonder how she fits it all on that tiny little face of hers.

[pixelcurious.livejournal.com]

I really like this concept, and your execution. The eyes are amazing looking. And I agree with darker red on the lips. It might look more blood-like. Worth a try to see, anyway.

*goes back and looks at the eyes again* They're so vibrant. Almost hypnotic.

Hey, how would something like this work on alien eyes? Would it be a red ring against black?

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Oooh, I second the question about aliens. I always did hate how the vampire eyes completely covered the alien eyes.

[rocking-kitty.livejournal.com]

Looks very interesting, I especially like the eyes

[tashkyn87.livejournal.com]

Hi. I don't comment much, but I just wanted to say that this looks really cool. The eyes especially look awesome, it'd make it easier to tell genetics of vampires too.

[olivethegreat.livejournal.com]

This looks SO awesome! I would definitely want it. :)

[poppyperson.livejournal.com]

Hey, I know this update was a million years ago, but can you tell me where to find some good Tricou stories? Preferably in your kind of style?