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

[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.

[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. :)

[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)

[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.

[skellington7d.livejournal.com]

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

[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?

[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?