Maxis Taste Weekly Dare 002: Freestyle make-over

[strangetomato]

If you haven't already checked it out, I recommend the maxis_taste community to anyone who shares the love of Maxis-made sims (I'm assuming that includes many of the people reading this journal). It's all about the Maxis-made sims and content that matches the Maxis style, which is right up my alley.

I decided to participate in the latest challenge (or "dare" as they are referred to in this community), which asks the participants to do a freestyle makeover of a pre-made sim (up to three), using any cc available to them. I chose Johnny and Jill Smith, since I've been wanting to make them over anyway. I did a little photo shoot, and here they are...

Here they are, enjoying the sun and sand (nice abs, Johnny!), but wait... there's something different about them.
 



I decided to make them over to be more genetically realistic. I'm not sure if this really fits the purpose of the challenge, but it didn't say we couldn't mess around with genetics. Either way, I've wanted to try this out for a while, so I did.

Jill hair is a little on the shiny side to be a Maxis match, I know, but that doesn't always bother me so much with hair. I really like this long flowing mesh to go with the beach look. (It would be cool to retexture it to be more Maxis-match... that could be another possible project.)




Here they are, fully clothed. They're fairly different from my other take on them in Strangetown, HWC, but I could still see them wearing something like this.

 Don't you love the scenery on Twikki Island? It's so beautiful.




This photo would be another nice addition to the wall in the Smith family den, don't you think?
 


Custom content used:

- Jack's alien eyes by pixel_and_bean
- lipstick and eyeliner by HystericalParoxysm
- eyeshadow by Lyran
- Johnny's hair by Maxis Dreams
- Jill's hair by Nouk
- Johnny's outfit is from the EA Store
- Jill's dress is a recolour of an H&M dress by me
- Jill's bikini is by HystericalParoxysm

Comments

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Well, I have been known to use some of simgaroop's sims, especially those alien redheads (I have big love for Helena). Johnny does look good as a redhead. I really hope his (eventual) children have red hair.

I usually prefer Jill with short hair too, but this style seems to work for her.

Yeah, Twikki makes me miss Bermuda. The sand isn't quite as pink in Twikki, but it's still lovely.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It's nice to see how they "should" have looked, even though I wouldn't change them for the world now.

Screencapping gives you more control over the cropping of the image, which is appealing, but it's SOOO much extra work. I might consider using it, if I ever want to do something really special. It does make things look better. It's tempting.

You don't have Theo's alien eye fix? It allows the alien eyes to show up properly with normal skin. You can find it here:

http://theos.chewbakkas.net/stuff/index.html

It's essential. :D

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Nice.

I think Johnny looks better as a redhead. It goes very nicely with that skintone (but I have to say, the slightly darker skin--and maybe it's the tan going on too--makes me think of lizards).

Jill looks great alien-ed up, too.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Johnny's cute, no matter what you do with him, I think. ^_^

Yeah, it gets old fast when almost everyone is an alien. It's funny, though. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thank you. Twikki island is just gorgeous. It makes me very excited to see the locations in Sims 3, with the improved graphics. Some of the scenery and skies look amazing in the screenshots.

I love that vest outfit too, but I wish the collar wasn't so open, and the jeans were neater (with no rips). I may do some fiddling around with it, if I can figure out how to edit meshes. I really want to use it on Frances.

[ikichi.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok. See, I would totally be a geek about this too if I had regular access to SimPE (someone needs to *finish* a Mac version. :(). In all honestly I'm super nervous about the changes I made because if I really screwed something up I'd have no way to fix it. Again.

In the story they hadn't moved, I just dropped them in a new town called Padres del Cielo. Still working in sims from other hoods, but the only one who's had any screen time so far is Brandi Broke.

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

I love your graphics card.
That is all. :)

[aledstrange.livejournal.com]

aawwwww!!! Jill looks adorable in green!! awwww!!!
That's so sweeet!! Im sure she's happier now, it must feel so bad to be the 'odd-looking' one in the family! lol

Johnny looks awesome in red hair, :) one of the children he had on my breeding project, turned out *just* like that!!

But I do enjoy that Johnny and Jill have odd genetics in the game, even if it makes no sense, i think it wouldn't as fun if they both were totally alien looking. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I actually picked that up without any help from SimPE - it was pieced together from things I've read and just experimenting with breeding. SimPE does make it easy to see what recessives and such you're dealing with, though. It sucks that they don't have it for Mac.

Okay, so it's like a sort of alternate reality version, like Peculiar? That's interesting. Where does the name Padres del Cielo come from?

[ikichi.livejournal.com]

Pretty much. The name came from Babelfish. #^__^# This is a town with historically high alien interest, so I wanted the name to reflect that. (It's supposed to mean "Sky Fathers" and I haven't been corrected yet. ::crosses fingers::) I had a few names picked out and grabbed the least awful translation.

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

Stella would make a good PT. She had cute children in my game, she also has pretty nice cheekbones, but sometimes they look odd on a sim.

I love Miki's retextures as well, they're very cute. Yeah, I like Ninika's textures, but I don't really like Peggy hair(though I LOVE Rose's hair :x), I have a few of her hairs, but I usually don't bother going to booty for them.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

IF YOU LIKE ROSE HAIR YOU CAN'T BE MY FRIEND ANYMORE!

(Sorry - got a little CAPSLOCK SIMS in here for a second. :P)

I think there might be a couple of Rose hairs that I like, but I'm totally all about the Raon hair for my girly hair needs, and some XM Sims meshes too (but less so).

Oh, and Stella's a total babe, no doubt. Does she have strong cheekbones like that? I'll have to take another look. I love prominent cheekbones.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

"Sky Fathers" is very cool. It think it's a great name.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

The tanned alien skin looks nice, doesn't it?

If you're looking for that outfit, you might want to check MATY first. Some of those items are available there.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

He's just not quite the same without the crazy Nightlife hair, but I like that Maxis Dreams hair too. It wouldn't work for every sim, but it does for Johnny. He's not exactly known for his butch hairstyles. :P

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Too true. I'm sure she'd turn Ripp's head even more than usual. Jill's a pretty little thing.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I like it, but I still prefer him as a blond. I love aliens with red hair, but I wouldn't want them to be too common. It makes them less special.

That hue is sort of lizard-y, isn't it? Well, maybe the aliens are something like lizards. It's not an angle I've considered, but it could work.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heheh. Yeah, I love it too. It does bring out the limits in the graphics, though. It's hard not to notice how low-poly everything is.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm with you. The odd genetics is really a part of their charm. :)

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. :[

I like Raon, too. Sometimes her hairs are REALLY shiny, or her colors are just awful, haha. I usually just get recolors of her hair, sometimes she doesn't even bin and I just go "GAAAH." XM Sims annoys me, because you have download EVERY recolor. Eh, I guess beggars can't be choosers. :P

Yeah, her cheekbones are pretty dominant, too. Four out of five her children got them. here they are on a male sim and on a female sim.

[redqueenofevil.livejournal.com]

I've never been to Bermuda, but I've heard great things about that place. I'm always in awe when I encounter the ocean though. Your post last night inspired me to take some island shots in game. I hope to post them soon...... (as soon as I figure out LJ image hosting).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Bermuda is gorgeous. I've been there a number of times now, to visit my family, and I'd gladly go back. I love how small it is. I feel like I know it really well, even though I haven't spent that much time there.

Do you live very far away from the ocean? I feel don't feel at ease when I'm away from it. I've always lived within walking distance of salt water.

Oooh. I'd love to see your shots.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Heehee. I made Avery sad. :P

I use retextures of Raon hairs for that reason too. They're too shiny and the colours are really different from the Maxis ones. XM sims is a little annoying like that, but I often only want a couple of the colours, so it's not so bad.

Cool. I like the high cheekbones. I'm looking forward to breeding up a storm with her as a PT. (Well, maybe a minor storm, but still...)

[pearlrose86.livejournal.com]

Could you upload that recolor, possibly please? I love that mesh from H&M, but I was so disappointed when it didn't come in a shade of red or pink. I have several very girly sims in my 'hood who would adore a dress like that.

I didn't mean to come out of lurkdom to make a request like that, but the dress, it is so pretty. And your story is great, too. Really. I read it all over a weekend about a month ago. It's so intense and fascinating and interesting. <3

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I'm planning to upload the handful of cc things I've made, so I'll include that in the mix. I can't deny anyone the joy of a lovely pink sim wardrobe.

No problem at all. :) I don't mind the request, and that you for reading the story. I'm glad you've been enjoying it.