strangetomato | Just whining...

Just whining...

So I finally have a stretch of uninterrupted time to work on the story this evening, but the scenes I need to shoot are just too involved. I don't feel like doing it. I need to create sets and get the right clothing, etc., and it's just feeling like too much hassle. My brain feels like mush; I can't even figure out how to get the bunkbeds out of the Grand Trianon Collection (I could have sworn there used to be metal ones there, but I can't find them). This is a bad sign. Maybe I should work on some of the scenes that are more immediate. Where's my focus? It's gone. Brain = mush.

I wanted to use Gunmod's Radience Light System for one of the scenes, but I have to confess that the instructions for installing it just confused me and I think I'm chickening out. What if I can't take it back out? I guess I'll have to just leave the beautiful and dramatic sim photography to the people that are actually good at it and settle for being competent but unremarkable.

Verdict for today: massive fail all around. I might as well get out a raft and float down the street to pass the time instead (yeah, it's raining like crazy here). Whhheeeeee!

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Okay, I might not want to know, but what's Easy Cheese?

And moldy cheese is awesome, as long as it's blue cheese. :D

But yeah, I draw the line at romance novel cheese. Maybe.

Easy Cheese is... disgusting. Its cheese in a bottle, like whipped cream. I'm not even sure if its real cheese.

A little bit of romance novel cheese is okay... But not TOO much. Sometimes its funny. Sometimes its horrible. But when it comes from real people, its very nasty, I believe.

Oh gosh, I had the same problem yesterday! I was working on my story but the stupid pictures were getting blurry again (*garr*)and I was just too discouraged by that. I was so into the story but this is getting me mad.

I guess we need to be in mood to create. So, I took a day off, maybe you should do that, too. :) Things will probably get easier tomorrow... or soon, lol.

Peculiar? I don't want to say this week but MAYBE this week.

Right now I'm writing up my Round Robin (I've completed--under private posts--two parts, of I think three total) so as soon as that's put to bed, I can focus on Peculiar.

I have enough pics and such to churn out an update no problem. I just need to double check my chronology (and maybe re-read a bit to get the voice back--though writing my Round Robin really has me in the updating mood).

Ugh. Cheese should never come from a bottle.

I also agree that real people should never sound like a romance novel. :P But sadly, sometimes they do.

Oooh. So soon? That's great.

I'm looking forward to that round robin thing. How did you do your section? Is it story format?

Yeah, sometimes it's just like that. I've been pretty unfocused lately. It's a little disappointing, since I thought I'd be eager to get back into it after my break, but it didn't really work out that way.

We really do need to be in the right mood to create (though I've also heard the opposite argument - that we should just get in there and do it, even if it's not working).

Agreed.

Its very sad indeed. My friend just broke up with a guy who was always sending cutesy little cheese riddled text messages to her. They broke up and she asked 'Do you think he got it all from a book?' and I thought to myself (it was a rhetorical question, she never wants answers. She just wants people to listen so she can talk.) 'I HOPE he got it all from a book. If he thinks like that usually, well, there must be something wrong.'

You have noooo idea how much I'm in the same boat as you. (Or maybe raft, I should say :P) I haven't touched my Assassin story since June. It's been over two months. I still think about the story, but I honestly have no motivation to doing it anymore. At least at the moment.

I'm pretty sure the reason I haven't gotten Gunmod's Light is because it looks complicated, just like you said. Competent and unremarakble? You? Are you kidding?!?!?! Stop putting yourself down. Anyone can make a pretty picture. It's the story and writing behind the picture that makes it worth something. :)

Taking a break could be a good idea. You ever just play the game just to play the game? I swear I only play sims I plan on posting about. It's nice to just play for the fun of it every once in awhile. :D

To be honest, there's only one thing I liked about the Radiance Light System, and that was how it looked at dawn/dusk. *So* beautiful, and I would love it if it were possible to just have those changes without anything else. Radiance Light System makes it nearly impossible to play the game without a great deal of lighting, which is a HUGE hassle. Night is almost completely pitch black. It may be more "realistic" but it also makes building a huge hassle.

Yeah, it's weird, isn't it? I'm still thinking about the story a lot, and writing it too, but getting into the game to set up scenes really drains me.

It's the same way when I try to just play the game lately. I've played it all before, you know? I've started challenges too, like the Poverty challenge, and it's sort of fun, but not what it could be. But maybe I'll get back into it. I should try Veronaville again. That seemed to be getting me interested in just playing.

It seems that there's a way to install and unistall the light mod with the Scriptorium, so that might make the process easier.

The competent and unremarkable thing was just referring to the images, and specifically just in relation to all the really beautiful, artistic things I've seen people do with sim photos. I don't think my photos are bad - I'd be lying if I said that. I'm just being a bit over-dramatic. Compositionally, I think they're usually pretty good. I'd just like to make some really great. You know what I mean?

You're talking to the chick who spent two whole hours on one freaking shot, so I absolutely understand when you say you want to make your pics look great. :P I can get all OCD with my pics if I let myself. All those artsy people are probably using photoshop to spice up their photos too, so don't feel bad about it. :D

And uh, what's the Scriptorium? I don't think I've ever heard of that. Am I missing something?

Some of those photos are definitely created using Photoshop, and not all of those shots work for me, but sometimes... Sometimes they're really great.

The scriptorium allows you to use different types of cc stairs and different stuff like that. It installs the light mod for you, aparently. Here it is:

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=192613

She just wants people to listen so she can talk.

Most people do. If you listen and ask people questions about themselves, you'll have a lot of friends, it seems. :P

Round Robin is definitely a story.

And *spoiler* all the kids were female (there were 4 total).

I've seen pictures of that. It does look very beautiful. I can just see that sort of atmosphere making sim photos look really great.

The pitch black thing is what appeals to me. I want a very dark room, so when the character steps into the light, it's a significant moment. It wouldn't be something I'd like to have all the time.

Did you find it difficult to remove the mod after you decided you no longer wanted it in your game? Did you use the scrptorium?

Cool. I'm looking forward to it. Are they interesing kids? You've been running a home business, right?

I don't get a turn until round five. I can't wait.

Actually, I first installed it back when GunMod's original version was still very much up-to-date, and he had included the backup original files so you could just overwrite the changed light files.

Recently I attempted to install it again and it was a huge hassle without Scriptorium. I would recommend that you use that regardless.

I have no idea why, but I used the phrase "huge hassle" three times o_O

Trust me, I do stuff like that ALL of the time. :P

Yeah, I noticed that the earlier versions only required you to replace one file, but the later version requires that you replace something in the game files of every EP and SP. That's a lot of trouble to go through, and so many chances to do something wrong.

The scriptorium seems to be the way to go, for sure.

I third the Photoshop. There seems to be new lighting modifications available on CS3 even.

Do you use the camera mod at all? I've thought about it, but the multiple folders issue scares me.

pixel_and_bean and

madame_ugly should post tutorials like they did with Insim again.

I'm a good listener! Or, maybe its just that I'm a good talker. With her at least, I'm a good listener because I keep my mouth shut. She's the sort of person who will criticize everything I say. 'I'm getting my hair cut' will most likely be responded with 'But your hair is already so freaking short already!'.

Send some of your rain our way, would you? Drought = bad for crops. D:

I've had days like what you're having a lot. Well, nights. :D I'll make coffee... everyone will be in bed... I'll have the entire night of uninterrupted bliss stretched out before me, and I end up getting sleepy and can't focus. It's a bummer!

Those lighting hacks, like what Jaydee used in her new video, are three shades of awesome... but I know, just know I'd hate them in my own game. Just like the uber-realistic skins and eyes other people have. They look really good in other players' pictures and movies, but if I put them in my game I hate them. I'm sure any lighting mod would be the same way. *shrugs*

This was my day to fail at housework. It's TOM (time of month) for me and it's been awful ever since my tubal ligation (sorry if TMI) so usually the first couple of days I don't do much around the house but the bare necessities. Ugh.

Here's to all of us getting our focus back soon!

It's also raining like crazy over here. I just had to take a shower because I got soaked on the way back from a work meeting. And I'm also literally twitching because I had to drink four cups of strong coffee to stay away at said meeting. I have a lot of paperwork to do for both my job and graduate school process (all due this Friday) and just can't focus, so I'm not sleeping well. And I had a very tiring day at school, because the kid was cranky and it was nearly impossible to make him pay attention at class and...

Goodness, this is Failday indeed! *Twitches*

I've had the same issues as you with my story. I quickly get bored and distracted when I have to pose my sims for a "complicated" scene (I'm more a "take pics as I play" kind of "simmer"), and there have been entries that required constant posing from me. So annoying, but that's what I get for being such a freaking perfectionist.

But then there are days like yesterday when I'm eager to try a "complicated" idea as soon as I get it, no matter what. And somehow I get them done very quickly too! Too bad that's not as often as I wished.

I once installed that light mod, waaaay back before I even thought about making a story with my sims. I had just discovered MTS and was like a kid at a candy store trying out all the "OMG SHINY!" stuff in there. Maybe that's an useful mod for stories, but I hated it as a gamer. When I realized I was placing 6 windows and 10 lamps per room just to make the game bearable, I took it out forever.

I second the use of photoshop (I fail at filters, but I found a tutorial to get effects like this one, maybe it's similar to what you need?) or maybe ummm... you could place a couple invisible tiles in the roof to let the light down. I have no idea if that'd work, though.

Anyway, I hope you get back your inspiration! As I always say, you need to have fun and enjoy this above everything.

And I should shut up now because caffeine has made me verbose again :)

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