Strangetown Extras: Worthington Portraits

[strangetomato]

I've been shooting some family portraits to make into painting recolours, so I thought I'd share one of the ones I've done so far. I think it came out pretty well.









They're standing in order of age, from back left to front right: Lillian, Edie, Charlotte, and Frances.

I like how easy it is to compare their genetics when they're side by side like this. As you can see, Edie's the only one who avoided their mother's non-chin.

I'm going to need a lot of these to decorate my new Worthington mansion, which I'll post about later (I'm really coveting Mansion and Garden stuff right now, but I'm supposed to wait for Santa to bring it). I'm doing some wedding portraits, and a couple of family group photos, and some baby stuff.




 

Comments

[dothesmustle.livejournal.com]

skdlsklkrtuiof

Child Frances is so cute !!!

He's so adorable and awkward and I LOVE HIM.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

He has a similar awkwardness as Johnny does as a child. They really need to grow into their features, but they're so adorkably cute as children.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

Nice! And funny coincidence, 'cause just earlier this evening I was thinking about your version of Frances' family and trying to remember his sisters' names, 'cause I could only remember Edie. Looking forward to seeing more pictures, I love portraits like that, especially from different ages.

How did you go about making Frances' parents again, so that they have his features? I'm toying with the idea of making some families for some Maxis college students myself...

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

You'll be seeing more of the whole Worthington family in the next chapter, because I'm going to be doing Charlotte's wedding to Malcolm Landgraab, and the whole family will be there. That should be fun. A lot of work, but fun too. I've already started to decorate the venue (why does sim decorating take so long for me?).

My method involves working backwards from the sim you want to create a family for. I started with Frances, decided which features would belong to each parent (since they obviously shouldn't be the same, unless you really want cartoon silliness), and then I either altered the other features by hand or used another sim to breed a parent using the pacifier in CAS (this method is trickier because you have to keep rolling until the genetics end up the way you want, but it's lazier too, because you just have to keep clicking).

After I have the two parents, with the features from that original sim all evenly distributed (along with their own features that weren't "passed on" to the uni kid), I use the pacifier function again to create any additional kids. Lillian, Edie, and Charlotte are all genetic children of the Worthingtons, with no additional altering, and so they have the recessive genes and all that too.

It would be technical possible to have a child born to them who looks just like Frances, but the odds are no better than any combination of their genes.

Does that make sense? Maybe I should do a photo tutorial to illustrate it.

I also prefer this method for recreating the parents of premades, like Glarn and Kitty Curious, because the sims you can ressurect are always unaltered face templates, and don't have any resemblance to their "children" at all.

[meetme2theriver.livejournal.com]

That does make sense. That's what I thought you were doing, actually. Thanks. :)

I've been working for months on very clean versions of Strangetown and Pleasantview, in which I've actually deleted every "broken" dead sim, and replaced most of them (not most "grandparents" though) with new ones that can be resurrected if so desired, relinked them to their kids and their memories and so on. I didn't model them after their children, though (except Loki's dad - why would both his parents be face template 1??). Also fixed genetics and added recessive ones, cleaned out unnecessary garbage relations and other stuff, and other minor tweaking. I finally finished a couple of weeks ago and merged the two neighbourhoods into one, and have just recently started playing it. I plan to do a story. :D

And I'm going to need a university, so... yes.

Anyway, that's my long and slightly unrelated story, I guess I just wanted to point out that we're not adding more characters to the MegaHood. :p

[xel-squirgle-ox.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I made Guy Wrightley's family, who I haven't shown yet. (You'll see his sister in my next chapter... When I get to it.) Though it was a lot of work, it was pretty fun to do. He's pretty much a genetic oddity in his family, hehehe. Both of his other siblings either have black hair or darker skin.

[hannahspring.livejournal.com]

Nicely done! I love making portraits and then putting them on my Sims' walls. The houses look so much more personal then. And BTW, M&G Stuff is great. Hope you're getting it soon! :)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I love making them too. Since I'm unlikely to get a new installment of the story out before Christmas (though, I'm thinking maybe I'll get another little half chapter interlude thing posted), so it's a good time to do these.

I'm almost literally drooling over M&G Stuff. All the garden stuff is so nice, and things like the mushrooms and the ladder with pots on it just put me over the edge (and isn't there even a fountain that can be added to ponds? Sweet).

I also really need those grand stairs for the foyer of Worthington manor. I'm so tempted to just get it now, but it will make coming back home after Christmas with my relatives more exciting. It's always sad to see the holidays end, so it's nice to have something to look forward to.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Frances looks so cute! I was just playing The Worthingtons yesterday, catching up Pleasanview for Super Secret Purposes.

And Edie looks fierce. MY BABBY!

Also, I did have a question, where do the Worthingtons live? I was going to stick them in the big house next to The Goth Manor, but I always assumed they lived in SimCity. (So that they'd be the Goths of Sim City, like the Landgraabs in Bluewater and the Goths in Pleasantview. Each Hood has its own Mega-rich family.)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Oooh, super secret purposes? Sounds interesting. Do you have all of my Worthingtons? I know you have a number of them, right? I'd really like to have your Franklin to use as a relative in my family too. Maybe not as another sibling (since he'd be a baby for YEARS *snicker*), but maybe as an uncle. He could be Frances II's younger brother.

I love him. He gives off such a Dorian Gray vibe to me, and he's super cute.

It's a pre-mullet Edie. I imagine that she did that when she finally moved out on her own and got into the whole music scene.

You're right. They live in the outskirts of Sim City (that little area of downtown that's down the hill and by the harbour... I'm not even sure how accessible it is without a camera mod).

I like how there's a rich family in every hood. Don't forget the Beakers and the Capps. They'd fall into that category too.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

It is. Very, very interesting. :P

Yes, I have all of them. I love them all. I've even started developing a crush on Lillian, she's amazingly cool.

Coolness! I'll upload him later. Franklin is so ridiculous, but I love playing him.

Yeah, I thought so too. I don't think her parents would approve of the mullet while she was living there.

Alright then, I'll stick them in a big house down there. Thanks!

Yeah, I didn't even think of the Beakers! But they are mega rich. Part of me thinks of them as New Money, even though the Beakers were already rich.

And the Capps and Monty's are super rich too, but I rarely remember them. (The Summerdreams are the "poorest" family in Veronaville. but they're rich too- I guess you have to have money to live there. Which is a good thing.)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

It took me a while to find a house that was right for the Worthingtons. I was using one that came with the Glamour Life SP, but it wasn't big enough to include all the different rooms for the children, and I wanted at least two stories.

I ended up using a download from the official site. It's called 220 Wright Way, and once I get the landscaping and decorating finished, I think it'll be perfect.

Oh, and here's where it is in "Sim City" (I don't know why they called it "downtown" as if any of the hoods would have a downtown like that - it makes so much more sense as a separate city to me):



That's it on the bottom left. Their first place is still there on the cliff above. As you can see, I've been altering the downtown hood quite a bit. I even have an army base in the upper right corner there.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I knew you used Forsythe Place, but I wanted a bigger house. Size, as it turns out, does matter.

And I completely understand you. I originally used it as Downtown Kodak, but it just bugged me that a Tiny Island would ALL OF THE SUDDEN have large buildings and tons of things that you can't even see from the mainland. I eventually said that they took a ferry to get to Sim City, which places Kodak on the Map. (Consistency? Who needs Consistency?)

And I C the Army Base buildings. Did you clone the Empty House next to the Grunt house for that? (And your Sim City looks gorgeous. I haven't done anything to mine.)

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Nice. I really need to not be such a puss and learn how to recolor pics.

(and when you mentioned school portraits the first thing I thought was those horrible ones with the black background and two images, one face on and then this floating profile image--damnit, I'm trying to find and image to share the horror)

edited to add: http://listoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/09/great-olan-mills-photos.html (second pic down is what I'm talking about)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yes, you do. It's super easy when you use the Photo Studio feature, as long as you can crop the image to size. You can probably even do that in Paint, so you don't need to teach yourself how to use an image editing program.

Oh, man. Those are great. And by great I mean terrible. Now I'm tempted to make some like that. Not for the Worthingtons, because I think they're a bit classier than that, but I could see it being funny for some of the others. (The Smiths or Curiouses, perhaps?)

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'll play with it while my new comp is down and out. It seems like it's fairly easy to do.

The Brokes would SO have those Owen Mills pics. Then Beau could compare his to Frances's. (though the Curiouses would be funny, too--a bowl cut wearing child Vid in that profile style pic *snerk*)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, why not? Take advantage of the down time for something positive.

Good call on the Brokes too, though part of me think they would have been too poor to be able to afford the school pictures at all (I knew people who couldn't buy them when I was in school).

*snort* I'm loving my mental image of a child (or teen!) Vidcund with a lame bowl cut. It would be so cute.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Well, I could use the down time to finally write up the second part of the latest Peculiar offering (which has been floundering for a bit). Eh, maybe I'll oogle the simPe thing first (procrasti. . .wha?)

Yeah, they could have been too poor but Brandi seems the type who would find a way to scrimp to get the cheesy school photos (and a nice shirt for each of the kids, since the shirt is all you're going to see in the pic).

Child Vid (no matter the hair do) is super cute.

[imsothenetgirl.livejournal.com]

Frances is so cute as a kid (and as a young adult, actually)! Great pic!

I really need to get around to doing some stuff like this for my hood. The only reason I haven't is because I'm so lazy.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Frances has one of the more interesting Maxis facial designs, I think, and all the proof I need against the use and abuse of Face One. He's way cuter than Face One, in my opinion.

It does take a bit of time and effort (and entering, exiting, and reentering the game, which I find annoying), but it adds such a nice little touch. Making custom stuff is little sewing your own clothes for your dolls, or building your toys a bed out of the plastic tomato tray (or, in this case, drawing something to put on the dollhouse wall, I guess). I tend to get really sucked into doing this stuff, once I get started.

[franwi.livejournal.com]

Love it! And of course they're in their private school uniforms, hee. The personal pictures are a wonderful detail to add to decorating the homes (and mansions.)

[sims-gone.livejournal.com]

Gee, do you think there's a family nose? Very cute.

[showercapfrog.livejournal.com]

Awww, they're all so cute. Now I'm quadruply tempted to download them... It's interesting how Francis appeared to have gone to a different school to the girls.

[catladymeow.livejournal.com]

What cute kids they make. Thanks for sharing it.

[80sfiend.livejournal.com]

Awww :D

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

Nice picture! Awww... ickle Frances is so cute! :D

I really love the detail you put into your sets and background. I know it must take lots of time but your attention to detail really shows in the final product!

[sofieamalien.livejournal.com]

Didn't you once post a link to a tutorial on how to make custom paintings? I lost all my links with my old laptop.. and I'd really like to give it a try.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

There are three different ways to make a basic painting recolour: using the Photo Studio feature in SimPE, using the Wizards of SimPE application, and using the object workshop.

The Photo Studio was what I was using first, and it's the easiest, but you're limited by the templates provided and you can only do single frames (it's also crucial that you format your image to the right size beforehand, or you get a badly stretched or squished image... and the sizes listed are not always accurate). I've moved on to using Wizards of SimPE, and Photoshop for image editing, and it's a lot better.

All three tutorials are found here at MTS2.

[sofieamalien.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[simsbarbie.livejournal.com]

I truly need to download Frances' parents. One day. Very cute school picture.

Madame Ugly, that site you posted here was freakin hilarious!