Late to the Party: Mansion and Garden Stuff

[strangetomato]

One of the limited number things that my SO gave me for Christmas that wasn't a rectangle (aka a book) was my eagerly awaited copy of Mansion and Garden Stuff. He made me wait for Christmas to get it, and he was right - it did make it all the more exciting to finally play with it. After some struggling to install it and to get the no-cd crack to work for me, I'm finally checking it out. I really love a lot of the items in this SP. I'm going to have fun decorating some of the fancier lots I've been working on (like the Worthington place).

I also tested out a new hair on Ophelia, which looks great, but had a little issue in the mesh. I'd like to ask you about it, if you have M&G Stuff.








I'm planning to use this new braided hair for Ophelia in the near future. I like the more relaxed look on her, and it keeps with her trademark braids.




Has anyone else noticed this odd area near the ear on this mesh? It only happens with the S4 skintone and the blond hair for me. I'm wondering if I have some cc hair conflict (which happened to me before - also with Phi), or if this is something I should seek out a fix for.

Also, I never fail to melt into a puddle of goo whenever I see sims "kiss lightly" autonomously. They seem so happy. After Phi changed her hair, she noticed Ripp getting out of the shower (leaving behind plenty of puddles on the floor), and decided he deserved a kiss (for making a mess or despite it, we'll never know).



 

Comments

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yes, this is true. One more rectangle for the collection. :P

Oh, but I do love rectangles.

[cameoflage.livejournal.com]

Books, Sim stuff, DVDs, boxed chocolates... Yep, rectangles abound here too.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Rectangles make great gifts and (bonus!) they're easy to wrap.

[redikolous.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like it! Aelia also made a recolor of that mesh here (http://www.digitalperversion.net/gardenofshadows/index.php?topic=8218.msg240248#msg240248).

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yes, this is one of the nice hairs in that SP (which, overall, doesn't offer much useable hair). This one is easily my favourite, but I like that female hair with the bangs too.

I already have Aelia's dread version too. It's a great recolour (and doesn't seem to have the same mesh issue).

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Firstly: PRECIOUSNESS! I love that Phi gave him a kiss.

If she's an adult, why is she wearing the same outfit? (is she? I don't know.)

And I DO notice the same issue with the hair and skin. I'll get a Bodyshop pic for you, since it bugged me so much.

And random nerdy CC geek question: Does Phi have the default green eyes,l or is she using Weather Reports? They look very olivey. Very pretty.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I know. So sweet. I like those little kisses that are "just because."

She is an adult here, but she's in her YA clothes because she's posing as one for some photos. They've been aged up, but I still need to finish off some pics for their final year of college. They'll be acting as both adults and YAs.

Is it only with the blond for you? Maybe that's just because it's natural on Phi, and the others work better. I don't know. It really bothers me. It could still be a cc conflict if you have it, because we have a lot of the same hair recolours.

The answer is simple: I am using Weather Reports as my default green. I'm using Invisible Gardener for the Smiths (I wanted it for Johnny, but it only makes sense to switch them all). I like the more olive green for the default. I'm just so used to it from Lyran, the other greens didn't feel right.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

I cannot wait until they graduate. It'll be weird, but I just won't believe it until it's 'official.'

You can see The Sims 2 Store hair edited by me on Dorothy here- no issues. And

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I cannot wait until they graduate. It'll be weird, but I just won't believe it until it's 'official.'

You can see The Sims 2 Store hair edited by me on Dorothy <a href="http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/jstjames30/SNAG-0004.png">here</a>- no issues. And <a href="http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/jstjames30/SNAG-0004.png"<here's </a>the M&G one, with the problem- I think it's just lazy texturing. If anything, I might just alpha edit it.

Ah, ok. I'm using A New Arrangement. (Which is eerily similar to Classic Cars.)

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

Ugh, SUPER HTML fail:

Dorothy's new hair, no issues: http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/jstjames30/SNAG-0004.png

M&G hair; issues:

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e287/jstjames30/SNAG-0005.png

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. That's the same issue, for sure. I wonder why it's happening. Does it happen with other skintones and hair colours for you?

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the cuteness continued after that. Phi asked Ripp to go cuddle under the clouds...



He said yes, as you can see.



Then Johnny woke up and came out looking for Phi, so he could (no joke) make out with her. That's what he does first thing in the morning.



He threw a minor tantrum when he saw he had to wait his turn. It amuses me that ACR lets this happen.

[smjoshsims.livejournal.com]

AWWW. I'm loving all this autonomous adorableness. ACR is good for romantic actions, but not for sweet ones, I find. Kiss Lightly is usually normal autonomy, since I've seen it before I had ACR.

LOL, Johnny does seem like the type who would be upset over something like that. (And hee hee, It also amuses me- Johnny being so nonchalant about Phi and Ripp, together.)

And (if you don't mind me asking) who's house is that? It's gorgeous! I love the garden. (And your pictures! *drool*)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the cuddle on the ground interaction is a normal one too. I like that ACR doesn't completely take over. Ripp still tells his dirty jokes as much as doing romantic socials, and during this playing session, he was alll about congratulating everyone on learning fire safety. Sims are funny.

I know. He'd get all whiny. ("You're hogging her, Ripp!") Jenny said he was prone to tantrums as a child, remember. It's funny how, with ACR, they're pretty cool with the situation. Story-wise, it's closer to what I'd see happening than normal Maxis jealousy, but it's a little too relaxed for this stage of the game (that's where the story comes in).

This is a vacation lot in Three Lakes. It will come up in the story. I've had them there on a semi-permanent vacation for a while now, so that's why they're always there in my screenshots. I downloaded the lot (should find the link before I post that chapter) and then changed a number of things about it and decorated it a whole lot. It's been fun. M&G Stuff had some nice things for the garden.

I'm really loving how the screencapped shots look. It's worth the extra step for me.

[devin11234.livejournal.com]

Ophelia looks great with the new hair. I can't wait to see what the Worthington mansion looks like. ;)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I like it on her. I've liked her topknot too, but it will be nice to see her with a change.

I did some decorating at the Worthington Manor last night, and the new staircase is a very welcome addition to the foyer. It looks great. I'm going to update Malcom Landgraab's place too.

[cindyanne1.livejournal.com]

It's that hair on that skin. It's a bummer, too... because it's so perfect for an adult Phi.

I have a clean game (had to reinstall... actually had to reboot my entire computer using my Alien Respawn program (thank the Powers I had that program!) It's a long story that involves my son clicking on an Internet popup he shouldn't have and many viruses and Trojans. I did backup my Neighborhoods, but I haven't put them back in yet. I'm not motivated enough for that yet, lol.)

Anyway, the only CC I have in this clean game are my hairy skins, the Insim, and the pregnant-sims-wear-anything hack. Here is an adult Phi with the blond hair:




... and just to see what happened, here she is with the black of the same hair.



So I don't know if it's only Phi or all S4 skintones this happens with, but it does appear to be an issue with the blond color of that hair.

Hope this helps! Wish I knew how to fix it though!

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I noticed too. I'm going to go try it on some different skintones to see if this is a S4 only issue or if it's with the blond hair on every skin.

Thanks so much for your input! It's a relief to know that it's not a cc hair conflict. Now I just need to go searching for a fix. Surely, someone out there has notice this and fixed it. I've seen some pretty tiny hair edits/fixes posted at MTS2 before.

If not, I can always combine this texture with Aelia's dread texture for a temporary fix. That might make it useable.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

I fully expect there to be some wang plant jokes now that you have M&G. Just saying.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

You're talking about that large flower with the erect stamen, right? That's great. It's a little more vulva-like, if you ask me. It just has a rather large "little" man in the boat. Either way, I think I'd still hide it when the in-laws came over.

Considering all the previous plant-gina and plant wang comedy, this should be good material to work with.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Stella SO needs some genital plants.

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

Yes, she does. She should probably have a little greenhouse where she goes to study them and compare her notes.

Oh, and speaking of M&G... what a hassle it was for me to install it. I'm not sure what was going wrong, but I had to do it a couple of times to get it right. I needs a new no-cd crack because it runs from it's own disk. It's more of a half-EP than an SP. Pretty odd. That's why it has some feautures and animations.

[madame-ugly.livejournal.com]

Were the problems with the no-cd or would it just not install?

See, that's why I'm avoiding AL and MG. I'm just about burned out bending to the will of this damn game. Don't get me wrong, I still love me some sims2 but DAMNIT, it's like more time is spent finessing it and worrying if it will work then just sitting and playing. It's not just my recent personal computer problems speaking, either. Every EP you have to make a fricking list of crap you have to replace or update or wait until you can find the replacement/update. That's AFTER you spend a nice sum of money to buy the damn EP, too. Then the legit copy doesn't want to install or (like the AL errors I've seen) tells you something else isn't there anymore. Then if you do get it all working, the new stuff has errors/bugs/glitches or is just a bit of a let down in some way (like that hair you were happy about BUT, it's flawed so no you have to fix it).

I'm tired of the Sims 2 "buts". "It's a good SP BUT you need a new cd crack." "It's a good EP BUT I had to re-install everything else to get it to work." "It's a great game BUT I had to rebuild my computer X times because it's such a memory hog/etc."

(ooh, I got all ranty there, sorry 'bout that)

[strange-tomato.livejournal.com]

I don't think there was really a problem with either. It did install, but it took a little fooling around for me to get the steps all right. I think the problem, in the end, was not having all my downloads transferred over when I moved my backup, so some lots wouldn't load. Nothing serious, but still confusing.

Your rant is warranted. It's a royal pain in the arse to do all this every time. It should be better now that all the EPs/SPs/EPs posing as Eps have been released. Now, when you feel like taking it all on, you could just install whatever is left and get the one no-cd file, and be done with it. I don't think M&G requires much hack updating. There was a minor update to SimPE and InSIM is fine.

It's really the things that I like about the game that makes it a hassle. I like that it keeps updating with new features, and I like that users can create content and hacks that have the potential to change the game (and also possibly mess with it in the process). I'm with you, though. I'm tired of all the hassle.

Sims 3 seems less like a good idea all the time. For all that seems appealig about it, there are things that I'm not really feeling. I really don't see buying it until it's been out for a while, if I buy it at all.