Strangetown, Here We Come.

This one's been a long time coming, despite the fact that it's been sitting in my downloads folder forever. I really have no good excuse for not sharing it before now, besides having the attention span of a goldfish. :P

The Veronaville Llama was created in response to Patrizio Monty's sim bio, which describes the Monty property as a llama ranch. Disappointed by the lack of actual llamas to populate this ranch, I decided to attempt my own version. The result is a cheerful breed of llama, known more for their suitability for the heat of East Veronaville than their intelligence (really, they're a little dim-witted at the best of times). They have a wonderful coat, which makes a fibre that keeps you "warm in the Winter, yet cool in the Summer." They're a friendly breed, and are good with children, not unlike a dog. ;)


( A preview pic and download link ahead... )

This is the first official post of the Maxis Match Painting Project, which will be my humble effort to make more Maxis Match artwork for the game, make currently available MM artwork more versatile, and to expand on and create links between the decorative wall hangings and the easel paintings (something that I desire for storytelling purposes, so maybe others will also find it useful). It's something I've been playing around with for some time now, so expect to see more downloads around this theme in the future.


( See examples on Buggybooz meshes... )

Thanks for all your support and advice on my last post. ^_^ I'm not sure if I'm any closer to a decision on it, but your input was very helpful. Today, I was puttering around with the game and even taking some sim pics, and I realized that there's a lot of cc that I've made that's completely finished but I've never uploaded, and that's just not right! So here's a painting download for you. Nothing fancy, but I thought it was kinda clever in an "I went to art school" sort of way.

I've uploaded the sims from my participation in GoS's Good Genes III contest. Marlene, Markus, Imogen, and a bonus sim are included. Pointless fact: All of the names were taken from the names of photographers in Phaidon's The Photo Book. When I'm too lazy to actively think about names, I let my fingers do the walking, and that's my current go-to book.

( Yeah yeah yeah... get to the downloads. )

Hey, everyone! The joys of summer have been keeping me from simming as much as I do when the days are shorter, so I haven't been around much. It's been raining lately, though, so I took a little break from gardening (in sim garden terms, I have about a 6 by 8 fruit and veggie plot this summer, and I'm currently doing a lot of weeding! :P), and went cc shopping. While I was browsing through the recent monthly themes at GoS, this little gem by psychosim caught my eye, and I was inspired to create my own variation on this idea.




( Preview pics and download link ahead... )

I decided I needed another custom drumkit for one of my sim bands. This time, it's for Llama Dance Party, Edie Worthington's band. I used textures from one of the drawings that children create on the FreeTime activity table, featuring an adorably simple llama! I made them more colourful and got them all dancing. The wood has also been recoloured in a vibrant orange to match the whole bright and colourful dance party vibe.



( See it in action with Llama Dance Party, live on the streets of Sim City! )

And now for something completely different... :P

The odd little visitor seemed like an ordinary penguin at first. Then farmer McGreggor heard an unusual sound coming from the backyard, near the barn. When he went to the window, he noticed that the penguin was talking to the snowman. Not chirping or squawking or whatever it is that penguins normally do, but talking. The penguin spoke in an otherwordly language. On closer inspection, he noticed the penguin's dark eyes, like two black holes in space. The penguin noticed him looking, and glanced back at him, following him with her alien eyes. The penguin hollered something he couldn't understand.


( Don't worry, man! We come in peace! Do you have any fish, by the way? )

I'm still playing around with different types of default replacements, and (as you may have guessed) I've turned my attention to the easel paintings. When I sim, I tend to play a lot of artists, so I can't tell you how many times I've seen that hot pink painting with the girl in the green dress (and the huge hand), or the clowns, or the picasso homage... but it's a lot.

And, if you know me at all, you know I'm very much a Maxis-match sort of simmer, so I've been exploring some options for replacing those same ol', same ol' paintings that we've been staring at since the basegame, but keeping them in a style that will match the game. Sims 3 brought us a whole new set of easel paintings, and also included some real gems that imitate famous works from art history, so I thought it'd be nice to make those available for use in Sims 2.