Pixel Cuties

I can't believe I've finally made it!!!! I first started working on this overlay in 2024, I tried like three times to create a box, but it wouldn't work. So I settled for replacing a texture I don't use in another box with mine and putting it on my sims. But I've always wanted to upload it, because I think this is a very needed item. After a long fight I finally understood overlays very well and learned how to make them. And I'm so happy that I can upload this box now!

So, what is this? It's an overlay box that contains only one swatch that covers your sim's palms, making them look more realistic on dark-skinned sims. I tried to pick a tone that would be quite universal, it can be used starting with skins around S3 and all the way to the darkest skin tones. The texture is handpainted, I did my best trying to optimize it to look good on the Maxis hand mesh, but there might obviously be imperfections because both the mesh and the texture are quite simple. The texture is unfortunately a bit pixelated; as I've mentioned, I had put it in a different package for personal use at first, and it appears that I don't have the original image file anymore, so I had to pull it out of my game and then back into the game, which... probably didn't help its quality, but it's the best I could do. I think it looks gorgeous, pixelated or not. And if you're not zooming in too closely, it's not even noticeable.

To use this, you just have to place the overlay "box" object on your lot and choose "Add Light Palms" in the pie menu. There is also an option to remove the overlay. The object can be found in Miscellaneous/Dressers for §0. I based it on a mesh made for TS4 by yourdorkbrains and converted to TS2 by trishasimma. It looks like this:

Examples of how it looks on different skintones, before and after:

I hope you enjoy using it! I am very happy with this overlay and it brings me so much joy to finally be able to share it with the world.

Credits: me for the textures, @themeasureofasim for the overlay tutorial and the box I based mine on, yourdorkbrains for the TS4 mesh, @trishasimma for the TS2 conversion.

♡ Download ♡

⋆ NoFaceOverlay.package is required and included in the upload. Please make sure you don't already have it in your Downloads folder, one copy is enough (if you have other overlays in your game, it's likely already there).

SFS | simblr.cc

I didn't change anything but the shoes, but I did make an alternate version that swaps the greenlogo swatch for that one Zelda t-shirt every guy seemed to have at some point, as that's what it reminded me of, aha. Replaces tmbodyoverhangtshirt & ambodyoverhangtshirt, but only the ones with jeans, not the ones with shorts.

Download BG OverhangTShirt texture default replacement

Download BG OverhangTShirt texture default replacement - ALT version with Zelda T-shirt

I also made custom versions in case you want them but don't want the replacements, TM and AM, everyday only, no mesh needed! ദ്ദി(｡•̀ ,<)~✩‧₊

Download Custom versions

ALT: Download on Simblr

miss dolly is gonna be our model today. she already has a skin but im gonna add some little details for the sake of example + some tats cause ive been meaning to anyway.

so when i first get started on making someone a skin, ill find a good base to use and then add details from other categories like nosemasks, eyebags, contours, etc.

my fav skin creators are @sims3melancholic and @thisisthem. my bases are usually thisisthem, and then i'll pick through a couple s3m skins and make notes on my phone about what parts i wanna take off of them (like, say, i like how a certain s3m skin's nose looks. i'll use that instead of a nosemask)

my goal when im gathering things i wanna add is to free up as many slots as i can. id rather add cheshire's freckles onto her skin than use up the freckle slot in skin details that i could use for something else, yknow?

ill repeat this process for makeup next. obviously im not giving my ocs permanent full glam, but some lipsticks can add better texture, you can get highlights/blush from........the blush section LOL and i love using this obscurus eyeliner at a low-ish opacity

just adds an extra level of detail i love. i think what keeps my sims looking consistent next to each other is that i tend to use some of the same details all across the board

make sure for all makeup/skin detail/tattoo category swatches you use, you make note of what swatch it exactly is. when you go into s4s to export the file, you're gonna have to manually select it and if u cant remember what skintone u chose out it can be annoying :/

note that she is completely nakey aside from her piercings while i pick what im gonna use for her skin! no clothing but u can keep on their hair. this is so we have a clear view of everything (and i mean EVERYTHING) for blender.

after you make sure u save the sim/household to ur gallery, you can close out of cas and save ur game! i forgot to do this bc im a fucking idiot but its okay bc you will not. its not REALLY necessary to do this as long as you know exactly what packages you need to locate for texture exporting

step one is done!!!! close out ur game

i have a million fucking characters so i made a deja senti skinblending folder to keep it all organized :-)

this is what it looks like inside. gives u a pretty good overview of what ur gonna be doing tbh. the 't' folder is all the textures we're about to export

thankfully i do have a version of dahlia saved in my gallery so even tho i didnt go it before i closed my game i can still show u what to do in tray importer lol. i have multiple sims in one household, so i narrowed it down by going up top and selecting dahlia / human / and her everyday outfit.

since im gonna give her this blush, i right click and hit open w package viewer so itll find it and open s4s for me

anime wow sound. im gonna change the color manually in photoshop so it doesnt matter to me what swatch i export. hit that green export button under the list of diffuse/shadow/etc (u dont need to worry about all those options, just diffuse) and save it to ur folder!

once ur done gathering ur textures ur good to close out of tray importer and s4s(we'll come back to s4s later tho)

thats step two! the quickest step lawl

this is where i start being a little extra. u dont have to rip ur sim and use blender if u dont want to, but i think it can rly help bc the default sim in s4s doesn't have ur sims facial features and can make ur skins look wonky/wont give an accurate representation of how itll look in game. this cuts out having to go in game/out of game over and over to check

so in simripper once u load up ur sim, the important part is to make sure u have it set to export the dae with separate meshes. once thats done u can import it into blender and there's plenty of other tutorials out there how to use simripper n all that.

so once u get the dae loaded into blender im gonna send u on a little side quest over to this ask i answered where i explain how i separate eyes from the head mesh. next thing ur gonna open is photoshop! or whatever u have thats similar

say hi to flat dahlia. u should have ur own guy but flat open now too :-) along with everything else ur gonna combine. in my case its blush and a titty mask. im gonna start w the blush so i zoomed into her face in blender. i went into the blush file and copied, then back into my base skin file and pasted into place with crtl+shift+v

please do not be like me. make sure u rename ur layers as you copy and paste them into the main skin file. do this because it DOES matter what order ur layers are in. u dont want to put ur highlight under ur nose mask cause the nose mask will just cover the highlight etc etc. i already lost what layer the new blush i added is. what is wrong w me

so when u have ur first detail pasted on and in place, ur gonna save the base skin file as a psd. then go into blender, and in the little textures window ur gonna replace the diffuse file ur dae came loaded with with ur new psd file

u should see the change u made but mine was super subtle so im gonna show it to u when i put on the cleavage overlay

when it comes to stuff like this, ur obviously gonna want to pick the closest to ur skintone swatch as u can. i did not do this, because again, im an idiot

mine is way too pale LAWL whoops. we can fix this tho

i add a hue/saturation adjustment and make it a clipping mask using that square w the arrow so the adjustment will ONLY affect the mask

from there i just make little adjustments until the color match up is as perfect as i can make it. for example for this, ik that it needs to be a little warmer and a little more saturated, so im gonna bump the hue and saturation sliders to the right and it was pretty much perfect

tiddies with no mask > with mask no adjustments > with mask and adjustments

and ur gonna go ahead and repeat that process with every single thing u wanna add to ur skin.

so as for tattoos! this is another thing ur gonna wanna rename the layers for because depending on how heavily ur sims can be tatted it can get A LOT

here's psyche's neat little tattoo folder. its separated into where the tattoo is and then

what it is

i find all my tattoo inspo on pinterest using flash sheets/keywords in the search. my ocs usually have sub-boards that i hoard inspo in for them specifically. dahlia doesnt have one bc ive never seen her as the most tattooed person, but i think she'd have some at least

this process is pretty much the same as putting on skin details! its all about adjusting to what u like. for example, i like when my sims tattoos are a little faded and a bit blurred at the edges cause it looks a little more real

when it comes to images i find on pinterest, ill save the image and first try to make it as clean as i can

for example, this lil guy

a curve mask made the whites brighter and the blacks darker as u can see. then ill go into filter > reduce noise to soften the harsh edges

then i flatten it, copy and paste to the skin file, n place it wherever i want it to go :-)

louder anime wow!!!

okay so now ur gonna want to make sure u .psd file is saved (it should be bc we've been checking our progress w blender) and then merge the visible layers (NOT flatten, merge visible. we need the transparency around the skin to be in tact)

ur done in photoshop and blender!!! good job :-)

step whatever number we're on. back into s4s!

ur focus is over here. make sure the option filled is the top one, and then hit the cas button

this menu will open, ur gonna go up to part type and find the option skin details, forehead. pick the first forehead wrinkle option that appears and hit 'next.' itll prompt you to save ur new file n give it a name, i usually just make it my sim's name cause i have a folder in my mods folder for specifically my cc

remember wayyyy back when we were exporting the skin details? ur gonna go back to that same section and hit 'import' instead of export. select ur skin's .png file, and poof !

ur skin :DD it looks great man good job

this part is EXTREMELY important. go up to the warehouse tab

in the 'data' section ur gonna see a box at the top labeled 'filter.' thats where i typed in 'compos' just so it would show me JUST the compositionmethod section since theres a lot of shit in there lawl. yours is initially gonna say '3,' but we're gonna change it to '0' mind you, this is because MY skins are all alpha. maxis match overlays do not show up on my skins because my comp method is set to 0, meaning it has top priority essentially.

after you do that, you can hit save and place that .package file you created into your mods folder!!! and GUESS WHAT BESTIE UR DONE!!!!! U DID IT :DDDD

A lot of the style isn't really CC tbh, lots of strong features (I love a strong facial feature when making sims so 1000% approve of this) particularly with the nose, big eyes/eyelids, pouty-shaped mouth and asymmetry going on. Slightly cartoon proportions for extra oomph? You'll want some asymmetry sliders for this if you don't already have them. Obviously TS2 features won't be so smooth, but such is life :) Thinking about it, the style/proportions actually remind me a little of ghen's old sims, so might be worth a look!

As for getting the boldness, you're probably best sticking to the chunky 4t2 hairs for this, with hairline masks where fitting. Io has some here for example.

If you want the kinda painterly feel, AlfredAskew's content comes to mind. Her face shaders (1, 2, 3) will be good for this, these as well and I'd reccomend grabbing some of her sims too as they've got CC that could be fun to use that afaik wasn't released anywhere else.

For skins, they seem to use kinda matte but well defined skins? i've not tried them but AlfredAskew's reconstruction skins might be a good base? They've got that painterly feel. Sleepytabby's imperfection skins would work well as a base too. They're gonna need a lot of CC for this style (mainly for eyes, lips and nosemask) but they're really texure-y as well. as always I'm gonna say Io's skins would be a good call, and hell standard maxis might not even be too bad for this. they're all defined and not too shiny.

If perlean's stuff is anything to go by, you can go HEAVY on the nose masks and shaders (and i mean this in the best possible way). Some nosemasks that might fit the bill are basically everything here.

Eyebags, blush and eyelashes seem kinda prominent too, XOD's eyebags seem to fit the bill best (and they're uploaded with a LOT of sims) but I can't find the original source anywhere so here's some recolours by digi. The eyelids here feel like a good call too

Eyelashes I don't have many of these so it'll be worth browsing some creators to find some bold ones. it is a lot harder to get them looking good in TS2 though as it's easy to warp the eye area. I have even less for actual blusher blushes so others may be able to recommend stuff here (please do!), but ideally they'd be ones that hit the upper cheekbones/eye orbit area (idk much about how you'd describe this in makeup terms haha).

Some nice bold or fun eyebrows will help, I love these by Mina M on MTS: and this big set by pooklet is also good.

For the rest of the face pretty much all of simplelife's face shaping makeup CC (and the brows tbh) will be your friend here, as will Amaryll's miranda facekit and Pooklet's face stuff for for freckles and eyebags. Rensim has some eyebag building kit here too and Pforest's face kit will be good for this style also.

Eyes are probably the one that matters least as they look to vary massivley and I can't quite tell what they look like under the post processing. A more realistic sclera (or a darker one) might work better, but you can probably get away with whatever you like.

I have no idea if this is all stating the obvious or would actually work, but I hope it helps!

---

and as an aside, I gave the style slapped together this guy quickly in Bodyshop using CC I already had while searching for stuff for this post, I think I completely missed the mark so far but idk if he'd be approaching the right style with a little more effort and more painterly CC?

Fixing such an old forum is not easy. Documentation is rather sparse because the framework it runs on is old. There is however a more modern version, but updating is difficult. Here was the issue for the forum - upgrading failed. 

A website (usually) consists of two different parts: 1 - The files. They contain the code, scripts, designs, images, attachment, profile pictures etc. 2 - The database. The database connects all the different parts and tells the website where to find something. Everything gets stored in tables, assigned IDs and given values. Everything written, each post and topic is also stored in the database. So without the database the whole page would be useless.

It was clear from the beginning that the database was the culprit for the failed upgrades. I got an earlier backup from HL and started working.

I set up a local environment with two versions of XAMPP. One running on php 7.4 (the last version having compatibility for the forum framework version and the upgrade script to the recent version) and the other on a modern 8.3, which was the same as the version the server @fireflowersims set up for GOS.

I ran the upgrade script (which consists of 4 separate parts) on the old backup and ran into errors right away. The script would just outright crash on me, most often without a log or message. The (local) server would just stop responding. My original plan had been to upgrade to version 2.0 first, then 2.1, since it was the recommended order. However the database backup had already been partly upgraded to 2.1. That was the reason my upgrade script failed. Reversing those changes could have been a possibility but extremely time intensive.

(This is the frontpage of the upgrader. I stared at it so much. Like you can see it has a ton of steps)

Instead I asked for the current database and HL provided it to me. This one was already further along on the upgrade and I could see the error HL had run into before handing over. I had to look at the upgrade scripts and source php files to diagnose what the framework was expecting - and failing - to find in the database.

That’s where I found the main culprit for *most* of the errors: Time tables. The framework saves every action that a user does in a log, a long table with the action, an id and a date. This was where everything had gotten wrong. The upgrader expected to see one column for the date, named *day*, while the current table had a different column for day, month and year. I tried fixing the table at first but that didn’t seem to work, so I completely deleted the table and created a new empty one myself. (By now I think the issue stems from forgetting to uninstall certain packages before upgrading, more on that later)

That was possible because the log actually doesn’t hold relevant information for the forum to work. It just records each step, probably for moderation purposes. Once I had done that step the upgrade script was finally able to proceed.

There were a few more errors where I had to look at what the script was doing, find the corresponding code in the sources and edit the database myself. Thankfully the code is relatively well commented and named, so I was able to find what I needed.

Finally I got the upgrade script to run to the end and I was actually able to open the forums (local) page. I hadn’t been able to for now so it was a first. But a lot of stuff was still missing, like all the topics. I could see that the posts were back, but not sorted correctly.

The fix was simple but annoying. The forum framework comes with a repair_setting.php file which I had run several times to fix all the paths, but apparently it didn’t fix *all* of them. So back to the database I went, ran some queries and fixed them myself.

Then the forum finally worked again!

(This is what the forum looked like when I first opened it. It ONLY had recent posts)

(The working local forum, no files yet with the default theme. Seems wrong to look at GOS without the dark theme, right?)

There were still a few things I needed to fix but the database seemed to work fine now. I had never done so many queries in my life. I know SQL, and had to fix databases before but not this intensely. So I guessed I learned something new haha.

Next was the exciting step to upload my clean install to the server. @fireflowersims and I had some directory issues, but I was able to fix them manually once again.

Then I had to take a look at the files which mostly consist of avatars and attachments. They didn’t work at all once moved to the clean install. Once again I took a look at the code and realized that the upgrade script would have changed those files as well, but because I ran it on a clean install it didn’t actually do this step.

I didn’t want to run the upgrade script again, worried that it would mess up a now working database. Instead I wrote a script myself that sorted through all the attachments, looked for the IDs of the avatars from the database so it could move and rename them.

Last were the attachments. This was an easier fix. They just had to be given the ending .dat. @fireflowersims ran a command through the console and then the attachments worked too!

We were getting closer!

Next was the theme. The old theme didn’t work on the modern framework anymore so @fireflowersims looked for a new one which I customized with CSS, trying to get it closer to the way the forum looked before. I think it turned out quite alright, hope you guys think so too!

(Trying to find out what CSS class addresses what? Make everything red and green!)

(All the spider webs)

Next was packages, or mods, to the framework. Fire and I encountered some hiccups here too, since there were some leftovers in the database. The packages hadn’t been properly deinstalled before running the upgrade script, which was another source of the errors. I tried fixing them manually but one of the packages would continue to just break the site no matter what I tried, so we settled for an alternative.

Some more work was put into SSL and making the forum secure. Once again some settings seemed to just break the page and each time I had to go back in the database and manually fix what had gone wrong. It was tedious but by now I knew my way around quite well.

@fireflowersims handled a lot of the server administrative work and DNS settings. I know very little about that part so having @fireflowersims there was great and they made sure the page is reachable at the correct address.

The Test of CC/Bygone Eras Challenge

Most people have heard of the Test of Time challenge, which got me thinking about bygone eras….of CC! So I came up with this challenge to dust off the CC of yesteryear and play the way Simmers of old used to.

The goal of this challenge isn't to be restrictive or particularly difficult, the goal is to simply revisit all that old CC and mods that were popular way back in the day; start from vanilla and eventually get to the modern age of custom content and modding. This challenge can easily be played alongside a lepacy but is not required.

Every generation includes 2 full years of CC and mods to browse through starting from the game's release. You can play however you want to, you can start with a premade hood in a premade family, you can make your own founders, play rotationally or legacy, you can even try to find one of the oldest custom hoods ever made, it doesn't matter, that part is up to you :) I've also included some optional goals for each generation.

Generation 1 - The Founders

Vanilla only! No CC is allowed in this generation, to cleanse your palettes of CC. All mods that do not directly fix your game are not allowed. Anything you use to make the game playable is acceptable, but anything else is not! Mods that fix things that were broken or taken away or otherwise unusable are allowed. Things like RPC, aging fixes, removal of perma plat, no corrupt death, stuck object remover, rug fixes, etc, are all acceptable, but things like changing your UI, ACR, midge's Romantic Standards, and such are not. Fail safe mods like simblender, memory manipulator, day setter, etc, are all acceptable, as the goal isn't to play a broken and frustrating game, but to see all the CC and mods people used to use! As you progress through the ages, you can begin to add in mods that were popular in that generation's years, like inteen. What you choose to keep is up to you, but keep it in the spirit of the challenge!

Optional: try not to let your sims die, try not to uninstall the game because you miss your mods. I personally cheated my sims in money to really see all the vanilla items and see them in their fullest glory.

Generation 2 - 2004-2005

Simple, but effective

The very first CC and mods were beginning to come out, and you'll be very surprised at what was available even in the first year of the game's release! While a lot of it isn't very pretty, and toddlers, kids, and elders didn't have very much, this is what people had at the time.

Optional: Have your sims live perfect lives. The game had just come out and most people were still exploring the game.

Generation 3 - 2006 -2007

Year of the Emos, ball gowns, and more

This is when things really start to get fun! A massive influx of CC and mods were beginning to come out, and a lot of it you might still be using to this day. This was also the era of emo/scene styles, and the beginning of sims stories and machinima. You'll also start to recognize some very familiar meshes!

Optional 1: Your teens become orphans! Somehow, in some tragic way, your teen's parents die, leaving them all alone, and he/she also becomes a teen parent. This was really popular back then, don't look at me. It's also extremely important to marry in a face 1 sim.

Optional 2: Make your own sims machinima or story! Go back in time and dig up some of those old videos on Youtube. Watch as people put their sims through it all and try to recreate that feeling. It doesn't need to be the best video or story ever, but have fun following the trends of this time period and recreating those feelings :) Also gives you an excuse to use all the smeared mascara makeup people made. Maybe a story about a teen getting dumped at prom, or some poor sim gets run over for no reason, a teen becomes an orphan or gets pregnant, go wild!

Generation 4: 2008-2009

Year of the…Celebrities?

There is so much CC in this time period to create ultra realistic sims, including celebrities! This is one of my personal favorite eras of CC

Optional: Go big or go home. Your sims live the life of luxury! They live in a giant mansion with everything they could ever want, Desperate Housewives style. Your sims start drama, get into petty cat fights, plot, steal, cheat, and otherwise live the life of a spoiled housewife/husband.

Generation 5: 2010-2011

The end of Sims 2 but not the end of CC….mostly

The Sims 2 might have ended, but people still created CC and mods! You'll start to see more modern mods coming out, ones that you probably use today to spice up your game. Things are a lot more chill in this era as people made stuff that fit all types, there's a lot less photoskinning going on, and the ultra shiny hair starts to phase out. There's honestly not a lot around this time, I guess most people had moved on to Sims 3, so it's slim pickings for clothing. Paris Hilton and emo kids are out, much more "normal" and less "socialite" is in.

Optional: make a love story to rival Twilight! Twilight was all the rage, and it could be seen reflected in sims stories across the world.

Generation 6: 2012-2013

What even happened this year?

CC only continues to reflect a more modern era, mods get more and more advanced, but the playerbase is more and more fractured. Challenges are more popular, toddler clothing previews get weirder, but there really isn't much else. Machinimas were replaced with actual feature length videos years ago, but they're still going strong.

Optional 1: Your sims go broke, losing everything. Reduce funds to zero, move into a smaller house, and start a new career. It'll make sense later, promise.

Optional 2: The Hunger Games exploded! Create a fun mini challenge where you pit your sim against other sims to fight to the death! Hope your sim has siblings in case they lose :)

Generation 7: 2014-2015

The Comeback Kid

The Sims 4 comes out and with it….conversions! There's still CC being created in the more traditional fashion as well, conversions don't take off straight away, but they do start.

Optional: Your sims make a huge comeback if they went broke in the previous era! Cheat in some funds to give them a nice blue suburban house and some extra cash to cushion things.

Generation 8: 2016-2017

The End of an Era

2017 is the last that time anyone uploaded something for the Sims 2 on The Sims Resource. Please give a moment of silence for this tragedy. There are over 5000 pages of CC for females alone on TSR, half of the first page of ALL Sims 2 downloads are from 2016-2017. Over on MTS, there are over 500 pages of CC for females, the last 17 pages cover 2016 to 2023. You realized generations ago that there are hundreds of dead sites dedicated to Sims 2 CC that are lost forever, and the two Big ones aren't doing much better when it comes to this version of the game. But I'm also sure that you know that most creators have moved on to other sites, mainly Tumblr!

Optional: Don't let go, keep the dream alive. Don't use any 4t2 items and stick to what you have. Only download things made in the traditional sense for the game, and continue to use older CC. You're not ready to move on yet, in rememberance to all those amazing creators from the past.

Generation 9: 2018-2019

The Start of Something New

I'm sure you miss your pretty, uncrunchy, modern CC, and we're almost there! But there's still some stuff left to look at in these years, stuff that we've all seen before. Stuff that I'm sure you have defaulted in your normal saves somewhere. Go grab all that stuff and mix it right in with your 4t2 items.

Optional: This is the year of strict wants and rotational gameplay for reasons unknown (but you can guess). Load up your ACR, crank those settings up, and only play strict wants based. Calculate everything, hope for your sims to autonomously do something, or roll for it. You're hands off, baby, let your sims take control.

Generation 10: 2020-2022 and beyond

The Modern Era

You made it! You've traveled back in time, dusted off those crunchy textures, and got to see what people of yesterday were playing with. Did you find things you like? Things you'll be incorporating into your downloads folder from now on? Do you have a new appreciation for modern CC? I certainly hope so if you stuck it out this long!

The rules are pretty flexible, as the whole point of this is to look at all the old CC created way back in the day. When it comes to mods, anything that fixes something that was broken in some patch are allowed, and mods that do something to a pack that was released after the year that you're on are also allowed. Examples include mods that fix butler behavior, pets, landlords, apartments, etc, are all fine. But if you're in Gen 1, ACR is not allowed, if you're in Gen 2, UI mods aren't allowed, and so on.