S Y P H O N I X

1. you can hug an alien

I thought I’d post a little guide to removing messed up content that was installed along with something else accidentally. There were a few files in my game that weren’t package files, and I hadn’t installed them as .sims3packs either.

With Nraas MasterController installed, I went into CAS and right-clicked the offending item. Doing that produces a yellow pop-up on the right side of the screen. In the pop-up, you should see the instance number of the item in question. Take a screenshot for reference. Close your game.

Open the first .dbc file from  C:\Users\[yourUsername]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\DCCache in S3pe. Type in the instance number that you took the screenshot of into the Instance Number text box (in the lower right of S3pe). Then check the ‘filter active’ checkbox, and click ‘set’. If the offending item is in the .dbc file you’re checking, all other sub-files will disappear and you’ll see just that one (or two if there’s an accompanying thumbnail image). If all disappear, you’ll need to open the next .dbc file and check there. Right-click the filtered sub-item when you find it, and select ‘Deleted’. Save the .dbc. The bad item should be gone.

Please consider reblogging this for others’ benefit - it was driving me crazy until I discovered this solution, so hopefully it will alleviate someone else’s pain. ;)

Me:

Me all day in everyone’s ask-box:

5 Tips for Building Realistic Outdoor Environments in TS3

A guide by @itssimplythesims

1. Play with the terraforming tools. I keep areas flat for any structures I'm building, but after they're placed I will start raising and softening the land around them. I typically keep this subtle if I'm going to be doing any landscaping—because plants don't always play nicely on slopes. Same with fences (place them first!)

2. Loads of landscaping. I love details so I always mix lots of grasses, flowers, shrubs, trees and rocks (Seriously, I’m addicted to landscaping cc. If it exists, I have it!). I use terrain paints to help with realism, too. I will paint areas along raised terrain with rock textures and a blend of grasses and leaves. Combining them is key to believability. Unless your yard is perfectly manicured, you’re going to see a blend of dirt, soil, grasses and weeds. Remember to consider the wildlife as well! My pictures really come to life when I start to add in common animals such as pets, birds, insects, etc.

PRO TIP If you’re a storyteller, treat your setting like you would a character. What can you say about them through the details? What mood can you create that feels right for the people or scenes that take place there?

I use Grande Lama’s Boulders and Grasses all over the place. They create a wonderfully realistic look and help in hiding some of the hard lines created by the terraforming tools. (Thank you, @grandelama!)

3. Check your camera angles. When I’m building a new lot, I think about what kind of pictures I might be taking, such as close-up's or panoramas, and from which angle(s). Sometimes, I build for a particular picture in mind so most of my attention is focused on 1-2 camera angles. These are usually temporary sets, like what I created for The Hunt. With my stable, however, I wanted to be able to take pictures from anywhere, so I regularly check out how my lots are coming together. Can I see any blemishes such as untouched plots of land, broken fence lines, or seams between lots?

4. Work small! My lots are packed full of details so I work exclusively in empty worlds. I also lower my graphics settings, especially when I’m building and decorating. This helps me reduce lag and my game is more amenable to all the hundreds of plants (and deco) that go into building my environments. I also use small lots that are pieced together rather than several large lots. I find the larger ones to be overwhelming and working small helps me finish what I start.

I see a lotta people ask other simblrs ??? How is it they’re so popular ??? Like how do some people get so many likes, and some don’t ??? So anyway, here’s some tips I threw together, which might be totally serious, or not ???

DON’T. EVER. ADMIT. YOU. HAVE. FEELINGS. No one likes a Negative Nancy, especially people who are just here to look at pictures of the same exact game they play. Bottle it up inside until you start cutting off the heads of your stuffed animals to feel whole again.

Not good at building, or making sims, or editing... or honestly anything? MAKE LOOK BOOKS! People like CC, especially when it’s conveniently linked at the bottom of pictures they couldn’t care less about.

There are only two anons that matter, WCIF’s, and the hate mail you send yourself to make yourself look good. Everything else goes in the trash. 🗑

Photoshop and Reshade and HQ mods are a total necessity. Don’t let the fact your computer is on its last leg convince you otherwise. This is 2019, there are 15 year olds that don’t know what standard def means. Slap some duct tape on that bitch, you’ve got to take your 374829373739th eyeseering picture of that same damn train in San Myshuno with sweet, sweet lens flare. #AESTHETIC.

Keep consistent. No one likes a ball outta left field, post the same sim over and over again from the same angle with the same plain background for all I care, just make sure nothing you make is distinguishable, or shows you’re a human being who has ever evolving tastes and interests. Growth is for babies!

Make some cc, it doesn’t have to be good, it just has to include all the meshes it requires in the same download or you’re a tyrant.

Did I mention not to feel?

Got a mic? Become a sims YouTuber! Put your gamertag on t-shirts, sell your soul to the influencer Gods, and get away with doing literally anything, because your viewers love a train wreck. 😈