Got an update from Maxis but they’re swamped with Hot Date right now so I’ll be back later with real news. BTW, go get the Phantom Menace DVD. It kicks.

Hey ho. Welcome back from the weekend (we all have to have a little time off right?).

Okay, a bunch of things that are piled up in the blueline right now that I’m (slowly) getting to. Bear with me.

blueprint 2 test. Yes yes yes. I know, I still haven’t got the note off to the testers or things flowing there. Sorry about that. Just so many things to keep track of and stay on top of I’ve just fallen behind here. Don’t worry, we’re getting to it and everyone will be happy-happy-joy-joy very soon.

ObjectEditor is a stand-alone version of the object editor that’s built into blueprint right now and will be coming along shortly (hopefully this coming weekend if all goes well). Not much going on here but with the release of this comes a new version of SimExplorer that has been completely revamped to support all the new little proggies I’ve been pumping out lately (you have been collecting yours right?). Anyways, a SimExplorer that has a swack of new features I’ll get into later is just around the corner including a nice feature to handle those thousands of files you have but don’t know what to do with (and The Sims takes forever to load right?). Anyways, that’s a biggie which is almost ready to pull back the velvet on. Also included is a new version of the FAR Edit program (renamed to FarExplorer). This is an enhanced version of the current program but will give you some more viewing options and a wizard to create new, completely compatible Far files (well, we’ll see how compatible in due time, more on that later) and be good, happy little object makers.

Last but not least is the silence I’ve been getting from Maxis lately. I realize that they’re in the final stages of releasing Hot Date but I’m jumping up and down in the corner screaming and nobody is even at least telling me they’ll get to me after the release. There are two major concerns I have. First, I keep hearing rumors (rumors because they’re unconfirmed by Maxis) that various Hot Date files are going to be incompatible with current tools which, in a nutshell, means that everything I’m doing needs to deal with these changes. However, as I said these are rumors and as such, I don’t know what files they mean or what the impact could be. So if anyone does get their hot little hands on Hot Date before me, let me know what programs work and what don’t so I can share the news. The other issue is that of the book. It’s a long story that I won’t get into right now but I had to re-negoitiate my contract with them to do the book, but that’s still up in the air. Regardless, I will finish the book and release it. If it doesn’t get published, I’m making it available in downloadable form somehow. Hey, it’s my property and my work so I should be able to do whatever I want with it right? Anyways, we’ll see how things progress (or regress) on that front and I’ll keep you in the loop.

Whew. That’s about it. Nice way to start off a week huh? Back to the coding board for me. Thanks!

Hi guys. Sorry I haven’t been around giving you witty updates and all that jazz. Just been busy with a million and one things on the go (both at home and work) and haven’t found any time to sit down and keep things up here. Also, there’s not much happening. I’m still trying to get everything put together for the testers (sorry guys) so hopefully we’ll get underway this weekend with that. New utilities, new objects and a few surprises on the way. Thanks for hanging in there!

Quiet day in blueland today. Just winding down from the days events and relaxing a bit. Back tommorow with lots of great new stuff!

Bit of a non-blueprint update, but somewhat Sims related none the less. If you’re a regular (or non-regular) poster on The Sims Resource forums, you’ll know that there are quite a few threads featuring pics of the users who haunt there. Well, in light of the fact that these threads would go on for dozens of pages and hundreds (sometimes thousands) of replies, it got to be a little much searching for anything and made the thread basically useless. So yours truly has put together a new site that features pictures from the users who post on the forums over there so you can finally see, in a somewhat organized format, who looks like what. You can find the site here. Full instructions for submitting your pics are there and the process is quite painless and totally automated. The site is devoid of graphical lustre right now, but we’ll get it spiffed up. The purpose is there and pics are being submitted all the time. Enjoy!

Just a quickie on the browser issue. I had a reference in the main file here (index.html) that was looking for a style sheet file that doesn’t exist on the site. It’s not needed in the index file since the site uses frames, but Netscape was choking on it. Apparently IE just ignored it and moved on. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing for Microsoft. Anyways, it’s fixed and the browser problems should be gone now. Feel free to view the site with whatever program you have now (exept for Lynx but I doubt anyone even knows what I’m talking about).

Hey there. A couple of things to launch the weekend.

First, there’s been apparently gobs of reports that people can’t see the site. The site looks fine to me under IE 5 and 6 but I haven’t tried Netscape. The only way I can fix this is if someone tells me what browser they’re using and what the page looks like. Of course I have a conundrum. If you can’t see the site, how can you read this and tell me about it? Oh woe is me. Anyways, please stop emailing Heather at SimFreaks about this, she has more than enough to do already.

I’m just rallying the beta testers up this weekend with the next version of blueprint. We’re taking a slightly different approach this time ’round. Mike Stern has graciously volunteered to be the leader of the merry men (and women) so he’s co-ordinating the test team and has a plan worked out. No, you guys still haven’t recieved word on who was picked yet so that’ll be coming this weekend. Sorry for the unnerving delay.

Up next on the tool palette are the ObjectEditor (basically the same thing that’s in the current blueprint turned into a stand-alone application with a few enhancements), the BHAV Editor for editing object behavior trees, a string editor to handle all the various strings stuffed into those objects and finally the SpriteEditor, a stand-alone app that will let you import individual bitmaps for complete control over object replacement. Then of course there’s blueprint that ties all these things together, but that’s coming later. The CareerEditor is still in the works and is awaiting some changes to support Living Large, House Party and the soon-to-be-released-where-is-my-copy-Maxis? Hot Date. However, that’s on the back burner right now while I get the other tools out the door. I’m stuck in this human form with only two arms and limited brain capacity so bear with me as I get things completed. Thanks!

Hiya. Thought I would give you a little diversion today.

If you’re into the pie menus that The Sims has, then I suggest you check out Don Hopkins’ pie menu site. Don has some great stuff all about the pie menus used in The Sims. He also has various implementations that you can use in your own programs including JavaScript versions so if you’re looking for something different for your Sims website, check it out. Why not tweak it a little and have it do site navigation via Sims type pie menus? Would be a cool thing. Anyways, check the site out. Lots of fun stuff to see and read if you’re into that sort of thing.

Gak! Two posts in one day. Oh well, more fantasy expansion packs for your Sims.

The Sims Frogger Mode

No houses, no bills, no screaming babies or repo men. This is hard, crude Sims at their best. The goal is to just get across the street. Various cars looking for employees who can’t be bothered to go to work zoom up and down the streets looking to pick off a new victim. New objects include the pothole, manhole cover and Men At Work signs to discourage drivers.

The Sims Heavy Metal Mania

Instead of building homes, you construct sound stages for public performances. Armed with miles of gaffer tape and electrical cords, you build the best darn show on SimEarth. New NPCs include Arnold the Roadie Manager, Bucky the Assistant (guaranteed not to work after 3:30pm, he’s union after all), and Buffy the Groupie who performs various feats of astonishing talent like getting doughnuts and stripping on request. Bonus points if you can actually convince a band to play the stage for you.

The Sims Movie Studio

Build a fully featured movie studio including lights, camera and all the action you can get. New NPCs include Tonka the choreographer who will train your actors to learn the art of wire-fu fighting. New objects include the directors chair, set backgrounds that look too good to be real, and the annoying megaphone where your Sims can run around and pretend they’re in charge. If you build a sucessful movie set, maybe Steven Spielburg will visit and tell you how he got into the business.

More fantasy expansion packs we’d like to see…

The Sims Lost Souls

You start as a ghost and wander the SimEarth aimlessly in search of Leonard Nimoy. There are no personality traits except for how scary you are to real Sims (NPCs) who visit your grave. There are no objects and you don’t have to worry about the repetitive Sim type functions like eating, sleeping and hygiene. You search the local paper for jobs haunting old houses and dream of that day when a cheap Hollywood movie will be made featuring you opposite Shannon Doherty and Liam Neeson.

The Sims.com

You start with 1,000,000 Simoleans and have to reach IPO status in 30 days. The only objects you can buy are those over the price office chairs that look like something from Star Trek and a warehouse full of old, decrepid office furniture from past .bomb companies. Objects can only be resold on eBay with the risk of not getting paid because you’re dealing with a 14 year old with Daddy’s credit card. You can also optionally buy the latest technology knowing that it will be out of date the minute you even start looking at it and will depreciate faster than you can say Bill Gates is my hero. New NPCs include a bevy of lawyers who are just ready to represent you in court over DMCA copyright issues for selling MP3 music on the Internet.

The Sims Slumlord Expansion Pack

You run a neighborhood consisting solely of run down, broken, roach infested apartment buildings. No object is priced over 40 Simoleons and new NPCs include Benny the Drug Dealer, Glinda the Happy Hooker and Guido the killer pimp. Your goal is to fix as little as possible in your neighborhood and try not to land yourself in jail for zoning violations.

The Sims Senate Special Edition

Career paths have been limited to politics in this fun-filled, back-stabbing, secret covert operations expansion pack. Race against friends to achieve the ultimate goal, to beat a poor CIA operative into divulging the location of Area 51. Scandals happen every 3 days but you can skip a day and stay at home if you want. New objects include the secret spy cam that you can place in other peoples offices to catch them shredding internal documents and re-sell the footage to CNN. Alternately, sleep your way to the top and become President only to be assasinated your first day in power.