Posts Tagged ‘news post’

I thought I would toss out a bit of a challenge for you gifted graphical designers out there. Here’s the current MP3 player that’s built into SimExplorer:

Pretty crap-tastic huh? So if you’re up for the challenge, come up with a better design (hell, anything at this point would be better) and submit it. Obviously it needs the basic controls like play, stop, rewind, etc. but be creative. Imagine what WinAmp for The Sims should look like.

It can be done with your favorite paint program or whatever (scribble it on a napkin and scan that for me). Best designs will go up on the site for voting and your design will become the new MP3/WAV/XA player for the new SimExplorer (full credit, free copy of the software, all that great stuff). I can’t promise I can implement any design, but I’ll do my best to be true to your graphical nature.

So get your crayons out and start scribbling.

PS This is news post #600 for SimsTools! Yay team.

First off I really want to thank everyone for sending in emails and commenting on my last news post. I’m very happy to see there’s someone out there (I was beginning to wonder) and that in some capacity my work is useful to you.

For me it was the age old question. If you write a piece of software and nobody uses it, is it really there? Also not being able to actively participate in any chats or online discussions (time just prevents it for me) lets me know what’s working and what isn’t. I’ve learned in the past while that the only successful software created is one written with the user in mind and created using their input. Anyways, enough of the soapbox.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be cleaning up the website and trying to get the backlog of technical papers and information posted that has sat far too long on my hard drive. I’ll be doing a pretty final pass on most of the tools, specifically SimExplorer, and getting those done. I’ll also end these news posts as I don’t consider the site live anymore and will just post updates in the forums or something. Having a blog like this is great, but if there’s nothing to say for weeks on end then it’s not adding much value.

So stuff will be here, stuff will grow, and hopefully we’ll see some interesting things happen with Sims 2 and what others are doing with it. Back in a few weeks with a final news post for this site.

Yeah, cheap shot yesterday in a vain attempt at filling a news post. So cut me some slack. Anyways, there’s an interesting article over at Salon that talks about user created content for games and how simple mods for games has blossomed into an industry in itself. Given the amount of programs we have floating around here, I wonder why nobody talked to us but hey at least Will Wright had something to say about it:



“I was always impressed by the community that formed around ‘Quake II’ in particular,” says “The Sims” creator, Will Wright. “At some point the mod authors not only made new stuff for the game but also new tools for content … [It's] a great example of how the hardcore fans can totally surprise you with their creativity, given the chance.”



Guess he was talking about some of the stuff we do around here with that new tools for content but again, no booby prize. Oh well. Check out the article here as it’s a pretty good read (if you’re into that sort of thing).

Hi guys. Looks like things are falling into place here. Tom made his first (and hopefully not last) news post. All the tools are online (that are completed) and the magic elves are hard at work on all the others (if a page says the download is coming soon then it means just that, emailing me asking where you can download it gets you a heartfelt empty response but nothing more). So we’re settling in pretty good.

I mentioned that I got Vacation on the weekend (did a Toys’R'Us run looking for Buffy figures and ended up grabbing Vacation on the way) and I’ve been taking a look at the changes Maxis has made. It seems with each expansion pack since Living Large, the rules get tossed out the window with regards to standards in how objects and graphics work. If you take a peek at some of the floors and walls with SimExplorer, the whole idea of Far, Medium and Near is kind of bass ackward. Also there are some resources that just don’t make sense. In addition, the graphics fall into various catagories when trying to display them (and I suppose clone them). I guess I wouldn’t mind if it was consistant, but take a look at some of the vehicles from Vacation in SimExplorer (or Tmog) and you’ll see 6 tiles that are screwed up and 2 tiles that are perfectly fine. Huh? So various things to pour through there. I do want to get an update to some tools out as quickly as possible to correct some of these problems (like a new cloner program) so hang in there. Of course this is delaying my blueprint work and some other tools again. Juggling is so much fun. Seeya!

Hi guys. If you haven’t checked out Simposium from the news post yesterday, I suggest you give it a looksee if you’re into creating stuff for The Sims. Clive has done a great job on the program and people are starting to create new animations. Of course one of the problems is that you can’t use them in the game because objects have the name of the animation hard-wired. Well, I’m working on correcting that shortly (I feel the need to fill a gap quickly). So I’m putting together a quick app that will let you pick any object, select an animation from it and change that to whatever one you want. No, this will not let you add animations, only replace the existing ones. Much like the way some people are doing it now by hex editing the objects only this is a little safer and more user friendly. Anyways, I’ll post more info on it tommorow.

There’s also a lot of questions flying my way about a book project I was working on. Unfortunately I can’t discuss any details with you about it so please be patient. I will keep you as informed as I can about things, but some subjects are a little taboo. In any case, there’s plenty of gossip and trash to talk about around here with all the junky programs I write anyways right? See you in the forums!