Clarification On Upload approval/rejection Guidelines

[MTS2Staff]

Hey everyone- If you plan on uploading here, we hope at this point that youve read our guidelines. For those of you who do share your content here- please take the time to read this post to understand what we here at MTS2 look for in the uploads submitted. No one likes to have an upload rejected, but its not personal. If you follow the guidelines and tips here in this post, you can assure yourself an approval. Thanks :)

Main Rules

1- Read the guidelines BEFORE YOU POST They were made to help you understand the expectations and responsibilities you have as an uploader to this site.
Creator Guidelines (http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=338)

2-If you use anything other than IN GAME screenshots, your upload will be rejected on the spot. NO body shop pics, NO digital camera pics of your screen.

Clothing:

3- Clothing uploads can NOT be blurry or pixelated-

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f149/LyricLeeMTS2/blurr.jpg

There are many tutorials on this site to help you create clothing with crisp clean images and textures. We want quality, detailed and textured clothing.
Faylens Clothing Tutorials (http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=249)

4- If you are uploading Clothing- DO NOT package the files from your Projects folder. DO NOT upload your clothing on a full sim.
All you need is the finished clothing file in your Saved Sims folder.

5-DO NOT upload other peoples meshes with your clothing recolors or sims. Upload your recolor and provide a link to the original mesh.


Remeber Your photos are what sell your upload. The more that you can show in your photo, the more your upload will appeal to other people.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f149/LyricLeeMTS2/distance.jpg

Full Sims:

6- You must provide working, full, clickable LINKS for any content you use on your sim that another creator has made.
This is respectful and gives proper credit to the maker. Simply putting a name is not enough. Do not lie about a link as well and just throw any
link on your post because you can not be bothered to find the proper one. If you have looked and cant find who made content you used, you must
remove it from your upload before you share it here. Remember people put alot of time and effort in their creations and deserve proper credit for it.

7- Sims that are uploaded to other must be UNIQUE. If you upload a sim that uses a standard maxis face sculpt and standard content, basically a sim that anyone can duplicate, it will be rejected- We want to see unique creations. Although your sim may be pretty, we want quality and creativity to show on all sim uploads here. Give the downloaders something different.

8-If you create a celebrity sim, and at first glance we can not tell what celebrity it is supposed to be, it will be rejected as well.
We understand makeing celeb sims are hard, but they MUST resemble the celebrity in some way. You MUST include a pic of the celebrity themselves if you upload this type of sim.

For Lots:

1) [I]Focus on the building and terrain, and provide unique architecture that is not easily replicated. Anyone can set up four walls and add a roof. There is no sense in downloading a lot that even the newest players can make for themselves with little or no effort.
There are several forums available to help people to learn new build techniques:
the Build Mode Discussion Forum (http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=21),
the Build Mode Tutorials Forum (http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=126),
and the Community Tutorial Listing (http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=336).


2) There is a difference between decorating skills and building skills.
For example, if you are making a grocery store, then make the building look like an actual grocery store building.
Taking a box of walls with a 10 ton black pyramid Maxis roof on top doesn't make a grocery store just because it's decorated like one on the inside. No amount of decorating will make that type of building look like a grocery store. The lots & houses forum is about building. The actual building and architecture must bear some resembalance to the author's description:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f149/LyricLeeMTS2/Architectureno.jpg


3) Landscaping and terrain editing is part of building. Just because you're done placing walls and floors doesn't mean that the rest of the lot is finished. A beautiful home sitting in the middle of an empty lot is boring and unrealistic. When was the last time you saw a house sitting on a perfectly flat lot with perfectly consistent groundcover and no plantlife?
It simply is not natural. Experiment with the terrian tools and adding landscaping to your "empty" lots, and you will be amazed at the difference a bit of realistic terrain editing can do for your house:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f149/LyricLeeMTS2/Landscapingno.jpg


4) The Maxis "Autoroof" is evil. Do not use it. Be creative with your roofing, but at the same time, make it realistic. Before you submit it, ask yourself, "If I saw this roof in real life, would I like it, or would I laugh at it?" If you would laugh at it, then work on it some more until you get it right. If you can't get the roof the way you want it, experiment with changing the shape of the building, adding another level to the building, using fences or halfwalls, etc:
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f149/LyricLeeMTS2/Roofno.jpg


5) Custom Content. So what's the big fuss about it? Well, you are literally borrowing someone else's hard work. Many of those artists do not permit their work to be shared. And you are held responsible when you share their creations in your lot. If you post their work without their permission, and they demand that your download is removed, then we will remove it.
You don't want to suffer that humiliation.

Use custom content sparingly, but if you absolutely MUST use custom content, then it is always best to ask for permission first
before simply helping yourself to their work. Follow the rules for listing content and be aware of applicable "sharing policies"
of other websites if you decide to use their content. There is even an example for you to follow in the
Creator Guidelines (http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=338). You must provide a credit for ALL custom content
that you use in your lot.

95% of all users who claim their lot contains no custom content are wrong. If you have files in your downloads folder, your lot will have custom content -- whether you use it intentionally or not. This is why all lots are required to be scanned with Clean Installer prior to upload. DO NOT submit your lot without scanning it with Clean Installer first.

[gerbeloodle]

Right On

[ModernChemistry]

Got it! Let's do our best. ^-^A

[Mystikan]

One thing I really appreciate about MTS2 is its policy of creator recognition and its respect for creators' licenses. In combination with EA's policy of allowing creators to retain copyright in their own additions to the game, this is a real incentive to me as a content creator to want to share my own content. Although I've uploaded very little for Sims 2 as yet, I've been a prolific content creator since Doom appeared in 1993. But why haven't I uploaded most of it? Because up until now, game companies have insisted they retain copyright in uploaded work. I spent a year designing maps for Trainz Railroad Simulator and kept them to myself and my personal contacts, not allowing them to be uploaded, simply because the publisher would have claimed copyright for my work if I had.

But Sims 2 is different. You, and EA/Maxis, allow me to keep copyright. So I uploaded my Valhalla Collection (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=115399) of wall textures here in assurance that my license conditions would be respected, and I appreciate the feedback I've gotten from that. I'll be doing mostly recolors and texturing here for a while, until I get to grips with the convolutions of SimPE and getting my meshes from Cinema4D (my favourite modelling app) into the game.

I also appreciate the 'Thanks' button, which I use whenever I download content. All in all, you have a fantastic site here and the creator recognition policy is something that's been long overdue in the history of third-party game modding. Well done, I'm sure all content creators appreciate your efforts, and this appreciation is doubtless shown in the sheer quality of work that creators like Seomi and Numenor and many others, have posted here.

[n8tivenc]

While I agree with most of what has been said, I think that perhaps some are losing sight of the original purpose of the game. That's just it..it's a game. Not real life. So what if people use the Auto Roof? That is why it is there. To use it. And why not let someone upload a 'regular' sim to 'other'? Some people can't or don't do custom creations..so they do the best they can with the items that Maxis gives them. And before the ability to create custom content, EVERYBODY had only the in-game tools that Maxis provided, to use. Telling some not to use them makes no sense. Some people aren't creative in the way that others are. I really like this site and I do NOT believe that someone should 'borrow' or 'steal' another artists hard work, but other than that, I think ya'll are being a bit unrealistic.

What I don't understand is how you can say: Do NOT USE THIS! Or, this has to be unique..or this has to be a certain way. Pretty soon people won't submit because the site is becoming anal retentive. While it may be within this sites 'rights' to put such strenuous and unreasonable demands on created content, I don't think it is fair to tell others that they can not make use of the tools Maxis gave them. After all, this site would not even be here if Maxis hadn't created the games in the first place. I don't care if you think my roofs look funny. This is a game. Perhaps we should take a look at the definition of 'create'. The restrictions you place on uploaded content is like a musuem saying that they wont accept a Van Gogh because it looks weird, or isnt painted like the 'Mona Lisa' or 'Whistlers Mother." Well I spent over my two cents worth.... I have utmost respect for the site and the talented creators here..but we all cant be Numenor's or Binks or any of the other very talented people. Some of us are just 'us.' I don't recall many other sites that are as picky about submissions.

[thomaswest8t]

Thanks for the tips
*sighs* i realy wanted to join the "i hate lyriclee club" lol only joking!

[Mystikan]

n8tivenc: I can see your point of view, but look at it this way: MTS2 isn't just saying "don't do this or that", they're saying what will get published and setting standards for uploaded works. While this may seem anally retentive at first glance, there is a method to their madness: a) it costs money to host such a large site, and the only income is from donations (and Google ads, which probably don't count for much!); b) they get thousands of uploads and only so much space and bandwidth to host them all; c) they have to abide by intellectual property law (notwithstanding the simple moral decency of respecting the hours/days/weeks creators put into their work); and d) they've been in the game long enough to realise that people appreciate quality downloads and don't want to have to spend hours trawling through half-finished and uninspired garbage to find the good stuff.

When I was developing game content for the likes of Doom, Quake, and Half-life, I almost never bothered downloading from the mod sites because most of the maps on there were unfinished, had glaring bugs and errors, crashed the game or just plain looked tacky. Being on dial-up at the time, it was infuriating to spend hours downloading what looked like a good map only to find that the spawn-point looked great and half the rest of the map had no texturing, rooms with no doors to get into them, needed items missing or inaccessible, etc. Knowing this, I figured nobody would download my maps, even though I took the time to make them perfect, simply because everyone would have to trawl through so much rubbish to find them!

This is something I like about MTS2: you know that you're getting something that's of a minimum standard that's worth your bandwidth and time in the downloading. As you say, there are plenty of sites that don't have stringent standards; I've been to some of them myself. And you get blurry, pixelated clothing, lots that even a noob could make in 5 minutes, hacks that crash the game, and in there are a few really good downloads - if you can be bothered trawling for them.

I agree we're not all Numenor or Seomi - I'm certainly not in their league! I only got the game last December so I've only been playing it for a couple of months. I can put the graphics (and eventually modelling) skills I have to use for this game, but it's still a steep learning curve. But the only way to become like the masters is to stretch your creative bounds to the limits, to set high standards for yourself, and to realise that "adequate" is not "well done". Bunging an autoroof on a lot you've just spent hours creating is cheating yourself of all your hard work. It's lazy - and it's not finished. If the job's worth doing, as they say...

Why not use the original content? Well, I've been playing the game for only a couple o months and I've already seen all the original stuff in the game. To many people here who have been playing for a year or more, it's yesterday's news. Been there, seen that, show me something new! There's only so many Sims you can make with the in-game stuff, and after a while they all look the same. Same eyes, same hair, same clothes - booooooring! With all the custom content now available, I can make every Sim look unique, like real people. I can make them look so much better than with the default eyes/skintones/clothes etc. Make a Sim with Seomi's hair and Enayla's eyes and skintones and Milano's clothes, and compare that to a default Sim! The bar has been raised since the game came out. Now we have to jump it!

So all MTS2 is doing is saying "OK people, we're paying for the bandwidth, so we want it to be worthwhile. We don't want our members to have to trawl through tons of garbage, we want everyone to want to come back and get more because they know the stuff we have here is good NEW stuff." As it's their site, they have the final say in what goes on it. As for people not wanting to submit, well, I've noticed that the two uploads I put up yesterday have already been pushed down to second page by all the stuff that's arrived since, so I don't think there'll be any shortage soon!

So if anyone has a submission that's rejected, instead of getting angry, look at your work critically and think about why it was rejected. Then fix the problem and try resubmitting. As they say, it's not personal - LyricLee and CynicalChick and the others don't know you or me from a bar of soap. They have a vision and that vision is a site with 100% quality Sims2 content. And for my part, I spent two weeks designing my collection of walls and floors and I'm glad to know all that work isn't buried uselessly in a ton of half-done rubbish! :)

P.S. Thomaswest8t: I see you've had your brain eaten too! Did LyricLee find your brain runny? Welcome to the ranks of the undead.... ;)

[Sim Master]

While I agree with most of what has been said, I think that perhaps some are losing sight of the original purpose of the game. That's just it..it's a game. Not real life. So what if people use the Auto Roof? That is why it is there. To use it. And why not let someone upload a 'regular' sim to 'other'? Some people can't or don't do custom creations..so they do the best they can with the items that Maxis gives them. And before the ability to create custom content, EVERYBODY had only the in-game tools that Maxis provided, to use. Telling some not to use them makes no sense. Some people aren't creative in the way that others are. I really like this site and I do NOT believe that someone should 'borrow' or 'steal' another artists hard work, but other than that, I think ya'll are being a bit unrealistic.

What I don't understand is how you can say: Do NOT USE THIS! Or, this has to be unique..or this has to be a certain way. Pretty soon people won't submit because the site is becoming anal retentive. While it may be within this sites 'rights' to put such strenuous and unreasonable demands on created content, I don't think it is fair to tell others that they can not make use of the tools Maxis gave them. After all, this site would not even be here if Maxis hadn't created the games in the first place. I don't care if you think my roofs look funny. This is a game. Perhaps we should take a look at the definition of 'create'. The restrictions you place on uploaded content is like a musuem saying that they wont accept a Van Gogh because it looks weird, or isnt painted like the 'Mona Lisa' or 'Whistlers Mother." Well I spent over my two cents worth.... I have utmost respect for the site and the talented creators here..but we all cant be Numenor's or Binks or any of the other very talented people. Some of us are just 'us.' I don't recall many other sites that are as picky about submissions.

:banghead: I'm afraid that I have to agree with you on the fact that they can sometimes be too picky in the housing department. But I'd also have to say that if there weren't as many guidelines for houses, then many people would upload some houses that they slapped together in 5 min. and waste site space and bandwidth. However, I am somewhat upset that a house I was going to submit (Entitled 1400 Sim Avenue) Will never be able to be on this site because they said that it was "not architectually realistic" :soul: I mean, sure, it may not ever be a real house, but really none of my houses are based off real ones. They seem to want houses based of real ones, but some people have an imagination, (like me) who have created houses like the ones in the sim avenue series from scratch out of my mind. (Including 1400 Sim Avenue) Sure, you may not ever see a 5-story tall green house with two garages, but have you ever seen a 5-story tall mansion with giant windows? (1000 Sim Avenue) Or a giant castle with a rooftop helipad? (1100 Sim Avenue) Or even a giant 6-story tall tan mansion in the middle of a desert? (1300 Sim Avenue) I believe that they should accept houses whether they look realisic or not. I spent over two weeks working on that house, and even though it may not look like a real house, do they even have to? It's just a game, not real life. :mad: I guess I'll just have to submit 1400 Sim Avenue to TSR, since they have gotten too picky here...oh well, at least 1500 and up look like real houses. Sorry if I sound a little mean, :sorry: it's just I spent so much time on the house, and there's no way to change it to comply with their pickiness. Plus, it ruins the Sim Avenue Mansion Collection. :sadpanda: It will forever more be missing a piece... :cry:


P.S. As for looking at why my house was rejected instead of getting mad, there is no way to fix it. It was made especially for the series, and it looks like one of the huge mansions that would fit into it. It's nothing personal towards the moderators, it's just that even though my house may not look like a real one, it still has great quality, and a very nice floorplan. And I'm sure some people would like it. I understand that they need to keep the quality of downloads on this site to a high standard, but that's what I've put into every one of my houses. I spent many long hours making the details and furnishings of this house and all my others to look and feel like the highest standard. These are huge mansions, and they already have good quality. In fact, 1500, the next one, is not even done yet, and I've already spent 3 weeks on it. It's a slow process, and it is completely unique in every single way. I just didn't know there was a such thing as being too unique. Again, I'm not trying to get into trouble or anything like that, it's just that my house is of high standard, and therefore deserves being on MTS2, because frankly, there's really no other site I know of of being more genorous in letting creators share their work. I love this site so much, and therefore would think it sad to have to go somewhere else to host my creations.

Regards, Sim Master

[SimplyDi]

I just had a question about the policy on custom content for lots. I never download any custom lot items or, for that matter, any custom houses. The things I have in my downloads folder are all items for sims- Clothing, makeup, and genetics. I play the game on a Mac, so Clean Installer is not available to me. I want to see more Mac-made items out there, and I want to try submitting some of my homes. However, I'm not sure if I can.

[Delphy]

Mystikan pretty much sums everything that I could say very well. When I originally started MTS2 I deliberately set out to not allow anybody and everybody to upload things here - after all thats what the exchange is for, right?

MTS2 has always been about quality, not quantity, and I believe that the upload moderators do an amazing job but I am also constantly suprised at the quality and innovation that the members show when they upload creatiors too.

I'm proud of the work that everybody has put in making this site one of the best in the Sims 2 community - not bad for something less than 2 years old! :)

Regards
Delphy

[mal1958]

Ok, I read and obey. (jk) I just wanted to say that I see your point, and will try to meet it. I am one of the creators for K and B Designs and we have only a few people who create for us. But I want those items to be HIGH quality too. So I am not Grousing when I got a notice that a House that I spent several days building, got rejected because it was not 'unique' enough. I have other Ideas, and will be working on them. I just wanted to say that I have a lot of admiration for You, Delphy, and the rest of the Crew that Admin and Mod here. It is not an easy job, and sometimes when people start to grouse, complain, and otherwise heat the air, you are the targets. To hold ones own under fire is something to be admired.

You have set very high standards, and I like that. It means that if you accept something that I spent days on, even weeks, it is something to be proud of. And then if it is rated high, that is reason for more pride, because it means that the users, who are used to the high standard that you have set, find something in your work that excells higher then the others. I hope to submit other items here, and they will appear on K and B Designs too. The fact that they have been accepted here is extra gravy for me. I hope that you keep this high standard, and I wish you and the MTS2 crew a world of good fortune. You are one of the reasons that I am creating. I thank you.

I remain, BirmanKat (of K and B Designs) AKA (here) mal1958

[Delphy]

SimMaster,

What you have to realise is that it doesn't matter if it's a set. It doesn't matter that a number is missing. We evaluate everything on individual quality. What you have to ask yourself is this: Would you want a mansion like that across the street from you? The vast majority of people would say "no" - no matter how much attention to detail you put on the inside - if the outside doesn't meet up to the same standards then it lets the entire thing down.

How many times have you seen a beautiful looking house on the outside but the inside is a mess? Or a shabby run down old warehouse but beautiful on the inside? Don't you feel that the overall quality is degraded because of that?

What these guidelines are here to tell you is that we do look at overall quality, and the moderators spend hours every single day of the week going through submission after submission after submission. When you do that for long enough you see patterns, you know what makes something "special".

Think of it like a job interview. We are the interviewers and if we want you to have a pride of place in our "company" then we expect every submission thats moderated to meet the same high standards we already have. This is what these guidelines are here to say. :)

Hope this clarifies things.

Regards
Delphy

[9b8ll]

I agree with the guidelines,but I have some questions though..on "Textures Standards" Rule #4 All you have to do when you uploading clothing is to put it in the "Saved sims" folder don't you have to use Sim2 Installer as well?

for "Landscaping" I know it's a kinda strict rule (I nothing towards the moderators or anything) but what about the ones who don't have a low RAM? I just curious because the more objects you put the slower the gameplay is going to be.

I don't want to sound dumb but To be very clear Basically the guidlines it's a way of saying anyone should not be lazy on our creations and take thier time on our work instead of just uploading something you did 5 minutes ago and uploading right? I agree with the rules and once you create something over and over again you get better eventually correct?

9b8ll :)

[emino]

I love the site and can live with the rules, but yes, the building submission can be very strict sometimes. But I can live with that too :D.

[tkdjunkie]

The building guidelines seem simple to me.

First, try not to use other people's content. If you must use something that someone else made, then have the decency to thank that person in your post.

Second, building can be easy or difficult, depending on what you make. Everyone can build something "easy" for themselves so there's no sense in downloading "easy" stuff.

So all you have to do is build something unique while crediting other people when you borrow their files. It's really quite simple to do.

[MTS2Staff]

[QUOTE=9b8ll]I agree with the guidelines,but I have some questions though..on "Textures Standards" Rule #4 All you have to do when you uploading clothing is to put it in the "Saved sims" folder don't you have to use Sim2 Installer as well?

WHat I meant by this one is- People continually upload the clothing they make by zippingup the files in their Projects folder- Thats wrong- They need to only zip the .package file of that clothing item thats in their Saved Sims folder.

for "Landscaping" I know it's a kinda strict rule (I nothing towards the moderators or anything) but what about the ones who don't have a low RAM? I just curious because the more objects you put the slower the gameplay is going to be.

You dont have to put alot of objects, But dont leave your house on an empty lot. The Yard is part of the architecture as well.Youd be amazed what a few flowers and trees can do for a house


QUOTE]

[shannanisims]

I'm wondering why there aren't equally strict rules for objects?
Not that I'm complaining mind you... just curious. ;)

There are tons of really bad screen shots for objects... so far
away you can't see any detail at all. Its too bad really, some
of its probably good stuff... but I won't download anything I can't see.

[hareharekrishna]

mmm, v. useful...thanks! oh, and shannani, I LOVE your avvie! Where'd u get the sweater?

[Onyzux]

thanks for clearing that up for everyone
we all need to be told that every now and then

[Delphy]

Objects aren't part of the "moderated" section of the site, and so don't fall under the quality guidelines at the moment.

[shannanisims]

Personally I don't like having to wait several days when
I submit clothing (Ilike being able to edit my typos before
anyone catches them. LOL!), so I'd hate for objects to be
changed to that process.

But honestly I really think more post-posting moderation is needed
then on objects... at the very least to get people to take
decent screenshots. Heck I'd be more than happy to let people
know that tiny group of specs on that long wall far in the distance
that is supposed to be 10 "fabulous" paintings completely blows
and they need to take close-ups. But I'm not going in without back-up... LOL! :)

[MTS2Staff]

Actually- not to correct Delphy- but there ARE guidelines for objects in the creator guidelines forum. The problem is no one takes the time to read these. And those items are unmoderated so by providing bad screenshots they are only dooming their own creations. There have been alot of good items that wont be downlaoded becuase of failure to take decent screenshtos of those items. Thats why we created example posts for ALL types of uploads. If only people read ... *sigh*

[shannanisims]

Well not to mention its just common sense that a picture of something
far away is not going to sell your product. I don't think I have ever seen
a Coca-Cola ad with the bottle and logo 4 blocks away. :loser:

[tkdjunkie]

Well not to mention its just common sense that a picture of something
far away is not going to sell your product. I don't think I have ever seen
a Coca-Cola ad with the bottle and logo 4 blocks away.

I agree with you, and it always amazes me to see when someone obviously spends hours (or even days or weeks) making something, only to provide screenshots that don't even show what the item looks like :blink:

[sims2ismydrug]

Well, I'm sure there are a lot of people who want to join the 'I Hate Lyric Lee Club' but I am not one of them. These seem like very reasonable guidelines designed to help downloaders find what they are looking for. I know how frustrated *I* get when looking for a specific thing, only to find that the description doesn't match the item, and I'm certainly not the only one! So, thank you for this :)

[boblishman]

I second the request for more 'strict' guidelines on objects... It seems that (at one time) there were quite 'strict' rules about posting polygon counts with object uploads....which people just hardly seem to do anymore... :(

[n8tivenc]

Mystikan,

Yes I can totally see what you mean. Sort of like making a cake from scratch and then putting canned frosting on it...as far as the auto roof thingy.


I can also see now what you mean by 'rubbish' things on site. That makes sense also. In fact it all makes sense! I was just wondering why using Maxis tools would be so horrid. But now I can even understand that!

Just say I'm in a perpetual 'blonde' moment!! I was surely not trying to start a debate, was just thinking that for someone like me, who cant really afford a lot of bells and whistles to make custom content, it was a shame.

But I realize now what was meant. Okay...so...I'm rambling...anyway...I do love the site. So..um...thanks for taking the time to explain.

[Mystikan]

On the issue of moderating objects, that's a good idea, but there's a couple of issues that would need to be addressed:

First, the moderators are already spending a lot of time reviewing lots, sims and clothing. Making them have to review every object that's uploaded would throw a HUGE workload on them, and we'd all be waiting days or weeks for our uploads to appear on the site as the moderators try to keep up with the backlog. There's a vast amount of content uploaded every week, as any creator who's uploaded something and watched it get pushed off the first page in a matter of hours can testify! This is probably the main reason MTS2 DOESN'T moderate all of the uploaded content.

Second, the strictness of the guidelines and rules already in place, plus the fact that if an object violates the guidelines the moderators will remove it anyway, causes most creators to think and prepare carefully before posting their work. I typically spend up to 3 hours preparing everything before I go for an upload, and I have the creator guidelines from this site in My Documents for quick referral as a checklist before I do. Looking through the Build and Buy Mode sections, most of the content there is still well showcased and looks worthwhile; where before I said I usually had to trawl through tons of rubbish to find the good stuff on many sites, here I'd have to trawl through tons of good stuff to find the rubbish! There are some bad screenies (and some uploads that completely lack screenies) but these are in a minority.

So it's a question of whether the quality improvement to be gained by moderating object uploads is worth the extra time the moderators have to put in and the delay that would be incurred. I can see a law of diminishing returns happening here, and that's a judgement only LyricLee and the others can really make.

-------------------------

n8tivenc: I'm glad to be able to help you understand the issues involved. You had a valid point and you expressed it well, which was why I took the trouble to clarify the issues for you. And I particularly like your analogy with the cake and frosting; that's a good way of putting it! :)

[anelca]

I second the request for more 'strict' guidelines on objects... It seems that (at one time) there were quite 'strict' rules about posting polygon counts with object uploads....which people just hardly seem to do anymore... :(

and i third this :)

polygon counts are particularly important to me and i appreciate those, like boblishman who include them
yes i can downoad an object, unzip/rar it, wait for it to open up in SimPe and find the count myself, and then accept or delete as necessary, but it's so much nicer when i know in advance and can choose to download or move on

with regard to lots....i make reasonably average lots which, thankyou, generally get accepted. i sometimes wonder why when they are rarely anything fancy, but i go for playability as my laptop is limited in certain areas.
however, i would like to request that uploads are limited to say 3 seperate ones a day. sometimes the front page of the download section is full of the same creators stuff and the lots may only be a variation on a theme.....an external colour change or a slight rejig of rooms. could these not be uploaded in the same post rather than in seperate ones? i have seen this done recently and it works well.

[jjroland01]

I agree with the guidelines, respect them and appreciate them. I feel like it's something to work towards with your build. I fully expected my first upload to get rejected and just decided for myself ahead of time that it was a good thing that more experienced people would give me feedback on my creation.

I however disagree with one thing brought to light in this thread: This 5 story green mansion with 2 garages getting rejected because it wasn't realistic enough.

Its the sims!

Is it realistic to discuss aliens during every conversation? nope - but my sims do it.
On the subject of aliens, is it realistic to have a alien spaceship crashed and preserved in your neighborhood - um nope.

In my opinion a 5 story green mansion with 2 garages is every bit as realistic as any other aspect of this game.

In addition, as to the moderator who mentioned going by and seeing hideous houses in neighborhoods - it happens - that is realistic. I live in a neighborhood full of mid sized ranch style houses, and one of my neighbors took the liberty of building on to his 2 additional stories and a enormous garage. It's a monstrosity - but its real.

If the house is well made, well thought out, I dont think it should matter whether or not it is "realistic". That certainly doesn't matter to me when I download.

[shannanisims]

I second the request for more 'strict' guidelines on objects... It seems that (at one time) there were quite 'strict' rules about posting polygon counts with object uploads....which people just hardly seem to do anymore... :(


Maybe a good suggestion to fix the polygon count issue would be to have a
entry box for it on the Upload page. If the "New Mesh" box is checked, you have to enter the number in order for your entry to be posted.

Thats a pretty simple couple lines of code... and one less thing for moderators to have to regulate. Hmmm... maybe I'll go put that in the
"Suggestion Box". :)

[kashinthegreen]

Go mods. Absolutely.
I can see why people might think this is over the top, but in the long run it's what makes this site good.
I have around 6000 files in my DL folder, and looking at a thread on the social forums recently, that's not a lot! Every one of these files I have sought out, read about, decided upon (because I really don't want my catalogs clogged up with stuff I never use), waited while it downloaded, installed it, etc. etc.
I don't want to download clothing items without seeing how they look in game, they could turn out awful and be a waste of time and space (and then I have to find the file and get rid of the damn thing). I don't want to download a 'nifty' hack that crashes my game requiring a compled HD reformat to sort out. Most of all I don't want to trawl through pages and pages of poor quality work in order to find a couple of things worth downloading.
I like MTS2 for 2 main reasons
1. It's an open forum, meaning I get to DL a lot of different people's work (including some amazing talent) from the same place.
2. I know that if I open a link to a thread, I am unlikely to be dissapointed, it usually does what it says on the tin, and that is down to the moderation.
Neither of these would be true if the rules wern't in place. So I say yay for rules!

[KalicoKat]

Maybe a good suggestion to fix the polygon count issue would be to have a
entry box for it on the Upload page. If the "New Mesh" box is checked, you have to enter the number in order for your entry to be posted.

I agree. :nod:

I have an old system that can support TS2 and the expansions (so far), but I look at polygon counts to make sure that my game doesn't slow down even more than what it does sometimes. I have great appreciation for those who do list the counts voluntarily and am also aware that not everyone knows about the polygon issue.

I don't have a problem at all with the guidelines and feel that they're more than fair. Like Tkdjunkie, I feel that MTS2 has the right to impose quality standards on the things that get uploaded here. True, everybody's taste is different (one person will dislike something while another person will love it), but it's the site's perogative if they accept something or not.

Many of us, myself included, are still learning how to make stuff for the game and are trying to perfect our techniques (when I do create something, which I'm not at the moment). Sure, we make mistakes or aren't always as creative as the next guy (which can make us feel down sometimes), but that's how we learn to do better! If we get rejected, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It just simply means that we have to step back, look the item over and think about how we can change it to make it look good (or behave properly if it's a behavior modification, for example). Although rejection isn't a good feeling, we can learn from the experience either on our own or through the advice of others. :)

Besides, there's something to be said about getting your lot, skin, etc...accepted on a site that has standards for good, quality downloads. :thumb:

[LINNIEC1981]

I think these rules are great! I don't actually create or upload my own custom content, but I download from this site all the time? Why? Because as previously pointed out, I know that what I'm browsing is top notch!

I'm a budding movie director, and what makes anyones movies spectacular is the content used. Movies solely with Maxis content get a bit boring after a while. I mean how many blockbusters feature the same furniture/clothing etc over and over. Or poor content, badly made clothes or bland buildings?

This site is here for us to find some quality custom content for our sims2 experience, lets respect the decisions of the people that run the site, it makes sense!

Oh, and I only clicked the "I hate LyricLee" thing out of curiosity!!!!

[SimVeggie]

Would there be a way to automatically (or manually) delete items that get less than X downloads. I wouldn't want it based on the "thanks" or voting, because to many people just don't bother to say thank you. I'm just wondering if there is a way to cut down on the mods time spent on approving downloads. If something isn't downloaded then it probably isn't unique enough or is of poor quality or has some other problems. Then you would just have to keep an eye out for REALLY wrong things (game damaging). You could take a sampling of various objects or skins etc and figure out what is a decent amount of downloads (based on unique visitor, so that download numbers are not artificially inflated and type of upload) to figure out your required number of downloads.

Just wanted to throw out another means of approach. Have you ever thought of going through the really old posts and deleting the extra .zips (or .rars)?

I think the rules are fair...My concern is with the picture quality...I always thought that a lower quality was better (took less space) for the traffic here.

While I'm running at the mouth...I have another pet peeve...is there anyway we could do something with the "thanks". People do the darndest things to get post counts up, blinkies, different colored text etc. Is there anyway to get something special for the amount of thanks you GIVE? There is nothing more discouraging to an uploader than to see 1,000 downloads and 10 thanks! Its not hard to hit the button! LOL

Obviously this takes the back burner to all the technical stuff for running MTS2, but if anyone has the time, or inclination, I hope you can think of something to encourage people to say thanks.

Thank you for your time and for the best sims site out there!!!

[MTS2Staff]

I personally dont think deleting older downlaods is fair. If someoen has made content they want to share and its good content, theres no reason to delete it. It also would take MORE time. Once something is approved its on the forum. This would mean going back through all of the uploads to delete the older ones.
Some creators have left the sims world but havent pulled their uplaods so its nice for themt o still have their content available.

I Agree the thanks issue is frustrating. Thats parto f why you can see how many times your items were downloaded on your profile. Its sometimes a thankless job (pardon the pun) but I always refer to howmany downloads and not my thanks. If even 5 people enjoy something I made then I'm happy. Its all how you look at it.

And the quality of your photo doesnt impact the size- You can take a close up of an item and have a smaller photo, than a long distance blurry screenshot. Which is better?

[SimVeggie]

I'm sorry I meant the downloads, that have BOTH .rar and .zip, since you no longer allow people to upload both. Not completely removing old downloads.

I was also thinking instead of moderating objects etc, with new submissions X amount of time to get X amount of downloads before removing it. This would only apply to new submissions, the rest being "grandfathered".

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is bothered by the "thanks" issue. Its SO easy to say thank you here, unlike a lot of other sites. If I download something I say thanks...its as easy as that. I guess I was asking to play to peoples pride or vanity. You say thanks X amount of times and you get a blue colored blinkie under your user name...or something like that. You know how crazy people get on the official BBS to get there "biens", why not play to that for something that is actually helpful (making up-loaders feel appreciated). Like I said this is all secondary to the technical stuff for MTS2.

Is there a special program to use to get clear pic of a decent size? I just use the "save for web" feature in photoshop. The pics I think are pretty blurry, but they get quite large if I set the settings higher than med.

Thank you guys again!!!

[KalicoKat]

Do you have Photoshop or Paintshop Pro? If you do, you can open the snapshots in either one of those programs and sharpen them.

Although I get very happy when I receive thanks and really do appreciate them, I look more at how many people downloaded my stuff. Like LyricLee, I'm happy if even a few people like what I've made and shared. :beer: Especially since I get that nervous feeling everytime I upload something.

I did the same thing, LINNIEC1981. :lol:

[jjroland01]

Hrm I posted quick reply it must have gotten eated.

In reference to the mention of people who thank.

Alot of times the pages on this site load incredibly slow. I am willing to bet that alot of people who don't thank or comment are just running slower comps.

I am on a very nice system and the pages still load slow for me, I can't imagine trying to DL thank and comment all at once on a dial up or older system.

[ShadowTerra13]

um, when i click the 'want to share? upload your creation here!' button, it says i have been disabled from accesing that part of the site....i'm confused?

[Hairfish]

Re: Full Sims
"You must provide working, full, clickable LINKS for any content you use on your sim that another creator has made."

THANK YOU! That was a sore spot with me, so I'm thrilled that you've made this a rule. I don't do much...I don't ask much...but a little credit is always welcome.

[Hairfish]

Is there a special program to use to get clear pic of a decent size?
I use a screen-capture program: HyperSnap DX. It's not free beyond the trial period, but if you spend a lot of time and effort making skins and/or object textures for download, consider it a good investment in yourself. :)

You can download the trial version here: http://www.hyperionics.com

There are also free screen-capture programs available on the Web, but most put a watermark on your screenshots. Easily editable in Photoshop, of course. ;)

[edit] DOH! I re-read your post, and I've misunderstood. You mean for saving .jpgs... Yeah, you really do need to use the "High" setting in Photoshop's "Save for Web." Or start with "Medium," Then gradually move the slider up until you've got an acceptable amout of artifact.

Also, try to crop away as much as possible around whatever it is you're featuring. Much easier for single objects or skins than for whole rooms.

[rmschoon]

The thing I find offensive on the builder guidlines is that I have been refused because of 'originaitly' problems, when my lots are built purely to surviving archaeological evidence. Sadly as the Romans had gardens but constant attacks over 1500 years by Saxons, Jutes, Angles, Normans and the godawful Victorians have robbed what little evidence was left, I'm left with only fragmentary evidence to go upon and most of it is just post-holes on the ground and some basic masonry lines for rooms.

I don't find it acceptable to slap some Pompeiian style frescos on housing from Britania as the Romans wouldn't have done that, only the 'revival' stylists did it. As I base purely on scholarly archaeolgical evidence my uploads are not acceptable by MTS2 standards. Woe to those that want REAL Roman homes based on REAL Roman floor-plans. They can't get them here, not from lack of me building them.

As I'm not independently wealthy I also can't afford hosting costs to offer such creations to the Simming public. So we go without in favor of hollywood stereotypes as opposed to well-researched homes that ceased to exist due to Victorian stone robbing generations ago.

I have tried and failed miserably at meshing and recoloring for both the Sims and the Sims 2 so I am incapable of recreating KNOWN Roman plants, thus my lots remain bare as so few Roman-style items are available. Besides I despise using someone else's creation as I don't want to get credit where I don't deserve it and many commenters and downloaders don't seem to pay that much attention to the smaller creators.

Just something for MTS2 to think about in the 'original' context matter. When you build to archaeological record, there is precious little to go on. But precious little is better than none, and I'm offended that using what exists is turned down for not being showy and flashy enough. As I'm a stickler for as close to the era as possible, that just renders MTS2 as an unacceptable area to upload my work as I'm told that in effect it isn't good enough.

[rubberjunkie]

When was the last time you saw a house sitting on a perfectly flat lot with perfectly consistent groundcover and no plantlife?
It simply is not natural.

Erm, today . . . when I pulled into my driveway. Sorry! Couldn't resist. :jest: We've been here three years and have yet to have a chance to landscape. I'll let hubby know it is unnatural and maybe it will spur him on a bit!

[whiterider]

mschoon: I do see your point, but I also think you're being a bit unreasonable. I also can't do meshes (although that's because I haven't got a credit card to pay for the only 3D program I have been able to use!), but I managed to make a humungous medieval castle, using only about 10 custom objects etc.

If you don't do landscaping, then you won't be accepted. If you can't find exactly what you want, you have to be inventive. Use the closest Maxis object, or be imaginitive with what you try to put in. If you can't find this exact type of tree then use something similar, or another type of tree that was popular in Roman landscaping.
I don't upload lots because I'd end up spending hours at a time using the Clean Installer to remove all of my zillions of global mods. I do however really enjoy creating period and themed lots and I barely ever have weverything I think I need, you just have to step back and say "What can I use instead?".

Also, if there really are very few Roman objects out there - I can't say because I haven't looked, but I'll take your word - then chances are they're in popular demand. If enough people request something then in the end someone will make it - like Besen's robes for men, which I and lots of others spent hours requesting. And it worked, we now have robes!

And yes, you're right. If someone is going to make a period lot it should be period - they shouldn't just "slap some Pompeiian style frescos on housing from Britania", uploads have to involve work - which I can tell yours do.

As I've said I've got no experience on how strict the rules in the building forums are in practice, but the idea that "that just renders MTS2 as an unacceptable area to upload my work as I'm told that in effect it isn't good enough." is quite petty. Everything can be improved - Adopt, Adapt and Improve. If in doubt pm the mods and ask why exactly the lot was rejected, then improve that aspect. Whenever I upload something, no matter how long I've spent on it, I alway then read through the post and look at the pic and think "DAMN! I should have have done ... instead!"

Shadow - don't worry about it, something similar happened to me a while ago trying to reply on my own threads - pm Delphy and he'll sort it out!

SimVeggie: I don't think that's fair either. I don't know why it happens but I usually get about 3 downloads the first day I upload something, then a week later it goes up to 300 or something ridiculous like that... There are also a lot of uploads that don't get downloaded much, because they're not something that many people want. But then someone - usually me - comes along and has been looking for exactly that, and it's a gem!
Try playing around with formats - I can't remember the details but I always find that... er... pngs I think... are smaller than the formats I usually work with. You can change the format in most programs by doing a Save As, hen in the file type box choose whichever format you've found to be most efficient. Another point is that if you use PSP you've probably got layered files. You don't want that, they're massive. If when you save as it warns you that you're going to lose the layers then you've done it right! Just remember to save a psp file as well if you want to come back and work on the layers!

You're not evil LyricLee... we all like you very much! Now to follow that link... :D

[shannanisims]

I use a screen-capture program: HyperSnap DX. It's not free beyond the trial period,


There is also "SimCamera" that I got way back for taking Sims1 screenshots.
The program is completely its own entity, not tied to the Sims1 game at all.
I use it for all kinds of different "screeshot" needs. It just takes screenshots
and saves them in whatever folder you choose.
Basically its a fancy "Print Screen" button.

The original developer no longer offers this program, but it is available on TSR
for free in their "Programs" area. Just search for "Camera" Though currently its
on page 8 (though that could change if TSR adds more programs to the list)
http://www.workshop.thesimsresource...ppl=20&_ppage=8

I sent this information to the person who wrote the official Screenshot Tutorial
but they never emailed me back or added it to the tutorial. Too bad really,
its a great little program , very easy to use, helpful and is 100 times better
than the In-Game camera.

[asdf]

why not let someone upload a 'regular' sim to 'other'? Some people can't or don't do custom creations..so they do the best they can with the items that Maxis gives them. And before the ability to create custom content, EVERYBODY had only the in-game tools that Maxis provided, to use. Telling some not to use them makes no sense. I don't think it is fair to tell others that they can not make use of the tools Maxis gave them. After all, this site would not even be here if Maxis hadn't created the games in the first place.
While I understand that it may not seem fair some of these creations must be removed It has to be done to save bandwidth. Another reason is because I am sure you as a downloader wouldnt want to download something that looks "RANDOM BODYSHOP". Take the exchange for example The other day I was searching for a jason vorheese sim (modthesims2 didnt have one at the time) I needed him for a movie I was (and still am) making I typed jason vorheese in the search but no results showed I then searched with just the word "JASON" I got like 200 pages of results few being celebritys one or two being shirts of friday 13 a few based off of peoples friends and some that were random bodyshop sims that the "CREATORS" saw as hot and decided to upload under the name jason. I finally sifted through every upload to find the jason that I saw that day. And the other catagory was designed to place a sim you create after answering SELF SIM requests or sims that fit almost every catagory equally or ones that fit no categories. This does not mean that the moderators will not let sims made by these means pass. I created many sims with just maxis content and some using content made only with bodyshop and all of them passed with modthesims2 so they will allow you to upload a sim like that It just has to be unique I do searches before I upload so I make sure the sim I upload has not already been made.

I personally dont think deleting older downlaods is fair. If someoen has made content they want to share and its good content, theres no reason to delete it. Once something is approved its on the forum. This would mean going back through all of the uploads to delete the older ones.
Some creators have left the sims world but havent pulled their uplaods so its nice for themt o still have their content available.
I agree the old ones should remain. New users join every day and some of them download the old uploads. I still recieve comments and downloads on my very first upload. Why do you have a club dedicated to hating yourself?

I'm afraid that I have to agree with you on the fact that they can sometimes be too picky in the housing department. They seem to want houses based of real ones, but some people have an imagination, (like me) who have created houses like the ones in the sim avenue series from scratch out of my mind. (Including 1400 Sim Avenue) Sure, you may not ever see a 5-story tall green house with two garages, but have you ever seen a 5-story tall mansion with giant windows? (1000 Sim Avenue) Or a giant castle with a rooftop helipad? (1100 Sim Avenue) Or even a giant 6-story tall tan mansion in the middle of a desert? (1300 Sim Avenue) I believe that they should accept houses whether they look realisic or not.
I guess youve never seen my lots before.

[SirapLimau]

Hi, I'm new here.
Been reading the guidelines
Only one thing makes me sad though
i.e the roof thing
I just don know how not to use the Autoroof :cry:

[celebkiriedhel]

Personally - as a site owner of 4 years, taking the number of downloads as a thanks makes far more sense. It's a one download/one thanks sort of situation :)

I think these guidelines are more than fair. If you don't make the cut here, because you don't want to or can't abide by their rules - there are other places that have different standards on quality. There's no rule that says you can only submit things here and not at the exchange or at other sites.

Personally - I appreciate the attention to quality that I get here. Not just in the downloads, but in the advice and the research that is put into providing the gaming tools.

I also definitely appreciate the attention to respect the creator's rights. I've never minded people using my stuff in their lots, games, etc but I do like to have my hard work acknowledged.

Kiri

Edited to include: I still have things that were created 4 years ago being downloaded. To delete something just because it's old does not make sense.

[Delphy]

I'm not sure just how many times we can say this in this thread. Downloads WILL NOT be removed unless there are extraneous circumstances to do so. That's the end of it. :)