You can all use as much cc as you like too, no bonus for cc free. if you feel like "Yikes my download folder is overflowing!" I suggest renaming your sims 2 folder and making yourself a fresh one where you can pile as much cc for this contest as you want to.

Thank you so much gdayars..for your help.. :lovestruc but it's not working..

I know the weather is bad there for you..so we can do this later this next week when the weather is better..

EDIT:

Thank you Jo for the comments on what I need to improve on and what you thought of the entry..

I knew I shouldn't have starting taking pics, but often it's not until you do that you spot mistakes or something that needs changing. Back to the cc search and re-taking pics.

the timer has been started for this round

it's a hassle but I find that only when you start taking pics, "thinking OH im done everything's alright", will you spot your mistakes, things you lack, and things you could do better. you're not alone =)))


sweet. I have done nothing yet happy building everyone!

About as cheaty as I been getting with this lot is using some 0 and 1 Simoleon decorating items (the car statues and wall writing, for instance). I kind of like the challenge of trying to keep in range, and it's not like I have any chance of winning this, anyway!

(Looked cautiously at the playalong comments. Expected a book. Breathed sigh of relief.)

I found two things in my lot that didn't make me too happy, and yes, plant-plopping was one of them. In this case, I MIGHT have gotten away with the orderly approach since shopping mall plantings can have a sameness to them, but in the trendier and in many other strip malls, you often see things like vertical gardens and mixed planting arrangements, so that has been changing for a while. Gosh, I stink at gardening. I think someone here was going to start a landscaping contest. If I entered, it would probably be for comic relief.

My plant-arranging isn't as good with this lot as well, but at least I tried to use snapobjectstogrid and move_on to make the plants a little closer. I ran out of funding, though. I forgot in this game, 2000 Simoleons is NOT enough for anything but minimal landscaping. Sigh. I tried.

Another thing that bothered me on that previous lot was that the I thought the floor was a little dark. I was initially trying to strictly rein in the CC (and failed at it), and no other Maxis floor seemed to match what I was trying to do (and I must have tried 75-100 percent of them). When I put the lot in my new game, I found a CC wood floor that picked up on the reddish-black tones (the red and black and darker accents were deliberate ... reminds me of older Asian restaurants in my youth), but was a shade or two lighter. I wished I thought of it earlier. OnayaW isn't the only one who looked at the lot after submission and thought, "Oh ... "

I'm still trying to restrain myself with CC on this lot, but not as much. I give up.

Thank you for the advice. Maybe for the beach and mountain lots, I'll remember to budget more for plants!

It was Voeille who was talking about a landscaping contest, if I remember correctly. Landscaping is probably one of my stronger points - especially compared to my building ones -, but I can always do with some improvement

I find this round hard. A bar sounded such a great idea. No I am not so sure anymore I do want it to be a bit of a surprise, so some of the normal bar things simply do not work Not sure I am going to get to 50 000 here, cc or not! And the landscaping is a bit .... harder than I anticipated when I chose the theme.

So I am off to the fermented fruit juice bar for inspiration

I agree with you Justpetro..I was thinking of the same thing..but with an entertainment area and after doing all my recolors for it..I'm just not sure anymore..

I will join you at the fermented fruit juice bar..

@Peni Griffin
@gazania
@broomhilda61
@Sunbee
@franfeliano
@yavannatw
@Kukamuukaanmuka

Did you all see your play along comments? http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...741#post5350741

@broomhilda61 if you need to reset the resolution in game (re. Jo's comments), we can probably help you with that.

@Porkypine I just realized your play along was squished in with another-sorry! I bolded your name so you can find it now.

@maxon Here's a picture of a pool.

I saw it, Jo, no worries! Joy Luck Club would've been slightly less bare with a higher budget - some of that Asian collection stuff is expensive! And I was mostly going with restrained Japanese simplicity rather than Chinese opulence (though there's no way to separate out all the real world cultures that they dumped into Takemizu).

I put down a lot and piled ice rink stuff onto it last night, but so far I'm not feeling it. The whole random heap only came to $25K, and it'd be a primarily outdoor venue, so likely to look even barer than the restaurant. Maybe I should do something else. I'd kind of like to save the stock show exhibit hall for the final phase, though, and ice skating is the big obvious omission from the mountain hood...

My husband has been gone for a few days, to his mother's funeral, so I've been a bit unsettled anyway. No doubt I'll be more focused once I pick him up this afternoon. I got my screenshot program working probably, anyhow! It's called Greenshot, in case Broomhilda can't get Fraps working. I didn't find it all that intuitive but now that I've figured out how to set everything up how I want it, it's painless, and it saves in .jpg so I can skip a step in processing the photos.

I'm googling bars, saloons, taverns, etc., and this pops up: https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...vZsT6uE2o5_DEjA

Half-priced juice boxes everyday at happy hour at noon. No brawling in the sandbox out back.

First of all, I am very sorry for your loss, PeniGriffin.

I seem to be the only one who is having trouble keeping IN budget. In all fairness, though, I prefer dummy ceilings on many of my builds, plus there is a simple split level. Walls can be expensive. The rinks tend to run some serious cash. If I recall (not near the machine now because I think I should take a little break from building), it's 10,000 for the smaller one and 25,000 for the larger one. I had to reluctantly use the smaller one, but even so, that's 10% of my budget right there, I thought that if I'm in a desert locale, Sims may not be inclined to want to skate outdoors in the summer.

Great. Now I can imagine a toddler going up to a bartender and whining for a juice pack!

Thank you maxon and Jo I would love the help..

I talked to gdayars on Skype..and she had mentioned GeForce Experience for taking pictures..either I am doing it wrong..or it's not working..but would still like to have Fraps if at all possible..as well..need a backup just in case one stops working right

I put up my Skype id..so if anyone wants to Skype just holler but make sure you tell me who you are kerri I am glad told me who she was before I didn't except the invite otherwise I will hit not except..don't allow just anyone..and I won't bother you unless I need help but will ALWAYS send a message here at MTS before hand..it's been awesome finding others outside of CBS that I like..was a bit scared of gdayars at first.. not anymore

I took all my downloads out of the game so it should load faster..give me about 15-30 min to get it all loaded and up and running first..before we Skype..

Thank you all for your help..I really do appreciate it very much :lovestruc

EDIT:

I see there are several not joining in on the contestant end..is it to late to be a contestant or should I just stay where I am..

Seen where I got a that's awesome thank you all :D

Yeah that's not got the shaders showing. Here's a picture of mine - can you see the difference? Mine has complex reflections, yours is a dull blue. Until your pools (and beaches) look like that the water mod won't work for you. It's either how you have your graphics set up or (more likely) your graphic card's limitations.

@broomhilda61 if you want to sort out a suitable screen resolution for your game, the first thing to know is what is your (ideal) screen size. You can find that out by finding this panel in your control panel (I usually get to it by right-clicking on the desktop and choosing display but it will depend on which version of Windoze you have). Can you see that it says my (recommended) resolution is 1920 x 1080 (I have a widescreen monitor)? That's the information we need about your machine. Can you find it? What's your recommended resolution? If you can tell me that we can work out which resolutions in game will work for you.

Ok I found that, I have Windows7..and I have

Right you have a widescreen too - good. Your screen has a resolution ratio of 1.777778 - that is 1920 divided by 1080. Any screen resolution that has the same proportion will display correctly on your machine. So from my game that would be:

1920x1080
1600x900
1280x720
1152x648

Also though not quite matching
1366x768

Basically the bigger you go, the bigger and more detailed pictures you will be able to produce. I would guess the recommended thing would be to match your recommended setting with the in-game setting (what I do, though I can also get a larger size too because of the way I have set up my graphic rules) - so try setting your game at 1920x1080. You might find this a bit of a change at first but I got used to it quickly anyway. With a camera mod installed, you can get some great close up and also overview pictures. If you don't like it, try one of the lower resolutions till you find one that suits you.

Well, my old computer had pools with complex reflections like yours. However, that computer stopped working (it was almost 15 years old) and I had to buy a new one. I don't remember what graphic card I have now, I know there's a paper somewhere in my house with my computer's specs in it, I will try to find it. I know the graphic card is an Nvidia GeForce GTX, and I believe it is a series 10. I still have to buy a new monitor, right now I'm using a Samsung SyncMaster P2270HD. Hope this information can help.

Thanks, Jo, I saw the comments. Yes, a hasty build coming way under budget. I'm glad I managed something even if it wasn't a desirable holiday destination.

I'm glad others are finding it difficult to stay within budget. I had to change walls and floors, etc, to get there and have just 3 Simoleons left. I don't want to be the first to post though. Still early.

Did you change your shaders to true? boolprop useshaders true

easy way to find out, do you have visible fish?

Man, take a few days away from the computer and this thread just EXPLODES. I love it! I've missed all the fun discussions and conversations that a friendly competition brings!

Thank you very much for the feedback, judges. I realized after posting that my pics were a bit small compared to my competitors, but by that time I wasn't going to make it back to my home computer until well after the round had ended, so I figured I'd eat the loss (haha get it because it was the restaurant round) and do better next time.

Including the podium never even crossed my mind. I am not the greatest builder and it totally doesn't surprise me that this flew under my radar. To be honest, I was amazed at how well I did, even with all the flaws, and I'm happy with it! Food carts were a pretty basic build compared to the rest of you brilliant, lovely players, but the idea got in my head and wouldn't leave.

Off to shop for CC! One object I need definitely exists. Maybe someday I'll learn how to recolor.

Thank you maxon for your tips and help..I will be writing all this down the next time I go into the game..

This computer was given to me from an angel friend that knew my old computer was on it's last legs..every time I turned it on I was holding my breath..I love that 2008 windows vista computer lol..anyway she is one of those computer tech nerds..as she calls herself lol..and she upgraded every single thing on here..and is updated and good for the next 3 years..I also am stuck with dsl for internet and that old computer won't run on dsl..now that old computer still works but not for internet just for other games that I tend to play once in a blue moon..but right now don't have a place to put it..to do even that..

Still if anyone is willing to get on Skype look for my id I posted somewhere on here lol..and help with either or both of the Fraps and or GeForce Experience..to get them up and running for this next round..I will owe you for the rest of my life if it can be done ..@gdayars when you get on I will be here and all you have to do is send me a message on Skype and I will see it..thank you so much for your help as well.. :lovestruc

I think I have a better plan for this next round as well..I hope it works..

@gdayars boolprop useShaders true is not on my userstartup.cheat

But here's a picture of a pool and a pond surrounded by pool tiles with useShaders true. Still, water is black.