Date Posted: 8th Aug 2006 at 7:28 PM

Well I’m back. After having left town to complete a project riddled with problems for work, I’m back and in love with the idea of putting my hair up in a ponytail, lounging out in the sun and doing my very best to perfect the role of a slacker for a couple of days. Sometimes it’s just good to be home again.

As for my projects, last night I finally finished up on the lot that I had contemplated creating in my prior journal entry. This fantasy lot was a play in using the build material to resemble terrain and, about halfway through, it became somewhat of an epiphany for me. Given the constraints of the build engine, I had held certain assumptions to be true. An example of such truths being, 1) stages could not be stacked upon each other, 2) walls could not be reduced to less than four clicks without altering anything beneath them, and 3) complex warping utilizes scaffolding somewhere along the line. At least for ease.

Well, not so. I discovered a significantly simpler method to warp without scaffolding. One that allows the builder to reach areas surrounded closely by other warped areas, without disturbing work already done. I further found that there is a way to reduce wall length down to a click, and also realized that there is indeed a method to stack the stages one upon the other. I feel like a kid with a new video game who just wants to start playing without sitting down to read all of the instructions. I’m horrible at that. The Sims 2 crashed on me three times while attempting to recreate the end result with the stages. Always a fun and nauseating experience, but I finally understand how I was able to do it. As the old saying goes, we learn through our mistakes.

Although this lot isn’t my usual thing, I’ll probably upload it for approval in the next day or so. And while I may experiment further with some new techniques, the other planned lots are on their way.

Date Posted: 25th Jul 2006 at 9:23 PM

All right. So I was lounging at the park with Diesel, my St. Bernard, both of us stretched out in the shade and nibbling on our respective gadgets – his was his leash and mine was the eraser on my pencil. For the last 15 minutes I had been sketching some layouts for my proposed lots when I happened to catch the play of light from off of the lake, and voila -- a new building compulsion had struck. What a pain in the, er, butt. This little impulse will delay my planned projects, because the lure of attempting the untried is almost irresistible and terribly difficult for me to quell. And boy am I a glutton for building challenges. I had thought that my Ebony Gale was a couple of day’s exercise in the merits of patience, but I have a feeling that this one will be even worse. :::thinking::: Yes, definitely worse for this design calls for a tangle of lines on paper. I’m not even sure where to begin, or with further thought, if I should. But… how I do love a challenge.

So, to those of you out there whose projects I am working on, thank you again for the open time frame as the aforementioned projects have met with a little delay.

Date Posted: 18th Jul 2006 at 4:37 AM

Well, I’ve just completed one of my planned lots and that should uploaded soon. (Actually, I’ve had it finished for some weeks as a commercial lot. I just needed to change a few details.) I’ll be tackling the rest of my to-do list in a day or two, so in the interim I thought that I’d tag on my take to this question: "Can I change a few details in your lots and then upload them to the Exchange or to another site as my own work?"

No. Short and sweet. I learned this lesson in high school as I was painting a landscape in oils with my inspirational vista none other than a glorious island setting from out of a magazine. My professor was quick to inform me that I couldn’t legally or ethically do so, as the photo itself was art, and thus the intellectual property of the person who took the photograph. It was their creative brainchild, not mine, regardless of if I were to alter a few details. 3D work is the same. Each artist has different policies and mine is, “Please don’t do it.”

Date Posted: 12th Jul 2006 at 3:11 PM

Projects – oh so many in mind, but with so little time. I think that’s the mantra that most creators mutter. I’m no exception.

Right now I’ve divided my time between four building projects: some French additions, a few Greek ones, including an ancient setting, a couple of Japanese restaurants, and a locale from LOTR. My proverbial plate is more than full.

A couple of players with low resource computers had requested small, playable French community lots geared towards running a business and/or entertainment and dining. The Greek lots that I have in mind stem from my vacation in Greece where I was captivated by the Old World ambiance and the romantic appeal of the landscape and architecture. I want to recreate some of those sights and bring them into the Sims. How could I not? Greece is entirely evocative. The Japanese restaurants were requested for settings in a film and lastly, the LOTR lot is a request from a friend, (no, I haven’t forgotten you).

So, I’m off.