MSCL Sims

[Nostradamus]

After I saw those cool Lego playsets, I was going to re-create the Chase household on "The Sims", but one of the expansion packs crashed when I tried to install; now I've got to un-install and re-install...

Anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to make the house, thanks to the extensive research done by the MSCL.com staff:

http://www.mscl.com/chasehouse/index.phtml?layout=low

I know there's supposed to be a way to make custom faces for the sims, but I never could get the hang of it. Maybe someone has already posted some of the better known cast members on those huge Sims file-sharing sites...

[lithiumkat]

OMG that is such a cool idea, I've thought of that before too, but alas, Right now I must have d/l something for my sims that causes the game to crash plus our puter is on the fritz. o.O but I shall have to try that sometime after I reinstall sims and stuff after we reformat. But ahh I'm going to lose all of my d/l sim items and skins *cries* and I have so many, some of them a lot actually are from paid sites like simfreaks.com and killersims.com and seventh deadly sim and such. *sighs* ahh well, I will be moving in about three weeks to a month to go off to college anyway, but yeah seeing angela, rayanne, jordan, brian and the whole gang along with the chase house on sims would be so incredibly awesome lol.

[Nostradamus]

Well, after more than a year I managed to reinstall The Sims and upgrade to a new face wizard. I made a prototype of Angela that actually looks pretty good, but in the game itself the faces are so small you can barely tell it's her. If I have time I'd still like to try the house...

[Jody Barsch*]

Wow, I am just utterly confused by this ... I thought my recent discovery of the Internet Acronyms Dictionary would help, but it hasn't so far. But, whatever it is you're doing Nostradmus, it sounds neat, and good luck! I'm sorry about the computer mess ups, I've been having problems tonight myself -- they're always a drag. ... Whatever happened to good old real legos you could chew and throw? I loved my legos!

[Nothingman]

Whatever happened to good old real legos you could chew and throw? I loved my legos!

Now that made me smile. And I second that notion.

[Nostradamus]

Wow, I am just utterly confused by this ... I thought my recent discovery of the Internet Acronyms Dictionary would help, but it hasn't so far.

The Sims is a popular computer game that simulates everyday life in a suburban environment. Think of a virtual dollhouse for grownups. A face wizard is a program that lets a user superimpose a photo of a real person's mug over the generic head of a "sim" (the little people in the game).

But, whatever it is you're doing Nostradmus, it sounds neat, and good luck!

Thanks! Hopefully I'll have some screenshots to put in the mscl.com gallery soon.

Whatever happened to good old real legos you could chew and throw? I loved my legos!

Actually I got the idea for the Sims project from a previous thread by Chase Cat with virtual MSCL Lego playsets:

http://www.mscl.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... light=lego

[emmie]

my two obsessions together, The Sims and MSCl? I don't think I could handle that. I simply would never get off the computer!

[Nostradamus]

my two obsessions together, The Sims and MSCl? I don't think I could handle that. I simply would never get off the computer!

That is my dream...



While I'm here, if anyone knows where I can find some "mugshot" type pics of the main cast, either publicity stills, screen caps, real life photos, or whatever, it would help a lot. The important thing is that they be looking straight ahead, with as close to neutral lighting (in terms of shadows on the face) and expression as possible. I've been using the still of Angela holding her face, which is perfect in its posture but has kinda lop-sided shadows which don't look quite right in the game.

[Jody Barsch*]

Can they be older, or do you wan them the same age as in the show, i.e. red hair on Claire, long on Jordan, etc...?

[Nostradamus]

The hair is not too important, except that it is easier to "fit" onto the generic sim face if it does not cover the sides of the face; in other words, short hair or a ponytail is better than long, free falling hair. I don't think age will make much difference, unless it's something like a beard or glasses on a character that didn't have them during the series.

Also, I can easily make my own screen captures from the dvds, so if you know a good scene for a particular face you only need list the episode and approximate time index; I can take it from there.

[Jody Barsch*]

Also, I can easily make my own screen captures from the dvds, so if you know a good scene for a particular face you only need list the episode and approximate time index; I can take it from there.

I'm impressed!

Here's some links to claire pictures, I don't know if they're what you need/ want. I also have a few ready in a PM file, so I'll send that too.

Angela
Angela
Angela Angela
Angela
Angela
A bunch of Claire photos


I'll have to think about the DVDs before I suggest any from those.

Wait, so is this a game you can win or loose? Is there an objective?

[Nostradamus]

Yowza! Those are some gorgeous pics of Claire, most of which I'd never seen before. The one from the "synovia" link is almost perfect for my purposes: notice how the plane of her face is nearly parallel to the screen. That is what I meant by "mugshots".

Good work!

[Jody Barsch*]

Glad I could help. It was perfect timing. I spent all day looking for cast pictures today for a fancfic project. I'm pretty much pbsessed with that picture of her in the car, the colors are amazing.

[Nostradamus]

Wait, so is this a game you can win or loose? Is there an objective?

As in real life, there is no single predefined objective or endpoint (other than death ) to The Sims. It's hard to explain if you haven't played an open-ended simulation game like this, but you sort of make it up as you go along. There are some steps that usually improve sims' lives, like career advancement and dating, but within the limits of the game engine you can pretty much do as you like.

In the case of my little MSCL sims project, I suppose the first goal is to make sim Angela & company, then replicate the house (which will probably take a while), and finally put the sim Chases into said house and turn them loose, documenting the whole thing with the built-in "camera" function. I think there is also a way to upload a sim family to the game's official website so others can download it, but I've never done that before.

Here's a good interview with Sims creator Will Wright that might help:

http://news.com.com/2008-1082-254218.html?legacy=cnet#

[Jody Barsch*]

So, basically it's the setting up of the game, that is actually the game?

Like when you're a kid playing with legos or playmobil, and you spend all your time and creativity setting up the world, imagining all the possible storylines, and by the time you've finished with the tableaus you're tired of the game?
Once the house and characters are created, do you manipulate them, like playing in a dollhouse - "Hm, I think Jordan will try to stop by late tonight..." or does the game take it from there and you're role becomes something else? I totally get the appeal of setting it up, but after that, then how do you participate?