Three Honest to Dickens Mirrors for Discerning Victorians

Title: Three Honest to Dickens Mirrors for Discerning Victorians
with Custom, Base Game & Castaway Meshes


Added Spirit Discernment - July 1, 2014

The mirrors now differentiate between a true Ghost (a dead Sim) and a Spirit (a live Sim with ghostly characteristics).


Find Sim/Pet Bugfix - June 28, 2014

This release fixes a bug that prevented the Castaway Stories "Find Sim" and "Find Pet" options from working. For The Sims 2, the "Find" options may work slightly faster in this version.


Upgrade #2: Alien & AL Upgrade - June 25, 2014

1) The mirrors are now capable of designating any Sim as a Quarter, Half, Three-Quarter or Full-Alien - or removing alien status - using the new "Change Alien Status" menu option.

2) Mirror discernment now includes the Apartment Life human statues, spectral assistants, spectral cats, warlocks and witches (including alignment), as well as the Holiday Edition Father Time, Santa Klaus, and Toddler New Year.

3) The new "Find Sim..." and "Find Pet..." menu options can be used to locate any character on the lot without waiting for the current interaction to finish.

4) For more positive identification, the Sim selection menus now include the whole name rather only the first name. Similarily, the "Check Sim" or "Check Pet" descriptions also provide the full name.

5) If Apartment Life or Mansion & Garden is available, the mirrors are now height adjustable.

6) Numerous minor optimizations have been made.



Proceedings of the charity auction at the Royal Society of Muddlers, Robert Soakem of Soakem & Sons, Auctioneers, presiding

Lot 30, ladies and gentlemen: a most unusual collection of mirrors. The first item an authentic replica of a mirror found in the home of Mr. Charles Dickens at 48 Doughty Street in this fair city. Any one of you so fortunate as to attend one of Mr. Dickens's famous oratories might well wonder at how he developed such a finely tuned delivery. The answer of course was that he practiced long hours in front of his many mirrors, for which he had a great fondness.

Now in all fairness ladies and gentlemen, I must admit that this mirror has seen better days. The gilt finish is worn in places, although the glass is quite unblemished. But this is by no means an ordinary mirror! Mr. Dickens was known for his perceptive and accurate wit, his honest but at times indelicate observations on those in society, and his conscientious inquiries into the plight of the unfortunate poor.

But not only that, but it must be admitted that Mr. Dickens also dabbled in the occult sciences, and indeed this mirror may be the result of his researches. For here, ladies and gentlemen, is a most interesting device, one that not only displays the outer appearances, but may discern the most intimate of details to the practiced of eye, insights worthy of Mr. Dickens himself. Is Lady Agatha really only thirty as she claims? Are the aspirations of that pressing young suitor entirely honourable?

And too, what of the unspeakable horrors that wander our streets at night? Rumours of vampires, werewolves, and all manner of unearthly creatures. They may appear perfectly normal in outward appearance. But this occult mirror will reveal the truth of the matter, without fail. Worth every penny, at a reserved price of §1110.

May I add that there was a recent tale of a gentleman, a Castaway Story of one stranded in a far ocean, how he completely lost track of his days. And although the savages of that dark land had potions and elixirs that slow the toll of aging, he knew not that he had grown old, for he had not a mirror to tell him the simple truth. Thus he returned from that place old and withered, when there was no need.

Yes, it would prudent to consider this device very seriously! And indeed your whole household may protected in like manner. For this same science has also been applied to a porcelain mirror, suitable for a lesser room, with a reserved price of §205. Lastly there is this simple design in plain wood, such as the servants might use, reserved at §105.

Now then, what am I bid for the lot?

The "Alien" Question, as reported in the Thames Daily Mirror, April the first, in the year eighteen hundred, nine and seventy

The honourable member for East Wessex, Lord Horatio Higgenbottom, rose to address the Commons:

There have been pressing questions in the House of late, in regards to what has been called the "Alien" Question, on the matter of unearthly creatures who are said to have descended upon the City. As we all know, her majesty's government offers assistance to those unfortunates who have been abducted by these foul creatures, in the manner of scholarships. I am pleased to announce today that this scholarship benefit will also be available to those who claim descendance from an unnatural union with these aliens, in the amount of §1500.


Installation

All users except Castaway: please install the contents of DickensMirrors_discernment.zip in a Downloads folder. This archive contains the Dickens mirror and two recolours, the Porcelain Quaint mirror, the Simple Value mirror and the Alien token. Please be sure to include the Alien token no matter which mirrors you use.

Castaway users: please install the contents of CastawayMirrors_discernment.zip in a Downloads folder. As in the regular game or other Stories games, please be sure to include the Alien token.


Terms of Use

You may include any of these mirrors and/or the Alien token in uploaded lots, whether free or for pay. You may also make and distribute your own recolours other than in lots, provided that the original meshes are not included. The BHAV coding for these mirrors may also be reused, in whole or in part, and I would strongly encourage that the Alien token be adopted as a standard basis for alien identification. In any of these three cases, please provide a credit and link back to this page. It would also be nice if you sent me a PM with a link to your creation, but this is not necessary. Please do not upload the original meshes or original recolours otherwise than in lots.


Additional Credits

Corel WEB.PhotoPaint, GIMP 2 Microsoft Photo Editor and Microsoft Paint for graphics texturing, processing, sizing, and labeling
For the presentation, I used clothing and scenery from The Dark Project, particularly in the case of Chrissy
Inge Jones, pljones, and Pescado at this SimPE forum thread for their invaluable help with game version testing
Inge's teleporters from the Simlogical site for species and paranormal testing
Jfade's Compressorizer for minimizing file size
Milkshape 3D and Ultimate Unwrap3D Pro, for 3D modeling
Numenor's AnyGameStarter, for development and testing
Phaenoh's Sci-Fi Starter Families were extremely valuable for playtesting
SimPE, PJSE, and CEP for Sims 2 object creation




Contents List

- Honest to Dickens Mirror of Discernment
- Silver Recolour of the Dickens mirror
- Bronze Recolour of the Dickens mirror
- Porcelain Oval Mirror of Discernment
- Simple Value Mirror of Discernment
- Alien Token for tracking alien status

- Honest to Dickens Mirror of Discernment, for Castaway
- Silver Recolour of the Dickens Mirror, for Castaway
- Bronze Recolour of the Dickens mirror, for Castaway
- Porcelain Oval Mirror of Discernment, for Castaway
- Simple Value Mirror of Discernment, for Castaway
- Alien Token for tracking alien status, for Castaway


Polygon Counts:

Note that the Castaway and Sims 2 meshes are identical
- Honest to Dickens Mirror of Discernment - 697 faces, 791 vertices
- Porcelain Oval Mirror of Discernment - 678 faces, 578 vertices
- Simple Value Mirror of Discernment - 96 faces, 192 vertices