MTS Official 2016 Calendar Contest: TS2
 

Official MTS 2016 Calendar Contest: The Sims 2
Use your creativity to showcase your sims in a shot fitting for each month of the year. The picture should be a scene with sims in it representing the "feel" of a particular month. Have the family gathered for Christmas dinner? Beach party in June? Romantic dinner for two in February? We'd love to see what everyone can come up with for this year's calendar. Please use northern hemisphere seasons.Season expansion pack and use of seasons holidays (Love Day, Spooky Day, etc) not required.

Rules
1. 1 picture per entry. You may only enter a month one time but may enter 2 separate months. (If you enter twice, you need to submit two different posts)
2. Only 15 entrants per month. Please no place holders. Each spot is only filled once the picture, that meets all the rules, has been submitted.
3. CC is allowed. However, please make sure to follow MTS rules for CC; no pay content.
4. Pictures must be 1000 (width) x 750 (height).

5. No photo editing.
6. When posting your picture, please make sure to include the month it belongs to.
7. Sims 3 only. For Sims 3 version, please go here and for Sims 4, please go here.
8. REMEMBER: This is a PG-13 Forum! Your entries may not include adult content, pornography, or other inappropriate content.

How to Enter
1. Pick a month and take a picture to represent that month.
2. Upload the picture to any image host - Tinypic, Photobucket, Flickr, ModYourPanties, etc
3. Start a new post on this thread - click Go Advanced, and you can click the little "Insert Image" icon in the toolbar, or just copy-paste the image location into some [img2] tags. Make sure to include which month your picture is for.
4. Submit your post - doing so will submit your entry.
5. If you want to do two entries, you need two separate posts.

Duration/Time Period
The contest begins November 1st, as soon as this is posted. Contestants will have until November 30th to post pictures. However, if a month fills up before that date, that month will be closed for new entries and judging.

Contestants
15 per month maximum

Judging and Scoring
Judging will be done by a panel MTS Staff and these are the things that the panel will be looking out for when entries are judged.

• Theme - Does your picture represent the month you chose?
• Creativity - Originality of idea
• Style - Use of space, props, is it pretty?
• Rules - CC adherence, no editing, inclusion of month

Prizes
A sticker for both winners AND participants, like these.
A calendar will be made for download with each winning month.
And, of course, the blue ribbons for each month’s winner.

Questions
Q: I already entered 2 separate months for TS2. Can I compete in the TS3/TS4 calendar as well?
A: Yes, you may. You're more than welcome to submit for all the contests, giving you 6 chances to win!

The picture you post will be your final shot - make it good. Posting a random picture of a christmas tree, easter bunny, yourself, etc to reserve a spot is not allowed and it will be deleted.

Once your post has been added to the table, it may not be changed. Do not change the picture, you may not delete it and enter a new month instead, etc. If you choose to delete your entry, you are removing yourself from the contest and no further entries will be permitted from you.

If anyone is notified that they have used pay content, their entries will be disqualified. The spots they had will NOT be held.

Contestant Entries

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July	August	September	October	November	December
1	PenelopeT	Denimg8	Freelala	Freelala	Charmful	Yaoilicious	Julie J	Charmful	Ather	mustluvcatz	PenelopeT	Zarathustra
2	dragonheart1999	Maddie_Tried	Ghost sdoj	dragonheart1999	N_Fluen$e	Zarathustra	Peterskywalker!	CatherineTCJD	joandsarah77	N_Fluen$e	Jawusa	Stephaniexo
3	Maddie_Tried	Phaenoh	Jawusa	adrian09_01	HH22	camals	joandsarah77	Peterskywalker!			Options	HH22
4			Scarlet Love								Vivitalia	Innamode
5												TotallySimsCrazy
6												Gimbitmen
7												Scarlet Love
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Mommy's Day
 

Month: May
Theme: Mother's Day, Family, Flowers

Campus Coffee
 

Month: August
Themes: Start of Uni/School, Coffee, Making friends



@heaven, the image sizes has been corrected

@Charmful, both of your entries are 1000 x 700, not 750. Once you've got the correct size, edit your posts to replace the images and then you can @ me and I will add them to the table.

October


(Screenshot was not edited beyond auto contrast. I put lights everywhere in that screenshot to be sure it was lit enough since it's a night shot. Edited to add - and I have a lighting mod.. forgot about that until I switched to one of my other TS2 games tonight.)

If we're planning on two entries, but only have one close-to-finished yet, there's no problem submitting one now, and another later this month, right?

@Zarathustra that's perfectly okay. You can submit your entries at any point between now and the 30th. They do not need to be submitted together at all.

@Charmful and @mustluvcatz your entries have been added to the table.

December (obviously, I would hope! ) And I have to say, working on this picture made me really start looking forward to Christmas Dinner, even if it is still two whole months away!

@Zarathustra - Your image didn't come through correctly

No? Alright, we'll try this again then... I'll just attach the image.

December (obviously, I would hope! ) And I have to say, working on this picture made me really start looking forward to Christmas Dinner, even if it is still two whole months away!



Better?

Better. Yes!
I love the guy at the head of the table - his expression is priceless

OK - here's my first entry... for August:


The snorkel mask and flippers wouldn't stay on under water (lake water) *sigh*
So, this is Keith shallow diving around the wreckage at Amelia's Fish Camp

@Zarathustra I added your entry to the table. I edited your post to add December since you forgot to bring that info down with the second post.

@CatherineTCJD your entry is added!

February Entry
 

February

The month of Love and PINK

@DitzyEkko your image is only 600x450. It needs to be 1000x750 before it can be added to the table as an entry. I definitely would not recommend resizing the picture to the correct dimensions. It will become very fuzzy if you do.

Not sure if you're already aware of that (I can't remember how small TS2 C-key pictures are so I wasn't sure if that's how you were capturing them).

My baby opening her Christmas Gift :P

Love in bloom
 

May

Gifts of Autumn
 

October

@xSaniiSimmer - your attached entry is a thumbnail, not a full size image. Your entry needs to be 1000x750

@N_Fluen$e - your first picture has been added to the table. The second has not because, unless I am missing them, I do not see any sims in your picture.

All your pictures make me want to play Sims 2 again... They're beautiful!

My Entry
 

Here is my entry for the month FEBRUARY. A picture of lovers at the park

[IMG][URL=http://s806.photobucket.com[/IMG]

Charmful - I absolutely ADORE your picture! :lovestruc
N_Fluen$e - aww, those magnolias in bloom! :lovestruc
Denimg8 - I've never seen trees being so leafy in February

oops
 

@Liv


Lol , I didnt even realise that. Guess its too late to change it now. Maybe Ill try another month or something..

Month: January
Theme: Winter Fun




Credits: All content by Maxis/EA (scaled down version of the neighborhood deco trees by Amaryll)

Month: November
Theme: Sweet November




Credits: All content by Maxis/EA (recolor of the dress shown by Zerographic)

Halloween Party
 

October, another try.

Month: September

What's university for if not for gossiping about the other students with your roommate?



I tried to get the brunette to look back at the blonde, buuuut... she refused. Let's just pretend that they're watching TV while gossiping, and the brunette got distracted for a second. :P

Thanksgiving Preparations!
 

Month: November
Theme: Thanksgiving
Credits: No CC was used. Every object in the picture is made by EA. The wallpaper and the floors are also created by EA.
The sim (Konstanze Klein) was created by me and she's a part of the Klein family in Meadow Creek.


Here's Konstanze Klein from Meadow Creek, preparing the turkey for Thanksgiving!

January, Celebrating a new year!
 

My entry for January is two sims toasting to the new year while their friends and family play outside.

Entry: April
 

April || Arbor Day

Entry 1- February
 

This is my entry for February. Hope y'all like it

April, Getting Ready for Summer!
 

My entry for April is the kids enjoying the April showers and the adults preparing themselves for the upcoming Summer season.

Christmas!
 

Month: December
Theme: Family time on christmas
Lol i'm not very original but i think it's kinda pretty
I love everyone's entries btw :lovestruc

Can you guys help me out here? I'm trying to get a nice clear pic but with Print Screen I always get the sim toolbar in the pic so what are you guys doing???

I use Print Screen, then copy it into an editing software (just MS Paint works well ), select the portion I want, and crop it. Then I resize it to 1000x750.

Hope this helps.

If you're going to do the "print screen" way, I would:
Make sure you're in "live" mode
Click the '"Tab" button - which puts you in "Cameraman Mode" (does away with the UI bars) Use Q and E to move the camera up/down and use your arrow keys to move other directions.
If you need to keep your camera position static for many shots click "Ctrl" + "4" - this saves your camera position so you can return to it again by clicking "4"

Whatever editing software you are using to resize your picture - try to crop it to the correct dimensions (1000px X 750px) If you crop THEN size, it will get pixelated (especially if making it larger!) And make sure you tick the "Constrain Proportions" box, so your image doesn't get squished.

Good luck!

Summer Surf in July

Entry 2- January
 

I tried this earlier and it was blurry but I retook the pic with print screen and got it :D
This is my entry for January
It's teens at a wild New Years party. (With all the dancing, kissing, and passing out)

Edit: The fact that I just realized the calendar in the back is on winter makes this all the more awesome XD

@Julie J Your image is 1000 x 655px, it needs to be 1000 x 750px before I can add it to the table.

I have added the following entries to the table
@Denimg8
@PenelopeT x 2
@N_Fluen$e
@Ather
@Jawusa
@dragonheart1999 x 2
@Freelala
@Maddie_Tried
@Stephaniexo

Karen Lorraine: Pic is now fixed

@Maddie_Tried Your January image is 1002 x 750px, please can you edit it so it is 1000px

@Julie J I'ved added your image to the table

@Karen Lorraine fixed the dimensions

Month: December
Theme: Christmas Cards

The Smith family always take their Christmas card pictures on the first of December. Johnny has decided that he's too old to dress up this year, and insists that he didn't want to be in this stupid picture in the first place.

Month: May
Theme: Spring Makeover

With summer just around the corner it's time for Vivian to do some spring cleaning. Sure Gilbert may not be trained, but Vivian knows he'll do her hair exactly how she wants it (and it's free!).

I've added these entries to the table

@Maddie_Tried
@HH22 x 2

I'm having a bit of trouble with this, and I'm not sure if anyone else is? When I use the in-game screenshot feature my pictures are terrible quality even on the higest quality, but because I'm using sims 2 through origin I cannot take screenshots. I'm not quite sure what to do now.

For good quality screenshots in TS2 you will need to use Printscreen or some other image taking software, not the ingame camera. I use a combination of Fraps and Irfanview to take mine, both programmes are free. Please see Screenshot basics for more help.

I'll submit a picture, but I'm more interested in the calender, are you going to sell physical copies?

Usually what happens is that someone will create an in-game calendar for your sims to enjoy. 'Here is an example of last years' They don't sell actual copies.

I wonder though... are there enough members that would be interested in physical copies for that to be a viable fundraiser for the site? Probably not, but it's an interesting thought...

It is a neat thought! The only issue I can see with printing copies is that screenshots are 72 dpi and default to RGB, which look good on computer but when printed will look very very pixelated. Printing needs at least 300 dpi and be in CMYK color format to look decent. You can always change the color mode in photoshop or other photo editing software but adding pixels will always make it look blurrier.

Entry: March
 

Second entry.

March || March Madness

I think it would be kind of cool to sell these and maybe raise some money for the site.

Here's my entry for December! Finally managed to get a decent shot XD

The End of Summer
 

Month: August
Two kids spending their final summer night reminiscing about what great times they had.

Month: July
A sim surfing the tide. Hang ten dude!

March
In honor of St.Patrick's Day and the legend of the farmer who caught a leprechaun and tied a ribbon on the tree where the leprechaun's pot of gold was buried before going home to get a shovel....

My entry for June: The Ice Cream Man is the most popular guy in Strangetown!

I have added the following entrants to the table
@Freelala
@Innamode - well done!
@Peterskywalker! x 2
@Ghost sdoj
@Yaoilicious

Spring Cleaning!
 

Month: March
Theme: Spring Cleaning
Credits: No CC was used. Every object in the picture is made by EA. The wallpaper and the floors are also created by EA.
The family (Wilsons) was created by me and they are a part of Meadow Creek.

Tiffany, busy vacuum-cleaning, while her quadruplets are playing and her husband complaining about the noise.

Can never resist a Calendar contest! I'm back again with December (Oh God again?)

December

(Probably no second entry, my game broke on me )

Month: March
Theme: St. Patrick's Day
Not many families celebrate this holiday but my immortal woman (blonde) celebrates with her family.

Month: June
Theme: The Great Outdoors

June is always by far the busiest month for every National Park I've ever worked in, with people setting up to camp out under the stars and explore a world where they're not always within shouting distance of a Starbucks... I figure Sims could stand a little closer connection with nature too, so I banished this family from any developed campground, and had them set up a few tents, lanterns, sleeping pads, and a campfire out in the middle of a beautiful forest!

December Calendar
 

This is for the month December and yeah hope you like :D

So excited! I love calendar contest time!

This time I decided to do February and did Groundhog's Day!



Only CC used is on the sims. HP's awesome glasses, HP's Blush skintone on the elders, Sumersong86's Rosy skintone on the man, my Keen Eyes, and stealing the spotlight, my own Mutton Chops.

I've added the following entries to the table, thank you
@Jawusa
@TotallySimsCrazy
@Scarlet Love
@Zarathustra
@Gimbitmen
@Phaenoh

Month: December
Theme: Holiday craziness
No sims died in the making of this picture. On a side note the blonde in the front was a townie and she was created with the name Noelle which is a little strange.

I have added you to the table @Scarlet Love

Only a couple of days left and there are still loads of free spots! There's still time to get your entry in!

MONTH: April
THEME: April Fools
Isaiah having a blast watching his April Fool unfold on Nathan!
The Lena house from Shelters for Salesmen was used, windows from the pack also.
No CC on Sims.

@adrian09_01 - your entry has been added to the table.

Edit: November

@Vivitalia I saw your pic before your stated month and I was so excited to see an awesome November making Thanksgiving pies with Granny! Since it's actually September, are those giant things APPLES?

@Phaenoh Haha, yes, these huge things are apples I don't know why maxis apples are so big. When I put tomato next to picnic basket I noticed that It's about 4 times smaller than apple - magic
Now I see that my photo may be associated more with November than September because of pumpkins. I put them in the photo to get the autumn atmosphere. I don't celebrate Thanksgiving Day so it was not my first thought September is associated with harvest time - mainly with apples, plums, pears etc. may be you are right and should I change the month to November (before it will be added to table)?

Sorry for my English :c

@Vivitalia Do you want to change to November before I add your entry to the table?

Submission Entry June
 

Month: june
Theme: Beach fun and well hot guys..

@Karen Lorraine Yes, I edited my post Thank you for waiting!

No shave November
 

This is my photo for November, it's no shave November / Movember Hope you like it ^-^

A day at the beach.

Size fixed. July then.

@joandsarah77 - I noticed you used Photobucket and thought maybe your settings might have something to do with the size of the picture changing. Do you have Photobucket set to automatically re-size your uploaded pictures?

@joandsarah77: June is summer, but July (and early August) tend to be hotter and usually when everyone goes to the beach to escape the heat. BTW, I like that you scooted over the seagull.

I've added the following entries to the table
@camals
@Options
@Vivitalia

Sorry but both of the following images are the wrong size.
@joandsarah77
@Sanypsia

@Karen Lorraine I believe I fixed it. I have put it down for July.

@PenelopeT I don't know, how do I turn that off?

@Phaenoh Ha! You noticed that tiny edit, hope that is okay. Got to get it the correct size anyway.

Okay I believe I fixed it. For anyone else having issues this is how you alter your photobucket settings on picture size.
http://goinggreenandsavinggreen.blo...p-resizing.html
I thought my upload photos looked smaller than everybody else in the Download section for some time but I hadn't really bothered to investigate. Photobucket had me set at 800 by 600.

My question is how do we pick a month? DO we just pick any month and make a picture? Representing the month because i was planning on doing July

Yes, just take a sim pic representing July, and then add it to photobucket, imgur, or some other picture hosting site, and then link it here on this thread and say it is for July.

Edit: Also be sure it is the correct size.

Another Edit: Also post it by tonight because today is the last day to enter.

I get in by the skin of my teeth since it's December first over here.

Charmful is correct. You may pick any month that you like to represent, as long as it's not full (which doesn't look like it would be a problem).

@joandsarah77 - I added your entry to the table. As for the contest, it'll be left open until first thing tomorrow morning. I'm the one who opens/closes them and I don't want to close early (like when I go to bed) and I am not staying up into the wee hours of the morning until the last time zone enters Dec 1st.

Hear that everyone? You still probably have another 12 hours from when I am posting this to get entries in.

September since it looked a little lonely.

Same family. I have no idea what American's do in September except I know it's Autumn and my fishermen fish year round.

@joandsarah77 - your second entry has been added

Contest is now closed! We'll post the results and goodies when we have them all ready! Thank you everyone for participating!

February
 

seigyoku53227 the contest is already closed.

I know I am being impatient but do we have any kind of time frame for when the results will be announced? And will we get helpful feedback from the judges like we do in build and decorating contests?

Last year we got answers around the first week of January but didn't get any sort of constructive remarks on the shots, just a congratulations post. I know the year before last there was a separate discussion thread where you could pre-submit shots you were considering to get feedback, I wish they'd bring that back as it was helpful.

I posted this in TS3 one so I'll post here as well. We normally don't announce until everything is ready. So we have to judge 3 contests, make 3 calendars, plus the achievements stickers. Normal time frame is to announce New Year's/Eve.

As for feedback, not this contest. There are always FAR too many entries between all of them to ask judges to give feedback. @Charmful, I didn't realize many people liked the discussion thread. We cut them and decided to allow some discussion of entries here to keep the threads more lively.

Thanks for explaining, that makes sense to allow discussion on the same thread to keep it lively, but the one aspect that helpful was to submit entries and get feedback from the community. For example if someone had three shots and wanted to know which of three were best, or if they entered a shot they were considering for the contest and may have forgotten that build-mode was on and the grid was showing, someone would have pointed that out before they truly submitted it. Or perhaps someone from the southern hemisphere didn't quite know that northern hemisphere February wasn't as leafy as their image portrayed, they would have time to adjust it to match before being locked into that entry. I personally would have commented more on the entries in the thread if I had known we had more leeway to discuss them, but I figured that aspect was gone along with the discussion thread.

I love everything about every picture

But When are the results coming

3 post up, heaven said "I posted this in TS3 one so I'll post here as well. We normally don't announce until everything is ready. So we have to judge 3 contests, make 3 calendars, plus the achievements stickers. Normal time frame is to announce New Year's/Eve."

Winners are Announced!!!