Date Posted: 8th Mar 2024 at 6:07 PM

I've been on this journey now for almost 20 years. And it's finally coming to an end. The following packs are now available for The Sims 4 on the Dozerfleet Labs blog:

• Into the Future Conversions Stuff
• Oughties Big Rapids Living Stuff
• The Horrorday Gang Story Pack
• Sodality: Instigation Story Pack
• Swappernetters: Frontlinters Story Pack
• Swappernetters: The Chrome Kite Story Pack
• Swappernetters: Supporting Cast Story Pack
• Swappernetters: Screwworms and Other Villains Story Pack

The Many Masks of Ciem and Sodality: Task Force Black Rat packs are going to be merged into Instigation at some point. The canceled Gray Champion and Extirpon packs are being merged into Swappernetters: Supporting Cast.

The canceled Cherinob, Camelorum Adventures, and Volkonir story packs are being merged with the movies and memes sections into a new stuff pack, that will be dubbed Magic of Movies and Memes.

After I've completed all this, only seven more packs remain to be added:

• Sodality: Adaptation and Determination Story Pack
• Ciem: Inferno Story Pack
• Ciem: Ash Cloud Story Pack
• Ciem: Caldera Story Pack
• Anarteq: Guardian of the Soo Story Pack
• Anarteq: Tropic Mercenary Story Pack
• Anarteq: Envoy to Lough Melvin Story Pack

The following Sims-related works remain to be released:

• Corando's "Don't Lose Hope" (music machinomic)
• Blood Over Water (machinomic)
• Sorbet (machinomic)
• Sniperbadger: Fall of the Critter Resistance (machinomic)
• Volkonir 2008 (machinomic)
• Ciem / Anarteq: Kahoopiliana (machinomic)

Once this content is finished, there will be very little (if anything) left coming to DzMD (let alone MTS) from Dozerfleet Labs related to The Sims franchise.

Path of the Ming-Cho, initially intended to also be a Sims machinomic, is now scheduled to be entirely AI-generated.

I'm planning after this to make a maximum of 12-13 custom mods for House Flipper 2, before retiring entirely from game modding.

At this point, I rarely need Sims or any other game for character art. Only for house and building floor plans do I still need simulated environments, and even then, only because there are so many places I can't yet afford to travel to and take photographs.

Action scenes that are too difficult to do with AI may still be done with Sims for concept art purposes. Otherwise, I can now accomplish almost everything that Dozerfleet Productions needs using Wonder and Krea AI software.

When I have truly closed the book, I intend to follow up with another post saying so. But the end is in sight. It's going to feel weird not constantly relying on a Sims game for my operations; but the times are changing. And the brand needs to change with it.

Date Posted: 6th Apr 2023 at 4:12 PM

While the deprecated model for Trista's house remains on MTS, a new model is available on DzMD, alongside a variation of the old model. The new model is based on 1524 W. 19th St. in real-life Little Rock, AR. As cool as the underground subway tunnel was in the original, it makes no sense in terms of real world geography.

Bret Kamhold also got a new home redesign, to reflect his hideout at 924 Roseclair Dr. in North Little Rock. It was the closest-found real-life match to what Kamhold would want from a property, in relation to his fictional hideout. However, the new version lacks a few features that the original build had. These were sacrificed for realism, even though the realism strips away some of the environment's character - and Kamhold's by comparison.

Date Posted: 8th Jun 2020 at 5:42 AM

By late 2018 as well, Candi has met and fallen in love with Donte. A confused mix of love, lust, and fear of the uncertain future, the two lovebirds can't stay away for long. Indiana becomes a harsh, post-apocalyptic war zone following Affadidah's rampage. Erin is unable to be away from hospitalization for long, and the 1205 N. 1st. St. house falls into neglect.

Candi and Donte try to get around this by shacking up in a house on the far northeast side of town; but their consciences get the better of them. Candi vows she'll marry Donte as soon as they're able to. He promises to find an underground minister to perform the elopement. She then moves in permanently with Imaki in his bunker, while Donte remains squatting in abandoned homes.

She confesses to Erin how she allowed things with Danny to get too physical, and cannot in good conscience live with Erin anymore. Erin appreciates Candi's honesty; but still holds fast to the rules.

The strictness of those rules, however, and Erin's mistreatment of Marina when she was discovered to be pregnant, however, caused Miriam to resent Erin - to the point of rebelling and moving away permanently. Miriam moved in with the Couric family, and became engaged to their son Phil. Alas, Phil wouldn't live to see the dream come true of him and Miriam starting their lives over as ex-pats living in Hong Kong. And the MSS would gangpress Miriam into working for Task Force Black Rat, upon discovering she was Sniperbadger.

This meant Erin was now all alone - in a house she was no longer healthy enough to maintain. With fair complaints about her sisters' behavior; but lacking perspective regarding her own situation. And failing to plan ahead.

Erin was then murdered by Gunner and Skellig Soorfelt in her own home - a home which they then set on fire - in the early fall of 2019. Around that time, Candi was in South Bend with Dolly - escaping one of Affadidah's death camps.

Candi and Donte tried to seal up the 1205 N. 1st. St. house and live in it; but were unable to salvage the basement and utilities enough to make it truly practical. Since Dolly needed company as well, Candi and Donte finally agreed to abandon Erin's home entirely - and the shrine to Candi's fallen sister / legal guardian. They moved into Imaki's bunker, and remained living with Imaki in his bunker until the Sodality Exodus Event began.

Date Posted: 8th Jun 2020 at 5:32 AM

The reason Imaki doesn't have it finished in 2015, is because he has to leave to get his visa renewed - and help Charlotte move to the US from Japan. She was able to get her green card, and looks forward to starting over life in Louisiana. Tokyo living just didn't suit her - and neither did the Yakuza.

However, Imaki partaking of this journey also comes at the worst time in Candi and Danny's lives, when they are being blackmailed sexually by politically-connected classmate Julie Saffrins. Candi takes a dare to protect Danny - the only boy in class that ever treated her with any respect. Alas, this means deliberately gathering evidence of fulfilling that dare, while trying to find some privacy to be sexually active - even though Erin's house rules state that Candi isn't allowed to date. Her current actions also conflict with the morals she was brought up to have; but Candi deludes herself into thinking her and Danny can get married in the future, and justify it.

This puts Candi in exactly the worst place to be at the worst moment: the Loffin family's house, in the afternoon of October 15th of 2015, when the Hebbleskins return and put another energy dome up around Gerosha. While the Pyro Panther gang riots and commits acts of arson, and Lava Tigre terrorizes the town, and police are confused and overwhelmed by the mayhem. Police brought in from out of town get confused, and mistake Candi for a Pyro Panther. Waiting too long to leave the Posey's Market parking lot, she is confronted by three squad cars, each with overzealous cops jumping out and pointing guns at her, convinced she has a bomb in her backpack.

Danny's house was targeted for the arsons, so she couldn't change into Ciem there. She should've gone straight home after school; but the due date on the dare (14-point challenge) was coming up - and she was not about to let Julie use her connections to ruin Danny's life, simply because Candi and Danny disagreed with Julie (and the faculty and curriculum) regarding views on sex.

So she wanted to find a place to change in public. But hesitated too long before leaving the parking lot, rummaging for a few seconds too long. In a panic at having police pointing guns at her in her civilian clothes, she slipped up and told the truth: she didn't have bombs, she had Zeran wardrobes in her backpack - quantum wardrobe devices (similar to the Flash Ring) that hid her Ciem suits and gear. Imaki made these for her; but the new Kirby Act made it illegal for her to divulge this classified tech's existence to local authorities. Realizing Darius at SCALLOP would find out one way or another she dropped the word "Zeran," and that prosecution against her (since she was an Altered) was inevitable, Candi decided to surrender to police - still thinking she was a Pyro Panther gang member.

While it was too long for her to walk to either Erin's house (1205 N. 1st) or Imaki's (209 N. 2nd., which she also had a key for), she could literally have jumped over a bush if she'd kept running, and vanished before the police got to her location. She could've hid behind the Koehler Funeral Home and changed, and been on her way. Instead, she hesitated. And now, she was outside of town boundaries, and there was a force field around her town. And she was being outsourced per the circumstances - to the Vanderburgh County Jail. She wasn't about to add resisting arrest to her list of charges - but now realized that not resisting the cops may have just doomed her hometown!

Candi gets out again, in time for Thevia Logindil to make contact with Miriam (who conceals her identity.) Thevia takes Candi to the location given, and Miriam shows Candi Brandel's Path, which the force field doesn't affect. Candi, Miriam, Danny, Roger, and Chris defeat the villains and get the force field disabled, so their relatives (and the National Guard) can stop the Pyro Panthers and Gleeful-N'-Young, and resume control of the town.

However, Candi's big oops gets her back in court in November. Darius, salivating at the chance to punish half-sister Candi (for being Stan's favorite over him), threatens Imaki's immigration status - unless Candi agrees to take the fall for him. Thevia mentions a SCALLOP agent woman killed by a Hebbleskin ambush brought on by Darius being sloppy with radio feeds with SCALLOP agents looking into Candi's case - leading to Hebbleskins jumping her and killing her in a failed attempt to get information.

Candi considers this irresponsibility on Darius' part wholly unacceptable - but also reasons that her hesitation in the Posey's Market parking lot enabled all the others in this sordid tale to enact their incompetence. Feeling responsible, she agrees to take the fall for Imaki, pleading guilty over the Zeran reveal debacle.

Darius then exploits the situation - reneging on his promise to leave Imaki alone, and going to lengths to remove his (and Erin's) custody of Candi. He has her sent to the Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility, then rigs their system to give her as much prison time as he can possibly get away with giving her, in abuse of his government position. And with no sponsors left to take Candi, she has to serve dead time anyway, unless adopted out - per Indiana law!

It's only a matter of time before Miriam is revealed to be the hacker Sniperbadger, resulting in her also going to prison. Erin and Marina are of little benefit to Imaki, thus he has to find whatever labor he can to finish his bunker - after securing his green card.

In 2016, Candi is still in prison. In 2017, she gets let out just long enough to stop Quoll and Duzerit, then is sent back immediately. In January of 2018, Candi is finally able to help Imaki finish it. But can't live with him. The Trensons adopt her, so she has to live with them.

After the Trensons are killed, Candi is finally able (upon being 18) to move back in with Imaki. Erin invites Candi back as well; but Candi is hesitant to live with her again. She feels guilty about breaking the "no dating, no sex" rule - repeatedly.

Later in 2018, Imaki finishes the bunker. And then...Affadidah gives him a reason to use it. The main house is burned down; but Imaki is able to repurpose the land to hide his bunker entrance.

Date Posted: 1st Jun 2020 at 7:29 AM

So now that Eco Lifestyle is here, some changes have definitely arrived to key uploads of mine. The uploads at the Dozerfleet Labs blog on Blogger are taking priority for me at the moment; but I may submit changes to MTS as well. However, those won't be top priority, as nitpicks on following guidelines are much stricter.

Some side rants

I started the blog elsewhere partially to offer more variety, and partially because not all moderators are equal. Some, I can have rational discussions with about fixing upload items. Others, it seems, just enjoy throwing weight around.

Rather than sit down and try to discern and assess how well each moderator does their jobs, I'd prefer to go to a site where I set the standards for the uploads. Where I have more assurance that the issue will be with imagination and quality, not with measuring the lengths of each other's man-parts.

I went into making these for inspiration, not drama. Alas, it seems drama is unavoidable in this world. Somewhere, someone will always be determined to instigate it.

One reason I no longer promote the Girls Incarcerated outfit conversions on Instagram, for example, is because Instagram users seem determined to prove why they can't have nice things. Alas, if my complaint to Instagram doesn't fit one of the pre-defined, politically-correct categories, then I can't report abusive posts. Staff simply won't care.

It isn't about dealing with actual abuse, for Instagram / Facebook; it's all about Zuck's politics. Thanks, but no thanks.

Lots being changed

Now, the most prominent upload that will be receiving changes will be the Far Cry 5 Boyd Residence on MTS. Uploads to MTS of the new version will likely come later. Dozerfleet Labs will get the new version of that house conversion for Sims 4 much sooner.

There isn't too terribly much that will change. However, the new ladder object to replace stairs will be the most noticeable new detail. Boyd's house will also get proper solar panels. The old version will remain here on MTS, for those willing to still use Sigma1202's mod version of the solar panels.

The Far Cry: New Dawn version, dubbed Traitor's Bluff, is a Gallery and DzMD exclusive. Seeing as it's not really habitable, I made it a decorative Generic lot. The bunker still has a few usable objects in it; but the main house is mostly gutted.

The house at 1205 N. 1st. St. in Boonville, IN, has been redone. New screenshots will accompany the new build, and the old build will be retired. The version available now is not accurate, made before Realm of Magic. This new one will feature on Dozerfleet Labs; and the MTS version will eventually be updated as well.

Its Post-Apocalyptic Build is already available on Dozerfleet Labs, as part of the Sodality: Instigation Story Pack. This version is not getting an MTS upload.

The Boonville City Hall is currently a shell, and it will remain a DzMD / Dozerfleet Labs exclusive. As will its post-apocalypse render. While the interior would be nice for storyboarding Inferno, I don't own the rights to any reference photos. This is because when I went to Warrick County to get this, the city hall staff declined my request to tour the building and take pictures, stating "security reasons." This is also why the hospital where the Flippo triplets were born is not visually depicted yet.

Imaki Izuki's home in Ciem: Inferno, remains a Gallery and DzMD exclusive. His post-apocalypse bunker has been rebuilt from scratch for Sodality: Instigation. This required some continuity changes. While Imaki stayed for a little while at 1344 Lovers' Lane; he has moved as of mid-2014 to 209 N. 2nd St. That is also where he builds his apocalypse bunker, in a hidden location beneath the garage. Technically, it isn't finished until 2018. He starts building it right away, little by little, as he and hired help have time (help he was able to hire with the share of money he got from Stan and Shalia before they died.)

This retcon was necessary, as there is not enough internal home visual information available online anywhere about 1344 Lovers' Lane to justify making it Imaki's Gerosha home (as well as one of the homes with joint custody of Candi.) However, the house at 209 N. 2nd Street in Boonville provided just enough information to allow a build to exist. Not enough to guarantee accuracy with wall placements, mind you. But just enough to ensure that a reasonable build of the exterior and yard can exist. More to that; the bunker is fictional anyway. But it's location still needs to be logical. The closer the Gerosha universe can follow real-life Boonville geography, the better.

The Hut of Kamohoalii is being fixed for Eco Lifestyle as well, and may get an MTS release after the DzMD release is finished. It will be included in the Anarteq Saga Story Pack, as it features far more prominently in the epilogue of Lohtz and in Anarteq: Tropic Mercenary than it does in Ciem / Anarteq: Kahoopiliana, Cherinob 3, or Sodality: Instigation. It doesn't feature at all in the Centipede and Fire Saga, in spite Ciem: Ash Cloud acknowledging its existence.

Date Posted: 24th Jan 2020 at 10:13 PM

So it seems my lots get the crowds excited in ways most of my other creations don't. Guess architecture is where I have my niche after all. I work so hard on character creation; but that field has never been more challenging on the high standards end. However...characters aren't much without settings to try them in. And settings aren't as challenging in high-standard need; but are always in demand.

Another issue I've noticed: PC may be the "master race" of electronics; but that title comes at a huge price - literally! It's entirely on the end user to make sure they have all the hardware required. As Sims gets better and better, unfortunately, the hardware demands keep going up and up.

So what if there were some standardized specs on hardware that guaranteed the game could run on said hardware properly? Well, you won't ever find that in the PC market. But at the expense of a lot of CC and mods not working; the Gallery patch to Sims 4 back in early January ensured that lots DO transfer cross-platform.

Translation: if you want to get the most out of a lot; it's best to play Sims 4 on console! It's been quite a challenge for me to get my console version anywhere close to my PC version, as it means having to repurchase every single missing pack. And those packs add up over time to a TON of money!

I've got my PS4 version of the game up to the point that I can finally break into the console market - something I've wanted to do for ages. It doesn't have all the stuff or game packs yet, just most of the game packs and a handful of the stuff packs. It needs four expansion packs as well. However, I'm still able to get by with it to the point of creating the one thing I've most aspired to recently.

After a month of intensive playing of Far Cry 5 on the PS4, I've finally settled on a house within the game that I can confidently re-create for Sims 4: the William Boyd Residence.

Look for it soon. It will be generated entirely inside the PS4 version, tested, and then sent to the Gallery, before being imported on the PC end for upload here.

Date Posted: 8th Sep 2019 at 6:27 AM

Due to my continued frustrations with my game's Tray folder always corrupting files, I don't have version 2.0 of 1205 N. 1st St. Boonville's TS4 conversion available directly on MTS.

However, if you download the CC for version 1 mentioned in the thread, then you can download version 2 directly from the Sims 4 Gallery. Everything you need to locate it in the gallery is listed here, on my DeviantArt page.

Here's a list of approximately every change I made:

1. Added fake attic roofs.

Candi's bedroom still shouldn't technically have a window; but it felt naked to not give her one. I was unable to go inside the actual house when I visited Boonville, so I can't have the floorplan mastery I'd like. The overall roof shape should now better match. Problem is, the fake roof segments still aren't a perfect match to reality. The real roof has a section of wall jutting out. But it's either that the walls of the second floor rooms are extra tall to allow for an attic, or else it's that the walls of the third story are really tiny. Either way, the game doesn't allow this.

2. Added Strangerville content.

This comes with new equipment for Miriam to play with that more realistically reflects her personality. It also eliminates the need for that Acer CC laptop, replacing it with a game-generic one that looks almost the same and works exactly the same way.

The generic punching bag is now replaced with a fighting dummy - something Candi would have utilized more in her training to become Ciem. It has been moved to the basement, and Erin's exercise mat has been relocated within the tiny exercise room.

3. Miriam's room and office now one and the same.

This gives her a larger room than the technical "master" room that is Erin's room. Again, I keep events in the girls' rooms to a minimum in-story, largely to account for uncertainty about the floorplan matches to real life. This change was necessitated by the stair modulation.

4. Proper L-shaped stairway finally part of the house.

Granted, the exact proper shape was not something the game would allow me to replicate; but I got pretty close. It always bothered me how I couldn't create an L-shaped stairway to fit real life. That problem has been mostly alleviated by the Realm of Magic patch.

Will i get that particular game pack? Well, probably not for the Harry Potter fandom. But if I can alter witches to behave like Marlquaanites, then I may be able to finally create an Extirpon that's more than just a creepy-looking dude in a black suit. And not have to require CC like the Book of Chaos to empower him to harm his enemies. If I can manipulate the witch world into Cortascius somehow, then I can replace witches with Weavers. If residential lots are in there, I can put the Cortascian palace in the witch world. As well as the Gwirdon palace. This would free up my vampire world for other uses. I'm already using the Get Together world and campground world as Montana.

5. A Whole New Basement

The basement's shape is now closer to real life, by far. This is due to being able to finally put the door where it belongs. Granted, the stairs jut out a bit far. Modulation didn't include the ability to make really tiny stairs at a steeper slope, which is unfortunate. Those would have definitely come in handy!

The basement has a lot less stuff in it; but uses its smaller space better. The bar from real life returns for this new basement. Also, Marina's bedroom and bathroom are finally on the first floor. That hallway was a lot of wasted space on the first floor. That's been remedied.

Date Posted: 7th Sep 2019 at 5:20 PM

I have no plans to include on MTS an update to the 1205 N. 1st Street house. However, if I'm able to successfully update it with the new L-shaped stairway from the patch to Realm of Magic, then I'll provide a version via the Gallery, and my journal will show how to download it.

That version will include the following changes, if all goes well:

- Entryway stairway: It will be properly L-shaped, like the real-life house.

- Marina's bedroom: This will be located on the first floor, rather than the basement. There will still be a bathroom in the basement, along with a bar and what-not else. Just not Marina's bedroom. That will be moved to where the pantry currently is located.

- Entrance to the basement: If all goes well, this will be moved outside - where it should be. Landscaping a proper walk-in basement has been no small feat in Sims 4.

Date Posted: 7th Sep 2019 at 7:14 AM

By now, I've made it clear that the original Trista Clarion house was not nearly as nice as the version here. But it turns out, the house was created for The Sims 3 first!

So what are some differences right away?

- Wall decorations: There are different items hanging on the walls in the two different game versions. Minor details. Exact wall hangings are negotiable details.

- Different windows and doors.: Part of the game. The nice loft windows I wanted don't exist in Sims 3.

- The Subway: In the Sims 3 version, the catacombs are smaller. I don't draw a massive fake subway tunnel. Instead, I have a rabbithole for Sims to take the subway. The Sims 4 version is canon, but the Sims 3 version is arguably faster.

- Window dressings: Cyclonsue's industrial iron bars are on the windows of the first floor in the Sims 3 version. For the Sims 4 version, I had to make a conversion of these. The Gallery edition doesn't have them, because I have been unable to acquire the rights from Cyclonsue to redistribute Sims 4 conversions of his iron bars.

- Siding: A darker shade of default game siding is in the Sims 4 version. In Sims 3, I used a CaSt repaint of a default siding, to make it look like it's really dirty.

- Garage contents: The Sims 3 version has a much more beat-up and rusty truck in it. And bikes. Because it makes more sense for the Trio to use bikes in the Sims 3 version - where bikes serve an actual purpose. Beauregard has his own motorcycle as well.

- Rusty propane tank: While this is repaired in canon, the propane tank in Sims 3's season 1 house is in far worse shape. This is due to the Sims 4 version being a conversion of JeziBomb's Sims 3 mesh, which I downloaded from elsewhere.

- Different garage door: Obviously, since garage doors are actually functional in Sims 3.

- Basement hidden passages: In the Sims 4 version, the Strangerville bunker door is used for entrance to the catacombs. A bookcase door is used in that game as well, for hiding entrance to the mission control room. In Sims 3, it's the tomb hidden door object for both entrances.

- Study room objects: These vary a bit, based on game object availability. Yet, the general principle of the room is the same.

- Neighborhood decor: For the Sims 4 version, the bus stop and wire poles and what-not are closer to the house. They are also made with PlasticBox mods. In Sims 3, they're Cyclonsue mods, and they're further away.

Date Posted: 7th Sep 2019 at 7:09 AM

Since I uploaded the season 2 version of her house renovated, everyone wants the trashed version. However, there are some problems with that. First, if you want the approximate version that's compatible with the game, you'll need the following CC:

• Frau Engel's Abandoned Apartment Set
• Crate Furniture Set by Illogical Sims

To see the garage door, you'll want Adonis Pluto's Garages. You're also gonna want Liberated Street Deco by PlasticBox.

If you still want a not-quite accurate version of the trashed house, you can download it from the Gallery. This image shows you how.

Q: But...but...why is it impossible to do a full-blown season 1 render of the Clarion house?
A: Simple: Because most of the custom content required had to be converted from The Sims 3, that's why!

Now, here's the thing: I'm only the author of the cool stuff's sometimes conversion from Sims 3. The items aren't native to the game, and look unnatural upon translation attempts.

Now, some of these items that I converted for Sims 4 are unfortunately translations of files taken from other parties - namely, Jezibomb.

To distribute that material needed for a proper Clarion house in season 1, I'd have to get the rights to copy the original Sims 3 files and distribute them online. So far, I've had zero success with most of this. Add to the fact that I can't trust my own tray files anymore, and you can see why houses - like Sims themselves - are now a Gallery-only item!

In addition to Jezibomb's wonderful propane tank and water heater, Cyclonsue produced a telephone pole system. I've since upgraded to the mod by PlasticBox, but it served a good purpose at the time. His iron bars and wooden planks set has been poorly imitated, but never properly duplicated. And I can't be certain if he accepts conversions of his stuff. So I can't release a lot of his old Sims 3 objects, even though I'd love to have them.