Date Posted: 7th Sep 2019 at 5:40 AM

I noticed that the Twirlflame Trio got about not quite 30 downloads per character; but then something funny occurred. I noticed my Tray wasn't exporting files or labeling them correctly. Files that should've been associated with each other by datestamp were somehow not responding to Date Modified correctly. Somehow, files that weren't related got exported at the same timestamp, thus creating a lot of confusion regarding how to identify if any two files even belonged together.

Because of this, I've elected a temporary moratorium on uploading any more characters to MTS that require Tray files to install. I'll work with Package files, since Sims 4 Studio handles files in a much more manageable way than the game itself does.

However, many are probably wondering where they can get some good Twirlflame Trio members regardless. Don't lose hope! I have no intention of fixing the MTS upload. In fact, if prompted, I'll tell the moderators to go ahead and delete it. But I do want to let you all know that I haven't completely given up on distributing these characters. It's just...they'll have to be through the Sims 4 Gallery.

Links are provided here to my DeviantArt page, which has instructions on how to locate each character inside the Gallery - and which CC they'll need!

- Tabitha
- Sarah
- Tobias

If you really want the bio from the original thread, here's a truncated version:

The Triumvirate formed in 2015. They instigated WWIII, with America receiving the worst of it. SCALLOP, a good guy organization, was put into an impossible legal dilemma that required them to recruit superheroes to stop the Triumvirate, but also to encroach upon those heroes' constitutional rights. The Icy Finger caused America to split, and then conquered Arkansas. They put their fascistic Chrome Kite puppet regime in charge in 2026. One by one, superheroes fell. A force field / suspended animation capture system dubbed "The Tug" kept many from entering Arkansas to save it.

The Swappernetters, a USB flash drive-using resistance, popped up to resist both the Chrome Kite's worldview and its education model. Their plans were simple: protect private education and overthrow the Chrome Kite by any means. Without the Tug disabled, the heroes of old aren't coming. It's up to the parkour-loving, rooftop-hopping Frontliners of Swappernetter society to protect their peers and secure the means to disable the Tug. While a Swappernetter may be one of many roles in the society, the parkour-loving teens at the forefront carrying out the most dangerous recon and other missions are the "Frontliners." This is where Tabby's gang comes in.

Tabitha was a member of the Order of the Oraphim. After she and her mother wound up being abducted and made political prisoners, Tabitha and her friend Sarah were rescued by a rogue SCALLOP agent: Shaniqua Tamery. The two girls tracked down their fugitive friend Tobias Reno, and then accepted powers from the retiring Mapacha del Fuego. They vowed to use what they gained from the power transfer to destroy the Tug - one day, some how. After three years in juvie for no clear reason, she wanted the corrupt regime gone! Her friends were made orphans during the war, and likewise wanted the Chrome Kite to pay. Tabby loves parkour. She's a quick learner, but also sometimes shy and humble. She used to idolize Ciem, but now wants to avenge the latter's honor.

She's the daughter of SCALLOP agent Kyle Medsor and Gray Champion sidekick Hea Pang. She's dating Jordan Sterlie, the son of Navyrope sidekick Tiffany Sterlie and Hebbleskin Gang grunt Garret Whaling.

Tabby's abilities include rapid healing, enhanced strength, enhanced endurance, enhanced stamina, incredible heat tolerance, heat field manipulation, temporary paralysis-inducing energy beams, the ability to "run on air," and learning new skills very quickly.

Sarah saved her Professor from being captured by the Chrome Kite; but paid the price when she was found in an abandoned building. Recruiting Tabby to her cause brought Sarah a renewed sense of purpose in life. Sarah's abilities are similar to Tabby's, being they both got their abilities from Marge. However, she doesn't have the neural dampener beam. Instead, Sarah gained the ability to walk through walls. This makes her a perfect Infiltrator, as her powers make her a rather efficient burglar. Her cover job is as an extremely part-time chef.

Tobias is street-hardened, and has been in and out of jail for reasons making even less sense than what got Tabby and Sarah locked up. This has made him bitter, and eager to live by his own rules. He was dating a non-Frontliner named Francine, until the regime murdered her and the unborn child, fueling Tobias' rage and lust for revenge. He would later fall in love again - with Sarah. Yet, he vowed to be more careful this time.

When he gets angry, he gets incredibly strong. His weapon of choice is a crow bar.

Want to make fanfics where they meet other Swappernetters? Rather simple:

- Beanie hats. While not an absolute, Swappernetters are fond of them. And of looking like homeless stereotypes in general. Fitting, since many of them witnessed their homes being destroyed by the Hgs.
- Gloves, especially fingerless gloves.
- Tight-yet-modest clothing. Sometimes a little dirty.

Frontliners are even more telltale:

- School record inconsistencies
- Unorthodox knowledge, especially for age level
- Unusually talented at odd jobs.
- Odd jobs and gaps in resume
- An usually high number of USB drives on their person
- Compulsive DIY construction of objects, and a desire to help others in need
- Strong aversion to law enforcement
- Carrying tents in bags
- Zeran wardrobes (which are outlawed. Work kinda like the magic ring that The Flash keeps his suits in.)

Inspirations

Swappernetters is inspired by SatAM Sonic, DIY culture, homeschool associations, juris naturalist philosophy, and the Mirror's Edge series of games. The dress style for Frontliners is similar to that of the runners in Dying Light, though their background setting is a mixture of Dying Light, Far Cry, and Mirror's Edge.

In-game meta

Game version: 1.54.120.1020

Date Posted: 30th Aug 2019 at 4:28 PM

In order to create the look for the concept art for Swappernetters, I've found it necessary to invoke the futurism in Into the Future as a shorthand for the Chrome Kite regime's aggressive futurism campaign to remake Little Rock in their image. Alas, the architecture is the only thing the Chrome Kite is pushing that the titular Swappernetter society doesn't have a problem with!

This follow-up to Sodality depicts a world where lesser-powered heroes - if they have powers at all - are the only ones who can resist the "Tug" long enough to avoid capture. Otherwise, superheroes are effectively not a thing anymore in the Gerosha universe by this point in the timeline. Members of the Sodality of Gerosha are either in hiding, on probation / house arrest, or imprisoned, due to some dirty politics and being betrayed by the government.

Tabitha Pang, Sarah Ruben, and Tobias Reno are futuristic Robin Hood figures now. Sharing among them the powers given to them by the retiring Mapacha del Fuego, they can now run on air and create heat blast fields. If any of them had all the power, they'd be like her - catching things on fire as they ran!

Tabitha can now also send out a beam of energy that temporarily paralyzes foes. Tobias can become super strong. Sarah can walk through walls. But otherwise, the Twirlflame Trio must rely on their wits to deal with the Mercury Troopers ("Hogs"), Sicklesaw, Feathertop, Butch Thunders, ordinary police, and the Stagtar drones - while also making sure depressed fellow Swappernetters don't lose faith and go turncoat.

With the ITF stuff uploaded successfully, the Twirlflame Trio members themselves are next. However, while they freelance in their underground society, being fugitives and all, they most often work for Trista Clarion - who is a retried Lambrelli Labs specialist. They sometimes stay at her house, which undergoes heavy renovation throughout the series.

The initial condition they find her house in contains a ridiculous amount of custom content converted from Cyclonsue and JeziBomb, and would therefore be difficult to upload to MTS simply due to the rights being an issue.

Instead, the renovated version will likely be the one getting uploaded. The renovated Clarion House runs on my ITF conversions, so it should be rather easy to integrate.

Date Posted: 4th Dec 2018 at 2:53 AM

Still trying to figure out how to get any accessories or hair to convert, but I have 28 objects / walls / floors almost ready to go for a stuff pack adapting numerous items from TS3 ITF to Sims 4 format.

Date Posted: 20th Jun 2017 at 7:30 AM

I now have chapter 2's images edited. Chapter 3's images will soon follow, and most of chapter 4 is already edited. Once 2 and 3 are uploaded and captioned here, the rest I can mostly copy-paste from DeviantArt.

Chapters 8-12 will still need some editing though. Once the entire thing is done, I can add the end credits. Those will be the really fun part.

So far, Volkonir's armor has been the hardest thing to edit - along with his motorcycle. The show Rangers are tricky, because their helmets are so specific. The film Rangers, oddly enough, are easier. The Emo Rangers are (mostly) a breeze, thankfully.

Date Posted: 24th Apr 2017 at 6:14 AM

Well, I guess my Power Ranger suits just weren't cutting it. I have been making some Emo Ranger suits too, but I'm not sure those would pass the rubricks either. They'll most likely be on DeviantArt then. Attempts to make wristbands for them were also an abysmal failure. The shadow maps acted...very strangely.

Date Posted: 17th Apr 2017 at 6:06 PM

I'm considering adding my Sixam alien suit recolors to this site, that look a little like the 2017 Power Rangers film suits.

The link on MediaFire to the download is already available on DeviantArt in the BulldozerIvan DzMD Sims 4 download gallery.

Only real issue with adding to MTS would be the helmets. I cannot upload the helmet mesh directly, per Grilled-Cheese-Aspiration's rules for his re-mesh. But I do have the diffusion map recolors that make his helmet resemble the film helmets a tiny bit.

Date Posted: 24th Feb 2016 at 2:02 AM

Date Posted: 23rd Feb 2016 at 4:06 AM

(continued from part 1)...

13. Rita Rigatoni / Twisted Noodle. Rubber bananas!!! This woman is CRAZY! She is perhaps the most effective prankster alive, even surpassing the Cheshire Pig and Mauve Puma! She was convicted of killing a man with a corkscrew. Now, she puts funny mushrooms in the stew when no one is looking. And sneaks up on them in the shower and airplane-glues miniature carousels to their scalps. When she's kung-fu pranking, better get out of her way with expert timing!

14. Pat Pitterson. A guard at Camelorum, who is friends with the Camelry and takes on missions frequently involving them - so that they won't be mistreated by other guards when out on assignments.

15. Stan Woudean. The warden, who sometimes forgets he's not Professor X. Especially around the Camelry.

16. Xiboruty and Xironooti. Evil alien cousins bent on conquering Dromedary Heights and using it as a launchpad for their global plans. Xiboruty is very prolific, but not very patient nor much of one for strategy. His cousin Xironooti thinks he's an idiot. Yet, he stays one step ahead of most everyone until the Jen in Black defeat him.

17. Worcestershire Pig. This may require a custom mesh, as he's like Cheshire, but with a mustache and musketeer hat. He sincerely wants to help others, but is really, really bad at it.

18. Other characters as I am able.

Date Posted: 23rd Feb 2016 at 4:05 AM

Q-Basic Gorillas: The Webcomic and a variety of other projects have been placed on hold due to the exploding popularity of Camelorum Adventures, based on The Tale of Emily Barnes and the Two Jens by Prodigal-Gamer.

Eventually, there are plans to make episodes for seasonal continuity, based around the various sketches supplied on DeviantArt by a variety of artists.

Due to this, I've been at work releasing as many Sims 4 versions as possible of Camelorum characters. Lemon Witch and Semaphore are already available both on MTS and on DeviantArt for download. But I'm not gonna stop with them. Here's what's in the pipeline for the future:

1. Camelorum Prison Pants. So the men can have orange pants as well as women. Barry would look ridiculous otherwise. (More so than he already does.) Comes with a QR bar code that reads: "Camelorum Correctional - Delaware Department of Corrections." Comes with a female version too, so all prisoners can have barcodes.

2. Cheshire Pig. This Porkelain Pal clone object is the unholy lovechild of the Cheshire Cat, Tobey Keith, Annoying Orange, and a good lot of internet trolls. Similar to the base game regular object, but with the stencils gone and with an even creepier grin. He likes to spend his days annoying staff and inmates alike, as none are able to catch him. The cameras don't typically pick him up in their feeds either, so archive security footage just shows everyone looking crazy, as if talking to some imaginary adversary.

3. Ion Boy - Barry Navoz / Ion Boy of the Camelry. The Making-You-Vomit Avenger is on his way. Before gaining his powers via Xomification, he was just a clumsy college freshman who tripped on a wire at a frat party. Which led to a chain reaction of events in a Rube Goldberg-like sequence that ended with a pole falling on the Gnatmobile and wrecking it - nearly killing The Gnat as well.

4. Beatrice Index and Luin Kim. Failed supervillains that initially think they're Pinky and the Brain. Become allies to the Camelry later on, but do still sometimes plot world domination (and how to get a refrigerator.) These two are this high on the list due to popular request on DeviantArt.

5. The Jen in Black. Jenny Jane and Jenny Kay, two ditzy (initially) Paris Hilton wannabes, destroyed a fountain in their DUI adventure along with Emily. Uncovering Xiboruty's evil lair beneath the fountain, they were blasted with Xomian energy and survived. They became super-smart science nerds as a result, and spend more time in the science lab at Camelorum than in their cells (or anywhere else.) There seems to be no limit to what they can (or will) invent.

Yet, they still find time to learn and teach martial arts and other sports, and bestow their knowledge on inmates or staff as needed. They also steal some of Xiboruty's weapons after he enacts his evil plan on Dromedary Heights, and use his own weaponry against him successfully.

6. Maddening Rod. Carly Rancine, the reality warper known as "The Glitch" and "Maddening Rod," makes sure there's never a dull moment at Camelorum. Initially outraged at having been sent there without a lawyer, a trial, or even a formal charge, she eventually warms up to the place when she's treated well. On the other hand, not treating her well gets your right leg turned into an octopus with cockroach eyes, so...

7. Lightning Hobo. One of few Camelry members to have never been incarcerated at Camelorum (or anywhere else,) the homeless Johnny Geriwall can shoot lightning from his hands. Has a keen sense of humor, but is otherwise a PG-rated take on Hobo with a Shotgun.

8. Laney the Laughable. Based on the Barefoot character of Jackie Cuffington, Jackie Regg was wrongly accused of stealing WiFi, and sent to a horrible place without a trial. She eventually found a way of getting transferred to Camelorum. First chance she got, however, she escaped and joined a circus. Where she was reincarnated a as one of the funniest and most athletic clowns in the entire establishment. She uses her Laney persona originally to avoid being recaptured; but soon forgets everything she used to be and is totally lost to her new identity.

She gets recruited to the Camelry by Lightning Hobo to defeat Xiboruty, and later returns to fight Utkitroll. She helps Emily become Semaphore, and gives Emily her blessing to be her replacement in the Camelry's roster.

9. Janet Joblin / Glob: This sassy black lady, when angry, can grow in density until she is able to fall through just about anything and become super-heavy. She views herself as being like the Blob in Marvel, except "Blob was already taken." She's in Camelorum for falling through five stories of a building.

10. Gummibabe. Bonny Boggidy drank her own formula, and can now bounce around like a human bouncing ball. Joins the Camelry, eventually. Has a love-hate relationship with Rita "Twisted Noodle" Rigatoni, whom she talks to through the heating vents attached to their cells. (They tell a lot of Dr. Seuss jokes.) She's in for falling on a million-dollar poodle by accident, killing the poor pup instantly.

11. June O'Reilly. A reporter sent to do a story about the weird events surrounding Camelorum. Became the story, after she was found to be friends with some giant talking iguanas in their 20s that knew judo and loved eating calzones.

12. Anita Hallot and Gwen Indot. Cotton Candy Killershot and Ferretslayer: not your typical outlaws. These women have such strange luck, it's downright criminal. No really!

To be fair, Rita planted the gun that made Anita look bad. And replaced the ferret food with nitro-C4 pellets when Gwen wasn't looking. But Anita still shot and hit the stunt plane that was flying too low, which crashed into a cotton candy factory. She just wanted to start a race at an airshow! And Gwen was just pet-sitting. But too bad. Anita destroyed a plane and a factory. Gwen blew up a ferret - and the garage.

(To be continued...)

Date Posted: 27th Jan 2015 at 4:44 AM

DSHW 1.0-M is dead. Its successor 2.6-M is all but dead as well. However, the standards developed in DSHW 2.6-M are being put to use now to create the next generation. Blu-ray Storybook Hybrid Webcomic Format, or "BluSH" as it's currently being dubbed, will provide enhanced element placement and navigation techniques to the DSHW-esque experience once perfected. In addition, BluSH will provide HD-quality images that will render in up to 1080p, and will render nicely in 720p.

This is coming a very long way from the early days a mere ten years ago, when Ciem 2005 rendered in 400 x 300 resolution at its highest point. Ciem, the improved version released in 2007, bumped the resolution to 500 x 282. Before its cancellation, Ciem 2 in 2009 was going to bring an 800 x 483 picture format. This made it a 5:3 aspect ratio that brought images very close to widescreen standard definition. That was DSHW 2.0. Improvements since produced 2.6, which would have produced images that could scale up to 720p smoothly and could scale indefinitely afterward at reduced quality.

However, BluSH carries with it many benefits. One of these is that it is designed to be Blu-ray native. Data Blu-ray discs can store considerably more data than an average DVD, allowing for high-grade video to accompany the special features sections that would have been very difficult to implement in the old days.

In spite the name "DSHW" for "DVD-Storybook Hybrid Webcomic," the average DSHW from ten years ago could easily fit on a CD. The "DVD" part of its name was modeled after the menu navigation system, since video CDs were never truly a big thing. Ciem was actually distributed on WebCD, as the entire website when finished was under 300MB.

That brings us to BluSH. Blu-ray is anticipated as a possibility for high-end BluSH comics, as tie-in videos for high-end BluSH projects could significantly increase the amount of storage space required. The more features that are implemented, the more likely this end result could be.

To put this in perspective: the average JPEG file for Ciem was about 300KB in size. By contrast, a single Q-Basic Gorillas screenshot is about 1.5-2 MB in size. Even if scaled down in quality for web forum distribution on Mod The Sims, this means scaling down images that are six times the bandwidth of a 2007 Ciem image.

Ciem in its entirety was only about 232 MB; but a single chapter of Q-Basic Gorillas will run for about 60MB at full resolution before web syndication editing. And at 13 chapters, this means that assuming even length to all chapters, nearly 800 MB would be needed just to house the story pages alone. Any videos, audio clips, etc, would magnify the storage space needed. As a result, depending on how much video is added, it could take a dual-layer DVD to hold everything - making Blu-ray a more realistic option than ever before.

This is an example (page navigation not implemented yet) of a single page of Q-Basic Gorillas: The Webcomic in BluSH format, with the browser maximized via F11 button:



Obviously, the MTS syndicated version will be smaller than 1080p and the text less stylized. But this is the general direction things will be going in.

At the time, I do not possess the means to make motion comics in the format DeviantArt uses.