Date Posted: 22nd Sep 2008 at 3:03 PM

Yesterday was my birthday, so what did I ask hubby for? Sims2 stuff, of course. I only needed to acquire Ikea stuff to have a complete collection (sans the Holiday stuff, which I never considered a true stuff pack). Of course, I'm fairly sure that EA will release at least one more stuff pack before Sims3, so I'll have to get that too.

I have too many projects going. A couple of them are stalled, but I still have too many projects.

Date Posted: 20th Feb 2008 at 8:43 PM

To go with my new computer, I talked my hubby into getting a tablet. When enayla said "you can't do this <make skins and hair the way she does> without a tablet" she wasn't kidding. Well, I love the thing!

So, now I am trying something I've wanted to do for a long time. Maybe I'm nuts for taking on anything this big, but I'm having so much fun doing it. I've wanted more genetic diversity available, so I'm creating 7 facial templates (hopefully non-default archtypes) with special skins. If this ends up working like I'd like, there will also be accessories to go with the races, and non-default bodies. These are a ton of work, and I haven't even got one face template done yet, but I'm making progress. I can get my milkshape-edited face templates in the game now. I just have to finish creating all 8 files for each of the 7 races. I still need to find someone who can tell me how to cram all 8 into one package too. I've started on the skins too, for the first one. Not even close yet, but I'm heading in a good direction.

For anyone reading this who is interested, the seven races are: draconian (more or less), dwarf, gnome, goblin, unicorn (sorta. More like Anne McCaffrey's Acorna series), and two no one has ever heard of because I made them up, called Gyra Fein [pronounced 'guy-ra fane](that is catlike) and Cu Daione [pronounced coo 'thee na] (that is dog-like)

Of course, once I have custom bodies for each race, I'm going to have to make some clothes that fit them. We can't have naked sims! I'm really thrilled with all the valuable tuts floating around here though. Just look at all the cool stuff we can build!

Date Posted: 3rd Feb 2008 at 12:47 PM

After months (years) of anticipation, Friday we finally got our new computer! I went with a pre-built, and bought it off a store shelf, which I swore I'd never do again, but it was actually cheaper than building my own, and a whole lot less work. There's nothing like instant gratification.

It's an HP Pavilion Elite M9040N, if you're interested. The main thing to me is that is runs The Sims2 just fine. I set it to max settings last night when I finally got everything set up the way I want it, and it never even blinked. I haven't had time yet to try one of the loaded up lots. I've never been able to download lots because my old computer couldn't handle them. I strongly suspect that this one can. I put one sim on a Maxis starter lot, and I was quite happy with how everything looked and moved.

The monitor we got to go with our new toy is an LG 20" wide screen. Since the old computer used a nine year old 14" CRT, this is a big change. The resolution on this is higher than the Sims will go. On startup the screen flashed me a suggestion that I set the program settings at 1680 by something. Graphics on the program only go up to 1300-something. This is quite a thrill after three years of 600 x 800.

I lost all of my downloads on the old computer at the last crash. I have some of them stored on a CD, made when I backed up the game that way when I bought OFB, but I'm going to have to spend some time rebuilding my library. The first thing, downloaded last night, were most of Enayla's pretty skins, and my Creator Challenge rewards. I giggling with anticipation. Too bad I have to work tonight.

Date Posted: 25th Dec 2007 at 5:40 PM

Yesterday I had no Stuff packs. I kinda wanted them, but funds just weren't quite there. So, when my kids asked what I wanted for Christmas this year, the stuff packs were part of the list. Guess what? I now own five! The only downside is that my computer is dying fast, led by my video card. Unfortunately, I can't install my new goodies. Santa didn't bring me a new computer to go with my Stuff packs.

So, in one of those little ha-has of life, I now have all the current EPs and Stuff packs, and can't use them. However, I'm *really* looking forward to income tax time... Can I just say "Refund" ? That should explain everything.

Date Posted: 26th Nov 2007 at 5:57 PM

If you check my profile, you can see that I've been around for awhile, though not very active. I don't like to offer creations that are less than wonderful, so I don't upload much stuff. I'm absolutely _not_ a programmer, so I have to depend on the more techno-minded folks here to show me how to do stuff.

Still it's great fun, and I've learned a whole lot of neat things. Unfortunately, the learning process can have certain limitations. Take Saturday, for example...

Honest, I wasn't trying to do that much. My game files had gotten corrupted. ('nother story....) and I was reinstalling the game. Sudden freeze. Nothing worked. I rebooted, and instead of coming right back up, which of course is what I expected, the silly thing just gave me a long *beep* and the screen stayed black. Panic! The fairy tale contest was coming to a close,and I wasn't ready yet!

Long tale short-- my motherboard is dying. My video card is nearly dead. I need a new computer. This is certainly poor timing. Worse than that, I 'm going into Sims withdrawal. I hardly dare run the game. I'm afraid the thing will die altogether, and I have some important files I need to save first. Tell me again why I like computers?

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