Official MTS Sim Contest (TS2): Cultural Diversity

Over the last three months MTS has been asking our many talented creators and coders to show us something from different cultures around the world that interest and inspire them. Well now the photographers, story tellers and contest fans among you will get your turn! This isn’t a beauty contest or a fashion contest: we want you to make a sim to represent a country of your choice then use that sim to teach us a little something about that country and the people that inhabit it.


General Rules

1. You may only enter a category one time but may enter 2 separate categories as long as two separate sims are used.
2. Only 20 entrants per category. Please no place holders. Each spot is only filled once the 3 pictures and required text has been submitted.
3. Free CC is allowed. As is store content, Dr Pepper items etc.
4. No Pay CC. If anyone is notified that they have used pay content, their entries will be disqualified. The spots they had will NOT be held.
5. When posting your entry, please make sure to include the category it belongs to.
6. Your own original work only, please. Entries found to belong to someone else or that have been posted previously will be disqualified. You may use a sim that you have previously uploaded to MTS but not one that has previously been entered into a contest.
7. Once your post has been added to the table, it may not be changed. You may not submit a place-holder, your submission is final. You may not delete it and enter a new category 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.
8. Teen – Elder sims only.
9. No supernatural species, human sims only.
10. Any entries that violate site rules or do not belong to the poster will be deleted and will result in the poster being disqualified.


Picture Rules

1. Pictures must be between 800px (width) x 600px (height) and 1200px (width) x 1064px (height) with a maximum file size of 250kb.
2. No more than three pictures per entry. These must consist of a headshot, full body shot and a creative shot as detailed below.
3. The following photo editing is permitted (but not mandatory) and if used, should not cover or otherwise obstruct the view of the sim:

• Adding a border
• Adding text
• Adding a flag

5. No photo editing other than that specified above.


Duration/Time Period

The contest begins April 2nd, as soon as this is posted. Contestants will have until April 30th to post pictures. However, if a category fills up before that date, that category will be closed to new entries so that it can be judged. We will try to have the contest judged by mid May but depending on the number of entries and availability of judges we might have to be flexible with the judging timeline.

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Categories

Each category is one of six inhabited continents so if the country you chose to represent is in Asia, then that’s the category you enter. If the country you chose has land that spans two continental boundaries then it’s up to you to decide which side you’re representing.

• Asia
• North America
• South America
• Africa
• Europe
• Oceania

Entry Requirements

We want you to make a sim to represent a country you have chosen from one of the categories then use your sim to teach us something about that country. Remember this is about cultural diversity so if you chose to focus on Scotland for example, don’t feel you have to make a red head in a tartan kilt clutching a bottle of whiskey Do try to represent your chosen country appropriately though e.g. you probably wouldn’t find many (or any) women in miniskirts, fish-nets and boob tubes in Afghanistan!

Please provide the following pics:

• 1 x head shot (from shoulders or above) on a light, neutral background.
• 1 x Full body shot on a neutral background.
• 1 x Point of Interest shot. This should illustrate what you have written in the "point of interest" section below. It should be something (anything) that you think is an interesting fact about your chosen country, its people and/or its culture. You have one whole picture to illustrate your point of interest but it could be something the sim is wearing, doing, watching, eating etc. As long as the sim is in the picture and your CC is free, the rest is up to you

Please also include this information with your entry:

• Sim’s name:
• Country and continent the sim represents:
• A short paragraph or two to explain the point of interest you chose to illustrate for your country of choice: (This text should be an explanation of the “Point of Interest” shot mentioned above). This should be something that’s relative today so if it’s an historical fact then you should explain why it still holds importance to your country of choice in today’s world.

Feel free to tell us a little more about your sim and/or your country of choice if you wish but it’s not mandatory.



Judging

Judging will be done by a panel of MTS Staff. Judging will be vote based rather than score based but the following criteria will be taken into account:

The sim: Originality of the sim and how well their appearance (including outfit) represent your country of choice. (Google, wiki etc may be used to roughly gauge the accuracy here – we’re not all experts on every country around the world )
Point of Interest: Is the point of interest text and image actually interesting and informative? Did we learn something or have the opportunity to appreciate a particular aspect of a culture?
Technical Stuff: Were the rules followed? Were the images clear, well lit etc?


Prizes

• As always, each contest winner receives a blue ribbon to go under their username.
• The light bulb trophy showcased in the news post.
• Additionally, winners will receive a purple winner's achievement sticker for their profile. And all entrants will receive a red participation sticker as well.

Chat Thread
If you don’t get a spot in your category, or want to post for more than the allowed amount of pictures or categories, or just want to chat about the entries, please post in our chat threads.

Contestants

FAQs

Q. I’m not sure what countries are in each continent.
A. The categories section at the top of the page has links to wiki pages that list all of the sovereign states and territories within each continent. If it has a flag on one of those pages you can use it

Q. How many times can I enter?
A. Twice but you must enter a different sim and a different continent each time. You can also only win once.

Q. How do I actually enter the contest?
A. Make a sim to represent a country from one of the listed continents. Take the 3 required pics and provide the required written information. It can be a sim you've had lying around for a while but should not be one that you've previously entered into a contest and must be a sim you created yourself. You cannot reserve a spot and all submissions are final. Please do not post, “I’ll enter! Oh my gosh I have the perfect sim!!1!” type posts in this thread.

Q. How do I upload pictures?
1. First make sure your pictures are between 800px (width) x 600px (height) and 1200px (width) x 1064px (height) with a maximum filesize of 250kb. If the original screenshot is too small, be wary of making it larger due to crunchy/blurry pictures.
2. Upload the picture to any image host - Tinypic, Photobucket, Flickr, or ModYourPanties
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 [ img ] tags. Make sure to include which category your entry is for.
4. Submit your post - doing so will submit your entry. Do not edit or change your entry once it has been submitted.

Q. But there are 5/6 continents, not 7 altogether.
A. Some regions of the world prefer to group more continents together than others. We’re using this model simply because it gives a good variety of categories for you to choose from

Q. Can I choose a minority or sub-culture within a country as my representative sim?
A. Yes. Where there is an established sub-culture or minority community I have no objection to you representing their country from their own culture’s view point. Please make it clear if that’s your intention for the judge’s sake. On the other hand, some countries (e.g. N Korea) are more ethnically and culturally homogeneous so don’t just pluck a minority culture out of thin air; your sim should represent a sub culture that actually exists in your chosen country.

Can the point of interest be a new mesh we create ourselves (Like a new outfit or accessory), or does it have to be in the sim's physical appearance or make-up?

The point of interest should be something (anything) that you think is an interesting fact about your chosen country, its people and/or its culture. You have one whole picture to illustrate your point of interest but it could be something the sim is wearing, doing, watching, eating etc. As long as the sim is in the picture and your CC is free, the rest is really up to you If you're stuck for ideas there are a couple of suggestions in the "Entry Requirements" section. I've also updated that section just to clarify the point you raised

Thanks! That really clears it up!

Where i need to post my photos?? (

Here remember there's a written part of the entry too.

This is Bo Cooper.





I really could have plunked him down in almost any country, but I decided he is American. American Romani. He lives in Portland, OR. If you don't know what Romani are, they are one of the peoples commonly referred to as gypsies. Many people are unaware that there are around 1,000,000 million Romani in the US. Most Romani are no longer migratory, especially in the US. Most have settled into small communities.

Though still often discriminated, sometimes even to the point of state laws, Romani are treated better in North America than in other places. In France, they are still rounded up and deported. Even so, most Romani, are reluctant to tell most Gadjo (non-Romani) that they are Romani. Most will say they belong to some other ethnic group; Greek or Lebanese for example.

Family is very important to the Romani people. The first married so, usually the eldest, and his family live with his parents, and his fathers parents, if they are living. Other male children move out and start their own household when they marry. There is no traditional dating within Romani culture. The fathers of eligible daughters from other bands, present them to the potential grooms father to be chosen. Often there is a "price" negotiated between the fathers. Romani usually marry as teenagers.

Here is Bo, with his wife, Mirela; his father, Ian, and his mother, Nadya, and his teenage sister, Drina; enjoying a nice conversation after a nice dinner outside. His little brother, Stefan, is playing with his little girl, Mala.




I hope you like him, I know I do. Also hope I wasn't too wordy

Name: Anna Takataka
Age: 38
Category: Oceania
Country: Tuvalu

Adapted from the wiki:
Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It is the third least-populated sovereign state in the world with just 10,544 people. And, it is the fourth smallest country in the world - only 10 square physical (land) miles, not including the surrounding waters.

Tuvalu consists of three reef islands and six true atolls. Its small, scattered group of atolls have very poor soil, and the islets that form the atolls are very low lying. Because of this low elevation, the nation is threatened by rising sea levels. In the future, sea level rise may threaten to submerge Tuvalu entirely.

Meet Anna:


Anna lives within the Funafuti Conservation Area - a marine conservation area on the western side of Tuvalu. This conservation area encompasses reef, lagoon and islets, and is home to many species of fish, corals, algae and invertebrates, including Coconut crabs and migratory shorebirds, like the globally threatened species, Bristle-thighed Curlew. This area is also prime nesting ground for the Black Noddy (seabird), and green sea turtles.



Anna and her husband, Etienne, own and operate a thriving eco-tour service - offering scuba, snorkeling and boat tours. Over the years they have built a reputation for not only showing tourists the animals and locations they most want to see - but also conveying a message of conservation and caring for our Earth and it's creatures.

The next picture is of Anna going meet her husband, who is returning with a boatload of snorkeling tourists at the end of the day.



The important 'take away' to learn from Anna is that rising sea level is a real threat. It's not just about your neighbor's private dock getting submerged, or even an occasional storm flood causing devastation somewhere... If the rising sea waters continue at current projections, Tuvalu and many other island nations like them will be uninhabitable within our lifetimes (in less than 100 years.) What will happen to these 10,000+ people and their native culture? Yes, it's late, but not too late - we can make a difference. We can take care of our Earth. Happy Earth Day, 2013!

Anna says, "Gosh, I hope that isn't too preachy? I don't want to turn people away..."

Added entry.

This is Amali Wangai
she is 14 years old and is from Kenya in the continent Africa.


Here she is in her cultural outfit.


The people of Kenya and other African countries have dirty living spaces, minimum food and clean water
They often die young because of disease and hunger
And no proper health care services
They also don't have proper education so they can't good jobs
So we don't know what future she has.

Name: Wen Bao Si
Continent: Asia
Country: China





-More to come later-

Just a reminder folks, the contest ends in a few hours and entries submitted after the deadline will not be accepted.

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All finished

Oh, man, I missed it Shouldn't have started so late, but I got busy RL...

Guess I'll just repost the entry in the chat thread, or use it in another contest?

When will the judging be done?