Official MTS Sim Contest (TS3): 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.

-Timer-


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.

As there are many different sub-cultures with in the US, is ok to not represent the US as a whole, but, let's say Cajuns? Actually I guess this applies to most counties, like the German settlements in Brazil (which I think is a very interesting part of Brazilian history/culture). So my question is valid for more than just the US. Also, are real people allowed?

Seems very interesting contest!

May I check-in first? I only have time on weekends to do the entry.

@Jones7659 – Going with your example of America, you couldn’t really say there’s such a thing as a typical or normal American because there’s just so much diversity. So yes, it’s perfectly fine for you to choose America as your country of choice while focusing on a particular culture within that country. That goes for the point of interest too; you could illustrate something that’s specific to Cajun culture rather than American culture as a whole though it would be helpful for the judges if you mentioned in the point of interest text what sub-culture you’re portraying. Obviously this goes for all countries, not just America.

I don’t see any reason why you couldn’t use a sim based on a real person as long as it’s one you’ve made yourself and not previously entered in a contest.

BloodyScholastic – People have a tendency to sign up for contests then forget to actually finish their entry. So to be fair to everyone, we’re not accepting place-holders. Entries are accepted only when they fulfil everything listed in the “entry requirements” section in the first post.

Oops, I didn't notice 'no place-holder' rule at top page. Okay, fair enough I have a question. Do paragraphs with very long words to explain the "point of interest" allowed? As your rule says "A short paragraph or two to explain the point of interest". How long the limit words permitted? I have so much explanation story about traditional customs, cultures and historical facts on a Sim I represented. If I submit 3 pics of Sim with long story, is that allowed?

Question: Is there a problem with representing a non-national culture, such as the Khoisan, a Native American group, or one of the Chinese ethnic minorities?

I saw something on the homepage that made me think this was closed. It says the "Cultural Diversity Create Competition is officially closed". But I see from the dates this is open.. I dunno, this is confusing. Anyway I JUST Discovered the competitions on MTS. This seems like fun. Hopefully I can get something made before everything gets closed.

Are Competitions a regular event, meaning, like a monthly thing or some such?

EDIT: Sorry, this probably should have gone in that "chat" thread. My mistake. I will remember for future competitions.

Sims Name: Maricel Famorcan
Country and continent the sim represents: Philippines / Asia
Age: Teen

The baro't saya is a traditional Filipino blouse and skirt ensemble. It originated in Spanish times, when native Philippine women were required to cover their upper torso. Throughout Spanish colonization this was the everyday attire of most Philippine women.

@BloodyScholastic: We hadn’t intended on being too strict about a word count limit, that’s why we just said one or two short paragraphs but please try to bear in mind that the judges will have to read these entries. There is potential for 120 entries. I doubt we’ll reach 120 but if we do, I don’t imagine the judges will have the time to read through 120 6 page essays Try to keep it below 300 words which roughly equates to two short paragraphs in my opinion. Remember, you don’t have to explain everything about your chosen country, you just have to explain one thing!

@Jaina_sticks: I already answered a very similar question just two posts up from yours I’ll add a note about this to the FAQs.

@chaoticMoira: The Cultural Diversity Create Competition is closed. That was a competition for those who upload custom content to the site. As the news post says, this contest is a sim/photography contest with the same theme. It's just for pictures, not uploads. The first post explains the requirements as well as the duration and end date of this contest. This thread will help explain a little more about what we’re trying to do with competitions in general. Hopefully these will be a regular thing if the interest is there for them but qualified users can also host contests and do so from time to time. There are plenty of old contests in the contest forum if you’re interested in finding out what sorts of things are run here.

RomerJon, glad to see our first International sim but unfortunately one picture is an incomplete entry and as stated already, we’re not accepting place-holders. This won’t be added to the table (and shouldn’t be submitted) until it’s complete, as stated in the rules, but as it’s the first one I’ll give you 24 hours to make the necessary changes. If it’s not complete by then I’ll have to remove the post. The entry requirements and rules are listed in the main post.

This is my first time joining a contest, so tell me if I've done something wrong.

Sims Name: Carmen Rodríguez
Country - Mexico
Continent - North America
Age: Young Adult


Day of the dead, (or " Día de Muertos") is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday focuses on bringing families together to pray and remember family members or friends that have died. The celebration takes place on November 1 and 2, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day. Flowers, including Mexican marigolds, are often used in the celebration of the Day of the Dead. Women often wear black clothes & white face paint on Dia de muertos.

Headshot:



Bodyshot:




Creative shot:



I hope you like it.
It probably sucks but it was fun!

Here is Hatsune Miku.
If you know anything there is to know about Japanese pop culture or music, you know that Hatsune Miku is on the top when it comes to music. Her voice is made by the software Vocaloid, and there are other singers like her, including Menguire Luka, and Kagaime Rin and Len. She goes on tour, but she is not a real person. How? The put up a screen and project a 3D model of her.

Head Shot
http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums...pg?t=1365429335
Body Shot
http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums...pg?t=1365429324
Creative Shot (on tour @ Starlight Shores)

(Entry #2)
This is Marisa. She is a young adult representing Italy. Italy is know for it's fashion. Maris has moved from Monte Vista to Sunset Valley to work as a fashion designer with model Chrisse Chrille.
Head Shot
http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums...pg?t=1365448057
Body Shot
http://i1302.photobucket.com/albums...pg?t=1365448076
Creative Shot

This is the sim I made.

What's her name?
Kaede Takama

Where is she from?
She is from Japan, in Asia.

How old is she?
She's a young adult.

Japan is the land of geishas, kimonos and sushi. The thing that I wanted to talk about was the kimono. The name means, in fact, "a thing to wear". It can be anything from one-coloured, to themed ones with cranes or sunsets. It is often seen as a piece of art and they are very expensive.

Head/face photo:


Body photo:


Creative photo:

Can we use poses in the pics?

Yes. You can use any free custom content

Name: Éme Gaillard
Country: France
Continent: Europe
Age: YA



Meet Éme, a young man pretentious enough to piss off the average hipster.






What do you know about fashion? ... according to Éme, absolutely nothing. Your taste in music is pathetic. Your sense of style is non-existent. Your hair is ... well, you can't help your hair, you got a bad draw on ancestors. And there isn't enough makeup on the planet to help your face. Poor, unfortunate you!

Éme is obnoxious, caustic, self-centered and self-assured. Only one thing brings him to silence, even to tears: watching incredibly obscure movies from the avant-garde film movement.





"Avant-garde/experimental" films were born of a movement that stood in direct opposition to traditional filmmaking. Techniques often used included absence of standard narrative, lack of sound/soundtrack, and deliberate defacement of the movie's film. These methods are meant to put the viewer into a contemplative mood as they are obliged to watch the film without any pre-conceptions as to how it may progress or ultimately end. In the case of Éme, this sort of cinema serves a much more useful purpose: it shuts him the hell up.




Feel free to watch a movie with him--he won't say a word. Just make sure you leave before he begins explaining it to you.

AWESOME! Éme, you're the man of my dreams, will you marry me? *gigglesnort*

Name: Mina Montayo
Country: Brazil
Age: YA

In Brazil, they celebrate the famous carnival in which is an annual festival held during the Friday to the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. The Carnival is the most famous holiday in Brazil and has become an event of huge proportions. Except the industries, malls and the carnival related workers, the country stops completely for almost a week and festivities are intense, day and night, mainly in coastal cities. Rio de Janeiro's carnival alone drew 4.9 million people in 2011, with 400,000 being foreigners.

And this carnival is one of the most feathery and colorful you would ever see xD
Mina is one of the carnival's show girl and a dancer

BTW. I talked to a moderator to see if the custom was acceptable, and it was







Hope you guys like

Hi, this is my entry

Name: Bader Al-Gahtani
Continent: Asia
Country: Saudi Arabia
Age: Young Adult
Bio: Born as an 80's kid, Bader is your ordinary mid-20's Arab guy. He loves his God, family and friends so much. He's flirty and he digs chicks, and they dig him too. But bros come first according to him.
The name "Bader" means "Full Moon" which ancient Arabs believe it was one of the most beautiful things in nature. Which suits his handsomeness and his charm

Head Shot:

Full-Body Shot:


Bader's favorite place is the gym. He loves sports especially football (Soccer). Bader is known for his lovable personality which makes him very social. Bader found himself good looking and at the same time he wanted to make some money from modelling which he couldn't do in his conservative country. So he travelled abroad to become a model. Although he dreams of becoming a doctor someday.


Hope you like him

Great entries, everyone!

Now time for the goofy question of the day: If a pay hair has a retexture and the retexture is a free download, is that free retexture hair acceptable for CC?

Don't believe so, because the base object is still a pay item.

I had other thoughts, but I can easily see both sides of the fence here.
Oh the gray areas of the contest biz.