Sims 3 Sim Upload Guidelines

• Likeness: Sims based on a person or character must be recognizable as who they are meant to be.

• Uniqueness: Any "other" sim, not based on an existing person or character, must have a unique, interesting face sculpt with all the features sculpted, not resembling the default faces.

We've also made our own small example page of default sim faces in the game so you can clearly see what we check the sim's face is the closest to, and therefore considered not unique: Sims 3 default faces

• Other content: If you have made content for your sim, you must also provide additional pictures and/or information for your custom content (like polygon counts if you've made a mesh). Make sure you see what we require for CAS Uploads. Tip: Consider uploading content you have made separately first, to the appropriate section (clothing, hair, etc.) so people looking for that type of content can more easily find it, and so you can show it off better with its own separate pics and info. Then you can just link it as credit to yourself when uploading your sim.

Why? The .sim file is much smaller in filesize, should work for everyone (even if they don't have certain expansions the sim might have been saved with), and can just be tossed into SavedSims when people download, it rather than having to install it with the Launcher.

• Save your sim with default skin! If your sim is wearing a custom, non-default skin (which shows up as a new skin to choose from, not a default replacement), please make sure to choose a default/default replacement skin instead before saving your sim! Don't remove any other custom content when saving, though, please - just the skin.

For instructions on compressing your files into an archive, please see: Creator Guidelines: Creating Archive Files.

• Do not include multiple archives with the same contents - that is, please don't put your files in both a .zip as well as a .rar because some people only want .zip files. Choose one format.

• Do not double-compress your files... a .rar file inside another .rar file (or any other archive inside another) doesn't compress it anymore, and it makes it so we can't see the contents without downloading, and also just makes an extra step for the people downloading.

• The file size limit on MTS is 50 mb. If you exceed this limit you will need to split your archives. This should probably never come up except for large worlds for The Sims 3, or huge sets of smaller items.

Crediting and Linking: If your sim is shown with ANY custom content, then you will need to provide links and credit for ALL pieces of custom content shown on your sim! This is not optional! Downloaders will need to follow the links you give as a "shopping list" to get your sim to look as it should in-game. Unless the content is no longer available from the original creator, do not include any of the custom content itself in your rar/zip file - only a "shopping list."

You must provide links and credit for all custom (default or non-default) hair, skintones, eyes, clothing, accessories, patterns, custom sliders, makeup, eyebrows, or beards. A link and credit means writing something like: "Everyday hair by Anubis360: http://www.modthesims.info/d/402962" - it states the item (hair, lipstick, whatever), the creator's name, and gives a direct link to where it can be found. If the site uses Flash or frames and you cannot link directly, please provide the best link you can, plus directions on how to get to the item ("click on hair, then page 3, and it's the fourth one down").

You may use content from the EA Store on your sim, but again, you need to link and credit it as such, so people can get it.

Please also make sure that you are clear on what is included with your sim and what is not. In the interests of clarity and consistency, please use the following terms so it is clear to both the moderator reviewing your upload, and the downloaders reading your info.

• "Included" means: Custom content included in the zip/rar file. Please do not do this unless the content is no longer available from its creator, or unless you have made the content yourself.
• "Packaged/Saved" means: Custom content saved with the sim upon sim bin save/export. Except for non-default skin (see above under "Saving your sim"), your sim should be packaged/saved with everything they're shown wearing, so downloaders can simply go get those items and your sim will show up wearing them.
• "Optional" means: Custom content used in additional screenshots of the sim, but not packaged with the sim or included in the zip/rar file.

• A close-up picture of the sim's face, from the front, with the sim wearing a neutral face expression, not smiling, laughing, wearing a mask or sunglasses, etc.... Like a passport photo.
• For sims based on a person or character, a comparison picture of the real person, ideally similar to the close-up picture of your sim.

Keep the following in mind for your screenshots, especially the required ones:

• Size: 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall is a good size for the smallest pic you would want to upload. Your images can be up to 2560x1440 pixels, and 800 kb, so you have lots of space to work with!
• Lighting: For most things, it's best to take pictures in an interior room with good lighting. For lots, pictures should be taken during a nice sunny day, for floorplans, take the pictures with the lights ON.
• Clarity: Neither blurry, nor pixellated/crunchy. Do not size up small pictures to make a large one as this will blur them, and make sure not to use too much compression/too low quality when saving your images.
• Distance: Take your pictures so that your creation fills the screen without anything cut off at top or bottom - neither zoomed in too close, nor zoomed out too far.
• Distortion: If you resize your images, retain the aspect ratio so they don't get stretched or squashed. Take care when zooming in and out with the camera that you do not create a fisheye effect on your pictures.
• Photoshopping: Do not apply filters like sharpen, contrast, etc. to the required pictures, as downloaders want to see what your creation will look like in their game, not your skills at using Photoshop.
• Attached: All required images must be attached directly to the MTS upload, not just inserted using the img tag, so that even if the pics get deleted from your Photobucket (or other host), the upload on MTS is still complete.
• Show all items: For most areas, if you are uploading a set, you must take all the required pics for each item in the set. If there is an exception, it will be noted.
• Picture limit: You may upload up to 100 pictures for a single upload thread, so feel free to add some additional pictures just to show off your work to its best. Of course, keep it reasonable - nobody needs 50 pics to show off one sim or hair.
• Inline pictures: Inline pictures are those that use the [img] tag to show up in with the description text. So that it doesn't take too long to load, please keep this to no more than 4 pictures done inline, unless you put them inside an [infobutton] tag. To do this, see our guide on post formatting.

Please remember, for your required pictures:

• As saved: Your pictures should show your sim as you have saved them, so that what downloaders see is what they'll actually get. The exception to this is custom skin, which you can show in your screenshots but you must save the sim without it.
• In-game: Pictures of TS3 sims must be taken on a lot in a well-lit room, not in CAS, as it distorts the sim's features.

Tip: You may, of course, include other pictures like a full-body picture, posing pictures, whatever, to show off your sim how you like, and if your sim is a toddler, child, or teen, you may want to include a picture of how they'll look when they grow up, just so downloaders aren't surprised when if your cute kid turns into a weird-looking adult.