Dorm help please? - Page 2

Greg · 08-14-2008, 11:07 AM

Here's an example:

The guy looks flat, incomplete. And now that I look at it, I suspect that that is exactly the case. The mesh looks pretty good in this shot, but it looks like the texture was just a quick draft to use in testing the game.

Greg · 08-14-2008, 11:10 AM

Another example:

In this case, the guy's face looks like it's painted on a balloon with a nose stuck on. It might just be sloppy work in Body Shop.

Greg · 08-14-2008, 11:15 AM

Rose, by cartoonish, I meant they look flat and lifeless, not that they have exaggerated features.

It sounds like the article you read was about cartoon animation where there colors are done with big blocks of ink. It would be possible to do an animation where each frame is an extremely detailed painting that can stand up to photorealistic art, but the cost would be staggering.

Miros1 · 08-14-2008, 03:35 PM

Yes, it looks like they've got some alpha versions of the textures and facial structures in there. The skintones look good, and so does the girl's shirt and both guys' pants. But the first guy's shirt looks like it was done by a beginner and the second guy's face looks even worse than the Maxis facial templates for Sims2! (I didn't think I'd ever say that...)

The furniture does look nice, except the camo chess board. Again, prolly done by a beginner who doesn't get the concept of applying colors as an accent!

Greg · 08-14-2008, 05:05 PM

Y'know... the web site that I pilfered the first image from said it was Sims 3, but it looks very Sims 2 to me. Looking at the whole image, I still don't see anything that doesn't look like Sims 2 except the staircase; and that might be from a later expansion pack or a fan object.

Zirconia Wolf · 08-15-2008, 02:28 AM

Those images are from Sims 3.

The first shot- the one with the guy in the camouflage shirt sitting in the camouflage chair- was one of the shots used to show off the "color matching" feature, which is one of the things I actually liked about Sims 3. (Though I admit that the "camouflage" looks pretty bad!) This feature lets the player apply a color/texture to pretty much anything in the game, which I was excited about (I hate the way 99.9% of the pre-made furniture in the game is "incomplete; ie there's a chair & a love seat but no sofa, or a sofa & a chair but no love seat, etc) but a whole slew of Sims 2 modders are up in arms about, claiming it will let "anyone" be able to design stuff for the game. Um, yeah...that's kinda the point! (It's hard for me to side with the modders, as I have had to track down one too many items on the Sims 2 Graveyard after some "modder" threw a hissy fit over some dumb thing & quit updating their stuff. That's just me...)

The second pic- the two people cooking- was supposed to illustrate something about Sim 3 skill building. I forget the details, though I recall that the designers were tauting a feature wherein a Sim that just got a job on a Culinary/Chef type track autonomously started reading cook books & doing other things to improve the skills he would need for a future promotion...which is admittedly kinda cool!

The Official Sims 3 site has just recently been "overhauled" & isn't working (for me) as nice as it used to, but if you haven't checked it out it's worth a gander:

http://thesims3.ea.com/view/pages/home.jsp

The jury is still very much out for me as far as if Sims 3 will ever touch my PC, but I still enjoy tracking it's progress!

-ZW

Greg · 08-15-2008, 04:26 AM

Yeah. What could be wrong with letting everybody make stuff for the game?

Now the challenge for fan artists will be tasteful interior decorating, seleting coordinated patterns, showing off your skill in subtle shading and textures, and (I hope) making the Maxis textures better!

I like the idea that we might be able to just upload a nice image and let people go wild with it! Why have to upload 20 megabytes of furniture when you can show a screen shot and a 100K texture?

If I recall correctly, the text that goes with the cooking illustration is that people can cook together! That's a cool feature!

Greg · 08-15-2008, 04:35 AM

They do seem to be having trouble with their streaming video, but I think I blundered across how to get it to load so you can watch it all the way through.

Hover your mouse over the bottom of the image to get the controls to show.

Once you have the control showing, you can pause the video and let the whole thing load before playing it.

Zirconia Wolf · 08-15-2008, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg

Yeah. What could be wrong with letting everybody make stuff for the game?

That's what I was thinking when I read all the posts by angry modders ranting about that feature, to the point that many of the more well known ones are claiming they will stop designing when Sims 3 hits the shelves.

Whatever.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg

Now the challenge for fan artists will be tasteful interior decorating, selecting coordinated patterns, showing off your skill in subtle shading and textures, and (I hope) making the Maxis textures better!

Ironically, that's the excuse the angry modders are using as to why they're so mad; they are arguing that by letting "everyone" easily design stuff the Custom Content Community will be "flooded with inferior & poorly designed" items. Apparently, they haven't taken a close look at everything they & their "Master Modding" buddies have turned out already! Not all of it is shimmering gold, folks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg

I like the idea that we might be able to just upload a nice image and let people go wild with it! Why have to upload 20 megabytes of furniture when you can show a screen shot and a 100K texture?

That would be awesome! Plus, it eliminates the whole "incomplete set" thing which is STILL a problem, even with many of the "Master Modder" sets!

(I'll have to try you're video tip & see if it helps!)

-ZW

Greg · 08-16-2008, 01:02 AM

Yeah, I'm afraid I can't sympathize with the notion that only those who have arcane knowledge should be able to make neat stuff; and I really don't believe the ratio of great stuff to mediocre stuff will be any different.

That applies equally to all fields of human endeavor, where it be fan artists playing with The Sims or any other creative effort. (Should we ban word processors because they make it easier to write than using quill pens on parchment? Should we ban vBulletin because it's so much easier than having to program your own discussion board? Should we ban concrete because it's so much eaier to build with than stone?) The creativity lies in the artist's imagination and eye for beauty, not in the tools that the artist uses.

That's what matters to me. If someone can conceive of something that I will enjoy having in my game, it will be nice if it's easy to bring about the reality.

08-14-2008, 11:07 AM	#21
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Here's an example: The guy looks flat, incomplete. And now that I look at it, I suspect that that is exactly the case. The mesh looks pretty good in this shot, but it looks like the texture was just a quick draft to use in testing the game. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

08-14-2008, 11:10 AM	#22
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Another example: In this case, the guy's face looks like it's painted on a balloon with a nose stuck on. It might just be sloppy work in Body Shop. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

08-14-2008, 11:15 AM	#23
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Rose, by cartoonish, I meant they look flat and lifeless, not that they have exaggerated features. It sounds like the article you read was about cartoon animation where there colors are done with big blocks of ink. It would be possible to do an animation where each frame is an extremely detailed painting that can stand up to photorealistic art, but the cost would be staggering. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

08-14-2008, 03:35 PM	#24
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Yes, it looks like they've got some alpha versions of the textures and facial structures in there. The skintones look good, and so does the girl's shirt and both guys' pants. But the first guy's shirt looks like it was done by a beginner and the second guy's face looks even worse than the Maxis facial templates for Sims2! (I didn't think I'd ever say that...) The furniture does look nice, except the camo chess board. Again, prolly done by a beginner who doesn't get the concept of applying colors as an accent! __________________ A game that horrible Odessa-person introduced me to: http://www.puzzlepirates.com/?affili...163251&lang=en I'm spreading the addiction by corrupting all my friends (and attempting to make in-game money when they try the game).

08-14-2008, 05:05 PM	#25
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Y'know... the web site that I pilfered the first image from said it was Sims 3, but it looks very Sims 2 to me. Looking at the whole image, I still don't see anything that doesn't look like Sims 2 except the staircase; and that might be from a later expansion pack or a fan object. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

08-15-2008, 02:28 AM	#26
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Those images are from Sims 3. The first shot- the one with the guy in the camouflage shirt sitting in the camouflage chair- was one of the shots used to show off the "color matching" feature, which is one of the things I actually liked about Sims 3. (Though I admit that the "camouflage" looks pretty bad!) This feature lets the player apply a color/texture to pretty much anything in the game, which I was excited about (I hate the way 99.9% of the pre-made furniture in the game is "incomplete; ie there's a chair & a love seat but no sofa, or a sofa & a chair but no love seat, etc) but a whole slew of Sims 2 modders are up in arms about, claiming it will let "anyone" be able to design stuff for the game. Um, yeah...that's kinda the point! (It's hard for me to side with the modders, as I have had to track down one too many items on the Sims 2 Graveyard after some "modder" threw a hissy fit over some dumb thing & quit updating their stuff. That's just me...) The second pic- the two people cooking- was supposed to illustrate something about Sim 3 skill building. I forget the details, though I recall that the designers were tauting a feature wherein a Sim that just got a job on a Culinary/Chef type track autonomously started reading cook books & doing other things to improve the skills he would need for a future promotion...which is admittedly kinda cool! The Official Sims 3 site has just recently been "overhauled" & isn't working (for me) as nice as it used to, but if you haven't checked it out it's worth a gander: http://thesims3.ea.com/view/pages/home.jsp The jury is still very much out for me as far as if Sims 3 will ever touch my PC, but I still enjoy tracking it's progress! -ZW __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

08-15-2008, 04:26 AM	#27
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yeah. What could be wrong with letting everybody make stuff for the game? Now the challenge for fan artists will be tasteful interior decorating, seleting coordinated patterns, showing off your skill in subtle shading and textures, and (I hope) making the Maxis textures better! I like the idea that we might be able to just upload a nice image and let people go wild with it! Why have to upload 20 megabytes of furniture when you can show a screen shot and a 100K texture? If I recall correctly, the text that goes with the cooking illustration is that people can cook together! That's a cool feature! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

08-15-2008, 04:35 AM	#28
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	They do seem to be having trouble with their streaming video, but I think I blundered across how to get it to load so you can watch it all the way through. Hover your mouse over the bottom of the image to get the controls to show. Once you have the control showing, you can pause the video and let the whole thing load before playing it. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

08-16-2008, 01:02 AM	#30
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yeah, I'm afraid I can't sympathize with the notion that only those who have arcane knowledge should be able to make neat stuff; and I really don't believe the ratio of great stuff to mediocre stuff will be any different. That applies equally to all fields of human endeavor, where it be fan artists playing with The Sims or any other creative effort. (Should we ban word processors because they make it easier to write than using quill pens on parchment? Should we ban vBulletin because it's so much easier than having to program your own discussion board? Should we ban concrete because it's so much eaier to build with than stone?) The creativity lies in the artist's imagination and eye for beauty, not in the tools that the artist uses. That's what matters to me. If someone can conceive of something that I will enjoy having in my game, it will be nice if it's easy to bring about the reality. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?