#tipsandtricks

Some points I’m tired to answer to in flows of DMs:

Many asks or DMs we get as creators are about how to create CC or mods. And it’s really really cool players are so interested in creating their own content and have many great ideas. Sure we can provide some help to some point, or share few tips and tricks or resources, but it’s ABSOLUTELY IMPOSSIBLE to teach someone how meshes, textures, tunings etc etc work from A to Z in DMs! Which leads to the 1st point:

Stop being lazy, and READ!

If there are absolutely fantastic tools to help you creating your own TS4 content and making the process easier/faster, there’s no way that without reading tutorials and just by dropping an ask or a DM you’ll be suddenly flowed with all the knowledge about how the game works. Explaining step by step the whole creation process, texture formats, meshing etc etc is insanely time-consuming (btw be super grateful to all the simmers who took the time to share tutorials!) and it’s impossible to be exhaustive via messages. So imagine when you have to repeat all this to 5,10 or 20 different persons…

Knowledge is NOT a magic thing which happens by snapping your fingers, you have to work, search, READ, and LEARN. The creator you’re contacting can help you finding the good resources, give you some tips when facing a specific problem, but there’s absolutely no way they can do all the learning and reading for you and in your place.

Sims4Studiois a good place to start learning, there’s plenty very good tutorials there, and most of the issues/questions you’ll face have already been answered there. There’s also Discord servers for creators like Creator Musings.

Know how to use your tools/softwares!

Another point is many people wanna create CC without any knowledge of texture editing or 3D softwares (or modding without any knowledge of Python scripting). Same as 1st point, there’s no way to make you a Blender or Photoshop/Gimp pro via some DMs. You betta work, honey!

Yes it takes time, you won’t be a pro in 2 days, but you’ll feel so happy each time you’ll improve your skills. Have fun in the process of learning, try things, experiment. Making mistakes is how you’ll learn to master your tools and softwares. Same as 1. , there’s plenty tutorials on the Internet depending on the softwares you wanna use.

CC creation or modding isn’t rocket science, but it doesn’t mean it requires no skills at all!

Start with small and realistic projects

The “I wanna create a super complex mod but I know nothing about modding” or “I wanna make a complete hair, outfits etc collection from scratch with no knowledge of Blender or Photoshop”, no, not realistic at all.

Start small, and take the time to do it well! For CC just try a nice recolor for example. Then, once you understood how textures and texture editing work, you can try a retexture (and create normal and specular maps). And create more and more complex things as you’re improving your skills.

(We all started somewhere, my first CC and mods were absolute trash, so don’t feel bad if you don’t succeed at the beginning, that’s ok).

If you start with too ambitious projects you may get easily frustrated to not be able to achieve them like it was in your mind. So stay realistic and take all the time you need to improve your skills. Keep your more complex ideas/projects somewhere in a folder, and go back to them once you’re ready :)

And the most important thing: HAVE FUN!!!

That’s just human nature, learning is much more easier if you’re enjoying what you’re doing. Don’t do a creation because it’s “trending” or because the community asks for it if it’s not your cup of tea. Use your own ideas, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. This is a super creative community, open to very diverse styles and ideas.

Find what makes you happy. Do things you wanna play the game with. Put your heart and personality in your creations :) It may sound cheesy, especially when it comes to a bunch of pixels or scripting, but it is what it is.

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Slowly making my way through SDCC prep and I wanted to share how I usually do non stretch skirt waistbands for under corsets. 1.5-2" elastic stretch stitched onto the fashion fabric. Together with a back zip, it gives you enough wiggle room to get the skirt on, then shrink down to be comfortable and smooth under the corset. #sewing #corset #corsetry #blackwidow #overbust #tutorial #tipsandtricks #cosplay #fashion #skirt #geekfashion (at Peachtree City, Georgia)