As you know, the default the Sims 2 neighborhood camera is very limited. There are many different mods that expands its capabilities. I searched for the most convenient mod for a long time, but all of them had unpleasant bugs - for example, they got stuck on maps like Downtown, and none of them allowed changing the vertical angle of the camera as in lot view. Finally, I found a camera from The Jessa Channel. It is a really convenient mod which allow to rotate the camera in any direction, has a large zoom and comfortable movement around the NH map without “bouncing” at the borders. Moreover, there were several minor flaws I have fixed. Thus, in my edition of the Jessa NH camera mod, the zoom works smoothly with the + and - keys, and also the “clipping issues” (also known as z-fighting) are solved
Features: (default - fixed)
Distance:
Rotation:
Clipping:
Zoom (scroll)
Zoom (keys)
According to the text, the camera is based on a CTNutmegger’s file. Many thanks to Jessa for editing and publishing this camera. Since the original file is no longer available for download, I asked Jessa for permission to publish the edited mod in my blog, and she kindly allowed me to do this!
Also, due to the fact this mod allows to change the angle of rotation of the camera both horizontally and vertically, I made a small default replacement of the horizontal neighborhood rotation cursor, replacing it with the lot rotation cursor. It accordingly displays the rotation in any direction. You can download it here
If you are using the amazing Clean UI, you have to know optional horizontal & vertical cursor for the neighborhood camera is included. The file is called neighborhood-camera-cursor-horizontal-and-vertical.package and is located in the choose-one-clean-ui-neighborhood-camera-cursor folder. Thank you @greatcheesecakepersona for your attention to the idea!
Just a quick little tutorial for neighborhood creators who would like to fully customize their neighborhoods! ^^
By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to do things like these!
For this tutorial, you’ll need:
*SimPE 0.75_69 *Alt Sim Surgery * Christianlov’s Gussy Up plugin (you can find it in this archive) OR InSimenator (which has the Temporal Adjustor which you can use to fix the sims’ appearances)
Click here to read the tutorial! I hope you found this tutorial helpful and let me know if it worked for you! Good luck!<3
P.S. This is precisely how I customized the NPCs in my neighborhoods projects as well, including Sedona, Quadington University and Aileen Landing. :)
A custom sci-fi alien neighborhood with scripted events! ^^
Aileen LaFontaine’s discovery of this moon has raised hope for people from all over the world. Sims from Pleasantview, Strangetown or Veronaville have left their homes for a better future on this moon!
But the environment seems rather intimidating than welcoming! Bizarre gravity. Swirly gas giant hovering over the ominous misty sky. Two pulsating suns?
Is the “New, Better” world really a better world?
You will find out as you play in the neighborhood! ;)
Neighborhood Information:
* Fully BG Compatible andNo CC/EPs Required to play in this neighborhood! However, you may want to check out the optional sky mod I made specifically for this neighborhood.
*No camera mod needed to view the whole neighborhood.
*58 lots (13 community / 45 residential) … with a few “ready-to-upgrade” lots for EPs, such as Nightlife, Open For Business, Apartment Life, etc.
*15 familieswith scripted events/scenarios like in the TS2 base game neighborhoods (see attached screenshots below!)
* Includes customized alien townies/NPCs to reflect the neighborhood’s overall theme! Most of the sims are named after actual celestial bodies… i.e. there is a sim named after the star Pollux!
* Speaking of which, there are lots of other astronomical references/easter eggs in the neighborhood (well I guess, that’s what happens if you let a physics student design a neighborhood, lol!)
- to install, put the folder AL01 into your Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2 (Ultimate Collection)/Neighborhoods folderand you’re good to go. If you can’t see the neighborhood, try deleting the NeighborhoodManager.package file.
Optional Downloads:
*Alien Skybox NEW! (Recolor of lowedeus’s skyboxes)- doesn’t affect other neighborhoods unlike the default replacement sky mod, plus a few more details in the sky! See screenshots here! To install, just place it into your Downloads as usual.
*Alternative Alien Sky Mod (DEFAULT REPLACEMENT)- default sky mod as seen in early screens of Aileen Landing, suitable for those with EPs lower than Pets and/or cannot use the skyboxes! To install, just place it into your Downloads as usual.
*Mannequin Babies Can Be Born- mod to fix crashing that may occur when sims with the mannequin skintone have babies. You’ll need it since there are a few sims with the mannequin skintone in this neighborhood. Thank you @crumplebot for reminding me of this mod. :)
Custom Scripted Events!
I really don’t want to spoil too much on this already and just let you guys explore the neighborhood first, lol! But I’ve included an optional mod that introduces you the sims and their storylines a litte.
Simply remove it from the neighorhood folder once you’ve finished your first round (I recommend playing each family for one day to complete the scripted events). If you don’t want to use this mod, you can also remove it from the neighborhood folder.
The recommended play order is exactly the way the families are presented in the neighborhood story. But you can play as you like, the scripted events are independent from each other and won’t break if you choose a different play order.
I guess, that’s it for now. Phew! Thanks for reading! ^^
Let me know what you think! Any feedback/comment/critism is greatly appreciated!
Have fun and let me know what you did in Aileen Landing! <3
Credits:
Big credit goes to Chris Hatch for the custom scripting mod and @simstate,@lazyduchess, cutupuss at MTS for further information and for the blueprint I’ve used for this mod. Thank you guys for making this possible! <3
And also to everyone who helped me during neighborhood development, thank you guys for all the nice compliments!
Updated! (01/21/22) - BETA V2
I’ve fixed various bugs and also edited the memories a little to reflect the storylines better. Additionally, I’ve also made a OFB version which includes updated EP lots! Here’s a more detailed changelog:
*The Lyras now actually own their cafe in the OFB version, so the scripted event should work as intended, lol! ^^
*Various community lots have been updated for EPs to include actual restaurant, bar or cafe items, so they really work as such.
*2 new townies have been added to the neighborhood! (A servo named Cyclotron and another alien townie who is a PT dressed as a social worker, lol!)
*Nearly half of the Romance sims have been changed into Pleasure sims instead! Since there were way too many Romance sims in Aileen Landing, lol! It surely isn’t called the Planet of Love for nothing…
*Memories and Wants & Fears have been edited in both versions (BG and OFB) to reflect the storylines of the families better. Now, they aren’t just boring “Grew Up Well” memories all the time. ;)
(Actually, I’d love to know if the custom wants and fears really stick or re-roll as you load the lot in your game..)
*Turn On/Offs and LTWs of the sims have been adjusted to go with their storylines. :)
Anyway, here are some screenshots to show some of the changes:
Thanks for those who have playtested the first version and helped me fix the bugs we’ve encountered! I greatly appreciate that! <3
A custom sci-fi alien neighborhood with scripted events! ^^
Aileen LaFontaine’s discovery of this moon has raised hope for people from all over the world. Sims from Pleasantview, Strangetown or Veronaville have left their homes for a better future on this moon!
But the environment seems rather intimidating than welcoming! Bizarre gravity. Swirly gas giant hovering over the ominous misty sky. Two pulsating suns?
Is the “New, Better” world really a better world?
You will find out as you play in the neighborhood! ;)
Neighborhood Information:
* Fully BG Compatible andNo CC/EPs Required to play in this neighborhood! However, you may want to check out the optional sky mod I made specifically for this neighborhood.
*No camera mod needed to view the whole neighborhood.
*58 lots (13 community / 45 residential) … with a few “ready-to-upgrade” lots for EPs, such as Nightlife, Open For Business, Apartment Life, etc.
*15 familieswith scripted events/scenarios like in the TS2 base game neighborhoods (see attached screenshots below!)
* Includes customized alien townies/NPCs to reflect the neighborhood’s overall theme! Most of the sims are named after actual celestial bodies… i.e. there is a sim named after the star Pollux!
* Speaking of which, there are lots of other astronomical references/easter eggs in the neighborhood (well I guess, that’s what happens if you let a physics student design a neighborhood, lol!)
- to install, put the folder AL01 into your Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2 (Ultimate Collection)/Neighborhoods folderand you’re good to go. If you can’t see the neighborhood, try deleting the NeighborhoodManager.package file.
Optional Downloads:
*Alien Skybox NEW! (Recolor of lowedeus’s skyboxes)- doesn’t affect other neighborhoods unlike the default replacement sky mod, plus a few more details in the sky! See screenshots here! To install, just place it into your Downloads as usual.
*Alternative Alien Sky Mod (DEFAULT REPLACEMENT)- default sky mod as seen in early screens of Aileen Landing, suitable for those with EPs lower than Pets and/or cannot use the skyboxes! To install, just place it into your Downloads as usual.
*Mannequin Babies Can Be Born- mod to fix crashing that may occur when sims with the mannequin skintone have babies. You’ll need it since there are a few sims with the mannequin skintone in this neighborhood. Thank you @crumplebot for reminding me of this mod. :)
Custom Scripted Events!
I really don’t want to spoil too much on this already and just let you guys explore the neighborhood first, lol! But I’ve included an optional mod that introduces you the sims and their storylines a litte.
Simply remove it from the neighorhood folder once you’ve finished your first round (I recommend playing each family for one day to complete the scripted events). If you don’t want to use this mod, you can also remove it from the neighborhood folder.
The recommended play order is exactly the way the families are presented in the neighborhood story. But you can play as you like, the scripted events are independent from each other and won’t break if you choose a different play order.
I guess, that’s it for now. Phew! Thanks for reading! ^^
Let me know what you think! Any feedback/comment/critism is greatly appreciated!
Have fun and let me know what you did in Aileen Landing! <3
Credits:
Big credit goes to Chris Hatch for the custom scripting mod and @simstate,@lazyduchess, cutupuss at MTS for further information and for the blueprint I’ve used for this mod. Thank you guys for making this possible! <3
And also to everyone who helped me during neighborhood development, thank you guys for all the nice compliments!
“OK, you all know the orders, right? Matar and I will take care of the Princess. Auriga and Feyrora, you both take care of the Queen!”
“Great! Now, let’s get inside before anyone gets suspicious of us!”
“It looks like all of the guests have finally arrived, let’s proceed to the next step!”
“Psst! Not here! You know this will only make people suspicious! I’ll join you two in the kitchen.”
I guess … now or never!
“Alright, sweetie! Matar will come later to clean up the mess! I’ll take care of the Princess now.”
(in the meanwhile)
“Excuse me, yourmajesty? But you wouldn’t probably think that I was going to dine in my dancewear, would you? Where can I change my dress?”
“Uhmm… yeah, sure, miss! My bad! This way, miss!”
…
“Cassie, my dear princess, are you in here, honey?”
“SIRIUS??!! WHAT IS GOING ON?!”
“I… I can explain… she was just…”
“OH, REALLY! I can explain better, YOU DIRTY DOG, YOU!! GET LOST, NOW!! How could you cheat on me… in OUR DAUGHTER’S BED and most importantly, at MY GALA DINNER!”
“Sirius, that was hot!”
“OH, don’t you even get me started! WHO INVITED YOU EVEN IN?!”
“Take that, your majesty!”
“Your majesty, I love your beautiful crown! It alerts me to immediatelyhate you!”
“Mom, I know the annual gala dinner is very important for you, but I don’t think I want to be a part of it this year…”
“Why?! You’re going to be a part of it, girl! No matter what!”
“Well… may I request to remove my boyfriend Tapaho from the invitation list then? Because I don’t want to see him ever again.”
“If that’s what you want, sure!”
“Don’t worry, everything will be alright! I’ll be here with you!”
“So far, we have… Neptune, Poseidon, Persephone, Selene, Melboula and Matar, who should we also invite?”
“How about Feyrora? I think you missed Feyrora…”
“Ehh, no? Because she will obviously NOT come?!”
*doorbell rings*
“Oh right, that must be the caterers we’ve ordered! Let me greet them real quick! In the meanwhile, don’t do any other invitations!”
“Greetings! Glad you could make it on time. Here’s the lobster you’ll need for the Lobster Thermidor and for dessert, we’d like you to serve Baked Alaska. Any questions? Good? Good!”
“Phew, the door is still open! I’m sorry babe! I.. uhm.. really didn’t want to be late!”
“May I have your name, sir?”
“Taphao Thong Fenhong.”
“Your name is not on the invitation list, I’m afraid. We’re sorry, but we kindly ask you to leave now!”
“What? NOO!! This can’t be true! I’m Cassiopeia’s boyfriend… Cassie, can you ask them to let me in? Cassie? CASSIE?!”
“I’ll be over at my dad’s house tonight, so I can’t join you guys, I’m sorry! But I hope you guys still have fun! See you!”
“Well, I guess it’ll just be the two of us now! May I ask my beautiful sister for a dance?”
“Now you really sound like Mom, stop being so polite, lol!”
“We’ve been best friends for a while, I know, but… uhmm, I love you!”
Taphao… WHY?? OMG, this can’t be happening!
“Titania… Titania, stop!”
“You know very well that I have a girlfriend…?! Cassiopeia doesn’t deserve any of this!”
“Oh, holy crap! Don’t get me even started with her! I know very well that you love me too! Don’t tell me you love her, I know it’s a lie!”
“I do… I love you, too, but only as a friend! Now, leave me alone!”
“You can’t deny the chemistry between us! I can feel your love, Taphao! No matter what you say, you hear me! I know your true feelings! So, stop running away from the love of your life, you hear me?!”
“… and then, she kissed him and they made out in front of my eyes!”
“My dear little sis, I’m so sorry to hear this! You know, you don’t have to be with him anymore, right? He truly doesn’t deserve your love!”
“Aww come here, sweetie! Lemme hug you! Tomorrow, we’ll go shopping and you can buy whatever you want, OK? I just know, things can only improve from now on!”
How could he do this to me? I trusted him! But now… it kinda makes sense why he was trying to run away from me! What should I say to him? OMG, why is this so difficult? What do people say when they catch someone cheating on them?
Douglasville 1.0 - Arizona neighborhood with pulp storyline for The Sims 2!
Douglasville is a TS2 almost-cc-free neighborhood based on the Spanish videogame Runaway: A Road Adventure.
This neighborhood is set in the fictional region of the Simrizona Desert and it features: beautiful canyon landscapes, a colorful bunch of characters with unique stories and personalities, a treasure hunt, lots inspired by Mexican and Western false front architecture!
MySims Townie Pool - Empty Subhood with 32 townies!
I’ve been wanting to make a townie pool with some of my favourite Rolands Town’s characters for a while, and I finally did it! This is a townie pool: an empty suburb which you attach to your main neighborhood to add a group of townies.
I have to do a deep study session in the following days because I have a big exam incoming, so I’ll leave you with these two pictures of the current state of Nìssos Sìmonos for the meantime!
Okay, this project finally has a name: Nìssos Sìmonos!
Here you can see some pictures of the Acropolis Amphiteatre which is now used for concerts and plays. I’ve almost finished the acropolis, the next step will be the town of Simonos! It will be inspired by the blue and white houses on the Greek island of Santorini.
Some pictures of the pediment/fronton of the “Temple of the Grey Woman”.
In the last picture you can see the Acropolis, which is still a work in progress. I need to build the Amphitheatre and another minor temple… and I need to decide a name for this neighborhood :P
Douglasville 1.1 - Arizona neighborhood with pulp storyline for The Sims 2!
Douglasville is a TS2 almost-cc-free neighborhood based on the Spanish videogame Runaway: A Road Adventure.
This neighborhood is set in the fictional region of the Simrizona Desert and it features: beautiful canyon landscapes, a colorful bunch of characters with unique stories and personalities, a treasure hunt, lots inspired by Mexican and Western false front architecture!
If you had downloaded this neighborhood and the storytelling album was empty, this issue has now been fixed. You can re-download the neighborhood from the same link in the original post!
Douglasville 1.1 - Arizona neighborhood with pulp storyline for The Sims 2!
Douglasville is a TS2 almost-cc-free neighborhood based on the Spanish videogame Runaway: A Road Adventure.
This neighborhood is set in the fictional region of the Simrizona Desert and it features: beautiful canyon landscapes, a colorful bunch of characters with unique stories and personalities, a treasure hunt, lots inspired by Mexican and Western false front architecture!
Info and download under the cut
Douglasville allows players to let their creativity loose as they decide the paths of the strange characters who inhabit this land: you will have to make choices, pick a side and let the other sink in this greedy treasure hunt who will probably end up in a few casualties. This neighborhood can be a great start for a Build a City Challenge with a few adjustments, or you can keep Douglasville as it is: a small, dilapidated ghost town for the lonely wolves. Speaking of wolves, be careful because you will find a pack of mexican wolves hunting around the area! The main features of Douglasville are:
◉ A desertic neighborhood decorated with the amazingly beautiful Canyon Pack by Kridershot. Enjoy these ARIZONA-INSPIRED LANDSCAPES, if you can fight the heat and the hungry wolves!
◉ 7 HOUSEHOLDS + 2 SIMS IN THE BIN, all characterized by unique backgrounds and, sometimes, featuring storytelling props in their inventories to help you get involved with their stories.
◉ A TREASURE HUNT! The terrible thugs Gustav and Feodor are searching for the Hopi treasure and they have reason to believe Gina Timmins knows something about it. Who will get their greedy hands on the treasure first?
◉ Lots were built in MEXICAN AND WESTERN-FALSE-FRONT STYLES to correctly convey the atmosphere of the United States’ South West area. The hood features ONE STARTER HOME to help you include your own sims in the run for the treasure!
Before downloading, I need to give you some warnings:
⚠ This neighborhood includes references to an existing indigenous tribe from North America: the Hopi Tribe. This is directly taken from the videogame Runaway and it’s something I decided to keep. I am not Hopi, so my knowledge is limited, and I did what I could with no custom content. It’s important for me to specify that I don’t want this neighborhood to disrespect native American tribes in any way.
⚠ There are three drag queens living in Douglasville. To keep custom content to a minimum, I decided to create them as women and change their gender behaviour through SimPE (they have male voices, will pee standing and sexually reproduce as men). If you want to be more realistic, you can change their gender to male and dress them up with custom clothes.
⚠You need a CAMERA MOD. The neighborhood is big and there are lots on the borders of the map, so without a camera mod you would not be able to play the hood as intended.
Below you will find two download links:
“DGVL” is the neighborhood folder and it must be extracted in Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Neighborhoods.
“Douglasville_CC” is the folder containing a small amount of CC required for the neighborhood to appear as intended. It must be extracted in Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Downloads. Everything has been sorted in labelled folders to help you organize your cc.
(Don’t get scared by the CC Folder size: it’s mainly due to the skyline, skydome and canyon pack. Remember to delete custom content that you already have!)
The storytelling picture where Gina is running from Gustav and Feodor is set in Katatty’s Downtown! Also, thanks to every single person who commented, reblogged, liked and followed this project over these weeks! I am extremely eager to see what you all do with this neighborhood, so feel free to provide feedback or tag me if you share gameplay pictures :) Hugs from Italy!
I’m super happy to present to you Douglasville’s storytelling pictures! All characters are based on the Spanish videogame Runaway: A Road Adventure. If you like point-and-click adventure games, I strongly advise downloading and playing that game because it is a milestone of the genre!
I have completed everything except for the sims’ memories. This project is about to see the light and I’m super excited! :)
(After uploading these pictures I realized there are grammar errors in the text and I’m immediately going to correct them lol)
Some scenery pictures of Pleasantfort, in case you need a break from the orange sands of Arizona! :D
There’s still a long way to go! I need to build the townie owned businesses, like the tavern for example, and of course the Pleasant Castle, the Burb and Oldie Estates and the Jacoban Church. These lots will be huge and, honestly, I’m a bit intimidated… I will use references for the castle and estates to try and make them look as realistic as possible; I will probably use pictures of German Castles, ‘cause I’ve seen some astonishing sceneries on Instagram and I would be super intrigued in recreating such buildings in the game. I’m open to suggestions!
These are pictures of some of Douglasville’s eccentric inhabitants: Hugo Weaving lookalikes with a shady vibe, drag queens lost in the desert, traditional herbal healers, nightclub workers who are escaping from the claws of mafia…
I’m super excited about this neighborhood: this is definitely NOT gonna be the typical suburban district with family dramas, Douglasville is a story about money greed, the dangers of the Simrizona desert, decadence and plenty of craziness. The characters are slowly getting implemented, and soon I will work on some storytelling pictures.
This is gonna be a vacation house located next to the city’s lighthouse. The lot is still in an early stage, I haven’t even put all the doors and windows yet, but I’m gonna be on a week hiatus (I’m gonna be in Paris for a week from tomorrow until the 16th of this month), so I wanted to share what I’ve done as of right now.
Saqhaba is nearing completion! Well, almost. I can’t believe it’s taking me as long as it is with this hood. I suppose I’ve been dragging my feet, playing out stories in Cottage Hills, and just not having the energy to finish it. I keep getting overwhelmed or distracted. I just wanna play in it!
Wow!!!! I thought this was The Sims 3 or a strategy game like Civilization!!! Is this gonna be shared? This is so awesome, I would love to play in this hood!
