Sim Magazine Issue 24 August 2022

A Sims Community Magazine

Issue 24 | August 2022

l a e R e h T Will

JAMESP lease TURNER Stand Up SLFJ Creative NSFW at its best AsGraceCreates A Story Untold

Simscraper Talks Art & Life

SIM MAG | Issue 24 August 2022

Letter from the Editor Hello again dear friends and readers, This month we will be producing our last printable magazine, for now.

After much deliberation, we have decided that after 2 years of consistent community support, 16 hr days and 7 day weeks, we deserve a break!

The decision to move our magazine from printable to our blog was not an easy one, but overall the consensus was, our teams health and family come first. As much as we love The Sims, the controversy, the arguments, the lack of clarity, the half finished and untested game packs, the lack of new content and overall the issues constantly not addressed or fixed by The Sims/EA have led us to also not want to promote a company that has no interest in delivering the content it should, but still happy to take the money scraped together in a financial crisis because of one simple thing… our dedication as players.

We can no longer paper over the cracks, and neither should you the Sims community.

Each one of you past and present created this game with your cash, without it, The Sims never would have been.

They laid the foundation, you paid for the content.

With that said, there are so many wonderful community members and we still adore supporting and showcasing you as we always have. So now whether you play The Sims or Far Cry we want to support and share your talents be it in building, creating or shooting other gamers online.

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So join us at supinmedia.com and find your gaming soulmate in our groups and forums.

This month we have a much slimmer version of the magazine with features from James Turner, YouTube sensation and do we get an answer to our engagement question? Find out inside.

Simscraper aka Billy is finally pinned down and I had the chance to chat with this artist extraordinaire.

We also feature the talent that is SLFJ Creative and her seductive NSFW stories that will blow your mind.

For everything else, go take a peek in this last issue for 2022.

See you on the website and blog very soon with more of everything.

DagDag Sami xoxo

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CONTENTS

SIM MAG | Issue 24 August 2022

06 NonBob News The Latest news

10 Introducing Asgracecreates

26 James Turner From front cover

42 Making a Simmer NSFW with SJFL

56 Off Topic

Mojito The Cat Creator Chat

64 Sims FanArt

Simscraper aka Billy

78 Members Only Join the dark side

92 Community Sims Your Sims from social media 4 | Contents

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98 Retro Corner MinicartTSR

108 Mods & Modders Chingyu aka Vicky Sims

116 CC Finds

With AsGraceCreates.

118 Just for Fun

Test Your Knowledge

124 SimScopes

with Sandie Woolford

128 The Winner Is? SupShell winner

130 Behind The Scenes Get to know the team

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SIM MAG | Issue 24 August 2022

NonBob News WITH IKEA UPDATES

Welcome to Non Bob News, the direct news gossip source for Your Sims gaming gossip.

UPDATE 07/26/2022 High School Never Ends

Sul Sul!

PC: 1.90.358.1030 / Mac: 1.90.358.1230 Console: Version 1.61 Bug Fixes Consoles Base Game Cats and Dogs Seasons Island Living Discover University Eco Lifestyle Snowy Escape Cottage Living Parenthood Strangerville Journey to Batuu Dream Home Decorator Werewolves Tiny Living Bust The Dust This patch included so many cool features that we can’t just list them all here! Instead you can read them below!

Read More Here: https://www.ea.com/en-gb/ games/the-sims/the-sims-4/ news/update-07-26-2022

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This month’s Non Bob News is a big one! We got a new pack and a Base Game update that featured loads of cool things! So let’s dive into what we got!

A Playable High School’s Here!

If you follow The Sims accounts on Social Media, you have probably known that a High School pack was expected since late June, when its trailer was released, which we even tackled in the July Issue of the magazine!

Well, that pack was released on July 28th and as usual, there was a lot of excitement but also quite a few controversies! Starting off, people seemed super happy about the build and buy stuff, as well as the CAS for teenagers!

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However, this excitement seemed to die off when simmers realised the gameplay seemed bland and lackluster. Here are a few complaints I’ve seen on social media: There are still chance cards/pop-ups during active school and they mention things that would be fun to watch (like your teen fake-fainting to avoid Health Class) but instead, the sims just sit there and don’t move; The clubs are rabbit holes; Sims can’t talk to other sims unless they are between classes, can’t pass notes, or do other stereotypical school things; The school is extremely empty and only gets somewhat crowded during lunch; There are no Yearbooks; Etc. Nonetheless, simmers seemed relatively happy with the pack, and seem to enjoy building their own schools, despite believing some gameplay to be less ideal.

And, as a more personal note, I’m an absolute Sims lore lover, and it was amazing to see the Yearbook post that was posted on Twitter showing us what our classic Base Game Sims looked like in their teen years! We finally got a lore update, finding out what Eliza Pancakes’ and Geoffrey Landgraab’s names were before they got married to Bob and Nancy, respectively!

The Base Game Update!

On the 26th, in preparation for the new pack’s release, a patch was released which, besides adding a lot of bug fixes for a bunch of packs, added a Base Game update!

For the CAS players, this update added Body Hair, which had been mentioned during the Werewolf Pack era and people were extremely excited about it! It also added an amazing sexual orientation (attractionesque) system which allows you to pick your Sim’s sexuality and romantic preferences!

For the Builders, this update added Curved Walls, which many simmers have been absolutely loving and playing with, building castles, UFOs, as well as just modern artistic builds!

Finally, for the storytellers/gameplay simmers, there was a huge and long-awaited addition (that had been mentioned long before even the hody hair – Wants & Fears!). This feature existed back in The Sims 2 and added depth to your sims by defining things they want to do and things they

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absolutely fear and refuse to do! This new addition overhauled the old Whims system that had, allegedly, been long abandoned by the developers without any new additions to it in a while!

been noticed and able to be recreated by the developers in their own games, which means it should be fixed soon enough!

Wants & Fears which was considered the biggest feature in this update added a small list of fears which will hopefully be improved upon for both old packs and new ones, which you can see below! Though it seems some fears might need some tuning…

A New Kit on the Horizon?

As you might remember from the last issue of the magazine, in July, The Sims Team teased, their July-September roadmap, two new kits, and it seems that the CAS Kit will be out sooner rather than later!

[ Above Picture Credit to LuddySimmer ]

Still, in the gameplay area, it’s worth mentioning there was also an update to the Phone’s UI in-game, now adding Apps and removing its old tab system!

This update, however, as to be expected considering its massive size, brought some problems to the game, namely a bug that certain p l a y e r s encountered which caused their sims to magically age up in front of their eyes without any sort of warning.

This bug has

8 | NonBob News with Ikea

Once again LuddySims over on Twitter, always bringing attention of the community to awesome things like these, posted a picture showing what seems to be the cover art of a Children’s CAS kit, which he found on the front page of The Sims 4 when he opened it.

This seems to indeed be the cover art of a kit, considering the artistic style is the same as in other kits, meaning this might have been an accidental leak by the Sims team.

Though, it does make sense that they are releasing CAS kits focusing on other age groups considering the main critique of simmers has been that The Sims 4 is too focused on Young Adults and not enough on other ages!

What did you think of the update and High School pack? And are you excited for what’s to come?

Happy Simming, everyone!

Ikea (she/her)

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A�Gra��C�ea�e� 10 | Introducing AsGraceCreates

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SIM MAG | Issue 24 August 2022

Blenders can you create for others?

Oh yes I do. I can create the basic style, like a half body or full body of a solo Sim. As well as those with or without backgrounds and a group photo of many different Sims. It depends also on the client’s wish.

You have now mastered CAS Blenders, do you have any plans to create Blender backgrounds in the future for others to use?

I think I would need to have tons of time to learn to make my own Blender scenes first LOL But given that much time, I would love to create and share it with everyone in the Sims community. I would like to create restaurants, airports, and many other establishments.

As we come to the end of the interview and thanks again Grace for letting me chew your ear off, I want to do a quick 5 question fire round are you ready, no cheating, tell us the first thing that comes to your mind.

The Sims Music On or Off? Music On Sunshine or Rain?

Sunshine Pizza or Pasta?

Pizza One must go forever, Agnes Crumplebottom or Eliza Pancakes?

Agnes Crumplebottom If you could meet anyone in the world who would it be and why?

I’d love to meet the guy in The Asher House who rescues many animals (mostly dogs) because I look up to him and I admire his love and dedication to rescuing many dogs and animals.

Thanks, Grace you have been an absolute star, how can our readers find and follow you or contact you for commissions?

The pleasure is mine, Sami. Thank you for having me. It’s such an honor and I am really happy in answering the interesting interview questions.

Honestly, this interview has also allowed me to

22 | Introducing AsGraceCreates

reminisce about great memories I’ve had in being involved in our SIM team and The Sims community.

I’d love to have more Simmer friends, and I can be reached through Twitter and Instagram at @asgracecreates.

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S�����e�i�.c�� Where fashion meets Gaming

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Introducing AsGraceCreates | 25

Will the real

JAMES TURNER

please stand up?

We have been so lucky to be able to meet and speak with simmers around the world, and who are a part of our community each month. We reach out often and the response we get is always so encouraging and supportive, so when we reached out to one of the most well known Sims Creators in the community we were shocked but completely honoured that they agreed to speak with us and it really did give our team the boost they needed.

For those of us in the simming community this Australian Sims player has been a true Simspiration, a go-to for challenges and let's play, and a must-watch for builds and CAS creation. Some of you will have known this simmer since he started sharing his videos on YouTube as The Sim Supply, others may know him simply as Flabaliki, let us introduce to you the super talent who is full of The Sims knowledge as well as being a variety streamer, James Turner.

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Hi James, and thank you for taking time out to speak with us, we really are truly honoured to get this chance to not only learn about you but to get a little bit more knowledge about the game we all love so much The Sims.

When you agreed to this interview, the first thing I always do is go into research mode, because I like to ask the right questions, but in my research, one of the things I did learn is that there really is not a huge amount of information other than what a lot of us ‘your fans’ already know as you are a very private person. So I am hoping we can change that a little today, and show our readers, who James Turner is behind the channels and games. You were born on June the 4th 1994 and you are a Gemini after this nobody really knows much about you! Can you tell us, where did you grow up? Do you have any siblings? did you have any pets growing up and if so what were they?

I grew up in Sydney Australia with my three older sisters, mum and dad. We also had two family dogs, Jack a beagle cross poodle and a miniature poodle named Lottie. We also had various smaller pets over the years, some guinea pigs, birds and rabbits.

Did you enjoy school and what was your favourite or worst subject?

I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed school, but I was very fortunate to go to a nice school, with good people for the most part! Once I was in high school and could choose my own subjects, I loved Software Design & Development. That’s where I discovered my passion for programming that I still enjoy to this day.

What is your favourite childhood memory (other than the sims)? and if you could go back and give your younger self a piece of

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advice what would it be?

When we were around 10 years old one of my friends growing up had ended up winning a radio contest to have a tour of the studio and meet the hosts of our favourite show. They were incredibly nice and welcoming, we even got to play around with some of the buttons and studio equipment. I still think about how awesome it would be to have a dead silent recording setup like that studio we were in!

Some of the best advice I have learnt along the way is, that when you’re going to sleep if there’s something you’re worried about, there’s not much that can be done until the next day.

Obviously, that’s an oversimplification, but I like it.

Personally growing up, I always found guys were much happier to be risk-takers than the girls who would happily watch on the sidelines, what is the craziest thing you did growing up, have you ever broken a bone?

I was never too off the rails growing up, though I was definitely more adventurous when it came to biking and maybe having a little bit too much fun with less regard for safety. I did end up breaking my knee badly from a fall I had off my bike. Though, the happy ending to that was I took up playing video games way more. Indirectly it definitely led to me making content and videos as I couldn’t do much else at the time.

What music did you listen to and has your music tastes changed into adulthood? Do you have a band or artist that is your guilty pleasure to listen to and have you seen any artists or bands in concert and if so who were they?

I’m a big fan of Aussie rap and hip hop. There are some fantastic local artists a few of which I’ve been able to see live. Allday is one of my

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favourites, fantastic live and was lovely when I had the chance to meet him.

Being from the UK myself, I was happily surprised to see you had visited London back in 2018 with one of our other favourite streamers and a previous interviewee of our magazine DrGluon, What did you think of London? Where did you visit and what would you say was the most interesting place you visited in London, did you travel outside of London at all and if so where?

Have you been back to the UK since, and mostly what did you think of our city?

I’m actually a dual citizen of Australia and the UK, so I’ve been many times and have lots of family that live over there. I love London every time I visit, one of my favourite places to travel to. While we were there in 2018 for SimsCamp, we had lots of fun exploring central London, all the usual touristy things.

your Sims at this time? What has been your favourite EXP/Pack/Stuff or Kit to date, and do you think The Sims 5 should have the option of an open world and the ability to play Live Play with your friends?

I started playing The Sims when I was 6 years old. My older sister had received The Sims as a gift for her birthday. This was in 2000, so not too long after the game had come out. Being that young, I didn’t do too much, but I was always trying to build houses. I loved building things with blocks and Lego, so naturally, I wanted to build in the game too.

To this day, I swear by The Sims 2 Open for Business as my favourite expansion pack, it’s beautifully put together. I wish The Sims 4 Get to Work retail experience was similar to that one.

As for The Sims 5, a return to an open world would be nice. After having played The Sims 4 Werewolves, that world almost feels open, you can do so much without ever having to travel and I do really miss that from The Sims 3.

“We n���� di� ��� t�e m��te���u� j����s i� �h�� ro��, ��d �e ��v� a ���t��e �� s��e ��n��� di��l��, �w�e�!”

My most memorable experience in London though was when KryticZeuz and I went to the Tower of London and we were waiting in line to see some jewels, not the main Crown Jewels though. Zeuz ended up taking a picture of something in the hallway that we were lined up in and a guard kicked us out saying “the sign clearly says no photos”.

There wasn’t a sign in the room, only a small one at the entrance that we had missed. At the end of the day it was just funny, we never did see the mysterious jewels in that room, and we have a picture of some random display, sweet!

As much as our readers and I want to know all about you, I also understand some things you would like to keep to yourself, so let's talk about The Sims. When did you first discover The Sims? What were your first impressions of the game, and what was your favourite thing to do in-game with

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As far as multiplayer and The Sims 5 goes, I personally would really enjoy that as a YouTuber, it’s always fun to play The Sims 4 multiplayer mod and make funny videos and content. Though as an individual, I don’t think it would really add much to the experience of the game for most players.

You were originally part of a Mod The Sims group and together you created the website that was Lebensim in early 2008 (please correct me if any of this is wrong) Between 2008 and 2009 you decided to rename this website to The Sim Supply. This was a Custom Content website where you

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created lots and houses that your followers could download as well as video tutorials for The Sims 2 and 3. In 2012 The Sim Supply website was officially closed and your full attention was moved over to your YouTube channels and everything really began to grow for you from there.

The Sim Supply YouTube channel started

over 13 years ago and your first post was a tutorial on how to create multi-level basements, as I write this interview it has itself had over 43k views, that is some achievement but not your biggest! Your biggest ever watched a video on this channel was created over 6 years ago and is called: The Sims 4 House Building - 4x4 Mini Home and has reached (when I last counted) 7,630,955 million views, and your channel itself has 1.4 million subscribers.

In 2018, YouTube awarded you the very coveted Golden Play button for reaching the 1 million subscribers milestone and belated congratulations on this from the whole team. How did it feel to receive this award after all your hard work? And what advice would you give to other YouTube

creators out there who are also working tirelessly to achieve these goals via their channels?

It was surreal to receive that award, never thought I’d ever get that far! YouTube is hard, especially these days when there’s so many countless channels out there. The best advice

for anyone wanting to make content I could give is to do it because you enjoy it, not because you want to succeed. Joy and passion have to be the backbone otherwise you’ll just end up burning out in the process of trying to succeed.

What would you say was the hardest part of being a YouTube content creator so far and how did you overcome this?

When the channel really started to grow, maybe about 8 to 9 years ago, the more viewers you get, the more negativity follows.

Not because anything I was doing was bad, or even trying to draw that attention, but the internet has this veil of anonymity and people

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“ Jam�� ���ne� ��s �� 81% fe���� a�d�e���, w�e���s F�a��l��i ��s � 27% fe���� a�d�e��� ac���d��� to Y���ub�” will use that to just say whatever they want. Learning to accept that this is the reality of posting anything publicly on the internet and that those comments are actually just meaningless was tough to deal with.

These days I just post what I enjoy, and I only pay any attention to constructive and positive comments.

What has been your favourite video creation to date on this channel and why?

It is not possible to just pick one video, I’ve currently posted over 4600 videos in my 13 active years. A particularly memorable video is “When Everything Goes Wrong in The Sims 4... (Bigwallet Family)”. I was just trying to revive one of my Sim’s friends, and just about everything I tried to do went wrong in some way. There was a fire, another Sim died, it was utter chaos. It was so fun!

Let's talk about Flabaliki, how did you come up with this name, and what if any is the story behind it?

I was around 9 or 10 years old and I was just hanging out with a friend of mine and it just came to mind as a play on Rafiki, I had recently watched The Lion King. There’s not much to the story, just

a random idea as a kid!

Flabaliki is a variety channel on YouTube and you cover many different games from Two Point Hospital, Transport Fever and one of my favourites Cities Skylines and many more. Your most watched video on this channel was for Cities Skylines and reached over 2 million viewers, this channel itself has over 367k subscribers. What would you say was the best part about having a gaming variety channel?

Flabaliki was actually started because at the time when The Sim Supply was a group channel, I wanted my own channel to play Minecraft on. It eventually grew and when The Sim Supply was entirely mine, Flabaliki was simply my second channel for other games. It worked out pretty well. Interestingly as some behind the scenes info, the gender demographics of both these channels are almost opposite. James Turner has an 81% female audience, whereas Flabaliki has a 27% female audience according to YouTube.

What is your favourite game to play at the moment, and what new games have you currently seen on the market or in development that you would like to share or will be sharing with us in the future via this channel?

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My favourite game is always The Sims, I never get tired of it and there’s always something new. I am looking forward to Two Point Campus when that comes out, I plan on making some content on that!

You clearly have a love for Architecture games and are an avid fan of building, so let's talk about the fact EA asked you to create 3 lots for Snowy Escape which was the 10th Expansion pack release for The Sims 4. How did it feel to be asked to create lots that would be a permanent part of The Sims Franchise?

It was pretty incredible and a fantastic experience to be able to collaborate on the game I’ve played nearly my entire life. Even more exciting is seeing my name in the official game credits!

As you were creating your lots it must have been interesting to see how the pack developed and grew with the additions EA were making. In your YT video talking about your Modern Contemporary Starter home lot, you mentioned that EA had a limit on items you could place in your lots and that you had to revise your lots quite often to fit with what EA was also doing and of course the other EA Gamechangers that was amongst those chosen to create in this pack. How many revisions did you have to do if you can remember?

There were about 4 revisions we would go through. We’d build the lot, submit it, receive the feedback and make changes where necessary. The changes were often quite small, or just suggestions. The team was very open to working with us and our ideas.

And let's talk about that pathway… when creating your starter home lot you

34 | James Turner Interview

created a pretty pathway that led into a circle with a tree in the middle, EA as they were updating often also created a pathway very similar to your own creation and this was right beside what you had designed, now we all know The Sims team have a sense of humour as is apparent throughout all genres of the game, but the big question is did they copy your design? We can see in the video that you took this with the humour that of course we all love to see from you and the team and it did give me a little chuckle, do you wish you had been able to keep this design or are you glad EA created their own version as it did turn out as a nice edition for builders as an extension to their own creations?

I found that so funny that they did that!

Theirs looks much better than mine ever could have. I was actually kind of relieved, as it was a starter home, that little path and tree cost me money from the budget!

Your favourite lot to create was the rental lot: Kiyomatsu tell us why this was your favourite lot to create for this pack?

It was a lot where I didn’t have any particular budget and it could be detailed as much as I liked. I enjoyed playing around with terrain manipulation to give it a more interesting layout. And with the addition of platforms, playing around with those and figuring out the best way to utilise them was so much fun.

A Japanese house in the mountains covered in snow was so unique and not something I’d ever done before. A challenge, but a fun one!

Let's chat about the Werewolves pack, this has been a major want by so many simmers since The Sims 3 and again EA asked you to create some lots in this pack, can you tell us what lots you created and which was your favourite lot to create?

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I created all 4 lots that come with The Sims 4 Werewolves. I think it was great to be able to fully build out this world and give each of the lots a cohesive look and feel that I had a lot of control over. My favourite to build was definitely the Moonwood Mill Library. That lot is just so different, a rundown factory that is falling to pieces but the townsfolk have re-purposed it as a sort of community hub.

I had so much fun leaving the steel work exposed in a bright yellow colour, I hope it was interesting for players to see and experience too! and what do you think about the updated version of Werewolves compared to the Sims 2 and 3 versions,

what did you enjoy most about the gameplay in this new pack and do you think that there is now more of a chance for more occult Sims to be included in the future as I also know there are still simmers out there eager for Fairies to be included?

I think the werewolves in this pack look like they belong in The Sims 4, they have the aesthetic that matches the game in my opinion. I really love the world, and not just because I built the lots.

The world really does feel very open and you almost never need to load between lots to have a full werewolf experience. There’s so much lore packed into it for you to discover and so many different things

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you can do around the place too. I do think it’s a really great game pack for those interested in werewolves.

I definitely think the team will make more occults in the future, they’ve always been a huge part of The Sims franchise, it’s just a matter of when!

As I look through my research notes I would like to bring up the fact that also back in 2018 you won the Australian Game Awards for YT Creator of the Year! Again belated congratulations from the team, but how did it feel to have this kind of recognition and especially from your home country awards, do you keep your trophy in pride of place or is it now hidden away in a box somewhere?

Have you won any other awards for your contribution to gaming?

Or do you have your eye on any wards you would love to add to your collection?

history! I met Vixella and DrGluon through SimsCamp events and they are some of the nicest people ever. We were literally all brought together by EA and now they are some of my closest friends.

You also stream with DrGluon playing FarCry, what other collaborations have you done or have you got coming up in the future?

DrGluon and I often play games together, we’ve done quite a few! We originally played Euro Truck Simulator 2, and from there we’ve played many other games. A fair few FarCry games, we’ve played a lot of Minecraft together and of course some Sims 4 Multiplayer. Coming up, we’re planning on playing some more Minecraft when we get the chance!

“Sim�����s� �as �� ��e� t�a� m� �ar���r Del����c� �ad!”

That was a funny one! It was the first time they had ever had those awards, and I think they maybe only ever had a second ceremony and it’s disappeared since. It was very nice to receive that! I’m not big on displaying awards, so it’s packed safely away for now.

You have made so many friends who are also a part of The Sims community and Vixella, DrGluon, and Zeus aka KryticZeuz are part of your Blue Bats team (The Simmers) who compete in the Minecraft Championships or MCC for short. You have also been on holiday with many of the big-name simmers we see across social media and YT, would you say that EA brought you all together through your love of The Sims or did any of you know each other before The Sims became a permanent feature of your lives?

KryticZeuz and I have been friends since we were around 8 or 9 years old, we have a long

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I am sure you are almost worn out from all the questions we have had for you and I promise we are nearing the end now, I would like to bring up your website because you have a few things here that I think our readers would love to know about and could use them for their own The Sims gaming enhancements. You have created 3 usable items on your website and the first is The Sims 4 Random Trait Generator: on your website, it states: “Use this tool to generate random Sims 4 traits and aspirations for adults, teens, children and toddlers” Traits are a complete personality system for The Sims, can you tell us what simmers can use your Trait Generator for and how did you come up with this idea?

DrGluon actually wanted some way to randomise traits for his sims in the 100 Baby Challenge he streams, so I decided it’d be a fun challenge to code myself and figure out how to make it work for all ages. Now, this was before The Sims 4 actually included the randomise button, that came out shortly after I built this tool of course! Though in-game still does not let

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you randomise your aspiration, mine does!

You also have: The Sims 4 Random Pack Generator and the Disable The Sims 4 Packs text generator, can you tell us a little bit more about these also?

I often record challenges for my YouTube channel where I limit which packs I can use. I’d just use Google or some random number generator to select the packs – that was so visually boring that I decided to create a nicerlooking tool. Essentially you select how many packs you want, and then the website will give you a random selection from all the kits, stuff, game and expansion packs.

The tool to Disable The Sims 4 packs also came out of necessity. In Origin, you can input some text that allows you to turn off specific kits, expansions, game and stuff packs. There isn’t an easy way to do this unless you know the codes. And even if you know the codes, if you want to disable more than one, it becomes really cumbersome to type it all out. My website just provides an easy, visual way to select what you want so you can copy and paste the code for it.

You also share your videos and builds with links to the gallery for simmers to find and download into their own games here, (I have to be honest and say I did have a go at this and realised it was harder than I thought it would be) can you tell us more about the Sims Guesser and how you came up with this idea?

SimsGuessr was an idea that my partner Deligracy had! She wanted to create a video where I take some screenshots in the game, and she has to guess where they were taken.

Deli just wanted simple screenshots, I decided it would be fun to code an actual playable game so anyone could give it a go. I based it off of the popular GeoGuessr game that uses Google Streetview to put you somewhere in the world and you have to guess your location.

In my version of the game, you get placed somewhere in The Sims 4, and you have to figure out which world and which neighbourhood you are in. You get more points if you select the right neighbourhood the first time, the more you switch, the less points you get! Good luck!

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Let's talk about Mr Bowser Cornelius Chow Chow, or for those that do not know, your fur baby (or pet dog). Let me just say he is absolutely gorgeous and being a huge animal lover myself, had to follow him on Instagram and he has over 38k followers on Instagram! When did Bowser come into your life? How has having him changed your life and can you tell us a cute or funny story about him?

Bowser is nearly 3 years old, we picked him up when he was 12 weeks! He was a really tough puppy, as most are, but now is the most chilled-out happy boy ever!

He’s always so happy and pure, we are so grateful that he’s in our lives and part of our family, even when he decides it’s a good time to roll in the mud!

He’s a really smart dog, and he really knows how to communicate well. For instance, when he wants some food, he will come to us and just stare, he knows what he has to do, but he waits for us to ask him if he’s hungry. At that point, he licks his lips, turns around and walks away. It’s the funniest thing!

We have now come to the end of our interview and before I go I have to say if I do not ask these few and final questions a lot of my team and our readers will not be happy and I could possibly end up the most hated member on our team! Before I do ask these questions.

Let's talk about Deligracy. There was so much speculation around your and Maddy's relationship before you announced it as and quite understandably you both wanted to make sure you were really ‘compatible’ in a relationship outside of your friendship. When the pandemic broke you had travelled to see Deligracy and lockdown meant you couldn’t then fly home again, so you ‘moved in’ together.

You also created a joint channel on YT and even though you only have a few videos here which btw were brilliant and funny, I loved seeing you both together. The most interesting video on here was the ‘Are we

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getting married’ video, which disappointingly wasn’t the announcement I thought it was!

So the question we have now and everyone is desperate to know is, is there an actual announcement in the future coming and why have you not put a ring on that gorgeous girl's finger yet!!

That is a good question, only time will tell!

Pressure over as of course some things are meant just for you and we will just have to wait and see, what we really want to know is, will we be seeing more lifestyle videos from you both on this channel in the future?

I’m not sure, we enjoy making videos together, however, I’m not as into creating vlog/lifestyle videos so we decided it was best to maybe leave that channel as it is for now.

Instead, Deli has started posting really lovely videos on her new vlog channel. I often appear in those, and you can see what we are up to. We’ve been doing lots of renovations on our house lately, it’s really fun to watch those!

James, I have got to say it is/was such a pleasure to have this opportunity to chat with you, the whole team thank you for taking time out to be a part of our magazine this August and we wish you, Maddy and Bowser, all the best for the future, and look forward to seeing more across the many areas of your social media and streaming channels, and we will make sure to share links to them all below.

Thank you, it was a pleasure to join you!

To find out more from James Turner, visit his social media channels below.

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SIM MAG | Issue 24 August 2022

SLFJ Creative

By Brooklyn Mayhem Hello readers! My name is Brooklyn Mayhem. I had the priviledge to get to know an amazing artist within our huge community of over 10 million active sim players. Believe me, I googled it myself. She has embraced us with her wonderful sinful dark blender scenes, deco Sims, sexual/ intimate render photos as well as poses and amazing stories. None other than SLFJ Creative. I just want to thank you all ahead of time for joining us on SIM Mag! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did during the interview. Let’s get started.

Most interviews start with how long have you been playing Sims? But in your case, during our AMAZING conversation, I learned that you just started playing again during the pandemic. Can you recall how that day happened? What made you pick Sims 4 to play?

I love watching game Let’s Plays and walkthroughs and Sims 4 videos kept popping

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up and so I ended up watching a lot of them.

Working from home left me with more time on my hands so I bought Sims 4 in June 2020 and started playing again.

You mentioned to me that you used to make CC’s for Sims 2. Which one was the hardest, making CC’s or blender? Why? I’d say making CC is harder for me. I did pretty simple makeup and clothing recolors for Sims 2 back in the day. I’m not as good with making meshes and texturing them, as I am playing with lighting and building scenes in Blender now. I do miss making CC, but I’m content with just using it instead.

How was the transition from working on Machinima’s to Blender (Rendering)?

I was so used to using animations and filming movement, that switching to storytelling with pictures was a huge change for me. At first it

Issue 24 August 2022 | SIM MAG

was a lot faster and I posted a lot every day. But once I switched to Blender, I found posts take a lot longer to make. Rendering Animations in Blender is a whole other ball game so I haven’t done much of that yet.

I love that the Lost Soul story isn’t your typical Happily Ever After storytelling. What made you choose that path instead?

there. But when I made the huge step of making Lost Souls in Blender, I found I could edit and adjust poses in real time. Something we can’t do in the game. I started saving the poses as I made them and now I actually spend most of my time making poses more than anything else. I figured I’d share what I spent time on and sometimes turn them into posepacks.

Love is tough. It isn’t always easy. So although most of my stories revolve around soulmates and destiny, I don’t make the path to true love easy for my characters. Heartache is prevalent and important and helps them grow and realize what’s really in their hearts.

The characters you created in your story, “Lost Souls”, who do you relate to more if you HAD to choose ONLY one? And why?

What inspired you to start making poses and blender scenes? And for future references, Will there be Plus Size Simmers poses?

Tell us about this HUGE Event for this month? Will it be compatible for Blender Users as well as Ingame/PNG access?

Since I spent a year making machinimas, I used animations instead of poses. When I switched to IG storytelling, I still used game animations, custom animations and a few poses here and

Felix. His whole vibe, his taste in music, decor, attitude - totally me.

My very first story post was on August 5th 2021.

So coming up on one year I thought it’d be fun to do something to celebrate one-year of the story and to thank those who read and enjoy it.

I’ve been preparing a car show/concert scene

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that a few characters will be going to in the story, and it’s been so much work that I thought it’d be perfect for an anniversary party! I’m still working on in-game ideas for players to participate, but the scene will be available for Blender users, and the characters will be part of the scene as posed objects, ready for some fun pics with those who want to join!

Are we expecting any new characters for Lost Souls?

Always! I love throwing new characters into the mix to make things interesting or get in the way of what readers think will happen. I do have at least one new character already planned to be joining very soon.

You have another popular story called Jay and Cole. I was Beyond Thankful, Beyond Appreciative that you chose a LGBTQA Couple, sharing their trials and tribulations. I praise you for that, truly. What made you choose to put Jay in the spotlight compared to the other characters in his original story back then?

Jay and Cole are from the machinima series I was still running, called Barnstormer, and when I switched to IG storytelling, I wanted to give Sims RP (roleplay) a go. And I picked Jay because in Barnstormer, his storyline was just starting to pick up. I’d revealed some things about him that I hadn’t been able to really dive into. So, I brought Jay to IG and his story unfolded with an RP partner. Now, he’s living his dream with Cole and how they wound up together is told through renders and a video on his IG account.

I am very random and have wild thoughts. That’s when it hits me. I had to ask you the funniest question but for my IC moment, if you had to choose to Kiss/NSFW, marry or kill/fake kill. Who would you pick? Why? And we both came to an agreement, we prefer fake kill one because we just love them too much. You mentioned in this order: NSFW with Orion; Marry Tao; “fake” kill Efrain.

Why these 3 over any of the other ones?

I say NSFW with Orion because well, look at him. I’d marry Tao because he’s level-headed, caring, straightforward and respectful. And I’d “fake” kill Efrain because he’s spiralling and has become a danger to everyone.

And I say “fake kill” because I can’t bring myself to kill my characters. Yet.

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Not a lot of people understand the long process of making renders, especially renders as yours. I bless you for your patience because sometimes I lose it and promise myself that I won’t bother with Blender ever again. Then 3o minutes later, I am on it again. Do you have a team to help you with your work? If yes, what are their parts in it?

I don’t, no. I do everything myself, in my free time after work. A typical Lost Story render post (10 slides) takes about 4-5 hours roughly. Machinimas episodes (15-20 min) took about 40+ hours to complete. Rendering is not fast and it’s not always easy, but I do enjoy the process, the lighting, learning more and more as I go, and seeing my story and characters come to life in Blender was so much fun.

What are your goals/plans that you want to accomplish next? I can see Greatness in you and your work. You put your all into it. As I read your stories, there are moments where I can connect on another level of that experience.

I would eventually like to invest in a PC powerful to handle faster rendering times, especially when it comes to animations and videos. Machinimas in blender are on a whole new level, and maybe if I don’t ever actually go back to making full machinima episodes, I’d love to see the Lost Boys characters come to life more in videos.

As I was checking out your page, I saw that you made a Gift Box for blender and in-game play. Is this a hint that we should be looking out for CC’s as well?

I’m still learning how to make custom content, but I have ideas for some fun “merch”, if you want to call it that, for the story. Little bits of memorabilia from certain moments and characters. I think that would be a lot of fun. As far as just creating game CC, I don’t have plans for that. Creating things and sharing them for Blender is a lot easier than creating files the game can handle, and that work properly.

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Comments from the simmers that is inspired by your craft: “Life Changing; Dark Elegance; Impressive; Grown and Sexy gameplay; Amazing; unique” And honestly, it was hard for them to even think of one word. Hearing some of these comments, did you expect to have that much of an influence on our community?

No, I didn’t expect that at all. “Grown and sexy gameplay” speaks right to my heart. I know NSFW content isn’t for everyone and is still, sadly taboo, but it’s my favorite to create and there’s so much that can be told solely through passion between characters. The fact someone said that’s how they see my content is incredible. I had no idea people thought this of a Sim story, especially mine.

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Any spoilers you can share with your Fan Followers, including myself?

Only spoiler I can give is that I don’t plan far ahead. At all. (lol) My info Linktree: https://linktr.ee/SLFJProductions Name: Jen (used to be known as simlifeforjen on twitter, and SLFJ Productions on YT (machinimas) )

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How to read Lost Souls on IG: From the beginning (bottom of the IG feed), or via the Highlights at the top of the profile. NOTE: I started this story in-game and switched to Blender starting at Chapter 11.

All Posts have been (and will continue to be) added to Highlights, in order.

If you just want to follow along with or catch up on certain characters, now you can!

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S�����e�i�.c�� Where fashion meets Gaming

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SIM MAG | Issue 24 August 2022

56 | Off Topic with Mojito The Cat

Issue 24 August 2022 | SIM MAG

Hello from Timmy and here we are with another instalment of Off Topic, where we deep dive into the gaming world that doesn’t involve The Sims!

There are a TON of Indie Game developers out there that create the most wonderful games, or they are in development.

The imagination of so many sparked by something so simple.

This month we talk to the creator of Mojito The Cat.

My name is Guillem, I’m 33 yo and I’m from Altafulla, a beautiful little town close to Barcelona.

About food, I couldn’t choose only one, Spain is full of delicious dishes!

Mojito is actually my Cat, and Woody was my mother's dog. Mojito was raised by Woody and they always had a special relationship.

Hello GTZAStudio, thank you for your time today. As you are a solo game developer, we would like to know more about you. Where are you from, How old are you, what's your favourite food, do you have any pets and if so what are they, what music do you prefer to listen to?

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I use music as a tool to help me boost my overall well being, reducing stress, encouraging and inspiring creativity I listen to a wide variety of styles depending on my mood or my current task type.

your studio and Mojito?

From the inspirational piano pieces of Ludovico Einaudi when I need deep inspiration and concentration to Deep house or Tomorrowland Sessions from artists like Lost Frequencies or Martin Garrix when I want to boost my productivity during pure production tasks.

Some other artists I love are Blink 182, Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, Imagine Dragons, Dire Straits, U2, The Kooks…

Most of my gamedev knowledge is learnt with self-training and youtube videos.

When I discovered UE4 in 2015, I didn’t know how to code but with time and effort I’ve been able to achieve my current level. At early stages, I used UE4 to create archviz interactive walkthroughs where clients could navigate their future houses and make decisions about it during the design process.

As an experienced solo game developer, I must say that you’re doing a good job designing puzzle and adventure games.

However, I wonder how your journey in the industry up to this point has been as I know that being a solo developer is not always easy. Could you tell us the story behind

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Thank you so much, nice words from other devs and gaming community people are always so motivational.

I started working on my first game while I was working on the Football Club Barcelona New Stadium Project (2019). At the beginning, I worked on my game afterworks, from 7pm till 1am. First concepts were just a way to express the creativity that I had inside, and I was not able to explore in my job.

As the game started shaping out, I decided to quit, focus on my game, and also develop

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archviz projects as a freelancer to get some funding.

It was not until 7 months ago that I decided to reject some projects and job offers to be fully focused on MTC: Woody’s Rescue.

When I made the decision, I had some savings but I had to assume that my life would be just working on the game. No spare time, no luxury, no money.

I think this has been the hardest part of being a full time indiedev for me, because knowledge can be learnt, you can overcome difficulties, but having to say NO to some plans with friends and family due to the lack of time & money, that's definitely not easy, specially in summer…

On the other hand, the positive feedback I’ve been receiving and watching how your project is growing is so satisfactory that it is worth more than anything.

We know that you were an architect before starting your journey in the game industry. I can see the setting structure is good because

of that very reason. As it is perfectly normal to have things we are bad at, is there anything you have found difficult to do and need to outsource in the process?

I define my workflow as a combination of programming skills with Unreal Engine, creativity from architecture to design levels and characters, managing knowledge from BIM Management to organize the project timeline and passion for Video Games to develop new unique and cute experiences.

In order to save time, generic 3d assets come from the UE4 marketplace, and the ones that are unique and identitary from the game are made by me. Modeling, hand painting, rigging & animation is also something I learnt through youtube.

Music is a different subject for me, I’m so bad at it. Despite the fact that I can't live without listening to music every day, and I always wanted to learn how to play the piano, me and no one in my family has been gifted with musical skills,

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Luckily I found two amazing composers who loved the project and helped me. I will keep working with them to create a unique BSO for MTC:Woody’s Rescue.

Have you ever experienced discouraging treatment from people so far, maybe veterans even; just because you are a solo developer?. Have you encountered any close-minded people who say that ‘making games alone is impossible’ and if so how do you deal with such people? Have you encountered any other hardships whilst building your own company and developing your games?

Honestly, I’ve never experienced this kind of feedback. In the social media I share the game progress I always find positive feedback and people encouraging me to keep pushing forward, something that I’m infinitely grateful for.

Family and friends have always been there supporting me, which is really important as well.

The only discouraging thing I’ve found is game promotion. It’s so frustrating when you work for several months to achieve some feature, you prepare the video for some days and after that your post is underseen.

Algorithms are so hard to understand and the only way to face and overcome it is to keep working and posting and not overthink about results. You have to have faith in what you are doing and think that someday it will get the attention it deserves.

When I see the pictures and videos of your adventure game, the game flow reminds me of Tomba, a PlayStation 1 and 2 game series. How did you come up with the idea for Mojito and did any game out there or life experience has an influence on your creation?

The Idea of Mojito as a cuberized Cat, comes from my first development. I created a puzzle with almost no knowledge about modelling and animation, but I wanted to have cute aesthetics.

I tried to turn my weakness into my strength by creating a simple shape as a cube, painting it to look like my Cat and make it roll as the main mechanic (Curiosity: Rolling on that game is mathematics driven, there is no animation).

As soon as my modelling and animation skills started to improve, I decided to make it more complex but without losing the essence of my character.

MTC - FROM CONCEPT TILL TODAY - ONE YEAR GAMEDEV PROGRESS From a developer who has worked with a publisher in my other studio, I think your puzzle game would be great for the mobile platform since you can add more levels for the players. I think publishers would be very interested in your game. Do you have any plan to port it to mobile?

My first game was designed as a mobile game, and I published it in Google Play. It was nominated for best mobile game of the year by thegdwc.

Now my biggest dream come true, Mojito the Cat will be released on Nintendo Switch thanks to @GamesRedDeer

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This is a very important milestone for me as a gamedev not only for the possible income that will surely help get some financial for my current project, but for motivation and self recognition.

It's hard to work on something that seems to lead you nowhere, that gives you no income and you are investing all your time and money on it. But things need their time and for this project it has taken 3 years to see some results.

Thank you for your time. I am sure our readers enjoyed our interview and got t know more about you and Mojito. It sounds like the games will have its own colour on the internet. Before we conclude this conversation, can you let our readers know if you have any communities to join and your official accounts they can follow?

I’m very friendly and I’m always open to receive DM’s with feedback and talk about video games!

Twitter is where I post gamedev stuff more often: https://twitter.com/GtzaStudio MTC: Woody’s Rescue Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ gtzastudio/mojito-the-cat-best-friend-rescue

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gtzastudio/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gtzastudio Website: https://gtzastudio.com/ Twitch.tv: https://www.twitch.tv/gtzastudio Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCES7QOX5_f6nZPEUaKhzQBw Steam Games Page: https://store.steampowered.com/search/ ?term=GTZASTUDIO

MEDIA IMAGES AND VIDEOS: MOJITO THE CAT - ENEMIES SHOWCASE MOJITO THE CAT - Customization MOJITO THE CAT - 2.5D Open World Zones

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SIM wi

64 | Sims Art with Simscraper

Issue 24 August 2022 | SIM MAG

MS ART ith SimScraper This month I would like to introduce an artist who has been very hard to pin down, that isn’t a bad thing, it just means this artist is in demand not only through their commission work but also in their personal lives, so when Simscraper was able to take the time in his busy schedule to talk with us, we were over the moon.

Simscraper joined Twitter in 2019 and has been delighting the Sims world with his gorgeous artwork which always has a fantastic Sims element of fun and humour included, his portrayal of the characters and his overhauls of some such a Bella Goth, are not only extremely detailed but give you an insight into just what this artist is all about.

Hi Billy and thank you for taking part in this August issue, it is finally nice to be able to chat to you about all things The Sims and your art of course. You are currently studying at Uni and I know this takes up an awful lot of your time, so I will make sure we do not inundate you with questions. I am sure our readers would like to know more about you Billy the human behind the Simscraper accounts.

Hi! It’s so lovely to be here, I feel SO excited and lucky to be here!

Tell us, how old are you, do you have any siblings, where are you from, what is your favourite food, do you have any hobbies, do you have a favourite item of clothing to wear and if so what is it, and if you could be king for the day, what would your first instructions to your people be?

I am 21 years old, born in march (a Pisces Sun, Leo Moon, Taurus Rising - astrology lover hehe). I have an older sister, and I’m currently living in the big city of London studying Public Relations at University. My biggest hobbies are drawing/illustration and animation. I also play around with video creation from time to time and would really love to get into creating music (video game sounds etc.) down the line! My favourite item of clothing is a baggy pant – you can *always* pair them with something, whether it’s an oversized shirt or small tee, to make a cute outfit! If I was king for the day I’d simply instruct people to have a bit of fun and be more creative. Things have become so dull and structured in our current societies, an injection of fun and passion would be my first decree as king.

Being a UK based company, we love featuring people who live here in the UK. Were you born in the UK and if so where, and if not where? What is your favourite

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part of living here and what is the worst? If you could live in any part of the world, where would it be and why?

What was the strongest influence you had when you were growing up artists, movies, cartoons, comics?

I was born here, in a little town in Hertfordshire. My favourite part of living here is just being close to my friends and family – they play such a huge role in my life so I’m super grateful to have them so close by. I’d say my least favourite part is the weather and, currently living in London, the extortionate price of coffee.

I’ve always loved living in big cities so somewhere like Paris or Rome would be nice – both hold extremely dear places in my heart and even living there for just a little while would make me happy.

When it comes to influences I always struggle to pinpoint a few exact ones.

Musically I love animated artists – people like Tierra Whack and Nicki Minaj have always captured my attention due to their animation and the way they manipulate their voices. Ghibli movies always cheer me up on my down days and the style has definitely always been a huge inspiration for me artistically – my art is nowhere near as beautiful but one can always hope!

There are a few odd series, movies and cartoons that have definitely inspired my style but I cannot for the life of me remember their names…

How long have you been playing The Sims and what first inspired you to start creating Sims Art? How has the

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community response been to your art?

I’ve been playing The Sims since I was quite young, for maybe 10 or 11 years now.

I remember being introduced to it by a friend, after school one day. She ultimately started my complete infatuation with these little animated people. I honestly don’t remember what inspired my first sims-related art piece. Thinking back on it, I believe I might have been creating some artwork to sell on RedBubble at the time and had already designed a bunch of things relating to my interests and hobbies – The Sims fit into that category rather well and so that kinda push started my descent into sims themed artwork and later commissions.

I like to think the community response has been good(?) for the most part I usually receive lovely replies and support from the community which I’m so insanely grateful for. I truly wouldn’t be where I am today or have the possibilities I do, and have had in past years, without them. I’ve definitely had ups and downs due to starting commissions at such a young age - it’s always a learning curve and I’ve had some really big mess-ups on quite a public platform. I remember receiving some pretty nasty comments and negative critiques a few years back that really hurt and upset me. I think it should be somewhat expected given how accessible apps like Twitter and Instagram are but it doesn’t make the impact any less hurtful or intense.

Mental health is something we like to make sure we support here at SIM

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Magazine, and I know you like many others have those times where you also need to take a break for your own mental health, does creating art help you in these areas of your life? And how do you stay motivated when you are having a bad day? What advice would you give to other artists who also struggle with their mental health?

Mental well-being definitely plays a massive role in my life as a creator. I spent a few too many years neglecting that side of things and have been practically microdosing artistic burn out for a while. Art can definitely help me feel better especially when it’s a piece I’m creating in my free time. There’s a lot of creative freedom, breathing room and stress relief that comes with creating something that doesn’t have to comply to any standards or audience expectations.

When it comes to having a bad day, that’s something I’m still navigating. I can often be quite tough on myself for not creating enough art in a day or if things aren’t going too well. I’m definitely improving but as with most things it’s a journey of growth.

I’d advise artists to put themselves first – at all times. No amount of money or likes or good feedback is worth destroying your mental state and brains capacity to create art. Be honest with your clients and tell them if you don’t feel you can finish something by a certain deadline - I’m still learning how to go about things like that, 7-8 years later, but more often than not you’ll find a lot of people are very understanding and also care about you protecting yourself from burn out too!

Is there something that you have designed that you are most proud of?

How has your style changed over time? Do you have a network of other artists, and if so how do they support you? How do you manage a work/Uni-life balance as an artist? Describe your ideal working environment for creating your art?

I think my proudest accomplishment either comes from my Bonehilda and Cottage Living pieces being shared on The Sims official Twitter and Instagram accounts or my series of Twitch emotes that I created for Stephen @SpringSims being posted on a series of Twitch Billboards around Times Square in New York. Both were quite insane to experience and witness and to this day I’m just kinda in awe about it all.

My style has evolved immensely though in recent years has followed a similar look – you can definitely tell the character archetype has remained the same. Comparing it to work from years beforehand always provides me with a good chuckle as the style and characters just looked SO bad!! It always makes me smile seeing how far I’ve come stylistically though. I don’t currently have a network of artists I talk to, though I’d really like to have one. Things can be a little lonely in the art world so if you’re an artist please reach out! Haha.

Balancing art and uni work can be tricky, there’s been many-a-time where I’ve skated far too close to a deadline due to mismanaging my time on either one. I like to think I’m getting there slowly though, balancing commissions while in year 2 at uni definitely worked out much smoother than year 1! My ideal working environment would

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honestly be my bedroom, my desk has a warm salt lamp, I have a tray of incense, some fairy lights and a warm blanket that keep me feeling cosy while working. To top it all off I LOVE the sound of rain in the evening, so a stormy night paired with my bedroom set-up would for sure be my ideal workspace.

The Sims account on Twitter has retweeted your art creations, how did it feel when they first did this and did this interaction from them inspire you more?

13 year old me would just be so insanely shocked that we’ve made it so far! It’s really sweet to think about and definitely pushes me to work even harder – I’d love to one day work on a project with them.

Your artist skills are highly sought after, not only do you create art for your own pleasure but you also offer commission work from, profile pictures and headers, to emotes and more, tell us about the work you offer through your commission work, and what was your favourite commission piece to date is that you can tell us about?

Oh my gosh, I was SO excited! I remember being at my boyfriends place the first time it happened and just jumping around, acting all giddy because I was so thrilled about it. It’s honestly such an honour and

I dabble in a few different things hehe, I’ve recently been teaching myself how to animate which is veryyy long overdue but also really exciting! I’m a little messy with it but with time and practice comes

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growth! Because of that I’m finally able to offer things like animated emotes, cheer alerts, intro videos, animated screens and more!

My favourite piece is a tricky topic, I have a lot of favourites but for different reasons.

One of them is a banner I created for Mollie @EnglishSimmer – it was actually the first commissioned piece I ever did so it’ll always hold a special place in my heart for that reason alone! A recent favourite was a sailor-moon/princess peach crossover piece I created for @AshGotSpice – it just turned out so pretty and girly and pink and I just loved it so much!

How often do you get to play The Sims and what did you think of the Werewolves pack released in June?

What are your favourite and worst packs in The Sims? Do you play with mods and CC and if so, who are your goto creators? Has anyone in the community been an inspiration to your own artwork?

Truth be told I really don’t get to play The Sims very often. Between my studies and out-of-school responsibilities I don’t have much downtime for hobbies and gaming in general, as sad as it makes me. Luckily, this summer is providing me with a bit more free time than I’m used to and I did get to explore the Werewolves pack for a little while! Personally I love the pack, you can tell a lot of passion went into creating each aspect of the game, especially on the lore side of things (one of my personal favourite aspects of The Sims games). The CAS and build buy items are brilliant and the world is really great too, I really feel it’s one of the most well-rounded packs we’ve received in recent years! It makes me excited for the future of The Sims 4, which is refreshing to say.

I have a few favourite packs, picking an overall favourite is like picking a favourite child… I just couldn’t do that to them

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*sigh*. I love The Sims 2 in general – it was the first game I got to fully explore and it provided some gems when it came to expansion packs – I really love all of them; from Seasons to Apartment Life, Freetime to Open for Business, Bon Voyage and Nightlife. They each provided so much gameplay and character and I just remember having so much fun with each of them! I really enjoyed Sims 3 Supernatural and Seasons with its inclusion of festivals – I remember feeling so cosy during the winter seasons, playing a little sims family at Christmas time.

When it comes to The Sims 4 it’s quite tricky, I feel as though a lot of them maybe haven’t been completed to their full potential and it makes them a little tricky to enjoy at times – I think my favourites are probably Snowy Escape and Cottage Living. As for my least favourite pack it probably has to be Island Living. The pack had sooo much potential but it fell so extremely short. The gameplay felt quite shallow and there was so much more that could’ve been done, especially with Mermaids.

I don’t currently play with mods or CC; however, it’s not out of choice. My current setup can barely load the game by itself, I dread to think how it’d play with the addition of Custom Content and Mods. I of course have a few creators and CC designers I follow and always check out @icemunmun @RAVASHEENCC @VanilaSims @IllogicalSimmer and @SixamCC are a few of the creators I follow and adore over on Twitter! I’ve always wanted to work alongside a CC creator to create some kinda CC kit or stuff pack – still holding out hope to do that one day down the line!

Speaking of art Inspiration and CC stuff packs - @LuddySimmer and @LittleDica over on Twitter have created some amazing stuff on Twitter recently, I’ve absolutely loved all of their creations!

Other artists I loveee and totally recommend to everyone reading are

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@CottoneeSocks (she makes THE most adorable cowplant figurines), @TazreenTasnim, and @LegaSimmer!

Now for a little fun! Continue the phrase: I would never draw… and why?

I would never draw… Judith Ward of course! The Agnes Crumplebottom-wannabe simply lacks the stardom other Sims icons possess, she does not deserve her own fan art *rolls eyes* …

Can you tell us 10 things you can do with a pencil other than drawing?

Oh wow… 10 things… I think I might struggle with this one, but let’s see…

1. Create a suave French moustache.

2. Use it as a cute hair accessory in your messy bun… did somebody say “it’s giving teacher”?

3.

Wendell’s visiting the main plaza… become a walrus and tuck two pencils in your top lip.

4. Play the drums… on quite literally any surface – what a variety of different noises you can make :p 5. Perform a magic trick – we all know the one. The bendy pencil trick.

6. Write something! Whether it be a list of all the sims you’ve killed in “accidental” house fires and pool incidents or it’s a confession of your immense love for Eliza Pancakes…

7. Simply rub out the many many mistakes you’ve made in life *sigh* 8. Curl your hair with it.

And that’s as many as I could get… I tried my hardest Sami I promise!!

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Haha I absolutely loved all those answers, getting to 8 was a fantastic try!

If the Sims asked you to create a design for any pack/stuff or kit across the whole Sims franchise, what would you like to design and why?

I actually did this one in my free time recently. I’d absolutely love to design some assets for a kids/ family themed pack. Over on Twitter I shared some toddler hairstyles I’d created some (fan made) concept art for. It’d absolutely be a dream to work on assets like that officially just because there’s so much variety, whimsy and fun to be had with them and I definitely think there’s a lack of such items in the game as it is in its current state.

And finally, can you tell us how our readers can find/ follow/subscribe to you and how would they contact you if they wanted to book you for a commission piece?

You can find me on either Twitter @SimScraper2 or Instagram @SimScraper :) my bio usually lists whether or not my commissions are currently open and people can enquire via DM! I’m always looking to make more friends within the community too so I’d love for people to message me outside of just commissioning me!

Thanks again for this wonderful interview Billy we look forward to seeing more of your beautiful art in the future and wish you every success at Uni and beyond.

Thank you Sami! I’m so grateful to have been given this opportunity, I always love checking out the magazine each month so it’s truly such an honour to be featured!

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Find Y�r

Dark Side With Thurask When looking for a Member to feature in this month’s magazine, there was one who stood out above the rest and it was a unanimous decision from the team in getting to know more about them.

Thurask has been an active member of not only our website but our social media pages, our discord group when we had it, and is also an active member in our NSFW group. Thurask has a wonderfully dark imagination that helps to bring their stories into life and some of the best taste in The Sims CC Lingerie I have ever come across, yet instead of keeping their discoveries to themselves, Thurask is always happy to share just where this CC is found and provide a link if needed.

Not only is Thurask a truly supportive member in our own community, but in so many others, so for our last printable magazine (for now), we just had to share with you, a wonderful community member and simmer in the incredible Thurask.

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We’d love to know a little more about you.

Who are you, where do you hail from?

What do you do in your spare time that isn’t creating stunning Sims and Simotography? I’m again going to borrow from our favourite game and ask you to let us know your favourite colour, music, décor and weather.

Call me K, I live in Toronto but I'm originally from the Middle East. I'm a full time student so most of my R&R time is spent Simming, I have to say. Still, I find the time to slot in other games (Skyrim's always good), books, practising my Python and binge-watching Netflix on occasion. As for my favorites, my favorite color is black; my favorite music is either classical or oldies (Paul Simon's Graceland is my desert island record); my favorite decor is simple and out of the way, which is probably why I'm no good at build mode; and my favorite weather is warm but not too warm and bright but not too bright.

Speaking of weather, as our theme this month is summer, what would make the perfect summer for you? Are you a lying on the beach kind of person, or are you more like me, a hiding in the house with all the curtains shut and the aircon running on full kind of person? What is your favourite summer activity IRL? K: Oh, definitely air conditioning and closed curtains! Even if I go somewhere warm for the winter I end up sipping coffee indoors and reading a good book rather than turning into a sundried tomato on the beach. My ideal summer day is sleeping in and wolfing down takeout while playing Sim photographer on my laptop, I gotta say.

You have been such an active member of our site since the very beginning, can I ask where you found out about us and what made you want to join?

K: I help out with the Dark Side Inc Twitter account (https://twitter.com/DSI_discord),

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and about a year ago I saw that we were Twitter mutuals with SimmedUp, as you were then. I liked what I saw on your page and I really liked what I saw in your Discord. I thought it'd be good to see what the SFW side of the community has to offer, especially a smaller Sims Discord, away from the "main community". When you moved from Discord to your current platform, I came along for the ride, and it's been great fun since.

I have to say it, you make some drop dead gorgeous Sims. Where do you get the ideas for your Sims? Do you have a favourite Sim that you or someone else has created, what makes them stand out to you?

K: Ideas for Sims vary, but I'll take my two favorite ones as examples of the usual thought processes. Right at the top is, with apologies to Van Morrison, my brown eyed girl, Leila (SFW photo 1). At the time I was in a rut with making Sims, they all kind of looked similar, pale girls with glasses and preset faces; not that there's anything wrong with that, but I decided to broaden my perspectives and make a Sim that looked, well, different. At the same time, fortuitously, I was listening to my music and Eric Clapton's Layla came on; I put two and two together and put the song on a loop while I got to work in CAS. I think she was one of the longest design processes in CAS I ended up doing, getting to the point where I was putting my arm up against the screen to get the skin tone *just* right, or going back and forth to get the curvature of the nose *just* right. I think that unique quality of putting a little bit of myself into her creation process is why she's my queen. :) Music can be a good inspiration for Sims, other than Leila I've got a Cecilia by way of Simon & Garfunkel and a (Darling) Nikki by way of Prince, among others. As for my other favorite, Yvonne (see SFW photo 3), I sometimes get inspiration for Sims when I'm just browsing Reddit or Instagram, or watching a show or movie. In

Issue 24 August 2022 | SIM MAG Yvonne giving bedroom eyes to the camera. The top, bottom and gloves are Regina Raven; "gothy" is one of my favorite aesthetics to try to pull off.

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From left to right, Rebecca, Thalia, Carmen, Nikki, Mariko, and Nina (Leila's sister), all wearing Sentate's Midnight collection. Sentate is another one of my favorite authors, especially for haute couture yet Maxis Match CC.

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Leila in her natural habitat, i.e. posing somewhere. Behind her is Tartosa, the main reason why I bothered with the Wedding Stories pack.

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her case, I remember she's based on someone from a TV show, but it's been long enough ago that the show's slipped my mind completely. The more I step away from presets the better I feel about the end result, and trying to go off of a real person is impetus enough to throw presets to the wind and design from the heart.

The outfits you find for these Sims are always so striking, how do you find the amazing CC you use? Are there any CC creators you particularly lean towards, if so why?

K: I much prefer Maxis Match to alpha, although there are occasions when alpha or alpha-like CC has its places. Still, my usual ports of call for finding CC are the Maxis Match finds blog (https:// maxismatchccworld.tumblr.com/) and the pose master-list blog (https://ts4poses.tumblr.com/). If I browse for something to scratch a specific itch and end up finding what I want, I check to see the creator's other offerings, which more often than not are stuff I'd end up liking and downloading. As well, I generally keep tabs on the creator's Tumblr or Patreon or TSR page to see what they come up with in the future. Repeat that process over three or four years of Simming and you end up with a 240GB mods folder. ;) One trick I like for outfits is clothes in accessory slots, like accessory corsets, bolero jackets, stuff that you can layer over or under another outfit to add a bit of spice as long as the textures don't override each other. There are many CC creators who really gel with my favorite aesthetics for Sims, I know I can't name them all, but if I had to pick three I think need shouting out: Nany Design (https:// nany-design.tumblr.com/) for absolutely gorgeous clothing CC; Bellassims (https:// bellassims.tumblr.com/) for all sorts of neat Maxis Match CC; and Regina Raven (https:// regina-raven.tumblr.com/) for impeccable goth-style CC.

Your in-game photography is always stunning, are there any tips and tricks you can give us and our readers around how to improve our simotography game?

K: When I started Simming I was running TS4 on a business laptop with bottom of the barrel graphics; upgrading my laptop a few years later and playing on all ultra helps, as does Simp4Sims' graphics overhaul override: https://www.patreon.com/posts/ overhaul-01-57965057 . I don't use ReShade at all, or any post-processing in GIMP if I can avoid it, I try to get as much as I can done inside the engine. The stage lighting objects added by Get Famous help a lot, as do the color and dimmer options for the in-game lighting. The teleport option from MCCC is also vital, as I can plop down a garden gnome teleporter to get grid-perfect positioning if needed, as well as placing multiple Sims inside each other for group poses. Wicked Whims newly added a pose player system, which also works with its positioning system, so with some practice I can get even finer control on where the Sim stands during the pose. Wicked Whims is also useful for the instant undress options, which let me change outfits and remove accessories midphotoshoot, without popping open CAS. Andrew's Studio Effect Player is good if I need to set up a backdrop of flames or some other effect. I don't use CAS poses, I do everything in live mode; for backdrops I usually find a lot or room from gallery that matches the aesthetic I'm going for and place it down. For framing the shot, I usually fiddle around with the free camera's field of view for better framing; my idea of framing is mostly based on gut feelings and half-remembered high school lectures about the golden ratio and the rule of thirds. And one other tip, to keep the walls and ceiling visible during a shot, bring up the walls fully, go up one floor (or more if the setting is a courtyard, atrium, or something similar), turn on free camera, then drop the camera through the floor to the level where the Sim is. Last, but definitely not

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Ekaterina, wearing Nany Design, in one of my "fun rooms". I turned off all the lights except for the NoirAndDark neon sign on the wall for a chiaroscuro effect.

least, the pose itself is important, scouring the pose finds blog for good poses and good creators is important to build up a library of stuff for photoshoots. If I had to recommend a few pose creators for photoshoots off the top of my head, again, I can't name them all, but some names that come to mind are: JoanneBernice (https:// joannebernice.tumblr.com/); Moc (http:// micnpanchi.blog97.fc2.com/); ROSELIPA ( h t t p s : / / r o s e l i p a o f fi c i a l . t u m b l r . c o m / ) ; Sciophobis (https://sciophobis.tumblr.com/); and Acha (https://acha-sims.tumblr.com/).

If Maxis could create a pack especially for you, what would it be and what sort of things would it include?

K: To be honest, I think what Maxis could offer me while remaining SFW has already been done between Get Famous and Moschino, i.e. things to help out with Sim photography. When it comes to new packs my priorities are probably different than most other players; I bought the My Wedding Stories pack knowing it was a buggy mess if I were actually to play through it, but since it came with a lovely new world and new CAS items for me to use and for CC authors to remix, I felt good about it. That said, my very short Maxis wishlist since day one is base game nails (which they already did), slow dancing (which they also already did, with the My Wedding Stories pack), and a couple more Newcrests so I could plunk down more lots; really new worlds in general is something

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I'd like, blank canvas or not, but still. Of course, if they want to bump up the game rating from T to M, I'm all ears. ;) Now, I want to talk a little about Dark Side Inc (DSI), if that’s OK. It’s fairly new to me, so please correct me if I’m wrong. It’s a Discord server, quite heavily biassed towards the NSFW crowd, where like minded Sims can get together, chat and share their creations.

Like I asked earlier about how and why you joined us, can you tell us a little about your journey with DSI? K: It started a few years ago as a safe space for NSFW. I had discovered the joys that NSFW Simming had to offer by that point, so it only felt right to join a dedicated community. The different vibe between it and other Sims Discords was something I liked and still like, it felt like a classy club with cigars and cocktails, as it were. In fact, I have to say the monthly photography challenges that DSI runs were what sparked me to really get into pose photography. After some time posting and chatting I was offered a spot on the moderator team and I've been a moderator ever since. I was also asked to help run the Dark Side Inc Twitter account when that started up as a way to drum up engagement, which is how I found SimmedUp, and the rest is history.

You can find thurasks amazing Sims cc free on the gallery. Their origin ID is thuraski!!

Written by The Simming Spoonie

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Top: Nikki and DeMarcus, one of my power couples. If I remember correctly the animation is actually a Wicked Whims animation; if it works, it works.

Yvonne giving bedroom eyes to the camera. The top, bottom and gloves are Regina Raven; "gothy" is one of my favorite aesthetics to try to pull off.

Bottom: Ahsoka Tano fighting an Imperial officer. I made this for Star Wars Day this year, the interaction is from the Batuu pack while the lighting is placing down a bunch of fires with the Studio Effects Player and putting the camera at just the right spot to get the silhouette effect.

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Eighteen of my self-made Sims, which is about half of my cast; for the pose I think I went on the masterlist and looked for the biggest one they had.

Front row L-R: Mariko, Diana, Leila, Paul, Cecilia, Yvonne. Back row L-R: Siobhan, Carmen, Thalia, Melissa, Robert (being held), James, Patrick, Edwina, Rebecca, DeMarcus, Ekaterina, Nikki.

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Co�unity Sims Fe�t��i�g E�� Pur����

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Sul Sul! I'm Elyssa, also known on the Sims 4 as #ElyPurpura. I'm a cat rescue worker, a Tarot Reader & an avid Simmer. I recently received my degree in Art Therapy. I'm currently

residing in Guayaquil, Ecuador, though I studied college in the US. & lived in the hippie Mecca that is Asheville, NC, and deep down south in Mississippi for many years.

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I love creating Sims and making homes designed to suit their unique personalities and aesthetics. (One of my frustrated dreams was to be an interior designer, so

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Sims 4 helps me scratch that designer itch).

Part of the reason I love creating on Sims 4, is that it allows for my creativity to flow, my inner writer to come out and it can

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sometimes even provide me an emotional outlet that offers a sense of catharsis. I like to highlight Diversity, in all its forms, and celebrate my Latina heritage. I get a kick

out of being silly and humorous with my creations and I lean heavily into fantasy.

Through my creations, I like to explore beauty as well as what's ugly but relevant.

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Su�ertime in The Sims

From the beginning, any of The Sims base games that have been released have been set in the Summer, or at least nice sunny, dry weather. Every day seems to be the same but without Summer activities.

During The Sims 1, the "On Holiday" expansion pack was released which enabled your Sim to experience different weather patterns but only by going on vacation.

A new neighbourhood was introduced entitled "Vacation Island" where your Sim could choose from a total of threeholiday destinations to visit, namely camping, a winter wonderland and a

beach resort. It was the beach resort where your Sims could really experience Summer by sunbathing or making sandcastles on the beach!

The Sims 2 When The Sims 2 was released in 2004, again every day was basically the same, nice sunny dry weather but without the fun activities that Summertime brings.

However, everything was about to change in 2007 when The Sims 2 Seasons expansion pack was released.

Having real seasons and weather in all of The Sims neighbourhoods was a first for the franchise. The player didn't need to take their Sim away on vacation to experience different weather conditions as in the original game; the weather came to the neighbourhood! Rain, snow, hail, hot sunshiny weather, leaves turning colour and falling from the trees and with it came winter clothing and lots of seasonal activities. “Temperature” was also introduced into the game, not just for the weather (cold in winter and hot in

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summer) but for individual Sims too. Sims could now get cold or freeze to death in the winter or overheat and get sunstroke in the summer. Even Sims working out could get too hot and pass out from the heat.

Unlike The Sims 4 where we have summer outfits as well as winter ones, The Sims 2 Seasons gave our Sims just winter outfits to keep our Sims warm when venturing out into the cold. Of course, there were summer dresses and shorts and tees from the base game that Sims could wear during those hot summer months but with the addition of this new expansion pack, Summer would never be the same again in The Sims.

Fishing There were many activities added to the game with the Seasons expansion pack but the main ones, especially for Summer, included gardening and fishing and talent badges could also be earned, enabling your Sim to hone in further on their skill. Fish caught could be cooked on the barbecue for a tasty meal or even mounted and placed on the wall for all to see.

game. These trees needed to be trimmed, which is something we didn't have again in future The Sims releases. Trimming the trees and talking to them kept them happy and healthy and all the plants that your Sim grows will give great quality fruit and vegetables. All produce can be placed in the refrigerator for future use and if you had a juicer, fruit and vegetables could be placed in there for a fresh and healthy drink!

Placing a bug loft near your plants kept pests away from your harvestables and compost bins were also available that your Sim could place their garbage into for recycling. Even the newspaper which is delivered every day in The Sims 2 can be composted! When preparing the ground for planting seeds, your Sim will need to fertilise the soil with compost. This will cost 10 simoleons a bag but if your Sim has a full compost bin, this can then be done for free.

Gardening Gardening saw the addition of seeds to grow, namely tomatoes, cucumber, strawberries, pole beans, peppers and eggplant but your Sim had to earn particular talent badges to enable all of them. The addition of a greenhouse allowed your Sim to garden all year round and children were able to garden too! Ambrosial lemon, apple and orange trees were also added to the

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Scarecrows were also added to the game but were mainly decorative, although they could scare your Sim if they stared at them long enough! The Seasons expansion pack

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Your Sim could also join the Garden Club, which was a prestigious affair, and if your Sims garden was good enough, they would be accepted into the club. A Wishing Well would also be given to your Sim (something that could not be purchased in buy mode) as a garden club gift. However, your Sim would only receive this if your garden was up to par with flourishing plants and by keeping it clean and tidy. Your Sim can drink from the well (which will lower their temperature - great for the summer heat) and also make wishes, including for romance, friends or money. also saw the addition of the penguin which would normally come to visit your lot during the winter. If your Sim had built a snowman, the penguin would stroll over and chat with it. However, sometimes a penguin would come to your lot in the summertime, even walking through your house, and popping over to speak to the scarecrow!

Bugs, Weather and Objects Catching butterflies and fireflies was another activity that was added to the game and would further your Sims nature hobby enthusiasm. Sometimes, when your Sim is hunting bugs, they may get chased by bees!

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Because of weather and seasons being added to the game, it only made sense to have a weather channel on TV. Sims can now check the weather channel to see what the weather will be like for that particular day, which was a nice little added extra detail to the game.

Even though the lemonade stand was added to The Sims 2 Open for Business expansion pack, I wanted to include it here as lemonade certainly goes with summertime! Both adults and children can make lemonade on their lot from the stand and sell it to passers-by.

The Weathernaught 57X weather machine was an aspiration reward that was also shipped with the Seasons expansion pack. This enabled your Sim to be able to change the weather, for example, snow in summer or hot sun in the winter. This was great if you wanted to have a wedding outside in the winter as you could make it nice and sunny and dry. However, as with all objects in The Sims, the machine could go wrong...

Overheating and Sunburn

Pool slides were also added to the game to enable your Sim to slide into the swimming pool for lots of summer fun!

With the addition of Seasons and summertime, your Sims could overheat if they were not careful.

Getting sunburnt, overheating and passing out was now a thing and if your Sim did get burned in the summer heat or by sunbathing, their face and parts of their body would turn red. Of course, Sims could also get tanned whilst sunbathing and you would see their skin turn a nice tanned shade of brown.

After a few days however, this tan would fade and your Sim would turn back to their normal skin colour, just like in real life!

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The Bon Voyage expansion pack was released 6 months after the Seasons EP which enabled Sims to sunbathe on the beach, make sandcastles and swim in the sea when on vacation. Searching for seashells was also a fun activity but beware as your Sim could be bitten by a crab!

The Seasons and Bon Voyage expansion packs complemented each other, giving lots of activities for your Sims to enjoy during the summertime and other times of the year.

Even though The Sims base games are always shipped with nice weather, the addition of a Seasons expansion pack certainly brings more realism to the game. Having temperatures added not just to the weather cycles but to the individual Sims as well, makes the summertime more interesting and varied.

MinicartTSR (Jules) A Simmer for over 20 years, you can find me on the following websites: YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/MinicartTSR Twitter - https://twitter.com/MinicartTSR TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@minicarttsr Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/MinicartTSR/

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Trait Mods With Chingyu Welcome to our Mods and Modders section where each month we get the opportunity to talk to one of the many amazing creators within the community.

This month we talk to Vicky Sims aka Chingyu1023 who has created over 100 trait mods for simmers to use which enhance their gameplay.

As a very basic mod user myself, I am eager to learn more about these mods, what's coming up and the person behind the mod creation.

Hi VickySims or is it Chingyu, what do you prefer to be called?

Hi! Vicky is my nickname used at school and ChingYu is my first name. I like to be called my given name but some of my friends find it hard to pronounce Chingyu.

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It’s always good to get to know the background of the people in the community, I think with social media being probably the most used way to interact with people now, we don’t always get to learn much about who simmers and creators really are other than their public profiles. I and I are sure our readers would love to know more about you. How old are you, What country do you currently live in and were you born there? What's your favourite music to listen to? Do you have a favourite comfort food? Which pronoun do you prefer to use? Do you have any pets and if you could meet anyone alive or dead, who would it be and why?

I’m 24 years old and I’m currently living in Hong Kong. I live in a village house with a rescued pet bird and my brother, who I can play video games with. And I love listening to K-pop and re-creating my favorite K-pop idols in the Sims. One of my favorite artists is the late Kim Jonghyun and I feel like he is still forever living in my game. I can relate to his music presumably because we are both romanticists and imaginative. I prefer the pronoun They/Them.

How long have you been playing The Sims and how did you get into modding or what happened for you to decide you

wanted to ‘change’ your Sims game yourself?

I have been playing The Sims 4 since 2015. I would call myself a storyteller type of gamer.

I like creating interesting characters and writing plots for them. Then I found the game a bit shallow in the personality aspect compared to the detailed CAS editing mode and great visuals. That drives me to create custom traits and eventually did more mods for other gameplay aspects.

Our team had a lot of questions they wanted to ask you so this one comes from The Simming Spoonie: I love that you have some mods focused on inherited traits/rewards. What made you decide to make these types of mods? Are they more difficult to code than regular trait mods?

Personality (CAS) traits are quite restricted because there is a limited number of CAS traits your Sim can have and they can’t be assigned to Sims in genetics. Hence, I decided to make a reward (gameplay) trait version of them so that I can do inheritance mods for them and mod users can pick a version they prefer. It is not particularly difficult to code for the reward version, but building and maintaining two versions simultaneously means twice the workload.

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AsGraceCreates asks: Is there a difference between making mods for lot traits and mods for CAS traits? If there is, how is it different? If there is none, which is easier to create?

Lot traits and CAS traits are different in tuning types technically. Knowing the common coding of buff tuning helps to do the core buff for both. Although I have more experience in making personality traits, I personally find Lot traits easier to produce.

Conceivably because I create Lot traits for functionality while wanting more in-depth qualities and representatives for personality mods.

SueSimming asked: What's your favourite part about creating mods and What is your favourite mod that you just can't play without?

My favorite part of creating mods is experimenting with mod ideas. I have many new modding visions in my brain and it is always a bliss to see them implemented in the game. I cannot open the game without my Smarter Self-Care simply because I despite forcing my Sims to eat and sleep, especially when playing with a large household of eight Sims. Less Obsession is also a must-have for me because there is no way for my Sims to work on their skills or relationships when they are too obsessed with their computers or an ice cream machine.

I don’t often play live play myself and mostly play with the build side of the game or CAS, so for someone like me who is still very new to live play, can you explain what your mods do and how they can improve gameplay to make it more interesting, which one of your mods has been downloaded the most?

I made a wild range of gameplay mods going from ones for improving the base game by enhanced autonomy, more realistic needs and emotions, and more genuine relationships to some pack-specific mods like Seasons Traits, Holiday Tradition Override, and Club Filter. There are also mods to make gameplay more appealing with additional

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content like Metabolism, Trait Inheritance mods, and Skill Decay. And of course, my 100 Base Game Traits Pack is the most downloaded because of its diversity.

The Simming Spoonie Asks: you have some relationship modifying mods, why do you think people want faster or slower relationship changes? Is this type of mod difficult to code for?

I found it unrealistic for Sims to make best friends and get married to others within a few Sim hours. This’s why I made Slower Relationship Changes, Faithfulness Mod, and other mods to modify social autonomy and prohibit romance on specific Sims. I also provide Faster Relationship Progress for people who desire more cheaty gameplay. It is not hard to code yet it requires diligence to playtest the game to set a suitable value regarding autonomy. They are also more likely to be broken by patches since they edit some common game tunings.

AsGraceCreates and SueSimming ask: How do you manage your mods, especially when there are new patch updates and How long does it take to update your mods after patch day?

I compare the XML of my mods and the tunings after patches to see if there’s a coding change. I then playtest the game with my mods to make sure they work properly in the game for a new patch. I report my mods’ status for patches in a google spreadsheet and announce it on my Discord Server, Twitter, Tumblr, and Patreon monthly changelog post. It usually takes me less than a week to update for patches but a traitbreaking patch could take more time because there are currently 300+ trait packages for me to maintain.

SueSimming and I Ask: You focus mainly on traits, why? and have you ever tried to mod any other part of The Sims, if so what was this for and was it a success or failure?

Traits and other trait-related kits are a major part of my creations because that’s what I

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found the game lacks the most as a life simulator. Besides my popular 100 Traits Pack, I do various themed traits packs such as Toddler Traits, Absent Emotion Traits, and Supernatural Traits. Yet, I have many other helpful gameplay mods tweaking autonomy, relationships, emotions, and needs. I enjoy doing tuning mods just as much as my custom traits. The numbers of those mods are actually more than my more well-known traits packs! Who knows!? (laugh) The Simming Spoonie Asks: How do you decide what type of mod you want to work on next? Do you play and think, this could do with tweaking, taking suggestions from your community, or a bit of both?

I get many random modding ideas when I play the game. I would build a draft to test them first to make sure an idea is possible to be implemented. Then I would ask on my Discord server to see if my subscribers are interested in that type of mod. Although I don’t necessarily take requests except for

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adding more objects in Less Obsession and adding other creators’ traits in Club Filter, I have accepted quite a few interesting mod ideas. It is important to me that a mod of mine is useful for and well-loved by endusers.

There are so many wonderful modders in the community, have you ever done a collaboration and if so with who and what was it, and if not, is there anyone you would like to collab with and why?

I have been maintaining two mods specifically for other creators, the Custom Traits In Club Filter and Sorted Traits Picker. I also have overrides of my traits to use Lumpinou’s custom moods, and add-ons to add Halaene’s custom preferences with my Age Up Add Preferences. I collaborated with Midiar to assign my Metabolism Reward Traits in her BetterSims. I’m currently working with Turbodriver to integrate my traits into his WW archetype system. It is always welcoming to refer to my custom traits if

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you are a creator. One of my main goals in modding is to make sure most of my mods are compatible with other amazing creators' mods.

Modding sounds super complicated to me, I wouldn’t even know where to start with wanting to change something within my game. How hard would you say modding was from your first attempt to how it is now and for other aspiring modders in the community, do you have any advice, tips or words of encouragement that could help them on their way?

Modding can be both fun and challenging.

I grow from knowing nothing of XML language to writing codes in S4S. If you are

interested in modding, I suggest working on small ideas first, like doing a noautonomy mod or a buff replacement. You can also join this creator server for useful resources and get help from experienced modders!

Thank you so much for chatting with us and letting our readers learn about you and your brilliant mods. Before we go is there anyone you would like to give a shout-out to, anyone in the community who has inspired you, or your followers?

And how can our readers find and follow you?

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my patrons. Even subscribing for only a month makes a big contribution to

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supporting my modding work. It has encouraged me to maintain a huge amount of custom traits and mods for the frequent patches and to constantly release new content per month! I was anxious when I gave up my other part-time jobs to focus on modding. It turns out to be one of the best decisions that I've ever made!

And I want to thank many of my modding friends, including MizoreYukii, Kuttoe, Frankk, LeRoiDeTout, and many more, who have helped me with modding questions. I would also like to give a shout-out to Luth,

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Shino Nox, and Scarlet who are dedicated to notifying us of mod news!

All of my mods are downloadable on Patreon, which are available to the public once pass the 21 days of early access. You can find me hanging around on Twitter and Tumblr. Follow me to get notified with mod updates! For technical support of my mods, you can join my Discord server. I put all my mod info, open resources, and contacts on my Official Site.

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116 | Just For Fun

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Just for fun

Guess The CAS This months CAS was originally created by DocPemberton Find them on the gallery.

118 | Just For Fun

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Learn Simlish Sherb/Shake Za Woka Genava/I think you are hot Garner Frash/Damn Aranganda/Move away Minicule/Cat Lalo/Milk Nicloske Ga Gloope/I would like a taxi to come pick me up Ah, Docka Morpher/Hey, I know what you mean Paba/Pain Ole-Like M Joel/Attention, Help!

Huree/I'm tired

Dustin Aey Ball/Bend and stretch now Find a list of Simlish/English words on our website Just For Fun | 119

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120 | Just For Fun

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July Issue 23 Answers

Did you find all ten last month?

Did you Guess The CAS? Answer: Niki Minaj

originally created by Crislyred Re-Created by 0089xx

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L e�

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Leo Celebs

Mick Jagger July 26th 1943

LEO July 23 – August 22 The stakes have been high and the challenges have been in proportion as a new wheel rolls your way to travel in a good direction. A good attitude with a strong thinking process will support your desires yet your needs are more prominent than your wants right now. Don’t become complacent or you will tip over the edge.

Madonna August 16th 1958

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Love Along with endearing moments to support another and not make it all about you will bring great reward as openness of communication puts things right.

Luck what you make it but the roll of the dice may surprise you so think positive for a better outcome than you first thought.

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May 21 - June 20

June 21 - July 22

August 23 - September 22

As summer progresses your surroundings shadow you from stress with refreshing days ahead, don’t become complacent or you will regret it.

The wind will change direction to give you a push as you overcome an obstacle of life, meditation will bring focus on what is important to you.

Do you feel overThe kaleidoscope of life has you questioning loyalty be cautious with your words and keep your circle small for your own wellbeing.

Lucky Numbers: 12, 10, 13 Love: Begins with R

Lucky Numbers: 5, 16, 45 Love: Gives Pink Vibes

Lucky Numbers:1, 22, 38 Love: Warnings Beware

September 23 - October 22

October 23 - November 21

November 22 - December 21

A short break will bring harmony, listen to your own gut feelings and all will stay strong with you. A close friend may need advice and support be mindful.

Balancing all aspects of life can be overwhelming, stop, focus, look within and work on one thing at a time, rose quartz for harmonising self-love will help.

Someone’s happy right now, flowers, attention and appreciation is shown as you celebrate, wear something yellow and shine your light.

Lucky Numbers:2, 12, 82 Love: Has Many Sizes

Lucky Numbers:15, 31, 65 Love: Get back to nature

Lucky Numbers: 7, 52, 36 Love: 9pm is the hour

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December 22 - January 19

January 20 - February 18

February 19 - March 20

Cosy nights ahead, hot chocolate and a pamper session will align your physical and spiritual to enhance you mentally. A gift brings a smile of gratitude.

Film night and looking after yourself is definitely needed as work is a little challenging yet unexpected praise brings peace when least expected.

Brace yourself for a spring boost as your thoughts are on change, a room with a view and decorating ready for a friendly visitor isn’t far away now.

Lucky Numbers: 2, 22, 32 Love: Watch for navy blue

Lucky Numbers: 6, 18, 55 Love: Begins with ST

Lucky Numbers: 9, 30, 51 Love: Be Patient

March 21 - April 19

April 20 - May 20

The lines are a little blurred right now, time to take a step back and view your way forward from another angle. The spotlight will be on you as a new month dawns.

A whirlwind month ahead for you with strong connections and a view to commitment but don’t let it go to your head and love will open a new door.

Lucky Numbers: 7, 44, 52 Love: Shows you light

Lucky Numbers: 15, 18, 13 Love: Share your skills

Sandie Woolford We are pleased to announce the Rev Sandie Woolford with many years experience in the spiritual world, she will be bringing your predictions each month right here in our EXCLUSIVE

SimScopes.

Welcome to the team Sandie.

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Congratulations to Dawn15m whose Version of the Summer Dollhouse was gorgeous and kept to all our rules for the SUPShellJuly22 challenge.

Dawn15m is a second time winner and achieved another spot on our leaderboard! She now has increased her chances to win that CASH! You can find this on our website along with Dawns details.

All our leaderboard winners have the chance to win cash at the end of the year.

The next SUPShell challenge is

#SUPShellAUG22 Now open for all to enter and closes on the 25th August..

GoodLuck

Supinmedia.com

128 | The Winner Is...

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Behind Th Sami Simsimmerly

Ivana BunnyBananaSims

This Could Be You!

Sulzisim

The Simming Spoonie

This Could Be You!

Loukia13D

asGracecreates

This Could Be You!

Sandie Woolford

Ikea

Did you know become one o member Contact us via Today. Supin 130 | Behind The Scenes

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he Scenes Charmful

MiniMurph

This Could Be You!

Lady TMP

Bklynmayhem

K8simsley

Suesimming

This Could Be You!

AlphaisTimz

w you could of our Team rs too? a our website nmedia.com

minicartTSR

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