SimmedUp Magazine - May issue 21 by SUPinmedia

Issue 21 - May 2022

Editor‘s Letter SulSul Simmers, No matter what stage of human or sims life you are at, we know that everyone loves a bit of retro. How retro can we go? This month both Sup and Style mag has hit the retro scene hard, bringing you gorgeous content and interviews. ‘

Not only do we take you back to the groovy 70s, but we also cover fashion and art from the 1900s right up to the 1980s! Tell me, where can you get sims content created by a genuine community team and is far more than just a lookbook. Many people think running a magazine is easy, but little do they know this is a 24/7 commitment. I am so lucky to have such a talented team that understands this because we love The Sims, and you, the community, just so much. Featuring awesome simmers such as OnlyAbiDoang, who entertains the community via YouTube. We have EmmiBouquet, a sims artist who is also a tattooist. We also bring a retro Mario mod to life with Adelino1951, while showing sims creations from TheSimline ‘That 70’s sim’ (we couldn’t resist these gorgeous retro sims). Additionally, we have the brilliant MiaLustre and blender artist in Steven Studios. With articles from MinicartTSR, K8Simsley, AsGraceCreates, TheSimmingSpoonie, and ArdiPutra to inform, teach, and astound you. We welcome Ikea to the team covering Non-Bob News, and boy was their controversy in the community this month. Why not have a go at our spot the difference or grab your monthly forecast with our EXCLUSIVE Simscopes. ‘

No matter what your simming pleasure is this month, as usual, SimmedUp has your fix ready to be delivered. DagDag, until next time,

SimSimmerly 2

Image Credit: AsGraceCreates

CONTENTS

Non Bob News - CC & The Sims Updates

Retro Corner - with MiniCartTSR

$92

Tips & Tricks - with K8Simsley

$12

Get to Know - OnlyAbiDoang YT Sensation

$106

Introducing - MissDitch

$18

Simspiration - Be Inspired with K8Simsley

$116

Guest Spot - with RD.PTRA

$22

Packs & Kit Reviews - Throwback Fit Kit

$120

SGU Highlights - TracySim11

$32

Making a Simmer - Simline ‘That 70s Sim’

$128

Sims Art - Get to know MiaLustre

$138

The Rose Chronicles - with StassiJSims4

$150

Mods & Modders - with Adelino1951

$158

Just For Fun - Simlish Fun for Everyone

$166

CC Spotlight - Kardofe CC Retro Diner

$38

Cooking Sims Style - Granny & AsGraceCreates $42 Your Sims - with EmmiBouquet

$50

MachiniMax - with ThePeonySimmer

$70

Titan Architect - with Good_Vibes_ts4

$74

Off Topic - Boardgames with Timmy

$84

AlphaIsTimz -

$88

Survivors Challenge

Anytime You Need Us 24/7 - 365

Simscopes - What does May hold in store for you? $168 Whats Up - DvrthMol Shell & More

$170

Meet Our Team - The people behind the Scenes $186

www.supinmedia.com Twitter & Instagram

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Diner Image Credit: Good_Vibes_ts4

Since 2020

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

Picture credit: AsGraceCreates

UPDATE 3/31/2022 My Wedding Stories Patch Update PC: 1.86.157.1030 Mac: 1.86.157.1230 Console: Version 1.56.20 Bug Fixes My Wedding Stories This patch includes a long list of bug fixes including Wedding Activities, Wedding Ceremonies, Sentiments, Wedding Attire, etc. EA.com

UPDATE 4/1/2022 Addressing “Error Code: 0” with Wedding Cakes and Neighbor Careers PC: 1.86.166.1030 Mac: 1.86.166.1230 Console: Version 1.57.2 Bug Fixes The Sims 4 My Wedding Stories This patch includes “two fixes addressing «Error Code: 0» some of you might be encountering when trying to save.” EA.com

UPDATE 4/26/2022 Looking forward to a fresh new look PC: 1.87.40.1030 Mac: 1.87.40.1230 Console: Version 1.58 Bug Fixes Base Game Discover University Outdoor Retreat Decor to the Max This patch includes an update to the main menu screen, new surveys regarding the future of the Sims 4, and various bug fixes. EA.com

Sul Sul! This month a lot of little things happened, so much so we are going to need to split this up into smaller sections so you can keep up! There have been updates, bug fixes and even some controversy among simmers! My Wedding Stories Patch! On March 31st, 2022, The Sims released a patch update fixing at least some of the bugs with the My Wedding Stories game pack, as they had promised earlier that same month. As we all know, this pack was shrouded in controversy since its reveal trailer launched and, after having been released with multiple bugs, missing content and negative reviews, The Sims team was hard at work, working to fix the things going wrong. According to many simmers’ opinions, the game is indeed running better now, weddings events can actually be finished in time, and guests are behaving accordingly. There are still things the community would like to see fixed and improved so hopefully they will continue improving on this pack! Sims Delivery Express! On April 13th, 2022, a new SDX drop happened. This update was not a large one but it did include a new hairstyle and a new scenario! The new hair, a two-colored short length hair, is available for all ages and simmers seem divided in their opinions about it! Some absolutely

love it, others do not, and some dislike the fact this hair was made available for the toddler age stage since it includes brightly-colored dyed hair. The new scenario “Plant-a-Sim” brought with it an occult that had been in previous iterations of the game and even in The Sims 4 back in 2016: the Plant Sim! This scenario focuses on doing various tasks before your Plant Sim “wilts”!

Doxxing Controversy Finally, some uncomfortable news. During the week of April 18th, the community of Simmers on Twitter spoke out about the ever-growing risk of doxxing by CC creators towards their followers. Doxxing, as defined by MerriamWebster, is “to publicly identify or publish private information about (someone) especially as a form of punishment or revenge” and, sadly, some simmers have been doxxed or threatened to, by the creators they support. According to the guidelines regarding Custom Content Creation for The Sims, creators are not allowed to lock their creations behind permanent paywalls on platforms like Patreon. By having permanent paywalls in place, creators benefit in 2 ways: 1) by having access to their supporters’ personal information – name, address, billing information; 2) by being able to share their creations through personal links for each paying supporter, rather than one communal link for the whole community.

released their CC creations (if they are being made available elsewhere for free without their consent). Pairing that tracking ability with the personal information they get from the paying methods and they have everything needed to dox someone as revenge – which has been done before! Obviously, this is not something that happens with all CC creators, many of them are absolutely safe, so we would like to give you the option to decide on your own terms, but as a safety precaution we suggest that until this can be resolved, and to protect yourselves, if you think you need to: do not click any links given to you personally through Direct Messages. I hope you all enjoy the new updates and SDX and please remember to be careful on the internet, Simmers! Happy Simming! Ikea xox

This second option becomes highly threatening since, when you are given a personal link, rather than a communal one, as in free CC websites, there is the possibility of adding trackers to the file you download – which allows creators to find out who

Sims 4 Update 1.58 - 4/26/2022 While it may not seem to be the most inspiring part of The Sims 4, updates can significantly impact all aspects of gameplay, and The Sims team has been known to throw unexpected surprises into game updates. On 4/26/2022, there was an update to The Sims 4. If we said we were not eagerly awaiting its arrival, we would be lying. While many in the community cry out for new content, game updates can still enhance the player experience. This update boasts some new features, and EA claims they have fixed a few highpriority bugs. Let's look over the changes in update 1.58

A New Look From the moment you enter the game, you will notice a significant change. The Sims 4 has a new Main Menu, and the difference is more profound than mere aesthetics. The brand-new right-side launch panel looks different and functions differently as well. The new layout is more focused and personalized, with motivational messages encouraging new players to get started and icon images representing returning saves.

A Dynamic Main Menu. Not only does the main menu have a new look, but it will also function more effectively. The new dynamic panels within the main menu will come to life, expanding to provide further information. This info will appear when hovering over a 12

panel, and disappear when you move off the item.

Simplistic Surveys The surveys that help the Sims Team develop content have a new home on the Main Menu. According to the Patch Notes, 'these little surveys will appear periodically on the Main Menu and can be completed without leaving the game.' The patch notes also point out that you can adjust whether or not you see these surveys in the Game Options section. Game Options – Other - 'Enable in-game surveys'

New Pack Filter Settings. The Sims will now have new filters that occasionally appear at the top of the screen. These new filters highlight content and show players things they may have missed.

Bug Fixes. Bug fixes are one of the most highly anticipated aspects of any update, and this time is no exception. Players across the community have been incessantly complaining about issues in

the game, but EA says it has been tirelessly working to fix these problems. Here we share the latest bug fixes with you.

Scenario Fixes: Merging your household with an existing one would silently end your scenario, but this is no longer an issue. Instead, you will be prompted to complete or cancel a scenario before merging households. �

� Nail Improvements: The fingernails that would clip in CAS have been improved, although EA admits there is still work to do on this issue in other situations.

� PlayStation and Xbox Improvements:

When playing on console, some players have experienced issues using the D-Pad to drop walls or move between floors. EA has added a fix to this problem but encourages players to reach out if the issue persists.

� Canceling the Save Lot Process: When canceling the process of saving a lot, some players found themselves temporarily locked out of the lot or experienced graphical flickering. This performance issue has been resolved, and thumbnails, which were the issue, will no longer generate behind the scenes.

Fill Empty Lots: The 'Fill Empty Lots' option has been moved and merged with the Enable Neighborhood Stories option. �

� Toilet Troubles: The Sweet

Escapes Country Toilet ran into trouble for some players when pranking the toilet made it nonrepairable. This issue is now fixed, thankfully.

Plan Event Tab Icons: The icons will now change and reflect when jumping between inviting sims and selecting a place to hold the event – this was an issue for some players. �

Game Overlay: The Origin

�

game overlay should adjust to the correct resolution when open during game client resolution changes.

�

No More Grey Areas:

Selecting the button on a video window before the video was finished left some players with a grey screen. This problem is fixed and will no longer be an issue.

Other Changes. Along with the bug fixes listed above, there are pack-specific changes that have been made with Update 1.58.

Discover University. � After being suspended from University, reenrolling will no longer be a difficulty you need to stress over. Instead, your sims can now head back to class as soon as they receive their acceptance letter. 13

Outdoor Retreat. � NPCs from the Outdoor Retreat pack were getting so stressed that they forgot how to cook and would split their De-stressing Decoction between the grill and the stove. EA assures players that they have helped lower Sim's stress levels, and this issue will no longer occur.

Décor To Max.

The

� Lighting effects on the Circle of Infinity w a l l sculpture have been improved and are now more accurate to the environment. Okay, so the changes that came to The Sims 4 in the April 26th update may not have you jumping with joy, any improvements to the game are a step in the right direction. While these small fixes are always welcome, there is still a long way to go before players will be satisfied with The Sims 4. I am happy to see EA addressing any issues when they can but I would still like to see some of the bigger, more significant bugs fixed in the near future. It is great that my Sims can now get back to their studies, will not switch between the grill and

stove in Outdor Retreat, and their fingernails will no longer clip in Cas but there are so many more bugs that need attention. Some of these bugs, and there are too many to list in this article, have been present in the game since inception and still plague players everywhere. I understand that EA is pushing out all the ‘easy to fix’ issues first, and that is fine. I only hope they do not forget about the bigger ones and simply try to distract with more content. Personally, I would take bugs fixes over new pacsk any day. Let’s Talk! We would love to hear what bugs you experience in your game and what you want to see improved. Reach out to us on social media or join the conversation on our website. Until Next Time, Have a Simtacular Day! K8Simsley

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e W s m i S

Hi! My name is Miss Ditch, and I am a retro Sims player and content creator on YouTube. With a degree in filmmaking, I decided it was time to try and attempt video production. Let me say it was not easy or smooth sailing at the beginning! Ironically the platform I am creating for, YouTube, was where I learned most things about making videos. I have had people from all over the world teach me how to set up my PC, what editing software to try, and so much more! Thanks to all the great creators on YouTube, I am turning myself into the person I aspire to be = A successful content creator!

My first encounter with The Sims Franchise: The year is 2005, I moved from a small town to a big city, and little me was not adapting well. If my memory serves me correctly, my cousins came to visit us in our apartment on a Sunday afternoon, and they kept saying they have something for me they *think* I would like; a game of some sort. Luckily we had a very old, and simple computer. I believe my dad got it secondhand because my brother needed it to type out school projects. When the adults finally stopped talking, my cousin came over and gave me a CD: it had “The Sims” written on it. She said to install it and use the CD every time I wanted to play it. I waited very patiently until they left (it felt like hours, but was probably only minutes), and then it happened; In the next few minutes, my life would change.

game for hours on end. The fact that I had no friends IRL was becoming more of a blessing than a curse because now I had time to play The Sims. I was diagnosed with ADHD not long before, and I think it’s safe to say that I completely and utterly hyper-fixated on The Sims for many months. It’s important to note that this copy of the game was a promo stunt to advertise The Sims 2 release, which happened a year earlier. That said, on this CD were 2 or 3 promo videos for TS2. I begged and pleaded with my parents for the second installment of Sims but to no avail.

I put the CD in the ROM, and it started firing up Imagine this; the MAXIS logo appears on my screen, closely followed by a kick drum/snare combo. All the different pieces of a house start falling from the sky, and sims appear. They interact with each other in different ways: dancing together, kissing, partying, and getting into fights. The music gets louder, and eventually explodes into a blaring T R U M P E T sound as the video closes to an end. BAM! My. Life. Changed. Like the 10/11-year-old child that I was, I was blown away by everything that TS1 had to offer. All the things you can do, the relationships you can build or destroy, the choice is up to you! I sat there playing this seemingly obscure

I never had any expansion packs for The Sims 1, as I didn’t even know they existed! Yes, guys- gals, and nonbinary pals, I didn’t have access to the internet back in the day, I kept playing The Sims 1 for probably another year. It’s 2006 now, we’ve since moved into a house, and the PC now has its little corner in the dining room. My dad and brother decide to slip away to the shops, and my spidey senses are tingling. They return, and I spot a nonbranded plastic bag with 1 item showing inside. I was like: “Show me!” -> There it is! The Sims 2 Base Game: Then and there, I had my brother help me set it all up and install it. I was so excited! Sims 1 had laid the foundation for me, and TS2 was a step up, It is a wonderful continuation of a franchise, that I have grown to love with all my heart over the past year. The Create A Sim customization blew my mind. The new and improved Build and Buy mode intimidated me but was beyond what

I could have ever imagined. And Then Gameplay: My sims had their personalities, and they interacted with me just as much as I did with them. If I told a lazy sim to clean, they would look RIGHT AT ME and ask, “Who me?”. I would, again, spend ample amounts of hours playing this game, exploring my creativity. The Sims 2 taught me to read in English. I learned how to navigate character inventories, time management, and, most importantly, to have fun with gaming! Final Thoughts: The Sims came out of nowhere and took my life by storm. I have and will forever be a massive fan. I have since gotten into The Sims 3, and I enjoy it just as much! I now have the means to play The Sims 1 and 2 Ultimate Collections with all expansion packs. It makes the game feel new to me. What I am trying to say is this. The base games are so good that apart from feeling left out a little, I didn’t NEED expansion packs to make the game fun because the game was already fun enough! Social Media Links: YouTube TikTok Twitter Many thanks to the writer of SimmedUp Mag, SueSimming, for allowing me to share my Sims experience with you guys!

We cannot believe it has already been a year since we last featured RD.PTRA, who graced the pages of issue 9 in 2021. If you are a follower of RD, you will know his talents exceed those of us ordinary sim square house builders!

Everyday, we are blown away by The Sims creations that RD posts across his own Twitter and Instagram accounts. From Computer game build replicas to everyday scenarios, not forgetting his Cube World 2.0, and as Quoted by RD, "Move over flat earth society! It's time for the cube earth movement". Comments from his followers below with well deserved praise indeed, quotes such as 'Omg, just amazing' Paradise_Plumbobs, and 'Literally outside the box (heart face emoji) THIS, IS SO COOOL Maiamakesims, you really should check out his posts, I guarantee you will walk away, scratching your head in wonder, but also champing at the bit to get creating your builds, because RD is an inspiration to all.

But RDs talents do not stop there. If you are looking for a genuine simmer, who loves the game as much as we do, and is also a valuable part of the community, Because dare I say it, he is just such a nice guy! then you have found one in RD.

Not only is RD ready to share his talents with the community freely, his supportive comments, encouragement, and polite manner are something so many people could take note of and try to implement into their own lives. RD is a shining light and an example to us all, so we just had to give him complete creative control to build along our retro theme with no instructions. After all, with an imagination like he has, we already knew whatever he created would be 'amazing' and have just the 'right' attention to detail.

Here you can find the most creative 'Switchboard' build for our retro theme showing just what a complete genius and true Sims artist he is. We cannot thank him enough for his support and friendship with us all.

Prince Gabriel, Geerland’s eldest son, who was the rightful king of Unetia had to continue his father’s legacy. Could he reclaim his right with the help of the legendary blade Avirion? 97 playable characters, Each playthrough is different if the player chooses,Rock-Paper-Scissors advantage, Custom shop and inventory system.

sgu highlight Hey fellow Simmers, it's the simmingSpoonie here with another showcase. This time we are dipping into our talent pool, presenting you with the work of the members of our website Supinmedia.com, which means that you too could find your work proudly displayed in our gorgeous mag just by sharing your content with us!!

TracySim11 or you may well know her as Simmersed on YT, is our first ever SGU Highlight! This first build is the one that caught my eye when she shared pictures of it on the website, and look how completely darling this Bridal Boutique is! The exterior fits perfectly in Windenburg with the small clock tower that is just sooo adorable. The outside presentation of this lot with the car and bicycle out front makes it all feel so real. Stepping inside, Tracy11's attention to detail continues. We start with the fashion side of things, and through the door on the left, the interior has everything that a bride or groom could need.

The little sales area, the clothes hung in the corner, the shoe area, in particular, caught my eye, especially with how she has used TOOL to angle those mirrors (You will have to forgive me for having no reflections, my graphics card hates The Sims at the moment). The busts you can see should be mannequins decked out in all their finery, but sadly DL’ing a lot with the mannequins will crash the game, so Tracy took the sad but needed decision to remove them before uploading. You can see how the mannequins are supposed to look in her video. Going up that glamorous staircase, you will find the actual dressing room, and let me tell you, it is just stunning!

The rest of the first floor is just as glamorous and elegant and includes a guest toilet. Next door is a bridal accessory and gift shop with an apartment on the first floor.

And now for something completely different! Messy Students Apartment is a glorious riot of colour and clutter. This apartment has three bedrooms, and I love how Tracy decided to leave a blank space for the walls where doors are

supposed to go and just added those doors herself. This is such a great idea for making apartments as we can no longer drag the walls without making rooms (whose idea was that?) And that bathroom has just the right amount of filth. What do you think?

Last but by no means least, I am going to show you Tracy's Boho Cottage. The cottage is just amazingly well designed and decorated. The attention to detail with everything in this home is just fabulous, from the landscaping to the use of space and decor. Entering the front door, you step into a small hallway and are presented with a wide archway into the living area. The shared spaces are so charming with a touch of cosy that they never feel overwhelmed or cramped. The bedrooms and bathroom are much the same. I love the way Tracy has angled some of the doors within archways to give that illusion of an open doorway. Moving onto the rear garden, it is very colourful and luscious, with the addition of the craft room at the rear is inspired! You can find out more about TracySim11 (this is her gallery ID) by visiting her Twitter and Instagram accounts and by checking out her YT Channel.

Kardofe’s Retro Reboot If you are in need of some retro crafted CC fit for a perfect diner throwback, then look no further than this set by Kardofe on TSR.

Left: High stool, with backrest, inspired by 1950's diner stools, in seven colour options

This set consists of twelve meshes, and is the first part of a beautiful mid-century kitchen with counters, wall units, and many decorative objects. With many colour options, and a lot of shiny steel which is very typical of the period. To add a bit of extra clutter, and build upon the base set that Kardofe has created, we also have clutter from; OhMySims Fruit/ice cream, SYB Manon cutlery, Felixandresims olive oil, MyCupOfCC kitchen scales, Pqsims4 Trident gum, Neiden Light Switches & Plug Sockets, Maman Candy Jars/Gateau, Solny breakfast set, Simcredible cuprack/straws, DomininationKid fruit tart and, AroundTheSims4 Washing up dish rack/ teatowels. More from Kardofe (not in this set) Doughnuts/cookware/cheeseburger/french fries.

Below: High table for use as an island, in five colour options

Original Image credit to Kardofe, diner scene credit to SimSimmerly

Beautiful retro design teapot, in six colour options

Cutting board a rolling pin, and a muffin tin, decorative

Retro-style radio, works as a radio, in five colour options

Two glass milk bottles, just like the ones the Milkmen would leave on the doorstep every morning

Shiny retro-style toaster, in seven colour options

Packet of flour, eggs, and a bowl of cake batter, in four colour choices Kettle in four colour options

Vegetable drainer, shiny metal, in four colour options

Cooking Sims Style By Granny.R & AsGraceCreates

Leek Quiche Recipe from Taste of Home link: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/leek-quiche/

Time: Prep: 30 min. + chilling Bake: 40 min, makes '6' servings

Ingredients 1 sheet of refrigerated pie crust 1 tablespoon of olive oil 1 cup chopped leek (white portion only) 1/2 cup chopped baby portobello mushrooms 3 frozen fully cooked breakfast sausage links, thawed and chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 3/4 cup shredded Swiss or Gruyere cheese, divided 2 tablespoons chopped soft sun-dried tomato halves (not packed in oil) large eggs 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 2 tablespoons sour cream 2-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions Unroll crust into a 9-in. pie plate; flute edge. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, and Preheat the oven to 400°. Line unpricked crust with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. Bake on a lower oven rack until edges are golden brown, 10-15 minutes. Remove foil and weights; bake until bottom is golden brown, 3-6 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven setting to 325°. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add leeks and mushrooms; cook and stir until tender, 3-5 minutes. Add sausage and garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat. Sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese over the crust. Top with sausage mixture and tomatoes. Whisk eggs, cream, sour cream, thyme, salt, and pepper; pour over top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Cover edges with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning if necessary. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. If desired, top with additional fresh thyme.

IceMunMun Leek Quiche

Black Forest Gateau Recipe from Odlums link: https://www.odlums.ie/recipes/black-forest-gateau/

Cook time: 20 to 30 minutes and makes 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients For the cake: 150g/5oz Odlums Self Raising Flour 200g/7oz Chocolate (good quality, at least 60% cocoa) 2 tablespoons Milk 200g/7oz Butter or Margarine, cut into pieces 200g/7oz Shamrock Golden Caster Sugar 3 large eggs, separated For filling & decoration 300ml/½pt Whipped Cream 50g/2oz Icing Sugar 1 tin of Black Cherries, strained (reserve liquid for syrup) 125g/4oz Chocolate, grated or curls For the syrup Reserved liquid from Black Cherries 125ml/4fl oz Kirsch 46

Directions Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4. Grease and baseline three 7" sandwich tins. Place the chocolate and milk in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir continuously until the chocolate has melted. Remove the bowl from the heat, beating in the butter/margarine, then the caster sugar. Beat in for 3-4 minutes by hand or use an electric beater. Fold in the flour and add the egg yolks one at a time. Stiffly beat the egg whites and fold them into the cake mixture. Divide the mixture evenly between the sandwich tins. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until firm to the touch. Turn onto a wire tray to cool.

To make syrup Pour the liquid from the tin of cherries into a measuring jug. Add enough water to come to 225ml/8fl oz. Pour into a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat, and stir 'occasionally' until thickened. Stir in the kirsch.

To assemble cake Pour syrup over the three cakes. Save 12 black cherries and some of the whipped cream for decoration on the top of the cake. Gently sandwich each cake together with the remainder of the whipped cream, sweetened with icing sugar and black cherries. Decorate the top of the cake with grated chocolate or curls. Pipe the cream around the edge and place the cherries on top.

LittleBowBub Black Forest Gateau

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Your Sims With Emmi Bouquet The Sims has created a community that we have grown very proud of. The opportunity to create Sims and Builds allows the artist in us to get as creative as we wish. The edition of CC and Mods means anything can be made possible with your sims creations. This month we feature a super talent in EmmiBouquet. Not only are her sims elegant and beautiful, her art is also out of this world. Let us go ahead and find out, who is EmmiBouquet?

Let us talk a little about how 2022 has been going for you so far? Has 2022 flown by for you? Have you achieved everything you had planned so far, have you hit any curveballs, or has it mostly been a smooth ride? Well, I did not have any big plans for this year I’m a pretty boring person, in the end, to be honest, hehe. Actually, I was supposed to get married in the summer of 2022. Sadly that got canceled in early 2021. Since we were going to have the wedding abroad and the global pandemic made the wedding preparations basically impossible. So far, the year has been quite rough for me. One of my family members had to go to the hospital around Christmas in 2021, and has been in ICU ever since. I have also traveled often between two countries to support my family and visit the hospital. It has been mentally draining, to say the least.

Do you have anything planned for the rest of the year? Is there anything you have not tried in your sims creations that you would love to try in the future? There is a lot that I have yet to try when it comes to The Sims, but currently, I have had no inspiration to start doing something completely new. I have planned to develop and practice more of my 3D modeling and sculpting skills. I love doing Sims 3D renders in Blender!

Not many people may know that you are a Tattooist from Finland. Tell us a little bit about how you started tattooing, the best and worst bits of tattooing, and what living in Finland is like. Tell us something else people may not yet know about you and that you can share. Tattooing was always something I wanted to try, many of my friends encouraged me to do so, but the final push in that direction came from my big brother. It started when the local tattoo artist had a talk with my cousin. He mentioned something about my work, and that tattooist months later talked again with my brother (everyone here knows each other somehow). That was around the time I was active on Instagram and started posting my own work there. He saw my drawings and sketches and then reached out. I was his apprentice a week later! I worked in two different tattoo shops when I lived in Finland, but when I moved to Norway, it became more like a hobby, especially when the first news about Covid 19 surfaced. Best and worst bits of tattooing, hmmm... If I really got into all the details, it would take me a whole day to write about both bits. For me, the best things about tattooing are when I finish a piece and see the happy faces of my clients, the whole process of doing the tattoo really. Especially when the design is something I like doing. This brings me to the bad bits. Designing a tattoo from start to finish can be tedious. It can be hard to find inspiration, especially if the theme is something I do not personally enjoy doing. Since the canvas is a living person, anything can happen during a session as skin varies from person to person. I never know how well the client has prepared, and I wonder, have they eaten enough? Are they in pain? Are they fully hydrated? Living in Finland and being Finnish is great. It is not all that different from living in Norway or Sweden, but I think the people here in Norway tend to be a bit jollier than in Finland. At times the Finnish people are described as gloomy, grumpy, and stubborn. I totally fall into that category. Something that people may not know about me? Hmm, I love reading fantasy books, I am a big fan of the Marvel movies and Backstreet Boys, but in real life, I can be an extremely shy person.

You have a beautiful Instagram account filled with both digital and traditional art. Your art is stunning, by the way. Did you do any training that helped you develop your artistic skills, or would you say you have more natural talent? You also have a lot of portraits. Are portraits your favorite thing to draw, and what advice would you give to people like me who can only draw really good stick people? Thank you so much! No, I have not had any special education in art in general. For as long as I can remember, my favorite thing to do when I was a kid was drawing, really just any type of creative activity. When I was about 15 years old,

I stopped almost all my creative hobbies altogether, concentrating on being a rebellious teenager instead! When I turned 18, I slowly got back into drawing again, mainly just tattoo designs for friends, but that developed into a serious interest in learning portraits and human anatomy. When YouTube had been around for just a few years, I found great tutorials and process videos there which helped me. Portraits and faces are definitely my favorite thing to draw overall. My advice for those who want to move on from drawing stick figures (even 'really good' ones) would be to study the basics first. For example, to become good at portraits and drawing faces, learn the realistic proportions first. Study your favorite artists. Draw simply for yourself and take your time. Watch the process and speed painting videos on how other artists tackle the obstacles you are hitting. The internet really is your best friend.

The Sims. Now we get to the bit we know everyone wants to know about. How long have you been simming for? What was your first impression of The Sims? And how do you think The Sims has grown/developed since its first release. I have been simming for 22 years now. My father bought the very first The Sims game in the series when it launched in 2000. My 12-year-old brain was blown away! I fell in love with the game immediately and played every chance I got to use our family computer. The franchise became very important to me, and my family and friends noticed it, so for Christmas and birthdays, I would get a new Sims game. Now I am the proud owner of every EP, SP, GP, and Kit of Sims 1, 2, 3, and 4. Personally, I see developments between the installments, both in graphics and gameplay. I have not played the old iterations of The Sims games since the sims 4 games release. I love the aesthetics of The Sims 4. I am so glad they decided to go for a more stylized cartoonish look because even today, I find the hyper-realistic game characters very cringeworthy. Something just does not look right to me. I find the mouth area so stiff somehow, and the individual hair strands always remind me of little twigs you can find in a crow's nest!

We already know you have a skill for Portraits. Is this linked at all with your The Sims creations? Do you think having an artistic talent (especially in tattooing where shading can be tricky) has an advantage in what the final copy of your sims looks like? What tips can you give to simmers who currently do not know where to start when editing their sims? Are there any programs you would recommend for beginner artists? Oh yes. My passion and interest in portraits and digital arts, in general, was the number one reason I started to create edits. My first Sims edit was when I was going through a period where I had no inspiration to paint from scratch. Editing a screenshot from my favorite game was less taxing for my brain and, at the same time, every shooting. Of course, the knowledge I have about portrait painting I use in my edits, like how the lights and shadows fall in the planes of the human face. The game does not currently have the best environmental lighting and ambient occlusion. The objects can cast nice sharp shadows on surfaces when the sun in the game is brightest, but this does nothing to the Sim itself. For example, if you have a strong light source above your sims' heads, it will not cast any sharp shadows on your sims like it realistically should. So shadows are the first thing I add when I start to edit. That alone gives much more depth to the character. Nowadays, I work almost exclusively with my iPad Pro with the painting/drawing app that was made for iOS called Procreate. This is one of the most popular digital art software that you can have on your iPad and is great for both beginners and professionals. Procreate is easy to learn to use and affordable. I highly recommend it, especially if you already have a compatible iPad! Alternatively, I recommend ClipStudio Paint if you have a Windows PC or a sketch/ drawing pad. The software itself has a higher learning curve, but like Procreate, one-time purchase and inexpensive.

If EA created a wish list by sending out a survey to all The Sims players, which asked them what they wanted to be added to the game this year, what would you say? What is the element that is missing in the game for you? Here is my really boring answer; I honestly have been genuinely happy with everything they have come up with. I never really had any demands or wishes about what I wanted or needed in the game. I just hope they keep things fun and goofy, how The Sims has always been.

If you could pick only one The Sims Exp, Game Pack, Stuff Pack, and Kit, what would they be and why? I keep this only Sims 4 related since there are just too many if I count all the past Sims games. My favorite of the Expansion Packs is the Eco Lifestyle. I love all the items that we got both in Build and buy and CAS and the possibility to really live off-the-grid. From the game packs, it has to be the Strangerville. I am a mega-fan of the story behind it, the rundown and grungy aesthetics, and the gameplay. I think it's an awesome pack. Paranormal, Moschino, and Laundry day are my favorite stuff packs. If I needed to choose just one, it would have to be laundry day, simply because I like seeing my sims struggling to find the time to do their laundry. Lastly, the Kits. This is hard since I really like all of them, but I think I fell in love with the latest one, Decor to the max. I adore the colors they chose to use, and the wallpapers are nice. The overall look of the kit is so lush and vibrant. I want to give one honorable mention; Sims 3: Katy Perry's Sweet Treats! I loved all the outfits in that pack, especially the latex cotton candy dress was my favorite, and I used it all the time.

If you were to be your simself in real life, which character traits do you think you would have? And what aspiration would you pick? My simself character traits would be creative, gloomy, and erratic. I would pick the Renaissance Sim as my aspiration.

You have recently started your own YouTube channel. Your first video shows how to, Create a Prism effect in Procreate. Do you have any other tutorials you are looking to share on YouTube? What else can we expect to see coming up? Yes. Sometimes I get questions about how I can create certain things and how I do my edits, so I decided it would be much easier to create a YouTube channel for it. My channel is so new and pretty random. I have no plans for it yet. I will continue posting some tutorials and speed edit videos when I have time.

Back in January 2019, you shared a stunning picture you had created of one of our favorite simmers, Deligracy. Have you painted other simmer portraits? How did they respond to your art? Do you have any plans to create any more? I have only painted so far; Deligracy and James Turner's portraits. Both of them responded positively, which was super kind of them. I have not painted anymore, but I recently started to watch Plumbellas content, so maybe someday I will get the inspiration to paint her. Who knows.

As we come to the end of our interview, is there anything we forgot to ask you? Is there anything you want to say to our readers and your followers? And how can we find and follow you? Well, I want to thank you for reaching out to me. I have not done one of these kinds of interviews before, so this was fun! I want to wish you all a joyous year and hope you all stay safe, I also want to thank my followers and everyone who has reached out to me, dropped comments, and liked my content. I never really expected to get any kind of reaction when I started to post my content. The Sims community is full of so many amazing and creative artists I adore! If you want to see my content, you will find me on Tumblr and Twitter; @emmiBouquet. I do not use social media anymore as I have basically minimized it to those two platforms. If you are interested, you can still find some of my older personal work on Instagram by @emmĳulin.

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t s i L e g n i B This month, we have Peony, better known as peonysimmer for our Machinimax. She enjoys making drama series using The Sims 4. I got to know all about peonysimmer and her life as a machinima creator through this quick and fun interview. Let’s get to know more about Peony below. G: Hello there! You go by the name thepeonysimmer in the Sims community. What is your nickname or any preference on how you would like to be called? P: I don’t have any preferences, but you can call me Peony G: Where are you from? And what is your nationality? P: I’m an Italian living in Italy G: How long have you been playing The Sims 4? P: I think 2016 when I had a decent pc to install The Sims 4. Lol. G: How long is your playing time? P: For my own gameplay, it can be between 3/2 hours. Creating my stories a LOT, maybe 5/6. G: Which is your favorite thing to do in The Sims 4? P: Creating sims and cluttering the rooms. G: What inspired you to make machinimas using The Sims 4? And when did you start it? P: I wanted to try something different from the story posts on Instagram. Thestreetsimmer is my favorite machinima account. They inspired me to try and create machinima. I started in mid-February when I finished Teens Drama on Instagram. G: How long did it take you to learn machinima making? Kindly tell us briefly what it is like to create machinimas. P: I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials, and even though I created one, I don’t think I have fully learned how to do machinima properly. Creating machinima is really fun as you have to style your sims, change locations, and set up the weather you want. Then in Tab mode, you need to adjust the camera angle for great shots. When you

have recorded everything, the fun part begins. The editing, adding subtitles, effects, the music. It’s a fun process but keep in mind that it’s not funny when you don’t have the right computer, like me. Lol. G: What genres of machinima are you most interested in creating? P: Drama sims series, but I’m thinking of creating a short story machinima soon, something less complicated. G: Where do you get inspiration for your stories? P: I really don’t get a lot of inspiration, maybe something I read a long ago or some TV series that I really liked. I just think about and brainstorm all of my ideas and write them in my notes. G: What is your favorite part of machinima making? P: Styling the sims and adding the right music to the edit, then trying to make you feel the emotions the sim is feeling. G: What more can we expect from you in the future? P: More Instagram story posts, also short and fun/drama machinimas on YouTube. G: To machinima makers like you and other aspiring ones, what would be your best advice for them? P: Never put yourself down. It can be hard to get known as a machinima creator on YouTube, but if that brings you joy, you must just keep going. The important thing is how you feel about it and not the following.

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Our Lives By PeonySimmer

Titan Architect By AsGraceCreates

For Titan Architect, this month’s issue will feature a different kind of build that is also used for Sims 4 players. It is called a Blender scene, which is created using the software called Blender. According to blender.org, Blender is: “the free and open source 3D creation suite that supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline—modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing and motion tracking, even video editing and game creation.” With retro as this month’s theme, diners are one of the famous establishments in the 1970s-1980s. Here is a diner made by @good_vibes_ts4 on Instagram, spearheaded by @inna_official6 (CEO)

Photo Credit to Good_vibes_ts4

This view shows just how good this blender scene is. As a build creator in The Sims, we all know how important it is for clutter to bring your build to life. This blender scene is no different. Each element helps to build the complete picture. Even the shine and reflection on the floor tiles help to make this blender scene just a little more realistic. We are sure your sims would love to visit this diner, and you can download this exact blender scene from Patreon for free.

On the other side of the room, we have a beautiful jukebox, along with a gumball machine. Nothing shouts retro more than a jukebox and gumball machine! Even the added detail of the records sitting on the floor adds an extra element to this scene that helps to make the imagination go wild. What would your sims play on this jukebox?

Photo Credit to Good_vibes_ts4

In this final scene, we are sat at a table and ready to eat. The food in front of us looks delicious and as good as the real thing. We have the menu on the table advertising the everpopular 'all day breakfast' now tell us, is that a pint of beer we see? These posters are perfect. The decorations and scratches on the walls give this blender scene that 'well used' look. This blender is just how a 'real' retro diner would look. Blender has become a must-have program for many sims creators in both builds and CAS creation. We are sure to see more Blender creators hitting the spot of Titan Architect in future issues, and you never know, this could be you!

Photo Credit to Good_vibes_ts4

Off Topic with Alphaistimz Agricola Developed by Uwe Rosenberg and Klemens Franz, Agricola is a competitive farm simulation game, worker placement type to be specific. Available to play for one to five players, Agricola has its own uniqueness and tone which set it apart from any board games in its genre. In this issue, I would like to introduce this board game to all of you! Agricola is played in a series of 14 rounds, which are divided into 6 uneven stages. Each round unlocks a certain action everyone can take, but each action can only be taken once per round and this limit is shared among the players; yes, it means that every time someone takes a certain action, the same spot is blocked for everyone else. Other than that, some actions are always unlocked at the beginning of the game, allowing them to be taken from the get-go. When it comes to which actions to take, it is up to the players’ decision to decide what they currently need as action order is important in this multiplayer game and each player starts with two action pawns. There are plenty of options the players can take on the board: from playing a minor improvement or occupation card in hand, gathering grain and vegetable, plowing the land, taking animals, gathering materials, building or upgrading their farm, to getting permanent extra pawns!

When talking about a competitive game, rivalry can get fierce; from the rather limited spaces on board to gathering stacked resources, the players must choose their action priority very wisely to get the highest score while still manage to feed their pawns during the harvest phase at the end of each stage. This is apparently important because each missing food point during this phase equals to -3 score penalty for the player! This means that being able to feed everyone is the top priority in this game since the penalty is far too much to bear. Next, action pawns are very important in the game: more actions mean more things can be done. Having more actions can greatly help the player’s mobility in the game and even overpower other players, but this also means more mouths to feed. However, this is not always the best thing to do knowing that this isn’t the only factor of winning the game. Although Agricola’s base game is great on its own, Agricola has some expansions which add more occupation and minor improvement cards. However, the most notable expansions are the ‘Farmers of the Moor’ and ‘Through the Seasons’ which I’ll explain further below. ‘Farmers of the Moor’ adds a new animal: horse, which is mainly used for scoring and major improvement synergy. Room-

heating is another feature: it uses fuel, which can be replaced by wood. Some improvements apparently have great synergies with the horse and roomheating feature. Any non-heated occupied rooms will cause the pawns to become sick at the beginning of the next stage, and it means that the only available action for those sick pawns is going to the infirmary to heal up and get a food point. Trust me: this is bad. On the other hand, ‘Through the Seasons’ expansion only adds a moderate game play addition. Seasons basically add or reduce the number of regenerated materials as well as giving buff for certain actions and opening extra action specifically for that season. I’ve tried this feature and it adds a depth to the experience, no matter how simple it

sounds. I highly suggest you check it out as it is easier to understand than the ‘Farmers of the Moor’ expansion. As an experienced player of the board game, I think it is the right time for me to share my pro tips I’ve learnt from my experience. Firstly, as I’ve stated above: food is always your top priority. Each pawn needs two – or three in a solo game – food points while new pawns only need one and the penalty of missing food is -3 for every point you can’t satisfy which is not funny at all. There are plenty ways to get food: spending an action on fishing which grants a straightforward source of ready-to-eat food, day labor which gives two points of food which doesn’t stack, sowing and/or baking to bake bread if you have oven, or take animals and cook them immediately if you have the right stove for that. Just

remember that the excess food points won’t expire and they can be used for special abilities with the right deck and play occupation cards. Secondly, building more rooms actually gives a big advantage since it’ll increase the pawns capacity. Long story short, you need a bigger house before you can increase your number of pawns; this becomes even more powerful the earlier you do it.

ovens, stoves, and upgrade the house, reed is needed to build and upgrade rooms, and stone is the material for the top-level house upgrade and some major improvements. Please note that many minor improvements also need materials.

Thirdly, remember the harvest phase sequence at the end of every stage. It starts with the field phase which essentially allows you to take a grain/ vegetable from each stack you have on your fields and special cards which allow stacks. After that, the feeding phase takes place. If you have no chance to cook, each raw grain or vegetable equals one food point. Another thing to do is sacrificing animals for food if you have a stove. Last but not least, the breeding phase takes place. If you have at least two animals of the same type, you get another one if you have the space on your farm. Since this is done after the feeding phase, make sure that you actually choose the right animal to cook.

Last but not least, time everything well: being the first player gives plenty of advantages for you, but it doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to win. Build your animal-based oven or stove early on to get more steady food sources early on and then take the animals to immediately cook them off, plant a lot early on, and take the materials you need before your opponents take those. Make sure that every action counts and hope that you can maximize your score.

Next, take the right materials early on since each of them has different purposes. Wood is very important to build new rooms for your house as well as fence, clay is needed to make most

Other than that, it never hurts to check your starting deck of both seven occupation and minor improvement cards to see if some synergies are viable for you. Synergy is a great way to make the game easier to win, but it needs careful planning early on in the game so that you can try to get it. On the flip side, once I got a terrible deck and I had to focus on the board instead. Yes, I won a multiplayer game when this happened.

In conclusion, I think Agricola is a very complex game and the learning curve is rather steep for beginners, but once you get used to the game mechanics, it’s actually not as hard as it looks and it definitely has a great depth of game play as well as replay-ability. For this one reason, I highly suggest you not to play solo on your first few playthroughs so that you really understand the mechanism together. As it’s impossible to cover everything here, I leave the rest of the discoveries in your hands and I had a lot of fun playing Agricola, making it one of my most favorite tabletop games.

This wraps my overview for Agricola and I’ll see you again in my next tabletop game reviews!

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As they worked hard as always, they started regaining their lost resources, but Billy didn’t talk much that day. He just wanted to keep to himself. After finishing his duties, he returned to his tent without any comments.

started getting hot for Terrence and Chelsea as they flirted outside. Emily was also outside and eating some leftovers, was shocked by the loud voices of them woohooing. “Ehm… Are you serious? Wait, Billy, Don’t say that you!” Emily seemed to notice something important. She would rather keep it cool, but the first thing she did that day was talking to Billy, who had been acting weird lately. Emily decided to wake up early, and she saw Billy preparing breakfast. She intercepted him, and it was a great time to talk privately. “Billy? I think I know why you’ve been acting so weird. Are you in love with me?” asked Emily. “W-Why did you ask?” “Terrence and Chelsea decided to start dating last night. I noticed what’s wrong with you, and I’m just worried”. “You’re right… I don’t want to disappoint you. I’m much older, after all.” “I see… You’re worried over nothing.” “So it’s a ‘yes’?” “I’ll say.”

Mid-night, and it was still dark and cold; dawn was still some hours away. However, things

Everyone was waking up, and both couples

“Hmm? I thought there was more wood yesterday. Hey, has anyone used them for anything?” Patricia is woken by a mysterious noise in the middle of the night. She had discovered that their hard-earned wood had gone without a trace. “Nope, we’re saving for beds, remember? But you’re right. We should have more than this”, said Vincent. “Don’t say that this is another curse! I wonder what could go wrong here. I can’t imagine.” “Calm yourself down, Pat. I’m here, and it’s my job as the leader to protect everyone here. It isn’t the end of the world. Now we need to gather our energy so let’s sleep again”, closed Vincent. Some hours later, the sun rose a little later than it had the day before, and it wasn’t as hot as before. Some leaves managed to make a mess in the camp, and Jefferson was the one who raked them up. “I know that our loss was severe, but keep your spirit high as we can still look for more wood. More unfortunate events will happen in the future, but keep your spirit high!” cheered Vincent.

announced their relationships. After noticing that the surrounding wild plants were not yielding anything to harvest for the day, they were grateful to have a working garden. “I hope that you’re fine, Jeff. I don’t think you’ll get married anytime soon”, teased Chelsea. “Because I’m childish? Funny, Chelsea”. Sometimes Chelsea could be very literal, and her jokes may hurt her targets. A long-awaited peaceful day was waiting for them to be, conquered. There was nothing wrong happening on that day, and it felt like a luxury. “So we aren’t getting anything again today?” asked Emily. “Nope. This bed isn’t even halfdone. I am confident that when both of you are better at handiness. Then we can finish this much faster”, answered Vincent. “The four of you are much quicker learners than the three of us. Trust me.” All they could do was trust Vincent. He was more experienced, after all. They still spent their time together as a “family”. “I start to wonder if there are any other survivors out there”, Jefferson said. “There might be a chance for that, but the chance is too slim. The future of sims is up to us now, so don’t put your hope too high on that”, answered Patricia, “Lucky enough, we’re self-sufficient for now.” They still didn’t know if there were more survivors out there, as travelling outside the island may be too dangerous for them, and there was no guarantee that

they’ll find any other survivors out there. No one has awoken again in the middle of the night or the next day, but two soil patches were gone in the morning. The forest was full of mysteries indeed! The crops sitting on the top of the soil, were somehow left behind near the garden, and Terrence decided to keep them away. “They’re our main source of foo: they won’t survive without tilled soil. I don’t think we have time to till now. What should we do?” asked Terrence. “We have a lot of food, Terrence. Hey, I know that sometimes you talk to the plants when no one else is in the garden.” teased Chelsea. “Y-you saw that!?” An awkward silence followed after that, and they went on their ways for the day, all thanks to Chelsea. However, it wasn’t enough to make Terrence hate her as they are, committed already. After the tiring day, they all retired for the day without spitting a word. The cold, dry wind greeted the camp that night, but it wouldn’t rain. They have had a dry year. Living in a camp had to be challenging if it rained a lot. Emily woke only to find that everything in their camp had stopped working, all over again. Things must be hard for Vincent and Terrence, but for her too since they weren’t all that strong in the first place. They even needed to avoid the zombies at all costs, especially since they meant death. Lucky enough, there had been no casualties so far. “We can’t waste any time. Let’s help with woodcutting again”, Vincent insisted. 89

“Maybe… I don’t think we’re all that good at it, but it’s at least better than idling. The learning process is steep”, said Terrence. Their days were never easy, but some of them would be able to finish their jobs much quicker now. Some of them could even return home around noon. They never gave their hopes up. Nature decided to turn the way around for them the next day. Now so many zombies gathered all over, and leaving would be a rather stupid death sentence. “So no woodcutting today? I guess someone has to till more soil patches today. It’s a great time for that”, suggested Billy. “Yes, but winter is coming, Billy. I doubt that we can get anything until spring. No hard feelings, right here. Let’s do it anyway”, said Jefferson. “You know… I wish that our children could have a better life than we are. They should have a shelter and stable food source”, said Terrence. “I agree. Let’s see if it’s possible. It’s never too late to start, but we have to make sure they don’t take their lives too easily. We never know when this apocalypse ends”, insisted Patricia. “Electricity, working water generator, proper housing… We still have a long way to go”, said Vincent. “Don’t put the entire burden on your shoulders, Vincent. We’re working as a team right here, but more helping hands will be nice”, said Patricia. “Right. Thanks for reminding me. Being a leader isn’t easy.” That night, a shady figure took their axes and hid them. When Chelsea inspected said figure, and it burst like sand, the axes were still gone. She then announced it with no pun. It seemed that they couldn’t get

any wood again the next day. Morning and Billy had woken up early as usual, but he knew that the wood wouldn’t be coming that day, so their first doublebed would be postponed, but just for a bit. “Hey, that’s… so you want to do it today, huh? Billy asked. “H-hey! Oh, it’s you, Yes. This ring will be on her finger today. It’s the big day”, answered Vincent. “I wish I could cook something fancier for you today, but I think we’re still stuck with grilled fruits and plantains”, said Billy. “No, no, it’s fine. I just need everyone’s blessing on this, especially you, my brother.” After everyone finished their building and tiling duties for the day, they decided to celebrate the oh-so-modest wedding of Vincent and Patricia. Billy played the guitar to liven up the mood, and everyone gave their blessings. “Is… this the right time to make children, dear?” asked Patricia. “I’m not sure about that. Since we live together, we have to ask for everyone’s agreement on that”, answered Vincent, “I think we should wait until the others get married to” Their wedding brought hope for the sims’ future. They couldn’t wait to see what came next. To be continued...

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The Sims Expansion Packs

With MinicartTSR 92

I first started playing The Sims back in 2001 when my son borrowed the game from a friend at school. My son and I had previously played Sim City on the Sega Saturn back in the day, so playing The Sims seemed a natural progression. Unfortunately, after a couple of weeks, the little lad wanted his game back, meaning I had to go to the store to purchase my own copy! The Sims and Livin’ Large I finally got The Sims Deluxe Edition which included both the base game and the first expansion pack, “Livin’ It Up”, and this was released in August of 2000. “Livin’ It Up” was its name here in the UK, and in the USA, its title is “Livin’ Large” I am not sure why the game titles are different for each country, but also the CD covers were also slightly different, but the content overall remained the same. I had never heard of expansion packs at the time and was quite intrigued that extra stuff could be added to a game for more gameplay. This first expansion pack boasted 125 new items such as; a Home Chemistry

Lab, Magic Lantern, Vibromatic Heart Bed, Electric Guitar, and the Madame Blahbatfry Crystal Ball: this game also included 5 new careers, more neighbourhoods, and new characters, which boasted more than 50 new clothing styles. House Party In March of 2001, the “House Party” EP was released and shipped with more than 100 new items, a Mechanical Bull, Costume Trunk, Dance Cage, Campfire, and Bubble Maker; The sim infamous party cake was also shipped with this pack and had a party dancer hidden inside. New music and dance styles were also added to the game; with the new NPCs. Themed parties included a country barn dance, a tropical Hawaiian party, and even a rave! More new walls and floors were also included in this EP and came in “sets” to match the theme of your party. Whilst writing this article, I checked the little booklet that came with the game stating the following regarding the number of walls and floors included in this EP: “If that’s still not enough variety, you can download more from the many fansites on the internet… or create them using The Sims HomeCrafter”. In the beginning, Maxis encouraged

creativity with the fans and encouraged everyone to get involved. New NPCs were also added to the game, and you know if your party is a flop because the “mime” will drop by to liven things up a little! You can also hire a caterer for your party who will refill the punch bowls and buffet tables, allowing your Sims to enjoy themselves!

A fish pond was also added to the game, and a couple of these could be found at the beach, where Sims can buy fish food to go fishing or even hire a toy boat to sail for fun. Even more floors and walls were added to the game and again came in “sets” to match the new objects. And for all the builders out there, two new tools were added to build mode: a grass tool to add more grass and a water tool.

Hot Date Six months later November of 2001, “Hot Date” was released.

“Hot Date” also saw the introduction of Mrs Crumplebottom, formerly known as “Miss Crumplebottom” in the little book

This was the first expansion pack that gave your Sims the ability to leave the house and venture to a new downtown area. In the Community lots, they included: a restaurant, park, beach, and shopping venue: while also being able to meet up with other Sims, eat out and generally socialise was a fantastic addition to the game. This EP boasted more than 125 new items, including a cuddle couch, picnic basket and ice cream counter, more social options, and new characters, including a blonde bombshell and dreamboat!

At last, you could get your Sims out of the house to dine out or go to the beach or even shop for clothes, jewellery, chocolates and candy, soft toys, and bouquets of flowers!

that came with the EP, where she was referred to as “the old prude”! Vacation In March of 2002, “On Holiday” was released in the UK, entitled “Vacation” in the USA. Three resorts were added to the game, a beach resort, a winter wonderland, and woodland vacations, along with 125 new items which were added to the game: this

The Sims Vacation Original Concept Art

included a snowman, tents, a fishing pier, and a snowboard halfpipe which was brought back in-game in The Sims 3 Seasons expansion pack. Although no expansion pack for seasons/weather was released for the original The Sims, Sims could travel to these holiday destinations to experience snow and build a snowman. However, if you built a snowman, your Sims would need to purchase a snowman kit from the rental shack in a winter wonderland!

Hotels were now in-game for Sims to book into their chosen destination, and new interests were also added to the game: including exercise, style and technology, to name just a few. Sims could also now purchase souvenirs to take home with the newly added gift inventory, where you could buy gifts to give to friends and family. Postcards were also available to purchase and send home to friends and family via the holiday mailbox!

New characters were added to the game that included; a Beach Shark, Robin Hood, Yeti and a Holiday Director to welcome you to your chosen destination. Unleashed “Unleashed” was released in September of 2002, which was pets, and was shipped with 2 discs! This expansion pack boasted much bigger neighbourhoods of 40 residential and community Lots, new characters, and untamed animals. There were also 5 new careers added with 50 new jobs. The new careers included: Animal Care, Culinary, Circus Fashion, and Education. More than 125 new items were also added, w h i c h included: a vegetable garden, pet display, pet bath, and a p a r r o t n a m e d “Speaky Scarlet”.

Of course, the usual pet bowls and beds were also included with a cat scratch post, litter tray, and funinator. The smaller animals included: a goldfish in a bowl, aviaries for small birds, a Forgotten Jungle Terrarium, and a Timid Turtle Action Playset. Superstar “Superstar” was released in May 2003 and took a little longer to be released than the usual 6 months or so gap, and this was another two-disc expansion pack. Your Sims could now become famous, making a name for themselves as movie stars, rock stars, or fashion models. Anew studio town location was added to the game for Sims to visit and rock their stuff! More than 150 new items were added to the game through this EP which included: a Satellite Dish, which added 4 new TV channels, Karaoke Stage, Oxygen Bar,

Skydiving Simulator, and Music Studio. A gold sticker on my EP case stated that inside would be bonus celebrities included in the pack with none other than Christina Aguilera, Marilyn Monroe, and others! This EP saw the addition of a new publication alongside the newspaper that was delivered every morning, entitled “The Studio Town Insider”. This enabled your Sims to find an agent they needed to rise to fame in their chosen career. Sims would earn stars starting from 0 and going up to 5 - the same as in The Sims 3 with “Late Night”. There were fame objects added to the game that not all Sims had access to. Example: if your Sims had no stars, they would only be able to use the Karaoke and the Open Mic objects, whereas a Sim with four and a half stars could enter the movie set to make a movie. Here is a list that is taken from the little manual that came with the EP: Fame Stars

Objects Accessible

Karaoke; Open Mic

Half a star

Photo Shoot; Print Ad One star Recording Studio; Jingle One and a half stars TV Set; Commercial Two stars Photoshoot; Model Two and a half stars TV Set; Soap Opera Three stars Recording Studio; Album Three and a half Fashion Runway stars Four stars Music Video set Four and a half stars Movie set Five stars All fame objects

fans will ask your Sims for an autograph or maybe two! As in real life, obsessed fans were a thing in The Sims! So, if your famous Sim doesn’t keep their devoted fans happy, as the little booklet advises, “your Sim might find themselves linked to a fan with an unhealthy fascination”. “Superstar” also saw the addition of a butler your Sims could hire. Your butler would cook dinner, supervise other staff to run the household, look after the kids and keep fans at bay.

Your sims could win awards for their successful climb to stardom, including an Achievement Award. This award was delivered to your Sims home, where a Performance award was handed to your Sim at Studio Town. The Performance awards were in three categories, fashion, music and acting, where each came in three levels bronze, silver and gold. Networking was also a thing where you needed to get your Sim to befriend celebrities - it’s not what you know, it’s who you know! There are also the paparazzi to deal with, and devoted

Daily and long-term relationship bars were added to this EP with a new phone book - by clicking on the telephone and choosing “call neighbour”, all of the Sims that your Sim knows will be listed. “Superstar” is a big EP and added loads of new gameplay to The Sims.

Makin’ Magic “Makin’ Magic” was the final expansion pack to be released for the original The Sims in October of 2003, and this was another 2 disc pack that included a third disc with a sneak preview of The Sims 2, which was released the following year in 2004. Makin’ Magic, as you can tell from the title, was a supernatural expansion pack which allowed your Sims to cast spells, craft charms, perform magic on a stage, search for ingredients and unlock spell recipes. The sims children could also learn magic. For the first time ever in The Sims, you could cast a spell to “grow up” as genetics didn’t play a part in the original The Sims: the grown-up child would also look nothing like their parents, and for the first time in-game, children could venture out of the house alone via the hole in the ground and would be delivered for free

with other magical goodies by the Mystery Man who came to your sims house, when they first moved in. This EP was shipped with a new Magic Town location where Sims could go to garner ingredients for spells, perform on the magic stage and also take a ride on the infamous roller coaster. More than 175 new items were included in the pack, such as a Charm Maker, Bakers Oven, Spookshow Stage, and a S k e l e t o n Closet, as it was then called. This was our introduction to Bonehilda, the skeleton maid! As your Sim learns spells, the recipes are shown in the spellbook, which the whole family can view, and as soon as one Sim learns the magic spell, your sims family will automatically be taught it too. Successfully casting spells means that the magical ambience of your Sims home increases. Beanstalks may grow together with oversized flowers, magic toadstools, and gnarled roots, and magic crystals may start to appear, which can be sold in buy mode, or better still, if you click on a crystal, your Sim can learn a specific ability. Sims must also be careful when casting magic as if a non-magical Sim (i.e. a Sim without a magic wand in their inventory) witnesses your Sim casting a magic spell, then the Spellchecker will come knocking at your door and issue you with

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a citation, and this includes children too! Each CD case of every expansion pack contained a little booklet this showed you how to set up the game and how you would play all the items that have been included in the EP and the gameplay that each item gave. There was even a telephone number on the back of the booklet that you could ring for walkthroughs, cheats and tips!

Thank you for joining me in my little trip down memory lane with The Sims. I hope it has brought back some good memories for you. Or, if you never played the original The Sims, that you found this article enjoyable. MinicartTSR (Jules) A Simmer for over 20 years, you can find me on the following social media: YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Reddit Instagram, Facebook, Blogger.

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The Sims details extraor

OnlyAb Chats with SimmedUp on funny Sims logic, gaming, and being a medical student. By SimSimmerly & Ivana

“My advice would be to find a way, so that your content stand out from the others and be more unique and original.”

rdinaire

bidoang W

What is your most favorite thing to do outside of The Sims universe? What are your hobbies?

Besides The Sims, I also like to play other games, mainly from PC and Nintendo Switch. I enjoy playing Smash Bros, Minecraft, Terraria, Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild, Pokemon, The Witcher 3, and various indie games. Outside of gaming, I enjoy videography, photography, and sometimes, l like to play badminton as well (even though I’m not that good at it).

hen talking about quirky and weird Sims details and logic that don’t make sense all the time (but still funny), OnlyAbidoang is your guy. One of the most well-known Simmers and YouTubers, who’s done a lot of Sims details showcase and other funny Sims content, SimmedUp is proud to feature this amazing, kind and talented Simmer from Indonesia to talk about his content creation, hobbies, balancing Sims with medical school, and so much more. Get to know OnlyAbidoang more in this interview.

Tell us a little about you as a person. Where are you from? How old are you? What is your favorite dish? Any pet peeves? Are you a cat or a dog person? And anything else you would like to share with us? Hey everyone! My name is Abi. I’m a 22year-old medical student from Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia (if you’re not aware, this is the country where Bali Island resides in). My favorite dish is Beef Rendang, and I’m a full-blown cat person.

You are currently working your way through medical school, and I am sure everyone will agree that this is a very fulfilling career choice. What inspired you to become a doctor? How hard has it been, going through medical school and juggling your personal life? Do you even get a personal life anymore? Well, to be frank, I don’t really have any noble or grandiose inspiration behind my decision to enter medical school. I just found biology to be more enjoyable than any

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other subjects back in school, and I thought pursuing medicine might be the way to go. Plus, you get the chance to help people and make others happy and healthy in the end. And of course, it’s not really a forgiving major and you need to study endlessly, even after becoming an actual physician, but I can still balance out my personal life and also my YouTube channel a bit somehow. I don’t really consider myself as the smartest medical student, but at least I can get the hang of it. I am really interested to know, and share with our readers, that you have been filming a “One Second a Day” for the last four years. At the end of each year, you make this into a small video and upload it to YouTube. How do you motivate yourself to record that second everyday? How fulfilling is it to watch your year back? How has the response to these videos been? Is this something that also motivates you to keep doing it? Yup, I upload those videos each year on my second channel justabidoang. My motivation on making my annual “One Second a Day for a Year” videos is basically the fact that I’d love to reminisce the final result later in life and see how things have changed, which is very fulfilling. I also like to take some videos in general and capture all the special bits in my life, so I have that going for me. In fact, this project often

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encourages me to go out and try to make each day even more meaningful. Even though it’s only one second a day, it’s more than enough to trigger the whole memory for that particular day. Thankfully, the response I’ve been getting on these videos has been great so far! Obviously, they don’t have the same amount of traction as the rest of The Sims videos on my main channel, but I don’t really think of it too much, since it’s a personal passion project of mine to share with friends and families and uploading it to YouTube is just a cherry-ontop. Now, for The Sims bit, I am sure many of our readers have heard of your Sims series “Sims Logic.” These hilarious videos show The Sims going about their everyday life, while you do the voice over. I personally have found these hilarious. How has the response to this series been? The response has been really great throughout the entire series, especially the earlier episodes, and I’m really glad that many find them entertaining! I never thought the series would blow up like that at first, especially for a concept that, as far as I know, hasn’t been done on YouTube that much. Sometimes, I try to find the source material for the jokes on Sims Logic by experimenting in-game, sometimes I try to find it by browsing through various social media sites and forums, and other times, I

just stumble across these silly little things in the middle of my casual playthrough. You have also had Call Me Kevin and Vixella voice some of the parts in your Sims Logic episodes. Was it fun to work with both of these Simmers? Are there any other Simmers we may know that have also done this with you? They both are very friendly and fun to work with! I didn’t really expect big-time YouTubers like them to have time and respond to my request, let alone lend a hand to the project just for the sake of it. They even made the effort to record the voices as flawless as possible, with remarkable voice acting and all that! I couldn’t be more grateful to work with them. They’re not the only ones, though. I’ve also worked with LGR, Marticore, Carmen King, SimgmProductions, and Sims Trooper. All of them are fantastic to work with, and I genuinely appreciate all of their help! I’m also looking forward to collaborate with more Simmers in the future. Can you tell our readers about the other Sims videos they can find on your YouTube channel? In my channel, I mostly do guides, tips and tricks, and feature showcases on the whole The Sims franchise, like Easter eggs, details,

experiments, mods, and recent updates. Some of the well-known ones are the “50 Fun Little Details in The Sims 2/3/4 That’s Not in Other Sims Games” videos, where I cover a list of small neat details in that particular Sims game that adds more charm to the game, even though it’s not available in the other Sims games. Sometimes, many Simmers easily overlook these kinds of features, so I try to highlight some of the memorable ones and cherish them together. There’s also another video called “Life States Racing,” where I try to race all occults and see who’s the fastest; “Unusual Ways to Make Money,” where I showcase unique ways to make money without cheats; “30 Types of Simmers,” where I list types of The Sims players stereotypes out there based on my experience; “Sims Comments Logic,” where it’s like Sims Logic, but using the comment section; and many more. For any of our readers who wish to follow in your footsteps and create their own videos, what advice can you give them? Are there any groups or forums you would recommend they check out to help them get started? This might not be much, but I guess my advice would be to find a way, so that your content stand out from the others and be more unique and original. I recommend joining various Sims communities on Reddit,

Twitter, Discord, and The Sims Forum itself to be more informed about The Sims and its communities. You can also ask for feedback and inspirations for videos from the community and find new ideas. When you aren’t saving lives, traveling the world or creating videos, you also create CC and small mods. One of your CC creations was the Tom Nook shirt from Animal Crossing, as well as a mod which makes the “Go Here” interaction stackable. Have you created other mods and CC our readers should know about? Do you have any plans to release more in the future? Where can our readers find your current CC and mod creations? To be honest, I don’t really consider making CCs and mods as my regular hobby because I’ve only done it for a handful of times. Besides Tom Nook’s shirt, I also tried making some other random CC outfits, like my med school’s organization jacket and the fake muscle t-shirt. They’re all available on my official SimFileShare folder. For mods, I’ve made two mods for The Sims 4 so far. Besides the “Stackable Go Here” mod, I also made a much more complex “Walk in Style” mod, where you can now set your Sim's walk style in live mode. You can set not only normal walk styles that's already available from CAS, but also emotional, situational, and special walk styles. I first made the mod personally just for a video I was making, but then I find it pretty useful, so I expanded it and then published it for others to use. Both of these mods can be found in my ModTheSims page. Do you have any advice for the budding CC creators out there? What was the hardest thing you had to overcome when creating CC? Are there any videos or groups that were your “go-to” source of information? Well, I’ve only created just a few CCs in my whole Simming life and they’re both retextures, so I don’t think I’m the right person to give advice about making CCs. But even though making CCs might appear hard at a glance, turns out that it can be really easy to make simple retexture CCs. In

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fact, it’s so easy that I made a quick and simple tutorial video on how to make retexture clothing CCs a while ago after I learned on how to make one. EA has released a few new packs for The Sims 4 over the last year, as well as introducing Sims kits. What are your favorite expansion, game, and stuff packs? What do you think of The Sims kits? Do you think their content is worth the money charged? So far, my favorite expansion pack for Sims 4 is hands down Seasons, because its content applies universally to all worlds in the game and it really changes the game as a whole, with Discover University coming in a close second just because of the number of features it adds. For game pack, I’ll go with Parenthood since it greatly enhances family gameplay, which is one of the more prominent aspects of The Sims. And for stuff pack, the obvious winner would be Paranormal because of the sheer amount of content it adds compared to the other stuff packs. In my opinion, I still don’t think kits are a good addition to The Sims 4. Since I’m a more gameplay-oriented Simmer, the huge amount of Build/Buy and Create-a-Sim kits released compared to just one gameplay kit (with many bugs and issues on its release) at the time I’m writing this seems pretty unfair. I also don’t agree with the $5 pricing, because one stuff pack costing $10 offers much more content than two kits combined. If you had to create yourself, which character traits would you pick and why? I’d go with clumsy, goofball and also geek, if we’re talking about The Sims 4 traits. With The Sims 5 still a way off on the horizon, what do you hope that The Sims team will bring to it? And, if you were asked by the team to create one piece of CC for the new game, what would it be and why? This is a wishful thinking, but I hope that The Sims 5 implements most of the excellent aspects from all previous Sims games combined. I also heard rumors that Sims 5

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might have multiplayer mode or some sort, and I still have mixed feelings about it. If that’s the case, I really hope they will execute it well and the game will still offer great single player experience as a whole. Even though I can barely make CCs, if the team offered me that, I would add any outfits or objects representing Indonesian culture. I still feel Indonesia is rarely represented in the world, especially in the West, and it would be astounding to see my culture being represented in The Sims. If our readers want to find you, how do they do that? You can find me on my Twitter account @onlyabidoang where I’m the most active there. I also tend to post a lot of Simsrelated tweets as well, if you’re interested. There’s also my TikTok account @onlyabidoang24, where I made several Sims-related TikToks, but I don’t really post that much there. I also have a personal Instagram account @abi.prasetya, but don’t expect me to post any Sims content in there. Finally, is there anyone out there you would like to give a shout out to, or anything else you think we should know that we forgot to ask? I want to give a shout out to another fellow Indonesian, plummysims, an up-and-coming Sims YouTuber who does speed builds and creates amazing builds in The Sims 4. I also want to give a shout out to Petey Plays It, another Sims YouTuber who focuses more on Sims guides, tips, and tricks. On that note, we have come to the end of this wonderful interview. If you haven’t followed him yet, go to OnlyAbidoang’s social media pages and hit those follow buttons for more funny and amazing Sims updates and creations!

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Su Uk Sims by Aniraklova On Tumblr

We stand with Ukraine. Consider reading this POST on how to help Ukraine, and donate if you can. 114

upport kraine

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We can all agree that The Sims is a highly addictive game. Whether you enjoy playing multiple generations, are hooked on the various challenges that circulate through the community, or even enjoy the darker side, it can be easy to lose hours, or even days, of time once those loading screens appear. There is no better way to escape reality than in The Sims, and for some players, this happens in build mode. I can get lost for days building almost anything in The Sims, especially with the mods available for building, such as T.O.O.L. by Twisted Mexi. This mod allows you to manipulate in-game objects in ways you usually cannot. Still, building in The Sims 4 can be difficult with or without mods, and many people complain that the houses they create look like decorated shoeboxes. Thankfully, this brief tutorial will help you get started and release your creative inner beast.

Building 101. If you are brand new to building in The Sims, you can find many tools built into the game which help you succeed. The game has everything you need to create the perfect home for your Sims right there waiting for you.

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Pre-made Rooms and Houses. Luckily, The Sims 4 build mode is beginnerfriendly. There are many options to help you create your dream home, including pre-made rooms. When you first enter build mode, you can see an image of a house on the left side of the screen. This small image has everything you need to build your home in The Sims. Clicking on each section of the house will bring up the corresponding build items. Clicking the roof, for example, will bring up all the available roof styles, and by clicking on the door, it will show you what is available in your game. Next to the house, there is a picture of a room with a chair, table, and lamp. Clicking on this room will reveal all the pre-made rooms within the game. You can have the option to add empty rooms or rooms that have been created for you by the sims team. These pre-made spaces range from

living and bedrooms to other miscellaneous rooms. Explore these premade rooms to get ideas for your design, or throw one down if you are not into decorating a space yourself. The small image and pre-made items are helpful when you first start building, and I suggest using them for ideas and inspiration. When viewing a pre-made room in The Sims 4, you can select specific items from that room to place in your build or use the entire space if you wish.

Getting Started. Once you are ready to begin building your Sims dream home, it can be hard to know where to start. As I explained, some people build houses that are just plain squares, and these can end up looking like a shoebox with windows. Look at floorplans and study the homes in your neighbourhood to understand what your Sims house needs. Although houses in real life can be wonky in The Sims, these are challenging to replicate due to game restrictions, but they give you a starting point. Even after years of building, many people still utilize floorplans for inspiration and guidance. I suggest starting with a simple box – a square or rectangle – and adding small bump-outs on the front, back,

and sides to add depth and realism. A few well-placed bump-outs can quickly take a home from drab to fab.

The Perfect Layout. Creating the floor plan for your build can be daunting. Even expert Simmers struggle when placing rooms and drawing out floorplans. Once again, using a reference image can help with this process by giving you a general idea of the areas required. I suggest thinking about the essential rooms as you add bump-outs to your box. You will save yourself time, energy, and frustration by preplanning the design.

Top Building Tip: Remember to think about where you will place the stairs early on in the process if you are creating a multi-level home. So many times, I have created the floorplan for the main level only to discover that my stair placement makes the upper level impossible to shape and layout. Be sure that you have both floors laid out the way you like before you begin to decorate to save yourself from disappointment.

Roofing. I have done short roofing tutorials in our past issues. Make sure to check them out. I am planning to create an in-depth roofing tutorial in the coming months. However, I

will share a bit of advice with you about roofing. 1. Practice, practice, practice Roofing is one of the most challenging aspects of building in The Sims 4, and sadly, there are very few shortcuts. The only way to master roofing is through practice. 2. Begin with your largest area When roofing any build, always start with this space first. 3. Try Out Different Roof Types There is already a good variety of roofing types in The Sims 4 for players to use. Try using various roofs and see which one works best for your build. – Along with the tip above, its a good idea to mix and match the different roof styles. In the real world roofs are not all the same, and various pitches used to protect the interior. Apply this to your builds.

When I first started to build in The Sims, I would do renovations of the houses created by EA. I would remove a wall here, add a wall there, and create a home that fits my game style: this is a great way to practice your skills and learn tricks that you can apply on a larger scale. Jump into any EA pre-made house, and you are sure to find things that can be changed and improved.

Just Go For It. You can watch or read all the tutorials you want, but this knowledge will be useless if you never enter build mode. Forget about creating the perfect house, and aim to build any you can. Once you get started, I promise that each build will get better and better. Isnt it time to take a Leap and see what you can create.

Building Cheats Before you start building in The Sims 4, you will want to enable the following cheats: testingcheats true bb.moveobjects bb.showhiddenobjects bb.showliveeditobjects

Seek Out Inspiration. I often build with a reference image. Many times my build ends up looking nothing like the image. However, it gives me a great starting point. Utilize the internet, magazines, real life, and the gallery to inspire yourself. There are many sites and builds out there to inspire you. Seek them out.

If you want to build on a lot that is locked, then use: bb.enablefreebuild Remember, you can find more objects by searching ‘debug’, and the catalogue will reveal thousands more items to use in your builds! Have fun, and remember to share your builds with us on Social Media using #SupMag Have a Simtacular Day!

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Review THROWBACK FIT KIT BY SulziSim

Another kit has recently graced our presence. This time it’s a fitness pack. More specifically, a throwback fitness kit.

make a fashion stuff pack or something. But I have grown to love it because of the colourful fashion styles included inside this kit.

When I first heard that The Sims would be releasing yet another kit, I was not very excited and thought: why not just

I thought it would be quite a fun idea to compare the items they chose to include to what people are wearing these days and see if it is back in fashion.

“The Shell Suit” I had no idea this outfit was called the Shell Suit. It’s a very colourful tracksuit. Whilst researching, I could not find any current fashion industry featuring them. In 2018, Gucci did do a runway show where they featured a Shell Suit. A quite colourful red and baby blue version. In the Sims 4 kit, they only provide the top half for the men. The kit also only came with one pair of tennis/sneaker type shoes.

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“The Tennis outfit” This skirt and top made me think of a tennis outfit. The skirt is giving me major tennis vibes and the croptop as well.

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I am not that big of a sports fan to know what to wear. I found some references to real-life sports, like Naomi Osaka’s pink one-piece she wore in January 2022. That has the same vibe and style as the top part of the crop top.

Naomi Osaka

“Talk about kids” The only outfit they gave kids in this kit was the shell suit for girls and boys. This outfit is a favourite of mine other than the tennis outfit. The Sims did a great job with this. Fashion-wise and in real life, kids don’t wear this in 2022. My research has found that only party shops sell these outfits. There is no trending fashion where kids wear this. AirExpress is the only company I found that sells these, but they do not look as accurate. They have 'rather' drawn inspiration from the style.

AirExpress

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“The Bucket hat” The Sims can be proud they included the Bucket hat in this kit. It has been in style for quite some time now. Celebrities like Rihanna, Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner are rocking this current fashion trend. Now your Sims can rock this trend as well.

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Could have been left out There are very few clothing items that I haven't liked that The Sims team have given us. But here and there, you will come across a clothing item that should stay as just an idea instead of being released. To me, this long skirt is that item in this kit. I am not a fan. I am not sure what you would pair it up with in the sims. I tried to pair it with a crop top, but it's not the best result. The colours of the skirt are also not the best.

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Our best products won’t be around for long, So grab them while you can!

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Thats 70s Sim

Meet Simlin When the team decided that May was our retro month, we wanted to make sure that we interviewed a simmer, who loved not only, The Sims, but also had a passion for building and fashion pre-2000. When we saw the beautiful creations by Simline, we knew they just had to be featured inside our magazine. Making a Simmer is all about growth, and no one has grown more than ‘That 70s Sim’, into the creative butterfly that now is Simline.

Tell us about you, how old are you, where are you from, how did you become a sims player, and what generation of The Sims did you begin playing? My real name is Amy, and I just turned 39 in February. I’m from down under, Brisbane specifically. Many years ago, my sister introduced me to The Sims Social on Facebook, which is now a defunct game and was a lot more limited than the current iteration of the PC game. This game led me to the Sims 4, which has been a good outlet for me as I suffer from Generalised 128

Anxiety Disorder and being able to focus on creation does a great job of settling my mind. We know you as Simline, but your Origin ID is ‘That70sSim’. What do you love most about the 70s? Where does your inspiration for creating retro sims originate? When I first started with the Sims 4, I was a builder. My early builds were pretty

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general, ones like suburban family homes. I’ve gone through various special interest periods over previous years, but I recently started the 70s themed save file. My parents were teenagers in the 70s, and I have all their old polaroids. I was a teenager in the early 2000s when the 70s had a revival, so I love the nostalgic feel of that era, and I consume any media set in it.

How have your sims retro styles changed since you started playing?

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While researching styles, décor and architecture for my 70s save file, I stumbled upon the Decades Challenge and immediately wanted to expand the scope of my save file. I have now travelled back to the 1890s and will be making over a world for each decade. Because

my content direction has changed, I’ve reworked my online identity to suit it, so I’m now known as The Simline across all platforms.

What era have you been more inclined to create? Working on my Decades save has introduced me to CAS CC in a BIG way. I had never used it before, but I needed it, especially for the older decades. There are many talented creators, and I am newly inspired every time I find an outfit or hairstyle. My favourite eras currently are the 1890s, the 1960s and the 1980s.

As a talented CAS creator and member of the simming community, how do you find the response to your retro sims fashions has been? The response I’ve experienced has been overwhelming in the best possible way. I thought it would just be my little interest, but there are so many simmers out there that are just as excited about retro periods, and it’s such an exciting shared experience.

Do you have anyone new you are creating on the horizon? Can we get a sneak preview too? At the moment, I have been working on a Century of Sims, which will be a retrospective collection of women’s fashions from the 1910s to the 2000s.

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Has there been anyone who has encouraged you along the path of sims creation? All the amazingly talented CC creators have been a bottomless well of inspiration. Some make just retro fashions, others specialise in gorgeous hairstyles, and others are the bomb at creating fantastic accessories. It’s rejuvenated my passion for The Sims and turned me from a builder to a CAS creator.

If you could collaborate with any CC creator to create your perfect retro outfit, what era would it be, and why? Who would the CC creator be and why? I’d have to go with either the 1890s or the 1970s. Two very different ends of the style spectrum, but two periods that I adore when it comes to clothing. It’s hard to narrow it down to just one creator that I’d like to collab with as there are so many out there that I love, but I have a handful of favourites that I go back to time and time again. Gilded Ghosts specialises in fashions from the first half of the 20th century, and their work is insanely gorgeous, especially the Victorian/ Edwardian dresses. HappyLifeSims perfectly crafts clothing from all eras, but their 20s/30s creations are my particular favourite. ClumsyAlien is a master at creating clothing which is both retro and modern at the same time. As for hair, I can’t go past Simstrouble, who has style after style of gorgeous locks that work across so many decades.

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Finally, how can our readers find you? At the moment, I am just on Twitter @TheSimline, but I have plans to expand to YouTube soon, so be sure to keep an eye out!

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Mia Lustre Hello readers, I am Grace, and it is an honour to be able to interview Mia Lustre, a famous digital superstar in the Sims community. The goal of our interview was to know more about her, like who is the person behind Mia Lustre and the character Mia Lustre herself. We also dive in and find out more about her Blender Scene creations.

G: Where are you from, and what is your nationality? M: I am from the Philippines. I am also half Filipino and half Chinese. G: How long have you been playing The Sims? M: I have always been obsessed with The Sims, I first played Sims 2 Castaway on my PSP device when I was around ten years old, and from there, I started to play each franchise of the Sims. Even the PS2 games, now I am grateful that I can play the Sims on my laptop. G: What is your favourite thing to do in The Sims? M: Probably Create-A-Sim is my

favourite thing to do in my free time. I love dressing up my Sims or making a new one out of boredom. I have spent hours in CAS just looking for the right CC, and I create several outfits as well, which I enjoy. G: What are your other hobbies and interests aside from The Sims? M: Rendering my Sims in Blender, listening to a lot of music, and going out on a Friday night with my friends! G: As everyone can see, the inspiration behind your character is Ariana Grande. M: I love Ariana Grande as she is my true inspiration not only in The

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Sims but in real life also. I have been a fan since 2014, and until now, my love for her has not changed. She’s just my favourite person in the whole world. She has helped me at some of the lowest moments in my life through her music. G: Who is Mia Lustre? As in your character and as a reflection of your true identity? M: Mia Lustre is a Filipina digital music artist that only exists in the Sims world. Not only has she been heavily inspired by Ariana Grande, but I also made Ariana Mia’s voice claim. Mia is a very

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passionate and brave person who’s not scared of what others might think of her regardless. She’s a ball of positivity and light that shares her visions through her music. G: What inspired you to venture into producing music videos as Mia Lustre? M: Ever since I was little, I have always been obsessed with Sims Machinimas. Especially music video recreations. I was very entertained watching every single one of them. That is where I grew the urge to make my machinimas by creating a digital character and turning

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“I enjoy making blender scenes, pose packs or even machinimas, but sometimes I feel so drained and unmotivated, which is a normal feeling for any content creator” 143

her into this pop superstar, which I feel is one of the most amazing things I’ve done. G: You are indeed talented. Not only do you create music videos, but also Blender scenes and pose packs! How did you learn to create poses? M: YouTube. I learned my rendering and pose creation skills through watching various YouTube videos. KatVerse has one of the most helpful pose-making tutorials I’ve watched so far, so I would recommend watching her videos if you are a beginner. G: When and how did you start renders and creating Blender scenes? M: Through YouTube as well. Luckily, I came across Seosim’s YouTube tutorial on how to render Sims 4 and make basic set designs through blender. I started to experiment with everything on my own, and that’s where I brewed myself up to open a creator account on Patreon and Instagram to share my creations. G: What are the challenges as a Blender scene creator for The Sims 4? M: Motivation and lack of creativity is my worst opponent. Especially when it comes to creating any content, I enjoy making blender scenes, pose packs or even machinimas, but sometimes I feel so drained and unmotivated, which is a normal feeling for any content creator. G. How long does it take to create a Blender scene? M: The longest time I’ve spent creating a blend scene was from one of the set designs I made for my “positions music video” recreation. I tried to recreate scenes for the music video, and I think the kitchen scene took me about 3 hours or so? Most of the scenes I made were complicated, and I pay attention to detail, so I can’t blame anyone but myself.

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G: Where do you mostly get inspiration for Blender scenes? M: I usually search for inspiration on Pinterest or Instagram. Normally, I would try to copy it according to my reference, but I love adding more elements or changing a few of them, especially if I feel it would look better. G: Have you tried creating CC for Sims 4? If so, what kind of CC? M: Yes, I have been practising making my makeup textures or even skin textures for my Sim, and I’m planning to do Mia’s makeup line soon since I am already knowledgeable in this field. G: What is Mia Lustre brewing for the coming months? M: I recently released Mia’s lead single for her second album, and I think you may already know what’s coming up next. I’m planning to do a visual album for this era, as this would be a brilliant opportunity for my visual representations of every song in this album.

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Over the last nine months, we have had the honour of featuring this excellent comic by StassiJSims4. We have followed Alexa and her story, feeling every moment with her, including the highs and the lows. Stassi has taken us on a journey and introduced a series that had been running for some time. Next month, we will be featuring our final two episodes and encourage those of our readers who have been following Alexa's story to now follow The Rose Chronicles on Instagram. We give huge thanks to StassiJSims4, who allowed us to share her talents and passion for writing, and we wish her every success in the future.

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Written by AsGraceCreates

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As SimmedUp magazine issue this May focuses on the theme of Retro, one of the famous games during the 1980s, has now been created as a Sims 4 mod called the Super Mario Party. This mod overrides the default party video game, Party Frenzy, from the City Living Expansion Pack. In 1985, Super Mario was launched into the gaming industry by Nintendo, a Japanese electronic game manufacturer. Its creator is Shigeru Miyamoto, a Japanese video game designer, producer, and game director at Nintendo. The video game franchise is also called Super Mario Bros. or simply Mario, which features Mario and Luigi. They are brothers and are both Italian plumbers trying to rescue Princess Peach in the fictional world called the Mushroom Kingdom. The Super Mario series is “part of the Mario franchise, which includes other video game genres and media such as film, television, printedmedia,andmerchandise,as per Wikipedia. Super Mario is the 4th bestselling video game series, after selling more than 380 million

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copies worldwide, behind the largerMario franchise. The Super Mario Party mod created by adelino1951 was uploaded to modthesims.com last September 14, 2021. According to the creator,

“Mario Party Take turns rolling dice and racing across the game board in the 4player Mario Party Mode”. This playable Super Mario Party mod requires the City Living expansion pack. As aforementioned above, this game replaces the default random party video game in the game console. Adelino1951 also recommends this mod be paired with the Nintendo Switch mod for a better gaming experience for Sims. This mod brings an added option to what Sims can play and adds a bit of realism to the game. Once installed in the game, you can try it on any game console and click “Play Game” then “Play Party Frenzy”. Enjoy watching your Sims have fun as they play solo, compete in a duo, and can also be played by up to four players. If you are a fan of Super Mario and also happen to be a Simmer, then this mod is for you!

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

Dooby Zession/Detonation Grouw/Listen

Minicule/Cat Depwa Spanewash Depla Blah, Depla Blah!/You! yes you! Go away Find a list of Simlish/English words on our website 166

Spot The Difference

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SimScopes Apr 21 - May 20 Sometimes things happen for a reason, that reason is not always apparent at the start, but if you have patience the bigger picture will be revealed very soon. Take this moment to embrace the changes that are happening and these changes will help guide you to a better place than you have been for a while.

Oct 23 - Nov 22 If we told you last month that in May there was going to be an upheaval as well as a family fued, would you have believed us? Now is the time to look at who you have decided to let into your family unit, and make the decision whether they stay or not. After all your mental health is more important than the ghost support you have been getting. Nov 23 - Dec 21 Are you tired yet Sagittarius? Last month was fun but also draining in some aspects, but you seem to be motoring along without a care in the world. Try to remember it is ok to sit down, it is ok to rest and it is ok to admit you are tired. Until you do, everyone will just expect you to carry on. Silence isn’t always your friend, open up and be honest.

Dec 22 - Jan 20 If love makes everything possible, and money makes the world go around, you are positively in a spinning embrace this May. Enjoy everything that comes your way, embrace it, touch it and really FEEL it. After all, at some point you will have to come to a stop, before you become to dizzy, and can no longer tell which way is the right way.. Jan 21 - Feb 18 Never let anyone tell you that you are not good enough. This month people are lining up to tell you all your faults, do not listen to them, what they see as faults are actually some of your best features. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but if the eye of the beholder is blind, how can they tell what real beauty is?

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Feb 19 - Mar 20 With the warmer weather approaching, make sure to get your feet wet and re-connect with the elements this May. You are after all a water sign, and neglecting your ‘gills’ could dry you out and make you feel ‘lost’. You are not lost, just separated from who you truly are. Go on and dive in, be you, be free.

Sep 23 -Oct 22 Balance isn’t always a positive thing, every once in a while you need to take a leap of faith and tip those scales in a direction you haven’t been before. Risks are not all ‘risky’. Some can be the pathway to bigger and better adventures, but only if you are willing to let go of the reigns for a while. Have faith those around you can tip the balance back to you when needed. Mar 21 - Apr 20 Banging your head against a brick wall? Trying to get your point across, but yet feel as if you are constantly talked over? Time to take a deep breath Aries and let it out in ONE BIG BLAST! Sometimes stepping out of your ‘quiet’ comfort zone means raising your voice just a little. Sometimes being the quiet one doesn’t get you heard. Be Loud. May 21 - June 20 Gemini if we said this month your real twofaces will be showing, will this encourage you to tell the truth? Lies are always uncovered, eventually, and when they are, you will not be able to back out of everything you have said and done without severe consequences. Make your mind up time, truth now or truth, loss and emotional pain later!

Jun 22 - Jul 22 Yes Capricorn DO IT! That opportunity you have been dilly dallying about is ready to make an impact on your life, open up, take a leap and go for it. The magic that will follow could set you up for the rest of your life. No more struggling, no more tears, and no more searching for pennies. DO IT Cancer, or it could be the biggest regret of your life.

Jul 23 - Aug 22 Leo Leo Leo, you great big softie in a lions clothing. This is why your are one of the best people to help out in a rather awkward situation that is brewing. Use your compassion, use your integrity, and use your strength in equal measures. This is what makes you the best friend that you are, and why you will never be alone.

Aug 23 - Sep 22 Calling time on a realtionship is never easy, but sometimes prolonging the inevitable, to protect anothers feelings, just makes it all worse in the end. Be honest with yourself, and the other person involved. Together now only causes more pain, where as apart, you will both fly on to victory. The future is bright, if you can admit the present is wrong.

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Pose Packs OUT NOW on Instagram: Afrosimtric x Hilifesimmer: Twisted Summer Collab. Make sure you check out @rocky_nobalboa for the drinks!! Afrosimtric on Patreon Tumblr YouTube

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And the Winner is… #SUPShell1234

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Huge congratulations to our first winner of 2022 in the SUPShell challenges. We are very proud to present to you, the super talented

ScoozieSue. Scoozisue has earned her place on our SUPChallenge Leaderboard, which also gives her the chance to win a cash pprize at the end of the year. Scooziesues Build really did bring our shell to life, but we will let her tell you all about it, and you can find all of scooziesus build pictures on our leaderboard. You too can enter by downloading our shell from the gallery and tagging us inj your social media post on Instagram or Twitter. Next shell challenge is NOW UP

#SUPShell234 GOOD LUCK

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Hi, my name is Susie and I'm a 23-year-old British/Irish student. I have always loved being able to do activities that bring out my creative side, such as reading and drawing, which is why the concept of house building in the Sims games appealed to me. I enjoy making builds from scratch or using shells from different challenges and while I prefer warm and cosy vibes with my builds (and games in general), I'm happy to go wherever it takes me. I've been playing a wide range of the Sims games on DS, Wii and now PC since circa 2008, building up thousands of hours across the games. Before I started playing the Sims 4 just over 3 years ago, I was mainly enduring the sheer chaos that my saves would dish out on me on a regular basis. When the lockdowns in 2020 hit, I discovered Sims Twitter and the vast community of simmers that existed there. I've met many amazing content creators since, on both YouTube and Twitch, which led to my decision to start sharing bits and pieces of my builds and gameplay online from both the Sims 4 and the Sims 3. SOCIALS: Twitter: ScoozieSue Gallery ID: ssusie98

ABOUT THE BUILD: I spotted this shell on Twitter and immediately saw the potential to create a village of some sort with an old English feel to it. With a few ideas in mind, I began working on a Tudor/fantasy style exterior with a lot of red florals. Once the exterior was completed, I moved on to the interior, now with the idea to create an art or hobby-learning area for all sims to come and build skills but it didn't quite work out as I was envisioning. This was where the village idea came back to mind and a retirement village of sorts began to take shape. However, with the difficulty of placing stairs in the main building and the real-life concerns of elderly people climbing ladders, that idea was paused and the retirement village was quickly renovated into a student village with the main student hub surrounded by 4 two-person dorms. The recreation building now houses a bar and socialising area upstairs, and a dining and gaming area downstairs plus two bathrooms. Each dorm has a bunk bed, two dressers, two desks, a mirror and wall space to make the room your own. Outside there is also room for a picnic and to grow some plants.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO

Valeriessima This month we gave away the expansion pack that is COTTAGE LIVING Although we had a lot of entries, there could be only 1 Valeriessima has been contacted

Kit announcement Only on our website 182

Get your hands on a Sims 4

GAME PACK OF YOUR CHOICE For full entry details, make sure to visit, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter

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Contributors SimSimmerly CEO, Editor, Writer, Graphic Designer, Website Designer, and Social Media Manager,

SueSimming Director, Administrator, Writer, Customer Service, and Manager

Sulzisim Director, Graphic Designer, Writer, and Editor of SupStyleMagazine

BunnyBananaSims Director, Graphic Designer, Editor, and Writer

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Granny.R.Pennington Chief mischief maker, writer of Cooking Sims Style with help from her friends.

AsGraceCreates Event Manager, Writer, Researcher, and Graphic Designer

K8Simsley Writer, Graphic Designer, and Social Media Admin

Ikea Writer, Researcher

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Contributors AlphalsTimz Writer, Game Designer, Game Developer and Proofreader.

MiniCartTSR Writer and Researcher

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SimmedUp Magazine - May issue 21

Articles inside

Bug Fixes The Sims My Wedding Stories

Console: Version 1.56

Console: Version 1.57