SimmedUp Magazine Issue 10

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Editors Letter Sul Sul Readers, Here we are again and this month we bring you the Eco-inspired Magazine. Join us in an adventure across the pages as we move back and forth with stunning images from the Sims worlds from Industrial imagery to beautiful scenery. Supporting our world to be more Eco friendly and less polluted is the best thing for everybody. We must learn to respect the Earth and protect our oceans if we expect to leave any kind of standard of living for our future generations. After all no trees, no oxygen! Small changes to our lifestyle can be as simple as not eating meat once a week, making sure to recycle and even re-using old glass jars can all be beneficial to our planet. On to whats inside this months magazine. We bring you the multi-talented Chani_ZA who also happens to grace the cover of our magazine and the Extremely Talented Ravasheen CC and Mod Creator, The Luddy Simmer reveals all and we also have EXCLUSIVE ARTWORK again with thanks to Luddy Simmer. We are so stoked! The Prim Builder showcases his skills in Titan Architects and Game Changer Krystal Gamer tells us whats what in Making a Simmer, So many wonderful things to see and read do we dare introduce our NEW WRITER the super talented Kawaii Foxita who takes over CC Top Picks each month, with her amazing builds and photography I am sure we are in for a treat and our CC folders will be growing a little larger. We also welcome Yolimi who is creating our Guess the Cas each month and what amazing Sims she creates to and The Simming Spoonie who will be gracing our pages with the all new Facebook Showcase each month, in a chance for Facebook simmers to also be seen and celebrated. As for the team, we are still all here and ready to support the community any way we can, so why not join us on Discord, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest or YouTube. One little reminder, we are completely self funded so any donations you can give to our magazine makes a huge difference to us all. Your Sincerely SimSimmerly



Sims 4 Dream Home Decorator Game Pack: Release date, video trailer and details The next Sims 4 Game Pack has been announced. Drum roll please….. interior decorator career ahead. BY: ANTOINETTE MULLER

https://extratime.media The Sims 4 have finally revealed some more details about the first Game Pack for 2021. Set for release on 1 June 2021 on all platforms, the DLC will centre around a new house flipper career – an official one this time, not the one we’ve all been doing without having a pack for it, of course. There had been much speculation about what the next Sims 4 Game Pack would be, with theories ranging from werewolves to heists. But after being strung along, players now know that The Sims 4: Dream Home Decorator is the new Game Pack for the simulation franchise. This brings the GP total to ten and the official description for the new Sims 4 Game Pack reads as follows:

‘Build your professional reputation as an Interior Decorator! Get to know every Sim’s Likes and Dislikes before you start designing to deliver the perfect renovation for each client. Once you’ve worked your magic, get ready to see the astonished look on your client’s face with the big reveal!’

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Sectional sofas coming to The Sims 4 There was an inkling that this would be a thing already when, during a recent live stream, the option to automate sectional sofas was visible on the screen of one of the Sim Gurus’ screen. A modular sofa is also one of the objects shown on one of the official screens released for the new Dream Home Decorator Game Pack for The Sims 4.


An official blog post introducing a new pre-made Sim, Patina Wainscot, listed sectional sofas and modular shelving units as two of the objects players can look forward to.

Sims) and how that syncs with the new career.

As is usually the case with new DLC reveals, only snippets of what to expect from the upcoming pack has been revealed with further details expected during the deep dive live stream scheduled for 25 May 2021. A Sims 4 base game update will precede the release of this new Game Pack and players also have an Expansion Pack (details TBA) to look forward to before the end of July, as per the recently announced Sims Summer Line Up (northern hemisphere, obvs).

Also interesting from the trailer is effort made to build a backstory Patina, including a throwback to younger days and a reference to mom’s cooking.

the for her her

The next Sims 4 base game update will also add improved functionality to bunk beds – which is obviously going to enhance the experience of the new Game Pack. The trailer for the upcoming pack does give some sense of what players can expect from the new Interior Decorator career. This ‘active’ career looks like it will follow a similar task-based style as introduced in the Paranormal Stuff Pack for the Paranormal Investigator career. Likes and dislikes also coming to The Sims 4 The official blog post also mentions Likes and Dislikes for Sims – most likely relating to the extra trait slot that was also

In the trailer, a task panel shows a Gig Tasks list and additional information like client budget and how much the job pays. The Game Pack trailer also places a lot of emphasis on the relationship between the Interior Decorator and the client (IE other

accidentally revealed during a recent live stream.


Sims 4 new update: Official patch notes, 27 May 2021 There’s a new patch set to be released for The Sims 4 base game. This one will bring a few interesting changes ahead of the release of the new interior decoratorinspired Game Pack

exciting new Game Update for you today, with something new, something known, and something with an… interesting update. We hope that you enjoy it and thanks again for your continued support and feedback Happy Simming!

BY: ANTOINETTE MULLER With a new Sims 4 Game Pack set to be released on 1 June 2021, the second base game update for May brings some significant changes to the base game as well as bug fixes. While you should back up your saves and mods for all updates, changes as significant as this means it is worth taking extra care. TwistedMexi’s Better Exceptions mod can be a lifesaver if you’re not that keen on waiting too long before heading back into your game. And remember, just because you do not use CC or mods does not mean all save files are safe – always make a back-up. After a bit of a false dawn earlier in the week, part two of the double May update for The Sims 4 base game released on Thursday, 27 May 2021. It’s a whopper – 1.20GB to precise. The Sims 4 latest patch notes for May, part two The official patch notes for the latest Sims 4 update appear below as soon as they are published. They are taken verbatim from the official Sims site. The only edits are for style and brevity. Patch notes have now been released.

‘’Hello Simmers! We hope you are all well wherever you are in the World! We have had quite an exciting week with the start of the Summer of Sims and with that, we have an

-SimGuruRusskii, SimGuruPJ!’’

SimGuruJill,

and

What’s new in the latest Sims 4 update on 27 May 2021? Additional Bunk Bed Placement Options You’ve played with Bunk Beds. But now you can play with them more! More objects can now be slotted underneath a Top Bunk: Double Beds, Dressers, Desks, Living Chairs, or Love-seats – all fit comfortably and function as you would expect. Also, you can change things up by slotting some of these perpendicular to the Top Bunk. Dressers, Desks, and Single Beds can be oriented in two ways! Whether saving space or giving three Sims a place to sleep, the bunk bed is more versatile than ever. Likes and Dislikes Sims can now have Likes and Dislikes! For our first sweep of Like and Dislike categories added to Base Game, you can now define whether your Sims Like (or Dislike) various Colours, Music Genres, or Activities in Create a Sim near the Traits Molecule.


Any Sim, child and older can now have up to 20 Likes and/or Dislikes that can be dispersed individually across the different categories. Does your Sim like Blues Music but Dislikes Playing Guitar? Does your Sim like literally every colour except for orange? Their unique tastes and where you want to focus those preferences are up to you! And it’s OK parents, you can admit it if you don’t like Kids Radio.

Favorite Color, Ask about taste in Music, or Ask about Hobbies. New Hair Colours! As you probably noticed in a previous Sims 411 , we have added in Create a Sim six new hair colours to further customise your Sims. I can probably talk about it and give you the names, but I’d rather show you!

See your Sims’s individual Likes and Dislikes in the Sim Info Panel in Live Mode. These Likes and Dislikes will manifest themselves in various subtle ways during Gameplay. Unless directed to do so, Sims will tend to avoid – or do the bare minimum of – Activities they Dislike. For instance, Sims who dislike Cooking will only grab Quick Meals and Sims who dislike Video Gaming won’t generally play games on their phone. Being directed to do Activities they dislike will give Sims negative tense debuffs and may unlock contextual interactions to complain about the Activity to other Sims. On the other hand, Sims will generally want to autonomously do Activities they Like and will similarly get an added mood boost from doing these things. Listening to Music a Sim Likes or Dislikes will give them positive or negative buffs and may eventually lead to them performing what I like to call “The Frowny Dance”. Since Likes and Dislikes were designed with the intention of being a fluid part of your Sims’ personalities, Sims can also encounter Like and Dislike discovery moments through gameplay. If they’re doing an activity and happen to be in a particular mood, you’ll receive a prompt asking if you’d like to add this activity to their list of Liked or Disliked things. Don’t be shy though! These preferences aren’t set in stone. You can change out your Sims’ Likes and Dislikes at any time when you return to Create a Sim. Find out other NPC’s Likes or Dislikes by using new social interactions to Ask About

Bug Fixes in The Sims 4 base game patch on 27 May 2021 Consoles We fixed an issue for both Xbox and PlayStation that made Turning Off the Dust System introduced in Bust the Dust problematic and could cause Games to Freeze. Sims 4 We fixed an issue that didn’t allow for all Sims in Careers and those in School to go to Work/School during any time off or Holidays, except for Vacation. Because if you are on Vacation, you are on Vacation. Don’t be like me, I work on Vacation. I have heard of making nervous purchases but never about nervous cooking… Sims however will no longer endlessly autonomously cook food and then forget about it. Food is a terrible thing to waste. If you were worried about leftover food from excessive cooking… and the fact that Sims were not eating it, even when they were actually Hungry. Fear not, now Sims will autonomously Eat Leftovers when they are Hungry. No food waste here! We have fixed an issue that made Babies’


Skin Tones not match in different parts of Gameplay, like Interaction queues. Did your Sim want to Leave Work Early, but couldn’t? We all have been there sometimes, now your Sims can do so though! Cleaning up after Toddlers can be overwhelming, but at least normally you know where the things to clean come from at the time it happens, right? Now when you see a mess on the floor from fruits and vegetables from Sims resetting when toddlers eat them around them? Now that is unfair. No worries, now that won’t happen… we hope. Are you Sad Sim? Are you Sad, really Sad? Travelling across all Worlds, you shouldn’t be… Sad, and without a Moodlet. Sad around the Worlds… you shouldn’t be. Sims that were Sad all the time without a Moodlet to tell you why? It should no longer occur. As always this Editor and the Localisation Team have tweaked and improved some of the Text and Translations across all Packs. We have put a stop to Error Codes: 102:eb3376f3:a777e5d8 and 109:812fe7cb:f1565180 that appeared for some Simmers. We hope it is not the second coming of the Error Code saga… well, I hope so anyway. Get to Work Fixed a visual issue with Create a Sim assets ymHair_EP01LongWavySwept and yfHair_EP01LongWavySwept that made seam lines appear when they were applied to opposite Frames. Realm of Magic Spellcaster Sims will no longer get reset when Brewing Potions gets cancelled and then Resumed.

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Journey to Batuu The Grand Entrance Cantina Door has been made available in Build Mode again in the Tall Door sort. Backyard Fixed a visual issue with Create a Sim Top yfTop_SP08TeeBoatNeck that made it seem like it had some weird shadowing – not foreshadowing, we hope – or weird colouring on the knotted hem. Tiny Living We have added the Relax interaction for Love-seats that are part of Murphy Beds. So Relax… but can you? On a Murphy Bed? Nifty Knitting Neither Snow nor Rain nor sunny days nor Vlad in the gloom of night shall stay these items from Ship on Plopsy. Sims are now able to Ship all their masterpieces to swift completion on Plopsy. While we were working on the shipping service in Plopsy, we also fixed an issue that made the option of Ship on Plopsy display twice… I guess, if one failed, the other worked? Better safe than sorry! Paranormal We fixed a visual issue caused by Create a Sim asset yfTop_SP18BlouseCrop_SolidOrange that made yfShoes_SP18MaryJanes_Black look a bit streaky… not chic. Similarly, it also created an issue with yfBottom_GP08SkirtLayered from Realm of Magic… coincidence? Only the Paranormal know. Bust the Dust The Clean Surroundings Moodlet’s power was way over 9000! So it was really hard to have Sims go through other Moods, so to speak. While cleaning can be… a choice, we needed to balance things around here.





14 TIPS & TRICKS Antoinette Muller

62 OFF TOPIC No Place Like Home

18 MACHINIMALIFE Featuring Error404Philips

68 TITAN ARCHITECTS With The Prim Builder

28 INTRODUCING Build It With Ben

78 FANART with EXCLUSIVE Artwork from Luddy Simmer

30 COOKING SIMS STYLE With Granny.R

86 RETRO CORNER Sim City 4 & Sims 2 on PSP

32 COMIC INTERVIEW SIT6 chat with Aria Fae

96 CHANI_ZA Chats with sulzisim

36 RAVASHEEN Talks CC and life as a creator

104 YOUR SIMS Sims From The Community

46 CC Spotlight With Kawaii Foxita

112 BUILD A BETTER LIFE The Art of Healthy Conflict

54 CC HOW TO TUTORIALS with MaddyCatts

116 SUP SHOP Merch & Stuff


120 SIMSPIRATION Help Your Sims Save The World

160 MEET THE TEAM

126 SIMTOGRAPHY Perspectives in Photography

164 IN THE COMMUNITY ADVERTISEMENTS

134 MAKING A SIMMER Featuring Krystal Gamer 140 FACEBOOK SHOWCASE With Simlit 146 MOD REVIEW Eco Mods to Enhance Your Game 152 SIMSCOPES What Does June Hold For You? 154 JUST FOR FUN Guess the cas with Yolimi 158 WHATS UP Challenges & Competitions


T

IPS & RICKS

By A.Muller - ExtraTimeMedia

Cheat your Sims to living their best Lifestyle with these quick cheats for the Sims 4 Snowy Escape. The recently released Sims 4 expansion, Snowy Escape, added a new feature called Lifestyles. These Lifestyles are added through the things your Sims like to do (or the things you force them to do). They aren’t something that can be added through Create-A-Sim and some of them can result in a negative moodlet if they don’t keep it up. The Coffee Fanatic Lifestyle, for example, will result in a tense Sim if they don’t get their caffeine fix. Very relatable. Developing the new Snowy Escape Lifestyles can take quite a while – up to five Sim days. While it’s all good and well to see your Sims go through the motions, sometimes you just need to get ahead of the game. Luckily, as with almost everything else in The Sims 4, there are

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cheats to speed up the process. How to add Lifestyles with cheats in The Sims 4 Snowy Escape If you’d like to help your Sims life their best Life(style), you can use cheats to add them. Remember to turn cheats on in order to enable these. If you use any of the popular mods, like the UI Cheats Extension or the MC Command Centre, you can use those to quickly add the Lifestyles you want your Sim to have. With the Shift-click cheat options, you just need to go to the “Cheat Sim Info” option on


the interaction menu and select the Lifestyle you have chosen from the “Add Lifestyle” option. If you still cheat the proper old school way in The Sims 4, you can use the traits.equip_trait to add a Lifestyle or traits.remove_trait to remove one. Lifestyles are essentially ‘hidden’ traits for Sims. To add or remove Lifestyles in The Sims 4 Snowy Escape by using cheats, open the cheats console (obviously) and then use the t r a i t s . r e m o v e _ t r a i t t ra i t _ l i f e s t y l e s _ l i f e s t y l e n a m e taxonomy.

Lifestyle

Adrenaline Seeker Close Knit Coffee Fanatic Energetic Frequent Traveller Health Food Nut Hungry for Love Indoorsy Junk Food Fiend Outdoorsy People Person Sedentary Single and Lovin’ It Techie Technophobe Workaholic

So, for example, if you wanted to add a Energetic Lifestyle to a Sim, you would enter the following cheat code into the cheats console: traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_energetic Not the space between the two appearances of the word ‘trait’ If you want to quickly copy and paste the Lifestyles cheat codes for The Sims 4 Snowy escape, you can grab them below.

Sims 4 Snowy Escape quick cheats: Add and remove Lifestyles

Add Lifestyle cheat

traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_adrenalineseeker traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_closeknit traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_coffeefanatic traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_energetic traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_frequenttraveler traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_healthfoodnut traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_hungryforlove traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_indoorsy traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_JunkFoodDevourer traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_outdoorsy traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_networker traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_sedentary traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_noneedforromance traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_techie traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_technophobe traits.equip_trait trait_lifestyles_workaholic

Remove Lifestyle cheat

traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_adrenalineseeker traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_closeknit traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_coffeefanatic traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_energetic traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_frequenttraveler traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_healthfoodnut traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_hungryforlove traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_indoorsy traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_JunkFoodDevourer traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_outdoorsy traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_networker traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_sedentary traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_noneedforromance traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_techie traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_technophobe traits.remove_trait trait_lifestyles_workaholic



“Every day I supply oxygen for up to 4 people. Don’t you think I’m worth saving?” - A tree

Image Credit to SimSimmerly


MACHINIMA An Interview with LIFE Animations are the heart, soul and backbone of every machinima. Simply put, if it were not for the animators in our community, it would be impossible for those of us machimiators to bring depth and detail into our stories. We would be limited to the in-game animations, which in a pinch are ok, but are often overanimated and “cartoony.” This is not sufficient if I want to create a fight scene, a seated talking scene that looks realistic or a passionate love scene. When I thought through the long list of amazing animators that I use on the regular, I immediately knew I wanted to highlight one whose animations will be found in pretty much every Sims machinima out there. εяяσя404ρнιℓℓιρs creates a wide range of animations. From idles to talking, seated to standing, NSFW and SFW, every animation is smooth, loops perfectly and many automatically use the needed custom content (with Wicked Whims installed). These animations are a machinimator’s dream. E404P took time to connect with me to share a bit about her thought process, her inspiration and her love and dedication to this community. The Mom Cave: I want to start by saying thank you. There is not a machinima that I have created where

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your animations are not being used. They are staples on my list. I would argue this is true for most machinimators as well. So, my gratitude goes deep for all that you do. I am quite excited to learn more about you as a person, and as a particularly important creative member of this community. I am curious, how long have you been playing The Sims and why did you start playing? E404P: I have been playing The Sims since 2000 when it first came out. I have always been into telling stories and The Sims is the perfect tool to use to express them. I really enjoy telling a story by creating animations to simulate what is pictured in my imagination, and I found I can do this in The Sims.


The Mom Cave: Whether we are playing a challenge, building or simply locking Sims in pools, I believe there is always a story behind what we are doing. For me, this is what makes the game so addicting. What is one thing you wish you could do in The Sims 4 but cannot and what other games or hobbies do you enjoy? E404P: I wish we could go to work with my Sim in every occupation. As far as games and hobbies, my favorite games are any type of zombie game. I also enjoy drawing and illustrating.

The Mom Cave: I would agree with that. I feel like many of the rabbit hole occupations would have made for some fun game play. I would also love the ability for our Sims who own a restaurant to be the chef and work with the staff, rather than just hire them. I feel like that was a missed opportunity. Who or what has inspired your creativity and why did you start making animations? E404P: My inspiration is my older brother because he taught me how to draw and how to be creative. A lot of people do not know that I am a machinima creator, which was my introduction to The Sims 4 Community. I have a comic book that I have been working on for about 10 years and I wanted to see it play out in 3D. While making my machinima, I noticed the lack of romantic and storytelling animations. After complaining about it for months (to myself) I said, “Just make

them yourself.” Problem solved. When I first started making animations, I had no desire to share them with the public. When I first started, I wanted my machinima to be unique. After a while I figured that, if I were to share them, maybe it would influence more people to create machinimas. People would have more options available to create more unique situations.

The Mom Cave: I am so very grateful that you did. I must both commend and thank you for your decision to start making animations. I had a similar moment where I thought I would make my own. I opened the software to try to learn how and became immediately overwhelmed. I will be leaving that to the talented animation creators in the community. It looks quite complex. About creating an animation, what inspires you, what is most important to you, and tell me a bit more about the process. E404P: I get inspired by watching other Simmers’ machinimas. I think the most important is facial expressions. I cannot stress that enough! It was the number one thing I noticed lacking a lot in other animations, and I believe it is key to animating in general. You can have a smooth animation all day, but if the face does not compliment the body’s movement, then what is the purpose? A full set (four animations) takes me about two weeks. The most challenging part of making the animations is illustrating what I picture in my head to the “T.” It is very time-consuming, but I


Adjusting by Error404Phillips



overcome this by telling myself the end result will be the best payoff.

before and experiencing things that she thought she would never experience.

The Mom Cave: This certainly shows in the detail, smoothness and seamlessness of the animation loop. I do not use Wicked Whims in my game, but I recently added it specifically for your animations. The way I can click on a location, select the Sims and have the animation play with all the needed custom content, and without fooling with a teleporter, T.O.O.L or other mods, is incredible. It makes me wish all animations worked this way. It would save hours of time when making a machinima. It would be a game-changer to have more SFW animations like this [hint, hint].

The Mom Cave: I started watching it and am impatiently patiently waiting for the next episode. I resonate so much with the main character, and how she is overcoming her own self-doubt to live life in a way she never thought possible. If you could say one thing to the Sims Community, anything, what would that be?

E404P: I would say, “Thank you.”

You shared that you are a machinimator as well. Tell us about your machinima, Adjusting.

The Mom Cave: I will say it back to you then. Thank you E404P for all the hard work and dedication you have to creating quality animations for machinimators, and for your love and commitment to The Sims Community. You can find εяяσя404ρнιℓℓιρs’ animations (both NSFW and SFW) and her machinima on her YouTube channel, as well as her Patreon and web site: Wixsite: https:// error404phillips.wixsite.com/ error404phillips Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ error404phillips YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ channel/UC55X0s5G5-FfTxu8QUOtK-A Twitter: https://twitter.com/ animator_E404P

E404P: Adjusting is about a 30-year-old woman from The Bronx, New York, who moves down to Atlanta because she was offered a great job. While trying to adjust to her new life in the new city, she finds herself going through a lot of changes. She begins trying things that she’s never tried

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For a list of more very talented animators that I use often, follow the Animators I Love Playlist on my channel. If you have an animator you would like to recommend, connect with me on Twitter @themomcave1 or send me an email at tmc.simmedup@gmail.com.


SIMS 4 WEREWOLF STORIES - Twins LLitU aka koatbakit Two separate stories. Two teenagers. First story centers on a high school football quarterback, Gordon Goodluck, who lives with his grandfather, and spends most of his free time exploring the outdoors with his two best friends. The second story revolves around a popular teenage girl, Lacey Seti, who is spending her summer practicing for a cheer leading competition. These two teens are in for a big surprise when they both discover that maybe they are not so "normal" after all. You can view this story on their channel here Twins LLitU – Sims 4 Werewolf Stories




“We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.” Barack Obama, Former US President #SaveOurPlanet


Image Credit to SimSimmerly


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Have you ever wondered how your favorite TV show or film might look like in the Sims 4? Well, in this month’s Introducing article we feature a creator that does just that. Build it with Ben is a Youtuber who recreates famous movies and TV show sets in the Sims 4. Some of the TV shows he has done so far include Taskmaster, The It Crowd and Wandavision.

Those buildings include The Exterior: Grand Tower and Entrance. The Exterior: The West Wing and The Clocktower Courtyard. If you would like to download this Hogwarts build of any other build, go find Ben on the Gallery at

stockdaleb97

Written By Sulzisim

His biggest attempt at building is the Hogwarts house from Harry Potter. According to Ben, it was his Lockdown project. He created Hogwarts on 3 different lots because of its size.


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www.rhiansrecipes.com These tacos start off by marinating the tofu in a kaleidoscopic mixture of spices: • warming cumin • smoky paprika • earthy oregano • fiery cayenne • aromatic lime

Once the tofu's done, all that's l left to do is load up your tortillas with whatever you like - I recommend: • lettuce • mango salsa • avocado • vegan mayonnaise (or garlic herb dip)!

Tip: You should then leave the tofu to marinate for at least 10 minutes, but you can cover it and leave it in the fridge for up to a day. You can just fry the tofu by itself, but to really take it to the next level, I definitely recommend coating the tofu in cornflour (cornstarch). Coating it in cornflour not only means it's naturally gluten-free, but also makes it much crispier than when using normal flour. Instead of deep-frying or shallow-frying (which still requires quite a bit of oil), this tofu can be pan-fried in just a small amount of oil. This means you’ll still get an irresistibly golden brown, crispy exterior and a tender, juicy interior, but it's still relatively healthy and won't leave you feeling terrible afterwards!

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Image Credit to IvanaRachelle


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“It’s important for me to have hope because that’s my job as a parent, to have hope, for my kids, that we’re not going to leave them in a world that’s in shambles, that’s a chaotic place, that’s a dangerous place.” James Cameron, Film Director #WorldClimateChange

Image Credit to SimSimmerly


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It is with great pleasure and excitement, here at SimmedUp we are welcoming an extremely talented and well known in the Sims community, CC & Mods creator – Ravasheen. Maria: Having visited your website multiple times to download incredibly crafted CC for my Sims homes, I have gotten to know a little about you, that you have a background in engineering and a love for interior design, which is what had sparked your interest in making CC. Could you tell us a little more about the human being that is behind the well-known Instagram account? How did you come up with the name “Ravasheen”? RVSN: I was born in California and am an old lady just shy a few months of turning 31. I have always been highly creative, had a passion for interior design, and loved making things. I have always been the go-to person of my friends and family for helping design their houses, pick out furniture, paint, or come up with styles. I also did things like build wedding arches for my friend’s weddings, restoring old furniture, or throwing parties with all hand-made decorations. Prior to creating CC, I even had an Etsy shop and a pop-up trailer that I would sell from and throw crafting parties in (as a side hobby from my day job).

Some pics of my house:


Maria: As you already written on your website, that you studied engineering, what is your vision for the future? Your dream career? Any lifetime goals? Would you like to work for EA one day? RVSN: Ever since I was young, I wanted to work for Pixar or in the field of animation/gaming. Coming from a lowincome background, the colleges that offered these programs were far outside of my financial means so I ended up attending the state university where I studied electrical engineering for both my bachelor’s and master’s. My main area of focus was a field called radiometry where I helped design, build, and test components for satellites to better help understand the global water cycle. After college, I worked in the industry for almost 7 years before getting laid off this past year due to covid. It was a blessing in disguise because it gave me the opportunity to pursue my dream! I don’t think I would

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have ever voluntarily left my career, so this gave me the push. I think after starting college I gave up on that dream of working for Pixar or in the field or gaming. So truly creating content as RAVASHEEN is my dream career I could have never imagined having. It is even better than working for any company because my creativity and opportunity for projects are limitless. For that reason, I don’t see myself ever working for EA or another gaming company. In addition, the gaming industry as a whole tends to be very misogynist from what I understand, and I really love this little pocket of female-dominated gamers (my social media following is ~95% selfidentifying female. I would much rather have my bosses be the community of simmers than a company. As far as long-term goals, I am still working on those! Although I have been making CC for ~2 ½ years, I didn’t even


As far as long-term goals, I am still working on those! Although I have been making CC for ~2 ½ years, I didn’t even consider it as a full-time career until I was laid off at the end of last year. So, this is still uncharted territory for me that I am learning about every day.

- it has many dependencies I didn’t understand at first. This past year I have spent countless hours learning through trial and error to learn what I know now. And I still have so much to learn and every day I try something new!

Maria: What do you like doing most, Maria: How did you transition from the creating CC or Mods and why so? field of engineering to more of a RVSN: I think I have come to love and computer science hobby, making CC and specialize in a bit of a hybrid of the two. I Mods? Did you learn programming as part love making mini-mods, which for me means of your studies or are you self-taught? self-contained objects/package files that RVSN: Right around when Get Famous add functionality to the game without came out I picked up Sims again after a requiring scripts or conflicting with other decade of not playing. I had never heard mods. I think having an object that pairs of CC before, and as soon as I did, I with a specific mod/functionality adds almost immediately started making it. It realism to the game. This lets me make both was really a great outlet for my creativity CC and mini-mods together. and paired well with my technical skills. My background in engineering did help provide a bit of a foundation. I did know a bit about 3D modelling and was very experienced in coding. However, creating gaming content as a whole, is its own beast. I had a lot of the skills down individually, but making cc requires you to pair modelling, coding, and knowledge of how games work fundamentally.

Maria: Which one of all your CC creations was your favourite, the one you enjoyed making most, and why? RVSN: I think the Shof Chef/Retail therapy creations have been some of my favorite.

I started with just recolours and mostly did simply basic build/buy for the first ~1 ½ years of making CC. Learning blender was challenging and also, I spent a lot of time understanding the many, many settings for Sims 4 specifically. It was only after I built a strong understanding of the basics did, I move into modding. Modding is heavy in coding. The coding itself was easy to pick up because once you know a few coding languages, new ones are easier to pick up. However, what made modding for sims especially challenging is that the coding/ modding itself is not just the code

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Those were my first real mini-mods. They took, literally, months for me to make. There were so many versions I made, and then scrapped, in search of a better implementation. Now that it has been ~8 months since I made them, I want to completely redo them because I know so much more now. But that was a really fun time dipping my toes into modding and seeing what possibilities there were. Maria: What are some extremely helpful tips would you give to people just starting out CC making, something you wish you had known as a beginner yourself? RVSN: First, I would recommend watching my tutorial going over the fundamentals of CC. It is only 10 minutes long and doesn’t go over any software or how to actually make CC. It simply covers the terminology and what makes up a CC file. When I started, I found tons of tutorials giving meticulous step-bystep instructions on how to do things but I never found anything explaining the “why”. I made this short video to explain the “why” and how things go

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It is easy to want to jump right into something super complicated - like I did. I first made some recolors, a wallpaper, then went right into making a sectional sofa. The first sectional I released that many people know, is actually not the first sectional I made. The first one I made took me months. There were so many things I had to learn like making things seamless, shading, rigging, tuning, sims interacting with the object, etc. When I finally finished, the couch was rejected on TSR for being way too high-poly. I was really bummed about this, but it ended up being a good thing because I started to learn about good practices for making CC (which I cover in the fundamentals video). This couch would not have been good for sims players and caused performance issues. If I were to do it over again, I would start small and work my way up. Start with recolors and understand how UV mapping and how to make package files. Move on to extracting things from EA meshes or frakenmeshing. Once you get comfortable with that, move onto


making your own meshes for simple objects. Things like tables and clutter that don’t require sim interactions or special tuning. Once you have mastered those, try more complicated items like beds or complex objects with geostates. When you have all of those down, then even start dipping your toes into modding if you want! But understanding the basics and taking it one step at a time really will save you so much time in the long run and enable you to make quality CC.

Q7. Now a little about the Sims, could you tell us how you got to know about the existence of the Sims in the first place, which edition did you start playing and what exactly was the “thing” that got you hooked? I started playing Sims 1 when it came on a CD! We were pretty poor, so I remember a neighbor burned a copy for us to play. We had one computer in the house so me and my 3 siblings would each take 1-hour turns playing. Even when I was young, I loved decorating and interior design. So even on Sims 1 I would spend all my time building houses and not actually “playing”. I think the building aspect is what got me hooked and what I have always loved most about the Sims. I stopped playing in high school and didn’t pick it back up till the end of 2018 when I was a few years out of college. I missed all of Sims 3! So, I am always

trying to go back and understand what is missing in Sims 4 that people loved in Sims 3.


Maria: Since the June Issue of the SimmedUp Magazine is all about the environment, what do you find is the most shocking aspect of human behaviour toward our planet Earth that needs to be addressed? RVSN: I try not to get into politics because there is enough of a division in the world as it is, and I try to make my platform a haven from all of this. But I will say that I think that the United States reentry into the Paris Climate Agreement was absolutely needed. I spent almost 10 years of my life studying and working on the technology that directly measures the global water cycle including measuring the height of the ocean with 1 cm accuracy. I have seen the data myself (which is also public information) and climate change is real. If I could hope for anything realistic, it would be the acknowledgment by the majority of people that it is happening, and we need to do something. Maria: Do you think there is a possibility that technology can solve a lot of the environmental problems we are facing today, or do you think technology is only making things worse? Why? RVSN: Technology is an invaluable tool and absolutely essential in fighting climate change. Technology gives us more knowledge and options. Maria: People usually are extremely busy with work or family, changing their behaviour to become a little ecofriendlier just isn’t something everyone has as a priority. Do you, or have you done something in the past year that has changed the way you go about your day-to-day business with a gain for the environment? RVSN: In the past year I think many of us, including myself, have been focused on just making it out of this pandemic in

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one-piece. I was raised to be a compassionate, caring woman. I always think of the repercussions of my actions for both people and the environment. I was vegan for almost 10 years and still am considerate where my food comes from. Me and my family pass around clothes and reuse things. I try to only buy things I need and not be wasteful. So there haven’t been any major changes I have made, but I tend to live an overall conscious lifestyle.


To find out more about Ravasheen and the Content featured in this article visit:

ravasheen.com twitter.com/ravasheencc www.instagram.com/ ravasheencc/ RAVASHEEN CC - YouTube

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Image Credit to SimSimmerly


“Clean water is only as far away as the nearest tap, and there are taps everywhere. There’s a faucet everywhere. But the reality is, the water in our toilets is cleaner than the water that most people are drinking.” - Matt Damon


CC Spotlight With

KawaiiFoxita

Bathrooms. I may be a little obsessed with them. If there is one room in the house where I feel attention to luxurious detail needs to be placed, it is most definitely here. When you are relaxing after a hard day trying to de-stress, you absolutely need a calming environment with a place for a drink and a good book. Check out my top picks this month for creating beautiful bathrooms.

Erbium Bathtub | Wondymoon @ The Sims Resource

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Bathic Mirror | Kerrigan House Design @ kerriganhouse.tumblr.com

Aquarium Floor Tile | Syboulette @ syboubou.tumblr.com

Plumbum Towel / Wondymoon @ The Sims Resource

Sinoma Sink | Leosims @ leosims.com

City Window | Tingelingelater @ The Sims Resource


Oakhouse Mirror | Pierisim @ Patreon.com/Pierisim

Wilma Dining Plant | Soloriya @ Patreon.com/soloriya

Radon Bathroom | Wondymoon @ The Sims Resource

Mix It! Bathtub | SIMcredible @ The Sims Resource

Oakhouse Sink | Pierisim @ Patreon.com/Pierisim

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Restoration Hardware | SimPlistic @ simplistic-sims4.tumblr.com


Urban Sink | Lulu265 @ The Sims Resource

Atwood Mirror | Peacemaker @ peacemaker-ic.tumblr.com

Japandi Divider | Pilar @ The Sims Resource Kayo Towel Rack | Angela @ The Sims Resource

Kyoto Bathtub | Felixandre @ felixandresims.tumblr.com


Meta Window | MincSims @ The Sims Resource

Basket Weave Tile | Lavlikesims @ The Sims Resource

Ruthenium Bathtub | Wondymoon @ The Sims Resource

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BAFROOM Towel Rack | Felixandre x Harrie @ felixandresims.tumblr.com

Oakhouse Shower | Pierisim @ Patreon.com/Pierisim

Rustiko Sink | SIMcredible @ The Sims Resource

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CC How To Tutorial

Written By MaddyCatts

Sul Sul Simmers! Welcome to Part III of our series: In case you missed the first parts of the series have no fear you can check them out by visiting our website and heading to the ‘Back issues’ area. So last month we made our first custom object for The Sims 4 - a popping red tshirt! That was cool right? It’s such an awesome feeling to load up your game and see something you made just hanging out in the CAS or BB catalog. It never gets old lol. Well today we’re going to get even more creative and take our new skills to the next level. We are going to make a custom happy hoodie! Are you ready? I know you’re ready. I’m ready so let’s get started shall we? As usual we want to make sure The Sims 4 is completely closed out. If so then go ahead and open Sims 4 Studio or S4S. Just like in our last session we want to locate the CAS heading and click on Standalone Recolor. Once that is selected click the CAS heading and wait for the catalog to load.

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Next select the following parameters: Species: Human Gender: All Age: Toddler Part: Clothing Top Game: Base Game Content: Game


Search: Hoodie Scroll down and select the last hoodie, the basic black one. Now go ahead and follow the steps from Part II where we will extract the texture file (png) from the hoodie and export it to paint.net so we can add our graphic smiley. Click Next Navigate to your S4S folder Name your package Toddler Hoodie Click Save

Just like in our last tutorial you will see the black hoodie on our little toddler model in studio view. Click the Texture tab At the bottom of the screen click Export Navigate to the S4S folder Name this png file Tot hoodie Click Save Minimize Sims 4 Studio and open Paint.net Once your program is open: Select File>Open Navigate to your S4S folder Double-click on Tot hoodie. Now you will see the hoodie in 2D

layout. I bet it’s becoming easier to figure out what’s what right??? I love when that happens!

Okay so now we first need to work with our graphics. For this we are actually going to open another program to serve as our active workbook. I’ll explain. As you begin to work on more diverse and complicated projects in your cc creation journey you will collect and use tons of patterns, swatches, logos and other textures you want to use in your creations. Some of these you will want to use more than once, for example if you are doing a matching top and skirt or loveseat and ottoman etc. I keep a workbook page open almost constantly just for this reason and I really can’t function without it. So you will want to choose a program that you are most familiar/ comfortable with such as Microsoft Word, Power Point, Publisher, Open Office, etc - basically any application that lets you copy and paste images in them. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy because we just want to use them to store our clips and snippets. Create a file and name it Textures or Logos or anything that is easy for you to remember. Place this file in your Swatches folder in your main S4S folder. Eventually you will definitely end up with more than a few of these files so you can name them numerically or by theme. So now that you have quickly created your first workbook page go ahead and minimize it and let’s go to good old Google to grab our smiley. I typed in smile emoji icon and chose the most basic image to work with. At least today’s lesson we want to keep it really simple. I know that after you do your first graphic hoodie you will have the perfect

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foundation to do some really interesting stuff. Right? Right!

cool, So select Tools>Magic Wand

So now you want to actually screenshot or snip your smiley. This technique will vary according to your preferences and the particular platform you’re operating on. I’m on Windows 10 PC so I really love the snippet tool because unlike a screenshot, a snippet lets me grab just what I need. It saves me so much time I can’t even tell you. So once you have captured or saved/ snipped your graphic you will want to paste it into your fresh new workbook. I always place my images here before bringing them into paint.net because I know I’ll have a clean copy should I goof it up or override it on the clipboard in Paint. Besides, I might want to use it again.

Click inside your smiley face. Hold down the Ctrl key and continue to select the smiley’s outline, eyes and smile. Once you have successfully done this, the only thing that should be inside the marching ants is what you actually want to place on the hoodie. If too much or not enough of the graphic is selected that means you need to adjust your Tolerance bar. This is located in the main navigation panel but it is only visible when you’ve got Magic Wand selected. Tweak those percentages until you can easily select the parts of your graphic you want to keep. Once this is done: Select Edit>Copy or hit Ctrl + C This is so only the selected, marching ants part of the smiley is preserved. Select Tools>Move

Enabling this feature will let you move Let’s go back to our project in Paint now. your graphic to a different location and OK so at this point if you want the hoodie resize it! So go ahead and drag the to be a different color now is the time to smiley down onto your hoodie. go ahead and do it just for simplicity’s At this point you can position, reposition, sake. As you know that was covered in our size and resize to your hearts content. previous article so I won’t be covering Once you think it looks good go ahead those steps again here. Let’s go ahead and and save.do this by selecting File>Save work with our graphic! or hitting Ctrl + S. Either select Edit>Paste or simply Ctrl + V Select OK in the save confirmation to paste your smiley graphic to your Paint popup and head back over to Studio. canvas. Click Import at the bottom of the Texture Ooh there are the famous marching ants info screen. surrounding your image. Normally that would be great but as you have already Navigate to the Tot hoodie.png file and figured out we only want the :-) we don’t double-click it. want its background or anything else we may have grabbed in a screenshot/snippet. Your toddler model should be sporting a So now we will again be working with the fresh new custom smiley hoodie!!! magic wand feature to highlight and select the parts of the smiley that we want to Now at this point there may be a few little tweaks you want to make if it’s not actually transfer to our hoodie.

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Now you can click Save in the lower right part of the screen and click OK when the confirmation box appears. Completely close out Studio because you never want to run it and the game at the same time. Open your S4S folder, grab your Toddler Hoodie.package file and paste it in the Testing folder you created within your The Sims 4>Mods folder.

exactly centered or too high or too low on the garment. Easy breezy. Simply go back into Paint, click the Undo button once and go ahead and make your edits.

Note: It is absolutely super Duper important that you click undo before you make your changes because if the game holds onto that last save you will only have a blank canvas under your graphic when you try to move it. No Bueno. Go ahead and save again and go back to S4S and check everything out. Once it looks picture perfect we have just one more thing to do before we save. Go back to Paint and do the following: Select Tools>Square Use the square to draw a box around all of the scraps/graphics still hanging out at the top of the canvas. Once they are selected hit Delete. If you leave these items on your canvas they will show up in your game, usually in your Sims hair. No Bueno. Save your changes. Go back to Studio and Import

Load your game and go give your new hoodie a test drive, it looks great right? Right! And you did it! In just three short months you have gone from a total noob to a Sims 4 content recoloring machine! So I will see you guys back here next month for the next installment where we will cover some of the finer points of pattern transfer and working with graphics. It really does deserve its own segment because it is so crucial to making your items look exactly the way you want them to look. Until then Dag Dag!

Have you been following MaddyCatts CC Tutorials? Have you created any of these items? Let us know by tagging us on social media #SupMagHowTo And we will share them with our followers. Are you a CC Creator? Advertise your CC with us by using the contact us on our website.


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“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt


Image Credit to SimSimmerly


Written By Simming Spoonie No Place Like Home is an incredibly cute Early Access game, developed by Chicken Launcher and published by Realms Distribution, available on Steam. The concept is that humanity managed to completely trash the Earth, then most folks decided to take the opportunity to leave and go to Mars. You come in and have the opportunity to clean up and create your own postapocalyptic farm, you can feed animals and collect resources, you need to water your plants and find different seeds to grow ingredients for different recipes. And generally, clean up the environment using your drill and vacuum cleaner, yes, you heard me right, I said vacuum cleaner!

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There are rubbish piles everywhere and your backpack vacuum cleaner sucks them up, there are also different rubbish stacks that contain different resources (wood, seeds, rubble, planting fields, and even electronic waste) which require you to use your upgrade-able drill to demolish then suck up The “trash” is


then used to create recycled materials using an upgradable recycling machine. Upgrades are bought for resources in various shops that you have to find in the world. There is also basic combat in the form of these cute metal bots that you can damage with your drill or your water jet. They drop batteries when they “die” and these are incredibly useful for another amazingly adorable little “animal” resource, cube bots. There are also quests to keep you busy, these are generally aimed at encouraging the local ecology to get back to full strength, for example, the quest below was to help to mend an old fox den to encourage foxes back. There are animal traps that you need to destroy. Toxic trees that need to be cut down and replanted, there is even a toxic spill in the river that you need to find a water filter for!

It is surprisingly satisfying to see the areas that you are working on starting to look less like a trash heap and more like a lovely little nature sanctuary.

As I said earlier, there are different resources and animals in the game. The different “stacks” of rubbish need different drill upgrades, I have only made it to upgrade number two as of now. This means I can demolish wooden stacks, stacks with plant pots (these provide seeds), rubble stacks and electronic stacks, there are two further upgrades that you can buy. The inventory system is fairly self-explanatory and can be expanded when you have enough resources to purchase the relevant upgrade. Let’s move onto why you’d want to clear the rubbish and collect the trash, well that would be to improve your farm! Each animal you encounter can be domesticated and needs its own home before you can add them to your farm. These buildings need these resources to be built. But, you also need to have purchased the blueprint from the relevant vendor, the items these folks need tend to be recipes that


that are cooked in an oven (also upgrade-able!) You learn different recipes from exploring the world and opening suitcases, which have been long forgotten by their owners, these tend to contain rarer crafting resources like knowledge books and components. Did I also mention that the game has dungeons? These are rubbish-filled underground areas that also have a few logic puzzles to figure out. They add a nice diversion to the above-ground areas. In the latest update, we also got the ability to decorate our tiny little homes. I haven’t yet progressed far enough into the game to do so, but we can add flooring, wallpaper, and furniture from what I have seen.

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There are a couple of quirks and clunky mechanics, sometimes I find I have to be standing in exactly the right place to vacuum up some of the larger trash piles and trying to select the correct animal to collect their resource can be a touch frustrating. I am really enjoying this game so far, I find myself totally losing track of time every time I start to play. I am pretty sure my husband wishes I had as much motivation for vacuuming in our home though The developers are constantly adding more and more to this game, more animals, more areas to explore and clean up and more folks to help.


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“If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live.” - Albert Einstein Image Credit to SimSimmerly


TITAN ARCH I'm a 25 years old guy from Finland. I've been playing this series since 2002. I was really fascinated by the original game design and building huge houses quickly became my habit. It seems I haven't changed that much. However, my style has evolved and now I have played The Sims 3 for about ten years. I decided to keep playing because I saw so much opportunity: there are still new tricks and other stuff to be learned and used... and mastered. My main focus is the architecture, yet I am decent at doing the interiors. The channel where I share my builds features a wide variety of different architectural styles - yet modern houses are quite absent. A few years ago, I participated in a building competition so I had to enter my house on YouTube. That's how my channel started. I was quite nervous to start recording my houses but it became a habit. Sometimes I do speed builds, sometimes time lapse-style videos. And lately I've been playing the game itself, which has been really nice. Nowadays, I'm pretty busy with real life stuff so there's not too much time for playing. But I am not going to stop - this has become way too important to me. Feel free to check out my YouTube channel "The Prim Builder". The name came to my mind when I was updating my channel. I like to think my houses are quite prim. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SimTomSimmer The Sims 3 page: https://mypage.thesims3.com/mypage/ 60209060

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HITECTS

By Ivana






Follow The Prim Builder


On You Tube


“You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their own, that they must protect them.” — Wangari Maathai

Image Credit to SimSimmerly


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Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview for us we are really excited to find out a little bit more about you and of course your amazing a r t w o r k ! Let’s start off and find out where are you from, how old you are and how did you come up with the name L u d d y S i m m e r ? Hi Izzy! Thank you so much for inviting me to the interview. I feel so honoured and it's so exciting to be here! Before we start, Pardon me if my English isn't great because I usually speak American Sign Language (ASL) and Australian Sign Language (AUSLAN)! I am Luddle, 22 years old deaf artist from Australia. how did I come up with my name LuddySimmer? oh well! at the first, Luddy was originally my nickname so I thought it would be cool if I added simmer to it because you know, we're all simmers!

be happened in The Sims like you can create your dream family, house and everything you want to do in life simulation video game. Big thanks to the creator of The Sims, Will Wright for being genius to create this video game that everyone loves. Without him, The Sims would never have happened, right? Favorite pack? I love The Sims 1 which is one of my strong childhood memories I have. I like The Sims: Superstar Expansion Pack, The Sims: Makin' Magic Expansion Pack, and The Sims: Hot Date Expansion Pack. Then I got into The Sims 3 era; The Sims 3: Showtime and The Sims 3: University Life. Is there any particular build or sim you are super proud of creating? Are you really sure that's a right question to me who love to create fan art more than build and sim? Haha just kidding, but I am not sure because I barely build my own houses or create my own sims.

What we are all dying to know is, how did you discover the Sims and what would you say is your favourite Sims Game or pack to date?

Everybody that knows you, knows how amazing your artwork is, and shows just how much you love the Sims franchise, Other than the Sims, what inspires you most within your art?

Oh yes! I remember the day one of my classmate gave me the original CD of The Sims 1 with House Party Expansion Pack back in my secondary school and this is how I discovered The Sims. I fell in love with this video game so quickly because it helped my imagination and creativity to

There is so much art inspiration everywhere. For example if what you see gives you an idea, you make it into a drawing, like do you want to draw the duck that you saw on the lake earlier? Go draw! You have to take your new idea


and draw so that's how I like to make an art. What’s your preferred method for your art? Digital, paper and pencil, painting or something else? As you know, I am a digital artist, so all of my artworks are mostly made in digital software like Photoshop. I prefer it more than paper and pencil because the digital makes it so much easier to draw. Based on the previous answer, is there a product you would recommend to other people? I'd recommended to anyone who wants to draw in digital to get a cheaper tablet which would be great to start for practicing and getting used to digital drawing and once you feel like you have been used to using the device, you can start saving up for a more pricey tablet that allows you to create art with higher quality. I'm using Wacom Cintiq 16 to create the fanart. So tell everyone how did you get into creating your Sims art? There are countless ideas and inspirations that got me to make Sims art, for example, if there's a new pack released, the new features would inspire me to draw. With my creativity and the new pack, I start to brainstorm many ideas and I choose the best one I think everyone would enjoy! Or you can make a fanart out of anything memorable from The Sims like a cowplant or Yama-chan from Snowy Escape! Do you feel like you have had to spend a lot of time developing your artist skills or are you one of the lucky ones who just has natural talent? Well, I personally think that I was naturally talented. When I was younger, I used to watch my cousin draw and before you know it, I started copying what he was drawing and since then, I just kept practicing. I didn't need any classes... like self-taught is what you called it right?


You must get a lot of people asking you to create art for them, do you do commission work and if so where can our readers contact you for this? I'd love to open the commission up but unfortunately, it's not ready yet for now. So once it's ready, I will post the commission on my Twitter! Not everyone who follows you would know that you are also a deaf simmer, can I ask have you been deaf since birth or was this something that happened later in your life? That's a good question and I can answer it very simply. I was born deaf. Being a deaf person, do you find that people react to you differently when they know? And has this influenced your art at all do you think? Thankfully, the Sims community is very welcoming and I feel really accepted. There may be some people that may feel sorry for me for being deaf but if you're one of those people, don't be, I enjoy being deaf. Overall, this doesn't really affect my art at all. Has there been any obstacle that you have had to overcome with your artwork? Deadlines are literally one of my worst fears as an artist. It's like I must finish this drawing before the deadline because I don't want it to be delayed again even though it’s important for me to take my time and finish everything as I can slowly without feeling so pressured to finish it. I am sure you have been asked many times! Have you done any collaborative work and Is there anybody we can give a nudge to, that you would just love to collaborate with? That's a interesting question but unfortunately, I've never done any collaborative work before I believe so, but good news! I'm so excited to tell you that I am currently collabing with few super talented simmers on different projects so I can't tell you who because it's gonna be


a surprise. So make sure to follow me on Twitter and you will find out in due time! You are also a meme queen and your posts have our team in fits of hysterics quite often, what has been your favourite meme creation to date? And how do you deal with the more sensitive simmers in the community that may not appreciate your sense of humour? Hold on- wait what? A meme queen you said? Hahaha, I am so flattered! I'm so happy to hear that you and your team enjoy my meme content! And you're asking me how do I deal with the more sensitive simmers? That's so hard to answer this question because I knew there will be more sensitive simmers in this community or who don't have a similar sense of humour to understand the meme. To be honest, I am really not sure because I don't usually “deal” with them like that, all I can do is just leave them alone and try not to get in the trouble or maybe I can explain to them what the joke is all about. If The Sims design team DM’d you and asked you to create a new pack for the Sims, what would you like to see in game? If the design team of The Sims asked me to create a new pack for The Sims, I'd love to see a Showtime inspired pack: The Sims 4: Get On The Stage to unleash your sims’ talents on the stage. Or take your sims to fly around new world destinations that are inspired from real life countries similar to Mt. Komorebi, the Japanese world in The Sims 4 Snowy Escape: The Sims 4: On The Passport! Or maybe meet your matched date from Simdr to have an extraordinary date in the new romantic destination with The Sims 4: Romantic Nightlife. These are three packs I'd really love to see it in The Sims 4. Outside of art and the Sims, what do you like to do with your time?

Outside of art and The Sims, I really love to cook some delicious food and play other video games beside The Sims like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Kingdom Hearts, and other games. There are a few new hobbies I would love to learn more. Where can our readers find/follow you? I only have one account they can follow me on which is Twitter! @LuddySimmer. I'm pretty much active on there most of the time, and you will see more upcoming fanarts from me in the future. I hope to see you there! Again thank you so much for doing this interview, is there anything you would like to say to the readers of SimmedUp or the Sims community? Again, thank you and your team so much for this interview. It's been a lot of fun to answer your questions! As for all of the readers, thank you so much for coming to read this interview. And also, I don't want you to leave empty handed so I created a new fanart of The Sims that is exclusively in SimmedUp Magazine: The Kits! Make sure you jump to next page to see a new exclusive fanart you've never seen before!




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Nature is the source of sanity, without nature, without trees, Bees and Fish in our seas there is no future, because man will lose everything including reason. - Rev.S.Turner


A Brief Guide on Pollu�on and Solu�ons in SimCity 4 By Melissa I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, SimCity 4 walked, so Cities Skylines could run. I would argue that SimCity 4 provided the basic city simulation format for pretty much all city buildingstyle games. Even SimCity (2013), but I will not mention anything about that (apart from the fantastic orchestral soundtrack. Give credit, where credit is due etc.) However, this month we are travelling back to the year of 2003. Following on from its forerunners, SimCity 4 is a city building simulation that provides the Simmer with tools to build a flourishing city, managing everything from utilities, sanitation to the beautification of the city. So much so, that its also one of those educational games that was encouraged to be played on our main (and only) computer in the classroom. Ironically, I already owned a copy, so I was obviously going to be the expert at neglecting and consequently destroying cities for entertainment and not for the educational benefit intended.

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To make this experience as authentic as possible, I have removed my Money Mod, and played as normal via easy mode. Trust me, even on its easiest setting, this game is difficult to master. Play Hard mode at your own risk.

Originally on Easy Mode, I developed a (failing) city known as “Esscity”, generously named by one of my real-life pals (after herself). Subsequently, this city drained its financial resources and rendered itself bankrupt. It became


desolate, depraved, diseased, and a fire hazard. My attempts to remedy the city failed miserably, transforming parts of the city into either a toxic waste hazard or at risk for failed missile launches. Esscity became more like a Messcity. The irony here is that the next dummy city I created for this article was in fact called Messcity. We live and learn. Much like my previous city, I wanted to follow the layout of a real city and decide on either The Burgess Model or The Hoyt Model. However, after careful thought and realising that this is just a computer simulation with a mind of its own, it would be best to just go with the flow. I suppose Messcity does reflect the Burgess Model with affluent properties located on the edges of the city and a Central Business District located towards the centre. You will also require a bit of patience for your city to succeed as Metropolitan skyscrapers and tower block apartments do not just appear overnight.

consumption by 10% but will hit the city’s demand for the Industry sector. It also decreases your Mayor Rating. Only choose this option if you cannot afford a new power plant just yet. Meanwhile, the “cleaner” energy; Solar, Nuclear, and Hydro power plants will only be unlocked if your city hits certain requirements such as population size and pollution levels. However, the issue with Nuclear power plants is that there is a risk of a meltdown, rendering this part of your city uninhabitable. It is a must to check the power plant consistently for maintenance and cover the plant with plenty of nearby fire stations. TIP: The Nuclear Free Zone Ordinance – With this ordinance you will be unable to build Nuclear Power Plants, and any existing power plants will be decommissioned. Your Mayor Rating will increase, as will the demand for the Agricultural sector, but will lower the demand for the High-tech Industry.

Pollution Each industry and source of power does come with its flaws from air pollution to water pollution, both contributing to the map’s desirability factor. At the beginning of each city, only four resources of power are available: coal, oil, gas, and wind. Wind is the cleanest energy source but produces little power with only enough to power your smallish city before it develops. A Coal power plant is the most cost-effective yet produces the highest levels of pollution. As the game progresses Simmers can implement ordinances will help reduce air pollution at a cost per sim per month. These are located in the funds panel, and include: The Power Conservation Act Ordinance – This decreases the power

Industry, demand for Dirty Industry (think

factories etc) will be high at the beginning of the game and will be cheap to zone. However, these produce high air pollution and sometimes water pollution. The higher the Industry, the cleaner the materials used, and less pollution produced. In addition, the demand for the

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Dirty Industry (think factories etc) will be high at the beginning of the game and will be cheap to zone. However, these produce high air pollution and sometimes water pollution. The higher the Industry, the cleaner the materials used, and less pollution produced. In addition, the demand for the Agricultural Industry will always remain high until you tax it to its max (20%). Farms attract jobs in and out of the city and can be used as a buffer between the Dirty and the Commercial sectors or Residential zones. However, farms can produce high levels of water pollution. The Clean Air Act – This does not reduce traffic pollution but enforces restrictions on factories etc within the Dirty Industry thus reducing the air pollution by 10%. However, this also reduces the demand for Dirty Industry by 33%. Use this in the latter stages of city development when Dirty Industry is no longer the central source of income to your city.

and and sometimes within the Dirty Industry zone. What causes the contamination is not stated, however, my guess is that pesticides used on crops can contaminate running rainwater into the drainage basin. However, weather is not present in game. However, if the Simmer were to place Water Towers near Agricultural zones, water pollution will increase. To remedy, placing Water Treatment Works in polluted areas (and be sure to connect the pipes!) will treat and decrease the pollution significantly. TIP: The Water Conservation Program found in Public Ordinances will cut down on water usage by 10%. However, this will significantly halt your demand for Agricultural and Dirty Industry. Only use this earlier on in the game or when you cannot afford more water pumps or towers.

Automobile Emission Reduction Act – Bizarrely, this ordinance does not reduce traffic pollution as one might expect but reduces air pollution by 10%. However, this ordinance will also damage your overall Mayor rating score. Use this as an alternative to The Clean Air Act but only if you have a high demand for Dirty Industry. DID YOU KNOW? The Carpool Incentive Program is glitched and is completely useless. This will provide your city with nothing and drain your funds. -10/10. Avoid.

Water Pollution The direct cause of water pollution is due to contamination from Agricultural

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Roads After a while, the air pollution graph will highlight that some of the city’s busiest roads have high levels of pollution. These areas often follow in the same pattern as the roads. Managing roads in SimCity 4 is a skill that takes time to develop, almost like a science. Different types of road have different speeds and uses from streets with slower speed limits to one way to avenues and highways.


Streets will need to be upgrades to roads, and roads to either avenues or 2 one-way roads placed next to each other in opposite directions. The latter renders a cheaper option yet requires more work from the Simmer. Also experimenting with diverting traffic to different areas or adding more or demolition existing roads can help to remedy pollution and traffic. As previously mentioned, city ordinances can help to remedy this problem, as well as air traffic pollution. One of which is the Commuter Shuttle Service. This highly encourages Sims to use public transport where possible thus relieving traffic and reduces the air pollution by 2%. However, a Simmer must have reasonably good public transit systems in place to be effective.

Recycling Centres can reduce the city’s trash by 20% per 25,000 people. As these are a requirement for the Trash Presort Requirement Ordinance, its worth constructing as this reduces trash by 3%. This reduces garbage by 3%. Recycling Centres also offer numerous job opportunities. As my city grows, I usually add a couple of centres within the Dirty Industry zone, but this is not necessary.

City Garbage If a city has a dense population, expect the demand for appropriate sanitation methods, or else trash will pile up, cropping up in various locations all over the city. I advise placing a landfill in one corner of the map, surrounded by Agricultural sites. Therefore, most of the city’s desirability will remain intact. Signing deals to export trash to other cities can be beneficial too. However, this is costly, so I only choose this option if I have the funds and as a last resort.

Whilst not the most environmentally friendly option, the Waste to Energy plant is another method to consider. This plant burns garbage whilst producing 5,000 Megawatt hours per month of energy for the city. Again, similarly to the landfill, I build mine near the edge of the city, away from Residential and Commercial zones. However, I wait until I have the funds to build this plant, as the initial construction cost is $25,000 and the maintenance costs are $1,000 per month. TIP: If the funding for this plant is reduced to zero, it will continue to burn trash for free, but will not provide energy or emit pollution.


Finally, the Toxic Waste Dump is unlocked when your city experiences financial difficulties. While producing radioactive waste, a Toxic Waste Dump brings in a sum of money every month. However, expect a lot of angry protesters risking their lives outside the dump. If this becomes your last resort, place this as far away from your residential areas as possible. For more information, SC4 Encyclopaedia provides a useful table of how much each ordinance costs per resident, per month, and lots more numerical goodies that I don’t possess the knowledge to translate to page, unfortunately. Ultimately, SimCity 4 is a fantastic city building simulator for both it’s time and today. It is one of those games where you can see developments happen as you slowly but surely progress. Sometimes you may hit a dead end, but the beauty is that you can freely experiment to see what will happen next. As a sandbox game influenced by algorithms, different factors, and connections to other cities, there is no right or wrong way to develop a city.

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With all that said, I have thoroughly enjoyed rediscovering my love for this game over the past few weeks and taking the time to relearn how to build a thriving city from scratch. Time-consuming yet extremely enjoyable. However, there have been a few compatibility issues, even on Steam. But I have experienced this on every machine after Windows Vista, so I was not that surprised. I just needed to hit save periodically. I will continue to play this game for years to come and enjoy it as much as I did years ago.

As always, keep Simming, and I will join you in my next retro exploration. Love Melissa x


SARCASTIC BRIT Join Sarcastic Brit each month where he Adventures into Sims 2 on PSP and asks you to come along for the journey

Hello Simmers and welcome back to another step on our road through nostalgia with The Sims2 on the playstation portable, as some of you may remember in our last issue we glanced over the mechanics from the view of the manual. This issue we will be taking our first steps into the game itself to discover the wacky adventure waiting for us in Strangetown. Barging our way through the character creator at breakneck speeds like I first assumed took longer than I initially thought, with limited facial shapes, skin tones, noses and eyes, I was however brought to spend a number of minutes equalling as long as it takes for a cup of tea to cool down on both the options of clothing, and hairstyles.

suddenly which provides enough distraction for our Sim to observe upwards, causing them to hit something in the road that blows a tire, unfortunately.

After deciding for a short while on what bizarre outfits the game was already throwing at me, I finally entered into the world of The Sims2 and was greeted by a cutscene, which feels odd after coming from a long period of playing The Sims3 on a PC.

Our Sim coasts along a few more feet towards a conveniently placed gas station, where a mechanic lounges atop the hood of a car outside of a echanic shop placed adjacent and attached to the gas station, one would think that this is a strike of fortune and favour but in truth this is where our story truly starts off.

Our introduction comes in the form of your created Sim travelling down an old and beaten tarmac road in the desert, with an equally worn down car. It is clearly hot and uncomfortable, but what is concerning to our Sim more than anything is that they are being chased by none other than a Plumbob. Chasing them down the road, overtaking our Sim and then rocketing far into the sky

The game controls in a third person playstyle, unlike other The Sims games where you are given a birds eye view so that you may direct attention to objects and Sims more freely, instead in this version of The Sims2 you are locked to only your Sim to better immerse yourself in the more story based gameplay to what you may normally be used to from the franchise.

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After rolling our car into the mechanics garage we finally get to meet the man behind who will be fixing our machine, Oscar Del Fuego is his name. However, when you try to speak to him he explains to you that he has no interest in trying to fix your vehicle yet, even with the offer of money he explains that the issue is with your respect. A brief rant explains that he believes himself to be an artist, not some mechanic, and that “You don’t go up to Michelangelo and say, ‘Hey, I want a Mona Lisa, here’s some money!’’

making money doing jobs, to just socialising with other Sims, you have to perform a minigame where you must match a briefly on screen image to one of the options corresponding to one of your handhelds buttons. My largest gripe and issue with this system is more to do with the constraints of the console than it is the gameplay, afterall one of my favourite The Sims games had a similar way of doing things, The Urbz. When I played The Urbz however, it was on a more powerful console that aided in the gameplay by not stuttering and stalling like an awkward partner on prom night that ultimately just wastes time. After Oscar finally accepts the payment he sends us off to the Curio Shoppe which is the aforementioned gas station attached to the mechanics garage, there we are told to talk to a woman named Mambo Loa, and it is also the location of a familiar face, Bella Goth. She informs us that she has got to get out of this town because it is going to drive her crazy and will not detail further into the reason why.

After you explain to him that Michelangelo didn’t paint the Mona Lisa you get a popup on your screen informing you that you have just discovered a secret, and the first of many I am assured. This is in relation to the system spoken about in the manual of the game, secrets, where you can collect and sell people's secrets and that of the world. After a final retort from Oscar informing us that he didn’t paint the Mona Lisa because nobody gave Michelangelo respect, you are given two options that lead to the same place, Oscar turns out to just be a lonely man in the desert who wants to be spoken to like a human being. This is our introduction into what I believe to be the most bothersome part about this game. Minigames, from

After an introduction with the mystically inclined Mambo Loa as well as a correctly g u e s s e d zodiac sign quiz, you proceed through a couple more basic tutorials describing how the aspirations, wants, sanity and secret mechanics all work while only breaking the fourth wall on purpose a few times to drag away from any immersion a player might want to have, however playing The Sims2 is more for fans of slapstick comedy and adventure, rather than deep roleplaying experience. To proceed on with the story you have to discover one of Bella Goths secrets, a


social minigame later and we uncover the truth about her urgency to flee from Strangetown, Bella is running away because she was abducted by aliens. Briefly after this discovery my own Sim required the little boys room, and then I also nearly joined Bella in her absconding when I discovered the sound development team has never urinated healthily in their life, I know for certain I do not stop and start several times during a flow but apparently with a few more tests, I know for certain that for my sim this is perfectly normal.

Brief toilet adventure behind us, a return to the gas station clerk and part time mystic, Mambo Loa gives us our next required mission before we can pass on, it is time to start romancing someone, with a flirting minigame. After this task and a trap snared to make you buy her goods, you are finally granted freedom to go outside and check on your car, only to discover the entire mechanics garage and mechanic are missing, leaving only the foundations and a ringing cell phone on the ground. You answer the phone and are greeted with the voice of a man asking if you’ve lost something, tarnishing whoever is on the other end with the guilt of being your car and mechanic thief. The man on the other end of the line offers the player a job but, you will need to do a few things for him first such as finding a place to live and finding a way across the desert now that you’re a pedestrian. Without leaving a name your mystery caller informs you that if he wants to contact you again, that you should keep the phone.

With no other options I turned on my heels and made my way back to the Curio Shoppe, though not before I decided to pick up each and every bit of trash and litter left spread across the outside of the gas station to do my part for this new community I was in the process of being inducted into, and with my most faint memory I also remembered from years ago that there was a way to turn trash into simoleons as part of a system for keeping the community clean after the rubbish collectors mysteriously vanished. Join me next time to continue our trip down memory lane with this version of The Sims2 where we will start to discover the hidden secrets buried deep within Strangetown and its inhabitants, until then keep on Simming.


Image Credit LaarStudio


We say we love flowers, yet we pluck them. We say we love trees, yet we cut them down. And people still wonder why some are afraid when told they are loved. - Paul Morley


CHANI_ZA


Chani is a veteran Sims player who is well known for her Sims content and esports commentary. Not only is Chani an inspiring gamer her background speaks for itself, from Designing all the artwork for the Red Bull XFighters 2015 Pretoria leg of the global tour to overseeing VWV's social media plus the design and social media elements for VWV's Phakama Women’s Academy initiative. In a rare and quiet moment, Sulzisim managed to catch up with the super talented Chani for a quick chat. Sulzi: Tell us more about who Chani is and your love for the Sims. Chani: I am a South African YouTuber who has a background in esports, event production and graphic design. I've been a gamer since as long as I can remember, have been playing The Sims since 2000 and enjoy asking Twitter "what's for lunch". My older brother introduced me to The Sims, and I've been obsessed since the very beginning. Family and friends had easy "go to" gift ideas whenever my birthday was coming up because it was always the latest Sims expansion pack. If I was home, you knew exactly where you could find me after my homework was done or it was the weekend. Right in front of the computer playing The Sims. Sulzi: I know you are a Sims 4 console player. How do you think console players are received in the Sims community? Chani: I honestly feel like there is less "ew you're a console pleb" thinking within the sims community in comparison to other game titles. Sure we might not have access to custom content or mods, but I've never felt judged for playing on console. When the console players were

speaking up about the skin tones still appearing blotchy and artifacting, it was refreshing seeing so many PC players online stand up for us as well. Sulzi: I recently learnt that you have a history of being an esports commentator. What does that entail and how are females received in the field? Chani: If you think of any sports broadcast, you automatically know there is someone commentating over the action. It is the exact same in esports, just with gaming titles. Commentating over the gameplay, sharing player or team storylines with the audience and adding that extra layer to an esports broadcast for viewers who might not be familiar with the scene to know exactly what is going on at any given point. As with all industries, there are challenges with stepping into such a male-dominated space, but there are many incredible women in the esports scene absolutely killing it, being inspirations to us all. Sulzi: What do you miss the most about these events during the Pandemic? Chani: Esports events (and gaming events in general) are the few times a year in South Africa where players and people you know from online are all in the same place at the same time. Sometimes you're meeting for the first time, other times you're seeing a good friend for the first time in person since the previous year's event, so I definitely think I miss the people the most. Nothing hits quite the same as a live crowd getting hyped about insane gameplay from top esports competitors. Sulzi: What are you most likely to do in the Sims? Building or gameplay? Chani: I love the gameplay. I'll build on occasion, but the gameplay and created storylines are the best part about The


Chani interviewing a CSGO player at RUSH Esports 2018

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The Sims for me. I only recently started to attempt more gameplay challenges, but I've always loved Live Mode. The more chaotic the gameplay the better! Sulzi: You are currently doing the 200 baby challenge. What made you decide to make the current 100 baby challenge and make it more difficult to do? Chani: The 100 Baby Challenge is something I've always been aware of, but always avoided attempting it myself until I found myself wanting to start streaming Sims 4 gameplay last year (Up until this point my main focus had always been YouTube content, specifically tips, tricks and sims cheats "help| videos, so moving into playing a family live was a huge jump for me). I decided for me to stick to a streaming schedule. I'd need to give myself a challenge so the 100 Baby fit perfectly with that. 3 and a half months later baby 101 was born, aged up and moved out and I was itching for more.I had found the 100 baby challenge enjoyable, and nowhere near the nightmare many other players experience. I think it's a combination of my playstyle and love for live mode that I came up with the idea of pushing my own personal boundaries and challenging myself to see how many babies one mother could have in her normal sim lifetime, so I set the bar at 200. I've heard of another creator managing to have 178 babies with one mother, and I'm sure I can pass 200. Sulzi: Do you have any other Sims challenges you are currently doing? Chani: I've been reliving all The Sims 3 nostalgia with a throwback legacy challenge on the odd Thursday. Not really following specific challenge rules, but focusing on a legacy and watching a family grow from generation to generation. Sims 3 of all the Sims is the one I played the least and the last one I

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played on PC, so it's nice to be back. I am also working on the Not So Berry challenge seeing as there are so many pieces of the game I have not played in such a long time, that challenge has really brought back so much of the love I have for all the various types of sims and gameplay stories you can live. I find myself playing the same careers with the same traits, living in the same types of houses in my favourite neighbourhoods, and that challenge forces a change up, and it's amazing. Sulzi: Are there any other challenges in the Sims you would like to tackle in the future? Chani: I really want to do a 100 pets (puppies or kittens) as a spin-off of the 100 baby when I'm done having 200 sim babies. I hardly play with Cats and Dogs so I think that may be more of a challenge for me than having tons and tons of sims running around. Sulzi: Do you have any tips and tricks for people who want to improve their Youtube content and/or videos? Chani: Consistency. It's something I still struggle with but is a very big part of improving. The more content you're creating, the more you're going to learn and evolve. The videos I make now are drastically different from the ones I was creating back in 2015 or 2017. Sulzi: What other things do you have in the pipeline for the future that you can share with the readers? Chani: I've started working on a bimonthly event format for something Sims related to try to combine my esports event love with The Sims. I've loved hosting shell challenges in the past and think there is a rich area for exploration there for future.

Find Chani_za on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Twitch and YouTube 101


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“It affects all of us, so we all have an obligation to act responsibly.” The Simming Spoonie

Image Credit The Simming Spoonie


Your Sims Showcased from

Images Created by BunnyBananaSims Find them on Tumblr

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m around the world.

Images Created by Sulzisim Find her on Twitter YouTube & Instagram 105


Hi, my name is Mena and I live in Durban, South Africa. I’m a wife and mother, working by day and playing The Sims as my guilty pleasure, by night (and weekends… and holidays….). The Sims 4 is my happy place. My husband introduced me to The Sims 3 when we got married (thank you, my love!) and from there I moved on to the Sims 4. I discovered a whole community of people on Twitter with the same love for this game as myself and became more active on the gallery.I love sharing what I do with others as well as host and enter challenges and competitions, or collaborate on projects. My Maxis Fav’s are a source of great pride and you can find me on the gallery, Twitter, FB, Instagram and Tumblr, as @MenaBuchner and my blog on http://menabuchner.home.blog. I hope you pop in and say “Hi”!

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Sims created by The Simming Spoonie A 40 something Simmer from the UK who is more used to building in CAS but has recently developed a love affair with creating Sims! Find Spoonie on: Twitter: Simming_Spoonie Facebook: TheSimmingSpoonie Ea ID: Simming_Spoonie

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“The good man is the friend of all living things.” —Gandhi


Image Credit To Sulzisim


Build A Better Life The Art of Healthy Conflict

I do not know about you, but I cringe sometimes when there’s conflict. I like everyone to be happy, to feel good and to get along. But the reality is that is not always the case. Humans are prone to conflict. Conflict is healthy and can improve relationships and our mental health. Having differing beliefs, values and views is a sign of a healthy community and healthy relationships. However, when these collide (either in a real or perceived way), emotions can become strong, and relationships can experience some deconstruction. Whether it be personal, family, a community or at work, it is natural as a human to feel hurt, angry, or disappointed when something falls short of what we believe, think, feel or need. This deconstruction is the fragile place where relationships can either rise high or fall hard. So, why can conflict feel so negative, and even scary? What is the best way to maneuver conflict when it arises? Does conflict resolution always mean reconciliation? Here are a few thoughts, and some suggestions when we find ourselves in relational conflict:

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Acknowledging vs. Labeling: In graduate school, I read a lot of books. Most of the time I read just enough to get what I needed to learn from the assignment and then I moved on. But there were a handful that have stuck with me. One of these books is called Never Call Them Jerks by Elisabeth Kvernen and Arthur Paul Boers. The book is essentially this: We can be in relationships because we genuinely want togetherness. But desiring togetherness does not mean there will be lack of difficult experiences and behaviors. Sometimes, the behaviors arise from inadvertent actions, or a misinterpretation of an action. Other times, people exhibit blatantly difficult behaviors. Either way, the impact on the relationship is what is most important. What I took away from this book is that it is much easier to “label” someone negatively than to acknowledge them as having value while also acknowledging that


something they have said or done hurt us in some way. If someone is a [insert negative label here], then we do not have to acknowledge or value them. In essence, we strip them of their humanity. I wonder if we do this sometimes so that we do not have to acknowledge our own vulnerability. Just a thought. However, if we see them as human with flaws, and with value, then we are forced to confront the behavior and own our own feelings around the situation. Calling In vs. Calling Out: I work for a company which truly values people. We dedicate quite a bit of time and energy on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) efforts. In a recent conversation, a colleague talked about the concept of “calling in” and “calling out.” Calling in is when something is said or done, or not said or done, and we reach out to the person to say, “Hey, can we talk?” These conversations are important because we can get a lot of relationship work done. We can truly take time to use those good old-fashioned “I Messages” to share what the impact of the situation is having on us. Then, we can take the time to hear the other’s perspective. These conversations have a ton of potential to heal and to grow us in relationships. Calling out is when something is said or done in a group that is damaging to an individual or to the group. One example of this is when someone is telling a “joke” at the expense of another, or of a people group. It’s ok to speak out and say, “I’m concerned that jokes like that might have a negative impact on others in the group. It might be best to refrain from telling them.” It’s even ok to say, “You know, when I hear things like that it makes me feel [insert feeling here]. I would feel better if we

refrain from speaking like that in this group.” Yes, it will make the group uncomfortable. But you know what? The likelihood that the group was already feeling this way is high. And most importantly, you have taken the opportunity to help that person grow, if they choose to. Confronting vs. Triangulating: Triangles have their place in the world, but communication is not one of those places. Triangulating is when I have something to say to or about a person or situation. And, instead of going directly to that person, I say things about them to someone else. Now, I do want to acknowledge that sometimes direct confrontation is not possible, or safe. I will talk about this in a moment. However, in the cases that it is, it is great to find a trusted friend or professional to talk it through with first. Getting some insight from someone outside of the situation can really help us decide the best approach. Taking time to process our own feelings about the conflict is often a great practice as well. Depending on the value the relationship has for you, having a professional mediate the conversation can be a great resource. It is not until we can bring that person into the conversation that the conflict can truly be r e s o l v e d . Remember, resolution does not always m e a n reconciliation. But it does mean peace. And that is what we all truly need in life, peace.


Sometimes Away:

We

Have

to

Walk

There are times when direct confrontation is neither possible nor safe. There are times when we have done all we can to tell the person how their behavior affects us, and it seems to not change anything. It is ok to have a limit to how much you are willing to try. It is ok to walk away when you have reached this limit. This is especially true if there is a lack of psychological or physical safety. If someone is treating you in a way that makes you feel or believe you are less than what you truly are, it may be safer to simply leave. If someone is causing you harm, either verbally or physically, you are not responsible to fix anything. You have a right to simply walk away. You have a right to feel safe in every and all relationships. The Value of Deconstruction: If you have ever remodeled a room, you know that you must tear down what is there to build something new. This tearing down can feel very messy and chaotic. When something is deconstructed, there is grief over what was. When something is deconstructed unexpectedly, this can feel even more intense. This is where taking a step back and letting your feelings do the work they are intended for is important. It is ok to grieve even the most dilapidated room, especially if there is attachment and normalcy there. Part of grief is integration. Part of integration is reconstruction. This is where we sort through the “pile” in front of us and decide what we need and want to keep and what the other needs to keep. This is where we purge what no longer serves us, and the other purges what no longer serves them. Sometimes the room is built with space for both parties. But sometimes it is not, and that is ok too. What is important is that there

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now can be safety. And in many cases, the relationship is even stronger than before. Conflict is uncomfortable, and often not easy. Sometimes conflict is necessary to rebuild relationships. Sometimes it may not be possible to confront the conflict directly. What is important is that we take the time to value ourselves and others enough to acknowledge and address the conflict in a way that is best for the situation. I wish you all peace. I wish you all health and I wish you all love. Be well.



simmedup.co.uk


The SimmedUp Shop is brought to you through WinGaming All proceeds from sales is used to promote, create and arrange giveaways through our magazine, website and social media channels. So your support means the world to us and to our readers. Our hope is that one day we will be able to support our gaming community more than just with words and prizes. If you wish to DONATE to our magazine to help keep us going then please do donate through our website, because every little really does help. Thank you for all your continued support *All designs are created by our team and arre exclusive to SimmedUp and WinGaming if you see our designs anywhere else please do let us know.

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Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten. – Cree Indian Prophecy

Image Credit LaarStudio


It's hard to believe that the Eco Lifestyle expansion pack has been a part of The Sims for almost a full year now! This expansion pack added some exciting gameplay, along with glorious build items. One of the most hyped-up expansion packs ever to be released by this popular franchise, Eco Lifestyle provides your sims with the opportunity to make the world a greener place! One of the best things about Eco Lifestyle was its ability to impact every world in the game. Whether you live in Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, or Sulani, you could utilize the attributes that came with Eco Lifestyle to help your Sims save the world! This article will show you how to help your Sims save the world…

A Real World Issue: It is no secret that the world is in peril. We are on the brink of distaster with supplies running low and water running out. We are using up our resources quickly and without concern, but what happens when all our known luxuries are gone? What will we be left with then? It is time to step up and become your own superhero. If we all did just one thing to better the environment, it could make a huge difference on the entire world. Time is running out, and the clock is ticking. Take action today and improve your tomorrow!


Start

By

Gaining

Knowledge:

The best place to start is by learning about what you can do to make a difference. Next time Knox knocks at your door, pay attention to what he is telling you. There are a number of ways that Sims can create a greener environment, and Knox will lead the revolution if you let him.

Tina can teach you a a lot so listen up!

Get Involved: Knowledge is useless if you are not using it. Get out to your local community board, or use your mailbox to vote on Neighborhood Action Plans (NAP’s) to start making a difference in your area today!

Network With Other Sims: Getting close to Tina Tinker comes with a bonus. Tina is knowledgeable in fabrication and can lead you down the road to success. Talk to other Sims about the environment and encourage them to vote at the community board. A bit of influence can go a long way toward getting what you want.


Small Acts = Big Change:

Upgrade to Innovation:

Not every act has to be huge and over the top. Even small changes can make a huge difference on the environment.

Once you are able, upgrading appliances and investing in things that make the community footprint greener is always a good idea, Think solar panels, dew collectors, and eco-friendly appliances. Seek out ways to limit water consumption and use less electricity when possible.

Ride a bike or sort out some recyclables and see the difference that these small acts can make to inspire change in others.

Don’t Be Afraid To Get Down And Dirty: Eco Lifestyle gave your Sims the ability to dumpster dive, and with it, the possibility of finding some discarded treasures. Hop into the nearest dumpster and see what you find hidden in the depths of the dirt.

Grow Your Way To Green Living: In real life and in The Sims, gardening is a great way to help yourself while helping the environment. Start a small garden and watch the possibilities grow. In The Sims, gardening is an excellent source of food and a great source of income. You can easily sell your crops for some solid cash!

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Find Ways To Self-Sustain: Self-sustainability means being able to survive on your own accord. Gardening is a great way to get fresh vegetables and fishing can provide you with much-needed meat. Grab a rod and get to your local fishing hole today. Fishing is alos another opportunity to make some cash in the game, and can be quite lucrative once your skills improve.

Don’t Forget To Have Fun: While saving the world is a super important job, it is just as important that you let loose and have fun sometimes. Get out on the town and celebrate your successes, big or small, because it is the fun of the playtime that will make the work worth all the effort in the end

pack and its off-the-grid build items. Limit your use of electricity by using candles instead of lights, and use a barbecue or fire-pit instead of a stove. There are tons of off-the-grid options in the game and you are able to search for them using the filter menu in build and buy mode. Items such as dew collectors, solar panels, and generators will help your Sims live a greener lifestyle without having to give up life's little luxuries. Just be sure that you only use what you must or you may run out of power or water and will be left feeling sad, dry and oh so alone sitting in the dark!

Build Your Own Eco Oasis: If you are serious about going green, then you will need to create your own Eco Oasis. Create your own Eco-friendly home using the Eco Lifestyle expansion

Until Next Time, Have a Simtacular Day! K8Simsiley


“You wouldn't think you could kill an ocean, would you? But we'll do it one day. That's how negligent we are.” ― Ian Rankin, Blood Hunt

Image Credit Minraed



With Minraed This issue we will explore some aspects of perspective in photography and how taking your Sims camera to places not as readily accessible can add interest to your images.

Leon Abduchon here coming to you from Strangerville where the impact of climate change on our environment can be seen all around. While I had my drones out scouting for nefarious activity I was in awe of the beauty and was inspired to share some tricks about capturing drone-style aerial photos.

To clarify, these tips are not for taking photos with the drones in game. The techniques here are for using the TAB mode camera; simply hit TAB while in LIVE mode and begin to explore. In this mode your camera doesn’t get stuck

within the boundaries of the LIVE mode camera. This camera allows you to see things and go places your Sims on the ground can’t get to. Some of my favourite uses are as shown in these next images.

Use this method to explore the town from above to see areas that you may want to go with your Sims. This doesn’t open up the entire world, but you can view the neighbourhood or area of that world where your sim is currently located and find things that you may have missed. The trails of Brindleton Bay


You can also discover hidden areas, easter eggs or find inspiration for photos that you didn’t even know were there. Did you know that there is a drive-in theatre in the desert of Oasis Springs?

I also find this technique important for creating the perspective that I am always going on about. Cinematically there are many uses for this technique and in film it would be referred to as “crane up, camera down”, but with aerial drone photography what it is today I find myself imagining a sim drone flying around taking photos.

From overhead you can create a sense of vast beauty or of being lost in that vastness.

This image to me evokes a sense of peace, escape, quiet respite from the demands of life.


High-angle shots can evoke an emotional impact where your Sim will appear small, diminished, or insignificant for example. Different variations of the same image may feel differently to the viewer. The upper image feels like contemplating existence, where in the second image I imagine he has a tough decision to make and needs some space to ponder. In the lower image the lone car driving through a vast isolated landscape can make a powerful statement.

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The usual photography tips can be used here in your aerial and high-angle photos; the standard rule of thirds, look for patterns, angles and leading lines to draw the viewers’ eyes. Simplicity also works well in aerial photography and can be especially eye catching.

You already have wings. All you have to do is fly. Unknown author

I have been exploring my Sims games for a long time this way and I am still amazed at what there is to still be discovered. I hope you will find this as enjoyable as I did taking these images. I have a bunch more that I will share on Simstagram over the month of June so stay tuned.

I hope we have inspired you to explore your Sims’ worlds from a different point of view and to discover unknown wonders. Take your Sims, viewers and readers on a journey with your drone photos and share them with us. Thank you for joining us. Leon Abduchon can be found in my gallery. ID Minraed. Share your drone photos with us. Tag #SUPsimtography and #simmedupmag You can find me on Simstagram @minraed and on Twitter as @MinraedArzhel


Image Credit To IvanaRachelle


“Twenty-five years ago people could be excused for not knowing much, or doing much, about climate change. Today we have no excuse.“ Desmond Tutu, Former Archbishop of Cape Town




with Each month in Making a Simmer we search the World Wide Web to bring you the very best in Simming talent and let them tell you all about who they are and why they do what they do. This month we had the opportunity to sit down and talk to the talented EA Game Changer that is Krystal Gamer. Tell us more about who Krystal Gamer is. After I left the Air Force, I spent most of my professional career working for the Department of Defense in a multitude of IT management roles running software projects, departments, and process improvement efforts. From there, I went on to business ownership, then started freelancing in video editing and writing. Now, I’m mostly focused on writing novels and short stories, including a couple for SimLit. Outside of professional endeavours, gaming has been a love of mine for most of my life. But then, I’m pretty sure that’s nearly a requirement when you have an IT degree. The Sims, specifically, has been in my gaming repertoire since Sim City 3000 and The Sims 3. Then, I started uploading Sims videos in December 2017 and announced my channel in January 2018, and have been at it ever since. I also enjoy Diablo, The Witcher, Skyrim, Planet Coaster, Cities Skylines, and Roller Coaster Tycoon, to name a few.

You are a photographer as well. How does that affect your gameplay in

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terms of taking screenshots while ingame? Photography is another passion and I’ve been at it for more than two decades now. It definitely affects many aspects of the Sims for me, from photographing builds and Sims themselves, to color theory, lines, balance, composition, and design choices when I’m furnishing interiors. As to how it affects things in a very specific way, I don’t know if nonphotographers ever do this, but I’ll sometimes wander around the Sims worlds looking for scenes to photograph – and there are a lot of good scenes in the game, too. Also, one pleasure with that is that I get to set the lighting so that it’s right, which is often a convenience I wish I had in real-life photographic situations. Being able to pause is another huge convenience, photographically speaking. What is your favorite type of Sims content to make? I love to build and am far more of a builder than a player, but I’m not sure that I have a specific style. If anything, I like variety, so I’m always changing things up. I build small when I don’t have a lot of time and


large when I’m in the mood and do have the time. I also create both residential and commercial builds, and I’m not even sure I have a preference between the two. Everything is just based on my mood and whatever idea I have when I begin. I also see you have dived into making some cc. How did that come upon? The lack of a color wheel is what spurred me into making CC. I’m a bit of a perfectionist who likes things to match, so wanting things in the colors I want them was really the biggest motivator. It’s also opened up the opportunity to create a couple of things for specific builds and characters, things that weren’t already available in-game. My favorite is the acoustic panel walls (the type that looks like foam) that I created for a sound studio I made in one of my Sim’s homes. It’s also my most downloaded piece of CC so far. Having the capability to do that when I was playing a musician was a huge boon. But, compared to others out there, I merely dabble in CC. Maybe someday, I’ll find the time to delve into it even deeper. You do a lot of Sims photography tutorials on your Youtube channel. Do you have any quick tips for our readers

regarding Sims photography? I’ll offer advice that will aid both in-game and real-life photography – take pictures during the early morning or late afternoon hours. The time around sunrise (a magic hour in photographic terms) and shortly before sunset (golden hour) are prime photographic times where you’ll get the best lighting, both in-game and in real life. Also, in-game, don’t hesitate to move your builds to another lot to get better lighting and compositions. What is your favorite building style to dive into? I touched on this above. I’d say “variety” is probably the best answer for me as I’m truly not sure I have a specific style. I even tried creating 20 corners for the recent #tinycorner challenge and reviewed them afterward to see if I could define any common theme. I couldn’t. So, I guess I have no style. I’m style-less. Or I could just say I’m incredibly unique. I like the sound of that better, so I’ll go with that. More seriously though, if you peruse my gallery, you’ll see I’m truly all over the map stylistically. What can I say? Variety is the spice of life. Any

gameplay

challenges

you

are


currently busy with that you would recommend to the readers? The only challenge I’m working on at the moment is May’s SimLit Challenge. I’ve done a couple of those now and I’m finding them very helpful in that they’re forcing me to get better at writing short stories. It’s nice that we have that in the Sims community and I definitely think more Simmers who are writers and storytellers should join in. Other recent challenges I’ve played around with have been the #tinycornerchallenge and the #staircasenookchallenge, both of which I loved. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to

whip something out pretty quickly, and both those challenges allowed that and allowed me to create a variety of different designs, which I enjoy quite a bit. What is your favorite pack that has come out so far and why do you love it so much? Oh, this is such a difficult question to answer. For me, it’s a tough call between Get Together and Island Living. I might have to go with Get Together though. The world is large, gorgeous, and offers a lot of diversity in building locations in that the feel of each segment of


Windenburg can cater to different build styles. I also love the wattle and daub wall coverings that come with that pack. And, though I’m not too much of a player, I even like the gameplay aspects of that pack as well. Do you have any advice for people wanting to become an EA Game Changer or just improving their content? I think a lot of it is just figuring out what you’re good at and what you like to do. For me, I’ve found that people enjoy my tutorials most of all. For others, like the ever-incredible SatiSims, it’s absolutely

phenomenal builds that look nearly impossible. I know many who are heavily into CAS creation or CC creation. So, I think it’s very individual-dependent. And the beauty of The Sims, in my opinion, is that it offers such a wide range of creative opportunities, whether you want to tell stories, build, create CC, make your favorite movie stars or pets in CAS, or whatever else. The game is so diverse in that respect. I can’t think of another game on the market that offers that level of diversity regarding all the different things one can do creatively.

Written By Sulzisim




ACEBOOK ThinkLikeASim

Vanessa is an amazing builder who showcases her work on Facebook and shares some of her wonderful building tips and tricks with us using her YouTube channel. She creates some amazing builds without the use of CC or mods. I think my favourite build of hers was her Grocery Store, from the use of pool lights to create the signage, the manicured gardens surrounding her parking area, the fully stocked shelves, making great

use of live edit objects and the kitchen for restocking some of those delicious baked goods we see in the display cabinets. She creates some amazing builds without the use of CC or mods. I think my favourite build

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of hers was her Grocery Store, from the use of pool lights to create the signage, the manicured gardens surrounding her parking area, the fully stocked shelves, making great use of live edit objects and the kitchen for restocking some of those delicious baked goods


By The Simming Spoonie

SHOWCASE we see in the display cabinets. This gorgeous little check out

area is so bright and welcoming and there is even a bargain basket next to it!

Lack of variety won’t be a problem with these fully stocked freezers!

You can find her posting away on most of the FB groups, and on her own page

Not only does she showcase her amazing builds with her stop motion videos, but she also shows us how to use some of her wonderful tips and tricks in our own builds, her understairs library is just genius and makes a normally wasted space an integral part of our Sims homes.

(https://www.facebook.com/ vanessa.thinklikeasim.7) her Twitter, Instagram and Gallery tag is thinklikeasim, and you can find her YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/ channel/ UClb65g18EhRtSbzWx5R6Sr A






By SueSimming

This month, we focus on the eco friendly side of life. When The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle was released, I wasn’t sure about the pack. It was something that hadn’t been done in the franchise before shifting focus to our impact on our environment. You can’t play The Sims 4 now without being reminded of this. It has now become one of my favourite packs but there is room for improvement. Here are a few mods that add to EL and it’s “living green” vibes.

Unlocked & Functional Water Pump by Qahne A simple mod that unlocks the basegame water pump world object that can be used as a water producer, like the dew collectors from Eco Lifestyle. It'll reduce your bills slightly and enable you to use plumbing when off the grid. It still has the original functions, so you can search for frogs and gather water too. There's also a second version that only has the default functions, so you can still gather water from it, but it won't produce water by itself. Because this is a default replacement, you can only have one of these in your game at once. modthesims.info/d/653145/unlockedamp-functional-water-pump.html

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Permanent Gulbasaur

PlantSims

by

Want to be one with nature? There is no better way than turning into a plant…Sim that is. Since The Sims 2 Seasons, we’ve always had the PlantSim lifestyle in our games but in The Sims 4, it’s not permanent and after a few days your Sim will return to his or her normal form. This mod changes that. What does it do? When normal Sims eat a Forbidden Fruit, three things happen: � the game checks to see if they're a vampire or alien � if they're not a vampire or alien, the game turns them into a PlantSim by adding a hidden trait � the game adds on a 5-day timer (the moodlet), which removes the

PlantSim trait when it runs out Basically, the moodlet ending is what tells the game to remove the hidden PlantSim trait. The moodlet isn't what makes your Sim a PlantSim, it's what makes your Sim turn back after five days. This mod stops the moodlet appearing and (optionally) removes the vampire and alien checks. How do I cure a PlantSim and make them normal again? At the moment, you need to use the cheat console and type "traits.remove_trait trait_PlantSim". I plan to add a cure to the rewards shop later.

modthesims.info/d/652171/ permanent-plantsims.html

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Self-Sufficient MissBee

Aspiration

by

This aspiration will have your sim dumpster diving, growing food, fabricating, and crafting their own furniture. It works well with challenges that limit what your sim is allowed to buy, and will see them able to completely provide for their own needs...even toilets! This aspiration comes with a custom reward trait that will make dumpster diving, wood working, and fabricating less draining on your sims needs. https://modthesims.info/d/645061/selfsufficient-aspiration.html

Sharing is Caring Kleptomania Fix & Recycle Disciple Swipe Fix by homunculus420

bowl, pet toy, sculpture, garbage, doll, stuffed animal, trash Now they can only swipe trash.

The first mod is a small xml override mod for Eco Lifestyle to fix the problem of sims turning into crazy kleptomaniacs when the "Sharing is Caring" neighbourhood action plan is active. Previously, sims could steal any of these objects: lights, easel, couch, computer, tv, stereo, instrument, living chair, video game, vase, stool, art, pet bowl, pet toy, book, sink, counter, table. This mod made it so that they can only steal pet toys. This way they still have something to "share"...There is an added version where not even pet toys can be shared. Choose which one you prefer, don't use both!

https://modthesims.info/d/643290/ recycle-disciple-swipe-fix.html

The Second mod is an xml override mod to change the behaviour of the Recycle Disciple trait that comes with the Eco Lifestyle expansion pack. Sims with this trait swipe random items from their environment when they haven't recycled anything in a while. This mod changes the objects that they are able to swipe. Previously, sims could swipe these objects: lights, easel, couch, computer, tv, stereo, instrument, living chair, video game, vase, stool, art, pet

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https://modthesims.info/d/643289/ sharing-is-caring-kleptomania-fix.html


Off grid Toddler/Pet Washtub by K9DB So... you finished your laundry? Why not scrub your muddy toddler or dog in the tub next?

Features: - A washtub for all your toddler/small dog bathing needs. - Functions both "off the grid" and "on the grid" (There will be duplicate greyed out interactions when "off grid", these are the ones that use the normal "on the grid" water and produce bills...so you still have that option when "on the grid") - Is unbreakable - Can be upgraded for self-cleaning and clean coat - All the colours from the Laundry Day tub are available. - The footprint arrow indicates the best position for your sims to access the tub so toddlers will be placed in the center. Toddlers placed from the other side will be slightly off center. To "Give toddler bubble bath” your sim has to be holding the toddler. https://modthesims.info/d/638157/offgrid-toddler-pet-washtub.html

or more Off grid/tiny home combo items like in the picture below, just click on the links. I love these sink and toilet combos and would love to have this in real live. Living in Africa where droughts are a very real and devastating disaster, you really start to appreciate every drop of water. Most houses in the rural area I live in don’t have indoor plumbing. People have to walk to the water pumps with big barrels on wheelbarrows to gather water. When you have to collect water yourself, you realize how little you need and how much we actually waste. http://modthesims.info/d/637250/ classic-toilet-sink-combo.html http://modthesims.info/d/637476/ modern-toilet-sink-combo.html http://www.modthesims.info/d/ 638097/tiny-spa-toilet-sinkcombo.html http://modthesims.info/d/637913/ updated-for-off-grid-shower-toddlerpet-tub-combo.html


Sulani Public Bathroom + Shower Interaction by Bakie It’s silly to think that Sulani public bathrooms don’t have showers. After a long day on the beach, why wouldn’t Sims first wash off all the sand and salt water before returning home? This mod now gives you the option. Also, the creator Bakie made the seagulls, flamingos and macaws as seen in the picture below and they are all available for download. https://modthesims.info/d/634893/sulani-public-bathroom-shower-interaction.html

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Do you have a mod you would like Sue Simming to review? Maybe there is something you want to know is compatible with your current mods? Send your review requests to: sue.simmedup@gmail.com


Aquarius - you continue to allow others to tell you how it is, but still hold back from telling them how it really should be. You are allowed to make those important decisions if only you believed in yourself more.

A r i e s - I f i t d o e s n ' t s e r ve y o u t h e n l e t i t g o . S p e n d t h i s m o n t h o n y o u a n d t h o s e y o u l ove . A f t e r e ve r y t h i n g t h a t ' s h a p p e n e d , y o u d e s e r ve t o p a m p e r a n d b e p a m p e re d . M o s t o f a l l y o u a re a l l o w e d t o h a ve f u n .

G e m i ni - y o u h a ve e ve r y t h i n g o n y o u r

shoulders right now and that weight is s t a r t i n g t o f e e l l i ke i t i s t o o m u c h t o b a re , s h a re y o u r l o a d w i t h t h o s e c l o s e s t t o y o u a n d t h a t w e i g h t w i l l b ec o m e h a l ve d .

L e o - t h e p a s t i s e a s i l y f i x e d i f y o u t a ke

t h a t m o m e n t t o re a c h o u t a n d c o n n ec t w i t h t h o s e w h o h a ve b e e n a b s e n t f o r s o l o n g . S t o p b e i n g s t u b b o r n b e f o re m a y b e i t b ec o m e s j u s t t o o l a t e .

L i b ra - nothing is ever as it seems, no matter

how hard life may be right now, there is always a silver lining to any cloud. Brush off the past this month, release it from your mind and embrace everything that’s coming and remember to smile it will make you feel so much better!

Sagittarius - You wonder often if you are headed in the

right direction even when things are going just the way you want them to? Time to appreciate what surrounds you and not what you could have.

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Pisces - This month your wondering where you are going and what options you should genuinely take. To make what potentially could be the biggest decision of your life, make sure to look over every choice twice before you do decide.

Taurus - you are an angel, no seriously listen. Your

heart is always in the right place even if it doesn’t match what your head maybe telling you. Your gut instincts should be trusted throughout June and everything you touch will turn to gold.

Cancer - go with being soft shell this month, let

others in, open your heart and let the love flow. June is the month of opportunity for you trust your instincts and the advice of others.

Virgo - where did you go Virgo? May saw you

disappear within yourself and from most peoples sight, you are wonderful no matter what you may have been told. You are as perfect as you can be, remember that.

Scorpio - Don’t leave everything to the last

minute, as much as you wish to procrastinate and do ‘you’ things, make sure you get your affairs in order before they start to pile high so much you feel you can’t see over them.

Capricorn - turn your thoughts inwards, what can

you change about you that would benefit your own life? Maybe just maybe if you stopped being so stubborn you might find things flow your way that little bit better and those arguments can stop at last.

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1

WHAT BREAKS YET NEVER FALLS, AND WHAT FALLS YET NEVER BREAKS?

WHAT GOES THROUGH CITIES AND FIELDS, BUT NEVER MOVES?

3

I HAVE LAKES WITH NO WATER, MOUNTAINS WITH NO STONE AND CITIES WITH NO BUILDINGS. WHAT AM I?

Future Earth Greed Pollution Plants World Insects Save Animals Trees Hope Arctic Organic Destruction Life Rainbow Change Fish Oceans

2


PRACTICE SIMLISH

Meet Yolimi I'm Yolanda from Spain (but you can call me Yolimi), I have played the Sims since TS1 on my playstation. I mostly play in CAS, because I love creating diverse Sims, I also enjoy furnishing and decorating builds

Sul Sul / Hello Choo wagga choo choo!/ Something in the way! Hey you ball of sacks/ Um... absolutely no idea! !

GUESS THE CAS

Created By Yolimi LAST MONTHS ANSWERS: Can be found by visiting our website and clicking on the ‘Just for Fun’ Page.

Send Your Answers to: Simmedup@gmail.com & You could See your Name or Social media HERE!




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