SMag Issue 16

1 SMag Issue 16

2 SMag Issue 16

welcome

to issue 16

Issue 16 is marking the point where we go back to basics with SMag. We’re trimming the fat. From this point forward, every issue is going to be a little bit shorter - but we are going back to releasing issues more often.

You’ll notice that a lot of the bells and whistles you found in past issues are gone, or have changed a bit. We’re bringing the focus back to the amazing content made by the community, and making the magazine better for you to read.

You are going to see improvements as issues get released, and I’m excited to share them with you starting now.

But, of course, I hope you’ll enjoy reading this issue as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it together.

GEORGE B Editor-in-Chief 3 SMag Issue 16

contents

06 Quick Tip 08 Glass Roof House 18 Fake Houses Real Awesome 26 Beachside Breeze 32 SimsFilmFest Film Focus 36 Ask Dan 46 The Mod Pod 50 Winton Bug Lighthouse 58 Quick Faves

4 SMag Issue 16

5 SMag Issue 16

Are your roofs sticking through your walls when they’re not meant to?

If they are, then don’t worry - there’s an easy fix. When you finish a room with fencing - so, for example, as a bannister or an indoor balcony, roofs will stick through walls.

Nobody really knows why they do this, but to solve the problem, just get rid of the fences and replace them with walls. It’s a pain, but at least it creates an interesting challenge!

6 SMag Issue 16

7 SMag Issue 16

8 SMag Issue 16

9 SMag Issue 16

10 SMag Issue 16

Do you need a contemporary house for your retired Sim or a glass house for your newly wedded couple? Then Deligracy’s “Glass Roof House” is perfect.

And there’s no problem if you have neither of those, because the well designed modern house can be easily reshaped to fit whatever size family you have, thanks to the large balcony and open design.

11 SMag Issue 16

12 SMag Issue 16

13 SMag Issue 16

14 SMag Issue 16

Even the most traditional Sims will be transfixed by the flexibly designed one bedroom modern house, which is elegantly matched with an open plan galley kitchen, dining room, living area and an array of glass doors and windows.

15 SMag Issue 16

16 SMag Issue 16

You can download this house by watching the speed build on Deligracy’s YouTube channel.

17 SMag Issue 16

18 SMag Issue 16

Fake but still

awesome We spoke to Sky from Fake Houses Real Awesome about building, The Sims 4 and what convinced her to start her blog which has grown from strength to strength.

“My name is Sky. Within the Sims community, I’m a blogger on Tumblr, a moderator on the /r/TheSims subreddit, and a longtime player obsessed with building in all the Sims games.

In real life, I’m a recent college graduate with degrees in International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies, and I work as a copy editor.”

19 SMag Issue 16

When did you first start playing The Sims?

I started playing The Sims in 2001, but didn’t really start seriously building until I played TS2. The new building mechanics of TS2 were such a revelation, and I was immediately hooked on creating my own lots.

When and why did you start your blog?

I started my blog on a whim in February 2013. I had built a house I was particularly proud of, and showed the pictures to my brother.

He suggested that I start a blog for my Sims building. The choice of Tumblr was a rather random one—I just thought it was a good medium with which to share pictures—but in hindsight, it’s a good thing I chose a site with such a fun community!

it’s really one of the most accessible aspects of Sims creation, which requires no special tools or skills— only the game and the ability to waste some time! So it always makes me really happy when I can share with others even a little bit of my enthusiasm for building.

Of all of your houses, which has been your favourite?

That’s a tough question, but it would have to be the Shadow Lawn—a recreation of a 1920 Aladdin kit home.

One of my favorite ways to build is to accurately re-create real life house plans, and I’ve always been fascinated with American kit homes of the early twentieth century. This build was an intersection of those two interests, and I was especially pleased with how accurate of a likeness I was able to achieve.

What do you love most about building and blogging?

What I love most about building is being able to re-create all the beautiful homes and buildings I covet in real life. For me, The Sims has been a way to satisfy a lifelong interest in architecture that was never compelling enough to pursue a real career in it.

As for blogging, my favorite part by far is hearing from people who read my blog and felt inspired to start building. Too many people feel intimidated by building when 20 SMag Issue 16

For me, The Sims has been a way to satisfy a lifelong interest in architecture that was never compelling enough to pursue a real career in it.

21 SMag Issue 16

Which is better for building - The Sims 3 or The Sims 4?

Definitely Sims 3. There are some great new build features in Sims 4 (the ability to move whole rooms, the inclusion of details like spandrels and different coloured roof trims, etc.) but it feels as if TS4, in the process of making building more accessible to players who avoided it in previous games, has sacrificed functionality for more experienced builders. The first few examples that come to mind are the automatic application of corner textures without being 22 SMag Issue 16

able to use them manually, not being able to place columns off the grid, the “room”-based system that is not always as smart as it ought to be, and the absence of CFE. That last one is the most conspicuous shortcoming of TS4’s build mechanics, in my opinion. I know that some people would also mention the absence of CASt, and while that is something I miss when it comes to doing exteriors (though I’m happy to do without it in general gameplay), it’s a minor annoyance when compared to the frustration of not being able to manipulate terrain, walls and foundations.

Who else in the community inspires you?

Finally, what do you love most about The Sims?

I first of all really appreciate people who create interesting and realistic builds–just a few examples are plasticbox, armiel, Jenba, Gelina, Ruthless, and MySimRealty. I also love the players who find creative and innovative ways to use the game—like femmeonamission, inabadromance, Ani, and Sandy from ATS.

The nearly limitless possibilities for creation that the games have always offered—not just in building (though I’m obviously partial to that!) but in making Sims, new objects, hairs, recolours, mods, and even storytelling, machinima and artwork. The game as a creative medium is one of the reasons it has developed such an amazing, active community, and I think that’s really special. ​

23 SMag Issue 16

24 SMag Issue 16

Thank you to Sky for taking part in this interview! You can see more of her wonderful builds and download them by visiting her Tumblr blog.

25 SMag Issue 16

26 SMag Issue 16

e d i s h c Bea e z e e r B by steph0sims

27 SMag Issue 16

28 SMag Issue 16

This modern mansion by the wonderful Steph0Sims is exactly what we meant by “in living colour�. Steph created a great pastel colour scheme, with every room given its own colour. Here, we can see that the dining room takes on a lovely green and blue scheme.

29 SMag Issue 16

30 SMag Issue 16

The house has an overly modern design scheme, especially in the communal spaces like the kitchen and the living room. However, when you go into some more private rooms like the bedrooms, they each have their own unique designs. Download the house and watch the house building video here.

31 SMag Issue 16

In a brand new feature for SMag, Jorga Haq takes a look at some of the best machinima creations in our community.

Brought to you by the Sims International Film Festival, we’d like to welcome you to the first edition of the...

32 SMag Issue 16

CLICK THE IMAGE TO

VIEW

CLOCKS

by Letticy MADE WITH

The Sims 3 RUNNING TIME

03:12

This video won Leticcy Best New Director in the last season of SimsFilmFest. As she said in the description of the video on YouTube “In my opinion, I think of this song talks about regrets. What I mean is that when you’ve entered a situation which risks your friendship/relationship with someone and you decide to put yourself far away from them and you are facing the consequences of living without that same person. You realise that you need them. So it’s better to say sorry or forgive them than ending up regretting.” This is very much reflected in this beautifully edited Sims 3 music video.

33 SMag Issue 16

ilm

imsF S E R O

SEE M

LOVE LIKE WOE

by Manigma95 MADE WITH

Multiple games RUNNING TIME

02:58

34 SMag Issue 16

IMS

TS A t s e F

COM

ST. E F M FIL

MEP stands for Multi-Editor Project.

A machinima director gets together a number of other directors, in this case 12 others, and each one records a short segment. It is up to the hosting director to take all these different video styles, often times made with different versions of The Sims, and put everything together and edit it in a way that the final project looks cohesive.

Manigma95 is amazing at editing these kinds of projects as anyone can tell by watching Love Like Woe.

SCREAMS THAT GO UNHEARD

by Tali Sims Morgan MADE WITH

The Sims 3 RUNNING TIME

15:37

Tali has entered SimsFilmFest nearly every season for the last 7 seasons with some kind of modern Gothic horror machinima.

Her latest offering is Screams That Go Unheard, and proves why she is considered a Master of Machinima. This is a chilling story of loss and silent victims. The story is told without the use of voice actors and uses nothing more than her remarkable storytelling and editing skills along with the soundtrack to tell the tale.

35 SMag Issue 16

Since Issue 10, Martymor has taken on the persona of Ask Dan to give you his best building tips in The Sims 4. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, so today we bid farewell to Martymor and Ask Dan.

36 SMag Issue 16

In Issue 11, Martymor’s Zen in Your Den feature (great name!) helped us when we’re working with small gardens and... unsatisfactory views.

“Angry Andy” wrote to ask Dan for help transforming his run down garden into a perfect place for him and his family, and as a way to block out the view of the new shopping mall down the road.

Martymor did such a great job and it still remains my favourite piece of his to date.

37 SMag Issue 16

38 SMag Issue 16

39 SMag Issue 16

40 SMag Issue 16

In Issue 12, Martymor took on a double duty and also created a wonderful custom content lookbook for us.

The Ask Dan article, A Taste for Sunlight, showed off his wonderful knack for creating outdoor spaces in game. He

transformed a pretty bare garden into a simple yet beautiful area including a pool and a patio. Not only was it beautifully made, but it was also beautifully written. As Martymor leaves Ask Dan we’ll all miss his wonderfully written, witty articles.

41 SMag Issue 16

Martymor showed off his interior prowess in Issue 13, when he shared with us eighteen pages worth of tips and tricks for interiors in-game.

He showed off a new design for a baby’s nursery, which fits into a positively tiny space - only 5x5.

Quite an impressive feat!

two completely different girls, and transformed a teenager’s bedroom into a study for his parents as he left home for university.

We’ve loved having Martymor on the team with us and I, the editor, would like to thank him for his dedication and amazing luck. Thank you for playing such He also dealt with a bedroom for a huge part in our magazine.

42 SMag Issue 16

43 SMag Issue 16

44 SMag Issue 16

45 SMag Issue 16

46 SMag Issue 16

WORDS BY SIMSVIP

47 SMag Issue 16

Look around. On every square inch of counter space available in the room you’re in, there’s clutter. Clutter is a part of our real lives and also part of our Simming life. In real life we can place anything anywhere, so long as there’s space, but that’s not the case in The Sims 4.

In this edition of the Mod Pod, we’re going to take a look at the Clutter Your World mod by Sims 4 Studio. This mod is an absolute must-have for the game, as it adds hundreds of slots to the Base Game counters of the game. May you be blessed with counter space!

Counter space in The Sims 4 is very limited. As Sims 4 Studio notes, EA’s counters don’t let you rotate appliances, and there are no appliance slots on some

of the counters. This mod will fix that problem and give you more freedom. With hundreds of slots now available, you can clutter your counters as you please. You will find that objects fit where they didn’t before.

Even with all this clutter, Sims can still utilize the uncluttered workspace to prepare meals.

Clutter your world allows you to rotate and place appliances where you see fit, and works well with the MoveObjectsOn cheat as well!

As you can see, this mod will give you the flexibility and freedom you need to create the perfect room every time. Stop settling for what the base game gives you, and make use of that useless space in your Sim’s home! Don’t waste the space!

Click here to go to the Downloads page and download this mod for yourself!

48 SMag Issue 16

49 SMag Issue 16

Winton Bug

Lighthouse by peacemaker-ic

50 SMag Issue 16

51 SMag Issue 16

52 SMag Issue 16

Welcome to peacemaker-ic’s beautiful Winton Bug Lighthouse, designed to sit on the island off the coast of Windenburg. It may look big, but this is actually quite a cosy island home - it sits on a 20x20 lot.

53 SMag Issue 16

54 SMag Issue 16

The opportunities for this beautiful home are endless, because it is unfurnished!

Aspiring builders can use this wonderful CC-free home to get into furnishing. It’s small enough to stop the project spinning out of control, but large enough to give you plenty of options.

55 SMag Issue 16

56 SMag Issue 16

Click here to download this house from Peacemaker’s tumblr.

57 SMag Issue 16

58 SMag Issue 16

59 SMag Issue 16

60 SMag Issue 16

61 SMag Issue 16

62 SMag Issue 16

63 SMag Issue 16

64 SMag Issue 16

thank you SMag will return after a break over summer THE TEAM George B editor SimSerendipity design Eri articles Alexis mod pod SMALL PRINT

SMag is not endorsed or funded by Electronic Arts, or it’s licensors, in any way. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

All creations shared inside this magazine were shared in the belief the creator would not object to us doing so. You can find out more by emailing us, george@smagazineofficial.co.uk We will not hesitate to take action against those that plagiarize the content of this magazine.

SMag, this issue and the content inside it is protected by a Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

65 SMag Issue 16

66 SMag Issue 16

67 SMag Issue 16

simnation.tv/smagazine twitter.com/smagofcl

68 SMag Issue 16