Moving

From now on, you can follow this blog at nikivanisimadventures.wordpress.com. Nothing much will have changed other than the location (if all goes well).

Sims 4 and huge updates!

Hey guys, it's been a loooong time since I've been able to post here, but I assure you I'm not dead yet!

Let's start with the basics here, I finally managed to acquire a copy of Sims 4 (the premium edition was harder to come by as some retailers only carried a few or thy ran out've stock online. I ended up going with Amazon and my order shipped within a couple of days even though I was told it could take up to 10). Also, mods have been coming out at an alarming frequency and CC is not far behind, as Sims 4 CC is now easier than ever to create yourself!

If you can get your hands on Sims 4 Studio. it's fully integrated with Blender (no more Milkshape) which is completely free to download. No trial, no expiry date, no worries!

That's where my own plans come into play. I have plans to start producing my own Sims 4 content, and now that there's a tool that plays nice with Blender, I can! Other than that, I plan on busting out some nice Graphic T-Shirts as you can never get enough of those!

But in the meantime, here are some Sims 4 Studio Tutorials by Youtube user Patrick Toutant! These cover texturing/recolouring and meshing (making your own 3D models).

This tutorial requires the Blender 3D software, found here. Sims 4 Studio can be found here, and there's a support forum along with it.

You'll need a graphics program for editing textures, as well as a plugin for the software you're using.

Photoshop DDS Plugin (Assuming you have a copy of Photoshop)
Gimp Plugin | Gimp
Or alternatively, you can use Paint.net which has native DDS support.

In terms of Sims 3, I'll continue to work my way toward making cc for that game, albeit it'll probably take a bit longer since I'm still looking for the Blender plugin that can handle Sims 3 meshes. I want to avoid Milkshape as much as possible as a 30 day trial really isn't enough for me to wrap my head around most software.

Sims 3 Store: Now & Then Century Manor

Back in April, we got a hint at an upcoming store set which was supposed to tie into the Mansion & Garden theme along with the Bohemian Garden. Although we ultimately lost the L-shaped staircases from this set due to a serious bug when the staircases in the Prism Art Studio are used (considering the bugs we'd get otherwise this being labelled as any kind of big deal must mean it did some pretty creepy stuff).

The Now & Then Century Manor gives us a few interesting build items like roof decor, broken and boarded up windows/doors (we also get new and broken versions of everything needed to create a screened in porch), modular grand staircases, and beautiful stained glass windows (whoch may actually be recolourable! Huzzah!). There's also two versions of the venue. One looks really old and dilapidated (Now) and the other is really pretty and well kept (Then). I like this idea as it really fits the theme of the set well and puts both the Now and the Then set items to good use.

Sims 3 Store: Upcoming Mansion & Garden Content

Remember when we got the L shaped stairs with the prism art studio? Well, you're going to love this, part 2 of the bohemian garden series is coming in may, and you only need to take one look at that photo to realize what that means!

Builders, you are going to LOVE May. We're reimagining Gardens & Mansions! Find out more http://t.co/pgZ7EVTQgG pic.twitter.com/aAoPwtiYD3
— SimGuruTatertot (@SimGuruTatertot) April 15, 2014

I'm super excited for this one, as I've been lurking the grand staircase thread on the ts3 forums for some time!

Nrass Mod Updater

While Twallan may have moved on, his site is still being worked on and I was surprised to find that a program for updating Nrass mods was recently made available! (Images have been borrowed from the Nrass site).

Setting Paths

Main Interface

You can download the program here, and there's even a tutorial for using it! Unfortunately there's no Mac version at this time so if you're running TS3 on that, you'll have to continue using mods the old fashioned way.

New Store Venue: Prism Art Studio!

Photos courtesy of SimguruTatertot

I haven't been following this as closely as I thought I would, but that's partially due to my mind always being on class. I actually haven't played TS3 in almost 2 weeks now (but I decided to tonight to clear my mind a bit, this short film animatic needs a major change and I'm hitting dead ends). The name of the venue is the Prism Art Studio and it comes out on February 6th!

In any case, whoever was hypothesizing about jewelry making and perfume was certainly right!

 I' m not keen on certain items but the fact that things are in sets is a good sign. Still, look at the selection! 8 new necklaces, 4 sets of earrings and 4 new bangles.

And that's not all...

We're getting a glass blowing station of some sort which enables not just jewelry and perfume bottles, but glass furniture and decor as well (who else is ogling the stained glass?). There's even a glass chess set (might look good if you picked up the ice lounge with seasons).

Oh but wait! There's MORE! (This is going to allow some beautiful custom content guys)

 I've personally been DYING for these kinds of stairs! They're really wrapping up alot of old requests (but I'd still have been happier if they'd come in an ep or something, with all the premium content and clothing sets that came out after ITF they could've just released a freetime or hobbies ep with a couple of new careers and professions, there's almost that much stuff).

Farewell Twallan

It had previously been known that Twallan didn't plan to continue modding in TS4 when it was released, but today he announced that he was taking his leave sooner than expected. Accompanied by a short farewell message, he included all of the source codes for his mods for someone else to work with (in the hopes that someone else might pick up where he left off).

Sorry folks, I am to be the bearer of bad tidings this day.
As most of you have noticed, the amount of time I have been able to allot to my work on the Sims has been steadily decreasing over the past few months. There are numerous reasons for this : Ranging from changes in my real-life work, increasing disinterest in Sims, and various personal concerns that have been building up over the past couple of years.
I had hoped that my interest would once again be piqued over the holidays, however unfortunately that was not the case.
So rather than continue leading you all on as to when/if I will ever complete any further projects, I have decided to end this grand thought experiment as of now.
With that, I would like to thank you all for making my time in the Sims 3 world a satisfying experience. Shout outs to SimAd, Trif, TheISZ, and all the various contributors who have made this project entertaining.
As a parting gift for any interested modders, here is the full source for all my mods :

Feel free to pick them apart as you see fit, or release them yourselves with any modifications you wish (though you may want to change the names to avoid any confusion).

Thank you, and may the odds be ever in your favor. :)

The news comes as a bit of a shock to many, as up until now Twallan's mods have considered something of a gold standard in the TS3 modding community (at least in this simmer's opinion). And with news of an upcoming EA patch, simmers are worried that not all of the mods will continue to function. In particular, Errortrap is version specific and will almost asuredly die with the patch unless another modder released their own updated version.