State of the Beards

[hat_plays_sims]

520 files made and renamed.

Next up, if I don't lose my sanity, fixing tooltips (and some textures), and that'll be Version One of each beard done. Version two will be binned; version three binned and townie-enabled. You'll be able to mix and match, but not have multiple versions of each beard, because five hundred and twenty files is a lot of files.

Also, despite the fact that I am now down to SimPE monkey work instead of Body Shop monkey work, no promises on when the Beard Dump will be ready. The HARD part is coming up with cute names for the damned things, and I am surprisingly incapable of posting anything without the cute name.

But there is one other doodad I have lurking in the recesses of my folders I got permission to post, so that might go up first.

SOON.

Comments

[heget]

See, back when I thought I would try to Pooklet all the beards I thought to just go down the list of the dwarves from The Hobbit. Fili and Kili for some of the stubble, Dwalin and Balin for the really long ones...

[hat_plays_sims]

Which is a reasonable idea, except that that only covers half my beards. ... Literally, I've got 26 to upload. (Also I was never good at keeping which dwarves were which straight even when I was deeply invested in the books.)

... The Twain mustache is probably going to end up called either Greatly Exaggerated or Myth Busted, though. Depending on which one's funnier while I'm making swatches. And I'm really going to have to work at it to call the alpha-edited Devil beard anything besides Fandral of Locksley, but that's the fault of whoever realized that Josh Dallas could do an incredible Cary Elwes impression and let him Westley it up all over the set of Thor. ... So, probably Kenneth Branagh. (It's a pity I don't have any female beards, because that's a perfect opportunity to call something Both Dwarves, thank you, Sir Pterry.)

[heget]

The lack of female beards is the primary reason I decided to explain away the confusion between dwarf sexes by saying that dwarf women would wear veils, using this post as my inspiration: http://www.medievalsims.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=4551
Plus, especially the First Age dwarves, have a rather Semetic flavor to names and language, so if I say the dwarves are more like Ancient Persians (with such nicely curled and trimmed beards) than the Scandinavian fairy tale gnomes, then the rarity of seeing a female dwarf traveling out and about (and if they're all in loose clothing wearing hoods and veils who can say what gender is under there) makes more sense to me.

Yes, this is the stuff my 40+ pages of crazy consist of.

[hat_plays_sims]

Well, there are some short beards. No meshed ones, alas, but the male and female skulls are set in different places, which is probably the problem. (I am also pretty sure most of the non-meshed beards are on the full-face makeup overlay, so things like hairlines and sideburns could be added pretty easily. I saw a post somewhere on Tumblr about female dwarf concept art and it seemed to be more lavish sideburns than full beards.)

Yeah, my pages of crazy (do I have forty yet? I don't know, probably) include a shitload of rules, a long list of ranks and titles from Emperor to Goodwife, comprehensive lists of all my mods, default replacements, and the genetic rainbow of my 100+ skins, and a solid start on religious backstory. ("In the Beginning, there was the Lady, who was given many different worlds and beings as playthings. In time, She grew powerful enough to create her own playthings, and after many rough drafts and false starts in which She copied the worlds of others, She at last conceived of a perfect world of Her own design." And then I'm also working on three pagan religions (Three Lakes Vikings, Twikkii CS natives (they get the best myths. I gave them laid-back nature-based gods who don't have any real names yet, but I like writing about them), and a sort of vaguely Druidic mostly Wiccan Old Religion for the main 'hood), a sort of Buddhist-ish non-religious religion that's more about behaving mindfully, and the Cult of the Reaper (the Secret Society).)

Mostly I like to make lists and tables. They make me feel all organized and grown-up.

[heget]

Well, I'm starting the long process of posting my thoughts. Which maybe aren't as well organized, and really they're general head-canon on the book slowly applied to a Sims' game.
Yes, all the Hobbit concept art floating around makes me almost guilty to have given up the 'bearded ladies' for the Dwarves, but at least for my Dwarves of the First Age, with names like Azaghal from Gabilgathol and Tumunzahar, I'm like, "Sure, Persians. Let's even make their reverence to their creator god, Mahal the Smith, a little like Zoroastrianism." Actually, the whole system created by Tolkien, with the Omni-Omni-Omni Ultimate Good sending divine underlings as representatives... Ahura Mazda and Amesha Spenta with Yazata versus Eru with Valar and Maiar.... I see what you did there.

So yeah, I have most of the framework (a framework with huge gapping structurally unsound holes in it, but still). My issues are making the Sims game reflect it.

[hat_plays_sims]

If I were organized, I'd be playing by now. I've been 'getting ready' since I started experimenting with default replacements. Lists just make me feel organized. And if I post them, they show the world exactly how behind I am. *facepalms*

What I really need to do is re-make my SC4 terrains-- my big river was far too straight, and I think I want more of a valley shape. The main 'hood will be Castle Town, which needs a decidedly less Legend-Of-Zelda name, while the shopping district subhoods, when I add them, will be things like duchies and marches and counties and the like, but we're forging a kingdom here, so at first the young noblemen my king and his brother met abroad (IE, I'm starting my upper classes off as young adults) will all be living in various wings of the castle (IE, the castle compound is several lots surrounded by Sunni's wall; courtiers living at court will be in luxury apartments, with the rents going to the king if I can figure out Inge's real estate system).

I keep trying to find in-game ways to do things, so I need fewer rules. Better to set the game up to automagically do what I want, right?

(I wish I were modder enough to figure out how Chris Hatch's religion worked; I'd love to use the Medium version but it conflicts with InTeen, and as yet I can't live without InTeen. But a religion where what's allowed/banned is things like Theft, Pathfinding Anger, Violence (anything under Fight; also Punch U Punch Me), Indiscretion (Gossip, Tell Secret, Gross Out, Brag), and Disrespect (Nag, Insult, Tease) would not only be InTeen compatible but also more versatile than one that allowed or banned Theft, Pathfinding Anger, Polygamy, Same-Sex Relationships, and Extramarital Affairs.)

[isbrealiomcaife]

Personally, I think "Merlin's Beard!" would be a cute name. Or possibly some reference to hedgehogs somewhere.

Honestly, I can't wait for the curly/wavy Santa beard because I have so many wavy-haired sims who are stuck with very, very short facial hair or none at all because of the lack of retextures for anything long enough to curl.

[hat_plays_sims]

Well, there are twenty-six beards and only one of them looks like Merlin's to me. *grins* It's pretty much gonna be like a hair dump, only with facial hair, so they all need names. (It makes it easier to upload the swatches, too.) I have Nouk's waves on the Santa beard, the Father Time beard, and SynapticSim's face fur, which is an accessory instead of a beard. The rest of the meshed beards looked better straight, and most of 'em use FR's default replacement textures. Hopefully you'll find something you like!

[isbrealiomcaife]

Probably Santa and Father Time. It's really only super-full or long beards that even would need curls. I'm just curious...did you do the two or three other Maxis beards that are actually meshed?

I really, really can't wait for this one. The game is woefully short on beards, and I'm a big fan of scruffy manly men.

[hat_plays_sims]

I did ALL the beards. Well, all the Maxis beards, one unlocked Maxis beard, and one custom-mesh beard. I may be doing another custom beard thanks to Oph3lia finding the mesh for me, and I know there's one more out there, but I don't know where to find it. Anyway, the grand total is twenty-one beards and five thicknesses of stubble. There's a list at the bottom of my hair to-do-list, because I like lists.

[morgaine2005.wordpress.com]

A possible source for some cool beard names: http://www.goodsirs.net/gentleman/the-trustworthiness-of-beards/

Also, Josh Dallas was in Thor? I need to see that movie now. I only knew him from OUAT! (And he was so funny in the last episode! "But I'm Henry's grandfather. ... Well, it's a good thing we don't have Thanksgiving back in our land, because that meal would SUCK!")

... Ok, maybe it wasn't that funny, but it was good to have someone other than Leroy doing the one-liners.

[hat_plays_sims]

I shall check that out.

And yes! Yes he was. It took me a while to recognize him in OUAT (I don't watch much of it, but I've caught a few episodes and read some fanfic. I regularly read fanfiction about shows I don't watch, if the fic is good), actually, because he's doing SUCH a brilliant Cary Elwes impression that I just... plain had no idea. But that's Thor-- in the upcoming sequel, Fandral will be played by the guy who voiced Flynn Rider (also a good choice for a man known as Fandral the Dashing), because Josh Dallas couldn't get away from Once Upon A Time to reprise the role.

But yes. See Thor. You will like it a lot. This I predict. (Even if I'm wrong, there's a long and glorious moment of Chris Hemsworth shirtless. And later, mud wrestling. Kenneth Branagh directed this movie, and Kenneth Branagh clearly knows what I like.)