Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden

[hat_plays_sims]

Where the bee sucks, there suck I;
In the cowslip's bell I lie...

It's that time again... Time for Hat to do something ambitious and photo-heavy! Because I have 400 downloads on my default Plantsim skin, and because the theme this month is just too awesome to pass up... and because I don't really like any of the Ideal Plantsim replacements out there.

When Worf 84 uploaded a multiple Ideal Plantsim mod, I was thrilled... except with the faces. I have a certain idea in my head of how plantsims ought to look-- I think of dryads and nymphs and, for some reason, Peter Pan (I think it's the outfit); earthy, pointy, laughing creatures, and nothing out there quite suited what I wanted. But hey, I'd done a stupidly huge eight-PT mod, so how hard could it be? It turns out it's not that hard at all, so. On we go!

Same format as the PT mod, here-- you get a cute portrait and then links to the Ideals as they'll appear in your Sim Bin (no makeup, Base Game hair, clothes from either the Base Game or Seasons), as well as pics of their offspring with...



Elm. Because Elm was already a plantsim and she's just full of recessive genetics.


Primrose
S1, Green Eyes, Red Hair, Female
Front | Profile | Quarter
Offspring:
Blossom: Toddler | Adult
Bough: Toddler | Adult



Chrysanthemum
S2, Green Eyes, Blonde Hair, Female
Front | Profile | Quarter
Offspring:
Holly: Toddler | Adult
Berry: Toddler | Adult
Ash: Toddler | Adult
Yew: Toddler | Adult



Linden
S3, Brown Eyes, Brown Hair, Male
Front | Profile | Quarter
Offspring:
Pinon: Toddler | Adult
Alder: Toddler | Adult



Sequoia
S4, Brown Eyes, Black Hair, Male
Front | Profile | Quarter
Offspring:
Lily: Toddler | Adult


That's seven thousand pictures, now there are some more words.

One Fish: There are six files included in the download; you need only five of them. I subfoldered everything; no matter what your game configuration, you need the folder labeled Ideal Plantsims. There was some kind of change to how Plantsims were coded between Free Time and Apartment Life, so if you have Seasons, Seasons and Bon Voyage, Seasons and Free Time, or Seasons, Bon Voyage, AND Free Time, you need the folder labeled MOD SSN-BV-FT. If you have Apartment Life, Mansion and Garden, the Sims 2 Store Edition, or any of the new bundle packs like Best of Business, you need the folder labeled MOD AL-MG.

Two Fish: Uh, yeah, the pre-AL mod is untested. Worf 84's works, I didn't change anything but which Sims it pointed at, so it should work fine. However, I'd advise running it in a testerhood for a while.

Red Fish: This is a default replacement, and as such the usual default replacement rules apply: there can be only one... MOD FILE. Everybody knows that, with a multi-PT mod, when you want to switch you have to leave the Sims in. I'm told you don't have to do that with a multi-Ideal mod, because Ideal Plantsims don't show up in the family tree. Again, I'm going to advise playing it safe and leaving them in your Sim Bin. (Like a PT mod, these sims will show up in your Sim Bin. Don't delete them via the bin.) However, you can't have two multi-Ideal mod files in your game, so be sure you're not trying to play with mine and Worf 84's at the same time.

Blue Fish: Usual default policies apply-- do whatever you want with this as long as a) I get credit if you use my Sims b) Worf 84 gets credit if you use his mod and c) NO MONEY CHANGES HANDS. I hate it when people charge for defaults or extractions. Don't do that.

... Yep, that'll do me.

DOWNLOAD FAIRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN on Mediafire | DOWNLOAD FAIRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN on Sims File Share

(Plants in the photos are from all over, mostly MTS and extracted Castaway stuff from MATY. Yes, I do use Poifectly Poiple's No Leafy Plantsim Hair mod, which makes hair for plantbabies something of a crapshoot. Plantsim tunics are by EAxis and Kittylyn74. My Ideals are wearing Sausage and Treeag's work, I just made new all-hairtone hairstyles out of 'em.)

Wanna help me feed my cats?

In case you feel like dropping me a buck or two, should you have a buck or two to spare. Donors get two things at the moment: a) a link to the Super Secret Cat Gallery, full of pictures of the cats you'll be feeding, updated sporadically when the cats do something photogenic and I'm fast enough on the trigger to catch it, and b) a link to the list of content I have done-but-not-screencapped, nearly done, partly done, or in the planning stages, and the option to suggest what ought to be in the next batch of things I focus on.

Comments

[sonnesims.livejournal.com]

I was almost going to sleep, I just wanted to check my favorite DWs and LJs before throwing my tired self on bed. Thank to you it will be hard to sleep before testing this mod. I particularly love Primrose and Sequoia. Thank you very much.

- Sonne

[hat_plays_sims]

Primrose has me absolutely charmed in-game. She makes the best faces, I swear. I'm so glad you like them, thank you-- but go to sleep! Mods don't go stale overnight. *grins*

[pinketamine]

At GOS I posted somehow formal so... OMG I LOVE THEM!! hahaha.
I really like all the sims, Primrose has anyway a charming "bad kid" face that is lovely.
That outfit made me think of plantsims as Peter Pan creatures xD

If I have all the EPs... which version do I download? Boyfriend's (PC) how much I love you.


You should show us how you managed to do this (tutorials, you know) even when your sims look so lovely that I don't think I'll ever made one of this my own.

[hat_plays_sims]

I haven't hit GoS this morning (for another hour, anyway), so this is the first comment I've seen today-- thank you! I really like how Primrose came out, personally. Something about her just looks ridiculously charming and crafty with the assorted silly Maxis expressions. You should see her play cards!

If you have all the EPs, you need the AL-MG version. (Yay for boyfriends!)

And actually, I basically just followed Simgaroop's multi-PT tutorial-- I extracted the necessary bits out of one of Worf 84's Ideal files first, and from there it was pretty much just like making a PT set (though the mod itself is more cluttered, but I'm not modder enough to know how to change that). I may put up an Ideal kit later, even if I just point to Simgaroop's tutorial.

Kit?

[(Anonymous)]

Out of curiosity, did you ever post an Ideal kit? I was going to ask you if you had to change th BHAVs for the Ideal but since you say you may post a kit I thought I'd ask. I don't know if I'd be able to change it even with Simgaroop's tutorial if there wasn't a kit. I have skins I want to use for the PolliTechs and I tested the mod and everything went great! I'm just making the real PT's I want to use so I have something I won't be embarrassed about and my own creation to show you. I should be done soon.

Re: Kit?

[hat_plays_sims]

I haven't put a kit together yet, but you can take apart my mod or use the original on MTS. The process is exactly like making a multi-PT kit, only first you have to extract a few things from a working Ideal Plantsim-- but they're the same parts you have to add to a PT, and the only difference between a saved Sim file and a working Ideal plantsim, so they're easier to spot.

[eefje00704]

Congratulations, you have made the first Ideal Plantsims I have ever liked! Thanks for sharing Hat!

[hat_plays_sims]

Oh, awesome! Thank you so much! (They're the first ones I've ever liked, too.)

[morgaine2005.wordpress.com]

I already said it at GOS (I think) but I'll say it again -- THANK YOU!!!

Now I can breed plantbabies Marigold and Ash without being terrified of how the offspring will look! :D

[hat_plays_sims]

Yay, plantbabies! You're totally welcome (I haven't been back to GoS since I got home, stopped here first), but I'm so glad you like them. I really wanted cute-but-neutral faces for them-- pixie-nymphish, but also easy to breed without horrifying results.... Even if I did get a couple of horsefaced toddlers. They grew up nice! Marigold could breed somebody to take over the family business, maybe.

[sonnesims.livejournal.com]

Just to let you know, as you seemed to be interested on my skintones, I updated my LJ with a WIP post featuring the Drow skintone - with Mouseyblue's help I fixed some flaws on the face. I'm thinking about working exclusively on it by now and release it sooner than the rest of the set - both because it seemed to be the most appreciated by people who gave feedback and because it's so much fun to work with it. Really, it's the nicest tone to work with.

I would love if you could drop by my lJ and give me some feedback - until you commented on my post at the Show Off Your Creations thread I was very insecure about the Drow skin - and as you appreciated it so much your opinion is invaluable to me.

Cheers!

[hat_plays_sims]

Well, you don't allow anon or openID posting on your LJ, so I have to comment here (or dredge up my LJ password, but... well, I dun wanna).

The skin looks lovely so far-- I'd love to see a shot of it full-body, if you have one, or once you have one, in a bikini or bra and panties, and maybe a headshot with the bald hairstyle. On the flat image, there seems to be a little pixelation around the cheekbones, but it doesn't seem as noticeable on a Sim. I don't know if this is because of the hairstyle, however (and I'm stupidly critical of pixelation, even though it doesn't always stop me from using a skin).

The only thing I can really see that I might poke at, if I had the talent to do more than adjust skins to fit Warlokk's UV maps, is the gums-- you might want to make them darker, too, for all they rarely show in-game.

[sonnesims.livejournal.com]

Ah, sorry, I didn't change the lJ default settings and didn't know that anon and openID posting were not allowed. My bad. It's fixed now (I hope).

I don't have a body texture yet, to tell the truth I'm not 100% sure about which textures I'll use. I have only the vague idea of using something like a SimCribbling male body as normal state and blend it with Ephemera skins' abs to make a more muscular fit state. And for females, I think I'll go with an Enayla body - the latest "Pixie" skins available at InSim, with some fixes (seams, feet, intimate details, Warlokk bodyshape alignment). I'm very open to suggestions, though.

About the gums, I thought about very dark ones - just like seen on some breeds of dogs. I think it's more plausible, if drows existed, of course.

I'll fix the pixellation in the skin compiling process. A question, though: do you happen to know how I can easily recognize textures in SimPE? I mean, the TXTRs don't have descriptive names, and I'm not always sure which texture is which when I build the DXTs.

And what do you think about elder faces? Are drows supposed to age?, I mean, should they have wrinkled faces?

Again, I'm very open to suggestions, tips, critiques, and I would like to hear yours.

[hat_plays_sims]

I am not a skinner-- a good thing, too, cos if I was, I would have SO MANY skins and never get anything else done-- honestly, I have no idea what skins would work well. And I have precious little preference, since I have shiny skins, matte skins, freckled skins... I have 139 human geneticized skintones and I'm still looking for more. (Fifty of them are below S2. Thirty-five of them are above S4. And I still have significant genetic gaps.) I like what you've done with the face, my preference on men is for toned rather than ripped, on women for natural rather than perpetual wonderbra, and I'm a big believer in using the same textures for adults and teens. Honestly, as long as you keep that black-abalone quality, I'm sure the Drow skin will stay awesome-- that's what really made me go DO WANT.

I do know a way to tell your ages apart in SimPE, but it's a silly way. Off on some odd, unused corner of the texture map-- the lower corners are a pretty good spot, actually-- just write AF Fit or whatever on them. Just make sure it's an unused spot.

If you want to add wrinkles, it's totally up to you-- if a separate texture is going to be used for elders at all, I really appreciate it when it looks old. FantasyRogue's Canvas skins are a great example of this-- the elders actually have a very slightly different skintone. There are plenty of ways to keep Sims from aging if people want immortals.

[sonnesims.livejournal.com]

I wasn't a skinner either, I just caught some hints and tips here and there - from Mouseyblue, Needlecream, Bosie, Pooklet and some other talented skinblenders - and decided to try my hand at it. Actually it's not that hard, basically it just presumes some knowledge about blend modes, layer masks and adjustment layers - if you know how to deal with these tools and techniques it's pretty easy to make skin blends. Some time ago I tried to skin without this knowledge and it was hard, boring and the results were frustrating. But once I decided to learn these techniques, I did it easily (there are some great tutorials, like the one from Bosie at GoS - the most useful tutorial for skinblending ever - and some tips I collected all over GoS, LJs and DWs) and with pretty good results. Seriously, I encourage you to start skinblending, it's so much fun, very rewarding and really addictive.

The fact that among more than a hundred of skintones you still have significant genetic gaps doesn't surprise me - people usually focus on either pale or very dark skins and seem to forget the tan and medium tones. I don't know why, maybe they live in places where the mixing of races is not common? Dunno. But it's a shame, as the variety of skin colors in humans is so beautiful - well, at least I think so.

I will take into consideration your preferences about body textures as they are mine too. Although I wanted some ripped abs for the fit state, I just would give it to a supernatural creature - which I suppose to have superhuman powers - because I HATE ripped abs on real men. It's totally artificial. And I don't want them on my male sims either. And I don't like the perpetual wonderbra either - again, it's totally artificial. I like some definition on the cleavage though - but definately not pushed-up breasts.

And that's a good method of telling ages and states apart in SimPE, althought I thought that there was a way to do this through some information on SimPE itself.

I appreciate when my elder sims look old too - grannies and grampies are adorable. But I asked you about the wrinkles concerning the particular case of drows (or some other sort of fantasy creature), I don't know much about them and don't know if there is some literature which refers to them aging or not. But maybe it's a silly concern of mine.

[hat_plays_sims]

I've done... seven skintones, actually-- my six for Stolen by Fairies and technically I think my plantsim defaults count, even if most of the work there was creative erasure. There are enough wonderful skinners and skin-blenders out there that I figure I can just putz around with my default replacements for a while-- still working on those.

They're actually getting less significant-- the Pennies series has helped narrow quite a few. I have quite a few holes in the 0.40s, nothing from 0.52 (Penny Arcade Four) to my S2, and then my only other gap is from 0.81 to 0.90... but that's kind of a doozy. Good rich middle-tan shades really do seem to be overlooked.

Honestly, all I really know about Drow is that they have dark-dark skin, white hair, are dark elves, sorta, have a matrilinear society, and also there's something about giant spiders. Your skin will be going in my alien invasion game. I could ask my brother if you want, he's something of a D&D nerd.

[drankmywar]

I have a really silly question... actually it's probably a stupid question, but you are so nice that I was hoping you wouldn't laugh at me for asking it. I know that you can't have more than one mod file, but can I have different pt's? Like if I only wanted to use primrose and linden and wanted to use two others from a different pt pack would it be okay or would it bork up the game?

[hat_plays_sims]

It's not a silly question at all! You'd have to edit a mod file to reference Primrose and Linden and the other two Ideals' GUID numbers, but you could make that work. You have to have all four PTs referenced by your mod file for the whole thing to work, otherwise your game will throw errors at you. I borked up a lot but good when I was trying to use six PTs in an eight PT mod, for my alien hack.

[drankmywar]

Ah ok, thank you so much :D

[drankmywar]

Once again, thank you sooooooo much! I've never used simPE, but I followed simagroop's tutorial and did what you said and I think it turned out awesome. I haven't checked everything in-game yet, but I think I did it right. Anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH. :)

[hat_plays_sims]

I'm so glad! It's really easy once you get the hang of it. The trick with the Ideals is finding the right parts to modify-- it's not set up quite as tidily as the multi-PT hack, and I didn't know what I could safely remove, so I left it.

[(Anonymous)]

If you will indulge me to repeat what has already been spoken widely and better than I can myself, WOW. Just. Wow. You are an amazing creator, Hat! I really appreciate the wonderful creators like you who keep the game interesting and make possible the creation of countless secondary worlds of delight and fancy. One quick question--should the Ideal Plantsims show up in the SimBin? I dl'd everything last night--got the AL-MG version since I have all EP's and (nearly) all SP's (not GL or Celebration), but didn't see the new Ideals in the sim bin. Any ideas? The new PTs (THANK YOU!) showed up fine, but not the ideal plantsims. Hmmm. Curiouser and Curiouser. Oh, yes, and before I forget. Noticed the same thing with the Oak leaf default (all kinds of awesome!)--my existing plant sims kept their EAxis leaves (is this normal?).

Again--the debt of gratitude cannot be repaid in words, I LOVE your work! Thanks so much for making it available to the community :)

[hat_plays_sims]

You know, I honestly have no idea if the Ideals should show up in the Sim bin-- the PTs do, but the PTs also show up in the family tree, while Ideal Plantsims don't. They show up in my Sim bin, but I still have the original files in my Saved Sims folder. Hm. Do they work okay when you go to spawn a plantbaby?

With the default leaves, I've got a couple more troubleshooting questions-- have you deleted your cache files? Sometimes defaults won't show up until you do that. Are you sure you don't have any other default replacement leafyhairs installed? And last but not least, do they show up properly on freshly-spawned plantbabies? I'm 97% sure they should change on all plantsims and not just show up on new ones, but there's that 3% of doubt.

Also, thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying my goodies.

[(Anonymous)]

Deleting cache files as I type *breath held*
Ah, yes--done. Nope, no other leafydefaults--yours are so amazing! And yes, I *think* they DID show up on a plantbaby, come to think of it. I spawned one to check and --no flower--so yes, it DOES work on newly spawned sprouts :] Just not on the parent--so I will check to see if deleting cache files works. Thanks!! **Rushing away to load the game**

[hat_plays_sims]

Let me know how it goes, and good luck! I'm willing to bet it's the cache files, because a default should just immediately override the texture-- I didn't change the mesh or anything.

[(Anonymous)]

OK, so here's what happened--I spawned a plantbaby and she had no flower, so looks good. I immediately grew her up with the Simblender, and she had Maxis leaves for hair (?!). Maybe, though, if I wait for her to grow up naturally--dunno (??). However, even though the ideals don't show up in the SimBin, I think her "mother" (the PlantSim was a Man) might have been Primrose due to her facial structure, so I do think the Ideals are working. Is there any way to know which Ideal contributed genetics to the plantbaby? Just wondering. And thanks so much for enduring my endless ponderings! I really appreciate it.

[hat_plays_sims]

... I really don't know what's going on with the default. You're sure you don't have something like this default installed? Defaults are a 'last mod loaded wins' kind of game, and mine usually start with [A, so they load pretty early. The only other thing I can think to suggest is re-downloading, just in case you got a bad download-- it happens sometimes.

If you have the mod file and the four Ideal files in your game, you should be getting Plantbabies with prettier genetics-- the other option is this guy, and I suspect you'd know it if you had his offspring in-game. I wish there were a way besides educated guesswork to figure out which Ideal contributed to which baby-- if there is, it's nothing I've found yet.

Skins

[(Anonymous)]

So I was reading you talking about how you don't makes skins...so I'm wondering where these skins with the leaves came from. Did you blend them? I'm just wondering to download them to possibly use for my Ideals that I'm making. Although I was also wondering if it came in a greater *ehem* range of tones. I'd love to see it blended with the Licorice skin for instance. Ah o well. I'm working on this for the next couple of weeks. You've been most helpful and very quick to respond and I've learned a lot from you. Thanks.

Also, did you change the mod to have 8 slots? If so, how did you do that? I'd like to have 8 slots for both my PT and my Ideals if possible. That would make me most pleased with my simming life. Thanks again.

Re: Skins

[hat_plays_sims]

There is no skin with the leaves-- my Ideals are wearing my Just a Little Growth plantsim default, which you can find here. It's a semi-transparent Plantsim skin based on a Parsimonious fantasy skintone; it shows the Sims' regular skintones underneath the Plantsim condition.

DO NOT use custom skintones on Ideal Plantsims if you plan to share them. Ideal Plantsims aren't like pollination technicians; under your plantsim skin default, they have regular genetics, which shows up on their offspring. Either use a skin you know you won't ever get rid of or use a Maxis default. Same goes for eyes.

I haven't changed the Plantsim mod to have more Ideals-- I don't know how. Having four Ideal Plantsims is a pretty recent development; I made my mod shortly after the very first multi-Ideal mod showed up on Mod the Sims.

Re: Skins

[(Anonymous)]

I think I just figured out the skin thing...lol...on another note...do you have your recolors of the plan leaf hair available?

Re: Skins

[hat_plays_sims]

In fact I do! Click here.

Distorted Plantbaby

[(Anonymous)]

Dunno if I did something wrong, but when I had my plantsim spawn a plantbaby, the face was extremely distorted and looked glitchy. I tried the fix flashing blue option with the lot debugger, but that didn't work. Tried some other things, but finally I gave her plastic surgary - using the default face # 1, and she looked normal - whichever ideal plantsim that was chosen had stretched her cheekbones and other features to stick far above her head. Weird.

Her mum has default face # 1 as well I think, and she also has custom skin and hair... her name is Bluebell and I wanted her to look like a pixie. I'm wondering if I had installed the mod the wrong way or something... I had tried it with Rose Greenman and her second baby was just fine. Was it a bad facial structure match? 'Cause I was rather worried that I had glitched the game.

My email is sanjouindacapo@yahoo.com and sanjouindacapo@hotmail.com, by the way. Has anyone else had these types of problems?