Revision as of 03:21, 28 November 2013

Full Neighborhoods

Have you made a new neighborhood in game and want to share it? This guide will walk you through every step of what we require on MTS. After you've read through this entire article, you may start the upload process, which is a bit different for TS2 Neighborhoods. The correct way to upload a TS2 Hood is through our Creator Issues forum. There you will be able to start a thread and add in as many comment posts as you need to include the lots and their images. After you have completed your thread, create another thread in the same forum asking for your neighborhood (with a link to it) to be moved to Moderation.

Quality

• Is Your Neighborhood Unique? No matter what style or design you choose, your neighborhood should be unique and different. We already have plenty of perfectly flat grid neighborhoods available, so try to do something interesting that other people haven't already done before.

• Make Sure Your Neighborhood is Playable. A neighborhood that's lumpy all over with few, if any, flat, buildable areas, and very few roads is really not going to be very useful for anyone. Remember, you're creating something that people are going to actually use in their game, so it should be as useable as possible!

• Use Realistic Shapes. We don't need any heart shaped, spiral shaped, star shaped, etc. neighborhoods. Getting creative with your terrain sculpting is fine, but remember to strive for realism.

• A Sense of Realism. No matter what style or design you choose, your neighborhood should be unique and different. We are looking for quality neighborhoods that have depth to them. It should feel like this neighborhood could really be alive and has some history to it that is as individual as it is. While we are calling this a 'Sense of Realism' we are not trying to exclude fantasy neighborhoods. On the contrary! As long as the neighborhood feels like it could believable exist within its own universe, then it would definitely be considered 'real'.

Screenshots

People want to see what they're downloading! Your screenshots sell your upload - if people don't like the look of your screenshots, they're not going to download - and if your screenshots are too bad, you won't get your upload approved.

• Main Image. We need a main image for your hood, and it should look like how your neighborhood would be presented on a post card. Please do no show map edges and have it at a low enough angle to look pretty. This is a fantastic shot to use as your thread thumbnail. You should also make sure that this image is the one that shows up in the Neighborhood Picker window in game.

• Top Down ImageWe also need a top down view that shows the layout of your entire town. Again, it's better not to show map edges if you can help it, but don't cut off any roads. You can also add a key system to this image to help users match up your lot descriptions.

• Detail Pictures. Show at least THREE other pictures of some of the views people will see in your world. This should be nice scenic views, taken from a lower angle (a sim's eye view, or a low player's eye view). You can of course take more pictures to show off all the pretty sights.

• Individual Lot Pictures (Full Map). If you have built on the included lots, you will need to give a full set of info and pictures for at least 10 lots - 5 residential and 5 community. You may choose which 10 lots you show, but we suggest you choose lots that are representative of the overall style of the world. We have this requirement so both MTS staff and people who may download your lot can see that your lots are good quality.

The pictures you must include for individual lots are:

• 'Front View: One picture from the front of the lot, taken from a sim's eye view.

• Floor Plans: At least one overhead floor plan type picture of each floor/level. If your lot has three levels plus a basement, you will need to do four floor plan pictures.

• Comparison Picture: If your lot is based on a real-life or fictional lot (for example, a replica of the Falling Water house, the Disney Castle, or the house from the Munsters), you will need to include at least one comparison picture of the lot it is based on.

• Sim Pictures. If you are including sims with a save file, you will need to give a full set of info and pictures for at least 5 sims. You may choose which 5 sims, but as with lots, we suggest you choose ones that are representative of your creator style and quality. This is so MTS staff and downloaders can see that your sims are good quality.

The pictures you must include for individual sims are:

• Neutral Face: One picture of the sim from straight-on (not a profile or 3/4 view) with the sim wearing a neutral expression (no big smiles, wide open mouth, etc.)

• Full Body: One picture of the sim from head to toe, preferably in a neutral pose (just standing there or walking), not animating wildly.

• Comparison Picture: If your sim is based on a real-life or fictional person (a celebrity, character from a movie, tv show, anime, comic, etc.) and not made up out of your own imagination, you will need to include at least one picture of that real-life or fictional person for comparison purposes. Please make sure it is a large picture so we can see their face clearly, and similar to the "neutral face" picture of your sim. A picture with them making a big smile, yelling, etc. is not going to help us see that it's a good likeness.

No over-Photoshopping

While it can be tempting to get artistic with your screenshots in Photoshop, please don't. Screenshots need to be just as things look in the game, with no extra filtering such as contrast, sharpen, blur, saturation, etc. Also, please don't too crazy when it comes to adding text - make sure your text is in blank areas of the picture or covers an absolute minimum of your creation. Remember, you're showing off what you've made for the game, not your skill in Photoshopping your pics.

Required Lots

A new change has been implemented here. Instead of requiring full images of every lot included in your neighborhood, we are loosening back to what we require of TS3 Worlds. You are only required to show 10 of your lots now. Please remember though, that they are still subject to all of the TS2 Lots Guidelines. Your moderator also will be looking at the images from your neighborhood to make sure you aren't just doing 10 good lots and all the rest sub par. It is within their right to ask for images of any additional lots to check on quality.

Sims and Blank Templates

• Required Blank Templates. Before you start building your neighborhood, you need to install clean and empty neighborhood templates. This will allow you to create a neighborhood free from any default sims and random townies. This is a requirement. If you choose to include sims, you may do so after, but the blank templates are a requirement. Most of the templates are available for download on MATY, so do a google search for them.

• Optional Included Families. If you choose to include families in your neighborhood, remember that ever sim will be required to follow the MTS Sims 'Other' guidelines. It is a good idea to first make a backup of your neighborhood without any of the families in it in case the sims themselves are the reason why your neighborhood is not being accepted. This will give you the chance to create new families and try again, or simply upload without them. After a sim has been added to a neighborhood, it is impossible to remove all it's data from the neighborhood, so if your sims are the only problem with your neighborhood, you can't just delete the characters and try again. It will mess up the neighborhood, and we will not accept it. So PLEASE BACK UP YOUR WORK!

Right Info/Right Files

Once you have your creation made and screenshots taken, you need to make sure you have all the fiddly bits in order.

• Unique Neighborhood Number. One of the most important things is to make sure that your neighborhood has a unique number. If two neighborhoods have the same number, one of them will not appear in the user's game. MTS has created a Neighborhood Number Repository so you can be sure that your neighborhood does not conflict with any existing neighborhoods. If/when your neighborhood is approved, your number will be added to the list to protect you from future neighborhoods clashing. After creating your neighborhood, it will likely have a very low number. You will need to rename all of the neighborhood files and folders to your new number. This can either be done by hand, or with a bulk renaming tool. In your upload you will have to also have to list your number.

Uploading

When you have the required screenshots and you are about ready to upload your world, you'll be ready to do the following last steps:

• Title. You probably already have a name for your hood - it makes a good title for your upload. Examples:

• Good world titles: "Oceanside Bay: Small Tropical Hood" or "Garland Falls" - your name for the hood, plus maybe some short descriptive text.

• • Bad world titles: "My first hood!" or "My first upload!!!!1"

• Description. You need to write a decent description for your upload. You don't have to write a novel here, just at least a few sentences about world's theme, history, landscape, people, whatever. Let people know you've put some careful thought into your creation. If your English is not good, you can ask for help writing a description in Creator Feedback. Examples:

• • Good description: "Oceanside Bay is a cozy seaside community, with windswept cliffs falling into crystal blue water, studded with wide sandy beaches. As a fishing and seafaring society, Oceanside Bay's residents reflect their love for the sea in their homes' styles and furnishings. Living in such a small town, everyone is close knit, but they like it that way - and your sims will too!"

• • Bad description: "Plz download and thank!!!" or "Just look at the pictures and download!!!"

• Lots:

• • Number: Total number of lots, and lot sizes and quantity of each (example: 50 total lots - 25 of 20x20, 15 of 40x40, 10 60x60)

• • Community Lots: None / All / Some (list)

• • Residential: Number of residential lots, and lot sizes and quantity of each (as above).

• • (Full Map Only): For the 10 representative lots (5 residential, 5 community) you've chosen to include pictures for, you need to also include the standard required info for them. That means you need a description of the lot in text, describing its purpose, features, style, etc. You will also need the lot size (25x30, 64x64, etc.) and the lot price (the price of the lot, both furnished and unfurnished). For more on where to find and how to provide this info, please see: Lots and Houses Upload Guidelines.

• Sims. If you are including a save file with sims, please include some basic information for the 5 representative sims you have chosen to take pictures of:

• Description: A basic text description of their personality, history, hopes and dreams, whatever. Again, you don't have to write a novel, but at least give us an idea of who the sim is meant to be.

• Age, Career, Location, Etc.: Toddler/Child/Teen/Young Adult/Adult/Elder? If they have a job, what is it? What lot do they live at? Are they married? Since sims included in a world are already living their lives, give some basic info on who they are and what they're doing.

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Additional Stuff

If your upload is rejected or marked as changes required and you're not sure why, ask in Creator Issues.

If you're not sure whether your neighborhood is ready for uploading, use the Creator Feedback Forum to get feedback on it.