Difference between revisions of "MTS2:Creator Guidelines/Sims 3 Objects/Sandbox"

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* '''CASt Presets:''' It's a nice idea to show any special presets you have made and we do require that objects have at least one preset that makes sense. For example: when it's a sofa pillow, preset can't be wood + masonry ;)
 
* '''CASt Presets:''' It's a nice idea to show any special presets you have made and we do require that objects have at least one preset that makes sense. For example: when it's a sofa pillow, preset can't be wood + masonry ;)
  
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* '''Show tiling and channels:''' You will need pictures of each and every object, showing it in multiple colours (to show how the channels work) and at least one picture per item show a tiling pattern that makes it obvious that your UV map is not distorted.  Use a plaid or checker pattern for this - it may not be the prettiest style for the object, but it will show that it takes patterns well. This is also applicable to conversions from TS2 - often an object will require remapping to pattern correctly in TS3.  The picture to the right is a good example of how to do your channel and tiling pictures.
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* '''Show mapping and channels:''' You will need pictures of each and every object, showing it in multiple colours (to show how the channels work) and at least one picture per item with a tiling pattern that makes it obvious that your UV map is not distorted.  Use a plaid or checker pattern for this - it may not be the prettiest style for the object, but it will show that it takes patterns well. This is also applicable to conversions from TS2 - often an object will require remapping to pattern correctly in TS3.  The picture to the right is a good example of how to do your channel and tiling pictures.
  
 
Please remember, for your required pictures:
 
Please remember, for your required pictures:

Revision as of 03:42, 24 October 2013

Contents

Guidelines for Sims 3 Objects

Have you made new objects or colour options for objects, EA or custom? This guide will walk you through every step of what we require on MTS. Please make sure you read these guidelines carefully, as our standards have changed over the years, and there may be some items you weren't aware of before.

Quality

  • Duplication:Search MTS and see how many texture edits or meshes have already been done for the particular type of item you're creating - do not duplicate existing edits/mesh edits. We would, however, accept the same kind of thing if your version had significantly improved features (better textures, uv mapping, etc.) than an existing item.
  • Polygon Counts: If you have created a new mesh it needs to have a polygon count which is reasonable for what it is. A curvy, complex item that would be used rarely can have a higher count than a blocky/boxy item that would be used frequently. Look at EA/Maxis items similar to the type you're making to get a good idea of what a reasonable poly count is for the game. Items with excessively high poly counts for no good reason will not be accepted at MTS.
  • Texture Quality: Your textures should have some detail to them - not just a flat single-colour bucket fill, but with highlights and shadows in the right places. Even for flat, smooth items, you should have some detail.
  • Appropriate Specular/Multiplier:The Multiplier or Specular Channel will affect how the object looks in game. A high contrast on your multiplier will result in heavy shadowing, whereas a too bright specular will give your object a milky glow.
  • Undistorted: Ensure your UV/Texture map is correctly scaled and not distorted.
  • Good material options/CAStability: Remeshes of original TS3 items must have at least the same number of recolourable parts as the originals unless you have a very good reason to reduce the number of channels. "Fixed" textures (that is textures which are not castable) should be offered as an 'additional option', and not as the only option.
  • Windows and doors should always have four channels (unless there is a very good reason not to - there are some EA windows with only 3 channels, using an overlay in the alpha channel)
  • Sofas and chairs at least two channels - usually the hard and soft materials are separate channels
  • Deco objects such as books, small ornaments, etc. can be a combination of overlays/stencils and castable colours.
  • Proper shadows: Objects should have the same number of shadows as the corresponding EA object. Particular attention should be paid to the shadow shape actually matching the object.
  • Sunshadows are generated using the shadow LODs or you can use TSR Workshop to generate sun shadows.
  • Dropshadows are a texture mapped onto a floor or wallshadow mesh and mapped to a shadow file. Your object needs both these shadows to look its best in game.
  • Dynamic shadows are the big shadows that move relative to light sources such as lamps, windows etc.

Information

Title & Description
Give your upload a descriptive title and write a text description for your upload, describing what you're uploading. Your title and description must be in English or provide an English translation. If you are not a native English speaker, using Google Translate is okay. You can also ask for help writing your description in the Creator Feedback Forum.
Catalog Location, Price
List the location(s) in which your object(s) will appear in the catalog and the in-game price of the objects. Try to keep prices in line with game economics.
Polygon counts
If your creation does include a custom mesh, then identify the number of polygons it has and list the counts separately for each LOD - don't just add them together!

Screenshots

Screenshots
UVMapandChannel-hugelunatic.jpg
Take some nice big (600 pixels or more on the smallest side is a good size to aim for), clear pictures of your objects. Your pictures should be taken in-game and should show the quality requirements are met.
  • CASt Presets: It's a nice idea to show any special presets you have made and we do require that objects have at least one preset that makes sense. For example: when it's a sofa pillow, preset can't be wood + masonry ;)
  • Show mapping and channels: You will need pictures of each and every object, showing it in multiple colours (to show how the channels work) and at least one picture per item with a tiling pattern that makes it obvious that your UV map is not distorted. Use a plaid or checker pattern for this - it may not be the prettiest style for the object, but it will show that it takes patterns well. This is also applicable to conversions from TS2 - often an object will require remapping to pattern correctly in TS3. The picture to the right is a good example of how to do your channel and tiling pictures.

Please remember, for your required pictures:

  • No photoshopping: Do not apply filters like sharpen, contrast, etc. to the required pictures, as downloaders want to see what your object(s) will look like in their game, not your skills at using Photoshop.

Files

Zip, Rar, or 7z
To upload your file(s) to MTS, you will need to compress them into an archive file, which makes them smaller and allows you to include many files in one download. The archive file formats we currently accept are .zip, .rar, and .7z.

For instructions on compressing your files into an archive, please see: Creator Guidelines: Creating Archive Files.

  • Do not include multiple archives with the same contents - that is, please don't put your files in both a .zip as well as a .rar because some people only want .zip files. Choose one format.
  • Do not double-compress your files... a .rar file inside another .rar file (or any other archive inside another) doesn't compress it anymore, and it makes it so we can't see the contents without downloading, and also just makes an extra step for the people downloading.
  • The file size limit on MTS is 50 mb. If you exceed this limit you will need to split your archives. This should probably never come up except for large worlds for The Sims 3, or huge sets of smaller items.
File Types
You may upload your objects as sims3pack files or package files. You may also offer downloaders both types so they can choose which they prefer.

Other

Uploads not allowed on MTS
These items are not allowed on MTS in any category.
Pay/Pirated Content

Everything required or recommended for an upload must be freely available, without having to pay.

  • No uploads requiring pay content: We do not host content (for example, recolours of a pay hair or object mesh) that absolutely require pay content to function in-game.
  • No optional pay, pirated, or stolen content: Even for optional or recommended content not absolutely required for the creation to work (for example, hair on a sim or a couch on a lot), this means:
    • No content you must pay for. This means you cannot use items that are pay, donation, subscriber only, "special gift", etc. type content, anything accessible only when you pay money or subscribe.
    • No content from sites that are repositories of unmodified content when it is still available from the original creator, whether these items are pay or free (no Booty or Simscave, torrents, sites full of stolen content or similar, but the Graveyard and sites that offer recolours or modifications with the mesh are okay).
    • No EA content simply converted to base game use with no other changes.
    • No pirated EA Store content. EA Store content, linked to the legitimate EA Store, is okay though. TS2 store content may be included, with proper credit, since the store is no longer available.
Other content not allowed
  • Items that belong on the adult site: No content posted on MTS can have visible nudity, sexual content, or adult content, and instead must be posted on our adult site, Sexy Sims. This means on MTS, you may not post:
    • Content that contains nudity, which we define as exposing the female nipples, or the butt crack/genitals of either gender, including semi-transparent stuff like a sheer bra. Items that are merely "sexy" like skimpy miniskirts or string bikinis are fine on MTS. Transsexual/transgender items are also not considered adult content unless they contain nudity.
    • Skintones containing genital details - female nipples are okay on MTS but see below regarding screenshots.
    • Images of skintones with uncensored female nipples. Please blur or cover the nipples, butt crack, and genital area when taking screenshots of your skintones.
    • Fine art uploads containing visible nudity.
    • Items with specifically sexual content (sex toys, sexual poses).
    • Items containing swear/curse words
    • Items relating to illegal drugs. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs, alcohol, and tobacco are okay on MTS though.
  • Sexualized children: We do not allow any sexy/sexualized content for baby, toddler, or child sims in any way - no breasts whatsoever on child sims, no "sexy" outfits, etc. If you want to make preteens, make a less developed body for teen sims. Sexualized child content is not allowed at our adult site either.
  • Offensive content: Racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, bigoted, hateful or otherwise offensive content will not be allowed. Again, also not allowed at our adult site.
  • Gore/violence: We do not allow uploads which feature prominent, graphic violence and/or gore. Examples of things we do not allow would include items centred around mass shootings, images showing explicit violent imagery, cannibalism, and infanticide. Limited violence and gore may be featured if not the dominant focus of the upload, and not excessively graphic. Think a PG-13 movie. If uncertain whether your upload crosses this line, we suggest making a thread in the Creator Issues forum asking for feedback from a moderator before uploading.
  • EXE installers: Creators are not allowed to post exe (or other executable) files for any area of the site but Modding Tools. If your content needs to be installed to a certain directory, you can compress your files and leave the directory structure intact, so you can tell people to just install to Program Files, for instance, and the files will go where they need to. Executable installers can easily hold viruses, and are generally not needed for installing most content.
  • Preorder bonus content: Certain items were only available if you preordered certain expansions or stuff packs from certain retailers. It's unfortunate if someone missed out on getting them, but they can't be redistributed here as EA has made it clear that they do not allow it.
  • Unmodified EP/SP/Store content: While it is common practice to modify and use bits and pieces of game content to create custom content, extracting content from an expansion, stuff pack, or Store item and uploading it unmodified is not allowed on this site. You are welcome to upload significantly modified versions of expansion, stuff pack, or Store content, but you can't just be ripping it and changing one tiny thing (or nothing) just so people who didn't purchase it can still use it.
  • Stolen/reuploaded content: This should go without saying, but do not upload content made by others and claim it as your own, in whole or in part. Don't upload the work of someone else without their permission... if they wanted to share it at MTS, they can easily upload it here themselves.
  • Uncredited content/violating permissions: If any part of what you have uploaded (mesh, textures, alphas, bump maps, coding, etc.) comes from somebody else's work, you MUST provide a link and credit in the text of your post, for the original author. State what you've used of theirs, the author's name, and give a link back to them. You must check the author's policies to see if you can use their content in the way you want, and you may not violate any policies stated. If there are no policies or they don't disallow your type of usage, or the site is permanently offline, then you can assume it's okay. Please see here for more details: Updates and Remixes of Creations.
  • Redirects: If you want to move a creation to another site, please remove your upload from MTS, don't just edit the text to point to a different site.
Definitions

Objects are some of the most popular items to make for the Sims game and can be defined as new objects or recolors.

  • Object Mesh:You have created or edited the 3D shape in a 3D editor such as Milkshape or Blender.
  • Object Recolor: You have changed the overlay or other parts of an object's texture files - with or without editing the mesh.
  • CAST Recolor: Recolours of existing objects, done in-game using the Create-a-Style tool to change the colours/patterns applied. We do not accept CAST recolours at MTS.

Helpful Links

RightArrow.gif For more information on making textures, see: TS3 Meshing FAQ: Textures

RightArrow.gif For more information on setting up proper multipliers and speculars, see: TS3 Meshing FAQ: My Mesh is Shiny!

RightArrow.gif For more info on why textures may be distorted, see: TS3 Meshing FAQ: My Texture is Distorted!

RightArrow.gif For more information on creating proper shadows, see: TS3 Meshing FAQ: Shadows

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