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| − | =Sims 3 Custom Walls and Floors= | + | =Sims 3 Wall, Floor, and Terrain Guidelines= |
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| − | ==Quality==
| + | When uploading a wall covering, floor tile, or terrain paint for The Sims 3 to Mod The Sims, we have some basic requirements to ensure that your upload is good, shown well, and has the correct info and files needed for people to use it in their games. This allows both moderators to check your uploads for quality, and for downloaders to see if your item is something they want to add to their games. |
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| − | Have you created some wall templates that have some really awesome details? Here's MTS's guidelines for sharing custom walls!
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| − | {{Guidelines-Quality-TimeandEffort}}
| + | ==Quality== |
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| − | {| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%"
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| − | ! style="text-align:left" | Aesthetics (*)
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| − | |Is the wall you've created useful? Does it look nice? Is it significantly different than the walls that came with the game? Have you created a new wall set with really nice baseboards and crown moulding?
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| − | |}
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| − | {| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%" | + | {| class="nicetable" style="width:100%" |
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| − | ! style="text-align:left" | Seamlessness(*)
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| + | *'''Clear:''' Textures should be crisp - not blurry or pixelated. |
| − | |Your walls should always be fully seamless, able to tile in multiple pieces without the edges of your baseboard or moudling being visible.
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| − | |}
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| − | ==Textures and Shadows==
| + | * '''Usefulness:''' Walls, floors, and terrains should be something useable in-game, and something that your sims will want to decorate their house with. Random patterns and pictures are generally not suitable for walls, floors, and terrain. |
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| − | {| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%"
| + | *'''Scale:''' The texture scale should make sense for the game. A terrain paint shouldn't have leaves the size of pool tables, or flowers the size of a sim's head. Compare the texture to a sim's head or hand, and make sure the scale is correct. |
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| − | ! style="text-align:left" | Good shading (*)
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| − | 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. This is especially important on cloth items such as couches or bedding, but it applies to all items. Texture shading in TS3 is done using the multiplier.
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| − | [[Image:RightArrow.gif]] For more information on making textures, see: [[Tutorials:TS3_Meshing_FAQ#Textures|TS3 Meshing FAQ: Textures]]
| + | *'''Seamless:''' Textures must be seamless, so that the edges of each tile are not obvious. |
| − | <br style="clear:both" />
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| − | |}
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| − | {| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%"
| + | *'''Paintings and Logos:''' Most of the time, it's best to do these as recolours of objects (i.e. make them a picture your sims can hang on the wall, not the wall itself). |
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| − | ! style="text-align:left" | Not too bright/dark/shiny/shadowed (*)
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| − | |In TS3 the contents of an objects 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.
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| − | If you're showing your object in a colour, try not to use too bright colours. Even if you're making something you want bright lime green, you don't have to use the brightest, most saturated colour possible in the game.
| + | *'''Undistorted:''' Make sure the textures are not stretched or squashed. Use the correct aspect ratio. |
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| − | [[Image:RightArrow.gif]] For more information on setting up proper multipliers and speculars, see: [[Tutorials:TS3_Meshing_FAQ#My_mesh_is_shiny|TS3 Meshing FAQ: My Mesh is Shiny!]]
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| | |} | | |} |
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| − | {{Guidelines-Textures-CrispUnpixellatedTextures}} | + | ==Files== |
| | + | {{Guidelines-InfoFiles-FileTypes}} |
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| − | {| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%" | + | {{Guidelines-InfoFiles-UploadinSets}} |
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| − | ! style="text-align:left" | Good material options/CAStability (*)
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| − | |In TS3, you can colour different parts separately in Create-a-Style (CASt). Walls and floors must offer at least one recolourable channel, but the more channels available the more versatile the walls and floors will be.
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| − | Bear in mind that "fixed" textures (that is textures which are not CAStable) could be offered as an additional option, and not as the only option. CAStable items are one of the main features of TS3.
| + | {{Guidelines-InfoFiles-ZipRar7z}} |
| − | <br style="clear:both" />
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| − | |}
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| | + | ==Information== |
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| − | ==Screenshots==
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| − | 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.
| + | {{Template:Guidelines-InfoFiles-TitleDescription}} |
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| − | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-BigEnough}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-WellLit}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-Angle}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-WholeThing}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-CloseEnough}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-Photoshopping}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-InlineandAttached}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-Tips}} | + | |
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| − | ===Required Screenshots===
| + | {| class="nicetable" style="width:100%" |
| − | {| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%" | + | |
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| − | ! style="text-align:left" | Show Everything (*) | + | ! style="text-align:left" | Required information |
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| − | |[[Image:WallTemplate1.jpg|right|300x300px]]We require certain screenshots for custom wall uploads - if you do not include these screenshots, your walls will not be approved! You need to show at least one picture of EACH and EVERY preset included in your wall/floor, showing them on at least a 4 tile wall/floor. | + | | Give the in-game location of your creations (i.e. carpet, tile, grass, etc.) and for walls and floors, be sure to include the in-game price as well. |
| | |} | | |} |
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| − | {| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%" | + | {| class="nicetable" style="width:100%" |
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| − | ! style="text-align:left" | Multiple Colors (*) | + | ! style="text-align:left" | Expansion Packs or Stuff Packs required? |
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| − | |You will need to show your wall/floor in the DEFAULT colours and at least one OTHER set of colours. This should be a pattern that shows the tiling of your wall/floor. The recommended pattern is one from the base game so that the downloaders and the moderators can judge your wall/floor with a familiar pattern. If you use a poorly made cc pattern we won't know if the issue is your wall/floor or the cc pattern!. | + | | Walls, floors, and terrain paints never require any expansion or stuff packs. Do not tick any as required. |
| | |} | | |} |
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| − | ==Uploading==
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| − | Once you have your creation made and screenshots taken, you need to make sure you have all the fiddly bits in order when uploading.
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| − | {{Guidelines-InfoFiles-Packages}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-InfoFiles-ZipRar7z}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-InfoFiles-UploadinSets}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-InfoFiles-Title}}
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| − | {{Guidelines-InfoFiles-Description}}
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| − | {| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%" | + | ==Screenshots== |
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| | + | {| class="nicetable" style="width:100%" |
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| − | ! style="text-align:left" | Catalog Location (*) | + | ! style="text-align:left" | Screenshots |
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| − | | | + | | You will need to include certain screenshots. You must at least have: |
| − | *Number of channels - minimum of 2 is required | + | |
| − | *In game location and price
| + | * '''A picture of each texture''', shown over several tiles. This means showing at least 3 tiles of wall, or 2x2 tiles of floor. |
| − | *Number of presets included - only one is required | + | |
| − | |}
| + | * '''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 shouldn't be wood + masonry ;) |
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| − | ==Additional Stuff==
| + | * '''Show mapping and channels:''' Showing the walls/floors 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 wall, but it will show that it takes patterns well. |
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| − | * If your upload is rejected or marked as changes required and you're not sure why, ask in [http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=492 Creator Issues]. | + | * '''Unobstructed:''' You can put things like a couch, a window, or a plant, but make sure they're not in the way of your wall, floor, or terrain paint. |
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| | + | * '''In-game:''' Pictures must be taken actually in-game, on a lot. It is not enough to just show pictures taken in Create A Pattern, or to just show the textures without also showing in-game pics. |
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| | + | {{Guidelines-ScreenshotsBigClearEtc}} |
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| | + | {{Guidelines-Screenshots-Tips}} |
| | + | |} |
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| − | * If you're not sure whether your lot is ready for uploading, use the [http://www.modthesims2.com/forumdisplay.php?f=473 Creator Feedback Forum] to get feedback on it.
| + | ==Other== |
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| | + | {{Guidelines-NotAllowed}} |
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| | [[Category:MTS2 Creator Guidelines]] | | [[Category:MTS2 Creator Guidelines]] |
| − | [[Category:Sims 3]]
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When uploading a wall covering, floor tile, or terrain paint for The Sims 3 to Mod The Sims, we have some basic requirements to ensure that your upload is good, shown well, and has the correct info and files needed for people to use it in their games. This allows both moderators to check your uploads for quality, and for downloaders to see if your item is something they want to add to their games.
| Screenshots
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You will need to include certain screenshots. You must at least have:
- A picture of each texture, shown over several tiles. This means showing at least 3 tiles of wall, or 2x2 tiles of floor.
- 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 shouldn't be wood + masonry ;)
- Show mapping and channels: Showing the walls/floors 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 wall, but it will show that it takes patterns well.
- Unobstructed: You can put things like a couch, a window, or a plant, but make sure they're not in the way of your wall, floor, or terrain paint.
- In-game: Pictures must be taken actually in-game, on a lot. It is not enough to just show pictures taken in Create A Pattern, or to just show the textures without also showing in-game pics.
Keep the following in mind for your screenshots, especially the required ones:
- Size: 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall is a good size for the smallest pic you would want to upload. Your images can be up to 2560x1440 pixels, and 800 kb, so you have lots of space to work with!
- Lighting: For most things, it's best to take pictures in an interior room with good lighting. For lots, pictures should be taken during a nice sunny day, for floorplans, take the pictures with the lights ON.
- Clarity: Neither blurry, nor pixellated/crunchy. Do not size up small pictures to make a large one as this will blur them, and make sure not to use too much compression/too low quality when saving your images.
- Distance: Take your pictures so that your creation fills the screen without anything cut off at top or bottom - neither zoomed in too close, nor zoomed out too far.
- Distortion: If you resize your images, retain the aspect ratio so they don't get stretched or squashed. Take care when zooming in and out with the camera that you do not create a fisheye effect on your pictures.
- Photoshopping: Do not apply filters like sharpen, contrast, etc. to the required pictures, as downloaders want to see what your creation will look like in their game, not your skills at using Photoshop.
- Attached: All required images must be attached directly to the MTS upload, not just inserted using the img tag, so that even if the pics get deleted from your Photobucket (or other host), the upload on MTS is still complete.
- Show all items: For most areas, if you are uploading a set, you must take all the required pics for each item in the set. If there is an exception, it will be noted.
- Picture limit: You may upload up to 100 pictures for a single upload thread, so feel free to add some additional pictures just to show off your work to its best. Of course, keep it reasonable - nobody needs 50 pics to show off one sim or hair.
- Inline pictures: Inline pictures are those that use the [img] tag to show up in with the description text. So that it doesn't take too long to load, please keep this to no more than 4 pictures done inline, unless you put them inside an [infobutton] tag. To do this, see our guide on post formatting.
| Screenshot tips
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| Camera Controls:
Take some time to just play around with the camera. It can take a while to get used to the camera controls, and even once you are experienced in their use, it may be challenging to get the shot you want with the constraints on the controls.
If you haven't taken many sim pictures before, here is a list of camera controls:
- TAB : Puts the game into Cameraman mode, allowing better and more control of the camera, and removing the blue user interface. Make sure you are in live mode before going into Cameraman mode or you will see grid lines on the ground and floating where floor tiles may be placed. TS3 Note: You will only be able to go into cameraman mode once per load if you are in buy/build mode (without a family moved in). You can either exit to the neighborhood and return to take more pictures, or instead just move a family in for taking your pics.
- W and S : W moves the camera forward. S moves it backward.
- A and D : A moves the camera left. D moves it right.
- Q and E : Q lowers the camera. E raises it.
- + and - : Zooms in and out.
Windowed Mode:
- TS2: In order to take your pictures using the methods described here, you will need your game running in a window, so you can easily switch to other applications without causing major instability and lag. Instructions on setting up Windowed Mode for Sims 2 may be found here: Game Help:Windowed Mode. Windowed mode should be perfectly safe - in fact, some users actually report better game performance when running in a window. Your mileage may vary.
- TS3: In Sims 3, you can use windowed mode by simply choosing it in your game's options. Full instructions can be found in Game Help:TS3 Windowed Mode. Windowed mode will allow you to use Print Screen or FRAPS or whatever screenshotting program you desire, without getting dark pictures. If you choose to NOT use windowed mode for TS3, you must use the C key to take pictures using the in-game camera - taking pictures fullscreened in TS3 without using the C key will result in icky dark screenshots.
C Key vs. Print Screen:
- TS2: In order to take nice big pics, you should not use the game's screenshot system, using the C key or the camera button on the game's controls to take your pictures. Even on the highest picture settings, pictures will still be small, with a very high level of JPEG compression, making them blurry and crunchy. Instead, use Print Screen or a screenshot program.
- TS3: The C key camera is much improved in TS3, making it possible to use to take pictures for upload and still have nice big, pretty pictures. You can still use a screenshot program or print screen if you desire, but you will need to run your game in Windowed Mode (see above) to keep your pictures from getting dark.
Using Print Screen: If you have enough RAM to run Photoshop or another graphics editing program at the same time as TS2/TS3, you may want to take screenshots yourself, without the use of a program to store them for you.
To do that, simply press the Print Screen or PrntScn key on your keyboard - it's usually off toward the right, over the arrow keys, above Insert and Delete. This will copy your current screen to your Windows clipboard, as if you had selected and copied it as an image.
Then open any graphics editing program, create a new document the size of your monitor's resolution, and paste into that document. Your screenshot should appear in the document.
Screenshot Programs:
There are many programs available, free and pay, that will take screenshots for you by using a hotkey, and save them to a folder - just like The Sims 2 with the C key, but with options for much better quality settings.
A quick Google search for 'free screenshot program' will also bring up many other options, which may have other features that are of interest to you.
Optimizing, Editing, and Compressing Images:
Many simmers struggle with getting their images to be clear, crisp and under the maximum file size while keeping the image size larger than 800px by 600px. After getting your images from the in game camera or using a print screen program you will need to resize them and compress them into a jpeg image. Many graphics programs have a built in optimizing feature. Here are a few common ones:
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| Uploads not allowed on MTS
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These items are not allowed on MTS in any category.
| Pay/Pirated Content
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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.
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| Other content not allowed
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- 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.
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