MTS2:Creator Guidelines/Neighborhood Maps
Contents |
Neighborhood Maps
Quality
Have you made a new neighborhood map using SimCity 4 and want to share it? This guide will walk you through every step of what we require on MTS.
| Time and effort |
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| Most good creators spend hours upon hours on even simple creations. We understand that not everything has to be that difficult, but we do expect you to not just slap together something in 15 minutes and upload it and expect it to get accepted. Really try to put some serious effort into what you create, and it will show through in the quality.
This is probably the hardest one to quantify, but it's something that is obvious whenever upload moderators look at an upload: have you really expended some serious time and effort on a creation? You can't just crank out a bunch of stuff in a short amount of time and expect it to be good. Nor can you spend a while just fiddling with something but not really trying and expect a good result either. |
| Is Your Neighborhood Unique? (*) |
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| 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 (*) |
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| 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 (*) |
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| 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. |
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.
| Big Enough |
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The larger your pics, the better! Tiny pics won't show enough detail to see what you've made.
Please don't just take a small pic and size it up in your graphics program to get bigger pics - this only makes the dimensions larger but doesn't add any detail and just gives you a blurry, pixellated larger pic, not a nice clear one. |
| Required Pictures (*) |
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| No over-Photoshopping |
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| Maximum Number of Inline/attached screenshots |
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You may now upload up to 100 pics! Of course, please keep it to a reasonable quantity... only things like huge sets, full worlds, etc. should have that many pics! Remember, you can always collage several different images together into one image if you have a bunch of stuff to show off, or want to show multiple angles of an item. For the bonus photos, we recommend you use a spoiler tag to hide the images, then people can click on it to see them. Their pages will load faster if all the images aren't downloading at once. [spoiler=interior rooms]http:// wheveremypictureis/picture.jpg[/spoiler] The 'interior rooms' can be replaced by whatever grouping you want to present, 'hidden garden', 'pool views', 'master suite', 'kids room', etc. You may place as many photos within a spoiler grouping as you'd like.
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| No pay content in screenshots |
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| Do not use pay content in your screenshots! Do not use pay hair in your screenshots!
You MUST use free or EA/Maxis items in your screenshots! MTS promotes and supports free content, and using pay content in screenshots is basically like free advertisement for paysites. This includes pay content you found elsewhere for free - if it was pay originally, it's still promoting pay content. We strongly recommend taking pics with neutral backgrounds, just showing off what you've made and nothing more. Not only does this look nicer for uploads, it also eliminates any possibility that you may inadvertently include pay items in your screenshots. As per the news item of November 2010, do not use pay items in your upload. A pay item is an item that you'd have to donate money to access if you went to the original creator's website. It doesn't matter if you can get it for free through a file sharing site - it's still a pay item. Don't use pay items in your screenshots either, even if they are not included. Links for "optional" or "recommended" content may be included as long as they are free sites only. If you need free hair for a model in your pics, MTS has an extensive collection of free hairstyles in our Downloads section. You can also look in the TS2 Hair Gallery or TS3 Hair Gallery for more free hairstyles to find something you'll like. We STRONGLY recommend that you credit the hair (and other content) used in your screenshots in the text of your upload post. With hundreds of hairstyles out there, it's very difficult for our upload moderators to know every hairstyle on sight, and if we have to hunt down where the hair is from to see if it's pay or free, it may take longer for your upload to be approved. Make it easy on us and at least say something like, "Hair from XM Sims (free)" in the text of your post under a little section for model credits.
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| Content not allowed |
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| The following listed items are those that are not allowed on MTS in any category. Please note that MTS is a privately owned and operated fansite, and that all content is hosted at the discretion of the MTS staff. Uploads detailed below, and any other content deemed undesirable may be removed at the sole discretion of MTS staff without further notice.
The following items are inappropriate for posting on this site, and will not be allowed: Adult Content/Nudity:MTS is not an adult site. We do have an adult site affiliated with MTS, Sexy Sims 2 where adult content may be uploaded. But because MTS is a PG-13 site, no adult content may be uploaded to MTS itself. Any item containing visible nudity - that is, screenshots showing female nipples or genitals of either gender. This includes fine art containing those types of nudity. Items of a sexual nature (sex toys, genital addons, sex worker careers, etc.) and skintones with anatomically correct genitals are also not allowed here. Please upload items of this type to our adult site. If you are uploading a skintone that is "barbie" below the waist, please blur or censor the areas that would be covered by a bikini for your uploaded screenshots, even if your sims do not have anatomical details like nipples in the blurred areas. Likewise, uploads at SXS must be adult in nature - items which are okay for MTS must be uploaded to MTS.
Certain items were only available if you preordered certain expansions or stuff packs from certain retailers. If you missed out on these items, we're very sorry, but redistributing them is a violation of international copyright law and will not be allowed on this site.
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. Please do not link to sites with Store or expansion/stuff pack content for free either.
If any part of what you have uploaded (mesh, textures, alphas, bump maps, coding, etc.) comes from another user's work, you MUST provide a link and credit in the text of your post, for the original creator. State what you've used of theirs, their creator name, and give a link back to them. Please check the creator's policies to make sure you can do this - if they're still active and contactable, get their permission if their policies require it or don't state anything. If they've gone inactive/disappeared, you may be allowed to upload a modification of their work with credit. We will follow the creator's wishes if they have policies stated. Please see here for more details: Upload Policy Changes: Updates and Remixes of Broken/Abandoned Creations Artistic karma is important to us, as it should be to you as a creator - it's so easy to offer a link and credit to people who have contributed in a substantial way to your work, so please make sure you do so when you post here. |
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.
| Files Required for Upload (*) |
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* One .sc4 file. This file will have the name of your neighborhood. For example, "EnchantedCove.sc4"
For your neighborhood to work properly with different terrain types, you will also need to include:
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| .ZIP-ing and .RAR-ing (*) |
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You will need to put your neighborhood's files - the .sc4 file as well as the .png(s) - into a RAR or ZIP file to upload here. Please see here for instructions on doing so. Please do not include both a ZIP and RAR with the same contents - just choose one. Please do not double-compress your files - you should not have a ZIP inside a ZIP or a RAR inside a RAR. This does not compress the files any more and just makes an extra step for downloaders. |
| Uploading as a Set (*) |
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If you have created several similar neighborhoods at the same time, please upload these together in a single set, all on one thread (instead of all separately, one by one, on different threads). This is easier for everyone: on our upload moderators, as they only have one thread to review rather than several... on you, as submitting a single thread is much quicker and easier than several... and on downloaders, as they can get everything they want all in one place rather than having to hunt around. |
| Expansion Packs or Stuff Packs required? |
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| Particular items may be added with expansion or stuff packs, and depending on how your creation is made and the item you based it on, your creation may not work for users who do not own that expansion/stuff pack. You need to be sure of which packs are necessary for the items you have made. If users don't have the EP, your stuff may not work! If you are unsure of whether or not your creation will require an expansion or stuff pack, you can ask about it in the appropriate Create forum (under the Create menu on MTS) before uploading.
Make sure you only mark the EPs/SPs required that your upload actually needs! Don't just mark them all! For specifics, please read: MTS2:Creator_Guidelines/Compatibility |
| Good title |
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| You'll need a good title for your upload which describes what it is, and interests people in downloading it.
Good titles:
Bad titles:
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| Good description |
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| In the main text of your upload, you'll need to write a good description of what you have made. The description must be about what you have made - what it is, what its features are, etc... You don't have to write a novel here, just a few sentences to get people interested. Please make sure this description is in English, don't over-use smileys/emoticons, and if necessary, run it through spellcheck and proofread for typos.
Good descriptions:
Bad descriptions:
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Checklist
This is a checklist of everything gone over above so you can be sure you've done everything you need to do to ensure your submission is correct. This is just for your own use - checking these boxes doesn't actually -do- anything, just is an easy way to keep yourself organized.
Quality
Time and Effort - You have spent a substantial amount of time and put a good deal of effort into creating your neighborhood.
Uniqueness - Your neighborhood represents a unique, interesting overall look.
Useability - Your neighborhood is useful and useable, with plenty of flat, buildable space and roads to put lots on.
Realistic Shapes - Your lot is a realistic, regular terrain and not in any silly shapes.
Screenshots
Big Enough - Your screenshots are large enough to clearly see what you have made - limits are 1280x1024 pixels and 195 kbs.
In-Game - Your screenshots are taken from within the game, and are not just pictures of your textures.
Required Pic - You have included at least one overview picture showing your whole neighborhood.
No Over-Photoshopping - Your screenshots show the neightorhood as it appears in-game, with no additional filters applied which change the look of the image, and any added text does not cover your creation.
Inline/Attached Screenshots - Your inline screenshots are no more than 800x600 pixels, you don't have more than 4 of them, your required screenshots are actually attached to the thread, and you don't have more than 8 screenshots attached.
No Pay Content - You do not have any pay content in your screenshots.
Adult Content/Nudity
No Adult Content - Your content doesn't have any swear words, nudity, or illegal drugs.
Right Info/Right Files
Right Files - You have an .sc4 file, and at least one .png file.
ZIP or RAR - You have compressed your files into a zip or rar archive (but not both).
Upload in Sets - If you have created a set or several similar/related maps, you have uploaded them all together in one thread, rather than on separate threads.
Expansion/Stuff Packs Required - You have not marked any expansions or stuff packs as required.
Good Title - You have given your creation a good, descriptive title.
Good Description - You have given your creation a nice description that makes people want to download it.
