MTS2:Creator Guidelines/Sims 3 Worlds/Sandbox

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Guidelines for Sims 3 Worlds/Neighborhoods

Creating a World is a VERY time consuming process. Creating a fully decorated neighborhood from scratch including all the lots can easily take a month or more of regular hard work. There's a lot of tedious parts to it that aren't very fun, and it can be tempting to skip over the technical parts like routing and layering, but it's important to go ahead and do it right so it will work well in the game, since you are sharing your neighborhood with other people for them to play with. Players don't want to download neighborhoods only to find out that some essential parts of the play experience are missing or done poorly.

The Create a World (CAW) tool allows you to create your own unique vision of the perfect neighborhood/world, and share your creation with other Sims 3 players. MTS hosts neighborhood/world uploads that meet our upload criteria, as outlined below:

Creating your world

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Quality

Let your imagination run wild when creating your world, but remember that it will take a lot of effort for your vision to come to life. Any concept can be done well, or done poorly, and your result depends on you.

Even the wildest alien world should still look good and make sense - weird for weirdness sake as a gimmick really doesn't work well for something that will be used as much in the game as a neighborhood/world. Use your imagination, but put enough work into the expression of your idea to make it look plausible.

Does your world/neighborhood look nice, with a good flow to it? Is the layout attractive, interesting, and enjoyable to look at? Do you have a cohesive style or theme that works well and shows throughout the neighborhood? This is hard to quantify, so you may want to get several other opinions (from people who aren't your mom).

Playability

The prettiest neighborhood ever made is useless if it's not playable, so it's very important that it's well planned. Consider some of the following:

  • Is there enough room for all the rabbit holes, community lots, and plenty of homes?
  • Is there room to expand? Consider that new types of buildings will likely be added with later expansion packs.
  • Do townies have somewhere to live?
  • Is it going to be easy to get around the neighborhood? Are there enough roads and sidewalks, and are they connected up properly?
  • Is the routing done right so the sims and player camera don't get stuck?
  • Can sims collect bugs and rocks?
  • Is your world optimized for good performance?

There's a lot more to it - some covered down below, but put yourself in the player's shoes and imagine what you would want in the perfect downloaded neighborhood and build accordingly.


Basic Map

A basic map is one that does not include any buildings, but has all the rest of the neighborhood in place. Everything that needs Create a World to do has already been done, and what's left is to build the houses in-game. Some players really just want a blank canvas upon which to build (like SC4 maps for TS2) so this is the most basic type of neighborhood/world map you can upload here to MTS.

But even for a basic map there's still quite a bit that needs doing. Below are the minimum requirements for a world upload:

Terrain
  • Natural: Your terrain should look plausible – not just flat and boring, or jagged for no reason. Terrain paints should blend in a logical way from one to another - a smooth blend from grass to sand, for example. Mountains should be dark and mountainy, grassy areas green and grassy. If you're building a non-realistic world (like an alien or fantasy environment), plausibility just as important as with a terrestrian one.
  • No Auto-Paint: Please do not use the option to auto-paint your world in CAW - or if you do, don't just stop there. It creates a very blotchy grass-and-stone look which may be a decent start for certain areas, but a world left auto-painted just looks lazy and unfinished.
  • Optimized: You should not use more than 8 different terrain paints per chunk, for improved performance.
  • Custom Terrain Textures (Optional): If you make your own terrains, they should be seamless without repeating too much visually, have the right scale, and look good in-game.
  • Easy to view: Make sure you can view all lots and other points of interest without steep hills or valleys getting in the way – be aware that the camera will move up and down with the surrounding terrain.
Roads and sidewalks

A good transportation network means sims can get around your world/neighborhood with ease; a poorly done one means routing issues and a lot of stomping and complaining. Even for a rustic neighborhood, you should still have some roads for playability's sake - you can always use custom textures to make them seem like wide dirt paths.

  • Intersections: Place intersections where your roads meet, and at the end of any dead end road. Cars/vehicles will not be able to turn around otherwise.
  • Smooth Grade: Use the road tools to give your roads and sidewalks a smooth grade (i.e. if you were driving down it, your car wouldn't tilt dramatically from side to side but would stay mostly level).
  • Not Too Steep: If you have a very steep cliff, you may need to make your roads wind back and forth instead of going up near-vertically.
  • Sidewalks: Place additional sidewalks where needed, and connect them to your road system.
  • Custom Roads/Sidewalk Textures (Optional): If you make your own textures, they should be seamless without repeating too much visually, have the right scale, and look good in-game.
Lots

Well-thought-out placement of lots is essential to a useful and well-functioning neighborhood.

  • Plenty of Lots: Place at least enough lots for several residential homes, all the rabbit holes (make sure they're big enough to fit even the largest rabbit holes!), and some community lots. Add a few extra in various sizes so players can add their own buildings. Too many lots is better than not enough.
  • Standard Sizes: Lot sizes should be a multiple of 5: 10x25, 20x20, 30x50, 40x40, 50x60, etc. (the exception being the 64x64 lots the game uses as its largest size), so that players can easily move buildings around. Look at the bottom right corner in CAW when dragging out a lot to see the size - no guesswork. You -can- have other lot sizes for things like community lots or to fill in gaps, but try to make your residential lots multiples of 5 whenever possible.
  • Flat Lots: Use the Flatten Terrain tool before placing a lot, so that you are always putting lots on a completely flat patch of ground (unless you have a very good reason to not have a flat lot, like a beach lot or one built into a hillside). This makes it easier to place and share lots.
  • Near Roads: Lots should be placed next to a road in most cases, unless you have a very good reason not to do so. Make sure you use the grid tool so your lots are aligned right up against the roads too, without a gap.
Performance
  • Proper Routing: Routing for both the camera and sims should make sense - areas that look like they'd be off-limits should actually be non-routable, and areas that look accessible should be easy to reach, with no random non-routable spots. You can find more information on routing in the CAW Help Document.
  • Smooth Edges: Make sure the edges of your non-routable areas are smooth, not jagged or blotchy, so the camera doesn't bump around.
  • Layering Correctly done, layering increases world performance. Don't just dump everything on one layer! Items you have placed in your world (lots, decorations, effects, etc.) should be layered and grouped in a logical way.
Decoration

Additional items added such as rocks, landscaping, and effects can really give your neighborhood character and a unique and interesting feel.

  • Aesthetically Pleasing: Your decorating should add to the overall beauty and theme of your neighborhood, with good choices and placement of items - neither too many nor too few.
  • Thematic: Try to keep your decorations to a particular style - use trees and flowers that make sense for the type of region you're building. Giving your neighborhood a particular unique flavour and style makes it more charming and realistic than just using one of everything, or a random pyramid because it'd look cool.
Spawn points

Beetles, butterflies, fish, gems, ores, and space rocks all appear in the game because the neighborhood/world creator has placed spawn points for them. The CAW Help Document contains a list of all of the Spawners and what they produce.

  • Full Set: You don't need to place one of each Spawner, but you probably want to place enough so that sims can collect all of the base game collectibles.
  • Logical Placement: Place spawn points in areas that make sense - near landmarks on the map or in an area you've decorated specially for them - not just randomly, or stuck all together in one place.
  • Balanced Rarity: Vary the type of spawn points you use so it's not too "cheaty" - use a mixture of common, uncommon, and rare spawns (not just all rare ones).


Full Map

A full map is a complete and decorated map including residential and community buildings - not just a blank slate but similar to Sunset Valley or Riverview: a complete neighborhood except the sims. Creating a full map is a really, REALLY big job.

For first-time creators, we strongly recommend to upload a few lots first before you attempt to create a full map (and also sims, if you plan to include sims with your world). Be aware that it is in no way required to build anything in a world you want to share, or to include sims with it.

The standards for the houses you build in a full map are the same as if you were uploading them separately to MTS. Please review our Lots and Houses Upload Guidelines fully!

Make sure you understand how to create lots that meet our standards BEFORE you try and upload fifty of them at once. Changing one lot so that it meets our standards is relatively easy; having to change fifty of them all at once will only lead to frustration.

What is also required when making a full world upload is listed below:

Lots
  • Rabbitholes: Rabbit holes provide places for your sims to do important tasks as well as attend school and their jobs.
    • Full Set: There are 16 different rabbit holes - make sure you include them all for sims to have a nicely functioning neighborhood and be able to get all jobs. If you choose to omit some of them, it should make sense for the theme of the neighborhood, and you should add some extra lots big enough to fit the rabbit hole objects, so players can place their own.
    • Decorated: Rabbit hole lots require decoration to make them look part of their neighborhood - benches, trees, terrain paint, etc. - if you're going to tell people where the rabbit holes should be, you should make an effort to decorate the lot so it's integrated into the rest of the neighborhood's style.
  • Community buildings:
    • Full Set: You should build all or most of the various community buildings (art gallery, gym, etc.) which are not rabbit holes. If you don't build them all, you should leave empty lots for the player to build or place their own.
  • Residential buildings:
    • Enough Lots: You should include several residential buildings in a variety of sizes. Make sure the lot sizes are multiples of 5 (25x30, 50x50, etc.). Some/all residential buildings can be vacant, but all of the houses need to be furnished (see our Lots and Houses Upload Guidelines).
Sims
  • Quality: If you are doing a full map and including sims for a populated world (including sims is completely optional!), please make sure that your sims meet the MTS Creator Guidelines for Sims. Unique faces for random "other" sims and good likenesses if you're trying to make them look like real people. The standards for sims uploaded with a world are the same as if you uploaded them separately, so make sure they're good!


Uploading your world

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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.
Split RARs

For a complex neighborhood, it's likely that your upload will be over the 10 mb file limit that we have at MTS. You will need to upload your creation in parts. To do this, you will need an archive program like WinRAR that can compress a file but split it into multiple pieces.

How to create a split RAR/ZIP:
1. Find the sims3pack file for the world you have created.
2. Right-click on the sims3pack file and choose "Add to archive" from the menu.
3. On the box that comes up, give your file a name where it says Archive name.
4. Select ZIP or RAR (RAR is preferred).
5. Change "Compression Method" to Best.
4. Under where it says "Split to volumes, bytes" type 9 mb. Leave the other settings alone.
5. Click OK to create your file(s). This may take a few minutes.

When it's done, you will have one or more RAR files, ready to upload.


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.
Required information

It's important that you include certain information so that players know what to expect when they use your creation! Part of this is also so the MTS moderation staff knows your world has been made right.

You may want to copy-paste the headings here to use as a template. This information should be in the text description for your upload.

  • Map Size: Tiny / Small / Medium / Large
  • Spawn Points: What spawn points are there? Are EP spawn points or relic dig sites included?
  • Routing Info: Where can sims not go? Where can the camera not go?
  • Layering: How many layers do you have?
  • Textures: How many textures have you used total? Do you have more than 8 textures per chunk anywhere in the world?
  • 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)
    • Rabbitholes: None / All / Some (list)
    • 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 (Full Map Only):
    • If you are including a save file with sims, or have pre-populated your world, please include some basic information for the 5 representative sims you have chosen to take pictures of.
Custom content

If you have used any custom items in your world, you MUST provide full links and credit for ALL items used in the world. This means any custom build items, objects, patterns, or content used on any included sims must be linked and credited.

Make sure to state whether or not the content is included or not (as downloaders need to know if they need to download it all separately or not). If you do include content, it must be okay with that content's creator. Please check their policies.

  • Included custom content: List custom content that has been included within the world file or the archive, with links to the download page. Items like this are:
    • Sims3pack CC used and not cleaned out from the file
    • Package-files you have manually added to the archive (usually content you made for that particular world)
  • Required, but not included custom content: List custom content you have used on the world, but not included within the world file or the archive, with links to the download page. Items like this are:
    • Sims3pack CC you have cleaned out the world file
    • Package-file CC

If you made your world without CC, you of course don't need to list any. A note: "No CC" or "Made without CC" is nice to have, but not mandatory.

  • Overrides for textures, etc.: If you have included override resources into your world file, such as texture recolors, please list what objects/textures are overridden, so that the downloaders may avoid conflicting files.


Uploading Full maps

Because worlds are so complex, it may be easier for you to compose your upload in MTS's Creator Issues Forum rather than going through the regular upload wizard. Create a new thread - the first post will show as the main post on the upload once complete -; make sure to attach at least one picture to the first post and at least one zip or rar attachment. You can use subsequent posts (which will show up as comments on the upload) to attach files and pictures and organize showing off different parts of your world. Once you're done putting together your upload in Creator Issues, private message an Admin or make a new post at Creator Issues, to ask if your world can be moved to the Moderation Queue.

RightArrow.gif
For an example of a full neighborhood done like this, see Plasticbox's Elsewhere Neighborhood. Obviously it's a bit different being a Sims 2 neighborhood rather than Sims 3, but you can see how the general information and description is on the Overview tab, with the main screenshots attached to the first post to show up in Screenshots. Then click on the Comments tab and see how she has a description and pictures for each included house as well as the required sizing and pricing information. Again, the details included would be a bit different, but the concept is the same for both TS2 and TS3.


Screenshots

The screenshots you take will show off the world you have made and allow people to see what they're downloading. Take some nice big (600+ pixels-ish on the smallest side is a good size to aim for), clear pictures to entice downloaders into using your lovely new creation. Please do not take the pictures in Create a World*.

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.

You will need to include at least:

  • at least ONE picture from high above your world, showing the whole thing. If you can't fit it all in one shot, you can take several different shots as long as it's obvious you've shown everything. You can label the overview pictures with text if you want - just make sure it doesn't cover up too much.
  • at least FOUR 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.
Lot pictures

If you have built on the included lots, you will need to post 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 world can see that your lots are good quality.

Please include

  • a front picture showing the whole lot of each 5 residential- and community lots you have chosen to show.

You may also include additional pictures like floorplans, backside picture, comparison picture if a lot is based on a real life building. But those are completely optional!

Sim pictures

If you are including sims with a save file, or pre-populating your world, you will need to show 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.

Please include

  • a close-up picture of the sim's face, from the front, with the sim wearing a neutral face expression (like a mugshot) - not smiling, laughing, etc.

You may, of course, include other pictures like a full-body picture, posing pictures, whatever, to show off your sim how you like, but please make sure to include at least the above. For sims based on a person or character, you can include a comparison picture of the real person, ideally similar to the close-up picture of your sim.

Additional screenshots

You may wish to take optional extra pictures to show off your world. Additional pictures are good! Show people all kinds of interesting stuff, all the little details you've put in. Even if you're making a Basic Map, you may wish to compose your upload in Creator Issues as is advised for Full Maps - you can add additional pictures attached to subsequent posts in the thread, which will show up on the Comments tab.

*Worlds with empty lots

In exception to the other screenshot guidelines, please take one picture in CAW to show how the lots are located in the world.


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.

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 world is ready for uploading, use the Creator Feedback Forum to get feedback on it.
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