Revision as of 18:59, 22 May 2011

Creator Guidelines - Pets

Uploading a pet to MTS? This guide will walk you through every step of what we require. 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

Creativity
Quite simply, have you put some work into creating a unique, interesting pet? Could someone else recreate the same thing in a few minutes of work, or have you really put some true effort into it? We want unique, original, and quality uploads, so take some time and really put some work into it. No plain colours unless we get to the point of being able to do our own textures. It takes 10 seconds to make a plain black or white or orange cat in Create a Pet. Pet uploads should NOT look like the standards Maxis breeds that came with the game. If you have made a pet based on a real life breed, it should closely resemble that breed. Just like celebrity sims, realism is important.

Weird Colors
Though the rainbow colored fur provided to us by Maxis is cute, it's not realistic. Do not upload pets with rainbow fur, stars, or fur colours to fit a holiday theme. They will be rejected. Special instances will be pets like as Dino, or a character pet (from a cartoon) that requires a strange colored fur will be accepted. But no green kitties and blue doggies please.

"Alien" Pets
We do allow, in rare circumstances, unusual, unrealistic, or alien pets. However, these must represent a truly unique and interesting effort - just taking a regular cat and making it green does not make it an alien cat. It will be rare that we accept animals like this. For good examples of strange creatures in the style we're looking for, see: Klinny's Long-Eared Dogs Klinny's Psychotic Demon Hound Kwillag's Borlak Lobe Kwillag's Darluthian Slugmar

Cartoon Pets
We do accept pets that are based on animals from cartoons, movies, anime, etc... We do understand there are limits to what can be done with pets, but at the same time, we also expect that if you make a pet based on a cartoon, etc., that it needs to bear an immediately recognizable resemblance to that pet. If you cannot achieve an immediately recognizable resemblance, or if you find after working on it that it really just looks, for example, like a generic white cat, then please do not upload, as it will be rejected.

Other Animal Species
While we were only given options to make dogs and cats, simmers love to make all sorts of other non-cat and non-dog creatures. We understand the limits to what can be done with the sliders we're given, but we also expect an immediate recognizable resemblance to the animal species you're attempting. For good examples of other species pets, see: Bubbleeye's Fawn Munchies's Panda Robokitty's Hippopotamus

Screenshots

Screenshot tips

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:

Photoshop *Pay
Gimp *Free
IrfanView *Free
Paint.net *Free

Big Enough

The larger your pics, the better! Tiny pics won't show enough detail to see what you've made.

Minimum Size: 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels tall is a good size for the smallest pic you would want to upload. You may have smaller pics for thumbnails and the like, but for your required screenshots, please go as big as you can!

Maximum Size: MTS allows pictures up to 2560 pixels wide by 1440 pixels tall, and a file size limit of 800 kbs - so you can have nice, big, pretty pics. You may have to resize your pictures or apply compression to get them to fit within that limit.

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.

In Game Screenshots
All of your screenshots must be in-game. For pets, they may be in Create-a-Pet or on a lot. Please do NOT upload pictures which are not in-game, such as loading screen pictures, thumbnail images from the Create-a-Pet breed chooser, or the pictures generated when you upload a pet to the Sims 2 Exchange.

Close Enough
Make sure your screenshots are taken nice and close - your pet should fill up most of the picture, without a lot of space on the sides. Pictures taken close-up show your pet much better than ones taken from far away.

Enough Light
When taking screenshots, make sure you do it outside during the day, with your pet in the sun - or in a well-lit room. Pictures taken at night or in too dark a room will not really show off your pet.

Required Pictures
For all pet uploads, we require: A full-body shot, showing your pet from the side nose-to-tail. A facial close-up shot, showing your pet's face close-up. For pets based on real breeds, alternate animal species, or cartoon/video game/anime pets, we require a picture of the animal the pet is based on, for comparison purposes.

Maximum Number of Inline/attached screenshots

Inline screenshots are images that appear in the text of the upload that load for the viewer along with the rest of the text. Inline screenshots can either be linked from the attached screenshots, or from an external hosting site like Tinypic, Photobucket, or Flickr.
Attached screenshots are screenshots that have been attached to the upload using the "manage attachments" feature on MTS. They display as small thumbnails until clicked on.

You may host your inline screenshots elsewhere like Photobucket, Tinypic, or Flickr - however, these screenshots hosted elsewhere must be additional "bonus" screenshots. All of the screenshots we actually require for your upload need to be attached to the thread itself. If your Photobucket account runs out of bandwidth or you delete the pics, people still need to be able to get the required screenshots on your thread.

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.

Packaging Your Pet

Packaging pets is done via the Create-a-pet screen in your game.

After you have finished creating your pet, you need to save the breed. You can do this using the icon shown here.

You'll see the package icon located to the right of your Create a Pet screen. Select the icon to package your pet into a file.

After packaging, pets will be saved to your My Documents\EA Games\Sims 2\Packaged Sims folder in a Sims2Pack format.

Born-In-Game Pets

If your pet has a litter of pups or kittens in game that are not created in Create a Pet, and you'd like to share one, it's super easy!

Load the lot with the pets you'd like to share. Have a sim pick up the phone and call the pet registry to register your breed. This will create that pet in Create a Pet's breed selection so you can now go in and package your pets born in-game.

Right Info/Right Files

ZIP or RAR

You will need to put your .sims2pack file(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 increase the compression, and it just makes an extra step for downloaders.

Upload in Sets

If you have created several pets in a similar style, different colours of a breed, etc., upload them all together in a set, all on one thread. 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.

Good Title

You'll need a good title for your upload - something descriptive... like, "Akita Dog Breed" or "Persian Cat" - titles like "My first upload" are not good titles.

Good Description

You'll need to write up a little basic description of what your upload is... you don't have to get too fancy, but you do need to write something to get people interested. For instance, "This is an Akita, a Japanese dog breed known for its strength, loyalty, and gentleness with children." Something like, "This is my first upload... I don't know what to put here..." really doesn't make it sound like you've put any effort into it - and will reflect poorly on your creation. You don't have to write a novel, just something that makes it sound like it's worth taking a closer look at.

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

Creativity/Effort - You have spent a decent amount of time on your pet, creating a unique and interesting pet that not just anyone could make. If based on a real breed, your pet closely resembles the breed.
Weird Colours - Your pet is not a holiday themed pet or with unnaturally-coloured fur.
Alien Pets - If your pet is an "alien" species, it is a unique, unusual, and different alien species - not just a regular pet shape turned green.
Cartoon Pets - If your pet is based on a cartoon, anime, movie, etc. pet, there is a clear and obvious resemblance with the pet you've based yours on.
Other Animal Species - If your pet is meant to be something other than a cat or dog (like a bear, sheep, zebra, etc.), it closely resembles the animal it is meant to be.

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, either on a lot or in Create-a-Pet.
Close Enough - Your screenshots are taken from close up, so your pet fills the image and can be clearly seen.
Enough Light - Screenshots taken outside are taken during daytime, with the pet in the sun - or screenshots taken inside have the lights on, and enough of them so your pet is clearly visible.
Required Pics - You have the required full body (nose to tail) picture, facial close-up picture, and if your pet is based on a real breed, animal, or something from a cartoon/movie/anime/etc., you have included a picture of the source animal for comparison purposses.
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.

Right Info/Right Files

Right Files - Your files are .sims2pack files from your ''My Documents\EA Games\Sims 2\Packaged Sims'' folder.
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 pets, you have uploaded them all together in one thread, rather than on separate threads.
Good Title - You have given your thread a good, descriptive title.
Good Description - You have given your thread a nice description that makes people want to download your pet.

@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 {{Guidelines-Screenshots-BigEnough}}
-===In-Game===
-[[Image:Ingame-pets.jpg|right|300x300px]]All of your screenshots must be in-game.  For pets, they may be in Create-a-Pet or on a lot.  Please do NOT upload pictures which are not in-game, such as loading screen pictures, thumbnail images from the Create-a-Pet breed chooser, or the pictures generated when you upload a pet to the Sims 2 Exchange.
+{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%"
-<br style="clear:both" />
+|-
+! style="text-align:left" | In Game Screenshots
+|-
+|
+*[[Image:Ingame-pets.jpg|right|300x300px]]All of your screenshots must be in-game.  For pets, they may be in Create-a-Pet or on a lot.  Please do NOT upload pictures which are not in-game, such as loading screen pictures, thumbnail images from the Create-a-Pet breed chooser, or the pictures generated when you upload a pet to the Sims 2 Exchange.
+|}
-===Close Enough===
+{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%"
+|-
+! style="text-align:left" | Close Enough
+|-
+|
+*[[Image:Toofar-pets.jpg|right|300x300px]]Make sure your screenshots are taken nice and close - your pet should fill up most of the picture, without a lot of space on the sides.  Pictures taken close-up show your pet much better than ones taken from far away.
+|}
-[[Image:Toofar-pets.jpg|right|300x300px]]Make sure your screenshots are taken nice and close - your pet should fill up most of the picture, without a lot of space on the sides.  Pictures taken close-up show your pet much better than ones taken from far away.
+{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%"
-<br style="clear:both" />
+|-
+! style="text-align:left" | Enough Light
+|-
+|
+*[[Image:Toodark-pets.jpg|right|300x300px]]When taking screenshots, make sure you do it outside during the day, with your pet in the sun - or in a well-lit room.  Pictures taken at night or in too dark a room will not really show off your pet.
+|}
-===Enough Light===
+{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:100%"
-[[Image:Toodark-pets.jpg|right|300x300px]]When taking screenshots, make sure you do it outside during the day, with your pet in the sun - or in a well-lit room.  Pictures taken at night or in too dark a room will not really show off your pet.
+|-
-<br style="clear:both" />
+! style="text-align:left" | Required Pictures
+|-
+|
+*For all pet uploads, we require:
-===Required Pics===
+[[Image:Akita-Body.jpg|right|300x300px]]'''A full-body shot, showing your pet from the side nose-to-tail.'''
-For all pet uploads, we require:
-[[Image:Akita-Body.jpg|right|300x300px]]'''A full-body shot, showing your pet from the side nose-to-tail.'''
-<br style="clear:both" />
 [[Image:Akita-Face.jpg|right|300x300px]]'''A facial close-up shot, showing your pet's face close-up.'''
-<br style="clear:both" />
 [[Image:Akita-Comparison.jpg|right|300x300px]]For pets based on real breeds, alternate animal species, or cartoon/video game/anime pets, we require '''a picture of the animal the pet is based on, for comparison purposes.'''
-<br style="clear:both" />
+|}
-===Inline/Attached Screenshots===
-Please do not post more than 4 inline screenshots (images that appear in the text of the thread). Having a lot of images that have to load on the thread makes browsing downloads very slow and can make the thread jump around as they keep loading.
-You may host your inline screenshots elsewhere like Photobucket.com - however, these screenshots hosted elsewhere must be additional screenshots, and you must make sure to actually attach your required screenshots to the thread itself.  If your Photobucket account runs out of bandwidth or you delete the pics, people still need to be able to get the required screenshots on your thread.
+{{Guidelines-Screenshots-InlineandAttached}}
-You can attach up to 8 screenshots to the thread itself, with the 4 additional inline screenshots hosted elsewhere (or attached) for a total of 12 possible screenshots.  This should be plenty to show what you've made, even for fairly large sets.  Remember, you can always collage several different images together into one image if you have a bunch of stuff to show off.
 ==Packaging Your Pet==

Difference between revisions of "MTS2:Creator Guidelines/Pets"

Revision as of 18:59, 22 May 2011

Contents

Creator Guidelines - Pets

Quality

Screenshots

Packaging Your Pet

Born-In-Game Pets

Right Info/Right Files

ZIP or RAR

Upload in Sets

Good Title

Good Description

Checklist

Quality

Screenshots

Right Info/Right Files

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Variants

Views

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