Revision as of 12:35, 23 October 2013

Guidelines for Sims 3 Lots

I really will write a better introduction later honest...

Quality

Does your lot look nice? Does it have a good flow to it? Is the way it's laid out attractive, interesting, and enjoyable to look at?

Realism: A castle should not just be a huge building with stone walls, but should look like an actual castle, and supermarket should look like an actual supermarket. You can look up pictures of the type of lot you're trying to build on Google Image Search for some good ideas.
Architecture: write stuff here
- Playability: The layout of the lot should make sense and be routable. Make sure sims have enough room to move around the house, and that they can access all items that can be used.
- Roofing: The roof pieces should connect each other nicely, and not leave gaps between each other.
Landscaping: Don't let a Finn write this section and nitpick a ton

Tips

If you're not sure whether your lot is ready for uploading, use the Creator Feedback Forum to get feedback on it.
You can always plunder into our Tutorials section for more ideas and learning new techniques in creating your lot.
If you are struggling with or have questions about technical aspects of building, you can post in Building forum.
Using Create a style-tool in TS3 can have a tremendous effect on how your lot will look. Please explore the possibilities of this tool. Selecting the patterns and colors yourself instead of using EA-made presets creates much more unique, and often better looking results. A small tutorial can be found here.

Files

The following sections contain information about packaging and archiving your lot, as well as custom content.

Packaging your Lot

Once you have finished building your lot in the game, you will need to save it and then Edit Town to return to the neighborhood. From there select your lot and click the Share button on the lot panel.

Enter the lot name and description on the next screen, and then click the checkmark. When it's done, you'll have a new .sims3pack file on your computer.

Lots are saved to the Exports folder, which is located in My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Exports

Packaging Lots with no custom content

Installed sims3packs will package with your lot but package files do not do this. Some creators do not allow inclusion of cc in lots so you need to remove it when packaging.

Start Launcher
Tick box "Run without custom content"

Take note of the warning. You are just going to the neighborhood to package the lot - you do not want to enter the lot.

Select the lot
Click Share in Lot panel

Custom content

Some yada yada about CC here, like short intro

Remove Custom Content with CUSTARD

Before uploading your lots please scan it with CUSTARD. Content that is installed from sims3packs will package with lots, and some patterns will package even if you didn't use them on the lot. Note: Presets of EA patterns do NOT package with lots.

Download Custard
Open Sims3pack
Untick cc you don't want to include
File Save As...

Content that CAN be Included

You may include items of the following types with your upload:

Free, Redistributable Content: If a creator says that you may include their items in uploads, and the item is a free download, you are welcome to include that item in your upload on MTS. For a quick list of policies for a lot of major sites, see: Creator Policies

Content You Have Made Yourself: If you have made content yourself that you have used, you certainly may include that item as well. If it is a new mesh you need to include all of the regular information in the text of your post (poly counts, where it shows in the catalog, etc.) you would expect for a new mesh.

Terrain Paints (TS2): Do NOT remove any terrain paints from your sims2pack. This is the one exception to the non-redistributable policies/pay/must provide credit rules. If you remove terrain paints from a lot it can cause it to crash for downloaders. Due to this, all terrain paint creators should expect their content to be included no matter what. Please provide a link and credit for these items whenever possible, but if a terrain paint is not clearly marked with a creator's name/website, you may still include it and it will not be grounds for rejection.

If your upload contains custom content, you MUST include a LINK and CREDIT for EACH and EVERY custom content file included in the upload.

When uploading to MTS, the custom content wizard will require that you indicate the creator of each item, enter a description, and provide a link to the creator's site, profile, or original upload thread. The beauty of this system is that once somebody has entered that info for an item (or if it was uploaded to MTS originally), nobody else has do that again - it automatically gets added as credit from that point on. You are, however, responsible for making sure the links and credits are correct, even if the custom content wizard fills in the wrong information (perhaps because someone before you has entered the wrong info).

Please link to the creator's site if they have a site of their own, or if the creator posts at a forum site, link to the original upload thread or the creator's profile. You may NOT link to "ModtheSims" for items uploaded at MTS - you need to provide a more direct link to the actual creator.

We must all show the utmost respect for the people who create our content for us. Providing a simple credit and link is the least we can do to show our appreciation for being allowed to include someone else's work in our files. Nobody wants their work stolen, used without permission, or used without being credited.

Keep in mind that if your upload contains an item that someone else made, and that artist does not want their work to be redistributed, your upload will be removed at their request. You would be allowed to upload a new version that does not contain their content. For a quick list of policies for a lot of major sites (including an easy reference on ones that freely allow including their content), see: Creator Policies

Content that CANNOT be Included

Please use CUSTARD/Clean Installer to remove all items of the below types from your file before uploading.

Pay Items: 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.

You can use free items at TSR in MTS uploads. Any pay items - that is, ANY items by "Featured Artists" (FAs) at TSR cannot be used as their pay/free status does still change. Items by regular creators and "Select Artists" (SAs) CAN be used.

Please also be aware that if, when uploading a sim, house, world, etc., where the custom content pictured is required, and you use an item by a creator at TSR... If that creator of the item you used becomes a Featured Artist (and thus, their work becomes pay), your upload may be tagged (hidden from public view). You will then need to switch the item to one that will stay free all the time. This doesn't apply to non-required items (hair shown in a picture where you're uploading clothing) though. If you don't like this possibility, please choose a different item to use in your sim, lot, and world uploads.

Non-Redistributable Content: Even if an item is free, certain creators do not want their content to be included in uploads. This may be due to the content being experimental, problematic, or requiring additional instruction, or they may simply not wish to have their content distributed that way. It is your responsibility to check the policies of every creator whose content you use to see if it may be included. Items that are not clearly labeled as redistributable are not allowed - if you get special permission from the creator for such an item, please state it in the text of your post.

If you cannot include an item, you may link to it in your post as "Required but Not Included" - if you remove it from your sims2pack file and then downloaders follow your link and install it themselves, it will show up properly on your lot. For more information on this topic, please read the Content Required But Not Included section found below.

For a list of policies for a lot of major sites, see: Creator Policies

Items You Cannot Credit/Link: All items included with your upload must be properly credited. If you don't know where something came from, use something else.

If you cannot remember where you got an item, try asking at our Where Can I Find? Forum to see if anyone knows where it is from - make sure to provide a picture and a description so people can help you track it down.

If you still cannot find where it was from, you need to remove it from your upload. After doing this, please verify that it is not an item that is required for your upload to look right: temporarily cut and paste your Downloads folder elsewhere and see what your upload looks like in-game - some custom content will revert to the EA/Maxis item it's cloned from when the actual item is missing, some will just be entirely gone.

Try replacing the missing item with something else - a Maxis item or something you can include -, and in any case re-take your screenshots.

Please see the note under "Content that CAN be Included" under "Terrain Paints" for the exception to this rule!

EA Store Content: All content by EA cannot be included in uploads. Please list it as Required but not included with a link, or as Recommended but not included with a link.

Hacks: Uploads containing hacks are not accepted. Most Sims players do not realize that lots can contain hacks. Usually they are meant for just one game version and can cause problems if users have later expansions that the hack(s) are incompatible with. Users also usually do not want hacks they did not mean to download as they can change major elements of game play in undesired ways.

Careers: Uploads containing careers are not accepted. They can cause similar problems to hacks due to incompatibility, and users generally want to download only the careers they want - not ones you happened to pack along with your upload.

Sims: Lots containing sims are not accepted. If your lot has a family in it, please remove it with Clean Installer. Most people don't want to download a lot that is infested with someone else's sims, and there's actually a lot of problems that can come along with downloading other people's sims if they have not had their memories cleaned properly before packaging. If people want to download sims, they can download them separately.

Content Required But Not Included

When you went through all of the custom content which is required for your upload, you may have found some items which you could not include and had to remove them.

For these items, you can make a "shopping list" for downloaders. Create a section in the text of your post, starting in bold, saying, "Content Required But Not Included" and then list each item which you had to remove, along with a credit and a link to the exact page where it may be found.

Take care not to hotlink the necessary file as this drains the other site’s bandwidth.

In the event that this exact page cannot be linked to (i.e., site policy, JAVA difficulties, etc.), please link to the desired site’s home page and then provide adequate instructions to direct players to the necessary file. For example: ExampleSimSite.com > Downloads > Bedroom > Pink Fusion Set

That way, the download can get those items separately. If they download them separately and get your upload which was packaged with those items included, then the removed items will show up properly when people install it.

Compressing your file

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.

Information

It's important that you include certain information so that players know what to expect when they use your creation!

Title and description

Title: You probably already have a name for your lot - it makes a good title for your upload.
Description:You need to write a decent description for your upload. You don't have to write a novel here, just at least a few sentences about your lot. It's nice to let people know you've put some careful thought into your creation. If your English is not good, you can ask for help writing a description in Creator Feedback.

Please also include the following information in your upload text

Lot size: Mark the lot's size, for example 20x30
Lot price: Mark both unfurnished, and furnished price
Included custom content: List custom content that has been included within the lot file or the archive, with links
Required, but not included custom content: List custom content you have used on the lot, but not included within the lot file or the archive, with links

More info about custom content, how to tell what gets included or not, what kind of CC is allowed and what isn't, above on the Custom content section.

Game version and required EPs/SPs

In TS3 lots can be installed regardless of the expansions (EPs) or stuff packs (SPs) it was built with, as long as the downloader has the same patch version or greater. EP/SP specific content will just leave empty spaces. If you've used a considerable amount of content from an EP/SP you must list it as being required. Please list the base game version that the lot was built with. Finding Game Version

If you would like to create lots which require only the expansion packs actually needed for the features you build you can use johna's AnyGameStarter.

Screenshots

The only way people can see your lot before downloading and checking it out in game is from the screenshots you take for your upload. Taking clear, large screenshots (as a rough guide you should aim for at least 600 pixels on the smaller side) will encourage people to look at and download your lot.

You'll need to include at least:

Exterior Shots: A front and back shot showing the exterior of your lot.
Floorplans: Overhead picture of each floor.

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 lot will look like in their game, not your skills at using Photoshop.
As packaged: Your pictures should show your lot as you have packaged it, so that what downloaders see is what they'll actually get, or need to download, for the lot to look the same in their game.

You may also want to include:
Unobstructed views: if your lot has dense foliage blocking the view of the house. Comparison pictures: if you lot is based on a real building.

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.

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 lots are ready for uploading, use the Creator Feedback Forum to get feedback on it.

@@ Line 213: / Line 213: @@
 ==Screenshots==
-The only way people can see your lot before downloading and checking it out in game is from the screenshots you take for your upload. Taking clear, large screenshots (as a rough guide you should aim for at least 600 pixels) will encourage people to look at and download your lot.
+The only way people can see your lot before downloading and checking it out in game is from the screenshots you take for your upload. Taking clear, large screenshots (as a rough guide you should aim for at least 600 pixels on the smaller side) will encourage people to look at and download your lot.
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Difference between revisions of "MTS2:Creator Guidelines/Sims 3 Lots and Houses/Sandbox"

Revision as of 12:35, 23 October 2013

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Guidelines for Sims 3 Lots

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