Date: 2008-12-04 20:30 Subject: Asian Fusion Hairs and Outfits from the Store Security: Public

Have you ever wondered how would your male sims look if they fell on a giant blender while holding a bucket of hair gel?

Yeah, neither did I, but thanks to the new Eaxis Store "Asian Fusion" hairstyles, you'll never have to wonder about that!

Date: 2008-11-26 16:54 Subject: A tale of computer-related idiocy Security: Public

Also known as: How Simgaroop lost all the pictures of a story update.

A few days ago I installed the Garden and Mansions SP. I originally was going to wait until the guys at MATY confirmed its "safety", but heck, I went to a videogame store on the weekend, saw it on sale and got it. I was going to get Tales of Symphonia 2 (been a long, long time since I last played a console game) but it wasn't available yet.

ANYWAY... That night I noticed there was a No CD exe available at MATY so, thrilled of not having to wait for it (I refuse to let my poor laptop be infected by fuck-u-rom again) I went ahead and installed it. I loaded the game and everything looked fine, but I noticed an increased lagging.

I hate lagging, so I figured I should update my drivers. I have a program called driver detective that, as its name implies, detect which of your drivers are outdated and downloads and installs the newest versions. And behold, I had 15 outdated drivers, including my graphics chip and sound card.

I updated my drivers and was ready to play, when I figured I should try the lighting mod. I've been having issues where my pics ended up too washed out, so I hoped that mod would make them look better. So, I downloaded the Scriptorium, installed the lights and loaded my game.

CRASH!

It wouldn't even load!

OK, no biggie, I thought. I deleted the cache and accesories files. Load the game again and... BOOM! No game for me!

I remembered I had been downloading a lot of CC (it's insane how much I love to "shop" for my sims, well, at least is way more cheaper than doing the same for me :( ), so I took my downloads folder and was ready to do the dreaded 50/50 method. But first, I wanted to make sure that my issues were related to CC.

So, I loaded the game and KABOOOM! My laptop stuck its tongue at me. "You are not playing tonight, Simgaroop!", it seemed to say.

Frustrated, I called it quits and went to bed.

The following afternoon, I tried to fix my game issues. I figured it was M&G. So, I uninstalled it. I loaded the game with just AL and REBUTAKABOOOM! It crashed. This was seriously pissing me off!

So it wasn't a game issue, so maybe my computer was the insane one. I figured it'd be the new drivers, so I did a system restore. Load the game and RJFGHRTOHSHFOS! One more freaking time!

To make this story short, I blame the lighting mod, or maybe one of the drivers got installed the wrong way. I eventually managed to make it work with M&G and new drivers. And then I realized that when I uninstalled M&G... my neighborhoods were erased as well.

Fortunately, I still had a backup of my legacy hood and the one where I'm keeping my story clones, so nothing was lost, right?

WRONG!

Today, I've finished showercapfrog 's drabble request. But I couldn't find the pictures anywhere. Heh, take a guess where I had them! Yeah, due to plain lazyness, I didn't create a special folder for them like I do with all my story pics a week or so ago. I directly uploaded them to Photobucket from my Storytelling folder.

So, the next step was to look at my Photobucket account, right?

I've just done that. But I never realized that the upload went wrong, so I only have the teaser in there. I lost ALL of them! :( :(

So now it's back to the game to take them all over again. Luckily, there were just 15 pics and they weren't complicated, so I hope that won't take me long! But still, AKSFGIDNGKSWDFF#%!!

Anyway, here's the teaser, in memory of my long lost drabble :P.

Date: 2008-11-25 18:14 Subject: Cryptic spoilers of DOOOOOM! Security: Public

Originally, this was a loooong, PMS-influenced entry about my job issues and the sort, but I decided against posting it. There are much better things going on right now, so I should actually focus on them instead of the many ways that bitch is making my life impossible. She doesn't deserve this kind of attention. She's not that important in the big picture.

So, let's focus on my silly hobbies instead.

I'm currently going through an "ADHD" period regarding my sims. I start so many things, but I can't seem to finish any of them! For example, I've had the pics for my current update ready for months, and the same can be said for my drabbles. But instead of working on them on my free time, I load the game now and then to begin with a new project or photo shoot, only to also leave it half-finished.

My latest "bright idea", you may ask? A complete re-write of the prologue of the Broke Legacy. I saw it linked on a GOS post a couple days ago and... man! I had completely forgotten how screwed up is the formatting of that entry! It's nearly impossible to read!

Of course, because I deleted my old LJ account, I can no longer edit it. So, I figured I should give it a "makeover" and post it here instead. Naturally, I also got the "inspiration" to take the pics all over again, now that my graphics chip is better and I am more experienced. It's only 20 pics, after all, and the story is already written.

Yeah, let's see how long that'll take me!

In the meantime, here's a photospam of one of my projects: I mentioned a couple days ago I was working on a "nightmare scene" for my legacy. Well, in order to achieve it, I had to clone A LOT of sims and disguise them for their "cameos". I must admit that took me much longer than I expected, but it was insanely fun at the same time.

So, just for shits and giggles, I'm posting the "group shots" I got when I finished all those " families" in CAS. Beware the hidden spoilers!

( Crazy costumes )

Date: 2008-11-15 11:31 Subject: Short Story: The Tinker Queen (Twin Island) Security: Public

This prompt ended up quite a bit longer than my previous ones, so I guess I should consider it a short story instead of a drabble.

Prompt: Bunker's back story at Twin Island (by xel_squirgle_ox)
Universe: Twin Island (25 years after the Prologue).
Pictures: 25.

( The Tinker Queen: 25 pictures )

Next prompt is the SUPER DUPER HUG one by showercapfrog. Stay tuned, because I might have it ready today ^^.

Date: 2008-11-14 22:43 Subject: Maxis Taste Dare 008 Security: Public

It's been a while since I last participated in one of these dares, but I wasn't able to finish my version of the Beaker's lot on time and I don't think I could handle another project like an asylum challenge at the moment.

So... it's makeover time! Again!

This time, we had to give a makeover to the Summerdream family from Veronaville (aka the elf/fairy family with a silly love for black lipstick and the most annoying house ever designed).

Because they are supposed to be fairies, I decided to follow that path for my entry. It took me a while to find the right custom content, and I actually had to spend an hour sorting through Saphire Sims, by far the most complicated sim site I've ever found (between the odd/random categories and the thousands of blinking pics on each creator's signatures, it is easy to get lost in there).

I also tried to keep their original genes intact (aka same skin, hair and eye colours) and I think I succeeded, expect in the case of Puck (but there's a reason for that as you'll soon see).

Anyway, here are the pictures:

Date: 2008-11-09 14:43 Subject: Drabble: The Naming Game (Twin Island) Security: Public

Prompt: Boogers (by redqueenofevil)
Universe: Twin Island (8 years after the prologue)
Pictures: 15

Date: 2008-11-09 13:14 Subject: Space Ships Hair (Recolors of the Maxis Emo Hair) Security: Public

rustedinkwell is awesome! She kindly made these sweet blue and green versions of the new Maxis Emo/Vegeta hair for males, after I expressed interest in those colors for my alien sims the other day. A friend of hers also helped by clearing out the unnecessary ages, so they would only show up for adults and young adults.

And because she somehow lost the screen shots she took for these recolors, I helped out with that part. The best part? She's also letting me share the files with you :).

( Space Ships by rustedinkwell (3 preview pics and download link) )

Date: 2008-11-06 19:39 Subject: :D Security: Public

So I somehow managed to get rid of that nasty SUPER HUG DUPER FUG or whatever it's called. I demolished the lot where I first found that bug (A "Mini Cube" one from MTS2) and that was the last I saw of this annoyance. I guess I just have to delete that lot from my catalogue and I'll be all set.

Thanks a lot for your help, especially aledstrange! <3

Anyway, so now that my game is all right again, I got to play quite a bit tonight. I didn't want to just pose my sims, so I ended up playing my legacy house the regular way, and it's been a while since I last had so much fun playing. I ended up taking way too many pictures, of course, but a few of them came out quite nice!


I'm really enjoying playing at BellaDonna Cove. I miss Strangetown (the Legacy will go back to that town eventually, though) but this new hood is so big and diverse that it's very fun to explore it. And it's also quite pretty! I love the Central Park lots for just that reason!

(Yup, that girl over there is a sim I "kidnapped" from pixel_trade ;) )


BTW, Tom is a romance sim (yes, another one, this must be a karma thing considering how much I dislike this aspiration) with the LTW of woohooing 20 sims. Yay! No more career-related LTWs! This one is going to be interesting to fulfill, for I've never tried it. And you know the silliest part of this? Tom is incredibly shy! This is going to be fun to explain story-wise, how someone with so many trust and intimacy issues as him, combined with that personality, would consider that as his top dream :P.

I just wish I could have as much fun with the writing part of my Legacy, for it's been weeks since I last felt inspired to do so. I have the pics and the plot, but not the will to write. It's just so boring! I guess this means I'm currently suffering from an awful case of writer's block. And I really don't know what to do to get over it... maybe I should start another project and leave the Brokes for a little while, or perhaps I should write short prompts and similar stuff like my Halloween/Día de Muertos story to get back "in the mood".

So what the heck! Let's give this a try! If you're interested, just leave me one prompt and I'll try to write a short story out of it for you. It can be related to my stories (Like Twin Town and the Legacy), but it can also be something general about the pre-made sims. Or something crazy. It's your choice!

Date: 2008-11-05 22:15 Subject: Hairy Stuff Security: Public

I was happily playing with my Legacy house when I noticed a new interaction between my sims called "DEBUG - SUPER DUPER HUG". I've read a bit about it in the past, and the only thing I remember is that it is BAD. Maaaaan! Just when I was actually getting something done for a change.

So, until I figure out how to fix my stupid game one more freaking time, here are some pics I took of the new Maxis Store hair, which just released a "Castle" (Medieval) collection:




( 19 pics of hairy non-sense (AKA, yup I'm currently battling insomnia) )

- Good Night!

Date: 2008-11-04 22:45 Subject: Last One Security: Public

The media has just finished broadcasting their reports about the plane crash in which our Interior Secretary, Juan Camilo Mourino (among other functionaries) lost his life. So far, the info points that this was just an awful accident, but we'll have to wait a few days before this can also be confirmed.

Of course, the mexican media was so focused (obviously) in this event that I almost missed the other main notice of this crazy day. Good thing my f-list has been quite vehement announcing the victory of Barack Obama ;D.

I'm not American, but I'm very glad he won. In my opinion, the world didn't deserve to suffer from the actions and decisions of someone as nasty as Bush for much longer. I really don't know if McCain was planning to follow Bush's steps or not, but at least with Obama there was always the hope that things would be different under his charge. And I hope this change will be positive, of course.

You know what? I've just realized that these elections will affect me more than I thought, for I'll be spending the next two years in the US. So, Yay! Obama won! :)

And well, that's enough spamming for one night. Thanks for listening/reading my incoherent babble.

Have a good night, everyone!

Date: 2008-11-04 21:00 Subject: Update Security: Public

My father has just arrived home safely. He told us about the crash, he was actually driving a few blocks away when he suddenly saw a very bright flash of light (the plane's lights) followed by a humongous cloud of fire that was almost 50 mt tall. His first thought was that it was a bomb and he pulled away, in case some debris or anything might fall over him from the explosion.

He immediately called my mother, because he wanted us to know that he was safe before the crash made it to the news, so we wouldn't worry. He said it took him awhile to find an open road to come back (we live in the south of the city, and the accident took place in the north), but he was lucky to be on the street just before the media, the army and the police made it there, otherwise he would still be stuck in there.

My father thinks this was not a terrorist attack, for he actually saw the plane mere seconds before it crashed, hence it wasn't an explosion or a bomb inside the vehicle. He also told me that sadly the media is not telling the truth about the victims, because as we are watching the news, it seems like a lot of people died in that spot. There are dozens of cars completely calcined/burn, they look like huge blocks of ash.

Mexico's president is expected to deliver a message to the nation in a few minutes. Until then, it's still unclear the reason of the crash to us.

I'm just thankful that my father is safe. If he had left his office a few minutes earlier... he might had been one of the victims. I'll be eternally thankful to God that's not the case.

ETA: The President's speech focused on the late Interior secretary, Juan Camilo Mourino, who was also a very close friend of his. He said that he'll make sure the truth about this accident will be discovered, and he'll let us know everything. He said he's now more inspired than ever to keep fighting the crime, to defend Mourino's ideals. This was extremely sad :(

Date: 2008-11-04 19:07 Subject: :( Security: Public

An airplane just crashed in my city's downtown. My father works close to that spot, but he just called home and told us he's fine, but he witnessed the explosion.

There are tons of ambulances outside, I've been listening to them for almost an hour. At first, I was terrified for my father, but thank God he's all right.

Just posting to let you know that I'm safe.

ETA: My country's government secretary was on board this plane. If this is true (and keeping in mind that none of the passengers survived the crash), this could be an act of terrorism.

ETA (8:41 PM): Right now there is no proof that this was an act of terrorism. According to the Transportation Secretary, there are several investigations going on at the spot of the crash, but so far, the wings are not damaged. As sad as it is that my country's Government Secretary has died, it is a small relief that this seems to be just an accident.

I'll keep you informed. 'Cause there are no news at Yahoo yet :P.

Date: 2008-11-03 15:47 Subject: Día de Muertos Security: Public

This is the last time I spam your f-list with stuff related with "Día de Muertos", I promise.

Anyway, I just wanted to show you some pics of the "ofrendas" I visited this weekend. I'm very sorry for the awful quality, for I don't have a good camera and had to rely on my poor cellphone to take these images instead.

( 15 pics of the Dia de Muertos celebration in Mexico )

Ah! And one last thing! Nixy at GOS (Garden of Shadows) just published a set of lovely and incredible objects to re-create an Ofrenda de Muertos for the Sims 2. Man! Those awesome objects would have been perfect for my story! ^^ Well, that doesn't mean I'm not going to abuse them next time I have to decorate a lot.

See you next time!

Date: 2008-10-22 22:54 Subject: Day of the Dead Security: Public

No Broke update tonight. I'm sorry, but I suffered a bit of writer's block (or more exactly, I just couldn't make my sentences sound right no matter how many times I re-wrote them, damn my English limitations!), so I decided to give myself another day to finish part 2.

The good news is that today I began a 10 day vacation period, so tomorrow I'll have more free time in the morning to finish it. I hope I'll have it up by noon.

Meanwhile, I wanted to show you the results of a little side project. As some of you may know, we celebrate in México the Day of the Dead on November 2nd. Every year, we mount a small altar in honor of our loved ones who have already departed to the other world, where we leave flowers, candle light and their favorite food, among other things. The tradition says that on the night of Nov 2nd, the spirits come back to our homes for a short visit, so we must make sure they have enough to eat for their journey back to their world.

Let me just copy-paste what I wrote down last year:

Date: 2008-10-18 21:32 Subject: Silly Sim Pictures Security: Public

All right, I've just uploaded Elisa and Luke Broke-Valenzuela, so you can now have them in your game if you're interested to play with them.

As always, there's no need to ask for permission and feel free to do anything you want with my sims, from stories to contests. Just have fun with them!

And to make this post even more pointless, here are a couple stupid/silly pictures from my upcoming update. I'm almost done with part 1, so unless my Internet connection goes down (I'm out of town right now), expect it tonight! :)

Neee... What's up Doc?

( Six more silly pictures, including the most ridiculous wedding proposal ever inside the cut! )

And that's all for now!

Date: 2008-10-06 21:05 Subject: Ten Simlish Cartoon Posters for the kids (DOWNLOAD) Security: Public

All right! Here is my second set of "Simlish" posters to decorate your nurseries, playrooms and bedrooms. Now your sim kids' walls won't look empty anymore!

This time I made ten posters featuring some popular cartoons from the last twenty years.

Do you recognize all of them?

Characters by Craig McCracken.
Recolor of Space Poster from Free Time.

Date: 2008-10-05 19:13 Subject: Cartoon Posters Preview Security: Public

It's been raining non-stop in my city for the whole weekend. Of course, with such a sudden weather change, it's easy to catch a cold. And that's what happened to my family, for my parents and two sisters are currently very ill with a nasty variety of a cold.

So, I've spent the whole weekend as my family's "nurse", making soup and tea for them and keeping them warm. Good thing I had a few work reports to do to keep me busy, otherwise I'd have become insane locked up inside my house for such a long time.

Anyway, this literally "lazy" weekend also gave me plenty of time to write my update (almost done!) and to finish my cartoon posters. They came up way better than I expected, so I'm pretty happy with them. I just need to add the cartoon titles to them (I'm gonna try to reproduce their original "logos" as much as my limited Photoshop skills allow me) and then I'll upload them at the wella_creations community.

Would you like to see the raw pictures? ^^

( 10 Simlish Cartoon Posters for the Kids )

Thanks again for the suggestions! ^^

Date: 2008-10-04 08:16 Subject: Cartoon Posters Set (Work in Progress) Security: Public

I'm updating the Brokes this weekend. The pictures are done and uploaded, so I only need to write the story. I hope it won't take me too long!

Meanwhile, I've been working on another Simlish set of posters for the kids. This time, I'm doing cartoon posters, and so far it's been more challenging than the Fairy-Tales one (which I finally got the courage to upload to MTS2, and it won a star! :P). I even had to do my own custom content to make my sims resemble their cartoon alter-egos, and well... let's just say that as a Custom Content creator, I suck.

I'd love to show you some pics of the two posters I had almost ready. The characters are done and I only need to build the "set" and pose them to take the final picture for them.