#forever sad for not having reshade

[oceanprairie]

can't stop following accounts that are doing the postcard challenge and I'm loving it

[softpine]

can i just word vomit for a min...

there was a point in late 2023 where i felt like i overstayed my welcome on simblr and i planned on just wrapping frozen pines up as quickly as possible and moving on. continuing to write when it's clear that the audience for it is dwindling felt so embarrassing that i almost didn't even want to put effort into it anymore, because i was afraid it just looked pathetic (obligatory disclaimer: no one made me feel this way, you're all so lovely, it's just the nature of seeing a community change over 7 years). writing already feels very personal to me and it's becoming increasingly harder for me to put my work out there (again, for reasons unrelated to simblr and entirely related to mental illness 🤙🏻). i know my story is so long that it deters new readers, and so sporadic that it makes old readers drop off with time. this has really been bothering me lately because i don't know what i can do to fix it. i don't think there IS anything i can do.

but. okay. don't make fun of me for saying this. dan and phil returning to youtube kinda changed my mindset? they may be pulling a fraction of the views they got in their peak, but they're happier than they've ever been and they're working on things they actually want to do, not things they think will be particularly popular. seeing that has made me realize that it is possible to keep finding joy in a community that has largely moved on without you. obviously my little blog is nowhere near the same scale, so this feels kind of silly, but i've been thinking about all the things i used to do on simblr that were never fun for me, i mainly did them because i knew they would get notes or because i felt like i had to do it. making cc, lookbooks, sim requests, reshade help (oh my god the reshade help), lot downloads, etc. they DID get notes, but i can't imagine spending my time doing any of that stuff ever again tbh.

on top of that, it makes me sad to scroll through my dash and realize that i don't recognize most of the people i see anymore. i still talk to some wonderful people here who i consider friends and that's invaluable to me (💖), but the broader community aspect is something i no longer feel a part of. and believe me, i know i'm at fault here because it's not like i'm going out of my way to talk to new people or participate in trends like i used to. i don't blame anyone except the passage of time!!

frozen pines, and simblr by extension, played such a gigantic part in my life when i needed it the most. and that's not to say that i don't still care about it, because i absolutely do, but it's a different kind of feeling. i've always promised that i would give frozen pines a satisfying conclusion rather than silently abandoning it someday, and though i do intend to keep that promise, i know it's possible that i might never get there. but i don't want to let my own insecurities get in the way of something i really enjoy doing. writing is an intrinsic piece of me that i'll never quit doing, but sharing my writing on tumblr is something that can't (and shouldn't) last forever. i know that. but i'm going to enjoy it to the fullest while we're all still here together 💞

to anyone who's still reading my silly story after all these years (especially those of you who still check in on my blog even though you're not on simblr anymore): thank you thank you thank you THANK YOUUU. you don't have to change a single thing about what you're doing. this is not me fishing for compliments or putting down an ultimatum, this is just me trying to make sense of my feelings.

but with all this being said, i've decided to quit simblr and start my own exclusive streaming service for $60 a year, i hope you'll all support me as i increase my production value 😌

(just kidding. ily. okay that's all)

[slade-neko]

EEE-yesss! Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance II is on Steam!

Not long ago I played Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance on Dolphin Emulator and then played its PC/ Steam version afterwards, then emulated Dark Alliance 2 on PCSX2. Looking forward to trying the PC version of DA2.

Dark Alliance on PC! Okay, how about the Champions games next? Oh, how I wish...

Something I noticed is on the Steam Store page there are quite a lot of reviews for this game and DA1 that were people asking for Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms to be ported to PC since the games are in a similar boat and have ties to each other.

What is Champions of Norrath?

For those of you who don't know, Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms are old PS2 top down hack n slash RPG looting games (kinda like Diablo) and was developed by Snowblind Studios, who also co-developed Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance 1. Rather than being the DnD universe like Baldurs Gate, the Champions games take place in the Everquest universe. Everquest was an old MMO game owned by Sony Online Interactive.

Now I am a HUGE Champions fan. While I myself have never played the Everquest MMO, I can safely say you don't have to know Everquest lore to enjoy the Champions of Norrath games. Without a doubt they are my favorite PS2 exclusive games. Which that is the sad part, the games never re-released... EVER. They've been stuck on PS2 since they were released way back in 2004 and 2005.

PC Port? Very unlikely...

As much as I would LOVE PC ports to happen, I just don't see it being possible. Snowblind created the Snowblind engine, the engine the Champions and Dark Alliance games run on and helped co-develop Dark Alliance 1. However, the Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance games are still property of DnD and owned by Wizards of the Coast, so they were far easier to get a hold of to re-release for PC and modern consoles, but the Champions games, however, are entangled in a serious mess of copyright holders that would be next to impossible to sort out for a proper re-release. Think Goldeneye 64. how it's tied to Rareware, the James Bond IP, and Nintendo. Image courtesy of Nerrel from his video on Emulation on Youtube.

A user on Steam pretty much summed up the game's messy copyright situation as this...

Champions is not ever getting released again. Snowblind, the original developers were merged with Monolith, who's owned by Warner Bros. The game was published by Sony Online Entertainment and Ubisoft. SOE have since been sold to Columbus Nova (a NY investment firm) and are now under the name Daybreak Game Company and they own the IP rights for Everquest (the world Champions is based on). The process it'd take to get that mess untangled would be a nightmare and in the end wouldn't be worth the amount of money they'd make off of releasing it on steam.

Emulation is key!

So, its highly unlikely the game will ever be released again and will remain on PS2 forever. That's why emulation is incredibly important for preserving old games that get left behind. I recently did several runs of both Champions games with my brother using PCSX2 and had little to no issues. It felt like playing the original game, but in a higher resolution than the original PS2 could offer and some graphical tweaks for better color with the use of ReShade.

Now I still want to hold out hope that one day I'll get an official PC port of one of my favorite games ever, but if that day never comes, then at least emulation will keep the game alive.

[unsimspirational]

Story Process Challenge

Thanks to @danjaley for tagging me on this challenge. I only recently noticed this in my email notification of all places☺

1. Your writing process - show us a part of your script or explain how you write your scenes. Do you write in screenplay format or novel format? Etc, etc.

I do both but my current story is in novel format.   Finding a format to stick with is really hard for me but so far I’m staying put with this way of writing.

2. Scene building - show us you in the middle of scene building through pictures, gifs, or a video. Explain what is the best thing about scene building and what is the worst!

I love decorating so that’s always a plus and I take forever at it. So I usually build and decorate all of my sets beforehand so I don’t have to stop and do it before a shoot.  Doing it this way saves me tons of time. So there’s nothing to see that’s unfinished for now.  If anything, I would tweak  a scene/room if needed before I start shooting. The right location for a scene is the real challenge for me. For instance, this room was re-worked for this scene.  This room was previously a sitting room. I think the door leads to the kitchen which I will need to redo later. Move the kitchen that is. It also took a while to find the right house. I probably looked at 5 different houses, then looked again at the same 5 houses before choosing this one.  The bedrooms have to be right, the sitting rooms etc. And the sad part is the reader may never see them because I decorate every part of the house, just in case I need to shoot there.

3. CC/Pose Making - do you make your own cc/poses for your scene? If so, what is your process like to create? Do you just go off the top of your head? Do you use reference photos?

Nope. Wish I had the time and patience.

Getting in the zone - What do you do to get in the zone to work on a scene? Examples include: show us your playlist you use when working on a scene, what’s your go-to scene snack/drink, etc

I used to listen to music when I wrote previous stories, but for this one, nope, nothing. I prefer listening to silence for this story. If I did listen to music it would be some type of relaxing music with nature sounds or classical music.

5. Screenshot folder - give us a look into your screenshot folder to show us just how much goes into ONE scene for your story. (Scrapped pictures encouraged!!!)

This is my Posted folder of currently posted pics. I have an Extras Folder and Unused folder, etc. I used to keep every single photo but don’t anymore.  My method is to shoot a scene at every angle, then review them. If I immediately don’t like a photo for the scene I delete it. When done this way, it takes away the decision making of which photo to use if I like more than one. Spent lots of time in the past mooning over which photo to use and wasting time. Although I do keep a few extras which would probably be deleted some months down the road. But I keep the main photos used.

6. Captions - are you a caption on the picture kind of storyteller or captions in text box type of storyteller? Why? Do you do both?

Ya know...I like both, but captions in text box would be the best for all eyes. Many tend to make the caption on the picture soooo tiny. My thinking is they don’t want to compromise the picture itself but c’mon. Whenever I do this caption on picture I make it large so I can read the thing on mobile like with my last story.  I mean....I usually view my dash on mobile so guess who’s not going to strain their eyes to read text captions on a picture? I give you 3 guesses.

7. Editing!!!!! - explain and show us your process editing a scene through a video, gif, or picture. A Before and after will suffice if you aren’t in the middle of editing a scene as you answer this.

I’m using ‘the’ Reshade now so that cuts down on editing for me this time around. Otherwise it takes soooo long, even with using batching.  Reshade was also so intimidating to me to try even though I read and watched lots of tutorials. It just wasn’t clicking for me but one day it finally did.

8. Throwback-  show us an ANCIENT story scene you did in the past and explain how you would do the scene differently today!

There are no ancient story throwbacks unfortunately, because I’m a cleaner. And as a cleaner, I go through and clean out all my ‘ancient’ folders like a madman.

[hiddenspringss]

@pinguin-liz said : I'm sad that i missed your sim request because everytime you post a new one im even more impressed with how beautiful they are!! 🌺 i hope next time you open them i will be on time to request one 😊

omg!! you’re so adorable! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! 🌼 i’m so sorry that you missed my requests!!! dm me what kind of sim you want and i’ll make one for you!! ♡♡

@fvye-sims said : I absolutely love your Sims, they are the cutest thing! If you are still making requests I would definitely love to put one in 😊😊😊😊

thank you!!! your compliments make my heart warm╰(◡‿◡✿╰) ♡ you can dm me if you still have a sim to request!! ♡♡

anon said : Wcif the bucket hat that ilona’s wearing at the beach?

you can find it here!! ◕ ◡ ◕

@talasims said : ummm holy crap your sims are so pretty and your blog is so beautiful T_T 

 holy crap your blog is so beautiful!! your sims are so pretty and i just raided your wcif tag because....gorg

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!! you’re an angel!!! IT MEANS A LOT ♡♡♡ (◕ω◕✿) 

@simbyote said : your sims are so beautiful 😭

you’re so fcking sweet!!! thanks a lot!! ♥(︶ω︶)♥

anon said : Hi! Hope you're having a great day! If you don't mind, WCIF Peach's ponytail from the post about her solo date with Nate in Granite falls?

hi!! i hope you’re doing great! ofc! it’s the same hair as this one ♥

anon said : hey! ❤️ wcif the hair on the sim you made for ohfraise?

anon said : Hi! I would just like to say that all of your sims are so beautiful! If you don't mind me asking can you please tell me wcif the hair that you used in @ohfraise sim request post/189683762830/ tysm!!!

hi!! thank you so much!! you can find that i used here ♡♡🌻

anon said : hiiii! where can i find the hair from this post - /post/184673720557/what-have-i-done ? Thank u!!!

hello (︶ω︶) you can find it here ♡♡

@soellie​ said : 💌This is the Amazing Person Award! Once you are given this award you are supposed to paste it in the ask of eight different people, who, in your opinion, deserve it. If you break the chain nothing will happen, but it is sweet to know someone thinks you’re amazing inside and out! 💌 (Hi bb! you're such an amazing person and deserve all the love in the world, love u vm!!❤)

tysm bb!! i’m so sorry for answering this late but i just wanted to keep this in my inbox forever (◡‿◡✿) you’re so fcking talented and deserve THE WORLD!!! i love you!! ❤❤❤

@rotting-nymph-sims said : Hi sweetie!! In the post with Devon and Britney, wcif Devon’s necklace please?

hi!! it’s actually brinley’s fdjfkg! here 🌼

anon said : hi lovely, sorry if i ask but can you share your editing process?

hi sweetheart!! i don’t do much! i just use a reshade preset and some topaz and that’s it!! you can find some posts i made about my editing here ; here and here!! (i’m sorry they’re a bit old!! 🌻) ♡

@lethalpigeons​ said : hii wcif ivory’s hair please !! tysm 🥰🥰

ofc!! you can find her hair here! and her streaks here ❀◕ ‿ ◕❀ ♥

[cmykayleena]

Personal update

Hello everyone! I thought I’d give you an update on me since I’ve been pretty quiet across all social media. First, let me give you an update on my dress since it’s been forever since I started it and have yet to release it. I was just about to release it but when @retroesque took the previews I noticed a hole in the crotch of the dress on both sides. Only shows up with reshade. Now, I’m still new to making CC and since I’ve made nothing after the dress I’d say my rustiness with troubleshooting mesh errors is ever present, but I believe it’s a UV-1 issue, so hopefully will be an easy fix. Hopefully.

So, if you care to know more about my life outside of the computer, read on.

In a word where we want it to be okay to talk about our issues and struggles with depression I’m going to open to you guys about mine. I’ve been struggling with depression for 10+ years. In that time frame I’ve had really good points and really low points. Right now I’m lower than I’ve ever been. Before my promotion at work the only thing keeping me from staying in bed all day and ghosting my job was the fact that I have little mouths to feed. I’ve got a bearded dragon, cats, and a dog. No matter how low I get I will always make sure they have good food to eat and are taken care of. Myself? Eh - my depression doesn’t allow me to care about me. But my promotion has helped me keep my head just above water and for a good month I thought I had overcome my mental state, but what do you know, depression crept right back.

Any who, this isn’t one of those pity me posts. Everyday I’m not sad about my current state, so I definitely don’t need pity. Everyday I think about how the hell to get myself out of this hole. “Just get up and do something that makes you happy, even if that something is very small.” That phrase doesn’t work on me. I don’t know what does work for me. I’ve tried many things over the years, and I’ll continue to keep trying because living with depression is exhausting. 

So, while I’m not actively posting I am here (because I’ve always been a computer nerd). I just won’t look like I am here. Thank you guys for sticking around! I really appreciate it! I do hope to continue to create more CC, but for right now, I need it to not feel like a task otherwise I’ll drop it entirely.

[sadisim]

Yennefer Skin - Witcher 3 to Sims 3

Click pictures for HQ

PLEASE READ EVERYTHING BEFORE MESSAGING ME

OK SO to start off with this: I want to thank everyone so so so sooo much for helping me out with this skin and giving me tips and wasting time with my shit ( @simplyimaginarypeople Frankie i’m looking at you)  and being so nice and positive and supportive with my skin journey. Again thank you to all of you testers,supporters and amazing helpers.

I started this project from scratch, converting the skin from the witcher and hoping for the best. In my head the result was going to be perfect, however it wasn’t. And i am sad. And disappointed. I really don’t know what to do anymore to the skin to get it working. I managed to fix a few things there and there but the leg seams will forever be there. This skin will be upgraded from time to time when i get the time to. The download is private and i will manage who gets it. Don’t be angry at me for this but i have my reasons. I want to know who uses it because i released a lot of stuff in the past which people used ignoring my tou and i got really mad. 

Secondly. i want to ask of whoever sees this post and wishes to help me out please feel free to do so! If you can help out fixing the skin in any way i’d be totally grateful to you.

And now let’s get on with the skin

Things you should know:

This skin is made using a base skin by @simsrocuted (A combination of akkats and Skalka skins). The face, The belly, the breasts, the arms and the legs are converted from Yennefer’s Original skin from The Witcher 3 by CD Projekt Red. I picked what i could convert from it and blended it on the base skin/s. Last but not least, the skin contains parts from @kurasoberina‘s Primer skin and @tractusopticus ‘ newest skin for the hands. The rest is drawn/edited by me.

There are a few seams i simply cannot edit out: on the insides of the legs. You can clearly see that in the pictures.

Unique Features:

-Wrinkles, moles,scars, imperfections from her original skin

-Hairline from the original game skin

-Slight makeup: i did not want to remove it entirely because this is basically how Yennefer is portrayed in the game. I kept the eye shadow and lipstick on.

In the pictures i use a slight highlight and lipstick on her but nothing too big. Also 3d Eyelashes

-There is also a neck/scalp seam.You can see it in the pictures

-Pictures are COMPLETELY UNEDITED

-Skin isn’t entirely ~smooth~ or natural. It looks a little oversharpened but yeah i guess that isn’t a problem, at least for me.

Graphics 

I use a HD mod, reshade with lumasharpen and adaptive sharpen + HDR and other effects. I am not entirely sure how it will look in your game but i’m sure it won’t be completely different.

Other

Skin is found in CAS under a light purple thumbnail.

Once more, this skin will be updated and i will update this post so make sure you keep track of the updates so you can get a better version of the skin.

YOU CANNOT REDISTRIBUTE THIS DL LINK WITHOUT MY PERMISSION IN ANY WAY. You MAY edit this skin for PERSONAL use only. AGAIN if you want to HELP ME get this skin to be fixed just ask me and we’ll see.

I will specify this again, if you read everything please message me with a winkie face or a heart symbol at the end of your message so i know you read everything. I know this sounds stupid but again, i want to make sure you’re well informed before messaging me about this.

DOWNLOAD: Message me

[softpine]

omg i love kennie jd!! and i need to make a mock youtube channel for elaine, she would absolutely have one! i feel like she would post whatever the hell she wants with no regard for the algorithm, so you’ll get like a makeup tutorial, a true crime video, a boring vlog, a video essay about a random cartoon from the 70s, in no particular order lol

this one?

that’s all thanks to reshade!! i have two different dof’s set up - one for distance blur, one for foreground blur, which i toggle on/off depending on the look i’m going for. i think cinematic dof is the one i use for foreground blur but you’ll have to mess around with the settings.

but if you have some extra time, you can do it in photoshop too: use the lasso tool to outline the tree branches, delete everything outside of that, and shape blur :)

lmao of course!!! and thank you 🥺💖

fjksdjs that’s her daily breakfast tbh

i’ve been hearing lots of people feeling the same type of way as you lately and it makes me so sad because i genuinely wish i could just impart a feeling of confidence and peace into all of you 😭 so many good stories that have made huge impacts on me would never exist if the creator had been too nervous to share them �� and that’s not me trying to guilt trip you, that’s me commiserating that writing is hard and every writer would agree!! you’re sharing a piece of yourself in everything you write, and you’re opening yourself up to criticism, and it’s scary as hell. but ultimately it IS worth it, it really is. i hope you find the courage to post your story anon, i would really love to read it 💖

hey!! you're not annoying at all! i make all the lots myself, and for poses i'd say it's about 3/4 mine and 1/4 other people's poses these days. but i started doing this VERY gradually. i started out almost entirely using preexisting lots, poses, cc, etc. but as time went on, i wanted more control and more customization, so i learned how to make cc and poses, which opened up a world of possibilities. this actually made me MORE motivated to work on story posts, because i have so many fewer limitations than i did when i was reliant on other people. so if this doesn't apply to you, i don't think i have too much advice for staying motivated honestly :( different strategies work for different people, so you may just not be the type of person who wants to do everything yourself, and that's 100% okay!! there's still a lot you can do! (also if you need any specific pose, i would be more than happy to make it for you because it took me forever to learn how to make poses and i remember how frustrating it was to have a great idea but be unable to make it come to life!) 💖