I was involved in some discussion on Skell's Tumblr recently (here, here, here, and here) about some of the basegame premade sims and which face templates they were based on. Some of them seem fairly obvious, while others are much harder to pin down. Inspired by this conversation, I've been taking them into Bodyshop (which I've done a little before, and was often surprised by my findings) to get a little more scientific (results are here, here, and here), and I'd love to open this up to more discussion and analysis with a wider audience.

Here are my results so far:

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I will edit this as I get more/better information.

I've only included playable premade sims from the basegame. The ones with ??? next to them are once I remain a little unsure about in one way or another. I also welcome disagreement about the ones without any ??? next to them, if you have evidence or theories (which we can test) of a better match. Please dig in and do some Bodyshop work of your own (you can download them all here at at maxis_taste) to share here or just react and discuss however you like. I love talking about face templates. This stuff has always been really fascinating to me.

I'm thinking of maybe making some gifs out of my Bodyshop shots to include here when I get a chance. Flipping back and forth between the templates in Bodyshop really helps to illustrate some of the similarities and differences that are not as easy to see when comparing two images side by side.

Also, I'm still getting over the fact that I've only just realized that Ripp was based on face 1 (more on that here and here). How could I not see it before? Someone please tell me. How many times have I looked at his face? Thousands? Millions? Haha!

I'm cross-posting this from Tumblr (with added details), because it's easier to discuss here.

I've been thinking about the unwieldy monster that Strangetown, Here We Come has turned into and how there are parts of the plot that I’m carrying on with that are relics of the entirely different story I set out to write initially (and it was not a better story, I assure you) or things I added on a whim or were otherwise overly complicated missteps. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. There are things I no longer have the time or inclination to resolve, but I do want to see the key story through to the end. And I could easily do that with a handful of key changes to the plot thus far.

So a retcon/reboot that doesn’t change very much (if any) of the core storyline with the Grunt family and the Smith family and the relationships of the main characters (and not much of the details around the main mystery in the alien plot): Yes/no?

Is this potentially a good idea that could save my story? Or is it a terrible idea?

I even have a built in method of doing this that makes sense in the story universe with the Cordials and their awareness of the multiple lives and storylines of all sims. All it would take is for a certain background character to pay them a visit and plead her case.

I'd do an update to clearly spell out the changes and leave all the past entries up as they are. And if I cut something any of you were hoping to see resolved, I can always tell you what I would have done with it (as long as it doesn't reveal anything I'm still planning to do another way). With that in mind, if there's a part of the story you're really wanting answers on, please feel free to let me know here. It may or may not save it from the chopping block. Like I said, most things will only change a little and not in ways that are essential to the story I've been trying to tell for most of the story's existence.

I'm going to try to catch up on some things I've been meaning to post or cross-post from tumblr to lj over the next little while, so I apologize in advance if I'm overwhelming your flist. I'll try to limit it to a post or two a day.

How is everyone doing? I've been around less lately because Little Tomato has started toddling around and taking less naps during the day. He's an active little guy, so it leaves me with less opportunity to even browse on the laptop while also watching him. He requires pretty much my undivided attention when he's on the move and getting into stuff. And I don't wear him in a carrier as much either, because he wants to be down and on the go. So my time has become much more limited.

I said recently that I'm more into tumblr these days because it's quick and easy, but I'm also not very satisfied with the level of interaction you can have there. I miss having coherent conversations with people, but then I'm also limited for time to actually do so. *sigh* I still prefer the livejournal format in many ways. I like how easy it is to spread things around in tumblr (though this can also be bad at times) and leave quick positive likes and comments on things without much commitment, but many things feel overly public and also impersonal? I dunno. Does anyone else have mixed feelings about tumblr?

Please drop in to say hi in the comments. :) I miss hearing from you all.

Here's my work in progress for the TS2 themed colour set:

I'm trying to come up with a list of colours that are iconic to The Sims 2. I'd like to try to get at least one for every colour of the rainbow and build from there. Here's what I have so far:

Red: Bella's dress
Pink: freezer bunny
Purple: woohoo hearts (though looking for something more child-friendly, if you have any ideas. It's the sort of euphemism you'd use around a baby/toddler/child, but I dunno...)
Blue: aspiration icons
Green: plumbbobs (bright) and alien skintone (mint)
Yellow: chemistry bolts
Orange: ???
White: ???
Black: Grimmie's robe
Brown: ???
Gray: Gray Woman of Sim City

White, Green, Gold, and Red can also relate to the aspiration levels for the plumbbob, so that's another option.

If you have any ideas for the ones I'm missing or any additional ideas for any of the colours, I'd love to hear them.