Insimenator.org

Their comes a time when every gamer asks what can be done to make the game his or hers.  Personalize it.  Maybe even do something to make it unique from others.

Custom content is great for that.  You want medieval, you've got medieval.  You want Sci-Fi, you've got Sci-Fi.  You want a Utopia Orgy Fest, you've got a Utopia Orgy Fest.  You want a rugrat infested slum neighborhood, you've got it.
You want a 12-step program from Downloaders Anonymous?  Sorry doesn't exist.

The question of whether to use CC or not to use CC is one every gamer has to make.  Some do, some don't.  The thing that bothers me about CC is how some users come across snobbish when tooting their horn about all the CC they have and refuse to use anything that's "just Maxis".  

(Visions of the "In Crowd" of sim teenage girls pop into mind gossiping every time they see a townie walk by wearing plaid shorts and a cowboy shirt.  OMG, did you see the size of that guy's lips.  What a monkey face!  Then later that night, alone in their rooms sleeping, that monkey faced townie that doesn't know about CC feels their dreams with fields of flowers and send the hormones racing.)

One person has CC.  Lots of it.  Then the game takes forever to load.  Bodyshop has to be planned for use a day in advanced.  New downloads crash the game every 30 minutes, but "that new outfit HAS to stay, what can I do?"

Another person has CC.  Just the bare minimum to corrects some of the more blunderous choices a California geek made for makeup and hairstyles.  Maybe even some recolors of the original clothing.  The game loads in 5 minutes or less.  No crashes because of a new mesh.  No mobs of the Fashion Police harassing those poor townies that don't even have a mirror.

Hey, it's your game.  Play it the way you want.  Download all you want.  Or don't want.  Or don't download.  Just lose the "better than" attitude you have because someone doesn't play the same as you.

Tip for Contest Entering Gamers and Storytellers:  Download all the CC you can.  No CC means 1st round elimination.  No CC means no one likes your story or someone steals your plot and because of CC readers like it more.

I Think I get what you mean.
Yesterday I deleted All my custom content and only download the bare minimum i.e. a set of default replacement faces.
Why?, because I love to download all this lovely free CC but my PC is not that fast and I get the most annoying lagging when ever a sim comes on to the lot wearing the custom clothing I downloaded a few weeks back.
So I thought to delete it and give my pc a little rest and make my game get ready for EP6 and maybe after a few weeks when I get bored, I may download a bit to spice up the game.
Any way thanks for raising this thread.

I mostly agree.
But I won a contest without using cc. I have some posing hacks, bunk beds and reflective floors and walls, OMSP's, and that's it. And still, I won, winning from people who's games were filled with cc.
But I do agree that usually, the chances of winning are larger when you do use cc. Buut, it is possible without it. ^^

Ok,it is possible to win without CC, but for the generic beauty contests, it's a lot more difficult. :)

My point really is about the attitude that comes across from those that would never stoop so low as to use Maxis clothing/hair/furniture/whatever.  Someone that likes and uses exclusively or mostly or even a lot of CC shouldn't act like those that don't use any or limit their use of it are social misfits.

It's nice to know that everything you can get in Stuff Packs could be found as CC from one of the many talented creators out there.  I'm willing to pay a little bit of money to EA for the convenience of a Stuff Pack that may have fewer selections than I could find on the web and maybe a little twisted in their un-Fashion Policed sense.  I'm not so willing to spend hours upon hours looking for that "perfect" outfit to fit the personality I want for my just turned teenager sim.

I in some way feel the sims 2 is not the sims 2 with custom clothing in fact, I love the objects and stuff that comes in the game and I feel the same way about people tending to brag about how much they have in there download folder...
Ok here's mine for instance 15.9 MB of 122 files and 4 folders. Tiny isn't it :) I have no crashes, things getting lost, replacement objects, no recolours, just a few files to make the game manageable.
The Size, amount of files, It's not something to brag about and not something to be recognised as a "social misfit".
The best thing to remember is:
Its YOUR game you do what you want!
Plus it's good to see you think the same way as me about download hunting :)  I would never do that...

EDIT: I think people see a large, many filed download folder as a status quote...

I'd say it's a gender issue, but when I was entering contests and thinking of storytelling, I had 30+GB of downloads that I'd rotate in and out of game depending on what I needed....

For some contest indeed cc is required as well as photoshop skills,  but for others (like the one I am running for example) they are not a necessity at all.  I am a contest judge and depending of which type of contest I am judging, I do not look at how much cc the people used in their pics but if there is enough light, if it is related to the story or not.

Therefore, I do not agree with your statement and I am sure many other judges won't either.  Just choose wisely the one you enter and do not accuse judges of favoritism.  I am fair and square with everyone.

You are entitle to your own opion about that.  I am entitle to have mine too. ;)

Favoritism is a whole other issue I won't even go into. :)

I have won a few contests between here and the adult site and have heard the implied comment that I won because of all the CC I have, not often but a few times. I was somewhat hurt by this and it has slowed my interest in entering contests. So I do agree somewhat what you are saying, Ancient. I don't have tons, just quality items. If they had paid attention they would notice most of the same stuff is used each contest. What about my lighting, use of color, texture, composition and in-game poses?  I don't Frankensim my poses. I am in the process of purging my folder of all things I don't use. I am tired of the headache all the "stuff" is causing me with load time, especially in bodyshop. But I could never get rid of it all. I also have very few hacks/mods.

 Lately I have began judging mostly at the adult site and some at DLMulsows site. I will say that I could care less if the applicant uses CC or not. I actually stated in one of my judge comments that "This is a perfect example of an amazing entry without CC". I judge on creativity with posing (not just photoshopped poses but in game ones, that to me is where the challenge lies) and as Miss D'oh has stated, lighting, use of color etc. I also will not necessarily judge by the g/card the applicant has either. If it is the most creative entry the G/card will not sway me. I don't know if I am in the majority with this but that is how I judge.

I feel your post is bias and one-sided.  If you wanted to hear what people thought of CC or No CC, that's fine, but the fact that you wanted to directly attack contests is harsh to say the least.  This is one of the best contests forum I've ever been to.  I am proud to say that the members in my forum are some of the greatest on the 'net.  Let's face it: Maxis skins and hair (something ALL judges look at even if they say they don't) are generally boring and underdone.  Some people have tons of CC and some little or none, and we all do what we can to make the game playable and more important, FUN to us.  I was using CC WAAAY before I even heard of contests!  AND I do and will contine to use Maxis objects and YES even HAIR (not skin or eyes, thank god) when it is well-done and appeals to my personal style.  Most of us use different CC every shot because we CAN.  And I want to echo trl, here, and state that many of us win, not because we have the 'newest clothes' or 'prittiest hair', but because we use interesting picture taking technique.  The right pose will get my vote over better CC anyday.

I only download new clothes, hair and makeup. and I try to keep it to just hair nowadays because I have enough makeup and the clothes...well I find maxis made clothes is generally better. it dosen't glitch, have random blue holes where it shouldn't and it dosen't freak out one day and flash blue. so now I only download hair and it must be darn good hair, hair I know won't be horrible once into the game. I don't have anything against custom content I would just prefer less of it.

Brenda, perhaps you missed my second post (http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=916259&postcount=4).

This was never meant to be an attack on the contests here or any other site.  Sorry that you got that impression.  I've not done a contest in such a long time that I couldn't even begin to guess how they are now.  A lot of new hosts.  A lot of new judges.  A lot of new contestants.  It's completely different now from what I may remember.

In truth, this was more of a rebuttal to Yakov's post about how he feels that Stuff Packs, in particular the Teen Stuff Pack, are worthless and a total waste of money.

Tragedymcneil, I am the same way. I recently went through my downloads folder and tossed over a gig of items I never used in the game. Most of those were clothes and recolours of objects that I never ended up using anyway, but had to have when I first saw them. I am very particular about the custom content I download now, because my computer is aging and I do not see a reason to keep a load of it just in the off chance that I might use for an aged sim later in my game. Some hacks are nice to have because it just makes game play more fun for me, but I often try to purge those if I think I have not been making much use for them.

I do not use custom skins that seem like almost a necessity on a lot of sites because I like mixing up the sim babies and seeing what I can get out of their genetics and I find that most fabulous-looking custom hair, looks kind of bad when played in the game. It is this lack of custom items that has kept me from entering contests and had kept me from even attempting stories for the longest time. The contests seem a bit overwhelming to me with the amount of cc and I end up feeling like, "Well, I don't use custom skins, so I'd probably get laughed out of the contest if I tried." I try to make up for "lackluster" imagery in stories by just writing well and hoping that the story does what it should do.

On the subject of the stuff packs however, I have not purchased one nor do I see myself doing so in the future. Reason being, there is enough "stuff" in the game as it is and I do not really see the benefit of paying a lot extra for items that are not going to give me another level of game play. At least with the expansions, there are new interactions and new things to discover with the game. That said, I can see why someone who justs wants a few other options for chairs, beds, etc. might dive into the stuff packs if he or she did not want the added nuisance of custom content.

Maxis content just isn't my style, so I rarely use it. I think it's stupid to be snobby about it (I can't exactly think of many people who are snobby about it...), but I don't think there's anything wrong with preferring custom content. For example, I find Maxis makeup, eyebrows, and eyes very unappealing, but it's fine by me if somebody else uses them. I've seen plenty of people make great sims with all Maxis content.

And, on the topic of the contest forum since it's being brought up: Nobody over there gives a damn about how much CC you have. As much as people might like to think, good CC does not automatically make a good picture. If it's not a good picture, pretty hair isn't going to fix that. No one is going to laugh at someone who enters a sim with a Maxis skin.

Maybe I've just missed it, but I'm not picking up the 'Snobby-CC-User' vibe from anyone. Sure, I've seen people who act like snobs and brag about all the paysite content they have, but that's not really on the subject. I don't think people really care what others do with their game CC-wise, as it's their choice and everyone has their own style. Whether or not Maxis content fits your style is up to you.

Like many other people, I've always loved variety and uniqueness, and custom meshes and recolors have always provided that.  Sure, I've gotten to the point where I'm bogged down with a ridiculous amount of downloads, and it take almost 45 minutes for my game to completely load, (including the 10 min wait for CAS screen... :punch: ) but I also find it quite difficult to narrow down what I do and don't need any longer because I use everything in my Downloads folder... mainly for miscellaneous backdrop details, and different hair/clothing styles, etc.   I may just end up saving all of my valued custom-made content to my jump drive and trashing everything else.  My hard drive could use a fresh start from the 8.33 GB of junk I have in my Downloads... yeah, I deserve another :punch: for being an absolute hoarder these past two years.  :oops:

I don't understand how people could be adamant about the game's original content if others choose to use it themselves.  It's okay for a while, IMHO, but eventually a lot of people yearn for that change from the usual.  For those who prefer to stick with Maxis genetics and original EA objects on their own accord, I greatly admire you for it.  :smile bi:  It gives me comfort to know that people still enjoy Sims 2 just for the sheer spirit of the game itself, not for the little "spice-ups" that many people, including me, feel the need for.  :thumbup:  Not to mention that I've seen many contest pictures with EA/Maxis content set up so well that they just don't need the extra content.  ;)

I'd never be able to go completely without my custom content now that I've gotten a taste of how much it spices up the gameplay.
As many others have said, I love the variety.  Instead of having ten Maxis hair styles I enjoy I can choose from dozens.  Not everyone has to wear the same twenty shirts, five pants and ten outfits I actually like.
I don't think I'll let it get to the point where my game takes any more than five to ten minutes to load just because I don't want to wait that long, but I'm sure I'll be borderline once I can really bog it down on my own computer.

But I'm also not going to delete my old town Kingly just because the sims don't have custom skin or eyes.

I played the original game without CC for a few months... but then I stumbled across hair, skin, eyes, and clothes downloads, which had me completely floored. For me, they really seem to enhance my game experience, to make me feel as though I'm actually accomplishing something. (If that makes any sense) I love the feeling of realism in the Sims game, and that's why I download CC.
I haven't seen anyone act even remotely snobby about CC--after all, nearly everyone has at least some in their game, and bragging rights shouldn't be reserved for the people whose games take 30 min to load. (I know, because my game takes that long, and it's a pain in the a$$)
Also, I've only entered in 2 contests and gone all the way through in one. They're not my style... and no matter how much CC you have, if you've entered a bad application, it's just a bad application, no matter how much custom content you have there.
The sad thing is, my downloads file alone is 4.24 GB... although I recently cleaned it out. Because CC is addictive.
And it's clogging up my harddrive so I'm going to have to delete a ton of stuff soon.

I've found the responses very informative.  Oh, for those wondering, I do have CC in my game.  Hairs, makeup, eyebrows, some jewelry, custom skins and eyes.  Once BV is installed, I'll probably be adding some custom clothing back in, but not nearly as much as I had before.  Mostly in the underwear, pajamas, and gym clothes categories.  As far as build mode recolors, I've got some that I've made myself that are in game and I've been threatening to do more, but I've been distracted by modding lately....

I still want my cc back, I miss it like crazy, but I know it's better for my amount of free time (I enter less contests when I don't have cc because modeling contests just tend to be very difficult without cc, because you just have less outfits, decorations and hairstyles) and because I hate it when my game takes a long time to load.
Besides, it's having enough difficulties as it is, with all EP's and SP's installed. my computer isn't that brilliant after all. :P

And the advntage of no cc also is that there's a lot less that can break your game with new EP's. Ofcourse, InSIM and InTeen will need some updating, and maybe the Puppy Love hack too, I don't know, but I won't have blue flashing cc. :P

I have to admit, when I first read ancient's post, I was surprised. Maybe I just skimmed over it, but I haven't seen people looking down their noses at others for not having custom content. Of course, I've seen this happen when someone has adult mods, and maybe it's been on other sites (the exchange comes to mind), but I don't think I've really seen that here. Of course, there is the occasional bragging/talking about how big one's downloads folder is. Or is that what you were referring to, ancient?

Sometimes when i use a maxis object (because i can't stand the clothes and the hair and the make up but there are objects i really like) i get kinda "ashamed" because people might say that i just used it because i didn't have any CC to use instead. But i really do use them sometimes because they do the job. simple as that.

I find myself using Maxis buy mode objects the majority of the time now, excluding the children's catalog under Misc (because I love my sim kiddies, and they need all the variety in toys they can get...  :smile bi:).  All I have in my Objects sub-folders are mainly recolors and retextures of game objects.  Ever since I installed Seasons and the game started breaking every other custom object download I had, I told myself "Screw it!  I'll just junk all of them and re-download the ones I know still work."  Man, could you imagine how much more I would have if I had kept them all?!  It's so much of a pain! :slap:

Well, as soon as all hacks and mods are updated accordingly for BV, and I find a transfer cable to store all of the items I want to keep on my home PC's hard drive, I'm starting all over.  All I'm going to keep are my sims, my own genetics, a few clothes, maxis object recolors, and all meshes that correspond with each of them.  I'm sure that'll cut back on at least 7 gigs... that would make me a much happier person.  :toothy8:

I personally don't feel superior or anything for having custom content; in fact I'm very grateful to the creators of it. I too like custom content for the variety, and some things in the game just seem to be missing at times... not to mention that the Maxis sim templates look a bit... well, I think the best word for it is they look a bit Goopy GilsCarbo...

Personally, I enjoy the game pretty much out of the box.  I have all the EP's and SP's, but no CC (except the InSIMentor).  Keeps the game running smoother that way.

hehe, Doll my fav part of the game now is finding CC, installing it sortting it in to neat little anal folders, breaking my game, finding the bad mesh and doing it all over again. I guess it is the anal retentivness (SP) in me. I find playing the game way less fun then making sims and downloading at this point. BUT I do understand what you are saying. the dif with me and most of te ppl that stuff their game with gig's and gig's of CC and break the game... I can fix it my self ;)
 
When I installed BV and my DL folder got trashed I was happy! rofl I was thinking to my self YAYAYAYAYAYA Download time. but then i found my back up download folder and thought " damn"
 
* HUGS the grumpy old guy*

I like using CC in my game... I've got over 6 GB of it in my DL folder and am still looking for more stuff to add... I started out with mods and hacks and then added some clothing once I figured out what the difference between a mesh and a recolor was... Then I added custom furniture and stuff like that...

I might not use all of it, and some of the meshes might not be that good, but I keep them in the game just in case someone comes up with a good recolor which has happened quite a few times... I might move some of the recolors to another folder, but I wouldn't dump any of the meshes because some of the sites no longer exist and the creators have disappeared. Yeah some of their stuff does end up in the sims2graveyard, but not all of it... I've seen a lot of recolors of meshes that no longer exist that I would like to use, but without the original meshes, the recolors can't be used...

I've just got too many sims and custom houses for me not to use CC... :happy8:

Okay, a bit of thread necromancy on my part is about to happen here, but I just want to state that anybody who views the size of their DL folder as a status symbol is a fool. Yes, I have plenty of files in my folder, but I cull it on a regular basis and get rid of stuff I almost never use, something I would never do if I felt that the size of my DL folder was something to boast about. I certainly wouldn't look down on anybody with a sparse download folder...after all, it's your game and you play it however you want - it's just that I crave a bit more variety than what Maxis has given us.