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Your Most Meaningful Screenshots?
Firande
Posts: 816 Member
So I don't know about you guys, but if there's one thing I love about playing Sims, it's storytelling. And for me, with storytelling comes the pressure of taking the most meaningful screenshots I can - I want them to be able to tell the story all by themselves. Taken meaningful and aesthetically beautiful screenshots in-game has become so important to me that I actually have to take pictures of everything lol; now, if only I were as good at real life photography. 
If there's another thing I love about Sims, it's to go on the forums and look at other Simmers' amazing storylines and screenshots! This got me wondering, what are your most precious and meaningful screenshots? They don't have to be aesthetically beautiful - my first screenshots were all taken with graphics on low - but they can be. If you don't mind sharing, I would love to see some of your all-time favorite screenshots.
I know that there are some other screenshot-focused threads out there, but from what I've seen most tend to focus on the story behind the screenshots. While this is also very interesting, I'd love to have one thread dedicated to the beauty of screenshots themselves, which are not to be underestimated when it comes to storytelling.
Here's some of mine:
If there's another thing I love about Sims, it's to go on the forums and look at other Simmers' amazing storylines and screenshots! This got me wondering, what are your most precious and meaningful screenshots? They don't have to be aesthetically beautiful - my first screenshots were all taken with graphics on low - but they can be. If you don't mind sharing, I would love to see some of your all-time favorite screenshots.
I know that there are some other screenshot-focused threads out there, but from what I've seen most tend to focus on the story behind the screenshots. While this is also very interesting, I'd love to have one thread dedicated to the beauty of screenshots themselves, which are not to be underestimated when it comes to storytelling.Here's some of mine:
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I have some, already used of course but I like them
All the sims err'day
Quinto and Gulluma, in their treehouse.
Blunote trying to squirm down the hall.
My avatar Rexwell, the very first sim I made for the Sims4 with his eldest daughter. I just picture him thinking something along the lines of ...
"If you think you are leaving THIS house dressed LIKE that ... you are WRONG"
His second daughter took to dancing with strange unknown men down at the gym.
Cliff with his newborn baby.
If death decides to feel the baby ... you just have to let him.
If course the "I know where you sleep at night .... FEED ME"
Here are a few of mine ♥
Okay, that's a little more than a few. It was very hard to select just a small amount
@RedDestiny92 Aww, your screenshots are so sweet! The one with the Sim and her bills.... her face hahaha.
@Lyoufln Glad you like it! Low graphics really doesn't matter to me! That first screenshot I posted was made with low graphics as well - in fact, my favorite Sim's entire childhood has only low-quality screenshots. Doesn't make 'em any less meaningful to me.
@Gruffman Very interesting storyline you have going on! Love the expressions of your Sims in your screenshots. They're so telling. Love that picture of Grim feeling your Sim's baby.
@sillyangel0906 Your screenshots... wow. I have no words. Those pictures of your old couple... really no captions needed - just those pictures had me tear up. And then the kid with the thought bubble... Salim Benali in that outfit had me lol.
By the way, don't hesitate to send more screenshots! I was struggling to select from my 1000+ screenshots just as much, hehe.
Ingrid (left) and Louisa Marino (right) Ingrid's passed, but Louisa's still around. They were so cute together.
Apparently, 2 goofballs can take life serious enough to make a living and raise 4 kids that turned out alright!
Sage fishing
Briar says "Hello!"
Briar (Ingrid and Louisa's granddaughter) holding her little sister, Sorrel, for the first time
Santiago's just busking the day away...
Alder's wedding, and Briar (his sister) and Valentin (his father) are playing music
Briar all grown up!
Man, I love writing about these sims!
These 3 pics mean a lot to me
On my blog (German) you'll find two completed vampire stories 🦇 and an ongoing ghost story 👻.
I'm also posting about my I'm surrounded by idi🤪ts! - challenge, in which I've now reached gen 9.
Thanks for stopping by! 👋
@sillyangel0906 your pics are always nice, and whenever you post I enjoy getting to look at them they have a sweet family.
@Firande I do especially like some of them, I always liked that picture I paused for something else and thought I'd go over and see how she looked that's how I get a lot of pics never really know what to time. It's nice to have a mix for rotaion and just to see how the town goes, as for the last pic I had some lag almost missed that one.
@Lyoufln how time flies huh? one minute a child causing trouble the next and adult...looking to do the same at least with that expression ha.
I looked for a few more too.
All the sims err'day
Aww, thank you! ♥
I believe that particular sim is on my gallery. He does have some CC so make sure you have that checked if you go looking. His name is Emilio Arellano
I do use Photoshop a little bit to enhance the colors because I don't think that the untouched screenshots do justice to what my game actually looks like. I also sharpen a bit and resize for the web. The untouched screenshots don't look horrible, but I know how my game looks and my unedited screenshots don't look quite like that.
And then I bumped up the contrast and sharpened.
I also have a good graphics card that defaults to Ultra settings so that helps. I play with post processing effects turned off and uncompressed skin textures turned on. Oh and make sure there is good lighting if taking a screenshot inside. That's about all I can think of at the moment for tips, but if I think of anything else, I'll add it in
All the sims err'day
I thought this was such a cute screenshot - these Sims have a turbulent relationship but things were finally going well and they just reached a gold medal on their date... recently had their first twins and even got engaged after a very on-off relationship. I couldn't be happier as I fought so hard to get them where they are, hehehe. Playing matchmaker can be exhausting when your Sims refuse to agree with you pairing them up. Then before I even noticed, they were suddenly insulting each other, no idea who started insulting whom as they both have a tendency towards being autonomously mean, but it ended up going completely outta hand and I ultimately had to break them up because their relationship became so low they couldn't even kiss anymore. So this is a bit of a bittersweet screenshot for me lol.
Edit: Am only now seeing that her hand goes through him in that screenshot. The perfectionist in me is crying right now.
Thank you!
Your screenshot looks great! Almost like a painting ♥
I had a couple like that once. They started out pretty good. I don't think they ever got married but had 3 children. But she was evil and constantly picking at him.
Unfortunately he ended up dying from a cardiac explosion and she laughed at his grave every chance she got
I resurrected him after a few days and he was not pleased or no longer in love with her
I kicked her out and found him a new love. The ex had the plum to show up at the wedding univited
The new wife wasn't too thrilled about that
But the ex behaved amazingly and they had a great wedding ♥
They had a great life together. The were blessed with triplets along with the 3 children from his first marriage ♥
That was such a fun family to play! He was the founder and I played for 8 or 9 generations. It was at the time that Get Together released. One of the boys married Candy Behr and took over the Spin Masters. They got married, then broke up and then married again. They had one gorgeous daughter.
One of the triplet daughters married Brett who is my favorite Sim ever, along with the founder (I had two heirs that generation. That was fun too!)
They had 5 kids including this gorgeous daughter who was the heir
Emilio from above married the 8th generation heir
Okay that was WAY more than I intended to post
btw, I wad reading your OP again. You do photography IRL? I do too!
But she is evil too, much like your Sim, and he is hotheaded and so both would often randomly insult each other. She also often rejected any friendly interaction he tried. I couldn't marry them even if I wanted to because their friendship bar was always either in the red or barely green. Also, she was a jealous Sim and he had this tendency towards flirty introductions so that often went wrong lol. And he was a lot less powertful than she was, and whenever he failed to use his powers - he tried to use his powers on this old lady but for some reason she managed to withstand everything lol - she'd jeer at him for being weak.
She also drained the life spirit of his ex-girlfriend and childhood best friend because she was jealous of the relationship they still had. He and this girl were actually still best friends so for Tori to make wipe her memory, that was kind of an evil thing to do, hehe.
Here he is with that same ex girlfriend with whom he simply rebuild his relationship lol. She flirted with him autonomously and well, Tori wasn't having it.
But after they had their first children, who were pretty much an accident (had risky woohoo on), they got along better. Finally had him propose and for a moment there I was hoping they'd work out after all.
No such luck.
She just had another child from him, though, and I think that child might just bring them back together again. They did also have some very good times after all lol. I just hope they won't end like your poor Sim will, with him dying of cardiac explosion... though with his hotheadedness, he might actually be at risk.
de Montoya household getting ready for a new addition
A night out with friends
Playing music with the one you love
@sillyangel0906 Oh sure thing
I can just barely resist sharing the stories again as I remember them a couple more thought out than the other.
All the sims err'day
@RedDestiny92 Agree 100%. I really love your screenshots. Especially the ones with the ghosts. I don't really use/play ghosts often in my game but they can make for such powerful screenshots. & they can just tear me up. Immediately makes me feel so sad for the Sims in the picture because their loved one apparently died.
@Firande I often take too many but though as a chill long time simmer I like the game but I like getting my screenshots to remember things even more
After he died his ghost didn't immediately come back and she was already pregnant with their second daughter, after she was born their neighbor came by to keep her company and she got pregnant again, of course he already had a son and wife. While she was out her husband chose then to show up and he was able to rejoin the household he loved his son though he knows he's not his, I found that ghost vampires could change sims so now she's a vampire and she has to learn to make ambrosia to bring him back though never brought a sim back hope it works for vampire ghosts.
Now that I think about it I don't remember if it was him pretty sure it was, unless Vlad did it for him, guess I could check ha.
Edit edit I knew I hadn't imagined that he can turn others.
All the sims err'day
I'm gonna have so much fun selecting some photos from these 2 years. I'll just try to pick the ones I remember fondly and speak the most to me.
It all started really simple, a single father and a rivalry between two sisters, both of them secret agents, one of each branch. The dynamics of these two went until they were dead, also ending up giving me two branches in the same legacy, the brunette and the blonde one. Again, both of them married friends from their childhood. The first got together with one neighbor and had two kids, the blonde married a boy from the orphanage and shared ambitions besides love.
I got in a crysis when my founder, Diego Dyamont, died alone in the house I had just built. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go on without him, I was so attached. I bet a lot of players have that fear. I'm super glad I didn't quit, it only got better with time.
3th generation, the second son of Lara, the brunette, the first girl she had leaved after falling for a thief. I really liked the love story that progressed with this couple, it flowed quite natural. I had created a family that for reasons unkown (haha) a grandma had to flee their old home to Newcrest, she had 3 kids: one green ET, a business middle-aged woman married a fishing type of guy and the girl in the photo, a photographer, an Emma Watson's doppelganger.
Mauricio is the only son of Ana, the blonde. A completely extrovert and full of himself, but funny, doctor. He married a powerful ginger and piano girl, Carla. Well, they had Martin waaay before getting married, they couldn't care less for wedding but eventually they did it. I miss them. The family was so rich at this point, Martin had everything.
Here's a picture that's apparently meaningless but it's actually a teenager Martin, from the 4th generation, sitted in the scene of a crime committed in the first house bought by my founder when he got money from his series of 10 fantasy books (which I actually have the full story of all of them planned lol). A moment of pure meta contemplation.
Y'all remember the business woman I mentioned? Her son, Gerris Drinkwater, a sporto guy (as said in The Breakfast Club) fell hardly in love with Martin, and geez, these two gave me a lot to work with along the way. Debra is in this photo, Gerris sister, who felt utterly hurt when her brother and best friend ever found another love to live for that not hers. Gerris was also my first try with the jealous trait... poor Martin.
Haha What's the problem with crime? Crime itself in Martin's vision, so of course he would want to be a criminal to make his chaotic real justice and take down The Boss. His enemies met some problems.
All the good things come to an end, inevitably. Time provided a lot of gravestones in the garden and portraits on the walls. Each room could provide a different memory, each epitaph something was been said. I could totally relate to What Remains of Edith Finch.
Flavia was never loved by anyone like his "perfect" sister was, but she had her personality against her if we're telling the truth. These two girl were children of Giuliana, that one who married a lazy thief and moved out. They actually did well, mostly for Giuliana's painting talent, her husband was comfortable with her money, never got promoted. I like this picture because it captures so well Flavia's rage.
There are some ways to a gay couple have kids, getting a girl pregnant is one of them. In this case, both of the guys agreed to fool Helena to have their sons, Martin was first. Poor Helena, she never had so much fun that lasted so little and ended so tragic.
5th generation. The kid on the left is Travis, Martin and Helena's son raised by him and Gerris; on the right, making fun of him, is the insane kid Samuel. Actually, they will grow to become best friends and share a cheap apartment apart of their old families in the city. Bros 4 life.
Here's Travis, his half brother Grantaire, and Esther Debouketh. When Travis decided to move out when still a teenager to follow his romantic dream of living by playing music in the streets, the decadent wannabe star, known erst as Esther Battle Axe, took him under her experienced wings and gave him a roof in old town to stay. Their relationship was so impactful to Travis that her ashes gained an altar by him and later rested next to his until this very day. A pity she wasn't there anymore when the crowd finally came for her.
Travis after a quick and intense romance (on his part) got a girl pregnant of a baby she didn't want, so she gave the baby to be raised by Travis, who become both father and mother of Dante, our firstborn from the 6th generation. And he did the best he could, with occasional help from Helena, with whom he had reconnected with recently, and Samuel, who was at the time an activist and getting engaged with a Brazilian girl.
Dante was often rejected by his mom when a child, on her own will. This kind of stuff left marks. He found refugee in mother nature since then and an apprenciation for the mysteries of hers, specially the dark ones. People lost a bit of value to him.
Always feeling inferior somehow, he found a way out that life: he gave up it to become something he thought above, a vampire. And so began his journey to pursue power and fill in gaps now he that he felt able. People were all now controllable and he made no concessions whatsoever, feeding himself like a proper vampire should. The first victim was his mother and then her new happy family. He used to make regular visits.
Of course this way of living will present you with some enemies, on whom Dante was more than happy to test his powers without any mercy. But in one of his adventures, when alluring people with his new charm, he found a boy and noticed he could have some fun with him, and he had, a lot. Philip McCall came from a background of family abuse, so Dante, full of sympathy, took him out of there and made Philip his slave, for all sorts of purposes. It didn't last long though, for Dante grew really attached to this boy, and Philip, also started to have feelings for his capturer who in fact treated Philip well enough in spite of some mind control. One of Dante's enemies once tried to get revenge hurting Philip, leading Dante to his first kill. He stop by to laugh of his grave once in a while. The story of these lads go on, had advances and is still to be finished.
Most of the photos was about the family I'm following since the images I remember the most are theirs but countless other things were happening at the same time in the world, and most of them is now connected. Like this case, of a guy that fell for the lady who was fixing his sink, got enganed, had a baby girl that now is an adult about to marry Cesar, the son of Grantaire with a rebel Asian girl.
Sorry for the long post, folks hahaha Now, to finish, one picture super meaningful to me. I am a lover of star wars, I can't help but be amused when I see some fantasies in the geekcok. This one I took a few hours before Carrie Fisher pass away, December 27, in an unfortunate coincidence. It really touches me.
I could go on and on but somebody please stop me.
Legacy Photomode
All the sims err'day
@sillyangel0906 I forgot to say this, but while I'm not actually a professional photographer or anything, I do love taking pictures and am really into photography! I used to love taking pictures of horses. Got a pretty good camera for my 15th or so birthday and always took it with me when me and my friends met at the stables. I loved taking pictures, but I also really loved making videos... editing them, putting them online. I since moved from the countryside to the big city, but thanks to all those photos and videos I took from my times there I can still go back sometimes and remember it all. That's why I love photography so much. All I have to do is go through those pictures and all these memories come rushing back again & I love that.
Here's a screenshot I made of her yesterday. With her storyline - moving to the countryside, where she doesn't feel at home, wanting to go back to San Myshuno, etc., I consider this a pretty meaningful screenshot when it comes to this character.
Haha Thank you! I love Travis too. He got a wife and a new daughter later, give away his collection of violins to support Dante in moving out, even find a regular job to provide for them hahaha He did great.
@Firande I consider them characters too, just with a bit of more of AI lol And thank you too, glad you enjoyed. I have a goal that is one point, get all the families connected somehow, so I can get to anyone through every family tree - it can get a little messy but challenge is fun. That was actually a great solution, the vampire one Hahaha You can still try potions, the cow plant and ghosts! But seriously, learn to lose can be of some fun as well, you turn them into memories, icons, gets the sense of time and experience genuine sadness sometimes, it turns them more human as I see. Edgar (I dropped so many names, don't worry haha) sitting in the toilet after his wife passed away, geez, I was sad for him. Dante... I have this sense that vampirism for him started as a gift and will become a curse, a self punishment for his crimes, as soon he'll lose everyone he holds dear.
I'm currently in love with that kind of photo where we put the camera in the back or over their shoulders to sho what they're looking for. It gets a cinematography feel, they use it a lot in movies.
And to everybody that considers themselves a storyteller, especially the generational kind, please give a look on "What Remains of Edith Finch" game and witness the power we have in hands. Really.
Legacy Photomode
@Firande Great photos, like @DominicLaurence I'm loving photos where you look out over the shoulder to the view ahead. So bittersweet with the toddler hugging the ghost
@RedDestiny92 I love the dress in your last pic!
A couple of mine
One of the first sims I played in The Sims 4, Mae (made in the CAS demo), finding out she's pregnant for the first time.
Bella Goth finding out her husband is having an affair with Eliza Pancakes, while at my store... life for them all was a bit strained after that.
Finding out you're having a baby! Despite his sad face, I thought this was a cute moment. Never had anyone else tell their spouse while they were still conducting the test
I really wanted to get a nice wedding shot of this couple after the wedding, and didn't want the usual photography posed shot. They were a playful couple and wanted something to reflect it.
There was a lot going on this day. My young female sim's parents came over to meet their granddaughter who became a toddler two days before. They had just left and I wasn't paying attention to what everyone was doing. It seems dad was talking to his daughter who was being cute, and because her room was beautifully decorated... he ended up dying of laughter. I didn't even notice until he keeled over!
Most recent one in game, when grandpa passed away... and even the grim reaper was sad to see him go
Also love that screenshot of the girl telling her guy she's pregnant while still on the toilet! That's just so cute. And that wedding picture. I honestly love it so much. I don't have any stuff packs in my game so didn't know Sims could even do that, but it's so cute! And it really fits their playful personalities! That screenshot of the dad dying of laughter was really sad... now that you mention it, I see his father is in a flirty mood but it's not that obvious. He could also just be grabbing his heart in shock with a bit of imagination lol. Poor Bella... and your Sim doesn't seem all that happy to be pregnant lol. All those happy thingies (sorry, no idea what they're called in English), and that Sim's there like "oh sh..."
That camera angle... how does that work??! I didn't know we could even do that!