@Mstybl95 Thanks! You are right, I usually don’t put much effort on my sims mouths. The noses I usually change, but some differences only appear on side pictures.
..... ..... ..... ..... My favorite Sims 3 family: THE ENFADONHOS!..... ..... ..... .....
I often think a lot of my sims look the same, and it's so true that we each have our own distinguishable style. It's all about the sliders but for me I find it really helps to use different skins and makeup too. When I create sims I like to look at photos of celebrities and models for inspiration or else I will keep putting the same type of features on sims. Don't put any sliders as zero and you should be fine
I was testing out the filters with NVIDIA Freestyle with a tweaked townie sim turned into a female, thanks @Emily4331 for the insight!
Thanks! Any other suggestions for skins? I have an overlay to make any skin look more real. It does a pretty good job. However, I use my same old default replacements all the time so I never get any variety.
I like how it makes their hands look. The primer skin looks like it has this already on it.
@Mstybl95 I forgot to mention that although my slider setting is default, I sometimes want them outside of the range and I manually type in the numbers I want them to be.
I swear I've been playing since the day this game came out, but I feel like a newb right now. How do you type it in?
I'm pretty sure that it's shift clicking on the slider (I do things automatically so memory could be wrong) and a box will come up where you can type in numbers.
Well, I tried, but I'm still not in love with the results.
Here is the guy:
He's ok, but he looks like all the other guys I create.
And the lady:
She just doesn't look right...I tweaked her a lot and then went back and tweaked some more. I was going for Emmy Rosum's character in the show Shameless. Not like a true likeness, but her character's overall look. Anyhow, it doesn't look anything like I want. No matter what I did, I could not get her head to be less wide.
And these two's child looks like this...yeah, all children look the same. haha
One thing I notice that I do is make their eyes big. I think TS4 got me used to cartoony sims because my trend there is to make them super cartoony.
@Mstybl95 Your family looks awesome! Bloom can be very brutal on the eyes, so I don't blame you for wanting to turn it down. I like darker nights, which is why I amped up the contrast so much and darkened shadows. Once you tweak the settings, you should post them here.
I changed the bloom and added some depth of field (I see what you mean about not being able to read!). So I made 2 settings, 1 for playing and 1 for pics with the depth of field added. I also went a little on the cooler side for the color since the warmer temp was making some of my sims look red.
Without depth of field:
With depth of field:
It's definitely making the world itself look even more beautiful, which by TS3 standards is quite a feat!
It's probably worth mentioning that many of the very realistic looking sims make subtle use of makeup to give additional visual structure to faces. I think the name of the default skin I use, "Primer", already suggests that idea. Because of my color vision, I abstain from doing this, as the resulting faces would probably look like that of a mandrill, and this means that my sims will always look a bit bland. However, even with default sliders alone, I think you can already get some decent results, even if it won't be "top tier".
I don't use much makeup but I almost always use this EA eyeliner on my sims
... both male and female.
I make the opacity about half and change the color to go with the hair color to give subtle lower lashes.
I will use lipstick on the female sims and sometimes blush/face highlighting / face contouring on both genders.
P.S. You sims look good without makeup.
I do use the eyeliner, but I make the color very close to the skin color and then turn the opacity down to almost the lowest it can be. I also do the same with some of the blushes. But I cannot do makeup in real life and definitely can't do makeup in the game. LOL..I know my limitations. I will look around for makeup/face highlighters. I think that's what I see that makes sims look different. It's all about the shading!
Your sims look really good. They look like their facial features are different. And maybe I need some new hair. Most everyone has CC hair and I have mostly default or store hair, which isn't great.
I often think a lot of my sims look the same, and it's so true that we each have our own distinguishable style. It's all about the sliders but for me I find it really helps to use different skins and makeup too. When I create sims I like to look at photos of celebrities and models for inspiration or else I will keep putting the same type of features on sims. Don't put any sliders as zero and you should be fine
I was testing out the filters with NVIDIA Freestyle with a tweaked townie sim turned into a female, thanks @Emily4331 for the insight!
I'm jealous that you tweaked a townie and ended up with Scarlett Johansson!
She just doesn't look right...I tweaked her a lot and then went back and tweaked some more. I was going for Emmy Rosum's character in the show Shameless. Not like a true likeness, but her character's overall look. Anyhow, it doesn't look anything like I want. No matter what I did, I could not get her head to be less wide.
...
You might decrease the distance between the eyes. Whenever I make the face/head narrower I usually also decrease the distance between the eyes unless I'm purposefully going for wide set eyes. Also to get a narrower looking face lower the height of the jaw. If that makes the face look too big decrease the scale of the whole head.
Also, big eyes limit how far you can narrow the head. Big eyes tend to completely fill the "sockets" and make their surroundings look cramped. With the game's default skin, this can even result in some sharp angles around the eyes. I think my average eye size setting I go for is -100. It depends a bit on the eyes you use, of course.
Is it a custom slider for the head? I don't see a way to make the head less wide. I did notice if you change the head shape before going into the sliders, some of them are wide and some narrow.
Also, where in MC is the setting to turn on the values for the sliders?
@Mstybl95 I have to admit that it took me a while to notice that there's a scroll bar where the sliders are, not on every slider menu, but on several. In the beginning, I only used the visible sliders because I missed this .
At least I think it's a vanilla feature. I have long used a mod that allows for additional sliders, though I haven't installed any for the time being.
Edit: The slider is actually under "Head and Ears" -> Global (the dot in the lower right corner), the third option.
@Mstybl95 It's hard to break away from making sims that look similar because we tend to use facial features that are appealing to ourselves. I wasn't much good at making sims when I first started. For several years, instead of making sims (and I still do it), I would find townies that I liked the look of and tweak them rather than making a sim from scratch.
Now, when making sims based on real people, I go through my bin and see if I can find a suggestion of what I want from my bin sims and then tweak from there. A friend recently asked me to make a Jerry O'Connell sim and I immediately thought of a townie from Roaring Heights that I had tweaked because I felt his "bones" would be a good starting point.
This is Grumpo Marks from Roaring Heights after I tweaked him recently.
Also, big eyes limit how far you can narrow the head. Big eyes tend to completely fill the "sockets" and make their surroundings look cramped. With the game's default skin, this can even result in some sharp angles around the eyes. I think my average eye size setting I go for is -100. It depends a bit on the eyes you use, of course.
Also, where in MC is the setting to turn on the values for the sliders?
From the NRaas web site:
"If you are using the CAS available via "Edit Town", you must have Integration installed.
Otherwise you are simply using the EA Standard CAS, and will not see any of the custom functionality."
ETA: That is the MasterControllerIntegration mod installed.
Variety of races, eye colors/shapes, hair types/colors ect. I also find it helpful to come up with their backstory first then create their look around it.
Also, JERRY ! @Mikezumi , I just love him. His save has had no playtime lately because I've been sick, but next time I feel like playing I will post some pictures. Also I think I found a nice hair that suits him. I haven't looked at it on him yet, but we'll see.
The search for the perfect hair is neverending!
@Pary I am so sorry that you have been sick I recently had my own health scare but, fortunately, am fine ... I think
I look forward to seeing what hair you have chosen for Jerry. I had so much fun making him for you
Edit to add: Just downloaded that slider! Thanks for the link
@Mikezumi , oh goodness I hope you're okay! I just have a heavy cold & a throat infection, courtesy of one of the kids, nothing to write home about ( lol ) , but I got the impression yours may have been a little more serious. You can always PM me if you need to vent, chat, express worries etc, you know that.
*hug*
Also, JERRY ! @Mikezumi , I just love him. His save has had no playtime lately because I've been sick, but next time I feel like playing I will post some pictures. Also I think I found a nice hair that suits him. I haven't looked at it on him yet, but we'll see.
The search for the perfect hair is neverending!
Thanks for this! Just downloaded.
I still can't find how to turn the values on with MC. I know I had them before changing computers and I didn't touch my actual mods. I can't figure this out. I do have integration installed and went through the settings on MC. I wish I would have exported my settings. You live and learn.
Is this the setting we are looking for?
NRaas > MC > Settings > CAS > Show Numeric Slider Value > (is True by default)
It should be noted that even with the MC Integration module in play, there is still the difference between EA's version of CAS and MC's to be aware of. When in EA's version of CAS, none of the MC settings will have any impact at all because that version doesn't know anything about MC. The Integration module extends MC's version of CAS into the in-game, Edit Town, and testingcheats calls for it, but if we start up the game (or start a new game), immediately jump into Create a Household before the game clock has begun to move forward smoothly, and start creating/editing sims, then the mods haven't had a chance to finish loading yet and it is very likely that we end up back in EA's version of CAS again at that point.
The way to tell the difference quickly as to which version of CAS we are in is to right-click on the built-in "..." button in the lower left corner that usually leads to Edit Town, Save, Quit, Game Options, etc. If in the MC version of CAS, we will get an option panel of MC settings. If in EA's version, nothing will happen.
Jan 2017; my sims looked like this - didn’t put much effort at all into them
This was supposed to be Tosh and Lia (my wife’s created JAG character from our fanfics
Now Lia looks like this.
This is where my sim of JAG Season 1 character Meg Austin started out when I first started playing Sims 3.
Then I got introduced to mods and CC.
Nearly three years later my Sims look better than what I started out with.
Discovering sliders helped bring “Meg” closer in appearance to what the actress Tracey Needham (who played her in the TV show looked like.
Screencap from JAG episode “Black Ops”.
Sliders can work wonders if one takes the time to figure them out
Case in point:
River McIrish
River is pretty much one of my favourite Sunset Valley sims to tweak since she doesn’t really have a set end point other than keeping her facial features similar to what she started out with.
which means I can make her look any way I want her to look but you canstill recognize her as River.
A middle-aged River from my Legacy
“Way of Life” Apocalypse Saga
“Surviving the Cataclysm”
River & Haruo’s Wedding (video)
Outside of Townie makeovers; you can create unique sims of your own design.
My own created JAG OC Captain (USN) Kimberly Anne Benton callsign “Jugs”
So for me, it’s sliders and CC skins in combination to keep from getting pudding sims.
So that’s why we stress experimenting and taking the time to learn your sliders because those sliders with the right knowledge behind the use of them will knock pudding right off your Sims 3 sims.
It takes some doing but anything worthwhile is worth the effort.
Post edited by Nikkei_Simmer on
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
Is this the setting we are looking for?
NRaas > MC > Settings > CAS > Show Numeric Slider Value > (is True by default)
It should be noted that even with the MC Integration module in play, there is still the difference between EA's version of CAS and MC's to be aware of. When in EA's version of CAS, none of the MC settings will have any impact at all because that version doesn't know anything about MC. The Integration module extends MC's version of CAS into the in-game, Edit Town, and testingcheats calls for it, but if we start up the game (or start a new game), immediately jump into Create a Household before the game clock has begun to move forward smoothly, and start creating/editing sims, then the mods haven't had a chance to finish loading yet and it is very likely that we end up back in EA's version of CAS again at that point.
The way to tell the difference quickly as to which version of CAS we are in is to right-click on the built-in "..." button in the lower left corner that usually leads to Edit Town, Save, Quit, Game Options, etc. If in the MC version of CAS, we will get an option panel of MC settings. If in EA's version, nothing will happen.
Thanks! I'll check the 3 dots to see which version I'm in.
Comments
@Mstybl95 Thanks! You are right, I usually don’t put much effort on my sims mouths. The noses I usually change, but some differences only appear on side pictures.
I was testing out the filters with NVIDIA Freestyle with a tweaked townie sim turned into a female, thanks @Emily4331 for the insight!
Thanks! Any other suggestions for skins? I have an overlay to make any skin look more real. It does a pretty good job. However, I use my same old default replacements all the time so I never get any variety.
I like how it makes their hands look. The primer skin looks like it has this already on it.
Well, I tried, but I'm still not in love with the results.
Here is the guy:
He's ok, but he looks like all the other guys I create.
And the lady:
She just doesn't look right...I tweaked her a lot and then went back and tweaked some more. I was going for Emmy Rosum's character in the show Shameless. Not like a true likeness, but her character's overall look. Anyhow, it doesn't look anything like I want. No matter what I did, I could not get her head to be less wide.
And these two's child looks like this...yeah, all children look the same. haha
One thing I notice that I do is make their eyes big. I think TS4 got me used to cartoony sims because my trend there is to make them super cartoony.
I changed the bloom and added some depth of field (I see what you mean about not being able to read!). So I made 2 settings, 1 for playing and 1 for pics with the depth of field added. I also went a little on the cooler side for the color since the warmer temp was making some of my sims look red.
Without depth of field:
With depth of field:
It's definitely making the world itself look even more beautiful, which by TS3 standards is quite a feat!
The photographer in me is so happy with the DOF:
I do use the eyeliner, but I make the color very close to the skin color and then turn the opacity down to almost the lowest it can be. I also do the same with some of the blushes. But I cannot do makeup in real life and definitely can't do makeup in the game. LOL..I know my limitations. I will look around for makeup/face highlighters. I think that's what I see that makes sims look different. It's all about the shading!
Your sims look really good. They look like their facial features are different. And maybe I need some new hair. Most everyone has CC hair and I have mostly default or store hair, which isn't great.
I'm jealous that you tweaked a townie and ended up with Scarlett Johansson!
You might decrease the distance between the eyes. Whenever I make the face/head narrower I usually also decrease the distance between the eyes unless I'm purposefully going for wide set eyes. Also to get a narrower looking face lower the height of the jaw. If that makes the face look too big decrease the scale of the whole head.
Also, where in MC is the setting to turn on the values for the sliders?
The head width slider isn't custom. There should be a "Head Width" slider in the like overall head sliders.
At least I think it's a vanilla feature. I have long used a mod that allows for additional sliders, though I haven't installed any for the time being.
Edit: The slider is actually under "Head and Ears" -> Global (the dot in the lower right corner), the third option.
Now, when making sims based on real people, I go through my bin and see if I can find a suggestion of what I want from my bin sims and then tweak from there. A friend recently asked me to make a Jerry O'Connell sim and I immediately thought of a townie from Roaring Heights that I had tweaked because I felt his "bones" would be a good starting point.
This is Grumpo Marks from Roaring Heights after I tweaked him recently.
This is how my finished Jerry O'Connell looks.
Zumi and the Winchester Brothers
The Watcher's Caretaker - A Limited ISBI
Mine too for most of my sims.
From the NRaas web site:
ETA: That is the MasterControllerIntegration mod installed.
Also, JERRY !
@Mikezumi , I just love him. His save has had no playtime lately because I've been sick, but next time I feel like playing I will post some pictures. Also I think I found a nice hair that suits him. I haven't looked at it on him yet, but we'll see.
The search for the perfect hair is neverending!
PoppySims Archive
InnaLisa Pose Archive
Devolution of Sims - a once customisable open world sandbox which has become a DLC Party catalog in a shoebox
I ♡ Pudding
I look forward to seeing what hair you have chosen for Jerry. I had so much fun making him for you
Edit to add: Just downloaded that slider! Thanks for the link
Zumi and the Winchester Brothers
The Watcher's Caretaker - A Limited ISBI
*hug*
PoppySims Archive
InnaLisa Pose Archive
Devolution of Sims - a once customisable open world sandbox which has become a DLC Party catalog in a shoebox
I ♡ Pudding
Thanks for this! Just downloaded.
I still can't find how to turn the values on with MC. I know I had them before changing computers and I didn't touch my actual mods. I can't figure this out. I do have integration installed and went through the settings on MC. I wish I would have exported my settings. You live and learn.
Zumi and the Winchester Brothers
The Watcher's Caretaker - A Limited ISBI
NRaas > MC > Settings > CAS > Show Numeric Slider Value > (is True by default)
It should be noted that even with the MC Integration module in play, there is still the difference between EA's version of CAS and MC's to be aware of. When in EA's version of CAS, none of the MC settings will have any impact at all because that version doesn't know anything about MC. The Integration module extends MC's version of CAS into the in-game, Edit Town, and testingcheats calls for it, but if we start up the game (or start a new game), immediately jump into Create a Household before the game clock has begun to move forward smoothly, and start creating/editing sims, then the mods haven't had a chance to finish loading yet and it is very likely that we end up back in EA's version of CAS again at that point.
The way to tell the difference quickly as to which version of CAS we are in is to right-click on the built-in "..." button in the lower left corner that usually leads to Edit Town, Save, Quit, Game Options, etc. If in the MC version of CAS, we will get an option panel of MC settings. If in EA's version, nothing will happen.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
This was supposed to be Tosh and Lia (my wife’s created JAG character from our fanfics
Now Lia looks like this.
This is where my sim of JAG Season 1 character Meg Austin started out when I first started playing Sims 3.
Then I got introduced to mods and CC.
Nearly three years later my Sims look better than what I started out with.
Discovering sliders helped bring “Meg” closer in appearance to what the actress Tracey Needham (who played her in the TV show looked like.
Screencap from JAG episode “Black Ops”.
Sliders can work wonders if one takes the time to figure them out
Case in point:
River McIrish
River is pretty much one of my favourite Sunset Valley sims to tweak since she doesn’t really have a set end point other than keeping her facial features similar to what she started out with.
A middle-aged River from my Legacy
“Way of Life” Apocalypse Saga
“Surviving the Cataclysm”
River & Haruo’s Wedding (video)
Outside of Townie makeovers; you can create unique sims of your own design.
My own created JAG OC Captain (USN) Kimberly Anne Benton callsign “Jugs”
So for me, it’s sliders and CC skins in combination to keep from getting pudding sims.
So that’s why we stress experimenting and taking the time to learn your sliders because those sliders with the right knowledge behind the use of them will knock pudding right off your Sims 3 sims.
It takes some doing but anything worthwhile is worth the effort.
Always "River McIrish" ...and maybe some Bebe Hart. ~innocent expression~
Zumi and the Winchester Brothers
The Watcher's Caretaker - A Limited ISBI
Thanks! I'll check the 3 dots to see which version I'm in.