Gallery Hit & Miss

TrashDeBlunc · August 2020

Have you ever built a lot, and been so pleased with how it turned out that you put extra effort into it's gallery post... Only to have it fly totally under the radar and receive zero downloads?

That's where I'm at, and I figured I could at least post some of the photos I really loved from this build here.

Has this happened to you as well? Your pride and joy sitting unnoticed while a random less precious build collects downloads instead? Tell me about your diamond in the rough!

Grier House

rosemow · August 2020

Grier House is a lovely island beach home!

Very nice exterior design, wood texture, and the greenery, plants and flowers on the roofing level are lovely! Very nice interior furnishings! The natural wooden texture of the furniture is very nice.The curtained window corner study desk nook in the bedroom is very nice for Sims to enjoy the sunlight coming in onto them whilst studying. Very nice bathroom wall tiling.

TrashDeBlunc · August 2020

Thanks @rosemow, you're a gem!

LibertyTheFree · August 2020

@TrashDeBlunc Hey! That happens ALL the times to me! Not all of them, most. It's usual for folks to be unable to notice our works.(unfortunately)

For the first few times I did got a bit disappointed over that, but oh well, over time I got used to that. It's reasonable other simmers don't know us, and don't know the stories of our builds(and other creations : ) and can't appreciate our styles and then some... again, unfortunately.

But hey, at least we've been ourselves, right? To me it's the most important thing! There's no shame to that

I like sharing my works on the forums and with my friends(though I haven't for a while), especially friends. They always had some sweet words and maybe, if I'm lucky, a constructive advice or two

I'm happy enough for that(I'll be happy to have new friends too, now that I come to think of it)

Enough talking to myself here... About your sims' beach cottage

I think the reddish texture looks really nice, you know, makes it look kinda smaller, compact, and stood out a lot from the sand and teal. Rarely I was able to paint something in a bold color scheme.
The landscaping, the greeneries are sweet too... They looked pretty natural, as though the plants were left to grow on their own(I think parts came with the empty lot itself?)
Also there's a nice pier in the back. I can use that

Not sure if it's the weather but the interior looked a bit, dull? Or greyish? Maybe it was the lights? It's cozy in there, just, I don't feel warm in there for some reasons

Maybe a few warm lamps? Just saying

Anyhow have a good day there and good luck... It's the hurricane season...

ps. have you posted your works here? https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/793222/share-your-newest-the-sims-4-creations-here

surlybadger · August 2020

I'm super proud of these two homes:
35 Upper Hillman Rd

And
Optimist's Outlook(Reno) ((I renovated the interior of this old build of mine))

@TrashDeBlunc Wow, you are talented. I'm still just a casual builder myself. Such a beautiful home, do you have a gallery link?

Netzspannung · August 2020

OP, have you tried using hashtags in the description of your uploads? Like #nocc or a hashtag with the original lot name or the world where you built it, in this case #sulani? And hashtag some of the packs that are essential for this build? You may have, but I am asking because when I search for a build that's what I search for and otherwise it is difficult to find creations, they just get lost. Use hashtags that have something to do with your creation, obviously. And while I am certainly not a builder or someone that gets a lot of downloads in general that's what I do and it seems to work.

TrashDeBlunc · August 2020

@LibertyTheFree Thanks for the feedback! You're 100% right that the interior shots look dull and cold, it was indeed thunder-storming in game that day, and I was disappointed when I noticed because it is much warmer on the sunnier Sulani days! I may tweak the lamps warmer for those grumpy sky days. You do get used to lots getting quickly buried in the sheer volume of the gallery, but sometimes you're just compelled to share where you can I think!

@surlybadger Those are some lovely looking lots! I like the classical looking front of Optimist's Outlook a lot, I bet it fits right in with the Willow Creek and Newcrest upper class homes! I also really appreciate the use of lanterns in the outdoor space for 35 Upper Hillman Rd, they're such a fun way to dress up an area, and in bright red too! It appears the gallery is down for maintenance right now, I discover trying to grab the link, but my EA ID is Tildeeeeee and you can find all my stuff under that name! Thanks so much for your comments and sharing your lots!

@Netzpannung I have learned to use a handful of hashtags, #moo #nocc are usually among them. It does help! I like to tag things with the thought that it'll help it get found if it's what someone needs or wants in their game. Thanks for looking out though, I have definitely seen your excellent creations around!

Rouensims · August 2020

Definitely don't take anything personally about how many downloads your submissions get! For example, when it comes to builds, I pretty much only download average-sized midcentury houses. Almost all of those gorgeous palaces and tiny homes simply get passed by, not because they aren't awesome, but because it's just not my thing.

When it comes to CAS creations, I only download unusual ones. I have more than enough conventionally attractive Sims already. And I prefer celebrities, because it's so funny seeing them do ridiculous things in my game. So again, gorgeous creations are being passed by through no fault of their own.

I'm sure other people have their own weird reasons for what they download. Just know that you're awesome for sharing anything with the community at all, and even if one person downloads your creation, that's one person you've helped!

On a personal note, I find it odd that people have downloaded Spock's quarters from my gallery, but not a single person has downloaded Uhura's.

Netzspannung · August 2020

So, I was still wondering why this very cute looking home, that fits so nicely into Sulani, didn't get any downloads. I tried to find it in the gallery under 'Grier House' but it did not come up. I then went by your user name and opened your catalogue which is where I found it. But do you realize this lot is showing up as including custom content? This is what the little wrench symbol indicates:

This means the lot does not show up when players scroll through the gallery or even in their searches unless they tick the 'Include Custom Content' box in the the search options. I don't know about you, but I never do that. If you didn't actually use any CC in your build, the most likely culprit are pictures taken of or by your Sims that are somewhere in the house.

username3645937 · August 2020

Ive seen actually gorgeous builds get....30 downloads? the sims 4 has millions of players and unless youve built a fan following already, your builds/sims arent seen by a lot of people

x4m1r4 · August 2020

Yes! Most of the times, those who has a lot of downloads/favourites are one with a lot of followers. I reckon that the gallery might need to be updated by giving us an option to customise the photos, or even giving us another filter like architectural styles, colours, or anything that can make the search easier as well as more organise for those who uploaded their creations to the gallery.

EVANGELlNE · August 2020

I do think a well-known simmer with many followers will have an advantage because more people are notified when they upload.

For regular user uploads, I think the vast majority of people download based on the main screenshot.When you're browsing the main gallery, there are thousands of builds coming in at a constant flow, so your screenshot has to stand out. You can change how the screenshot looks by changing the time of day, and even by going into live mode and having different seasons. Even the angle of the camera matters, because I once placed a wedding venue on a lot that blocked the entire building with a pine tree. If you change the location of the lot, the background will change and can sometimes accentuate your build. If your main screenshot looks really good, people are going to click and look at the other screenshots. Otherwise, it'll get skimmed over and people won't even click to see how the interior is built. This has happened to me once before on my Pavilion lot. I think it took me months to actually finish, but because the screenshot was to the side instead of the front of the build, much less people checked it out. I think it had about 40 downloads but of those downloads about 75% of the people Favorited it when they a actually looked at the interior.

I also think people download based on the type of venue and hashtag searches. One of my castle builds has hundreds of downloads, even though it is just a shell. If you've build something someone else can't build or don't have the time/patience to build, it'll get more downloads.

From my own uploads I've also noticed that public venues (such as restaurants, bars, gyms) get downloaded more than my residential builds. I think it's because public venues are lots that more than one sim household can enjoy.

TrashDeBlunc · August 2020

Netzspannung wrote: »

So, I was still wondering why this very cute looking home, that fits so nicely into Sulani, didn't get any downloads. I tried to find it in the gallery under 'Grier House' but it did not come up. I then went by your user name and opened your catalogue which is where I found it. But do you realize this lot is showing up as including custom content? This is what the little wrench symbol indicates:

This means the lot does not show up when players scroll through the gallery or even in their searches unless they tick the 'Include Custom Content' box in the the search options. I don't know about you, but I never do that. If you didn't actually use any CC in your build, the most likely culprit are pictures taken of or by your Sims that are somewhere in the house.

Yup! This is why I ultimately decided to post on the forum and talk about our favorite "flew under the radar" builds, because I knew that the auto generated images for this house were atrocious, so I put in custom photos for the first time, which puts it under the CC tag. I also rarely tick the CC included box as well so I knew that was going to bury it further.

TrashDeBlunc · August 2020

username3645937 wrote: »

Ive seen actually gorgeous builds get....30 downloads? the sims 4 has millions of players and unless youve built a fan following already, your builds/sims arent seen by a lot of people

Yes this is super common, and I feel like a lot of people have been rushing to reassure me haha! I'm generally fine uploading all my builds with no real expectation; I just really liked this house when I was done with it, and wanted to hear about lots other people really loved when they created them.

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