Mlc, yes, apologies for having left you out.  I did run quickly by MTS late last night, but I was about to hit the sack and didn't take time to reply. Earlier tonight I was on my way over there after posting here, but then the site was down for maintenance. And now it's a bit late, so I'll leave MTS until tomorrow.

But I did see those pretty fabrics you posted. The one with the green and brown leaves is fantastic and I had intended to try and see if I could tile that up. Will see if I can get around to that tomorrow instead. I'd love to try out your coordinating set - or even just one of the textures. Like I said I'm still a bit at sea with regards to how this set should look, and I think the best way to settle on a style is to keep trying different textures until it suddenly looks right. At least I hope. 

Sorry to have misunderstood your table. Looking forward to seeing the new version. This could turn into quite an interesting theme.

Paden and Witchboy, it would be just great if you would lend me some of your fabric textures. Thanks very much for your offers. 

The main issue about the fabric texture is that it must be either fairly easily tilable or big enough to cover a whole 3-tile cushion. That's why I'm having problems finding something in my own texture library that isn't just solid or my usual colonial/exotic style. I'm thinking it might be nice with something patterned for the cushions, although probably not too floral or at least modern/retro floral. Stripes and prints could also be good. But I'm really not at all sure what kind of style I want to go for - modern, shabby chic, retro, whatever - so I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Sizewise I'm using a 512x512 map and the fabric texture takes up most of that in height and just over half of that in width.

HugeLunatic over at TSR let me have some really good Maxis match wood textures for the bases, so I think I've got that covered now.

Mustluvcatz, that's another fun idea. I like the star scupltures - particularly the two on the right in the bottom picture. The bench is good too, although I don't particularly like the 'stars and stripes' theme. I'm not sure I understand the table, though. Is that just one table or are there two on top of each other? How about trying to make a tabletop that is made up by three, four or more stars - kind of like the wall hanging, but without the hole. A single star tabletop would be almost impossible to eat at. And one last thought: Using slightly rounded shapes for bench frame and table legs could soften up the 'angularity' of the star shapes.

What really puzzles me is that Thomas & Co don't understand how counterproductive this kind of behaviour is. You'd have thought they would have learned after the Reflex/BPS debacle which turned loads of people against TSR who had previously been either pro-TSR or on the fence.

And the thing is, GoS might have to close down now,  but it will pop back into existence somewhere else and so will whatever files were hosted there. The only difference will be that a lot of people will hate TSR a lot more.

But apparantly they don't think that far at TSR headquarters. Dumb, dumb, extremely dumb.   

No, desks have no joints at all. Neither do ordinary tables. Or chairs for that matter. Stools do, though. I have no idea why there's a difference between chairs and stools, but I still believe it's the chairs that control the snapping not the desks or tables. And that the snapping doesn't work when the chair is outside the grid.

Edit:
Well, the set is up now. Go and pick which desk you want. 


And another thing:
I've begun working on the Awesims Nook set from the 'Free content pwns paystuff', but since this isn't really my usual style, it would be nice with some input. I could especially do with some suggestions to the textures. And if somebody has a nice big swatch of fabric for the cushion I'd love to have that.

Here are a first few previews:

I actually think it's the other way around. That chairs have a built-in function that makes them snap to tables and desks. Stools for instance has a so-called 'joint' that does the snapping. If you forget to attach your mesh to the joint, the stool won't move.

As for the homework thing, I gotta say that I've never had that many problems with it. Except when desks aren't real desks, but cloned from tables, and that's when homework end up right inside the front door. Different effects on different games, I guess.

I'm sorry, but I don't think it's quite that simple. Of the ten routing slots, one is for the homework and another one I can't identify. It's in both the SLOT and STR files, but I can't see which one it is in the Resource Node. The eight remaining routing slots are all connected - as in they are the 'se', 'e', 'ne', 'n', 'nw' etc. I don't believe editing only one of them is a good idea, since the values obviously have to match up somehow.

Which brings me back to another thing. I just don't see how anything in the desk can change where the sims sit. That must be determined by the chair, they're sitting on.  No?

Mustluvcatz, what a fun idea. I like all the colours.

Fway, very cool! It opens up a whole new world of design possibilities for babies and toddlers.


I need a little more help on how to do that. I can do container slots, but have never touched a routing slot and a desk has 10 of them. I have no idea which one of them to touch.

Also, I thought the sim's placement in relation to the desk would be determined by the chair. They will sit down wherever the chair is placed - even if it's diagonal or outside the grid. And I must say I don't understand how modifying anything in the desk will allow chairs to be placed outside the grid. 

(Emphasis added by me)

My point exactly. You have to look very closely to see anything remotely smutty about them. Most people wouldn't notice anything, and all together this is nothing compared to the real smuttiness that you can find early on in this thread (which is also where some very dubious TSR profiles are revealed).  

It's always open for discussion what's smutty and what is not. But I think these ones are so far on the 'not'-side that posting them here in fact becomes a case of showcasing paysite stuff instead of revealing something criticizable.

Edit: Apparently I can't spell at all today.

Well, you fix it then. That's what you do, isn't it? Mess around with code and stuff and fix that kind of things.

I don't do that. I make pretty furniture. Which, on the other hand, is something you don't. 

Scurvy Cat,  Wow, you make me blush. Thanks.

Mlc, it's entirely possible that there is a working 3-tile desk out there. But you can actually put a computer on all dining tables too, and your sims can use them. The real difference is attracting homework. That can most likely be modified in one of the BHAV's, but I must admit I'm not terribly motivated for starting to mess around with that.

It turns out Sims can use a computer placed in the center of a desk. It just looks a little funny, because the chair still has to be placed to the right in the grid, so they are somewhat displaced and the sim still has one leg in the righthand cabinet. Like this:



But at least it works and looks good when sims aren't actually on the computer, and if people don't like it, they can get the other one.

The set is pretty much done and all I need to do is make some proper screenshots and then upload. Here's some of what's comming with the desks:

Okay, Scurvy Cat won. I'm posting both desks. Maybe I'll add an extra computer slot to the 'centered' desk, so that people can choose if they want their sims to be able to use the computer on the desk or if they just want it to look good.

Dr House, the third tile does exist, but only in dining tables. You clone a 3-tiled dining table and put a 3-tiled desk mesh in it. The problem is it might look like a desk, but it still is a dining table, and sims will want to eat from it rather than place their homework on it.

And that's exactly why you might need some kind of mod to ensure that kids drop their homework in front of the desk. Because too many creators have used dining tables (2-tiled) as bases for desks. They don't attract homework, but sims with plates in their hands. The mod you're talking about was probably cloned from a desk and then modified, which is why it would attract homework. But it would never have been necessary if all creators had cloned their desks from ... desks. 

At the risk of getting myself unpopular - again - can we please have a serious discussion about what goes into this thread - and the 'Smutty' one - and what doesn't. I honestly think they are both being turned into showcases for paysite content and that is NOT the intention of them or of this site in general.

The two top outfits that PirateKitty posted above are in my eyes not ugly at all. In fact I think the second one is rather pretty. If it wasn't pay and if I actually had Sims 3 I would be inclined to go and download it. I'm sure others would too, so good one for promoting paysite stuff, PirateKitty.  

Custom content isn't ugly, because you personally don't like the style of it. I don't particularly like modern stuff and find quite a lot of it ugly, but I don't go around posting any of it in this thread. Custom content is ugly and should be exposed in this thread if it is poorly made, has obvious glitches or is just completely ridiculous. For those who don't understand the concept go and check out the Meat Slab Dress and all the Buntah stuff posted earlier in this thread.

The idea is that pretty much everybody (there are always a few idiots outthere) will look at it and think 'Holy crap, they're asking money for THAT! I wouldn't even put that in my game if it was free." So please stop posting pictures of stuff just because you personally find it ugly. It will only make people who DO like it think we're idiots here and then go and download it.

Likewise with the 'Smutty' thread. An outfit isn't smutty, just because you can see most of the Sim's skin, because it's underwear or a bikini. Smutty means that it also has sexual connotations, is suggestive, or that the Sim's private parts are exposed. Personally I don't have much of a problem with the odd nipple, but others do, so that should probably fall into the category too. The ordinary underwear outfits that were recently posted in the thread should not. Again go back and check some of the early entries, and remember that the 'Smutty' thread also revealed some very unsavoury types among the profiles at TSR.

Edited for typos

There's another one I don't understand.  What's see-through or for that matter smutty about it? It's pretty regular, boring underwear, and the line on her butt is because there's a seam in the fabric and the knickers get stuck up her ass. Painful, yes. Smutty, no.

So it's two votes for the 'ordinary' one and one for the 'centered' one - although if we count me in, too, it becomes a draw because I prefer the centered one.

Hmmm ....

Might end up with Scurvy Cat's solution and post both, so that people can choose themselves.

Dr House, there are no 3-tiled desks. I could clone a 3-tiled dining table, but it wouldn't have the functions of a desk - like attracting homework. Modifying a 2-tiled desk so that the computer places in the middle isn't that difficult, but I don't think there's any way to make the chair place outside the grid without cheats. And that's really the problem. If the chair is outside the grid it won't pull in to the desk (or dining table, for that matter). Sims can still sit on it, but it won't work with the desk/table itself.

A question about desks.

I prefer desks that have the workspace (with computer and chair) in the middle and doors/drawers at both sides, and I've always found it annoying how Maxis desks have the workspace at one side and drawers or doors at the other. Of course you can use cheats and invisibles to place computers and chairs in the middle of the desk, but while it looks better (IMO) it means that sims can't use the computer.

My question is how do you feel about this and - more specifically - which one of these two desks do you prefer?





The top one works like any ordinary Maxis desk. For the bottom one Sims will either sit with their leg in the righthand cabinet or you must use cheats and invisibles to place chair and computer in the middle - which then means that your Sims can't use it.

Thanks in advance for any input.  

Edit to downsize pix