A new thingy from Numenor

[veilchen]

Right here:

http://forums.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=192613

I didn't even know you had to do script/text editing to install/download custom fireplaces. I had a few, made by Rentech, but I deleted them because of her poly-count non-policy. Other than that, they were working just fine. Oh well, I never claimed to be tech-savvy :D

[jrd]

AFAIK Rentech only had recoloured fireplaces, not custom ones.

[Inge]

I don't think high polygons can "destroy your game" as some scaremongers have tried to warn.   Lots with a lot of processing and rendering to do will run slower than smaller simpler lots.   If your computer is struggling, sell off some stuff *from that lot* until it runs at a satisfactory speed.    Eg replace fences with half walls where possible.  Remove the handrails from stairs where they are buried in walls.   Or you could turn off reflections and shadows while you are playing a large lot.   Keep the higher poly objects to feature in your smaller lots.

[BlueSoup]

I didn't know you had to do it for custom fireplaces, but that may be because I've never actually downloaded a custom fireplace   Modular stairs require script changes though.

[J. M. Pescado]

I don't think high polygons can "destroy your game" as some scaremongers have tried to warn.

High polygons won't destroy your game, but it WILL make things run like cold molasses the moment you look at the object. Cyclical looping also can have a significant effect. Snapdragons are a good candidate for lag potential right there, if you go totally hog-wild and spam them everywhere, due to the way they operate.

[idtaminger]

I don't think high polygons can "destroy your game" as some scaremongers have tried to warn.

My computer is perfectly capable of rendering the higher poly stuff, but on a lot w/ tons of processing, the fans are wont to start whirring like mad. The sound drives me nuts. (I really do suspect the heatsink fan, but it seems somewhat complicated to replace, so I haven't done so yet.)

That's why I'm so careful with my polys, and why I very much appreciate those creators who take the time and energy to whittle down their poliys as much as possible.

[veilchen]

It must've been her garden stuff then. My game started stuttering and lagging, and it topped off with the pretty spikes. I did have a custom fireplace, a nice round one, but that one also made the game very slow.

Snapdragons do that to me as well, especially when they get ready to 'puff'. The game noticeably pauses. I play for enjoyment, and a lagging, stuttering game does not count as being enjoyable. I don't have a top-notch gaming computer, so I make due. Heck, I don't even have a middle-notch computer.  I know that high poly count doesn't destroy a game, but it makes it unenjoyable to me. Hence I make sure I don't use things that will compound that issue. Problem solved. I have some cars that are high-poly, and that's about the extend I'm willing to go to. The only thing that will destroy the game is using the game-disk as a coaster or a frisbee. My DL's are backed up on a CD-rom, and as long as I have the disk, I have the game. I don't mind starting over, not in the least. I don't think I ever made it to generation 4, and I bought the game in 2004. I get bored, and loose interest. So I trash 'em and start over.

Blue, I didn't even know that you could download modular stairs. I guess I've been using the targa-stairs too much. Correction, I use the targa stairs almost exclusively, and I love them. I saw a middle of the room fireplace somewhere. Nice and square with out loops and whirls and stuff . I think I'll give the Numenor thing a try. If it doesn't work, I just get rid of it.

Yeah, that too, the whirring and humming sound drives me nuts as well. Now I have the added nightmare about my computer busting out in flames. Thanks Craig, you scaremonger you

[idtaminger]

I don't think I ever made it to generation 4, and I bought the game in 2004.

Generation 4? I ain't even past Generation 1. 1 sim dead of old age. Lol. How sad is that.

[KittKitt]

My computer is perfectly capable of rendering the higher poly stuff, but on a lot w/ tons of processing, the fans are wont to start whirring like mad. The sound drives me nuts. (I really do suspect the heatsink fan, but it seems somewhat complicated to replace, so I haven't done so yet.)

That's why I'm so careful with my polys, and why I very much appreciate those creators who take the time and energy to whittle down their poliys as much as possible.

Heatsink fan?  Which heatsink fan?  Several components in the box probably have heatsink/fan combinations you know.  Most of them aren't actually too hard to swap out, so if you get annoyed enough, give me some details and we'll see if I can help you out. 

That said, I firmly belive that anyone worth their salt in the game modeling business tries to use the minimum number of polys they require to get the job done.

Now, if the net effect is supposed to be an ultra-realistic humanoid complete with facial expressions and the like.. that might be rather high I'll grant you.  The rule still applies however...  If a sphere looks perfectly good and round at @ 72 vertices, there's no bloody reason to make it 360.

-Kitt

[veilchen]

*patpats Idtaminger*

The only reason I made it to gen 4 is because I unearthed an old backup neighborhood on my portable back-up hard-drive. I somehow got interested again. Now that neighborhood is on the back-burner again, because now I'm working on another project. That always does it, I start a new neighborhood with new dynamics. It's elves for me now, lol.

[idtaminger]

Heatsink fan?  Which heatsink fan?  Several components in the box probably have heatsink/fan combinations you know.  Most of them aren't actually too hard to swap out, so if you get annoyed enough, give me some details and we'll see if I can help you out. 

My guess is Processor. I have an Intel 3.2Ghz, and I hear those are notorious for high heat. Other than that I've got an RadX800XT PCI-E card, and a 350W(400? I don't remember exactly) power supply. But I still vote the Processor. It gets crazy only when processor resources are particularly taxed.

[KittKitt]

Heatsink fan?  Which heatsink fan?  Several components in the box probably have heatsink/fan combinations you know.  Most of them aren't actually too hard to swap out, so if you get annoyed enough, give me some details and we'll see if I can help you out. 

My guess is Processor. I have an Intel 3.2Ghz, and I hear those are notorious for high heat. Other than that I've got an RadX800XT PCI-E card, and a 350W(400? I don't remember exactly) power supply. But I still vote the Processor. It gets crazy only when processor resources are particularly taxed.

I'd tend to concur.  Especially the factory versions on those tend to be loud as hell. 

Personally, I'd never use an Intel chip without swapping out the sink/fan with an after market -usually from ThermalTake.

They're actually not terribly hard to do, provided you're savvy enough to say... swap out a processor in the first place.  It's not really any harder than that really, if not *quite* the same.

Before we completely derail this though, since we've already got loads of tech help/upgrade threads, why don't we either take this conversation to one of those, or bring this to PMs?  This thread is about Numenor's shiny thingy, and he's a modder I happen to like, so I'd like to stop dragging it into how to keep my proceesor cooler and quieter. 

-Kitt

[idtaminger]

Before we completely detail this though, since we've already got loads of tech help/upgrade threads, why don't we either take this conversation to one of those, or bring this to PMs?  This thread is about Numenor's shiny thingy, and he's a modder I happen to like, so I'd like to stop dragging it into how to keep my proceesor cooler and quieter. 

I don't think this site has a policy on derailing, in fact it's notorious for derailment, but if you'd like, please, PM away.

[Gwill]

Now I might actually bother to download some custom stairs...  Just waiting for creators to adapt and update.

[BlueSoup]

Blue, I didn't even know that you could download modular stairs. I guess I've been using the targa-stairs too much. Correction, I use the targa stairs almost exclusively, and I love them. I saw a middle of the room fireplace somewhere. Nice and square with out loops and whirls and stuff . I think I'll give the Numenor thing a try. If it doesn't work, I just get rid of it.

I like it when creators make matching Maxis stuff, or stuff (especially build stuff) that expands what Maxis has.  So on TSR, *cough sorryI'msick * Cyclonesue has made recolours of the Storybook series and a bunch of stuff like that, as well as a bunch of other creators.  There's also a site I really like, SunniSims, where the creator has made regular versions of modular stairs, and the matching fences.  It's one of my favourite sites.

[veilchen]

  Blue

By the way, thanks for mentionig Sunni. Geeeesh. Like dangling a bar of chocolate in front of a chocoholics nose.

Seriously though, I'm building my elven enclave in my hood, so I'm on the hunt for building material. That's why I would love a nice fireplace. I fondly remember the big fireplace from TS1. I loved that thing *sigh.

I DL'd some nice stuff from the Midsimmernights Dream at MTS2, but I'm not too crazy about the clothes. The men and boy clothes were alright, but I wasn't too crazy about the women's clothes. They were really nice, but too elaborate. I especially don't like those long floor-dangling sleeves. They look funky in my game when the women move their arms. Oh well, back to the hunt.

Storybook stairs, you say? Sounds very intriguing, and could be just what I was looking for.

* veilchen hands Blue a bottle of champagne... for to battle that cold...really.

[jsalemi]

Yea, really -- just when I'm trying to cut down on my CC and pare the directory back, they pull me back in.

* jsalemi mumbles to himself, but heads off to sunnisims anyway...

[veilchen]

I just got back from there. I should have waited, then we could've gone to lunch together, Joe.

Oh what wonderful stairs she has...Sunni, that is.