Face Templates - 2008-05-08 - No Update - New Links

[DarkEmpress]

I must say these are absolutely amazing. Add me to the list of future downloaders.

My one complaint is the male nose for template 15. It's not at all pointy like the original. From what I can tell, you kept the female's slightly pointy, but the male is totally different. And, I like pointy nose guys.

[Nailati]

Okay; templates 21 and 25 will not be hideous--I'll go with making them slight variations on #1 (because that's the genetic data they pass on). I've started fresh on them, and I'll post them a bit later on; I'm going to work on finalizing some of the others first.

Another question: how do these faces look when they're aged up or down?  And do you plan to make other age sets to match?  (I would think if they age and de-age well you could just use the same proportions, not have to make all new ones...)

The files I'm going to upload will include all age groups. The adults will be hand-made. I'll have Body Shop age them and make tweaks where appropriate (probably just on the teens; I've done some of them already).

Some ugly Sims are good. But if you could make them look ugly and still human, that would be what I would like best. My problem with Maxis faces isn't the ugliness per se, it's the fact that they don't look like people at all. It's like they escaped from a mutant science experiment gone wrong, especially the males.

I also like your alternate version of the elf face better, it's much more interesting to look at.

Yeah, some of Maxis's males look like they've got serious malignant growths going on.

Elf face #2--thanks. I prefer it as well. It was an attempt at something Claudia Black-esque, though all of my serious attempts to sim her have failed.

All of these faces, while less hideous, all retain idiotic grins. Shouldn't they have a somewhat more neutral, or, more realistically, a frowny to scowly expression?

I don't know. Any other opinions on whether I should go through and turn down the corners of the mouths a bit? (Allowing for the fact that they're all extra-smiley because I shot these in CAS.)

My one complaint is the male nose for template 15. It's not at all pointy like the original. From what I can tell, you kept the female's slightly pointy, but the male is totally different. And, I like pointy nose guys.

I can do that. It's still going to be a lot less pointy than the original, because the Ethiopians in the reference photos I used didn't have pointy noses, but I can temper it a bit.

[BlueSoup]

I noticed that the Sims all had too-smiley mouths as well, but I did figure they were those idiotic grins they sport in CAS.  Of course, they only grin like idiots when you take the shot lol.

[TaWanda]

 I usually tweak my sims not to smile so stupidly,  but I figured that's just because I'm a sourpuss myself  That does however remind me of something to add to the BBS thread Blue started, about how putting make up on a sim who is prancing around and grimacing in CAS is a royal pain!
 I really like these templates though, can't wait for the final product

[Renatus]

Leave the mouths how they are. Sims always smile in CAS and that is exaggerating how turned up the corners of their mouths actually are. Also, while it is indeed more realistic for the corners of the mouth to turn down slightly, it doesn't look good on the stylized faces of sims. Rather than making them look neutral when they don't have an expression like on real people, it makes them look sad, angry, or miserable - not something one sees normally on a real person unless they are quite old and have been frowning steadily all their life. It also doesn't breed well (as I found out with one of my first sims... yikes).

[Ambular]

Another question: how do these faces look when they're aged up or down?  And do you plan to make other age sets to match?  (I would think if they age and de-age well you could just use the same proportions, not have to make all new ones...)

The files I'm going to upload will include all age groups. The adults will be hand-made. I'll have Body Shop age them and make tweaks where appropriate (probably just on the teens; I've done some of them already).

Well, just let me say that if you make them so the kids don't look all bloated and the elders cadaverously thin, you would not only be a Mod God, but officially one of my favorite people ever.  XD

[idtaminger]

I like them, but why are the eyes so close together? I get this "cross-eyed" feel looking at most of them. Other than that they're quite nice.

[dadditude]

I don't see any of the eyes that are too close together (in my opinion). In fact, they are all about the same distance apart as the defaults.

[Renatus]

I like them, but why are the eyes so close together? I get this "cross-eyed" feel looking at most of them. Other than that they're quite nice.

The eyes are not too close together. They appear to be, at the closest, one eye width apart, that width changing with the width of the eyes on that particular face. That is human-normal. Many of the faces have eyes that are slightly farther than one eye-width apart.

[Nailati]

The closer eyes take some getting used to. When I started out I was afraid I might be making them too close, because I'm so used to looking at the Maxis defaults. I got braver as I went on. I'm now about 1/3 of the way through making final tweaks to the adult faces (starting from #27), and in most cases I've brought the eyes a bit closer still, because they look too far apart to me now, a couple of months after making them.

I'm still open to any suggestions, on eye distance or anything else.

[vilia]

I'm still open to any suggestions, on eye distance or anything else.

The only eyes that looks a little close to me are the elf male v1 but that is just personal preference.  If you compare the maxis ones with yours, their eyes are really quite wide - esp #05.

[KellyQ]

I love the way you have redone the browline on the elf faces. I really hate the way some of the Maxi premades have those huge, frowning slashes for eyebrows (Alexander Goth, Vidcund Curious, etc.) that can only be changed via plastic surgery. Seriously, who has eyebrows like that? Well, other then J.M., I suppose.

[Verona]

I've always felt the sim's foreheads were too prominent.  All the women look like they have receding hairlines.  I generally use hairstyles with bangs for that reason. Can't do that with the men.  Have you thought of bringing the faces up a couple of clicks to eliminate the massive foreheads on men?

You are doing a superb job on these faces.  All excited about downloading when they are ready.

[J. M. Pescado]

I've always felt the sim's foreheads were too prominent.  All the women look like they have receding hairlines.  I generally use hairstyles with bangs for that reason. Can't do that with the men.  Have you thought of bringing the faces up a couple of clicks to eliminate the massive foreheads on men?

Meh, well, see, my forehead really *IS* massive, and I have to bring the face DOWN a couple clicks on my sim to properly simulate my large forehead.

[Nailati]

I'm bringing all the faces into approximate alignment with #2, so here's hoping you like that forehead.

[Verona]

JM, I do believe you are just being contrary today.  Don't tell me every sim in your game looks like you? Or do you just have a *big forehead* neighborhood? 

@Nailati:  Getting more excited every day about your finished products. Thanks for considering our suggestions.

[RainbowTigress]

Well, they don't all look like him, because he was sharing a story at one time about BlueSoup, Brynne, and some other self-sims he was putting through Uni.  I don't know what happened to that story, he never finished it.  He had Bluesoup beating up everyone.  I think he liked having Blue beat up Kewian or some such thing.  I think when he got OFB he got sidetracked.  But I'm not sure what his other sims look like.

[Nailati]

Apparently they're perpetually grimacing creatures with brow ridges that start halfway down their heads. 

I'm honestly grateful for the suggestions, because I've learned a great deal from them, and noticed things I might have missed. It's also forced me to break some old habits (like my tendency to give all my sims very strong chins). Also, I'm really excited at the thought of lots of people using these in their game. Resistance is futile.

That said, @DarkEmpress: After considering it, I've decided to leave Mr. 15's nose how it is. The pointy nose of the original just doesn't look Ethiopian, and besides, I'm attached to my version. However, I'm certainly willing to entertain other suggestions. Any other templates which seem too de-pointy-fied?

Well, just let me say that if you make them so the kids don't look all bloated and the elders cadaverously thin, you would not only be a Mod God, but officially one of my favorite people ever.  XD

Evar? Sooo cool!

After looking at some of the elders I think I'll fill out the cheeks a notch and make the eyes less deep-set, so it won't look like the nursing home staff have been starving them.

I'll also tame the chipmunk cheeks on the child-creatures.

The teens have such short foreheads--I'm thinking of lowering their faces by a click, and also moving each feature down by a click. (I'm hesitant to move the features themselves too much, because the more you do that the more distorted things get.) I might also make their cheeks less full by one click. I think they have a bit too much baby fat for teenagers.

I haven't started working on any of these other age groups yet; I'm about 2/3 of the way through bringing the adult faces into alignment. I'll remove the old headshots and put up the new ones once I've finished that. I really want to make sure the adult faces are ready to go before I do any other ages.

As always, I'd like to hear any thoughts on this stuff.

[ Edited because I'm a Punctuation Nazi. ]

[RainbowTigress]

I just want to say WOW and thanks for all the time and hard work you're putting into this!  I know it will show in the results.  I know we all have different ideas about what looks good and what we want, but anything has to be an improvement over the Maxis defaults.  I appreciate the time you are taking to do it right, and the end results will be worth the wait. 

[dadditude]

I am so excited about these. I recently decided to start my game over (again) and have been putting off actually playing because I want to wait for these to get ready first. Just so you know, it's all your fault that I went out and spent my hard-earned money on GTA: Liberty City Stories for the PS2. 

[Nailati]

Well, I've actually done the same thing (again) and am waiting to start over until I can use the templates. I haven't done a spot of playing since I started them. I can't run SimPE, so I can't fool with these (except as Body Shop sims)--hence my eagerness to finish.

[J. M. Pescado]

Well, they don't all look like him, because he was sharing a story at one time about BlueSoup, Brynne, and some other self-sims he was putting through Uni.  I don't know what happened to that story, he never finished it.

It got eaten by Hurricane Josh, and the parties involved have ceased showing up enough to progress the story in an interesting manner. Especially Brynne. Did I mention that she sent me the wrong file?

[RainbowTigress]

No, I don't believe you mentioned that.  You don't have the pictures still on your game PC? 

[vilia]

Just remember to be careful of dangling SWAFS if you do deleateallcharacters as they could cause problems generations into the future http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=4249.0

[Metalkatt]

Just remember to be careful of dangling SWAFS if you do deleateallcharacters as they could cause problems generations into the future http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=4249.0

Yes, I found that out AFTER I followed the DAC instructions...  It'll be redone in my game after these delicious new templates come out.  Hopefully I can have a hood that lasts more than a month.