It was almost 70 degrees here today and that makes me think summer. From that thought I go straight into thinking about what kind of bathing suit to wear. If you’re like me, the default suits are boring and once you’ve seen them through hundreds of games, you want something new.

Ewelina20 has done a wonderful job with these bikinis and she even has a teen version if you want to get both sets.

Click here to download the adult version and here for the teen version.

Image Source|Ewelina20

If you’ve been wanting to do your own political Sims then here’s your chance. Enriquemt0 made a pretty good likeness of America’s newest president and now you can have him in your game.

Click here to download.

Image|Enriquemt0

Believe it or not, Spring isn’t that far away I know that some of you are just itching to get your Sims into something short and sassy.

Phoenix42793 has been gone from Mod the Sims2 for a while but she’s come back with a bang with this great outfit in six colors.

Click here to download for your own game.

Image|Phoenix42793

Sims are notorious for not cooperating when you’re trying to take pictures of them.  Either they won’t stand still and you have to pause the game or they get a funky look on their faces and it takes forever for them to cycle through to an expression that’s what you want.  Sometimes, no matter how long you wait, you’ll never get the shot that you’re after.

Here are a few things that you need in order to get the exact picture that you’re wanting.

• Sign-up for an account at Mod the Sim2 - All of the custom content that I feature for download comes from there along with the hacks that you’re going to need to download.  They also have TONS of great tutorials.  You can register for an account by clicking here. [It's free.]
• Purchase or download a photo editing program.  I use Photoshop CS4 and you can download a trial version by clicking here.  Since that trial is only good for about 30 days, you might consider GIMP which you can download by clicking here.  GIMP is like Photoshop and functions much like Photoshop.  Also, it’s free which will make most users very, very happy.
• Download Decorgal’s Modeling Hack by clicking here.
• Download JohnBrehaut1’s One More Slot Package for Bed and Counters by clicking here.
• You’ll also want to download the invisible recolor of the magisplay tray by clicking here.
• Download FRAPS by clicking here.  Change the hot keys if you want or leave them at default.
• Download GunMod’s camera hack by clicking here.  Make sure that you load this particular one in: My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Cameras [for XP users] or Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Cameras [for Vista users].  Override the file when it prompts you.

Woo!  I think that’s it for the downloads.  Remember that everything should be downloaded into either \My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\ [for XP users] or \Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\ [for Vista users].

Open up your game after loading all of your downloads and start with a blank lot.  You’re not going to build a real house since all of those extra walls will just get in the way.  I always build one really big room and then use a corner of the big room as a set.

Things you’ll need “on set”:

• A cheap mirror so that you can change the appearance of your Sims.  I say cheap so that you’re not wasting $ but if you have the cash to burn then buy whatever your little heart desires.
• A “One More Slot” thing - Found in Tables and then Misc.
• Magisplay tray - Found in shelves
• Model Hack black box - Found hobbies and then Misc.
• Whatever props or objects you want like a bed or counter top
• Lighting!  Lots and lots of lighting!  You can place them off camera if necessary and they are a must.  I forgot to add them and my shots are very dark because of that.

Here’s a picture of my set:

Some things to remember when you’re taking pictures in Sims 2.

When you’re using Fraps and you have kept the screenshot at default as F10, if you’re not in “camera mode” [by pushing Tab] then hitting F10 will hide your character/control screen [or whatever that's called].  You have to hit F10 to bring that back or you won’t be able to control your Sim.

Ctrl+Shift+C is your friend.  That opens up the cheats dialog.  To display all of the cheats, type in help.  You should use the cheats dialog to turn on moveObjects on [so that you can move everything exactly where you want], Plumbbobtoggle off [to get rid of the green diamond-the Plumbbob] and maxMotives [so that your Sims never get tired, hungry, etc.].

Once you have everything that you need on your set and you’ve enabled all of your cheats, it’s time to get down to the business of taking pictures.

Click on the black model box and select whatever pose you want.  It doesn’t matter what they’re doing or where they are; your Sim will automatically begin the action.  Move your Sim on top of the Magisplay tray and then on to whatever height “One More Slot” object that you need.  If necessary, change the color of both objects so that they are “invisible”.

Position your screen so that you’re about where you want to take pictures and then hit Tab.  If you’ve installed GunMod’s camera hack then you can zoom more than you normally be allowed which comes in handy when you’re wanting an up-close shot.

Hit whatever button you’ve set in Fraps and you’ve taken your first picture.  Hit Tab again to exit camera mode and reposition everything to your liking.  Continue the process until you’ve gotten all of the shots that you want.

Next, open up your photo editing software.

Find your pictures in the file where you set Fraps to save your pictures.  [I have mine to save Fraps\Screens.]

Here is my picture prior to editing it:

While you can turn off “free will” of Sims, you can’t turn off free will of pets.  Hence, the cat on the counter next to my Sim.  *sigh*

The free version of Fraps only saves images as .bmp files and the edges will be jagged.  A simple tip, after you’ve cropped your pictures and adjusted the colors, use your “blur” tool to smooth out the jagged edges.

There you go.  A pretty easy to follow guide to taking basic pictures in Sims 2.  Custom objects, hair, skins, and practice editing in Photoshop/Gimp will make a big difference but the base game with no custom content other than what I’ve told you to download will serve you well.

Good luck and happy picture taking!

Now that I have the majority of my custom content loaded, I figured that I would share a couple of pictures with you.  I think the only base items are the floor and the wall colors.  Since Mod the Sims2 is undergoing maintenance right now, I can’t link to some of the cool stuff.  But, once they get everything maintained, I’ll come back and link to some of the stuff.  Bear in mind that I didn’t make any of this stuff other than taking the pictures.  :) 

Image Source: © Amy Tucker

I finally got all of my Sims 2 expansions loaded on my new laptop and went about the important business of downloading custom content.  Since I’m always on the lookout for cool lots, that was the first thing that I did.  I lucked out and found a pretty awesome house built by jon119.

I downloaded the furnished version of the house since it had tons of really cool custom content and played the house for quite a while.  I decided that the house just wasn’t doing it for me since I really wanted an ocean view and I had put the house about as far from the ocean as possible.

I moved myself out of the house and into a cool townhouse next to the beach.

Then, I remembered that I wanted a video of the custom house so that I could post it on here for you guys.  BUT, since I moved “myself” out of the house, all of the custom content was sold so the house is empty.  You still get a good idea of just how cool the house is.  Watch the video [featuring the Sims 3 theme] and then download the house for your own game.

I think you’ll like it.

Click here to download.

Are your sims just a little bit too healthy?  Do you find yourself getting bored by their health and yearn for the days of sickness and pestilence?

Well, I have the solution for you.

Buyable cockroaches!

One version is purely for looks and won’t make your Sims sick.  One version is the real McCoy and you’ll have sick Sims before you can call the exterminator.

Click here to download.

I had to do some researching on ole Mr. Woods here to write this.  All I knew about him was that he had been in The Lord of the Rings and I had a friend back in junior high who was IN LOVE with him.

After a bit of digging, [read:looked him up on Wikipedia] I discovered that Wood voiced the character of Spyro the Dragon.  He’s done a lot of other cool things and has more than earned himself a place on Sims Gamer.

So, without further ado, click here to get him for your very own.

Image Source: jameLia

Bruno has done it again.  I think that I would wear just about any of these lipglosses in real life…ok…maybe not the “wacky & tacky” ones but the others are heavenly.

They’re all translucent and shiny and they definitely earn the title of “lip candy”.

Click here to add these to your choices when it comes to makeup for your Sims.

Image Source: Bruno

It is my opinion that there isn’t enough really cool custom content out there for Pets.  I can remember counting down the days until that EP was released and would rank it among my top three EPs to own.

Anyway, I found this rather cute and VERY original Pets object for your family’s cats.  It works like any other toy that your cat might play with except for one little detail: eventually, after enough time spent playing, the cube gets solved.

How freakin’ cool is that?

Click here to put your cat’s brain to the test.

Image Source: VampCat