amoebae

SHADOWS FOR DAYS - a visual mod: version 1.0.1

The Sims 4 has an annoying 'feature' (read: glitch) where, when using the tab mode camera and tilting it up, distant shadows disappear quite abruptly. This makes the world look flat and lifeless, and has ruined countless otherwise beautiful screenshots for us all!

After lots of head-scratching, a frustrated (and unanswered) post on EA Answers HQ, and lots of theorising, I gave up ever finding a solution.

Until I stopped giving up and suddenly found a solution! And not only does it...

THATCHED - a ReShade preset for The Sims 4

Henford-on-Bagley is a beautiful world let down by less-than-beautiful lighting. Thatched is my attempt to provide a more balanced colour palette that better suits the lush, rolling farmland and rich vegetation, while having that little bit extra for special screenshots that utilise the stunning sunrises and sunsets.

Cottage Living's world leans heavily blue-green, and neutralising that was my first priority. Greens are more natural, shadows less blue, the sky less vivid, while still re...

USING MXAO - a guide to tweaking shadows

I had an ask over on tumblr about how to tweak MXAO settings in the latest versions of ReShade. I thought I'd do a quick tutorial setting out how best to learn what everything does, along with an explanation of each of the settings. This will cover the basics, and assumes you already know how to install ReShade and make sure the depth buffer is working. 

This tutorial is a starting point to help you begin your journey; if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touc...

COTTAGE COR BLIMEY! Add-on Appliances

To match my recolour of the Cottage Living kitchen and icebox, today I bring you the Cottage Cor Blimey! appliances add-on. 

Included are the stove, stove hood, and fridge. Each comes in Image Spectra, and you can choose between bronze or grey metal accents (or have both!).

TOU, requirements, and credits: Share and use as you wish, but please do so freely and always ...

PLANET HONEY POP! a karaoke bar lot

I've remade Planet Honey Pop more times than I can remember over the lifetime of The Sims 4. I think this is my favourite version of it!

As you come in the front you have a small open courtyard with vending machines, and bathrooms opposite. To the right is a cafe with everything you need to run it as that if you choose to change the lot type, or you can just hire a barista. The cafe has outdoor seating, and a small staff exit at the back.

To the left is the main karaoke bar with l...

COTTAGE COR BLIMEY! Kitchen in Image Spectra

This is the first kitchen I've recoloured! I really love the cosy feel of the new Cottage Living kitchen, but felt its palette was really very limited. It seemed like Image Spectra was a great fit, with lots of soft, muted tones, as well as some richer colours for when you need to make things POP!

Included:

• Cottage Cor Blimey! Kitchen Counters
• Cottage Cor Blimey! Kitchen Cabinets
• Cottage Cor Blimey! Kitchen Island
• Cottage Cor Blimey! Kitchen Icebox...
  2021-07-31 21:37:50 +0000 UTC View Post

BICYCLE...BICYCLE!

A few more options for your bikes, in my Dream Pop colours.

TOU, requirements, and credits: Share and use as you wish, but please do so freely and always allowing others to do the same with your resulting content. Requires Discover University.

SING IT LOUD! - karaoke machines

I needed these for Planet Honey Pop!

Both karaoke machines - large and small - are included, and both come in either Dream Pop or Fluoro-Pop. You can have just one, or you can have them all in your game together.

TOU, requirements, and credits: Share and use as you wish, but p...

S-DRAMA - a ReShade preset

S-Drama is a ReShade preset made at the request of one of my lovely patrons, asha (https://unasyns.tumblr.com/). Their brief was for something that reminded them of the Korean dramas they'd been watching recently. The sample photographs they gave me had cool, teal tones, and a gentle desaturation. They wanted to avoid warm, orange tones. And they wanted something that looked good at night and indoors, too.

The result ...

FULL BLOOM MULTILUT 2.0

It's been a while since I uploaded my first Full Bloom MultiLUT for ReShade, and since then I've changed the shader I use with it. I've been saying I'm going to upload it for several thousand years, and I've handed it out in my discord server, but managed to somehow never get around to actually releasing it for realsies. 

So here it is.

Included is the original Full...

FEATURE WALL ADD-ON FOR PLASTER WALLS

You know how it goes. You see one picture on Pinterest and BANG! - new obsession.

That's what happened when I saw a photo of a painted arch, and it reminded me of how excited I was when the Courtyard Oasis kit was announced, with its 2021-07-10 17:26:18 +0000 UTC View Post

DREAMY SECTIONALS

Obviously I had to recolour the sectionals that came with Dream Home Decorator!

Both sectional styles are included, with sofas and chaises done to match.

Your options:

• Image Spectra with light-toned wood accents
• Image Spectra with dark-toned wood accents
• 2021-06-29 14:54:09 +0000 UTC View Post

STATEMENT COLLECTION Pt 3 - The Objects

It's been a long time coming, but at last here is the final part of my Statement Collection set of recolours.

I chose a selection of objects that I find interesting, and that can stand alone as statement pieces to bring a bit of interest to your interiors.

Most come in my Dream Pop palette, a couple come in my Fl...

Feedback Requested - ReShade Tutorial Series

I'm putting together a list of ReShade tutorials I want to write to help people with some common issues, and also to help people understand ReShade a little bit better. I'd love your feedback on what you'd like to see covered if possible.

So far, for example, I've got planned things like:

• What are .fxh files?
• Making and using LUTs/MultiLUTs
• What are shader packs and which should you use?
• The four main types of shaders and how to use them (inc. load...
  2021-06-17 00:47:42 +0000 UTC View Post

STATEMENT COLLECTION Pt 2 - Walls & Floors

Here's the second part of my Statement Collection - a selection of walls and floors recoloured in my Dream Pop palette.

There's lots to choose from, with brick, both smooth and rough plaster, tile, panelling, concrete, wood and carpet. You can find screenshots with the different options available, their file names, and pack requirements here: 2021-06-06 23:12:00 +0000 UTC View Post

HOW TO HANG CLOTHES WHEREVER YOU WANT

1) Size down one of the new clothes-hanging shelves as small as it will go and place where you want (1st picture)

2) Get the clothes you want to use and slot them to the shelf - they will seem to float in mid-air (1st picture)

3) Choose whatever furniture you like that will cover the clothes-hanging shelf and make it look like the clothes are hanging from that instead (2nd picture)

Have fun!

THE MOODS - a ReShade preset

The Moods was made as a request by one of my lovely and very patient Patreon subscribers, Kay. Their brief was for a darker, moody, purple-toned preset that emphasised a wistful, dreamy look intended for screenshots rather than for gameplay.

After a lot of experimentation, I decided I couldn't just settle on one specific look, and set to work creating lots and lots of LUTs, each with a different atmospheric and moody feel. The result is 30 (yes, thirty!) custom LUTs (all made by me!) co...

STATEMENT COLLECTION Pt 1 - Curtains & Blinds

It's been a long time coming, but the first part of my Statement Collection is here! 

I'm starting small, with the set of curtains and blinds I chose to recolour. Unlike rest of the set, which for the most part comes just in my Dream Pop palette, all the curtains and blinds here come in both Dream Pop and Image Spectra, because frankly we don't have enough window dressing options in the game so I figured we could do with as much choice as possible. Although not pictured, each comes...

DREAM POP - a colour palette

I've been trying to put together this palette for a while now. I have enormous respect for people who create lots of colour palettes - it's really difficult (for me, at least), especially if you're making it specifically for a game where you need to check how it performs in various lighting conditions. This has taken far too long, but I'm finally done.

I was initially inspired to create some kind of blend of Ricardo Bofill meets California neon pastel. The end result leans more towards ...

ECO LIFESTYLE WOODS - Walls and Floors

A quick recolour of some of the various wooden walls and floors that came with Eco Lifestyle. Comes in 48 Image Spectra colours.

TOU, requirements, and credits: Share and use as you wish, but please do so freely and always allowing others to do the same with your resulting content. Requires Eco Lifestyle. With thanks to fiddlefolk for the Image Spectra palette.

Links...

NEON LIGHT SET

A couple of years ago I made a neon strip light set, and I still use it all the time. I'm always disappointed by the weak strength and sad light colours available in the in-game light colour picker, and so I decided to make a bunch more.

11 more, in fact!

Just as with the strip light set, each colour of light is its own catalogue item. This is because you can only ...

FLUORO-POP - a neon palette

I've been using a hodge-podge of neon colours for the odd thing here and there for a while, but since my upcoming Honey Pop collections use them a bit I decided to settle on a proper combination and upload it.

Included in the download is this image that you can either colour pick from or use the hex codes, and a palette file to use with Sims 4 Studio.

Oranges are difficult to make fluorescent, but all the other colours pop like all heck!

If you use them I'd love to see what ...

Thank you

I said last month on the anniversary of Peggy’s death that I would donate the rest of my new Patreon pledges for the rest of March to Iris’s Cats in Need, which is where I adopted her from.

I got a few new pledges, and I want to thank each and every one of you. Thank you so much.

I matched the amount myself, and added a bit more for good measure, and have now donated it. The past year has been very difficult for Iris and her volunteers, and I know every little bit helps them a...

ORNATE BRICK WALL SET in Bee's Knees and Electric Pop

When I downloaded these tiles in the Bee's Knees palette by teekalu a few weeks ago I instantly fell in love. Then I saw their 2021-04-07 01:16:46 +0000 UTC View Post

VINTAGE DINING SET in two palettes

What's that? You don't think I usually have enough swatches? I quite agree.

Forgotten Grotto on tumblr liberated this wonderful dining set so it doesn't require 'show hidden objects' anymore. Thanks to their generous TOU I've included the meshes in two recolours of it (so you don't need their version, but I recommend it if you want even more c...

RUXPIN PET FOODS - Communal Residential Lot

This lot was made in memory of Charlie and Peggy, the two best cats a person could ever wish to know <3 <3

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60 years ago, Charlie and Peggy Ruxpin owned a thriving pet food business, making it their mission to ensure cats and dogs everywhere were well fed, the main ingredient - love. Five years after Charlie sadly passed away, Peggy also passed, leaving their main pet food warehouse empty. Always with the good of the community in their hearts, Charlie and Peggy left instr...

Clear POP! - a ReShade preset

Clear POP! was made as a request by one of my lovely Patreon subscribers, shooby sims. Their brief was that it be a bright, clear, cool and cheerful preset that made colours bold and punchy, while avoiding overly-saturated oranges and haziness. Their overriding desire was that it made them feel happy!

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Clear POP! is a lightweight preset, relying on handmade LUTs that do the majority of the work, and a small handful of additional shader effects to help balance things in certain ...

LARGE & SMALL BRICKS - Get Famous Walls and Floors

I felt the itch to recolour a wall, so I recoloured this one from Get Famous. Has both large and small versions (small pictured), and comes with a matching floor for both sizes too. Of course, in 48 Image Spectra colours.

Note: Large floor may be slightly glitchy, I saw a bit of a rogue line once in a while, presumably from fiddling with the diffuseuv sizes to get it to match the wall. I don't know how to fix it, but it's not a big problem.

TOU, requirements, and credits:<...