Project Eden - First Steps

For supporters I have great news! I've already talked about it on Twitter, but I don't think I've mentioned it here yet. Project Eden, has an ambitious vision for the future of The Sims 3.

When I started building OldSunset, I couldn't have imagined how many skills I would develop along the way. And with the recent Pleasantview reconstruction project this has broadened the horizons even further. Giving me the assets I needed to make The Sims 3 look the way I always wanted.

See... The Sims 3 isn't as troublesome as we make it out to be. It just needs to be a little more consistent with its textures. There are so many options that most of the time the most common is to observe a disharmony in colors and patterns, which are sometimes too soft and at other times too rigid. With the perfect marriage between Color and texture, we were able to build a visually amazing game!

And you know this from experience when you compare OldSunset to any other worlds, right? (I hope so) Hahaha

Today I'm here to share some of the progress I've made. A few days ago I shared a custom retexture pack of several trees. Now I'm expanding the catalog and including smaller shrubs and plants, including decorative plants with weird textures that just hid their beauty.

Prepared? Follow Gifs below to show the before and after

Honestly.. It didn't bother me with the color of these bushes, but I also used them VERY LITTLE often, as they were too colorful to fit in my type of garden. First step was to make it less contrasting and for the first, I decided to be a little bolder and give it a more sensual touch with a charming red.

Here's a row of bushes that before recoloring, I would have easily removed from the game without missing a beat. I didn't like their shape, much less the lack of harmony with other plants in terms of the shade of green and the highlight of the color of the flowers. I made the necessary adjustments and now we have more realistic and natural tones!

And what about those bushes that I passed far away because the green was so dull and dark that it made me cold? I put them within my favorite green scale and added some heat. Now they look perfect for a home in any season!

Well. There are no SO major defects here. But clearly the yellow tone of the first potted plant made me dizzy, the purple color of the flowers of the second made me discouraged and as for the third, the change is so subtle that it is almost imperceptible. As for the latter, he literally needed more light to shine. So I adjusted the earth to a darker tone and the leaves to a lighter and more pleasant tone.

Judge me. I've never really liked the white shade of aspen tree (first) and I know I'm probably the only one. So I gave it a more woody stem and structure. Hahah I hope this doesn't affect your opinion of me negatively xD For the pear tree, I adjusted the texture of the trunk, as well as removing the excess saturation from its leaves. GOD, only he knows how many years I went without using the ornamental pear tree because I had a rift with its characteristics Hahaha I let the image speak for itself for the third tree. Self explanatory.

Trees I never imagined myself using before this job. They had great shape and bad colors. Now, I know that maybe you loved the cherry blossom rose. But I do not. xD Sorry. And I apply the comment to the other two trees. If you are concerned about the purple tree being identical to the ornamental pear tree in the previous photo, don't worry, they have similar characteristics BUT THEY ARE NOT the same. I value consistency and meaning. Colors and textures apply to both small trees and their larger versions.

And if I told you that I have a favorite pear tree, would you believe it? Late Night's Fir tall. I used it in place of this one all over OldSunset, but now I've transferred its texture to the base game's pine tree trunk and bazinga! Much nicer. I adjusted its foliage within our color palette as I did with the other two trees.

I know, can these changes make the diversity relatively less in terms of color and plants? Yes. But at the same time it makes them much more convincing and realistic, don't you think? I think it's a fair price to pay for the visual aspect this change is creating!

Speaking of which, now we have a VERY IMPORTANT information. These adjustments were made taking into account my ANSEL and RESHADE FILTERS configuration. Both are part of the Eden project to realize my vision of Ideal Graphics. Without them, these advances would be much less considerable and the visual impact created by them was not able to be generated without further effects settings. 

So if you don't have a compatible card you may NOT be able to see the plants as shown in these gifs. This is bad? Not. Because even without the filters and effects they are still possibly better than the options that the game offers us today.

I hope you enjoyed this information. I will provide the complete package with all the BASE game tree and plants that have been modified. The best part? They will be shared with individual and merged files. That way you can pick the ones you most identify with and keep out, the ones you may not have liked very much. Let me know in the comments what you think of this project and how I could make it even more powerful! 

Thank you for the usual support you have provided and talking the community buzz about data and information protection, I would like to prioritize, that my supporters' personal data will NEVER be shared with anyone or any platform except Patreon itself within its guidelines. Not even my girlfriend has a clue about each of you usernames.

We will always prioritize respect and safety, in the same way that you have prioritized the support and love dedicated to my work. As always, thanks for your support and see you soon for more updates!!