Title: 21 Animated Lot Based Effects, Down from the 'Hood


Stinky Skunk Bugfix: May 25, 2013

Thanks to the bug reports from nooobody and gazania, I have posted an update to all the files in this archive so that Stinky Skunk no longer has a jump bug when the animal appears on a lot where one of these effects is in use. If you also use the Apocalyptic Effects, please be sure to download the bugfix for them also.


Purpose

To make several neighbourhood special effects readily available for use in lots.

General Description

These "Down from the 'Hood" effects are found in the catalogue under Decorative/Misc. To distinguish these from my Apocalyptic series, they use a control tile that is twice as large. This set is priced the same as the original series: the Rising Smoke costs §10 and all the others are grouped with the Miscellaneous Effects at a cost §12 each. I have included collection files for these new items.

These effects have the following features: they may be placed on locked tiles and beach tiles, are non-flammable, cannot be struck by lightning, cannot be stolen or repossessed, and they remain in place if the lot is sold. For maximum flexibility, these items are flagged to allow placement on all types of surfaces.

These effects do not disturb Sims or damage game objects, apart from having a slightly positive effect on environmental scores. Note that Sims may come to see a newly placed effect, as they routinely do when new items are placed.

Although several of the effects require expansion packs (EPs) for them to work, all of these files are basegame compatible, i.e. they will not crash the basegame even if the effect is not available.

Usage

The catalogue description indicates that most of these effects are "Sinkable", i.e. they may be placed underwater or under the ocean. These sinkable items are also height adjustable if Apartment Life or Mansions & Gardens is installed.

The "Rising Vapours" effect is an exception, in that it is "Floatable", meaning that it can be placed on pond surfaces but it cannot be height adjusted.

When first placed in buy mode the Effect will appear as a square coloured tile. While in live mode the placement tile will disappear but it will reappear when you return to Build or Buy mode. If you prefer, you can select the included invisible recolour so that the tile is never displayed at all.

The effects themselves will only be displayed in live mode. Some effects may take much longer to appear than others, for example the steam train may take well over two game hours to arrive.

I have found that with some less capable computers, such as my laptop, some of these effects simply do not appear in the neighbourhood if a later EP such as Apartment Life is installed. For example the special University and Nightlife birds may be suppressed in this way. If the effect will not appear in the neighbourhood then it definitely will not appear as a lot effect either.

Note: please use caution when placing Effects, as they may cause slowdowns on older machines, or in large and complex lots. When using effects, less is more.



Terms of Use

You may include these Effects in any uploaded lots, whether for free or pay. Please include a credit and link to this page.


Credits:

GIMP 2, IrfranView, Microsoft Paint and Photo Editor for graphics editing, conversion, processing, sizing, and labeling
Milkshape 3D and Ultimate Unwrap3D Pro, for 3D modeling and mapping
Numenor's AnyGameStarter, for development and testing
SimPE, PJSE, and CEP for Sims 2 object creation
Duds' Star Trek: NCC-1701-A Enterprise is featured in the "tractor beam" and Rising Vapours screenshots
V1ND1CARE's The Halls of Moria illustrates the Flashing Red Glow, Fog, Rising Smoke, and Surf & Sand
StephSim's Simtopia Train Depot 4 is the setting for the Fast Trains, Hot Air Balloon, Helicopter and Steam Train
The Fast Trains were shown running on Kativip's Memory Series Station rails
The remainder of the screenshots were taken in StephSim's medieval Gwyrch neighbourhood


Polygon Counts:
All Effects Tiles: 2 faces, 4 vertices