My legally blind self will be checking this out in the morning. I'd do it now but by the end of the day my eyes hurt.

[Guide] Using Magpie to upscale TS2/3: no more tiny UI!

After finally getting the older Sims games set up for modern resolutions, you may be shocked to find the UI is super tiny! The older games’ UIs are designed around lower resolutions, and don’t scale for high DPI like in TS4. If you try to use Windows DPI scaling to fix it, it can make the game blurry.

Luckily, there’s an easy solution! Magpie is an open-source window scaling app for programs and games, which lets you upscale from a lower resolution without losing too much quality. It comes with well renowned scalers, such as Lanczos and FSR. Upscaling from a lower resolution solves the small UI issue and can even improve performance.

Here’s how to use it:

Set the game to run in windowed mode. For Sims 2, you can do that through Sims2RPCSettings, or by adding “-w” to your shortcut target if you don’t have RPC. For Sims 3, you can use the in-game options.

Once running in windowed mode, set the game to run in a resolution lower than your native screen resolution, such as 1080p if you have a 1440p or 4k screen, or 720p if you have a 1080p screen.

Install and open Magpie. Once it's running, press Windows+Shift+A while clicked inside of the game window. If everything worked, it should upscale to borderless and fill the screen!

You can configure your scaling settings through the sidebar in the Magpie app if you want to try out the different filter options.

Download Magpie here: Github

Well. Yes and no? The only reason I can get a bigger apartment is that I live in public housing so my rent is income based and won't go up. Right now I'm in a modified 1 bedroom which is just a glorified studio apartment that had a wall added to make a bedroom. The apartment we'll be moving to is a true 1 bedroom and is a lot bigger - my mom lived in one, it's a corner apartment and they don't come up for rent all that often. My current apartment is cute and cozy but was never meant to be a permanent move, it was better than being homeless.

There's still a bunch more bullshit that I'm trying to work out and/or deal with.. which, along with not being able to see worth a damn, is why I haven't been posting much anywhere. I'm hoping that this move happens soon because I feel that once I can spread out and be more comfortable in my own home everything else will start to fall into place.

♥

Look!! OMG, if only! We're going to be getting a bigger apartment soon (!!!!) and I know just where id hang it!

Oh, and HI!!! I'm still here hanging around - just haven't been doing too much of anything. Hope everyone is doing well. 🐇 Hoppy Easter 🐇

Hit a bit of a snag in my "paying things off" plan.

So I'm wondering if anyone could possibly help. I've got the rest of what I need for the bill but we also need 6 Sheba cat foods (to last until the first) and i need to put 10 on my transit card for an appointment next week.

If not, I will definitely use what I have for that stuff, it's more important.

No longer needed. Boop's food ordered, transit card ready. THANK YOU! <3

Not that anyone asked, but I want to share this message (and my reply) since it kind of explains my last post a bit more.

Like I said in my reply to that message, I'm going to work on paying off what I owe Xfinity and get the internet back. The good thing about it being Xfinity is that I qualify for their Internet Essentials so the bill is only 9.95 a month. I owed 70 and have a bit over half of that so far so I'll get that back sooner than later. (Using my phone's hot spot isn't a permanent solution, lol.)

That said - I don't think I'll be back to creating for TS2 any time soon. I really, really want to - it's just too hard. I literally have to be within a few inches of ANY screen to be able to see even if the ability to zoom in is there. I get massive headaches in any case, especially with a white background.

If it's something super simple, maybe - but I can't see me doing anything from scratch right now. So, instead of goodbye, until I can get my cataracts taken care of, consider this a haitus.

The time has come for all MLCs to say farewell. When I got Boop I promised his foster/rescuer that I'd make it work and I have - at the cost of a few cancelled streaming services (no big loss) and the internet and that has been cut off (haven't paid that since we got him). Add to that the fact that since Amazon changed which receipts they accept for their Shoppers Panel, I'll have a hard time making that whopping $10 a month. So every extra penny I'll ever get will be going towards my Boop. Love yas but sometimes it's time to know when to bow out gracefully. Or in my case, semi-gracefully. (Ok, less than that, stumbling out the door is more like it. Haha.)

Note: I'll still have my phone at least. And no, I don't regret getting Boop. I love him, he loves me and he's been so good for my mental health. He's worth it.

I realized it's been a bit since I posted a Boop update.

As you can see, he's gotten a lot goofier. Yes, he really thinks he's hiding, lol. I love this cat.

Goth Bed Default @ GOS

Uses HugeLunatic's edit AND an edit of her single version is included.

RIP Rebecah

In case anybody missed it, Beck has passed away.

She will be missed.

Don't let all this pretty sunshine fool you. It's a balmy -10°F out today. And to make that even more enticing? It "feels like" -32°F.

Last week we were all running around in the rain with hoodies on.

Winter in Illinois for all the lols.

New fences and gates! :D There are 2 types of fences - one with a floor edge hider, the other without - both come in 12 colors, and 2 gates - a 1 tile gate and a 2 tile gate with 11 wood recolors and 5 metal recolors (all shown EXCEPT the invisible metal recolor, for obvious reasons, lol). The 2 tile gate is repositoried to the 1 tile gate and they both have 2 subsets.

To note: the gates have the usual in game wonkiness: they're darker on one side and depending on which way they're facing, there may be a bit of glitchy wonkiness when scrolling around that has nothing to do with the actual mesh. (I checked and tested, then checked and tested again!)

If you want all 24 fences in game at once, they all have different GUIDs so you can. The fences with the floor edge look odd when used on the ground - that's why there are 2 versions. Both gates will work with both fence versions.

DOWNLOAD (SFS)

These match the Simple Fences, Holy Simoly Victorian Porch Add-Ons and Numenor Wooden Stair recolors I made in the past.

Did I really need any more fences? Yes, yes I did. Although I could've sworn one like this already existed somewhere. Oh well, this way I know for sure they match most of the other fences/fence bits/stairs I've made in the past. :D

Happy Holidays!! It took me a bit longer than I planned but here I am. After doing hood deco for Halloween, I wanted to do some for Christmas. I took 7 of my own meshes from here and here and made 2 versions of each. There are slight differences in each version, bigger or smaller and different textures. If there are any you don't want - just toss them! All can be found in Misc and all can be placed freely - the last 3 screenshots they're placed on a lot.

DOWNLOAD (SFS)

Done! Whatcha all waiting for?? :D

Holiday Love Meme 2023

The sims community Holiday Love Meme is back for another year! Please join us and sign up, spread the word, and spread the love to your fellow simmers. ♥ Let your friends and followers know you’ve signed up so they can send love and join in, too. This is especially true for any ts3 and ts4 simmers that join in (all are welcome!), as this meme tends to be primarily in the ts2 community–it started there on LiveJournal in 2009 (that's 14 years of holiday love)!

Thank you so much to ch4rmsing for offering to create this lovely banner for us. :)

Can you repo neighborhood deco to a mesh from build/buy mode? I thought I saw a tutorial once. OR was it to repo neighborhood deco to another neighborhood deco mesh?

And what about recolors. Those would still have to be separate clones?

Hey all, just a couple things. First is: I've been trying to work on some new stuff but to be honest, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to finish any of it. My vision is steadily getting worse, some days are worse than others but every day is just a big, blurry mess unless something is 6 inches from my nose no matter what. In a little less than 2 months I should be seeing clearly again and I'm so excited about that it's not funny.

The other thing is this: Wishlist - no expectations. We have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies and the bills are paid and that's honestly all ever want.