🎮 Gamer Goddess Grievances

I've been contemplating getting into game modding but I'm not particularly good with tech and I don't have the patience to learn. Until today, apparently.

I've been playing The Sims for well over a decade but I've recently gotten into using The Sims to illustrate stories. I write a story and then build Sims that look like the characters. I create houses or other types of lots to use as sets and then use custom designed poses or animations to take pictures to illustrate the story.

Since I started, I've been frustrated by the available towns for Sims to live in. Either there aren't enough empty lots or lots of the right type. I need a town has space for a city downtown with high-rise apartments as well as suburban areas. I thought I found a custom world that would work for My purposes, but unfortunately the creator put a lot of odd sized lots in the world and then did something with the routing that makes it impossible to delete the odd size lots and replace them with standard sizes.

So guess who got fed up and started creating Her own custom world? Yep, that would be Me. Too bad the majority of the tutorials for this type of modding don't make any sense. I would give a lot for just one tutorial by a professional writer who knows how to explain things in simple terms without leaving out any steps. That would be great. 🙄

Pardon The Mess

A couple of days ago I decided to overhaul the look of My blog. The previous template was pretty, but it was also old enough that it didn't come with social media integration. Although I was able to get around that by adding widgets to the sidebar, they looked clunky. The menu was also a bit messy and hard to read.

I've tried Wordpress in the past and it has some nice features, but I really don't like the back-end UI. Also, WP is even more prickly about blogs with "adult" content than Google, which is bad enough as it is. Maybe one of these days I'll decide it's worthwhile to shell out for a full website including a Wordpress-based blog, but today is not that day.

To be honest, I shouldn't have to spend anything. Paypigs should be doing that. Make yourself useful and send a tribute. Better yet, adopt My internet bill. We both know your existence is meaningless unless you're working to please your Goddess and make Her life easier. So get to it!

Anyway, I decided it would be easiest to just update the template for this blog. (Okay, you can stop laughing now.)

I set up this blog years ago. YEARS. I forgot how much of a pain in the ass it is unless I want to use the default settings for everything. As if that weren't enough, I'm also working on creating My own heading banner because I don't like any of the pre-made banners I've found. Photoshop, ftw!

So now I get to spend the next eleventy billion hours elbow-deep in code and pixel art. Excuse Me while I go find a container for My joy. #firstworldproblems

I deserve gifts to ease My burden. Send Me something.

Second Life Problems

If you've been reading My blog for more than a minute, you've figured out by now that I'm a big nerd. One of My favorite addictions is Second Life, or SL for short. I've been involved in it for years and addiction really is the best way to describe it. I have to force Myself to take breaks from it or I'll get completely sucked in for days and won't get anything else done.

SL is one of My favorite ways to engage in domination online. Yet another way to make you losers grovel for Me. Although I don't have time to devote to membership in a lifestyle BDSM sim, I often work at adult clubs when I'm on the grid. The nice thing about SL is that, despite being a virtual world, it has a real economy. People can and do make a living from selling items or services and then converting the in-world currency for USD via PayPal.

Playing one of My favorite games while draining your wallet? It doesn't get better than this.

However, a couple of years ago the creators of SL, Linden Labs, released something called "mesh." I'm not technologically inclined, so I can't adequately explain how it works, but it allows designers to create clothing, buildings, and even avatar bodies that have more realistic shapes without the blocky, pixelated look of years past without increasing the load on the servers, which creates lag.

I hate mesh. I mean I really HATE mesh.

The problem with mesh is that it doesn't always fit classic avatar bodies. Either body parts show through clothing or else there are big gaps between the clothing and the avatar. Either way, it looks like crap. Then designers started creating mesh bodies and those were even worse. Thank goodness for free demo versions so I didn't end up wasting money on a product that made My avatar look bloated or like she'd been implanted with too much silicone. Don't even get Me started on how shitty the joining points at neck, wrists, and ankles look or how much of a pain in the ass it is to try to match skin tones if you're wearing hands, feet, head or skin by a designer other than the one that created your body.

Unfortunately, mesh has been a thing for long enough that designers have figured out how to make avatar bodies that look like a normal human instead of a deformed cow. That's nice and all, but it also means that adult clubs won't hire Me unless I have a mesh body. They claim customers prefer it, but I call bullshit. The differences are so minute they're barely noticeable, especially if you're wearing a high quality skin.

But I finally had to bite the bullet and invest in a mesh body if I want to get jobs. I've discovered a whole new set of reasons to hate mesh. Mesh clothes made for classic avatar bodies don't necessarily work with mesh bodies. And what fits one mesh body doesn't fit them all. Even if you buy clothes that are advertised as working with the mesh body you own, that's no guarantee they'll actually fit. None of My favorite clothes fit anymore. So now I have to put together an entirely new wardrobe. Which wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have to spend triple the amount of time doing it.

This is Me giving whoever it was at Linden Labs that thought mesh was a good idea the finger. Fuck you. Die in a fire.

Technologically Declined

My binaural microphone with pop filter

A little over a year ago, I discovered ASMR. Ever since then, I've been researching and learning more about this fascinating phenomenon. I've been wanting to try My hand at making ASMR videos/MP3s but the microphone on My video camera just isn't up to the task of making high-quality sound recordings.

I spent months researching sound equipment to find a binaural microphone with consistently good reviews that didn't come with an outrageous price tag. Professional-grade equipment can run in the thousands of dollars but, even with minions to foot the bill, that's way more juice than I need for My personal projects.

At long last, I found what looked like a reasonable balance, and the mic even came with recording and editing software. Hell, yeah! This should be awesome, right?

Wrong.

Despite the fact that I am an unapologetic Nerd Girl, I am not adept with machines of any kind. Some people are naturally inclined toward picking up new tech and running with it. Not Me. If anything, I am technologically DEclined. I failed to take into account how technical the software user manual would be. It's worse than stereo instructions. So now I have this lovely piece of hardware that I can't figure out how to use.

Fuck. My. Life.

I'm going to have to turn this over to My roommate, the computer guy, and see if he can figure it out well enough to translate for Me. *headdesk*