Yeah, I especially like the June pictures. Apparently it's the month of love - summer love, bridal love, vampire love, lesbian love...

Indeed. I don't even care if I don't win anything anymore. I'm just curious to see the results when they arrive.

I can't wait until they announce the winners! The suspense is killing me

When do we get to know who won? I can't wait to see aaah :D

Well, we normally don't announce until everything is ready. So we have to judge 3 contests, make 3 calendars, plus the achievements stickers. Normal time frame is to announce New Year's/Eve.

I want to have my uhm, suspicions confirmed. Did I win, yes or "we're awfully sorry"?

Thanks. That gives me a timetable for when to check back.

So...far...away...until the winners are announced. Lol

Now I have another good reason to long for New year's eve! Good luck everyone, there are some really good pictures - must be hard to be in the jury!

:lovestruc :lovestruc I Loved All Of The Pics Its Going To Be Hard For Them To Judge!

They seem to do it with my usual family too, involving a polygamous Queen of Hell. Probably disagrees with polygamy and the fact she rules Hell.

Some people are just bitter. If this were my forum, I'd have banned them a long time ago. Only fun-loving people are welcome!

Funny, I'd just realize this contest, haha.
Supposed its already in progress of judging right?
If its not, I'd really happy to enter. =)

Contest ended on Nov 30th. So they're probably already judging and/or putting the calendar together.

There will most likely be another one in a year. (It has begun to be an MTS tradition, after all.) You could start thinking about your entry(s) for it now.

(Just don't make the entry unless you're prepared to discover that there's been a rule change when the new one is announced.)

I should hope next year's calendar challenge allows for some Photoshop (within reason). I would LOVE to do a September calendar image depicting the Second Battle of Dephinapolis from Sodality: Vindication. It'd be a lot like the Battle of Sokovia from Age of Ultron, and to depict either in Sims 3 would be intense.

Even if I had to scale back and settle for a December image depicting the fight between the Gray Champion and Blackett from Shaken Dust for the fate of Jonseboro, that would still be intense. However, Gray just doesn't look right without some post-processing done to his mask. And I picture the Battle of Jonesboro looking like a scene from Thor: The Dark World, so I'd love to get that cinematic lighting if the contest rules are changed to allow it.

If that's still too effects-heavy, I could do Navyrope and Tiffany's escape through the caves at the end of Navyrope 2 and make it a November image.

If the contest is for determining the 2017 calendar, then I should probably scale way back and do a scene from Pilltar 2, which takes place in 2017.

I could do some banter between Seth and Stephanie regarding her in-court outburst of "Actually, I'm the Strawberry!" That scene of the two discussing her backfired attempt to protect her boss in court from a lawsuit - and the resulting contempt charge on her - would lead to them sharing a moment of friendly banter as he's visiting her while she's in a jail somewhere. I could probably render the inside of a jail in Sims 3 with no special effects, as I've built a lot of jail sets for Camelorum Adventures and the aesthetic is easy to reproduce. But I'd want to research Des Moines to make Stephanie's being there look believable (though most viewers who don't live in Des Moines probably wouldn't care if I fudged it.)

However, this is all probably a pipe dream.

I guess the reason why they don't allow using Photoshop is that they want it to be fair
for all who want to take part and send in their screenshots. I know a lot of people who have
no idea of how to use PS, Gimp or similar programs. So they don't have a chance to make
any changes on their screenshots. Someone who is used to work with Photoshop or similar
could make minor changes, add or delete things and so on and that would be unfair.
Even the use of a filter can change a screenshot completely. So it is the best if they do not
allow any manipulation to keep it fair for everyone. But that's just my opinion.

Isn't that part of the challenge? I don't think it's at all weird to say it shouldn't be my problem when someone else doesn't know the tools they're working with. It's either all out for me, or not participating at all. I'm sure I could've done a lot more with my screenshot if we were allowed to do any kind of editing.

The reason Photoshop is not allowed is because it's a game contest, not an editing contest. I'm sure a lot of people could put out some gorgeous pictures if some of the sims stuff I see on Tumblr is anything to go by but we want raw material stuff that truly depicts the game.

Winners are Announced!!!

I work with Photoshop for about 20 years now and surely could do a lot of editing on a screenshot.
But that is not the point of this contest. Like Heaven said, it is about Screenshots and not about edited pictures.
So everyone can take part, everyone gets the same chance and that is fair for everyone.
I have no problem with not using any editing program here. If I don't win, someone else just had a screenshot
that looked better than mine. But it wasn't because he or she had better editing skills....

I don't care so much about not allowing photoshop, or GIMP etc.. But.. Just one thing, if we're going by what's "fair" to everyone, and doing things "raw", and vanilla, that doesn't quite go, cause for one, NOT everyone knows how to use mods. Not everyone knows how to use the pose player, people who know, have automatic advantage.

I for one, didn't know how to use mods for the longest time, (and still don't know how to use some of them) that aside, poses themselves are quite a bit of editing, and altering of basic Sim movements and interactions, and really any kind of mod in general could probably do the same bit of editing a photo program could do, since there are mods that can change the sky and water etc... It almost really ads up to the same thing.

By that token, should we just allow base game only? Because, you know, not everyone has the same expansion packs?

We don't allow editing because, as I said, we want it to be about the game. Not necessarily vanilla since CC is allowed, as are mods. You're not required to use them and it doesn't make photos any better. In fact, there are probably at least a couple winning images that were "vanilla". Poses don't alter the game anymore than animations. That's all poses are - single frame animations (some are even specifically from certain game animations). If anyone has an "advantage", it's likely the people who have spent hours and years learning how to take good screenshots. They know what angles look better or how to frame a picture or even what animation they may need to portray a certain action.

"By that token, should we just allow base game only? Because, you know, not everyone has the same expansion packs? "

That's not at all my suggestion, but on the basis of what's considered "fair", wouldn't that be the only action to take? I'd think so.

Poses do give the pictures more character, and even set the overall mood of a picture, I'd say they enhance quite a bit. Some poses are from the game, but many are made from magazines and photos of actors, or models. And no, poses aren't required, but pretty much all who entered used them anyway, cause they add more artistic touches.

I do understand not wanting someone to cut and paste their sims to a Star Wars poster in Photoshop or something. I understand wanting it to be about the game (though I don't think a few lighting enhancements in Photoshop would hurt anything).

My only point was the claim about "fairness", in terms of who has more advantage (for the most part) in knowing how to use mods, and who doesn't, is the same as claiming those who know photoshop have an unfair advantage, over those who don't.

1. The mods and CC that some contestants may use are Sims game-centric mods. That is, they are created for the SIMS games. Photoshop is not.
These contests are about the Sims game and/or images from the Sims game - something we have screencaptured from our open Sims games.

Photoshop is not a mod (let alone a Sims mod). It is software that you are suggesting we should be allowed to use AFTER the fact.

2. Knowing how to use game cheats and mods is a skill that can be learned, like painting or quilting.
Would you claim that your Great-Aunt Mabel has an unfair advantage in a local quilting contest just because she's been quilting for 40 years?

These contests at MTS provide fun for the participants and the viewers, but they also spark people to learn.
Someone sees a winning image one year, and learning that the winner used buydebug lighting or Pose Player, they might be
more inclined to try those out. Sometimes seeing the results of a mod in use is enough to give someone the motivation
to download that mod and try it out in their own game.



p.s. You might have noticed the name of this site: MOD the Sims?