This is the Official Chatter Thread for the "Official S2C Start-To-Finish Contest". Please ask all questions pertaining to the contest or random chatter here. All other questions and comments made in the actual contest thread will be deleted. PLEASE read through the contest rules and information carefully before asking questions.

*** NOTE: The only non-Maxis custom content that is allowed is listed explicitly in the "Allowed" list under the contest rules. Asking over and over again to allow some other custom content won't make us add it to the list of approved content, so please don't ask. The idea to limit custom content was simply a way to add another dimension of challenge to this contest.

When does it start, and when does it end. I would like to try this contest, but I will be gone part of December for Christmas with my relatives.

Oh yay, a contest I can actually join, whoot! Sorry, excited... Anyway:
You said in the main thread that S2C staff would be judging. May I ask which ones? Or is it everyone? Or what? Thank you!

Do we get a star? And with the story-telling side of it, what type of story-telling is needed? I really cannot write a story to save my life, and I really want to enter, but if it is Creative, like detailed and lengthy, I am going to have to sit it out.

Game Shark...


In short, it starts now and will end in about a month give or take a few days. It really depends on how many contestants apply, which directly relates to how long rounds are kept open and how long they will take to judge.

FurryPanda...
Not all our staff members will be judging, but I will be. We usually dont list judges for official contests, but if the judges want to share whether or not they will be judging, thats up to them

mumof5ferals...
If you win, you get a star. The story-telling portion (as well as the other portions of the contest) will be detailed much more when the round actually comes up. But creativity will be a big part of it; it won't need to be very lengthy though. Plus the judges don't want to read something that makes no sense, right? Just enter for the fun of it... maybe it will help you expand your horizons with storytelling!

Sounds great bP, and I will definitely be joining this, but I of course have a million and one questions, for which I apologize in advance.

I see that custom content is limited to Maxis meshes, and have a couple questions. First, does that include the "Lost and Found" items available on MTS2? Also, I'm not really familiar with the Maxis Match items, but I heard mention of them during a Maxis decorating contest...would those be allowed as well, or not?

Also, it says minimal photoshop is okay, such as lens flare, borders, small text, etc. So obviously our pics will need to be in-game as far as background and poses go. Will sharpening and/or softening be allowed?

Now onto application questions...is it okay if the house and family featured in our apps, uses custom content that is not allowed during the actual rounds? I don't think I have a single family without custom hair and custom makeup that I could get some quick pictures of, so I'm just wondering if I need to make a new family now specifically for the apps. Also, will the apps be judged and scored?

Thanks!

alexisaiger...
"Maxis Lost-And-Found" items are allowed, but "Maxis Match" items are not. Yes, any minimal photoshopping is allowed (which of course excludes Sim-pose, Simmerizing, etc), and all pictures need to be in-game. The application pictures are just pictures of a house and family you have in-game right now, so they can have custom content galore. It's the actual ROUNDS that need to follow the custom content restrictions listed on the contest thread. Applications will not be judged or scored.

Ouch on that one... would it be permissible to ask you or anyone else to specifically critique an app?

FurryPanda...
It wouldn't be prudent to ask a judge (because no one will be getting a score), but you could feel free to ask a member to critique your application. The application pictures aren't meant to be a part of the contest really. As stated in the contest thread: "The Application Round will be quite easy and mainly serve as an indication to who is deciding on entering this contest." So it's supposed to be easy and just warm the contestants up - as well as give me an idea of who to list on the contestant roster.

Items spawned via the testingcheatsenabled cheat would be fair game since they are Maxis objects correct? And the same with preorder gifts and downloads from the official site? What about the life stories stuff, ok or taboo?

This sounds like fun I like the progression in the rounds and the connection. I'm really interested in this ^_^

ETA: There were also objects on the German and South African official sites, I believe. Are those ok too or is that getting to be too much?

Okay, I have a question. When it asks what our favorite house/family is, does that mean Maxis house/family, or just a house/family we have in our game?

brilliantcat...
All the items you asked about (testingcheats objects, pre-order gifts, official site downloads and Life Stories objects) are allowed.

annachibi...
It can be any family/house (Maxis or otherwise) you want. Any size, any species, anything. Go nuts!

I have a question about apps.


There are a lot of questions about the pre-made hoods in the applications.

Well I can make up some answers of course, but I would love to know if they have any influence on the rest of the contests..

.. because, I have never ever played with a pre-made maxis Sim or Neighbourhoods which have pre-made characters in it.

I don't even have the pre-made hoods installed. That was the first thing I deleted when installing the game.

Will that be a problem?

appelsapgodin...
You can make up answers if you want. Of course, we would prefer you didn't, but the application information does not play into the rest of the contest whatsoever. They are just fun questions we would like to read everyone's responses to. If you dont have pre-made hoods or whatever, just write N/A for that question.

La-di-da, I am in the contest! Good to see you joined, too, SilentPsycho! You always do wonderful stories, so I must work extra hard to kick your butt.

The applications look great so far everyone! I have updated the contestant list to this point in time. If you name isn't on the list or if there is a broken link or something, please let me know and I will fix it asap.

:D

You can try, although you may find that my butt is harder to kick than you think. Happy contesting everyone.

Looks like an excellent contest! I'll have fun watching it. I was considering joining, myself, but I don't take defeat very well. :P

Aww, Purplepaws, enter! Its just for fun. Maybe it will help you for future contests

It does look like a great contest, and hopefully I'll be able to enter a future cycle. My workload is just a little much right now, and I'll be away for much of the winter holidays.

Well, I'll think about it. I definitely like the fact that there are no eliminations. But only Maxis meshes... hmm... That makes it a little tougher.

I do like the nature of this contest, though. It seems a lot like the game "Cranium" in that it touches on so many different aspects. I often think I'm a little too well-rounded and not specialized enough for my own good, but here it might prove to my advantage.

I can donate a sim and an outfit if I can around to it and find some free time =]

Great to know, Connectzeedots. Please PM me for more information about prize donating if you decide to do so

I have never entered a contest before and although i think this would be a good one to start with i have no idea how to get pics from my game and put them into contest. might just watch and enjoy this one.

Two words carolobrien: Print Screen (or Print Scr)