I really don’t update these things enough, so I thought I’d try to let you guys know what was up today while it was on my mind.
I’m happy to say that I’m back to filming, now that my unexpected guest has left, and things are progressing quickly. I still won’t give release dates, but I’m sure that The Mansion: Part Four will be out soon.
I was looking around for the single slap mod this morning and realized that a really great Mod creator, Squinge, decided to retire/resign from–I dunno– everything Sims, I guess, a couple of months ago. And he has unfortunately decided to take all of his amazing creations with him. Fortunately, I realized that the mod I was looking for was saved in my downloads folder, and I simply forgot to install it. But it’s too bad that other future directors won’t have the privelege of using his creations in their films.
As someone who retired this time last year, I can completely understand the need to break away from it all. What us creators do in the sims community can be extremely time consuming and honestly taxing. And though it’s a lot of fun, it’s extremely hard to keep up our work consistently without breaks. Otherwise, the burn out comes and we find ourselves stressed out or disinterested in what, for most of us, is a fun hobby. Perhaps this would be different if we got paid to do what we do. But then again, maybe it’s the fact that these aren’t our jobs that keeps us trying our hand at it.
What I do know is that once the fun stops, it’s time for a break. There’s no sense in stressing over angles or codes or textures when you could be at the park with your family or out to dinner with your significant other. When it comes down to it, we are obligated to no one but ourselves…in the sims community, anyway.
My advice to anyone feeling exhausted with Sims 2 creating would be to step away from it for a while and focus on other things. If you decide to come back later, cool. And if not, that’s cool too. But I would give it at least a year before making decisions on removing anything else. You just never know when your muse might strike again.
I found that I deeply regretted removing my films and reviews when I originally walked away and realized that I did not need to disappear completely. Several wonderful directors have come and gone without taking down their work and in that sense, they leave behind a shadow of themselves for others to learn from. They sort of become legends and I’ll admit, I often go back and watch their work when I need a little motivation.
So anyway, I guess all I’m saying is that we all face the decision of how long to stay or when to go. But I think it can be really hard on a person when they can’t look back and admire their own work and accomplishments from time to time. I certainly did.
~Kim
