Counter Productive: “Counter Culture” Add-ons

Posted on 23 Apr 2022 by NixNivis

Category: Counters and counter sides: Surfaces -> Counters; wall cabinets and cabinet sides: Decorative -> Wall or Surfaces -> Shelves
Cost: Counters $200; wall cabinets $100
Poly Count: Low poly to Medium poly
EPs Required: None, base-game compatible

It feels a bit odd to be posting Sim stuff as if all is well in the world when it really isn’t, but these have been finished for quite some time and I really wanted to get them out.

This is my fourth counter completer set (the previous ones can be found here, here and here) – and there’s more to come, too. It wasn’t the plan, but what’s a creator to do when she’s got great downloaders who make great requests? ❤

And before someone from MTS goes "but MaryLou and Numenor!" – yes, I know they made add-ons for the “Counter Culture” counters several years ago, but I wanted them made in my style and with my counter variations. (Also, M&N made theirs in 2006. I know that some people at MTS think that no two creators can ever make similar items ever, but to say that nobody is allowed to touch a Maxis item because someone made add-ons sixteen years ago… honestly, I think that’s a bit over the top even for MTS. But that’s me.)

So have a set with “Counter Culture” completers! 😈

Completers Anonymous: “Chez Moi” Add-ons

Posted on 11 Dec 2021 by NixNivis

Category: Counters and counter sides: Surfaces -> Counters; wall cabinets and cabinet sides: Decorative -> Wall or Surfaces -> Shelves
Cost: Counters $800; wall cabinets $400
Poly Count: Low poly to Medium poly
EPs Required: None, base-game compatible

I wasn’t going to make any more counters. I mean, I’d already made two completer sets (found here and here) and that’s enough counters to last you a lifetime. So no more counters for me. Nope. Never.

But then this nice Tumblr anon asked me if I had any plans to make completers for the BG Chez Moi counter? Anon really liked that counter, you see, and they also liked my other counter completers (insert warm fuzzy feeling here), so they thought they might as well ask.

I wasn’t going to make any more counters. Really. I wasn’t. But the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. The Chez Moi is one of my favourite counters, and anon was being nice about it – and nice will go a very long way with me (especially on Tumblr). So… well… I made some more counters. 😳

Hope you like them, anon!

Completer Completers: MOAR Maxis Counter Add-Ons!

Posted on 16 Oct 2019 by NixNivis

Category: Counters and sides: Surfaces -> Counters; wall cabinets and sides: Decorative -> Wall or Surfaces -> Shelves
Poly Count: Low poly to Medium poly
EPs Required: Varies

I’m still not at my best after Signe, but these have been finished for a very, very long time, so my uploading them is long overdue.

Backstory: Three years ago, in 2016, I made a set of Counter Completers – that is, add-ons for eight of the Maxis counters. It’s been one of my most popular downloads to date. Then, about a year ago (has it really been that long? Yikes!), the wonderful Croiduire very nicely asked me if I might consider making side pieces for the wall cabinets and counters with shelves, so they wouldn’t get eaten by the wall if you put them where two walls met. I thought this was a brilliant idea (much too brilliant for me to have thought of it myself; I’d noticed their being eaten, of course, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out a good way around it), so of course I agreed. And that was all this set was going to be: sides. Quick and easy. Should be done in a day or so. Uh-huh.

But as I was making the sides, I thought I maybe should make a some more wall cabinets as well; just a couple of short ones, for the sake of completion. And maybe a couple of full-length ones, too. And I could make a couple of new counters as well. And maybe polish my old counters some. And… then things went rapidly downhill from there. 😛

So here you have a second set of counter completers – completer completers, if you’d like. 🙂 As the name suggests these are meant to complement my first set, so if you haven’t downloaded it already, I really suggest you go and grab that one, too. (I’ve also updated some of the items in the first set – fixed some shadows and slot positions, and also did some remapping – so even if you have downloaded it before I’d still suggest you pop over there and get the updated set.)

Also, just so there aren’t any concerns or confusion, all of my counters work with drop-in sinks. (Yes, I know some custom counters don’t, but these do and have been thoroughly tested.)

Counter Completers: Add-ons for Eight Maxis Counters

Posted on 11 Apr 2016 by NixNivis

Counter Completers

Category: Counters: Surfaces -> Counters; wall cabinets: Decorative -> Wall or Surfaces -> Shelves
Poly Count: Low poly to Medium poly
EPs Required: Varies

UPDATE 16 OCT 2019

With the release of my second set of counter completers, I’ve taken the opportunity to update several of the items in this set. All of the updates have been added to the main download.

If you’ve downloaded this set before 16 Oct 2019, I recommend you download it anew; just let the files overwrite the ones you’ve already got. (I did contemplate making a separate download with just the updates but eventually decided against it, partly because I don’t trust myself not to miss adding something, partly because I don’t want to confuse people more than necessary. Sorry about any inconvenience this might cause return downloaders in particular!)

The following items have been updated:

Value: Fixed counter shadows so they better match those of the Maxis Value counter, and changed the wall cabinet shadows accordingly. Also remapped the inside of the counters with shelves to the side of the counter, to make it painted instead of plywood (have updated the screenshots to reflect this).

Epikouros: Fixed shadows to match the Maxis ones (haven’t updated the screenshots to reflect this, but you can see the new shadows on the counters from my second set).

Castanoga: Deleted the middle slots on the shelves for the shelves+door and door+shelves wall cabinets (anything you put in those slots would just end up behind the door frame anyway), and also moved the other slots so they’re centred better in relation to the doors.

Blue Ribbon: Removed the inside shadow from the wall cabinets (not sure why I thought it was necessary in the first place). Have not updated the screenshots to reflect this.

Double Wood: Remapped the inside of all wall cabinets with shelves so they’re mapped to the side of the counter instead of to the tiny, dark texture patch Maxis had mapped the inside of the counter to (have updated the screenshots to reflect this).

OMSPs: Fixed the invisible recol so it sticks if you recolour them with the design tool when on an occupied lot. Also added a menu option to make all counter OMSPs visible/invisible simultaneously.

Also, just so there aren’t any concerns or confusion, all of my counters work with drop-in sinks. (Yes, I know some custom counters don’t, but these do and have been thoroughly tested.)

This project is something I’ve been working on on and off for well over a year. It all started when I was furnishing a kitchen for one of my Sims, and thought the K&B Surfaco counter would be great for his style… except the Surfaco is one of those counters who has only one variation, with doors, and that looked a bit boring to me. Too boring.

Around the same time, Kiri over at leefish.nl made some great add-ons for the Value counter, and iCad released a ton of counter recolours at her Tumblr. All together this put me in a counter productive mood (bad pun, go stand in the corner!), and it got me thinking. Maybe I should make some add-on counters for those poor, neglected doors-only ones? Just one or two, for the Surfaco and maybe for the Value counter as well (“the single most useful counter in the repertoire,” in Kiri’s words)?

“Just one or two,” yeah, right. 😛 Somehow, I ended up making add-ons for no less than eight in-game counters: Value, Epikouros, Blue Ribbon, Forbidden Fruit, Castanoga, Surfaco, Neo-Quartzo and Double Wood. And just as I thought I was finished? I realised the walls in my test Sim’s kitchen were looking awfully bare – so I made some wall cabinets as well. (Yes, I know that CTNutmegger at MTS made wall cabinets already back in 2009, and they’re great, but as a matter of personal preference there were details I wanted done differently. Besides, it seemed a bit silly for me to say that “you can have all these new counters, but if you want wall cabinets to go with them you’ll have to get them from a completely different creator at a completely different site”. I’ve sometimes used CTNutmegger’s wall cabinets as inspiration, but I haven’t cloned mine off hers and I have not used her meshes as bases for mine.)