Tapped Out on Christmas: What to Tap Now? 2D/3D Part 1

Hey Howdy Hey Tappers!

Back with another edition of Tapped Out on Christmas!  I’ve been noticing more and more in the comments many tappers asking what’s next?  You’ve completed the Gift Card prizes (although if you haven’t…don’t panic you still have plenty of time…until next Tuesday (the 14th) to be exact), won all of the wheel prizes (again if you haven’t don’t panic…or feel one of the F words…you still have plenty of time) and you have no clue what to do until the next update.

And now we’ve gotten word that the Christmas Event has been EXTENDED another week!  What’s an Addicted Tapper to do?

Should you still be tapping Neighbor-eeno’s houses with Gift Cards?  Should you still be dropping gift bags?  Should you still be tapping your own presents?  Well over the next couple of days we’re going to take a look at things you can do to prevent yourself from becoming Tapped Out on Christmas and still keep your head in the game.

Today’s tip?  Trying your hand at 2D & 3D Creations!

Have you been looking for ways to “spruce up” your Springfield with out redesigning your whole town?  Why not get creative and try your hand at 2D and 3D creations?  When you open up your town to 2D and 3D you enter a whole new world of TSTO Creativity!  And what better time to try it out and experiment than the Christmas Event lull?

First up…2D!  Bunny and Wookiee have had you covered in the 2D how-to since the start of Addicts and you can check out some of the finer 2D basics and techniques in their 2D tutorials.  In the meantime here’s a quick recap of some of the 2D basics:

(From Bunny’s 2D 101 Post)
Make a name:
Let’s try Ann. Now the green ground of the game has a great built in grid system. This will help you keep items aligned with each other. You can even use a couple spare fences to create a line across the bottom if you’d like. Yes, this seems like grade school, but it’s nice to start at the beginning. Start with the A. Place just enough small hedges to the peak to leave room a few blocks down to cross it and enough spacing to bottom. You will notice in the first picture, due to the natural 45 degree angle in the game, the A looks a little odd. You will run into this from time to time. No worries. A simple fix is move in the bottom few to a more straight up and down instead of angle. It still looks like an A.

Next the Ns. Now this is where you can decide upper or lower case. Either will work. For this, I will use lower case. Again starting at bottom. For a curve look, place one hedge slighty out of place, then continue up a row, over a few, slightly out again, then down. Repeat for second N. You can flip the hedges one way or another to make the connection between hedges change/look different. Do whatever you like.

Now you have made a simple name. Practice a few more if you’d like. You can try any name you’d like. Or try the alphabet. Get the feel for what it takes to make each letter into a design you like.

Make a Shape:
Now for a basic design with shape. Let’s try a smiley face. Again using the small hedge. Start with the face. To make it look in proportion, I like to use similar numbers. Like 6 up, 6 up diagonally, 6 across, 6 diagonally down…etc.You will notice that objects at one diagonal do not look the same at another. Don’t worry about it for now. Just get the feel for making a shape. Again using the built in grid in the game to help. Now for the eyes. If you have any garbage propane tanks, they work great. If not, use small hedges. I will show both. Find the center using the grid and place a start to an eye. Make a small oval shape. Next the nose. Now mouth.There you have a simple face. Add to it or change it any way that suits you.

Just For Fun:
Let’s try one more basic design. This goes back to the old 8 bit games. Space invaders. For this I will be using the square & rectangular hedges. Just for reference, I like to use a picture of an item to have something I can visually compare to. We will follow the same basic principles of the shape. Start with a main focal area, in this case the “eyes”, then add the “nose”, then “mouth”, then “arms and hands”, and finish it off with the “ears”.

Looking for some holiday/winter 2D inspiration?  Check out some of these 2D submissions from our Christmas Contest:

(From top left to right: Submissions from Benpope, Homer’sRevenge, Joooodah & Laura Mac)

I’ll be back tomorrow with Part 2 of Tapped Out on Christmas 2D/3D, where I’ll cover…you guessed it 3D!  In the meantime what are some ways you’ve been keeping from getting Tapped Out on Christmas?  Have you done any 2D Creations in your Springfield?  Shout out and share in the comments below!  We can’t wait to hear from you!

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All Screen Shots of Game Graphics & Dialogue and Game Graphics from files ™ and © EA, Gracie Films and FOX