CASTing

Quality Guideline: CASTing

Possible Assessments

Approvable	TS4	TS3	TS2	Title	Description
				CASTing needs work	Some of the patterns or colours used in CASTing are either inappropriate for the lot style and the items they are applied to, or are overwhelmingly busy, "repeaty", or oversaturated.
				CASTing pass	The CASTing looks good overall, without any major issues with the colours or patterns chosen. Well done!

General Guidelines

The Create-a-Style Tool (CAST) is one of TS3's best features! It is a powerful tool that allows near limitless possibilities for styling almost everything in the game. However, with great power comes great responsibility. Make sure your finished CASTing works together with your lot's style, makes some sort of sense, and doesn't require sunglasses to view. Generally this should mean:

Use textures that look appropriate on surfaces. Most houses probably don't need a leopard print toilet or a wicker bathtub, for example. However, some of the EA stone textures look great applied to a couch when the colours are tweaked to look like velvet, so don't feel too constrained by the categories
The colours shouldn't be too bright/saturated, or too dark. Try to avoid using full-saturation colours, and if you're making something black or white, you shouldn't max out the brightness, as this creates strange "black hole" or glowing effects. Instead, use a colour of grey close to the shade you want.
Avoid using very busy patterns in large areas, as they look very "repeaty" and can create an overwhelming effect. Some of the stone patterns can be common culprits. Highly detailed patterns normally look best when confined to small areas, like a lamp, rather than an entire room
Use harmonious colours that work with the lot's style. Look at real-life decorating sites or magazines for inspiration

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Examples

Generally awful

This example shows several issues.

Some of the patterns are inappropriate for the surfaces they're applied to, or excessively busy ("repeaty"), in particular the flame carpet and the skull plaid on the couch
The colours chosen are jarring, don't go well together, and are in some cases a bit too bright or dark
Overall the CASTing lacks any sort of cohesive style

Too bright or dark

Items which are made pure white may "glow" under certain light. Items which are made too dark may appear to be "voids" or "black holes". And items with overly saturated colours can be just plain blinding to look at!

Repeat-y stone

Some patterns just don't look great repeated over large swaths of wall/floor, like this stone.

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