Have you ever dreamed of having one of your Gallery creations be noticed by Maxis? Ever wondered what makes them choose one creation over another? Have you ever been left scratching your head, wondering why on earth that amazing build or creative household you made didn’t get a Maxis fav while another creation that wasn’t as detailed as yours did?
The truth is, The Sims Team has a system in place for selecting which creations become Maxis Curated. There are several things they look for and some rules players have to follow in order for their creations to be considered. All Maxis Curated creations have been downloaded and tested by The Sims Team for any potential issues or problems. They do not exclusively pay attention to established creators; they go out of their way to find new and unknown creators to showcase as well, so everyone really does have an equal opportunity to have their creation become Maxis Curated, no matter how small of a following they have.
So what are the exact requirements? SimGuruIcarus shared a post detailing the whole selection process on the official forums, which we will summarize down below.
Households
- Outfits should be innovative and unique. Pair together varied and interesting pieces.
- Celebrities, public figures, and copyrighted fictional characters will not be considered.
- Backstories for your households are not required, but greatly preferred! The Sims Team loves reading interesting backstories.
- Households with custom content will not be considered.
- Households with custom poses will not be considered unless all Sims and pets are standing and most of the body is visible in the preview image.
Lots & Rooms
- Builds with custom content will not be considered.
- You are allowed to use the moveobjects cheat, but The Sims Team does not test with that cheat. So if your build does not look right in a game that does not have MOO enabled, it will not be considered. Missing and overlapping/flickering objects are a no-no. Be careful when using MOO and make sure your build still looks the way it should without it.
- Sims must be able to use and interact with everything in the build. Clutter is great but make sure it doesn’t impede functionality.
- Sims must be able to access every room/area of the build, including gardens and pools.
- Builds that use custom thumbnails will not be considered. The build must look exactly the same in the Gallery preview as it does in the game.
- Builds that resemble or mention copyrighted content will not be considered. So that great build inspired by your favourite TV show is not eligible for a Maxis fav, unfortunately.
- Items can be resized as long as they do not disappear or flicker when downloaded into someone else’s game.
- Complexity is a factor; preference is given to more detailed builds but that doesn’t mean your simple starter build won’t receive a Maxis fav! They do like simple builds, too.
- The price of a build is not a factor when selecting Maxis Curated builds.
- The Sims Team does not always test builds in the same season they were created or designed for but this does not impact your chances for selection.
General
- All creations must follow the Terms of Service.
- Only original content will be considered. Reuploads of someone else’s content are not eligible to be Maxis Curated. Respect your fellow creators.
- The item name and description should not contain any offensive or inappropriate content or language. Neither should your profile or catalogue.
- The Sims Team loves holiday-themed creations! Don’t hesitate to share your holiday creations around the holidays because The Sims Team curates a lot of holiday stuff around those times.
- The Sims Team does not favour established creators. They look for small creators to showcase as well.
We hope this summary helps you get that coveted Maxis Curated tag on one of your creations someday! Keep creating and having fun!
Thank you to Jade from our Sims Community Facebook group for linking me to the post detailing the selection process!
