First of all we have MaxoidDrea who talked a little bit about the monthly community showcases last month. She says there are no real rules as to which creations get picked - just that they're for fun and bring quality items to the Exchange. Items without original custom content also get uploaded for the showcases, nevertheless MaxoidDrea gives a shout out to all the custom content creators for being understanding if it was used in a showcase submission.

Next is senior producer Sam Player (MaxoidSam). In one of his informative posts last month he explains how to submit bugs to Maxis. Many problems with the Sims 2 are being reported on the BBS, and although Maxoids do read the boards it's hard to find out about bugs through that form. Sam explains how to fill out the QA Form to give the best details to Maxis. Include as many details as possible that can help Maxis identify, reproduce and defeat any bugs in the games. There's also a new e-mail address to which you can submit exactly the same information: Sims2TechHelp@ea.com. Remember that you're unlikely to receive a reply from the Maxoids. Read Sam's February blog for precise details on what to submit.

The same man has posted about glitches and non-glitches in Seasons, quickly after the release. Many things encountered in the Seasons expansion pack may seem to be glitches, but are not. That includes incorrect weather forecasts, invisible fish, two winters in one year (Riverblossom Hills), missing X-Ray cursors, no footprints from cats, bugs even with a ladybug house, temperature changes to Sims not being instant, downloads disappearing, frozen ponds, the inability to have a snowball fight even if snow is falling, no snow during winter, Sims looking normal despite being cold, and sprinklers that don't seem to be working. Some of these have to do with the graphics card not being able to show all effects, others are by design. There are also some glitches: babies won't stop crying, and the maid won't stop cleaning the fish tank. All the non-glitches and glitches are explained in detail in Sam's March blog.

Next up is MaxoidMoonBelly, who as you may expect has made some new downloads for the latest expansion pack. Prior to the release of Seasons she made a post, in which she says it's the best expansion yet - in her opinion. She mentions the new wardrobe options, but she's also interested in the new movies that spring from the new pack. She also says her guestbook is turned off until she's able to catch up with it. In a later post, at the release date of Seasons, MoonBelly told about some downloads she created. The pack contains no new swimming suits, despite there being summer, as the team focussed on the outerwear section completely. MaxoidMoonBelly hopes to make some new ones soon, but for now a dress that comes with Seasons has been recoloured in three different colours. You can find them between her Sims. Besides that there are four new lots using the new walls from the latest expansion (many made by the same person), as well as a few additional exterior walls. She tells how it was a little tricky to incorporate the glass walling in two of the houses, as the roof didn't connect properly, but a workaround exists: place down regular walls and finish the house has normal, then finally replace the walls with the glass ones where you want to. The problem is basically that the glass walls are meant for greenhouses and not really for houses - but that's something that you can obviously totally ignore if you like. For more details read MoonBelly's February blog.

Finally there are two posts by MaxoidMel, who is now working in the Audio department of the Sims Division. At the first of this month she made a quick post about how she's getting the hang of placing sounds in the game. She doesn't have much more to tell, but you can check out her full message in her February blog - for some reason her message is shown in the wrong month. Later she talks about a BBS thread about the fans' favourite music in the game, as well as wish lists for future expansion pack music. She also mentions the sheet music from Seasons briefly. Her March blog holds all the details. That's the round-up for now, we'll have a new round of blog updates again in the future.

Written at 22:08 on Saturday, 24 March 2007 by ChEeTaH.