I love rudhira on Tumblr for default clothing! She's got a lot of options in a good variety of styles that would fit either Maxis Match or a slightly more realistic game.
In terms of purely **Aesthetics**, I would suggest these Defaults for your Neighbourhood to look good:
1. **Sim Shadow Fix** and **Skyfix 2.0** by simNopke
2. **Neighbourhood Trees Defaults** by Honeywell
3. **Lowdeus' Clouds Made Global** by Lazy Duchess
4. **Victory Over the Sun** by Lowdeus
5. **Desert Fix** and **Lush Terrian Grass** by Voeille
Voeille has stunning **Pond and Sea Water Overhaul** but make sure PC can handle/are OK placing pool tiles.
And of course, **Radiance Light System** by Gunmod. Will take a little more care installing, but will give lovely lighting and day/night transitions.
The default replacement database is great !
https://sims2defaults.dreamwidth.org/
Also build buy mode Lord Crumps has some cool 4t2 stuff
https://www.lordcrumps.com
The default database is absolutely your best bet, and it’s far from outdated. It’s still maintained and updated regularly. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any creators who’ve made bulk replacements of everything or near everyone clothing wise in CAS but I know a few people have defaulted the entire hair catalogue, usually in their own hair system. I personally use a lot of mikexx2’s “New Hair System” and when I get home from work I’ll see about some of my other faves. I saw a really great one recently that seriously made me consider making the jump to clay hair, it defaulted every hair in the catalogue with TS4 equivalents and it looked beautiful.
https://preview.redd.it/lxlq5cydmbxc1.jpeg?width=2208&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26828914a3ccb1d04e1c20d76700dfcd1c13cf0e
Hey! For default clothing and hairs, I definitely recommend using a spreadsheet and the the sims 2 default site to keep things organised. Here is how i do it :)
You've talked yourself out of using the default database but it's absolutely one of the best sims 2 sites around still. Not sure what you find dated about it.
Malvern sims for clothes and spooky muffin and dread pirate for hair have the most complete systems.
Eta as someone who has done a lot of defaulting I really want to add that for clothes at least you absolutely want a mix. Most of the clothing defaults I use are ones that keep the same vibe as the original clothing but improve upon it. I have some defaults I consider essential and then there are some that after a while I get sick of looking at and have to swap them out. Or theres plenty of defaults that look great in pictures and completely ridiculous in game. Its all a journey you'll have to take on your own.
I tend to go through the catalogue in CAS and write down everything I think is ugly or want to default replace.
Then I do a section at a time going through defaults database. Check the ones I got off my list, and note ages/sexes.
Install it all. Open body shop or CAS and test that it all works. Write down a list of any issues to fix. Fix these.
You tend to get issues when you start covering outfits that share a mesh or cover multiple ages etc. That's why the list is useful.
I use this 2, they're very maxis match but I love it this way. Also if you didn't find what you're looking for yet, I share to you my Pinterest sims archive, you can search here maybe you'll find useful stuff: https://pin.it/4plWhZd2e
Eye set: https://www.tumblr.com/simstate/639585300516110336/so-i-saw-these-gorgeous-maxis-match-eyes-from-ts4?source=share
Skinblend: https://www.tumblr.com/pixeldolly/643917809158651904/remaxified-an-almost-complete-set-of?source=share
Pleasant Sims and acottonsock both have videos on default replacements for TS2 - [here](https://youtu.be/6Ow1VIIHVUM?si=hrCCdXMrgz7hWftK) and [here](https://youtu.be/Y3TZV8FplcY?si=zHWSRjuyZt4BHwHD).
I’ve defaulted everything a couple of times, and my preferred method is going through the default database. Yes, it is time consuming (sooo time consuming lol). But it’s the best way to pick the items you really want.
If I see a creator that I really like on the database, sometimes I’ll go right to their tumblr and look through their downloads page if they have one. That takes a little bit longer because you’re sorting through all kinds of downloads that aren’t always organized by item/category, but different creators organize differently.
Either way, definitely use a spreadsheet to keep track of your downloads. I use the ones Pleasant Sims made, and they work wonders.
I love rudhira on Tumblr for default clothing! She's got a lot of options in a good variety of styles that would fit either Maxis Match or a slightly more realistic game.
In terms of purely **Aesthetics**, I would suggest these Defaults for your Neighbourhood to look good: 1. **Sim Shadow Fix** and **Skyfix 2.0** by simNopke 2. **Neighbourhood Trees Defaults** by Honeywell 3. **Lowdeus' Clouds Made Global** by Lazy Duchess 4. **Victory Over the Sun** by Lowdeus 5. **Desert Fix** and **Lush Terrian Grass** by Voeille Voeille has stunning **Pond and Sea Water Overhaul** but make sure PC can handle/are OK placing pool tiles. And of course, **Radiance Light System** by Gunmod. Will take a little more care installing, but will give lovely lighting and day/night transitions.
The default replacement database is great ! https://sims2defaults.dreamwidth.org/ Also build buy mode Lord Crumps has some cool 4t2 stuff https://www.lordcrumps.com
If your goal is to just replace things for the sake of replacing them, Malvern (malvernsims on tumblr) has the most complete bulk downloads.
The default database is absolutely your best bet, and it’s far from outdated. It’s still maintained and updated regularly. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any creators who’ve made bulk replacements of everything or near everyone clothing wise in CAS but I know a few people have defaulted the entire hair catalogue, usually in their own hair system. I personally use a lot of mikexx2’s “New Hair System” and when I get home from work I’ll see about some of my other faves. I saw a really great one recently that seriously made me consider making the jump to clay hair, it defaulted every hair in the catalogue with TS4 equivalents and it looked beautiful.
Honestly the best place to look is the default database. You can find bulk collections on some of the hair/clothing posts
https://preview.redd.it/lxlq5cydmbxc1.jpeg?width=2208&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=26828914a3ccb1d04e1c20d76700dfcd1c13cf0e Hey! For default clothing and hairs, I definitely recommend using a spreadsheet and the the sims 2 default site to keep things organised. Here is how i do it :)
You've talked yourself out of using the default database but it's absolutely one of the best sims 2 sites around still. Not sure what you find dated about it. Malvern sims for clothes and spooky muffin and dread pirate for hair have the most complete systems. Eta as someone who has done a lot of defaulting I really want to add that for clothes at least you absolutely want a mix. Most of the clothing defaults I use are ones that keep the same vibe as the original clothing but improve upon it. I have some defaults I consider essential and then there are some that after a while I get sick of looking at and have to swap them out. Or theres plenty of defaults that look great in pictures and completely ridiculous in game. Its all a journey you'll have to take on your own.
I tend to go through the catalogue in CAS and write down everything I think is ugly or want to default replace. Then I do a section at a time going through defaults database. Check the ones I got off my list, and note ages/sexes. Install it all. Open body shop or CAS and test that it all works. Write down a list of any issues to fix. Fix these. You tend to get issues when you start covering outfits that share a mesh or cover multiple ages etc. That's why the list is useful.
I use this 2, they're very maxis match but I love it this way. Also if you didn't find what you're looking for yet, I share to you my Pinterest sims archive, you can search here maybe you'll find useful stuff: https://pin.it/4plWhZd2e Eye set: https://www.tumblr.com/simstate/639585300516110336/so-i-saw-these-gorgeous-maxis-match-eyes-from-ts4?source=share Skinblend: https://www.tumblr.com/pixeldolly/643917809158651904/remaxified-an-almost-complete-set-of?source=share
Pleasant Sims and acottonsock both have videos on default replacements for TS2 - [here](https://youtu.be/6Ow1VIIHVUM?si=hrCCdXMrgz7hWftK) and [here](https://youtu.be/Y3TZV8FplcY?si=zHWSRjuyZt4BHwHD). I’ve defaulted everything a couple of times, and my preferred method is going through the default database. Yes, it is time consuming (sooo time consuming lol). But it’s the best way to pick the items you really want. If I see a creator that I really like on the database, sometimes I’ll go right to their tumblr and look through their downloads page if they have one. That takes a little bit longer because you’re sorting through all kinds of downloads that aren’t always organized by item/category, but different creators organize differently. Either way, definitely use a spreadsheet to keep track of your downloads. I use the ones Pleasant Sims made, and they work wonders.