C.Syde's Recommendations for Maxis Face Template Pairings for Reproduction and Blending

Here is a list of all the Maxis face templates in Create a Sim, including the hidden Archalien template, and a list of all the facial features from other face templates that I would recommend for genetic production, and blending through Body Shop. Note that this page is still under construction and will change over time.

01 Archheart


The Archheart template is one of my top recommendations for creating ordinary looking faces, alongside the Archbase, Archeeng, and Archetge templates. In general it is a pretty good template both for blending and for genetic reproduction. It was my most used template from 2011 to 2013. Some time later I began to use this template less in favour of the Archbase template.
 * Archbase template


 * Archeafr template


 * Archeasi


 * Archeeng

02 Archbase


The Archbase template is self-explanatory. It is the "vanilla" Maxis face template. The template used on Create a Sim and Body Shop thumbnails. It was my second most used template from 2011 to 2013. Some time later as I began to blend face templates together with Body Shop, I found this template compatible with a wider range of templates than Archheart, so it eventually became more used than the Archheart template.


 * Archheart template


 * Archeasi


 * Archeeng template


 * Archcara


 * Archcmed


 * Archeelf template


 * Archetge template

03 Archerus



 * Archeeng


 * Archetge jaw

04 Archemed


The Archemed template isn't one of the Maxis face templates that I was initially fond of, due to the protruding ears. When I got Body Shop, the first thing I did with this template was replace the ears with ones from the Archheart template - or the Archbase template as of more recently. This template has nonetheless had its shining moments in my days of facial customising and blending, particularly with female Sims in 2014 onward.


 * Archeafr


 * Archecer eyebrows and mouth


 * Archeeng template

It isn't very clear what the Archemed and Archcsla templates have in common aside from the protruding ears. But I enjoy blending the ears of the two templates together, and swapping the ears of the templates.
 * Archcsla ears


 * Archetge template

It isn't very clear what the Archemed and Archalien templates have in common, except the protruding ears which are identical on toddlers and male teenagers. I enjoy blending the ears of the two templates together, and swapping the ears of the templates for this reason.
 * Archalien ears

05 Archcban


The Archcban template isn't a template that I would strongly recommend for blending and genetic reproduction. It is also one of the Maxis templates that I remember using the least. Nonetheless there are a couple of templates that blend well with and are great for reproduction with the Archcban template.


 * Archcmas template


 * Archcaus template

06 Archcmas



 * Archcban template


 * Archcino template

07 Archeafr



 * Archheart template


 * Archemed


 * Archeasi

08 Archeasi



 * Archheart


 * Archbase


 * Archeafr


 * Archcino


 * Archeste template


 * Archeelf


 * Archalien template

09 Archcino



 * Archcmas template


 * Archeasi


 * Archcmay template

It isn't very clear what the Archcino and Archcteu templates have in common, though the nose from the Archcino template makes a surprisingly good replacement for the Archcteu nose on female Sims and vice-versa. I enjoy blending the noses of the two templates together, and swapping the noses of the templates for this reason.
 * Archcteu nose


 * Archcpla template

10 Archeste


The Archheste template is one of my top recommendations for creating looking faces, alongside the Archeasi, and to a lesser extent the Archcino, Archcmay, Archecer, Archcpla, Archcpol, and Archalien templates. Other than that, I don't actually remember much instances where I have used this template.


 * Archeasi template


 * Archecer

11 Archcmay



 * Archcino template


 * Archcara

When I was less experienced at distinguishing the individual Maxis face templates, I had a hard time separating the female townies and NPCs that used the Archcmay template from the ones that used the Archcpla template. So what else can I say? These two templates are an excellent match for blending and for genetic reproduction.
 * Archcpla template


 * Archcpol template

12 Archeeas


It isn't very clear what the Archeeas and Archcteu templates have in common, except the mouths which look very similar on adult males. I enjoy blending the mouths of the two templates together, and swapping the mouths of the templates for this reason.
 * Archcteu mouth

13 Archecer



 * Archemed eyebrows and mouth


 * Archeste


 * Archcpla


 * Archeelf template

14 Archcteu


It isn't very clear what the Archcteu and Archcino templates have in common, though the nose from the Archcteu template makes a surprisingly good replacement for the Archcino nose on female Sims and vice-versa. I enjoy blending the noses of the two templates together, and swapping the noses of the templates for this reason.
 * Archcino nose

It isn't very clear what the Archcteu and Archeeas templates have in common, except the mouths which look very similar on adult males. I enjoy blending the mouths of the two templates together, and swapping the mouths of the templates for this reason.
 * Archeeas mouth


 * Archeelf template

15 Archceth



 * Archcind template

16 Archeeng



 * Archheart


 * Archbase template


 * Archerus


 * Archemed template

It isn't very clear what the Archeeng and Archcmed templates have in common, though the eyes do look similar on adult males. I enjoy blending the eyes of the two templates together, and swapping the eyes of the templates for this reason.
 * Archcmed eyes

17 Archcara



 * Archbase


 * Archcmay


 * Archcmed template

18 Archcaus



 * Archcban template


 * Archcpol template

19 Archccel



 * Archcsla template

20 Archcind



 * Archceth template


 * Archcper template

21 Archcper



 * Archcind template

22 Archcmed



 * Archbase

It isn't very clear what the Archcmed and Archeeng templates have in common, though the eyes do look similar on adult males. I enjoy blending the eyes of the two templates together, and swapping the eyes of the templates for this reason.
 * Archeeng eyes


 * Archcara template

23 Archcpla



 * Archcino template

When I was less experienced at distinguishing the individual Maxis face templates, I had a hard time separating the female townies and NPCs that used the Archcpla template from the ones that used the Archcmay template. So what else can I say? These two templates are an excellent match for blending and for genetic reproduction.
 * Archcmay template


 * Archecer


 * Archcsla template


 * Archetge jaw

24 Archcpol



 * Archcmay template


 * Archcaus template

25 Archcsla


It isn't very clear what the Archcsla and Archemed templates have in common aside from the protruding ears. But I enjoy blending the ears of the two templates together, and swapping the ears of the templates.
 * Archemed ears


 * Archccel template


 * Archcpla template

It isn't very clear what the Archcsla and Archalien templates have in common, except the protruding ears if used on toddlers and male teenagers. I enjoy blending the ears of the two templates together, and swapping the ears of the templates for this reason.
 * Archalien ears

26 Archeelf



 * Archbase template


 * Archeasi


 * Archecer template


 * Archcteu template

Even though these two face templates don't have very much in common, when it comes to blending and genetic reproduction, if there were any templates containing eyes that were most compatible with the Archalien template, the eyes from the Archeelf template would definitely be one of the first to come to my mind.
 * Archalien eyes

27 Archetge



 * Archbase template


 * Archerus jaw


 * Archemed template


 * Archcpla jaw

28 Archalien


The Archalien template is the only official Maxis face template that is hidden in normal gameplay, although there is a mod which unlocks the template, making it appear in-game. As a result, it was a long time before I realised that it was a template in its own write. I initially thought it was a heavily modified version of other face templates, namely Archeasi.

It isn't very clear what the Archalien and Archemed templates have in common, except the protruding ears which are identical on toddlers and male teenagers. I enjoy blending the ears of the two templates together, and swapping the ears of the templates for this reason.
 * Archemed ears


 * Archeasi template

It isn't very clear what the Archalien and Archcsla templates have in common, except the protruding ears if used on toddlers and male teenagers. I enjoy blending the ears of the two templates together, and swapping the ears of the templates for this reason.
 * Archcsla ears

Even though these two face templates don't have very much in common, when it comes to blending and genetic reproduction, if there were any templates containing eyes that were most compatible with the Archalien template, the eyes from the Archeelf template would definitely be one of the first to come to my mind.
 * Archeelf eyes