Visible Ceiling Tiles Version 3.0

NOTE 10/28/06
Tested with Pets. Appears compatible (no issues yet). Also, sorry I haven't responded to questions in this post or in private - I don't have much time to visit the site nowadays. But three things:
1. I don't know enough about modding to make the ceiling "draggable" across multiple tiles, as with floors or awnings (in OfB). This object is based on a single item (a hanging plant), and tiles must be placed individually. This can be tedious, but the object was only meant to be a temporary solution until Maxis/EA put ceilings in the game.
2. Since Maxis/EA apparently won't put ceilings in the game in the near future, I encourage anyone with modding experience to improve this object or create their own ceiling object that can be dragged across multiple tiles (the awnings in OfB seem like a good starting point).
3. Recolors - I've provided a small recolor set below, but obviously it won't satisfy everyone's needs. Recolors are extremely simple, since this is essentially a flat object, so I encourage you to try out the recolor process, and feel free to distribute any that you create.


DESCRIPTION
These are flat ceiling objects that can be placed in rooms to give the appearance of a "ceiling" in the game - useful for blocking out the sky in movies, etc. These new tiles work in two "modes":

1. "Flipped up" (the default state) - you select and place the tiles in this mode. The tiles are visible from both above and below, and their entire area is clickable for pickup and placement. However, this means that it will be difficult to select objects below the tiles during normal gameplay (since the tiles will be in the way).

2. "Flipped down" (using the Ceiling Controller) - use this mode for gameplay. The tiles become completely invisible from above but still visible from below, and their clickable area is reduced to a single pixel. This means that objects beneath the tiles in the room can be seen and interacted with, so there is no interference with gameplay. It is virtually impossible to accidentally select or pick up the tiles when they are flipped down.

You must have the "Ceiling Controller" developed by Inge Jones (which is included in the package) to manage the tiles. With the controller, you can flip the tiles, enable and disable fadeout, delete tiles individually or en masse, and show and hide the ceiling tiles or all ceiling objects.


KNOWN ISSUES
The biggest issue involves recolors. Although these tiles can successfully handle recolors (see screenshots below), there are two quirks:

1. RECOLORS WILL SEEM TO "DISAPPEAR" WHEN THE CEILING TILES ARE "FLIPPED DOWN." The tiles will revert to their default texture, and the recolor will still not appear when the tiles are flipped back up. Don't worry; they're still there. YOU MUST SAVE, EXIT TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND RE-ENTER THE LOT TO VIEW THE RECOLOR TEXTURES CORRECTLY AFTER YOU HAVE "FLIPPED DOWN" THE TILES.

2. Recolors will appear TWICE in the object's selection menu (i.e. you will see two identical recolor options for each recolor package you've made - one for each mode). It doesn't matter which re-color option you select - the texture should display correctly with both.

3. You should probably turn "Object Hiding" OFF in your game display settings. Otherwise, for example, if you put your second floor walls up and bring the camera down to the first floor, you will find that the first-floor ceilings have disappeared (since they are considered first-floor objects).

4. Height and Ceiling Lamps - there will be a bit of a gap between the tops of ceiling lamps and the ceiling. This is because the tiles are set at a height so as not to cut off wallpaper - the tops of the walls in the game are slightly higher than the tops of ceiling lamps.


INSTRUCTIONS
Place all files (the full tile, half tiles 1 and 2, and the ceiling controller) in your EA Games/The Sims2/Downloads folder. All objects will appear in your "Decorative - Miscellaneous" category in Buy Mode (the controller appears to be a compact disc), costing $1 each.


Updates from Version 2.1
- New "modes" for managing clickable area and visibility
- Textures enlarged from 128 X 128 to 256 X 256
- Height adjusted to maximum height so wallpapers are not cut off. (Note: if you've downloaded my "glow in the dark" ceiling decals, also avaiable in this forum at http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=45758, then they should now display correctly with these tiles).
- Textures and recolors now visible in object catalog
- Fixed lighting problem with half tiles (had to use "move_object on" to put them in certain corners and game sometimes thought they were "outside") by moving mesh and creating two half-tile versions.