Hello! So, I want to make a flute mod. I know there's already a well made one from Jane Simsten over at Patreon, but I want to make one that features traditional bamboo flutes that can be found in my home country and the neighboring countries around us.

I have basic (and I really do mean basic, I know how to model a Donut and a Cookie) 3D modeling skills but I have no prior knowledge video game coding. I know how to make a rudimentary website but that's about it. I have The Sims 4 Studio, Blender, and a physical flute which I can play to provide songs for the mod I'm planning to make.

I'm planning to make this skill based and have the option to play for tips when reached a certain level. Additionally, is there any way to make these flutes react and/or show different options depending on the sim's occult? Like if a normal sim plays a certain flute, it'll act like normal. But if a spellcaster plays it, its markings will glow and there will be additional songs only they can play.

I've scoured the threads and read a lot but honestly I think I'm looking in the wrong places cause the tutorials I've found are mostly about like, recolors and new meshes while the advance modding threads are confusing to someone like me who hasn't had any experience about this.

I know the title says TS4 but if anyone who also knows how to make mods in TS2 and TS3 finds this thread then I'd appreciate tips and help for those games too.

I apologize if this has been asked before or if it's annoying seeing a new user skim through the tutorial section, didn't find anything then added a new post but I genuinely don't know where to look and don't have the basic understanding for how mods and coding work

Welcome!

The good news is that The Sims 4 is the most accessible to make a feature-rich mod like this without much prior experience. I know TS3 well, and pretty much ANY new functionality immediately crosses into intermediate programming territory. I love creating for both, but one is definitely more intimidating than the other.
I think it'd be good to start your modding journey with TS4, and if you find that you want to take your programming skills further you could adapt what you've made for TS3.

There are two main topics to learn, from what you've described:
- Making the 3D model of the object and adding it to the game
- Making a custom skill, or using parts of an existing one, for the interactions attached to that object.

Potential third topic would be learning to make animations, which is a bit like an advanced branch of 3D modelling itself. But you may be able to reuse existing animations or the ones from Jane's mod, with permission.

A good place to start on the first would be making your flute as a piece of decor for now.
The meshing part itself you can use any Blender knowledge (supplemented with tutorials, as needed) to get started. Even consider making an imperfect prototype, then make a new one later when you've finished the rest.
Then you'd learn to use that mesh in a custom object package. The Sims4Studio forums are where the majority of the object tutorials are hosted:
https://sims4studio.com/thread/377/components-ea-object
https://sims4studio.com/thread/856/...olute-beginners

The best way to get into the functionality under the hood is to open and look at how existing content does it.
You can open the existing flute mod, or any other mod that involves a custom instrument or skill (I learned a lot from Icemunmun's candlemaking skill), in Sims4Studio to see what parts it's made up of. You can also use the TDESC Builder https://tdesc.lot51.cc/ to look at EA object tuning, like the one for the guitar object.
With those references on hand, you can familiarise yourself with XML modding. Most modding tutorials are scattered on the websites of the creators themselves- I always recommend Zero's XML tutorials, which are free on their Patreon.

Some advanced features might require a bit of scripting, especially for compatibility sake- if similar existing mods come with a .ts4script file, you can open it to see what the script is for. 90% can be accomplished with just XML, though. The scripts are written in the Python programming language.

The TS4 side of MTS is pretty quiet, to be honest. When looking for feedback and examples, you might have more luck with Tumblr and the S4S forum.
The TS3 Create forum is decently active (I can answer just about any non-scripting question posed over there), and the TS2 forums are probably the most reliable with dedicated users around all the time with answers to just about anything.