09 FEB 2008: UPDATE. The templates now include the modifications suggested and the files provided by MaryLou in Post #61: the cloned counters will have working shadows!



Why use a template?
Kitchen Counters are very complex objects, both for the way the game update the mesh regarding their connection with other elements, and for their sharing the same textures between all the various models.
SimPE, currently, is not able to clone correctly the kitchen counters, and anyway the adjustments needed to create a working counter are not very intuitive. Hence my ready-to-clone counter templates

IMPORTANT WARNING - If you edit the "top" of a counter, the sinks will not place in the counter any more; so far, no one has found a good solution to this problem... Therefore, you are adviced not to edit the "countertop" mesh: just modify the "counterfinish" one.
Edit to add: you CAN also edit the "countertop" mesh, but DO NOT modify the flat part of it; you can edit/remove the back trim, or add something to the front: just don't touch the flat part of the top, included the UV-mapping of the flat surface!


What template(s) to choose?
First off, you have to decide what type of kichen set are you going to create:

• for a 1-piece set (only the doors version), choose the "DoorsOnly" template;
• for a 2-pieces set (both the doors and the drawers versions), choose the "Doors+Drawers" template;
• either cases, if you want to complete the set with a counter island, you can use also the optional "Island" template; this template is called "SLAVE" because it will use the same textures as the "MASTER" counter (the DoorsOnly or the Doors+Drawers).

Therefore, in your set there will be one, and only one MASTER and optionally one SLAVE.


HOW TO USE THE TEMPLATES?
Follow these easy steps and you'll have a working counter set in a matter of clicks

1. Start SimPE (always use the latest version), start Object Workshop and click the "OPEN" button (*not* the "Start" one!).
2. Browse to the folder where you have unpacked the chosen templates, and load the MASTER one.
3. Select "Clone" and leave all the cloning option to their default state (see picture; if you are unsure, click the "Set Default" link to automatically adjust the options); click "Start".
   
   
4. Change the description of your counter, and the price, if you like.
5. When the Scenegraph Rename Wizard pops up, select and copy the whole ModelName, including the square brackets (you can also write it down), then click OK:
   
   
6. Now you have to select, in turn all the GMNDs whose name ends with "tslocator", *except* the first one; for each GMND, select the "tsMaterialsMeshName" block and edit the two String values, replacing each occurrence of "[CustomName]" with your own ModelName (the one that you have copied earlier); be sure to preserve intact the ##0x1c050000! prefix.
   
   
7. When finished with the GMNDs, select the Text List 0x88 (it's called "Model - Materials" and extract it (by right-clicking on it and choosing "Extract").
8. Last but not least, REGISTER A NEW GUID for *all* the Object Data files. The template contains fake GUIDs that *must* be replaced with new ones!
   IMPORTANT: When you register a GUID, you should always click "Update MMAT and commit", but never check the option "Update all MMATs" (that option is used only in rare cases, and only if the creator knows what he's doing...).

OPTIONAL Step: how to set up an ISLAND to go with your counter(s).
If you want to add a counter island that matches your counter set, dowload and unpack the Island template and follow these steps (very similar to the ones above )

• Start SimPE (always use the latest version), start Object Workshop and click the "OPEN" button (*not* the "Start" one!).
• Browse to the folder where you have unpacked the chosen templates, and load the SLAVE one (the Island).
• Select "Clone" and leave all the cloning option to their default state; click "Start".
• Change the description of your island, and the price, if you like.
• When the Scenegraph Rename Wizard pops up, do nothing, just click OK.
• Now you have to select, in turn all the GMNDs whose name ends with "tslocator", *including* the first one; for each GMND, select the "tsMaterilasMeshName" block and edit the two String values, replacing each occurrence of "[CustomName]" with your own ModelName (the *same* that you have used for the main counter); be sure to preserve intact the ##0x1c050000! prefix.
• Do the same with all the Shapes whose name ends with "untagged0": select in turn each of them, go to the "Parts" tab, and replace any occurrence of "[CustomName]" with your own ModelName (always the same). Commit before passing on the next Shape.
• When finished with the Shapes, select the Text List 0x88 (it's called "Model - Materials" and replace it (by right-clicking on it and choosing "Replace") with the one extracted from the main counter.
• Last but not least, REGISTER A NEW GUID for Object Data.

That's all! It was not that difficult, was it?
If you feel it was difficult, than think that if you would have cloned a Maxis counter, instead of this template, your work would have been way more difficult, and the result would have been "uncertain", to say the least...



TERMS OF USAGE OF THE TEMPLATES
Anyone can freely clone my Enhanced Templates to create his own objects, and can post his objects on any site.
It's only required to state that "the object is based on an Enhanced Template by Numenor", and post a link to this thread.
DO NOT REPOST OR REDISTRIBUITE THE TEMPLATES THEMSELVES!

I understand that I can have only one MASTER, but can I create a set with more than one SLAVE islands?

Yes, technically you can add as many island types as you want; all of them will share the same textures borrowed from the MASTER (i.e. the DoorsOnly or the Doors+Drawers counter).

Will the counters cloned from these templates work in my game?

The clones of these templates will work with any game configuration (base game, UNI and/or NL). Actually, from this point of view, these are the only counters that are granted to work in any game: infact, if you have only the base game, cloning a Maxis counter will produce a counter that will probably not work correctly with the Nightlife. On the contrary, these templates are carefully crafted, so to work with any game configuration.

I have the base game only, and I can't place the island at corners, like in the title screenshot!

This is a limitation (let's call it with its name: a bug ) in the base game; I'm currently working on a global hack that will hopefully fix this. I said hopefully... (BTW, that screenshot has been taken in a base-game environment, using my still-to-work-hard-on-it global hack)

I need help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you need help with? You have to be more specific or it's very difficult for us to help you .

hi, I have a question... what will I do with the extracted text list? do I need it to make the counter works in the game or just for reference?

If you only clone a counter and not an island, you won't need the text list. It's only needed for linking an island to the counter if you clone both .

This is awesome! I was just wondering how to go about making kitchen counters!

Two questions (Pardon my modding ignorance) :

1. Which of the 2 object data files do you have to update the MMATs for? (for both the main counter and the island)

2. When you open the first GMDC set, there's a mesh group called "backpanel". Its mesh is a small rectangular strip. Should it be left as is?

Thank you in advance for any info anyone can provide

The island doesn't contain any MMAT, because it borrows the recolours from the main counter; therefore, you don't have to "Update MMAT" when you register the GUID for the island.

On the other hand, the main counters need a MMAT update; I understand that you are using the "Doors+Drawers" template, because you talk about two Object Data files.
The answer is that you have to click "Update MMAT and Commit" for both Object Data files: only, be sure that the option "Update all MMATs" is NOT checked. SimPE is very smart and when you click "Update MMAT", every occurrence of the old GUID is replaced by the new GUID; but the MMATs that don't contain the old GUID are not updated.
After you have registered the two GUIDs, and clicked "Update MMAT" every time, check the MMATs: you should find 4 MMATs with the first new GUID, and 4 MMATs with the second new GUID.


As for the "backpanel", leave it as is.

Thank you so much for the valuable information! I'll be trying it out as soon as I finish texturing my counters :D

How do we clone objects?

In the tutorial section you can find many tutorials on cloning and making custom objects. JWoods' tutorial is a good one for beginners to start with.

I'm confused. I made a new counter from the "Epikuros" Maxis counter. Then I cloned the "Epikuros" island. I deleted the textures and replaced the material definitions with the ones from my counter and that seemed to work - in my game the new island had the counter's textures. Then I read here that the island shouldn't have NMAT's so I deleted them. What else do I need to do?
I don't seem to have any string values in the "tsMaterilasMeshName" block...

Mage, I recommend you use Numenor's counter templates as a base .

Thanks Inorant Bliss, and Numenor also.

Ah... sigh... thank you Numenor! I've only attempted one counter before and it had many problems because of the way the Maxis counters are cloned, the island wasn't recolorable, by some sheer miracle the counter does appear to work in all game versions but it took countless hours trying to get to recolour properly and I swore never again with the counters after that!
This I think has persuaded me I may yet try my hand at another kitchen with custom counters :D

This is a stupid question but I have to ask because I don't know the answer.But Where do you put the template files at?Is it the downloads folder?

These are "Clone Templates": they are NOT usable as they are. Their only usage is to clone them, in order to create new, different counters.
Download these templates (and put them in a working folder outside the Downloads) only if you plan to create new counters.

Just wondering... I notice the absence of "Fix Integrity" in your instructions.
It is usually stressed as being very important when making new objects... so
should I not do the Fix Integrity step as I normally would? I don't want to mess
anything up!

thanks

First...thanks for the great template.

I have a problem with my finished counters: when putting a sink/dishwasher/trash compactor into the counter it reverts back to the original mesh. (It will still show my texture though...a bit messed up)

Did I do something wrong? I made sure not to export or import the backpanel and countertop meshes. Didn't even UV map them!

Thanks for the help.
Reni

I guess that there's something wrong in the Text List 0x85 (i.e. where the names of the alternative meshes are stored).

If you are in doubt whether you have made a mistake or not, try re-cloning and performing again the suggested steps. In some cases, starting again from scratch is easier than fixing a bad package.

And if you really can't solve the problem by yourself, post your package(s) to the Repair Service forum.

This is cool. Thanks Numenor, I'll put these templates too good use.

Just wondering if there are any new updates on the ability of being able to edit the countertop mesh? I'm relatively new at creating objects, but I've spent a good deal of time on a quality dining table/chairs/barstool/bar set. The surfaces of the table and bar are tiled (the mesh, not the texture). I was hoping to make an Island Counter to add to the sides of the bar, but it sounds like if I try to match what I have I'll lose functionality.

Any suggestions?

Dino's Rose

DinosRose - First off, let's clear up that what follows applies only to the meshes, included in the counter package, that are used in conjunction with sinks, i.e. the "...nodrawer" and the "...nodoorsnodrawer" GMDCs.
Therefore, you could choose to edit the other counter tops, leaving unaltered the two mentioned meshes (the top will appear with its new custom look untilyou put a sink on it).

That said, the real problem with the "nodrawer" counter tops is their UV-mapping: the "hole" in the top is cut relying on the map of the top itself, and therefore, if you re-map the top, you are likely to lose the sink hole.

Look at the picture: it shows the original Maxis UVmap for the CounterCulture counter top. In the lower part of my picture, you can see the mesh: it is mapped outside the texture, but this doesn't cause problems, because the UVmaps are "tiled", i.e. when you exceed the lower limit of the texture, the map will start taking the same texture starting from the upper limit.

This feature is shown in my picture by the upper red square: it represents the portion of the texture that is actually applied to the out-of-map portion of mesh (lower red square).

The "secret" for NOT losing the sink hole is to avoid moving the map of the top from its original location, and avoid resizing it. In other words, you CAN edit the mesh and remap it, as long as the new mesh is mapped exactly inside the lower red square, like the Maxis ones. And, of course, remember that the lower red square corresponds to the portion of texture marked with the upper red square.

I know that this is a heavy limitation to editing the mesh of a counter, but if you follow these instructions, you will be able to create a eorking counter top that accepts sinks.

So then the problem comes with how to map the top for a new mesh inside the lower red square when it doesn't show up on the UVMap screen? I've been playing around a bit with loading existing countertops into UVMapper Classic and it indicates there is out of range UV coordinate data - I'm guessing this is referring to the lower square you're speaking of. If I click yes to correct, the screen shows me the portion which matches the texture area. If I click no, the screen shows blank.

Sorry for all the questions. I program in Visual Basic for Access, so it's in my nature to try to figure out how things work. Thanks for being patient with me.

Dino's Rose