Often in creating hair meshes for multiple ages, it's helpful to know in advance which hair meshes link together in recolour packages, and how many groups they have. It is possible to change the number of groups in a hair mesh for a certain age, but it's much easier to use the number of groups for the meshes as they come if you can for your project. This thread is designed to make looking up these numbers and comparing different meshes to one another easier.

What the Entries Mean

Each of the entries will follow a standard format. Here's a quick key to the entries (you'll find the un-highlighted version of this same hair below):


How to Add Your Own Entries

Anyone who would like to add an entry to this thread is welcome and encouraged to do so; if you're starting a new project and will be accessing the places with this information anyway, please take a few minutes to record the info and add to the repository. If you would like to help out and add information, please read the instructions here thoroughly before beginning, and follow them exactly. For this repository to be successful and helpful, everyone must follow the same format for their entries so that the information is correct, useful, and searchable. Any problem entries added by users will be fixed or removed.

You will need:

• Body Shop, which comes with the game.
• Any graphics editing program that you can use well enough to put two pictures together.
• SimPE
• The Sims 2 (of course) and any or all expansion packs.

1. Open Body Shop, Create Parts, Start New Project, Create Genetics, Hair. Choose a colour (red shows up best against the background). Scroll through the list and choose the style you want to add. Export selected textures. Give your project a descriptive name.

2. When Body Shop finishes making your new project, press Print Screen on your keyboard to take a screenshot. Open up your graphics editing program of choice and paste the screenshot you just took into a new document. Back in Body Shop, click the right arrow to scroll to the right so you can view the rest of the ages, hit Print Screen again, and paste again into your graphics program (some will need you to open a second instance of the program). Import to Game, and then exit Body Shop.

3. Go back to the graphics program of your choice and edit the separate screenshots into one strip, with toddler on the far left and elder on the far right as shown. Save the file as a .jpg somewhere on your computer.


4. In your My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/SavedSims folder, a file will have been created called something like "309de41f_MyProjectName.package" (the string of numbers and letters at the front is different each time, that's just an example). Double-click that file to open it in SimPE (or open SimPE and navigate to that directory in an open dialog, then open that file).

5. In the Resource Tree, select Property Set. Then, look at the list of property sets. Record (on paper, or in a Notepad document, or wherever) the relevant information as shown. These are the names of all the meshes that recolour file you just made uses for each age group. You'll only want that single string of letters, and it'll always start with one of the following: pu, pf, pm, cu, cf, cu, tf, tm, af, am. You don't need any underscores or colours or anything, and though there are multiple entries for adult, you'll just need to do that once (as young adults, adults, and elders all share a mesh).


6. Take the name of the adult mesh and search this thread (top of the thread, at the right) to make sure it hasn't already been added. If you don't get any results, go ahead with the rest of the steps below. If you DO get results, go no further; the mesh you're looking at has already been added.


7. Window - Resource Finder to search for the mesh parts. Enter the first name you have recorded and click Start. The resource finder will search the game's files for that name. It may take several minutes to complete. When it's finished, you'll get a list of results. Look for the first Geometric Data Container. There will usually be two. Double click the first one, NOT the one that contains "LOD15" in the name.


8. SimPE will load the file that contains the 3d model for the mesh for that age. Under the Preview View in SimPE, you'll get the information you need for that age. First, the numbers listed under Faces and Vertices. Then below that, the names of the groups in the mesh (between the checkbox and the open parentheses). Make sure you record these names -exactly-. Count how many groups are listed.


9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for all of the names you recorded in step 5.

10. Format your post as pictured. Under Additional Options, make sure you UNCHECK "Show your signature" so this thread stays nice and compact and then under Attach Files, click "Manage Attachments" and attach the .jpg image you made of the screenshotted hairstyles. Before you submit your entry, click Preview Post to make sure you have everything correct. After you preview, submit your post and then examine it to make sure it still looks okay. You can always edit it if something needs to be changed.


If you would like to add multiple entries, please make them as separate posts following this same format.

PLEASE NOTE!
This thread is not for game help, help with SimPE, questions about Body Shop meshing, or ANYTHING other than additional entries to add to this knowledge base. Any other posts will be removed, no help will be given, and the user's account will be warned. If you've got questions about this repository or how to add to it, do not post them to this thread: a separate thread has been created for that purpose.

Original

• Toddler: puhairsimple (704/440): hair_alpha, hair (2)
• Child: cfhairpigtails (646/452): bangs_l1, bangs_l3, hair (3)
• Teen: tfhairpagepunk (926/579): hairalpha5, hair, hairalpha3 (3)
• YA/Adult/Elder: afhairpagepunk (926/579): hair, hairalpha3, hairalpha5 (3)

Original

• Toddler: puhairsimple (704/440): hair_alpha, hair (2)
• Child: cfhairpigtails (646/452): bangs_l1, bangs_l3, hair (3)
• Teen: tfhairbald (156/91): hair (1)
• YA/Adult/Elder*: afhairbald (156/91): hair (1)

* The property set says 'efhairbald' for elder, but the 3DIR for elder is pointed at the same CRES and SHPE as adult and young adult, and 'efhairbald' doesn't exist as a GMDC.

Original

• Toddler: puhairbald (136/90): hair (1)
• Child: cfhairformal (1018/730): hair_alpha5, hair, hair_alpha3 (3)
• Teen: tfhairbowltwist (786/537): hairalpha3, hairalpha5, hair (3)
• YA/Adult/Elder: afhairbowltwist (786/537): hairalpha5, hair, hairalpha3 (3)

Original

• Toddler: puhairsimple (704/440): hair_alpha, hair (2)
• Child: cfhairbun (1108/874): hair_alpha3, hair, hair_alpha5, flower_alpha (4)
• Teen: tfhairlowbun (818/504): hair_alpha5, hair, hair_alpha3 (3)
• YA*/Adult/Elder: afhairlowbun (818/504): hair_alpha5, hair, hair_alpha3 (3)

* The property set says 'yfhairlowbun' for young adult, but the 3DIR for young adult is pointed at the same CRES and SHPE as adult and elder, and 'yfhairlowbun' doesn't exist as a GMDC.

Original

• Toddler: pfhairmob_ (964, 600) hair, hairalpha3, hairalpha5 (3)
• Child: cfhairfuzzylongcp_ (1830,1440) hairalpha11, hairalpha5, hairalpha13, hairalpha7, hairalpha15, hairalpha9, hair (7)
• Teen: tfhairfuzzylongcp_ (1830,1440) hairalpha11, hairalpha5, hairalpha13, hairalpha7, hairalpha15, hairalpha9, hair (7)
• YA,Adult,Elder: afhairfuzzylongcp_ (1830,1440) hairalpha11, hairalpha5, hairalpha13, hairalpha7, hairalpha15, hairalpha9, hair (7)

Open For Business

• Toddler: puhairsimple (704/440): hair_alpha, hair (2)
• Child: cfhairacorntuck (719/420): bangs_l1, bangs_l5, bangs_l3, hair (4)
• Teen: cfhairacorntuck (719/420): bangs_l1, bangs_l5, bangs_l3, hair (4)
• Young Adult: afhairlongsimple (982/606): hairalpha7, hairalpha5, hair (3)
• Adult,Elder: afhairmidwavemature (1578/956): hair, hairalpha15, hairalpha21, hairalpha19, hairalpha17, hairalpha13, hairalpha3, hairalpha11, hairalpha9, hairalpha7, hairalpha5 (11)

Celebrations

Toddler: puhairsimple (704/440): hair_alpha, hair (2)
Child: cfhairwreath (2006/2083): wreath_noblend, wreath_alpha 3, wreath_alpha 5, hair (4)
Teen: tfhairwreath (2006/2083): wreath_noblend, wreath_alpha 3, wreath alpha 5, hair, (4)
YA/Adult/Elder: afhairwreath (2006/2083): wreath_noblend, wreath_alpha 3, wreath_alpha 5, hair (4)

Nightlife

Toddler: puhairsimple: (704/440): hair, hair_alpha: (2)
Child: cmhairshortcenterspike: (652/489): hair, hair_alpha3, hair_alpha5: (3)
Teen: tmhairshortcenterspike: (646/486): hair, hair_alpha3, hair_alpha5: (3)
YA/Adult/Elder: amhairchoppypeak: (572/395): hair, hair_alpha3, hair_alpha5: (3)

Original

• Toddler: puhairpuff (210/127): hair (1)
• Child: cmhairricebowl (596/378): hair_alpha5, hair_alpha3, hair (3)
• Teen: tmhairmessy (816/540): hair_alpha7, hair, hair_alpha17, hair_alpha15, hair_alpha11, hair_alpha13, hair_alpha9, hair_alpha3, hair_alpha5 (9)
• YA/Adult/Elder: amhairmessy (806/536): hair, hair_alpha17, hair_alpha15, hair_alpha13, hair_alpha11, hair_alpha9, hair_alpha7, hair_alpha5, hair_alpha3 (9)

Original

• Toddler: puhairbald (136/90): hair (1)
• Child: cmhairshort (252/178): hair_alpha5, hair_alpha3, hair (3)
• Teen: tmhairshort (252/178): hair_alpha5, hair_alpha3, hair (3)
• YA/Adult/Elder: amhairshort (252/178): hair, hair_alpha5, hair_alpha3 (3)