Online and PDF versions updated 30/07/2009

This online version gives you all the text, and most of the images from the tutorial. I'm only allowed 8 images here. The PDF file attached below contains the whole lot, so download that for easy offline perusal. There are only a few extra; all the vital ones are here.

I am not much of a modder, and never made clothing before this project. I've had lots of help from Phaenoh and HugeLunatic and BlooM, not to mention many hours searching forums for each tiny scrap of information.

Constructive criticism is welcomed. I will answer questions if I can, but I'm no expert.

Credit goes to BlooM, Phaenoh and HugeLunatic, who have been holding my hand while I learn this.

Preliminary: Choose the mesh you would like to use instead of the Maxis default maternity. Make sure it has a preg morph (you can add one if it doesn't, but I can't tell you how. Search for a tutorial on that if you want one).
NOTE - if you choose a mesh that uses multiple groups (alpha 3, alpha 5, noblend) to add accessories to the mesh, those groups need their own pregmorph. If they don't have one, you won't be able to alter the accessories with this package. Just so you know.

Step 1: Begin making your replacement package. In SimPE, select File, New. This opens a new file. There's nothing in it yet.

Step 2: From the Tools menu, select PJSE, then Body Mesh Tool, Extracting Stage. This brings up the Sim Mesh Extractor window. Type in the name of the mesh - afBodyMaternityShirtPants. Press OK and wait - the tool will cleverly extract all the parts of the mesh and put them into your new file. You should have GMDC, GMND, SHPE and CRES files. We actually don't want anything except the GMDC, though, so right-click on the other three in the Resource List and select 'delete'. They'll be crossed out in the window, and when you save the package, they will disappear.

(Another way to do this, without needing to delete extra mesh parts - use SimPE to browse to C:/Program Files/EA Games.TS2/TSData/Res/Sims3D, and you will find the GMDC in the Sims03 file. Extract it to your desktop - or a folder - with a right-click, and right-click again to 'add' it to your new package.)

Step 3: In the File menu, choose 'save as', give your file a name and save it somewhere you will find it, such as the desktop or a dedicated folder.


Step 4: At the bottom of the SimPE screen, click the Finder tab (marked 1 in the screenshot), or use the Scenegraph Resource Finder from the Window menu up top. Where the Finder tab says 'Find', use the dropdown to select Namemap if it shows something else.Then the 'Type' should say Contains[match]. Where it says Match, put in afBodyMaternityShirtPants again (marked 2 in the screenshot). Wait a bit, and a list of results will appear below.
Step 5: Scroll down to the TXTR files which are under the Sims07.package heading. Double click on the first one (marked 3 in the screenshot). After a moment the list will appear up in the Resource window, with your first file already highlighted (marked 4 in the screenshot).

Step 6: Now we need to extract all the TXTR files for this mesh. Right-click on the first afBodyMaternity one in the list, where it is marked 4 in my picture. Choose Extract from the resulting menu. It's a good idea to make a new folder to put these extracted files in, because they are not distinguishable from any other extracted files at this point - the names are encoded, and you get two files for each one extracted.

Step 7: Go back to the Finder results, and double-click on the set of LIFO resources (Sims08.package). There are two files for each name - you want the ones labeled 0_lifo (1). This time we don't want the coded version, so...in Plugin View (2), there's a button labeled 'Export' on the right hand side (3). Click there and save the image in a new folder. Add the 0_lifos for the rest of the maternity colours.

Step 8: Now go up to the toolbar and open the new package you made. In the Resource List, right-click anywhere, and choose 'Add' from the resulting menu. Navigate to the set of TXTRs you extracted, select them all and click 'Open'.
Voila! the now-recognisable files will appear in your Resource List. They will be in italics at first, but once you save the package, they will look normal.

This is your default replacement package. However, so far it's just a copy of the stuff that's already in-game.

Step 9: Now we have to get the replacement files ready. Open the package you want to use as your replacement mesh. I'm using the preg-enabled version of the hula dress from BonVoyage, made by the_mystical_one.

Step 10: In the Resource List, Right-click and extract the replacement GMDC into its own folder, just as we did when extracting the TXTRs.

That's all.
Open your default package again.

Step 11: Left-ckick on the maternity GMDC, then click the Plugin View tab at the bottom of the screen. Where it says Filename, highlight the name of the file and copy it (Ctrl+C).

Step 12: Go back up to the Resource List. Right-click on the maternity GMDC and choose 'Replace'. Navigate to your extracted replacement files. Select the file ending in .5gd, and click 'Open'. SimPE will ask if it should reload the altered file, click yes.

Step 13: Notice that the Filename in Plugin View has changed. Paste the original name back in (Ctrl+V), and click 'Fix TGI' on the right side. This corrects the Type, Group and Instance numbers, and makes it all work properly. Press 'Commit' to transfer the changes to the Resource List.

Step 14: At the end of this process, the package should look just as it did orignally, but WE know the file has changed.

If you put this package into your Downloads folder now, and run the game, you should see any pregnant sims wearing your new mesh, but still in the default colours. Probably looks a little odd. (see my example, with coloured arms and hula decorations over sneakers!!) The seamlines of the old trousers and shirt are also visible.

So now we alter the textures and the bump map. The bump map is making seamlines and shadows that belong to the original mesh, and don't match the new one.

Step 15: If your replacement mesh has its own bumpmap, replace the maternity texture with that. If not, bucketfill the image with pale grey. When you have replaced that image using Build DXT in SimPE, you need to alter it to Raw8bit format or it will look really bad. There will be ugly lines and odd shadows on your sim's skin.

Step 16: You can now recolour the LIFO files you exported in Step 7, using your paint program of choice. You will need nine recolours to replace the nine maxis maternity textures. (I'm not giving detailed recolouring directions here, there are good tutes for that already!)

Step 17: Then, in SimPE, use 'Build DXT' to overwrite the maternity TXTR files in Plugin View. Replace them with the LIFO images you've exported and recoloured, so you get all the correct sizes.

Or, use unlocked maternity files so the outfits appear in BodyShop. There is a mod for buyable default maternity clothes by Motoki on MATY – http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s...pic,1243.0.html. Using this mod will make your clothes appear in Bodyshop, whether you have the maxis defaults or a replacement installed.

Step 18: Put your finished replacement package into your downloads folder. Run the game, and check how it looks.

I used hacks to speed up my testing - making my sims pregnant and accelerating the pregnancies, as well as allowing me to change their clothing easily.
The mods I used for this were Numenor's Hacked Coat Hook (http://sumomo.modthesims.info/download.php?t=225251)
and Twojeffs' SimBlender (http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=20.0).

BlooM has suggested that only the GMDC and the image files should be included (adding the LIFOs as well as the TXTRs). Is that better than including all four mesh parts?

In an override object, only the GMDC with new mesh/remapped mesh is required. If you want to change the default textures then you add in the TXTRs. So it would make sense that this is true with clothing as well.

However my own results are not supporting this atm. Tutorial looks good! Nice job.

Thanks!

BlooM suggests that including the other mesh parts, wnich means also replacing and renaming them, is likely to bork the file. Hope not; seems fine so far in my game.

EDIT - actually not fine; BlooM is right. I've updated the first post, but can't access the attachments at present. I'll update the PDF when I can.

PDF updated now.

Thanks, it's quite interresting.
But I wonder, at the beginning you talk about alpha parts, do you think it's possible to use an outfit with two or more texture files ?
(my secret dream is to make a default maternity set using iamliz alpha dress)

Yes, you can use multi-alpha clothes. It just isn't possible to recolour the accessories, without a lot of modding which is beyond my skills. The huladress has four parts originally, but only the main one is used in my replacement version.

To get the accessories showing, you need to extract the SHPE as well as the GMDC, I think.

Can this be applied to any clothing? I'm trying to replace the Freetime soccer uniforms with something else and I can't seem to find the bump-map for it. And the mesh I'm using I don't believe has one.

I think this should apply to any clothing replacement.

Sometimes the names are not what you expect, keep looking! Try searching for only part of the expected name too.

Would it still have the word "bump" in it?

I saw a tutorial on here somewhere about making bump maps for in game clothes that didn't already have them and it makes me wonder if this is one of them or something. Though I couldn't figure out part of the tutorial so I can't try it out to see if it helps.

I believe it would stil have 'bump'; in the name. I haven't made a bump map, I've only greyed them out when not appropriate to the new mesh. So I can't help you there, sorry.

Maybe I'll just go in and hide the clothes, that way I don't have to look at them anymore. Hehe.

Aelflaed, thank you so much for this tutorial. It's just what I was looking for.

The problem is that it's not working for me. I can't get past step four. There is no 'Find' on my SimPE and I only get lost trying to skip that point. The other tutorial by marja is also helpful, but the pregnant meshes I want to replace won't show up.

The mesh I am trying to use is not mine, but Fanseelamb's amazing hoodie and jeans mesh. It's for my pregnant male sims.

If anyone can tell me what to do, I'd appreciate it.

Hi Alia, glad to hear this tutorial is still of some use. Unfortunately, I haven't played Sims2 in a looong time, much less done any modding. I don't remember the details of this project by now, and I needed a lot of help myself to figure it out. I don't think I can help you much.

Just in case a few questions will get you past the problem: Are you using the same version of SimPE I had? Have you got the 'Finder' tab at the base of the screen? If not, did you use the "Window" menu at the top to reach the Scenegraph Resource Finder? If you post a screenshot of what you see when you are trying to do Step Four, that could help people understand exactly what you need next.

If none of that helps, you might want to post a new thread in the forum here (http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=528) to catch the attention of someone who can asist further. I'll keep an eye on this thread for the next little while and see how things go.

Thanks for the assistance, Aelflaed. It's likely that the versions are different. I uploaded the latest version.

I do have a screenshot, but the SimPE lacks a Scenegraph Resource Finder. Hopefully, I'm just being an airhead. I may put this on the suggested thread though.

Yes, that must be a newer version than mine. Not surprising. Looks as though it has changed a fair bit, actually.

Looking at your screenshot, I can't see how to find the right info for Step 4. Sorry! In some ways it's nice to know you're not overlooking the obvious. In others, not so helpful.

Sorry I can't be any use. Hope someone with more up-to-date knowledge appears very soon - I'm sure people are still around who do know how to assist you.

Have you tried resetting your layout? That's definitely not the default layout.

I reset my layout to default, but I still can't find what I'm suppose to look for. There was no real change actually. Maybe something just has a new name?

I also reinstalled SimPE, but it didn't change anything.

Hi Mootilda! Long time no see.

Alia, you'll be in good hands now. Best of luck!

Nice to see you again, aelflaed.

AliaD85: after uninstalling, did you delete the installation folder? It's possible that the file that contains your settings is sticking around between installs, ensuring that you can't reset properly.