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Original Poster
#1 Old 4th Jul 2023 at 9:01 PM
Default Project: Pie-Menu Overhaul
- The skinny:

I've recently gotten ABSURDLY deep into modding the Sims 3. God is it fun.

I am so grateful for our little community.

One thing I can't help but notice we have ALL seemingly overlooked, though, is the pie menu.

https://imgur.com/fIUYh3M

- The problem:

If you're like me & have lots of mods installed, your pie menu is probably also like mine - littered and disorganized.

By themselves, the vanilla social interactions were already somewhat disorganized. But when you add in mods that introduce new gameplay interactions, the problem really starts to glare.

And from what I can tell, unlike the Sims 4, there is no tool or mod that allows you to reorganize your pie menu. (Example)

- Moving forward:

We need a tool to remedy this!

So, if anyone has any information regarding how to make this possible - please share!

A few mods that add new interactions in the ROOT (first section) of the pie menu:
- Passion & Romance
- Violence & Aggression
- Awkward Moments & Humiliation
- NSFW Mods (KinkyWorld, Passion)
- NRaas Mods
- Cigarette Mod

I would love to contribute to the dirty work in any way possible!

I am simply hoping to bring this to the attention of the community - in hopes maybe someone who actually knows what they're doing can shed some light on how to get this done.



FOUND RESOURCES / INFO:

https://modthesims.info/t/491875 - Adding pie menu options to sims by CmarNYC

https://modthesims.info/d/652181/mo...teractions.html - Sims 4 Interaction Sorter by cLineLy

Sims 2 Playa!
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staff: trainee moderator
#2 Old 8th Jul 2023 at 1:32 AM
You can use NRaas Selector for NRaas menu, to move its interactions to debug menu (shift+click menu). I don't know about the others. Perhaps you'd need to replace each interaction to put them in a submenu?

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#3 Old 9th Jul 2023 at 2:42 AM
No disrespect intended to the mods referenced, but I wouldn't describe this as an oversight and more that the mods that add a dizzying array of interactions aren't in common use anymore.

The first three were landmarks in modding at the time and I'm sure an astounding amount of work went into them. That being said, they're quite silly and stand out a lot. These aren't seamlessly integrated interactions into regular gameplay, they're for fun. I read a lot of logs over at NRAAS, and you just don't see people using them for regular gameplay.
+ KW is extremely broken and shouldn't be used by anyone.

Modding TS3, especially on the scripted side, is extremely different to TS4. These things are imbedded in scripts that you can't just touch up without decompiling them, as opposed to the sheer amount of pure tuning in 4.
Features and tools for each not only can't just be ported between each other, but fundamentally don't always have a place or use in the other game.
Talented devs may find a way, but I don't really see the utility of this. Especially when it's made redundant by good modding practices- modders should be putting their interactions in the correct locations, no?
And whenever a for-purpose tool doesn't exist, users knowing their way around S3PE to weak things to their liking doesn't hurt.

Of course, one can work towards whatever they please. I was just irked by the suggestion that 'we' as a collective have missed some kind of elephant in the room
Test Subject
Original Poster
#4 Old 9th Jul 2023 at 5:20 AM
Quote: Originally posted by CardinalSims
No disrespect intended to the mods referenced, but I wouldn't describe this as an oversight and more that the mods that add a dizzying array of interactions aren't in common use anymore.

The first three were landmarks in modding at the time and I'm sure an astounding amount of work went into them. That being said, they're quite silly and stand out a lot. These aren't seamlessly integrated interactions into regular gameplay, they're for fun. I read a lot of logs over at NRAAS, and you just don't see people using them for regular gameplay.
+ KW is extremely broken and shouldn't be used by anyone.

Modding TS3, especially on the scripted side, is extremely different to TS4. These things are imbedded in scripts that you can't just touch up without decompiling them, as opposed to the sheer amount of pure tuning in 4.
Features and tools for each not only can't just be ported between each other, but fundamentally don't always have a place or use in the other game.
Talented devs may find a way, but I don't really see the utility of this. Especially when it's made redundant by good modding practices- modders should be putting their interactions in the correct locations, no?
And whenever a for-purpose tool doesn't exist, users knowing their way around S3PE to weak things to their liking doesn't hurt.

Of course, one can work towards whatever they please. I was just irked by the suggestion that 'we' as a collective have missed some kind of elephant in the room


Yikes.

Honestly, I would happily go the S3PE route & do it myself if I could find some documentation on the topic. Unfortunately, it seems to be uncharted territory for the Sims 3. Hence, this post.

Sims 2 Playa!
Forum Resident
#5 Old 9th Jul 2023 at 12:33 PM
My thoroughness may be discouraging, but I wanted to lay things out honestly.

In one of the examples you linked, there is a further link to social interaction modding specifically. You can see that in this method, while a lot of it is imbedded in scripting, some of the relevant settings are in XMLs- which can be tuned in S3PE.
It depends on the nature of how each mod author has gone about creating their interaction. The good info can be scattered, but it's out there.

What I can offer that is more constructive than critical, is that TS3 modding benefits a lot from frameworks.
Automating things isn't always in the cards, but learning what sets of resources make up a certain thing means that it's often possible to make templates that simplify things down to filling in / replacing the relevant values.
CCLoader is a good example of both. A program that can automate the scripting function that also has a lot of invaluable templates by its developer.
That may be the kind of functionality you would be interested in mimicking.
Scholar
#6 Old 9th Jul 2023 at 5:20 PM
Quote: Originally posted by CardinalSims
+ KW is extremely broken and shouldn't be used by anyone.


Considering the lack of alternatives, I can say that 99% of users have come to terms with it's short comings, since final release of build 409. Yes, there is "Passion", which is basically Storm's updated Animated Woohoo, which is well done, but a tad "light".

@Jordan15975, regarding KW pie menus, I suggest you either give up before you start, or grab a few bottles of vodka before digging into that mess! Several programmers that I know have looked inside and walked away (a few ran). Rumor is that it's not all Oniki's work, and has contributions by several people in a couple of different countries over the years. It's a perfect companion to EA's method of never really fixing anything, rather patching the broken stuff, which usually broke something else to be patched later.
Forum Resident
#7 Old 10th Jul 2023 at 12:29 AM
Quote: Originally posted by LadySmoks
Considering the lack of alternatives, I can say that 99% of users have come to terms with it's short comings, since final release of build 409. Yes, there is "Passion", which is basically Storm's updated Animated Woohoo, which is well done, but a tad "light".


Saying it shouldn't be used was perhaps the incorrect wording.
What I meant is that the community at large cannot help with endeavours related to this mod, considering the fundamentally broken nature of it.
Users are always welcome to mess with mods at their own discretion, but such mods shouldn't be in play when a new mod or tool is being developed.
A game with all of the above mods + KW isn't just one with messy menus, but one that is a nightmare to troubleshoot.

The 'warranty' of community help is voided by knowingly using game-breaking content, for lack of a better term.
Scholar
#8 Old 10th Jul 2023 at 2:04 AM
Quote: Originally posted by CardinalSims
Saying it shouldn't be used was perhaps the incorrect wording.
What I meant is that the community at large cannot help with endeavours related to this mod, considering the fundamentally broken nature of it.
Users are always welcome to mess with mods at their own discretion, but such mods shouldn't be in play when a new mod or tool is being developed.
A game with all of the above mods + KW isn't just one with messy menus, but one that is a nightmare to troubleshoot.

The 'warranty' of community help is voided by knowingly using game-breaking content, for lack of a better term.


Well, KW in particular, yes, it's a mess, and anyone using it must put up with some things not working as you might expect. I personally wish it had been built more like Nraas mods... modular and mostly tuneable, with other modules to "tie" certain module groups together more seamlessly. Might even have been easier for Oniki and others to fix the broken stuff. But, wish in one hand, poop in the other, and see which fills first!

I have the violence and aggression mod. Along with Dexter the Bear and my weapons based on the mod by Desecrate, fun for my Harley Quinn! I don't really do animations, but have long thought about trying to improve the ones in that mod.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#9 Old 11th Jul 2023 at 4:22 PM
Guys first off thank you so much for contributing to the thread! I sincerely appreciate it.

I've sat with the idea & with your comments for a few days.

I'd like to change the direction of the topic a tad.


Thanks to CardinalSims, I now understand that most mods placement in the pie menu is governed by the modders themselves (& is likely editable)

I would also agree that a large part of the reason I feel the pie menu is cluttered, is due in part to the mods I have installed.

But, I know I am not alone in having said mods installed, & would like to create a solution for users like me.

My idea for a solution, rather than trying to overhaul the entire menu, would be to nestle all interactions introduced my mods under one root folder.

So the main pie menu would have "Funny", "Mean", "Romantic", etc. and then one named "Custom"

Example:
> "FUNNY"
- Tell joke
- Make silly face
- Dare to -> eat cinnamon

> "MEAN"
- Insult
- Scare

> "CUSTOM"
- Kinky World -> Woohoo with -> Sim ABC
- Disasters & Blessings -> Burn


I'm going to do my own research of course, but ANY information pertaining to how to see this through would be HUGELY appreciated.

Sims 2 Playa!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#10 Old 11th Jul 2023 at 4:29 PM Last edited by Jordan15975 : 11th Jul 2023 at 5:25 PM.
To @CardinalSims -

I reviewed the link you sent me & will use it as my starting point for the project.

Trying it now - I have the mod I want to edit, opened in S3PE, with the tuning file open

And I have the code I need (to add a "root folder" to the interaction)

Now, I'm just a little unclear on specifically whereabouts I need to place the code within in the file

(The guide says "In the interaction Definition class")


CODE I NEED TO ADD:

public override string[] GetPath(bool bPath)

{

return new string[] { "MyStuff Options..." };

}

THE MOD:
Disasters & Blessings by bella3lek4
Screenshots

Sims 2 Playa!
Test Subject
#11 Old 11th Nov 2024 at 10:18 AM
Oof, I've been having the same issues with some of those mods. I realized I have no idea what I am looking at halfway through.
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staff: administrator
#12 Old 18th Nov 2024 at 4:09 PM
Unfortunately, with the way Paths are done by the game, the only real way to edit it is by recompiling the dll files. The code you want to add is C#, and of course needs to be in a C# file

The file you highlighted there is called a Tunable. They tell the code to change the chance of something happening, or disallow certain ages/species/etc. Honestly it can be anything.
Either way! To help you out a bit, assuming you can edit the script modders' code of course permission wise, you want to check out DNSpy, which can be found here: https://github.com/dnSpy/dnSpy

After you've downloaded it, you want to make sure to export the DLL file (or rather, the S3SA file) that you see in S3PE. If you right click on that resource, it will say "export dll". Click that.

Once you've done that, open DNSpy, drag/drop that dll you exported into it and voila! You are now able to edit it (Well, sort of, you first need to find the .cs file inside the dll file you imported, and right click on that to then select "edit Class")

Hope this helps a bit! Keep in mind though that what you're doing here, is considered CORE script modding. Meaning that it could break saves if you're editing more than just paths!
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