Hello! I came on here because I was having trouble with creating custom video games. Currently, the only proper tutorial I was able to find was this one, by raquelcesar:

https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=53770

I tried following this tutorial but I found myself getting lost, as it was made for an older build of SimPE and back when The Sims 2: University was the most recent expansion. Trying to go through it now with the current version of SimPE and the Ultimate Collection is really confusing, due to certain things being changed around. I tried to go back and download the exact build of SimPE used for the tutorial, but the older build keeps crashing every time I attempt to use it when I launch it. I'm stuck and haven't been able to create a functioning custom video game, if someone has more knowledge on how to create it in the current version of SimPE, please let me know, and thank you in advance.

SimPE isn't all that different between the builds, from what I can see on the pictures anyway (and if you try using an older version, you could get some trouble with compatibility).

Which parts are you having problems with, and/or what are you having trouble finding?

So I decided to cross-reference my current video game object with a Skyrim custom video game which I'll link here:

https://www.tumblr.com/elvisgrace/7...ole-down-to-fix

I compared the two and put my video game and video game rack GUIDs in the same places that they did (I was having trouble with it since the tutorial asks to replace the existing GUIDs in lines within behavior functions, and sometimes those lines wouldn't have GUIDs or if they did, ended up not being where they were supposed to go). Because of this, I was able to get the countertop display to work and let the Sim purchase it, and I've gotten as far as to having the game show up as an option in the menu when selecting "Play..." on the computer. However, what I'm noticing now is that the game lags heavily when playing the game, and no video output seems to appearing. I'm thinking that might have something to do with the INI file, but I remember getting it as close to what the tutorial asked for in that section of it so I have no clue what the problem is currently.

Hey! Having edited the game's video game clips myself, maybe I can help resolve this lag and blank output issue?

Can you show:
- what your game's INI file looks like, and where you placed it;
- where your game's clips are stored, and what they're called;
- how long the game's clips are and which file size they have;
- how you encoded the video game clips (video codec, audio codec, resolution (it can be the higher-quality 256x256 too, by the way!), bitrate, framerate), or whether you "just converted them to AVI". I may have followed a different tutorial because my clips had to be encoded very specifically, for which I had to use a very specific programme, VirtualDub.

Sims 2 doesn't like large files. You can notice this if you have an HQ snow replacement and the snow accumulates, for example. Or if you have a lot of neighbourhood decor CC and try to load into a world that has this hood decor placed down. Or, to stay on topic, you can also notice this when having custom TV or video game clips and the game needs to load them.

Thank you so much, so for the INI file, it is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Double Deluxe\Base\TSData\Res\Movies\Games\INI, and the file looks like this:



As far as the game clips, they are stored in C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Double Deluxe\Base\TSData\Res\Movies\Games\persona3, and their names are: persona3_attract.avi, persona3_intro.avi, persona3_p1lose.avi, persona3_p1win.avi, persona3_p2lose.avi, and persona3_p2win.avi. The attract and intro files are 7-8 seconds long, while every other clip is between 3-5 minutes long. As I'm checking now, the attract and intro files are about 150-200 kB while the actual gameplay files are 4-5 MB. And I just converted them to AVI, I didn't use any specific encoder programs or anything like that.

I do have footage that is in 480p so if it's possible to get it in higher quality, that'd be great! Anyways, hope that helps and is useful in seeing what the game's issue is.

Alright - thank you for all the information!

The INI file is in the correct place, though putting it in FreeTime's folder will also work (as that EP introduced several more video games).

The game clips are also in the correct place and the names match what you put into the INI file.
Nothing bad about the length of ATTRACT and INTRO as well as the other clips, mine are about the same length each.

The problem I see is this:

The problem is that Sims 2 doesn't take just any AVI file. As you may know, the game comes with specially encoded video files - they even have a different file ending, .movie. That we can use AVI's at all is somewhat of a miracle.

Anyway, I'd recommend that you use VirtualDub2 for what we are about to discuss here. It's the tool I use too, and based on the original VirtualDub which older tutorials might be using.
You'll also need ffmpeg (for the Lame MP3 audio encoder).
And finally, verify if there is a "vp6vfw.dll" file inside the Ultimate Collection's folder (just let Windows search for it). If it is, it's most likely that VirtualDub will know it too. It's vital for what we are about to do here.

There are already older tutorials around on MTS (they talk about custom TV clips, which have the same requirements for video clips), but I'll write up another one since I use different tools.
Click on thumbnails to enlargen them!

Alright. Here's how to get AVI files that the game can read properly:

1. Open the original footage. It doesn't have to be AVI. It can even be MP4, MKV or anything. Just so long as VirtualDub2 can open it, it's game.

2. On the Video tab at the top, click on "Filters...".
A window pops up, where you'll want to click on "Add..." and pick "resize" from the list of filters that opens.
When being prompted with which options to pick for the filter, select "Disabled" for the aspect ratio, then define "New size" as 256x256 (or 128x128, for smaller files), and "Filter mode" as "Lanczos3". Exit out with "OK" twice.

3. On the Video tab again, click on "Frame Rate...".
At the bottom under "Frame rate conversion", check the option "Convert to fps" and enter a value of 15 there. Exit out with "OK".

4. On the Video tab again, click on "Compression...".
On the window that opens, select "VP61 Advanced Profile". If you do not see this option, stop and check the notes above again!
Once selected, check the box for "Use target data rate of" and enter a value of 256 kB/second. Exit out with "OK".

5. On the Audio tab now, click on "Full processing mode" first.
Click the Audio tab again, then click the now-available "Compression...".
On the window that opens, select "FFMpeg Lame MP3". If you do not see this option, again, stop and check the notes above again!
There should be only one option available there, so make sure that's selected and exit out with "OK".

6. Feel free to verify that the video looks and sounds as you expect it to be. The left video clip is the source clip, the right video clip is the output. If you're satisfied, click the File tab and select "Save video...". Pick a destination and the correct filename, and done!


If you have any further questions, feel free to write back. I hope this helps!

Thank you so much! And yes, this resolved the black screen issue! For whatever reason, I couldn't find the VP61 Advanced Profile in the Video > Compression... window in the 64-bit version, but it is there in the 32-bit version so I used that, followed all other steps, and the game is now functional. :D

Yeah, VP61 is only a 32-bit plugin, because Sims 2 is a 32-bit app so that’s basically why only the 32-bit DLL is shipped with the game. It’s sufficient for our purposes though.

Glad you got the clips working now! Happy to have been of help ^-^

I had a similar issue when making a custom game for The Sims 2. One thing I'd suggest is testing with a really short clip before adding the full gameplay videos. It's much easier to figure out what's going wrong when you're only dealing with a few seconds of footage. I'd also keep a backup of the working package before changing anything else in SimPE.