So let's say you want to change the height of your sim?
Well everyone knows how to do that right?

ctrl+shift+c stretchSkeleton X

Where X is a number above or below one.
one is the default height of all sims of course...
If you want a shorter sim you make the number less than one.
If you want a taller sim you make the number more than one.

Seems easy enough...
But what happens when you have multiple sims on a lot?
Even if you make them different heights in the character build mode, they will all default back to a ratio of 1 when there are multiple people on the lot.
Even if you adjust again and save them in their proper heights...

It's a little annoying but there is a work around.
It's really quite simple.
Make sure you've saved your lot/family and be sure to back it up before you try this. Though I've had a 100% success rate I promise nothing.

Before I go into the details of how to change them all permanently to the new height it might be easier to explain the formula I've used behind the ratio.
The ratio of 1 (which is the default) must obviously have SOME value... otherwise you wont know what new ratio to put in for the proper height of your sim.
In this case I let the default ratio of one be equal to 6 feet... it seems to work well...
Now in order to get the proper ratio you're going to have to do a little math...
feet divide into inches which of course means multiples of twelve so we have to change it to metric.
Any metric converting program can do this fairly quickly or you can check out the converters at www.sciencemadesimple.com
If you convert 6 feet into meters you should get a number roughly like 1.8288.
I cut off after the fourth digit after the decimal because at that point the difference is negligable or is a run on number.
So now we know that stretchSkeleton 1 is equal to 1.8288 meters in height.
Now you need to decide the height of your sim.
I'll use mine as a refference.
My sim and I are the same height (5'5) that's 65 inches of height (6 feet is 72 inches, 5 feet is 60... always a multiple of 12 right?)
Running 65 inches through a converter gives you 1.6510 meters of height.
That's less than 1.8288 so you can assume it's going to be less than one for the stertchSkeleton command.
But how much less than one?
Last thing you need to calculate: your height number divided by the standard number equals the ratio you need.
Like this: 1.6510 ÷ 1.8288 = 0.9027
So to make your sim 5'5 you would type stretchSkeleton 0.9027
BAM your sim is 5'5.
That's all well and good but we still have the problem of the sims all returning to a ratio of 1 when you load the lot.
The next part is fairly easy if you follow my steps. Again make sure to back up your sims before modifying them incase you disfigure them horrendously.
You'll need to use SimPE to edit their height.

To do this go to File-> Open
The folder your sims is kept in is under my documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Neighborhoods/NXXX/Characters
NXXX in this case is the number that refers to your neighborhood. For instance the first neighborhood that comes with the game is called N001.
The character files will have names like N001_User00000.package
Don't know which one is which? that's ok... it's a trial and error process but once you know which is which you wont forget.
Open one of them.
To figure out which sim you've opened click on the 'jpg/tga/png IMAGE' under the resource tree then select the first of the files listed there. It should be a pic of the character. If this is not the right one, load a different character until you find the one you want to mod.
Ok so now we have the right sim.
Click the 'Age Data' link under the resource tree, then on the Age Data file itself in the right hand window.
Below where you saw the pic will be a whole bunch of lines of text in the CPF editor.
Scroll to the bottom. Second from the bottom should be a line marked: stretch (dtSingle) = 1
Click it.
On the right side of the CPF editor the Name field should now say: stretch, the Type field should say: dtSingle and the Value should say: 1.
Change the value to whatever you determined the correct ratio to be for your sims height.
Click Commit.
Save your work under the File/Save menu.

That should be it.
Load up the sims and check to see that the character's height has been adjusted.
This should keep them the same height no matter how many people of different heights are in the lot.
I have one lot with 6 people in it ranging from ratio 0.9027 to 1.0555. that's 5'5 to 6'4. They all hold their heights and it makes for some slightly more interesting gameplay.
NOTE: I use aging off therefore my sims never become elders. I'm not sure if the ratio change is nulified when the sim grows older. also I have only tested this on the adult sims. The ratio workings may be different for younger and older sims... or it may be the same and younger sims may simply have a lower ratio (though I doubt this as the skeletons are not simply stretched they're completely different for each age) I will assume that any change in age group will reset to the 1 ratio value for the new age group so when the sim ages you will have to do this over again...

Any more info you'd like to add or share to this document is greatly appreciated and wil be given proper credit. Please IM me anything you discover incorrect about this or if you test out how aging affects the ratio system and I'll add it right away.

Hope this helps you all have just a touch more fun.

Truly,
Lexx

Thank you. This is something I was curious about and it worked for me!

I found a quicker way to access the sim you want to change. In Simpe, Open the neighborhood via the Neighborhood browser, then scroll down to Sim description. On the right all sims apear, Find the name you want ( or NPC ( works with them too ! Whoo Hoo ! )), Click on the sim, Under the "MORE" tab, Open the charactor file (N001_User00??.package) It will display the right one so you don't have to remember the actual number) and change the value as described in the wonderful tutorial above.

Presto and Cheers !!

Awesome! Glad you found a faster way.
To be honest, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to SimPE so I was just going with what I figured out. Faster is better! ^.^

Also. I'm in the process of taking a screenshot to demonstrate the differences in height for my characters as a refference to see if the 6 feet = ratio 1 works for most.

This is awesome! Good work. If only we could make height genetic! This really adds realism to the game.

Thank you for this idea and tutorial, Lexx, I moved your post to the sim customization tutorial forum .

Wow!It's good.Can you make make sim tall by SimPE?[IMG]F:\Sims 2\Alucard1.png[/IMG] [IMG]F:\Sims 2\Vampire teen female\snapshot_6feef896_30f50551[/IMG]

That's the general idea...

Yes,I come to C:/My Document/EA Games/The Sims2/Neighborhood(1,2 or 3)/charcters.and then choose and open by SimPE.If you will look "Sim's head"
you must come to jpg/????(I can't remember).If you need to make this Sim tall.You must come to Age data and then click "Stretch" and edit "1" to???
I edit to 1.2 my sim will tall 1.2.
Stretch of teen Sim:0.94
Stretch of adult Sim:1.0 or "1"
Stretch of elder Sim:1.0 or "1"
If you choose adult or elder you will see "1" in Stretch
If you choose teen you will see "0.94" in Stretch
If you choose child you will see "1"[IMG]F:\Sims 2\Vampire teen female\snapshot_6feef896_30f50551.jpg[/IMG]
If you out game and come to play you will see your tall Sim in game.

thank you for this i wonder if this will stay the same if for example they are packaged in a lot to the exchange maybe i'll test it anyway well done for working this out

I created a table based on your premis of Stretch (1) = 6' 0" for easy reference. I am including values for 4'6" to 7'6" : ( median 6 ' )


Feet Stretch Skeleton Value
/inches

4 1/2 0.7500
4 7/12 0.7639
4 2/3 0.7778
4 3/4 0.7917
4 5/6 0.8056
4 11/12 0.8194
5 0.8333
5 1/12 0.8472
5 1/6 0.8611
5 1/4 0.8750
5 1/3 0.8889
5 5/12 0.9028
5 1/2 0.9167
5 7/12 0.9306
5 2/3 0.9444
5 3/4 0.9583
5 5/6 0.9722
5 11/12 0.9861
6 1.0000
6 1/12 1.0139
6 1/6 1.0278
6 1/4 1.0417
6 1/3 1.0556
6 5/12 1.0694
6 1/2 1.0833
6 7/12 1.0972
6 2/3 1.1111
6 3/4 1.1250
6 5/6 1.1389
6 11/12 1.1528
7 1.1667
7 1/12 1.1806
7 1/6 1.1944

I've also attached the full text file
Once again thank you, This has made my game most interesting ( especially on community lots

thank you wolfgeek this is a lot easier

WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thankyou so much! I have looked for away for a long time!!

Thanks! I've wanted to reset the heights! Do you know if the height change will work if we pack the sims? export & import?

sorry, but I'm a very slow learner. Can you tell me more detail of how to change height of every sim in the same lot again. I have 3 sims in this house. Please tell me step to step of how to change the height of each sim. Thank you.

Thanks Lexx! Awesome work, I can't wait to try this one out, it's kinda weird having my wife (whose about a foot and half shorter than me in real life) just as tall as me in the game

Before I can try it out, I've got a get a few problems ironed out. Sorry I'm kinda new when it comes to messing around with the meat and potatos of the SIMS files, but how the heck do I open the character files? My computer doesn't have the proper program to open it up with.

I saw you mention "simsPE" in your post, is that the program I need to open them up with? And if so, did it come with the game, or do I need to download it from the site (if so, I'm too dumb to figure out where to find it).

A push in the right direction would really be appreciated! Thanks ahead of time

You can download SimPE here

Right on! Thanks Bliss I figured I was missing something there... I think I was typing in "simsPE" instead - those extra letters always get ya.

I had a chance to mess around with the stretching, and it works great! I used the "agesimscheat on" to change my sim's age well uh,... the lazy way. It did, however, reset the height to normal (stretch = 1) after my sim went from adult to elder. I "de-aged" the sim back to an adult, but the stretch still stayed at "1" instead of reverting back to the shorter version.

Most of my adult sims are less than 10 days old, so it'll be a while before I can report any info on the natural aging process.

On a side note, some of the interactions and the family household pics are hilarious - they still "hold" each other and "makeout" like they were normal height. Funny business, check it out!

Hi all,
I have two little but important notices about this very useful thread.

1. If you have a Operating System (e.g. Windows) localized for metric values (as for example in Europe like Germany, Italy, French and so on), it's important to use "commas" instead "point" as the decimal separator, because SimPE can read a value as 1.01 as 101, determining some very strange effects. So, you must use 1,01 for the example above.

2. This is a question: Why you have assumed 6' as standard default factor?
It seems to me a little bit higher than an average human height (like caucasian type).
I have read on other sites as the height to be consider standard (=1) would be better like 1,78 meters for men and 1,72 meters for women.
Assuming that is a game, maybe the default 1x could be an average height like 1,75 meters (like 5' 3/4).
Of course a little bit more complicated to calculate using feet, but always easy to calculate using metrics.

Ice

That's a really good tutorial - every information needed is in, every description easily followed, all the technical terms used that I can deal with, but no more than that. I hope so much that you'll write more tutorials - one about how one can use SimPE to change the clothes that Sims are wearing?

But why is everybody fiddling around with metric and non-metric measurements?

Let's say the average Sim is 6 feet = 72 inches high, and you want your Sim to be 65 inches.

Then you get your ratio by dividing the height you are aiming at by the average height:

65 : 72 = 0.902777777 = X.

Works with metric measurements, too: Let's guess that the average Sim is 178 cm, and I want one to be 185 cm:

185 : 178 = 1,0393 = X

To my mind, it's quicker and easier, but then again every body prefers a different way. With all the different ways we came up with in the comments, by now there should be something useful for anybody!

Again, thanks a lot for the tutorial.

Thanks for this tutorial which is very clear and I was able to follow it without headaches. I decided to use 5ft10ins (ie 70 inches) as the basic height as it is a more standard height and also it's a round number of inches which makes the fractions come out a little rounder

Info for when sims age: The sim gets reset to the default height of 1 when they age transition. I used the cheat on a teen male and he shrank when he grew up.

Big thanks to everyone who contributed to this; it's something that has been bugging me for ages.

I tried it last night on one of my Sims and when I went back into the game she had disappeared. Also the Sim she was living with (and engaged to) and the house they resided in were gone as well. Even the lot went from the neighbourhood, all that was left was just blank terrain. Funnily enough the character files were still accessible in SimPE but just were not showing up in the game. I realise my PC and game are configured differently to everyone elses but has this happened to anyone? The two Sims and their house were completely built using only Maxis content. I am wondering if perhaps I should use Clean Installer to temporarily disable the 6 or 7 hacks I have running and re-try the stretching? I am also planning to use SimPE to change a lot from Residential to Community and am fearing the same result.

Anyway, at least it serves as a firm reminder to constantly back-up my game (which I do religiously). ;-)

Awesome! I made a whole midget family (adults, teen, children, toddler, and babies)! The kids don't retain their midget size when they gow up, though. Also, this tutorial doesn't work with the latest version of SimPE. you have to get an older version (I have 3.8a). It works best, though, to have the newer version as well. Then you can open the new version, find the Sims you want to mod, write down their numbers, close the new version and open the old one to mod (this saves you the tedious work of opening hundreds of files to find your Sim)!

Hehe theres only one problem with making sims different heights. When they go to kiss another sim their lips do not meet. one sim will be smooching on the others forehead and the other on the other shoulder but its something I can ignore unless someone knows how to fix this?

This was pointed out earlier and is supposed to be a reason why MAXIS left out the ability to change a sims' height as was originally planned in the early stages of the game design.
I don't think this can be "fixed" as it would need a new animation for every height combination possible.