Are you sure ? I'll got it standing agian in my SimPE but ill do it anyway in the Mesh Tool to be certain. How come the animations don't automatically switch over from the previous object?

Thanks For Helping

If you rotate the mesh that's an .obj file in your mesh editor, it doesn't have the animations in it. The Mesh Tool is needed to replace the original GMDC with your new object so that the animations are retained. If you just import the .obj file into SimPE, it will not have the animations retained.

I've been working on creating an antique table phone for a while now, and I've been running into two major problems:



First, though my mesh has my new texture included in it, it's pulling its texture from the wall phone, and all of my attempts to point it to my texture instead have resulted in a blue flashing phone instead of my texture.



Second, as soon as I switch to live mode, my handset switches to the default, which, obviously, I don't want it to do. I know getting my handset to work is possible, as I've seen it done. But, as I'm more of a Body Shop mesher, I'm not really sure where to look in the files for Targa's adult phone or the Retroville phone to try to duplicate the effect.

Any assistance, even just pointing me in the right direction, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Freezer Issue
 

I've been working on this for way too long so I'm hoping someone can help me. I thought I finally had my "scientific samples" freezer just right but now when I test it I *have* to use the "moveobjects on" cheat to place it. If I select it from the catalog without activating the cheat it just stays transparent red as though it isn't being placed correctly. I'm sure that will affect how sims interact with it (I want it to be the normal food purchasing freezer I cloned it from). Any suggestions? I think I've just been looking at this one for too long.

HC

I'm stuck, I'm sure its yet again, another totally obvious problem but I have no idea how to approach fixing it, the object I've just created is not available in game. I can't see anything *that* wrong with the package but clearly something is very screwy!
I am using SimPE 0.54 and I have all the EP's installed.
The attached is a clone of the vanity table.

Edit: I've just checked and it works without O4B - is this a SimPE issue?

Pistachio, the vanity table shows up just fine in my game. Have you made sure the version you have in your game is the same as this one, and that you don't have any other objects with the same GUIDs or anything?

HystericalParoxysm, the phone is using the Maxis phone's textures because everything but the shadow texture points to it, and there are no custom textures included in the package. I've never cloned a phone before, and I don't know if this it going to solve the handset problem, but you should probably try to make a stand-alone clone to pull the necessary textures and materials to the package.

HChangeri, I'm not sure what's wrong with the fridge yet, I will have to take a closer look. I'll get back to you if I figure out anything.

Pistachio: To elaborate a bit on your vanity as I also took a lok at it: Before I started the game I looked where I always do, at the mesh names and the GUIDs. They were fine. The next thing I do regaurdless is "Fix Integrity". I then loaded the game and as IgnorantBliss stated above your vanity showed fine in my game as well.

Something to point out: The mirroreflection is a tricky subset and as seen by my in game image of your vanity u will need to adjust it's placement a bit.

HystericalParoxysm: The handset is a completely seperate object if you did not know this already. You have to point to the seperate handset in your package. Numenor is the only one I am aware of who has had any success with such an object.

HChangeri: Looks like your fridge has been downloaded four times so lets see if you get resolution. If not I will take a look at it tomorrow.

Thanks IB & JW! And yes I'm well aware of the mirror problem, this was only my first import of the meshes so the mirror placement was inevitably screwy - I'm always dumb with figuring out how the placement of one part relates to the other so it usually takes me two tries to get the mirrors placed correctly!

I'll double check the GUID thing - its possible I've recycled previously recycled ID's!

IgnorantBliss: Ahhh, I think I understand. I'll give that a try to fix the texture. Thank you.

JWoods: Yes, I know. That was something I knew I'd have to overcome with this project, but I haven't seen any info on how. I downloaded the updated version of Targa's adult phone that doesn't replace the original game handset and it's in two separate packages, one for the handset, so I get it has to be done that way, but I've no clue how to split it and make it work like that. I'll poke at the Retroville phone and Targa's phone to see if I can make some sense of it, but if only Numenor has gotten it thus far, I fear I'll be a monkey at the controls of a fighter plane again.

Ok, it was a GUID problem, I'd forgotten to remove an unpublished object before re-using its GUID's! However on testing the item I've discovered another problem which I can't fathom, the mirror isn't working correctly. The placement is a little off but that isn't the source of the problem. Not sure how best to describe this except to say the mirror surface works ok except that it is completely transparent where the back-board of the vanity appears behind it. It could I suppose be a graphics problem in that its not drawing the mirror correctly, but I don't appear to have any such problems with any of the other mirrors I've made. I was wondering if others found this to be the case or had any suggestions on how to deal with it.
I've reattached the updated version as the previous one didn't have the reflection in the right place to see anything! There's a screenshot which shows vaguely what I'm talking about.

I was waiting for you to ask this ? but thought I would see if you were already aware of it. If I remember corectly from making the GT Vanity it is due to the fact that your shape (mirror reflection) is one sided. If you look at the mesh in your 3d editor you will notice one side is black. That is because there are no facets on the back side. So you will need to add those facets to the back of the mirror reflection mesh.

Sorry I thought you were referring to the placement! The mirror mesh I've used is the original, simply re-shaped to fit hence I'm not sure how the missing parts have disappeared.

unfortunately I can't check this object in game (is it cloned from an expansion pack item?) ...but quickly checking the package I think you might find that the mirror IS there (and reflecting) but not in it's right place.

The mirror surface is centred in Milkshape to 0,0.....now, the GAME actually put the mirror surface (and camera) where it needs to be.

this is done in the CRES ... you have to adjust the practical-glass_rot's cTransformnode's translations x,y,& z (they are currently all set to 0.000)...to 'move' the mirror surace to where it should be .....(currently I'm guessing its hidden by the right hand drawers, as well as being half in the ground!)....

Pistachio, the mirror seems to be in the right place in the game, even though in Milkshape it seems off, like many other mirrors do, too, for some reason. I think that you will need to make the solid part of the table behind the mirror "invisible" when looking at it from the front (in other words, the part behind the mirror should have no faces facing forward, only to the back). This is how the original Maxis vanity table mesh is built, too.

Wall Intersection Problem
 

This should have been a no brainer, and I have done it before with no problems but in this case, it is resisting hard - the object should NOT be allowed to intersect a wall, yet it persists in allowing itself to intersect walls. I had thought that a BHAV init which says 'no' to such things took priority, but I am wondering if something is overriding that? Or did I get the logic wrong, even though it has worked before?


Edited: I have played with this ad nauseum and I am going to withdraw my request since it doesn't seem to have an answer. It is apparently a small problem connected with footprint resized objects. I have made three test objects with different single tile donor objects and resized to 4, 6 and 8 tiles, in a grid. Any of the wall adjacent placement flags works fine EXCEPT the 'allow wall intersection' flag. Diagonal walls are blocked OK..straight walls are only blocked if there is a 'floor' not terrain against one side, and only because I had a set flag for terrain placement, so 99% of the time no one would notice anyway.

Ah good suggestion! I shall give that a try. I did try creating a new mesh for the mirror reflection that was also double sided (I say also because the original is double sided, on my machine the back shows this very odd reflection that looks as if its been put through some werid lens which another graphics card could well show that as black) and it didn't make any difference so hopefully this will be a good resolution!

Boblishman - yes its an University base item, the placement isn't the essential issue, it is reflecting, but its doing it in a very odd way!

EDIT: ok, its fixed, the reason for the problem is that the mirror's reflection plane is not tied to the placement of the mirror mesh surface, on my mesh the placement of where I wanted the mirror to be was too far forward. This seems to confuse the way its rendered so it ended showing the back view of the table in the mirror in addition to the reflection working as per normal! I presume the set-up for this property of the mirror is somewhere in SimPE and can be edited? It doesn't matter for this but it would be useful to know for future reference!

Thanks everyone for your input

Hi all,

I'm in the middle of creating some vintage gas lamps. only now that I pieced together the first complete meshes I run into a major prob: the poly count - ouch! :gonemad: - is way too high. while I'm aware of there being a means to reduce poly count without losing on the items appearance I'm at a loss at how to get there. and I'm quite fond of the designs and don't really want to dump them...
could somebody please have a look?

thanx in advance!

Hi Chrissy,
I'm just having a look over this now - starting with no.4 as that seems to be the worst 'offender' - its a lovely design so I do sympathise with your issue! Cleaning models up can sometimes be done, it depends which program you use, in Max there's an Optomise function which can work wonders if you pick the right level, so that might be a good word to search for in the help files of whatever you use. Milkshape's clean function works well at tidying up any mess left afterward which helps!
That said I've just tried it on your model and it only dropped a couple of thousand polys on a very high optomise that was starting to lose the definition of the mesh in places.
I'm going to putter with it and see if the design can be reworked to fix this.

Edit:
I've chucked out as much detail as I could before it started to look a bit rough and gotten no.4 down to 2488 faces, 2510 verticies. Sadly its still a bit high but there isn't a lot more that can really be done without sacrificing parts of the design imo. I have the .obj model on my desktop that I've just done so if you want it just gissa' yell and I'll get it to you.

Many thanks, IgnorantBliss. I was able to get the texture working right once I made it a standalone. Now I know what to do if I have that problem again.

All of my attempts to look at the files for Targa's phone and the Retroville phone have resulted in me staring at everything in utter confusion. I understand what's been done (in a general sense), but I don't know how to duplicate it myself, and I have the added complexity of those being wall phones, and trying to do a table phone. I can see why Numenor's been the only one able to get a new phone going. I think that part of my project may be beyond my reach for now. I'll release it as a decorative mesh for now, as it's still rather pretty sitting on a side table, maybe see if I can bribe him into helping me with the offer of cookies once I'm a little more experienced with doing something more fancy than just a remesh. Still, if anyone else has any pointers or ideas on the subject, I'd love to hear 'em.

Thanks again.

Hi Pistachio,

thanx ever so much for taking your time! sounds great what u have done! thus could I please have a look at the obj?

yet I have another dumb question: while I see the clean function in milkshape I cannot find any information on how to use it in its helpfile nor the online help. my tools menu looks different from that in the help files. therefore could u pls tell me where I can find instructions so I can figure out how to do it myself?

The clean is fairly simple, just select it from the menu, if it says 0 triangles removed then there is nothing milkshape can do, if it says a number of triangles were removed then its done its job, check the 3D view to make sure your model hasn't developed any nasty holes or glitches as a result (if it does just hit the undo button), and if its ok then your object is good to go. In that respect its not the answer to your current problem - it didn't remove any polygons on the one I tried because the model is coherent. I'll PM you about the model!

Bar Problem
 

I have made a new bar and everything works fine except it isn´t possible to sit in front of it on a barstool. The sims complain the bar is in the way when i try. Any ideas?

I took a brief look and it may have to do with the animations. Just a thought

solfal, sorry it took so long to reply. I just tested your bar in my game, and I found no problems with it. Sims were able to sit in front of it in bar stools just fine. Did you make sure the chairs were facing the right way? Did the chairs "slide" into position like they are supposed to?

Thank you for answering!
Yes the barstools did slide in place and the sims where thinking the bar was in their way. I tried with a maxis bar beside and they sat down just fine. I will go and try on another lot.

Hi!
Is there a program that converts objects from sims 1 to sims 2? I've got a couple of great things in sims1 that I'd like to use in sims2. How can I convert them?
If you know, please help!

Many Thanx!!!! Amy :D

There is no easy conversion from Sims 1 to Sims 2 objects, because the objects in Sims 2 are built very differently. All objects in Sims 2 are three-dimensional meshes that can be viewed from all angles. The objects in Sims 1 were not, they were only two-dimensional pictures of objects from four different angles, and if you were to rotate the view around them freely, they would not retain the shape.

The only way to remake the objects is to basically make them from scratch, only using the Sims 2 objects as a reference while creating a new 3D mesh.

Hi,

I am Chrissie from Pimp-my-Sims.

I have a big problem with my hairdresser's chair. I have cloned this chair. And it will not work in the game. The problem is...I can't assign a hairdresser! And my Sim cannot be a hairdresser All the other actions will function!!!



I have exchanged the original GUID in the BHAVs against mine.

Sorry about my english :sorry:

EDIT: Problem is solved!! Thanks again Quaxi and Shaklin!!

Best Regards, Chrissie

Hi, I already recolored a painting (Poisonous Forest) and it worked perfectly, you dl here btw http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=140561

So I tried to recolor the "Grilled Cheese" Painting... But it doesn't work, I don't understand why it doesn't work, I did the same process of the first one.
And I also wanted to ask: Do I have to make a recolor package using SimPE for each painting, or do I just make one and copy paste it?

I think that you should recolour for each painting because then it doesn't override each other.

By "it doesn't work", what do you mean? Do you mean you can't create a recolor package in SimPE, or that it doesn't show up in the game, or something else?

Yes, you will have to create a new recolor package for each painting, and also a new package for each recolor on the same painting.



Chrissie, have you followed Echo's tutorial here?

hahaha, I didn't know I had to create a recolor package for each painting, so I just made copies of the first one, maybe they got corrupted after starting the game with all of them in dowloads folder, Anyway I already fixed it.
Thanks for your help

Fleur de Glee Windows from OFB
 

I posted the following in the SimPe forum and was told to post here. I've done a search but couldn't find anything simlar.

I've recolored the Looky Nook window from OFB and wanted to recolor the Fleur de Glee windows to match. I recolored both the single and double windows, yet the only difference that shows ingame is the removal of the window decoration, (from the "glass"). This option is available through the double window only and the frame section of the recolor isn't available at all. No options appear available for the single window recolor. Is there some special step I need to take in order to make it work?

Many thanks

When I wrote this I tested one, but when I made and tested the other 3, I found out that in the "select color" menu they look just like the maxis original, But when I placed them they look ok.
This is the link to the post if someone wants to check, I'll really apreciate it.
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=140849

bejewelled, with those windows, they both have their own frame textures, but they share the glass texture. When you want to recolor the frame, make sure you select the frame texture to recolor and not just the window part (it's preferable to recolor them in separate package, frame in one and glass in another). When you recolor the 2-tile window, it seems to also pull the 1-tile frame texture. In that case, select the texture that says "2pane" in the name or something similar. When I recolored the frames like this, they showed up just fine in my game. For the glass, you only need to recolor either the smaller or the bigger window, not both, because the one recolor will be used by both.

squall117, you need to refresh your thumbnails. The fastest way to do it is to delete the package files in your Thumbnails folder in the Sims 2 folder under My Documents. Delete the files in it, leave the folder. This way, all new thumbnails will be generated the next time you go to the catalog in game.

Thank you, I will try again IgnorantBliss. I did do it as you say but perhaps I made a mis-step somewhere, (which I tend to make now and again).

Btw, love the Carl Sagan quote!:sci:

Thank you again.

hi all,

I have just created my first garden light set up as a gas lantern like the vintage street light. yet I ran into a weird problem: the glow subset is showing up blue ingame when lit although there does neither seem to be a typo nor a faulty ref. could somebody please have a look?

thanx in advance!

chrissy, there seemed to be some odd character (space maybe?) in the Material Names Text List in the glow material reference. I removed the character, and I see no blue glow in my game, at least, just a normal light .

Fleur de Glee Windows from OFB
 

Thanks to your advice, I did get the double window to work and selecting the "2 pane" was where I messed up. I was chosing the other option.

The single window still isn't working. Everything looks fine, SimPE works like a dream without any errors yet, after I put the file into my download folder, no color option is showing up. I'm flummoxed!

ohhhh nooo! looks like I found another means to mess up my packages *sigh*

you are certainly right! it was the above mentioned string! thanx ever so much !!!

bejewelled, can you upload the non-working single window recolor as an attachment here? I will take a look and see if I can figure out what's wrong.

Fleur de Glee Windows
 

Thank you for looking at the file IgnorantBliss. I did finally get it to show but this is what I find interesting: it only shows when choosing the window and options to place the window, not with the design tool. This is a completely new one on me!!! :confused: I suppose I could put special instructions with the download but, it's been my experience few people read them. Is there a solution for this? If not, I understand and in any event, thank you so much for all your help!

wow I didn't know you could do that, now I can fix some other stuff.
Thanks A LOT

bejewelled, the color option shows up just fine for me, both with the design tool or when placing a new window. May be a silly question, but are you making sure you're browsing through all the color options in the design tool window?

Lol! Not a silly question at all when you consider who you're talking to! I've made some pretty dumb mistakes in the past! I went back and checked just to make sure. Using the design tool, I only have the default options. It must be a glitch specific to my game.

Thank you so much for looking into it for me!

robin07042005 I am not sure why your homecrafter doesnt work any more. Mine still works fine? Have you just tried redownloading it? (it is a lot easier than using simpe I am sure!) I have all the expansion packs through ofb btw.

gdayars, did you post in the wrong thread?

How do i download and then make an item.

Download this tutorial, and it'll tell you what programs to download and how to proceed.

Please help
 

Please help me,

I have a problem with a bed mesh, when I'm trying to set it, the frame doesn't apear but after it is positioned the frame apears. Please tell me what did I do wrong.

Do you mean the frame does not show on the thumbnail, or something else? Can you post the bed mesh as an attachment, please, so that I can take a look at it?

hey can some one help me here i am , been working on one object for like 2 days now, and i am ready to scream top my lungs lol, i went i created me a new desk, and i tried, to get it to recolor so i can make recolors i went thrue the tutorial on new subsets but i just dont get it, i went thrue every bit of it over and over and over , just dont get it, because this i done all the instructions as posted and when i made the object i let it know that i wonted it to recolor, any ways if i uploade the file some where can some one help because i am about to just throw my pc out the window , from loser4020

Hi, everybody. I have a question. I'm trying to add additional tiles to a one tile object. I'm following a tutorial and it calls for clicking on the "Packed File" tab while the Object Data line is still selected. (Trying to make unique instances.)

Anyway, I've done this before, but in the newest SimPE, I cannot find that tab anywhere. There is no button or link anywhere that says "make all listed unique".

At least I cannot find it and if some kind soul would please (please!) point me in the right direction, I would be forever greatful. In the meantime, I'll keep looking through SimPE. I never thought I'd see the day when I couldn't find something in this program. Goes to show, huh?

EDIT: Never mind. I found it. It is the little cop or "Bobby" hat at the very top tool bar. Duh.

What object did you use for your base object? Was it something other than a desk? You may want to upload your non-working object and either Ignorant Bliss or I can take a look for you.

hey
 

:uber: hey

just posted up on my file updated it
here some one take a look please and thanks for every thing,
from loser4020

thanks



the mesh i made from the it from the first desk on game , i cant think i am to frustrated lol and ,
i was kinda hopeing some one can help because i love the recolors for these objects,

i allso made a rug i wonted recolord but ,
i am just wonting my desk fixed lol

any ways see u soon!

I'll take a look right after dinner. You did clone and use a desk for the base, right?

yes i took an made it from a desk file lol and i thank u so much for this, .,

i am glad some one got a brain i dont think to well at things like this lol, any ways thanks again ill see u when u come back , from loser4020

loser4020:

I took a quick look and your subset names are "desk" and "regroup01".

If you'll take a look at your Shape section, under the "parts" tab, you have this subset listed:

Sheshaws-sheshaws123

This doesn't appear anywhere in your file, and I suspect is your whole problem. Make sure that your subsets and subsets listed under Shape are the same. And, make sure that your material definitions and material overrides match your textures and names.

Also, if you're just starting out, it may be easier and less confusing for you if you do not change the existing subset names and textures and things. In other words, use what is already there. Later, when things are easier for you, then changing all those names won't be such a big deal.

looking over it now thanks for help ill let u know as soon as i look over it i am looking now, thanks for info and help ,

from loser4020



<< my pc was saved lol ><><

oki still not right , i am gonna scratch this idea , and throw it out try a new one, and try to just do things u told me to, well, ttyl thanks for all help,

from loser4020

Grapholina, you can also get unique instance numbers by just performing "fix intergrity".

Please help me,

I have a problem with a bed mesh, when I'm trying to set it, the frame doesn't apear but after it is positioned the frame apears. Please tell me what did I do wrong.

I'm not completely sure why a part of the bed (the frame and some of the bedding) turn invisible at times (in the catalog, while placing it on the lot, and while using it), but I do see some problems with the bed that might have something to do with it.

First off, when you clone a bed, if you want the frame to use all of the bedding textures you have in the game, you should not make a stand-alone clone, which I think you have done here, because the bed does not borrow its bedding from the Colonial Ironwood bed like it would otherwise.

Also, it seems you have exported and imported back some of the bedding mesh, apart from the frame. You should not do that, because currently it's not possible to edit the bedding mesh and still keep the correct animations.

So, I suggest you make a new clone, and make sure the stand-alone option is unchecked. Then, when you export the mesh, only export the frame (as an OBJ file) and uncheck all the other parts. Then edit/create the frame in a mesh program, and import the frame back into the package. Do everything else that's included in creating an object package as normal. Reuse the same GUIDs you had in this version, and make sure you remove this old version from your game. Then try if it works.

Borrowing textures from another object
 

Hi all: :wave:

I'm just looking to see if someone can point me in the right direction. The information is likely out there, but when searching, there is just so much information. What I have done is created another two story door, and I would like to also create a two story arch. This is actually quite easy as the two story door and arch both have the same subset names, etc. What I can’t find is how to link the two story door texture to the two story arch. In the two story arch there are no texture files and they are of course linked to the two story door. I do have J. Woods tutorial on repository objects, but that is going in and changing the names and files. With the archway and door, it’s just a matter of linking the door to the archway, and not changing or adding any file names, etc. Or maybe the repository tutorial will work, but I just need to grab a small part of it, I’m not 100% sure.

Anyway, any help or direction would be greatly appreciated!!! :nod:

Thanks!
Simnuts

simnuts,
with the arch, the group names should already be right,
so you only need to change the 'shape' and 'gmnd' parts
you can just go through the repository tutorial and only change the bits you need
it should work fine

Thank you Lethe!! I kind of had a feeling that the answer would be in there somewhere, but I just was not sure where!! LOL :nod:

Thanks again, appreciate the very quick response!! :baloons:

Simnuts

to IgnorantBliss,
thanks, I did everithing you said and it works, but I still can't use the bedding from the Colonial Ironwood and I didn't make a stand-alone clone, but thanks,

Which bed did you use as the base for the clone?

the Colonial Ironwood Bed

Hookay... I guess I need to ask for directions to the nearest tutorial or something that would help me with this #$%$ bookcase.

Here's my problem. Bookcases in game are 1 tile, but mine is 2 tiles. I went ahead and created the new mesh and then did the tutorial for adding tiles to objects (by Echo), and tested. The bookcase worked just fine, except that Sims were walking through it because the game still didn't know it was two tiles. Fine.

I then followed somebody's tutorial (forget the name) "Fixing the footprint (or stop walking through my object!"). This was relatively easy because I did extensive work in this area during the Sims 1 days. However... it sure as heck isn't working for me because now the Sims can't walk through the bookcase, and they love it, but cannot get to the bookcase to get or put away books.

So... beats the heck out of me how to fix this. Is there a place to go for more info on this sort of thing?

Try cloning some other bed than that, due to the bedding linkage problem (the Colonial bed has the bedding texture itself, so it won't be automatically linking to an external bed, while the other beds will if you don't make a stand-alone clone) The four-poster bed, called Courtly Sleeper or something like that, should be a good one to clone.

I'm making a bedroom set and I have a bedding, what if I just use that texture in this package, I don't whant the other beddings, can I?

Then you can probably do it by cloning the Colonial bed, but I'm not 100% sure because I haven't tried myself. However, why would you not want to have the option of other bedding? Especially if you're offering this for a download, people usually appreciate it when they have choices for things like bedding .

I know what you mean, I'l try to clone another bed, thank you, you helped me a lot!!!

Question
 

I made a endtable and I made it a little smaller, but the objects I set on it remain at the height of the original mesh.
Can I change a objects height?

If you want to make a low end table like that, I suggest you clone one of the one-tiled coffee tables. They are already low to begin with, and the objects you place on them will be low. But your current table height may have to be adjusted a bit to be the same as a normal coffee table. Export the Maxis mesh into your mesh editor for reference to get the height right.

Still working on this
 

Below is my message from post #504. Has anyone had a chance to look at it? I've repackaged it twice and still have the same problem with it. Any suggestions would be really helpful

HC

TXMT change via BHAV
 

Hi folks.

After working on this the whole day and nothing seems to work I plead for help here...

I have an object and all I want to do is to change between two (or more) TXMTs via a BHAV using opcode 0x006D. I've done this successful before, but now it doesn't seem to work, regardless of what I try.

I my opinion I have set the Parameters correctly, left one pointing to the str with the TXMT-Name, fourth from the left pointing at the submeshgroups whose texture I want to change. I tried quite some variations here, but to no avail...

The remainder of the scenegrapher-chain seems correct, as if I switch TXMTs in the SHPE both alternatives show up just fine.

I am grateful for help and illuminating remarks on what I'm doing wrong here. Please have a look in the attached archive.

Thanks! (and now I'm going to throw something out of the window... :D)

Ok, I hope I am asking this in the right place. If not, yell at me and ill delete and move it.

I am having some problems with my table that I made with the 'The Sims 2 Start to Finish Object Creation Tutorial V2.1 (Wings 3D)' I have read the tutorial many times, and have been trying to follow it to the letter.

I am using Wings 3D 0.98.32a, SimPE 0.56, and UVMapper 0.26b.
After I make my table, and export it to .obj, it shows up very wierd to UVMapper, the first time I went through all the steps, it came out showing the long side of the table top and the side of the legs. After playing around with wings, and UVMapper I go it to display the top of the table, as well as the long side and the short side. On a curious whim, I followed the remaining steps in the tutorial and previewed it in SimPE. SimPE mapped my textures right for the table. It looked hidious, but that was the point, to make sure I knew how to use UVMapper. The table rendered fine, but when first loaded it showed up on its side.

Sorry for my long-windadness, but maybe some of it will help in solving my problems :D

Ok.
1) My custom table appears in game, on its side, with the original textures.
2) The original table appears in game, as a 'custom object' and looks the same as my custom table does.

I think that it all stems back to either the initial export of the .obj, or the initial load and save with Wings 3D for the table being on its side, I am hoping I missed something simple in reading and rereading everything many times.

Then, the texturing and how my table is there twice, I have no clue.

superk125, for the first problem, when you export the original mesh from SimPE, in Geometric Data Container, on the bottom of the Models list, what is the Order set to? Is it XYZ or XZY??

For the second problem, did you make sure to give you table a new GUID, Update the MMATs with the main GUID and Commit? Go back to Object Data and see if the the GUID assigned is different from both the listed "original" and "fallback" GUIDs. Then also open then MMAT and see if the value of the GUID line matches the GUID you have given the object.

At problem 1

Ah, it needs to be on XYZ right? I thought I had it set right, but ill make sure its set to that everytime I do anything, seems like its not staying set.

At problem 2

Yes, I followed the tutorial to the letter. If I recall from memory its check box for update all MMATs for Main, then 'get GUID' then comit. then for G1 and 2 just get GUID and comit. I'll load it up and look.

Yes, all 3 entries are using the fallback...... I think I understand now.

I have to change the object data filenames, then use get GUID?
The one part that was somewhat unclear to me. I just typed in something else on the 'object name' where you get a GUID. I just asssumed it changed it all to what it should be for that name. So, if you could please let me know if I am right or not, I'll go ahead and try this out again.

And, Thanks for the help so far :D

Changing the object name is not critical, you can just leave it as it is. The important part is to click the "get GUID" link. That'll open a separate window. If you're not signed up for your own block of GUIDs yet, then I think you can do it in that window (or, alternatively, go to the SimPE site and sign up there). Once you have once logged in, SimPE should remember it, and the next times you'll just need to select the Register Object button in that window. That window then closes, and you will have to click the "Update MMATs button (only with the main GUID) and then the Commit button (with all GUIDs.)

Ya, I did that, and I did sign up in that window (per Tutorial) I can hit that button and click on the 'existing objects' tab, and it gives me the names for the objects I typed in, along with GUID numbers. It looks like SimPE did not update the GUID after it made it, I am sure I clicked commit *shrugs* I'll try manually typing it in I guess, or try again and see if it works this time.

EDIT: THANK YOU!!! Even though I know I clicked things.... they must have not been commited anywho, my crappy looking table works!!!! Time to make things that look a bit better for the eyes :D

XANATHON

The ability of switching recolours via BHAV is reserved (from what I can see in Maxis objects) to multi-state objects (i.e. lit/unlit for lamps, clean/dirty for counters and plumbing, clean/worn for the teddy bear, cooked/worn/burnt for food; and god know if there are other multistate objects around the game )

I've never seen switching via BHAV two alternative recolours of a single-state object.

That said, I've turned your viewer into a recolourable, multi-state object (lit/unlit); a recolour is included in the RAR, as a proof of concept.
This means that when you try and recolour the object, Object Workshop will force you to recolour both the "lit" and "unlit" textures.

I know that you are always willing to learn new things, but I don't know how much you know about multi-state objects, and how the alternative textures are managed via BHAV. In case you want to know more, just tell me and I will gladly explain.

In the meantime, I'll just point out the changes that I've done to your package:
- edited the MMAT for the "finish" to make it a "lit" multi-state MMAT;
- added a second MMAT for the "unlit" state
- renamed properly the two TXMT
- edited the Text Lists 0x87 and 88: only the multi-state subsets are to be included, and only the TSMT for them. The single-state subsets should not be listed in the Text Lists
- edited the two BHAV accordingly to the new content of the Text Lists.

As a bottom line, I've converted both textures in DXT1 format (rather than the DXT3 used in your package): if the texture has no alpha channel (has no transparency), the DXT3 format is only a waste of space; if you notice, the size of your package is now about half of the original.

HCHANGERI

I've checked your package, and in particular the Init BHAV (that is the one responsible of the placement setting). And I've noticed that it called a semiglobal Init, which in turn called a "Init - Wall" BHAV: this last BHAV set your freezer as a wall-hanging object

I don't know why you just didn't keep the original Init BHAV when you cloned the freezer; I guessed that there *was* a reason, so I avoided to restore the original Init, and I've edited manually the existing one: now the object is placeable on the ground, and *only* the ground

If you want to learn more about the Init BHAVs and how they manage the placement of an object, you can read thim Modding InfoCenter article.

Numenor, first I want to express my gratitude that you took the time to look at my object! It is highly appreciated.



Hm. I have used the venus statue for my stargate and I think that that sculpture is not a multistate object. I cloned this object from the same venus and it did not work.
I did further research today and cloned my stargate to test if the BHAV-switching works if I import my new GMDC and insert new textures and it did. Not only with two interchangeable TXMT but more of them.



Thanks for that, I will have a look into it tomorrow.



I had a look into lights but am only beginning to grasp how that works. If you can spare the time I would like to know more about this. Maybe this is a topic for the modding infocenter.



Are there explanations of the DXT-formats somewhere on this site? I'm often somewhat unsure wich one to use and so I stick to the one that is already present in the package.

Tomorrow I will also include some more switchable TXMT and the BHAVs into the object cloned from my stargate and I will notice you when I provide the object for download so you can have a look at it.

Thanks again for your illuminating comments!

Edit: I want to add: In my stargate there's no MMAT at all. Maybe that's the explanation..?

Xanathon, I didn't know what was your level of knowledge, and therefore my reply was somehow inaccurate...

Beside the fact that you might have expanded the game functions beyond the "safety" limits that Maxis has set for itself (this is definitely possible :D)), I've never seen on Maxis items switching via BHAV the materials for recolourable subsets; in other words, yes, the fact that your Stargate completely lacks the MMATs makes your object not recolourable, but makes it also eligible for texture switching via BHAV.

I've seen in your MainViewer a MMAT, and I thought it was supposed to be recolourable, and I adjusted accordingly.
Anyway, the suggestion has been noted: I'll write an InfoCenter article about the multi-state objects.

As for the various graphic formats, there is an article by JWoods in the InfoCenter, about the TXTR file.

I don't know my level of expertise myself... :D



I also did a reconfigurable Trek-like console, where you could switch between three display-configurations via pie-menu. I looked into it (quite some time since I did the object, it was also cloned from the venus) and found out, that there is a MMAT in that package, but only for the stand, not for the changeable displays. So I think you're right: If there are MMATs the object is recolorable but the corresponding TXMT ist not switchable via BHAV. Vice versa if there is no MMAT.



That was of course a reasonable assumption. I had them included, since I wanted the object to be recolorable (the "original" TXMTs). But it seems that it is either recoloable or switchable BHAVs. Or the lit/unlit variant, you proposed. But I guess, in that variant you would only be able to switch between two TXMTs, and I wanted more.



Cool, thanks again.

As a quintessence: these are all very interesting facts.

Maybe this is one of the mentioned limits that we can try to break
I wonder what would happen if I'd apply the two-states MMAT configuration to three or more "states"...
This possibility definitely worths a shot, let me try..

I'm working on a new bathroom but I've got some problems with the mirror.
It looks like this:



The green landscape is like a permanent screen I can see through the shape of the mirror glass. It isn't really a reflection. The screen looks like this when I'm going closly with the camera to the mirror:




I guess it has something to do with the boundingbox but I don't know exactly what ...

I have attached a rar-file with the package.

Help is really appreciated. Thank you.


Best wishes

Teko

s'il vous plait, je voudrais savoir si on peut changer de langue, traduire le site !merci davance !

Meg-du-13
vous êtes bien perdu dans cette thread ici,
mais si vous avez besoin d'un essai programme de traduction, essaiez google:http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=fr de traducteur d'emplacement

Meg-du-13
Ok, you're way off topic here, but if you need a site translator
try google:http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=fr

ok....I can't check this object in game because I dont have the expansion pack it is cloned from. However, I have looked at the meshes in Milkshape.

This is just a guess.... normally...and I stress 'normally' (because I can't check the original clone object)...both the mirror surface and the bounding box are centred around the axis... (i.e. the centre of the mirror surface (and bounding box) is located at 0,0,0, in Mikshape. The mirror surface mesh (and bounding box) is then 'moved' using cres tranlations to the position of the mirror frame in game.

Try this....(it might not work....but worth a try) ... using your mesh program, centre the mirror surface (and bounding box) on ALL axis (so the centre of the mirror suface is on the position 0,0,0). If your new mirror is just a change in shape...and not position (height from the floor) ...it may just work....

NOTE: However, if your new mirror is not in the same position as the original clone one....it may not line up with the new frame... You would then need to calculate the position of the centre of your new frame...and enter those new values into the cres translations....

Remember that the 'reflection' is actually a camera.....and the cres is used to 'point' the camera from the position of the centre of the mirror surface...and the camera uses the same co-ordinates as the cres translation...

Yeah! This works! Thank you so much, boblishman.

Hi everyone, how are you today? Well anyway i just need help with alphas. In SimPe (Latest Version) when i import a texture in DXT5 the alpha channel can be seen, but when the object is in the game there is no alpha there it is just the original mesh without alphas. Please help Thanks. I am guessing that it has to do with the Material Deffinition but I am not sure what to change.

I am really getting annoyed with my wardrobe. I can't get my wardrobes animations to work correctly because my wardrobe is on the floor. I've tried everything i know of but cannot get to work. I've posted the Mesh and SimPE file. If you can get it to work can you tell me what i should be doing.

Thanks in advance

simfantastic2, why are you trying to import in DXT5? I don't think that's used in Maxis objects, either, and using it makes the files size huge. I recommend using DXT3 when dealing with transparency, and DXT1 with solid textures.

JucIEJ1991, unfortunately I'm not able to look at package files at the computer I'm using at work. But what do you mean by the wardrobe is "on the floor"? Do you mean it's lying on its side? If you use the Mesh Tool to animate the armoire, you have to change the Order to XYZ in GMDC (on the bottom of the Models list) in SimPE before you export the mesh.

Yeah it lies on its back. Would you please fix it because if tried so many times id like it completed.

JucIEJ1991, all you need to do is change the Order to XYZ before you export the mesh from SimPE. You can do it as well as I can, now that we know what the problem is . I'm not at my own computer now and cannot open package files or fix meshes.

IgnorantBliss thanks for that but the alpha still doesn't work. I'm guessing i should change the stdMatAlphaBlendMode to Blend. (P.S. most of the time when i use blend it seems although the object is see through at the angle you are viewing it at, so i stay away from it) So is there anything else besides blend i should do? Thanks.