Problem When I Edit Price, Room Categories, etc. in S3PE

[cstrantz]

When I use S3PE to change the price, room categories, room functions, etc. on a .package, the whole file gets borked. Dashboard can't find a problem and Process Monitor freezes everytime I load one of these edited files in the game. The game itself suddenly takes nine and half years to load and runs extremely choppy.

I am using S3PE version 0912-13-1729. I open a .package. I highlight the OBJD line. I click on Grid at the bottom. In there, I change the price under the Common Block section. I then change the flags under the function category, function subcategory, room category, and room subcategory sections. (I'm anal and can't stand objects being in the wrong categories!) I click on Commit and then Save under File. Everything seems fine. Dashboard doesn't see a problem (I do clear out the caches.) But then I start the game to try it out and suddenly the game takes FOREVER to load. Process Monitor just freezes everytime.

The game loads just fine with the .package file before I edit it in S3PE. I am talking about .packages from various websites that I downloaded. I just want to recategorize some stuff.

Am I doing something wrong? Oh, and this only happens on some files, not all of them. Some files let me edit them just fine with no problems, but others cause the extreme load times. I can't seem to see any patterns to which files work and which ones don't.

Any help would be greatly appreciated! This has bugged me for the last week! :cry:

[Inge Jones]

As the QA version is now a release candidate, would you like to try that and see if it is any better for this task?

[cstrantz]

Okay, I uninstalled the older S3PE and installed the release candidate version you mentioned. I'm still having the same problem.

The file I'm using as a test right now is from Around The Sims 3. It's the artistworkshop_palette. It works just fine to download it and put it in the game (extracting the .package file from the .sims3pack of course). But as soon as I open it up in S3PE and edit the price (from 25 to 15) and the room subcategory (I take it out of the Accents category) it gets messed up.

Process Monitor actually didn't freeze up on me this time (new release candidate perhaps?) and showed that it accessed the edited .package 1,501,305 times total. Waaaaay too much!

Any other ideas? I still don't get why this only happens on some of the files. Other files from Around The Sims 3 edited just fine. But several of them get messed up just like the above file.

Thanks for your help!

[Inge Jones]

So this happens with every package you do this to?

Try it in s3oc instead. You can change price and category with that. Just be sure and untick everything on the left before clicking Start.

[cstrantz]

No, not every .package. Only some of them. That's what doesn't make sense.

I tried s3oc before, but I don't think I understand what I'm doing on that one. I couldn't get it to let me do anything. Everything was grayed out?

[Inge Jones]

Did you read the help?

[cstrantz]

Okay, DUH! I figured out what I was doing wrong on s3oc.

I edited the same .package in s3oc, but it's still getting messed up. So apparently it's not s3pe or s3oc that's doing it. I guess it's the file itself? It just does not like being edited in any way apparently! I just wonder why is that exactly and how can we know if a .package is going to behave that way? It has taken me quite a while to even narrow down which files were jacked up like this because process monitor kept freezing up on me.

Also, how come thumbnails don't show up for me in s3oc? I know you have to click on the show thumbnails option to get them to show up on the side (which I don't care about) but they also don't show in the thumbnail preview box either? Is this a setting or something?

Ugh! Custom content is so frustrating in Sims 3!

Thanks again for your help!

[Inge Jones]

not all custom objects contain thumbnails. Most people choose to let the game generate them.

[cstrantz]

Must be a lot like that then. I haven't found a single .package with a thumbnail preview.

Any ideas on why some .package files are uneditable? Do you think it's something the artist is doing on their end when they create it in the first place?

Just curious.

Thanks again!

[pljones]

Some older files can have been made with the tools when they weren't as mature as they are now (remember, Sims3 has only been out a year; Workshop and s3pi/s3oc/s3pe less than that of course). If an object was created in such a way that it's not compatible with the s3pi library, there's not a lot you can do other than ask the creator to try again.

Of course, you may have found a bug in the s3pi code! In which case, it would be handy if we could pin it down and fix it.

[cstrantz]

Some of the .packages that I am having problems with came out together (like in a set). I think it's strange that only some of them would get borked while others didn't. (If indeed they were made with older versions of a program).

These files are from Around The Sims 3 that I am currently testing with. I believe she uses TSR Workshop and she has mentioned recently that she updated her files with the most recent version of it.

Some of the files that are doing this are the artistworkshop_palette, artistworkshop_trunk, and cellar_bottle.

So, maybe, something's up with the s3pi code? Should someone take a look at it and see?

Thanks!

[Inge Jones]

Perhaps you could help us by trying to edit just one thing at a time and see which of the fields is actually causing the problem? I regularly change prices and names of objects without problem.

[Inge Jones]

I always use s3oc for this task, as it automates it somewhat. If you use s3pe, you need to edit it in each of the STBLs.

[Digitalchaos]

Hi Inge,
Where do you change the "Name" and "Description" in s3pe ? These are the ones that show up in the game.
Thank you, Carlos

EDIT: If you aren't concerned about updating any more than one STBL Language (a.k.a you are only interested in updating the 'English' language) -- then ignore the rest of this post [it is just a way to quickly automate the process, and will duplication whatever is in the STBL, not just the CATALOG NAME/DESCRIPTION, this could include custom strings)

EDIT2: I almost forgot to mention, that this tool is based on the s3pi library!!!

Just a note: You might be able to use an application that I created, for duplicating STBL Resources -- in case you don't want to hand-edit them all.

Just open the package, edit something like the 'English' language -- using the 'Edit STBL' external plugin in S3PE.

Here is the Link: STBL Duplicator (TS3): Link to download (http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=371472) (also in my signature)

1) To Configure my app do this:
TS3.STBLDuplicator.exe --configure

2) Choose 'English' on the dialog or some other language to be the default
3) edit that language in S3PE via the 'Edit STBL' external plugin
4) run the package through my tool, you will have to do this on either:
a) The Commandline -or-
b)Or by setting this application as one that can open package file(s) [this would be through file association, don't make it the default]