Mod The Sims - Testers Wanted: Color Binning Tool 0.2.30.1

Testers Wanted: Color Binning Tool 0.2.30.1

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Theo

Test Subject

Thanked 1288 Times in 3 Posts

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Posted 28th Apr 2006 at 07:14 PM - Updated 27th Dec 2007 at 11:35 AM by Theo : Update - Viewed 102069 times.

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This is a featured upload! It showcases the best talent and creativity available on MTS and in the community.

Color Binning Tool

The color binning tool is a custom plugin for SimPE 0.63+

Its purpose is to change custom hair packages so that custom hair recolors appear in the standard color bins.

It was designed to be easy to use: on each standard color tab, you can load a hair package file; after you load the four packages into their respective bins, you can save the result.

There is no need to edit any PropertySet, as the binning logic is already done for you.

More information and some tutorials can be found in the plugin's website: http://theos.chewbakkas.net/tools/c...nning-tool.html

Installation
- Extract the file theos.gbct.plugin.dll
- Copy it into SimPE's Plugins folder, which in a default installation is at C:\Program Files\SimPE\Plugins
- Run SimPE and verify that you have a menu item named "Color Binning Tool" under SimPE's Tools menu.

Basic Usage
After the plugin is installed, start SimPE.

On the Tools menu, click on the "Color Binning Tool" item, and the plugin's main window should appear. Initially, the "Black" color tab is selected by default.

Use the "Package" menu or the context menu to load a package file into the selected tab. Repeat this process for the other tabs (Brown, Blond and Red).

You can select which age groups you wish to keep or remove on each color tab. You must pay special attention to the fact that a properly binned hair should have only one elder (grey) recolor, so you must choose carefully one elder recolor out of the four available.

On most cases you can ignore the Grey and Custom tabs, so you may proceed to review the package options (available in the menu Package->Options), and finally save the resulting package files.

Credits
I would like to thank to everyone that contributed to this project, and in particular to Motoki, for giving the momentum that started this project; Pinhead, whose invaluable knowledge put the code right on track again; and of course all the folks at MATY that were willing to test the plugin on its early stages.

1288 people have said thanks to Theo for this download.

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192 Comments / Replies (144 Feedback Posts, 48 Thanks Posts)
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28th Apr 2006, 07:58 PM	# 2
Ailias MTS2 Hot Pepper Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 1,775 Thanks: 89745 in 234 Posts View My Journal	Super plugin!!! I want to get it now!
	DressTowel_AfterShower/Bath AL both sexes ver. released.

28th Apr 2006, 09:59 PM	# 3
PinkFloyd Field Researcher Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 226	Wow that works fast and easy!A much better alternative than the old way in simpe.I just tried it out and it works fantastic.Thank you very much.
PinkFloyd Field Researcher Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 226	Welcome to The Machine (`'·.¸(`'·.¸¤¸.·'´)¸.·'´) »~:¤.·º`·Pink Floyd.·´º·.¤:~« (¸.·'´(¸.·'´¤`'·.¸)`'·.¸)

28th Apr 2006, 10:28 PM	# 4
discordkitty Sarcastic Evil Muppet Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,041 Thanks: 4941 in 31 Posts View My Journal	Thanks a bunch I'll test this out - I've been wanting to sort my custom hairs into bins but finding out where to start was becoming a headache ;p

29th Apr 2006, 01:48 AM	# 5
misscoolness2365 Test Subject Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 9	I found this plugin about a week ago and I got to tell you that it is so easy to use! Thanks!

29th Apr 2006, 02:08 AM	# 6
Loverat Slacker of Immense Slackness Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 1,370 Thanks: 33295 in 143 Posts View My Journal	This is fantastic! You have my utmost respect for making an intuitive useful and simple tool Here's hoping this prod's mor clever people into making SimPE plugins!!
	<:3))~~ Loverat "In some cultures what I do is considered normal" www.loverat.net Check it out for other recolours & lot uploads =D

29th Apr 2006, 02:59 AM	# 7
Gizmo7680 Top Secret Researcher Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 1,907	Now this is one plug-in that shall be the most used! Thank you for creating such a program to make it easier to get things done.

29th Apr 2006, 02:21 PM	# 8
ataribaby0 Test Subject Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 3	I've been using this for a couple of weeks now (version 2.111 anyway) and haven't had any problems at all. It's fantastic: you've saved me hours of fiddly SimPE editing and the 'Change Appearance' screen is now clear of badly placed recolours. Another great thing is Sims can now have decent hair styles that fit into the attraction/chemistry aspect of the game. Thanks so much Theo. Top drawer stuff! p.s. good tutorial too.
ataribaby0 Test Subject Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 3	hasta la victoria siempre

29th Apr 2006, 04:17 PM	# 9
Mellisenda Space Pony Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 437 Thanks: 19 in 1 Posts	Wonderful! Thank you very much.
	Melissa Mellisenda's Sims 2

29th Apr 2006, 05:18 PM	# 10
Cynna Test Subject Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 10	Thank you very much for this -- Cynna

29th Apr 2006, 06:08 PM	# 11
sanguinely Test Subject Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 14	Thank you so much-- I was trying to do it the old way and just kept getting bogged down. I really appreciate this!

29th Apr 2006, 09:51 PM	# 12
twinelf Test Subject Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 10	Thanks a lot! I tested this tool, it worked perfectly! It's SO convenient!

29th Apr 2006, 10:52 PM	# 13
MimiRose Lab Assistant Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 84 Thanks: 1504 in 33 Posts	Squee! Yay! Downloaded and colour binned correctly my favourite custom hair! Works beautifully! Thankies!
	Click here for my creations! Includes toddler outfits, nighties, alien eyes, custom majors, the t-shirt in my avatar and much more!

30th Apr 2006, 12:02 AM	# 14
silvertreedrake Instructor Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 405 Thanks: 4157 in 52 Posts	Yay! Does a happy dance Thank you soooooo much!!! Because I've binned some, but am much too lazy to bin them all... Stupid 0's, ack!
	~I no longer play Sims, so I'm not taking requests, sorry~

30th Apr 2006, 12:28 AM	# 15
orlandina5 Test Subject Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 33	YES!!! I was just about to start all this colourbinning thing and now it doesn't look like trouble anymore. Thank you!

30th Apr 2006, 02:30 AM	# 16
squall117 Site Helper Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 1,104 Thanks: 5853 in 33 Posts	Excellent!! I t really bothers me to have 4 colors for each mesh in the custom content bin
	Squall Lionheart My Sims 2 site NeoSquall Studios

30th Apr 2006, 02:47 AM	# 17
EliValentine213 Lab Assistant Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 47 Thanks: 212 in 1 Posts	wow.... that is awesome, thank you so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so MUCH!!! thank you!!!!!!!!! you have just made things A BILLION TIMES EASIER!!! thanks ^_^!
	i put my favorite sims on my avatar because i admire them so much ^_^

1st May 2006, 07:28 PM	# 18
silvertreedrake Instructor Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 405 Thanks: 4157 in 52 Posts	One quick question: I took a quick look at the tutorial, and it looks as though the program makes a new package for each hair, right? So in that case, you would want to keep the old packages, so that sims using that hair would retain the right hair. Is that correct? Because doing it the old way, by hand, changes the number of the hair. For instance, if I open the DNA of an existing sim with custom hair, the hair # is a4d346e6-4e54-db76-c2a1-05a2e29327a8 If I then bin the hair, the number becomes 00000003-0000-0000-0000-000000000000 (for blonde hair) But I don't know whether the sim DNA changes along with the binned hair, or if this sim will show up with the default hair, since her hair # doesn't exist anymore. Just wondering what happens to the sims already sporting the hair to be binned.
	~I no longer play Sims, so I'm not taking requests, sorry~

2nd May 2006, 10:56 AM	# 19
Theo Original Poster Test Subject Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 38 Thanks: 1288 in 3 Posts	That's right, the plugin uses the family guid of the first loaded package, which means that the family guid's of the other loaded packages will be lost. Sims using one those other hairs will revert to the default (bald) hair, and you will have to change their appearance in the mirror. And yes, the sim DNA will not be changed, meaning that a non-existent guid will be stored in it, so you'll have to edit the sim DNA entry manually, as the plugin doesn't edit the neighborhood packages (where the sim's DNA is stored). Do you think the plugin should try to correct the DNA automatically? For me it's just a minor annoyance having to change the sim's appearance, but the DNA editing may not be an easy task for everyone. Edit: By the way, I recommend renaming the old packages because the resource id's are not changed. Having two packages containing the same resource id's means that the game will load just one of them, and you can't control which one is loaded first.
	Last edited by Theo : 2nd May 2006 at 02:37 PM.

2nd May 2006, 03:53 PM	# 20
silvertreedrake Instructor Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 405 Thanks: 4157 in 52 Posts	Oh, thank you! I'm so glad I asked before I binned the hair, because nearly all my sims have custom hair. It would be wonderful if the process could include scanning through and changing the DNA as well, because otherwise, you'd have to change each sim one at a time. I'll leave it up to you to fiddle with that - sounds like a nightmare to me I think I'll just bin up new hair for now. I'm in the middle of a project neighborhood, so I'm reluctant to fool with the genetics at the moment. But I doooo appreciate the tool - anything so that I don't have to look at hex And especially getting rid of all those extra grey hairs. Idea for a new project: a plugin which enables you to replace the default cas faces with your own. Another thing I started to do, and couldn't slog through.
	~I no longer play Sims, so I'm not taking requests, sorry~

2nd May 2006, 04:20 PM

# 21

Theo

Original Poster

Test Subject

Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 38
Thanks: 1288 in 3 Posts

Quote:

Oh, *thank you!* I'm so glad I asked before I binned the hair, because nearly all my sims have custom hair.

It would be wonderful if the process could include scanning through and changing the DNA as well, because otherwise, you'd have to change each sim one at a time. I'll leave it up to you to fiddle with that - sounds like a nightmare to me

Well, I hadn't thought of it before because I made all my CAS sims with normal hairs, so their DNA had only normal guid's.

As for fixing the DNA itself, I do know how to do it, but the problem is that it would have to process all the neighborhoods and then save their packages on each binning session, meaning a big performance hit.
Obviously the scanning would be optional, but it makes sense that it should be done by the plugin, which can keep track of all the missing guid's.

2nd May 2006, 04:23 PM	# 22
silvertreedrake Instructor Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 405 Thanks: 4157 in 52 Posts	Well, I would use it, since I didn't think ahead like you did and use Maxis hair (I just couldn't bear it!). Just one of those processes you start and go get a cup of coffee...
	~I no longer play Sims, so I'm not taking requests, sorry~

8th May 2006, 04:00 PM	# 23
jmtmom Instructor Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 480 Thanks: 3820 in 61 Posts View My Journal	Thanks so much for this great tool. I've nearly finished going through ALL my hairs. My sims in bodyshop look fine, even though I rebinned their hair, no hole-in-the head sims. I needed to do a restart anyway, so no ingame sims were affected. I didn't think about the DNA thing though. It's not too big a deal for me, but if it were possible to correct it easilly, I would do it. So will the game still read the rebinned hairs as custom for attractions and genes inherited by children?
	Last edited by jmtmom : 8th May 2006 at 04:10 PM.

9th May 2006, 02:19 AM	# 24
silvertreedrake Instructor Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 405 Thanks: 4157 in 52 Posts	Theo added a fix DNA option (did you upload it, Theo?). The re-binned hair becomes whatever color you made it. That is, if you had custom hair that you put in the red bin, that hair becomes "red," as far as genetics and Turn-on's. I tested it and didn't even have to change appearance - the sims kept the hair they had, even though it was re-binned. Fix DNA is available by neighborhood, and you don't even need to get a cup of coffee. It's fast!
	~I no longer play Sims, so I'm not taking requests, sorry~

9th May 2006, 12:16 PM

# 25

Theo

Original Poster

Test Subject

Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 38
Thanks: 1288 in 3 Posts

I have had some reports at MATY that the tool is somehow 'eating' some recolors, but I'm still unable to reproduce the described symptoms on my computer (and I have been using the tool myself extensively

) . What I have been told is that some recolors of a hair lose their mesh definition and appear with the default hair mesh in the catalog.

If this is happening to you, please contact me and if possible, provide me a link to the files that have been output by the tool.

Quote:

Theo added a fix DNA option (did you upload it, Theo?).

I've been waiting for you to tell me it was broken!

It is a highly experimental change, so use it with care! It will change your neighborhood files, and it's better to backup those before using this new function.

BTW: The tool can now re-categorize facial hair, including meshed beards

The Thunder , Perfect Mind

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