I'm working on this animation right now but I don't know how to add custom props to Sims hands. I can't find tutorials about this at all! I also really want to know how to add this interaction to the sims pie menu, so that when Sim Mom clicks on the child the option "brush hair" would show up.
And that goes to all interactions I'm working on. I've always wanted Sim parents to carry kids to bed but I don't know how to do that on Milkshape, sims would have to turn around and all while carrying the child. So what I'm thinking of doing is an option for Sims parents to click on stairs leading to the second floor and a "carry child" interaction would show up. The Sim parent and child would walk towards the stairs, lift the child up in her/his arms, climb the stairs and when they get to the second floor the animation would stop. I already have the poses, just need to make them animated.
Here is a screenshot:

Hmm... This has been read 61 times and no one has said anything. How am I supposed to accomplish this without the help of experienced modders?

Hi Sof_m9.

I meant to reply to this earlier, but Real Life has a nasty tendency to intervene. If I could spend my entire life in front of this computer, I just might do so. I'm sure many others have their own matters to tend with as well. (You may often find that social topics are more inviting and have quicker responses. Not everyone who views a thread may be able to respond. )

You may often find there are no tutorials on how to exactly what you want to do, but there may be tutorials to get on you on the right path. For example, you may find a tutorial on "walking" and a more advanced tutorial "walking to the grocery store" but not a tutorial specifically for "walking to the book store." But having done the previous tutorials, you would be fairly well on your way towards doing exactly what you wanted to do. The path may not be easy: there may be frustration, trial and error, experimentation, plenty of "baby steps" you must take first, and more frustration. But that's the creator's path and you'll be in good company.

I'm not sure what your BHAV experience is. I typically recommend starting out with Echo's Making Your First Custom BHAV tutorial as a beginner's starting point. This will show you how to add interactions/options to objects. Adding interactions/options to Sims is a bit more complicated and varies depending upon whether the added interaction is to appear on the Active Sim or a Target Sim (i.e. "self-interactions" versus "Sim-to-Sim interactions").

For Sim-to-Sim interactions, I would check out this thread.


For adding custom props to Sim's hands, I will sink deeper into "Explanation Mode." On a technical level, Sims are objects in the game, just like a table or lamp. Many objects have Slots which can hold things. For a Sim to sit in a chair, the Sim snaps into a Slot in the chair object. The Sim un-snaps from the Slot when it gets up. Sims also have Slots. When a Sim performs the "Primp" interaction, the game spawns the handheld mirror object, snaps it into the Sim's hand Slot, and the Sim animates. If I were you, I would look at the various other Prop mods to get an understanding of how this is done. Granted, this may be a bit more advanced depending upon your experience with BHAVs.

Check out the "Articles" tab in Echo's profile for more articles.

Hi!
Thank you so much for your answer and the links to tutorials!! I've been reading some of them and animating objects is kind of confusing. I wish xxbroken had made a video tutorial on this. I don't have much experience with BHAVs, I still have to follow ''xxbroken'' tutorial about it to go along but I can create the hack package a lot faster now.

I was wondering if you know how I can add a "carry child" interaction to the game? Is there a way to convert the "hold toddler" interaction to children and just modify a bit of their legs pose? Please don't mention boolprop cheat to have toddlers in the body of children, or children acting like toddlers.

For what purposes are you needing to animate an object? The hair brush would be a non-animated prop positioned in the Sim's hand slot. You would only need to animate an object if it needs to move on its own somehow (like a ballerina figurine turning in a music box).

I would start out actually doing (not just reading) the "Making Your First Custom BHAV" tutorial. This will give you a good foundation with BHAVs, from which other tutorials will become easier and more accessible to you. I'm not familiar with the "xxbroken" tutorial, but I'm guessing that it is for pose boxes? In general, actually doing a tutorial is more beneficial to you than just reading it.

I really haven't looked into the mechanics behind a Sim holding a toddler. (I once used "moveobjects on" to place a Sim in the "toddler-holding" slot of another Sim who was then able to have the "Place Sim here" destination option. Of course, it didn't look right because they were both Adults but it suggests that there is perhaps a check for if a Sim is in that slot in order to have that option available.)


Off hand, I would say that it might be simply a matter of creating a Sim-to-Sim interaction where Sim B snaps into a slot on Sim A, not too unlike a hair brush prop. Both Sims would be told to animate however as appropriate. The held Sim would likely be in a loop of animation and Idle until his/her parent puts them down. My field is more with code. I really can't make new Sim animations, so I can't answer questions regarding overlays, locomotions, and such.

Thanks again for your help on this! There are some objects that I have to animate because I adapt The Exorcist novel to The Sims (you helped me with the spiderwalk animation box, remember?) I need to make a bed shake, a bureau/dresser moving across the room on its own, curtains flying up in the air caused by strong wind, etc.
I'm wondering if I can do this by following xxbroken tutorial on "How to make an Object" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_p7...&feature=relmfu He works on Milkshape there and maybe it's the same thing as animating Sims? It's definitely an easier tutorial compared to the one you posted above.



Perhaps I can add the small decorative brush I have in the game to Decorgal & Adele' custom prop box? But then it won't work like the primp interaction with the mirror..




That makes sense!!



I thought you knew a lot about animations & all because you created the surfing interaction. I downloaded that ages ago!

Oh and this is the tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dfk6rN4IUY It's not just for poses, it's also about how to make Custom animations.

Thanks for the link. Even though I created a new animation with the surfing interaction (thanks for downloading it by the way ), I don't consider myself very knowledgeable with the creation of custom animations. In fact that "new" is perhaps unintentionally misleading because the only custom animation in the mod was not a drastic change or original animation as "new" might imply. I had found an in-game animation that I liked, but it had a sound effect attached to it that I didn't need for my purposes. (It was the sound of the Sim's foot hitting the floor, which sounded out of place in the middle of the ocean. ) I had to take that animation and remove the sound effect which meant a new animation. It is the same as the original animation except it makes a "splash" sound effect instead of a "thump." It was a simple matter of changing a few things in SimPE. All the rest of the surfing animations are shamelessly recycled from the game. The mod also makes use of some "smoke and mirrors" trickery with the help of BHAV programming and CRES rotations, but this really isn't the place for "Behind the Scenes with MSD."


You might also what to check out Echo's Making your first custom object animation Tutorial if you haven't already (it's not found on the Articles tab in her profile).

Be sure to also check out some the tutorials in the Object Meshing area too.

I really liked to read all the info about Behind the Scenes with MSD!! Thanks!

BTW, I'm having a problem with an animation. The body position looks fine when I play it on Milkshape- it's horizontal- but in game it's in vertical position. Do you have any idea why?

Thanks for more tutorial links to read! :D

Hello Sof, I don't know if you were able to make your accessories yet but this tutorial will help you as it helped me a lot. http://youtu.be/eX_iMWcVWIw There was one thing that the tutorial didn't tell you and that is ---> To edit the 3D Id Referencing File, simply go to Instance's to match up the XMOL files with the correct 3IDR files before deleting them. And for linking them to the mesh, you must link all 3 of the AF 3IDR files to your Mesh, not just two 3IDR files as stated in the video. The rest is a piece of cake I sent to you a private message and I'm still waiting a reply. have a great day.

Oh, hi! I'm so sorry, only now I am reading your messages!
I'll check out that link you sent! Thanks a lot!

Ha um have you done the animation if you did could you post it online cause really need something like this n my game :lovestruc