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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 27th Jul 2009 at 3:06 PM
Default Shiny Channel??
After reading a few tutorials and browsing the forums, I still have not found an answer to my question (or one that I can understand).

I would like to make a glossy layer that I could add to wood patterns or just solid colours. I would need to put the texture on the red channel and the shine on green right? Would that even show up right in the game?

Any help is appreciated!!
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Field Researcher
#2 Old 27th Jul 2009 at 4:33 PM Last edited by JaneSamborski : 27th Jul 2009 at 4:59 PM.
There is a separate black and white .dds that is used to determine shininess. It is called a specular. There seems to be only few people working with them right now, but I'm one of them. One of the chief problems is that Delphy's pattern packager, though advertised as capable of adding custom speculars, does not always do it. I've been sorta in contact with him about getting the issue fixed, but he's busy and has bigger fish to fry at the moment.

Anyway, this link has a blurb and a picture that I found useful (halfway down the page). It should give you a better idea of what map should look like. When you make your pattern, uncheck the 'use default specular' box and load your .dds. Then cross your fingers and hope the game sees the new map. If it doesn't see it, the game will substitute a default specular. I think which specular is based on the surface type (not the category) you selected. For example: the default glass specular is all white while the default fabric is all black.

Please, Let me know how it goes for you. I'd really like to hear how the packager is behaving for someone else.

For the mods: I attempted to start a specular discussion in the patterns section before and it was mistakenly moved to CAS parts. Please don't move this thread! Patterns have speculars too!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#3 Old 28th Jul 2009 at 6:31 PM
Thank you for your comprehensive reply!

So basically at this point there is not much one can do unless you are heavily involved or knowledgeable with regards to modding?

I'll try the method you have suggested and see if I can get a worthy result out of it, I'll let you know how it goes, thanks again!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 28th Jul 2009 at 6:34 PM
Oh, also, this is not really on topic, but I was wondering if we can keep subfolders in the mods/packages directory?

I may be imagining things but when I leave package files in a subdirectory of mods/poackages, it seems the game does not recognize them. As soon as I cut and paste them back into the mods/packages folder they show up...is this a mixup?

My mods/packages folder looks in terrible shape right now, it's really long scrolling to the bottom :D
Field Researcher
#5 Old 28th Jul 2009 at 7:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by tammy_trauma
So basically at this point there is not much one can do unless you are heavily involved or knowledgeable with regards to modding?


It's not so much that it is hard: it's actually very easy. Its just, as far as I can tell, the program is broken. You can do exactly the same thing and it will still only add the specular maybe 10% of the time. I more or less gave up until its fixed, I can only stand so much hitting my head against the wall. I would REALLY like it if you gave it a try though, just to see if someone with a different setup is having the same problem.

As for your second question: subfolders in my mods folder work just fine. I seem to remember, though, that an early version of the resource.cfg didn't allow for subfolders. Try moving your downloads to your desktop, deleting the mods folder and the resource.cfg and reinstalling via the monkey tool. I'm not sure that will help but its worth a try.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#6 Old 29th Jul 2009 at 5:46 PM
I don't think I am the best person to test this out, lol. I tried to follow the tutorial on that link you sent me, the one that shows you how to create a specular map, and I totally failed. Which is quite sad considering it's well explained and doesn't appear too difficult to do.

I had problems when I had to combine all of the image documents and change the layer blending mode. Not only was the image I pasted not it's full size, it also didn't show up as a layer, but it DID show up in the channels tab...very odd.

As for the "default specular map" checkbox, it was locked or "frozen" in mine, I was not able to unclick it...is this what you were referring to when you wanted me to test the program?

I'm so hopeless with this stuff
Field Researcher
#7 Old 30th Jul 2009 at 1:05 AM
I thing you might be overcomplicating the specular maps a little. You don't really need to follow those instructions. I just used those images to get an idea of what it needed to look like. I'm thinking in the next day or two I'm going to set up some sort of standardized test of the specular map thing, with instructions and stuff... I'm no programmer but I might be able to look at the XML and figure out what is going on.

In the mean time, if your specular map option is grayed out maybe you don't have the most current version of the packager? I think we are currently on 1.3 and I know previous versions didn't have that functionality.

I've posted a pattern and it's specular below, so you can take a look. I'll grab a screen of it next time I'm in game and add that too.

If you want to, post the .dds for your pattern up and I'll take a look at it, perhaps I can recommend a process for creating the specular. Oh, and are you running photoshop, gimp, or something else?
Screenshots
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#8 Old 30th Jul 2009 at 2:12 PM
I think I AM making this process more complex than it really is, in fact I just figured out the basic principle of the channels and the "seperation" of different colours on your pattern. The worst part is it took my boyfriend to explain to me lol

So with the specular map, I need to have two seperate layers, one with the specular map and one with the original pattern, right?

Also, how many channels would I import into the game? The specular counts as one channel? So if I had a two tone pattern with a specular map, I would use 3 channels (rgb) right?

I bet you are wishing you had never replied now
Field Researcher
#9 Old 30th Jul 2009 at 4:40 PM Last edited by JaneSamborski : 30th Jul 2009 at 11:22 PM.
No worries, I like helping.

The specular is a separate .dds altogether. Make your pattern exactly as you would if it wasn't going to be shiny. If it has 2 colors, thats how many colors you specify in the packager. When you make the specular it goes in a normal layer, no need to even look at the channels.

I gotta run errands this afternoon, but when I get back I'm going to put something up with instructions, pictures, and examples. Not exactly a tutorial, but something you can follow along with.

EDIT: Delphy just fixed the problem with the pattern packager. Go download version 1.3.1. It was missing a critical bit of code before but its fixed now.

Also, I made a thread with instructions for how to test if the old version was working. It's not a proper tutorial, but it has a picture of what the packager should look like when when all the data is entered. It's here .
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#10 Old 31st Jul 2009 at 1:55 PM
Wow! Thanks a ton for all the help!!

I was completely off track with the speculars. So basically how do I make the two dds's recognize as just one pattern in the game? and how exactly does delphy's pattern packager fit into the equation?

I'll be downloading the updated pat packager and reading your guide.

Thanks again!
Eminence Grise
#11 Old 1st Aug 2009 at 2:09 AM
You just point to your specular map in the pattern packager. Uncheck "use default specular map" and find your specular .dds. The packager puts them together.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#12 Old 1st Aug 2009 at 3:16 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Srikandi
You just point to your specular map in the pattern packager. Uncheck "use default specular map" and find your specular .dds. The packager puts them together.


Thanks for the help, now I have to tackle the specular maps themselves, wish me luck!
Test Subject
#13 Old 9th Aug 2009 at 8:08 AM
the best tool out here for all of this editing stuff is the sims 3 workshop!! Thanks to the sims resource its free...http://www.thesimsresource.com/prog...%20Beta/id/112/
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