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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 29th Jan 2011 at 11:28 AM Last edited by TheSilverLining : 6th Feb 2011 at 8:32 AM.
Default Is this even possible: Changing genetic value of Maxis Hairs? EDIT: New Q in post #8! =)
Hi,

I have an alien hood where I wanted brown hair to be as recessive as blond and green by default. I started enthusiastically changing the genetics of all my downloaded brown hairs and then realized this wouldn't actually have an impact on all my maxis hairs (and I use those a lot). Big d'oh! So I was wondering: is there any known way/hack/mod/tutorial that'll allow you to change the genetic value of maxis hairs or, even, the default value of all the hairs in a certain bin?

Thanks for any info (even if it's just, as I suspect, telling me it's impossible).

TheSilverLining
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Doing all the things, and *mostly* not failing.
retired moderator
#2 Old 29th Jan 2011 at 3:18 PM
Its definitly not impossible, but I don't think its a project you are going to want to undertake. You can't simply just say 'make brown be recessive' to the game, you are going to have to go into every single Maxis hair for every age and change them all one at a time. Not fun.

To do this you need to open up the game file that contains all the Property Sets for all the hair. Do a Save As on that entire file (super huge, but you don't want to risk accidentally overwriting a game file first). Save that to your downloads folder somewhere (only 70% sure this will work on Downloads, otherwise you'll need to place it in your Bins, Skins, or Override folders in the game files folders.) After you have saved this new copy, delete anything that isn't a Property Set. Then make sure you only have Property Sets for hair. Then kill anything that isn't brown hair. Eventually you will be down to prolly 100 files I'm guessing? Save the package and then start editing all the genetic strengths on them. Commit and save. Test in game. Then when that does work, rinse and repeat for all the EPs and SPs you have. >.<
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#3 Old 29th Jan 2011 at 4:43 PM Last edited by TheSilverLining : 29th Jan 2011 at 6:18 PM.
Hi Phaenoh,

I figured it'd be one heck of a job, heh. I was sort of hoping there was some shortcut using the binning system but I'm not at all familiar with the game's code so I was just umm... hoping in the dark? :P
Anyways, thanks for the quick and informative answer! I think I'll simply play and then if I end up having so many brown-haired aliens that it bothers me I'll have to consider doing it then.
Oh, while on the topic: would a sim keep the genetics of the hair they're born/made with? That is, if I made a sim with a custom hair that was brown but set to recessive, would that sim pass on recissive hair "genes" even if I changed it to a maxis brown hairstyle when it got older? If that makes sense.

Thanks!
TheSilverLining

EDIT to add: Would it be possible to do some kind of a mod for this? I don't know if other people would have need for something like this but if it was a mod that was easy to modify to give the different haircolours the values you wanted it might be something people would want. Though maybe I'm the only one who's particular in that specific way, hah. In either case I think I won't really have time to do it. Of course I realize a mod would be just as much work if not more but it feels like it'd be more worthwhile if I could share.
Doing all the things, and *mostly* not failing.
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#4 Old 30th Jan 2011 at 6:45 AM
I'm pretty sure whatever genetic value they are born with will be passed on. I don't know if its the 'brown' or the '1' that gets passed on honestly. I would imagine its the genetic number. Changing the hair afterward has no effect on genetics.

The stuff I described would be the mod and would be sharable, that's why I gave you instructions for creating a package to go into your downloads folder instead of editing the game files.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#5 Old 30th Jan 2011 at 8:41 AM Last edited by TheSilverLining : 30th Jan 2011 at 3:33 PM.
Okay, awesome.

Ah, sorry, I don't know very much about modding. It probably wouldn't be very useful to other people (how many want specifically for their brown hair to have the genetic value "2", after all) but even so I might try it out... if a get a free weekend sometime, heh.

Thanks again!

Oh, btw... any tips on how to test this in game? Would it be just to mate a bunch of sims and see if the probability seems about right or is there an easier way?
Doing all the things, and *mostly* not failing.
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#6 Old 30th Jan 2011 at 10:37 PM
Nope, only way to test is to breed 'em. You can do it in CAS though, a lot faster. Make a sim with blonde hair and one with your recessive brown and see if kid (made through the pacifier screen) gets either hair color 50% of the time. Then do it with a black haired sim and see that it never gets brown.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#7 Old 31st Jan 2011 at 6:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Phaenoh
Nope, only way to test is to breed 'em. You can do it in CAS though, a lot faster. Make a sim with blonde hair and one with your recessive brown and see if kid (made through the pacifier screen) gets either hair color 50% of the time. Then do it with a black haired sim and see that it never gets brown.


Ah, good tip! Thanks a lot. A lot less hassle free than actually breeding lots of sims in play mode, haha.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#8 Old 5th Feb 2011 at 10:38 AM Last edited by TheSilverLining : 5th Feb 2011 at 12:49 PM.
Okay, two new questions!

1) Does anyone have a clue where I might find the Property Set files for hair is located? That is, in which game file? I can't seem to find anything but textures. EDIT: Never mind, I think I found them. Was just not looking well enough. Q 2 still applies though.

2) While I was browsing through files I found a file called Skins.package inside the Catalog\Skins folder, which seems to contain some kind of general property sets for the 6 hair colours (there was also one for Skintones and such), and these do have a "genetics"-line that could be changed. Does anyone have a clue what would happen if you changed the genetic value there? Or I mean, exported the whole file and followed the instructions above to make it into a mod. Is there a concrete reason (such as "your game will die") why I shouldn't turn that one into a mod instead of manipulating each individual hairstyle?
Doing all the things, and *mostly* not failing.
retired moderator
#9 Old 7th Feb 2011 at 1:51 AM
You can give it a shot, just don't save on top of your actual game files. Let me know what happens.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#10 Old 7th Feb 2011 at 6:06 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Phaenoh
You can give it a shot, just don't save on top of your actual game files. Let me know what happens.


Hey again!

Silly as I am I didn't actually wait for an answer (I really only sim on the weekends so I go into this "no, must to it NOW"-mood XD).
What I ended up doing was to export that particular property set, for brown hair, and then opening a new empty package and importing it again. Changed the value to 2, saved and popped the file in my Downloads folder. So far it seems to me working, anyway. I made one black-haired and one brown-haired sim and rolled the pacifier about 30 or 40 times and ended up with nothing but black kiddos. Did the same thing with brown vs. blond and brown vs. red and got a ration of 50 browns for 46 reds and then 47 browns for 50 blonds. I sort of took that as being equal. I mean, them having the same genetic value just means the chances are equal, not that they'll actually turn up ever other time, I assumed. So far I haven't seen any adverse effects. I haven't tested it with in-game kiddos though as I haven't actually been in play mode yet. Oh, question: do eyebrows and facial hair have a genetic value or do they automatically follow the hairs?
Doing all the things, and *mostly* not failing.
retired moderator
#11 Old 8th Feb 2011 at 10:09 PM Last edited by Phaenoh : 8th Feb 2011 at 10:22 PM.
If they are made correctly, they follow the hairs. Great news on your mod!

Off topic, might I suggest my West Weasels as the stage of your Critturly Valley Hood? That was more or less the idea I had when I made the hood.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#12 Old 10th Feb 2011 at 5:48 PM
Oh man! This is kinda funny but kinda typical... At first I looked at your link and was like "cute, but not quite what I'm going for". Then I looked a second time and was like "Hmm... well, it is very cute". Third time: "Oh, oh, my cat lady would totally be able to have a bakery in that house!". Fourth time I go "Okay, that's it, I'm downloading it!" and what happens? I realize it requires Mansion and Garden. Big, big bummer!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#13 Old 12th Feb 2011 at 8:57 AM
So, while I have a thread going: when they say extensive testing in the upload FAQ, how extensive do they mean? Does it mean I have to test it with any possible EP combination using AnyGameStarter or might it be enough to test it for Base Game compatibility?


(Ps, am buying M&G from EA Store :P)
Doing all the things, and *mostly* not failing.
retired moderator
#14 Old 14th Feb 2011 at 12:18 AM
No, test it out for basegame and also whatever your full game config is. Btw, MG is absolutely worth it.
Field Researcher
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#15 Old 14th Feb 2011 at 6:19 AM
I figured that would be enough but I wanted to check. Now I'm keeping my fingers crossed for approval (and trying to figure out how to use EA store, can't find M&G in the actual stores here for some reason). Thanks for all the help!
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