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#1 Old 20th Mar 2016 at 9:34 PM Last edited by Jawusa : 6th Oct 2016 at 6:44 AM.
Default Alien Sky Mod
I'm trying to create a special Alien atmosphere for a neighborhood that we're (HBG) currently working on.
I thought a green sky with a custom moon would look good for that neighborhood.

But I can't get it look 'nice'. The textures look blurry and I don't know how to fix that. In the picture-editing program, they look nice but once I convert them into .dds file, the pictures lose quality.
Is there a way to fix the textures?

This is how it looks like in neighborhood view.


This is how it looks like in lot view (at daytime).


And this is how it looks like in lot view (at night).

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
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The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#2 Old 20th Mar 2016 at 10:35 PM
Well it's going to be the size of the picture and the resolution. The trouble is it's spead out over a large object. I don't know how you imported the texture - did you use the DDS utilities route with SimPE? That allows importing with higher resolution.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Trainee Moderator
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Original Poster
#3 Old 21st Mar 2016 at 12:53 PM
I used the "Import from .dds" but it still looks blurry.

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#4 Old 21st Mar 2016 at 2:11 PM
It's Build DXT not import .dds.

It's also going to depend on the mesh and how far the image is stretched over that. Are you using a pre-existing mesh? Link?

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Trainee Moderator
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Original Poster
#5 Old 21st Mar 2016 at 8:54 PM
There's no mesh. I've extracted EA's sky texture in SimPE and edited it in that way. Well, maybe there's a mesh somewhere in the game files but I couldn't find it.

I'll try the "Build DXT" option. Maybe it will look better then.

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#6 Old 21st Mar 2016 at 10:38 PM
There'll still be a mesh but I can't help you there. Didn't psychosim make some skies? Worth asking there? Can't remember the name of the site though.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Trainee Moderator
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Original Poster
#7 Old 25th Mar 2016 at 9:18 PM
Okay. I found a way to fix the blurriness. If you make the picture larger (2048x2048) and replace the blurry planet/moon with a high quality one, the game will use the bigger picture. The planet/moon won't look blurry ingame but it gets a little laggy if you navigate the camera to the sky.
And the file size goes over 90 MB because of the high res texture, which is not good...

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
Mad Poster
#8 Old 25th Mar 2016 at 10:06 PM
OMG! It's beautiful! Especially the night-time sky! :O

And I'm glad to see you managed to find a solution for the blurriness.
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Original Poster
#9 Old 26th Mar 2016 at 11:21 AM Last edited by Jawusa : 26th Mar 2016 at 7:07 PM.
This is how the planet and the moon look like at the moment. No big blur but the only thing I'm worried about is the file size.

With the high res pictures, it goes over 128 MB - which is too big. I'll try the DX1 compression. Maybe the file size won't be so large then.
Screenshots

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#10 Old 26th Mar 2016 at 11:35 AM Last edited by maxon : 26th Mar 2016 at 4:00 PM.
The thing with big textures and hi-res is just that - the pay off (or pay back) is big file sizes. I think it's a case of embrace it or don't do it.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Turquoise Dragon
retired moderator
#11 Old 26th Mar 2016 at 8:31 PM
I vote higher file size Most people who are bothering to download things like custom skies and custom neighborhoods that require a lot of custom content ( I would presume so anyway since it is an alien neighborhood?) probably aren't too worried about memory. Perhaps you could offer up both alternatives for those who do want less file size if it comes down to it. Me, I would definitely go with prettier and higher resolution and just give them a warning so they know up front, if you really want just one sky version. The pictures for the blurrier one look good anyway, except for the alien night time sky. It is a little blurry. But since I have seen the pictures of the higher res option, I would personally want the pretty one .
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Original Poster
#12 Old 27th Mar 2016 at 9:02 PM
If I have a look at EA's textures, I see that some of them have LIFO files. (Large Image File)
They are bigger versions of the original texture but less pixellated. The game seems to use those files and does not resize the textures itself.

So I was thinking of keeping the original texture size (512x512 and not 2048x2048) but then creating LIFO files. But is this even possible? That would make the file size much smaller and easier to upload.

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
Mad Poster
#13 Old 14th May 2016 at 5:21 PM
Wouldn't making a default replacement for the sky replace the skies in all hoods? I would suggest a recolour of Psychosim's object personally. You just have to hide the object under a rock or plant in each lot.

I use the sims as a psychology simulator...
Mad Poster
#14 Old 14th May 2016 at 8:58 PM
Here is the link to the object http://psychosim.livejournal.com/4708.html

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
Trainee Moderator
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Original Poster
#15 Old 14th May 2016 at 10:24 PM
Basically that's a huge object over the neighborhood that has no night texture, just a daylight texture that gets dark at night. Like all the regular objects that are placed outside.
It would be a good solution for other neighborhoods but the problem is that the gas giant won't "glow" at night if I recolor that huge object.

It would be a dark green planet that is hardly to be seen.
And I actually love the option to have daytime textures and nighttime textures separated. Then you can make the gas giant almost invisible at daytime and really bright at night at the same time.

But well, seeing that almost all of the posts here have been "disagreed", I must realize that this was a stupid idea from the beginning. Nobody wants to have an air full of that toxic chlorine gas anyway.
I guess I should forget about this and keep EA's beautiful blue sky.

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
Mad Poster
#16 Old 14th May 2016 at 11:26 PM
Its not a stupid idea at all and when I play the hood for this mod I will use it as it is.


If the object mod does not work then you need to use your mod for it and give the players the choice of using it or not.

I think we have someone disagreeing just to disagree.

This is a great mod for alien planets for the sims 2.

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#17 Old 15th May 2016 at 12:25 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Jawusa
But well, seeing that almost all of the posts here have been "disagreed", I must realize that this was a stupid idea from the beginning. Nobody wants to have an air full of that toxic chlorine gas anyway.
I guess I should forget about this and keep EA's beautiful blue sky.

That's just daft - it's just the disagree fairy (or two of them). I'm sure there will be a good number of people would like your sky. If you're playing a space-themed hood, it would be an excellent addition.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Lab Assistant
#18 Old 15th May 2016 at 2:18 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Jawusa
Nobody wants to have an air full of that toxic chlorine gas anyway.


No way, we totally want it! It'd be cool to have an un-earthly atmosphere.
Trainee Moderator
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Original Poster
#19 Old 15th May 2016 at 11:47 AM
Okay, you convinced me. I'll keep the mod.
Maybe there's a way to tell the game that it only should replace the sky if the neighborhood has a specific ID number. Maybe using a BHAV record.

Then it would be possible to install the mod without worrying about the regular (non-alien) neighborhoods and it would also allow to have day and night textures.

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
Mad Poster
#20 Old 15th May 2016 at 12:19 PM
Ah, I understand the problem with night time now. I hadn't really noticed that before (I use psychosim's object for my apocalypse hoods.)

Being able to have a sky only for a particular neighbourhood sounds like a brilliant idea. I had no idea such a thing was possible. Would love something like that.

I use the sims as a psychology simulator...
Mad Poster
#21 Old 15th May 2016 at 7:05 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Jawusa
Okay, you convinced me. I'll keep the mod.
Maybe there's a way to tell the game that it only should replace the sky if the neighborhood has a specific ID number. Maybe using a BHAV record.

Then it would be possible to install the mod without worrying about the regular (non-alien) neighborhoods and it would also allow to have day and night textures.


Maybe we can get @BoilingOil to chime in here on that.

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
Scholar
#22 Old 15th May 2016 at 7:17 PM
Something drew my attention to this place. Now can somesim sum up in as few sentences as possible what the issue is that they need to hear my opinion on? I'm not really in the mood for reading a whole thread. Sorry.

Edit: hmm, I'm getting the idea that this is going to be a predominantly graphical issue. Stuff that I know very, VERY little about.
The shots of the sky look great, but there's something off about the night sky... the 'moon' is too colorful. At least, that's my opinion. In the top post, the resolution also seems off, but a few posts later, that seems ok again.
What's the problem?
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Original Poster
#23 Old 15th May 2016 at 7:38 PM
@BoilingOil

The problem is not the textures itself. (But thanks for the feedback - I'll make the 'moon' more grayish-blue)
The problem is that this mod also affects other neighborhoods and I actually want to keep the original blue sky in other neighborhoods.

And that's why I need your help.

Is there a way to tell the game that it should only replace the sky for one specific neighborhood? Maybe a BHAV record that could do that - something like "only replace the sky if the neighborhood ID number is a specific number like 7024"
Can that be done?

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
Scholar
#24 Old 15th May 2016 at 7:48 PM
I know nothing of this stuff. The sky may well be a global thing that has nothing to do with neighborhoods at all. If that is the case, I don't know how anyone could change that.
But maybe having a look at something like the giant sky object that you mentioned on Simbology might give someone a clue.

Can you give me a link to it where I can download it without having to register anywhere?
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Original Poster
#25 Old 15th May 2016 at 8:05 PM
I'll upload my current version of the mod.

Psychosims' sky object can be found here. http://psychosim.livejournal.com/4708.html
Attached files:
File Type: rar  AlienDefaultSky.rar (15.34 MB, 24 downloads) - View custom content

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
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