I'm no stranger when it comes to working with 3d models and meshes or working with textures, but for some reason i can get anything i try making for Sims 3 to do anything other then crash the game. I have followed every suggestion and tutorial i can find both on this site and through google, i got my file to the point where it looks right in CTU (mesh and textures show there just fine).

Here is a basic overview of what I did while working on it (minus the different times going back to try fixing things and multiple re-imports while doing so):
extracted the meshes of the accessory i wanted to modify. extracted using s3pe.
imported the meshes one at a time (each to a new project so there wouldnt be lingering data from the previous mesh) to milkshape and exported as fbx.
imported fbx to maya 2010 (only modeling program i can easily use) checked that bones were still assigned, performed adjustments wanted, fixed uv placement and so on.
exported as fbx again and reimported to milkshape. checked that models showed porperly and exported as simgeom.
opened orignal file in CTU, added new meshes in the mesh tab and hit commit.
when model loaded, checked on textures and part categories. saved as a new file.
opened new file in CTU to make sure everything took and saved right.
copied to sims 3 mods with non other content packages to test.


from what i can tell i followed every step in the relevant tutorials i can find as well as extra double checking along the way that i normally do. the game loads just fine but when i load up CAS and go into the clothing category for accessories the game freezes for a few seconds and then closes without a word. as soons as i remove my file it plays smoothly with no crashing. I have even scanned the file with the Sims 3 Dashboard program to see if it had been corrupted or what not but it shows a fine.


Did i miss something vital durring my modification that would cause this? or is there something else i can do that might make it work? the few times it hasnt crashed the game it didnt show up at all

You forgot to fix the comments - copy them, in Milkshape, from the original EA mesh group to your mesh group (the Comments button is on the groups tab in Milkshape).

May I asked why you extracted via S3PE rather than CTU? It doesn't make a difference - just seems odd.

ill have to give that a try, didnt see anything for that in the guides i read though and only a side comment about it in a badly written one somewhere that didnt give any direction on how to.


Okay, copied the mesh comments to the new parts. so the comments from each part of the modified mesh is the same as its orignal counterpart. Still crashing as soon as i go into accessories...any other suggestions or things that could be going wrong?

Hmm. Attach the file, perhaps? I find it easier to fix things when I can see what's wrong with them.

Most of those crashes are caused by a missing skeleton or corrupt boneassignements.

You might want to try to import the original accesory first in Milkshape, then your import your fbx file.
Fix the comments, delete the original, check if your boneassignemnts still are there, then export.

I know there is also a smd importer/exporter but no idea if you can get it working:
http://developer.valvesoftware.com/...e_Model_in_Maya

a great big thanks to both of you. following the suggestions given i managed to get the game to accept my models. never would have been able to do it without your help.