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Instructor
Original Poster
#1 Old 8th Nov 2009 at 8:34 AM
Default How to Change Object Function?
Just a quick question, is there a way to change an objects function? I know in S3PE it has the check boxes for the types of objects but it doesnt actually change it in game when you click on it with you sim.

For example, say I clone a counter and I want to make it a normal object, when I do this, in game it still allows me to place stuff on it as if it were a counter, I don't want this function, I just want it to be an object without any options.

Anyways, thanks for any help you can provide

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retired moderator
#2 Old 8th Nov 2009 at 9:05 AM
I think: import the scriptclass from an OBJK of the object you want to emulate, remove the old one (the counter's) and use its TGI key on the imported scriptclass OBJK
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#3 Old 8th Nov 2009 at 9:52 AM
Well in fact just change the text in OBJK to the other object's scriptclass

"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
Instructor
Original Poster
#4 Old 8th Nov 2009 at 10:00 AM
Ok, thanks so much guys

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Lab Assistant
#5 Old 9th Nov 2009 at 11:15 PM
It will still allow items to be placed on it, bcause it has slots defined for it that tell the
game where other counters can be connected to it, where objectscan be placed on it,
and where sims need to stand in order to interact with it or objects on it.
And I currently know of no apps, that let us edit an objects slots.
You'll need to base your new item off a similar base game object.
Me? Sarcastic? Never.
staff: administrator
#6 Old 10th Nov 2009 at 12:25 AM
Yep, you need to be able to edit the RSLT. So far all my editing is not giving me the results I want. Also, when I tried replacing a RSLT from another one, any object I place on it doesn't "stick". When I move the surface the other object doesn't move with it.

Amusing and annoying all at the same time. :/
Test Subject
#7 Old 2nd Jan 2010 at 7:09 PM
Default How to do high detail decorative
Hi!
I just followed flabaliki's tutorial of meshing an object. I made a decorative box by cloning the tissue box, but when I got to texturing part, I realized that clutter has low detail non-CASTable textures
Can I use some else object to turn that into decorative object?
Alchemist
#8 Old 2nd Jan 2010 at 9:22 PM
There are other decorative objects besides the clutter ones that have unrecolorable textures. Have you considered using one of those for your clone instead?
Test Subject
#9 Old 3rd Jan 2010 at 9:31 AM
I took a while going through the objects one by one (wish there was a filter by type feature in object cloner) and found at least one sculpture which had red/green/blue pixmap, some didn't have. Orangemittens, thanks for encouraging, it's the reason why I didn't give up searching

Now I have a box which is showing in a game, though minor texture problems, but when I got them settled down, I'll create two more with different sizes and share them
Alchemist
#10 Old 3rd Jan 2010 at 1:18 PM
I'm glad you found a clone that works for you.

Sometimes instead of using the S3OC to pick a clone it's easier to just open the game, go to the section for whatever type of thing it is that you want to clone, and find an EA object that most closely approximates the shape/behavior of whatever it is that you want to make.

Just by looking at the object in the game you'll know if it's recolorable, if it will sit on surfaces, how big its footprint is (although that doesn't matter so much anymore since HL wrote her tutorial on how to change it), and etc.

This allows you to use the game itself as your "filter by type" and saves having to go through the s3oc's alphabetized list until you know pretty much which item on the list you want to use.
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#11 Old 3rd Jan 2010 at 2:32 PM
Someone was making a list/database of object attributes to help with this sort of choice. Did it ever happen?

"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
Alchemist
#12 Old 3rd Jan 2010 at 4:02 PM
I don't think that project was ever completed although I could be wrong since I haven't checked in awhile.

In the meantime, just looking at EA items in the game is a pretty easy way to select an object that has the attributes you need for whatever it is you're trying to make in my humble opinion.
Test Subject
#13 Old 3rd Jan 2010 at 7:27 PM
Thanks for the tip, next time I will investigate the items in the game first
Actually I should have done it already for the object I'm working on now.

I used KitchenUtensilsCountry (the pot with wooden set), and I got a problem with textures:
The static texture and pattern was mixing in my new object, so I figured out that there must be a file or alpha or something which tells which part of the mapping is covered with static texture and which part can be CASTable.
Can this division be changed somehow, or do I have to re-UV-map the parts to be on CASTable section only (I don't want the texture part, only pattern part)?
I would appreciate very much if some of you had some info about this
I tried to search the forum, but I found very little about texturing, mostly only the basic part of the work with red/green/blue pixmap. We definately would need a texturing tutorial which would cover shadows, speculars, texture/patters etc. in addition to red/green/blue mapping

edited of a thinking error.
Alchemist
#14 Old 3rd Jan 2010 at 7:47 PM
When dealing with a dds like that you have a few choices:

1. map around the part with the alpha texture
2. make a new alpha that doesn't have the texture stencil on it
3. find a dds from some other object that is fully Cas-table (or has a smaller more conveniently placed stencil) and use that instead.

In any of these cases remember that you'll have to change the red/green dds to reflect any alterations to placement that you make when mapping your new object.

Manipulating the indoor shadow is basically handled the same way that mapping anything else is. Export the shadow dds (I keep a copy of one in my general work folder to use for all objects I mesh since it's the same for them all) and then import that to MS as a Material...assign to the shadow. Open up the TCE and you'll see where your shadow is sitting. You can resize it and move it around the same as any other map or object group. I apologize if this isn't what you meant by shadows or if you already knew all that.

Speculars are an annoyance that I still haven't completely figured out. What I can say is that the thing has to have the correct alpha or your object will show up with a glassy texture in the game...and opening it in PS or PSP can sometimes remove/reverse the alpha. Also, if the object is fully CAS-able the Specular isn't supposed to do anything but sometimes it seems to anyway...at least on one project I did.

I've started to get a better idea of the pattern thing and how it fits onto a simple object but I'm still learning so I hesitate to say much about that. Texture mapping with MS or with UV mapper is described in a couple tutorials that I know of...if you can't find links to them post again and I'll see if I can dig them up.
Test Subject
#15 Old 3rd Jan 2010 at 8:07 PM
Wow, you really have time to help noobs like me, thanks!
I'll give some of those three options a chance tomorrow, I'm not happy though about returning to my day job tomorrow, after holidays
Anyway, I think I will play with the alpha, cause I don't want to re-UV-map again
Thanks also for other info, you could really write a tutorial with that knowledge
Lab Assistant
#16 Old 4th Jan 2010 at 9:30 AM
If I remember fine, I've already cloned this pot and it has a mask (red, green, blue), a Multiplier (grayscale more dark than the specular) the Specular (which appears all transparent without ticking the Alpha box in DDS viewer) and one Overlay (file with a pattern (the cock) or a picture which appears on the object all the time even the rest of the object is recolored in the game. On this file you have the part which is always visible on the object and the rest of the file is transparent (colored in black and change to Alpha)).
So for your object you have to change these 4 DDS files to make it be ok. If you don't want to have a pattern non CAST-able on your new object, just recolor Overlay in black and change it to be transparent.
I hope it could help you (and I hope I had good understand you ...)

Créa Sims 3

If you find I'm talking strange, don't forget I'm frenchy ... ;o)
Alchemist
#17 Old 4th Jan 2010 at 12:15 PM
Samelo, which program do you use to do this part: "just recolor Overlay in black and change it to be transparent"...I have PSP and have never been able to make it do this. I also have GIMP which I need to look at more but haven't been able to figure out so far. If you have time, would you mind describing how you accomplish this step in a little more detail? I would really appreciate any help/advice you can give.

Matrixx, just so as not to be too confusing, the dds that Samelo calls Overlay is the one I was referring to above...it is the black one (alpha part) with a stencil on it that will show up in the game as an unrecolorable design on the object. When it comes to this dds, Samelo knows more about it. I'm basically a beginner when it comes to manipulating alphas and always just work within the constraints of whatever alpha/stencil EA has put on the Overlay dds.
Lab Assistant
#18 Old 4th Jan 2010 at 1:48 PM
I use Paint.Net and 2 pluggins called AlphaMask (to change a picture to transparent by ticking "Invert Mask" box) and AlphaSpace (to change black or white color into transparent color, by selecting white if I colore a zone in white or selecting "Black" if I colore in black and move the scale to make this color transparent).
This 2 plugging are very easy to use ; they are 2 .dll files to put in the "Effects" file in "Paint.Net" and they appear in the "Effects" menu.


Exemple with AlphaMask :

Picture to modify :


Apply AlphaMask to make this picture all transparent :


Result :



Exemple with AlphaSpace : to make part of picture transparent :

Picture to modify :


Apply AlphaSpace :


Result :


That's all fine !!! :D

Créa Sims 3

If you find I'm talking strange, don't forget I'm frenchy ... ;o)
Alchemist
#19 Old 4th Jan 2010 at 10:47 PM Last edited by orangemittens : 4th Jan 2010 at 11:37 PM.
Wow...just wow. I can't believe it's this easy but I got the Paint.net and the plugins and it works like a charm. I've been wanting to know how to do this ever since I first started meshing.

Virtual hugs...thanks so much for showing me this Samelo.

Edited to add: I've been trying this out and it's just the best thing. I can't even tell you how happy I am that you taught me this.
Test Subject
#20 Old 5th Jan 2010 at 7:43 PM Last edited by matrixx : 6th Jan 2010 at 11:06 AM.
Hi!
I came back with some middle-time information
I checked the alpha of the dds file where the texture with the utensils lies, and found out the guilty one. It really came out fine in the game when I painted the whole alpha black, thanks both of you!
Now I noticed my pattern is streched 2 x horizontally, but I can think that's fixable, as I already saw a thread where were three chairs, and one had the same problem
Then I try if I can add a little bit of shading to get the object the final look.

edit #1: Shading part went fine, but I didn't manage to fix the tiling issue.
I cloned a new package export only defaults unticked. Xml file was stating pattern tiling being 0.5000 1.0000, which seem to be the reason why textures are horizontally stretched.
I changed the values to 1.0000 and 1.0000 and imported xml back. Though I see no change in game (I checked cache wasn't the issue), so I'm wondering if this is the right way to correct stretched textures, or should I use some separate tool than s3pe?
Another thing which came to my mind was the texture size. The original size in my object's texture was 128 x 256, and I changed the size to 256 x 256. Might this have some effect to texture/pattern stretching?
Alchemist
#21 Old 17th Jan 2010 at 4:54 PM
I'm hoping Samelo or someone who knows about alphas can answer this.

I notice when an object with an alpha image is in MS if it's applied to the MLOD it looks solid, but if it's applied to the MODL there seems to be this weird sort of bleed through. I've noticed on my own objects and to a somewhat lesser degree on EA's.

Is this normal or is there some setting I need to change or what? I've put my objects like this into my game and I don't notice anything off about them but still...I hesitate to share them until I know for sure it's ok that they do this.
Me? Sarcastic? Never.
staff: administrator
#22 Old 17th Jan 2010 at 5:05 PM
I know in Milkshape when I apply a texture to the model with an apha, that it has transparency in odd places. In the Materials tab, under the texture that you add, is a drop down box. Select ignore alpha. I think this is what your saying the problem is. LoL
Alchemist
#23 Old 17th Jan 2010 at 5:26 PM
Well, that isn't exactly it although I didn't know about that button and it will come in handy now that I do so thank you for telling me about it

Sorry my question was incoherent...lol. I guess what it is, is that when I check the objects I've made an alpha for there seems to be a *lot* of that weirdness...more than what EA's has. But it only shows up on the MLOD if I delete the shadow and it's always there on the MODL. It makes me nervous there is something wrong with my alpha since I just learned how to do them a short time ago.

That makes me hesitant to share anything with an alpha because I don't want to share something that's wrong. The things look fine in the game but I just want to be certain there isn't a problem I need to address.
Lab Assistant
#24 Old 18th Jan 2010 at 8:34 AM
Hi OM,
I'm not sure I've well understood your post : are you saying that when you apply your alpha texture in Milksahpe your object is partly transparent ?
If it's what you were said, it's the same for me and it's normal (in Milksahpe) because the object has only one texture the alpha, in the game the others (mask, multiplier and specular apply too and replace the black (transparent) parts and the object is no more transparent and appears normal.

Hum ! I don't really think it's what you were meaning ... If it is, sorry...

Créa Sims 3

If you find I'm talking strange, don't forget I'm frenchy ... ;o)
Alchemist
#25 Old 18th Jan 2010 at 12:20 PM
That's exactly what I meant...thank you for answering. What you're saying makes complete sense and reassures me that my objects using alphas are ok.

Thanks again for teaching me this method Samelo...it's wonderful to finally be able to work outside of EA's alpha box
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