I can't seem to find any info on how to make templates for maxis objects. I know there are a few on ModtheSims2 you can download but I would like to know how to create them myself. I have tried a few things already with uv mapper but things come out so messed up I'm sure I'm doing it wrong.

Some of the objects I try to recolour seem to be mapped in really strange ways, take for instance the colonial ironwood bed frame

It would be so much easier to have templates as a guide.

And thankyou for the ones you have already on the site. They have come in extremely helpful. How do you make them?

There's 2 ways to make a template

1) look at the recolor you have, and put big bold colored boxes on the different areas, load it up, and examine it, adjust the boxes, etc.

2) Export an OBJ of the mesh in question and load it into your favorite 3D editor. Most of them _have some built in uvmapping_. View the map with your editor, take a screenshot if it doesn't export it for you.

Having the uvmap, you probably still want to do the colored shapes on it to determine exactly which part is which. Course if you're good with your graphics editor, you can do that as an overlay, and preserve the uvmap lines and get colored areas.

I suggest also to create a normal recolour of the object, but using this reference image
(click to enlarge, then right-click the big image to save it on your PC)




If you notice, in this image there are NOT two identical squares. When you recolour, e.g. an armchair using this image, and then load the recolour in game, you will see which parts of the textures are reserved to the seat, which to the back etc.

Comparing whet you see in game to the UVmap you have created following Tiggerypum's suggestion, you should be able to figure out even the more complex maps.