I'd like to create some fences, but I can't seem to find any tutorials anywhere. Am I missing something somewhere, or is it simple enough that a tutorial is not needed?

That depends on how far you want to go
If you don't want it basegame-compatible, then simply cloning (I believe Advanced Mode is required) and giving it GUID in XFNC resource (you have to get new guid manually on SimPE site) is enough.

Pretty sure all custom fences, no matter how they're done, require at least one EP - any EP, to function.

That is not entirely true; by default the cloned fences require at least one EP; but SimPE contains a special (not wel documented) function that makes the fence base-game compatible.

First off, I confirm that SimPE must be in Advanced Mode in order to see the Fences in the Object Workshop.
In order to create a new fence (or create a recolour for an existing one), follow this tutorial at SimPE site.

The info about making the fence base-game compatible are on the last post, but are incomplete.

Quaxi and I, at first, strongly discouraged to hack the fence so to be base-game compatible (a warning is still included in the mentioned post and in SimPE code), but now I'm quite sure that there are no real risks, especially if you use, as GUID, one of the GUIDs that you may already have registered for an object (you can re-use it without registering a new one).

The "special function" I mentioned earlier can be activated as follows:
- when the clone has been created following the tutorial upto the end (except last post), save the package;
- then click on the "Resource Actions" tab (if you can't see it, select the Resourse Actions entry in the Window menu; if still you can't see it, reset the layout of SimPE from the preferences);
- click the link "Fix Fence" and confirm the warning.

Ok, how do I SimPE into advanced mode?

Extra -> Preferences -> SimPE Settings; check the "Advanced mode" option.

NOTE: the Advanced Mode makes Object Workshop (and other functions) slower, because it has to load many more things. Unless you don't need this option constantly activated (like me ) I suggest you to deactivate it when finished.

So, should I follow the warning and have a base-game version and an EP version, or is just a fixed 'fence fine' for everyone?

Wow, there's a function for it? Saves a lot of time
That's for you to decide Personally, I prefer to make everything basegame-compatible but it takes extra time.

I wonder if there's some kind of statistics of how many people have base game only. Is there a way to count MTS profiles by owned addons?

Many people just don't set correctly the owned expansions in their profile; I'm not sure that such a statistic would be meaningful.

As for deciding whether to create a base-game or an EP-required fence, I prefer the base-game ones, too. Publishing two alternative versions is not a big deal, anyway, imho. Considering that the silliest Stuff Pack in any case upgrades the game engine to Pets, I don't think that there are many basegame users around.



It should work for any neighborhood object, too; but it was not purposely created for them (and anyway Quaxi created it long ago, I'm not sure it still works at all ), so you shoud check the objects in the basegame, to be sure they actually work.

Bah! Lightweights. Real Simmers have all EPs

Well, the spiffy little function still works. My custom fence was successfully used in a BaseGame environment. Should I publish both versions, or just the BaseGame one? How 'safe' is it?

It's safe, you can post the BaseGame version only. Quaxi and I were a little uncertain at the beginning regarding the "random" GUID created by SimPE; re-using a GUID already registered for an objects is 100% safe, but even the random ones are 99.(9)% safe.