k-707 2025 BOLD UPDATE INSTRUCTIONS
The new k-707 is going to be released in the coming days :D but as it is a kind of new experience, we have some kinda instructions in order to get everything working fine.
Step right up, folks, for the grand unveiling of our biggest project yet! The K-707 isn’t just a mod—it’s a green revolution. Taking on almost every flower, patch of grass, bush, and tree makes this even more massive than the K-505. And trust us, our brains are already feeling the strain! :D
But before instructions, let me tell you the k-707 story ;)
We really hope you'll enjoy it. We worked hard on it with 5 rules :
Replace EVERY tree of the game
NO overrides with crazy high polygons amount
Follow as much as possible the Maxis directions ( trees style )
Decrease amount of polygons where it is possible
No trees defying gravity and laws of physics
It took long for few reasons ...
At first, we always knew the first version was a vast experiment. When ea made its direct x11 update, it was time to make a bold update ... but we didn't want simply remove the non-strictly-dds-x2 images and replace them ... we wanted more. We always wanted more, even we are not kinda ea gurus :D ( hey EA ! don't you want hire some true creators with a long term vision of your game ? ) <- poll : would you like k-hippie as maxis creators or not ? :D
Joke apart, it was difficult. Almost 1 year long, we searched and searched solutions to get rid of all problems we met when replacing foliage on a debug tree, or modifying anything on a debug tree ( for info : we are not blender gurus nor sims 4 core users )
All we knew was few lines :
When cloning a tree, you cannot lose the any of the vert color data. I suspect whatever tool(s) you are using to do the cloning is losing this data, since this setup is somewhat unique to trees.
The vertex color layout for trees is as follows. Green and Blue are ignored for channels 1…4 :
Color 0 RGB Surface color tint
Color 1 R Rustle direction X
Color 2 R Rustle direction Y
Color 3 R Rustle direction Z
Color 4 R Rustle phase ( game generates two wind scales that change over time, this term interpolates between the two )
The pipeline keeps the rustle information in a vertex color format for what the game engine will load, which means it’s in the range 0 and 1. The shader remaps this into a 0.5 to -0.5 range before scaling it and applying the offset to the leaves. Note that these directions are clamped but not normalized ( they’re allowed to be different lengths ) The WindMagnitude material parameter acts as a scaling factor.
So, we started with this information, begging in vain for some help, both inside the Sims community and outside ... but nobody helped us. And frankly, it interested no-one except us and our beloved followers :)
We found multitude of tutorials ( funny how many they are as soon as it is clothes related ) but nothing related to our specific target. We paused our research many times, made direct x11 updates for our other k-mods and so on. Until ... zaceitorius in July 13rd 2024
Who is zaceitorius ? We do not know. A simple member of sims4studio with 6 posts who gave us a simple bright clue which seems obvious after all, but yet very very precious indeed !
And here we are today. 300 trees and numerous plants later ... <- another reason why it took a long time :D
We made a lot of vertex experiments, we lost data colors, remade again and again some other experiments and well, we are still experiment, remake small details which seem important to us and so on ... And for now, it works :D And now you are warned : the k-707 is far from perfect.
And now, the instructions :)
The k-707 covers both trees & plants, both debug and lot trees & plants
What's new ? No more than usual. We tracked all the non-strictly-dds-x2 images, reshaped some trees ( such as the multitude of oaks ), added some flowers ( where we removed them in 2021 ) but kept many foliage we already did. We tried to simplify many details but added some others and replaced some plants.
How many stuff it represents ? We do not know. Many indeed. We stopped the count :D
Because of its size ( and our love for our sanity ), THE RELEASE WILL ROLL OUT IN PARTS ( not slowly but piece by piece ). If we waited until it was all perfect, you’d be seeing it around ( maybe ) September 2025 ... Let’s not tempt fate—or burnout! :D
The K-707 is neatly organized for your convenience :
Each DLC gets 2 folders : one for plants, one for trees.
The base game gets 4 folders ( a bit different since most of the greenery is drawn from there ) divided into lots and debug folders.
Expansions which have very few greenies ( City, Get to Work, University ) get the same folder named : k-hippie-k707-multi-greeny-2025
Leave them in each of their folders ( or create your owns based on a similar methodology )
If you merge files : we can’t help troubleshoot if it doesn’t work anymore, so be smart ;)
You’re free to do as you like, but we strongly recommend keeping this tidy folder setup. If you need to troubleshoot down the line, it’ll save you a major headache.
And for the mavericks out there who love merging files—go for it, but know this : we won’t be able to help if things go haywire.
Now, we could wax poetic about how stunning the K-707 is, how every leaf, petal, and blade of grass is crisper, richer, and beautifully integrated into your worlds—but hey, we'll do it later, inside the release post :D
We could do more, more realistic trees and so on but we do not want integrate crazy high poly models. We do not want an unplayable game isn't it ? ;)
The k-707 is not yet finished. We got some more work to do on it, shape the last details, and some re-checks.
But here is what is new compare to the previous version : we kinda cracked ( a bit only ) the code. Trees swinging in the wind like it’s a dancing contest ? No more. Trees defying gravity and laws of physics by groveling into the ground ? No more. Just remember we do not have the hands upon the worlds construction, so, when trees are not into the ground, well, call your reseller aka EA itself ...