Fixing Broken CC - Step by Step
I've noticed that over the years, CC I loved in the past get left, well, in the past. Build essentials and item go-tos get destroyed by updates and the modders who made them never return. So I have compiled a guide to get your broken cc back up and running. Software to install: Sims 4 Studio (S4S) [windows] [mac] Believe it or not, but at least half of the issues I have ever faced could could be solved by s4s. Right up at the top bar is a menu item called "Content Management" > Batch Fixes. This is your best friend.
Most any batch that broke CC can be quickly (do note that if you have a lot of cc, the word "quickly" should be changed to "slowly but automatically") fixed for you. Once the script has finished updating your CC, you will get to see what CC updated, what cc could not be updated, and what CC did not need to be fixed by the script. But what if it didn't help? What if you're like me, with an adorable music box CC item that still has the option "Listen to..." instead of "Play", rendering it useless? What then? Since you have downloaded (and hopefully ran) S4S at least once, you should have a sims4studio folder in your DOCUMENTS folder on your computer.
Inside of this folder, you're going to click on "Mods" and drag and drop the CC item that you want to edit
Now you are going to want to go to S4S and select Object Override. (click on the word "Object" to proceed).
In the drop downs section, find "Content" and select "Custom". If you do not see your custom content, close and reopen S4S.
Save the package file somewhere where you will be able to find it later. I choose my downloads folder. Give it a name (I choose the items original name then add "- Edited"). Once it is saved, you will be on an overwhelming screen. Ignore it. At the top, you will see two options: Studio and Warehouse. Select Warehouse then go a little higher to where it says "Tools". Select Extract Tuning...
What we are going to do from here is rip the working parts off of a base game EA item. In my case, I will be ripping the functionality off of an EA stereo. Almost any item you would be fixing would be under the naming convention "object/object_[item name]". in the top bar, type that.
Pick anything that will work. In my case, that would be the highlighted item. After you have selected the item from the list, click "Add to current Package". and close the window. Now towards the bottom of that Warehouse tab, you should see something called "Object Tuning". For me, it is the second to the bottom.
When you click on it, you get two tabs on the right-hand side: XML and Data.
--OPTIONAL SECTION--
In XML, you can change some interesting things. In my case, I want to change "Trigger_random_state" which controls what radio stations get selected when you click turn on > random in game.
Personally, I don't want my music box playing anything by Lullabies, Classical, and Baroque, even when randomly playing music. If you scroll down a bit to "client states, you can find a list of every radio station.
For my example of only letting a music box play Classical, Lullabies, and Baroque, I will delete everything from "client_states" except those options (keep stereochannel_off and stereochannel_randomPick).
Make sure to keep every <u> and </u> as well as the </L> at the end. Now you can copy the stations you kept and go up to the random section from before.
You might notice that the random section has n="state_value" where our added items all have n="key". We will want to fix that.
Delete our "off" and "randomPick" options then delete the preexisting options in the trigger_random_state.
--EXIT OPTIONAL SECTION-- Now that your item does what you want it to do and you have (optionally) deleted functionality that you don't want the item to have, you should be able to mess with the "Data" tab.
Change the "Name" section to [your name]:[object name]. Once you click off of that box (or hit enter), you will see that the TuningId becomes a lot longer.
Go to the "Object Definition" file from the right side of your screen.
In there you will see Tuning and Tuning ID. Copy the name you just wrote in Object Tuning > Data to the Tuning box and the TuningId from Object Tuning > Data to the other TuningId. (TuningId might autofill for you. Just copy and paste anyway to be sure).
Now you should be able to save this file and move it back into your Sims 4 mods folder. --RESULTS-- The white, unedited music box still has the old (and broken) "Listen to" function.
However, our edited music box now has the working "Turn on" function.
[AUTHORS NOTE: I accidentally deleted the 'Sims Data' file in S4S, so the 'Put in inventory' option did not show up in screenshots. If you follow my directions to a T and do not accidentally delete "pointless files", you should see all of the options.]
And even better, now the music box can only play the three stations that we wanted it to in the optional section.
--FINAL NOTES-- Let's say you're like me. You have a couple of music boxes that need to be fixed. Going through all of these steps all over again is more hassle than its word. That's where the "Import" and "Export buttons come into handy. On BOTH the Object Tuning and Sims Data XML files you have on the object you have JUST EDITED, click the "Export" button and save the xml files as somethings like "Music Box Object Tuning" and "Music Box Sim Data".
Once you have exported both files, begin the first steps two of this process (Object > Override then selecting the item you wish to override). At the bottom of the Workshop page. you will see an "Add" button. Click on it, then add an Object Tuning and a Sim Data file.
Once you have both, they will look like this and be completely empty.
Now go ahead and click the import button (right next to the export button we used earlier) and import the tuning xml and the data xml into their appropriate files in S4S. If you go to Object Tuning > Data, you will see that the name of the tuning stayed the same BUT THE TUNING ID DID NOT. Once these items have been added, go ahead and update the Object Definition and use the "save" button in the bottom right corner. Now all you have to do is click and drag this file into your mods folder! Happy Simming!