sooo you can just add new pattern categories in MaterialCategories.xml and make a new string for them... ????
BUT:
idk what the footsteps are doing (i tested with a fabric, which is hard to hear anyway)
anddd I would test with wood next, but it's kinda weird right. so I made a Lace category and moved fabricEP4Lace_2 from Fabrics into it. And it's all fine, but if I select it after placing it, it treats it as a customised Fabrics pattern (whether or not I customise it). and I don't know why, so I guess there's something else somewhere, but I don't know where.
sick right? if it worked properly
(I'm not even sure where the fabric swatch vs plain white vs plain black vs plaster behind (vs slightly thicker rock behind?) gets defined...)
I am writing to you today in the hope of finding a skilled creator or team willing to take on a custom project for The Sims 3. I have compiled a series of images showcasing specific types of content I would love to see brought into the Sims 3 game.
Project 1: Custom Headpieces and Crowns (Inspired by Sims 4 Content)
I am particularly interested in having several beautiful and detailed headpieces and crowns created for Sims 3. Many of the items pictured were originally created for The Sims 4 by the following talented artists (and I am hoping for Sims 3 equivalents):
Items originally by @lalalanayo: (The first item on the first board)
Items originally by @stamsim (Images 2-5 on the first board): I am looking for similar styles of elven/fantasy crowns.
Item originally by @lady-moriel (Image 11 on the first board): A crown style similar to this intricate piece.
Items originally by @simstoricalish (Images 14 & 15 on the first board): These striking headpieces/crowns.
Item originally by @glitterberrysims (Image 3 on the second board): This beautiful crystalline crown style.
The remaining images show various other styles of fantasy dresses, ethereal headbands, and dramatic crowns that I would love to see replicated or inspired by for Sims 3, as seen across both boards provided.
Project 2: Alchemy Potion Mixing Mod for The Sims 3
In addition to the custom CAS content, I am also looking for a modder who can create a functional gameplay mod for The Sims 3. The goal is to have a mod that allows Sims to mix or infuse existing in-game alchemy potions into their food or drink items (e.g., adding a boost potion effect to a regular glass of juice or a meal).
Important Note Regarding Compensation:
I must be upfront about my current situation: Due to ongoing illness, I am unfortunately unable to offer monetary payment for this work at this time. My health condition is currently limiting, and improvement is unfortunately not guaranteed in the near future.
I understand that custom content creation is skilled work and usually requires compensation. I am reaching out in the hope that a creator might be interested in taking this on as a passion project, for portfolio building, or perhaps if they are looking for content ideas that align with their own interests. I am happy to provide any further detail or screenshots if needed to aid in the creation process.
If any of this content sparks your interest, or if you know of anyone who specializes in custom CAS accessories or complex Sims 3 scripting/modding who might be willing to discuss this, please reply to this message.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read my request.
Making your NRaas settings global in Sims 3 (tutorial and DL)
After making this tutorial, I found out the tuning files for some of the mods (including Master Controller and Register) weren't fully up to date on the NRaas site. I'm happy to report as of 2/13/26 that they have all finally been updated!
I updated my own tuning files linked in this post, so please DL those if you were using my older ones :) If you made your own tuning files for Master Controller or Register, please remake yours using the new tuning files on the NRaas site, sorry for the inconvenience!
Hey so if you didn’t know, you can modify the tuning files that NRaas provides on their site as templates to make your preferred settings for each mod global without having to manually set them up each time upon entering a new save or world!
The thing is, I couldn’t find any tutorials online to make this more accessible for people (I had to figure it out on my own), so I wrote up my own tutorial, which will be at the bottom of this post ⬇️
The benefit of using tuning files instead of the other method of importing settings at the Town Hall is that these will immediately apply without having to adjust or import any settings in-game, permanently eliminating an extra step!
If you add any of these tuning files to your Mods/Packages folder, they’ll become the default settings for whenever you make a new save, but will NOT apply to existing saves, which already have their prior settings written into their nhd file, unless you click Reset Settings for the particular mod at the Town Hall
If your preferred settings differ from mine, I recommend following the tutorial below to make your own tuning files. I just thought I would drop mine here for convenience’s sake, or for people don’t want to mess around in S3PE themselves
It's recommended to clear your script cache when installing any of these tuning files (!)
My Master Controller Tuning
Compact Outfits - False -> True
Compact Accessories - False -> True
Compact Hats - False -> True
Multiple Makeup Per Location - False -> True
Download (Updated to V135)
V2: I've uploaded an alternate version that eliminates an annoyance that comes up if you also use NRaas Integration. MC has a feature where you can choose a party filter before inviting your guests, which is meant to come up when throwing a party through the MC menu. But if you also have Integration installed, it'll come up every time you throw a party, even through the phone. I wasn't aware of how to disable this until recently! All other settings are the same from V1
Use Party Filter - True -> False
Download V2 (V135)
My Register Tuning
Paparazzi are annoying. And reducing the amount of wild/stray animals in your world is helpful for performance. I chose to reduce them rather than eliminate them (aside from Wild Horses, which have especially bad routing issues). But I kept the possibility of there being a Unicorn just for fun :)
Allow Paparazzi - True -> False
Maximum Wild Horses - 4 -> 0
Maximum Unicorns - Kept at 1
Maximum Stray Dogs - 6 -> 2
Maximum Stray Cats - 6 -> 2
Maximum Deer - 3 -> 1
Maximum Raccoons - 2 -> 1
Download (Updated to V81)
My Woohooer Tuning
Autonomous Woohoo - False -> True
Allow Teen Woohoo - False -> True
Allow Teen Skinny Dip - False -> True
Risky Woohoo Pregnancy Chance - 10 -> 15
Teen Risky Woohoo Pregnancy Chance - 10 -> 15
Unlock Actions for Teenagers - False -> True
Download (This tuning was already updated to V130 when the guide was made, but I changed the risky woohoo pregnancy chance for teens to 15% as well, unlocked actions for teenagers, and added the version to the file name)
The Tutorial
You will need the program S3PE which you might already have if you've ever merged CC before.
This tutorial should cover everything you need to tune all NRaas mods EXCEPT Story Progression (Edit: and Retuner, which should follow the same instructions as SP). The reason is the tuning for that mod is much more complex. You can still tune it, but you will have to go in game, navigate to SP, and Export Tuning which will generate a Script Error Report in your The Sims 3 folder (which is actually just the tuning that includes all of the modules you have). Then copy and paste that into the empty XML in the template in S3PE. Those are the only steps that differ. If anyone wants a more in-depth tutorial for tuning SP specifically, let me know!
With that out of the way, let's begin!
It's actually pretty easy! I will be using Master Controller as an example, but NRaas has provided tuning templates for basically all of their mods
Step 1: Navigate to the main page for the mod. Scroll down past all of the modules until you reach the Tunings section.
The file you want to download is the first one in the image below called NRaas_MasterController_Tuning_V135.zip
Once it downloads, extract the folder to get to the contents.
Step 2: Open S3PE and drag and drop the package file into the blank section on the left.
You will get this popup. Just click Next.
When it asks whether you want to auto-save after each package is imported, click No.
Now you should get a page that looks like this:
Click on the item with the tag XML, and the tuning settings will pop up on the right-hand side. Now right click that item and then select Notepad.
Boom. Now you can edit any of the default settings you want to change in this text document.
Let's say you want to allow multiple accessories per location. Just find that line and change False to True.
Once you're done editing, Save, and then close out of the notepad.
You will now get this popup from S3PE. Click Yes to commit changes.
Now, you will see the initial XML file crossed out, and a second one (which is your edit).
Now all you need to do is click File, then Save to overwrite the original template, or Save As to give it a custom name, just make sure you're only putting one tuning file per mod in your Mods/Packages folder.
That's it! As stated before, these will be your default NRaas MC settings without having to do a thing in game :) Hope this is helpful!
I distracted myself with a little project I could finish quickly. I made Spooky Day costumes out of the Movie Stuff pack, then added the two fairy costumes from Faire Folk Apparel.
I could put them up for download but I don't wanna take screenshots. 😭
I was trying to discuss the eternally longed-for mod for children riding horses with a hopeful modder, and I still only find this tutorial on YouTube for age-converting animations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmHLZa3GxWE&t=41s
I am deeply grateful to Painted Wings Production for making this video. I practically freeze-framed through it when I initially learned to convert animations. The problem is that it's actually only half of what you need to know. And it also speed-runs through the process. And ...this might be cruel, but don't ever need to hear the phrase "baby children" ever again.
I started with that video, but @thesweetsimmer111 taught me how to convert animations properly, including IK targets and CLIP effects.
I find it interesting that nobody has ever recorded a more thorough video.
Perhaps I should try to do this myself. I recorded a tutorial once for my job and the edited out about 40k "ums". I'd have to re-learn how to record my voice and screen. And perhaps TSS could review it and tell me all the stuff I am still missing. 😅
I should totally take on another project to go with all the other ones I have going on... Then again, it is incredibly difficult to talk about animation conversions and figure out what the other person understands without some kind of example to point to.
Today in modding, I upgraded the Warrior Pets mod to the development tool I'm using now (JetBrains Rider). I used Visual Studio for years, but then I naively upgraded to discover that the new version blocked the creation of new .Net 2.0 projects. Then Microsoft discontinued the Mac version. I was continuing to mod by using Battery's template creator, which I would be using anyway, but still.
So, no actual progress on Warrior Pets, but at least now I'm capable of making progress? That's, um, meta-progress.
So, we drop half the settings in the original mod because the game is already storing them per-save.
I've determined that the Celebrity settings are stored for the entire game. Also, to my surprise (why does EA keep surprising me), the "Opt Active Family Out of Celebrity System" option actually disables the ENTIRE Celebrity system rather than just preventing the active family from gaining celebrity points, which is what I assumed it did. I don't know how this differs in practice from the Celebrities demographic checkbox. (It looks like maybe inactive sims can have celebrity points; it's just hidden from the user? I have no idea.)
The Supernatural demographic settings may also be, but I haven't verified yet.
The primary thing of course is the lifespan settings. I have those working for personal use, but the only place I've been able to apply the settings I'm storing is after NRaas looks at them. This results is not one but TWO prompts asking if you want to adjust the manager speed -- one when it notices that the ini settings don't match what your save game was using, then again when you reapply the settings from the save. In both cases, you can click No/Cancel and leave the drivers alone, but the effect is clunky and alarming for a user who didn't personally code it.
I asked Chain_Reaction for advice and got an ear(eye)-full about how doing this was a bad idea he'd already looked at and decided not to implement. He claimed that abruptly changing the lifespans by large amounts could bog down the AgingManager. I'm not sure how large an amount he's talking about. In theory, what I'm doing is an automated version of opening the EA Options dialog and changing the lifespan settings there each time I load a save game. Maybe if I set the total lifespan to 10 million, it could cause trouble, but while I'm not bounds-checking the values, at some point my mod is no longer responsible for your bad decisions.
Chain spends a notable amount of his limited time providing tech support for poorly-written mods that side effect the NRaas suite. I suppose if someone set the lifespan to 10 million, they'd be at least as likely to end up on the NRaas forums asking why their game is frozen as coming to me. Which makes me wonder if his concern is not me saving lifespan values in the save game but the prospect of setting lifespan values to arbitrary amounts....?
At any rate, he's not going to help me figure out how to avoid those prompts. I can pull down the NRaas suite from Github and paw through it myself. I've considered that for a couple of small changes I'd love to make and possibly submit as pull request. (The one that comes to mind is married names. I can have all couples take Bride's name, Groom's, older spouse, younger, or hyphenate, but what I actually want to randomly select all of those options to simulate a bunch of different personalities making different choices in my town.) However, I'm not going to take that on anytime soon, and I can't guarantee that examination of the NRaas code is going to yield a solution.
OTOH, I have the mod running in its current clunky state in my personal game, and I'm already not sure if I can live without it. I think all the non-lifespan settings can be effectively managed with some high-order NRaas-fu, so really the lifespan is the only must-have feature.
I don't think the mod in its current state is a good idea to release someplace like MTS, but I suppose I could make it available for download to use at your own risk for savvy players who happen to read this my simblr.
If so, has anyone used a collection journal metric as a custom career metric?
Tangentially, I've been playing with my update of MissyHissy's IT career with Logic swapped out for Arsil's Programming skill. It seems to be working. That's something I can put up for download.
