disclaimer: i'm not a CC expert, but these are things i've noticed and learned these last couple months converting cc. special thanks to thornowl and the other converters in the TS3 Creators Cave discord.
Non-recolorable presets:
we obviously know that ts4 lacks a CASt tool, so ts4 creators rely on recolors. In my conversions, I do include a couple of the item's recolors. these usually are patterns that CASt does not have.
one thing I've noticed more and more converters doing is putting such item recolors in the 'Overlay' tab in TSRW.
let me show you what that looks like for a non-recolorable preset:
it looks over-saturated, and almost crunchy. but there's another place you can import the recolor into: stencils.
stencils will be found at the bottom, under patterns. hit the plus sign next to stencils to open it.
opening it will show you this:
by default, it will be enabled as false. import your recolor into the texture tab as you would do for any other texture tab. make sure you tick the 'false' to 'true.' stencils override overlays, so if you want to use an overlay, enable stencils back to 'false.'
here's what the recolor imported into stencils looks like:
here's the two side by side:
see how different they are? let's see how they are in game:
click on the pictures to really see the difference in quality. since TS3 uses DDS. format, it compresses the texture, which results in the crunchy texture. importing the recolor into the overlay tab makes the DDS. compression more noticeable. it ultimately is up to you and whichever one you prefer, but do keep it in mind.
the overlay tab is good for small details that you want to maintain on all recolorable presets, like zippers, buttons, tags, etc. just look at EA clothes for reference, especially their shoes and male clothes.
another thing you can see from the images are the bumps on the mesh. doing normal maps can help you keep those same details on the recolorable presets without importing the recolors.
-----------------
DDS. settings:
something I also see and used to do myself is bloat package files with large file sizes, specifically normal and specular maps, as well as masks. the Sims 3 Tutorial Hub provides a link to plain maps, but the file sizes are unnecessarily big.
let's look at some of EA's maps in TSRW:
here's the specular from one of the basegame sweaters. notice the image size, DXT format, and compression size.
a lot of converters don't want the shine on regular clothes, so we use a plain, black specular map. but ask yourself, why do you need a 1024 x 1024 purely black specular map with no details?
let's try sizing it down:
notice the difference between the image and compression size. instead of bloating the package file, we can keep it down by using a 32x32 plain black specular map instead, since there aren't details we want from the specular map.
same goes for normal maps:
and masks (meant for 1 channel only):
now, notice how I underlined the info about DXT MipMaps. see how the normal map has a different number there compared to the specular map and mask.
the reason these textures use different DXT is because of the colors and alpha channel.
here's how my DDS. settings appear when saving:
DXT1 (no alpha): this keeps only the 3 color channels and has the strongest compression. it results in half the file size as DXT3/5. 3 channel masks should be saved with this, as they don't need an alpha channel.
DXT1 (1 bit alpha): this includes an alpha, but only black or white. it also results in half the file size as DXT3/5.
DXT3: this one is rarely used for TS3 textures. it really is only used for overlays. it compresses the same as DXT5, but may not be the best for images with smooth-blended alpha regions (Neely).
DXT5: multipliers and normal (bump) maps should only EVER be saved with this. it's best for colors but has a larger file size. this is why it's important to reduce the multiplier and normal map image size, especially if you don't make a normal map.
if you DO decide to do a specular and normal map, they should be regular image size, 1024x1024, and saved in the right format.
here is more information on which textures should use which compression.
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Adult to Teen Conversions:
the default for converters is obviously AF and AM. a lot of people want the items for teens too. I've seen several converters just enable it in TSRW:
please don't do this. it's honestly the lazy route. you can hardly ever get away this, specifically because of the body differences between adult and teen.
some major issues with this include gaps, seams, and unnatural body characteristics:
so please, either skip the teen mesh entirely or spend the time reshaping the mesh. @/sweetdevil-sims has a great tutorial on converting meshes from AF to TF here. the inevitable seams on TF meshes are also now fixed, thanks to @/thornowl with their new version of mesh toolkit.
@pis3update
---------------
here are reduced file sizes and corrected settings of the plain mask, specular, and normal:
download
Sources:
Neely, G. ‘Buckaroo’. Working with DDS/DXT Files. Available at: https://www.buckarooshangar.com/flightgear/tut_dds.html (Accessed: 28 May 2024).
HOW TO CREATE DEFAULT REPLACEMENT MOD
USING CUSTOM MESH & TEXTURE FOR SIMPLE OBJECT
⚠️ Tumblr has 30 pictures limit, so I cannot include too many pictures. If you want to zoom in the pictures, click the pictures to enlarge, or save the pictures into your PC, zoom the pictures on picture viewer or zoom in the pictures on your mobile phone. ⚠️
I create this tutorial to make easier to follow because there are older tutorials available before but scattered on internet and usually only say "Export to replace s3asc" without explaining how to export the edited object properly.
My method is using TSR Workshop instead of exporting the object using Sims 3 Object Export/Import plug in because exporting to replace the s3asc using that plug in always giving error notification "ERR: Model has 1 groups; original had 0" and cannot be exported.
For beginners who are very new using s3pe and haven't created default replacement mod before, better start from simple object first.
Simple objects I mean in-game object that has single MODL and single texture with no morphs, no GeoStates, no presets, no CAS colour channels, and easily cloned from OBJD on catalogue. Usually as utensils that Sims holding in their hand, not buy/build objects. For example: Pencil, pan, fork, spoon.
Milkshape 3D for bone assignment (Version I use 1.8.5 beta, discontinued by its developer, therefore feel free to download the full version with its license key provided).
TSR Workshop (Older version for TS3 only version 2.0.88)
TSR Workshop plug-ins for export.import TSRW Object.
3D Program (Blender/Maya/3dsMax)
Editing images software (Photoshop, make sure you have to install .dds plugin by Nvidia. For free software alternative, you can use GIMP with its .dds plugin)
This tutorial will not teach you how to:
Meshing object ❌
Create alpha texture ❌
Change thumbnails in-game ❌
Install programs and plug-ins ❌
This is how I created Chinese chopsticks replacement mod using custom mesh and texture.
In summary, this tutorial has 10 steps:
Step 1. Clone the Object using s3oc
Step 2. Open S3PE to Copy the Original Resource Code and Export the Files
Step 3. Export the Original Mesh as Base Mesh to .obj format
Step 4. Create Your Custom Mesh
Step 5. Bone Assignment & Create Group
Step 6. Create custom Texture
Step 7. Import the .wso of Edited Mesh on TSR Workshop & Export the package
Step 8. Export MODL file from Package saved from TSR Workshop
Step 9. Finalizing in s3pe & Replacing the Original file with Edited File & Correcting the Code As Same As Default Code
Step 10. Test the CC in your game.
-----------------------------------
✳️ Step 1. Clone the Object using s3oc
Before cloning the object, check the Game Folder for in-game object file location. Settings > Game Folders...
Take a look if the Base Game or Expansion Pack for object file you want to clone is in the right folder. For example, my The Sims 3 game are all bought from Steam, so the location is D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\The Sims 3
If you want to clone object from Expansion Pack, make sure input the folder location. For example, the location for World Adventures EP is D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\EP1
If you are done, close the pop-up box. You can continue click Cloning then choose Normal Object...
Wait until you get the whole catalogue. Click Search...
For example, I clone object from World Adventures Expansion Pack. You can clone object from Base Game or other Expansion Packs as long it is considered as "utensil" that Sim holding on hand. For example: "Pencil" or "Pan"
Search for text: chopsticks
or if you want to clone object from Base Game, search: utensil
Tick check marks for Resource Name, Object Name, Object Desc then click "Search button"
Search result gives you results with name "chopsticks". Here is the object we are looking for: UtensilChopsticks
We need the OBJD file to clone. OBJD = Object Data.
Click "Clone or Fix" at the right bottom. Then you see the next page to determine if you want to clone with renumber or not. If you want to make default replacement, then do not check the Renumber box. Keep it blank.
Tick check box means the s3oc will generate new resource code for new item. Not tick the check means the s3oc will overwrite the same resource code, it is to replace object you cloned in-game.
I am personally a detailed person, so I usually tick as many as I want: tick "Deep clone" "Missing String Tables" and "Include Thumbnail" to include more details. Then click "Start" to proceed.
It will give you file name [CreatorName]_ObjectName_Number
Then save your package file in "DBPF Package" format in your project folder. Always make folder for any file to make everything organized.
✳️ Step 2. Open S3PE to Copy the Original Resource Code and Export the Files
Open S3pe, locate your package file you cloned from s3oc. Find the MODL of Utensil Chopsticks, Right-Click, "Details..."
On Resource Details, click "Copy TGI" to copy the Resource Code. Type, Group, and Instance will automatically be copied on clipboard. Then open Notepad, Right-Click to "Paste".
Click GRID on bottom of the s3pe (I mark it red on picture), it will give you pop-up box with Data Grid. Click "Resources", it will be highlight blue and there's 3 dots button appeared on the right side. Click the 3 dots button. It will give you TGI Block List Editor.
Inside MODL's TGI Block List Editor only has IMG. You may wondering why, but that's how the game coded. Type, Group, Instance of _IMG inside TGI Block List Editor should be the same as _IMG on the package.
Copy the TGI, Group, Instance to your Notepad.
After you copied code of MODL, do the same for the texture image (_IMG), but only copy the code from Resource Details. You cannot edit TGI Block List Editor for _IMG as the Grid button for _IMG is greyed out.
The main task is the code of your edited mesh and texture should be the same as the code you copied now from original package you cloned with s3oc.
Keep the code on notepad. You will need this code later.
Export the MODL file. Right-Click, "Export to s3asc". The file appears in long string such with name for example: S3_01661233_08000001_B619DB2238C3430B%%+MODL_filebase
Do not rename the file. Save.
Export the texture file. Right-Click "Export > To File..." The file will be saved in .dds format. Do not rename the file. Save.
✳️ Step 3. Export the Original Mesh as Base Mesh to .obj format
Open Milkshape. Import the s3asc file you saved before.
More steps click spoiler tag "Read More / Keep Reading" below
File > Import > Sims 3 Object Import v 1.01 by Wesley Howe
Locate the s3asc file, then the original chopsticks mesh appears.
Click the "Joints" tab. It has 4 codes. Check box "Draw vertices with bone colors" It will show Bone Assignment colors on the original mesh. Yellow on top chopstick and light blue on bottom chopstick. The colours are to make the object has rig and movement following the Sim's interaction.
Take a look at the 4 codes on Joints Tab. You can play around to see which colour of the code will appear, after that copy paste the code to Notepad to make it easier to comprehend.
Click Select from Tools menu, Select Options: Face. On "Right/Left/Top/Bottom 2D View", Left-click make selection of one part of chopsticks. While the part of object being selected (Red), click Joints then Choose "Assign".
0x96239247 --> Yellow
0xFEAE6981 --> Purple
0xCD68F001 --> Light Blue
0xD0DECA8E --> Red
Your edited mesh must have the exact same Bone Assignment colour later. Check again if the code and colour are correct.
You can save object mesh as .obj to other 3D software such as Blender or any other 3D software.
✳️ Step 4. Create Your Custom Mesh
Use the original .obj as base model. While you can create longer mesh or any edited version as you wish.
Make sure the scale and position of the edited mesh is same as base original mesh, because the edited mesh will be used on Sim's hand.
If you are done editing the mesh, export the UVmap.
You can export the uvmap in higher resolution, as long as it is Power of 2. 64x64, 128x128, 256x256, 512x512, 1024x1024, 2048x2048, 4096x4096. I export in 1024x1024 pixels to make the size of texture larger and have more details.
Then export the mesh object in .obj format.
✳️ Step 5. Bone Assignment & Create Group
Open Milkshape. Import the original mesh.
Check the Groups Tab. Original mesh has 1 group, "group 00". Group 00 means it is the main mesh. There is no shadow beneath the object.
Import the edited mesh as .obj file.
My edited mesh has one single name "default" name on the Group Tab. While edited mesh may have a lot of file name scattered on Group Tab. Regroup the file name to simplify your edited mesh into one single name. Select > Regroup.
The main task is replacing the EA's original mesh with your edited mesh.
Before you delete anything, you must do Bone Assignment first to the edited mesh you created.
Your edited mesh does not have Bone Assignment, so it appears white.
Remember the 4 codes you copied earlier in Notepad.
Copy Bone Assignment from original mesh to your edited mesh.
This case, your want to Bone Assign Yellow colour.
Select > Face to select one part of chopsticks of your edited mesh. On Joints Tab, double click the appropriate code 0x96239247 in blue highlight then the code box on the right side of "Rename" will appear 0x96239247. Make sure the code is correct. Then you can click "Assign".
Your edited mesh will appear in Yellow colour. Then do the same for another part of chopsticks.
Select another part of chopsticks of your edited mesh. On Joints Tab, double click the appropriate code 0xCD68F001 in blue highlight then the code box on the right side of "Rename" will appear 0xCD68F001. Click "Assign".
Your edited mesh will appear in Light Blue colour.
Then what's the other code for? With colour purple and red?
Leave them. Let the codes have the same exact codes as appear in original mesh and let the colours only assigned Yellow and Light Blue. The colours are to determine rig for interaction in-game, which only use Yellow as upper part of chopstick and Light Blue as bottom part of chopstick.
You can safely delete the original mesh with name group00 until it remains your only your edited mesh.
Rename your edited mesh to group00. Type group00 on the box then click "Rename" on the left side.
Export to TSRW Object in .wso format. .wso is format with bone assignment on object attached.
Save your .wso in your project folder.
✳️ Step 6. Create custom Texture
Import original texture you exported from s3pe to your editing image software.
Look at the original texture made by EA. 32x64 pixels. It is very low resolution, blurry and stretched, because the texture should be compressed as low as possible by game designer. As player you want it has higher detail to look realistic as possible and your PC of course can handle high resolution content, sure you can make the resolution much higher than EA's.
Import the UVMap you saved from 3D software. For example, UVmap I imported has 1024x1024 resolution. Add your custom texture. Then save it to .dds format in the same name as original texture. Save in separate folder, name it "Edited Texture" to keep it separated from original texture.
✳️ Step 7. Import the .wso of Edited Mesh on TSR Workshop & Export the package
Open your TSR Workshop.
Create New Project > New Import >Next...
Then Browse original mesh by EA in package format in your project folder.
On Open file box, you cannot see .package file because the filter is .wrk (TSR Workshop Project). Choose the .package dropdown.
Then you can see .package file.
Open the .package. After the file is located, then Next. On Project Details I usually skip without giving name of Project Name and Title. Next.
You must have seen green land with white blank sky.
Where's the mesh? It is actually there... just being zoomed in too close. You need to zoom out by scrolling down mouse.
You can see the original chopsticks mesh by EA. You can save the project file in .wrk format. After you save the file, import the .wso of your edited mesh. Mesh tab > High Level detail. Click green arrow folder icon to import. Then your edited mesh will appear replacing the original EA mesh.
As you see, the texture is messed up because the texture is still using original EA's texture. But then you check Textures tab and it has blank dropdown...
I cannot change the texture on this TSR Workshop!
Don't worry, we can replace the texture on s3pe later.
No need to change anything other than importing mesh. Click Edit > Project Contents to save as package.
You will see pop up box with number or files DDS, FTPT, LITE, MODL, OBJD, OBJK, etc. Export > To. package. Give name such as "EditedChopsticks_TSRW"
✳️ Step 8. Export MODL file from Package saved from TSR Workshop
Open S3PE, File > Open package "EditedChopticks_TSRW" that you saved from TSR Workshop.
Export MODL. Right-Click, export. It gives you file name with [StringOfNumber] .model .
Save it on project folder. Keep it organized and separated from original MODL. Name the folder "Edited MODL". Do not rename the file.
✳️ Step 9. Finalizing in s3pe & Replacing the Original file with Edited File & Correcting the Code As Same As Default Code
Open s3pe, File > Open original package that you cloned from s3oc. [CreatorName]_ObjectName_Number
Find the MODL. Right-Click > Replace...
Locate to your edited MODL with filename .model .
Then click Open.
The original MODL of the package should be replaced with your edited mesh.
Do the same for the texture.
Locate to your edited texture with filename .dds
Then click Open.
The original texture of the package should be replaced with your edited texture.
Take a look at MODL's Type, Group, Instance. It has the same code as original MODL in the original package cloned with s3oc (because it has been replaced)
Don't forget to see the code inside TGI Block List Editor.
Repeat step 2 how to check the code. Right-Click on MODL/IMG > Details... and click GRID > Resources > TGI Block List Editor.
The Type, Group, Instance of the _IMG are different compared from IMG from original package clone, which means that is the evidence of edited mesh replaced the original.
Rename the Instance with default/original Instance you copied on notepad from Step 2. Type, Group, Instance should be the same as default/original Type, Group, Instance.
Open notepad with resource code you copied from Step 2. Make sure the Type, Group, and Instance are all the same.
If the codes are the same, then your edited mesh and texture will overwrite the default mesh and texture with the same code in the game. Save, Commit, Save the package.
Check again if the texture is replaced properly. Right-Click on _IMG > ViewDDS.
ALTERNATIVES!
Yes, you can delete unwanted files in your edited package, to keep the package clean. Simply Right-Click>Deleted.
The only files needed in package are: MODL, _IMG, _KEY
They are the only files with your edited mesh/texture including codes to overwrite the default codes.
You can Start new fresh blank s3pe. Right-Click>Import from file...
Locate your edited MODL and _IMG (texture) file.
On Resource Details box, tick mark "Use resource name" > OK.
Make sure all the Type, Group, and Instance of MODL and _IMG including in the TGI Block List Editor are all the same as the code in original package.
Save the package.
✳️ Step 10. Test the CC in your game.
Put the package to your CC folder in your The Sims 3 document folder to see if the CC is working or not.
If the CC is working as your intended, with your custom mesh and texture, then test the animation. Are the chopsticks animation working as the same as original EA's? If the animation are working well too, then congratulations!
Your default replacement are working. Give applause to yourself. 👏
-------------------------------------
QUESTIONS!
Q:
Can I use this tutorial for making default replacement for buy/build object?
A: This tutorial covers basic method of using TSR Workshop and replacing the default codes (Type, Group, Instance), so you will understand the basic principle of doing default replacement mod.
Keep in mind that different object has different case. Buy / build object has MLOD (not just MODL) more than one, texture images more than one, has presets, and CAStable colour channels.
The TGI Block List Editor for buy/build object has a lot of codes, so have to spend a lot of time to do trial-and-error to make the default replacement working properly, because a lot of times the texture doesn't work (still using default EA's texture), or when the object appears right with your edited mesh and texture, after you choose the presets, the object reverts back to your edited mesh with default EA's texture.
Q:
Help! The texture is black! / still using same EA's texture when tested in the game!
A: The texture codes must be not the same. Check the Type, Group, Instance of _IMG. Do the codes are the same like codes in original package? Check the TGI Block List Editor for MODL, is the _IMG inside has the same Type, Group, Instance as in original package.
Q:
Help! The object disappears when tested in the game!
A: You must be replacing OBJD in your package. Do not replace OBJD. Just MODL and texture only.
[sims 3 tutorial] how to make lazy previews of objects with TSRW & GIMP 2.0
bordered, borderless, and borderless with transparency
You can download this tutorial in .docx form here or read it under the cut -->
-->
P.S for all of these, i made the drop shadow invisible in the mesh tab before starting.
Standard borderless previews for objects without special effects
this circle option is the bump map
this option turns the background white, which we need
Take two pictures of your object, one with the bump map on, and one without.
use the 'magic wand' tool to select the black parts of the bump map version
'copy' the entire regular image, and 'paste' 'into selection in place' on the bump map version. copy while the selection is still active, and paste as a new image.
[black to show no background]
How to make a bordered preview of a standard object with no special effects
this option turns the background white, which we need
Take a picture of your object in TSRW at your desired angle.
Open this image in your desired photo editing program. I am using GIMP 2.0.
Use the magic wand tool at threshold level 1.0 to select the white part of the image. you may need to shift select more parts of the image if they are closed off like the area between the prongs.
go to 'select' and 'invert selection'
depending on the image, you may need to use the 'remove holes' tool.
in the 'select' tab 'grow' the selection to your desired thickness. i like anywhere from 5-10.
'copy' your image while the selection is active, and 'paste' as a new image.
All done!
How to make a borderless preview of an object with transperency…
i have this fruit parfait that has 3 groups [drop shadow, glass cup, and the parfait itself. these groups can be hidden in the mash tab by toggling 'true' or 'false'.
im gonna mark these true or false depending on what i want to take a picture of.
this circle option is the bump map
this option turns the background white, which we need
I need a photo of the parfait only, one regular, one with the bump map on. a photo of the glass only, one regular, one with the bump map on. I do this using "windowed mode" with the snipping tool so that my pictures are in the same location.
Open all of these images in your editing program of choice, however i am using GIMP 2.0 so things might be a bit different.
Open a new transparent image 1000x1000
'select' the black bump map image with the magic wand tool, until it is completely outlined
Then copy the entire regular version and 'paste' into 'selection' 'in place'
copy this while the selection is active and paste it in place to your transparent image.
Now for the transparent part, do what we just did and paste it as a new layer on the transparent image. erase parts of the image that do not appear, for me i erased the top part since its actually behind the parfait.
Much better. now lower the opacity and merge this layer with the one below it
Sims 4t3 Clothing Tutorial: How to Convert Meshes That Are Half Painted-On Texture and Half 3D
So I made this post about a month ago wondering how to convert meshes that aren't fully 3D. Well it looks like I answered my own question! It basically just involves merging the vertices as well as welding the UV Map in blender. I hope this helps those who were wondering about this too!
@katsujiiccfinds @sims3tutorialhub @pis3update
(also tagging @elvgreen bc I know you were curious about this lol)
From now on we will start our new Playlist with optimization tutorials updated for 2023 for The Sims 3!! I'll teach you how to optimize and improve various aspects of the game from the simplest to the most professional way.
Threw this together quickly just to have it out there, I’ll be correcting and editing in the morning!
So in my holy Holiday Dump for Mass Effect 3 content, I included a specific set of things that could be used to build your own Turian sim/OC. That’s a .psd of the facial texture and the .wrk of the head itself that you stick on ingame, and .package files of the blank heads just in case.
I decided to make a tutorial for this because I want everyone to appreciate and use these to their fullest extent to make their own Turian characters!
STEP ONE: Required Programs!
TSRW
The Sims 3 (Who knew?)
Photoshop (The textures are saved in .PSD, you can extract them to .dds or .png from in Workshop if you need to use something else like GIMP.)
Creative direction! Or lots of references.
My Garrus Vakarian .sim
STEP TWO: Clone us a head!
You’ll need to decide if you’ll make a gentleman Turian or a lady Turian. either way the process is the same, just with different file names and textures. For this Tutorial, we’ll make a male Turian head with custom tattoos for our OC.
Open up Workshop and click on Create New Project. Then, you’ll want to select Import, highlighted below.
Hit Next, and then we’re at the import screen. Click on browse and navigate to where you unpackaged the Holiday Dump files, and go through until you find the ‘Bases’ folder under ‘Turians’. You’ll see something like this.
Now it’s time to pick. Since we’re doing a male, we select the Male Turian Head .wrk file and click Open.
Now you’ll see the screen below, this is where you name the project. This is essential! I usually name my files for the OCs name or the character’s name. For the sake of the tutorial, we’ll name our Turian Bobbles.
And then to...
Excellent! Click Next, and then Okay, and the files will begin to load and Workshop will truly open. Hopefully, without a hitch!
You’ll see something like this horrific mess, and Step Two begins!
STEP TWO: Oh God, I need to art?!
My god, why is that man bald and why is he wearing a knockoff Adidas tracksuit with a Turian half sticking out of him? Do not worry about this. You’ll be using my Garrus Vakarian .sim as a base for this Turian in game, so his ‘sim’ head will be gone in game and his Turian head will be fine. Unfortunately for us, this isn’t the same in TSRW so we need to deal with the sim head being there. I repeat, that won’t be in game!
Go to Textures in the upper right hand corner. You’ll see a horribly messy menu.
Scroll down and expand the menu Hat Textures.
There are our textures! Minimize this and open Photoshop. Open up Photoshop and navigate back to the ‘Bases’ folder from prior and open up the Male Turian Head .psd. This’ll show up (I’m using Photoshop CC; This will hopefully with any version, the GUI will appear different.)
Please pardon the two tabs open, I was in the middle of texturing a model while I took screenshots. Now, this is fairly elementary stuff but I’ll walk you through a technique to make good-looking tattoos for Turians. Obviously, that face part is the... Face part. The long tendrils up above are the fringes and the jaw parts. Make a new layer and name it whatever, I’ll call it facepaint. Next you’ll want to pick your tattoo color, this is up to you! We’ll use bright pink for Bobbles.
Armed with our layer and our color, you’ll need to go to the bottom right-hand corner and set that dropdown menu to Soft Light.
Now that’s that’s done, you can paint! Just paint right on the face. All over it. Use custom brushes, use a tablet, use whatever! Go nuts. The Soft Light we did above will make it so that the Turian face texture shows through the color and makes it look more painted on, but you can do all sorts of effects, like change the base color of the Turian skin to make it lighter/darker/more colorful.
Bobbles here will get a big pink heart across his face. Looking good, Bobbles!
Once we’re done with this you need to save as either a .dds if you have the Nvidia plugin, or just a .png. I find .png is a bit easier for new guys to work with, so we’ll roll with that.
Once you make sure you’re saving as a .png, name it to something recognizable. I usually include the OC/Turian name in it again, so this is Bobbles Head.png.
Save, and you can close down photoshop! Back to TSRW.
STEP THREE: Replacing the Textures and Exporting!
For right now, unless you’re more advanced/ambitious and want to replace more textures, we will only be touching this area of the Textures menu.
The two files that we’ll replace are the Specular and the Multiplier. We’ll start with the Specular first, click on it and a button Edit will appear. Hit that! This will appear.
Just click import and set the type to .png. Navigate to where you saved your .png texture from before in Photoshop and import it!
It might take a few moments. But soon it’ll load in and you’ll see that beautiful heart if you scroll down in the dialogue box.
Press Save. A popup will appear! Press yes and... No heart on the face yet?
We need to replace the Multiplier still, so do that using the same steps and above and what do you know?
It works! You can save your .wrk now if you’re paranoid like me.
Now you just need to export it. Go to Edit > Project Contents and this’ll pop up.
Export > To .package and either export it straight to your Packages folder or to your desktop or somewhere else, and move it in. I named my file BobblesHead.package so I know what it is. You’ll see a dialogue “Export Complete!” And you can shut down TSRW too. Once you make sure the .package is in your Mods/Packages folder, boot up the Sims 3!
STEP FOUR: Test!
You will need to use my Garrus Vakarian .sim I have up for download, as he is headless and is needed for all Turians. Go into CAS and load the Garrus sim.
Hello, Garrus! Now just go into Hair, you should already be on the Hats category and search around the Turian heads until you find Bobbles, at the bottom.
Huzzah! Excelsior! It is done! He will automatically fit to the eyeballs included in the Garrus download linked above at the beginning so no need to change that, but you just need to unequip the visor and you’ll be good to go! This sexy custom head will fit all my Male Turian outfits up for download currently, and any and all I will put up for download in the future!
This concept is exactly the same with Female Turians, except their textures look different and obviously the file names will vary.
Some people have asked me how I merge my cc so I decided to make a turorial.
After I merged my cc, my game became so much faster so I really recommend doing it!
Please read everything before you start!
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What do you need?
- s3pe (download)
- a copy of your mods folder
1) Making your mods folder ready (not necessary but I recommend doing it)
Divide your mods folder into smaller folders, like accesoires, clothes, hair and objects. When you’ve created these folders, create even smaller folders, like clothes1, clothes2, clothes3. I only have 50 packages in one folder, otherwise the cc won’t show up in my game.
2) Working with s3pe
Open s3pe and click on file, new
Click on resource, import, from package…
navigate to the folder with the packages which you want to merge
select the packages (not more than 50!) and click on open
you’ll see a new tab, don’t change anything and click on import
another tab appears, click on yes and name the package (it’s smart to name it the same as the folder)
It might take a while until all the packages show up in s3pe. When all the files show up, it means that the package is created. The files probably have weird names, just ignore it and close s3pe.
3) New mods folder
You’ve already copied your old mods folder and created the new files in it, now it’s time to move the original mods folder to a place where you can easily find it again. Put an empty mods folder back into the Sims 3 folder.
4) Putting the new packages in your mods folder
After you’ve repeated step 2 with all your folders, it’s time to put them in your mods folder.
search your new package (it’s placed in the folder where you created it) and copy it.
now paste it in your mods folder and you’re done!
5) Opening your game
There’s a chance that some (or maybe all) cc doesn’t show up in your game anymore. If it are just a few pieces of cc I would download them again and put them in your folder without merging them. If none of your cc shows up anymore, you have to delete all the merged packages and bring back your old mods folder.
6) Deleting cc you don’t want anymore
If you want to get rid of, for example, a dress for your sim, navigate to the clothes folder and search the dress, delete it, and merge the packages again. This is why it’s smart to create smaller folders inside your folder, it’s easier to find certain cc.
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I hope this has been useful for those of you who wanted to merge their cc but didn’t know how to do it. Feel free to ask me anything if some things aren’t clear (ask)
thank you for reading!
oh and English isn’t my first language so if I made grammar mistakes or other mistakes please tell me so I can change it!
I’ve gotten a few asks during my “time off” from sims on how to make posters, so here ya go...
What you will need:
TSRW
Image-editing program (I’ll be using Photoshop)
A .dds plug-in (GIMP, Photoshop)
Pictures (I use Society6, Google, and Deviantart)
A mesh
Before I get into the tutorial, I recommend keeping the pictures and the mesh you chose organized in one folder.
Step One - Open up the mesh in TSRW
1. Create new project
2. Double click New Import
3. Browse for your mesh
4. Give it a name and description
5. Click next, then okay.
Step Two - Exporting the .DDS
1. Go to the Textures tab.
2. Delete all but one of the recolors (It doesn’t matter which one.)
3. Click Overlay, then Edit.
4. Click Export. Rename it to whatever you want and export it to the folder with the mesh and pictures.
5. Click Make empty. Minimize TSRW.
Step Three - Cropping/Editing the Images
1. Open Photoshop (or whatever you’re using).
2. Open up the .dds you just exported.
3. Figure out the size of the actual painting (will vary for every mesh). I like to use the lasso tool. Make sure to go to the edges or your picture won’t cover the whole thing. Press Ctrl + C (copy), then press Ctrl + N (new). That will give you the size of the painting. Click Cancel.
4. Open all the images you intend to make into paintings
5. Since my mesh is horizontal and not vertical, I’m going to rotate it. You may or may not have to do this. If you do, make sure you turn it so it matches the original .dds painting.
6. Resize the image to fit the measurements you got earlier. You may have to uncheck Constrain Proportions to get the exact measurements.
7. Select All (Ctrl + A), then Copy (Ctrl + C).
8. Paste (Ctrl + V) onto the .dds
9. Save AS (always save AS!) a .dds (Ctrl + Shift + S). Name it whatever you want and put in the folder with your mesh and pictures.
10. Repeat steps 5-9 for every other image.
Step Four - Importing the Overlay onto the Mesh
1. Go back into TSRW. Duplicate the empty overlay once for every image. (For this particular pack, there are 22 pictures so I’m going to duplicate it 21 times for a total of 22 recolors.)
2. On the first recolor, click Overlay, then Edit, then import the correct overlay.
3. Repeat step 2 for every image.
4. Once you’re done, export to .sims3pack.
*Recommended: Step Five - Converting to .package file and compressorizing.
You will need: Delphy’s Multi-Extractor and The Compressorizer Redux
Open Delphy’s Multi-Extractor.
Make sure “Rename files on save” is checked.
Browse to and select the folder that you saved your .sims3pack to. Repeat for the “destination” folder. Click Extract.
Exit.
Open the Compressorizer Redux.
Click “Add Files to List”
Browse to and select the folder that you saved your .sims3pack and .package to. Click Okay, then Go!
Exit.
Now, test in game! Hopefully, you’ve created your first custom painting with multiple recolors. If not, try again!
