Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 27th Jul 2018 at 11:02 AM
Default Resized Accessory Mesh - Linked but showing up?
I need someone to hold my hand through this, I will post step by step what I wanted to make and what I did:
The objective was to take an accessory, resize its mesh (and mesh only!) to be used in game.

I have the separate Mesh file and recolor file, so I exported the 3D model itself (.5gd), opened it in Milkshape and resized as I wanted it to, and re-exported it once again as .5gd, I didn't touch anything else.
I opened the mesh file, renamed all the files through the "fix integrity" tool and replaced the .gmdc file with the new mesh, making sure to mantain the name intact.
At that point I opened the recolor file, looked for the 3D ID Referencing files of the appropriate age and sex (af in my case) and with the linking stage of the body mesh tool linked to the appropriate edited mesh.

So in theory, I did all the steps I needed. Got the new mesh, renamed it, linked it, but once in game it doesn't appear, not even as a garbled mess of polygons. At this point I'm clueless on what I could have done wrong. Any help is appreciated!

Slowly moving steps into basic TS2 modding.
Advertisement
Mad Poster
#2 Old 27th Jul 2018 at 1:08 PM Last edited by simmer22 : 27th Jul 2018 at 1:22 PM.
If you only want the resized version, you only need to replace the GMDC in the mesh file, and delete the cache files in the "The Sims 2" folder (to take care of any blowing up or wrongly displayed problems) - no need to make the mesh separate, or do "fix integrity", or relink it, or do any other changes to any of the files. Doing it this way would allow the mesh to use the original colors without having to redo the files.

If you want both versions, you'd need a separate recolor linked to the new mesh file (make a recolor of the old on in Bodyshop, and link this file to the mesh). You'd also have to make new recolors (if needed) once the mesh and base recolor file has been propeerly linked (and make sure to "import to game" and use the SavedSims files, not the package file in the project folder). If you make the mesh separate, it needs a different name when doing "fix integrity".

If that doesn't answer anything, could you please attach the new and old files (meshes and recolor files) so I can take a look? It's much easier to find problems that way.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#3 Old 27th Jul 2018 at 2:06 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simmer22
If you want both versions, you'd need a separate recolor linked to the new mesh file (make a recolor of the old on in Bodyshop, and link this file to the mesh). You'd also have to make new recolors (if needed) once the mesh and base recolor file has been propeerly linked (and make sure to "import to game" and use the SavedSims files, not the package file in the project folder). If you make the mesh separate, it needs a different name when doing "fix integrity".

If that doesn't answer anything, could you please attach the new and old files (meshes and recolor files) so I can take a look? It's much easier to find problems that way.

Wow, I didn't expect to find help so quickly! I didn't create the separate recolor, so that may be the problem on my part. I will try once I can, and report back

Slowly moving steps into basic TS2 modding.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 27th Jul 2018 at 3:21 PM
I am still scratching my head around it, I zipped everything and I will upload it here, there's the original files, the custom files and a .txt where I describe the steps I took, I will paste it here as well:
Quote:
Step by step, I:
- Copied the original mesh file, renamed the files inside with the Integrity tool and replaced the .gmdc with the new mesh
- In Body Shop, created a new project with the original accessory and imported it into the game
- Opened the file created in SavedSims with SimPE and linked the custom mesh (in the Downloads folder) to the recolor in SavedSims

I didn't touch anything else, so I'm clueless on what could be the deal. As far as the mesh goes I only resized the frame group, and didn't touch the materials or the comments. I know in a TS3 to TS2 conversion tutorial you have to work with them, could the mistake be there?
Attached files:
File Type: 7z  Zip.7z (276.1 KB, 2 downloads) - View custom content

Slowly moving steps into basic TS2 modding.
Mad Poster
#5 Old 27th Jul 2018 at 7:58 PM
After making the recolor, what is the problem? If something isn't showing proerly, try deleting the cache files first, because they sometimes screw things up.

You probably need to link all the 3DIRs to the new mesh, if you want al the ages in the new mesh to use your mesh. Currently only a few are linked, and a bit randomly. (Only 1001, 801, 4001 - af, ef, yf) and the rest of the recolors are linked to the original mesh.

Most of the time you don't need to touch the Material Definition (TXMT) files, only if you want to edit transparency or add other things to the texture you can't do through the TXTR. Comments give you hovertext in CAS and Bodyshop, which is quite useful if the accessory doesn't show in the thumbnail.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#6 Old 28th Jul 2018 at 8:56 AM
Quote: Originally posted by simmer22
After making the recolor, what is the problem? If something isn't showing proerly, try deleting the cache files first, because they sometimes screw things up.

You probably need to link all the 3DIRs to the new mesh, if you want al the ages in the new mesh to use your mesh. Currently only a few are linked, and a bit randomly. (Only 1001, 801, 4001 - af, ef, yf) and the rest of the recolors are linked to the original mesh.

Most of the time you don't need to touch the Material Definition (TXMT) files, only if you want to edit transparency or add other things to the texture you can't do through the TXTR. Comments give you hovertext in CAS and Bodyshop, which is quite useful if the accessory doesn't show in the thumbnail.

I was interested only in the AF mesh so I linked only the AF related meshes. So the problem might be there? I'll link everything and rebuild the cache for good measure and report back.

Slowly moving steps into basic TS2 modding.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#7 Old 28th Jul 2018 at 10:34 AM
You know where the issue was? I forgot to assign it a material in Milkshape! :facepalm:
I'm sorry to have bothered you, but you still managed to make me understand better the ins and outs of it.

Slowly moving steps into basic TS2 modding.
Mad Poster
#8 Old 28th Jul 2018 at 9:36 PM
You don't need to assign a material in Milkshape to make it work, so that shouldn't have fixed it - but something else probably did.

Occasionally the UVmap will shift down one or two spots, and this can cause issues with CAS items. If the UVmap is somewhere else than tha "designated square" in the UVmap area in whateever program you're using, you'll get troubles with textures and materials ingame (they'll sometimes still show in MIlkshape because the materials often tile, as opposed to ingame).
Back to top