http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/ 2012-05-18T05:16:34-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/ http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/lib/images/favicon.ico text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:32-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=a_list_of_useful_tools_for_custom_content_creation&rev=1336735292&do=diff Build Town by Regina (An empty, simple town map for building.) Building Towns by various creators (more towns to either fill for playing or use for building). CAS Texture+Unitool by CTU Team Create A Pattern by EA Create A World by EA Delphy's Acronym Bending Original Output Barber Shop by Delphy text/html 2011-03-24T16:11:57-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=a_mesh&rev=1300997517&do=diff A Mesh by Wes Howe So having learned to pluck points out of space and calling them vertices, and to group sets of three vertices together into a triangle face, we can now begin an illustration of actually doing something. Since we are just learning, we will make something simple, and talk about it. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:32-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=about_custom_sims_3_pedia&rev=1336735292&do=diff Previous to the release of The Sims 3, Delphy, the owner of Mod The Sims (MTS), had decided not to continue with MTS for the upcoming Sims 3 sequel in The Sims franchise. As such Wes Howe, a long-time Sims 2 modder, opened a forum for anyone interested in modding The Sims 3. Various tutorials and much discussion ensued over the coming months. Delphy later decided to continue with his website and with that news many of the original members of Custom Sims 3 moved their discussions to MTS. text/html 2011-03-26T15:06:25-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=archiving_the_game_files&rev=1301166385&do=diff What Is An Archive? An archive file is a compressed form of another file or a group of files. Common file extensions for downloading custom content are .zip and .rar but others are used as well. Even .Sims3Pack are “archived” although the amount of compression is very low. text/html 2011-03-24T18:28:21-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=contact&rev=1301005701&do=diff text/html 2011-03-25T18:58:59-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=creating_4-channel_patterns_in_paint_shop_pro_9&rev=1301093939&do=diff I have also put this tutorial on BogSims with a flat HTML version in a .zip file available for download for anyone who needs it that way. Pattern Making Tutorial for Paint Shop Pro 9, addendum for Paint Shop Pro 8 by Feefa. Credits: My many thanks go to HystericalParoxysm of ModTheSims, who provided the original tutorial designed for PhotoShop. From that and with a lot of experimentation, Syera and I were able to work through what was needed to achieve the same result in Paint Shop Pro. We a… text/html 2011-11-26T21:43:04-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=custom_content_creation&rev=1322361784&do=diff Modifying a TS3 Mesh by Wes Howe * Required Materials and Overall Strategy * Steps 2 and 3 * Steps 4 and 5 * Steps 6 and 7 * Steps 8 and 9 3D Meshing by Wes Howe * Terms & Concepts * A Mesh * Textures & UV Maps * UV Maps * Holy Smoke! Joints * Ready, Set, Go * Organic Modeling text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:33-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=editing_the_files&rev=1336735293&do=diff Editing the Files Open the original School in TSRW. The 1st thing you may notice is that TSRW doesn't load the textures or material info, this is because it isn't Rabbit Hole compatible yet. Turn off the ground shadow, turn on the grid and turn on the show slots buttons. Now look closely, see the 4 green line that are NOT part of the grid and go from the origin to 4 points beyond the grid? The 4 triangles that TSRW shoes at the end of the lines are the 4 Vertices used by the Enter/Exit Slots.… text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:33-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=fixing_the_flaws&rev=1336735293&do=diff Fixing the Flaws There are other data changes that must be made in order for you to make a rug behave like a Rabbit Hole. Unfortunately I don't know what most of these changes are, but I found that If I cloned the rug with TSRW and made the final changes with TSRW, that it would also automatically make the unknown, but needed changes for it to work. text/html 2011-03-25T19:40:43-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=four-color_patterns_page_2&rev=1301096443&do=diff All images for creating patterns must be 256×256 pixels wide, so the first thing I do is create a 256×256 image with a black background. Since this is a pattern that will have different color channels within the game, we need to separate the original images into RGB channels at the very beginning. Those channels are what will eventually form to make the final image. Click Image>Split Channel>Split to RGB. text/html 2011-03-25T19:42:43-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=four-color_patterns_page_3&rev=1301096563&do=diff Now it's time for the purple (er, in this case plum actually). Again, I use the eye dropper to select the purple color because I want to use that on what is now black. Then I use the Magic Wand and select the center purple areas. Then I play with the Hue Map again, this time making a light pink. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:33-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=four-color_patterns_page_4&rev=1336735293&do=diff At this point, I just click the OK box... ...and a brand new image is created, complete with the RGB colors. Now I need to add the alpha channel. With the Magic Wand selector, I grab hold of the lightest pink color then press Ctrl>C to copy it to my clipboard... text/html 2011-03-25T20:17:02-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=four-color_patterns_page_5&rev=1301098622&do=diff Yay! We're finally ready to convert the image into a pattern usable by The Sims 3! Open Delphy's Pattern Packager. If this is the first time you've used it, make sure to read the End User Licensing Agreement. If you agree with the licensing agreement, accept it, and you'll be prompted for a little bit of info, including your name and website. Something needs to be entered into those fields or the program won't save your texture, so if you don't have a website you might want to enter None or… text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:34-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=four-color_patterns_page_6&rev=1336735294&do=diff Then I set the scale to 50% and click OK, grab my Fill Tool and fill in the new image I created a couple of minutes ago. I know because of past experience that sometimes resizing an image to use as a fill has some undesirable results, so I zoom in really close to see what filling at 50% has done to this image, and can see that although there is a tiny bit of decay, it isn't enough to worry about. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:34-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=four_color_patterns_page_3&rev=1336735294&do=diff Now it's time for the purple (er, in this case plum actually). Again, I use the eye dropper to select the purple color because I want to use that on what is now black. Then I use the Magic Wand and select the center purple areas. Then I play with the Hue Map again, this time making a light pink. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:34-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=holy_smoke_joints&rev=1336735294&do=diff Holy Smoke! Joints By Wes Howe So far we learned the names of mesh components and how to make a shape and color it nicely. We are now going to make a different, simple model, put a couple of joints in it, and animate the object. First, fire up MilkShape and start with a new file. Now we want a tube, so we will make one by clicking in the main panel on the Cylinder button. In the new options that appear under the buttons, choose Stacks 3, Slices 6 and then “Close with extra vertex”. text/html 2011-03-24T22:10:15-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=how-to_with_heliospaint&rev=1301019015&do=diff By Dantes HOW TO : With HeliosPaint. NOTE 1: If you make a mistake (what often happens when we begin) just click on UNDO and begin again. It is as simple as that. NOTE 2: If you are preparing images for uploading content to Custom Sims 3 please read the upload guidelines. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:34-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=how_to_get_a_16-bit_png_using_raw_therapee&rev=1336735294&do=diff Converting to a 16-bit .png file in Raw Therapee You will need the program, Raw Therapee, available free at this website. By Regina So far I've not been able to find a free image editor that supports 16-bit .png files, which are needed to create height maps for EA's Create-a-World tool. What I did find, after a considerable amount of searching, was a free program with which any .png file can be converted to 16-bit format. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:34-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=how_to_link_images_in_forums&rev=1336735294&do=diff How to Link Images for Displaying in a UBB-based Forum The following tutorial is by AuntieLynds and often used to show members of the official Sims 3 forum how to link images in their threads. This tutorial can be used for displaying images in almost any forum since most use the same basic coding. text/html 2011-03-24T22:43:21-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=image_editing_cont&rev=1301021001&do=diff NOTE: If you are in full-screen mode do not use Print Screen, use the in-game camera (if you don't see the camera icon press the C key--this works in CAS as well as in-game). Zoom in with an angle in the terrain paint mode to deactivate the ugly grid lines. text/html 2011-11-26T20:57:04-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=importing_and_updating_file_references&rev=1322359024&do=diff Importing and Updating File References Load the New School package in S3PE. Import the new RSLT and FTPT files that you edited. Save the file. Write down the Instance ID's of the new RSLT and new FTPT files. Open the VPXY in the Grid Viewer. Go to the ChunkEntries Collection Expand the RCOLBlock tree. Open the TGIBlocks entry. In the TGI List Editor you're going to add 2 new entries, one for each of the 2 new files. Click the Add button, select the new line created, change the Type to FTPT a… text/html 2011-03-25T20:34:25-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=misc._tutorials_information&rev=1301099665&do=diff How to Link Images in Forums A List of Useful Tools for Custom Content Creation text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:35-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=organic_modeling&rev=1336735295&do=diff Organic Modeling by Wes Howe In this topic we will talk about Organic 3D models. For organic items, we need smooth corners and gradual bends. The smooth corners is actually easy, you get those by default when you leave the entire object in the same smoothing group. Smoothing groups will be in a later lesson. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:35-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=prepping_the_files&rev=1336735295&do=diff Prepping the Files Step 1 Cloning: Using S3OC, make a clone of the School House Rabbit Hole and save it as “Original School.package” Using TSRW this time, make a clone of the 2×2 country rug and save it as a workspace. Then use the export function to save it as “New School.sims3pack” in the same folder as the original school. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:35-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=q_a&rev=1336735295&do=diff Q: Why are registration and editing locked? A: Most of the information here was originally posted on Custom Sim 3's forum. As such general editing isn't allowed. If you have something you'd like to contribute, please feel free to post it in the forum after which it can be added here by an administrator. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:35-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=ready_set_go&rev=1336735295&do=diff Ready, Set, Go by Wes Howe In the last five lessons we learned a lot, I hope, and if you got number five done, you have a model that is ready to go. So load that model up, we're going to learn to animate it now. The first thing we need to learn is that there is a big button labeled Anim in the bottom right corner that we will use, and that when we turn that on, some things happen differently. You can't build and make mesh changes while that button is down. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:36-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=required_materials_and_overall_strategy&rev=1336735296&do=diff Modifying a Sims 3 Mesh by Wes Howe This is a simple tutorial about doing a simple mesh modification to a Sims 3 body mesh. The things you need to begin are: * A release copy of the Sims 3 game. * Echo's Postal Package Tool * Milkshape * Q-Mesh Sims 3 plugins for MilkShape text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:36-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=requirements&rev=1336735296&do=diff by Dantes REQUIREMENTS Now, what do we need to make that? -First : A well calibrated monitor. -Secondly: A picture editing program that is easy to learn. -Third: A tiny bit of skills. -And the last one but the most importing: a minimum of patience. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:36-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=screenshots_editing&rev=1336735296&do=diff Please Note: This tutorial was written for an image editor which works on Mac, PCs, and Linux. by Dantes This is a tutorial which is going to help you to make more fit to be seen images from a screen shot. NOTE: We do not here claim to teach again those who already feel at ease with this kind of program. This tutorial concerns the beginners who wish to make a good presentation of their works. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:36-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=setup_and_tool_list&rev=1336735296&do=diff This tutorial was written using an older version of modding tools so it's possible some options within the tools may have changed slightly. Setup and Tool List by Jynx This tutorial assumes anyone trying to learn from it has some object modding experience already and that they are familiar with the tools the tutorial uses. This tutorial will not teach you how to use these tools, since they each have their own websites with their own “How To” guides and tutorials. text/html 2011-03-24T17:49:38-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=sidebar&rev=1301003378&do=diff Custom Sims 3 Forum About Custom Sims 3 'Pedia Q & A Contact text/html 2011-03-24T18:55:59-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=start&rev=1301007359&do=diff Most definitely a work in progress, this is a compilation of information and tutorials put together by the members of Custom Sims 3's forums, past and present. * Custom Content Creation * Tips & Tricks For Sharing Your Custom Content * Using the Create A World Tool * Optimizing Game Performance * Misc. Tutorials & Information text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:36-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=steps_2_and_3&rev=1336735296&do=diff Step Two: Now we will open FullBuild0 and get the mesh file we want. You need to have Echo's Postal program installed, or you will stay stuck at this step. Run the program, then use the File -> Open menu and steer yourself to the directory and copy of the FullBuild.package file you made in the previous step (yes, the copy... don't risk accidental modification of your game files, a reinstall might be required if you mess the original up). Open it. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:36-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=steps_4_and_5&rev=1336735296&do=diff Step 4: Now we are going to extract the files we need from our SunGlassesMain.package to separate files the we can work with in MilkShape. Since you already have the GEOM selected, it will be first. Click on the tab marked “Hex View” and then click on Export. In the file dialog make sure you are in your work directory and on the filename keep the values but change the extension from .geom to .simgeom and then click the Save button. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:36-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=steps_6_and_7&rev=1336735296&do=diff Step 6 We will now modify the mesh. Go to the front view of the mesh, which in the picture above is the view in the upper-left quarter. If you don't have a front view, make one of the windows show this by right-clicking on the window and selecting Projection -> Front. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:37-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=steps_8_and_9&rev=1336735297&do=diff Step 8 We only have a little bit left. We need to rename and package this file and save it to the Mods/Packages folder, and then inspect our work in the game. Start Postal Again. Select “New Package” from the file menu. Go to the WorkSpace menu and pick “Add Resource”. Navigate to the work directory and select the file we saved before “S3_015a1849_005dc5fc_00000000d826640e.simgeom”. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:37-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=terms_concepts&rev=1336735297&do=diff Textures & UV Maps by Wes Howe As a preface to the entire series, we will be illustrating the concepts with MilkShape. While I am not “shilling” for the program, it works, it is cheap, and above all I know how to use it. There are many other 3D meshing programs available, some are free, some are very expensive and some are cheaper than MilkShape. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:37-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=textures_uv_maps&rev=1336735297&do=diff Textures & UV Maps by Wes Howe So we made a small pyramid, and looked at the framework, and then looked at the surfaces, but it still doesn't resemble real life much, unless we carefully plaster the surfaces and paint them all flat gray. It would be much nicer if the looked like real life. text/html 2011-03-24T21:11:18-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=tips_tricks_for_sharing_your_custom_content&rev=1301015478&do=diff Screenshots & Editing by Dantes (An image editing tutorial for beginners using Mac, PC, or Linux) Archiving the Game Files text/html 2011-06-21T17:32:59-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=using_the_create_a_world_tool&rev=1308691979&do=diff How to Get a 16-Bit PNG Using Raw Therapee Most of the info available for C-A-W hasn't made its way to this location yet but is available here. text/html 2012-05-11T07:21:37-04:00 http://www.customsims3.com/pedia/doku.php?id=uv_maps&rev=1336735297&do=diff UV Maps by Wes Howe We will discuss UV Mapping and remapping a little more before moving onto more concepts. The pyramid we made before had a default UV Map, in which all the faces were on top of each other. we are going to learn how to use a separate program to change that, and to get a coloring guide for using it.