TUTORIAL: Dissecting Sim PE Packages (for bodyshop CC)

[skellington7d]

What is a Sim PE Package?Any individual file for your game which can be explored with Sim PE. When you export a recolor in bodyshop, it generates all the little bits and pieces (resources) needed for that bit of content, minus the mesh, into one package. However, these resources don't all need to be in the same package to still work, they just need

Comments

[joandsarah]

This is great, I'm especially interested in deleting bumpmaps. I have some kids overalls which look strangely dark, which I believe is a bumpmap problem. Will removing those 4 lines fix it?

[skellington7d]

Heh, I knew that part would come in handy!

If a creator builds DTX on a bumpmap instead of importing it, it makes the outfit look really "off" in a way that sounds like what you're describing. If that's the case, deleting the bumpmap should fix it!

[strange_tomato]

Wow, thank you for this! I was trying to edit an underwear default the other day (I'm not yet confident enough to make one from scratch), and was getting this darkening effect that you seem to be describing. I was trying to "build DTX" in a new bumpmap, so that explains why.

I had no idea you could simply delete the bumpmaps. Like you said, I thought a solid grey bumpmap was the solution. Or sometimes a lightened one, so it was still there, but less horribly exaggerated.

[skellington7d]

I got that problem working on my first CiJ gift and thought I'd ruined everything, so that's when I first learned to delete them. You can also re-import or changed the settings on the bumpmap (to RAW instead of DXT?) to fix it, but I'm pro-deletion most of the time.

Though you mentioning underwear reminds me that would be one case where a bumpmap would be okay. (Just not a solid grey square D:)

[krolowa_francji]

Very comprehensive and helpful! Thank you for sharing this guide, a lot of simmers are going to find this very useful. :)

[skellington7d]

Yep, I've accidentally named two sets "1,2,3,4" and they showed up in the catalog 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4. I suppose you could just name all the colors in a set the same number, though I haven't tested that thoroughly?

[shastakiss]

So happy I found this tutorial, thank you skell!

Have found thru trial and error (emphasis: error) that you can't replace a completely transparent 1024x1024 texture with a 16x16 one :P

[2fingerswhiskey]

Or replace a 16x16 texture with a 1024x1024 one in case of accessories.

Bodyshop is like that one person where if you move a couch cushion too far to the left upon sitting, they tell you to get out of their house.

[2fingerswhiskey]

This is super helpful! You're great at this and I'm glad to have come across this while binging your CC :D

I personally only use bumpmaps to accentuate buttons and stuff such as seams, and know the horror of how it can really screw up a good creation... I get irritated when meshes don't have that option, though, especially when I'm trying to add something that is a feature on a real piece of clothing such as a pocket that stands out ever so slightly from the rest of the mesh. But knowing how to alter and add/remove them is so useful! Thank you so much!

Also, what happens when a mesh is shiny? There are some meshes, especially conversions, that are weirdly shiny and I want to know how to get rid of that entirely.

[skellington7d]

If it's shiny in the way that a servo is shiny, it's the bits in the material definition called "stdMatEnvCube" that are doing it. You can import in my "basic" TXMT above and replace the texture name to get rid of those.

[2fingerswhiskey]

Thank you! It worked like a charm :)