Making a default replacement for coffee cups/bar glasses

[spladoum]

I keep thinking that a Dixie cup/tea cup replacement for the coffee mugs and red plastic cup replacements for the standard wet bar glasses would be a killer idea. The problem is, I don't have the first idea where to start muddling with something like that. I asked a few friends for help as far as the appropriate files to extract and work with, but they were all as in the dark as I am.

So. Where do I start with this project? I'll be your best friend for e'er and e'er if you tell me!

[BloomsBase]

I would clone the coffee cup with s3OC as default replacement(no renumbering of the files) and save it in a project folder.
Then i would clone a object with TSRW, any object will do.
When viewing the object in TSRW click the menu and choose project contents.
Right click each file and delete them all.
When done import the coffeecup cloned with s3OC.
You now have your coffee cup as replacement in TSRW.

In the meshtab you find the meshes and textures used for the cup.
The meshes you can export and import in Milkshape(make sure to install the WSO plugin in the Milkshape directory)
(you find them in TSRW's installation directory, it is called extra's folder)

Textures you can export and edit with a texture editor of your liking.
Make sure you always save the textures in the correct format.(you find it at the bottom of the popup window when clicking a texture)

[Inge Jones]

Actually this method works more reliably if you use a similar object to start your TSRW project to the one you cloned in s3oc. The same actual object *if possible*.

[spladoum]

I wondered if that was even possible, Inge, considering that coffee cups/bar glasses only appear after you use the coffee maker/wet bar. I'll definitely do some work with it once I get back home (out of town at the present).

[orangemittens]

I wondered if that was even possible, Inge, considering that coffee cups/bar glasses only appear after you use the coffee maker/wet bar. I'll definitely do some work with it once I get back home (out of town at the present).You could also use s3oc/s3pe to make the object which would allow you to leave out the extra steps required to get around the fact that TSRW on its own can't make a default replacement item :) Also, another thing to consider is that Tsrw makes things into Sim3Packs and you can't load default replacement Sim3Packs successfully into Pets game with EA's launcher which is what many people use to load them.

[Inge Jones]

But at the end you can Export again as package, from Project Contents :)

[orangemittens]

Either way...it's prolly best not to offer a default replacement as a Sim3Pack unless the person downloading it is using something like Grant's launcher to load them into the game with. His launcher can do it but the EA one won't. I didn't know this but the issue actually predates Pets and affects any expansion back to Ambitions.

[Inge Jones]

Yes it needs to be a .package, I agree.

[BloomsBase]

yes, it is not smart to upload it as sims3pack.
You might even can delete original game files when uninstalling it?
But like Inge says, export as package is easy

I always export as sims3pack and then use Delphy's multiinstaller to convert to package.
The sims3pack is my backup.

[spladoum]

I was definitely NOT planning to offer this as a .s3pack. When I originally brought up the idea to a meshing friend, she pointed out that I could not upload a default replacement to TSR to begin with. So if I can't upload the item to TSR, there's no reason to make it as a .s3pack.

But that is very good to know that s3oc will let me find the glasses and mugs by themselves. I'll start my work on this tomorrow once I get home again--I'll have a ton of questions, I'm sure ^_^;;;

[spladoum]

Okay.

I managed to get ahold of a bar glass and import it into TSRW as a .package file. I found to my surprise that bar glasses come with swizzle sticks and that the swizzle sticks are a geostate item. TSRW does let you delete a group, so I deleted all of the sticks and reimported my altered mesh, which looks more like a wide-mouth cup.

However, I get an error when I try to export as a .package. Specifically--"String reference not set to instance of a String. Parameter name: s"--and the resulting file packages at 0 KB, which means it's empty.

Not sure what to do about it. I'm going to work on the coffee mug next, hopefully that goes a bit better.

[BloomsBase]

You need to keep the meshgroup with the Geostate reference in it and make sure you select the correct Geostate.
Handle a Geostate as a individual mesh.
One Geostate when a sim holds the glass or cup
One Geostate when the glass/cup is positioned on a table/bar
One Geostate from the glass with sticks in it(this could be combination of 2 Geostates(glass and sticks) or one Geostate were both glass and sticks are selected.
Just have a good look(write it down) when viewing the original states before you import your custom mesh.