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Mad Poster
Original Poster
#1 Old 31st Dec 2017 at 8:42 PM Last edited by murfee : 9th Aug 2020 at 8:53 PM.
Default Changing Cloud Colors - Back at it with yet another Issue
Hi, all!
Simply put: I want my current gameplay to have yellow clouds, and I have no idea how to go about making them.

I read through this post: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=459198 - but it lft me with more questions than answers.

I assumed I'd have to mess around with the Ini file folder, but then there's this part:
Quote:
the colour information is not contained in the ini file, it is instead contained in the colour ramps. So, a texture is used instead of the colours being specified in figures


Quote:
The relationship is as follows:
Weather Type - INI file - Colour Ramp
Clear - S3_1F886EAD_00000000_967BC6C3B3808C00%%+_INI.ini - S3_00B2D882_0076A684_7529C26EE8E2A9E6%%+_IMG.dds
Partly - S3_1F886EAD_00000000_560C0FD7012DA7F3%%+_INI.ini - S3_00B2D882_0076A684_ECCBBCB773C02131%%+_IMG.dds
Overcast - S3_1F886EAD_00000000_8DEA7AE7631A026A%%+_INI.ini - S3_00B2D882_0076A684_F0A86F660985BF20%%+_IMG.dds
Stormy - S3_1F886EAD_00000000_2C02B3532B64EB49%%+_INI.ini - S3_00B2D882_0076A684_E422CDDE7FE1F25F%%+_IMG.dds
Custom - S3_1F886EAD_00000000_FE1F6A95A24A604A%%+_INI.ini - S3_00B2D882_0076A684_28C841C9462BCDE0%%+_IMG.dds


There's all this stuff about the color ramps, and the different lines/bars that change the effects here: http://modthesims.info/showpost.php...2&postcount=198
Apparently Bands 12 - 16 on the color ramp are the ones I want to change -- the ones to change cloud colors near the sun and near the horizon, etc.
I downloaded the sample .dds for the color ramps zip from the thread, but I don't understand where those color ramp files they got even came from, and I certainly don't know where I'm supposed to put the ones I want to modify.

I'm not using CAW -- I don't even have it -- but a lot of the posts are referring to importing/exporting files out of CAW.
I tried using S3PE to import the SunsetValley.world file, but that got me nowhere; I didn't see any color ramps, just a bunch of _IMGs for the roads, terrains, and some objects.

So, any advice would be greatly appreciated, cuz I'm thoroughly confused.
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retired moderator
#2 Old 31st Dec 2017 at 10:01 PM
Hi @murfee

When the base game was released, EA made the sky and sea colours for Sunset Valley controlled purely by ini files, which are found in [Game Install Location]\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\GameData\Shared\NonPackaged\Ini.

By the time World Adventures was released, they realised that they wanted to have each world with different sea and sky lighting, so they packaged ini files that controlled the sea and sky parameters inside each world file, along with DDS image files which controlled the sea and sky colour.

So, if you make a world in CAW, it will have the same lighting as Sunset Valley- unless you override this with custom ini and DDS files in the world file, or with a custom lighting mod in your game Mods folder.

The ini files and DDS files that we were playing with in this thread are directly exported from the EA worlds. Most of the EA worlds have five different types of lighting (although the vacation worlds only have two). These change according to the parameters in the ini files- for example, in Bridgeport you can expect the weather to change a couple of times a day, and some weather types are more common than others. But for a custom world I made, I set it so that the weather changed every few hours, and that all weather types were equally probable. It's really up to you on how you want your world to be.

What I would suggest is to try importing the ini and DDS files from the EA worlds to your custom world and play a while to see what the sky and sea look like. Or, use the cloudiness slider in CAW to change the weather as described in this post as discovered by atra-virago.

Then, when you have an idea of what kind of colours and cloud colour you like, you can experiment by changing the parameters in the ini files and the colours in the colour ramps, to make your own weather.

This image is good to look at to give some clues as to the purpose of each colour ramp.

If you look at this colour ramp:

You can see numbers at the bottom. This shows the time of day- from midnight through midday and back to midnight. So you can see that the more orange colours occur at sunrise and sunset. What you could do is try changing the colour of the whole image, by changing the tone or colour tint in a photoediting program, or else you could try changing individual stripes to change specific attributes. Most of us have done this by trial and error!

I also have some images which show the effects of some of the parameters in the ini files. Find attached file, I put some brief notes in there too.
Attached files:
File Type: 7z  Tests.7z (14.78 MB, 39 downloads) - View custom content
Description: Illustrations for Sea and Sky ini file parameters.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#3 Old 1st Jan 2018 at 11:36 AM Last edited by murfee : 1st Jan 2018 at 11:53 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
The ini files and DDS files that we were playing with in this thread are directly exported from the EA worlds. What I would suggest is to try importing the ini and DDS files from the EA worlds to your custom world and play a while to see what the sky and sea look like.


This is exactly my question -- HOW did y'all import/export them out? When I opened the SunsetValley.world file in S3PE, I didn't see any _INI files or color ramps at all.

I already downloaded all the zips y'all offered in the thread, and I know what colors I want for the color ramp bands y'all pointed out -- my question is I have no idea where to put the files when I'm done.

All the lighting mods I've seen are in package file format, so that the settings created are universal no matter what world we play in. I opened a few lighting mods and saw the _INI and _IMG files in them that change the colors and weather patterns and everything. But I don't know how they managed to do that, since I'm not seeing anything in S3PE at all. I have no idea how to turn any of this into a package file in S3PE, since everything show up _UNKN.

I imported all the Ini files from the basegame's Ini folder, and all they show up UNKN, too. But when I open other lighting mods in S3PE, I see the ini files as _INIs. I see the _IMGs listed, too, but no .dds type color ramps -- it says Error Reading Resource, so I don't know what's going on there.

At first I wondered if I could just skip all those steps about the color ramps, since I don't even see them anywhere, and just change the parameters in the Ini files via RGB coding, since they open just fine in Notepad. (Sky_PartlyCloudy1/2.ini, Sky_Overcast1/2.ini, Sky_Stormy1/2.ini, etc -- all the ones with the Cloud Colors sections). But I'd still want them to be packages too, so I could use the settings as a mod for whatever world I decide to use them in, not just Sunset Valley.
Top Secret Researcher
#4 Old 1st Jan 2018 at 12:07 PM
You can turn your files into a package file the same as you create any other package file. Open s3pe, click File > New, and then Resource > "import from file", chose your ini-files and colour ramps. Save - and you have a new, global lighting mod which you can put into your mods folder.

As simsample said, Sunset Valley uses global inis, they are not stored within the world. So you won't find any there.

If you want to save time you can search for weather files, they all have been extracted already:
Here (as packages): http://modthesims.info/t/598399 (But you can extract them from the package files.)
Here are a few as files: http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...971#post3679971

On Cawster here: https://cawster.wordpress.com/ you will find some weather files or at least links to them for most EA worlds.

If the inis and colour ramps show as unknown in S3PE for you, maybe your version of S3PE is outdated? Or is missing a plugin? Just guessing here... they show up as _IMG and _INI for me.
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retired moderator
#5 Old 1st Jan 2018 at 12:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by murfee
This is exactly my question -- HOW did y'all import/export them out? When I opened the SunsetValley.world file in S3PE, I didn't see any _INI files or color ramps at all.

As I explained in my previous post:
Quote:
When the base game was released, EA made the sky and sea colours for Sunset Valley controlled purely by ini files, which are found in [Game Install Location]\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\GameData\Shared\NonPackaged\Ini.

There were no colour ramps in the basegame, instead the colours were described as RGB values like this:
Code:
;;Night
[SunMoonLight1]
red = 35
green = 35
blue = 120
timeOfDay = 3

;; Moonset
[SunMoonLight2]
red = 35
green = 35
blue = 120
timeOfDay = 4

If you want to change the weather for Sunset Valley, you need to either make an override for the basegame files, or else import some custom ini files and colour ramps into SunsetValley.world.

Quote: Originally posted by murfee
I already downloaded all the zips y'all offered in the thread, and I know what colors I want for the color ramp bands y'all pointed out -- my question is I have no idea where to put the files when I'm done.

Import them into your world file. In CAW, the ini files will be discarded when you save (unless you use the CAW Resource Packaging, but that's an advanced thing so don't worry for now). So you need to import the files to the World file in your CAW Userdata after saving but before you package your world. Otherwise, just import directly to the world file in the installed location- Documents\ The Sims 3\InstalledWorlds.

Quote: Originally posted by murfee
I imported all the Ini files from the basegame's Ini folder, and all they show up UNKN, too. But when I open other lighting mods in S3PE, I see the ini files as _INIs. I see the _IMGs listed, too, but no .dds type color ramps -- it says Error Reading Resource, so I don't know what's going on there.

Make sure your S3PE is up to date, and check that 'enable DDS preview' is checked in the settings menu. The ini files from the basegame will not show up correctly when imported into a package because they are not named in a format that S3PE will understand- if you look at the ini files exported from the other EA worlds, you'll see that they look something like 'S3_1F886EAD_00000000_2C02B3532B64EB49%%+_INI.ini'. That name describes type, group and instance, so that S3PE knows how to categorise the resource. This is why it's best to use the EP world ini files and DDS ramps as a base, as they are designed to be imported into a world. These can also be used to make into a separate package file to be used as a game mod. If you wanted to override the basegame ini files then the easiest way would be to just make a backup and edit them directly- but I wouldn't advise to share them this way.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#6 Old 1st Jan 2018 at 2:16 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Norn
You can turn your files into a package file the same as you create any other package file. Open s3pe, click File > New, and then Resource > "import from file", chose your ini-files and colour ramps. Save - and you have a new, global lighting mod which you can put into your mods folder.

If you want to save time you can search for weather files, they all have been extracted already:
Here (as packages): http://modthesims.info/t/598399 (But you can extract them from the package files.)
Here are a few as files: http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...971#post3679971


Yes, this is what I wanted; how to make a new global lighting mod I could use in all my world saves, thanks!

Out of curiosity I looked at the weather packages in S3PE -- apparently I don't need any _KEY file?
With default replacements I usually see a _KEY; and in some lighting mods I use there's one in there, too.

Quote:
If the inis and colour ramps show as unknown in S3PE for you, maybe your version of S3PE is outdated? Or is missing a plugin? Just guessing here... they show up as _IMG and _INI for me.


IDEK. :\ I'm using the most recent version of S3PE, and I see all other _IMG .dds files just fine, but for some reason the color ramps never show up without errors. *shrugs*
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retired moderator
#7 Old 1st Jan 2018 at 3:09 PM
Quote: Originally posted by murfee
Out of curiosity I looked at the weather packages in S3PE -- apparently I don't need any _KEY file?
With default replacements I usually see a _KEY; and in some lighting mods I use there's one in there, too.

The KEY file is auto generated if required- it exists where there is a name description for the resource, as in this image where it says '4-Stormy'.

The name description is added by renaming the resource before import, to have the name after the instance, like this:
S3_1F886EAD_00000000_2C02B3532B64EB49_4-Stormy%%+_INI.ini
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#8 Old 4th Jan 2018 at 7:32 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
The KEY file is auto generated if required- it exists where there is a name description for the resource, as in this image where it says '4-Stormy'.

The name description is added by renaming the resource before import, to have the name after the instance, like this:
S3_1F886EAD_00000000_2C02B3532B64EB49_4-Stormy%%+_INI.ini


Ahhh~! I was wondering what those were for; I tend to just leave them things alone -- thanks!

GREAT SUCCESS!

http://murfeelee.tumblr.com/post/16...-lighting-mod-0 :lovestruc
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retired moderator
#9 Old 4th Jan 2018 at 7:58 PM
Aww, look at that- it looks great! Well done.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#10 Old 8th Jan 2018 at 3:01 AM
Oops, I'm back again.

I've tried fixing this a number of times, thinking I could do it on my own, but nope; nothing I do is working.
The look I'm aiming for is a gradient sky, yellow clouds, and red sun -- so far I've got 2/3 working just fine, but the sun just refuses to get red.

I want my sun to look just like the one in the color ramp post (http://modthesims.info/showpost.php...2&postcount=198) :


But my sun is staying the default yellowish-white color and I don't know why.



Apparently Band 6 is the sun color and Band 7 is the (unnecessary?) halo. Here's the color ramps I'm using:



At first I had the whole band solid red and left the halo alone. There was no change, so I went back in and added that bit of gradient, as it didn't make sense to have a red sun at sunset, if the sky was red, too.



No change, so I duplicated it for the halo, thinking maybe the yellow glow was in the way?
Nope, STILL no change. >_<
So I'm at my wit's end.

(And how do I rescale these pics; they're frikkin huge.)
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#11 Old 10th Jan 2018 at 4:25 PM Last edited by murfee : 10th Jan 2018 at 4:38 PM.
Still no progress on changing the sun colors, and I'm really frustrated and confused. I WANT A RED SUN!!!

I saw in the Sky Parameters post that there are separate dds files to use to change the moon color/texture.
But I thought for the sun all you needed to do was change color bands 6-7 in the ramps like I did above?

Quote: Originally posted by simsample
I think you'd be looking at manipulating the colour ramps for this, as that's the way to change the colour of the sun halo and sun.
These three posts may help:
http://modthesims.info/showpost.php...37&postcount=32
http://modthesims.info/showpost.php...7&postcount=194
http://modthesims.info/showpost.php...2&postcount=198


Is it because I'm only using the 2 China color ramps? Should I be using a different color ramp to guarantee that the sun color changes?
I don't see how it's an issue though, as I tested everything in a basegame world, but though the cloud & sky colors changed the sun didn't -- not in the basegame world and not in Shang Simla either.

[EDIT]
I checked the SSNS weather types to see if anything changed with Stormy weather, since China only uses Clear/Sunny and Partly Cloudy/Fog.
Yes, I DO get a reddish sun right when the weather changed between Sunny to Rainy (Moderate rain). IT'S NOT RED ENOUGH THOUGH? What's going on here?





Then the rains started and all the colors suddenly defaulted back to EA's typical greyish-blue shies and grey clouds -- with a super white sun.



I then decided to try SN weather types, and oddly enough the colors reverted back to mine again, with the Bewitching Rain. So I'm assuming SN uses basegame/China weather files? (I guess I'll look at Moonlit Falls' ramps too then, IDK. *shrugs* )



But now I wanna know if I can keep ALL my rain acid green like SN's Weather Stone rain.
What files changes the color of the rain and snow?
Is it possible to force all my rain to be green, and all of my snow to be, say, pink?


But yeah. Basically, I think things are finally starting to make sense: I'll have to change the dds files for ALL the extra weather types (Overcast/Snow, Stormy/Rain, and Custom/Hail) and import them into S3PE, so hopefully the sun will then stay bloody red like I bloody want it to. *shakes fist* >_<

I'm actually excited -- I want to see if I can make storms with a greyish sky and blood-red and copper clouds! Maybe mix in a few of the ITF dystopian color ramps!
(This is gonna look so frikkin ugly and weird but so cool! )
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#12 Old 10th Jan 2018 at 4:28 PM
I also wanted to ask why auroras are not working at night -- is it because the clouds are yellow? Do auroras only show with white clouds?
I use a 100% chance of auroras mod (BrntWaffles' Dream Dimension), so I never go a night without auroras unless it's raining/snowing. I thought at first they didn't show because it was still too early; since Dream Dimensions' sunset is at like 9pm. But I waited till midnight and nope, the clouds stayed yellow.

[EDIT] I got the AS files provided here: http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...437#post4123437
And looking at them, yeah, I see the rainbow clouds gradient happening at night.

Quote: Originally posted by Jawusa
I exported all Ini/dds files from these EA World (Aurora Skies I also noticed that the ini/dds files from Aurora Skies have special green clouds at night (polar lights)


So I guess that answers that -- darnit; my yellow clouds are overriding EA's auroras.

I'll try to make it so the bulk/body of the clouds stay yellow, but the outer halo/wisps change color, and see what happens.
Hopefully it'll look like rainbow sherbert.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#13 Old 10th Jan 2018 at 5:06 PM
Is there an actual list of exactly what all 15 of the color ramps/ini files in ITF are for? I only recognize the 5 default weather files. There are 10 extras though.

There are 5 dds's that I assume are Dystopian, cuz they're earthtone/metallic.
Quote:
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_5EECDCB4177892FD%%+_IMG
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_6D7D202A0004B4F0%%+_IMG
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_151C2812D297F572%%+_IMG
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_B5F3D869A77DC2BD%%+_IMG
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_CF0C4A77A2A78A3B%%+_IMG


There are 5 dds's I assume are Utopian, cuz there's no mistaking those rainbow colors. :P
Quote:
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_2B71945756845D82%%+_IMG
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_4F629AD82CE87A89%%+_IMG
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_E0CFDBC68754204B%%+_IMG
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_FECEE7FA475D2A8B%%+_IMG
S3_00B2D882_0076A684_FFC12CC9DC98D958%%+_IMG


They all look more or less the same though? I think I see a wee bit of color difference around sunrise/sunset, or maybe that's my sleep deprivation.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#14 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 12:58 AM
Alright, made good progress today!
- I fixed the auroras, so they're back.
- I'm still trying out good colors for stormy/overcast/custom (rain/snow/hail). Using ITF dystopian textures wasn't a good idea; too Mad Max for the look I want.
- I haven't found anyone information on changing the color of the rain and snow, like EA managed with SN's Bewitching Rain. Can it even be done?

I am STILL not getting the red sun I want though. >_<





What is that glowing white b.s. in the middle, and can I make it go away???

That's pink. It's not red. Wtf. It's too washed out, and I don't get it, since the color ramps are red!





I sorta don't mind the color reverting back to white at sunset, since the sky gets really red and it wouldn't make sense.





But this is really driving me up a frikkin wall.
If it was the moon I'd have no problem, since we can turn it into an entirely different planet or twin moons or even a frikkin smiley face if we wanted.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#15 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 6:21 PM
Quote: Originally posted by murfee
Now I wanna know if I can keep ALL my rain acid green like SN's Weather Stone rain.
What files changes the color of the rain and snow?
Is it possible to force all my rain to be green, and all of my snow to be, say, pink?


I did some snooping around in Buhudain's rain mod, as his is the only one I know of that affects rain.
http://mahamudosim3.blogspot.com/20...LI_95irAFhuhB_-

I changed the colors in all those files to green:



Close but no cigar. The actual rainfall color wasn't affected at all. I don't care about the drips or puddles being green if the rain isn't.

So I dug in the SSNS' FullBuild_p16.package and found only one image that looked relevant
S3_00B2D882_78000000_9C3D83F9D218469F_EP08_rainDrops%%+_IMG.dds
But changing it to green did nothing.
So IDK.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#16 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 6:55 PM Last edited by murfee : 11th Jan 2018 at 7:07 PM.
I have another question about the water colors: Why do they change when zooming out/in?

Zooming out (perfect):



Zooming in (boo; can't see the color):



I know that's what happens IRL -- water is clear but looks blue from far away, yada yada -- but is there a way to get the water to STAY a certain color, regardless of zooming?

This is China for crying out loud -- I want my Yellow River TO STAY YELLOW.
Field Researcher
#17 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 6:11 PM
"I have another question about the water colors: Why do they change when zooming out/in?"

If I remember correctly, it's the sky's color that is reflected to the the water when you zoom. Just like in real life, oceans, lakes have different color to it when the weather is different. if you want the water to be yellow all the time, the sky needs to be yellow. it would be the 2 lines that say "haze color and sky reflected on water" in the pic in simsample's fisrt post.

"The actual rainfall color wasn't affected at all."
If I understand what you mean, you're talking about this https://youtu.be/Jd_KyGQ9_YY?t=80

I have never modified effects like that myself but you would have to find out the name of the effects that the game uses during different types of rain and export those files with S3PE from the game files and recolor them.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#18 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 8:57 PM
Urgh, if that's the case I'll just keep the water as-is; I like the sky color as it is. Oh well.

Yeah, I suspected that rain was be a fog emitter effect. I just don't know which files affect the color. I didn't see anything in the Seasons build package, unless I'm looking in the wrong files. *shrugs*
Field Researcher
#19 Old 13th Jan 2018 at 12:59 PM
I bet there is some super smart way to find out which files the game is reading when it is raining. I'm thinking of nraas mods for some reason.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#20 Old 9th Aug 2020 at 9:21 PM Last edited by murfee : 9th Aug 2020 at 9:37 PM.
Omg. So, like a crazy person, I decided to make another lighting mod. This time, I want my clouds AND skies AND water to be GREEN (don't judge me, I'm on a MISSION). However, after like 5 tries already I've had very limited success.

Most of the time the sky is black, the water is nearly always purple, the moon is possessed, and the clouds are some variation of purplish-bluish, with brief smatterings of green. Which is bonkers, considering my color ramp:



I'd like to keep the black skies/green clouds combo for Stormy weather, sure, but not for CLEAR weather.

I just want deep green skies and neon green clouds and puke green water.

What the heck am I doing wrong?
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#21 Old 22nd Dec 2020 at 1:04 PM
Default Daytime Auroras - no dice
Well I'm stumped.

I tried to make daytime auroras, by copy-pasting the nighttime cloud ramp to the daytime ramp.

Instead, it obliterated all colors in the sky entirely -- everything was glaringly white 24/7.

Interestingly, the global skylight colors changed the way rainbow auroras do. So at least ONE part of the ramp worked.

I miss TS2 skyboxes.
Screenshots
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retired moderator
#22 Old 22nd Dec 2020 at 2:23 PM
Very interesting @murfee , I'm afraid I can't offer any help as I don't have Sims 3 installed any more, but I'm glad you're still working on this!
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#23 Old 22nd Dec 2020 at 2:30 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Very interesting @murfee , I'm afraid I can't offer any help as I don't have Sims 3 installed any more, but I'm glad you're still working on this!


Yup yup, I'm a masochist!

Hopefully someone benefits by learning from my many failures.
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