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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 6th Jan 2016 at 11:26 AM Last edited by mirabellarose : 9th Jan 2016 at 7:19 AM.
Default Something wrong with a merged package file; Will someone test it for me, please? I've provided a Mediafire link. SOLVED
Okay. I have one merged file that contains 200 files. When I put the loose files in the mods folder the game starts, no problem. But when I put the merged file into the mods folder, the game won't start. Nothing happens. So what's going on? Here's a screenshot of the files I have:

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

I can't figure out how to do it, but I'd be happy to upload the merged file if it would help. I just need someone to tell me how to attach a file to a message.

Thanks!
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Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#2 Old 6th Jan 2016 at 11:48 AM
Moving to Help. The Create forum is for questions/info on creating content.

I'm not sure how the game currently deals with TS3 packages (whether it still stumbles or maybe has learned to ignore them) -- my first idea would be that maybe not all of these are ts4 packages, and it might be a bad idea to put ts3 content into a ts4 package.

Have you tried to merge half of them into a new package each, and see what happens? Basically like the usual 50/50 method to weed out problem CC.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#3 Old 6th Jan 2016 at 9:23 PM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
Moving to Help. The Create forum is for questions/info on creating content.

I'm not sure how the game currently deals with TS3 packages (whether it still stumbles or maybe has learned to ignore them) -- my first idea would be that maybe not all of these are ts4 packages, and it might be a bad idea to put ts3 content into a ts4 package.

Have you tried to merge half of them into a new package each, and see what happens? Basically like the usual 50/50 method to weed out problem CC.


None of them are TS3 files. I know that. S4PE won't merge any of the TS3 files. And yes, I've actually loaded all of them all at once as loose files and the game starts fine. But in merged form the game chokes. I don't get it.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#4 Old 6th Jan 2016 at 9:37 PM
Can I upload the merged file and have someone test it for me? See if their game loads with it?
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#5 Old 6th Jan 2016 at 9:44 PM Last edited by mirabellarose : 6th Jan 2016 at 9:55 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by mirabellarose
Can I upload the merged file and have someone test it for me? See if their game loads with it?


I can't get it to upload here, so here's a mediafire link to it instead. Again, I'd love it if someone would test this for me. And again, when I load all the loose files together (there are 200 of them), the game starts fine. But for some reason the game hates this merged file and won't even start.

Thanks in advance!

http://www.mediafire.com/download/t...t_Clothing_2.7z
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#6 Old 8th Jan 2016 at 10:17 PM
There is a broken STBL in there: 0x220557DA-0xA017F181-0x00A81556C622C3C8. If you remove that it should work.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Smeg Head
#7 Old 9th Jan 2016 at 2:35 AM
I gave up merging TS4 package files a while back for the same reasons you have experienced. Files are A-Okay on their own, but the game will not get beyond the loading screen once they're merged. Not always, most merge quite successfully, but for some it spells doom. Can't fathom it, but it's usually just one bad apple that spoils the merge. That is to say, it's a good little apple until it's merged.

I have one little theory on the matter. Have you ever noticed in Cas, sometimes the CC has ghostly mesh marks? Not often, but you can see the marks of the clothing (usually on sims flesh, almost like welts or scars) from the original mesh the creator redesigned. I've even had a few, where a creator has released a brand new article of clothing, obviously reusing an older mesh again, and the new CC completely overrides older CC of theirs so it just looks like the new stuff. And only reverts back to the old CC once the new CC is removed. I was of the understanding that the CC creation tools give each mesh recreation a unique, long id number to avoid this ever happening.

In the year of the Sims 4 I have seen ghost mesh marks far too often and complete mesh overrides of CC on about three or four occasions from several CC creators. Something not right with all that. Maybe that could be a cause for merging corruption also.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#8 Old 9th Jan 2016 at 5:54 AM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
Moving to Help. The Create forum is for questions/info on creating content.

I'm not sure how the game currently deals with TS3 packages (whether it still stumbles or maybe has learned to ignore them) -- my first idea would be that maybe not all of these are ts4 packages, and it might be a bad idea to put ts3 content into a ts4 package.

Have you tried to merge half of them into a new package each, and see what happens? Basically like the usual 50/50 method to weed out problem CC.


Great! How would I identify which one is the problem? And how did you figure out which one was bad. The reason I ask is that I've done the 50/50 method and all the files work fine. But when merged I have problems. And I've encountered two more merged files doing the same thing. How would I identify a problem file if the 50/50 method doesn't yield results?
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#9 Old 9th Jan 2016 at 5:56 AM Last edited by mirabellarose : 9th Jan 2016 at 7:20 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by coolspear1
I gave up merging TS4 package files a while back for the same reasons you have experienced. Files are A-Okay on their own, but the game will not get beyond the loading screen once they're merged. Not always, most merge quite successfully, but for some it spells doom. Can't fathom it, but it's usually just one bad apple that spoils the merge. That is to say, it's a good little apple until it's merged.

I have one little theory on the matter. Have you ever noticed in Cas, sometimes the CC has ghostly mesh marks? Not often, but you can see the marks of the clothing (usually on sims flesh, almost like welts or scars) from the original mesh the creator redesigned. I've even had a few, where a creator has released a brand new article of clothing, obviously reusing an older mesh again, and the new CC completely overrides older CC of theirs so it just looks like the new stuff. And only reverts back to the old CC once the new CC is removed. I was of the understanding that the CC creation tools give each mesh recreation a unique, long id number to avoid this ever happening.

In the year of the Sims 4 I have seen ghost mesh marks far too often and complete mesh overrides of CC on about three or four occasions from several CC creators. Something not right with all that. Maybe that could be a cause for merging corruption also.


I think I know what you're talking about. Can you provide a screenshot? I'll see if I can upload one today or tomorrow.

Edit: Here's a screenshot:

[IMG][/IMG]
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#10 Old 9th Jan 2016 at 5:58 AM
With Sims 3 I used Delphy's Dashboard to identify corrupt files, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of program like that for TS4, except maybe TS4 Package Conflict Detector. Again, how did you manage to identify the problem file?
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#11 Old 9th Jan 2016 at 7:18 AM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
There is a broken STBL in there: 0x220557DA-0xA017F181-0x00A81556C622C3C8. If you remove that it should work.


Hurr Durr, I am so brilliant sometimes I scare myself. I was just sitting here thinking about this problem when it dawned on me. Open up the merged file in S4PE and find and delete the broken STBL, then re-save it!!! Was super easy! I just clicked on each STBL with that string of numbers and letters, and found the one that said there was an error reading that line, deleted it, saved it, done!

The package file works fine now.

PROBLEM OFFICIALLY SOLVED! Thank you for your help. You are awesome!
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#12 Old 9th Jan 2016 at 1:02 PM Last edited by plasticbox : 9th Jan 2016 at 1:12 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by mirabellarose
Great! How would I identify which one is the problem? And how did you figure out which one was bad. The reason I ask is that I've done the 50/50 method and all the files work fine. But when merged I have problems. And I've encountered two more merged files doing the same thing. How would I identify a problem file if the 50/50 method doesn't yield results?


Your problem wasn't with the indivdual packages you said, so obviously sorting through those would not have acheived anything. What I meant above was use the 50/50 method to sort out the resources in the merged file. AKA copy half of them, dump them into a new package outside /Mods, delete the ones you copied over, save and try to start the game. Repeat until you find the problem.


Quote: Originally posted by mirabellarose
Was super easy! I just clicked on each STBL with that string of numbers and letters, and found the one that said there was an error reading that line, deleted it, saved it, done!


There was only one STBL with that instance (plus a bunch of other ones that are similar but start with an ID of 0x01, 0x02 etc). Next time just copy the ID (the last part of the number I told you) into the "Instance" box at the bottom, hit "Set", tick "Filter all" and it'll show you that exact resource.


Also if you just nuke that STBL your content will now have missing strings (you may or may not notice that in game, depending on what language you use and whether the names and descriptions of CAS content even show up anywhere, I'm not sure atm) .. since it was probably not translated anyway, that's easy to fix: rightclick on the next one (should be 0x220557DA-0xA017F181-0x01A81556C622C3C8) > Duplicate, and change the instance of the duplicate to 0x00A81556C622C3C8 (doubleclick, there you can edit the type/group/instance). If you want to know more about how STBLs work I posted a tutorial on how to edit translations yesterday, it's in Create > Tutorials.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Smeg Head
#13 Old 10th Jan 2016 at 6:35 AM Last edited by coolspear1 : 10th Jan 2016 at 7:01 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by mirabellarose
With Sims 3 I used Delphy's Dashboard to identify corrupt files, but there doesn't seem to be any kind of program like that for TS4, except maybe TS4 Package Conflict Detector. Again, how did you manage to identify the problem file?


Similar to what plasicbox suggested. The 50/50 elimination method. The very last time I attempted file merging, easily six or seven months ago, I merged about 100 files. The game would not load, so a did another merge of the files with only fifty, then 25, then 15, on and on till I found the single file that did not like to be merged.

The idea of file merging no longer appeals to me. Not only because of this painstaking method to eliminate files that do not like to be merged, but quite frankly I never did see any difference in game loading speeds for going to all that trouble. Perhaps in a few years from now, with 10GB of CC, it might be worth looking into again. But with only 1.8GB of CC presently, I don't see the point, nor notice any benefits in merging.

And always the idea, that at worst it stops the game from loading. But maybe the merge was still bad, but allows the game to load, only to cause a random, unexpected crash during gameplay. I can do without that headache for now.

Sorry, no pics on the ghost mesh marks available. I get rid of all CC that has these impurities, bad seams or ghost mesh marks, so there are none in my game to take pics of. Though I have on two or three occasions tried contacting the creators regarding the issue. But each one said they cannot see it in their game. I can only assume it was a CC conflict issue, and the creator does not have all the same CC I have.

It would be nice to know if it was related to a certain CC creation tool. Maybe one tool is more prone to causing it than others. Example: using a V neck top Maxis mesh, changing it to a round neck top, but the V neck outline is still visible in game, appearing as scarring or welts on the sim's flesh. Or is it just a CC creator's method that makes their work more prone to conflict with other meshes. Either way, they don't stay in my game for one minute longer once I spot the problem.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#14 Old 10th Jan 2016 at 7:31 AM Last edited by mirabellarose : 10th Jan 2016 at 7:42 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
Your problem wasn't with the indivdual packages you said, so obviously sorting through those would not have acheived anything. What I meant above was use the 50/50 method to sort out the resources in the merged file. AKA copy half of them, dump them into a new package outside /Mods, delete the ones you copied over, save and try to start the game. Repeat until you find the problem.




There was only one STBL with that instance (plus a bunch of other ones that are similar but start with an ID of 0x01, 0x02 etc). Next time just copy the ID (the last part of the number I told you) into the "Instance" box at the bottom, hit "Set", tick "Filter all" and it'll show you that exact resource.


Also if you just nuke that STBL your content will now have missing strings (you may or may not notice that in game, depending on what language you use and whether the names and descriptions of CAS content even show up anywhere, I'm not sure atm) .. since it was probably not translated anyway, that's easy to fix: right-click on the next one (should be 0x220557DA-0xA017F181-0x01A81556C622C3C8) > Duplicate, and change the instance of the duplicate to 0x00A81556C622C3C8 (doubleclick, there you can edit the type/group/instance). If you want to know more about how STBLs work I posted a tutorial on how to edit translations yesterday, it's in Create > Tutorials.


So, If I encounter multiple STBLs that show an error and I delete them, that's going to mess up gameplay? Or at least whether or not the item shows up in-game? I ask because I have merged package files with MANY errors. If I have to duplicate and change the instance of each one, that's gonna take ages. Not worth the trouble.

And I thought I understood this. I even made a post about it, hoping to help others. Turns out I don't understand all this at all. Well...let's just say I know enough to know how much I don't know, and that "not knowing" problem is getting worse.

Ugh.

Edit: You know, I never encountered anything like this with S3PE. Why does S4PE have so much trouble? And is it an issue with the STBL file being in a language other than English? I don't know; I barely understand all this.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#15 Old 10th Jan 2016 at 8:04 AM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
Moving to Help. The Create forum is for questions/info on creating content.

I'm not sure how the game currently deals with TS3 packages (whether it still stumbles or maybe has learned to ignore them) -- my first idea would be that maybe not all of these are ts4 packages, and it might be a bad idea to put ts3 content into a ts4 package.

Have you tried to merge half of them into a new package each, and see what happens? Basically like the usual 50/50 method to weed out problem CC.



I think I like your idea of merging progressively smaller numbers of files in an effort to weed out the ones that don't take kindly to merging. It's still a lot of work, but S4PE merges my files quickly, unlike S3PE (I keep each merged file to no more than 200 individual files). The Sims 4 itself loads much more quickly for me than Sims 3 did as well.

I'm not sure if what I intend to do is what you were suggesting, exactly, but I think it may be a viable solution for me.
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#16 Old 10th Jan 2016 at 10:45 AM Last edited by plasticbox : 10th Jan 2016 at 11:16 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by coolspear1
Example: using a V neck top Maxis mesh, changing it to a round neck top, but the V neck outline is still visible in game, appearing as scarring or welts on the sim's flesh.


That sounds like the creator simply didn't adjust the mesh to properly fit their texture. Technically this is not a problem per se (i.e. the game doesn't care wether the mesh looks nice), but I agree it looks silly; I also wouldn't want that in my game. Theoretically it could also be caused by a conflict, like a V-neck mesh overriding a round-neck mesh .. but I have no idea how common that is, I hardly use any CAS CC. One could test whether that's the case by putting the offending item in game on its own, see if it still looks weird.


Quote: Originally posted by mirabellarose
So, If I encounter multiple STBLs that show an error and I delete them, that's going to mess up gameplay? Or at least whether or not the item shows up in-game?


No, the strings are just the strings .. the words that show in the interface. If you delete all STBLs from an item, the result will be that it has no text in game, or just ***DEBUG***. But like I said above, I'm not sure whether CAS stuff even has any text that is visible in game, so perhaps you wouldn't see a difference at all.

Also, sometimes you'll have STBLs that s4pe won't preview but they still work fine in game -- as long as you don't have any issues you don't need to do anything about those. (I think that's STBLs generated by TSRW -- they are somehow different but I don't know what the difference is exactly.)

Technically the STBLs are all the same, no matter what language they contain.


When you say there are more issues with merging CC now than in the TS3 era (I have no idea, I never do that and I didn't play TS3 much to begin with), one reason for that might be that now we have two competing proprietary CC tools (TSRW and S4S), not just one like in the TS3 era. Both do not document what they are doing or communicate with the community, so issues like "what is the exact difference between a STBL generated by TSRW vs a Maxis one" become more diffficult to figure out.

Bizarrely, right now Maxis are the only ones who openly share that kind of info, but their files are of course largely unproblematic -- there is one single Maxis package I know about that cannot be re-saved with s4pe (so it would cause trouble when you'd try to merge something else into that package -- it was an example file for modders that they distributed with their documentation, so it's pretty old); they had no problem explaining exactly what the issue was (they even quickly tested it when I asked). This kind of collaboration does not exist with proprietary toolmakers, to say the least.

(To be fair, I never tried to prod anyone from TSRW about that STBL thing, though.)

Also, when coolspear1 says above "I have on two or three occasions tried contacting the creators regarding the issue" that might mean nobody ever told the creators about the 217 other issues people had with their files. That would also lead to ongoing issues (or rather, prevent them from being fixed), for obvious reasons.


(By the way, please do not double/triple post .. you can edit your posts with the Edit button at the bottom if you want to add something.)

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Smeg Head
#17 Old 11th Jan 2016 at 6:07 AM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
That sounds like the creator simply didn't adjust the mesh to properly fit their texture. Theoretically it could also be caused by a conflict, like a V-neck mesh overriding a round-neck mesh.


The conflict element is exactly what I believe it to be. Especially since I have contacted some very competent and long trusted, long established creators in the community to point it out on their Sims 4 creations. Yet they respond saying they do not see the same in their game. I've even seen button holes and fancy collar marks as ghostly mesh marks on the flesh, yet they do not see same. So obviously they have different CC than me, and conflict is the culprit.

I put it down to Sims 4 tools and techniques still pretty much being a hangover of Sims 3 tools and techniques, and Sims 4 creation has yet to fully come into its own on that side of things. I'm not complaining. I know with ever iteration of the franchise, it takes a good couple of years for the tools, artists and techniques to really cement themselves. This is approaching the back end of the teething stage, as far as I see it. And the enthusiasm to create for Sims 4 is as powerful as it's ever been. I regularly check in with all the regular updates across so many sites, just to see what's going on out there, and I can hardly keep up with it at this stage. Another 18 months from now, with cemented tools, techniques and creators, and wow! Exciting to say the least.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#18 Old 11th Jan 2016 at 7:53 AM
Quote: Originally posted by coolspear1
The conflict element is exactly what I believe it to be. Especially since I have contacted some very competent and long trusted, long established creators in the community to point it out on their Sims 4 creations. Yet they respond saying they do not see the same in their game. I've even seen button holes and fancy collar marks as ghostly mesh marks on the flesh, yet they do not see same. So obviously they have different CC than me, and conflict is the culprit.

I put it down to Sims 4 tools and techniques still pretty much being a hangover of Sims 3 tools and techniques, and Sims 4 creation has yet to fully come into its own on that side of things. I'm not complaining. I know with ever iteration of the franchise, it takes a good couple of years for the tools, artists and techniques to really cement themselves. This is approaching the back end of the teething stage, as far as I see it. And the enthusiasm to create for Sims 4 is as powerful as it's ever been. I regularly check in with all the regular updates across so many sites, just to see what's going on out there, and I can hardly keep up with it at this stage. Another 18 months from now, with cemented tools, techniques and creators, and wow! Exciting to say the least.


Is what's in the screenshot I posted the same as what you're referring to?
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#19 Old 11th Jan 2016 at 7:58 AM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
That sounds like the creator simply didn't adjust the mesh to properly fit their texture. Technically this is not a problem per se (i.e. the game doesn't care wether the mesh looks nice), but I agree it looks silly; I also wouldn't want that in my game. Theoretically it could also be caused by a conflict, like a V-neck mesh overriding a round-neck mesh .. but I have no idea how common that is, I hardly use any CAS CC. One could test whether that's the case by putting the offending item in game on its own, see if it still looks weird.




No, the strings are just the strings .. the words that show in the interface. If you delete all STBLs from an item, the result will be that it has no text in game, or just ***DEBUG***. But like I said above, I'm not sure whether CAS stuff even has any text that is visible in game, so perhaps you wouldn't see a difference at all.

Also, sometimes you'll have STBLs that s4pe won't preview but they still work fine in game -- as long as you don't have any issues you don't need to do anything about those. (I think that's STBLs generated by TSRW -- they are somehow different but I don't know what the difference is exactly.)

Technically the STBLs are all the same, no matter what language they contain.


When you say there are more issues with merging CC now than in the TS3 era (I have no idea, I never do that and I didn't play TS3 much to begin with), one reason for that might be that now we have two competing proprietary CC tools (TSRW and S4S), not just one like in the TS3 era. Both do not document what they are doing or communicate with the community, so issues like "what is the exact difference between a STBL generated by TSRW vs a Maxis one" become more diffficult to figure out.

Bizarrely, right now Maxis are the only ones who openly share that kind of info, but their files are of course largely unproblematic -- there is one single Maxis package I know about that cannot be re-saved with s4pe (so it would cause trouble when you'd try to merge something else into that package -- it was an example file for modders that they distributed with their documentation, so it's pretty old); they had no problem explaining exactly what the issue was (they even quickly tested it when I asked). This kind of collaboration does not exist with proprietary toolmakers, to say the least.

(To be fair, I never tried to prod anyone from TSRW about that STBL thing, though.)

Also, when coolspear1 says above "I have on two or three occasions tried contacting the creators regarding the issue" that might mean nobody ever told the creators about the 217 other issues people had with their files. That would also lead to ongoing issues (or rather, prevent them from being fixed), for obvious reasons.


(By the way, please do not double/triple post .. you can edit your posts with the Edit button at the bottom if you want to add something.)


Sorry about the multiple posts. I wasn't aware that was what I was doing. It won't happen again.

So, my understanding is that the worst that will happen if I delete STBL files showing an error is that there will be no text for that item in the catalog. Is that correct? Because, if so, that's a risk I'm willing to take. I don't pay much attention to the descriptions anyway, as a general rule, and in CAS there isn't any text that shows up at all. The only identifying feature you might encounter in CAS is whatever the thumbnail shows, i.e. the creator's name, etc.

Thanks for all your help, by the way. Much appreciated!
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#20 Old 11th Jan 2016 at 9:30 AM Last edited by plasticbox : 11th Jan 2016 at 10:03 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by mirabellarose
So, my understanding is that the worst that will happen if I delete STBL files showing an error is that there will be no text for that item in the catalog. Is that correct? Because, if so, that's a risk I'm willing to take. I don't pay much attention to the descriptions anyway, as a general rule, and in CAS there isn't any text that shows up at all. The only identifying feature you might encounter in CAS is whatever the thumbnail shows, i.e. the creator's name, etc.


Ah, thanks for that info -- I couldn't remember and also forgot to check.

But it really shouldn't be necessary to remove an STBL *only* because you can't read it in s4pe (as long as you don't have issues in game) -- coincidentially, the non-displaying STBL thing came up yesterday in a s4pe chat and maybe that's going to be fixed soon anyway.


Quote: Originally posted by coolspear1
The conflict element is exactly what I believe it to be. Especially since I have contacted some very competent and long trusted, long established creators in the community to point it out on their Sims 4 creations. Yet they respond saying they do not see the same in their game. I've even seen button holes and fancy collar marks as ghostly mesh marks on the flesh, yet they do not see same. So obviously they have different CC than me, and conflict is the culprit.


Could very well be -- I've also had people report that some overrides of mine (super simple texture overrides) were not working, and when I asked them to check without other CC, they did work. So they must have had other CC that was overriding the same thing, without being aware of it.

This is impossible to fix without some initiative from the side of the users, though -- if someone can pinpoint which exact items are conflicting, and notify *both* creators, that would go a long way. There's loads of TS4 CC around that has duplicate game files of all sorts in it that aren't even used, and I don't think any creator would deliberately put that in there -- in general, creators often don't seem to know what's in their packages until someone points it out to them.

This is also something that might break merge attempts btw .. if you have content with the same ID in different packages, one will override the other, so one of them will simply not show up -- but if you put them in the same package, it would be pretty much a matter of random coincidence which files get deleted and which ones survive the move, so that way you can end up with two incomplete pieces of content. And I wouldn't expect the game to like it very much when random parts of CC suddenly go missing =P.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Smeg Head
#21 Old 11th Jan 2016 at 10:48 PM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
One could test whether that's the case by putting the offending item in game on its own, see if it still looks weird.


Way back in the early days of TS4 I remember doing that. A Maxis mesh was altered, the corset removed from sleepwear and made as an everyday top with a few alterations. The bra cups had been removed, but in my game the outline was still there and looked like horrible scarring on the woman's chest. I took out all other CC (Didn't have much back then.) Yet the ghostly mesh scars persisted. I contacted the creator, they said they did not see same. With only their word to go on, I can only assume it somehow conflicted with the original Maxis mesh in my game.

Quote: Originally posted by mirabellarose
Is what's in the screenshot I posted the same as what you're referring to?


I would suspect it is something of a similar nature. In your pic, it would appear as shadows remaining on the wrists from a long sleeve mesh alteration. I have seen this effect in the past also. As I explained to plasticbox, the stuff I've also seen really does look like scars, because the original mesh outline is carved into the sim's exposed flesh after the mesh alteration. It actually looks painful for the sim, as in the bra cup issue I've reported. Have you ever seen that Tattoo technique where they do not use ink, but actually scar the flesh into Tattoos. It's very much like that, the outlines of the mesh as a scar tattoo.
Pettifogging Legalist!
retired moderator
#22 Old 11th Jan 2016 at 11:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by coolspear1
the stuff I've also seen really does look like scars, because the original mesh outline is carved into the sim's exposed flesh after the mesh alteration. It actually looks painful for the sim, as in the bra cup issue I've reported.


Do you perhaps mean leftover bumpmaps from the original item? I believe with low graphics settings, bumpmaps aren't being used (I might be remembering that wrong though) so that might explain it when it's only an issue for some people.

Stuff for TS2 · TS3 · TS4 | Please do not PM me with technical questions – we have Create forums for that.

In the kingdom of the blind, do as the Romans do.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#23 Old 12th Jan 2016 at 5:37 AM Last edited by mirabellarose : 12th Jan 2016 at 8:59 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
Ah, thanks for that info -- I couldn't remember and also forgot to check.

But it really shouldn't be necessary to remove an STBL *only* because you can't read it in s4pe (as long as you don't have issues in game) -- coincidentially, the non-displaying STBL thing came up yesterday in a s4pe chat and maybe that's going to be fixed soon anyway.


That would be cool if that STBL issue were fixed. As things stand, if I have broken STBL files in a merged package, the game won't even start. Going through and deleting all the STBLs with errors makes the game accept the merged package, but then there's the risk that all the accompanying text is missing, which is an issue if you want to cull your custom content and get rid of stuff you no longer want.

Sigh. First world problems...

Edit: I just checked in-game a merged package that had STBL errors that I had to delete. You're right. The text that would normally accompany the item is missing. It says "Debug" now. I still have the original files, and I have the original files organized by genre, so if I encountered an item I wanted to delete but didn't have the necessary information for it, I suppose I could try to guess what folder the item is likely in based on the item's appearance, pull out the merged file and replace it with the loose files. That way the information would be there and I can track down and delete the file I no longer want.

What a pain.

Again, sigh...first world problems...

I'm sure hoping the STBL issue gets fixed at some point.
Smeg Head
#24 Old 12th Jan 2016 at 7:05 AM
Quote: Originally posted by plasticbox
Do you perhaps mean leftover bumpmaps from the original item? I believe with low graphics settings, bumpmaps aren't being used (I might be remembering that wrong though) so that might explain it when it's only an issue for some people.


So if I set my graphics settings to the lowest possible next time I encounter mesh scarring, it might remove them? (If its a bumpmap issue.) Worth trying if I ever see it again. I might go look for that corset top again, just to experiment and give the creator more feedback.

On a "Speak of the Devil" tangent, today I encountered a somewhat similar issue with CC objects for the first time ever in Sim4. A few days back, I downloaded a nice set of round rugs that were newly created. In game, they totally override an older set of rugs I have, "invasion of the body snatcher" conflict at work.



The large black and white rug is the pattern on the new rugs I downloaded, but the actual large rug on the floor should look like the small one next to it. The buy catalogue image is the correct image for the large rug. This is the first time I've seen it happen with objects. As much as I like the new black and white one, I prefer the older set so I will be getting rid of the new one. Unless anyone can suggest a fix. Something I can relay to the creator of the newer rugs. Not that I want to go tell them how to do their job or anything, but what if they don't see it in their own game? Cross that bridge if and when we come to it, I suspect.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#25 Old 12th Jan 2016 at 9:05 AM
Quote: Originally posted by coolspear1
So if I set my graphics settings to the lowest possible next time I encounter mesh scarring, it might remove them? (If its a bumpmap issue.) Worth trying if I ever see it again. I might go look for that corset top again, just to experiment and give the creator more feedback.

On a "Speak of the Devil" tangent, today I encountered a somewhat similar issue with CC objects for the first time ever in Sim4. A few days back, I downloaded a nice set of round rugs that were newly created. In game, they totally override an older set of rugs I have, "invasion of the body snatcher" conflict at work.



The large black and white rug is the pattern on the new rugs I downloaded, but the actual large rug on the floor should look like the small one next to it. The buy catalogue image is the correct image for the large rug. This is the first time I've seen it happen with objects. As much as I like the new black and white one, I prefer the older set so I will be getting rid of the new one. Unless anyone can suggest a fix. Something I can relay to the creator of the newer rugs. Not that I want to go tell them how to do their job or anything, but what if they don't see it in their own game? Cross that bridge if and when we come to it, I suspect.


Okay, so I'm not an expert here or anything, I've only done small numbers of easy custom content creation (re-coloring other people's meshes, etc.) and that's all been with Sims 3, but, obviously, what's going on is that the black and white textures are overriding the other textures. Couldn't you (or someone else) just clone the item, make sure it has its own instance number, then apply the black and white textures to it? That way the item would be stand-alone and wouldn't override anything, I would imagine. Again, I don't know much so maybe that sounds cock-eyed to you guys.
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