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Veteran Finn
retired moderator
Original Poster
#1 Old 10th Dec 2011 at 8:06 AM Last edited by armiel : 15th Nov 2012 at 4:27 PM.
Default Useful resources, common issues, and much more
This thread is a compilation of some very useful info about creating a world, here in MTS, and also around the web.

Some very important threads get lost in the amount of posts in the Create-a-World forum, so this is a place to find them easily.

This thread also holds links to some very common issues/questions, so check them out before posting on the forum

Common issues
These pages are know technical issues and solutions for running CAW, and also some most common issues you may experience in CAW itself.

Technical:
CAW not running? CAW running slowly?
CAW version mismatch

Other:
Brown Mucky Uck Texture Solution
Elevation issues with lot placing
Land disappears in EIG/turns blue when zoomed in

General CAWing:
These are general CAW pages, for creating your world. They do not require you any extra knowledge, or tools besides CAW itself and a graphics editor.

Exporting world:
24 bit .png - how to make one in Paint.Net
24 bit .png for CAW thumbnail - don't wanna make one? Download one here.
How to export the world for play and share

Other:
CAW Content list
Distant terrains - cordinates
Layers- How many should you use?


Tutorials:
Caw tutorials (links)
Overall tutorial to Creating Sims 3 Worlds
Routing - basics to sim routing

Advantaged CAWing
These are more advantaged CAW pages, all though you must not be frightened by the word "advantaged". It's only there to separate these pages from the general ones, since you can create a world without any of the following pages, and cause most of these pages require you to use additional tools, such as s3pe.

Heightmaps:
16 bit Heightmaps - making a custom heightmap in Photoshop
16-bit .png support~Found a free EASY conversion program
How to create a world using real world height data

Other:
Adding water planes
Editing premade worlds
Larger world size - work in process
Making custom Distant terrains
Modding objects to show up in CAW Metadata
Modding the Create-a-World Tool to Unlock Hidden Features
Populating Worlds in Create-a-World
Prepopulating worlds
Sea, Sky and Light parameters


This post will be edited when new important threads/posts are found. If you find something very important about CAW when surfing around web, please post the link below and we'll edit it in this post.

The look of this post change along with new links added, so if you can't see a link earlier posted on a spot it used to be, check out the headlines. I don't wanna clutter the post by making the headlines before they have content under them.
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One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#3 Old 11th Dec 2011 at 2:24 PM
Do any of them cover the ubiquitous question "How can I make a 16bit png?"

"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#4 Old 11th Dec 2011 at 2:40 PM
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/po...61.page#3772698
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/po...61.page#3736582
http://www.modthesims.info/m/showthread.php?t=382629



Perhaps we should add a tutorial to the Wiki here! The trick is, you need to remove the alpha (so you have 3X 8bit channels =24bit)
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#5 Old 11th Dec 2011 at 4:49 PM
Aha! Good old Paint.net to the rescue again!

"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
Veteran Finn
retired moderator
Original Poster
#6 Old 11th Dec 2011 at 4:53 PM
Heh, Simsample, I added your links in, though you could have just edited the post

Any mod can add link to the post, just keep them in alphabetical order (I try, I might fail), and feel free to add more headlines if needed. Right now I have separated the stuff to 3 main groups - issues, easy stuff and harder stuff.
One horse disagreer of the Apocalypse
#7 Old 11th Dec 2011 at 5:53 PM
Oh I got mixed up. It was the 16bit pngs for height maps I was talking about. I think Simsample thought I meant the 24bit pngs for the thumbnails.

"You can do refraction by raymarching through the depth buffer" (c. Reddeyfish 2017)
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#8 Old 12th Dec 2011 at 10:40 AM
Ah, sorry Inge, I misread! For 16 bit heightmaps you need to choose greyscale and choose 16 bits per channel (no alpha) as then you just get one channel=16 bits (as opposed to 3X8 bit channels =24 bit for the world thumb).

A bit here about it:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title..._.28Optional.29

And more in the links in the first post.

And a helpful tutorial here:
http://builders.forumotion.net/t115...rld-height-data

Quote: Originally posted by armiel
Heh, Simsample, I added your links in, though you could have just edited the post

Ah, but I didn't like to sice you made it so neat!
Veteran Finn
retired moderator
Original Poster
#9 Old 13th Dec 2011 at 6:38 AM
Ahaha, I see. Alright, I'll keep adding the links
Test Subject
#10 Old 8th Feb 2012 at 5:11 PM
Thankyou for this post, it is VERY useful!!!
Veteran Finn
retired moderator
Original Poster
#11 Old 21st Feb 2012 at 7:55 AM
Added links to the Super CAW tut, and to my DT tut.
Forum Resident
#12 Old 22nd Feb 2012 at 10:01 AM
Hi Armiel

TS3CC has moved. Here is the new link for the height map tut;

How to create a world using Real-World Height data by Napalm_VFR

Thanks
Veteran Finn
retired moderator
Original Poster
#13 Old 22nd Feb 2012 at 12:00 PM
Updated - thank you
Test Subject
#14 Old 3rd Jun 2012 at 12:30 AM
Default "Editing premade worlds" link broken
I am trying to figure out if there is a way to place lots on "un-routeable terrain", but I can't find an answer on here and the link provided on this thread labled as "Editing premade worlds" doesn't work.
Forum Resident
#15 Old 3rd Jun 2012 at 11:26 PM
If you are playing the game, and go into Edit Town, and use the World Editor, then no, you can't place those lots on unroutable terrain. The "Editing premade worlds" does work, I've done it many times, It is just a bit tricky if you're not used to where all the files are, and not familiar with s3pe, and caw. If you need help with that tutorial, post in that thread, and I'll try to help you through the process.

Editing pre-made worlds
Test Subject
#16 Old 11th Jun 2012 at 8:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by auntielynds
If you are playing the game, and go into Edit Town, and use the World Editor, then no, you can't place those lots on unroutable terrain. The "Editing premade worlds" does work, I've done it many times, It is just a bit tricky if you're not used to where all the files are, and not familiar with s3pe, and caw. If you need help with that tutorial, post in that thread, and I'll try to help you through the process.

Editing pre-made worlds


When I said that it didn't work, I meant the link. But since you offered to help, can I ask you a question? When it says open 'CAW', what does it mean? The World Editor? Never mind, I figured it out.
I have The Sims through Steam and the World Editor doesn't recognise that I have the game, so I can't use it. Is there any place I can find a pre-made world that is large and little to no 'Unroutable' areas?
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#17 Old 1st Jul 2012 at 1:38 PM
Pixie_child, Create-a-world will not work with the Steam version of Sims 3, although you should be able to use your license keys to download the game through Origin, should you wish to.

For world maps, look here:
http://customsims3.com/forums/forum-54.html
Mirrored here:
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/553768.page

No way to place lot on unroutable terrain without editing in CAW, but bear in mind that sometimes if you delete a lot in-game and then try to place another one in the same location, the game may assume that the terrain is occupied even if it is not. So in that case, saving and reloading the save can help.
Instructor
#18 Old 12th Nov 2012 at 1:44 AM
The link for "Editing premade worlds" seems broken.
Veteran Finn
retired moderator
Original Poster
#19 Old 15th Nov 2012 at 4:28 PM
The working link was posted later on the thread, but never updated on the main list. Is fixed now.
Veteran Finn
retired moderator
Original Poster
#20 Old 8th Nov 2013 at 7:25 PM
Hey guys and girls!

It's been a while since we've updated this thread, so I figured to bump it up to ask if anyone's learned/found any new tricks and tips for CAW that we could collect here. Or even old stuff that is not yet listed, but could be generally useful. I'm also a bit outdated on what's going on in CAW in general, so there might be posts/research threads on this forum that would be helpful to be gathered in one post.

If you do have something to add, please post a link, and I'll update them to first post when I spot the replies.

Happy CAWing, and thanks in advance!
Test Subject
#21 Old 7th Jul 2016 at 6:38 AM
Argh.

I need to convert a 16-bit-image into a 24-bit-image - any ideas? I tried both photoshop and gimp, but both don't have that function...
Scholar
#22 Old 12th Jul 2016 at 3:18 AM
Quote: Originally posted by schwarzdrossel
Argh.

I need to convert a 16-bit-image into a 24-bit-image - any ideas? I tried both photoshop and gimp, but both don't have that function...


I found this but I'm not sure it's what you are looking for:
"A 24 bit tiff means a color mode of RGB (3 channels) and a bit depth of 8 for each channel which is the definition of a 24 bit tiff, but if you are talking simply bit depth, that 24-bitt tiff could be called an 8 bit tiff.



So is your 16 bit tiff under Image menu in Photoshop RGB mode/16 bpc?



If so, just change it to rgb/8 bpc. That would be the 24 bit tiff you want"
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/1808856

Does that help at all?
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#23 Old 28th Dec 2016 at 9:44 PM
I wanted to add this resource for anyone who is just getting into CAW.

All EA world resources- textures, CAW files and Lite CAW files. Also copies of the CAW program for various patch versions.
https://cawster.wordpress.com/
Test Subject
#24 Old 17th Mar 2018 at 2:18 PM
I started a world back in 2014, than had to make a longer pause because of RL time and infrastructur constrains. When I wanted to pick back up, the game had th 1.69 update and me a a windows 10 installation (meaning the one that made that latest patch necessary). The CAW was also updated, and I can open my started world just fine - with the real problem that it lacks the contents of the two store cities I heavily used the content of, Roaring Heights and Monte Vista and replaces all of those with placeholders from the basegame, completely ruining my work.

Is there any trick to get those back into the game. I wouldn't even mind if I had to redo them, but I cannot build the world I had in mind without those. Everything including old saves of test runs of the world run fine in the game proper.
Top Secret Researcher
#25 Old 8th Apr 2019 at 7:55 PM Last edited by Corylea : 8th Apr 2019 at 8:15 PM.
I'm running the game under patch 1.69, and when I try to use "Edit in Game" in CAW, Origin starts up. I've read a bunch of threads, and most of them have one person saying that we have to buy a new copy of the base game. Seriously? Buying all eleven expansion packs wasn't enough?! I'm supposed to buy the base game a second time, just to have CAW actually work?

Is anyone running CAW under the 1.69 patch and having EIG work?

I've removed all custom content, and I just reinstalled the game from the ground up about a month ago, on a brand new SSD. New install, no mods folder ... why isn't it working?

I also tried SuperCAW, and it does exactly the same thing as regular CAW -- "Edit in Game" brings up Origin.

I've made some mods for The Sims 1 -- yes, The Sims ONE :-) -- which you can find at http://corylea.com/Sims1ModsByCorylea.html
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