Note: This method uses an existing replacement skin so it's much easier than creating one from scratch. This is why it's "simplified".

You can also create default skins at the push of a button with the new version of SimPE, but it doesn't produce a stand-alone file that you can share and or distribute. Both the skin and the replacement skin need to be present in the download folder. Also the results were flaky for me. So I prefer this tried and true method. Hopefully it will be useful to someone here.

Creating default skin replacement - simplified method.

Credits: Many thanks to Sleepycat who patiently walked me through this method every step of the way.

Overview

The goal of this exercise is to use an already existing replacement skin, and replace all the textures from the skin with new ones. It's a little bit like recolouring an object. It's much easier than doing a default skin from scratch. Because you use an existing default, a lot of the work has been done for you.

Tools and files required

a) SimPE :http://sims.ambertation.de/en/download/realdownload/

b) NVIDIA DDS Utilities :http://developer.nvidia.com/object/...ture_tools.html

c) A graphic program that allows you to save files using the png format, preferably one that will allow you to do batch conversion. I use Paint Shop Pro : http://www.corel.com/

d) An existing default skin replacement. This is the one I used :

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=128208

e) The skin you wish to turn into a default.

f) Body Shop

Preparation :

Obtain all the necessary software and files as indicated above. In SimPE Preferences enter the path of the Nvidia DDS Tool folder. The default is C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NVIDIA DDS Utilities. Put the file you wish to turn into a default replacement skin into your download folder. Create a new folder somewhere and name it something like PNG

Step one : Extracting the textures from your skin.

Launch Bodyshop, Create Parts, Start New Project, Create Genetics, Skin Tone. Select the skin tone you want to turn into a default replacement. Click on export selected textures. Wait till the export process is done. You can now cancel the project as it's no longer required. Close Body Shop.

You will find that Body Shop has created a new project folder in your data folder. There you will find a whole slew of bmp files.

Step two : Converting the texture files from bmp to png.

This step will be different for every graphic program. What you want to do is convert each of the bmp file that was created in the previous step into a png file. There are a lot of files, which is why a software that allows batch conversions is recommended!. If you don't have that, you will have to open each file, one by one, and use the "save as" feature to save them with the PNG extension Don't change the file names. Put the new files in PNG folder you created earlier.


The reason this step is necessary is that BMP files are not compressed in any way, so if you were to use them to create a default replacement skin, the file would probably be around 50 MB

Step three : Importing the new textures

Now that you have your replacement textures, you are ready to begin the real work of creating your default skin replacement.

With SimPE open the default skin replacement file (d) that will be the "host" for your new texture files. In the right pane, under type, you should see a whole bunch of line beginning with Texture Image... Resize the column so that you can read the entire name of the file. Click on Type to alphabetize the list.

Click on the first line. It will show you an image. That's the texture you need to replace with your own. You will need to do this for every single line.

Right click on the image. Select Build DXT. Click open Image ...Browse to the PNG folder you created in step one. Select the appropriate file and click on Build. Commit the change. Move on to the next line. Rinse and repeat.

Now your next question will be. Which file goes with which. As you will quickly realize the naming convention isn't quite the same, but similar enough to be familiar. The attached chart should help you. Don't be surprised if not all the files you created are used. Once you have finished importing all the files, save your work and you are done !.

Last edited by Angelyne : 30th Nov 2006 at 11:47 PM. Reason: Edited procedure to make a few points clearer

thank you ... i hope this works

Thank you for this tutorial. However, I'm stuck in step three lol! In Simpe, I opened the file I have in my downloads folder (which is the skins I want to turn into defaults), but in the right hand pane, everything that is labeled "texture image" is greyed out. However, if I click on a texture image, I get an image with file names such as: ##0x5fe0587d!0x394f996c_txtr . What am I doing wrong? None of the file names remotely resemble the chart you compiled.

Help!
~Amber~

These are skins you downloaded, not ones you created, right? Images should have been created in SimPE, but if you get something grey, but get a real image when you click on the image itself, you should still be able to go on with the next step. The important thing is that you have an actual image (a 1024x1024 pixel skin file) that you can use to Build DXT.

Hi Faylen....thanks for responding. =)
The skins that I want to turn into defaults is a light skintone that I modified myself with anatomically correct body parts. They are packaged in my downloads folder. I followed steps one and two of the tut using BS and created a new project of skintones and then opened them all in PSP and saved them in a PNG format to a folder on my desktop. I think so far that is correct.

Now, in Simpe: When I open my anatomically correct skintone in my downloads folder, and click on any of the texture images in the right pane, the file name that I get does not indicate what skin it is. Soooo....I don't know which file is which. Angelyne had included a file name chart with this tutorial, and when I fist looked at the chart I was confidant I would be able to figure out what skin was what, but with file names like " ##0x5fe0587d!0x394f996c_txtr " I don't know if it's female adult, or teen, or if the body is cut, normal or soft. I guess you can sorta tell by looking at the image...but I'm not positive.

Hopefully, I've explained my problem a little bit better. How do I get a better file name to show (such as the ones in Angelyne's tut)? Is there another button I should be clicking? LOL! That way when I right click on the image to Build DXT, I can browse the PNG folder on my desktop for the matching age/gender file.

Members of my group are asking me to make my skins default. =)

Thanks
~Amber~

Last edited by kissablerose : 10th Jul 2006 at 3:48 AM. Reason: To explain why I need to learn how to do this! LOL!

OK, I see your problem. Hmmm. Not something I can think of off the top of my head, but I'll take a look and see if I can figure it out - but if someone knows - I'd imagine that code is there for a reason - feel free to jump in if you get it before I do.

I figured it out finally! =) D'uh me...I was trying to do it all backwards and that's why I was getting the wrong filenames.

Thanks for trying to help.
~Amber~

Thank you Angelyne, now my sims finally have the skintones I wanted them to have!

Last edited by An_na : 8th Aug 2006 at 3:47 PM. Reason: typo

I'm having the same problem as kissablerose, and I'm not really sure what she meant about "doing it all backwards"... I have the crazy filenames and I'm not sure which replaces which... help please!

-Umbrella Master-

I am been wanting to make defaults out of my modified skintones for so long but have been too overwhelmed by the various tutorials that I didn't try. Then I read your tutorial the other day and thought "what the heck, lets try it". The tutorial was so well written that I picked it up immediately and in less than two hours, I had my four default skins done and reloaded to the game. They worked great, with no problems.

I really appreciate you taking the time to write such an easy to follow tutorial.
Keep up the good work.

Now if I could only figure out how to make a skintone that pulled BeosBoy's slim body builder for the guys and Warlokk's 34C for the girls I'd be in heaven.
Any suggestions?

Could I use this same process to alter an existing custom skin tone? This would save me having to reimport the skintone to bodyshop, change it and reexport to the game. It also would leave existing sims built with these skintones intact. I checked the sims I had already build with the default skins and the update to the defaults worked fine.
So basically I am asking, could I do exactly the same with a skin tone I have already reimported back to the game?

Hey sorry it took so long. I need to re-subscribe to this thread I think.

So yes you are correct. You can edit any existing skin in the same way. The only problem is that it's tedious. There are more files, and it's not obvious figuring out which texture corresponds to what.

Unless you have dozens of sims to do, you would be better off using SimPE to change the skin within the sim file itself.

As for your first question, are you saying you want to make BeosBoy's slim body builder and Warlokk's 34C mesh default?

I would have no idea how to do that. You would be better putting the question to the creators of the meshes on the Insim's forum.. Someone is bound to have asked that before.

However there is a global hack by Duddly that increase bust size from the default maxis size B to a size C. You can find it here http://www.modthesims2.com/member.php?u=907

"So yes you are correct. You can edit any existing skin in the same way. The only problem is that it's tedious. There are more files, and it's not obvious figuring out which texture corresponds to what.

Unless you have dozens of sims to do, you would be better off using SimPE to change the skin within the sim file itself."

How do you replace the skin tone of an existing sim in SimPE with another skin tone? This would really help me get rid of two custom skins files that I know longer wish to use but are attached to four family members I play with.

Also, The thing I was looking to do with the slimbb + Warlokk's 34C mesh was create a skin that if a male were made in CAS to use it they would have the slimbb body (female made in CAS would have 34C body) but if they had children this would genetically pass on slimbb body for boys and a 34C body for girls. I will post this ove r at Insem and see what comes up. Thanks

i get the same problem. I would appreciate it if the creator of the tutorial could tell us if she has a solution for this problem or if she really doesnt know about this. that would atleast shed some light on this situation.

Step 3 isnt at all clear to me either way. i dont know what file to open in SimPE. Do i open the file that ive downloaded or do i open the package file that was created when i exported the textures?

Also, does this mean that there is only 1 default to replace? How about the 5 other skintones?
Im abit lost here

I was afraid you'd ask that

This is the simple answer. In SimPE open the neighbordhood file (Tool, Neighorhood, Neighborhood browser). Find the category named Sims Description. In that category find the sims whose skin you want to change. Click on the More icon, and then open sims DNA. You will find there, 4 values that are of interest to you. The Dominant Gene SkinTone and SkinToneRange and the Recessive Gene SkinTone and SkinToneRange. In those fields there will be a value that looks like this : 00000001-0000-0000-0000-000000000000. 1 represents the palest skin tone, and 4 is the darkest skin tone of the default skin tones. In your case you will probably see something like 3837b407-48cb-e500-06b0-efb973a7ea5f

That number corresponds to a custom skin tone. The number is unique to each custom skin file.

Open the custom skin tone in SimPE. In the category property set, you will find a bunch of lines that begins with property set: CASIE Pick one of those lines, at random. Locate the family string number. (all the lines will have the same family number). You'll notice that it corresponds to the number that appears in your sims DNA

Find the family number of the skin you want as a replacement. In the Sims DNA everywhere you see the number that corresponds to the old skin, replace it with the new skin family number. Commit and save. If you rather have your sim use a default skin tone change the number whichever number corresponds to your choosen skin tone (i.e. 00000001-0000-0000-0000-000000000000)

When you load the game, if the new skin doesn't show properly or looks weird, have your sims do a change appearance in the mirror to fix it.

Releaze, I believe the problem with Kissablerose was that she (and you I suspect) are opening the wrong file, thus the confusion.

If you followed my instructions you have a default replacement skin that you downloaded from somewhere. You don't have to like it since you will replace every single texture from the file with new ones. It's a little bit like recoloring an object.

The file that you need to open in SimPE is this existing default replacement skin. It will be the "host" for your new textures.

I'm assuming you have already exported the textures that you want for your new default deplacement skin and have converted them to a PNG format.

Use those textures you exported and converted to replace all the ones in the file you opened in SimPE. Use the correspondance chart I prepared to help you.

I hope this is clearer to you.

Hmm, i didnt get a default replacement skin but i browsed around for one not long after i posted the above message and on mts2, i found Lin's recolour of Louis default skin. That was the only one i could find actually, but perhaps i'm looking in the wrong places.

Anyways, in Louis default file, there are only facefiles, and in lin's recolour theres the same 21938290380x02 type of files.. So, same problem there :/
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=175159 is the url for the packages i downloaded (default add on and recolours)

but i guess its clear now that 'default skins' need to be downloaded, i thought any kind of skin would be allright.. ohwell Thank you very much for replying Angelyne!
thank you very much

well it would be a pointless exercise to replace all the textures of a non default skin file with the unmodified textures of another skin. You'd end up right up where you started.

The default skin you picked has been produced by the SimPE plugin I briefly mentionned at the beginning of the tutorial.

If you still want to do this, why don't you try these default skins : http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=128208

I know they work, since they are the one Sleepycat and I made.

Thank you once again It worked, naturally!

The reason why i thought that i could use any skintone was because i thought that the DDS utility would somehow integrate the new skintone into the game, so the whole concept of default skins made no sense to me it does now!
Thank you for elaborating further on this subject

Quick question about b) NVIDIA DDS Utilities :http://developer.nvidia.com/object/...ture_tools.html

I have an Radeon ATI Graphics card (X1300) ... is it "safe" to use that Nvidia utility with the Radeon. Even possible? Sorry if this is a question with a stupidly obvious answer but I'm diving into the complete unknown in trying to convert my skin set into a default replacement set suitable for sharing.

Sorry this response is so late, I was checking this thread for something else...

Summersong, the nvidia utilities should work for anything, they're just image processing utilities, and have nothing to do with the actual video card.

This is probably something really simple that I'm overlooking, but where do I find the "default skin replacement file" mentioned in Step 3?

Read the beginning part more carefully, like around 'd)'

I knew I was missing something! I feel smart *end sarcasm*. I found the skins I wanted already as defaults, but thanks anyway!

I cant find this word " Default Replacement File " in SimPE ?