These look wild, especially the second pic there, I'd definitely download this and try them in my houses.

One quick question for you. When you say theyw ont work witht he previous tiles, do you mean they will conflict in the game completely, or can I have both installed but only use one type per house? THey look great thanks.

MINI RE-COLOR TUTORIAL

The basic process involves importing a texture with the colors you want your object to be, then importing an alpha channel (black and white image) that determines which parts of your texture will show in the game.

1. Open the wall or ceiling object with SimPE's Object Workshop Plugin (the SimPE program is available at http://sims.ambertation.de) under "Load Object" and choose the "Create Color Extension" option. Choose a name for your re-color file and save.

2. When the file has opened, click on "Texture Image" in the left-hand column. Then click on the "Texture Image" line that appears in the "Packed File" window on the right. Then click on the "Plugin view" tab below. You should see the default texture of green moons and stars displayed.

3. First, we'll choose a color. Click on the largest image size (256 X 256 for the ceiling panel, 256 X 512 for the wall panel), then RIGHT-click on the image itself to bring up a menu. Choose the "Export..." option (or you can just click on the Export button that's above and to the right of the image). Save the file in a folder, in whatever image format you prefer. (Tutorial Picture 1)

4. Open the image you just saved in a paint program such as Adobe Photoshop. You will see the green moon and stars. Erase them, and decide on a base color for your object - pink, blue, yellow, etc. FILL THE ENTIRE SQUARE with this color. For best results, you should use a mix of two or more colors (such as light blue and dark blue, or a rainbow gradient) and use a gradient tool to blend them. This will give your object a "glowing" look instead of a simple flat look. SAVE YOUR IMAGE FILE. (Tutorial Picture 2)

5. Back in the SimPE program, RIGHT-click on the image, and this time choose the "Import..." option. Find the file you just saved (if you're in the folder and it doesn't appear at first, check the "file types" that SimPE is opening and see if it is correct. SimPE tends to look for .tif and .bmp images, while many times exported images are in .png format, etc.). Select your file.

6. Your image should now appear as a block of the color you just created. Choose "commit" (above and to the right of the image) and save. This time, RIGHT-click on the image again, and choose "Export Alpha Channel..." Save this file in a directory. (Tutorial Picture 3)

7. Open up the alpha channel image you just exported in a paint program. It should be plain white (though if you skipped the step above, you may see the moon and star shapes). This time, fill the entire square with BLACK. Then, draw the images you would like to appear for your panel in WHITE. (i.e. if you want moons and stars to appear, draw white moons and stars on a black background). SAVE YOUR IMAGE FILE when you are finished. (Tutorial Picture 4)

8. Back in SimPE, RIGHT-click on the image to bring up the menu, and this time choose "Import Alpha Channel." Select the image you just saved. Your image should now be the shapes you wanted in the color you previously made.

9. Now RIGHT-click on the image one last time, and choose "Update all sizes." Then click "commit." Check the other image sizes to be sure that your image was copied correctly to the other sizes. Save your file. (Tutorial Picture 5)

10. Copy your completed re-color package file to your Downloads or your Downloads/Recolor sub-directory. Make sure that the original object (the ceiling or the wall panel) is in the Downloads folder as well.

11. Your re-color will appear as an option for the ceiling or wall panel object, which both appear in the "Decorative-Miscellaneous" category.

Hi Lyriclee,

Oh, they won't conflict - they use a different GUID and everything. It's just that the current tiles (v. 2.1 and before) are set at a slightly lower height than these are (the mesh for v.3.0 of the tiles - which switch between visible mode and invisible mode - is set at the highest height possible), so if you have these and a ceiling tile in the same place, the ceiling will actually be lower, and you won't see the object from below. I'm trying to release the latest ceiling tile within a few days, but I decided to just release this now, since I've had it around for a while.

Thanks for the reply jg. I stll havent gotten the hang of the original tiles lmao but they truly do look incredible. Im off to test now and Ill let you know how they work

That's a super idea, and they look great! I wonder (and keep in mind I am NOT an object editor at all), could you actually make them "light up" ala wall lights; a soft glow, like a nightlight? That would be amazing! :howdy:

Hi mahill,

I tried using lamps as a base originally, but editing how much light lamps give off is way beyond my expertise. I found that if I had multiple copies of these objects in a room, it would turn super-bright, so it'd no longer be "in the dark." That's why I decided to go with a non-light object that's just been altered to give the appearance of glowing (like the Neon flamingo).

I think these are totally cool, I did have a play with the old version and found your tutorial for altering the alpha very simple and easy to follow, I'm looking forward to having these in my game.
BTW I love the ceilings too, it really annoyed me that you could see the sky everytime you took a screenie.
Thankyou and thanks to Inge too for her contributions :D

I like them. You did ask for some requests. Can you have some of just stars? I have just stars in my room in RL and I would love to have them in my game.

Sure, lobstergirl, no problem. Did you want them to be green like above, or white/silverish? Did you want lots of little stars, or a couple of big ones? And did you want the ceiling, wall, or both? Sorry for all the questions, but I just wanna be sure I get it right

I might not be able to post them for a while (though they won't take long), as I'm off somewhere now, but if you give a response I'll definitely post them tonight in a response. Thanks,

J.

will it conflict with other objects and will it replace the old ceilings

i love it alot

Good Idea !!! It gives me another idea.

Hi shaythong8,

There shouldn't be conflicts with other objects - it uses a separate GUID and I've tried to ensure that it's an independent object. The ceiling decoration is based on a hanging plant and is coded so that you can place ceiling lamps or sculptures on the same square. The wall decoration is based on a painting, so you won't be able to place another painting or a wall light in the same place unless you use move_objects on.

The ceiling decorations won't conflict with the tiles, they just won't currently be visible from below if you place a ceiling tile and a deocration on the same square (because they'll be blocked from view by the tiles).

I like the green color like above. And I would like a mix of big and small stars for both the ceiling and the walls. Thanks for doing this for me jg.

Didi

Hi lobstergirl,

This is what I came up with - I'm not sure if it's exactly what you were thinking of. As stated, these re-colors take less than 10 minutes to create with a good paint program (though I take time afterwards to test it in my game - these should be fine), so once you learn the basic process, you'll be able to create a big variety of designs. Just put the package files in your Downloads or Downloads/Recolor subfolder. Hope you like it,

J.

EDIT: Recolor file moved to first post.

looks good.i´ll try it later.thanks

It seams i have missed this thread!!

These are supercalifrajalisticespialidocious!!

Thank you so much!

Smootch!

:bow2:
:bow2:

Fantastic! Love the ceiling lights and now neon stars and moon! Thanks so much for all the hard work! (The ceiling lights work great in the game!)

thanks alot :-)

really lovley! Looks great in game

OMG! Thanks these are perfect!

Cooooooooooool!!!!

Awesome, really awesome stuff!! As a kid I actually had a kit that did this exact thing in real life!!

Coolllllllllllllllllllll Thanks very much :D