Mod The Sims - SimPE - CANNOT use it

sobenna_kahill

Lab Assistant

Original Poster

#1

8th Mar 2021 at 9:49 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life

SimPE - CANNOT use it

I don't know if this is the right forum, forgive me if it's not. I've never been able to use SimPE for anything successfully, except once I altered the ages of my sims using a Youtube tutorial. Anything else does not seem to ever work.

Now I'm trying to use this tutorial to edit OBJD files and the steps just don't make sense. For example, there is no ‘Catalog Sort’ tab anywhere to be found.

Yes, I've read the "Ground Up" and "Technically Challenged" tutorials. I've tried to follow other tutorials on the web. Every time I launch SimPE, it looks nothing like what it's supposed to and the tabs I'm supposed to click to follow instructions don't even exist. I have version .075, which I suppose is the latest version.

Are there any tutorials out there that make sense? Or anyone else have these kind of problems SimPE? I want to be able to use it, sounds like it's pretty amazing, but I've been playing this game over 10 years and almost never use SimPE b/c I just can't figure out how to use it.

Screenshots

omglo

Alchemist

#2

8th Mar 2021 at 10:32 PM

There's no catalogue description because you didn't open an object, you just opened the program. If you made an object during that tutorial, while you're in SimPE, click file, then open and navigate to the object that you saved.

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Fantasy pets

Phantomknight

Alchemist

#3

8th Mar 2021 at 10:48 PM

Agree with omglo. Your SimPE layout looks pretty standard and normal to me. Just know that options and tabs appear based on what you have open and what tab you are on.

I have often seen some simmers who are completely new to SimPE get confused; here are some tips I wrote up once. Let me know if it helps:

Sometimes simmers have trouble with SimPE because they don't know what to click on. I'm using SimPE version 73.44, in case it looks different, but they concepts should be the same. You can open a file in SimPE by clicking on "File" and then "Open", and you can also associate .package files with SimPE and set SimPE to open by default when you click on a package file.

There are some key tabs and buttons that I find it helps to familiarize yourself with when starting to use SimPE. First are the two window panes to familiarize yourself with, the Resource Tree, on the left and the Resource List on the right. Also, familiarize yourself with the Reset Layout Button. It's a light blue circle with a red x in its right corner. If for any reason you don't see any of the tabs or options I'm talking about, or if you accidentally close a tab and can't get it back, hit the Reset Layout Button and the view will restore to default. Now, back to the Resource Tree and List. Basically, the Resource List details all the file's resources, or the parts of the mod. The Resource Tree shows types of resources in the mod. If you click on lines in the Resource Tree, it will filter the Resource List to show you just those types. So clicking on BCON will show you just the BCON files, for example. This is useful when there are many parts of a mod.

Then there are the tabs on the bottom of SimPE. Usually, you want to be on Plugin View, the first tab. Once you click on a line in the Resource List, information will fill in the Plugin View. So, for example, clicking on the BHAV in the resource list allows you to see the lines of the BHAV in Plugin View.

Finally, you want to know where the Commit File button is. After you make any changes, you must always Commit File, and then save. Usually SimPE will ask you if you want to Commit File if you forget and try to change to a different resource, or save/exit the file. The Commit File button is also usually in the top left corner, or the top right corner, of the tab, depending on what you're editing. And the Save button is under File, like in most applications. Once you make a change to an instance/resource, the resource will change to italics in the Resource List. This is helpful if you need to know what resources you've edited, however, once you save the file the italics disappear.

Try opening up a cc object and see if you get all the same headings and panes. Otherwise, is there something specific that you are trying to do? Let us know and we can help you out.

Screenshots

"Thinking of you, wherever you are. We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend." - Kingdom Hearts

XPTL Mod Archive | Change a Mod's Mesh into a CC Object | Increasing the Game Difficulty | Editing ACR 4 Your Age Mod
aka Kelyns | she/her

sobenna_kahill

Lab Assistant

Original Poster

#4

9th Mar 2021 at 8:43 PM

I realized what I had done after I posted. I came back to delete my post but your comments are helpful, so I'll leave it up for anyone else as dumb in SimPE as I am, lol. I had loaded the object, but was not selecting the right folder in order in the resource tree to view the catalogues below....Anyway, I often have problems navigating this program, so any help appreciated. Thanks.

Phantomknight

Alchemist

#5

10th Mar 2021 at 12:18 AM

No problem and @sobenna_kahill, don't feel silly! Many have made the same mistake.

"Thinking of you, wherever you are. We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend." - Kingdom Hearts

XPTL Mod Archive | Change a Mod's Mesh into a CC Object | Increasing the Game Difficulty | Editing ACR 4 Your Age Mod
aka Kelyns | she/her

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