Since the abbreviation for Material Definitions is TXMT nowadays, and not MATD, it might help to avoid confusion to update the title of this thread (No, I'm not anal or anything )

Why did it change, I wonder?

I don't know, I liked MATD better .

So did I, it was less easy to keep getting mixed up with TXTR

Yes, I don't like TXMT, either; btw I never remember if it's TXMT or TMXT...
It was changed because, at first, SimPE coded the files using the definition readable with the hex editor, and these files contained "Material Definition" (hence the abbreviation MATD); then, we realized that all the scenegraphic files have an extension, which in this case is "_txmt".

Anyway, IgnorantBliss, you are right, the thread title should be changed; after all, even in the Wiki the file code has been changed: now it's "TXMT (formerly MATD)". I'm going to change the title.

I just have to thank you all again. I can't believe what I can do after reading this thread. Ijust made a buffet table with a glass top. Thanks for all the great info, everyone.

This question comes from almost total ignorance, I'm afraid. I was wondering if there is a way to have color choices for parts that are glass and have no texture. I'm thinking maybe you could have more than one material definition for the material...

Yes, you can recolor glass that has no texture, but if you mean that the same subset would have more than one color at the same time, that's not possible without texture. With separate subsets you can have more than one color at a time.

But for color options you would need to make new recolor files, right?

I know this thread is to gather knowledge together but is it ok for me to ask my rookie questions here?
If so here's the next one. I'm making a bedroom set. First I made a bed. Thanks to IgnorantBliss' tutorial the bed is made of wood and glass.
Then I made an armoire and an end table.
I replaced the material definition for the glass and the wood parts, for each with the ones from the bed, each time copying the filename first and then pasting it in after.
In the wood txmt files I changed the stdMatBaseTextureName to the name of the texture for each object minus the txtr at the end and plus the ##0x1C050000! at the beginning.
And everything turned out great except the wood part of the armoire and the end table ended up with numbers and letters instead of my texture.
So I started again with those two objects and each time with the txmt for the wood I just copied each line from the one for the wood on the bed.
And that worked fine, and I'm happy with the result.
But why didn't it work when I replace the whole files?
If anyone reads all that, thanks. And if you can make sense out of it and tell me what I should do next tim
e thanks again.

You could post your problem packages in the subset adding tutorial thread and I could take a look .

Thanks, next time I will. I don't have those ones any more as I used a work around toget them right.

Mage: I've had the same 'paper print' a couple times myself. for me replacing the MATD only works if I do the following:

copy the name of the MATD there without the '_txmt'
replace the existing MATD with that of your choice
now mark the name of the MATD excluding the '_txmt' and paste
PLUS go to MATD - cMaterialDefinition - description and paste as well
perform FixIntegrity

without pasting the name into the description FixIntegrity will make the MATD filename revert back to the one of the imported file.

the above appears to be only necessary if the MATD filename is different from the TXTR filename. otherwise a simple pasting over the MATD filename seems to be sufficient

donno if there is a more straightforward way 4 this though...

When you replace a MATD with a different one, the texture reference must always be checked and fixed (if the MATD has a texture reference...). That's why the new MATD obviously keeps the reference to the texture contained in the object it was extracted from.

On the other hand, you are right when you say that the old name should be copied befor the replacement, and pasted again after the replacement: this way the internal links of the package won't be broken (in particular, the reference to the MATD contained in MMAT and SHPE).

Numenor: well yes ! only I am not referring to the addition/ editing of basetextureprops I am afraid...

instead I really mean the MATD filename itself:
a while ago I recolored a bunch of doors and windows both Maxis and meshes. and a couple Maxis items had the above mentioned prob. let me show u what I mean with an example.
my recolor package of the Octothorp window looks like this:
MATD filename: windowfourtilewideatrium_windowtrim_wood_txmt
basetexturename: ##0x1C050000!windowfourtilewideatrium-wood

the highlighted parts of the two filenames obviously are different. in that case I had to use the first mentioned procedure to replace the existing MATD.

recolors of other windows/ doors came with MATD filename and basetexturename being identical and thus I could get away with just pasting the original MATD filename over the one of the imported one...

Ok, this is the part I missed. Thanks.

Oh, now I understand...
It's not so frequent that different objects uses the same MATD or textures. Anyway, your suggestion were correct; I only pointed out that the texture reference, inside the MATD, should always be checked (at least, to be sure that it's the same ).

Wow, this was an unexpected find while trying to find one of my own posts. I've found a few oddities myself, while trying to make metallic and glass walls and floors, but since I don't remember what did what, I can't post them, yet.

Also, I noticed noone mentioned an oddity with this and clothing, so I will, and if I missed it, I'm sorry, its late for me. When doing clothing, you can either do transparent or shiny not both, at least (as I read) without doing a whole lot of work. There are two types of 'skin' types, SimSkin does transparent, and SimStandardMaterial does reflective.

Does anyone know if there are similar properties on Walls and Floors? I not only still want glass walls for making greenhouses and such, but also truely metallic floors and walls for making futuristic homes. Also, its become something of an academic interest, so as I figure out things, I'll try and update here. So far, most normal tricks don't work.

Thank you Reyn, your contribution is very interesting; so far no one has posted anything about the Material Definitions related to Skins: it's a brand new subject to explore!

Since I'm not experienced in Skins (I usually only deal with objects), I'd like to understand better...

As far as I know, "Simskin" and "SimStandardMaterial" are types of Material Definitions, not parameters contained in a Material Definition.
In other words, if I open a TXMT into SimPE, I will find the "Type" in the cMaterialDefinition tab (there are numerour TXMT types: StandardMaterial, SimSkin, PhongTexture...), while the parameters can be found in the "Properties" tab (each type uses some common parameters, plus some typical ones).

Quickly browsing my SavedSims and my Downloads folders, I've found (but correct me if I'm wrong) that:
- StandardMaterial type is used for Objects
- SimSkin type is used for Clothing
- SimStandardMaterial is used in Sims and Genetics
- Floor, FloorPool and FloorReflective types are used for Floor tiles
- Wallpaper, WallpaperBump and WallpaperPool are used for walls.

As said, each of these TXMT types contain various parameters (some common to all types, some other specific for the single type), but each TXMT can have only one type.

With specific regards to reflectivity and transparency, examining the Maxis packages I've found that all the TXMT types named above contain the "reflectivity" and the "stdMatBlendMode" parameters, but some of them are never used:

• SimSkin type may have different values for reflectivity (known values are: 0 = deactivated; 0.5 = average reflectivity; 0.2 = high reflectivity); the stdMatBlendMode is always set to "none" (= transparency deactivated).
• SimStandardMaterial type uses the reflectivity much more intensely (I've found a lot of different values, ranging from 0 to 0.55); and the stdMatBlendMode can be set to "blend" (= transparency activated)

Hmmm, I wonder if one of those other floor or wall types might have the answer to making a metallic. And I do want to play more with reflectivity. A friend told me my new metallic bodysuits are a bit to blinding when light hits them, and he's right, so I need to see if I can get that level of metallic without the bright.

I can't check now, but if I remember well, all the walls and floor types have a "reflectivity" parameter. Try fiddling with it (remember that the lower the "reflectivity" value, the higher the reflectivity effect; but a value o zero deactivates the reflectivity).

What I still haven't understood is the purpose of the "type": I don't know if it's just a name or if it actually affects the object appearance.
For instance, two Material Definition that have exactly the same parameters, but different "type": will they act differently? I'd like to know.

I donno about the appearance but a reflective MATD with cubemode set to reflexion when used on a floor will have the following effect:
StandardMaterial: a floor with whatever texture will show up black ingame and will have a black thumb.
in order to figure what s causing that bug I created 2 floor packages both with the reflective MATD imported - nothing else. now I went and deleted all but the first 2 or 3 props, submitted saved and checked it out ingame . reflectivity is one of the first props on my MATD and this was the first time I saw my tile in its real color ingame. then I went and either added a prop block or a couple single props. after each I checked it out ingame. after adding the cube props it was the first time I saw the black tiles again ingame. I tried to fix the tile again by deleting the cube props but to no avail: the package was irreversably corrupted.
soooo as I didn't like the idea of the props itself causing the bug I thought of what - in combination with the props - could cause it. and the only thing I could come up with - from within the MATD - was the type.
thus I dumped the corrupted package , went to the other one and changed the type to 'Floor', added all the other floor exclusive entries of a default floor package, and checked it out ingame. and voila it showed up fine...

That's interesting. BTW, the MATD won't work if all the properties aren't in alphabetical order; SimPE has a "Sort" button for this.

yup ! I've seen that comment of your's a couple months ago and ever since I make sure to use that function...

Wow, I wish I'd read this thread and the another ones earlier... it's really taking a lot time to find out how to set things right...
But, it's still good to fool around without any guideline... :bandit:

I lately made a newer recolour for the Matte Sphere... I used a photo of metallic object as the texture for it.
Then, I "set" (actually mess around many settings at a time.) the definitions as such... I've yet to understand more of what I did, but I really like the result.

http://thumbs.modthesims2.com/image...stand_Ag001.jpg


Added:
In my limited experience so far, it seems that


[for shadow txmt, ????..._????...shadow_alpha_txmt]
stdMatAlphaBlendMode=blend
0<stdMatAlphaMultiplier<1

[the normal frame or what]
stdMatAlphaBlendMode=none
stdMatAlphaMultiplier=1

[glass definitions] (These have amzing results...!!! :smash: )
stdMatEnvCubeMode=reflection
stdMatEnvCubeTextureName
=reflectionkitchenhighcontrast-envcube (mirror)
=outdoordaytime-envcube (car)

[chrome] (This one will give out a realistic metallic appearance...!)
stdMatEnvCubeMode=reflection
stdMatEnvCubeTextureName=reflectionkitchenhighcontrast-envcube (mirror)


Update:
OK, my bad, overlooked my own settings, it also takes
stdMatEnvCubeLockedToCamera=1
for the better metallic and glassy look



txmt types:
StandardMaterial (for object recolours, sims no-body-objects)
Floor (for floor tiles)
WallpaperBump (for wallpapers)
SimSkin, SimStandardMaterial (for hair, etc)
AdditiveTextureAlphaBlend (for shrine, lit spaces as in the case of the woodenlamp)
ImposterRoofMaterial (lot, roof,...)
SimpleMirrorReflection (mirror reflection)
ImposterDualPackedSliceMaterial (lot, ...) [page=0]
ImposterTerrainMaterial (lo, terrain) [includeCanvas=0; includeLightMap=1; lightMapTint=(1.0, 1.0, 1.0); textureCoordSet=1]
ImposterWallMaterial (lot, wall,...) [page=0]-->[page=9]

null (for "invisible" or undrawn objects)
etc... There're several more, but I can't recall at the moment...

Same as previous posts, this is *the source of knowledge* and a real tutorial, valuable for so many different mods. Thank you all.