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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 14th Feb 2021 at 7:04 PM
Default I am trying to make an ABDL overhaul for the sims 3 and need advice
I am trying to make an ABDL overhaul for the sims 3 specifically the base game and am wanting advice on objects related to my mod. I am referring to things like cribs, high chairs, and scripted objects like a rocking horses and changing mats. I have modding experience with Elder Scrolls games like Oblivion and Skyrim but have never made any mods for the sims. I have read tutorials here but they are a bit vague about specific furniture types and scripted furniture(furniture that gives a buff like a toilet or bed) and any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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Test Subject
Original Poster
#2 Old 14th Feb 2021 at 9:55 PM
I am going to update this as I attempt to figure this out. So far I have no real idea why people here reference TSR Workshop; in my experience other than bringing up the item you clicked on it serves absolutely no purpose for modding. I can only save projects as .wrk files and the "export to .package" option is greyed out and unselectable. As far as I know the .wrk files aren't read by anything on Blender or S3OC so I'm unsure why people are using these in the tutorials because after reading and rereading I can't use the Blender add-ons to import anything. It just keeps giving me a "project completed" warning and never actually does anything. I will keep trying to figure out how to make any mod as all of the programs and tutorials on this site are either broken, out of date or unusable and I can't even get anything to function let alone modify anything. As no one has responding with any advice I will likely only keep updating that this site is either broken or outdated.
Virtual gardener
staff: administrator
#3 Old 15th Feb 2021 at 3:33 PM
Heya!

I deleted some of the threads that had the same question asked, just so things are more nicely organised  It seems that currently, you're working some furniture so I figured the Object modding forum was probably more suitable! When it comes to traits, it's also okay to create a new thread in modding discussion so you got two nicely separated (And therefore organised) threads  Regarding traits, keep in mind that this will require you to do some C# programming and, well, a lot of XML editing and programming :p

Anyways! So when you're modding for any sims game, you need to have a 'clone' or a 'copy' of an object for the game to recognize and have it function in-game. That's actually what TSRW does for you. It makes sure that the object won't get overridden but does actually contain the correct 'information' inside it. The sims 4 would be harder to mod if we had to make all the resources from the ground up... heck, I think it wouldn't even be easy to mod if that was even the case.This is what makes modding for the sims and Skyrim a massive difference.  

But as the basics of programs goes:
  • S3PE - This is a tool that lets you look inside package files and if you really need to, tweak the bare basics of an object, CASpart, etc. 
  • TSRW - is basically a more advanced S3OC. What makes it so advanced is that it lets you edit the content inside the package waay more user-friendly than S3OC and S3PE combined  You see the meshes, you see the flags and importing your textures is just easier. TSRW basically does the rest, like linking the correct INstance IDs to resources that need it.
Regards to meshing though, in TS3 we do quite a bit in Milshape 3D and Blender alike. How my workflow usually looks like is meshing the furniture in Blender (Including mapping the UV map, bake the textures) and from there we export it as an OBJ, to then import it into OBJ. After that we clean up the mesh, give it bones and export the file as a TSRW workfile (the .wrk file you mentioned). 

Basically, my workflow is like this, just without using S4Studio to extract the mesh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1a2rtxloNM 

Hope this helps a bit!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#4 Old 15th Feb 2021 at 10:12 PM
Default The Saga continues
So after a lot of trial and error I was able to figure out how to export a duplicate file from TSR workshop to Blender and have made a rough crib from the brass single bed. The issue I am having now is that I can't really do anything with this model except reshape it. As far as I know there is no way to color or texture this and I can't get TSR workshop, s3oc, or S3PE to open the model in a way that will let me texture it or even make sure it's seen as a bed in-game. The pic is at a odd angle but as far as I know in Blender the only way to view or move the camera is the middle mouse button and that only spins you around in a small circle so I am unsure how future objects will go as Blender literally won't really let me see what I am doing. I will keep trying to figure out how to add a texture or any color to this model but so far it doesn't look like there is a way to do that.

Quote: Originally posted by Sims3sandyhook
I am going to update this as I attempt to figure this out. So far I have no real idea why people here reference TSR Workshop; in my experience other than bringing up the item you clicked on it serves absolutely no purpose for modding. I can only save projects as .wrk files and the "export to .package" option is greyed out and unselectable. As far as I know the .wrk files aren't read by anything on Blender or S3OC so I'm unsure why people are using these in the tutorials because after reading and rereading I can't use the Blender add-ons to import anything. It just keeps giving me a "project completed" warning and never actually does anything. I will keep trying to figure out how to make any mod as all of the programs and tutorials on this site are either broken, out of date or unusable and I can't even get anything to function let alone modify anything. As no one has responding with any advice I will likely only keep updating that this site is either broken or outdated.
Screenshots
Test Subject
Original Poster
#5 Old 15th Feb 2021 at 11:09 PM
Default TSR workshop just doesn't work for me
I can't import anything in TSR workshop without getting an error about not having an instance. There is no option to add an instance as it won't let me move forward after the error so the program is almost unusable for me besides letting me export duplicates to Blender to be reshaped. I literally can't get it to do anything else except export duplicate objects to Blender.

Quote: Originally posted by Lyralei
Heya!

I deleted some of the threads that had the same question asked, just so things are more nicely organised  It seems that currently, you're working some furniture so I figured the Object modding forum was probably more suitable! When it comes to traits, it's also okay to create a new thread in modding discussion so you got two nicely separated (And therefore organised) threads  Regarding traits, keep in mind that this will require you to do some C# programming and, well, a lot of XML editing and programming :p

Anyways! So when you're modding for any sims game, you need to have a 'clone' or a 'copy' of an object for the game to recognize and have it function in-game. That's actually what TSRW does for you. It makes sure that the object won't get overridden but does actually contain the correct 'information' inside it. The sims 4 would be harder to mod if we had to make all the resources from the ground up... heck, I think it wouldn't even be easy to mod if that was even the case.This is what makes modding for the sims and Skyrim a massive difference.  

But as the basics of programs goes:
  • S3PE - This is a tool that lets you look inside package files and if you really need to, tweak the bare basics of an object, CASpart, etc. 
  • TSRW - is basically a more advanced S3OC. What makes it so advanced is that it lets you edit the content inside the package waay more user-friendly than S3OC and S3PE combined  You see the meshes, you see the flags and importing your textures is just easier. TSRW basically does the rest, like linking the correct INstance IDs to resources that need it.
Regards to meshing though, in TS3 we do quite a bit in Milshape 3D and Blender alike. How my workflow usually looks like is meshing the furniture in Blender (Including mapping the UV map, bake the textures) and from there we export it as an OBJ, to then import it into OBJ. After that we clean up the mesh, give it bones and export the file as a TSRW workfile (the .wrk file you mentioned). 

Basically, my workflow is like this, just without using S4Studio to extract the mesh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1a2rtxloNM 

Hope this helps a bit!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#6 Old 16th Feb 2021 at 5:44 PM
Default My Continued battle with the unusable programs
Okay so I haven't made any real progress with the model as far as getting TSR workshop to open it or getting Blender to texture it. I go to the color management tab in Blender but it doesn't let me actually do anything to color or texture the object. The texture tab as far as I can tell is useless because no matter what I "add" in the image tab it never shows up on the model. TSR workshop won't let me import the .package file of the model because it gives me a "no suitable entries in package" error. It doesn't give me a way to add an entry so I am chalking it up to the program itself being broken. When I try to go back and edit the mesh of the original .wrk file I get a error about not having an instance even though I imported the model from TSR workshop itself. Until these programs are updated in a way that is usable I am unsure how I will be able to do much besides reshape objects from TSR workshop to Blender. So far none of these programs themselves really function let alone work with each other.

Quote: Originally posted by Sims3sandyhook
I can't import anything in TSR workshop without getting an error about not having an instance. There is no option to add an instance as it won't let me move forward after the error so the program is almost unusable for me besides letting me export duplicates to Blender to be reshaped. I literally can't get it to do anything else except export duplicate objects to Blender.
Lab Assistant
#7 Old 17th Feb 2021 at 5:26 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Sims3sandyhook
Okay so I haven't made any real progress with the model as far as getting TSR workshop to open it or getting Blender to texture it. I go to the color management tab in Blender but it doesn't let me actually do anything to color or texture the object. The texture tab as far as I can tell is useless because no matter what I "add" in the image tab it never shows up on the model. TSR workshop won't let me import the .package file of the model because it gives me a "no suitable entries in package" error. It doesn't give me a way to add an entry so I am chalking it up to the program itself being broken. When I try to go back and edit the mesh of the original .wrk file I get a error about not having an instance even though I imported the model from TSR workshop itself. Until these programs are updated in a way that is usable I am unsure how I will be able to do much besides reshape objects from TSR workshop to Blender. So far none of these programs themselves really function let alone work with each other.

I’ve been working with these programs for a while now and while they do have their quirks, they function just fine and tend to work cohesively once you get the steps down. I really recommend watching the video Lyralei linked as it explains the process some of us use step by step and walks you through how to import and export your object files in the right formats moving from program to program.
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