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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#26 Old 29th Mar 2020 at 2:50 PM
I have uploaded a new version 2.0.3 with the remaining effect types.
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Test Subject
#27 Old 29th Mar 2020 at 3:13 PM
How resize effect ?
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#28 Old 9th Apr 2020 at 9:55 AM
I have uploaded a new version 2.0.4 with more functions and some bug fixes, I have also changed status to BETA as I only have a few more things to do.
Field Researcher
#29 Old 10th Apr 2020 at 5:35 PM Last edited by MizoreYukii : 12th Apr 2020 at 4:24 PM.
Finally back after moving, only just now able to mess with the program but I love the new updates! Just a quick question, but does hitting "Edit" on Visual Effects meant to do anything?
Edit: Also, when I open a package to edit, then save, it's still doing the "name.package.package".
Edit 2: Do you know anything about "WorldVisualEffectsInfo" data file 5BE29703? It's unreadable by both S4pe and S4S. I've been editing every light related VFX and nothing works for the glowing floor under streetlamps, and I'm hoping it's just an oddly named VFX that might be in this file.

Creator Musings is a Sims 4 modder, poser/animator, and CC creator hangout server (though everyone is allowed) with a tutorial/resource directory, help channels, and mod/cc/sims 4 news channels!
My Discord | Twitter | Tumblr | Patreon
Top Secret Researcher
#30 Old 13th Apr 2020 at 7:56 PM Last edited by Bakie : 14th Apr 2020 at 10:16 AM.
I haven't tested much yet, but already have a few questions, first of all how do you get the right ColorCurve numbers? As I can't find any RGB codes without 'full' numbers.
For example the color cyan has as RGB code 51,204,204, but if I use those numbers, the tiki flame becomes white, just as the texture file.
If I use this website: https://convertingcolors.com/hex-color-33CCCC.html
Which format do I need to use if it's not RGB?
Another question would be, could you add an option to fill in the hex code which automaticaly converts it to the right readable RGB numbers?

I've also tried the clone thingy and where it does work to only clone it and let it appear in game with the new my_ effect code, I can't really seem to change anything.
I've tried both using another texture instance for an effect as well as another RGB code for another effect which did work for the flame (but wasn't the expected color). But nothing changed.

Something else, do you have a Discord chat in which we all can discuss your tool, what can be done with it and help each other out as not everyone might be oline at the same time here on MTS

Curious at all the mods I made or want to learn how to make mods yourself? Take a look at my BakieGaming YouTube Channel
For the people who would like to support me some more, take a look at my: BakieGaming Patreon page
For a quick mod overview, take a look at my Profile page
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#31 Old 14th Apr 2020 at 7:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by MizoreYukii
Finally back after moving, only just now able to mess with the program but I love the new updates! Just a quick question, but does hitting "Edit" on Visual Effects meant to do anything?
Edit: Also, when I open a package to edit, then save, it's still doing the "name.package.package".
Edit 2: Do you know anything about "WorldVisualEffectsInfo" data file 5BE29703? It's unreadable by both S4pe and S4S. I've been editing every light related VFX and nothing works for the glowing floor under streetlamps, and I'm hoping it's just an oddly named VFX that might be in this file.

Not sure I understand the "Edit" question, the button will open a new form to edit the components (blocks) of the currently selected Visual Effect.

I will fix the file extension bug in the next update.

I am not familiar with 0x5BE29703, I am going to take a closer look at world resources at some point as I have also gotten a bit curious about how they work, but at the same time I am also still hoping EA will release a CAW tool at some point.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#32 Old 14th Apr 2020 at 7:30 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Bakie
I haven't tested much yet, but already have a few questions, first of all how do you get the right ColorCurve numbers? As I can't find any RGB codes without 'full' numbers.
For example the color cyan has as RGB code 51,204,204, but if I use those numbers, the tiki flame becomes white, just as the texture file.
If I use this website: https://convertingcolors.com/hex-color-33CCCC.html
Which format do I need to use if it's not RGB?
Another question would be, could you add an option to fill in the hex code which automaticaly converts it to the right readable RGB numbers?

I've also tried the clone thingy and where it does work to only clone it and let it appear in game with the new my_ effect code, I can't really seem to change anything.
I've tried both using another texture instance for an effect as well as another RGB code for another effect which did work for the flame (but wasn't the expected color). But nothing changed.

Something else, do you have a Discord chat in which we all can discuss your tool, what can be done with it and help each other out as not everyone might be oline at the same time here on MTS

All color/alpha fields are floats and have a value between 0 and 1, if you right-click on one of the color values you can select the standard Windows color picker from the context menu.

Sorry I don't have any Discord, Tumblr, Patreon or anything like that, as you may have noticed, I am not a very active forum user and finding free time to work on mods is not always easy for me.
Field Researcher
#33 Old 15th Apr 2020 at 6:13 AM
Quote: Originally posted by denton47
Not sure I understand the "Edit" question, the button will open a new form to edit the components (blocks) of the currently selected Visual Effect.

I will fix the file extension bug in the next update.

I am not familiar with 0x5BE29703, I am going to take a closer look at world resources at some point as I have also gotten a bit curious about how they work, but at the same time I am also still hoping EA will release a CAW tool at some point.

Doh, I'm so sorry, I just now realized how I worded the question makes no sense when considering other factors. So, when I open a VFX there is a list of different types. Normally it is Particle Effects, but sometimes there is a "Visual Effect" somewhere in the list that is referencing another VFX. Like the Taxi_Rigid references the VFX headlights and shadows. It too has an "Edit" button like all the other options (pictured below), but when I click it nothing happens. So I was wondering if there would be an update for it, or I'm missing something, to just open the reference and edit it? Or maybe it's just not meant to do anything? (Also, with your tool I was able to completely eliminate cars finally, thank you so much! Just the lighting and misc stuff is left.)

Also, bless you for taking a look at world files next! Even if nothing is done with it, just being able to open and read the files would be a big help. This lighting VFX is just not making any sense. I do hope EA releases a CAW tool too!
Screenshots

Creator Musings is a Sims 4 modder, poser/animator, and CC creator hangout server (though everyone is allowed) with a tutorial/resource directory, help channels, and mod/cc/sims 4 news channels!
My Discord | Twitter | Tumblr | Patreon
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#34 Old 15th Apr 2020 at 6:44 PM
Quote: Originally posted by MizoreYukii
Doh, I'm so sorry, I just now realized how I worded the question makes no sense when considering other factors. So, when I open a VFX there is a list of different types. Normally it is Particle Effects, but sometimes there is a "Visual Effect" somewhere in the list that is referencing another VFX. Like the Taxi_Rigid references the VFX headlights and shadows. It too has an "Edit" button like all the other options (pictured below), but when I click it nothing happens. So I was wondering if there would be an update for it, or I'm missing something, to just open the reference and edit it? Or maybe it's just not meant to do anything? (Also, with your tool I was able to completely eliminate cars finally, thank you so much! Just the lighting and misc stuff is left.)

Also, bless you for taking a look at world files next! Even if nothing is done with it, just being able to open and read the files would be a big help. This lighting VFX is just not making any sense. I do hope EA releases a CAW tool too!

I understand the question now, BlockType VisualEffect "calls" another visual effect (in the same VFX resource) by referencing its hash ID (the value in the BlockIndex column), with the Edit button you were supposed to be able to select another one from a list but that doesn’t seem to be working, I will fix it in the next update.
Top Secret Researcher
#35 Old 16th Apr 2020 at 12:32 PM
Quote: Originally posted by denton47
All color/alpha fields are floats and have a value between 0 and 1, if you right-click on one of the color values you can select the standard Windows color picker from the context menu.
Sorry I don't have any Discord, Tumblr, Patreon or anything like that, as you may have noticed, I am not a very active forum user and finding free time to work on mods is not always easy for me.

First of all, I think I speak for many of us if I say that were already incridibly happy someone is looking into this, so you don't have to apologize being not that active on the forum or only working on the tool in your free time.
About the RGB colors, thank you for mentioning the 'floats'. This is all new for me, but now I did succeed in making at least one color to match my idea.

What you told about the righ-clicking didn't work though. No matter which color I selected, it always gave me 1,1,1 or 1,0,1 or other combination of the number 1 and 0.
Because of you mentioning the floats though, I found this tool online which gave me the right numbers, I only needed to replace the dot with a comma:
Color Calculator
I've only tested it for the color red, but I believe that this will give other colors the right way too.

I've now succeeded in making a clone and changing the color of it to red, but when I tried the same thing but changed 'my_' for 'BakieGaming_' it stopped working. I even started all over, saved it with BakieGaming_ and the rest of the code, merged it into the My-VFX file. But it didn't worked anymore. Any idea why this wouldn't work when the code starts with something else then 'my_'?

I will do some more tests with other colors and maybe try the rename button, I guess it's for renaming the vfx code right?

Curious at all the mods I made or want to learn how to make mods yourself? Take a look at my BakieGaming YouTube Channel
For the people who would like to support me some more, take a look at my: BakieGaming Patreon page
For a quick mod overview, take a look at my Profile page
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#36 Old 18th Apr 2020 at 7:41 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Bakie
First of all, I think I speak for many of us if I say that were already incridibly happy someone is looking into this, so you don't have to apologize being not that active on the forum or only working on the tool in your free time.
About the RGB colors, thank you for mentioning the 'floats'. This is all new for me, but now I did succeed in making at least one color to match my idea.

What you told about the righ-clicking didn't work though. No matter which color I selected, it always gave me 1,1,1 or 1,0,1 or other combination of the number 1 and 0.
Because of you mentioning the floats though, I found this tool online which gave me the right numbers, I only needed to replace the dot with a comma:
Color Calculator
I've only tested it for the color red, but I believe that this will give other colors the right way too.

I've now succeeded in making a clone and changing the color of it to red, but when I tried the same thing but changed 'my_' for 'BakieGaming_' it stopped working. I even started all over, saved it with BakieGaming_ and the rest of the code, merged it into the My-VFX file. But it didn't worked anymore. Any idea why this wouldn't work when the code starts with something else then 'my_'?

I will do some more tests with other colors and maybe try the rename button, I guess it's for renaming the vfx code right?

I will fix the color picker bug in the next update.

Regarding the problem you have with your prefix, the game doesn't seem to like effect names with capital letters, if you convert to lower case "bakiegaming_" it should work.
Top Secret Researcher
#37 Old 18th Apr 2020 at 3:41 PM
Quote: Originally posted by denton47
I will fix the color picker bug in the next update.
Regarding the problem you have with your prefix, the game doesn't seem to like effect names with capital letters, if you convert to lower case "bakiegaming_" it should work.

Thank you very much! Will try it the next time I'm gonna play with your tool

Curious at all the mods I made or want to learn how to make mods yourself? Take a look at my BakieGaming YouTube Channel
For the people who would like to support me some more, take a look at my: BakieGaming Patreon page
For a quick mod overview, take a look at my Profile page
Top Secret Researcher
#38 Old 21st Apr 2020 at 3:28 PM
I've done a few more tests and it does work with all lower case letters, so thanks for the solution!
Other question though regarding the Rename button, as I think it doesn't do what it should..

To take the "island_tiki_torch_flame" as an example.
If I clone this effect I get the following three effects from the drop down menu (Like also described in your first post):
- bakiegaming_ep07_island_tiki-torch_flame_crossed
- bakiegaming_ep07_island_tiki-torch_flame_flower
- bakiegaming_island_tiki-torch_flame

I now change the color into purple and it works great in game, but now I want to add other recolors too, like red.
So what I do is clone the original "island_tiki_torch_flame" again, change the effect color to red and click the Rename button while the "_flame" line is selected as I want to change that code. (I didn't deleted the 'crossed' and 'flower' lines as maybe I want to change something in there too, like the sound effect.)
If I now change the name into "bakiegaming_island_tiki_torch_flame_red" the flame line stays the same, but one of the others changed into the "_red" code... In this case the "_crossed" line.

I've added some images to show you what I mean (Second image has to be viewed first). I suppose this isn't how it's suppose to work?
Screenshots

Curious at all the mods I made or want to learn how to make mods yourself? Take a look at my BakieGaming YouTube Channel
For the people who would like to support me some more, take a look at my: BakieGaming Patreon page
For a quick mod overview, take a look at my Profile page
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#39 Old 25th Apr 2020 at 6:50 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Bakie
I've done a few more tests and it does work with all lower case letters, so thanks for the solution!
Other question though regarding the Rename button, as I think it doesn't do what it should..

To take the "island_tiki_torch_flame" as an example.
If I clone this effect I get the following three effects from the drop down menu (Like also described in your first post):
- bakiegaming_ep07_island_tiki-torch_flame_crossed
- bakiegaming_ep07_island_tiki-torch_flame_flower
- bakiegaming_island_tiki-torch_flame

I now change the color into purple and it works great in game, but now I want to add other recolors too, like red.
So what I do is clone the original "island_tiki_torch_flame" again, change the effect color to red and click the Rename button while the "_flame" line is selected as I want to change that code. (I didn't deleted the 'crossed' and 'flower' lines as maybe I want to change something in there too, like the sound effect.)
If I now change the name into "bakiegaming_island_tiki_torch_flame_red" the flame line stays the same, but one of the others changed into the "_red" code... In this case the "_crossed" line.

I've added some images to show you what I mean (Second image has to be viewed first). I suppose this isn't how it's suppose to work?

I have uploaded new version 2.0.5 which fixes previously reported bugs including the rename bug.
Field Researcher
#40 Old 30th Apr 2020 at 5:46 AM
Do you know if the plumbob_EP02CliqueCrownAlien or any of the other occult plumbob_override (the occult rings) is truly a VFX or not? When I last investigated these it was labeled as VFX, yet when I try to search in the VFX list it isn't listed. Couldn't find a ring texture either (I checked for Vampires first), so I'm a bit lost as to where to look. I used keywords like "ring" "plumbob" "override" etc. and not a thing.

Creator Musings is a Sims 4 modder, poser/animator, and CC creator hangout server (though everyone is allowed) with a tutorial/resource directory, help channels, and mod/cc/sims 4 news channels!
My Discord | Twitter | Tumblr | Patreon
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#41 Old 30th Apr 2020 at 4:41 PM
Quote: Originally posted by MizoreYukii
Do you know if the plumbob_EP02CliqueCrownAlien or any of the other occult plumbob_override (the occult rings) is truly a VFX or not? When I last investigated these it was labeled as VFX, yet when I try to search in the VFX list it isn't listed. Couldn't find a ring texture either (I checked for Vampires first), so I'm a bit lost as to where to look. I used keywords like "ring" "plumbob" "override" etc. and not a thing.

Not all visual effects are made using the Swarm engine, some of them like water for example have dedicated shaders to create the effects, it also looks like PlumbBob has its own shader, looking at the parameters it uses textures which should be possible to override, you "just" need to find them.
Attached files:
File Type: txt  ShaderSets.txt (110.6 KB, 30 downloads)
Field Researcher
#42 Old 30th Apr 2020 at 9:34 PM
Quote: Originally posted by denton47
Not all visual effects are made using the Swarm engine, some of them like water for example have dedicated shaders to create the effects, it also looks like PlumbBob has its own shader, looking at the parameters it uses textures which should be possible to override, you "just" need to find them.

Thanks! Is it possible we will eventually be able to edit those shaders with the this tool or a different tool? Or are they not on the to-do list?

Creator Musings is a Sims 4 modder, poser/animator, and CC creator hangout server (though everyone is allowed) with a tutorial/resource directory, help channels, and mod/cc/sims 4 news channels!
My Discord | Twitter | Tumblr | Patreon
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#43 Old 2nd May 2020 at 6:49 AM
Quote: Originally posted by MizoreYukii
Thanks! Is it possible we will eventually be able to edit those shaders with the this tool or a different tool? Or are they not on the to-do list?

Well I already have a tool for the shader database as may have guessed, however modifying the shaders without the HLSL isn't possible as far as I know.

TS4 uses shader model 3.0 so while it is possible to decompile the shader byte code into shader assembly code, you will need HLSL code to compile it into byte code again.
Field Researcher
#44 Old 7th May 2020 at 5:39 AM
Quote: Originally posted by denton47
Well I already have a tool for the shader database as may have guessed, however modifying the shaders without the HLSL isn't possible as far as I know.

TS4 uses shader model 3.0 so while it is possible to decompile the shader byte code into shader assembly code, you will need HLSL code to compile it into byte code again.

Oh darn, and there's no way to get the proper HLSL code for S4?

Creator Musings is a Sims 4 modder, poser/animator, and CC creator hangout server (though everyone is allowed) with a tutorial/resource directory, help channels, and mod/cc/sims 4 news channels!
My Discord | Twitter | Tumblr | Patreon
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#45 Old 8th May 2020 at 7:27 AM
Quote: Originally posted by MizoreYukii
Oh darn, and there's no way to get the proper HLSL code for S4?

Basically it is the source code for Sims 4 and I don't think EA will publish any part of that, I am also not aware of any tool that can decompile into HLSL I’m afraid.

BTW, if you do a binary search for the PlumbBob shader (0x7F219734) you will find it is used by several Object models, this is also where you will find the image resources being used.
Test Subject
#46 Old 28th May 2020 at 6:53 PM
Hi ! Thank you so much for your software denton47, thanks to it I was able to create a VFX for a fourth magic sage !



I have a question however : the three original sages' VFX store their image in a single DST image with a 256x256 dimension (instance ID : 4E6AD99ACAE0DA5A). From what I understood in your software's interface, the parameters indicate how to read the image :
TileCountU = 2 and TileCountV = 2 indicate that the image should be read as a 2x2 grid, and DrawMode = 128 indicates that each grid square is 128x128. However, I couldn't find the parameter indicating which square to use in the VFX. Do you know by any chance where is this parameter ?

Screenshots
Top Secret Researcher
#47 Old 4th Jun 2020 at 1:18 PM
Looks very nice @kitty_may!
@denton47 I've just updated my game but I get an error now when pressing the 'Main' button. It says something about the Matrix being too long to be able to copy everything inside of it. (it's in Dutch, so I don't know hw to translate it well)
But maybe this will help:
Quote:
System.ArgumentException: Doelmatrix is niet lang genoeg om alle items in de verzameling te kopiëren. Controleer de index en de lengte van de matrix.
bij System.ThrowHelper.ThrowArgumentException(ExceptionResource resource)
bij System.BitConverter.ToSingle(Byte[] value, Int32 startIndex)
bij TS4VFXTool2.MainForm.VFX.SwapFloat(BinaryReader br) in C:\Users\kh\source\repos\TS4VFXTool2\TS4VFXTool2\MainForm.cs:regel 4113
bij TS4VFXTool2.MainForm.VFX.Read(BinaryReader br) in C:\Users\kh\source\repos\TS4VFXTool2\TS4VFXTool2\MainForm.cs:regel 1407
bij TS4VFXTool2.MainForm.LoadMainVFXDatabase() in C:\Users\kh\source\repos\TS4VFXTool2\TS4VFXTool2\MainForm.cs:regel 4313
bij TS4VFXTool2.MainForm.BtnMain_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\Users\kh\source\repos\TS4VFXTool2\TS4VFXTool2\MainForm.cs:regel 4803
bij System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
bij System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
bij System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
bij System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
bij System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
bij System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
bij System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
bij System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
bij System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
bij System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

Hope you can update this in some way, so I can check all new effect codes that have been added for the Eco Living pack.

Curious at all the mods I made or want to learn how to make mods yourself? Take a look at my BakieGaming YouTube Channel
For the people who would like to support me some more, take a look at my: BakieGaming Patreon page
For a quick mod overview, take a look at my Profile page
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#48 Old 5th Jun 2020 at 3:49 PM
Quote: Originally posted by kitty_may
Hi ! Thank you so much for your software denton47, thanks to it I was able to create a VFX for a fourth magic sage !



I have a question however : the three original sages' VFX store their image in a single DST image with a 256x256 dimension (instance ID : 4E6AD99ACAE0DA5A). From what I understood in your software's interface, the parameters indicate how to read the image :
TileCountU = 2 and TileCountV = 2 indicate that the image should be read as a 2x2 grid, and DrawMode = 128 indicates that each grid square is 128x128. However, I couldn't find the parameter indicating which square to use in the VFX. Do you know by any chance where is this parameter ?


Sorry for late reply, since no information has been published about the VFX resource I am only guessing here,

- DrawMode only has the values 128, 130, 131, 132 and 139 so I am fairly certain it is an enumeration, what the different DrawModes do I don't know.

- I don't think there is a image size field, the TileCountU/V will just break up the image into Frames and then you use the FrameStart field to select. If you look at island_tiki_torch_flame the image is 128x64, TileCountU/V is 2x1 and FrameStart is 0 for the flames and 1 for the smoke.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#49 Old 5th Jun 2020 at 3:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Bakie
Looks very nice @kitty_may!
@denton47 I've just updated my game but I get an error now when pressing the 'Main' button. It says something about the Matrix being too long to be able to copy everything inside of it. (it's in Dutch, so I don't know hw to translate it well)
But maybe this will help:

Hope you can update this in some way, so I can check all new effect codes that have been added for the Eco Living pack.

I have a new version 2.0.6 ready, just need to do a little more testing.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#50 Old 5th Jun 2020 at 6:26 PM
I have updated VisualEffects to version 13 and ParticleEffects to version 24 and uploaded a new tool version 2.0.6.

If you have made any effect packages you want to keep, you will need to Open and then Save them, this will automatically upgrade everything to the latest version. Any custom effects will need to be Merged again since there is a new EA master table.
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