Hey sims 2 community, I currentley have a helmet from fallout 3 that I'd like to port into the sims 2 as an accessory for sims to wear. However I am completley empty of knowledge on modding the sims 2. Can some one please assist me with porting this model into the sims 2? thank you

You first need to extract the mesh (a format named "obj" can be read by most programs), and a texture file from the game. I don't know how to extract files from other games, so there you'll have to rely on other sources - but there are a few accessory tutorials you can try once you've extracted the needed files.

MTS has a few tutorials on accessories here: http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=445 (just look for those that mentions accessories), this one in particular: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=233103

You may also want to check out the general creation area on MTS - that's the first stop on MTS if you have any questions on creating CC.

If you want to make accessories for more than just one age/gender, I've got one here (no pictures, but it's written in a detailed step-by-step format, and if you need pics from inside SimPE, the MTS tutorials have some you can look at). It's got several useful tips and tricks I've picked up over the years, including how to fix problems.

Hey I'm trying to follow the tutorial but the SimPE I have on my computer is just broken beyond repair, whenever I open it I keep getting the error "The type initializer for 'pjse.FileTable' Threw an expection" this same error keeps occuring when trying to make a new package. When trying to use the pjse tool for the extracting stage I get the error "unable to start tool plugin" what do I do

Maybe your version of SimPE isn't set up properly. Which version do you have? If you have the UC, M&G, or a collection that includes M&G, you need the 0.73 version. I think you may also need to install a few extra files, but this is probably explained where you found the SimPE download.

You may also need to do some setup, making sure all your EPs are linked to properly in Preferences (click the "Extra" tab, then "Preferences" - then check if the "System Folders" has the proper paths for your game. Also check the "File Table" button to see if the boxes for your EPs are checked).

Hey I downloaded another SimPE and no errors popped up, I followed the tutorial but my attempts at creating a custom accessory failed. The glasses I chose just showed up instead of the custom helmet I'm trying to get into the game, of course I'd expect this to happen as I have no knowledge at modding TS2 but following through the tutorial it was a complete nightmare to understand what to do. Do you know anyone willing to help me with this? I can provide a .obj of the helmet I want to import

Maybe you didn't link the mesh properly to the recolor. You may also need to delete the cache files, because they tend to mess with accessories (showing the wrong mesh or texture). There are lots of steps involved in making an accessory, and it's easy to skip a few by accident, particularly if you're new to creating.

It's much easier to make accessories for one age/gender, so you probably should go through the one with pictures before you try the one I wrote. The picture tutorial does have a few flaws, but it works for learning the process. Just know that you should always keep all the different mesh group names from the original accessory, or your accessory will flash blue (put your accessory mesh in the "frame" group, and let the "lens" and "rim" groups be placeholders).

If you need help with a project, I suggest you use the creation help instead of the game help section: http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=34. If you post your files there, I can take a look at them and try to guide you through fixing them.

The tutorial I followed was the one with the pictures, I forgot to mention. I might try to make it again

Moved to Create - feel free to attach your files if you need some diagnosis.

Thanks and I will

So when I was using body shop I noticed the helmet appears with female sims, however glasses just show up with male sims:



How can I fix the issue with male sims? also I need help with texturing this because the original texture for the helmet was a 1024x1024 .tga file and for some reason the sims 2 changed this to a dark grey 128x128 texture and trying to edit this texture to make it look like the original doesn't work. If you want to look at the cc's files I will be happy to give them to you as well as the .tga file if you know how to put the normal texture back

FIrst, you need to delete the cache files, since they can make the wrong mesh show up. In many cases this fixes the issue if the mesh shows for one sim but not another.

If not, you have to make sure the proper meshes are linked to the 3DIR for all the ages/genders included in your file. The heads for male and female sims are slightly offset from each other, so unless the helmet is big enough you may have to use two different meshes.

Right now the helmet is probably using the texture for the glasses. The TGA file can't be read by Bodyshop, so the easiest way is to convert it to a PNG file in Photoshop/Gimp or similar, and then import it with the Nvidia DXT/DDS tools in SimPE (link and explanation here). If you used the "import" function for the texture, you also have to use the "fix all sizes" function - I never use this, because the "import" function gives a bad result in most cases. The DXT tools (DXT3 and 5) give a much better result.

If you can't figure it out, I can take a look at the files for you

I think it's best you look at the files since I'm a beginner at this

I have put the files in a .rar file. It should be noted that the .tga texture is big, the .tga file has both the helmet and the body in one texture but this doesn't matter because in milkshape the helmet should remap to this texture file on the sections of the helmet. Thank you so much!

The 3DIR resources are linked properly, BUT you've also linked the teen files to this mesh, and they will need an adjusted mesh because of the height difference. If you don't want teens in the file, you can just delete the Mesh Overlay resources for those ages, the ones with TM and TF in front. When you make a new recolor, Bodyshop will remove the appropriate resources. Don't be tempted to delete other resources - it's very easy to delete the wrong ones.

If the helmet doesn't show properly for male sims, you should be able to fix it by deleting the cache files (http://modthesims.info/wiki.php?tit...ete_Cache_Files), or by making a new recolor file.

In case you wonder, or in case you decide to include teen and make a mesh for them, they're the "0x00000401 (1025)" and "0x00000402 (1026)" 3DIR files, TF and TM respectively, under "instance" in the resource list. I've included a list of the 3DIR resources in my tutorial (here - I somehow linked to the wrong one above, now fixed).

Also attached the png texture and your file with the new texture below. I haven't compressed the file, so it's much bigger because of the larger texture.

I deleted the cache files like you said and it has fixed the issue with the male sim!



Is there anything else I should be aware of?

Thank you so much for doing the textures as well! All that's left to do now is create the body armor which is probably going to be a more difficult process I'll give it a shot. Again thank you for fixing my helmet!

If it looks like it's working, the next step is to try it out ingame - that'll reveal problems that aren't noticeable in Bodyshop, like any issues with the joint assignments.

99% of all head accessories look alright when only assigned to the head joint. Accessories from the neck down are much more difficult to assign. Personally, I think clothes are even more difficult to assign, at least when you're working with meshes from other games.

I tested the helmet ingame, there aren't any problems with the joints but there is one problem with the helmet, it appears to have transparcey issues


(This lot was a test lot btw just to mess around in)

as you can see on the helmet some of the otherside is clipping through it and it seems weird

All the "frame" TXMTs should be set to "SimStandardMaterial" instead of "StandardMaterial" in the "cMaterialDefinition" tab. Changing it should take care of the bleeding through problems (can't say I see any in your picture, but it's often more visible ingame and in motion). Delete the cache files after making the changes.

It's a post-Pets bug, and a rather annoying one at that. Caused me lots of trouble when I first started out making accessories.

Apologies for my late response, how do I make sure that the variables are set to those? and also do you have any tutorials on making custom outfits because I'd like to finish the power armor :D

Click one of the "frame" TXMTs (you have to do his to all of them), then look in the plugin view (should be open at the bottom, if not you have to click on the tab), then click on the "cMaterialDefinition" tab. You should see "SimStandardMaterial" or "StandardMaterial" in one of the lines. If it says "StandardMaterial", change to "SimStandardMaterial". Click commit, do the same for all the other "frame" TXMTs, and then save the file.

I've made too few outfits to feel I have the knowledge needed to make a tutorial, but there are plenty of other good tutorials.