A reference to SimPE is no good Idea, because Redistributing Sites or other Tools that want to use it wouldn't like to have the SimPE in the Name (which I do understand).

So before People start renaming the Files because they don't like the SimPE in it, I will stick to a neutral Name (any suggestions are apreciated). That way SimPE won't ask you to redownload a File you already have!


You guys did all the Work in the first Place! And I think you came up with great solutions!

Yes, that's true, but at the time, SimPE and any other tools were really directed at more advanced users, and everyone else was afraid of it. My point is, the bigger the community is and the easier the tools are to use, the greater the chance of people not conforming to standards or not even knowing about the standards.

Something that used to take a LONG time now takes one click. So people with a lot less experience and understanding will be using it. If you don't understand what's happening when you use the tool, just that it seems to work, you maybe don't even know what the community standards were.

RG

Thats true too. Good argument for no always making the risker stuff too easy to do. Why we lock up guns and don't allow children to drive

Glad I made sense. I didn't want to be saying "they're too dumb to conform to standards"... but in the beginning everyone was learning and in one or 2 central places where they were all sharing the data. The more easily things are done, the more widespread the users will be, so it becomes less likely that people using the tools will ever have heard of any community standards.

LOL, I'm talking too much now. I just wanted to make sure I'm not being insulting to others with the comment. :D

This is VERY scary.

I've managed to make a small boombox recolour in aprox. 10 min.

Maybe someone should remove the download from the thread before word spreads. The thought of people distributing objects made with this is giving me goosebumps.

The community seems to understand the need to have a 'required EP' for Sims 1 objects for an item being distributed to work in a game, and sites have been very innovated in labling which items coorectly and telling users 'look you have to have this' for the item to work in your game. The idea is to have the texture option turned on for items that cirrently don't. SO if there was a package that was set up to turn that option on on all known items that currently do not have it and users were told that it was a requirement to ahve that in their game before some items would work in their game along the same lines.

This would mean that object artist would not ahve to touch or change anything in the package, could offer it to users who wished to download and install recolored items that need that option turned on. It would require whoever created the package to provide a versioning when Maxis released more items. Object moddlers will need to be sure that any new object they craete needs to have the texture option on or their model cannot be recolored.

This would allow artists to the recolor objects the same for every object without having to create a special package and addition files that have to be installed and/or removed by the user; less chance of conflict because artist are making these as they make the object. If the person who downloads the items does not have the "Options.package" would just find the original object changed and that is fixed quickly by removing the package they should not sue with the "options.package" and the 'options package' would definately be standardized.

IMO the community has jumped on this recolored object bandwagon way WAY too fast and it concerns me. TSR has already committed a faux pas by releasing and then yanking and re-releasing recolored objects that were done improperly and may conflict. I almost feel like this should have been tested behind closed doors. I mean here we have everything clearly marked as testers wanted and in the beta forum, but other places do not.

I'm sorry but I just feel like this who process and everything just too new and people have just started to figure it out, but now there are recolors out the wazoo not just here but TSR, WDS and other places and I'd bet money there's some packed up in lots on the exchange. There's no control or guarantee this people did it the right way either.

We may end up with as big mess. It's not like it hasn't happened before, I still have yet to track down and clean out all the clothing items I have that were made with the old bodyshop and use old meshes that show up dark and don't fit right.

Speaking of which, first person who comes up with a tool to clean those out will get my sincere gratitude.

You're right, Motoki. I'm very glad that it's in the BETA section here. We're still making discoveries about it, and today I will be updating all my recolored object posts for the second time with improvements to make them more stable.

I don't know if the people from other sites are still following the changes made to the tutorial. In fact I'm not sure people HERE are following these changes as the develop, because they think they learned how to do it, and now they don't need the step-by-step guide. Actually, the FIRST time I had to update all my recolors, I don't believe anyone else bothered to make that change in their files.

One of my recolored objects just yesterday changed back to it's original color on someone mid-game yesterday. They aren't stable the old way, and we do ALL need to update them.

So yes, I definitely agree. (I need to start using italics rather than all caps, don't I? So lazy!)

RG

I think the Recolor Thread is already to Big, most people won't read it to the End!

maybe a thread only RGiles, Numenor, Phervers and Pinhead could post to would be best for a Tutorial. All the "Hlpe Me" post could be in another Thread. Inn that way we could have a better overview on the real important changes!!

It sure would be nice it we could only have posts which are either updates or answers to the most frequently asked questions on that thread. It would make the information far easier to find, and people would know that any change to that post is a change made to the process rather than just another question or a "hooray, I did it!" post.

RG

DO NOT USE THIS TO CREATE OBJECTS OR RECOLORS YOU WANT TO REDISTRIBUTE. This is untested and might produce Conflicts that stick with your work!

DO NOT REDISTRUBUTE THIS FILE! I PROMIS TO SEND SOME VAMPIRES (none female ones) AFTER YOU IF YOU DO :twisted: :naughty:

THIS IS A TESTING RELEASE. It is only supposed to be used to find the most stable way of doing this. AGAIN DONT USE THIS IF YOU WANT TO CREATE REAL STUFF. It will be included in the Release Version of SimPE as soon as the People here feel it is save to be included!

So, Please be reasonable and don't use this File for anything else than Testing stuff. I Hope this was clear enough!

Anyway this is almost the version that will be released. The Relese version won't have the multi Select ListBox and the "Enable all Color Options" Checkbox.

If you use that checkbox, SimPE will generate the needed Files for all of the checkd Items in the List. Since i need my PC Power to work alittle mor on SimPE and this a process that will take a really long time, it woud be great if some of you could try this. You can alos split up the Work and we will merege your generated Packages afterwards (so the workload would be shared)

Anywway if you decide to help out with this, have a test with only a small amount of Objects to see if it works for you.

Ah and i have renamed the packages, see the README for the new Name.

Thanks, Quaxi. I'll have a look right away.

Man, you're fast!

RG

I suggest a restricted (sticky?) thread for the tutorial, and when there will be an update, start a new restricted thread; this way everyone would see on top of the forum "Tutorial... NEW VERSION" every time something important would change, and would read the new tutorial.

EDIT:
thanks for the speeedy update for the Object workshop! Who are you, Kali the goddes with 6 arms?

I might be fast, but the Workshop is definetly not :D

Quaxi, maybe I am just being cynnical, but I don't think impatient people will care about your warnings. Anyone remember when J.M. Pescado posted the add more than 8 people to your family hack because someone wanted it but then said in bold and caps multiple times DO NOT USE THIS BECAUSE IT WILL MESS UPI YOUR GAME!!

People were still using it. :p

And a lot of people don't read stuff. They just download. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people complain that SimPE doesn't work only to find out they didn't bother to read the readme or the FAQ or else they would have known they needed .NET framework.

LOL! I knew that it wouldn't be. We'll split up the job as you suggested as soon as we're done testing a few things and being amazed.

RG

@Motoki:
Thats why I removed it Anyone who was working on this and needs the new Plugin can send me a PM (no eMail please!)

I'm still having one problem with the tool. I wanted to see if others con confirm or if I'm making a mistake somewhere (like I am trying to use the wrong version or something).

When I generate the 2 packages for an object with more than one MATD applied to different parts of the model, it's still only creating an option to change one of those materials. In the sunflower, it's only adding the option to change the _glass material, not the flower itself.

Is this true for everyone, or is it just me? I didn't want to start generating a whole batch of them until I was sure it was working properly.

Thanks
RG

That is true! I forgot about it

I get errors on the piano while trying "enable all colours"

with "Message:Unknown embeded RCOL block cBoneDataExtension"

Besides the multiple materials issue, there's one other thing... the list of objects still seems to be incomplete. Or at least I can't for the life of me find some objects on it. And I so wish I could find them because that "Create Custom Color package" can be a major time-saver with retexturing.

RG

So I'm not the only one! As I had no answers, I thought I had a corrupted installation...

At first I hadn't noticed. I wasn't searching for all that many sample objects. But I can't find living chairs, tables and so on. Lots of 'em are missing, or are wearing lots of good camoflage.

I have to agree. I am probably one of the few that place my objects in a house on another computer with sims running around with free will on and watch to see what happens to stuff.

Just yesturday I put a bed that has been up for download here a few days and the images were courrupt - so I am afraid that some artists are once they have the system down not even testing objects too well before posting.

Even the news posting sites hearlded the arrival of recolors without any warning that these are created by a method that is barely in beta (more likely at the end of alpha) and may cause issues.

The thing that really scares me is the wall/floor issue. I banged on getting that to work for days and only was only successful in creating a huge list of things that walls/floors break. And now some sites are posting walls/floors - floors from clones of phevers 4 and walls created using the recolor method. A couple of the artists that have were ones warned here about doing so - and so I expect thats why they did not post here for testing. Even an artist that tested extensively and finds a wall that works in their game has to realize that maybe the only copy of the game it works in, depending what another users has loaded, so testing is not even the answer until there is a good safe method to do them or Maxis comes through with the tool.

Then again - this happened with The Sims and anything not updated when the process was refined had to just be deleted - at least people are aware to some extent that anything they download and put in their game can cause an issue.

I would like to see a notice at the beginning of the Object Recolor forum telling the run of the mill downloader "If you download an object recolor you need to book mark this site and check back regularly for updates to your items." At least they are forewarned...

But as to doing it behind closed doors - sort of defeats the purpose of this site or the benefit you have of many people trying a process and finding thinsg that don't work and things that so.

What I think is worse, is that all these BETA recolours are probably being packaged up in lots and shipped out.

Soon it will be "Downloaded a Lot and got 400 new fridge colours" :argh:

OK maybe not 400