Hello,

I began creating and this is my very first creation so you can freely judge my work. What do you think of the result for now?

This is a Sims 3 convertion of the Victorian Window to the Sims 2. I plan to upload it so your opinion is welcomed. I also plan to convert the Victorian bay window.

My first problem is quite arresting, there is a black frame showing although i deleted the "diagonal" frame as I read on the internet.

Secondly, there is a part of wall in place of the window glass upside. Don't know if you can see it but I would like to delete it and I'm not sure it's because of the wall mask.

Lastly, I would like to know how I can edit the texture. I explain; I extracted the DDS from the Sims 3 and imported it to the Sims 2. That's why you can see details and shadows but nevertheless, I don't how to change the color to wood because in Sims 3, pattern is seperate. Do I need to mix the DDS and the pattern in Photoshop?

Thank you for your help.

Since you're probably waiting for a reply- that black box around the window is the shadow. You don't have a texture for it- so you're going to have to add one. If you don't know how to make your own custom shadow, you should be able to export a shadow texture from another window (as close to the same size as your window as you can get) and import it into your .package. You'll have to edit it if you export one from another window.

The rest of the .package looks good- and I love this window already. I'm going to check out the game windows to see if I can help you figure out which shadow would be the best.

edit: If you want, I can do a custom shadow for you. Then all you'd have to do is clone one of the existing textures, edit the texture name and import the shadow texture. (Import, not Build..)

Actually, when i converted the sims 3 window, it gave me a bunch of groups, inclunding the shadows. So I have the shadows but it looked weird so I decided to put the original shadows back and since that I have the black frame.

Anyways If you can do a custom shadow for me, I can do what you said, no problems

Sorry I haven't posted the shadow texture for you. I didn't notice until this morning that you imported a texture over the shadow's texture in SimPE. So I've been fixing that. The good news is that in SimPE the rectangular shadow isn't showing anymore. (The shadow mesh had to be moved and resized a bit, too.) At the moment, I'm working on renaming and relinking the shadow and glass entries in SimPE. When I get the whole thing done, I'll post the fixed .package for you- assuming I can get it all to work right. You can either use it or use it to compare the changes I did and try to do them yourself. It's totally up to you!

edit: I meant to ask- do you want the glass to be a recolorable subset that needs a texture? If you don't want it to need it's own texture, the TXMT can be used to change it's color.

I don't know for the glass texture, I guess it is better if it has its own texture but I'm not sure the glasses in the Sims 3 are different from the ones in the SimS 2.

Thank you for your help anyways, I'm new in 3D modelling and really invested in but I need help lol (that's why I only convert things already modelled for now).

And don't worry, I'll see your modified package, understand how you did this and that, compare it with mine...

I did forget about this, sorry about that.

Before we work on the shadow, you need to fix at least 2 things. 1) Your window can't be picked up, designed or deleted with the hammer once placed. 2) Your window replaces a game window. Both are easily fixed.

To fix the first problem: Do this for both sides of the window.
1) Open your window meseh in SimPE.
2) Click on the GMDC>Plug-In View.
3) Click on the "Model" tab.
4) Over to the side you will see "clear". Click that.
5) Click on the "Groups" tab.
6)Click on each entry (one at a time) to highlight it- click on "Add to bounding mesh." Do this to each entry- even the shadow!
7) Commit and save. You should now be able to pick up/delete the object.

2nd problem: You need to get a GUID for it.

The shadow: I did do a shadow texture, which you seem to have gotten done? If you did get it done, it basically just needs to be resized- so export the shadow mesh and edit it to fit the window. It doesn't need to be a lot bigger than the window, just big enough to show on the sides of the window. Be sure to do do both sides of the window.

One thing I noticed- did you mean for more of the window frame to show on one side of the window? Or are you wanting both sides to show the same amount of frame? If that's what you're wanting, you need to move one side of the window closer to the other. I don't know what meshing program you use- in Milkshape you would have to move it farther way to get it closer. It's backwards that way.

I created another thread because I asided this window to focus on the bay window. Anyways the work is the same for both.

When you say "so export the shadow mesh and edit it to fit the window", that's where I'm stuck, how can I make the shadow have the same complicated outline, the base shadow is a square ?? When I got the *.obj from the Sims 3, there is a shadow group in Milkshape which I replaced but it didn't work.

And for the GUIDS, I already fixed that, and created stand-alone objects so I can edit the textures

edit: oh and btw I now know how to apply the texture on the alpha as you may have seen on the bay window (with the "incrustation" mode in Photoshop) :D

The shadow mesh just has to fit around the window properly. The shadow shape comes from the shadow texture. Like I said, I did the shadow texture- but when I tried it out in game the shadow didn't show. That's operator error (on my part, lol)- I must not have gotten it in the right place and it's in the wall a bit. At least, that's what happened to me when I did my window set. I'll be going in game soon to check out other stuff, I'll move the shadow- if it shows this time and is the right shape, I'll upload the shadow texture for you. Oh, and the shadow mesh if you want it.

There is one thing I forgot about earlier- the wall mask. That little bit of wall you can see at the top of the window is there because the wall mask needs to be a bit higher on the top. Did you fix that? I like this window- A LOT!

I also fixed the wall mask (I spent my days on the forums reading tutorials lol)

What do you think of my bay window ? Do you think I could upload a set with these Victorians windows soon ? Thanks for your help, I'm new, I really appreciate it

edit : I made a new texture for the window:

*headdesk* For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why the texture I made wasn't showing up right.

Well- I'm almost embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't change the shadow mesh! The mesh wasn't a flat plane, it was shaped like a frame. Now that I changed the shadow mesh the texture shows up just fine.

Is the texture too dark and/or too big? If so, let me know and I'll tweak it until it's what you want. Personally, I think it could be a bit lighter and a bit smaller. But it's up to you.

This is perfect, really ! could you explain me briefly how you did ? and if you can post the package, so I can copy the shadow to my own package

I'll get the shadow .png and the shadow mesh and post them for you. I want to get them right from SimPE to make sure they're the right ones. I'll edit this post and attach them.

As for how I did the shadow, if you can give me some time I'll write it up. It's similar to the custom shadow tutorial, with a few tweaks to make it easier (for me) in PhotoShop.

Edit: N & S shadow meshes attached and the texture. I didn't put the whole .package since you have it and have changed it a bit. As long as you didn't change the size of the window, the shadow meshes and texture will be alright.

I do think that the shadow could be a bit smaller and lighter- but like I said: that's up to you. If you need help doing either of those just ask. Oh, before I forget, the shadow meshes might need to be moved a bit. I'm not sure how close to the wall they are. I just got the south one in a spot that worked so I could see it.

I'm sorry to bother you again but could you upload a functional package if you have one, cause mine isn't working, I replaced both south and north obj, changed the texture but I get a weird thing in-game (black square on one side, nothing on the other).

edit: and I didn't even change anything except the frame texture ! I dont see where it can come from :S

Sure, I still have your original.

When you say you replaced the south and north obj, are you talking about the window meshes or something else? If the blackness happened after replacing the shadows, they'll just need placed in the right spot. (I realize you said all you changed was the frame texture..but it doesn't hurt to clarify things!)

Yes, I'm not always clear I know lol
Actually I replaced the wallshadow in both the North and the South geometric data container

and I previously (before you gave me the textures/meshes) replaced the texture ONLY so I don't know why it doesn't work, I meant I didnt change the window size

You can edit your posts instead of double posting.

I think the black you're talking about is the shadow mesh. When I first started working on the mesh, I noticed the one in your package didn't show at all- even with the texture applied. So I moved just the south shadow until I could see it in-game. The north one was most likely out too far. If you want to be sure that the shadow mesh is the problem, change the window texture back to the original and see if the black goes away.

This is extremely fixable. If you want to try fixing it yourself, all you have to do is import the shadow mesh and nudge it a bit. (Both of them, one at a time.) It's trial and error- nudge, export, import into SimPE, save, check in game. Rinse and repeat. Sorry, couldn't resist that part. But yeah, it's trial and error..just keep nudging until it's in the right spot in game. You could also import the window mesh as a guide while nudging the shadow mesh. I usually try going towards the front of the mesh if I do it that way.

If you get really stuck, ask for help. If you get really, really stuck, I'm willing to fix your original package for you and post it. (Hope you don't think I'm being mean or unhelpful, I just want to see if you can fix the shadow issue. If not, I'm more than willing to step back in!)