hi there -

are there any talented meshers who would be willing to throw together a quick accessories tutorial for non-beginners? i'd love to create beautiful jewelry and so forth, and i'm sure many others would too.

thanks in advance -
helaene

I don't have time to do a full tutorial, but since you are a non-beginner maybe this will help.

It is done much the same as you would do a hair mesh, and I will point out the few differences.

First, you must be editing your meshes in a way that allows adding/removing parts and assigning vertices. In other words, using MilkShape and Wes H's v 2.16 plugins, or else the newer MeshTool and the .smd format.

You can't really do this if you are using the .obj format.

===================================

So, first you make a BodyShop .package file and export it to the game, just as in Brianna's tutorial, but from a pair of glasses rather than a clothing item.

To find the name of the mesh file components, you look at the Mesh Overlay XML files in this .package. Look at the "name (dt string)" line to find it. Make sure you are getting the age and sex you want, this is in the first two letters of the name - for example "af" means Adult Female.

Gather together the 4 mesh parts as Brianna explains, and make up the new Mesh file .package.

When you get to the part about "linking" the mesh to the BodyShop .package, see this post:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showpost...911&postcount=3

After linking to the BodyShop .package, you go on to the actual editing which I am going to assume you are already familiar with.

In general, it is best to make your accessory from the "frame" part of the glasses, this will make it easier to make re-colors in the future because the "frame" texture is what BodyShop exports for you to edit.

The "lens" group I simply snap all the vertices together, and move them into a place where they will be hidden inside the Sim's head.

The one other thing you might want to do, depending on what your accessory is, would be to change the "category"

By default, glasses are categorized to show on your Sim when they are wearing Everyday, Formal, and WorkOut clothing, and to not show up on the other outfits.

Here is how to change this:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showpost...645&postcount=6

you are just the best thing ever! thanks so much dr. pixel!

i cnat wait to see your accesories helaene... theyre prolly gonna look awsome

thanks newto....i think you give me more credit than i deserve! lol

Hi,

I would be very grateful if somebody could write a tutorial about accessory meshing for beginners. The problem is, I do not know how to do such things like "link this to your package file" or what SimPE really does when I export a file to milkshape ... I tried, but I do not understand completely.
I need a step-by-step tutorial "First cklick here. Finished? Good girl. Go on and click there. Made it? Perfect!" etc. Would be great if somebody could do that, maybe including some hints how to change glasses into something else, like wings, staffs etc.

Best regards from Germany!

I've written one with screen shots for body and accessory meshes at SpicySims.com (http://www.spicysims.com/TutorialMeshing.cfm), look in the sidebar to find it. If you have more specific questions about linking files you might want to read any of the body mesh tutorials, the idea is the same. Wings and staffs must be assigned to the parts of the body they will be on/near such as the spine or the right or left hand. It is also a good idea to look through the files of accessories you like to see what was done and where the object was placed.

If you have any more specific questions you could shoot me a message or post in this forum.

hi,, i hv just tried to follow the tutorials from all the links above+Clothes tutorials...
last time i tried making clothes without WesH...it turned up like a explosion...
so this tme i tried to do accessories for the neck,,thought it would be easier..
and this time i used WesH so i can add vertices,
but i guess i didnt how to "properly" assign it,
(i just selected everything and assign it to the neck)
so when i exported it in milkshape and replace it in simpe, errors msg came up in both software
Now i cant open the .simpe file in Milkshape, and the file in SimPE is still a pair of glasses...

i am getting quite annoyed by this..
as i tried 2 times very hard editing the meshes.. and i just ends up losing the work..
I am quite sure its all abt the JOINTS,GROUP and COMMENT things...
Can anyone put out a tutorial just for this?
( would be better explain how clothes group and accessories group work,,
I think they are different,as clothes group is fit/fat/pregnant,and accessories is lens,frame and forgotten:P)

argh....I wonder when will I be success in this whole creation thing...
seems easy to everybody else...
I will be so happy when i finally success...

*I dunno did I sound impolite in the post,
pls forgive me if it does,,coz my eng is bad :P

[QUOTE=Dr Pixel]

First, you must be editing your meshes in a way that allows adding/removing parts and assigning vertices. In other words, using MilkShape and Wes H's v 2.16 plugins, or else the newer MeshTool and the .smd format.

You can't really do this if you are using the .obj format.

===================================

Hi, yould you possibly explain this bit to me? I've tried to use the obj. and although I believe I got everything else right, my new glasses still show up as the same mesh. So I think I made my mistake using the obj format. But I don't know what PlugIns you are talking about, I use MilkShape.

I also have the MeshTool (downloaded it today, so it would be the newer MeshTool right?) But I never heard of Smd format.

The plugins you need are in this thread: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=43503

ah, thanks

For all who have problems with meshing, I suggest to take a look at:
http://drpixel.noneto.com/Al_tut.htm
(@ Dr Pixel: Hope it is allright to post that here ... Thank you for writing this tutorial!)
I think this is a very good tutorial written by Dr Pixel, which explains how to replace the shoes of a mesh with another pair, but which is very useful for beginners as it has loads of explanations concerning joints and groups etc. It helped me a lot.

mechec, I tried to follow the link to your tutorial, but it is broken. Any chance you might post the tut here?


Dr Pixel, I'm trying to follow your post about linking new accessory meshes but some of the pictures are not showing up and I just can't seem to understand how to do it without the pictures. I don't think it me because I can see other pictures. Would it be possible to get a new set of pictures?

Thank you both for being willing to share your expertise

So I have a bunch of accessory meshes made... but they are sized for adults.
If I clone the glasses, can I simply not include the "teen" references without messing up the file?

The other thing I noticed is the glasses change width when you alter parts
of the faces in Bodyshop... is there a way to avoid this? Does anyone know
if this change is linked to parts of the face specifically? So if I link my
mesh to "head" it won't do that?

Sorry one other question... do I need my own "GUID" number for these like I do if I make a new object?

Sorry... hope I'm making sense...

When you do the linking of your mesh to the BodyShop .package, only link the ages and sex(s) that you want the accessory to be available for.

If you don't want them to go on Teens, delete the Teen References - same goes for Child, Elder, Young Adult. Glasses usually are linked to all ages and both sexes - just remove the ones you don't want.

This post explains how: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthre...1911#post571911

========================================
Adults, Young Adults, and Elders of the same sex all share the same basic body dimensions so even if your mesh is sized for "adults" it can be linked to all three of those age groups if you like.

Teen and children are different sizes of course - you woukld need to have separate meshes for them, although they would all share the same recolors.

If you do want to make these accessories for other ages, it's fairly simple to do - there are some "reference" mannequin meshes on my Branch Office site than you can use to make the re-sizing and re-positioning much easier.



When you make the vertex assignments, assign all the parts to the "head" joint. Well, assuming this is something that goes on the head. If it is a necklace, assign all to "spine_2" - whatever is appropriate for the accessory you are making



Only Objects (as in furniture, etc) have a GUID - body parts do not.

Their reference numbers are set when you use the "fix integrety" in SimPE. That is why it is important to use the naming method suggested in Brianna's tutorial, to make sure the refernce numbers in your meshes will not interfere with other meshes.

Unlike Sims1, the game goes totally by the reference numbers inside the file.

The pictures all seem to be still there - they are always found at the bottom of the posts - if you don't see them in the text, click on the pictures at the bottom.

Thanks Dr P... helpful and in plain English as always.

I tried using a sunglasses mesh and I think that was a mistake... there
were about a bazillion 3D ID references in it! I wasn't sure which ones
were the ones I needed to link and which ones to get rid of for teens!
I'm going to try cloning the plain glasses you show in your tutorial.
Hopefully those will be easier to manage.

Again, many thanks!

P.S. I already snagged your mannequin meshes... thats how I converted
my Sims1 accessories to Sims2 size. :D

oops sorry Dr Pixel. That's what I get for being in a rush and not looking at the bottom of the post.

Unfortunately you will find that all glasses have a ton of 3D ID reference fikles in them, since glasses are made to work for all ages and sexes, child through Elder. And each age and sex will have it's own set of two 3D ID reference files (one of the odd ones, and one of the "real" ones that we link to) - plus there is an extra, blank one, in there for some reason.

However, once you have edited the first mesh .package and gotten it to work, next time you can use this same cut-down one for your next accessory (assuming it is for the same age/sex groups) by using "fix integrety" on it again with a different name, and saving it with a different name. You will still have to do the linking to a new BodyShop .package again, but it will be much simpler because the other unwanted ages will already have been removed, and you don't have to go gathering up all the mesh files again.

You just make a new BodyShop .package from your first accessory, link it to this newly renamed, re "fix integrety"d mesh .package, and replace the GMDC with your next accessory mesh.

I'm having a problem exporting my new mesh from milkshape. When I try, I get an error that says bodymod1 not present or the order has been changed. I'm a *little* confused since I didn't think glasses had a bodymod at all. I use wes h's bodychop plugins to import and export. I also get the following error when I try replace the GMDC with my edited mesh. It only happens with glasses, I can do clothes with no problem.
Message:
Error while trying to open

Package: C:\Documents and Settings\Meagen Kay\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\MESH_usagi-chan_wings.package
File: Geometric Data Container (AC4F8687) - 04F46BD5 - 1C050000 - FF04136E SimPE Version:
Default (0.52.2170.26328).

Exception Stack:
System.IO.EndOfStreamException: Unable to read beyond the end of the stream.
at System.IO.__Error.EndOfFile()
at System.IO.BinaryReader.FillBuffer(Int32 numBytes)
at System.IO.BinaryReader.ReadInt32()
at SimPe.Plugin.GeometryDataContainer.Unserialize(BinaryReader reader)
at SimPe.Plugin.Rcol.ReadBlock(UInt32 id, BinaryReader reader)
at SimPe.Plugin.Rcol.Unserialize(BinaryReader reader)
at SimPe.Interfaces.Plugin.AbstractWrapper.ProcessData(IPackedFileDescriptor pfd, IPackageFile package, Boolean catchex)

Source:
mscorlib

Execution Stack:
at System.IO.__Error.EndOfFile()
at System.IO.BinaryReader.FillBuffer(Int32 numBytes)
at System.IO.BinaryReader.ReadInt32()
at SimPe.Plugin.GeometryDataContainer.Unserialize(BinaryReader reader)
at SimPe.Plugin.Rcol.ReadBlock(UInt32 id, BinaryReader reader)
at SimPe.Plugin.Rcol.Unserialize(BinaryReader reader)
at SimPe.Interfaces.Plugin.AbstractWrapper.ProcessData(IPackedFileDescriptor pfd, IPackageFile package, Boolean catchex)


I've gotten the same error several times so I'm sure it's something I've done wrong, I just don't know what...Does anybody have any suggestions? Thanks

Well, I think I've found the problem. It seems that the bodychop plugins don't work with glasses accessories. I can use the v2.16 milkshape plugins just fine. Unless I'm missing something else that is glaringly obvious

Yes, you are correct. The BodyChop plugins at this point are ONLY for body/clothing meshes - not for accessories, or hair meshes.

Creating ANYTHING for TheSims 2 game is difficult. Figuring out how to do it took a lot of effort when there were NO tutorials to be had... just blood, sweat, tears, and "let me try this".

A tip for you, if you are using my plugins.
Make a seperate directory just for your project, so you can find everything in one spot. Make copies from other places if needed. When you are finished, it makes it easy to clean up all the temporary things you made.
As soon as you import the GMDC you intend to modify (from your brand-new directory), do a "Save As" in MilkShape (it will use a .ms3d file extension). Every so often, as you get a new part of your work accomplished, do another "Save As", but add a "2" to the filename. Then a 3, etc.
This way, if you make an error, you need only back up to the saved file you made before the mistake.
You need only use the export plugin to convert the mesh from inside MilkShape back into a GMDC format.

<* Wes *>

Dr Pixel, I'm trying to make a wing accessory similar to you alpha earrings and am not having any luck getting the alpha channels to work. So I'd like to beg for a little of your time if that's ok. Here is a quick run down of my steps:

clone glasses in bodyshop
find file name and gather part of for new package(per NuptuneSuzy's tut but it's very similar to Biranna's just with the new version of SimPE and Wes h's plugins)
make new package
link package following your instructions above
extract mesh and edit
export put it back into new package..it does show up in bodyshop and my game
make a copy in bodyshop
open it in SimPE change material definitions for frames from none to blend and commit each
go to texture image and import an image (it is in DXT3 format) per your instructions in the "how to make an alpha earring" thread
commit and save
open bodyshop and photoshop
edit image and alpha, save... and I get my mesh with a tiny picture of my image on it. Everything is visable so the alpha has done nothing. I have attached a picture. I'm not sure if I have missed a step in milkshape or somewhere else.
I have also tried working on the original bodyshop file I made without making a copy of it after I put my new mesh into the package. I hope I'm making sense. I'll be happy to clarify any of my steps if I'm not.

If you could help me figure out where I have gone wrong I would greatly appreciate it. Also I hope it ok that I asked this in this thread rather than the one on alpha earrings. No one had posted in that one in a few months so I thought it was better to post here.

Thanks and Happy New Year.

Alas, the BodyChop plugins will not correctly generate the necessary normals for your alpha channels to work.
I have been working on this for a long, long time. I can create a set of bumpmapping normals (they are also called "Tangent Normals") that look virtually identical to those contained in a MAxis-made mesh, but I can't get the alpha channel to generate bumps.
I've gotten pretty frustrated with this. So I hope my message doesn't sound too bitter. But until some further development occurs, you won't be able to use my plugins and an alpha channel to generate properly bumpmapped objects, or clothes, or whatever.

<* Wes *> <--- sore and tired of the code, compile, edit, build, test & fail rut I've been in.