Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 7th Dec 2013 at 12:31 PM
Default CAW: Replacing an object by another
Hi World-Builders,

after having a pause playing the Sims 3, I decided to play it again, but with a new neighborhood. Meanwhile EA published their Midnight Hollow neighborhood.
I like the landscape very much but don't like the dark concept. So I decided to change it using CAW. It was of course easy to change the terrain paint and the
roads. I also got rid of the houses because I want to play in a virgin neighborhood.
After changing everything to my taste, the trees didn't fit anymore. They were too dark, especially the trees without leaves.
I didn't want to erase all trees and plant new ones, so I examined the world-files a little bit to find out, if I could replace the dark trees with the green ones.
I finally figured out how to do it.
Because I haven't found anyone writing about this topic I want to show you a small tutorial about how you can replace objects in game.
That includes changing an usual object with one that is not shown in CAW.

You need S3PE with a hex editor for this tutorial!

1st Step
Open CAW, open an existing or create a new world. Put in one or more objects into a layer and save your world. It really doesn't matter, what objects you create. If the layer consists of multiple objects of one type,
all objects of this type will be replaced. Example: 5 fir trees are in one layer => all 5 fir trees will be replaced to the desired object.
In this tutorial, I chose the cute dinosaur statue as you can see:



2nd Step
Close CAW (important) and open s3pe. Then open the big game-objects-package file of either the base game or one of the expansions, depends on where you expect the object to be.
The big file is located in your Sims Folder:
...\GameData\Shared\Packages\FullBuild0.package (base game)
...\EP1\GameData\Shared\Packages\FullBuildep1.package (Expansion 1)
etc. etc.
I found the dinosaur-data in the EP5-folder (just sort the opened file by Name and scroll until you find the name of your object).
Right click ob the OBJK-File of your object and in the menu choose "Hex Editor" (I use HxD as Hex Editor):



3rd Step
After the Hex Editor is open, copy or write down the last 12 Hex-Numbers.
The dinosaur-statue's last 12 hex-numbers are:
01 00 00 48 55 4D FB 48 00 00 00 00



Close the Hex Editor without saving.

4th Step
Repeat step 2 and 3 but searching for the "destination"-object you want to have in CAW.

What if my Sim hikes through the woods and has to take a leak? There is no object in CAW that could help him or her out.
Forget about the trees, he/she wants to sit while doing his/her business like any decent Sim.
So I want to replace the dinosaur-statue into a toilet, but not any toilet: the EXPENSIVE toilet


It can be found in the package of the base game.

The last 12 hex-numbers of this object are:
01 00 00 00 8C ED 6B 00 00 00 00 00



After you copied or noted these hex-numbers, you can close the Hex-Editor.
While working with the original game packages do only READ in the files, do not change anything and do never ever save

I would recommend setting up an excel-file with all hex-numbers of the objects you're examining for later use.
Would also be cool if the community could exchange these numbers.

5th Step
Now you need to open the layer in S3PE where your objects are located. I hope you remember the layer's name because this will help you.
You'll find all the layers in the CAW-Folder located in your Windows-Documents-Folder:
<CAW Folder>\UserToolData\Worlds\<Your World Name>\Layers\*.layer
To view the layer in the Open-dialog, you have to choose file type "All files".

The layer-filename should begin with the layer name you choose in CAW. Open this file, right click on the REFS-File of your layer and open
it with your Hex-Editor:



6th Step
After the Hex-Editor opened the REFS-File, search for the 12 hex-numbers of your source-object (in my case dinosaur-statue) and replace
it by the 12 hex-numbers of your destinaton-object (in my case the expensive toilet).



Hit save and close the Hex Editor.
In the following dialog of S3PE commit changes by clicking "Yes".
Save layer file in S3PE and close s3pe.

7th Step
Congratulations, you're finished.
Now let's view the results in CAW.
Open your world in CAW and look for the object you just replaced:



The object cube around the toilet is of the same size as it was with the dinosaur-object.
Don't know if there is any issue in game with that.

As you can imagine, this tutorial is experimental and you should always backup everything.
I would be very thankful if you could test this method with any object you can imagine and give feedback in this thread.
I suppose that it is possible to add the lighthouse FX using this method.

What I can tell is that I didn't have problems changing all tree-objects in Midnight Hollow.

Midday Hollow:


Happy testing,
Thjodolf
Advertisement
Test Subject
#2 Old 26th May 2018 at 1:19 PM
I know it has been years since this post was created, but I'll ask anyway in case someone sees this...

I too am in the process of replacing the Midnight Hollow Trees. I just wanted to ask which file do I have to edit for the replacement to work? Do I have to edit the MidnightHollow.world file that is found in the Installed Worlds folder (and if so, do I have to edit all 197 REFS files in there!)? Or do I have to edit another REFS file from another folder?
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#3 Old 26th May 2018 at 1:41 PM
@Markymaxy Well that depends on whether you want to completely change the EA world, or make a custom version of Midnight Hollow so that you can still have the original.

If you want to edit the original MidnightHollow world, then be sure to make a backup first so that you can go back if you don't like your changes.
Test Subject
#4 Old 26th May 2018 at 1:53 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
@Markymaxy Well that depends on whether you want to completely change the EA world, or make a custom version of Midnight Hollow so that you can still have the original.

If you want to edit the original MidnightHollow world, then be sure to make a backup first so that you can go back if you don't like your changes.


I want to change the EA world, so that the trees also change in the save files I already have. Like said, the world file found in the document/ElectronicArts/TheSims/Installed Worlds folder contains a MH world file, that has ~190 REFS files, and from what I've seen so far in S3PE, every one contains the 12 HEX numbers from the tree(s) I want to change

So I was wondering if I was looking at the wrong Midnight Hollow file, or do I have to painstakingly edit all those files, or is there a simpler solution?
Back to top