I love this site and have visited it quite often (although this is my first post). I use SimPE sometimes to try my hand at modding objects. It's a wonderful program but it is a hassle to change your object and then have to start up the game and load a while before you can test it and find out if it works or not. Is there a program such that you could start it up and load the objects you want to test and a default person (of whatever age you need) and simply test their interactions. This would be faster and you don't really care about saving when you are creating. If there isn't such a program, is there anybody who has enough knowledge to make something like this? Anyway, it would be a great staple for a lot of people on this site to go along with tools such as simPE.

It would be a wonderful tool, but sadly, I think it's just beyond our scope right now. I'd kill for something like that, but more Body Shop-specific (as I HATE the lighting in Body Shop, and wish we had a program that would simulate actual game graphics so we can see if our clothes look okay without having to load the game).

The best thing to do is to just move your Downloads to the desktop and only load the custom content you want to test in-game; it will load a LOT faster.

That's something that would be useful to everyone who makes, objects, and yes, the light in bodyshop is kind of wrong. But I guess we all have to live with it until changes are made. One of the other biggist thing we need, though is to figure out how to make/modify animations. In the end, it would help a lot more.

Yep that wud be great it is a pain. Anyone reckon maxis migth release something like this? I think it wud be good but i dont think it'll happen.

that would be awesome. And no i dont think maxis would make it because the programs most people use for moddign (e.g. simPE) aren't endorsed or created my maxis/ea. So they wouldnt make a program for something that isnt made byt hem. But i wish the would

Maxis has a very good reason for making sure that it's always going to be easier for them to create unique, quality custom content than it is for users: expansion packs. If, with TS2, they released a tool similar to Body Shop, only properly working and a perfect simulation of the game's lighting, a 3d modeling tool that made it easy to create, uv map, and modify the behaviors of game objects, and an animation editor, between all of the talented people who create objects for Sims 2, we would've already created just about everything that Maxis might've thought to create for the game. We'd already have pets, apartments, landlords, robots, werewolves, woohoo in every possible way, killer monsters from outer space, etc., etc., etc...

If someone could just find a way to modify the light in the existing Body Shop so it's lighter and whiter, I'd be happy.

I doubt that such a tool will exist, probably not really because Maxis wants to maintain a strong hold on quality content, as I know that they love seeing the community create content of its own. The Sims 2 would never be as successful as it is if it wasn't for community content creation.

The primary reason a tool will never be designed to simulate things like the game is because the simulation IS the game. The Sims 2 is a "simulation" type game, and the vast majority of the code is written to execute that simulation using all the data available after the game has loaded (sims, relationships, objects, buildings, sim and family requirements, etc.)

Not only that, but the simulation engine is largely dependant on scripting, so it can remain flexible and accept new unquely designed and behaving content without requireing the core code to be changed. The dynamic and diverse (meaning it uses all the different possible kinds of data in the game) nature of the simulation engine makes it kind of impossible to replicate without having the game actually running. (FYI, thats how Maxis's tools like EDITH work...they directly hook into the game while it is running, allowing them to test or change the current state of the simulation when creating new content.)

Its not really possible to simulate part of an interaction without having a history of past events and related data that lead up to a particular interaction. Environment, relationship states, mood, needs, wants/fears (which require historical data to be properly generated), and location all play a role in how an interaction plays out.

Yeah I never saw it that way and I suppose thats right. Maxis wont release a tool like that because then they'd have nothing to make. I am surprised they didnt do a program for just recoloring objects but Wizards of SimPE's is probably the same or better than one maxis wud release.

I have email'd them and ask'ed them if thay can make a program for that and my retern email was "sorry but we don't make programs that can make custom content as it can mess your game up"

Mess up your game? I think the EPs do that,dont you? More CC is less buggy than 1 EP/SP! With Pets, Bodyshop stuff was ruined,they didnt even add any new clothes/hair to BS,so why touch it?

I like making you happy. Even if it takes a year.

Go to the GameMods download area and get my BodyShop replacementlights package.

<* Wes *>