adding texture/uv-mapping "all-age" accessories

[Theraven]

hello

I'm very new to meshing and making objects to sims2 (I know how to mesh, but that's pretty much it) and now I'm wondering about a few things.

I'm trying to make an accessory for all ages  - but I'm totally new when it comes to using milkshape, and can't really figure out how to UVmap the texture - or how to put a texture on it at all (I'm new to UV mapping too - but I can do it with simple meshes, and the one I've got is quite simple).

I cloned an all-age accessory, and put my own mesh on top. I know I have to scale it for child and toddler - but I found a perfect cloning mesh for this, that tells me about how much I have to scale, and where I have to move the mesh for it to go to the correct place. But now I'm unsure whether the meshes needs different UV maps - or if I can use the same for all the ages - and how to do that at all.

I'm one of those people that usually have troubles putting together things in new ways (aka. reading a tutorial, and use it in a new way) - and all the different tutorials are really confusing me, since none of those I've found tells me anything sensible. (though, if there's a tutorial out there that explains this in a good way, then I might figure it out somehow - I've come so far without much use of a tutorial...)

oh, and does anyone know how to navigate in milkshape (moving around in the viewports)? whatever I do, the wireframe ones won't move, and the 3D one is not much better... I've only got the touchpad on a laptop, since there's something wrong with the USB ports on my laptop so I can't use a mouse if that's what I need.

and finally - do new (cloned) accessories need new guids?

Can anyone help me? :angel:

[BlooM]

you do know wat a uvmap is right?
it is your mesh splitup in a left/top/front/bottom and right and placed in 2d to give you the possibility to texture it correct.

First you have to check wether your mesh is uvmapped or not as it is something the creator must do himself.
if its not done the whole meshgroup gets assigned to one pixel wich will work on things that only need one solid color.
you select the whole mesh(faces, not vertices) and assigne a material to it(materials tab/new/none/surf to 512x512 bmp wich is used on most accessoires)and assigne it.
You now choose window and the text coordinate editor and you will see either a blank bmp file or one with dots(vertices) on it.

If it turns out you have to uvmap your meshparts i suggest you follow the shoe uvmap tutorial by DR Pixel on mts2 wich will learn how to uvmap new parts.

If you are using the same mesh for toddler to elder but only scale it en reposition it you do not need to adjust the uvmap.
Like glasses they will all use a identical uvmap and one texturefile.

Everything that you clone with bodyshop automaticly gets a new guid.

[Theraven]

thanks

guess I'm a bit too ambitious when the second mesh-thing I try for sims is an accessory for all ages. But it makes me want to learn - I don't have the time or patience to go through ten different tutorials only to figure out how to do one accessory. I just take bits and pieces here and there, combining it with things I already know. That's how my brain usually works, and I've not managed to change that yet...

on the other hand, I figured out that making default replacements is easier than I thought... (at least the way I did it with the object file I tried to clone... now I only need to figure out how to NOT make a default replacement... )

*goes to find the tutorial*

[Theraven]

one more thing: if I've already UV mapped one thing, and want to use that UV map as a base for the new texture (or use the coordinates, at least), is that possible? I made a mesh earlier (and uvmapped it) - and then put it into the meshfile I'm using now.

edit: and do accessories cloned from "glasses" need both the frame, lense and rim parts (and only that) - or can it have more parts (meshgroups) than that?

Edit again: I sort of figured out the UV map thing (not the frame/meshgroup thing, though). I'm also trying to follow an accessory tutorial I found - but I got a few problems on the way (the link goes straight to my post there)... anyone knows how to solve it?

edit AGAIN: Now there's something wrong with either the meshing or the grouping...or the recoloring... (bodyshop crashes every time I try to open the file). Does the entire mesh need to be named "frame", by the way?

I've got the mesh(es) correctly placed for all ages - but that's pretty much it... both simpe and BS is messing with my head, and all I seem to manage, is to make default replacements...

[BlooM]

if you save your mesh file as the default ms3d(milkshape file) you can open it with Lithunwrap(free download)
Then export(in the correct size) it as uvmap and you get a bmp file that you can use as base for your texturing.

Yes, you need to work with all meshgroups as they are linked to the subsets in the recolor.(in the meshoverlay, with accessoires and in the propertyset with clothing.)
You can add more meshgroups or remove them but you then have to add or remove them also to the meshoverlay/propertyset wich is another story(wrote a tut over it called no more cloning)

I am no longer active on mts2, srry

edit,
i couldn't download lithunwrap so i post it here for now.
will remove it within a week tho, dont want problems.

[Theraven]

thanks
I'll see if I can manage it now... do you have a link to the tutorial, by the way?

[BlooM]

i strongly recommend you take it easy hun as this isn't the easiest stuff.
Not sure wat you have done already but here is the tutorial:
http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=51352
There is a kinda copy of this one on TSR with screenshots but i dont have a link.

[Theraven]

well, the positive thing is that if I ever figure it out, I'll know a lot more about both sims2 meshing and simPE... I learn best visual, and by trying and failing. Tutorials mostly in writing usually only confuse me - especially if they're trying to teach me how to do one thing, while I'm trying to figure out something else (like having to use a maxis mesh when I want to use a CC mesh...)


by the way - do you have any idea how to use a maxis mesh, and then add toddlers to the age groups? It seems like using CC meshes is a totally different process than using maxis meshes . And I can't really understand why I get that message saying "unable to start tool plugin" when I'm trying to use the "PJSE --> bodymeshtool --> extracting stage" in SimPE

[BlooM]

well, you always have to start with a maxis mesh, no matter wat because you need the skeleton that comes with it.
Clothing/accessoires and hairmeshes use that skeleton and every age comes with a diffrent one, except the Young adult/adult and elder.

So you always have to import that maxis mesh first and then replace is with a custom one.

It is possible to add the toddler to the accesoire package but you better make one seperate, tut here:http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=87592

I do not know bout the error you get.
You normally clone a outfit/hair or accessoire with bodyshop.
Then open Simpe
Start NEW
use the PJSE plugin to build the mesh package and save it

Then open the recolor and link the mesh to it with the PJSE tool, however.......i do not think this will work with hair or accessoires as there are more then one age/gender files in the meshpackage
I link these manually.