Beginner's Object Recoloring Tutorial?

[Chairman Greg]

I want to make a new, recolored (use existing mesh) version of a custom object that's not in the Wizards of SimPE catalog.

Is there a simple tutorial for this?  I've found lots of tutorials about custom meshes and other exotic things that are being done by the elder gods of object-making, but can't seem to find the kindergarten version of object recoloring.

Really, all I need to know is what buttons to push to clone an existing object to create a new one.  (I already know how to use SimPE to replace the texture files once I've got the new object to work with.)

[The Mule]

I can never find the same tut twice it seems....BUT...make a copy of the existing package, rename it, export the texture with simpe, recolor it, and them import...obviously with saving and committing etc etc...drop it in your dl file and viola!! recolor!

[BeosBoxBoy]

I will try to touch up the one I have been writing and post it later this weekend.  The thing that always slows this down is I have to triple check my grammar and do screen captures (we hates screenieses).Hopefully kathy will be able to explain a better way to do ground shadows, because I have had no success with the existing tutorial methods.  I know a rather complicated way to do them, but that is definitely not for beginners

I will be using SimPE version 0,58 for the tutorial because I don't have Pets EP or Glamour Stuff installed, and because it is the version that seems to like me best so far.  The screen captures may be a little Windows 98 looking because I rip most of the guts out of Windows XP so it runs better, but the differences should be managable.

[Chairman Greg]

I can never find the same tut twice it seems....BUT...make a copy of the existing package, rename it, export the texture with simpe, recolor it, and them import...obviously with saving and committing etc etc...drop it in your dl file and viola!! recolor!

That sounds simple enough!  Do you have to fiddle with the GUID or some other arcane bit of data?

[BeosBoxBoy]

Chairman Greg - what I do is this:

put a temporary copy of the item I want to recolour in a temp folder, fire up SimPE, start Object Workshop, open the file, select "recolour" from the option drop-box.

click next.

Then use the original item as a base name and add _bbb-recol01, _bbb-recol02, etc for the recolours.

The export the textures, manipulate to my satisfaction, and build DXT and over-write the texture in the recolour.

When I am done making recolours, move the finals into the downloads folder.

The GUID is nothing you need touch in a recolour.  If you follow the steps I list above CEP carries all the proper values and you need never worry about anything but the textures.

[Chairman Greg]

Thanks, Jakov!  I'll try that tonight!

I'm beginning to suspect that such a basic tutorial is hard to find because most folks figure it's too basic to even bother!  My problem might have been that I was making it much harder than it needed to be! :laugh:


Addendum:  Yippee!  It worked!

Anja can finally have the Shelby Cobra she's been campaigning for!  And my present is that I no longer have edit every picture where a vehicle shows up in her story!


It seems like a lot of work to make a little electronic stripper happy, but it was fun!

I had to flip over to Numenor's tutorial to figure out the finer points of "Built DXT" but I wouldn't have even known to look for that without your help, Jakov!  Thanks again!

I have more work to do on the textures for that car, but at least now I know how to do it! :happy8:


Caution is advised: Greg learning to use a new toy can be hazardous to your Downloads folder.

[BeosBoxBoy]

Very cool!

I should have mentioned Build DXT requires Nvidia DDS Utilities - get them here: http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nv_texture_tools.html

And I always use DXT3 format regardless of what the original was (DXT3 suffers the least amount of junk and garbage compression of the formats supported)

[Chairman Greg]

Good point!  Those DXT utilities even wake up when I'm using the Wizards of Simpe to recolor a Maxian object.

(They're easy to install and use.  No one reading this thread need be affrighted by the alphabet soup.)

[TXSundown]

Hi.  I found this thread and have been looking for that tutorial Beos said he'd post but can't find it.  Did you post it Beos?

I am having a terrible time trying to learn SimPE and doing recolors... can't get them to show up in my game.  I've read just about every tutorial out there but they always seem to talk over my head and not touch all of the bases of questions that I have/had.  I guess I need something for the ultra-beginner, something with training wheels that touches every possible corner.  You got something like that?

[Chairman Greg]

His step-by-step instructions in the 5th message in this thread (plus a little glance at that other tutorial by Numenor) was sufficient to get me going on recoloring.

There's a chance you're making the same boo-boo I did on my first try with this: Make sure to put a copy of the .package for your recolored object into your Downloads folder.

[TXSundown]

I read those and even tried them but it's more than just that area where I'm having the problems.  I even have Numenor's recoloring object tutorial printed out and on my desk as is Mike19's object transparency tutorial.  For me, the object isn't showing up in the game and I can't figure out how to get at the description to rewrite it or mod the attributes (comfort, etc.). No tutorials cover those areas and trying to search for the answers is massively time consuming.
I did and still do have the .package files in my Downloads folder.  I even moved the png file over there even though I knew I didn't have to.  Better safe than sorry.

Thanks for trying.

[BeosBoxBoy]

Sorry - the release of Seasons has totally reworked my time-tables.  I am still working on the OMG end-all-be-all tutorial but it is coming!  Modding the comfort values and such may or may not have much effect depending on how you go about it.  I am having to triple check everything as I write this bad boy.

Anyway - be patient and I will get this thing up eventually.  I may break it into chapters, because 99% of people will never need to change a characteristic of the comfort etc.

[Chairman Greg]

Oho!  That really sound like something to look foward to!