Shower-proof Skin Tone FAQs

[BeosBoxBoy]

Purpose: answer most of the most frequently asked questions about "shower-proof" skin tones.

Last Edited: 25 February 2007

[BeosBoxBoy]

FAQ: What is a "shower-proof" skin tone?

A "shower-proof" skin tone is a custom genetic skin tone that has been modified with SimPE to use specific meshes when in a true nude state.

The meshes made by Warlokk and by Marvine & Beosboxboy are the most widely used meshes for "shower-proof" skin tones, however these are not the only meshes being used by custom content creators. Some creators include a "read me" or "rtfm" file in the ZIP or RAR, you would be wise to read these and retain these until after you are certain all is working as expected.

[BeosBoxBoy]

FAQ: How is a "shower-proof" skin tone different from a normal custom skin tone?

A "shower-proof" skin tone is a custom genetic skin tone that has been modified with SimPE to use specific meshes when in a true nude state, whereas a normal custom genetic skin tone uses whatever Maxis default mesh (or default replacement mesh you may have installed) is normally used by the game. Additionally, "shower-proof" skin tones require one or more (usually custom) meshes be installed.

The meshes made by Warlokk and by Marvine & Beosboxboy are the most widely used meshes for "shower-proof" skin tones, however these are not the only meshes being used by custom content creators. Some creators include a "read me" or "rtfm" file in the ZIP or RAR, you would be wise to read these and retain these until after you are certain all is working as expected.

[BeosBoxBoy]

FAQ: How do I use a "shower-proof" skin tone?

Install the genetic skin tone and the required meshes to your Downloads folder. Downloaded files are usually in ZIP-, RAR-, or other compressed archive format so you may need additional software to extract the files for use. For additional information of installing files for use by The Sims 2, see this explanation of how to install custom content.

The meshes made by Warlokk and by Marvine & Beosboxboy are the most widely used meshes for "shower-proof" skin tones, however these are not the only meshes being used by custom content creators. Some creators include a "read me" or "rtfm" file in the ZIP or RAR, you would be wise to read these and retain these until after you are certain all is working as expected.

Since only one mesh may be specified for the top or bottom of most age states, each skin tone will have limited range of shape possibilities; so if you want two sims to look differently when naked it may require you use two "shower-proof" versions of the same skin tone.

If you fail to install the required meshes it will result in the "floating head syndrome" when the Sim using the "shower-proof" skin tone is in a true nude state, see the last FAQ in this thread for a solution.

[BeosBoxBoy]

FAQ: How can I make a "shower-proof" skin tone?

There are two methods to make a "shower-proof" skin tone.

Method 1.
Make your own from scratch using the tutorial by Marvine or the explanation of the tutorial by Jwilson.

Nota Bene: Peter Jones has made a plug-in for SimPE that makes this process much easier, this plug-in is included with the newest versions of SimPE.

Method 2.
Clone an existing "shower-proof" skin tone with The Sims 2 Body Shop and alter the textures to your liking. Since Body Shop does not easily allow you to see your work on the custom meshes, you should check the new skin tone in game before deleting the project.

[BeosBoxBoy]

FAQ: Can I get all my sims to use the same mesh as a "shower-proof" skin tone?

Sometimes yes. This requires a "default replacement mesh". Not all custom meshes have been made into default replacement meshes, if you have a question about the availability of certain meshes contact the original creator of the mesh or skin tone.

Nota Bene: you may have only one (1) default replacement mesh per Maxis mesh! Having more than one may result in unpredictable game behaviour or crashing.

[BeosBoxBoy]

FAQ: Why does the body (or part of the body) disappear when my sim takes a shower?

There are several possible causes.

Cause 1
You have failed to download and install all of the meshes required by the "shower-proof" skin tone, usually this is easily corrected by installing the meses.

Cause 2
You installed a sim from a web location that uses a "shower-proof" skin tone that has mesh requirements that were not included in the ZIP, RAR, or Sims2Pack archive. This is a common occurance, return to the location your found the Sim and check for a link in the credits.

Cause 3
You have installed a faulty "shower-proof" skin tone, usually this happens when you have made your own new "shower-proof" skin tone and have altered the 3D ID data. Check the file with SimPE and check for duplicates or missing data in the 3D ID data.

Cause 4
You have a problem with the game recognising the meshes used by the "shower-proof" skin tone, usually this can be corrected by placing the nude state meshes in SavedSims. In some instaces, The Sims 2 may not support a custom mesh assignment with a skin tone for reasons which no one explain; usually this is due to a bug resulting from installing a Stuff Pack.

Cause 5
The skintone and/or mesh files are damaged in some way, usually re-downloading and replacing the "shower-proof" skin tone and meshes will resolve this.

The meshes made by Warlokk and by Marvine & Beosboxboy are the most widely used meshes for "shower-proof" skin tones, however these are not the only meshes being used by custom content creators. Some creators include a "read me" or "rtfm" file in the ZIP or RAR, you would be wise to read these and retain these until after you are certain all is working as expected.