Adding more "Effects" to an object ? I'm lost :(

Hi simsi45! I do not often (or at all) 'toot my own horn' about making CC and skill, however there is probable no other modder than I outside of Maxis who knows more about the entire fish/aquarium system. Since you are discussing adding FX, I assume that you already have the most recent listing (My #1 favorite resource for making my CC) generously provided and updated by andrew located in his Creator's Studio HERE. You have probably already noticed how the fish are listed multiple times each one, which is for which slot/order they are placed in the aquarium (yet another example from the official team of overkill and lack of creative control)(and which is why there are only four listings for each fish for the GP03 aquarium). To try to narrow the scope of what I will ramble on to you about needing to try to accomplish, I will list issues/questions below:

• Are you trying to increase the number of fish that they can hold? If so, that would require an override (or Python Injection) of the inventory system, as the three 'basic' aquariums are limited to six fish each, and the GP03 one is limited to four.


• Have you extracted all of the aquarium tunings? You will notice how different aquariums call a different set of fish FX. You *may* also notice that the aquarium introduced in EP04 is marked/tuned as a basegame aquarium. So, there's that to throw into the mix, if you would like your conversion to be BGC...


• You can *try* my methodology of adding a single extra FX via the method I describe HERE. But that is limited to one effect, so there's the choice for which one...?

Please look those over and let me know a bit more about what/how much you actually want to attempt. IDK if you have tested your conversion in-game yet, but you *may* notice right away that the water FX (independent from the aquarium FX) isn't appearing as it should within the tank. I have found with bringing in external meshes for the aquariums that the water inter is 'lost' in the translation, and requires manual editing/double-checking of the texture declarations within the model entries in Warehouse for it to show properly... Cheers!

Hey again, simsi45!

So NOT exasperated in the least by your replete responses! Exactly what I needed to know about your project! I am Happy to see someone tackling that beast of a tank from S2 with the currently available tools! It was done about a year after release, but required too much 'jumping through hoops' to assemble - glad you are doing it properly! I will answer your responses in order, for clarity (hopefully!):

1) With that giant rock in the center, I can imagine that there will be clipping! (Def would want it there, tho...). So, you are right, it would be through the slots tab, and the only way available to us ATM to manipulate them in something like this is to zoom 'into' the tank as you are working on the slot positions in Studio. Kind of a PITA at first, but you get used to it after a while working on something like these... So, as long as you chose to re-number your clone you have a 'independent' (read: not going to override) slot/rig duo with which to work. Additionally, while working with the slots deciding on their position(s), remember that even though your S2 tank is a 2x2 tile (assumption) object, the effects are all created for a 2x1 object, and will behave as such. Take that into consideration while planning the slots. also, you *should* have a lot of freedom of choice when it comes to placing the slots for the 'bottom'-dwelling fishes (crayfish etc.) to avoid the rock. Your individual fish slots can be raised right into the 'middle' space of the tank, to avoid the center rock completely!

2) I think that you understand and have the 'right' idea about extra fishes, but there is another alternative that is just a *bit* more complex that can be considered, which would be PERFECT for this application. Your posting is Inspiring me to actually get by rear in gear and release something that I have been sitting on since right after Pets was released, so I hope to have it added to my Creator Studio later today! As I understand it, making an Override for the inventory system can be VERY problematic, and while scumbumbo just released an XML Injector, I have yet to explore ti to see its possibilities for this - so let's just forget about the inventory anyways. Adding pre-set choices of 'live' fish to the tank most definitely can be done, within a custom tuning, which *should * not be too problematic to do. If/when making a Custom Tuning, I myself would consider the EP01LabTubeBubbles as a great choice for this large tank!

3) Cloning the EP04 tank would (AFAIK) still make it tied to having EP04, so I was thinking (and have done, but have received no input if it works or not) of cloning something BG, like any of the BG single-fish tanks (Maybe Benny Bone's home, for example) and importing everything into that clone, to be able to have it BGC. The tunings proper themselves are all BGC items, as well all of the FX, so that is not an issue for this. Any of the 'extra' stuff (rig/slots/lighting) are independent of any pack once imported for this.

4) I think that I already covered this, but as I posted in my mini-tutorial, as per the main Devs themselves, everyone gets all of the FX, whether they have that pack or not. And as far as any 'pack-dependent' fish goes, AFAIK if someone does not have a particular pack, then the particular fish option would not display, but can be included in any lists of FX anyways. AFAIK...

PS: You already did the 'hard' part of importing a new aquarium mesh with your diligent checking of the other tanks, and I can Happily see that you got it to work! (TY for linking the screenshot!) My little 'suggestion' would be to simply get rid of any of the left-over 'static' fish 'swimming' in the water, but I *would* leave the starfish & maybe the Moray as well - Love the Starfish!

Not for self-promotion, but for an alternate example of what can be done and a possible solution for more fish, I have upped a small set for you to take a look at, which I had previously released on my simblr before I removed all of my old CC, and since I couldn't find the moved file in my mess on SFS, and since SFS is giving my a 500 error ATM trying to upload, I have put it on my OneDrive for you to check out: HERE. I made this from the BG Benny Bones home, and the small rocks are to be placed *within* the table. There are 16 small-size slots within the table for one to place the rocks, each of which then becomes an independent mini-fishbowl, so one can have a aquarium coffee table with one's own choice of fish. I also included my 'original' response to the MFPS aquarium table in the archive as well, so you can see what a custom tuning for slotted, misplaced single-FX fish looks like... (I actually got mine out before MFPS came out, I was so unimpressed by their offering, and I was experiencing a 'hey-day' of activity from my mini-pets addon mods...

Loving this interaction about the aquarium! Cheers!

Hi You! (simsi45 )

You are Very Welcome! Shy of Python, I think of myself as a sort of Maxis file Jack-of-All-Trades, I know a bit about a lot, but I know a lot about a small bit. Having said that, the fishies are oneof the Rare bits that I actually *DO* know a lot about. While I have yet to actually try it, I *believe* that the fish 'objects' are nothing particularly 'special' about being objects. They are weight-painted with 5 bones, and they all share common animations between the slots, mostly. I think that *anything* could, in theory, be turned into a Default Replacement for any of the fish... (swimming toothbrushes or what ever crazy thing...). I have not looked into 'adding' a new fish, but I am certain that similar programming to the 'Custom Harvestables' or 'Custom Paintings' would be needed.

1) I have seen the feature to be able to hide parts of a mesh in the slot editor in a request here on the forum. Yes, that feature would be Lovely to have, but I am still so Happy to have the visual slot editor itself that I have become used to micro-movement within a mesh to be able to see the placement. The custom aquarium coffee table in that archive, with it's 16 internally-placed slots, each adjusted for the height and 'collision' of any floor objects was a *real treat*... o_0

2) You must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. (etc...) So, about the different files in that archive. The slotted custom aquarium coffee table actually has had the tuning eliminated completely, it is only (overly) categorized. The 'tuning' part(s) for that one are within the included rocks meant to be placed onto the slots inside of the table. Those are mini-fishbowls themselves, and one has a custom 'Purchase Fish' option that I wrote for it. The other 'response' table is the one that is simply like the Maxis one from MFPS, but I made options for choices of fish instead of Maxis, who only have the single set of fish that they chose for theirs. The only (minor) issue with an object like the response table is that since it has multiple tunings written into the object files (mind: NOT a 'combined package', but different tunings within the same file and set of swatches) is that one has to make their choice when buying it initially - you get a Script Error if you try to change to a different 'tuning swatch' after placement. As I wrote - minor (to me). As far as the extra code in my tuning for the lighting. I was initially *hoping* to have the choice of light interactivity available to the tables - but I mucked up something and forgot to check some obscure thing so while the choice 'functions' without error, it does not seem to affect anything at all... o_0

3-4) Yea, that's the thing about having things be tied to having a certain pack. And with the extra little chore of having to manually make sure the lighting parameters within the mesh/texture declarations are all correct makes re-doing it all a daunting thought. You will mot want to be using any of the actual aquarium's bubble FX, with the exception of *maybe* the one from GP03. Any of the others would be way too short for what you need, which is why I recommended going with the EP01 Lab Column. An additional idea would be to go with the Bubble Wall from GP03, it makes for a Wonderful 'bubble wall' inside of a large aquarium. (You will see if I get my act together about my Aquaria Stuff Pack tonight). Yes, especially writing Custom Tuning, you can add as many bubble columns as you want... (andrew - Seriously, your FX listing is my Favorite Resource to have and cherish!!! I cannot Thank You enough for keeping it updated!)

re: My tut. Yes one effect only, however a particular effect may have multiple things going on - such as the new pond that came with EP06. However, not all of the FX play well if they are inside of something that has an alpha - such as this aquarium. There are myriad possibilities for using it...

Cheers Again!

Okey-dokey. Just a couple of things to add: Without seeing the rest of the tuning file that you added the section to, I cannot tell what is going on fully... You did Great with your experiment, however I want to add that you may want to be looking to replace the default fish FX with the variants that have "fishbowl" in the name and not any with "aquarium", as the table depth is too finicky to be able to utilize the full-sized fish. That said, you Definitely want to be using the "aquarium" variants when looking at your custom tank, that is unless you want to add some extra 'baby' fish to it, TOTALLY possible to do, just for effect, then back to the "fishbowl" FX.

I am in Earnest about getting my 'little Aquaria' project released. I am currently going through the 100+ files for the set and making sure that all have been updated with the latest tags for Maximum Compatibility. I have about 25 left until I can go and attempt to take some screenshots... Urf, but Yea! I am going to finally get it released (It all has been collecting dust since last May)... All of my fishbowls and tables will be in the release, as well.

(If you wish, to make things easier, I could PM you my email and you could just email me the file, but any further developments should be recorded here, in case anyone might be interested in the process...)

Cheers!