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Post by palindrome on Nov 7, 2016 14:27:55 GMT -5
Hey guys. I made a mod that lets you have ghost babies. It's all working fine, except there's just one thing left I really want to add before I release it that's been evading me: getting the bloody babies to actually use the ghost shaders! I'm at my wit's end. I just don't understand how the shaders work. I can't find any reference to how the ghosts are rendered differently in the python scripts, so I don't know why sims with the ghost trait look ghostly - they just do. The problem, of course, is that since babies aren't actually sims, the ghost shaders need to be applied to the bassinet objects instead - which is why I'm posting here. You guys are the object experts. My attempts so far at getting the ghost shaders to work on the bassinet haven't gone so well:  Not only is it an abomination from the ninth dimension, but it doesn't even stay an abomination. The shaders aren't applied when a sim interacts with the baby, so I figure there must be parts of the baby object I can't see or change. (Unless I missed a bit, of course) I don't know why the shader makes it distort like that, although it's reminiscent of glitches we occasionally see in regular babies. Mine does the eyes-bugging-out thing too.  The baby glitch, for reference.And as you can see from when I tried to use the SimGhost shader on the crib mesh part of the bassinet, the ghost shaders make everything bigger.  My question would be: am I barking up the wrong tree here with what I'm trying to do? Does anyone have any insight into how shaders - ghosts shaders in particular - work? [I'm using version S4Studio 2.7.1.0 (Jackpot)] |
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Post by cupidjuice on Nov 7, 2016 19:52:25 GMT -5
I can't help too much with the actual issue and this may come off as a "caption obvious" statement but the only ways to get a ghost child is to create one in CAS through ghost parents or getting the "death" outcome when wishing for a child at the wishing well.
So perhaps babies screaming objects that look like babies can't use the shaders because the shaders are only available for every age except babies. Which would make sense why those little fingers are trying to turn into hands, it looks like they're adopting something made for a larger sims like a child.
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Post by palindrome on Nov 7, 2016 20:48:41 GMT -5
I can't help too much with the actual issue and this may come off as a "caption obvious" statement but the only ways to get a ghost child is to create one in CAS through ghost parents or getting the "death" outcome when wishing for a child at the wishing well. So perhaps babies screaming objects that look like babies can't use the shaders because the shaders are only available for every age except babies. Which would make sense why those little fingers are trying to turn into hands, it looks like they're adopting something made for a larger sims like a child. Oh, think you missed a bit there. You can't have ghost babies in the vanilla game - that's what my mod does. The parts I've written, at least. The only thing I've got left to add is getting the babies to look like ghosts.   As for the babies, the reason they don't use the right shaders is, I'm pretty sure, because they're objects and not technically sims. They've got the trait assigned at birth but it doesn't affect anything. I've got a fledgeling idea of how to modify the object based whether or not the baby it contains is a ghost, but that's useless when I don't know how I ought to modify the bassinet. |
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Post by cupidjuice on Nov 7, 2016 21:36:39 GMT -5
I can't help too much with the actual issue and this may come off as a "caption obvious" statement but the only ways to get a ghost child is to create one in CAS through ghost parents or getting the "death" outcome when wishing for a child at the wishing well. So perhaps babies screaming objects that look like babies can't use the shaders because the shaders are only available for every age except babies. Which would make sense why those little fingers are trying to turn into hands, it looks like they're adopting something made for a larger sims like a child. Oh, think you missed a bit there. You can't have ghost babies in the vanilla game - that's what my mod does. The parts I've written, at least. The only thing I've got left to add is getting the babies to look like ghosts. As for the babies, the reason they don't use the right shaders is, I'm pretty sure, because they're objects and not technically sims. They've got the trait assigned at birth but it doesn't affect anything. I've got a fledgeling idea of how to modify the object based whether or not the baby it contains is a ghost, but that's useless when I don't know how I ought to modify the bassinet. Oh no I definitely got that part, I read thoroughly. Like i said all his is beyond my realm of understanding as far as gameplay modding goes; So when the baby is IN the bassinet it doesn't comply with the shader? |
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Post by cupidjuice on Nov 7, 2016 21:39:16 GMT -5
Another thought, that is potentially useless: There is a baby default skin, by Chisami, maybe this will help somehow, at least for referencing, or some kind of resource to help figure out how to get the baby to pull the ghost textures/shaders, whatever the lingo is. |
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Post by palindrome on Nov 8, 2016 0:04:27 GMT -5
Ah, sorry - just assumed you'd misread me.  In that case, I'm a little confused. What did you mean by saying the only way to get a ghost child was to create one in CAS or kill a child? Er... I suppose that's one way to put it? I'm no expert, but I think this the general gist of things: A shader is a way of rendering graphics -- think lighting effects and transparency, shadows etc. Textures are the images that are displayed on a mesh - the pattern and detail, and they're not relevant here. My issue is that I don't understand how the shaders work well enough to apply them correctly to the bassinet object. The way ghosts are transparent in this game is, I believe, down to a shader setting. The sims has lots of different shaders for lots of different purposes (like glass, ghosts, and solid materials). Sims are rendered as ghosts using the ghost shaders if they have a trait in the ghost trait category, but I don't know where this is applied so I'm struggling to be able to do the same thing to the babies. Babies are a special case in the sims 4 as they are basically just regular objects that sims can interact with. The bassinet object contains two meshes: one for the bassinet crib, and one for the baby. It has several states that determine if and how the baby gets displayed. From browsing this site I've learnt where the shaders data of the objects are stored (in the mesh data) but my attempts to use the simghost shaders haven't turned out well, as you can see from the screenshots. I'm a complete noob at objects, so I need advice from someone who knows about shaders, or knows how ghosts are rendered in the first place. Come to think of it - if any of you know - how are sims rendered? Are sims also special objects that we can edit? I'm hoping I can find a clue about how the ghost shaders work from seeing how they're applied somewhere else, so maybe that's the key. |
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Post by femmejean on Nov 8, 2016 5:41:45 GMT -5
Forgive me if my post is complete and utter nonsense - I'm just thinking out loud.
To access the shaders, you would need the mesh, yes? The issues you have with the "abomination from ninth dimension" looks like the ones you get if you, for example, use an adult mesh on a child. The morphs and data would not match with the child body. So to me it looks like the baby is "wearing" either a child or adult mesh.. however that works, as you would change the mesh data and not edit the model itself? But the model is being affected.
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Post by orangemittens on Nov 8, 2016 8:46:48 GMT -5
I agree with femmejean. The bassinet object uses the baby skin shader on the baby part of the mesh, and it appears to be an object shader. The ghost shader is a CAS shader. The shader data involves bone weights. Objects and CAS items are weighted very differently so shaders that are utilizing weighting aren't going to be easily switched from one to the other. I think this is, most likely, what is causing the distortion (as femmejean pointed out). If you want the baby to have transparency you're better off (in my opinion) using an object shader with transparency. Take a look at the Ghastly Gnome for an example of an object shader being used to make something look ghostly.
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Post by jadajade on Mar 5, 2017 8:40:35 GMT -5
I do not know for now anyways how to apply ghost sharers I might try if your still working on this mod so are you?
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Post by villainsims on Aug 1, 2023 18:15:13 GMT -5
Hi I know this is like six years later but will you ever post this mod because I really want ghost babies / hybrids in the sims. Mostly cause I’m an American horror story fan and I want to have a sim be with and have babies with Edward Mordrake and James Patrick March in the sims. If the ghost baby in bassinet (now called newborns) won’t work my suggestion is to leave them are normal and just make the ghost shatters / trade show up when they become infants. Since infants are an actual life stage now this should work much easier for you. Anyway I would love if you could complete and release your mod (if you haven’t already completed it) and if you want me to pay you to finish / release it I may consider it depending on price. This is something I really want thank you for listening to my rant
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Post by friendlyghost on Dec 1, 2023 17:22:27 GMT -5
Bump! I agree with Villain, I'd also LOVE to see a ghost baby shader mod because I feel like it's desperately needed for ghost sims! I also would like to point out that ghost pregnancy mod has already been created, and all there needs to be done is the baby ghost shading part. modthesims.info/d/602411/ghosts-can-have-babies.htmlI hope someone can help out with this. |
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In that case, I'm a little confused. What did you mean by saying the only way to get a ghost child was to create one in CAS or kill a child?
