Some questions regarding Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio


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vectorplexus
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Posts: 4

Some questions regarding Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio Dec 15, 2016 16:12:35 GMT -5

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Post by vectorplexus on Dec 15, 2016 16:12:35 GMT -5

So, I have a few questions I'd like to have answered if possible regarding the Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio. I have previously modded Sims 1, 2, but got so disappointed with 3, the open Neighbourhood that caused HUGE loading times and the (in)ability to mod it, that I rage quit the game and abandoned the franchise, and moved on to mod other games (namely Skyrim).

I don't own The Sims 4 yet, but I'm considering in buying it, since I have lots of ppl that would like for me to mod it, but I will only buy and invest my time on the game, if I feel like I can do certain things, and understand how the sim customization works. I've seen a friend playing it on the CAS, over a stream, but I have a few technical questions, mostly regarding... body shaping and if Sims 4 Studio can be used to work on these:

Can the base body mesh be edited? And what kind of edits are possible? Can we change the mesh completely (change vertex count/order) or are we stuck with just edit the geometry shape (keep vertex count/order)?
Is the body shaping done with Morph Targets/Shape Keys? (I'm assuming they are)
Do the Full Body Sliders and the Local ones operate in the same way? What about the Face ones? (and by sliders I mean ofc Morph Targets)
Is the texture being blended on the fit/fat sliders the Normal map? Because it looks more like some baked shadows in the diffuse texture, rather than a normal.
Can we edit the Morphs?
Can we add new zones/sliders/morphs or are these hardcoded? For example, would it be possible to define/add a elf ear slider with a proper zone/morph to the ear? (I'm not interested in having these as accessories btw, not a solution for me)
How do parts work over a body? What I mean is... lets say for example, I have a top part that shows a bare lower torso/belly. I suspect the top will require a skin part to go along with it, but unsure.
Can we replace existing parts? As in, instead of creating a new part and add it to the game, use the same "ID" to cause the game to override a certain part by another? This would fit the purpose of replacing existing parts to fit new/edited bodies/body morphs

Finally a specific question regarding Sims 4 Studio only: I'm a little confused if the Mac version of the program already has all the features that the windows version has (namely, mesh export/import), because on this thread:

sims4studio.com/thread/6855/downloading-sims-studio

There are 2 links:
sims4studio.com/thread/6065/sims-studio-appleseed-open-beta
sims4studio.com/thread/6065/sims-studio-appletini-open-beta

Which both point to the same Appletini thread. However, on the same thread, it mentions both Appletini and Appleseed:

New in Appletini is the ability to import and export CAS meshes and merge .packages. New modding features have been added and the UI has been improved and many bugs have been fixed. Image handling and the model viewer are not yet optimal but will be improved over time.

The interface for Appleseed is much like that of the Windows version, there are some minor differences. Please feel welcome to check out the Windows version tutorials. If you run into differences that hamper your progress post in the tutorial thread for help or open a thread in the Creator Help section.

I'm assuming this was just a copy/paste error, and that the app is the same one that shares the same Harmony source code, which allows the same features for both versions right?

Anyway, thanks in advance for your patience and for any help you guys can provide me!

Cheers!
Vector

brujah
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Some questions regarding Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio Dec 15, 2016 18:07:16 GMT -5 orangemittens, Feyona, and 2 more like this

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Post by brujah on Dec 15, 2016 18:07:16 GMT -5

Can the base body mesh be edited? And what kind of edits are possible? Can we change the mesh completely (change vertex count/order) or are we stuck with just edit the geometry shape (keep vertex count/order)? You can have a 100% new mesh.
Is the body shaping done with Morph Targets/Shape Keys? (I'm assuming they are) Neither, this is done with a second UV map called uv_1. HERE is a tutorial on how to create one.
Do the Full Body Sliders and the Local ones operate in the same way? What about the Face ones? (and by sliders I mean ofc Morph Targets) Yes they are the same and operate with uv_1.
Is the texture being blended on the fit/fat sliders the Normal map? Because it looks more like some baked shadows in the diffuse texture, rather than a normal. Yes and No, it is similar to having a multiplier in TS3. Clothing have their own shadow/normal/specular/diffuse textures.
Can we edit the Morphs? not needed
Can we add new zones/sliders/morphs or are these hardcoded? For example, would it be possible to define/add a elf ear slider with a proper zone/morph to the ear? (I'm not interested in having these as accessories btw, not a solution for me) I'm sure there have been slider modifications since as early as the first Game Pack.
How do parts work over a body? What I mean is... lets say for example, I have a top part that shows a bare lower torso/belly. I suspect the top will require a skin part to go along with it, but unsure. HERE is a very detailed tutorial on creating new clothing.
Can we replace existing parts? As in, instead of creating a new part and add it to the game, use the same "ID" to cause the game to override a certain part by another? This would fit the purpose of replacing existing parts to fit new/edited bodies/body morphs There are several body parts that can be replaced/modified/added. I reccomend if/when you do get the game to start with THIS beginners tutorial.

In the thread you linked was this post with the second link to the MAC version.

Dec 15, 2016 13:56:05 GMT -5 Mathcope said:

madiee Appleseed updated to Appletini, that is the latest version for MAC. You can download it HERE. However, I don't know which requirements you're lacking or how to solve it since I've never used MAC. Hope it helps.

So you are correct saying that there are two different links that go to the same thread, they are both directing you to the updated version. Anything said about Appleseed is also true for Appletini with additional bug fixes and capabilities. At the bottom of the download thread you will see a code box with the change log. Harmony is the Beta Windows version and Jackpot is the Community Tested Windows version. While the tool is supported on both, the MAC version does not have as much capability as the Windows version yet. Studio only released the first MAC version in August and that was Appleseed.

vectorplexus
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Posts: 4

Some questions regarding Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio Dec 15, 2016 21:21:02 GMT -5

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Post by vectorplexus on Dec 15, 2016 21:21:02 GMT -5

I took a quick glance at the tutorial links you provided, and if I'm understanding this correctly, the second UV is probably being used as the layout for some sort of alpha channels to be able to deform any mesh, regardless of the topology and without requiring actual morphs. So, most likely, the "sliders" are set through alpha maps (I can't find any other reasonable explanation how an UV map would be able to morph meshes regardless of their topology). I'll have to reverse engineer some mods to better try to figure it out.

Regarding Appletini/Harmony, from what I've read (I may be wrong ofc), the Windows and and Mac versions are now converging to have the same source, and considering that Appletini is being compiled with Mono (open source .NET Framework that allows for .NET programs to be run under other systems than windows), it makes sense that its using the same source code (or at least for the most part), maybe thats why I find it confusing that both versions have different features, and as I mentioned, my most pressing need is the ability to export/import into Blender, which Appletini thread mentions it has, along with this thread where someone reports being able to import/export meshes:

sims4studio.com/thread/6941/blender-located-appletini-help-solved

While on that same thread previously mentioned, Mathcope states that you can only recolour:

Nov 26, 2016 22:15:27 GMT Mathcope said:
Hello. The MAC version of Studio is Appleseed and you can download it HERE. That is the only version at the moment that is meant to run in MAC. Jackpot or Harmony will not work.

MAC version is in beta testing and currently only allows to make CAS recolors. It will eventually in the future be able to work with everything else the Windows version has. However, I don't know how much this might take. But they're definitely working on it.

It leads to some confusion, even though I can see that that post was made before the Appletini release (but with just about a week difference), so I'm guessing that that answer no longer applies to the Appletini version.

Thank you very much for all your input, I'm very appreciated! =)

Last Edit: Dec 15, 2016 21:22:58 GMT -5 by vectorplexus

Mathcope
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Some questions regarding Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio Dec 15, 2016 22:58:03 GMT -5 orangemittens, brujah, and 1 more like this

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Post by Mathcope on Dec 15, 2016 22:58:03 GMT -5

Hi. The MAC version is in Beta state, which means that they are adding the features overtime until it is fully the same as the Windows version. When I wrote that, the MAC version Appleseed only did CAS recolors. But now, with Appletini, you can also create a 3d mesh but it's only for CAS items. Objects, and other features will be added at some point.

Please do not PM me to help you with your creating problems. You can post in the Creators Help so everyone can see the problem and solution.

Math.-

Tumblr: mathcopesims.tumblr.com

orangemittens Administrator Posts: 12,285	Some questions regarding Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio Dec 15, 2016 23:23:23 GMT -5 brujah and Feyona like this Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top Post by orangemittens on Dec 15, 2016 23:23:23 GMT -5 The second UV maps to displacement data in the Dmap resource:
	Last Edit: Dec 15, 2016 23:29:02 GMT -5 by orangemittens Please help other creators find Sims 4 Studio and receive the help you received by mentioning Sims 4 Studio with your downloads Please do not PM me with questions about projects or getting Studio to run on your computer. I do not answer these PMs.

vectorplexus
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Posts: 4

Some questions regarding Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio Dec 22, 2016 19:47:26 GMT -5

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Post by vectorplexus on Dec 22, 2016 19:47:26 GMT -5

Dec 15, 2016 23:23:23 GMT -5 orangemittens said:

The second UV maps to displacement data in the Dmap resource:

Funny thing, after I posted my message, I kept thinking about it, and how it looked like it was working as a displacement map, but without a "micromesh", so I guess I was on the right track. Also, if one image is worth a thousand words, yours is worth a whole novel, thats exactly what I needed to know! So here's what I'm still unsure about:

First issue I'm having is understanding how can I bake new Displacement maps... for that I need a SubD different than the game mesh, thats the whole purpose of a displacement map, to deform a simpler/decimated mesh as if it had higher detail. For example, if I try it on zBrush, I can only bake it if i have SubDs
I'm assuming that all those instances refer to specific sliders right? Is there a reference map so I can know which is which?
The reason why the tutorials mention to "refit/warp" the UV to the base mesh is simply because no one is editing the displacements, correct? however, I could bake new ones for any UV right? Just trying to understand the relation between mesh/maps/references/instances/whatever, and if these displacements are just global/generic, or if they are mesh specific. As in... the displacement map being used to deform a certain body part is used by other similar ones? Most likely a case by case thing, in which the displacements are being shared

In any case, thank you for enlightening me about this =)

EDIT: So I searched a bit on this subject, and Blender can project a regular disp map between different objects, but is unable to create Vector Displacements. zBrush, absolutely requires a SubD. Also searched for solutions related to Vertex Colours and Shape Keys on Blender, no luck in finding a solution to properly bake these displacements.

Last Edit: Dec 23, 2016 7:58:18 GMT -5 by vectorplexus


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Some questions regarding Sims 4/Sims 4 Studio

Post by vectorplexus on Dec 15, 2016 16:12:35 GMT -5

Post by brujah on Dec 15, 2016 18:07:16 GMT -5

Post by vectorplexus on Dec 15, 2016 21:21:02 GMT -5

Post by Mathcope on Dec 15, 2016 22:58:03 GMT -5

Post by orangemittens on Dec 15, 2016 23:23:23 GMT -5

Post by vectorplexus on Dec 22, 2016 19:47:26 GMT -5

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