Adding "FX That Won't Affect Your Effects"™
Nov 11, 2018 15:30:38 GMT -5
brujah, jwofles, and 5 more like this
Post by minimonster on Nov 11, 2018 15:30:38 GMT -5
Greetings Everybody. This is the first 'real' tutorial that I have ever written, so I truly hope that it is understandable for everyone...
If you are at all familiar with what I like to make, you know that I am a Huge fan of the in-game FX from various objects. In this tutorial, I am sharing one of my little 'secrets' that I discovered while attempting to make a single-spout version of the BG tri-tier squares fountain... Unlike using tuning to create a single effect, this method is somewhat "patch-proof", in that only the object itself may need to be updated, and not the tuning (of which there is none...)
Using this method will give one an always-on FX generator, and the file that I have linked in this post (in my newly-established Creator's Studio) makes for a great tiny base object that can be hidden most anywhere, so as not to be visible in screenshots, but this method can also be used with most any object. I owe all of this to the hard work that andrew puts in for us, and his Amazing FXPlayer with the list that he makes and updates regularly with all of the available in-game FX from any object. (found in his Creator's Studio FXPlayer post HERE ). Additionally, this is all possible because for some reason the Official Sims 4 Team decided to make one file for the game that has all of the various pack's effects in it - so using this method one does not need any particular pack to be able to use its effects.
Even though I am sure that it is possible to add the rigging/bones necessary to be able to do this to an object that does not have them already, I myself have had little luck with being able to do that, so I always start out with an object that already has rigging/bones added to it (One can easily tell in S4Studio if the Rig/Slots tab is visible in the Studio side of S4Studio) - if it is missing, then try a different object (*Most* all objects have a rig already - the exception are some few debug objects among others, in my experience). The correct structure of the rig is always b__ROOT__ as the base, then transformBone with b__ROOT__ as its Parent, then the bone _FX_ with transformBone as its Parent. That is all that is needed to add an effect to anything - with _FX_ being the most important for this tutorial. (There are a few other named bones that I will not be covering here) I have found that most any of the effects can be added with this simple method. (There are some few exceptions - think of something like a shower, that seem to need both the bone for the FX, but also a 'target' - such as the Sim in the shower, to be able to work properly...).
OK, now that I have laid out the basics needed, on to the Fun stuff! Of course, you will need to have downloaded the list of available FX from andrew to have the correct names... The 'magic' spot that makes this all possible without having to write a custom tuning file is located within the Cutout Info Table in Warehouse in S4Studio. Click that in the left pane, then in the right side pane click the button 'Entries'. A small window will open up, and about mid-way down that window is an entry that is called VFXHash, with 16 0's in it - 0000000000000000. That is the entry that we will be changing. I need to back up a bit here, as I have missed writing out what we will be filling that box with. Having found the FX that you wish to add to your object (In the list of FX from Andrew, I always go for the ones that have the pack delineation added onto the beginning of the name). Highlight & copy the entire FX name, then from the menubar in Studio, open Tools | Hash Generator. Paste the FX name into the 'Text' box under Hash Text, leaving the radio button Mode at Hexadecimal, and High Bit unchecked (both are the defaults). If the FNV64 number doesn't change immediately after pasting, click anywhere outside of the Text box, and it will. Copy the generated 16 character FNV64 hash, and that is what gets pasted into the VFXHash box in the above mentioned location in Warehouse. Click Save, and you are good-to-go with your new FX mod!
The images included here are made from a few different FX's. The one image shows an arrangement of nine placed 'FX squares' (during Nighttime) that I made for my Muse on tumblr who loves to make scenarios for screenshot stories, with the FX taken from the skating rinks from Seasons. I chose to use both the large and small versions of the stars and sparkles, and since these particular FX were somewhat 'floaty' at one height, for a more replete coverage choice for her use, I made three variants of each - one 'regular' one of each, plus one each where I lowered or raised the _FX_ bone by 1.25 units to be able to have a space 'filled' top-to-bottom with magic... In the other image, I show that I took clones of the BG gnomes, and added the ep05_holiday_gnome_glow_good and ep05_scrooge_gnome_glow_reallybad FX to them, so that I could have 'magical' gnomes to use for decor, but without the whole 'Swarm of Gnomes' thing that Seasons is known to do. TO be able to do that properly, I changed the new gnome tuning beck to the old gnome tuning, and additionally removed the new gnome-specific tags in Warehouse under the Object Resource, so that the game would leave them alone during the holidays.
Link to the basic square that I have mentioned above on SFS: simfileshare.net/download/815947/
If you are at all familiar with what I like to make, you know that I am a Huge fan of the in-game FX from various objects. In this tutorial, I am sharing one of my little 'secrets' that I discovered while attempting to make a single-spout version of the BG tri-tier squares fountain... Unlike using tuning to create a single effect, this method is somewhat "patch-proof", in that only the object itself may need to be updated, and not the tuning (of which there is none...)
Using this method will give one an always-on FX generator, and the file that I have linked in this post (in my newly-established Creator's Studio) makes for a great tiny base object that can be hidden most anywhere, so as not to be visible in screenshots, but this method can also be used with most any object. I owe all of this to the hard work that andrew puts in for us, and his Amazing FXPlayer with the list that he makes and updates regularly with all of the available in-game FX from any object. (found in his Creator's Studio FXPlayer post HERE ). Additionally, this is all possible because for some reason the Official Sims 4 Team decided to make one file for the game that has all of the various pack's effects in it - so using this method one does not need any particular pack to be able to use its effects.
Even though I am sure that it is possible to add the rigging/bones necessary to be able to do this to an object that does not have them already, I myself have had little luck with being able to do that, so I always start out with an object that already has rigging/bones added to it (One can easily tell in S4Studio if the Rig/Slots tab is visible in the Studio side of S4Studio) - if it is missing, then try a different object (*Most* all objects have a rig already - the exception are some few debug objects among others, in my experience). The correct structure of the rig is always b__ROOT__ as the base, then transformBone with b__ROOT__ as its Parent, then the bone _FX_ with transformBone as its Parent. That is all that is needed to add an effect to anything - with _FX_ being the most important for this tutorial. (There are a few other named bones that I will not be covering here) I have found that most any of the effects can be added with this simple method. (There are some few exceptions - think of something like a shower, that seem to need both the bone for the FX, but also a 'target' - such as the Sim in the shower, to be able to work properly...).
OK, now that I have laid out the basics needed, on to the Fun stuff! Of course, you will need to have downloaded the list of available FX from andrew to have the correct names... The 'magic' spot that makes this all possible without having to write a custom tuning file is located within the Cutout Info Table in Warehouse in S4Studio. Click that in the left pane, then in the right side pane click the button 'Entries'. A small window will open up, and about mid-way down that window is an entry that is called VFXHash, with 16 0's in it - 0000000000000000. That is the entry that we will be changing. I need to back up a bit here, as I have missed writing out what we will be filling that box with. Having found the FX that you wish to add to your object (In the list of FX from Andrew, I always go for the ones that have the pack delineation added onto the beginning of the name). Highlight & copy the entire FX name, then from the menubar in Studio, open Tools | Hash Generator. Paste the FX name into the 'Text' box under Hash Text, leaving the radio button Mode at Hexadecimal, and High Bit unchecked (both are the defaults). If the FNV64 number doesn't change immediately after pasting, click anywhere outside of the Text box, and it will. Copy the generated 16 character FNV64 hash, and that is what gets pasted into the VFXHash box in the above mentioned location in Warehouse. Click Save, and you are good-to-go with your new FX mod!
The images included here are made from a few different FX's. The one image shows an arrangement of nine placed 'FX squares' (during Nighttime) that I made for my Muse on tumblr who loves to make scenarios for screenshot stories, with the FX taken from the skating rinks from Seasons. I chose to use both the large and small versions of the stars and sparkles, and since these particular FX were somewhat 'floaty' at one height, for a more replete coverage choice for her use, I made three variants of each - one 'regular' one of each, plus one each where I lowered or raised the _FX_ bone by 1.25 units to be able to have a space 'filled' top-to-bottom with magic... In the other image, I show that I took clones of the BG gnomes, and added the ep05_holiday_gnome_glow_good and ep05_scrooge_gnome_glow_reallybad FX to them, so that I could have 'magical' gnomes to use for decor, but without the whole 'Swarm of Gnomes' thing that Seasons is known to do. TO be able to do that properly, I changed the new gnome tuning beck to the old gnome tuning, and additionally removed the new gnome-specific tags in Warehouse under the Object Resource, so that the game would leave them alone during the holidays.
Link to the basic square that I have mentioned above on SFS: simfileshare.net/download/815947/
