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Post by SherrySimmer on Nov 25, 2021 19:16:02 GMT -5
No matter how much I try to learn, I never reach the level I want to in creating cc, I feel alone I wish I can share this journey with someone. But simply it's taxing on the mind and a lonely process to learn. Thank you for reading, wanted to vent.
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Post by xordevoreaux on Nov 25, 2021 23:12:06 GMT -5
There is a lot to learn, but if you break it up into manageable chunks, and start with the little things, like a simple recolor texture, you'll gain confidence to try bigger things, and part of success is being patient with the occasional failure. More than once I've abandoned a mod because I lost patience with the process, but that's okay. You can drop a project, start something else, and then when you're feeling more up to it, try the other project again. What also helps along the way is being very comfortable with the tools you use, especially graphical tools for textures. Some people use GIMP, some use PhotoShop, some use Krita, I personally use Paint.net and LibreOffice Draw, but if you find yourself experiencing frustration with the tool, that translates into an overall frustration with what you're doing to create a mod, so be the boss over how you want to build stuff and pick the graphical tool you're most comfortable with, not one just because everyone else seems to be using it. Also, some mods fail for no obvious reason, then you learn little things, like how certain objects in the game behave badly. My first inexplicable failure was a chair with a totally hosed texture swatch. Updating the texture of the next swatch for that object also updated the first swatch. Nasty! But I kept with it until I figured it out. In those cases, it's an identifier reference problem or some such native to those particular objects. When you see it happen (it doesn't happen a lot), create enough additional swatches and move them, delete a few, until they behave like we expect them to. Might take a few tries. And some objects are ornery in other ways. And again, it's not anything you've done, it's the object. There's a shadow on a small landscape painting that if you hit right bracket ( ] ) to make the object 2x as big in the game, its shadow renders far below it. Not all wall decor does that, just that one. Suprasymmetry, I believe. If it happens to the in-game object, it'll happen to the mod based on that object, and I'm okay admitting I've yet to figure out how to fix that shadow when enlarging the object. So I just use different wall art. Given that, any time you have an object not behaving as expected in the game, it might not be your efforts that are the issue. Check the base game object to see if the same behavior happens. If it does, and you feel yourself hitting a wall, slow down, breathe, then consider trying substituting another, similar, object for what you're trying to accomplish rather than delve into the dark science of why a particular default object in the game is messed up.
And even expert modders, far more talented than myself, sometimes must make do with compromises. For example, candles, if you use the right bracket to make them larger, have flames that stay positioned in the air where the object would have been if not resized. Zero you can do about it. It's a game thing. But there's a work around, creating "fake" flames that look just as nice that resize/move when the object is resized.
So yes, there's a lot to learn, but give yourself some credit and keep at it! |
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Post by SherrySimmer on Nov 25, 2021 23:51:27 GMT -5
Thank you for this very thoughtful message, I already started creating pieces of clothing the process gets easier, but you never stop learning it never stops I'm never comfortable with my knowledge I always feel it's lacking. I might actually get into modding as well but that's another giant.
Your tip about hitting a wall is a feeling that I'm so familiar with, My stomach drops when I think about it, I'll try to calmly go about it.
Thank you again for taking the time to respond. It made me feel heard and less alone.
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Post by manybees on Dec 31, 2021 17:51:48 GMT -5
I totally get how you're feeling. I think every person learning a new creative skill feels like that sometimes. I think the best advice I could give is to take a break when you feel frustrated. I tend to swing wildly between interests. I can go months without even thinking about The Sims followed by month of intense concentration on it. The important part is that it's always there when I come back.
The fact that you're running into problems is a sign that you're learning. It means you're trying things outside your comfort zone, and trying to find solutions to those problems is exactly how skills improve. Just keep taking small steps and you'll get to where you want to be eventually.
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Post by freeasabird on Jan 18, 2022 9:40:30 GMT -5
Sherrysimmer if you are making clothes you have already learnt how to do what I see as the hardest modding in the game. I can recolour but making a new piece of clothing and adding the right weight is something I have never achieved and I have been making stuff since 2015. It's just one step at the time, for example I was ill over a few months and couldn't be doing with Blender so I learnt to make wallpaper. Easy you might think, but no it wasn't. It took ages to figure out the right size textures and then how the bump and spec affected the finished result. And then discovering the middle wall has never really been mapped its just been dragged up from the small wall and left, so middle textures have to be carefully made to work properly. There's more, there is slim wallpaper and wide wallpaper, both have different 'height sizes' (even though the actual walls don't change size) so a wide wall will never match exactly a slim wall, (you can see this when making the baseboards). And finally that lovely white top moulding will turn into a white mist if the ceiling light is placed too close to the walls spoiling the whole effect and wasting hours of work. Now I can make wallpaper with ease but I still find odd things along the way, Echo Lifestyle statistics don't work when added to base game walls & floors for example so I have to use a Eco Lifestyle wall as a clone to get the benefits. See there is always something  What appeared to me to be a relaxing change turned into a month long 'try it and see' process. Keep at what you are doing, it will take time but you will get it, and it's worth it when it all falls right and looks great.   |
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What appeared to me to be a relaxing change turned into a month long 'try it and see' process. Keep at what you are doing, it will take time but you will get it, and it's worth it when it all falls right and looks great. 
