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Post by dreadyman on Mar 25, 2022 3:22:48 GMT -5
Spent the past few grueling days making the mesh, now I have no idea what to even do on the Main Menu page.
I made a simple hair and I want to wear it. The package file is ready and it's already in the mods folder.
I don't know what CAS Standalone is, nor 3D Mesh, and the CC hair I made doesnt show up in either option, under none of the sub options, and not in the game either when I go to edit my sim.
Saw this posted on another thread:
"Hi mallmarr, what Brujah was saying is that you need to make each item separately by cloning the original as custom content. What you have done here is copied a .package, renamed the copy, edited it to swap out the meshes, and then put that copy.package into the Sims 4/Mods folder with the .package you copied it from. What this means is that you have multiple .packages in your Mods folder that, for all intents and purposes, are the same. The game can only show you one of these .packages at a time and which one it chooses to show at any given time is determined randomly.
Copying a .package and renaming the copy does not make a new, standalone item. You must clone a .package so that Studio can renumber it internally...the internal renumbering is what makes it unique so that the game recognizes it as something new. If the .package you want to copy is a custom content item you need to clone that .package as custom content using one of the tutorials Brujah linked above."
But I don't understand what cloning is? Is this a button in the program....?
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Post by mauvemorn on Mar 25, 2022 4:50:55 GMT -5
Hi. Cloning is a process of creating a duplicate of an existing item. When you click on Create CAS standalone/Create 3D mesh, choose something, and create a new package out of it, you create a clone.
- find the original package in your \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods, right click on it and choose copy;
- go into \Documents\Sims 4 Studio\Mods, paste the file there;
- close s4s if it was opened;
- open s4s again;
- in the main menu of s4s, under CAS button, choose Create CAS Standalone or Create 3D mesh[/b];
- filter Content by Custom;
- select the custom package, save it in \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods folder.
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Post by dreadyman on Mar 26, 2022 19:34:30 GMT -5
What is the difference between CAS button section and Object button section? And what is the difference between CAS Standalone and Create 3D Mesh and how this relates to my hair mesh?
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Post by dreadyman on Mar 27, 2022 5:36:33 GMT -5
When I choose CAS Standalone, filter content by custom and and load the meshes I added to the Sims 4 Studio Mods folder, it keeps loading the mesh of another hair I made and not the proper one. It shows properly when I upload it via "My Projects" though.
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Post by mauvemorn on Mar 27, 2022 5:56:37 GMT -5
CAS stands for Create-a-Sim, these are items for the sims. Object are objects from the Buy mode. Initially Create CAS standalone was used for creating recolors but by now both it and Create 3D mesh do the same things: create a duplicate of the chosen file without including the content (the resources are referenced). That said, I think I misunderstood your issue. Your original package did not show up in CAS ( in-game) and then in CAS ( in the catalogue)?
You seem to be saving/creating new packages wrong. When you open the package and do File - Save as, you create an identical copy of the file that has the same identifiers. So when you put both files in the Mods folder, they become one instead of two stanalone. To create a stanalone item, you must clone it, not copy with Save as. Chose Create 3d mesh, choose any hair, Next, name it something, and you'll have a new standalone item with new identifiers.
You should always start by watching a related start-to-finish tutorial to familiarize yourself with the terminology, user interface and the process. Spending one hour+ on this will save you a lot of hours in the future. |
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Post by dreadyman on Mar 28, 2022 0:20:16 GMT -5
"Your original package did not show up in CAS ( in-game) and then in CAS ( in the catalogue)?"
Yes. But I managed to get it to work, but it was after I tried your solution; thats when the other issue arose which was creating the mesh with CAS ---> CAS Standalone. It kept loading the original mesh I used instead of the newer one I had fully uploaded and created a package for which was then placed inside of the Sims 4 Studio mods folder. The new package loads fine when uploading with My Projects
"You seem to be saving/creating new packages wrong. When you open the package and do File - Save as, you create an identical copy of the file that has the same identifiers. So when you put both files in the Mods folder, they become one instead of two stanalone."
I agree. But which mod folder are we talking about? Sims 4 Studio? The Sims 4? Why do you put both files into the mods folder? Why not just simply open the package file and "Save As" into either of the Mod folders?
Here's my current understanding and you can tell me where I'm wrong:
For making new meshes from pre-existing custom ones (like my hair mesh):
1) Click My Projects and upload the package file
2) Now within the editing studio, you do your edits
That would be exporting necessary files like the hair mesh into blender, adding changes ensuring it has the right weight, cut number, etc., Then import back into studio)
3) Click File--->Save As to finalize and make a new package in your personal folder.
4) Right click and make a copy of this new package and place it inside \Documents\Sims 4 Studio\Mods.
This is so Sims 4 Studio will be able to later recognize the file when you go to make it a standalone
5) Close and re-open Sims 4 Studio to refresh it
6) In the main menu of Sims 4 Studio, under the CAS button, click CAS Standalone or Create 3D Object (they do the same thing)
7) Filter by custom, which displays all the swatches of your new package you just placed inside the Sims 4 Studio Mods folder
8) Select however many you want, click save, and then save a new package file after it prompts you inside of \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods. This would be the fourth total file and it's the game-ready version of your edit that'll show inside the Create-A-Sim and Catalog
9)You are done, and can start your Sims 4 game to see your mod in the catalog
To review, the steps of the package files would be:
Original custom mesh package file ---> New mesh package file (the edit you made)---> New mesh package file copied and pasted inside Documents\Sims 4 Studio\Mods ---> version 2 of New mesh package file created via "CAS Standalone/Create 3D object", saved into Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods
Edit: It seems like the above steps are for editing pre-existing custom meshes.
So this would be the standard method for starting from scratch?
1) Create a unique new standalone package
Under CAS, click CAS Standalone or Create 3D Mesh, then pick the hair/item you'd like to edit from; click Save at the bottom right corner and put it under your project folder. You now have the new package file which is standalone with new identifiers
2) Make your edits
Export meshes and textures as needed and import once you're done
3) Save the edits by clicking Save at the bottom right corner.
You don't have to File-->Save As and create extra package files,
4) Copy and paste the file into \Documents \ Electronic Arts \ The Sims 4 \ Mods
5) Done
And yeah, I've been across many forums and videos for many days now and despite that, the explanations weren't all the same and so everything was still confusing. There's also apparently a step where you choose Tools --> Modding --> Embed all externally referenced sources (CAS) but I'm assuming it's irrelevant
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Post by mauvemorn on Mar 28, 2022 6:22:02 GMT -5
edit: did not update the page, sorry. Yes, the second explanation is correct
the original reply to the unedited post:
Mmmm, not exactly.
You want to create a new hair? Clone a maxis hair, save it in \the sims 4\mods folder, replace meshes and textures, just save (not save as), you’re done. Go in the game and there should be your file.
You want to create a recolor of cc or just start your package from a cc package? Copy-paste that cc package into both mods folders, open s4s, create CAS standalone, find the cc item in the catalogue, save the new package into \the sims 4\mods folder, replace what you need to replace, just save. You’re done.
I assume that you watched a tutorial for alpha hair where you are told to clone a specific package the author shared? If yes, that is because that package has additional meshgroups that maxis hairs do not have. You are doing it this way only to save yourself time, however, if you’re not making hat chops, you can just use glasses instead.
A bit more about how things work:
When you create a new standalone item by cloning a maxis or a custom item, you create a package with a new identifier (so that it appears as a standalone, not a swatch of the original) but identical content (textures, meshes). Since the content of the package is identical to that of another, it is not included, it is just referenced. So long said content is referenced, this package relies on another to function.
When you save your package into \the sims 4\mods folder, it tells the game “show this”. When you save your package into \sims 4 studio\mods folder, it tells s4s “show this”. s4s is not programmed to consider the game’s mods folder as its own mods folder and vice versa, of course.
So a file must be present in both folders so that s4s would show you it in the catalogue for you to clone it and the game would know what is being referenced.
Example: there is a custom T-shirt you like and you want to put a logo on it. You put this t-shirt into \sims 4 studio\mods, clone it, export the diffuse image, project a logo on it, then import it back in s4s. What you wanted to do is already accomplished, there is no need to modify any other texture or mesh. So instead of duplicating the untouched files, s4s simply references them (so, normal map:(identifier of the normal map from a different package) ).
Then you put your file into the mods folder and your sim shows up covered in the checketed pattern which means “the referenced resource(s) is missing”. Why? Because the original package is not in the game’s mods folder, it cannot find the referenced files. So you need to either move the original file to \the sims 4\mods or copy paste it into the game’s mods folder. Alternatively, you can embed those resources and delete the original file completely.
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Post by dreadyman on Mar 29, 2022 2:16:11 GMT -5
Ahh yes, I think I had watched a video that opened in My Projects first which threw me way off. And then I didn't understand what CAS, CAS Standalone and Create 3D Mesh was, either
I think I understand everything mostly now, thanks
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