Studio's Tuning Editor: Mini-tutorial & documentation
Oct 2, 2022 18:08:35 GMT -5
Bakie, SrslySims, and 1 more like this
Post by orangemittens on Oct 2, 2022 18:08:35 GMT -5
What this tutorial will show you
How to swap or insert tuning in a Sims 4 package (CAS and object) in preparation for tuning customization. The tutorial will not show you how to perform specific tuning customization.
What this documentation will show you
How to navigate using the tuning editor
What you will need
Sims 4 Studio Star (Windows) or Aurora (Mac)
How to swap or insert tuning in a Sims 4 package
Before you begin
Download the current tuning descriptions from EA forums. These should be stickied at the top of the forum HERE.
Save the zip as-is inside your Documents/Sims 4 Studio/Tuning Descriptions folder. Do NOT extract the zip contents into the folder. Just save the zip there.
It's okay to have more than one such zip in this folder, so if there is one already there, just leave it.
If you don't have a Tuning Descriptions folder in your Sims 4 Studio folder, just start Studio up so it can generate this folder for you.
There are two ways of including tuning in an object or CAS package using Studio.
The old way: extract tuning using the option in the Tools menu in Studio's top bar.
This method is still useful, and there is a tutorial showing how to use it HERE.
The new way: using Studio's tuning editor to modify tuning in an existing object or CAS .package. This mini-tutorial will focus on using this method.
1. Clone the item you want to work with
2. Click the Tuning tab
From here, you can either customize the item's original tuning, or you can replace this tuning and customize the new one instead. If you want to swap the tuning for a different one before customizing, start with step 3 below. If you want to customize the item's original tuning, skip to step 5 below.
3. Click the blue bar with the item's tuning name
4. Select the tuning you wish to use from the "Select a tuning instance" box. Use the scroll bar on the right to scroll through available tuning, select one, and click OK to switch your item's tuning.
At this point, if all you wanted to do is swap tunings, you can click the Save button and test your item in the game. If you want to continue customizing the tuning in your package continue to step 5.
5. Click the "Customize" button
6. The Customize Tuning box will pop up displaying your new tuning name. Studio will automatically name this tuning with your creator name, the original tuning name, and a unique number. You can change this name. If you do so, be sure to make the name unique or else your item could conflict with another one that has the same name. If you're satisfied using the name Studio generated, just click the OK button to proceed.
After you click OK, the Customize Tuning box will go away, your tuning name will replace the original name, and the Tuning Editor tab will appear in the upper left corner between the Studio and Warehouse tabs.
7. If you want to make further changes, click the Tuning Editor tab to open the Tuning Editor
8. Customize your tuning, click Save, and test in the game
Tuning Editor documentation
1. The Tuning Descriptions box will indicate which version of the TDESC you're using. Studio selects this from the Tuning Descriptions folder in your Documents/Sims 4 Studio folder. If you have multiple versions, Studio will select the newest one as long as you did not rename it. If, for some reason, you want to use an older version, you can use the drop down to pick any version you have in your Tuning Descriptions folder.
2. The section below the buttons on the left side lists all tunings in the package grouped by type. As you customize the package, this list will grow if you add new tunings. If you right click on any tuning in this list a box will pop up that allows you to rename, duplicate, or delete the tuning. Alternatively, you can select any tuning and rename, duplicate, or delete it using the buttons above.
3. As described above the Rename, Duplicate, and Delete buttons allow you to alter your package after selecting any tuning on the list of tunings in the package.
4. The Add button adds a blank tuning. Clicking it will bring up a list of all types of tuning in the game. The box allows you to pick by tuning class and name the tuning you add. Be sure to give it a unique name.
Studio's interface will vary depending on the type of tuning you select.
5. The Extract Tuning button functions in the same way the Tools/Extract Tuning feature works.
6. The right side of the editor contains all of the elements of whatever tuning resource you have selected on the left side. Elements in bold font are ones which contain non-default values. These elements are the only ones which will be saved into the tuning .xml Studio generates for the package. If you make a change in a non-bold font element, it will then appear in bold font. If you change a non-default value to a default value in a bolded element, that line will no longer appear in bold font. Each time you load the item, the non-default value elements will be listed at the top of the list in alphabetical order.
7. Clicking on any line in the right-side list will cause a description of that element to appear on the right side.
8. Blue boxes with a plus sign allow you to add new list elements. The clear arrowheads allow you to open the list of element features. The solid arrowheads allow you to close the list of element features.
If you run into questions about how the Tuning Editor works, please ask in the thread below.
How to swap or insert tuning in a Sims 4 package (CAS and object) in preparation for tuning customization. The tutorial will not show you how to perform specific tuning customization.
What this documentation will show you
How to navigate using the tuning editor
What you will need
Sims 4 Studio Star (Windows) or Aurora (Mac)
How to swap or insert tuning in a Sims 4 package
Before you begin
Download the current tuning descriptions from EA forums. These should be stickied at the top of the forum HERE.
Save the zip as-is inside your Documents/Sims 4 Studio/Tuning Descriptions folder. Do NOT extract the zip contents into the folder. Just save the zip there.
It's okay to have more than one such zip in this folder, so if there is one already there, just leave it.
If you don't have a Tuning Descriptions folder in your Sims 4 Studio folder, just start Studio up so it can generate this folder for you.
There are two ways of including tuning in an object or CAS package using Studio.
The old way: extract tuning using the option in the Tools menu in Studio's top bar.
This method is still useful, and there is a tutorial showing how to use it HERE.
The new way: using Studio's tuning editor to modify tuning in an existing object or CAS .package. This mini-tutorial will focus on using this method.
1. Clone the item you want to work with
2. Click the Tuning tab
From here, you can either customize the item's original tuning, or you can replace this tuning and customize the new one instead. If you want to swap the tuning for a different one before customizing, start with step 3 below. If you want to customize the item's original tuning, skip to step 5 below.
3. Click the blue bar with the item's tuning name
4. Select the tuning you wish to use from the "Select a tuning instance" box. Use the scroll bar on the right to scroll through available tuning, select one, and click OK to switch your item's tuning.
At this point, if all you wanted to do is swap tunings, you can click the Save button and test your item in the game. If you want to continue customizing the tuning in your package continue to step 5.
5. Click the "Customize" button
6. The Customize Tuning box will pop up displaying your new tuning name. Studio will automatically name this tuning with your creator name, the original tuning name, and a unique number. You can change this name. If you do so, be sure to make the name unique or else your item could conflict with another one that has the same name. If you're satisfied using the name Studio generated, just click the OK button to proceed.
After you click OK, the Customize Tuning box will go away, your tuning name will replace the original name, and the Tuning Editor tab will appear in the upper left corner between the Studio and Warehouse tabs.
7. If you want to make further changes, click the Tuning Editor tab to open the Tuning Editor
8. Customize your tuning, click Save, and test in the game
Tuning Editor documentation
1. The Tuning Descriptions box will indicate which version of the TDESC you're using. Studio selects this from the Tuning Descriptions folder in your Documents/Sims 4 Studio folder. If you have multiple versions, Studio will select the newest one as long as you did not rename it. If, for some reason, you want to use an older version, you can use the drop down to pick any version you have in your Tuning Descriptions folder.
2. The section below the buttons on the left side lists all tunings in the package grouped by type. As you customize the package, this list will grow if you add new tunings. If you right click on any tuning in this list a box will pop up that allows you to rename, duplicate, or delete the tuning. Alternatively, you can select any tuning and rename, duplicate, or delete it using the buttons above.
3. As described above the Rename, Duplicate, and Delete buttons allow you to alter your package after selecting any tuning on the list of tunings in the package.
4. The Add button adds a blank tuning. Clicking it will bring up a list of all types of tuning in the game. The box allows you to pick by tuning class and name the tuning you add. Be sure to give it a unique name.
Studio's interface will vary depending on the type of tuning you select.
5. The Extract Tuning button functions in the same way the Tools/Extract Tuning feature works.
6. The right side of the editor contains all of the elements of whatever tuning resource you have selected on the left side. Elements in bold font are ones which contain non-default values. These elements are the only ones which will be saved into the tuning .xml Studio generates for the package. If you make a change in a non-bold font element, it will then appear in bold font. If you change a non-default value to a default value in a bolded element, that line will no longer appear in bold font. Each time you load the item, the non-default value elements will be listed at the top of the list in alphabetical order.
7. Clicking on any line in the right-side list will cause a description of that element to appear on the right side.
8. Blue boxes with a plus sign allow you to add new list elements. The clear arrowheads allow you to open the list of element features. The solid arrowheads allow you to close the list of element features.
If you run into questions about how the Tuning Editor works, please ask in the thread below.
