Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
Object Textures
Contents
CONTENTS
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Welcome! .............................................................................................................................................. 4
1.2. What you will need: .............................................................................................................................. 4
1.3. The textures of a Sims 3 object ............................................................................................................. 6
1.4. What size should my images be? .......................................................................................................... 7
4. Workshop ............................................................................................................ 62
4.1. Importing your images into Workshop ............................................................................................... 63
4.2. Browsing for images already in the package ....................................................................................... 64
4.3. Choosing Patterns ............................................................................................................................... 65
4.4. Making a new colour variation of your object .................................................................................... 68
4.5. The final Complate (and a bonus texture for sims 2 too!) .................................................................. 68
4.6. Saving and exporting your new object ................................................................................................ 69
Appendices .................................................................................................................... 70
Appendix 1: Alpha Troubles? A solution for everyone! .................................................................................. 71
Appendix 2: Replacing images with empty versions......................................................................................... 72
Appendix 3: Frequently Asked Questions ......................................................................................................... 73
Appendix 4: Quick Reference Card ................................................................................................................... 75
2
1. INTRODUCTION
Object Textures
1: Introduction
1.1. WELCOME!
This is Part 2 of the Object Creation series. If you haven’t learnt about meshing yet, you need to start out with
Part 1: Beginner’s Guide to Meshing written by riccinumbers first. If you are adept at making meshes but
need information on bringing them into Sims 3, Apple’s Workshop A-Z Manual guide is invaluable too.
I would like to thank the following contributors whose assistance proved invaluable:
Pinecat DOT
Riccinumbers Shino&KCR
MoMama Murano
Angela Apple
Sim_man123 AnoeskaB
Together with our team of dedicated beta testers who worked tirelessly to test the Object Creation series - and
lastly TSR for the Workshop: a program that has made texture editing so very, very simple.
You will need a graphics package that will allow you to add alpha channels to your images, and that will
support nVidia’s DDS plugin. Experience with using layers in your graphics program is an advantage.
Some programs that DO support the DDS format and offer varying degrees of support for alpha channels:
Photoshop
Photoshop Elements
Paint Shop Pro (all versions)
Corel Photo (PSP X and X2)
GIMP (free)
For information on where to obtain the DDS plugins and how to install them, see our
Wiki page: http://wiki.thesimsresource.com/index.php?title=DDS#Plug-ins DDS Plugins
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1: Introduction
Photoshop’s DDS is a much smaller window but we use the exact same DXT1 and DXT5 settings (this time,
they’re in a drop-down)…
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Object Textures
1: Introduction
DDS IMAGES
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Object Textures
1: Introduction
It’s not the size of your images that is important, but the size of your mapping ON the images. Each mapped
part must be scaled to occupy the same space on your image that it does in the game.
So how do we do that? It’s easy: a Sim floor tile is actually 256 x 256 pixels in width and depth, and walls are
3 x 256 pixels high. Therefore, think about what proportion each part of your object would occupy on floor
tiles, and make sure each occupies the same piece of space on your images.
The chair also needs to map reverse and under sides separately too. You can
now see how images start growing in size!
On the left is the chair’s UV map (made by EA). The size of the map is 256 x
512 pixels, and I’ve divided this into 128 x 128 quarter-tile squares so you can
see for yourself how it has been mapped - mainly in quarter-tile spaces
because the individual parts of the chair are all around that size in the game
too.
Unless you’re Artist of the Year (in which case you can come make MY
Multipliers too), your textures won’t look like this – but they’ll be good
enough!
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1: Introduction
Giants!
Some meshes are clearly taller or wider than 4 game tiles
high or wide (a 1024 pixel DDS image accommodates 4 x
256 floor tiles), so you will need to split the parts of larger
meshes into pieces that can be mapped side by side. You
can also overlap parts that share the same shading and
pattern colour. Your DDS textures should not be bigger
than 1024 x 1024 in size so you need to break up your
mesh so it WILL fit on this size.
Fat files
The larger your image sizes, and the more you add (for example: adding a number of stencils which we’ll come
to later), the bigger your finished Sims3Pack will be. Ideally, you want to keep the finished Sims3Pack to 1Mb
or less. Some objects, like plumbing items, have 2-3 ‘dirty texture’ DDS files too, and these will be
heavyweight files if you don’t manage your image sizes economically. If you make objects 500Kb or less
(plumbing and dirty-state items at 800Kb or less), you have been very successful indeed!
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2. STANDARD TEXTURES
Object Textures
2: Standard Textures
The Multiplier is the main texture you’ll make for your object. It isn’t any
more important than any of the other images, but after making THIS
image, we can very easily make all the others based upon it. So we’ll put
all our effort into this image. The others will be simple after this one is
done.
This comes as a bit of a shock to people who created for earlier versions of
The Sims, but all patterns and colours are now made in the game, not on
the object. We now make the object, add shading and highlights, apply a
couple of pre-selected patterns ourselves, and that’s it!
The Multiplier is used to mark shade and any texture details like grooves
on your mesh’s UV map. These details are permanent, no matter what
patterns are applied to the object in the game.
Multipliers are grey-scale images where 50% grey (RGB 128, 128, 128) is
neutral. Anything darker adds shade, and anything lighter adds a paler
area (useful for embossing and engraving detail).
MULTIPLIERS
FACTBOX: Multipliers
Does it require an alpha? RARELY Alphas are used only for non-glass transparent mesh parts
Does size matter? YES Multipliers must be the intended size of your UV map
Can it be empty? NO Missing multipliers make your mesh appear invisible in Workshop
Saved as: DXT1/DXT5 Only save as DXT5 Interpolated Alpha if you use an alpha channel.
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Some 3D programs will bake a multiplier for you. Baking is an automated process of applying soft shadow to a
mesh’s UV map, generating a grey-scale image that can easily be turned into a Multiplier.
Are the results better? Usually, they are. In the comparison table below, the overall shading of the baked
table (on the right) looks better, showing that I might have been a little heavy handed with my multiplier for
the table underside. However, the baked legs are less defined than I would like and so I would need to touch
those up. There is a step by step tutorial on Baking Shadows by Sim_man123 at TSR which uses the free
Blender 3D program if you ever want to try out baking, but making a Multiplier by hand is quick and easy, and
that’s what we’ll do next!
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Object Textures
2: Standard Textures
A hand-drawn Multiplier is easy to make. You don’t even need to be worried about being ‘artistically-
challenged’ either because there are some simple, generic graphics program tools that will do much of the job
very quickly and easily. In fact, once you’re used to making these, you can make the Multiplier before you
make your mesh; your meshing and mapping will then be incredibly simple and quick, because you already
have a useable texture on which to map your mesh and you can even overlap similar parts of the mesh.
This demonstration is a quick 10-minute demo to make a functional, basic Multiplier. You can improve your
Multipliers later by following ideas similar techniques to those discussed in Enhancing your Multiplier on page
18.
Unless you’re making your Multiplier before you make the mesh, you’ll
need an image of your UV map. If your 3D program doesn’t export an
image of your UV map (like Milkshape doesn’t) then you can use the free
UV Mapper Classic to generate a bitmap image:
1. load up your High level of detail (High LOD) mesh into Milkshape
2. delete the ground shadow (usually group 0) – we don’t need this
on our new texture map
3. EXPORT your mesh as a Wavefront OBJ file
4. open this file in UV Mapper Classic
5. then click Save Texture Map in UV Mapper’s File Menu
6. For size, see the “What size?” section we covered on page 7.
You should end up with a rather crude black and white bitmap of your
mesh. This will do nicely.
Open your UV mapping image into a graphics program that supports the DDS format (see page 4).
If using a bitmap (UV Mapper Classic only creates bitmap files), you will need to convert the image mode in
order to be able to use layers and an alpha channel (if needed – discussed later):
For Photoshop:
Image Menu > Mode > RGB Colour > 8 bits per channel
For PSP:
Image Menu > Increase colour depth > RGB 8 bits per channel
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Object Textures
2: Standard Textures
1. Make a copy of the UV map image and place it on a new layer (we’ll keep
the original untouched because we can use it as tracing paper later!)
2. On your copy, select the white outer area and flood-fill it with a dark grey
as shown on the right.
3. Now invert your selection. This will select all our white mapped shapes
o For Photoshop:
Select > Modify > Expand
o For PSP:
Selections > Modify> Expand
5. Flood-fill your selected shapes with 50% grey (that is: an RGB shade of 128,
128, 128). Your end result should look something like the picture on the
right: dark background with 50% shaded shapes of your UV map.
Note: EA often darkens their grey shades down to an RGB value of around 102,
102, 102. If you find your object too bright in the game, darken your Multiplier
too. However, if you want to match EA walls (for example, when making a wall
designed to join a building wall) you need to keep the grey shade around 50%.
Remember the copy of the UV map we made in the last step? We want to turn that
into a see-through layer. We won’t be drawing on this layer, but on the grey image
we’ve just made.
Move your pristine UV map image to the top-most layer in your graphics program,
and then set the transparency of the layer to something low (mine is set to 25%).
You should be able to see your new grey image through the UV map image.
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2: Standard Textures
I used some simple tricks, like putting embossed borders around grey boxes for a groove, using a Wingding
font for the pattern in the middle, simple grey gradient fills to create bands of shading on the legs and some
touch-ups with the Burn tool (if you don’t have a burn tool, a soft black brush will work too)…
You can of course do whatever you like, but I will talk you through my Multiplier so you can see how easy it is
to do. You will find it helpful to apply your Multiplier as a material to your mesh in your 3D program as you
work so you can check it, or better still, into Workshop itself
(see page 63 for importing your images into Workshop).
For the table top, I drew another 50% grey box (smaller) in a
new layer and gave it an embossed border. That created the
groove effect.
Because the table-top and sides will be fully exposed to the light once in the game, I haven’t added any
additional shading.
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2: Standard Textures
Table underside
I then made a smaller square in the same dark shade to sit in the
middle for the lower underside section of the table. I added
drop shadow to this new inner box to give the appearance of
shade all around it (the drop shadow has no offset in any
direction, so shadow is added to all four sides), and to finish, I
used the burn tool on a large, soft brush to make the large
shadow in the middle of it.
The edge of the underside (that right-hand dark strip) I burned where the edge joins the table top. I burnt the
ends too because this is where the legs will create a bit of shade.
Finally (for the underside), I used a soft –edged brush (using black colour) to make four leg holes. If you’re a
bit hit-and-miss about painting, you’ll want to put these on their own layer too!
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2: Standard Textures
All the legs are mapped onto one area so there is only one that I
need to make. Firstly, I wanted some bands of shadow (at
either end of that lathed part and at each end of the leg)...
After that, I placed two grooves at random points for the upper
parts of the leg. How did I do that? Well, I cheated by copying and
pasting a piece of the groove used on my table top. I made it
thinner and not so embossed.
The legs need some inside shading. I simply passed the burn tool
lightly along the length of the leg somewhere in the middle. I used
guesswork for the position, and then popped back to the mesh in
Milkshape just to ensure each leg was rotated so the shade
pointed inwards. The burn is heavier at the right end of the image
(top of the leg) where the leg is close to the wooden base of the
table.
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2: Standard Textures
1. Before doing anything else, DO save your Multiplier in your graphics program’s main format (e.g. PSP
for Paint Shop Pro or PSD for Photoshop). Some of these layers, like the motif, we can use in the
other images. We don’t need to do all that work again.
2. Now flatten your image to just one layer. For Photoshop, right click any layer and choose flatten
image and for PSP, choose Merge (Flatten all)
3. To save your new Multiplier, choose SAVE AS and select DDS (sometimes shown as D3D/DDS). The
following DDS options window should appear:
The top-most drop down list provides a range of DDS file formats. For Sims objects, we only use two
of these:
4. Choose DXT1 RGB 4bpp | No Alpha (the most likely choice for Multipliers) and click the SAVE button.
That’s it! Your Multiplier is made and the hard work done now (all of our remaining textures will use
our Multiplier).
* Multipliers only have an alpha channel added to them if there is any transparency in the solid mesh. For
more information, see: Transparency and Invisibility on page 53.
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2: Standard Textures
First, Apple lightened the outer edges of the wood parts (this gives a more natural and less ‘sharp’
edge to straight parts).
He then added some stitching to each corner of the cushion by a simple but effective dashed white
line and a touch of shadow underneath it.
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2: Standard Textures
If you feel that drawing by hand is a challenge too far, it’s a little-
known fact that it’s also possible to use extracts of photograph to
add small detail, and the end result can be remarkable!
This matching door and window frame are both using a Multiplier
to add 3D shape.
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2: Standard Textures
The Specular adds natural highlights and reflective parts to your object. The
Specular is the most frequently misunderstood texture of all Sims images, yet
it is very easy to make. We’ll look at how to make and use the Specular
correctly.
It might LOOK empty in Workshop, but it isn’t. Speculars usually carry an all-
black Alpha Channel (more on alphas later) which gives the thumbnail image
in Workshop the appearance of being empty, but it’s not.
SPECULARS
2.2.1. HIGHLIGHTS
A Specular adds highlights – points that would naturally be a paler spot on your object when in window or
lamp lighting. Look at any object around you and you will see a varying level of highlight resulting from the
lighting around it, whether indoors or outdoors. Even the dullest materials often have paler spots of highlight.
The main image of the Specular draws out these highlights and then lets the patterns in the game govern how
much reflection (shine) they carry (fabric will have less reflection than veneered wood).
2.2.2. REFLECTION
Speculars also use an alpha channel which we’ll be looking at soon. Any white areas marked on the alpha will
increase the level of highlight, making that part of the mesh reflect the environment around it regardless of
the pattern applied to the mesh. Use reflection carefully as this can remove some freedom of choice from
players. More information on how the alpha channel works is on the next page.
FACTBOX: Speculars
Does it require an alpha? YES Alphas are black except where forced reflectiveness is applied
Does size matter? NO Must be the same size as the Multiplier unless empty
Can it be empty? YES But cases for needing a totally empty Specular are rare
Saved as: DXT5 Speculars always have an alpha channel, so must be saved as DXT5.
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For Paint Shop Pro and other programs, here are some links that
might help you with alphas as we work through the Specular
how-to…
Photoshop Elements
Paint Shop Pro
GIMP
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2.2.4. MYTH-BUSTERS!
Many artists started with little or no information on creating a Specular - and some are still unintentionally
following what they learned long ago without realising they may have misunderstood what was really
happening when using a Specular…
Indeed, some odd theories have been bandied about and the majority of early creators at one point or
another have made incorrect Speculars as a result. If you are an experienced creator using this and realising
you might have subscribed (or still do) to one of the myths below, then you are amongst many!
Let’s rule out some of the false ideas about Speculars before we begin…
X Use a 50% grey alpha and the Specular will average out for all patterns
Wrong – any non-black shade on the alpha channel will force a dull sheen onto your object, meaning
that coarse fabrics and materials like fur or rust will have a sheen too, spoiling the overall effect the
player might want to achieve with your object. It will also impede the full-white alpha of a shiny
metal pattern, limiting the shine the player will be able to attain.
X You must add a small dot of white to the alpha, otherwise it is lost
Not entirely true. The Workshop shows and works correctly with an all-black alpha. However, if you
need to open your Specular in your graphics program to amend it, the DDS plugins DO drop all-black
alphas, so you must remember to re-add them, or add a white dot to somewhere it doesn’t matter
on the ALPHA of the Specular (e.g. in an unused corner).
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The alpha channel is infrequently used in Speculars (it is usually all-black) for the simple reason that any white
areas on the alpha will force those parts of the mesh to be shiny – and forcing anything in Sims 3 limits the
choice for the player. If you’ve ever tried to make an EA vehicle appear rusty or simply age it a bit by reducing
the pattern to a less shiny version, you will know how frustrating that can be.
A Specular example!
It means the body of the dryer has no reflectivity forced upon it. Shine will be governed by patterns that the
player chooses, giving the player full control over shine (or lack of) just as shown in the two dryer variations
above: a rusty paint with no shine, and a highly polished chrome with full shine – both merely pattern
variations of the same object!
However, because of white on the alpha, the nozzle will now be reflective, regardless of pattern chosen.
How reflective will still depend upon the lightness of the nozzle on the Specular image: the more white the
nozzle, the more reflective it will be. If I want to lower the reflectiveness of the shine, I would darken the
nozzle on the Specular but leave the alpha white. This overrides the Specular in the pattern chosen by the
player, forcing a shine regardless.
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A Specular is VERY simple to make. We’ll use a copy of our Multiplier. Increase its contrast until the whitest
areas are as bright as they can go without looking over-bright and losing detail. Photoshop users can use auto-
contrast to do this with a single click.
IMPORTANT! Workshop will not show the full effects (especially reflection) of a Specular very well. You’ll
need to look at your object in the game before you see how the Specular will really take effect. Additionally,
the Specular doesn’t always update in the Workshop 3D viewer. If you see traces of a former Specular on your
model, simply import your mesh again or close and re-open your project.
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Yes, you absolutely do! If you don’t add an alpha channel to your Specular, a WHITE alpha will be added
automatically, and you’ve already seen what white alphas do to a Specular! Unless you want to try for the
Most Shiny Object Ever award, add an all-black alpha channel before you save your image.
Unless you are using Photoshop, you might not be able to see the alpha channel. Many graphics programs are
made only to add white to an alpha channel, which is not what you want. Not to worry; there is a very simple
workaround if you cannot see your alpha channel - see page 71: How To make an all-black Alpha (a
workaround).
The DDS plugins often drop an all-black alpha. For general purpose use, a black alpha does nothing and is
considered a bit redundant. Of course, in Speculars, it is anything but redundant! One workaround to ‘trick’
the DDS plugins into keeping the black alpha when you open a Specular in your graphics program is to add a
small white dot to an unused area of the alpha. It isn’t needed for Workshop, but it WILL save you having to
keep recreating your black alpha each time you need to edit it.
As with the Multiplier (on page 17), you need to flatten (merge) any separate layers in your image, and save as
a DDS format image. This time we need to pick DXT5 ARGB 8bpp | Interpolated Alpha as our DDS choice
(because we have an alpha in the file)…
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Making an RGB Map is simplicity itself. I have faded mine so that the
Multiplier shows underneath and you can see what I did. I’ve made a
table that will use three patterns: the legs will be one colour, the main
table parts will be another, and the centre of the table will be yet
another. For fun, I used a star pattern to show the power of this
simple image…
3. Now draw colour over your Multiplier. Don’t forget: if your object is to be
one pattern only, just fill the entire image with red. You can also use an EA
all-red image instead if you prefer – see page 72
RGB Masks can only use pure red, green and blue, but why?
When painting in pure red, green and blue colours, we’re actually
painting white on the RGB channels of the image (and anyone who has
made Sim patterns will already know about these). The game is using
the underlying channels. Each channel links to a pattern slot in the
CAST tool. If you paint white directly into any of these channels, the
main picture will show pure red, green or blue.
However, as many graphics programs don’t make channel work all that easy, using pure red, green and blue
does exactly the same thing! It happens automatically. We don’t need to work in the channels themselves in
the same way we would if making patterns for three-pattern objects.
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Here is an RGB Mask using all four patterns for a window (an RGBA Mask – the
A stands for Alpha). The fourth colour is the orange area. If you haven’t done
so already, please read the last bit of information on why we use red, green and
blue. This will explain about how we’ve been using RGB channels (not just
making a primary-coloured mess)!
RGB images are only made up of three channels and so will only link to three of
the pattern slots in the game. Therefore, we have to add another channel, and
the only way we can do that is to add an alpha channel and paint THAT white!
Looking below, you see the alpha with white painted on it.
It’s simply a non-red, green, blue colour that is being used to show where the
fourth colour is located. It’s just for our information (the game uses the white
on the alpha channel). The orange could be ANY colour. Indeed, the EA baby
high-chair has a bright pink colour to indicate where the fourth channel is
located. The colour is immaterial; it is the Alpha channel that is read by the game.
For anyone who cannot paint directly onto their alpha channel:
1. paint the main image in dark orange where you want your fourth pattern to be used
2. Select your orange area
3. Save your selection to the alpha channel
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If your RGB mask is three colours (red, green and blue) or less, then you simply save your image as the
standard DXT1 (no alpha) format.
If your mask is an RGBA Mask (i.e. it uses four colours: red, green, blue and the alpha channel), save as DXT5
Interpolated Alpha…
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OVERLAYS
Overlays Stencils
An Overlay shows on all texture Different texture variations of
variants (recolours) of your your object can have different
object. Stencils in combinations. A
Stencil only applies to the colour
variation to which it has been
added.
There is only one for the object You can have up to four Stencils
in entirety. layered per texture variant.
Overlays are imported as one of Stencils are imported per colour
the four main DDS images variation in a special area
beneath the pattern slots (see
page 34-35)
As with all other images, the Overlay is based on our UV map to chart where its image
should appear. Overlays aren’t recolourable, and so their appearance on the RGB Mask
is not important. There is no sign of the flower image in the middle of the red sun
(where in reality it sits) because an Overlay is not recolourable and so overrides any
colouring on the RGB Mask.
FACTBOX: Overlays
Does it require an alpha? YES Alphas are black except where forced reflectiveness is applied
Does size matter? NO Must be the same size as the Multiplier unless empty
Can it be empty? YES See the appendices for making use of an empty Overlay from EA
Saved as: DXT5 Overlays always have an alpha channel, so must be saved as DXT5.
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Therefore, the alpha is the controlling layer. This is usual for many
DDS images for Sims 3. If I drew a white square at the bottom of the
alpha, even though there is no image there on the Overlay itself, my
mesh will be overlaid with a grey square. The alpha must be black
unless you want the Overlay to override any part of your mesh’s
texture. Any shade of grey will show the Overlay image with some
transparency, and pure white or white will reveal the Overlay image in full, solid colour.
1. Open your Multiplier in your graphics program – we’ll use this as a guide to
where the Overlay image needs to be.
3. Draw the image for your Overlay, positioning it exactly where you want it to
appear.
4. Select your new image, but not any of the background around it. I found it
easier to select the blank space with the Magic Wand selector and then invert
the selection.
If you have Photoshop, you can simply switch channels, add a new
alpha as shown, and fill your still-highlighted selection with white
(EDIT menu, FILL, White)
For any other program, go to your Selections menu, and save your
selection to an alpha channel. For more help with using the Alpha
Channel, see Alpha Troubles in the appendices – page 71.
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As with the Multiplier (on page 17), you need to flatten (merge) any separate layers in your image, and save as
a DDS format image. This time we need to pick DXT5 ARGB 8bpp | Interpolated Alpha as our DDS choice
(because we have an alpha in the file)…
If you have cloned an object that already has an Overlay, but you don’t need one, you can replace it with a
blank image already in the game. For more information, see:
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3. SPECIAL TEXTURES
Object Textures
3: Special Textures
3.1. STENCILS
Most information about Stencils has already been covered in Overlays (page 30).
Stencils are mainly used for flat, 2-dimensional decals, logos and texture effects to
affix to your mesh as part of a particular texture variation. Like Overlays, they are
non-recolourable.
The BIG difference with Stencils is that Stencils only apply to a particular texture
variation. You can have a different set of up to four layered Stencils for each
texture variation of your object. However, DO bear in mind that every image you
add to your object will ramp up the file size and files that are too big will be
difficult for lot builders to use in their uploaded lots (if that’s what you intend for
them).
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Object Textures
3: Special Textures
Dirt Overlays are really just ordinary overlays, but they are stored in a different part of Workshop. To find
them, you need to go to the Mesh tab of Workshop, and expand the materials attached to your mesh.
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The Material Editor is a pop-up window showing details of the material we have selected. You can see the Dirt
Overlay listed just beneath the Diffuse settings.
The IMPORT and EXPORT buttons are at the top right of the Image
Editor.
You can click Export if you wish to examine EA’s Dirt Overlay. When
you’ve completed your own overlay, simply click the Import button.
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You’ll find you really don’t need to be too particular about the
main image for a great-looking dirt result!
1. Making the main image: As usual, load up your Multiplier, then add a
transparent layer on top of it.
2. Paint blobs and smears of greens, browns, reds and oranges. If you want a
particular colour of dirt, or a particular texture, paint these where you want
them – otherwise you don’t need to be too careful with what you paint where.
3. To finish the main image, place a new layer underneath your painted layer and
flood-fill it with a dark green or brown to ensure all gaps are filled.
4. Merge your flood-filled layer with your painted image and make the new
merged layer invisible for now.
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5. Making the alpha: Add a new transparent layer over the Multiplier.
6. Now paint this in shades of grey and white as shown on the right where you
wish dirt to appear:
If you cannot make a greyscale alpha in your graphics program, then you
can either use gentle amounts of white, or you can cheat and use EA’s dirt
maps (see Cheating on dirt! on page 42).
7. Now add a new layer under THIS painted layer. Flood-fill it with black
10. Now make visible the green/brown layer you hid at step 4.
11. Flatten the image into one merged layer. Your green image now
has an alpha channel and be ready for saving!
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Once you have made your new Dirt Overlays you will need to replace both the HIGH and LOW level of detail
meshes. This is very easy to forget!
4. select the Dirt overlay shown below and click Edit to open the Image Editor (it will be a green/brown
image with some transparency and there may be more than one with differing levels of dirt)…
5. replace each of the Dirt Overlays with your replacement Overlays by clicking the Import button at the
top right of the Image Editor window…
6. Repeat for every Dirt Overlay that needs replacing. Ignore any dirt that seems to be a black/brown
image – this is the ‘smoke damage’ image and doesn’t really need to be edited.
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4. You don’t need to import your Dirt Overlays again (you imported them for the High level Of Detail
mesh, so we only need to point this mesh to those that we’ve imported already.
Click the Edit button to display the Image Editor, and this time click the BROWSE button!
5. Select the Dirt Overlay you imported for your high-detail mesh and click OK…
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If you are worried about preposterous file sizes, or you have a lot of difficulty creating a greyscale alpha
correctly in your graphics program, then one very easy way to avoid all the headaches with creating Dirt
Overlays is to cheat!
Simply map the key parts of your mesh to the same spots on the original EA Multiplier.
The key parts (seat, bowl, pedestal and cistern) are all
discernable. If you map your toilet seat and bowl (at the
very least) to the same places that the EA toilet used, the
original EA Dirt Overlay (shown below) will work for your
mesh too. This will actually be good enough to look
‘right’.
You can still make your own Multiplier, but keeping key
parts in the same locations will ensure that you can use
the original dirt without making your own and inflating
your Sims3Pack file size.
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This is a GOOD question! Ideally, you won’t unless absolutely necessary because this strips away any choice
for the player. However, there are some instances where using a non-recolourable object is necessary:
1. If a non-recolourable object allows behaviours that cannot be found in any colourable object
2. If an object you’ve made simply would not need recolouring (like the magazines pictured above)
I’m making an object that arguably fits BOTH criteria! I’m usually known for making not-so-nice things, and in
this example I am indeed making something not-so-nice for a bathroom floor. I expect my mother would say
that this is nothing to be proud of, but there we all are.
This toilet roll doesn’t really need recolouring (though had I the
choice, I would have made it so). My primary need for cloning
a non-recolourable object is that I want Sims to be able to walk
over the object, I want it to fit on a quarter tile, sit in front of a
toilet without impeding access to Sims, and I want it useable
both indoors and outdoors, and on floors and counter-tops.
The ONLY object in the base game that meets all these
requirements is the decorative ‘clutter magazines’ object – and
that is non-recolourable!
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And here you see EA’s secret! Most of the small non-
recolourables share a single texture held in one of the
internal game libraries (the magazines use the top left
corner of it), but don’t worry, we can replace this with
our own texture…
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As usual, you will make a DDS image based on your object’s UV map. However, this image is full colour!
Because non-recolourable objects don’t have multipliers or speculars, the impression of shade and highlights
will need to be added to this single image too.
Non-recolourable DDS textures don’t need an alpha, and so we save the image as DXT1 No alpha…
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The material appears in two places under the High Level Of Detail mesh, and twice again under the Low Detail
mesh. All must be updated. However, we only need to import the texture ONCE, so let’s do that first…
1. Click the Default Material immediately under the mesh group name…
2. Click the three dots button as shown above to open it in the Materials Editor (below)…
3. Click the Diffuse map to open this image in the Image Editor
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If you have selected the correct material, you will see EA’s full colour texture (not a shadow image).
1Click the BROWSE button and select the image you imported earlier
And now repeat for both the Default Material and Extra material for your Low Level of Detail mesh materials
too!
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Doors, windows and arches use an additional special image that creates a
cut-out hole in the wall. These are called wall
masks. Because they don’t contain any real detail,
they are usually very tiny in size – for example: 64
pixels wide by 128 pixels high!
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We start out by using a 3D program that has grid sizes to match Sim tiles. Milkshape does that by default, so
that makes life very easy! I’ll be using Milkshape for this demonstration…
1. Import your low detail window mesh into Milkshape as usual (import a TSR Workshop Object). Low
detail windows don’t have wall shadows to get in the way!
3. With a grid size of 0.5, a Sim wall is 2 squares wide, and 6 squares high as shown in the area I’ve
highlighted on the right. We need to cut out this area as the base for our new wall mask.
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For best results, paint the black area to somewhere in the middle of the frame, but try
not to stray over the edge otherwise you will have holes in the wall around your
window!
7. Now paint the remainder of the mask pure white (I selected my black area, then
inverted my selection and flood-filled it white)
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The Wall Mask for the window on the left is showing some
problem points. Two leaks of wall are showing on the inside of
the window, so the black of my right-hand Wall Mask needs to
be repaired before I finish this window.
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3.5.1. INVISIBILITY
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Important! Transparency is an
advanced technique. There are
still uncertainties about the
settings that need to be changed
and you will need to experiment
with the methods described to
achieve it.
IMPORTANT! Workshop will not show level of transparency accurately. You’ll need to look at your object in
the game before you see how transparent your mesh will look.
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Click the button with the three dots to expand this selection. This will open the Material Editor. The shader
drop-down needs to be changed from Phong to Phong Alpha.
IMPORTANT! Remember to
make these changes to both your
High and Low level of Detail meshes!
This Multiplier is using an alpha channel so must be saved as DXT5 I Interpolated alpha.
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3.6. GLASS
Glass is always found in a separate mesh group from the remainder of the mesh, and it’s therefore advisable to
clone an object that already has glass inside it. For decorative objects, the atrium fern is a perfect choice. For
wall objects, the medicine cabinet has a glass front. And there are plenty of glass lamps and other furniture
such as coffee tables with glass too.
Some items currently have no glass-sporting versions (dining tables for example). A planned development of
the Workshop will allow us to add additional mesh groups and we hope to be able to add glass and other
materials as a result. Until that time, we are limited in being able to add glass to all objects. Changing the
material of a mesh that is all in one group will change the entire mesh into glass – usually not ideal!
Although it’s beyond the scope of this tutorial to talk about making meshes, one detail that is tremendously
important for glass is smoothing any hard edges when you want to achieve a curved glass effect.
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However, for the jar on the right, the glass bottom sits in its
own space on the UV map. The game is now able to render
reflection of the glass sides correctly, giving a smooth and
accurate reflection.
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If you ever created meshes for Sims 2, you will probably be familiar with the Material Definition. This was a file
that would allow us to specify transparency, reflection and colour hues of objects over and above the textures
we applied directly to the mesh. Like
Sims 2, Sims 3 also has a set of material
settings. Most of the time, we have
little need to change them, but glass
uses no textures so this is where we’ll
control how glass will look…
Look at the left of the Material Editor window and you should see a drop-down list called the Shader. The
shader is a type of material effect we wish to apply to our meshes, with the standard, solid material being
Phong.
However, there are a number of shaders for glass. There is Glass for fences,
Glass for portals (windows and doors), Glass for rabbit holes (the glass we see
in community prebuilt buildings – these are actually meshes too!) and finally
TWO settings for objects…
The standard glass for objects shader is best suited to low-reflective, opaque
glass. The glass for objects translucent shader is better for transparent glass
with higher reflective properties. These are the two shaders we commonly use
for glass in standard objects that don’t have a special glass shader already
provided.
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The effect of tint and transparency will depend on the glass shader you selected. Glass for objects is a better
choice than glass for objects translucent for tinted glass.
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Making pure, translucent glass that gives the appearance of solid glass can be tricky. Glass can look too
opaque, or too thin, or it can lack any real reflectivity. Therefore, finding good material settings is key.
2. Change the Diffuse values to zero alpha, and 44, 51, 46 RGB values
3. Reduce Shininess to 10
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4. WORKSHOP
Object Textures
4: Workshop
Importing the main textures into Workshop is easy! This applies to all the standard textures (Overlay, RGB
Mask, Multiplier and Specular). Special textures are imported in a different way but we’ll come to these later.
Using the red cross, delete ALL variations except the first one.
IMPORTANT!
If you see THIS message, it simply
means your images are a different
size to the originals.
IMAGE EDITOR
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Sometimes you will have imported an image into the Workshop already, and you might want to reuse it.
Occasionally, when not concentrating, I have imported a wrong image (for example: importing the RGB Mask
into the Multiplier). To correct this, I don’t need to import my Multiplier a second time. I can simply browse
for it. The browse facility is also useful when experimenting with different stencils that you’ve imported.
Next to the Import button we were just using is the Browse button…
Click this to browse through the DDS images already in your file. Only your images are shown. EA’s textures
aren’t loaded into the package; they’re loaded from separate database files that hold the library of game
textures once your object is in the game.
Select the texture you require from the list and click OK.
If you have cloned an object that already has an Overlay or Stencil that you don’t require, you can replace it
with a blank image already in the game. For more information, see:
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Now scroll down the screen of the TEXTURES tab and you should see
some pattern slots. This is where we do the exciting stuff! First, we
need to enable or disable the patterns we need…
If you only used one RGB Mask colour (i.e. your mask is all red), your
object will only use the topmost pattern shown here, so change all the
other patterns’ Enabled settings to False.
If you used two RGB Mask colours (i.e. your mask uses the red and
green channels), your object will only use the first two pattern slots
shown here. Ensure these are Enabled: True and change the last
pattern’s Enabled setting to False.
If you’ve used all three red, green and blue colours, then you need all
three patterns enabled!
Note: for windows and doors, there is a fourth pattern. This should be
enabled too if you used the fourth RGBA colour.
Each pattern has a tiling setting. Usually, this should represent how
many blocks of 256 x 256 pixels make up your DDS images:
Notice how the tiling of my patterns is 1, 2? That is because my DDS images are 256 pixels (1 tile) wide by 512
pixels (2 tiles) high.
When I said USUALLY above, you might find (especially if you’re new to meshing) that your mapping is making
the pattern look stretched. Looking at your object in the 3D viewer on the left, you can experiment with the
tiling to see whether a higher or lower number will look better. Once you’re experienced at meshing and UV
mapping, you’ll have less need to alter the pattern tiling.
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PATTERN EDITOR
Different patterns have different properties of their own. If you left the alpha of your Specular all-black, then
the patterns you select will govern whether your object is reflective or not.
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If you expand the Pattern Editor window, you will see at least one HSV Shift drop-down (HSV stands for Hue
Saturation Vibrance). There can be up to four colour channels in a pattern, though most patterns are only one
or two colours. Click any one of these to change the palette colours with a neat little colour picker. If you
prefer, you can add HSV numbers directly to the number boxes below the colour picker instead.
Also, notice the 3D Preview tick-box under the pattern picture? If your PC isn’t struggling under the weight of
the Workshop, you can tick this box and see your changes take immediate effect on your mesh in the 3D
viewer! Here is an example pattern comprising three HSV colours you can customise…
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Once your DDS images have been imported and your patterns have been adjusted, you can make a copy of all
these settings in order to make new texture variations. Making variations is a good idea because not all
players like using the Create-A-Style
Tool, and you will also have ideas of
your own for how your mesh will appear
in the game. I always like to make 2-3
variations at least.
This will make an exact copy of everything you did in your first variation. Your DDS images are already
loaded, and so all you need to do is select some new patterns to complete this variation!
4.5. THE FINAL COMPLATE (AND A BONUS TEXTURE FOR SIMS 2 TOO!)
You’ve finished your texturing and your object is ready for the
game. However, if you’re interested in seeing the Complate
(texture map) that you have created for each pattern
variation, go to the Textures tab and click on the small floppy-
disk icon as shown below.
COMPLATES
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If your meshes are imported, your shadows done, your catgories on the PROJECT tab are ticked correctly and
you’ve finished your textures and pattern selections too, then , then you’re ready to export your new object!
Project tab
Mesh tab
Textures tab
Textures imported
Patterns correct and enabled/disabled as required)
Pattern tiling correct for your image sizes
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APPENDICES
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Appendices
The majority of graphics programs don’t have very visible ways of working with Alpha Channels. Photoshop is
easy and straight-forward, but the other primary programs differ greatly in how they handle Alphas, and some
programs won’t let you create an all-black Alpha at all (a frequent requirement for Speculars).
However, if you’re still struggling, this method, tested in Photoshop Elements and various versions of Paint
Shop Pro, has proved a simple and failsafe way to make simple Alphas for your standard DDS images
(unfortunately, greyscale alphas will not be possible using these methods, but greyscale alphas are only used
on transparencies and dirt overlays (see Cheating on dirt! on page 42 for another workaround for dirt)…
1. Select only the parts of the image you wish to add to your alpha
2. Go to your Selections menu
3. Save your selection to an alpha channel (most programs the alpha channel as a selection save
option)
1. Select a very tiny part of your image that is not being used (a small piece of black backdrop in one
corner, for example)
2. Go to your Selections menu
3. Save your selection to an alpha channel (most programs offer an alpha channel as a selection save
option)
Although this alpha isn’t truly black, the tiny white fragment will be in a place where it won’t make
any difference to your object, and so is as good as an all-black alpha.
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Appendices
You can remove unwanted Overlays and Stencils from any object you clone if you don’t need them for your
object.
1. Click on the image you wish to replace, then click on the EDIT button that appears
4. This will replace your Overlay or Stencil with a link to the game’s internal empty image. Click OK to
accept it and close the Image Editor.
IMPORTANT!!!
Empty images are much
smaller than your
Multiplier and other
images will be. When
asked about updating
material sizes CLICK NO!
RGB Masks
TIP: if your RGB Mask will be one colour (red) only, you can replace that with an EA all-red texture instead to
further reduce your Sims3Pack’s file size. The key for an all-red RGB Mask is:
key:00b2d882:00000000:6f04c03483c744ec
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In all likelihood, your alpha channel is completely white. Your alpha needs to be totally black except in any
places where you want shine. The most frequent cause of white alpha channels is the graphics programs that
don’t actually display the alpha channel and therefore you don’t notice what’s happened. You need to redo
the alpha for your Specular. See: Appendix 1: Alpha Troubles? A solution for everyone!
I’ve imported my textures but some parts of my object appear white in the 3D view! Why?
You’ve imported an RGB Mask that is using more patterns than the object you cloned. Simply look at the
pattern slots and check that those you’re using have been set to Enabled: True (see page 65)
The primary cause of this is poor UV mapping. Imagine your mesh in the game on a floor tile, and consider
how big (compared to that entire floor tile) the blurred area appears to be (for example: the seat-cushion part
of a dining chair is just a little larger than quarter of a floor tile, so its space on the UV map needs to be at least
128 x 128 pixels (i.e.: quarter of a floor tile). Your mapping needs to be the same sort of proportion of the
space the object occupies in the game to be accurately sized. Any less, and the pattern will appear stretched.
Read up on DDS sizes for a better understanding (page 7).
You don’t. Instead, you replace it with an empty image. See the previous Appendix for replacing images with
empty versions.
Check that you have imported your Multiplier correctly. No Multiplier, or a Multiplier in the correct format,
will give the appearance of an invisible mesh. Failing that, check that your mesh groups (group_0, group_1 etc
match the order of the EA object you cloned.
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APPENDIX 3 (CONTINUED)
Unfortunately, you can’t. You must choose a window that’s exactly she same tile size as the window you
intend to make.
DDS images with alphas need to have a background layer as a minimum. The easiest remedy to this is to
flatten (merge) all layers before saving.
Yes indeed, though this is beyond the scope of this guide. Select any of the pattern slots in which you want to
load your own pattern, click to open the Pattern Browser and editor, and click the NEW icon at the top to load
the Pattern Tool plugin.
Very easily! Simply export each of your texture variations as a single Complate file (composition of all the DDS
images you used – see page 68 for more information) as a PNG file. Your texture is now ready for Sims 2!
I imported my Specular but my mesh still appears to show the reflection of the original EA
Specular – have I done something wrong?
No. Sometimes the 3D viewer doesn’t show an update of your new Specular until after you have closed and
re-opened your project. However, there’s an even quicker way to update the view – simply re-import your
mesh. That triggers a refresh of the viewer and will update the effect of the Specular.
Shine and transparency effects are not all currently shown in the 3D viewer. Check your object in the game to
see whether the effect you require has been achieved.
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