How to create default NORMAL skins
This is a long tutorial, read it carefully, if you have any doubt (even a really small one) feel free to ask. Creating default skins is technically easy, but it can be a pretty tedious and time consuming project.
If you get bored easily... don't continue reading xD.
Before starting, you will need:
The Bodyshop.
SimPe
An already done default skin. You can simply download it from MTS
Things that you will learn
How to make normal default skintones (from a template).
How to avoid pixelation on default skins.
How to reduce file size so this skins are not big as hell (default skins tend to be 30mb big if you do not reduce their file size).
Things that I assume you already know
Basic bodyshop usage.
PART ONE: Extract skin textures
Some creators are pretty generous and simply share their textures, so creators can access to them easily.
Anyway, this is not exactly the most common thing. Usually you will have to export the textures.
For doing this, simply open Bodyshop--Create a new project--Skin.
Look for the skin you want to make into default, export it and put a descriptive name (example: default-s3).
I usually simply close the project and extract the other three tones.
You should finish having 4 new projects in you projects folder (My documents/EA Games/The sims 2/Projects).
When you are done extracting the four tones textures, simply close Bodyshop.
PART TWO: Delete unuseful textures
When you extract a skin, you get a total of 40 textures, plus the swatch and the package. You will not use all of them.
Observe carefully all the textures and see which of them you can delete. I recommend you to do 3 separate folders inside the folder you have the skins in, this folders can be: hair, faces and bodies.
You will always get only one hair texture (hair textures are those plain colored squares).
The most common amount of faces is three or four: baby, toddler and children-elder; sometimes elders have their own face, because of different age marks like wrinkles.
In the bodies there are different possibilities, but they ALWAYS follow this scheme:
PART THREE: Making the default skin
There are different ways of doing this. Some people import all the textures on the skin template and LATER reduce the file size. This is a correct way to do it, and it can be considered (somehow) easier, but it is way longer. The first time I discovered how to reduce file size I hadn’t read any tutorial, so I figured out how to do it and I could, but I followed the long way, and I want to teach you the shorter one, which works well too and will save you some time.
STEP ONE:
Open the default skin you want to edit in SimPe.
When it is opened, your Resource Tree should look like this.
Click on Texture Image (TXTR), you will see the 33 textures.
As you have deleted unuseful textures in the previous part, you already know how many textures you will actually use.
Right click and delete the textures you will not use. When you have deleted them, they will appear overlined.
When you are done deleting, go to File-Save as… and save it somewhere, putting a descriptive name.
STEP TWO: This is the most dificult step. You really need to pay attention.
Go to the Material Definition (TXMT) tab on the Resource tree. You will find 78 files.
I will explain this step with a descriptive example.
I have three face textures in the skin I’m making (baby for both genders, toddler for both genders, and children-elder for both genders).
You simply have to do the same with all the other textures, remember that you will have:
NOTE: In SimPe, fit state is named “cut” and fat state is named “soft”. In SimPe each age (for teen and up) has 9 body textures: three for normal (body, top, bottom), three for fit, and three for fat. You have to modify ALL of them.
STEP THREE:
Go again to Textures (TXTR). You now have to import the new textures. To do this, don’t click import, it generates pixelation. What you have to do is right-click on the image and choose Build DXT.
You will get a menu, open the image you want and don’t change any of the settings. Then click Build.
When the DXT is built, you have to press commit. Do this with all the textures.
STEP FOUR:
Now we have to compress the textures. This does not generate pixelation, and makes the file size smaller, which is something good for space saving.
In the textures menu, go from Plugin view to Resource.
You will see that it says Compressed. They default option is no, scroll down to yes and click “force commit”.
When you have done this to all the textures you have, you can save you package.
Now, it is ready to share.
If you get bored easily... don't continue reading xD.
Before starting, you will need:
The Bodyshop.
SimPe
An already done default skin. You can simply download it from MTS
Things that you will learn
How to make normal default skintones (from a template).
How to avoid pixelation on default skins.
How to reduce file size so this skins are not big as hell (default skins tend to be 30mb big if you do not reduce their file size).
Things that I assume you already know
Basic bodyshop usage.
PART ONE: Extract skin textures
Some creators are pretty generous and simply share their textures, so creators can access to them easily.
Anyway, this is not exactly the most common thing. Usually you will have to export the textures.
For doing this, simply open Bodyshop--Create a new project--Skin.
Look for the skin you want to make into default, export it and put a descriptive name (example: default-s3).
I usually simply close the project and extract the other three tones.
You should finish having 4 new projects in you projects folder (My documents/EA Games/The sims 2/Projects).
When you are done extracting the four tones textures, simply close Bodyshop.
PART TWO: Delete unuseful textures
When you extract a skin, you get a total of 40 textures, plus the swatch and the package. You will not use all of them.
Observe carefully all the textures and see which of them you can delete. I recommend you to do 3 separate folders inside the folder you have the skins in, this folders can be: hair, faces and bodies.
You will always get only one hair texture (hair textures are those plain colored squares).
The most common amount of faces is three or four: baby, toddler and children-elder; sometimes elders have their own face, because of different age marks like wrinkles.
In the bodies there are different possibilities, but they ALWAYS follow this scheme:
- Baby unisex body
- Toddler unisex body
- Children unisex body
- TF-AF bodies. You can just have from one to three, depending on how different are the fit/normal/fat states.
- EF bodies. You cannot use the adult textures for elders, because their body is different and the breast shape changes. You can just have from one to three, depending on how different are the fit/normal/fat states.
- TM-EM bodies. You can just have from one to three, depending on how different are the fit/normal/fat states.
PART THREE: Making the default skin
There are different ways of doing this. Some people import all the textures on the skin template and LATER reduce the file size. This is a correct way to do it, and it can be considered (somehow) easier, but it is way longer. The first time I discovered how to reduce file size I hadn’t read any tutorial, so I figured out how to do it and I could, but I followed the long way, and I want to teach you the shorter one, which works well too and will save you some time.
STEP ONE:
Open the default skin you want to edit in SimPe.
When it is opened, your Resource Tree should look like this.
Click on Texture Image (TXTR), you will see the 33 textures.
As you have deleted unuseful textures in the previous part, you already know how many textures you will actually use.
Right click and delete the textures you will not use. When you have deleted them, they will appear overlined.
When you are done deleting, go to File-Save as… and save it somewhere, putting a descriptive name.
STEP TWO: This is the most dificult step. You really need to pay attention.
Go to the Material Definition (TXMT) tab on the Resource tree. You will find 78 files.
I will explain this step with a descriptive example.
I have three face textures in the skin I’m making (baby for both genders, toddler for both genders, and children-elder for both genders).
- Babies and toddlers will have their own face and body textures. Look for them in the Material Definition list. When you have found them, just press Commit (in Plugin view), this way you know you already don’t need to touch anything else on those. Commit ONLY face and body textures, don't touch anything else... by the moment.
- I want children-elders to pick the textures from “afface-s4_txtr”, the only texture I leaved for all of them.
- On the Material Definition list I search the “afface-s4_txtr” name. In the Plugin view, click the Categorized Properties tab, scroll down until you see Default Textures, and search for “stdMatBaseTextureName”.
- You will see it is named “afface-s4”. Press commit, the color of the letter will change.
- Look now for the AM, CU, EF, EM, TF and TM faces. In the Plugin view, click the Categorized Properties tab, scroll down until you see Default Textures, and search for “stdMatBaseTextureName”. Replace the name you find there with “afface-s4_txtr”, this way those faces will pick the texture from the adult female face texture. Don’t forget to press commit!
You simply have to do the same with all the other textures, remember that you will have:
- Baby face
- Baby body
- Toddler face (it can be the same than the baby one sometimes)
- Toddler body
- Children - Elder, for both genders, face.
- Sometimes children faces are different, mainly there are teeth differences sometimes.
- Elder face if there is any noticeable difference like agemarks.
- ONE hair texture.
- TF-AF body (you can have 1-3, depending on the differences that the fit/normal/fat states have)
- EF body (1-3)
- TM-EM body (1-3)
NOTE: In SimPe, fit state is named “cut” and fat state is named “soft”. In SimPe each age (for teen and up) has 9 body textures: three for normal (body, top, bottom), three for fit, and three for fat. You have to modify ALL of them.
STEP THREE:
Go again to Textures (TXTR). You now have to import the new textures. To do this, don’t click import, it generates pixelation. What you have to do is right-click on the image and choose Build DXT.
You will get a menu, open the image you want and don’t change any of the settings. Then click Build.
When the DXT is built, you have to press commit. Do this with all the textures.
STEP FOUR:
Now we have to compress the textures. This does not generate pixelation, and makes the file size smaller, which is something good for space saving.
In the textures menu, go from Plugin view to Resource.
You will see that it says Compressed. They default option is no, scroll down to yes and click “force commit”.
When you have done this to all the textures you have, you can save you package.
Now, it is ready to share.