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Née whiterider
retired moderator
#101 Old 3rd Jun 2012 at 2:20 PM
What is the filename, exactly? And how are you saving the image in Photoshop?

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
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Test Subject
#102 Old 3rd Jun 2012 at 2:46 PM Last edited by winema : 3rd Jun 2012 at 2:57 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by whiterider
What is the filename, exactly? And how are you saving the image in Photoshop?


The filename is: efFace_m and when I save it in PS I click save as D3D/DDS (*DDS, *DDS)

It then proceeds to the NVIDIA dds Format (v8.53.0521.1800)

I save it as:
DXT3 ARGB 8 bpp | explicit alpha
2d Texture
Generate mipmaps is ticked and set to All

I thought that was correct? But still it gives me nothing but headaches..

EDIT: I tried to use base game extracted instead of extracted from another deafult skintone in sims 3 PS did open it and save it while PSP X4said it did not have the plug in.. This file I opened and saved now is called S3_00B2D882_00000000_7EDD5D417BC66680_emFace_m_0x7edd5d417bc66680%%+_IMG perhaps I could try and use the skininator and try the face..
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#103 Old 3rd Jun 2012 at 3:15 PM
The one that was originally called S3_00B2D882_00000000_503C527E546E8C5F_efFace_m_0x503c527e546e8c5f%%+_IMG.dds in the .rar file? Try switching back to that name.

Edit: Ahhh, yeah, the tutorial is written on the assumption that you're using the files attached. You don't need Skininator if you're making a default skintone - just import the now-renamed file into S3PE.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Test Subject
#104 Old 3rd Jun 2012 at 3:28 PM Last edited by winema : 3rd Jun 2012 at 3:42 PM.
Tried to import the face file with the names from the skin files.. but the S3PE is very new to me, do I need to place all faces, bodies etc in S3PE before making the package?

I'm also encountering an annoying problem with PS not being able to open files when it can open one of them but not the rest.. It seems this is not going to be one bit easy..
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#105 Old 3rd Jun 2012 at 4:21 PM
You don't need to have all the textures in your .package, but if you only have some of them then there might be a seam at the neck where your texture doesn't quite match up with the EA one. That's perfectly fine for testing a work in progress, though.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Test Subject
#106 Old 4th Nov 2012 at 1:25 AM
Default dudes and mor dudes
AIKEA guinea, where'd you get the example for your skin? I have little doubt the first is: how do the nipples? I'm not very good at photoshop but if I make a little skin navetsea similar to but more noticeable is the veins of the arms but do not know where you get all that from the veins or nipples, have told me that in google images search for people and search shirtless but I do not look good if they are real in person and not drag and fit as well. please please help me. sorry for my horrible english i am Spanish.
Lab Assistant
#107 Old 21st Aug 2013 at 4:48 PM
Hmm, I really want to try this tutorial, but I really want to use PaintTool Sai, which is my program of choice when doing anything other than editing colors. I'll see if I can find a plug in.

Also...I feel stupid asking, but how can I tell what life stage the images are for? Especially with faces I'm having trouble telling which are YAM. I really want to put a bunch of tattoos on my sim and could really use help with this!
Ms. Byte (Deceased)
#108 Old 21st Aug 2013 at 8:26 PM
You can try a conversion program like DDS Converter to convert other image formats to and from DDS.

Assuming you're working with the Extracted Basic Skintones available for download in the tutorial or gotten elsewhere, you can tell what's what by the file naming convention of the first two letters of the file name:

b - baby
p - toddler/preschooler
c - child
t - teen
y - young adult
a - adult
e - elder

m - male
f - female
u - unisex

Also, '_m_' in the filename means material, which is the main skintone image. '_o_' is overlay, '_n_' is normals/bumpmap, '_s_' is specular.

Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
Test Subject
#109 Old 1st May 2014 at 4:27 AM Last edited by FD09 : 1st May 2014 at 4:57 AM.
The nvidia dds format options window doesn't open when I go to save the edited dds image... Is this a problem?

Edit:
Also, is editing the default skin like editing the lightest color, while what you make the darker color is the darkest color on the skin slider? Or am I misunderstanding this?
Ms. Byte (Deceased)
#110 Old 1st May 2014 at 12:06 PM
Yes, it's a problem - you need to be able to save in the right compression format.

The light and dark materials images are used as the base for the light and dark ends of a skintone slider, yes, and blended proportionately at points in between. The color in the color ramp at the point where the slider is is overlaid on the base.

Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
Test Subject
#111 Old 1st May 2014 at 8:00 PM
Quote: Originally posted by CmarNYC
Yes, it's a problem - you need to be able to save in the right compression format.

The light and dark materials images are used as the base for the light and dark ends of a skintone slider, yes, and blended proportionately at points in between. The color in the color ramp at the point where the slider is is overlaid on the base.


I have the nvidia photoshop plug-ins installed.. How do I get it to open that window when saving? Also, I was able to save it as .dds regardless, if that's meaningful.

Ah, and the color ramp is only in the non-default version of a skin-file package.. I think. But if I've made changes to the default skin, do I need to duplicate those changes on the non-default skin so as to avoid blending of the original? For details or color, even?
Ms. Byte (Deceased)
#112 Old 2nd May 2014 at 1:29 PM
I don't know - don't use Photoshop myself. As far as I know the DDS options should come up when you save as DDS. I'm working on a new version of Skininator that will automatically convert to the right format.

For textures, anything not replaced in a non-default skin will use the current default. For example, if you make a skin with custom light and dark base/materials textures, it will use the EA (or default replacement) specular, normals, etc. if you replace only the light texture, it will use the default dark texture.

For ramps in non-default skins, you can either use a custom ramp or select an EA ramp.

Default replacements replace only the textures and leave the EA ramps alone. It's possible to do default replacements of the EA ramps but Skininator isn't set up to do it, both because it's not useful for most people and because it's very easy to do without a tool.

I hope that answers your question.

Please do not PM me with mod, tutorial, or general modding questions or problems; post them in the thread for the mod or tutorial or post them in the appropriate forum.

Visit my blogs for other Sims content:
Online Sims - general mods for Sims 3
Offline Sims - adult mods for Sims 3 and Sims 4
Test Subject
#113 Old 22nd May 2014 at 2:24 AM
Great tutorial, but do you know of any mac-friendly guides? I'm stuck on the bit where you use the Nvidia DDS plugin. Thanks!
Test Subject
#114 Old 17th Sep 2014 at 12:07 AM Last edited by Aniui : 17th Sep 2014 at 12:53 AM.
Hey, thanks for the great tutorial. I hope someone is willing to reply to my question (looks like this thread died out but I will still try xD)

Do I have to open my sims 3 to review the result?
Or is it possible to check the results with a 3D program instead? And how?
(In zBrush you can even color the 3d creation and save the texture of it. I wanna know if this is possible with sims)

My game is pretty slow when it comes to loading..
Test Subject
#115 Old 15th Nov 2014 at 3:59 PM
All about that bootay! =P Thanks so much for showing this. =] You might have opened up a door for me to make creations. It reminds me of Sims 2, but different.
Test Subject
#116 Old 5th May 2015 at 11:21 AM
Tutorial is awesome! Thank you!

I have problem with heads. only head is not working in game. what sould i do?
Test Subject
#117 Old 15th Jul 2015 at 3:53 PM
Is it possible to replace supernatural/occult skins with this method (or something similar) ? I don't seem to be able to find any default replacement for vampires, zombies etc.
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