With the game Maxis
has included a number of meshes for your Sims.
Most of them are used for Sims you create in the
family creation window, but there are some meshes
that you will normally only see in dedicated Sim
outfits. The following type of outfits exists in
the game:
- Regular
outfits as displayed in the family
creation screen.
- Non
playable characters [often referred to as
NPC] like the Maid, the Gardener or the
Genie
- Job
outfits your Sim will wear when he/she
has a certain job like the Major,
Astronaut or Rock-singer
- Other
outfits your Sim wears besides his/hers
daily outfit: pajama, swimsuit, formal
and nude outfit
At the
right side of the page you find a complete list
of all the meshes shipped with the game and the
Livin’ Large expansion pack. I have not
included additional skin packs available at the
Sims official site, since it only contains
regular outfits. Keep in mind the default skin
mentioned on the second line of the mesh is not
the only possible skin. Most times more skins can
be loaded with the mentioned mesh. (Don’t
ask me why Maxis preferred the light skintone in
most cases)
With
FarEdit you are able to extract both skins as
meshes from the FAR files. (Note for German
versions of the game: You don’t have FAR
files, but can find them in your game directory
right away.)
The big
key is the Maxis\the Sims\GameData\Skins\ directory. All the
files are collected in the game FAR files.
However, when you place a file with the exact
filename in the Skins directory the game will use
that one instead. Knowing this, you will have
several opportunities to manipulate the
appearance of your Sims and all defaults.
A. Use
a default job outfit (type 3) as a regular outfit
(type 1)
When
looking at the job outfits you will notice there
are two methods in how a mesh is named. Either it
uses the standard B001MaFit_01 type naming
convention or it uses a different type of naming
like Astronaut01
Now using
outfits of the standard named mesh is easy: Lets
say you want to use the extrememlgt_01.bmp as regular fat
light male outfit. Extract the skin called extrememlgt_01.bmp from the game. As
we can see this skin fits with the B001MaFat_01
mesh. To use the skin we have to rename it to B001MaFatLgt_Extreme.bmp and place it in
the Skins directory. Open the game and create
your Sim from the family creation menu.
The second
mesh naming method is a bit more complicated.
Lets say you want to use the astronaut outfit for
your regular skinny dark male. Extract the skin
called austronaut01.bmp and the mesh called xskin-astronaut01-PELVIS-BODY.skn from the game.
Because we
cannot use this naming convention we have to
change it to the default naming methods. To do
this, decide which bodynumber we have to assign
to the mesh. As an example I will use B123. First
rename the BMP file to B123MaSknDrk_Astronaut.bmp. Rename the SKN
file to xskin-B123MaSkn_Astronaut-PELVIS-BODY.skn. As we saw in an
earlier guide we have to change the naming inside
the SKN file as well. To do this open the mesh in
a text editor like NotePad.exe, Change the first
row in xskin-B123MaSkn_Astronaut-PELVIS-BODY and
place a "x" on the second row.
Finally we
have to create a CMX file. You can do that from
scratch like described in an earlier guide, or
create one using BodyWarp. The CMX file must be
named B123MaSkn_Astronaut.cmx. Place all the
files in your skins directory. Open the game and
create your Sim from the family creation menu.
B. Use
a NPC outfit (type 2) as a regular Sims outfit (type
1)
Now with
the approach mentioned at A. you are able to make
your Sim look like an NPC. There is only one
thing to keep in mind. NPCs have default heads,
you won’t be able to change the head of an
existing Sim. So you have to create the Sim from
the family creation menu when you want to use the
NPC heads as well. Since the NPCs is often
characterized by using a hat this might be
preferable.
Furthermore
you can add the NPC characteristic object (for
instance the extinguisher of the firefighter) to
the mesh. This is done in a similar way as
spectacles are added to your Sim.
C. Use
a customized or regular outfit (type 1) as a job
outfit (type 3)
When you
want to use a regular outfit or an outfit you
created yourself as a job outfit. You have to
override the default files.
Actually
to achieve this you only have to reverse the
method as described in A.
Only two
situations are possible. Either the skin you want
to use is using the same mesh as the default skin
or the skin is using a different mesh. The first
possibility is rather easy. For instance if you
want to use a skin called B001MaFatLgt_YourSkin.bmp as "extreme"
outfit you only have to rename the skin to "extremelgt_01.bmp". Place the
file in your skin directory and the game will use
this skin instead.
The second
situation is a little trickier. When the default
mesh has a non standard naming convention, like
Astronaut01. Besides renaming the BMP file you
must rename the mesh you want to use to skn-astronaut01-PELVIS.BODY.skn. Of course you
have to change the contents of the SKN file as
well in NotePad.exe. You have to create the
astronaut01.cmx file as well.
When the
default uses a standard naming convention, like B001MaFat_01
for the extreme outfit extra attention must be
paid. Changing the mesh will have effect on all
skins that use the B001MaFat bodymesh, even your
regular Sims! So be careful.
D. Use
a customized or regular outfit (type 1) as a NPC
Sim.
To replace
a NPC skin and mesh with a customized one the
same procedure as described in C. is applicable.
There is only one thing you cannot change: the
skintone. Well not exactly true, you can change
the skintone by just coloring the skin of course.
You are only not able to change the color of the
hands. Of course you can always pretent the NPC
is wearing gloves, but it is just something to
keep in mind. NPCs shipped with Livin’ Large
however, do have dedicated hand skins.
E. Use
a customized or regular outfit (type 1) as a
Pjama, bathingsuit or formal (type 4)
Of all
default outfits pajama, bathingsuit and formals
are a very special ones. You can change outfits
according to the same procedures as described in
C. However, there is much more possible with
these 3 outfits, which will be described in a
seperate guide. At this moment, keep in mind:
Both kids
and adults use the same skins for the Pajamas BMP
file. The skin file is not dependent on the
bodytype so fat, fit and skinny bodytypes will
all use the same BMP file. changing the default
by placing a new mesh in the Skins folder will
affect both adults and children.
Bathingsuits
are dependent on skintone and bodytype. It is
important to keep in mind that the bathingsuit is
using the same mesh as the naked body mesh.
Changing the first will affect the second and
vise versa
Formal
outfits are used as evening clothes as well as
wedding outfits.
This guide is not yet complete since we want probably
change the meshes for a particular Sim as well. Now that is possible
only it will be described in a future guide
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