How do i make custom things? I was wondering how do I make custom hair, eyes, and sims...also how do I make clothes?
First, make sure that you have a decent image editing program (like Gimp). Run TS2 Body Shop (Start>Programs>EA Games>The Sims 2>The Sims 2 Body Shop). Then, when it loads, hit "Create Parts." After that, select "Start New Project." When you get there, you can choose to create "genetics" (hair, eyes, etc.), "clothing," or "facial hair, makeup, and glasses." Select one. When you've done that, select the category that you want to create the object in (ex. in "clothing," hit Everyday, Formal, etc.) Then select the object you want to create/modify. Next, at the bottom of Body Shop, hit the "Export Selected Textures" (it's the one with the folder) button. It'll want you to name it before it exports it... when you find an acceptable name, hit the button that looks like a checkmark. The file will be exported to a folder in your "My Documents" folder. It should contain three files: the only one you really need to worry about is the bitmap image that is colored. You really don't need to bother with the black & white one, or the other file, if it exists. Open up the bitmap in an image editor (Gimp or Photoshop, do not use MS Paint!). Edit it in whatever way you please. When you are satisfied, just save it. Then, go back into Body Shop, and into "Create Parts." But this time, hit "Load Saved Project." It will display all of your different projects and will preview them on a basic sim. If you are happy with the changes, then hit the "Load Selected Project" button (again, with the folder) and it will be added to your game. Beware, image editing software isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to master. I'm still getting the hang of it to tell you the truth. Good luck, best wishes on your endeavor
The reason John says not to use MS Paint is that it is such a clumsy tool. Here are some places to find graphics programs (including trial and free ones The official websites all have downloadable, free trial period versions: http://www.adobe.com/homepage.html http://www.jasc.com/products/paintshoppro/ http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=Corel2/Products/Home&pid=1047022702185 This one is shareware: http://www.gimp.org/ with some further instructions/help: http://www2.arnes.si/~sopjsimo/gimp/stable.html, http://www2.arnes.si/~sopjsimo/gimp/faq.html This one has links to several free products: http://www.a1b2c3.com/free/av09.htm And if you want more tutorials for how to make things (especially if you do better with having a picture to describe things), these may help: http://thesims2.ea.com/help/ (has a list with several of the tutorials) http://members.fortunecity.com/lpx/tutorials/hair.html http://www.geocities.com/thisday2005/tutorial.html http://home.planet.nl/~Dobbe065/Tutorials/Denim1.html http://members.fortunecity.com/lpx/tutorials/bumpmap.html http://www.jedifiction.com/simsstuff/tutorials2.html
If you are new to image editors and want a good, basic editor that is capable of doing most (not all) graphics modifications to Sims 2 content, I recommend Pixia. More information is available at http://park18.wakwak.com/~pixia/ (it was recommended on the former TechTV on "Call For Help") If you want something more advanced, the "Gimp" is the way to go. Not quite as easy to use as some other image editors, but I hear good things about it, and sometimes use it where Pixia doesn't suffice. By the way, thanks for posting that Kat
Supposedly Gimp is very similar to Adobe Photoshop in the way it works. I don't use it (I use Photoshop and Corel Painter 8) but I've been told that if you can work Photoshop (but can't afford it), you can use GIMP. However, Gimp doesn't come with as many tutorials as Photoshop itself. But one of the links in my previous reply is an online help thing for GIMP users. It's probably similar to the forums we have for DatGen (albeit this is very new and just started) or that MTS2 has for SimPE.
Just as an adjunct to Kat's answer, I remember reading this thread back in the spring and promising myself that I really was gonna check out The GIMP ... where did those 4 months go! I have heard of The GIMP several times over the last year or two, at first without knowing what it was and thus just ignoring it (there is such a thing as too much yet to know ) then I heard about what it was and I was almost interested enought to go a hunting ... but then I was happy enough with my quaint little Jasc product ... Today I was searching out some tielable patterns and I found a nice batch of really good brick and stone patterns ... as zips. I d'loaded them expecting bmps and got .pat's. Ooh I hate it when that happens ... quick search reveals that The GIMP likes *.pat files and. I was pleasantly surprised at the speed and simplcity of installation. I saved time by ignoring the help files but I think I'll go get 'em. Meanwhile I also found a cool set of tutorials on the UCLA design faculty website ... I love Americans ... they are sooo sharing. (Well you try getting anything useful out of a British University website!) The source I used (uses 'Mirrors') was http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/ The total download comes to: GTK+ 2 for Windows (a runtime environment) . 3.6MB The Gimp for Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4MB GIMP Help 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.7MB GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It is not a sample, it not a free trial. It is free because that's the way GNU works.
i say if youve got the money, get photoshop. its well worth it. but gimp is just as good. personally, im a photoshop user and it works absolutely great for me.
No, it's not too old to use. Any program which can work with .bmp files is fine. It can't use some of the extra stuff out there that is meant for the most recent Photoshop and some of the abilities are lower, but for the most part it will do just fine. You won't miss those extras unless you want to use some of the extra fancy utilities that aren't necessary for making custom content. And the advantage over something like Microsoft Paint is tremendous since Photoshop 5 has a variety of brushes, and yet Paint is used by a lot of beginners because it comes free with Windows.
Editing with MS Paint Hubby says he refuses to spend more money right now on our computer just so I can "play my little game", so he's not buying any Printshop or GIMP or other programs for editing. We were discussing this last night as we were discussing "Nightlife" and my spending 2 hours on the computer last night looking for nice little boys clothes. I found a ton of clothes on Sims2Sisters that had used the default t-shirt and jeans and then recolored and put a nice little image of a cartoon charector. Unfortunaltely, most of them are something that either I don't recognize, or that are out of style or just out of the age group. A little boy of school-age would not be caught dead with Tigger or Dory from "Finding Nemo" on his shirt. So, I know what I want. And I think I could figure it out how to recolor and then find the images I want, something more age appropriate like Looney Toons or Kids Next Door or Spongebob or Yu-Gi-Oh, maybe some diffrent colors. Can I do that with paint, something so easy? Are there tutorials that just cover basic recolor of the Maxis defult meshes using MS Paint? I'm at work (working really hard, can't ya tell? )and so I can't look up sites that may be blocked by out IT Dept., like the official BBS. But I can definately look it all up this evening.
GIMP is free to download and use. It is open source software. I like it cos it does stuff that Paint Shop Pro doesn't ... tho it is a bit complciated to sort out some of the techniques cos the help/tutorials are less common than hen's teeth. Check out http://gimp-win.sourceforge.net/stable.html
Kristal, what you describe is actually very easy. Pick a shirt you like and find the logo you want on the Internet. Change the color of the shirt as you like using your paint program. The easiest way is just to cover it with a block of color, though that loses some of the nuances of shading. Don't worry about shape. The program takes care of that. Plop the logo in place by copying and pasting, testing it in Body Shop for placement. I usually save a blank T-shirt in a basic color like black or white and then use that as the base for any logos I want to do. That's about it. I created a really cute pink kitty tank top for teens and young adults and a My Little Pony T-shirt for little girls (my daughter's request). I also made a Kenny hoodie and a Gromit long sleeved shirt for teen boys. Superman and Batman logos look cool too. I love finding cool patterns on the Internet and using them on clothing. Type in "silk" or "stripes" or whatever you can think of on Google and search under images ... you'll find hundreds. I made a really cool snakeskin dress that way. The possibilities are endless ...
I did it!!! Yay!!!! It took me about an hour to get the 1st one right, but I had my little helper Lexi Lou. I wonder how many other fashions designers are only 5 years old? Anyway, here they are. Let me know what you think? http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sim_detail.php?asset_id=354025&asset_type=sim&user_id=124521 http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sim_detail.php?asset_id=354022&asset_type=sim&user_id=124521 http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/sim_detail.php?asset_id=354020&asset_type=sim&user_id=124521 Any similarities between these sims kids and my kids are completely intentional.
Yep, sure did. And it wasn't as hard as I thought, after I used Witches great advice and found a tutorial for using paint on the official site.
I'm glad I could help. I think sometimes the thought of doing something new with software is more daunting than the actual learning process. I've been learning a lot about Photoshop from doing clothing for my sims ... the fact that you can do that with Paint is amazing to me. I hate that program. (I got Photoshop for free from my company. If I were paying for it, I'd use Paint too ...) Very nice designs! My daughter is 7 and makes her own fashions all the time. I think the younger generation is fearless about using software while we "elders" are a bit more intimidated. Make more, it's fun! I invented a sheath dress based on the sundress that comes with the game, for example. You can modify clothing patterns slightly in Body Shop, but for major changes you need the Mesh tools, which I have yet to figure out how to use. Happy creating! I've spent hours with my daughter just creating clothes. I made a very nice boatneck T in several colors, for example, since I was frustrated with the ugly necklines and lack of color coordination of some of the "standard" outfits ... Show us your creations when you're done. I always like to get new ideas for my own ...
I have Photoshop 6.0. I've had 3-4-5 and now 6. Here are a few tips to using Photoshop. Layers are your best friends! Using multiple layers to make small changes is because one small change that is detrimental is easily redone. Learn to use airbrush and custom brushes. There is a tutorial for this right on Adobe's site. It is one of the most time saving things you can learn. Use your History tab to undo mistakes. The eraser might allow you to swipe away a mistake, but deleting its entry from the History box makes it so it never happened. There's others, I'm sure. Do a search for "Photoshop Tutorial", there will be tons of information out there.
Oh you guys are fabulous! I have been wanting a photo editing program that has a lasso tool and such for the tutorials!! And now I can have one for free! Life is so sweet! La-da-de-da-da-da!! Haha! I'm going to make a bunch of clothes for my sims now!! I'm going to go and download GIMP now! I refused to spend that much money of Photoshop! And too have been editing in Paint. Now I can actually add the other things like textures and simply change the hue/saturation, etc. Thanks so much you guys are wonderful! Happy Simming, Amber
ok i have paint shop ms or somthing ias i dont mean to sound dumb but out of them all whats the best free paint program to get? i want one to make colthes, and stuffs?? and can any of them make glitters?? please help thanks all! Happy Hoildays!!
