Tutorial:How to Default replace textures for one or all worlds

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PrettyBushes.jpg

This is a small tutorial on how to default replace game textures in one world, or all worlds if you wish to do so. In other words, how to recolor game items in TS3.

Why?

Contents

Did you ever have a sad, that there was no bush or tree that worked well with your lot's color scheme? Do you just want some diversity in the options of what your landscaping will look like.

Say, if you're making a very run-down grungy world, you probably don't want your plants to look all happy. Or maybe you just wanna change the color of that base game supermarket, cause you're fed-up with it.

In my picture above, all the textures have been edited. See the berry bush? That is actually the alien Acasia that came with some patch, that I recolored, and then sunk its trunk into the ground to make it look like a bush instead of a tree.

With this tutorial you will learn how to replace those images for just the world that you're making, so that all other worlds will have their plants untouched. You will also learn how to make a full game replacement for the textures, if you simply want a new color for something, for all of your installed worlds.

So, let's get you started!

Tools needed

  • S3PE, for opening he packages and importing/exporting the textures. It can be found here at simlogical.

Graphics editor

  • Paint.net is one of a couple of programs that can be used to edit texture files in a .dds format. Download Paint.net here.
  • GIMP and its DDS plugin. Another program that can be used to edit texture files in .dds format. Download Gimp here
  • Photoshop($$$) and its DDS plugin


Editing the texture

First, you need to know -what- you want to recolor. Is it a plant? A building shell? Texture of a rock? Once you have figured that out, you can move onward with the tutorial.


1. Find the texture

The textures in TS3 are stored in Full- and DeltaBuild packages found in the game install directory\GameData\Shared\Packages.

  • FullBuild2 and DeltaBuild2 in Base game install directory\GameData\Shared\Packages contain most of the base game textures, aka. _IMG's.
    • Some of the textures also lurk in the Full- and DeltaBuild1's.
  • EP's and SP's store their textures in FullBuild's in their game install directory\GameData\Shared\Packages.

To get access to the texture you are looking for, you need to open S3PE. Then hit 'File' - 'Open', and browse the Full-/DeltaBuild*.package you need. Depending on your hardware, opening the package might take a little time.

First time you see the amount of files stored can be alarming. How will I ever find what I need in here?

S3PE has an inbuilt search that can be found under Tools-menu. Personally I find it easier just to organize the columns by name, and browsing through till I find what I need. It is a bit tricksy at times though, cause the items may not have same names as they have in game, but something descriptive, like "lightingOutdoorStreetRanch2x1" which is a ranch style street lamp from Pets EP.

You can preview the _IMG's in S3PE. If you wanna recolor the main texture of the item, you need to find something that has color in it. If you wanna edit, say a tree's alpha, then you need something that is black and white.


You can also use this method for acquiring the textures:

Perhaps the less head-achy way on finding the _IMG('s) you need. Doesn't work for landscaping bushes aka. plants and trees though, as those cannot be cloned.

  • First you need S3OC, that you can download on the same site as S3PE.
  • Clone the item you wanna recolor.
    • Before you hit the final Clone button, Untick 'Renumber internally'.
  • Open the exported package in S3PE.
  • Delete everything except the _IMG('s) you need.


2. Export the _IMG

Once you have found the _IMG you want to edit, you need to export it to a file.

  • Right click on the _IMG resource and select 'Export' - 'To file'.
    • If you had not made a folder for your project already, now is a good time. You can do it on the export menu. Just put it somewhere where you can easily find it.

Important note: Do NOT rename the file when you export it! You need it to have the exact name it wants to have when exporting.

  • You should make a backup of the file, so you can edit the original again if something goes horribly wrong. Make another folder inside your original, name it "Back up" and put a copy of the file you exported there.


3. Edit the _IMG to your liking

  • Open your file in a graphics editor of your choice.
  • Do the edits.

Please note I am NOT going to tell you how to use these programs, or how to alter the images. For more help with that, please google for appropriate tutorials.

  • Once you are done, or just want to test your colors out..
    • Save a copy of your work as .psd, .pdn, what ever is the work-save of your graphics editor of choice.
    • Save the file to .dds, preferably same format as the original was (you can see this by right clicking on the original file in your folder and checking it's properties)

Important note: Again, Do NOT rename the file when you save it! You need it to have the exact name it had when exported. Be sharp with this, as some graphics editors like to add a "_copy" to the file name.


Making your edits show up in game

So now you have your new recolor. Next you need to decide (or you hopefully have already), whether you want the texture to be replaced in just one world that you're currently making in CAW, or in all worlds that you have installed in game.


How to replace textures for just one world:

Let's assume you want to replace a texture of an item, in just the one world you're creating yourself. This is pretty easy.

  • Open the .world of the world you are making in S3PE.
  • Once it's fully loaded, right click somewhere on the resources window and select 'Import' - 'from File'.
  • Browse to your recolor and hit 'Ok'.
    • Keep the tick in 'Replace duplicates'.
    • Tick 'Compress' if it's not already selected.
    • Also tick 'Use resource name' as it makes it so much easier to find the file later, if you happen to need to do so.
    • Double check, then hit 'Ok'.
  • Save your world.
  • Close S3PE.
  • Go see how your new recolor looks in CAW.

Pros and cons: The game loads world files last, so this way the texture will only be replaced on the specific world that has the files included in itself. If you wish more than one world, but not all worlds, to have the texture, you need to manually add it into their .world-files.


How to replace textures for all installed worlds:

So you like your new recolor so much you want it to be used in all the worlds that you have installed? This is just as easy as making it work for one world only.

  • Open S3PE
  • Hit 'File' - 'New'.
  • Right click on the empty resources window and select 'Import' - 'From file'.
    • Keep the tick in 'Replace duplicates'.
    • Tick 'Compress' if it's not already selected.
    • Also tick 'Use resource name' as it makes it so much easier to find the file later, if you happen to need to do so.
    • Double check, then hit 'Ok'.
  • Save your package with a descriptive name.
  • Put the package in to your Mods\Packages-folder.
  • Run the game and select any world to see how your new recolor looks like.

Pros and cons: This way the texture will be replaced in ALL installed worlds.



That's pretty much about it. If you have any comments or questions, please post them in the discussion thread - here.



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CAS | Patterns | Objects | Building | Worlds | Modding | Modding Reference 

Pretty please, do not edit this tutorial without my permission. ~armiel

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