Linking custom mesh recolours?

[Arina]

I have some (decorative bathroom) pipes by ATS. There are 12 sorts, and I've only kept 3 colours. However, I still need 36 colour files, and that's annoying because they're all the same inside (for each colour). Is there any way to link these textures like Maxis counters, beds, etc., are linked? I have no idea where to start. :/ The first thing I'd like to know is if this is possible, and the second is how to go about it. Thanks for any help anyone can give!

[Flamingo]

I know for certain that it is possible, but I'm afraid I wouldn't know how to go about doing it.

[Arina]

Thank you! I'll keep looking for a tutorial, then It is called 'linking', right? :S

[Gwill]

Does this help:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=229452
It's a bit fiddly but it works.

[Arina]

That looks like what I was after! Thank you!

[Gwill]

Make sure to floow the tutorial very carefully, and only do one object at a time, starting the game and testing each object to see if it works.  For some reason this is one of the few things that really mess up the game if you do it wrong; you can get crashes to desktop just by opening the catalouge.

[Arina]

Crash to desktop? My pc completely froze and needed a hard reset before it could be convinced that no, my network cables weren't all magically disconnected @_@ Well, I'm sure this is the tutorial I need. I think redoing it, I will be more successful. (I'll know where everything is, now ) I don't see any reason this wouldn't work for a custom mesh? The meshes are apparently cloned from one of Echo's rug bases, but I followed the instructions anyway... I must have made a dumb mistake somewhere, that's all. Thanks again!

[Gwill]

There's no reason it shouldn't work the same for custom objects.  I've seen plenty of objects using shared textures.
I've gone through that tutorial several times, some times with the same object.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it crashes violently, and I've never quite figured out what I did wrong those times it went badly.