More Awesome Than You!

Creating default skin replacement - simplified method.


Credits:  Many thanks to Sleepycat who patiently walked me through this method every step of the way.  I take no credit for this, as all I have done is write out the steps, in an hopefully clear and easy-to-follow way.

Tools required

SimPe
http://sims.ambertation.de/en/download/realdownload/

NVIDIA DDS Utilities
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nv_texture_tools.html

Body Shop

A graphic program that allows you to save files using the png format, preferably one that will allow you to do batch conversion
I use Paint Shop Pro : http://www.corel.com/

An existing default skin replacement and the skin you wish to turn into a default.
You should find plenty of choice here : http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?f=346


Preparation :

• Obtain all the necessary software and files as indicated above. Don't forget the NVIDIA DDS Utilities
• In SimPE Preferences enter the path of the Nvidia DDS Tool folder.  The default is C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NVIDIA DDS Utilities. 
• Put the file you wish to turn into a default replacement skin into your download folder. 
• Create a new folder somewhere and name it something like PNG

Step one : Extracting the textures from your skin.

Launch Bodyshop, Create Parts, Start New Project, Create Genetics, Skin Tone.  Select the skin tone you want to turn into a default replacement.   Click on export selected textures.  Wait till the export process is done.  You can now cancel the project as it's no longer required.  Close Body Shop. 

You will find that Body Shop has created a new project folder in your data folder.  There you will find a whole slew of  bmp files.

Step two : Converting the texture files from bmp to png.

This step will be different for every graphic program.  What you want to do is convert each of the bmp file that was created in the previous step into a png file.  There are a lot of files, which is why a software that allows batch conversions is recommended!.  If you don't have that, you will have to open each file, one by one, and use the "save as" feature to save them with the PNG extension  Don't change the file names.  Put the new files in PNG folder you created earlier. 

This step is necessary to reduce the size of your default replacement skin.  By converting the bmp files to png, you are compressing them ~10:1.  If you skip this step your default replacement skin will be around 50 MB instead of the more usual 5MB

Step three : Importing the new textures

Now that you have your replacement textures, you are ready to begin the real work of creating your default skin replacement.
With SimPE open the default skin replacement file that will be the "host" for your new texture files.  In the right pane, under type, you should see a whole bunch of line beginning with Texture Image... Resize the column so that you can read the entire name of the file.  Click on Type to alphabetize the list.

Click on the first line.  It will show you an image.  That's the texture you need to replace with your own. You will need to do this for every single line.

Right click on the image.  Select Build DXT.  Click open Image ...Browse to your PNG folder.  Select the appropriate file and click on Build.  Commit the change.  Move on to the next line.  Rinse and repeat.

Now your next question will be.  Which file goes with which.  As you will quickly realize the naming convention isn't quite the same, but similar enough to be familiar.  The attached chart should help you.  Don't be surprised if not all the files you created are used.   Once you have finished importing all the files, save your work and you are done !. 



[404'ed!]

you did a great job writing this up!

I love the chart, it will help alot of people I believe!

Now, I was under the impression that SimPe had a feature as of late that would automatically allow you to set any custom skintone to replace any default skin of your choice.  Was I mistaken?

the simpe "shortcut" for making default skins, makes default files that require the original file to be left in or it dosen't work  :( 


This method makes default files that don't require the original file.

And I had weird results with it.  I replaced a zombie skin and when I went into the game, I noticed one of my sim kids had a green fringe around his hairline.  When I clicked on change appearance, all the hair choices had the zombie skin tone.  If I clicked on a hair style, my sim would get a zombie face.  It was very strange.  I shut down the game without saving and deleted the zombie replacement skin and the problem was fixed.

And I tried a different replacement and my sim had a weird, low-resolution face with some bits of texture missing on the head.  It was very bizarre.

So I redid the default replacement and they seemed to stick that time, but results were flaky for me.  And if you look at the file the SimPE process creates, it's not a regular skin file, it's much smaller or bigger. ( I can't remember)

So I just went with the tested and true method.  It's pretty quick once you get the hang of it.  And you can share the file without worrying about weird results.

Thanks for this. I use Irfanview's batch converter, works like a charm. Hopefully this method works better than the quirky SimPE "shortcut" method!

Garanteed to work or your money back :)

It works much better Jordi

and this method works for just about anything that deals with textures (inculding clothes but that only matters if you want to change clothes files that override maxis stuff)

Works great! One floating head in my 'hoods, but no further issues.

I am having an issue when I try to right click on the image and select Build DXT.  The option to Build DXT is grayed out no matter what file I try.  I have opened up numerous ones and it is always grayed out.

Any ideas on what the problem may be?

Thanks much.

Did you download and install the DXT files and point Simpe to where they are on your computer?

You know what?  I need to have my lips ripped off right about now. I cannot believe what a moron I am for not paying better attention to the directions.  I totally neglected to download them.

Thank you for not pointing and laughing at me...actually feel free to point and laugh.  I definitely deserve it.   ;D

Thanks for such a quick response.  It's much appreciated.

*giggles* your welcome  :)

I edited the tutorial to make it a little less easy to skip this step.  All comments are valuable :)

I'm having issues with downloading the free trial verson of the paint pro program.... any others which work the same that are less fussy to download :-[ :-\....?  thanks, tgdrysix

Bunch of there here : http://www.tucows.com/Windows/DesignTools/Image/ImageEditors/. 

You can also try downloading paint pro from the same site : http://www.tucows.com/preview/194869

I found a small shareware that seems to do batch conversions.  http://www.batchconverter.com/download.shtml.  If you go into file, batch mode, you can select a whole bunch of files and convert them to PNG.

Okay that one seemed to work.....will give it a go.....keeping fingers crossed and everything else.... :) tgdrysix

Put the file you wish to turn into a default replacement skin into your download folder....I'm unclear on this step....by skin do you mean just the skin tone or the whole sim....I have the alien pt sitting on my desktop that I exported from bodyshop with all the cc that I want him to have ( it's the one I want to use as my default replacement)....would I use that and just move the whole sim to my downloads folder?  Sorry to be such a pain but I've never done quite this extensive stuff before.....thanks so much for your patience....tgdrysix

let's backtrack a little.  This tutorial is to produce a default replacement skin.  Not a default PT.  Is that what you are trying to do?

Yes that's what I'm trying to do....A replacement PT....not just the skin....sorry for the confusion....maybe that's why I'm having trouble? :-[ :-\ ???....tgdrysix

Well that would make my instructions somewhat less clear  :P

Actually the process for creating (your own) replacement PT is much simpler. 

1) Get an existing replacement PT.  You can find one at http://laverwinklesims.com/index.php?topic=17.0. (He's a pretty handsome fellow, if you want to stick with him).  There are 3 files there.  One is the default alien skin; the other is the default alien eyes and lastly, the default PT.  Note that all 3 files are independent and control one aspect of your alien.  You do not need to install them all, but can pick and choose.  The default alien skin controls the color of your alien. If you download the default skin, then your aliens will be purple.  If you don't they will stay Maxis green.  If you want a different default color for your aliens, you can download any number of those default alien skins from MT2.  If you want you make your own, this is where the above procedure comes in. 

In this same way, the default alien eyes control the eye color of your aliens.  If you download and install the file, your aliens will have purple eyes, if you don't they will keep their Maxis eyes, or again, you can choose any of the available default alien eyes on MT2.

 Lastly, and this is the one you are interested in,  the last file controls the facial structure that is passed on to your alien babies.  If you download and install the file, your alien children have a chance of looking somewhat like the PT above.


2) Let's say you want to go one step further and have your own home-grown PT, you can also do that.  Download the file defaultPollinationTech.zip and open it with SimpPE.  You will see a line called facial stucture.  This is the line you will replace with a similar one extracted from the character, that you want to use as a PT.

Look at the excellent procedure here : http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=56241

It shows you how to correct genetics after sims surgery. (you might even try to follow the procedure exactly as shown on a sims  on which you have done sim surgery).   The procedure for creating your own PT is exactly the same.  The only difference is instead of extracting the facial structure of the bottom line and replacing the top line with it, you extract the facial structure of the sim you want as a PT and replace it in DefaultPollinationTechnician file.

Hopefully this is sort of clear.  lol

2) Let's say you want to go one step further and have your own home-grown PT, you can also do that.  Download the file defaultPollinationTech.zip and open it with SimpPE.  You will see a line called facial stucture.  This is the line you will replace with a similar one extracted from the character, that you want to use as a PT.

Look at the excellent procedure here : http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=56241

It shows you how to correct genetics after sims surgery. (you might even try to follow the procedure exactly as shown on a sims  on which you have done sim surgery).   The procedure for creating your own PT is exactly the same.  The only difference is instead of extracting the facial structure of the bottom line and replacing the top line with it, you extract the facial structure of the sim you want as a PT and replace it in DefaultPollinationTechnician file.

Hopefully this is sort of clear.  lol

As clear as it will ever be for me ....lol....anyway I've downloaded the default pt from laverwinklesims and will try the extracting the facial structure and then maybe I can get the skintone next....I'm assuming I should do that first? or does it matter? cause I only want the pt to have a certain default skintone...and while I'm bothering you again....is there any tuitorials on sim surgery? I haven't quite figured out how to use that part of simpe....yet...anyway thanks again.....Tgdrysix

It dosen't matter what color skintone or hair color  your PT has, it will use only the default Maxis alien skintone, unless you also have a default alien skintone replacement file.

Well I think I'm about to abandon ship on this project...for now anyway....at least till I figure out what the heck I'm doing....what I actually wanted to do is both.....a replacement pt with a replacement skintone....I think that's were the confusion came in....so I just downloaded the replacement from laverwinklesims for now and see what my babies look like and go from there.....I have a few waiting to be born....aliens that is...thanks so much for your help....

angelyne....where do I find...in simpe the DefaultPollinationTechnician file....would this be the orginal one or the one I downloaded from laverwrinklesims ( cause that one isn't showing up or at least a pic of him isn't showing up...and I just downloaded the pt not the skin or eyes)....I think I'm just not up to doing this cause the more I attempt this the more question I have and the more question I have the more complicated it seems to get for me....anyway thanks for all your wonderful help and time you spent....trying to get this to make sense to me....I really appreciate that.....so sorry to just not be able to get with this program :-[ :-\

Maybe you were just a tad too ambitious with your beginner's project :)  Too many things to learn at the same time.


There are a lot of already made default pollination technician that you can download.  No need to make your own until you are more comfortable with sims customization.

The defaultpollinationtechnician file I was refering to, is the one you can download from laverwinkle.  If you put it in your download folder it will replace the ugly Maxis PT.  You won't see it in SimPE, that's normal.  You wil still see the Maxis bug-eye PT.  But your babies wil inherit the traits from the PT you downloaded. 

Now, if you want a default alien skin as well, you can download that too.  The one at laverwinkles is purple, but a search in the bodyshop/genetics section of MTS2 will come up with many more.  Enayla has a nice green one here : http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=126880.

Maybe start with that.

Yep I think this was a bit too ambitious to start off with so I did as you suggested....got the default pt and a default skintone and now all I have to do is wait for some babies... ;D.....I really appreciate your help thanks so much for putting up with my endless questions....tgdrysix

Thanks for your tutorial, angelyne.  I used it to create default skins for someone at MTS2.  I had 2 questions maybe you or someone else can answer:

1.  The default skin files I got from MTS2 and used had inconsistent mipmap levels for the skin textures.  All the mipmap levels in the S1 skin were set at 1, and in the other 3 tones the male bodies were set at 4 while every other 1024x1024 texture was set at 11.  Should I have corrected this?  Does it not matter?  Or is it set that way for a reason?

2.  I adjusted the skin tones on some of the textures to match the faces, and when I imported those png files into the default skin package file with the Build DTX command I had some cases where the image was altered.  Some colors were replaced with others and there were blocks of incorrect color over the image.  Is this a bug in Nvidia's DDS utilites?  I found that if I imported the altered images into the game with BodyShop and then exported them back out as a project and then used those bmp files (converted into pngs) the images would look ok. 

However I'm seeing the same issue again with the S1 Maxis defaults for some of the male body textures.  (I'm trying to create a default skin template package file using the Maxis default skintones).  I was wondering if anybody else had seen this and if there is a work around.  I could export the problematic pics and correct them, but I don't know why some colors don't 'stick' and are replaced with others.  I could probably be careful and recolor the offending blocks with colors already in the exported image, but that seems like a lot of work.

Whoah, you are way ahead of me.  I think you mis-taked me for someone awesome :)  I don't think I can answer your question, I'm sorry :(

I'm clueless why that happened also  :-\ 

...the only time I've had trouble with simpe was "importing" the skintones texture files (the compression thing would screw up higher detailed skintones and they would then look like crap) finding out about the build dtx took care of that...did you maybe hit "import" instead of "build dxt"?


and I must admit I don't recall ever noticeing the mipmap levels...

Well, thanks for answering.  Build Dxt is pretty low on the menu, and Import is at the top.  I don't think that's it.  I could re-import the image and it wouldn't make a difference.  Ah well. 

I saw the mipmap thing once before when I was trying to make a default alien skin.  So I was wondering if that was standard or something.

edit:  I found a solution to the importing.  After I click on Build DXT and select the image, I've found that switching the format to DXT5Format seems to solve the problem.  The pics look a bit better too once they are imported.

well thats cool  ;D  I'll have to remember to try that the next time I do a new default skintone replacement. Which I don't think will be anytime soon unless I get tired of my default alien skintone again *laughs*

I ended up switching back to using Allan Akbars default replacements and doing the gene fix for all his others I have plus all the tattooed skintones I did based on his files. So now I have 34 skintones (35 if you count the alien skintone) that my sims can randomly get (depending on their parents and whatnot of course) and they all have the same "look" or maybe "coloring style" fits better. Either way my sims look good (and some get to have tan lines) and my male sims get to have chest hair again instead of the girly bald look they had with Enayla's  :-X

Hope I'm allowed to contribute my 2 simoleons worth pls......For those who are looking for a batch converter that is freeware, you can use Irfanview - http://www.irfanview.com/

I was going to edit my reply, because I wrote that after doing one problematic image.  So I did them all (33 images) in DXT5 and the file size doubled from 15MB to 30MB.  So there's a trade off.  I probably should have only gone to DXT5 if necessary, but I didn't notice the file size increase until all was said and done.  Sometimes using DTX5 produced very dramatic improvements and other times it produced only subtle changes that might not have been worth the extra file size.

I used FastStone Image Viewer (http://www.download.com/FastStone-Image-Viewer/3000-2192_4-10513963.html?tag=lst-0-2) to batch convert the bmps to pngs.  It's free, too.

o o just to tack on - hmmm I know where I need to put this...anyway

I found a really nice little utility last night that is also free called xnview (http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/endownloadwin32.html), its feature rich (effects,web/html, editing, renaming, batch conversions, etc in 44 languages), and supports 400 -> 50 conversion types, is fairly thin and super fast. I really like it, try it today!

/end commercial

looks good. can it do batch conversions as well?

I'm taking my first stab at creating a default skin, but I'm a little stuck.  In the third step, when you're supposed to right-click and select Build DXT, that option is grayed out and I can't select it.  I've done everything else up until this point just fine.  I'm hoping someone is still watching this thread and can help!

My guess is that you either don't have Nvidia DDS Utilities installed, or haven't configured SimPE to point to where there are.

You can download the DDS Utilities here:  http://developer.nvidia.com/object/dds_utilities.html

After installing them, launch SimPE and go to Extra\Preferences.  In the Preferences window, make sure System Folders is selected on the left, and in the line for Nvidia DDS Tools Folder click on Browse and navigate to the correct folder.  On my computer it's:

C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NVIDIA DDS Utilities

I had it installed, but didn't know to point SimPE to it.  It's working now!  Thanks so much for your help, and for such a speedy reply!

I finished the project and it worked out perfectly!  Thank you for the tutorial!

Just wanted to add here, you can get the finished file down to a MUCH more reasonable size with no apparent impact on quality if, after importing all your skin textures, you switch to the Resources tab at the bottom and set compression for each texture to "Yes".

Oh, I'll have to try that.  Thanks for the tip.  My default skins are 30 MB each!

I used this tutorial to make a default vampire skin (using an existing default vampire skin and overriding the images, applying alpha layers, etc).  Everything worked fine, except that the graphic quality of the vampire skin is horrendous. 
[img=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b10/decemberine/vamp1.jpg]
How normal skin looks on my Sims.

[img=http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b10/decemberine/vamp1.jpg]
How the vampire skin looks on my Sims.

The decrease in graphic quality is over the entire body, not just the face.  Any idea why this would happen or how I can fix it?

I used this tutorial to make a default zombie skin, and it worked flawlessly. I know we are not supposed to say thank you, but nah :P. Thank you for writing such an easy to understand tutorial. It really was rediculously easy to do, if a bit tedious ^_^

Vermilienne, did you use the "import" button, or did you use "build dxt"? Using the import button will give you lower quality recolours.

I'm attempting do this tonight, and I keep running into an error when I try to open the folder with SimPE.  I get this:

[error]Message:
Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown.

SimPE Version:
Default (0.58.1.29278).

Exception Stack:
System.OutOfMemoryException: Exception of type System.OutOfMemoryException was thrown.[/error]

I'm sure I'm doing something wrong...I am supposed to be opening the PNG file, right?

Nevermind, I found the folder...Hubby interpreted for me.  The skins I'm using are Helaene's, and arent named anything like what I expected.  How do I know if I'm using the right one, do I just go by what looks right?

well im new at making defaults and i think i basically understand everything but im not quite sure how to do this for a plant sim  since your first step is
Step one : Extracting the textures from your skin.
Launch Bodyshop, Create Parts, Start New Project, Create Genetics, Skin Tone.  Select the skin tone you want to turn into a default replacement.   Click on export selected textures.  Wait till the export process is done.  You can now cancel the project as it's no longer required.  Close Body Shop. 


and im sure im just having a brain fart but how do i get the plant sim skin tone so i can make a new default...also come to think of it i see everyone else talking about zombie skins and vamps..how do i get them as well..im sure there is just a body shop code or cas  code that lets you choos ethem but for the life of me i cant think of one
any help would be much appreciated =]

ps...if this was all covered somewhere else please place a link ive done a search but may have still missed it

To make one from scratch, you have to find the original skins in the game files, but the easiest way to do it is to download a default replacement someone else has already made and replace its textures with your own.

like i said i was having a brain fart..it seem si didnt have enough coffee yet...i reread the tutorial and i skipped by a large part of it the first time i read the darn thing...first couple times actually it seems
remind me no to attempt anything with the sims before at least 3 cups of coffee  things are much clearer now....i think in my mind i muddled it up thinking the skintone in step one had to be   the actual maxis skins i planned to replace not the ones i wish to alter to eventually replace the plantsims one..lol thanks for the help your response woke me up to realize my error =]

Amber is correct of course.  If you want to do your own plant sim replacement, you'd be better off simply using an existing replacement and replacing those textures with your own.  Here is a default skin replacement for plantsims :  http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=222329.  They might even suit you as is.

Ok, I did download a default from MTS2. I kinda like the viney looking skin, but wanted a more realistic female. So I did make the changes to the defaults I had dopwnloaded, except now they look pixelly in game. What can I do to prevent that?

Do you have the nvidia DDS utilities installed, and SimPE set up to use them?  You need to have that done, then choose "Build DXT" when you right-click a texture to replace it, rather than using Import.

I'm sorry if this is a bit necromantic, but does anyone know of a way to keep things from getting blurry when importing an alpha channel? I already have the DDS utilities installed, and can't seem to figure it out.

If anyone likes the vines on the Plant Sim skin, but not the skin itself, here's something that will help create a better default replacement: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=226196

Try playing around with the order in which you import the texture vs. the alpha channel, and also with the alpha settings when you save the texture in your editing program.  I never did quite figure out what the problem was with some of mine, but I managed to fix them by more or less hammering away with a mallet of blunt ignorance until it worked.  XD

The order seems to have little effect, because the alpha is overwritten when you select the "Build DXT" option. Though I could've tried simply importing the skin, I guess. Either way, I remembered that my image editing program allowed for transparency, and simply applied it there, instead of through SimPE. After that, I simply selected "Build DXT" again and it worked without a problem.

Hey, this is easy! Of course I just did the whole thing without committing but... It's not too hard to do again. ^_^ Yay, I can have all my favourite skins as defaults now if I like :D

I've also built a new default PT face and now I just need to be able to make new default PT eyes and I'll be set for having some non-fugly alien babies!  ;D

Oh and you are truly Awesome for writing this in a way that even a noob like me can understand. Kudos.

Glad I helped :)

I tried the batch converter shareware dealie someone recommended earlier in this thread. DO NOT USE IT. It will add a little label to every image it converts, and ruin your textures.

(http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/ellatrue/other/abc.JPG)

Fortunately, I'd only done one of the skins before I noticed, instead of all four. Now every sim looks like the victim of some sort of vampire attack with a bandage on their neck.

Try FastStone Photo Resizer here: http://www.faststone.org/FSResizerDetail.htm

Thank you so much for this tutorial, I have managed to do everything so far but now I'm stuck on importing  the new textures. You say to open the default skin replacement file that will be the "host" for your new texture files  but I don't know where to find that! I tried to figure out by exploring around SimPe, but I never found any texture files. Please help! Sorry but I'm not that tech smart. Anyone know where to find it? Thanks in advance!

If you haven't already, download a default skintone replacement file that someone else made, then you open that file in simpe to import your textures into.

Once you have the file, how do you open it in SimPe?  Where is it located? Btw thanks for replying!!

Where the file is depends on where you downloaded it to and where you unzipped it to. 

Simpe -> file -> open -> browse to where you put the package file

This is probably a dumb question, but why don't default skins include teen female faces? Do they pull from adult?

Also, does it work to just use a section of the umhairbald-skin-s1,2,3 and 4_txtr (amhair~hair~stdMatBaseTextureName.png) to recolour Crammyboy's penis?

The do pull from adult; in fact, the game files don't have tf face files at all.

Yes, although there will be a lack of details (like the veins). 

That's the thing I have a problem with, I don't what file! I downloaded Christian Love's Custom skintone selector and in game I selected maxis and tan for one sim and automatically all of my sims changed from the regular skintones from game to custom ones. I like that it did that, but I don't like the color of one of the skintones and I want to change it. (thats why i'm here :) lol) So I'm not sure. Should I open Christian Love's Custom skintone selector which is actually an item?  ???

This is kinda the wrong thread for your question. The MTS download thread (http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=284572&c=1&ht=0&page=1&pp=25#startcomments) contains detailed instruction and some troubleshooting, the MATY tutorial on customising the Skintone Selector is here  (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,8289.0.html). Hope that helps.

Never mind!!!  I figured it out!! I actually did download some default skin replacements a few years ago and I forgot. I guess when I used the skintone selector it activated them or something. So happy I found them, thank you so much for your help. :) Ha ha I feel dumb. ;)

Way to state the obvious!

Yeeaah...I was looking at the penis texture files and was at a loss as to how to go about recolouring them. I made defaults out of  these (http://www.digitalperversion.net/gardenofshadows/index.php?topic=17876.0) skins, using Ghost, Ashes, Vanity and Dust as defaults for my new northern European-ish medieval hood. Those skintones are hard to match, as I discovered to my frustration when making different nips for my adult and elder females. I'm going to try sampling the umhairbald textures and using bucket flood on the templates. If that doesn't work, I'm at a loss.

Anyway, awesome, awesome tutorial...you, angelyne and the other contributors to this thread made the whole previously daunting process easy.

 :)

It's been awhile since I edited the penis textures so I forget exactly what I tried to keep the details but I know I ended up just copying & pasting the umhairbald textures (over the penis textures).  I may have also made them a tad bit lighter because they appeared a bit darker on the penis.  The lack of veins doesn't bother me since I don't get close enough with the camera to notice.

OK, I just had a serious WTF moment here. My skins had been working perfectly, but I just had a baby born who was assigned a completely random (and completely inappropriate) custom skin (both parents have my defaults). Is this a problem with the skins, a pregnancy controller issue, or...what? (I checked in SimPE, and instead of a nice 1 or 2--the parents skintones--the kid had e087abdf-4f57-ac83-81fd-e38efdca0486, so it doesn't appear that the skins themselves are the problem...does it?)

Croiduire, it sounds like that custom skin is probably geneticized at some value between the two default skins, meaning that it's on the spectrum with the defaults and babies can be born with that skin rather than a default. Check the genetic line in the skintone XML -- if it reads anything other than 0, that means it was geneticized.

It was geneticizied...and thank you! I now see what happened, but not how to fix it. I made defaults of the four palest of these (http://www.digitalperversion.net/gardenofshadows/index.php?topic=17876.0) skins, but I love all of them. I left the other four darker geneticized skins in game for CAS sims (I was thinking they'd be perfect for the rare and fascinating wandering Arab trader or Nubian scholar). The thing is, that was also my default template. What do I need to change, and where, to reflect the current, not previous, skintones? Or should I just pull the geneticized skins and download the custom ones?