More Awesome Than You!

After hearing much about it, I've installed the clothing tool and fully expected to be shocked and amazed by it's awesomeness. But I must be lacking an "awesome" center in my brain, because I can't find/figure out how to use the damn thing. I have read the RTFM, and it offers no hints. I presume there is a buyable object of some sort that allows me to use the tool, but I can't find it.

Help?

It's what looks like a stack of clothes in the Misc/Misc catalog.

Thanks!

I probably just missed it because I have a stack of clothes "dresser" installed, and mistook one for the other.

It costs about 5 simoleons if that's any help.

I've had it for the longest time, but I've never quite figured out the age transition bit. Is it supposed to automatically let you choose clothing before the game assigns its fugly alternatives, or is it just a simpler way to change all categories after the game has already assigned its own fuggly outfits?

yes

You can buy clothes before transition and then use a wardrobe to plan outfit, or you can use it after transition.  However, when your graduates are waiting for the taxi, it pops up automatically now so you can send them back to the neighbourhood with som decent clothes (since they probably won't be able to afford any when they get there this is a very useful way of using up any cash they can't take with them!)

Actually, if you have no20K, graduates always take their money with them. If you live with others who aren't moving out as well, you take an equally-divided fraction of that money (leaving the rest for the others), but you always take whatever money you earned. And that's what you get. No free 20K.

Yes, true, but even so, it's better to buy the new clothes with the money that's there - provided the other students in the lot are not graduating too!  And after all, the last one to move out gets the remainder of the furniture!

That assumes the "last person" ever moves out, which is not necessarily the case. My frathouses have been in continuous service with a rotating cast since they were founded early in TS2U.

True, but in that case there's never any shortage of cash, and a continuing source of funding!

I always make sure a graduating sim puts the furniture from their room in their inventory so they have a bed, desk/chair/pc, closet, bookcase and sofa or recliner plus any pictures/sculptures they bought while in the greek house.  Like JM I have used the same house since Uni came out - originally it was just a shared house on campus but a few of them wanted to join the Greek house so they applied for charter and all subsequent under-graduates have lived there at least one semester.

Well, I quite often keep moving new sims into houses, just so they don't have to pay out all their scholarship money in rent, but if there's a shortage of new students when the last one comes to graduate, then the house becomes available again - after all, some students in Uni have more money than is good for them!

The good news is that once I figured out where to find the object (thanks again, blue!), I was able to figure out the rest. This is quite an awesome tool, I don't know how I lived so long without it! JM mentioned making a new version, so I was wondering if there was any consideration on making it work on townies/npcs without moving them in first? That would be awesome beyond my wildest dreams.

Yes, but that means you can't rip out the furniture because we still NEED that furniture.

Besides, ripping out the furniture just means you have to put it back when the next family wants to use the house. Better that they suffer and remain poor than I have to refurnish!

Well, some of us like that part!

I tend to steal the dormie furniture - of course that means my sims live in dorms, but at least the dormie furniture resets itself once my sims move out and they have the furniture they kyped, so the next generation of dormies still have furniture...if that made any sense.

The way I understood it, it was the latter, "just a simpler way to change all categories after the game has already assigned its own fugly outfits."  I didn't think you could use it before age transitions because you can't access clothes in any other age group than the sim's current age.  And even when I've had clothes already in the wardrobe from previous sims, they don't always get those; sometimes they still get new, random outfits.  Is there something I'm missing here?

The way its always worked for me, at least in the case of young adults that are moving back to home neighborhood is I get a pop up and get to choose what clothes they will be put in rather than have fugly clothes thrust on me...perhaps it is I that have overlooked something obvious. So you are saying they still get the ugly clothes in inventory and I just get a second option to choose from?

The ugly clothes will still be in their wardrobe, I think, and when they get home they will probably be in the ugly suit, but a shower will fix that!  The clothing tool doesn't interfere with any Maxian process when they leave uni, it merely adds a further option.

Oh, yes, it works that way when graduating from Uni if you have the global file installed as well.  But the regular clothing tool that you invoke manually by clicking on the pile of clothes on home lots or after arriving at Uni and transitioning to a YA will only work to replace the fugly clothes the game randomly assigned. 

Oh, I just put everything in, no idea which one does what, though!  I just thought everyone would have both files - just shows I shouldn't assume things!

There's no way to avoid the fugly clothes for a normal age transition (non-YA), because Maxis, in their infinite wisdom, changed it so instead of getting some random selection of what you already HAVE, you instead got a random fugly outfit. Kind of a downgrade from the original TS2 system, where you simply got a random outfit from your existing wardrobe, usually the Tracksuit of Shame, and had to replan a different one. With the attendant issue of having to buy a second uniform because of the "virtual uniform" effect, etc., etc.

YA transitions, however, don't even give you a chance to replan anything, and that's what clothingtool-global does if you have the tool on lot. In this particular case, the Fugly Outfit is actually left behind, due to the fact that when a sim moves out, he only takes the clothes on his back (and not a copy of the entire wardrobe, like Maxis said, because they lied again).

Which is just as well!  One of my teens just arrived at college and moved into an empty house with no wardrobe, but she has three evening/everyday dresses, none of which any student would be seen dead in - the two vampire gowns and one other NL formal!  Thank God in the form of J.M.Pescado for the clothing Tool!

Well thats basically what I thought I was seeing, so other than at uni, its just a convenient (and clearly awesome) clothes buyer thingamajig with overinflated prices, at least for me, but at uni it actually overrides those ugly graduate clothes as I never recalled seeing any other clothes in their wardrobe other than the ones they got at uni with the tool once they got home...I could be blind however. (which would explain a lot of things actually)

I don't think I've ever seen any others either, maybe for the same reason!  Of course, if they return to the family home, it's a bit different, since everyone's clothes all get shoved in together! 

What really bugs me though, is how since OFB, all my kids going off to college get given the ugliest of the OFB or NL clothes, or the most ridiculous!  I paricularly hate when the YA males get a paricularly revolting orange tee-shirt and those boots and breeches so they look like oversized stable lads!

to help finding things, i took everything out of my simdir but hacks, and i have a hack collection folder.  it helps a whole lot!   yeah, i have the pile of clothes dresser in there as well, but pescado's comes up first...   dont feel bad though, it took me forever to realize i had to turn on and config the baby montior and the bathroom toilet paper.