Changing eye color, is this possible?

[katemonster]

So I have a couple of families with custom eye colors that I've decided I really don't like, and unfortunately they are the ones that keep getting passed on. My brilliant plan was to figure out which files those eye colors are, then download a couple of nicer colors and rename them to have the same filenames as the ones I don't like, thus making all those sims' dna point at the new, pretty eyes. Then I discovered that the genes listed in SimPE have nothing to do with the filenames in my downloads folder--as such, I can't find the files that go with these eyes, and even if I could, it probably wouldn't work to try to replace them with other files.

Can this be done, or am I just going to have to make all these sims quit breeding? (I suppose I could just delete them, but then they'd have the default brown eyes--weird because both custom eyes are blue--and I have default replacements and don't want to look at the awful flat Maxis defaults any more than I want to look at the eyes they already have.)

[phyllis_p]

I believe you can change eye color with the newest version of TS2Enhancer on the DNA screen.  You can probably do the same in SimPE, but it's not as straightforward (at least not to me).

[ari_]

instead of renaming them, wouldn't it be easier to find the eye file (use the Sims2Pack scanner to find them, put them in a seperate folder, and then *copy* only that into the downloads. Start the game, delete all custom eyes that you are not using. Then, open the remaining ones in SimPE, and import a new eyecolor over the old one. Save, and put those edited files back into your normal downloads, overwriting the old ones. Thus, the game would find new graphics in the files it's using now. That should affect all current sims that have them, and all their offspring.

You can get new graphics by simply opening up the eyes you want to use in SimPE and exporting those graphics.

That being said, I've never done that myself. So I don't know if it really works.

[idtaminger]

Then, open the remaining ones in SimPE, and import a new eyecolor over the old one. Save, and put those edited files back into your normal downloads, overwriting the old ones. Thus, the game would find new graphics in the files it's using now. That should affect all current sims that have them, and all their offspring.

Importing via SimPE causes major graphical corruption. If you do decide to edit the file, make sure to d/l Nvidia DDS utilities first, and then open SimPE, and in the preferences part, put in the location of the DDS utilities (it doesn't automatically recognize the installation in my comp...don't know about others). Then all you have to do is, instead of doing "import", simply choose "Build DXT". Make sure to commit & save, and you're done.

[Andygal]

You could always use contacts, it's not a genetic solution but will save your eyes from having to look at their eyes.

[katemonster]

what is Nvidia DDS utilities? What's the equivalent for an ATI Radeon card?

[veilchen]

what is Nvidia DDS utilities? What's the equivalent for an ATI Radeon card?

Quaxi has a link to the Nvidia DDS utilities on his site (were you get SimPe), you can download them from there. As far as the graphics card goes... I hope there is someone out there with an answer, because I don't know it.

[ari_]

Importing via SimPE causes major graphical corruption.

It does? I *have* edited default replacement eyes with this method before, and they all work perfectly. Tho' I have an ATI card...

[Renatus]

The tools will work regardless of what card you have - they're an unrelated utility that seems to help simPE do stuff. I have to say, though, that I've edited files (hair, in my case) without the utility without problems. It can't hurt to have it, though, and is probably useful.

[idtaminger]

It does? I *have* edited default replacement eyes with this method before, and they all work perfectly. Tho' I have an ATI card...

Just to clarify, when I said graphical corruption, I didn't mean corruption of the file itself, but rather of the image quality. And it definitely corrupts the image quality. In game, it's not as noticeable unless you look at the object relatively up close. But if you compare an image pre-importation to the image post-importation, you can definitely see the quality difference. And since I have a pretty good graphics card and play w/ all settings maxed, it's particularly noticeable for me ingame when the image quality goes down a bit, esp. if I'm editing skins and the like, when the images are large and corruption is much more noticeable...you should see the mess it makes of perfectly good skins.

The DDS utilities work for both ATI and Nvidia. I myself have an ATI card. The company is really irrelevant.

A picture:
Left is the normal img. Right is the muckier one. Definitely not going to be too noticeable, b/c eyes are generally small...but you def. run into problems w/ larger img files.

[phyllis_p]

Maybe I don't understand the problem, but it really doesn't seem as hard as what people are making it to be.

I'm home now, so as a test I went to Veronaville (which I'm not playing right now) in TS2Enhancer.  I went to Oberon Summerdream's DNA page and changed his displayed DNA from red hair, brown eyes, and dark skin to blonde hair, green eyes, and light skin.  Then I went to the game.  I had to take him to the mirror, but after he did "Change Appearance" (but I didn't change anything, just clicked "okay" to accept the way he was) he became blonde, green-eyed, and white. 

Well.  From the neck up, anyway.  I gave him a shower, changed his clothes, and bought new clothes, but I couldn't get his body to be light-skinned -- just his head.  But the eyes did change.

So it seems if you go in and change the displayed custom eyes on the DNA page to something in-game (plus change the eye color they pass on so they don't breed more kids with that eye color), then you'll be fine?

[idtaminger]

I'm home now, so as a test I went to Veronaville (which I'm not playing right now) in TS2Enhancer.

Well, some people would rather not pay 20 bucks for an editor.

[Kristalrose]

Why can't you just use Sims Surgery in Sims PE?

1) Choose a sim with the desired eyecolor.

2)  Choose the Sim with ugly eyecolor as "Patient"

3) Click on "Eyes only"

4)  Click "Commit"

Works fine for me.

[angelyne]

You could always change the recessiveness of the eyes you don't like so they don't get passed on.  That's especially easy (just requires changing one value in SimsPE)

[phyllis_p]

I'm home now, so as a test I went to Veronaville (which I'm not playing right now) in TS2Enhancer.

Well, some people would rather not pay 20 bucks for an editor.

You can get it for 48-hour free download.  Personally, I've found it well worth the money back from TS1 days, but if you can get all your changes done in 48 hours ......

[Pegasys]

You can get it for 48-hour free download.  Personally, I've found it well worth the money back from TS1 days, but if you can get all your changes done in 48 hours ......

You know, I wanted to just play around with this, so I downloaded it one day, but it simply would not run. I thought maybe it was because I didn't download the "Nightlife-aware" test version and I had Nightlife. So then a couple of days later I downloaded the Nightlife-aware test version. Got a message that my 48-hour time period had expired and the application would now quit. Oh well.

[katemonster]

Yeah, TS2Enhancer is not gonna happen, I've paid enough just for this game without paying for third-party stuff too.

I figured out about SimSurgery after I posted this (I am not too intimate with SimPE) but while all the changes appeared to "take" in their DNA and when I initially went into the game, when I did "change appearance" (just so I could see what the new eyes looked like close up) their eyes all reverted back to the old ugly ones. Not to mention--the "archetype" sim whose eyes I transferred apparently also transferred her pale pink lipstick, which was not attractive on the man and his two sons who got it. (Yes I checked "eyes only", no I did not check "makeup") I will have to play with fixing that later.

One reason I'd like to be able to just replace those files with new eyes is so that I don't have to remember who-all has what eyes and change them all individually. Will have to learn more SimPE to do that, I guess.

[Motoki]

A picture:
Left is the normal img. Right is the muckier one. Definitely not going to be too noticeable, b/c eyes are generally small...but you def. run into problems w/ larger img files.

Okay, you just hit a HUGE pet peeve of mine with custom eyes.

PEOPLE STOP PUTTING BLACK SMOKEY EYELID SPACE OR OTHERWISE BORDERS AROUND YOUR GOD DAMNED EYES!!

*breathes* Okay sorry, this just drives me INSANE! And everyone does it too! I think one person started it and everyone else copied. The problem is if your sims are looking in any direction but straight head on or are making any kind of goofy face where their eyes get all big it looks freaky and terrible. And it looks particularly bad and creepy in the cinema scenes.

If you look at the Maxis eyes, they are a pupil and iris surrounded by white. There's a reason for this!

If anyone can reccomend some nice, non-cartoony realistic eyes without the stupid borders please let me know!

[phyllis_p]

Well, regardless of what people think of TS2Enhancer and whether or not they choose to make use of the free 48-hour trial, I suppose my initial point is that you can do the same thing with SimPE, except not quite as easily.  I found the info -- I had copied and pasted it to a text file on my computer when I was trying to learn something about genetics and unfortunately did not make note of the people who originally wrote this (but I believe some of it is somewhere here on this site).  Anyway, I take no credit for this, but if you go into the DNA screen in SimPE and substitute Maxis eye color codes for the custom ones, it seems it should accomplish the same thing as TS2Enhancer.  Anyway, here it is:


3 (dtString):  dominant eye color
268435459 (dtString): recessive eye color

Eyes color codes:
32dee745-b6ce-419f-9e86-ae93802d2682 = Brown eyes
2d6839c5-0b7c-48a1-9c55-4bd9cc873b0f = Dark Blue eyes
51c4a750-c9f4-4cfe-801c-898efc360cb7 = Green eyes
e43f33602-3a08-4755-8b83-a0d37a6c424b = Light Blue eyes
0758508c-7111-40f9-b33b-706464626ac9 = Gray eyes
12d4f3e1-fdbe-4fe7-ace3-46dd9ff52b51 = Alien eyes

[SaraMK]

You know, when Enhancer was released, some nice person over on MTS2 posted a crack that made it run forever in free trial mode. Moderators zapped it into oblivion mere moments later. Isn't that a damn shame?

[idtaminger]

I found the info -- I had copied and pasted it to a text file on my computer when I was trying to learn something about genetics and unfortunately did not make note of the people who originally wrote this (but I believe some of it is somewhere here on this site).  Anyway, I take no credit for this, but if you go into the DNA screen in SimPE and substitute Maxis eye color codes for the custom ones, it seems it should accomplish the same thing as TS2Enhancer.

Now you're just making it complicated....One - SimPE only changes the carried DNA, not the visible genetics. W/ this, sims' babies will turn out right, but the Sim'll stay the same. Second - if you have a large no. of sims using the same eye color, you'd have to manually edit every single sim w/ the genetics. Much more of a hassle than just editing the used file, which automatically affects both underlying DNA and every single sim.

[Syera]

Motoki, I made some replacement eyes awhile back.  They may be a bit cartoony for you, but they don't have that silly shadow thing going on and they don't look like they have cataracts.  You can take look if you're interested.
http://www.springhole.net/bogsims/syera/genetics/eyes.htm

You know, when Enhancer was released, some nice person over on MTS2 posted a crack that made it run forever in free trial mode. Moderators zapped it into oblivion mere moments later. Isn't that a damn shame?

Major shame.   

[SaraMK]

You know, when Enhancer was released, some nice person over on MTS2 posted a crack that made it run forever in free trial mode. Moderators zapped it into oblivion mere moments later. Isn't that a damn shame?

Major shame.   

Yes. Such a shame the nice person went and uploaded it to his own website, where it lives to this very day. Shame, shame, shame, I say. There are such dirty, immoral, thieving scumbags in this world, it's downright frightening.

[Emma]

Okay, you just hit a HUGE pet peeve of mine with custom eyes.

PEOPLE STOP PUTTING BLACK SMOKEY EYELID SPACE OR OTHERWISE BORDERS AROUND YOUR GOD DAMNED EYES!!

You make me glad I don't make stuff for the sims

I am sure that Lyran's eyes are pretty clean-they are what I use.

[Motoki]

I don't have too many pet peeves in custom content, but sorry that's just one of them. Most things I can tell by the picture whether I will want it or not but those eyes with the borders are like a lot of houses I've downloaded, looks nice in the pictures but not so nice when you actually get it in your game and play with it.