Testers wanted: Color Binning Tool 0.2.30

[pinhead]

Hi Theo!

Well, now is keeping the TXMTs of the hidden ages. Thanks for fixing that

Looks that the output is fine so far. But (here we go with little problems, sorry) when i
used the option to "use the base textures" when clicking in the TXMTs inside your tool,
isn't changing anything. And the wrong texture is in the output package.
i was wondering if you can set up if when we choose to "use the base texture", that was
copied from TXMTs Filelist, if the tool can delete those old textures used. Like it was before.

When you set a new texture name in stdmatbasename is completely safe delete a texture from
the package. But, i know that users can make wrong and then mess with their files, so maybe
a little more work to you (sorry) to check if other ages are using the same texture in the package
opened in that color tab to make sure that the texture can be delete it safety.

i know that is complicated... But, anyway, if you think that is not a perfect and safe solution and can't
be doable, right now as it is your tool is fine already.

thanks man!

EDITED:
oops. I think that i found another little problem...
the ages that i hide are not using the maxis hairtone hash in the "hairtone" field of their PSETs..
so, even hiden, must be set to the same hairtone hash as the other files are using. The hairtone
hash is the one that will be stored at a sim DNA, so is really important change that.
but don't forget to set only the elder hair to 00000005-0000-0000-0000-000000000000.
if the elder hair use the same color in the hairtone field of PSET, will create conflicts inside the package.

[pioupiou]

Just one thing : could you make so we can choose the hairtone for the hair we put in custom ??
Let me give you an example to explain what I mean :
Say you have a hairstyle with a brown, black, blonde, red and platinum recolor. You would want to bin it with the platinum in custom. But if the hair was based on a black hair your platinum recolor is "black" in the hairtone xml. Putting it in the custom tab doesnot change that.
I found that when doing standalone hair I can put it first in the right color (obviously blond for platinum) then put it in custom and save : when looking in the file in simpe the hairtone xml is correctly changed to "blonde"
But it's not alwas practical to do that like that when doing the all family of recolor at once.
So, I'm asking for a way to change the hairtone on the custom one more easily.
If this isn't clear don't hesitate to ask, I will do my best to clarify (english is not my mother tongue....)
Thanks a lot for this wonderful tool once more
Pioupiou

[Theo]

Pinhead:
Did you use the base texture option on a PropertySet that you disabled (unchecked) ? I know that I wasn't commiting changes to TXMT's of hidden PropertySets previously (I'll post that change though). But if that happened on a checked item, I may have a bigger problem in hands!
The same applies to the PropertySet itself: changes in disabled items weren't being commited.

As for determining which textures can be deleted, the change in code may actually be simple, I'm just waiting for more issues to appear, so that the next update will contain all these corrections.

pioupiou:
Do you mean the proxy property? In the hairtone xml, this property controls the color of the facial overlays when you change to this hair in CAS.
Because I didn't know what to do with this property, I left it unchanged.
But I could make a basic editor so that you could change these properties yourself.

[pioupiou]

Yes I mean the proxy property. I like it to match the actual hairtone of the hairstyle because (from my in-game testing) it seems to control the hairtone the sim get when putting a uniform with a cap (like the llama mascot or the fast-food worker). And it bothers me when my sim with platinum custom hair change to be a black-haired sim when going to work.
So I really like a basic editor to change this proxy separately.

Because I didn't know what to do with this property, I left it unchanged.

Do you leave it unchanged for all the hairtones or only for the custom one ? From using your tool I am under the impression that it updates the proxy to reflect the hairtone I choose, except for custom.
Thanks for your answer,
Pioupiou

[pinhead]

Pinhead:
Did you use the base texture option on a PropertySet that you disabled (unchecked) ? I know that I wasn't commiting changes to TXMT's of hidden PropertySets previously (I'll post that change though). But if that happened on a checked item, I may have a bigger problem in hands!
The same applies to the PropertySet itself: changes in disabled items weren't being commited.

Yes. And i tried to use the option to copy the base texture before uncheck the PSET. Didn't work.
But looks that with checked PSETs is working (i just tried here now).
about the hairtone hash problem, like i said, even hidden, the game will use the hairtone hash in the PSET. So, is better you change this field to hidden ages also.

As for determining which textures can be deleted, the change in code may actually be simple, I'm just waiting for more issues to appear, so that the next update will contain all these corrections.

that's great! thanks!

[Theo]

Odd! I tried to do color binning of facial hair and it all went ok, but when I tried to use the base textures for a Material Definition, the tool complained with an error! Despite that, I was able to continue and save the packages. (whew!)

I opened the original package in SimPE, and indeed the Material Definition's filelist was empty.
How could that be? Surely it must have been cloned from another facial overlay, and the filelist should have at least a reference to the original texture. Should all facial overlays be treated differently?

[Ambular]

Also, I had one texture up and disappear...the mesh showed up in the proper bin but with only the scalp color.  Dunno what went wrong there...luckily it wasn;t an important one!

Can you post the offending package file (hopefully if it isn't too large)?

Sorry, I looked but I think I already deleted it.    Looks like you've figured out the problem anyway.

Quick question while I'm posting anyway: will re-binning the hair make Sims recognize it as the proper color for purposes of turn-ons and turn-offs, or will they still see it as being Custom Hair?

[Regina]

Quick question while I'm posting anyway: will re-binning the hair make Sims recognize it as the proper color for purposes of turn-ons and turn-offs, or will they still see it as being Custom Hair?

Indeed, other sims will no longer see these as custom hairs.  This has been one of my biggest incentives to have hair properly binned.

[pinhead]

Odd! I tried to do color binning of facial hair and it all went ok, but when I tried to use the base textures for a Material Definition, the tool complained with an error! Despite that, I was able to continue and save the packages. (whew!)

I opened the original package in SimPE, and indeed the Material Definition's filelist was empty.
How could that be? Surely it must have been cloned from another facial overlay, and the filelist should have at least a reference to the original texture. Should all facial overlays be treated differently?

i never tried binning a facial hair or brows, and i don't know what the differences between facial hairs and brows with hairs.
maybe facial hairs and brows are different because are overlays?
so maybe other person has more knowledge and can help you on this.

Now i think that your tool for hairs, at least, is giving great results. Looks that is working good so far.
I just need to test it in the game now.
thanks a lot, Theo!

EDITED:
i forgot to ask something:
Theo, Is possible copy a texture reference of a material from black tab to other color tab?
i mean, it looks like that you can only copy textures and use the texture reference in the current color tab. I'm asking
this because i'm using the option to merge the output package and then the ef txtr is been duplicated (each color has
a ef texture) and i have to change manually the stdMatBaseName to point to just one.
Since i'm merging the package, if i delete a color from the Bin, all other colors will be deleted as well, and will not be
with a missing "ef" texture, so is completly fine use this texture.

[Theo]

AmberDiceless:
That's right, as Regina said the new hairtone color will be recognized as such when the game determines the turn-on/offs of the sim.
There is an annoyance, however: as some colors of that hair have the family guid changed, any sim wearing the formerly custom hair will lose it and become bald! You'll have to change the sim's appearance and chose a new hair.

Pinhead:
But that would work even if creating separate packages, as their resources are all loaded by the game, wouldn't it?
There was an old version that allowed copying references between packages, it's no big deal to allow it again. The old code always works better...

[pinhead]

Pinhead:
But that would work even if creating separate packages, as their resources are all loaded by the game, wouldn't it?
There was an old version that allowed copying references between packages, it's no big deal to allow it again. The old code always works better...

lol
if you say so.
about the separate packages, well, i think that isn't a good idea delete the ef texture and use a reference from other color package. If the output is creating separate packages, if you delete the color package in bodyshop that all ef TXMTs are using as a base texture, the ef hair for other colors will miss the texture and become with that tag texture with the name of the missing texture on it.(a white texture with a red cross and the name of the missing texture)
I think that is more secure use the copy texture method from other color only if the output options is setted to merge the packages. This way, if you delete one color will delete all colors to that hair set.
anyway, i'm just saying what this process can cause wrong, but i don't know if users will think about copy the ef texture reference from one color to another...


thanks again, theo!

[Syera]

I just gave the plugin a shot, and it works great!  The only thing it's lacking, I think, is the ability to change the Family number.  (Once the Family numbers match, it'll jump smoothly from one hair color to the next when you choose another color instead of defaulting to a Maxis hairstyle.)

[pinhead]

I just gave the plugin a shot, and it works great!  The only thing it's lacking, I think, is the ability to change the Family number.  (Once the Family numbers match, it'll jump smoothly from one hair color to the next when you choose another color instead of defaulting to a Maxis hairstyle.)

you can change the family number using the Package/Options menu in the Tool.
make sure that you are generating a valid GUID.

is this what you were asking?

anyway, if you create a set (loading all packages in the respective color Tabs in the plugin) all the hair colors will use the same family ID.

[Syera]

I copied and pasted the GUID from the first hairstyle - kind of a jump-over from what I was doing when I was binning the old-fashioned way.

Anyhow, thanks for the information.  I'll try it.

Edit: by the way, I can't seem to load every color at once.  It seems I can get two maximum; it doesn't seem to want to load any more after that - I double-click the filename and nothing happens.  Any chance it's trying to put them into a bin I've successfully loaded into or something?

[Theo]

Hi Syera, the tool cannot load the same package file into different color tabs, it's a known issue that will have a fix for it.
But that's not an usual scenario, normally you have like four package files.

All you have to do is select a color tab and load one package into it. Then repeat the same for the other tabs.
After you done it for the 4 packages, you can save the result.

But that's not all to it, there's the issue of the grey color, that is explained a bit further in a simple walkthrough at this location: http://theos.home.sapo.pt/ts2/walkthrough.html

If there's something missing in the walkthrough that you think deserves mentioning, I'll be glad to add it to the example.

[Motoki]

Regarding separate vs one package for binned hair, I think one just makes more sense. Not only from a technical viewpoint so you can have only one grey and then have all the references point to it, but also because why would you want the colors in separate packages if the hair is binned? You really will need all 4 colors for a binned hair to work properly. Even before this tool, when binning hair I would always just insert everything into one package except maybe for the mesh.

[idtaminger]

For some reason, the program keeps erroring every time I try to open a package file. It comes up with a .NET Framework error saying "could not load SimPe.Interfaces.Files.IPackedFileDescriptorBasic from assembly simpe.helper, Version = .50.2120.35905, Culture = neutral, PublicKeyToken = null."

I can't open any of my files with this tool.  Help please?

Now its going "obj reference not set to an instance of an obj"? It goes back and forth between the two error messages. I have no idea why this is happening.

[pinhead]

maybe because you are using a very old version of SimPE..
version 50 is really outdated.

and i'm not sure if this plugin can be running with such old version.
correct me if i'm wrong, please.

anyway, looks like SimPE site is down.

[pinhead]

Regarding separate vs one package for binned hair, I think one just makes more sense. Not only from a technical viewpoint so you can have only one grey and then have all the references point to it, but also because why would you want the colors in separate packages if the hair is binned? You really will need all 4 colors for a binned hair to work properly. Even before this tool, when binning hair I would always just insert everything into one package except maybe for the mesh.

i agree!
and back in those days that i was trying to figure it out how to make a set in one package (using the jeannete hair package), i was affraid to use different groups IDs in the same package.
Looks like is completely fine merge all color packages without changing groups and names in TXMTs (to not conflict).
i'm glad that this tool can do this. Once gain, Thanks a lot to Theo!

[idtaminger]

Ah. I see. The SimPE site was down yesterday, so I couldn't check. Thnx.

[Syera]

Thank you, Theo - I've got everything working now. 

I really like the ability to put all recolors into one file. 

[Ambular]

Theo, thanks for putting up a more detailed tutorial for combining color packages.  I get it now.  XD

I thought I would throw this out just for the heck of it, since you seem to have such a great handle on hair and color bins...I don't suppose it would be feasible to make a mod that would recategorize some of the Maxis default hairstyles into different bins?  Specifically, the hats?  If I could put them all into the Custom bin, my life would be complete.  XD  Okay, well, not really, but I'd be a lot less annoyed. 

[idtaminger]

So far it's working great. Really cuts down on rebinning time.

But just a suggestion for the tool - when you open a package, it always starts you off at the downloads folder. I generally have my stuff organized in an outside folder for editing before I dump it into my game. This way, it gets kind of tedious to have to redirect to the correct folder every time I edit. Do you think you could implement it so that the tool starts you off at the folder you were last in?

And for hairs without a grey elder texture, I was wondering if you could implement an option to leave the elder hairtone alone, so that it'll stay in the custom bin? I know that this disrupts the hair's transition from adult to elder, but I would like some of my elders to have colored hair, and I don't want these hairs in the grey bin for the obvious reason that they're not grey.

Just some suggestions...but definitely a great tool!

[Syera]

Idtaminger, I started copying-and-pasting the folder path from Windows Explorer.  It helps immensely throughout all stages of the process I do - zip extraction, opening, saving, etc.

[Theo]

Do you think you could implement it so that the tool starts you off at the folder you were last in?

A quick fix would be to change the default filter to show all files, thus showing shortcuts to folders in the file list.
But I prefer to wait for the next SimPE, as quaxi will enable custom plugins to store their preferences through the program's options panel.

And for hairs without a grey elder texture, I was wondering if you could implement an option to leave the elder hairtone alone, so that it'll stay in the custom bin?

You can uncheck all the grey recolors from the normal color bins (the plugin already does that automatically), and load a package with the desired grey hair into the Custom bin.

Now this is important: The current version in the first post (v0.2.5.1) does not allow loading the same package file into different color tabs.
I do have an (even more) experimental version (v0.2.7.1) that enables it, so if you feel brave enough to try it, here's the link: http://theos.home.sapo.pt/ts2/ColorBinningTool_0271.zip (see also the changelog for a list of other changes).

I don't suppose it would be feasible to make a mod that would recategorize some of the Maxis default hairstyles into different bins?

Motoki did post something similar, the Clothing Equality Mod at http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=1243.0, but I only downloaded it and haven't been curious enough to analyse what's being done to create those packages, but I think it's only a matter of creating PropertySets with the same Id's as the Maxis ones. This tool just isn't powerful enough to do that yet

Edit: I saw these packages ( http://modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=146185 ) at MTS2, that contain all the PropertySets for the hats & clothes, already hidden from the catalog, so maybe it's just a matter of selecting the ones you want