My Wish List for a Sims File Utility

[Ambular]

Well, since it seems to be fashionable of late to either complain about the existing Sims file management programs or work on making new ones, I thought I'd throw my personal wish list into the mix.

I would love a single utility that would allow me to:

- Sort files by type like Clean Installer does
- View both item thumbnails and textures
- Easily extract .package files from sims2packs
- View mesh shapes
- Move files to new folders, including deep-level subfolders, without having to click through a directory tree that starts all the way at MyDocuments
- Batch compress the textures of every .package in a folder
- Update an entire class of items (for example, living chairs) in a folder for Pets compatibility at once
- View and change item categories, prices and wants satisfy data
- Accurately identify meshes without textures and vice versa
- Create object recolors

Impossible, you say?  Well...probably.  But if anybody ever comes up with something like it, I will bow down before them as a Mod God forever.  XD

[Marhis]

And possibly with a neighborhood/characters editor, even indipendent by the rest (don't know if it's possible).

And please, please....PLEASE, written in C, C++, java, phyton, basic, pascal, whatever language except C#, so it may be converted on platforms other than Win.

[Ambular]

And possibly with a neighborhood/characters editor, even indipendent by the rest (don't know if it's possible).

And please, please....PLEASE, written in C, C++, java, phyton, basic, pascal, whatever language except C#, so it may be converted on platforms other than Win.

A neighborhood/character editor would also be spiffy, but if you try to cram too much into one utility you're going right back to SimPE.  I'd like to see a few standalone programs that cover all aspects of *one* part of the game at a time.

[gjam]

A neighborhood/character editor would also be spiffy, but if you try to cram too much into one utility you're going right back to SimPE.  I'd like to see a few standalone programs that cover all aspects of *one* part of the game at a time.

That's exactly what we need.   

[Theo]

I think SimPe could be broken down to at least three separate programs: one for basic package editing, where you could have at most the object creation plugin and the BHAV editor.

Another part would be responsible for package management, currently done by the "Scan Folders" tool.

And finally the neighborhood and sim editor, which would be a large program in itself, as it would be responsible for most things that require modifications to both the neighborhood and sim character packages (I'm thinking in sim surgery here, but I'm sure there are other procedures that involve modifications in both packages).

Do you think there should be another way of organizing these features? I'm asking this because I have been brewing the same idea for some time, and I first thought of putting aside the N&S editing in a separate program, so maybe you guys can give some different ideas to organize this mess

[Ambular]

I think SimPe could be broken down to at least three separate programs: one for basic package editing, where you could have at most the object creation plugin and the BHAV editor.

Another part would be responsible for package management, currently done by the "Scan Folders" tool.

And finally the neighborhood and sim editor, which would be a large program in itself, as it would be responsible for most things that require modifications to both the neighborhood and sim character packages (I'm thinking in sim surgery here, but I'm sure there are other procedures that involve modifications in both packages).

Do you think there should be another way of organizing these features? I'm asking this because I have been brewing the same idea for some time, and I first thought of putting aside the N&S editing in a separate program, so maybe you guys can give some different ideas to organize this mess

(Wow, this got kinda long.  Sorry!)  O_o

The problem with the Scan Folders tool is that I've never been able to get it to work reliably.  It's always spitting out lists of meshes that supposedly have no textures, but that I know darn well do.  It seems to do this no matter what tickyboxes I check when I run the scan.  Maybe it doesn't count textures that reside inside the same file as the mesh itself?  IDK, but it's highly annoying.

Anyway, I'm with JMP but coming at it from the opposite direction: leave the deep-level editing, the BHAV's and all that, to a separate tool for the really awesome modders and just put the basic stuff that anybody with half a brain can do into something for the masses.  Maybe not quite as simplistic as the very fine dedicated utilities jfade has made, but something more along the lines of Paladin's Categorizer with some expanded functionality?  Like, combine the Categorizer functions with the Pets Updater, Clean Installer, and a more accurate Folder Scanner in a unified interface.  Maybe throw in a very simple, straightforward object recolor wizard so those who don't want to mess with BHAV's and such don't need to have a program that deals with that?  Or set up a small utility for that separately?

If it helps, here's what I typically do with new files I download, not necessarily in this exact order:

1.  Put them in a sorting subfolder in Downloads

Clean Installer:
2.  Extract the packages from any .sim2packs
3.  If there are a lot of them, sub-sort them by type
4.  Get rid of any items or recolors I don't like that came in a set

SimPE:
5.  Bin any hair that needs it
6.  Go through and compress any textures that aren't, and that can be (dunno if it's just a weirdness with SimPE, but I often find some textures won't compress, even in the same file with others that do)
7.  Re-categorize, price, and adjust wants satisfaction, age category, gender, catalog description, etc. to suit my preferences (some of this would be done with Categorizer rather than SimPE)

8.  Update select objects for Pets with jfade's tool

Clean Installer again:
9.  Move recolors to my recolors folder and Bodyshop items and objects to assorted other subfolders by type

10.  If I used collections (I don't) I'd use jfade's tool for that task as another step.

11.  Delete any .bak files, .sim2packs and archives that are left from the process

I then routinely go through later on and try to thin out stuff I decide I don't like, and that's where it really gets to be a pain.  Categorizer can find recolors for a specific object mesh, but it's a slooooooow time-consuming process and doesn't help with BodyShop items, and as noted above, I don't quite trust the current Folder Scanner.  Usually I wind up picking through the files by hand with Clean Installer and/or Categorizer, and as a last resort, opening packages individually in SimPE to figure out whether they're what I think they are.

Another feature that would be nice, though not critical, would be if we could easily adjust an item's actual need scores and advertising on the fly.  I don't know how difficult that would be to turn into a point-and-click operation.

As far as neighborhood and Sim editing, I think the portions of SimPE that are devoted to that would be fine spun off as a separate program (though we really do need a safe, simple, outside-the-game way to delete a Sim and all associated memories, wants and relationships in one fell swoop.)  Can't really say about BHAV's and other high-level operations, as I don't get into that much, but JMP has had quite a bit to say on the subject...

[jenny_dunagan]

Ok, I have what is probably a very dumb question, but I can't figure it out!  How do you extract the .package file from a sims2pack in Clean Installer? I have tons of sims2packs and would love to delete them cuz they're taking up so much space. But I've been saving them in case I ever had to reinstall them. But I would prefer if they were .package files. Again, I'm sorry if this is something really simple!

[SciBirg]

How about:

Checking for duplicates?

Automatically install hoods and subhoods properly?

[Marhis]

@jenni: When you open the file, choose to install in a different folder than default, with extension .package: in this way, in that folder you'll have all the packages extracted.

[prattle]

I have SimPE, but it's overkill for me. I'm no hacker, and I have no creative talent. I just want to make sure my files work right.

I would love to have a better, single program for recategorizing clothing and hair, flagging problem files (because they're in the wrong directory, too high poly, duplicates, empty packages, hacks which conflict with other hacks, hacks that came with something else I downloaded and are a surprise to me, are missing the mesh, are an abandoned mesh, etc.....), deleting without leaving a bigger mess behind, batch-fixing custom objects for OFB or Pets compatibility, and all that jazz.   

Character editing would be nice too, but it's not as essential to me as keeping the downloads folder under control.

[jenny_dunagan]

@jenni: When you open the file, choose to install in a different folder than default, with extension .package: in this way, in that folder you'll have all the packages extracted.

Thank you sooo much!! I had NO idea you could do that!

[Paperbladder]

I think the thing should feature a spotlight-like feature for accessing features of the program.  For those not familiar with it, if I press a hotkey then type in "Nei" it would come up with "Neighborhood Editor" and then launch it when I pressed enter rather than going to Tools > Neighborhood > Neighborhood Editor.  I'm thinking it should be a bar on the bottom of the screen and show File, Edit, Tools stuff when nothing is in the box.  If there's something in there then it should have 3 or so results on the bar.

As for the program itself, it should be modular and summon modules with the spotlight-like menu system or right-click menu.  This might not be possible, but I believe it should also have a multiple document interface much like Photoshop or Opera.  Since SimPE has problems with the fact it is written in C#, Java(we're not using Solaris) or Python won't help the speed any.  Maybe as the main interface for accessing the modules Java could be used since it includes a GUI, but everything else should be in a compiled language.