Just some stuff... - Another #%*& Sim Site

I wanted to add a little amendment to one of the cheats out there - if you don't know what all the cheats are, go to Rooke's Nest - he's tested all the proclaimed cheats and has listed all that work. I've discovered that the "prev_anims" cheat can be unfrozen (when it inevitably freezes up) by hitting the escape key. Then just try, try again til you get it. That's all for today.

If you have TSO, and don't have whatever ep contains the walls/floors from tso that you *love*, then here's a simple walkthrough that could help. You can easily put the walls and floors from the online game into your offline game (assuming they haven't re-programmed the online files - I'm working with a several months old build).

In order to convert your floors and walls, you'll need iffpencil, and to make it easy you'll need iffpencil2, but if you want to do walls, you must use iffpencil - ip2 doesn't even read the tso walls, so it can't edit them.

First you have to understand that walls and floors are actually iff files - they don't have OBJD sections, so the catalog sorter doesn't read them - they only have a little build mode catalog info, and of course bitmap info. Luckily, the only problem with the tso floor iff's is that the catalog is organized differently for floors - the str# section.
step 1.
Go to your trusty iffpencil (2 works well here, and I'll work from it), and go to 'open.' Choose 'all files.'
step 2.
Open a default, far-extracted floor (.flr) file, and export the str# resource to a known location, filed appropriately.
step 3.
Now open the floor you want to edit. Go to the string section mentioned above, and copy with 'ctrl-c' the ascii in the little window (this is only if you want the maxis descriptions - if not, just skip step 5).
step 4.
Import your default floor str# resource, replacing the one in the tso floor.
step 5.
Open up your str# resource, and paste (ctrl-v) in your ascii from the original floor. Only one little bit has to be changed for these files to work, but who wants to hex-edit when one can import? It's easier, really, and seperating the ascii from the hex is better all around.
step 6.
Very important - save your creation. When the save dialog comes up, don't go default - go down to the pull-down menu and choose 'all filetypes,' and save. There should be a prompt that you're overwriting a file - this is good. You're just verifying your alteration. If there's no dialog, it means you've just created a *.flr.iff file. Not what you want. Anyway, have fun, enjoy your sci-fi/moroccan goathead(!) floors...

The walls are very much the same, but you must do all the above with iffpencil1, as ip2 can't read the walls. So you'll have to hex-edit instead of import/export. Good luck and enjoy. The import function is a little different, so stay organized, and stay focused, and you'll get through it. DOn't forget to back-up, and if you run out of thread, start over, if you're sure you followed the directions, then the files have been altered by the online patcher, or I forgot a step (I hex-edit in a semi-mystic haze, like a tongue-speaker)

I've recently put up some half-*ssed stuff at my diy site - if you like doing a lot of crap with sprites and such, you should check it out.

NEW! 3-tiled!

So it bugged me about the gables in the community a while back, they didn't drop, you couldn't put them over your indoor pools, etc. But for those ambitious object-makers out there, here's a set to get you started. The graphics end is your responsibility, i just do what i can. Included in the above two zips: in the first, a 2-tiled roofing section, and a 2-tiled gable. In the second, a 9-tiled square rug and a 1-tiled roof-piece (ornament etc.). They each drop with your walls, can be placed on pools or flooring or both or stairs, cannot be stolen or repossessed, can be placed on the same tiles as other objects, can be intersected by sims, and when your family sells the house (or goodness gracious dies), they will remain part of the structure, just like build mode items. In addition, the gable requires a wall in front of it — so you don't have to put sides on the regular roof pieces. They can still burn, however (if sim-houses want to burn, I say let 'em burn). If clear, they can only really be used in conjunction with the Caro/Yakko invisible floors, and then your greenhouses et al can only be one story. If solid-colored, however, they can be used on the second floor to create all sorts of fancy treatments. If you can't imagine them, then don't download it — I haven't changed the graphics one bit! Sorry... but it's up to some of you to make spires and turrets and domes and gables — make me proud... (hopefully the 3-tiled ones are coming soon). I'm going to see if I can z-buffer them into a projection above the roof of the current room they're in — if so, we can have fancy stuff on top of the second-floor as well.

Blinds that drop with your walls. Fun.

Haha! Just when you thought you'd never have to do any work again! Yes, it's time for more bits of things — this time, windows! What makes these special is that you may construct a large "room," and then build a smaller one completely enclosed by it. Previously, this would doom your inner sanctum to utter darkness unless you entered and turned on the lights. But with this simple window-piece inserted into your windows using the iffpencil, you may now place windows on the walls of this dark room, and effectively change it to an outdoor courtyard. The sunlight will also stream into the larger room from this courtyard. Two things to keep in mind: first, this will only affect window-light - your regular garden lights will stay dark at night unless you enter the courtyard. Two, if you have your roofs showing, it could look a little silly — there're invisible tiles from Caro's floating around, you can roof your walled gardens with these to get rid of that nasty little effect. That said, enjoy the outdoors — indoors.

02 80 0D 00 00 04 00 00 04 00 00 00 02 00 01 FD 00 00 0B 00 00 05 0A 03 1F 00 05 04 0A 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 02 00 07 FD 00 00 00 00 00 05 08 1A 02 00 07 FD 00 00 00 00 00 05 08 07 0F 00 FE FD 01 00 07 00 00 00 00 00 2D 01 02 02 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 13 01 FE FD FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 06 FD 00 00 0B 00 00 05 0A 03 20 00 09 09 FD E6 4C 0D 00 00 0A 00 20 00 0A 0A 02 CA 04 0C 00 00 0A 00 20 00 0B 0B 58 BA 44 8C 00 00 0A 00 20 00 0C 07 D4 BE 2C 91 00 00 0A 00 02 00 07 FD 00 00 02 00 00 07 08 07

If you're a sensible person with no desire to sift through all the crap to get to ‘how,’ then all you must do is get your handy-dandy iffpencil from HERE and open up the window or windows you'd like to use, and double-click on the BHAV section listed below - then replace the lines of hex there with the lines of hex presented below with a simple cut-and-paste procedure. Virtually painless. Or, if you're not even into virtual pain, just download them from the little zip button up there to the left - it includes the 1-tiled plate glass window, the 3-tiled plate glass, and the well-lit "starry nights" 2-tiled window. Appropriate and manhandle as you please.

Here are some more tv's. The one in the picture is the only one whose bitmaps I've modified - but it doesn't only go on coffee tables, it also goes on the floor, and on counters and tables. Both the knobbed B&W and the remote color tv are in the zip - extract, apply and enjoy.

I've been messing about with ss a lot lately well into the wee hours, and thanks to some recent postings from the creator, I've had some new toys to play with. I'm slowly figuring out the flag demands - flag types, flag field 2 types, placement and movement flags, and how they depend on each other. All I know is that it has something to do with support strength and weight, but I'm still in the dark, and nothing spectacular will show until I learn a little xml and mess with tile-amounts. However, in the learning process, I'm consistently churning out little toys, even if I can't make them from scratch yet. So I'm going to put them up here, and offer them around. They're just bases - right now, they're less than bases - they're the old objects I've cloned from, with new properties. i.e. The first two zips are tv's. One is two-tiled and hangs on the wall - the other two (in one *.iff file) hang from the ceiling. They look exactly like the original three tv's - but they're not. Fixing that is your job. Just make some cool stuff with them - sorry they're the same, but if I could make cool objects, I wouldn't have bothered playing with script station. It's too bad, too, because I love playing with z-buffers (sarcasm? fatigue? masochism?). If you experience any problems, please let me know. Enjoy.

want the fireplaces? Go here

If you're not comfortable with editing objects, don't read on...

Alright, this is sort of an experimental section. I would have liked to have made a little command-line program for this, but I CAN'T PROGRAM. So, I'm going to post the bits one needs to make the changing doors that are so popular in the community. (there are no changing doors for download here) I refer of course to Duddly's doors, the nude/swimming/formal doors. I've built doors with those functions, plus ones for work clothes and ones for winter clothes. Obviously the sprites are different than Duddly's, but more importantly the coded structure is different. This is not because I know my way around a hex better than Duddly, it's because of a little tool we call Script Station, which makes many processes less opaque. I was thinking of putting up the doors for download. Let me tell you the two reasons why I didn't:

The only real complaint I had with Duddly's doors was that I had to change how they looked. Additionally, if I wanted people dressed formal, for example, in different thema, too bad. The doors rarely matched, and one style couldn't really do multiple-duty. Time to change the sprites again. I was so distraught when I made the costume doors that I had to turn to my one true friend Alcohol for peace of mind, knowing I was forcing a design decision on downloaders.

Anyway, I thought the best way was to extract all the doors.iff from each expansion pack, and as a unit, put in the magical code. This way each change-function is spread out over each door-style. Categorized as miscellaneous-wardrobe, they're all neatly placed in one chunk of some twenty-odd doors. Convenient, yes? Not very convenient for downloading, however. Each door file runs into several megabytes, still less than if each is cloned individually, but I'd like to offer more things on my site anyway, besides what are utilitarian differences of pedestrian tweaks. No sense hogging up all of my bandwidth.

So the solution? The changing doors require only one section changed. One line of hex that supplements the typical maxis code, just a few bits and your functionality is altered. Now, there are many tools out there that can deal with hex. So I thought, what if I just offer that string of code? The link above (go to the 'downloads' page) should take you to a site where you can get a program called iffpencil (alternately, get it at the Blueprint site). Then, armed with your code and your program toy, you can just snake it into any door you want, or any set of doors in the expansion packs.

No, this isn't helpful to those of you who want the functional doors NOW. But I like this solution. I want to provide complete variability and functionality, and my conscience wouldn't let me sleep if I arbitrarily chose one door style for you guys. I also hate doors, and what's the point? I have no 'vision' for doors, so just because I have the novel function, why clutter up the internet with ugly useless crap? And although the modification itself IS easy, this makes it even easier. It's now Pop-tarts© instead of messy, messy toast. It's very straight-forward, easy enough for a five year-old. So that's that. Although this approach requires a slight familiarity with the *.iff file, it ain't too bad, really it's just like cutting and pasting anything else. And also, you can do this to ANY door. The whole point of the web presence is to modify as one sees fit their own game. And I believe that offering up this functionality is far more effective in the long run. Make your doors any damn way you want!

So, now that you've sat through my lecture, here you go (even though most of you already know the routine, this is for anyone who's starting): I've made this pretty straight-forward; just copy the block of hex on the white background that is under the function you want. Then, with your iffpencil program, open up the door you want to alter. Go to the BHAV that's called "goto other side." Double-click on it, opening it up; block the hex window's text, and replace it (Alt-V; don't delete it then copy, or you'll lose the old clipboard info) with the new hex info from this site. It's so easy you don't even have to log off the internet (but if you do, you can also paste to a text file)! Hey-Presto! You're done and ready to unleash your creation upon the masses!

02 80 04 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 13 10 01 03 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 2D 00 FE FF 00 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 2D 00 FE FF 01 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 06 00 02 FD 04 01 00 00 00 00 00 00

02 80 04 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 13 10 01 03 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 2D 00 FE FF 00 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 2D 00 FE FF 01 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 06 00 02 FD 02 01 00 00 00 00 00 00

02 80 04 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 13 10 01 03 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 2D 00 FE FF 00 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 2D 00 FE FF 01 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 06 00 02 FD 05 01 00 00 00 00 00 00

02 80 04 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 13 10 01 03 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 2D 00 FE FF 00 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 2D 00 FE FF 01 00 01 00 01 00 00 00 06 00 02 FD 11 01 00 00 00 00 00 00

This comes from an excellent recommendation by Ikbod - Same idea as the doors, but each of the fireplaces require 3 modifications in their *.iff file. One is so that they won't burn anything above or around them, one so they light up upon placement, and one so they're on 24-7. I've listed the BHAV numbers just so it's clear. Also, make sure you use the right set. One is for the regular fireplaces, and one set is for the Vacation/Holiday expansion - those are the only ones that allow you to 'reminisce,' and place objects on them. So if you've cloned the ep4 fireplaces, use that set. Additionally, I don't think that this will affect whether or not one can reminisce, but it may. None of my families are even back from vacation yet, and none of them ever win anything anyway. One last thing: no more santa if you use these.

due to some quircks in the pencil program, if you "save" and then do another section, the "save" will save, but then revert to the original, so any subsequent changes will be over-ridden by the next. Either don't save til the end, or if you're paranoid, "save-as," but then exit and re-open:)

init common BHAV 4097

02 80 0E 00 00 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 0F 01 02 FD FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 03 FD 1B 00 64 00 00 05 03 07 02 00 01 FD 1C 00 00 00 FF 05 03 07 02 00 04 FD 1E 00 00 00 00 05 03 07 02 00 0B FD 0D 00 03 00 FF 09 03 07 02 00 06 FD 00 00 00 00 FF 05 00 07 02 00 07 FD 28 00 0B 00 00 09 03 07 02 00 08 FD 10 00 01 00 00 05 03 07 02 00 09 FD 01 00 00 00 FF 05 00 07 02 00 0A FD 28 00 06 00 00 0A 03 07 02 00 0D FD 28 00 08 00 FF 09 03 07 40 01 0C 0C FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 06 FD 00 00 E8 03 FF 05 00 07 02 00 FE FD 3B 00 25 43 FF 05 03 1A

process BHAV 4108

02 80 13 00 00 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 02 00 0A 03 02 00 01 00 00 02 00 07 02 00 04 02 01 00 04 00 00 0B 00 07 02 00 04 FD 01 00 01 00 00 05 00 07 02 00 01 10 00 00 01 00 00 0E 00 07 02 00 05 FD 00 00 0B 00 00 05 0A 03 02 00 06 FD 00 00 01 00 FE 05 04 00 07 00 07 FD 01 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF 1F 00 08 FE 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 02 00 09 FD 00 00 01 00 FE 05 04 00 07 00 11 FD 01 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF 18 01 FE FD E8 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 0C FD 00 00 01 00 00 04 00 07 02 00 0D FE 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 07 09 10 FE FE FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 10 10 0F FD FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 40 01 FE FE FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 41 01 0A 12 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 41 01 0E 0F FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 02 FD 00 00 E8 03 00 05 00 07

burn something BHAV 4112

02 80 1E 00 00 00 02 00 0F 00 00 00 40 01 FE 1D FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 08 00 02 FD 00 00 19 00 08 00 1A 00 02 00 04 FE 00 00 00 00 00 02 19 07 1F 00 07 08 00 00 00 00 89 0A 01 00 02 00 06 FD 01 00 0B 00 00 05 19 03 09 00 03 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 03 FD 00 00 00 00 00 05 0A 07 02 00 0F 03 28 00 06 00 00 08 04 07 02 00 09 FD 00 00 01 00 00 05 0A 19 1F 00 0A FE 00 00 00 00 83 0A 00 00 02 00 0B FD 01 00 00 00 00 05 19 0A 02 00 0C FD 00 00 00 00 00 05 0A 07 1F 00 0D FE 00 00 00 00 89 0A 01 00 02 00 14 0C 28 00 06 00 00 08 04 07 09 00 0C 0C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 00 11 FD 00 00 08 00 01 03 0B 00 02 00 1B 19 00 00 03 00 00 01 08 07 02 00 12 FD 00 00 01 00 00 04 08 03 02 00 13 FD 00 00 08 00 00 03 08 07 02 00 10 FD 00 00 08 00 00 0C 08 07 0C 00 16 FD 00 00 08 00 01 03 0B 00 02 00 1C 1A 00 00 03 00 00 01 08 07 02 00 17 FD 00 00 01 00 00 04 08 03 02 00 18 FD 00 00 08 00 00 03 08 07 02 00 15 FD 00 00 08 00 00 0C 08 07 02 00 1B 03 00 00 05 00 00 00 08 07 02 00 1C 0C 00 00 05 00 00 01 08 07 02 00 03 05 09 00 02 00 00 02 15 07 02 00 0C 0E 09 00 02 00 00 02 15 07 A8 01 FE FE FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF

init common BHAV 4097

02 80 12 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 00 00 0F 01 02 FD FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 03 FD 1B 00 64 00 00 05 03 07 02 00 01 FD 1C 00 F4 01 FF 05 03 07 02 00 04 FD 1E 00 00 00 00 05 03 07 02 00 0B FD 0D 00 03 00 FF 09 03 07 02 00 06 FD 00 00 00 00 FF 05 00 07 02 00 07 FD 28 00 0B 00 00 09 03 07 02 00 08 FD 10 00 01 00 00 05 03 07 02 00 09 FD 01 00 00 00 FF 05 00 07 02 00 0A FD 28 00 06 00 00 0A 03 07 02 00 0D FD 28 00 08 00 FF 09 03 07 40 01 0C 0C FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 06 FD 00 00 E8 03 FF 05 00 07 02 00 0E FD 3B 00 25 43 FF 05 03 1A 02 00 0F FD 03 00 02 00 00 05 00 07 02 00 10 FD 04 00 00 00 00 05 00 07 02 00 11 FD 21 00 00 00 FF 05 03 07 13 10 FE FD FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF

process BHAV 4108

02 80 10 00 00 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 13 10 01 FD FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 04 06 02 00 00 00 00 02 00 07 02 00 05 03 01 00 04 00 00 0B 00 07 02 00 05 FD 01 00 01 00 00 05 00 07 02 00 02 0E 00 00 01 00 00 0E 00 07 02 00 0D FD 00 00 0B 00 00 05 0A 03 18 01 FE FD E8 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 08 FD 00 00 01 00 00 04 00 07 02 00 09 FE 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 07 09 10 FE FE FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 10 10 0B FD FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 40 01 FE FE FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 15 01 0A FD FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 0C FD 00 00 01 00 FE 05 08 00 41 01 06 0F FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 02 00 02 FD 00 00 E8 03 00 05 00 07

burn something BHAV 4112

02 80 1D 00 00 00 02 00 0F 00 00 00 41 01 01 FE FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 08 00 02 FD 00 00 19 00 08 00 1A 00 02 00 04 FE 00 00 00 00 00 02 19 07 1F 00 07 08 00 00 00 00 89 0A 01 00 02 00 06 FD 01 00 0B 00 00 05 19 03 09 00 03 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00 03 FD 00 00 00 00 00 05 0A 07 02 00 0F 03 28 00 06 00 00 08 04 07 02 00 09 FD 00 00 01 00 00 05 0A 19 1F 00 0A FE 00 00 00 00 83 0A 00 00 02 00 0B FD 01 00 00 00 00 05 19 0A 02 00 0C FD 00 00 00 00 00 05 0A 07 1F 00 0D FE 00 00 00 00 89 0A 01 00 02 00 14 0C 28 00 06 00 00 08 04 07 09 00 0C 0C 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 00 11 FD 00 00 08 00 01 03 0B 00 02 00 1B 19 00 00 03 00 00 01 08 07 02 00 12 FD 00 00 01 00 00 04 08 03 02 00 13 FD 00 00 08 00 00 03 08 07 02 00 10 FD 00 00 08 00 00 0C 08 07 0C 00 16 FD 00 00 08 00 01 03 0B 00 02 00 1C 1A 00 00 03 00 00 01 08 07 02 00 17 FD 00 00 01 00 00 04 08 03 02 00 18 FD 00 00 08 00 00 03 08 07 02 00 15 FD 00 00 08 00 00 0C 08 07 02 00 1B 03 00 00 05 00 00 00 08 07 02 00 1C 0C 00 00 05 00 00 01 08 07 02 00 03 03 09 00 02 00 00 02 15 07 02 00 0C 0C 09 00 02 00 00 02 15 07

-I'd like to point out two things here: one, and this is for everyone, if you use these to modify your maxis stuff, cool, just place the modified ones in the appropriate folder and they'll over-ride the one in the *.far. However, if you're doing this to a user-created one, especially one of those from a paysite or a site that has already dissappeared, then make sure you make a backup of the original, not because it might malfunction (it wouyld never do that), but because these are expansion-specific changes. They won't work if there're more expansions, at least anything like the last two. One logistically-painless way to do this is to make a *.far file containing the originals that you're modifying, and just placing the mods in the same folder.

Two; this is the very essence of Do-It-Yourself. If you can point out a concrete flaw in my directions, please do. If you simply write me asking to say everything I just said in a new way, and through email, it ain't gonna happen (notice how this page doesn't have a "mailto" link?). This should work for all versions of the game (where noted), but no promises. Have fun!