Skins
This is the Skins FAQ from Livin-It-Up, hosted here since their demise in August 2005. I have not checked the contents for accuracy, nor the links for being "live". This is fossilized as it was last hosted by LIU
| 1. Why aren't my skins showing up in my game? |
| 2. How do I know if a skin file is crashing my game? |
| 3. Can you make this/that skin for me? |
| 4. I downloaded a skin and now my game crashes. How do I fix this? |
| 5. I want to make my own skins. Where do I find the nude base skins? |
| 6. When I try and make skins, I can't get colors to show up. Everything's brown. |
| 7. I need you to work with me, step by step, to show me how to make skins. |
| 8. How do I make my own meshes? |
| 9. Can I use your meshes for my own skins? |
| 10. Where do you get the meshes you use? |
| 11. What's the deal with the .skn and .cmx files? Do I really need those to skin? |
| 12. How do I make skins buyable for downtown and vacation? |
| 13. Which program should I use for making skins? |
| 14. How do I preview my skins as I'm making them? |
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| Why aren't my skins showing up in my game? |
| There could be several reasons. First of all, is the skin in question a buyable skin? If so, it should be put into the gamedata/skins folder. Many users do find that putting buyable skins into the expansionshared/skinsbuy folder is the only way their buyable skins will show up. This is one of those funny things about the game. Whichever way works for you. Second, is the skin in question in 256 colors? The game can't handle skins or objects that are in anything higher than 256 colors. Skins that show up as all white in your game aren't in 256 colors. Third, do you have the mesh and .cmx file for the skin? |
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| How do I know if a skin file is crashing my game? |
| If your game crashes while it's loading, traveling from home to downtown (or any other neighborhood) or any time other than changing clothes, it is not a skin file. Skins aren't loaded during the load time, only objects and the rest of the game. Skins are loaded individually when you're in the Make A Sim screen or using a dresser. Generally, your game will not crash if the skin has not been reduced in color, it will merely show up as an all white skin. There are of course, exceptions to this, but it's not very frequent. The most frequent reasons for a skin causing your game to crash is a missing .cmx file. Try running File Cop, available from thesims.com, if you're unfamiliar with filenames. |
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| Can you make this/that skin for me? |
| Probably not. I don't have enough time to do everybody's requests. If it seems to be in my style, ask me. If I like it, I'll probably do it. Never hurts to ask. |
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| I downloaded a skin and now my game crashes. How do I fix this? |
| More than likely, you're missing a file. Skins need a .bmp file, (the actual skin) a .skn file, (the mesh) and a .cmx file, (this file tells the mesh which .bmp files it goes with.) |
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| I want to make my own skins. Where do I find the nude base skins? |
| Right Here!. |
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| When I try and make skins, I can't get colors to show up. Everything's brown. |
| You need to increase your colors from 256 colors to 16 million colors. Don't forget to reduce back to 256 colors when your skin is finished, or it'll show up as solid white in the game. |
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| I need you to work with me, step by step, to show me how to make skins. |
| I have tutorials available, and if you're having problems regarding them, feel free to email me. However, I simply don't have the time to personally help people "step by step." There are plenty other skin tutorials available on the internet, if you find mine to be too confusing. Also, if you don't know your software, i.e. Paint Shop Pro, Corel, etc., the tools it has and how to use them, I can't help you. I'm still discovering new tools under PSP. |
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| How do I make my own meshes? |
| I personally use Milkshape3D. It's available here. This program is used by a lot of Sim meshers, as it's full of features, and low priced. There's also a free trial on it. There are a lot of great tutorials available to teach you how to use it. |
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| Can I use your meshes for my own skins? |
| Yes, absolutely! I only ask that you include my text file with any meshes you distribute, or give me credit somewhere on your site. A link back to LIU would be nice, but it's not required. |
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| Where do you get the meshes you use? |
| I pick them up all over the web, but some of my favorite sites for meshes are Simfreaks, Frilly Sims, and Jerome's. I also make my own, check them out! |
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| What's the deal with the .skn and .cmx files? Do I really need those to skin? |
| Um, if you want your skins to show up in the game, yes. The .skn file is sort of like the framework of your skin. It is how you make a skin have a short skirt, flared pants, etc. The .cmx file tells the mesh, or .skn file, which .bmp file it uses. Without these, there is no skin. |
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| How do I make skins buyable for downtown and vacation? |
| To make skins buyable for downtown and
vacation, I always copy and paste the skn, cmx, and bmp
files to my desktop. We'll use my female formal outfit,
the little black dress. The three files necessary to
make this skin show up in the game are
xskin-b200fafit_bwar-PELVIS-BODY.skn B200FAFit_BWar.cmx B200fafitlgt_blackdress.bmp To make this skin buyable for formal, you need to take the bmp file, erase the very first letter, the B, and change it to an F. For skins you want to make buyable for swimwear or sleepwear, you would change the B to an S for swimwear, or an L for lingerie. After you do that, the bmp name should look like this: F200fafitlgt_blackdress.bmp Now you need to take the cmx file, and do the same thing to the name. The cmx file's name will be changed to F200FAFit_BWar.cmx Now you need to right click on the cmx file, and open it up. Choose "Open with" and select "choose program." When the Open with window opens up, select "Notepad." Before you click "Okay" double check to make sure you DON'T have the "Always use this program to open these files" box checked. When you open it up, it should look like this: // Character File. Copyright 1997, Maxis Inc. version 300 0 1 b200fafit_bwar 0 0 1 PELVIS xskin-b200fafit_bwar-PELVIS-BODY 0 0 0 Change the b200fafit_bwar to f200fafit_bwar Click File and Save, and shut it down. (For swimwear and sleepwear, you would change the B to S or L) Go ahead and test it in your game. If it doesn't work, double check for errors. |
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| Which program should I use for making skins? |
| This is a pretty broad question. If
you're referring to the actual drawing of the skin, the
.bmp file, you're going to need a graphics program. MS
Paint really won't cut it. I use Paint Shop Pro, a trial
of which is available here. This is a pay program,
though. A lot of people use Adobe Photoshop, Corel, or
other programs. I've never used them, so I can't vouch
for them. There is a free program available called Gimp,
which is here. Again, I've never used it, so
I can't say how well it works. If you're referring to mesh making, I use Milkshape3D. See question 8. |
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| How do I preview my skins as I'm making them? |
| I personally use Simpose, available here. This is a terrific free program that you can use for previewing and posing your skins. Unfortunately, if you're on a Mac, this program won't work for you. You're going to have to use the Maxis program SimShow, available on thesims.com. This program works fine, but in my experience, it's not quite as user friendly as Simpose. |
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