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Please be patient, as I have no clue what I am doing!!!

Whew! Thought I was the only one!

Everybody is just bumbling around. Some, like Ladysmokes,  is just doing better than others.  

I don't believe there is the same level of tutorial and info on modding Sims as found in Bethesda games that have modding components included.  People have to fight through the process with trial and error and many of those that do succeed, have a very bad habit (from what I have been told) of not being willing to spread their knowledge they gained.

Having learned from JoshQ, I learned to share what ever I know. I'm not the best teacher and do not really make tutorials, as details get jumbled sometimes, but if someone asks, I will try to explain. )))

Slowly getting things together and reuploading. The PITA is that I have always given credit to original creators of CC that I modified or used in some way, and those links are buried among 20 garment workshops, 5 bot workshops and a Harley Quinn workshop... Each workshop may have 20 to 30 folders (mostly FAILS), with 10 or more sub-folders... AND, the links are buried with original upload texts. Either find those, or track down the links again. 

I'm not the most organized person!!! 

One of my long time personal issues has been that I tend to "Doug"... SQUIRREL!!! Those familiar with movie "Up" get it.  Some times, you run out of ideas, what to try next. Other times, they just come, then the next... SQUIRREL!!! And... you work on the new squirrel, as the first goes unfinished. In part, I blame those darned voices, but that is a story for another time.

So, hoping to finish Flintstones, which I began perhaps in 2021, May or June. Hope to organize and reupload a few more bots, as well as, more garments and other CC. I will say that a few of the older pieces need updating before putting up again.

THAT would be another of my little issues... Learning is a good thing, and I have learned (and continue to learn) so much since I began, but then you look back and think, "I can do that piece better now." Currently practicing by remaking an af and matching tf outfit and getting ready to test in game now. I cannot believe all of the things I had to fix!!!

Stay tuned!!!

1 hour ago, LadySmoks said:

One of my long time personal issues has been that I tend to "Doug"... SQUIRREL!!! Those familiar with movie "Up" get it.  Some times, you run out of ideas, what to try next. Other times, they just come, then the next... SQUIRREL!!! And... you work on the new squirrel, as the first goes unfinished. In part, I blame those darned voices, but that is a story for another time.

So, hoping to finish Flintstones, which I began perhaps in 2021, May or June. Hope to organize and reupload a few more bots, as well as, more garments and other CC. I will say that a few of the older pieces need updating before putting up again.

THAT would be another of my little issues... Learning is a good thing, and I have learned (and continue to learn) so much since I began, but then you look back and think, "I can do that piece better now." Currently practicing by remaking an af and matching tf outfit and getting ready to test in game now. I cannot believe all of the things I had to fix!!!

Stay tuned!!!

I am sure we can find some ideas for you to work on if you run out of them

Leaning and realizing that you can do much better now is a good thing! Don't feel bad that you can look back and see what you can do better on a previous project provided you did the best you could at that time with what you knew.

3 hours ago, ritualclarity said:

I am sure we can find some ideas for you to work on if you run out of them

Leaning and realizing that you can do much better now is a good thing! Don't feel bad that you can look back and see what you can do better on a previous project provided you did the best you could at that time with what you knew.

Ideas was only a problem for a time a couple of years ago. Now it's more about finding time, and keeping focused to the end of a project. 

Learning and improving keeps it worth doing. I am far from a master of any one thing, but I have grown... both knowledge and confidence. I have grown to where I can say, "That was pretty good."  

BUT... I think I had a "took it too far" moment. My very first upload ever was an open bottom remake of Lolita Maid by Lemonleaf. Of course, I asked JoshQ to take it apart and critique it, so I could know and understand mistakes. I never fixed THAT piece, but incorporated things into what came after... Sort of "never look back". But now I decided to fix it. Well, too far is that I shortened the dress. I guess it looks ok, but I really do not like it so much, and will be making it regular length again tomorrow. )))

1 hour ago, LadySmoks said:

Ideas was only a problem for a time a couple of years ago. Now it's more about finding time, and keeping focused to the end of a project. 

Learning and improving keeps it worth doing. I am far from a master of any one thing, but I have grown... both knowledge and confidence. I have grown to where I can say, "That was pretty good."  

BUT... I think I had a "took it too far" moment. My very first upload ever was an open bottom remake of Lolita Maid by Lemonleaf. Of course, I asked JoshQ to take it apart and critique it, so I could know and understand mistakes. I never fixed THAT piece, but incorporated things into what came after... Sort of "never look back". But now I decided to fix it. Well, too far is that I shortened the dress. I guess it looks ok, but I really do not like it so much, and will be making it regular length again tomorrow. )))

You can always make changes. Perhaps even keep some of the versions and let others enjoy them if they are satisfactory to you. I am nowhere even near being able to do any of this graphics work

11 hours ago, ritualclarity said:

You can always make changes. Perhaps even keep some of the versions and let others enjoy them if they are satisfactory to you. I am nowhere even near being able to do any of this graphics work

I cannot do graphics either. "I am a mesh manipulator", as MurfeeL said about herself a while ago on her blog. And texture images that I make are not the greatest, but I rearrange, remesh and repurpose. Often, I use the original, or rearrange the original multiplier to match mt UV. Rare, but I have also rearranged my UV to match textures. So, I went back and put in the longer dress mesh (fixed), put in game, and like how it looks so far. I determined that not every dress needs to be mini, or see thru. Next up is testing to make sure the mesh looks good as the Sim moves, runs, walks, sits... etc etc, and no clipping. Also, part of "learning" is about the __Hat_grip__ bone. Another modder created a new bone (I think), and set of sliders. Headgear using that bone can be adjusted in game, in size and position. Lemonleaf made a bonnet that I now plan to also remake with this bone. This is an example of ideas that just pop into my head sometimes. ))))

3 hours ago, LadySmoks said:

I cannot do graphics either. "I am a mesh manipulator", as MurfeeL said about herself a while ago on her blog. And texture images that I make are not the greatest, but I rearrange, remesh and repurpose. Often, I use the original, or rearrange the original multiplier to match mt UV. Rare, but I have also rearranged my UV to match textures. So, I went back and put in the longer dress mesh (fixed), put in game, and like how it looks so far. I determined that not every dress needs to be mini, or see thru. Next up is testing to make sure the mesh looks good as the Sim moves, runs, walks, sits... etc etc, and no clipping. Also, part of "learning" is about the __Hat_grip__ bone. Another modder created a new bone (I think), and set of sliders. Headgear using that bone can be adjusted in game, in size and position. Lemonleaf made a bonnet that I now plan to also remake with this bone. This is an example of ideas that just pop into my head sometimes. ))))

Well...

I can't do that.. and didn't even know that "THAT" was a thing

I posted similar on my profile status, but to include here... Updating older content before re-uloading here, has kind of become an obsession. Learning, learning, learning... I have learned a few new things since departure from LL, not so long ago! Learning, and applying what you learn is one of things that keeps making things fun!!! Downside being that you look at older pieces and say... "I can make that much better now." So far, Lolita Maid, both teen and adult, have been updated, but not game tested yet. 3 other adult female dresses went well in TSRW, and so far, only one needs adjustments done, which is good. Game testing usually results in the extreme frustration phase of this clips, fix it, test it, something else is bad, fix it, test it, etc etc etc.

The older CC uses EA bottom mesh. It's what I knew to do. Since then, although still not released separately, I have been developing my Priyatna female bottom meshes with a bit more mesh detail in certain place.  Several generations of the mesh have been used in both FemmeBots and some garments. With better understanding and ability to paint bone weights, as well as refining other techniques and use of tools, I hope the newer versions will be welcomed, as the original versions were. But... more game testing, as I try to eliminate clipping...

So, I got distracted from the remakes for a while. While testing, I noticed the original neck piece for Lolita Maid clips the neck in some movements, so will be taking a look at the bones to see if I can do anything with it. Almost done my personal side project and will get back to the remakes soon.

While at it, I am also looking at fixing some bone issues with Vaginator. I have a newer version of FemmeBot Alice, and A5000 that need to be finalized as well. Need to look at "Sey Robot" too. 

I wanted to know are you going to post your Plumbots somewhere?... I accidentally deleted the ones I had downloaded

3 hours ago, Traveler said:

I wanted to know are you going to post your Plumbots somewhere?... I accidentally deleted the ones I had downloaded

Eventually. Every week I hope to find time to get things uploaded, and every week something comes up (life), and it doesn't get done. 

Well, I managed to get more FemmeBots uploaded. Almost did not happen, as weird things were going on. At one point, the entire page disappeared!!! This as I was finishing. I exited and lost what I had added, but the page was still there, so I redid everything. 

Anyway, I have been expanding a bit, and have added tools to open MMD and XPS model files. Been playing with a few. In conversation with JoshQ, I had a thought as to why some sliders do not work on FemmeBot heads, and made a new head, a bit differently. I still don't know why those sliders do not work, but in a freak lab accident, managed to make a new head that uses Sims' skins instead of being "painted"! FYI, I made a body that uses Sims' a while ago, but it was useless without matching head. I am in testing and further development now. 

So, I still have not gotten back to remaking a few of the Lolita Maid accys, but at least got the dresses done and I think all of the FemmeBots are uploaded. New "skin job" FemmeBot base models are on the main downloads page, and will eventually be added to the Bot Shop page. In the new pic, you will see a couple of unreleased bots. 2B and Motoko Kusanagi aka The Major from Ghost in the Shell. Both are "skin jobs", and I hope to have them 100% very soon... at least faster than a glacier moves. ))) Other projects include a set of The Flintstones, Honoka from DOA and a few other bots and garments. Other bots include remakes of the M-CEKC with better foot/ ankle bones and CAS skin compatible and Sexy Robot with better foot/ ankle bones, as well as the V5000.

Currently trying to learn how to adapt and fix the hair mesh for Honoka. JoshQ has been trying his best to help me understand how to do it, so I think I will get it! Once I figure that out, a whole new world will be opened!!!

Me again! So, I have seen fewer of the new FemmeBot heads have been downloaded, than bodies. I just wish to clarify here that the new bodies basically require the new head. Blending the neck seam has been an issue since the beginning. Older bots, and bot heads have a texture multiplier, like garments or objects, in order for color to show, including areas that would be considered exposed skin. It was necessary to "match the paint" in Plumbot CAS to minimizze the seam of the two separate parts, head and body. 

The new models use the same skin textures found in Sim CAS, where you choose the skin you want for a particular Sim, and the bot skin textures can be changed in Sim CAS, with no issues as far as "breaking" the bot as described in the text of the original FemmeBot. 

So, if you have one of the BeRT bodies (and will extend to most future bot bodies), and an older head, they won't match properly, and the neck seam will be very visible! Aside from the metallic bots, the new head is basically the replacement for all previous heads that had a painted skin coloring done in the bot station. And again, links to S-Club eyelashes and various sliders can be found on the Bot Shop blog. Have fun!

As always, I get distracted from things by SQUIRREL!!! Huh? What was I saying??? Finally finaled the Flintstones set. Only started that in May... 2021.  Horrifying glimpse into how I get things done, I know.

I hope to get more of my older content uploaded here this week (hope in one hand and crap in the other, and see which fills first), as I also have some new stuff that is very close to ready to share. Been downloading a lot of models from DeviantArt. There have been a few that I can work with, and am working on. Many models are either very low poly, or very high. Few if any are in the "Goldielocks" zone. The low poly is generally lower than even TS3, and looks very cartoonish, which is what they are intended anyway.

The higher poly models have been mixed. JoshQ taught me a new way to reduce the polycount, but it's very tedious and slow. After the mesh was useable (still high poly for TS3, but it works), it became the usual playing with bone paint to keep things from looking distorted during animation. I currently have a final test model of an MMD bot, by Kuroyu that will be ready to share very soon. 

A bit of a mess up on The Flintstones upload! During testing, Betty never got pregnant. Usually not an issue, as I USUALLY look at the morph meshes in Blender to fix small morph issues. Umm... apparently, I didn't look at the Betty bottom meshes, and completely forgot to add the pregnant morph. Sorry!!!

The way I make morphs is by using Meshing Tool Kit. I and others, work on a base mesh, then use other tools to automatically generate fat, fit, thin and special (pregnant) meshes. I use MTK and generate morphs in .wso form. This requires a "donor" .wso, generally an EA mesh that is similar so MTK can calculate the new meshes. 99% of EA .wsos do not have a pregnant morph, so I then use a different .wso of whole female nude to generate a second set of morphs. Usually, with garments, such as skirts or even loin cloth, the garment morphs are a bit messed up. It's a process, but I simply throw away the base, fat, fit and thin morphs, and only keep the pregnant morph. Then throw out the pregnant morph from the original morph set and add the good pregnant morph. FYI... the original has a place holder for the pregnant morph, which is merely a copy of the base mesh. Once everything is put together in one set of morphs, I return them to Blender, and make adjustments to fix clipping and straighten things. 

All of that, as well as adding LODs 2 and 3, are often done after intial testing in game. Umm... apparently, I forgot to add the pregnant morph. Anyway, it's fixed now, and I apologize for any inconvenience.

More updated older content is on the way.

I have been looking at most of what I made 2 or 3 years ago, and find too many things that I now can do better. Some outfits, I have been able to dig up my original work folders... some no. Things got moved several times, from one laptop to another because of laptop issues, and some things were misplaced. So, what that means is that many of the updates will be direct drop in replacements of the old CC, with all of the same part ID numbers. Any Sims wearing those garments should retain all aspects of those outfits, including your CAS recolors. If they are in a merged package, simply open with s3pe, import the new package, and all of the old files will be overwritten... save... done.

I have a few options as to how packages made without original files will be finalizzed, and will have installation instructions accordingly. Meantime, I continue to look thru a multiple laptops mess to try to find original workshop folders. I truly need better organizational skills!!! In my defense, some MIA items came during panick data transfer to thumbdrives as my laptop was dying, soooo......

The updates include things that most will never notice, such as improved UV mapping... other changes may include better normals maps for better in game appearance, and adding my "soft nipples" to some tops and dresses, and/ or my Priyatns nude bottom mesh to some bottoms and dresses. "Soft nipples" is my attempt at a more realistic, and sexy garment. It is NOT the CmarNYC af nude top with texture on it! Cmar's nude top is great as a nude top, but semi erect nipples pushing against fabric do not show that way. There is a "soft" transition, which I try to duplicate, and have uploaded versions of in the past. Many of my older skirts and dresses probably used an EA standard nude bottom, which is basic Barbie. Updates will feature my Priyatna bottom, which has a bit more detail.

A huge reason for updates is my much increased understanding of bone painting, and ability to do so. My original work concentrated on body to garment clipping, and use of basic bone transfer tools for an entire mesh. So, as legs and butt may not have clipped thru a skirt or dress, there may have been a few instances (sitting, and Kinky World "spread legs" or passed out on couch as examples) when the crotch area became distorted in upskirt views. I pretty much fixed that issue a while ago, and will now incorporate the better bone weighting into the updates, as I have in the few updated garments already uploaded here.

Another reason is to add pregnant morphs to a few garments that may have not had them. As always, I will take time to look at my morphs... especially after forgetting them in the Betty bottom, and make whatever adjustments are necessary. I have a couple of remakes in game now!!!

Continue to learn new things! Well, new to ME anyway!!! Sorry about so many delays in reloading older content. I continue to see something... OOOO SHINY!!!!!!! 

So, as I am in the middle of so many projects, with nothing getting finalized, I learn new things, and dust off a project that I shelved in August 2021. Well, the Altera Fate (or is it Fate Altera?) project was... is, one of those foreign models that I converted to TS3... crudely. She was pretty good, but not worthy of sharing.

I recently dusted her off and began applying many of the new things I have learned. First thought, was to make her a "skin job". OY! Altera is a FemmeBot, as I forgot to mention that. So, I moved and resized parts of her UV map (how the images that show her garments are arranged in the picture)... resized and rearranged so the parts that are skin, will align with normal Sim CAS skin textures. Easy part! Since then, a lot of bone weight painting... that is what matches to animations skeleton (rig) and how Sims move... also how many sliders work.

There have been MANY changes. This includes her hair. It is a cartoonish appearing hair, but that is what came with the model, sooooo...... I have also learned new bone painting techniques that have greatly improved the Altera hair... which I resized to fit the AX skinjob head. )))

Of the bots, I have also begun final testing... or what I hope will be final testing of 3 other models... 2B, Motoko Kusanagi, and one I named Raven, which is my original mesh, Gantz suit. There is also one new hair, and hopefully, I will get back to a couple of other bot hairs that were shown in BERT pics.

After these, I will try to get a few more Sim garments done and finalized. 

It's HOT! Try to stay cool!!!

Anyone who has been downloading anything I have made for a while, probably knows of my incredibly bad habits of being horrifyingly S L O W !!!

One of, if not the longest running on again, off again, on again (ummm... maybe 3 or 4 years?) projects is Priyatna... pleasant in Russian language. Priyatna is my af... and tf top and bottom nude replacement project, for both default and non-default.

Bottoms are easi(er), as they can just be dropped in and they work. Bone paint has been one of the bigger issues. I have been getting better at it, and have learned a few new things, thanks to JoshQ, and will soon be testing a freshly weight painted bottom.

Tops are another animal! Probably 99% of TS3 players use CmarNYC's female tops with morphing nipples. On the slightly technical side, those are what are called "geom based sliders". Most sliders are "bone based", which means they use bone weights to alter the mesh. Fairly generic. Geom sliders move the individual vertices, so when you alter the vertices in certain ways, those sliders no longer work... So, the trick is to change the basic top mesh, and still have the sliders recognize the vertices, so the sliders will work. Or, make new sliders to match the new mesh, which I am not able to do... yet.

Despite everything, I have a new top mesh in game testing that is very promising. Both of Cmar's nipple sliders work. This mesh has a somewhat more natural breast shape, and better bone painting. The nipples themselves have a softer transition, and do not look like pencil erasers... although some may prefer that.  Keep your fingers crossed. I have several other projects on the front burners, but this one is simmering nicely.

Ultimately, I hope to be able to make a high poly top, with much smoother breasts, but as increasing polycount of the mesh would then require new nipple sliders, which I have had no luck making, that is on indefinite hold, until I have time to mess with geom sliders again. (((

Things go well with most current projects... of course, there remains my terrible habit of getting an.... Ooooo SHINY!!! 

Where was I? Oh yeah, I will be playing, and testing things, then get a new idea, about a new piece, or how to improve one that I thought was almost ready to share. Currently, it is the latter.

I made a conversion of the 2B outfit to FemmeBot a while ago, but was never quite happy with how I made her, so never uploaded. Recently, I returned to the A2 FemmeBot project, and after about 7 different meshes and sets of textures, think I have something. Thought is to upload 2B and A2 together, so THAT 2B has been part of the A2 testing, and seemed lacking. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo..............

A top to bottom makeover, and experimenting with accessory garments again. The WIP results are extremely promising! A FemmeBot 2B body (boots are attached), and accessory top, skirt and under garment. The body mesh is a bit of experimenting as well. Small details, but the leg straps are made to appear as to squeeze the leg, and the buckle is now a 3d part. Also "enhanced" her legs and butt a little (Not too much, I also use sliders). ))) Hmmm... think I'll have to update the Sim 2B garment bottom!

Next shot shows that I need to work on fixing the pattern textures on her chest and back, as well as bone painting between her boobs.

AND... scrapped half of 2B!!! Necessity is mother of invention... At least, that was what Frank Zappa said... then he named his kids Moon Unit and Dweezil, so go figure. 

32 bit TS3, and limits on size of Sim CAS parts, made it impossible to make 2B's garments as accessory, as I had intended. Also, unfortunately, apparently Oniki never envisioned FemmeBots, or the need for items labeled left garter accessory to remove for woohoo anyway. EA has a total limit on a lot in CAS. One thing that happens is that a Sim's everything is squeezed onto one image for game referencing. More accessories, and it makes images for each item smaller and smaller to fit. This cause texture detail loss, and the 2B accessory garments looked like crap!!! You see this on her chest.

A while ago, I determined the need to make bots using the one piece body, and use a "no bottom" blank to fill that slot, so EA doesn't attach random legs. I honestly debated using the slot and converting JoshQ's and my shoes and boots for bots. Glad I did not. 

So I am working to make her outfit as bot CAS bottom. If this works, it will allow me to actually make garments for the 2 BERT models. Fingers and eyes crossed!

2B update: Some success! As you can see, making her outfit as bot CAS legs, worked... of course, when trying something completely different, there are always details to be worked out. One that worked itself out is the texture detail. )))

I thought to offer a better look at what is going on with her body meshes. The boot mesh is basically the same as the one for female Sim, but slightly bigger at the tops to accomodate the increase in her thigh proportions and moving the UV for FemmeBot. Also, a few changes to the body itself... I have been toying with the "tight strap" look. Similar was done on the recently uploaded Gym Karen bottom. I added a few rows of vertices to give the thighs more of the appearance that they are squeezed by the straps. ) I also went more 3d with new buckles, and strap ends. The new mesh also has an "enhanced butt, with more cheek and a deeper crack, and a slight back arch.

I have added these "features" to new BeRT T2 and T3 models, being developed as models to wear legs slot garments.

Stay tuned!