#sims tutorials

Using primarily native Linux programs without the Lutris wrapper

Resources necessary:

seabensims’ Afterglow GIMP curves

Prerequisite programs:

Flatpak framework

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Protontricks

Cat’s Easy Hair Binner

CroconawSims’ Bodyshop Installer

Install Protontricks

Install Protontricks if using steam installation of Sims 2 Legacy Collection. Protontricks is available on Linux using Flatpak.

According to the official Github page for Protontricks, you can install Protontricks using Flatpak or Flathub. Distros like Fedora, Manjaro, Mint, ZorinOS, etc already have Flatpak built in. However, if you are using a distro like Ubuntu, EndeavourOS, or Gentoo, you need to install the framework necessary to install Flatpak applications using the command line.

Special note for Debian/Ubuntu users: the official community packages for Winetricks and Protontricks can often be outdated. It is recommended to use Flatpak instead of the community packages for better game compatibility.

Download CroconawSims’ Bodyshop installer for the Sims 2 Legacy Collection via Modthesims

run the exe file for the Bodyshop installer in Protontricks using the ‘run an arbitrary executable (.exe/.msi/.msu)’ option in the drop down list.

Its important to note that the folder setup on steam installations for Legacy Collection on Linux are pretty different compared to the ones of Windows. For ease of installation, put a link to your Legacy Collection installation folder on your desktop, and install Bodyshop to that folder instead of trying to hunt down your Steam common apps folder.

Follow all instructions on the installation prompt to install Bodyshop and/or Homecrafter. I don't think you need to install DXVK to your game – AFAIK Steam already handles that for you using the Proton compatibility layer.

Run Bodyshop.

Depending on how big your downloads folder is, it might take a little bit to load.

Export hair textures from Bodyshop using the on-screen prompts.

Open GIMP and open texture .bmp in GIMP. Apply volatile/base textures – I’m using the afterglow base textures that are colored in volatile.

note that the interface is drastically different from Photoshop and other Windows image manipulation programs. If you have trouble finding the scale transformation tool, use the ‘tool’ menu to manually change the transformation tool to scale.

Apply GIMP curves.

The option to use a color curve can be seen under the ‘colors’ menu. Under the presets menu, select ‘preset from file’ and then select whatever curve you’re using.

Export .bmp and overwrite the files.

Note that depending on your PC, live previews may or may not work for you. My PC’s really crummy so I don’t get live previews.

Make sure the new textures were applied in Bodyshop.

Bin hair in either SimPE (which I've personally had some trouble getting running on Linux -_-) or Cat’s Easy Hair Binner by running either program in the Proton prefix.

Merge SavedSims folder files with mesh if desired, and compress to .zip or .7z to prepare for upload.

Special thanks:

I posted a short tutorial on how to level up your sims' photos in-game, especially when you want to take pics of them off-lot in front of amazing scenery on terrain!

SolsticeSims’ TS4 Basic Editing Tutorial in Procreate

Can someone point me to a tutorial on how people make portraits of their sims on a plain background or on some subtle gradient? Like, do they make something like a greenscreen? Do I need to erase all the stuff myself? I mean something like @noodlesims​ did here.

HEYY. The #1 biggest difference in speeding up my game has been regularly going through my cc with Bulk Rename Utility. Unfortunately it’s only for windows, but it is a must-have. It literally took my game from 10 minute load time to just about a minute or less the first time I used it! I had been skeptical but now I do it every week or two, or as soon as I finish  a big cc shop.  Why is this useful? Because while the game can read underscores and hyphens just fine, it just can’t process packages with ANY OTHER characters in its name as well, and it takes significantly longer to deal with each and every package during start up as it tries to figure it out.  My Computer Science PhD + programmer bf can’t even figure out how they even managed to make it like that, but hey. That’s EA for you!  😅 So, here’s some instructions on how to use the Bulk Rename Utility to change the name of your cc (leave script mods alone!) 

PS: Creators, ONLY USE LETTERS, NUMBERS, AND UNDERSCORES/HYPHENS IN YOUR FILE NAMES!! <3 (also please put your name and the name of the thing in the title for later sorting. Version3.package is a pita for people trying to organize their mods folder!) Anyway, onto the instructions! 0. After you download the FREE Bulk Rename Utility program, install it and open it up and here is what/where to do:

1. Navigate to your cc folders here. If you use a lot of folders to organize things like I do it can be tedious because you have to go through each  separately, but it’s still pretty quick. DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF YOUR SCRIPT MODS!!!!!! And iirc that you should NOT change the names of mods that *have* a corresponding script file either. I don’t even go into my mods folder and ONLY go into my cc folders with this program. 

2. This is where you tell the program what characters you want to delete from the names. I have mine set to ()[]{}#&* AND a space, as those were all the characters i was seeing in my cc that weren’t underscores or dashes. 

Of course if you just want to get rid of everything that isn’t a number or letter you could also just click Sym. But I’d rather keep as many files as possible the same to lessen the chance of me collecting multiple copies of the same file. Plus, neatness!  3. Here is where you see all the cc in that folder. I just click one and then CTRL A to select all, and it turns the filenames that will change green so they’re easy to see. You can keep them all highlighted as you then:

An anon requested that I do a tutorial, so here it is!

I’m a total noob, so I’m sorry if this is terrible. heh.