Sun Sims Forums - View Single Post

Hokieman · 02-20-2008, 01:36 AM

Ok, let's try this again - Last time I tried to post, it went to never never land so if this gets duplicated, sorry.

On the divide and conquer approach, been there, done that more than once and it does take a lot of time. I'm surprised you found no broken files though. I found a bunch.

Here's another trick I use that might be a little faster.

Try the clean installer. Put all your clothing files in a directory by themselves. 1st check for dups and clean them out (for some reason, DDO picks up some that Clean installer doesn't and vice versa - I use them both together to clean my directories). Then select the 1st file (hopefully the graphic window will open cause it's not one of the weird files) and just arrow down the list letting the little graphic window change with each file.

When one of few conditions occurs, you've got a wierd file, not necessarily bad, but one that was put together in a way that isn't quite kosher and that may cause problems. The conditions are:
1. The graphic doesn't change between 2 files. Close the graphic and select one of the files, close it again and try again.
2. The graphic window closes on it's own or no graphic pops up for a file (embedded meshes will do this sometimes).
and 3. (this is the real give away) the program locks up when you select the file (with the graphic window open).

Then isolate those files and try to load them in CAS or Bodyshop. (Bodyshop will load files that CAS won't * vice versa) and see if you've found your troublemaker(s). I usually just take them all out unless there's something I'm really attached to. For those, I remake them (export then reimport them) in Bodyshop if I can or go to SimPE if that doesn't work.

Couple of things I learned cleaning my downloads up:

Remember when Maxis changed Bodyshop with Pets - They had to do a patch for backwards compatibility. Some of the files created with the unpatched version of the Pets Bodyshop are still out there and can cause problems even now.

Also, files created or edited with SimPE can be problems (moreso with those done with earlier versions) - usually these are the ones that Bodyshop errors on when you try to export them. Have to use SimPE on them to extract the graphics. If it isn't a singleton mesh, then I reload them through bodyshop. Otherwise, try it in SimPE.

On the clothing manager, check out the Wardrobe Wrangler over at DJS Sims. Really saved me a lot of time cleaning up my bodyshop files. Nicest features are the sorting and ability to recategorize the clothes and tag them. I tagged all of my custom bodyshape clothing so it's at least easier to pick out clothes in CAS although I wish EA would allow collections in buy mode. Has a lot of nice features. It takes a bit to get used to the quirks and the clothing graphics aren't as nice as clean installer but it really is a pretty decent program.

Sorry to be so long winded. Hope it helps.

02-20-2008, 01:36 AM	#9
Hokieman Solar Max Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 520	Ok, let's try this again - Last time I tried to post, it went to never never land so if this gets duplicated, sorry. On the divide and conquer approach, been there, done that more than once and it does take a lot of time. I'm surprised you found no broken files though. I found a bunch. Here's another trick I use that might be a little faster. Try the clean installer. Put all your clothing files in a directory by themselves. 1st check for dups and clean them out (for some reason, DDO picks up some that Clean installer doesn't and vice versa - I use them both together to clean my directories). Then select the 1st file (hopefully the graphic window will open cause it's not one of the weird files) and just arrow down the list letting the little graphic window change with each file. When one of few conditions occurs, you've got a wierd file, not necessarily bad, but one that was put together in a way that isn't quite kosher and that may cause problems. The conditions are: 1. The graphic doesn't change between 2 files. Close the graphic and select one of the files, close it again and try again. 2. The graphic window closes on it's own or no graphic pops up for a file (embedded meshes will do this sometimes). and 3. (this is the real give away) the program locks up when you select the file (with the graphic window open). Then isolate those files and try to load them in CAS or Bodyshop. (Bodyshop will load files that CAS won't * vice versa) and see if you've found your troublemaker(s). I usually just take them all out unless there's something I'm really attached to. For those, I remake them (export then reimport them) in Bodyshop if I can or go to SimPE if that doesn't work. Couple of things I learned cleaning my downloads up: Remember when Maxis changed Bodyshop with Pets - They had to do a patch for backwards compatibility. Some of the files created with the unpatched version of the Pets Bodyshop are still out there and can cause problems even now. Also, files created or edited with SimPE can be problems (moreso with those done with earlier versions) - usually these are the ones that Bodyshop errors on when you try to export them. Have to use SimPE on them to extract the graphics. If it isn't a singleton mesh, then I reload them through bodyshop. Otherwise, try it in SimPE. On the clothing manager, check out the Wardrobe Wrangler over at DJS Sims. Really saved me a lot of time cleaning up my bodyshop files. Nicest features are the sorting and ability to recategorize the clothes and tag them. I tagged all of my custom bodyshape clothing so it's at least easier to pick out clothes in CAS although I wish EA would allow collections in buy mode. Has a lot of nice features. It takes a bit to get used to the quirks and the clothing graphics aren't as nice as clean installer but it really is a pretty decent program. Sorry to be so long winded. Hope it helps.