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CAW Research Thread: Tricks and Tiptorials.

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tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
edited March 8 in Nominated Threads
Since CAW released last year I've been pretty immersed in it. I've already built Niua Simoa in two versions, as well as the tiny Dyer's Island and I'm currently working with other ModtheSims members on an Italian world. Alongside those I have two other worlds prepped for release. To put it bluntly: I really love CAW.

Along the way, I've picked up lots of tricks and tips that might not occur to everyone. So I'm splitting this first post into three segments CAW Issues where we as world builders can list problems with CAW, as well as work arounds, and CAW Tips, where we can share tricks we've stumbled upon. Finally, there is a segment for sharing CAW Resources.

Please post your tips and tricks!

CAW Issues:
- Loading Edit-in-Game + Work Arounds.
- WA Spawners Don't Work (feature or bug?)
- The Infamous Lot Edges + Work Arounds.
- The Firepits in CAW Don't Work + Work Around.
- Can't Add Sims to Your World? Share the Save Game.
- Worlds Cannot be Made into Vacation Hoods
- What Are the Pitfalls of Worlds Without Roads?

CAW Tricks:
- Hidden Zones (and the problems that can arise).
- Hidden Tombs Are Very Handy!
- Claeric's Trick for Changing a World's Water Colour (links to ModtheSims).
- Ascarrott's Trick for Adding a Haze Effect to Your Worlds (links to ModtheSims).
- deathoflight's Tutorial: Creating a Volcanic Island Heightmap using Photoshop (links to ModtheSims).
- Flabaliki's CAW Video Tutorial (has a good tip on lightsources, links to SimSupply).
- Kiwi_tea's Tutorial for Adding Sims to Worlds (mods required)

CAW Resources:
- Martine & Co's Awesome Textures for CAW (links to ModtheSims).
- BSIRegina's Additional Textures (link is in her signature).
- auntylynd's Terrain Texture Links & Other Effects thread.
- Minimum Sizes for Rabbit Holes.
- What Are Standard Residential/Community Lot Sizes?
- An Excellent Thread for Discussing Worlds You've Downloaded.

Tiny Tips
- Turn off Fog under the View menu for a better view of your world.
- Always press the ESC key after you finish placing trees and objects.
- Take your time making waterways. Rework them to minimise jagged blue bits cutting into the water.
- Consider using the river objects layered over painted valleys, instead of making rivers with the sculpting tools.
- Look at the bottom right-hand corner to see the size of lots you're placing.
- One tile in a CAW lot equals one wall-length in game.
- Make sure sims can route to all lots they might attempt to visit (eg. big parks). Not doing this can cause massive lag and hanging.
Post edited by EA_Solaire on

Comments

  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    Problems Loading Edit-in-Game

    Pretty much everyone who uses CAW with anything except the base game has noticed that edit-in-game (henceforth referred to as EIG) has a pretty... ...inelegant way of loading. For those of us with good computers, it also runs at alarming and destructive framerates, it cannot be easily routed through a limiter. Personally, EIG takes a minimum of 15minutes to load without using a work around. CAW has a complete fit loading any files except for the base game ones. You can get CAW to load quickly by temporarily moving the DBCCache folder out of Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3. But bear in mind you can only work with basegame objects that way.

    Or you can leave the computer and have a cup of tea and read a book while it loads. Currently there aren't really any good solutions to this problem.

    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    WA Spawners Don't Work
    (feature or bug?)

    Currently only some spawners from WA work in home worlds. There seems to be little rhyme or reason behind which ones work and which ones don't. All the spawners that don't work in homeworlds will produce base game collectables.

    What Works
    - Geodes
    - Septarian Nodules
    - Quartz
    - All Fishing Spawners
    - All Seed Spawners (unconfirmed)
    - All Space Rock Spawners (unconfirmed)

    What Doesn't Work
    - All Metals (spawns low value base game metals)
    - All Gems Not Listed Above (spawns low value base game gems)
    - All Butterflies (will spawn common-uncommon base game butterflies)
    - All Beetles (will spawn common-uncommon base game beetles)
    - Treasure Spawners (look like little droplet shaped tags, do nothing nomatter what setting you use)
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    Even More Reserved
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    Hidden Zones:
    (and the problems that can arise)

    Using CAW and WA it is possible to create 'hidden zones' that NPCs cannot route to, but that players can using Dive Pools or the Teleporter. The only problem with this trick is that tourists visiting your world can get stranded in the hidden zone if that is where they arrive. Also, you can potentially return from vacation and be placed in the hidden zone if it's near the outskirts of your world. Children cannot use dive wells, so you'll have to cheat to get them home if this happens to them.

    For an example of this, see the hidden volcanic island in the WA version of Niua Simoa. Use this technique with caution, and play test your worlds extensively if you try this.

    Here is how it's done:

    Tiptorial - Making out-of-camera 'zones'

    Using uber dive wells, you can make the camera do something that, normally, it cannot: You can bypass camera non-routable terrain to go to hidden zones off camera. Obviously you'll be doing it in a detailed world, but for clarity's sake, I've kept this simple as.

    Step 1:

    MTS2_kiwi_tea_1051425_Eg1.jpg

    Select a lot that can be hidden outside of normally routable areas, preferably somewhere the camera cannot see. In this example, we will travel from Lot 1 to Lot 2 despite a camera non-routable mask. This mask - yellow in CAW - means that sims and the camera cannot travel there when navigating the world. It's important that Lot 2 is NOT a lot sims might try to route to - it cannot be residential, townie, rabbithole, gym, park, etc. It must either be a hidden lot, or a visitors allowed lot. This point is important, if lots of sims are trying to go somewhere that they can't go, your game will lag as it continually tries to find a pathway there.

    Step 2:

    Draw the camera-non-routable area around the lot you want to make secretly accessible.

    MTS2_kiwi_tea_1051426_Step2.jpg

    Step 3:

    Add dive wells to both Lot 1 and Lot 2. Shift + Click them, and give them both a different name. Now, make them both 'uber dive wells'. This means they can route to any lots in your world, you just have to type in its name.

    MTS2_kiwi_tea_1051427_Step5.jpg

    Step 4:

    Test it out in game! Make sure you link the wells both there AND back. Otherwise your sims will be trapped in a small, camera routable bubble FOREVERS.

    Example of final product here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbx2d3bKVis
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    Fire Pits in CAW

    This thread reminded me of this issue. If you look in the objects you can place outside of lots in CAW, you'll find a firepit. This is purely decorative. Even on flat land, to the best of my testing, it won't operate as it would on a lot. It's useful for lighting effects, but if you want a place where sims can roast food and socialise, you'll need to create a hidden lot and place a firepit on that.
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • auntielyndsauntielynds Posts: 3,071 Member
    edited April 2010
    Kiwi Tea!

    I haven't seen you over in this neck of the woods. This is going to be a great thread. We can keep it on the front page, hopefully it will get stickied. I'll edit this post with something relevant to the thread when I have something. I must have something in my bag of tricks that will be useful to others. I'll ruminate on this for awhile.

    :D Kudos!
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited July 2010
    Can't Add Sims to Your World? Share the Save Game.

    Unfortunately, unlike custom neighbourhoods in TS2, you can't add your own sims to worlds without using mods. The only non-mod option at the moment for sharing pre-populated worlds is to upload both the finished world and a save game in that world. Now, just put all your families into the world. Keep in mind that, as usual, CC will not share this way. Try to keep CC to a minimum so that people playing your world don't have to download too much.

    To get this save game is very easy. Go to Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Saves and find the folder that has the same name as the saved game you want to share. Put this into a .zip or .rar file using a program like WinRAR, and upload it somewhere. Just tell people to put the folder they get into the same directory as you got it from above. But they must have the world you've made installed for it to work.
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    Hidden Tombs Are Very Handy!

    If you're not into tomb building, you might overlook the hidden tomb lot category, but you shouldn't. Hidden Tombs don't generate map tags in game, and they don't have to be tombs at all! Basically, any community lot you want to be 'secret' from players can be a hidden tomb, although you must bear in mind the NPCs will not visit it. Want to make hidden parks that grow life fruit in special corners of your world? Use this lot type! Want to make a hidden fire trap in a remote part of your map? Use this lot type! Want a random crowd of Mysterious Mr Gnome in the middle of your forest? Again, use this lot type! Find your own applications. I guarantee you'll find uses for this lot category!
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    Worlds Cannot Be Made Into Vacation Hoods

    As I noted in this post, a lot of the infrastructure for vacation hoods already exists in CAW. We have the various lot types, many of which are functionally useless in our worlds - the basecamp, the townie lots, etc.

    There are clearly visible technological hoops that EA would need to jump through to make this possible. It's not as simple as it might seem to us initially. For example: Would CAW allow us to preset the kind of information about facial structures and clothing for townies generated in vacation worlds that EA have encoded for China, France and Egypt? Or would we have to cope with the haphazard rainbow of townies that we get now? Would we be able to preset what could be sold in the shops of our vacation worlds? Could we potentially ever design our own adventures to generate from the basecamp pinboard?

    This is definitely an issue I'd love to hear EA comment about. Not to promise anything, only to hear whether it might ever be viable.
  • WizardOfSmozWizardOfSmoz Posts: 4,306 New Member
    edited April 2010
    :thumbup:
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    What Are Standard Residential/Community Lot Sizes?

    Using standardised lot sizes in your world will make it much easier for people to find houses that fit. You can, of course, use different sizes, and in the case of speciality lots you possibly even should. Standard sizes use the lots in Sunset Valley and Riverview as benchmarks. All the lots can face any direction. Here are the most commonly accepted standard sizes:

    16x18
    20x30
    30x30
    30x40
    60x60
    64x64
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    What Are The Pitfalls of Worlds Without Roads?

    This isn't really an issue, it's more a consequence you need to be wary of if you decide not to use any roads in your world. Firstly, if you opt not to use roads then a lot of NPC events won't work in your world. NPCs who don't use cars, like death, will still arrive. Thankfully. NPCs who do use cars will not. This means that unless your world has roads you cannot get any services by calling the police, the fire service, repairmen, or the adoption agency. If you are robbed no policeman will arrive. You can call all these services, it's just that nothing will happen when you do. If something catches on fire, a fireman may materialise on your lot to put things out (thanks Bflong6 for this info).

    Another thing to bear in mind is that, without roads, your children and teens will automatically get the 'Follow [adult's name]' status when their curfews hit, and they will route home. You cannot control them when this happens, you just have to accept they are going back to their home lot for the night.
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • BSIReginaBSIRegina Posts: 5,110 Member
    edited April 2010
    That is a lot of really excellent information! Of course by now I think we've pretty much figured most of it out, but it's still nice to have it all in one thread.

    I have one question about no roads and fire, though. I remember someone here a while back created a town with no roads, then their Sim had a fire and before long a fireman came running into the house, put out the fire then just vanished.

    Another curiosity I have is why is 16x18 considered a standard sized lot? Sure, there are a couple that size in Sunset Valley, but they're the exception rather than the rule. Riverview had oddnesses like that as well, including an entire section of 25x30 lots on the island. To my mind, 16x18 sized lots are just a pain in the wazoo.
    Post edited by Unknown User on
    Thanks to AdBlock: currently blocking 184 annoying animated siggy .gifs ;)
  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    edited April 2010
    Wow... nothing like walking in and taking over. :shock:
    You say we but you put your name on the top. Nice... you must be in a Business Career.

    I've not seen you here before. I guess it would have been nice to have an introduction. I know, I know, we're just the ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ on the Forum and you hang out at modthesims.

    Hi, I'm Rflong7- I don't have a world on the Exchange nor any that will ever be Featured. I kinda like CAW but I'm tired of it. Well, have fun. Welcome to the Friendly Forum.... :wink:

    *Yes, I'm being rude, sorry- maybe if you talked it your post. I was hoping for discourse but you just link our information and expect... what?
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • BSIReginaBSIRegina Posts: 5,110 Member
    edited April 2010
    Well, I ain't no ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ, and I've seen very few ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ in this section of the forum. And man, oh man, oh man, you want to talk about prolific world builders, let's talk about Rflong7 here who can whip out worlds better and faster than almost anyone else I've seen, probably done burnt herself out on the tool by now. :lol:
    Thanks to AdBlock: currently blocking 184 annoying animated siggy .gifs ;)
  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    edited April 2010
    BSIRegina wrote:
    Well, I ain't no ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ, and I've seen very few ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ in this section of the forum. And man, oh man, oh man, you want to talk about prolific world builders, let's talk about Rflong7 here who can whip out worlds better and faster than almost anyone else I've seen, probably done burnt herself out on the tool by now. :lol:

    Yes, I know we aren't but that's how we're seen. Sorry, Regina. :(
    I must be needing coffee since I'm being so rude. I know I shouldn't stay up all night. :lol:


    *Okay (No Road- No pizza delivered but the firefighter did show up and put out the fire) I rather they have the pizza. :D
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • water_cat1water_cat1 Posts: 751 New Member
    edited April 2010
    Hello kiwi_tea, nice to see you here, i suggest requesting a link in the FAQ, so even if this doesn't get stickied, then at least it is still accessible. I just have not seen Shalua around lately.

    especially like the tip on the secret dive well, but can you switch back and forth between people in the secret place and people in the normal part of town?
  • DOLLDRMS1DOLLDRMS1 Posts: 2,955 Member
    edited April 2010
    Welcome back to this forum! I haven't seen you post here since the first thread while you were working on the base game version of Niua Simoa. LOL, I've enjoyed the first version so much that I haven't "upgraded" to the WA version.

    I've been toying with the idea of downloading CAW and it is nice to see all this good information in one thread. I think anyone who is just getting around to downloading the tool will be happy not to have to search quite as much for info and I sure hope that all the world creators here will contribute/add to the thread.

    There is a lot of knowledge and good people on this forum. Even without CAW installed, it has become my favorite forum to read.
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    @Rflong7: Oops. Perhaps I took the wrong attitude into this, and if so I'm very sorry Rflong7, I certainly didn't come on here with any intent to 'takeover', I came on here to share. Moreover, I didn't *just* link to other people. I'll remove my name from the title, you're right, it's rude of me to include it there, and I wrote the title before I seriously formulated what I wanted this thread to be about. When I wrote it I just wanted to share what I'd found. Then, when I formulated the thread, it seemed reasonable to invite a broader discussion.

    Really? Because I'm from modthesims you think it's justified to be so rude? Who's treating who like '๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ' here? I was from here first, and I'm still from here just as I'm from there. It's that I find it harder to get the depth of constructive criticism here. The hostility and the needless defending of EA even from worthy criticism mean I don't spend as much time here as I used to, that's true. But I still like it here, I still have an ongoing (if small) presence here, and I hope I still have a right to be here without being ripped into. Currently it feels like you're trying to make MATY look tame for my sake.

    A lot of the information I've provided I gathered through experience with CAW, and not just through linking to your info. Examples of this are the dive well trick, and the spawner issues (which people know about, but haven't shared clearly enough with beginners).

    Can we put my mistake, and your attack, behind us immediately?

    RSIRegina & Rflong:
    Were there no roads anywhere at all? Because if there's a distant road then I believe firemen will run all the way from the road to your house, even if it takes hours. If not, that's really interesting. I've never been able to get that to happen! I'll update my point on this issue.

    I've been trying to work out why the 16x18 lots are standard as well. The short answer is that I don't know. I *think* it's just that they were the smallest lots available in the original worlds, and so that was the size people were building on. Now it's the size people use to ensure shareability between their worlds and Sunset Valley, I guess.

    @water_cat1 "especially like the tip on the secret dive well, but can you switch back and forth between people in the secret place and people in the normal part of town?"

    Yep, you can. The camera just jumps over the unroutable zone exactly like it does when you use a dive well. :)
  • Rflong7Rflong7 Posts: 36,584 Member
    edited April 2010
    @Rflong7: Oops. Perhaps I took the wrong attitude into this, and if so I'm very sorry Rflong7, I certainly didn't come on here with any intent to 'takeover', I came on here to share. Moreover, I didn't *just* link to other people. I'll remove my name from the title, you're right, it's rude of me to include it there, and I wrote the title before I seriously formulated what I wanted this thread to be about. When I wrote it I just wanted to share what I'd found. Then, when I formulated the thread, it seemed reasonable to invite a broader discussion.

    Really? Because I'm from modthesims you think it's justified to be so rude? Who's treating who like '๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿธ' here? I was from here first, and I'm still from here just as I'm from there. It's that I find it harder to get the depth of constructive criticism here. The hostility and the needless defending of EA even from worthy criticism mean I don't spend as much time here as I used to, that's true. But I still like it here, I still have an ongoing (if small) presence here, and I hope I still have a right to be here without being ripped into. Currently it feels like you're trying to make MATY look tame for my sake.

    A lot of the information I've provided I gathered through experience with CAW, and not just through linking to your info. Examples of this are the dive well trick, and the spawner issues (which people know about, but haven't shared clearly enough with beginners).

    Can we put my mistake, and your attack, behind us immediately?

    RSIRegina & Rflong:
    Were there no roads anywhere at all? Because if there's a distant road then I believe firemen will run all the way from the road to your house, even if it takes hours. If not, that's really interesting. I've never been able to get that to happen! I'll update my point on this issue.

    I've been trying to work out why the 16x18 lots are standard as well. The short answer is that I don't know. I *think* it's just that they were the smallest lots available in the original worlds, and so that was the size people were building on. Now it's the size people use to ensure shareability between their worlds and Sunset Valley, I guess.

    @water_cat1 "especially like the tip on the secret dive well, but can you switch back and forth between people in the secret place and people in the normal part of town?"

    Yep, you can. The camera just jumps over the unroutable zone exactly like it does when you use a dive well. :)

    Hm,... :lol:
    Attack it wasn't- Rude, it most definitively was. Therefor I do apologize. There is a sticky with FAQ which you could have added to with your hints and tips. My opinion...
    *Although I do understand most people like to have their own hints and tips thread. :D

    Firefighter:
    Yes, my little world has no roads- at all. Only sidewalks. Now it has no pizza. :(
  • tea_and_bluestea_and_blues Posts: 889 Member
    edited April 2010
    Point taken, but the FAQ seems more a 'beginners guide' and a place for general Q&A than a thread to share more indepth tips on. It's not just having one's own thread, it's making a place for investigation and discussion that is distinct and accessible.
  • Diskette66Diskette66 Posts: 842 New Member
    edited April 2010
    Were there no roads anywhere at all? Because if there's a distant road then I believe firemen will run all the way from the road to your house, even if it takes hours. If not, that's really interesting. I've never been able to get that to happen! I'll update my point on this issue.

    I have played around with Aspen Bay, which has practically no rabbit holes, no roads at all. I did have a fire there, but oddly the fireman just materialized out of thin air in the house to help put it out (good thing too, it takes hours for sims to get anywhere in that world. My sims are forever "standing up" other sims for dates because they show up 2 hours late :lol: )
  • Elilie101Elilie101 Posts: 1,367 New Member
    edited April 2010
    Useful info, hadn't thought about using hidden tomb lots that way, before. I might use it for a hidden house on a hill, so the house will be more like scenery than an actual lot.
  • water_cat1water_cat1 Posts: 751 New Member
    edited April 2010
    Point taken, but the FAQ seems more a 'beginners guide' and a place for general Q&A than a thread to share more in depth tips on. It's not just having one's own thread, it's making a place for investigation and discussion that is distinct and accessible.

    yes, that is the general point, most people here consider themselves still beginners and amature at CAW. BUT it has been stickied and there are links on the page to i guess some slightly more 'advanced' stuff, so its probably a good idea to get a link to this thread on there. Just in case this does not get stickied it is still able to be found easily.
  • magician1magician1 Posts: 3,098 Member
    edited April 2010
    Just want to say TY for this.

    Bookmarked it and will visit often!

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