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Gameplay Content Mods

HenekHenek Posts: 36 Member
I have fiddled about with the game files a bit and managed to get the CAS Demo to recognize copies of traits and ambitions. For Sims 3 these things were a pain to add as the system relied heavily on enums and hard coded data, but from the looks of it this seems to be changed for the Sims 4.

For anyone interested I have an image to illustrate:
AspirationMod.png

As it seems we know have a Guru participating in the forum I want to ask a simple question:
Assuming all related resources and scripts have been created is it possible for modders to add content such as careers, skills and traits to the game?

Comments

  • jtravers88jtravers88 Posts: 591 Member
    When will the time arrive that we start seeing the resources, as described by a guru several weeks ago, when they said we would be receiving this information over the next few weeks, I would assume after the creation of these forums.
  • SimKureeSimKuree Posts: 39 Member
    I'm not sure if DATA file is used in the final release, and that's why implementing DATA is at the bottom of our todo list. If my memory doesn't fail me, there's reference inside the trait DATA which still needs custom code.
    You can find my S4PE here.
  • SimGuruModSquadSimGuruModSquad Posts: 597 Member
    Hey there. The things you have mentioned (careers, skills and traits) *should* all be add-able via tuning. Yeah, crazy! More details to follow. Of course python script modification is available if needed.
  • Srikandi715Srikandi715 Posts: 1,753 Member
    Hey there. The things you have mentioned (careers, skills and traits) *should* all be add-able via tuning. Yeah, crazy! More details to follow. Of course python script modification is available if needed.

    ... Wow :) That is REALLY cool news.
  • jirlucfanjirlucfan Posts: 447 Member
    edited August 2014
    Hey there. The things you have mentioned (careers, skills and traits) *should* all be add-able via tuning. Yeah, crazy! More details to follow. Of course python script modification is available if needed.

    So modders can make new careers, skills and traits?! :o
  • Srikandi715Srikandi715 Posts: 1,753 Member
    edited August 2014
    jirlucfan wrote: »
    Hey there. The things you have mentioned (careers, skills and traits) *should* all be add-able via tuning. Yeah, crazy! More details to follow. Of course python script modification is available if needed.

    So modders can make new careers, skills and traits?! :o

    Modders could make new careers, skills and traits in TS3. But only REALLY EXPERT modders ;) With a lot of knowledge of programming, and in some cases a core mod was required.

    "Available via tuning" means all you need is a basic knowledge of XML, which is just marked-up text ;) There were dozens or maybe hundreds of people making XML tuning mods for TS3, versus two or three who could do skills or traits (I actually only know of one who DID those).

    So yeah. This time around, we should have custom careers, skills and traits coming out of our ears ;)
  • HenekHenek Posts: 36 Member
    "Available via tuning" means all you need is a basic knowledge of XML, which is just marked-up text ;) There were dozens or maybe hundreds of people making XML tuning mods for TS3, versus two or three who could do skills or traits (I actually only know of one who DID those).

    Actually, the Sims 4 do not use XML for these things. It uses a binary data format that has to be read and written by a program (or you can use a hex editor like I did, but that is not easy). But we have a few different people working on tools for these files, and I am working on a tool specifically for creating these sort of content (that was why I asked in the first place). :smile:
  • SimGuruModSquadSimGuruModSquad Posts: 597 Member
    The Sims 4 uses both binary and XML! Python loads XML based tuning and native/c++ code loads the binary resources that you see in the CAS Demo. There are no examples of XML in the demo because it does not use python. More details on this coming.
  • HenekHenek Posts: 36 Member
    @SimGuruModSquad: Does that mean that for instance Traits cannot be added through XML (if you want to have it available in CAS) but Careers will (as it does not involve CAS)?
    Also, is XML tuning significantly slower then DATA tuning? With a lot of custom content that is quite important.
  • Shimrod101Shimrod101 Posts: 304 Member
    edited August 2014
    The Stereo XML is in the CasDemo; it lists the stereo stations and names of the songs! Possibly this is an "oops!" from whomever put together the Fullbuild file, lol.
  • SimGuruModSquadSimGuruModSquad Posts: 597 Member
    This is how we have it implemented: For a particular piece of tuning there is ONE source XML tuning file - when the file goes through the pipeline it generates 2 resources: A game-ready XML and a binary resource. So both files come from the same XML source. The binary tuning contains just the fields that are relevant to the rendering and UI side of things, while the XML contains the fields python needs to implement the gameplay.

    XML loading can be slower for sure but we have done a lot of work to optimize it. Some of which will benefit mods and some of which may not. When someone has lots and lots of CC installed I have a feeling we will hit other bottlenecks before tuning loading is an issue, but we will have to see.
  • SimGuruModSquadSimGuruModSquad Posts: 597 Member
    Shimrod101 wrote: »
    The Stereo XML is in the CasDemo; it lists the stereo stations and names of the songs! Possibly this is an "oops!" from whomever put together the Fullbuild file, lol.

    Yeah that was me. Ooops.
  • HenekHenek Posts: 36 Member
    edited August 2014
    This is how we have it implemented: For a particular piece of tuning there is ONE source XML tuning file - when the file goes through the pipeline it generates 2 resources: A game-ready XML and a binary resource. So both files come from the same XML source. The binary tuning contains just the fields that are relevant to the rendering and UI side of things, while the XML contains the fields python needs to implement the gameplay.

    @SimGuruModSquad; Ah, that makes sense. So is the file we add through mods the source one, or the python specific one?
    Post edited by Henek on
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