Hello. I'm new at objects, meshing, etc. My long-term goal is I want to build a Computer object completely by hand in a 3D program, that I can bring into Sims 2.

Right now my most immediate problem: I can't figure out MilkShape. I've built 2 things successfully: a cube and a Talking Table .
-I built the cube with 8 vertices and drew in the 8 faces. I also tried something more complex but it kept failing.

Can you suggest some milkshape tutorials for beginners OR is there an easier program to use? (Also, should I be trying to build a computer, or easier things like Decorations?)

This is a good place to learn more about the features in Milkshape, allthough the tuts aren't directly for the sims 2, they're still very good:
http://chumbalum.swissquake.ch/ms3d/tutorials.html

I would suggest that you start with decorative objects before you advance to objects that require more than just meshing skills, computers have animations & bhavs - So for starters, start with simple objects like decoratives, chairs, tables and such

Okay, thank you, I have to try a few of those. I'll leave the Computer obj for now and build something easy. (Lawn-gnome easy.)

I have some newbie questions:
-Do I want to try and use as few vertices and few faces as possible? (ie; instead of making 4 bricks, should I make 1 large brick and use the bmp to make it look like 4 bricks?)

-Does the object have to be a whole object? (ie; I draw a 7-sided cube with one face not drawn. It's like a cardboard box. Do I need to complete the object with 1 more face, or does it matter? Will an incomplete object cause a problem loading in the game?)

-Does the game like generic, push-a-button-to-create-this-object better than a hand-drawn? (Does the game like generic Box better than a hand-drawn Cube?)

"Do I want to try and use as few vertices and few faces as possible? (ie; instead of making 4 bricks, should I make 1 large brick and use the bmp to make it look like 4 bricks?)"

Yes - whereever you can, use as few polys (faces) as possible, to reduce the strain of rendering your object. When you can use texturing to achieve an effect similar to actually making that effect in polygons (like 1 brick instead of 4), do so. Compare your objects to similar Maxis objects (i.e. compare a dining chair with a Maxis dining chair) to get an idea of what your poly counts should be like.

"Does the object have to be a whole object? (ie; I draw a 7-sided cube with one face not drawn. It's like a cardboard box. Do I need to complete the object with 1 more face, or does it matter? Will an incomplete object cause a problem loading in the game?)"

Faces are one-sided, so if you want to make an open-topped box, yes, you can leave one side open, but then you will have to duplicate that object, reverse the faces, and shrink it just a little bit (like .999, assuming you don't want to make the edges of the box where you'd see the cut corrugation, in which case you'd scale by about .97 or so and then fill in the missing faces) so it can form the inside of the box.

Leaving a model incomplete or "open" doesn't cause any problem in the game besides any backfaces being invisible.

"Does the game like generic, push-a-button-to-create-this-object better than a hand-drawn? (Does the game like generic Box better than a hand-drawn Cube?)"

The game doesn't know the difference. Use Milkshape's primitives (the push-button objects) when they're appropriate, and create your own when they're not.

Okay, TY! (I thought I should dblcheck these things first, so I don't make something hugely wrong and relatively unfixable.)

One thing I found that has helped me is to open up some maxis objects and just look at how their built - compare that with their textures and look at how their mapped by opening the obj with a mapping program