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cwirsing
Forum Resident
#76 Old 23rd Aug 2005 at 7:06 AM
very good tutorial
Eric
Instructor
Original Poster
#77 Old 24th Aug 2005 at 7:25 AM Last edited by eric etc : 24th Aug 2005 at 7:29 AM.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coffeehedake
Thanks Eric, after posting that I played with the package file in SimPE for a while, and basically figured they needed to be in seperate packages. Glad to hear you came up with the same results too.

Have to admit, I'm pretty new to using SimPE, I'm going to cruise around the forums a bit to see if I can find an answer, but maybe you know off hand:

I'm wondering if I could possibly have sub-channels in the radial menus. Something like this:

ComedyTV -> Robot Chicken
|
\/
Stand-Up Comedians


Sort of like having 'On-Demand' television, where you can watch the show you want, but have them categorized by content.

The main reason I'd like to do this, is to have a bunch of 80's TV shows on my RetroTV station, but be able to choose between say, Thundercats and Knight Rider, or Silver Hawks and GI JOE.

I'm not sure if the TV channel selection menu is simply set up exactly like the conversational radial menus used to interact with other sims/objects/etc or if there is some special procedure for the Televisions. My theory is that they are set up in the same way as everything else in the game, and it would only be a matter of figuring out how to set things up in the package file and correctly defining things in the broadcast.ini.

If this works out, perhaps I can work on some new mesh for a Satellite/TiVo/Digital Cable Reciever object that we could release for custom channels.

I'm still trying to learn exactly how to get new mesh/objects into the game, but as far as the 3D modeling side of things goes, that should be a breeze. (Been doing modeling for years).

Well... Back to reading, I've got a lot to learn about


If you have University EP installed you can use second level submenus (the core game does not support second level submenus) to achieve subchannels.

in post #3, Step 4... use an additional ".../" to add another pie menu level

"Change To.../ComedyTV.../Robot Chicken"
"Change To.../ComedyTV.../Stand-Up Comedians"
Screenshots
Download the InSIMenator at InSIMenator.net
coffeehedake
Test Subject
#78 Old 24th Aug 2005 at 8:43 AM Last edited by coffeehedake : 24th Aug 2005 at 8:50 AM. Reason: Clarification
Awesome!
I can't thank you enough Eric!

I'll be working on this little beauty:
If the image isn't loading try clicking here

Hughes TiVo HDTV DVR / DirecTV Reciever

Although I have a feeling doing the package editing for it will be quite more than I've bargained for.
Would be kindof cool if I can get this to work, will be my first Sims2 Custom object.

That's the 3D Model rendered from 3D Studio MAX... still learning how to add it into Sims2, but so far I'm finding JWood's Tutorials fairly helpful for that purpose (a bit too much walking the reader through the 3D editing part for my taste, but good nonetheless).
Eric
Instructor
Original Poster
#79 Old 26th Aug 2005 at 12:41 AM
You're more than welcome coffeehedake....

btw that DirectTV object/mesh looks fantastic... I hope you can get it to work the way that you intend in the game
Alice-chan
Test Subject
#80 Old 26th Aug 2005 at 9:13 PM
Thanks for this great tutorial. After some trial and error and returning to this thread every 5 minutes I finally managed to stop the TV from blinking blue and change the name in the Pie Menu to the desired one. (Didn't even know, that I installed English UK instead of English...) But now I am stumbling into the same problem, Cecil encountered (page 2, post 30). I have audio for my custom station, but the screen has a test picture consisting of a red X and tvstation_aliceeros. All other stations work just fine, only Alice Eros has a test picture. A little help would be appreciated, before my Sims sue me for not serving the promised content. Thank you in advance...
"Curiouser and curiouser!" - Alice, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter II

Nippon-Funfair.org - The German Anime Manga Games Lifestyle Community
coffeehedake
Test Subject
#81 Old 27th Aug 2005 at 7:46 AM
Hmm... haven't run into that one myself... but for one reason or another, it sound like your video isn't even being loaded at all... either due to a framesize, framerate, or some funky reason that I have yet to think of (LOL ambiguous enough?).

The only other time I've heard of this (except for Cecil's post in this thread) was on a custom channel made for download by someone else here on MTS2, I noticed the same result (big red X and such) on their screenshots, because the person hadn't loaded any video into the folder, they had made the custom channel in hopes that others would fill the folder with their own content... which is what makes me believe that your video (if it's in the right folder) simply isn't being loaded (for whatever reason). I'll have to look into it a bit, to see if I can reproduce the error, and I'll let you know what causes it in my tests.

- Coffee
Guest
#82 Old 28th Aug 2005 at 4:40 PM
Default HOw do I modify the brodcast.ini?
what program do I use to make it work?, i fyou can let me know.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan&Mel
First of all thanks to Eric for the simple tutorial.

For all those pre-university struggling with the blue flashing screen, here is what I did to get it to work:
1. Modified the broadcast.ini files in both the installation and the download directory (hey, better safe than sorry). Initially this still didn't seem to work.
2. Then I created an empty station subfolder also in the game installation directory: ...EA Games/The Sims 2/TSData/Res/Movies/Broadcast. I had already created the station subfolder in the download folder structure. And this solved the problem for me.

Please note that I put my own movie files in the station folder in the download folder structure. The station subfolder in the installation directories remains empty.

It may be that step 1 is sufficient, because when I did step 2 I also double checked and redid step 1, just to ensure I did not make any typo's...
kool4ya91
Lab Assistant
#83 Old 31st Aug 2005 at 7:34 PM
What do you change the guid to? To anything you want?
Eric
Instructor
Original Poster
#84 Old 1st Sep 2005 at 4:31 PM
Change it to an 8 character alphanumeric.

letters must be between A and F
numbers can be between 0 and 9

example 1: AF09F2D3
example 2: DC9B27E2

Keep in mind that whatever GUID that you choose may conflict with a maxis GUID or a custom content GUID.
bradfordkf
Lab Assistant
#85 Old 3rd Oct 2005 at 10:48 PM
thanks a lot for this, eric and coffe. now, im assuming this would add the channel to all tvs, right? is there a way to add a channel to only one television? also, how would i go about doing this without downloading erics base channel? i want to start completely from scratch. thanks again everyone.
Star Ranger4
Test Subject
#86 Old 25th Oct 2005 at 9:27 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by eric etc
Change it to an 8 character alphanumeric.

letters must be between A and F
numbers can be between 0 and 9


This is because the GUID is effectively a text representation of a Hexidecimal (Base 16) number. Since the arabic numbering system that 90% of us were trained in in school is a base 10 number, the letters were added to represent 10 (a) through 15 (f).

Ergo, you use a letter other than a-f and you get something that cant be converted back into Hex, thus rendering the GUID garbage.
lakeyboy
Test Subject
#87 Old 25th Oct 2005 at 1:47 PM
I can't believe this. Thanks heaps for it. I have nighlife and have put the movie folder and the modified broadcast.ini in the Nightlife Program Files Directory while the Extra Channel Package is placed in the Sims 2 Download Folder in My Documents. It works perfectly in the game with my own AVI file but the name stays the same. The one you gave it. I have attatched my Package of your template file which i edited using the pictures in the tutorial but still no luck. Can you help me and do you know whats wrong?
Download - please read all instructions before downloading any files!
File Type: zip Extra TV Channel Nine.zip (946 Bytes, 102 downloads) - View custom content
I am the same Lakeyboy from SimTropolis, The Sims 2, The Sims 1 & SimCity 4.

(Hopefully) Coming soon, I plan to release an Australian TV Addon for the Sims 2. Adds 5 extra channels to your sims standard lineup. Will include ABC, 7, 9, 10 & SBS!
gapikm
Test Subject
#88 Old 7th Nov 2005 at 4:28 PM
In .movie files you mean .mov that you can open in Quicktime, right?
And is this tutorial for an expansion pack and can it be used in original Sims 2?
sailormewmew
Lab Assistant
#89 Old 7th Nov 2005 at 10:17 PM
ummm, in the last step, how do i get the directory? yes, im a bit slow, help me out here peopel -_-;
PapaWolfChop
Test Subject
DELETED POST
7th Nov 2005 at 11:33 PM
This message has been deleted by PapaWolfChop.
SimmerLu442
Lab Assistant
#90 Old 9th Nov 2005 at 3:21 AM
Can you please rewrite this for the new version of SimPE because I'm vbery confused on some parts and very annoyed when the stupid plugin view keeps sliding back down.
~kathy~
Ice Princess
#91 Old 9th Nov 2005 at 5:30 AM
I'll ask him if he has time simmerlu442 but keep in mind it may take a week or two and he will use classic guid.
Home of the Sims 2 InSIMenator.net

Stroke my Llama
lakeyboy
Test Subject
#92 Old 10th Nov 2005 at 11:45 AM
It's not that hard to do with the new SimPE. I've done it now and can edit the descriptions with ease. Just remember guys to change the text for different languages but at least for English and UK English.

______________________
Please ignore this section unless you love SimCity4!
Download - please read all instructions before downloading any files!
File Type: zip Lakeyboy ANT Texture Mod Beta 1.zip (470.6 KB, 78 downloads) - View custom content
I am the same Lakeyboy from SimTropolis, The Sims 2, The Sims 1 & SimCity 4.

(Hopefully) Coming soon, I plan to release an Australian TV Addon for the Sims 2. Adds 5 extra channels to your sims standard lineup. Will include ABC, 7, 9, 10 & SBS!
labine730
Lab Assistant
#93 Old 12th Nov 2005 at 3:50 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by eric etc
thanks eddie.... I was not sure what other filetypes that the channels would play and I have no idea what software that someone would need to use to produce new .movie files


gif files maybe?
Just an anachronism, move along now.
Bodai
Test Subject
DELETED POST
17th Nov 2005 at 5:13 PM
confused...trying to make own channel don't understand...
This message has been deleted by Bodai.
Godimis113
Test Subject
#94 Old 26th Nov 2005 at 9:33 AM
Wow, that was aggravating. After straining my brain for the last half an hour trying to get rid of the flashing blue screen, I fixed it. Thanks coffee for the post about upper and lowercase letters. I had to change one letter in the ini file and now it works. Now I can finally sort all these avis into proper channels. Thank you for the tutorial and thanks for making my game better.
The Sim Vlad
Lab Assistant
#95 Old 28th Nov 2005 at 6:30 AM
I've been a member here since last year and I just really never post as much lol. I'm usually a reader. Anyway Thank you a lot Eric for giving us the insight on how to create our new TV channels and I can't wait for that DDR receiver coffeehedake. Anyway I did the modding and I got everything to work fine, the movies work but I was wondering if there is a limit on how many movies you can watch because I noticed that, when I direct my sims to watch the channel not all the movies in the directory play, only a couple of them play. So is there a set limit on the amount of .avi files or movies you can put in that custom channel folder? Thanks In Advance.

-Vlad
simscrazy
Test Subject
#96 Old 28th Nov 2005 at 11:13 PM
thank you eric and coffeeshake for the instructions. I have followed your instructions but, i can't get my movies to show, all i get is the blue flickering screen. They were showing before i patched nightlife. Any suggestions how i can get around the patch?
Sootycarone
Test Subject
#97 Old 8th Dec 2005 at 8:16 PM
Very good tutorial eric thank you. I too have managed to get my own videos to work (avi) by following your instuctions but cannot change the name from your default in the in game pie menu. I have added 2 extra channels to my game (no add ons) and they both show up as your default name.
I have rechecked several times and have read and tried all the sugestions from others in this forum to no avail, any further advice from anyone would be welcome thanks again for this tute.
ANIMA85
Test Subject
#98 Old 13th Dec 2005 at 6:36 AM
nice job man... it took me awhile to figure it out but it wasnt hard, it was quite easy after i started thinking calmly. thanx a million. peace
Learn to let go of everything you fear to loose
ANIMA85
Test Subject
#99 Old 13th Dec 2005 at 8:58 AM
why cant i add more channels, i made one channel and then i tried making another one and it doesnt give me the option in the pie menu to switch to my new channel.
Learn to let go of everything you fear to loose
Khalhambra
Test Subject
#100 Old 26th Dec 2005 at 9:14 PM
Eric and Coffeeshake thanks for this wonderfull tutorial!

I finally got rid of the blue thingie! But I had to change the Broadcast.ini in Nightlife as well to make it work -and- I had to fill my dummy folders- I just copied the contends of TvChildren into them and then it worked!



Don't ask me -why- though....... :moose:

I've got a question- It seems impossible for me to make an AVI file that runs for more than about 30 seconds. If I try to make an AVI that is longer, the immages run fine but the sound starts to stutter and keeps repeating the first few moments over and over.

And another one- is there a way to order de AVI files in a folder? It seems to me they are shown randomly. Now if I could order those 30 second AVI files, I would have a solution for them being so short. One of sorts, anyway.

Any ideas anyone?
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