MizoreYukii

How to Make CAS CC Knittable

Added 2020-09-07 16:16:14 +0000 UTC

Note: There is currently a bug with custom CAS knittables where they duplicate in CAS upon unlocking them (excluding adding to existing knit swatches). I have posted a bug report on the AHQ and the Guru’s are aware of the problem and are looking into it. Feel free to post your experiences on there and Me Too the thread after you’ve made your items.

Updates

2020 December 7th - Updated the Custom Knitting Categories .package to account for patch 1.69.54.1020 changes.

Just so everyone knows ahead of time, baby onesies are not covered in this tutorial but will be covered in my next set of tutorials, as the baby onesies have a different process and require a new script. Another is that this tutorial does require minimal tuning/modding, but I promise it’s not going to be scary or difficult, and I’ll explain all the steps! I’m only covering the basics in this tutorial to get your CC in the game and functioning.

Before I begin, when writing this tutorial I realized EA gave us limited interactions (or categories as I like to call them) and specific interaction names (like beanies), so I took the time to make a few more and rename some of the existing interactions so we could have more options, and made it available as a download. The new ones have their own unique level requirements, but the renamed EA interactions have the same level. If you used one of the new interactions I made then you will need to make sure to tell people download my custom categories .package and XML Injector.

For this tutorial you will need:

Sims4Studio
A photo editing program
Andrew’s Crafting Enabler
My example .package (download at bottom of post)
If you are adding your CC to my custom knitting interactions you will also need XML Injector and my custom categories .package (download at bottom of post) for testing and linking.

Note: Some images may be hard to see. I've posted an Imgur link for each one for you to click on and open in a separate tab to view in case it is.

To start make your CAS CC first as you normally would, but don’t do each swatch yet to save yourself some work. Cloning an existing knitting CAS item eliminates the next step, but otherwise is not required. If you are adding a new swatch to an existing knittable, you want to use “Add CAS Part Swatch” and skip this next step as your CC item already has what it needs.

Step 1: Once that is done (and if you didn’t clone a knitting item), go to the Warehouse section of your CAS item and select the CAS Part file. Look (or use the search function up above) for the section called “Buff” inside the CAS Part, and once you find it add 00000026 to the Group section, 000000000003AC8E to the Instance, and 6017E896 to the Type. This assigns the “WearingKnittedClothing” invisible buff that is required for a knitted item to be shown for the Knitted Aspiration objective.

https://i.imgur.com/QC1AfLe.png

https://i.imgur.com/O57RXb9.png

Step 2: Scroll down a little further (it’s not far) and look for GamePlayLockedDescription and GamePlayLockedDescriptionKey. They might be slightly cutoff where it says description. Here under GamePlayLockedDescriptionKey you need to enter the description key (I made a list below) that explains what level your item will be available for knitting. It doesn’t affect if it unlocks at this level, it only let’s people know when they can access it with your custom knitting recipe.

Here are the available level descriptions, the first being EA’s and the second being available with my custom category .package. Decide which category your CC falls under (so a hat, or a sweater, etc.) and then copy the italicized number of your chosen category and paste it in the GamePlayLockedDescriptionKey box. And that’s all you need to do for the description section.

EA’s Level Descriptions:

(Beanies/Hats) FE4B8009 - Requires Knitting Skill Level 1 to craft

(Socks) 27C1F576 - Requires Knitting Skill Level 2 to craft

(Sweaters/Tops) 021FEAE5 - Requires Knitting Skill Level 5 to craft

(Onesies) C15C92E5 - Requires Knitting Skill Level 8 to craft

(Sweater Scarfs) B6C28AFE - Requires Knitting Skill Level 9 to craft

(The Forbidden Sweater/Level 10) B9EA8E02 - Requires the Sacred Knitting Knowledge Reward Trait to craft

My Custom Category Level Descriptions

(Gloves) 62FBB6BA - Requires Knitting Skill Level 3 to craft

(Accessories) 62FBB6BD - Requires Knitting Skill Level 4 to craft

(Bottoms) 62FBB6BF - Requires Knitting Skill Level 6 to craft

(Outfits) 62FBB6BE - Requires Knitting Skill Level 7 to craft

https://i.imgur.com/RlJrjts.png

Step 3: Now look or search for “PartFlags2”, this one is very close to the bottom. Once found check the “CreatedInGame” box as this locks the item from being used in CAS. You’re now finished, so go ahead and make all of your swatches now or repeat these steps for each CAS Part Resource in your file (aka the swatches).

Edit: Someone let me know a workaround to hide the duplicates until EA has fixed the issue. Under the first "PartFlags" there is a "ShowInUI" check box that is already checked. This determines if the item shows up in CAS or not, but for some reason when CAS items are unlocked they show again despite having this box unchecked. So if you don't mind the locked item not being viewable in CAS, go ahead and uncheck that box to avoid the duplicates.

https://i.imgur.com/uan3WSH.png

Step 4: Before you move on, go through each CAS Part Resource and copy the Instance under Key and paste in a safe place (don’t forget to label which swatch it is). You’re going to need these for later, so don’t lose them

https://i.imgur.com/KwrGZvT.png

Step 5: Now that we’re done fixing the CAS item, it’s time to make the placeholder object. Regardless of what you call it, the placeholder object is what appears in your inventory after you’re done knitting. It’s what allows you to unlock the CAS item, or sell it on Plopsy, etc. It doesn’t have a mesh though, just an icon, so you don’t need to worry about making a second mesh. All you’re doing is recoloring or replacing the icon and renaming the object. To start go to Create 3D Mesh under Object on the main menu of S4S. When it loads select the Nifty Knitting pack from the Game Pack dropdown box, check the “Show Debug Items”, and now search for a placeholder to clone. You’ll want to choose one of the ones shown in the second image that fits with what you are making.

https://i.imgur.com/xfIX4fx.png

https://i.imgur.com/TtYIArc.png

Step 6: Once you’ve named your .package and it has loaded, the first thing to do is rename the object. This will be important for later, and it’s easiest to do so now. Don’t mind the empty studio space, that’s normal.

https://i.imgur.com/AAg37E4.png

Step 7: When done, go to the Warehouse and export and edit the icon like you would a CC thumbnail to make it match your CC item. Import it back in when you’re done, making sure to keep it PNG and the same size and transparency. Now go to the Data tab on the right above the image you just imported back in and copy the Instance under Key. Paste somewhere safe, label, and save for later.

https://i.imgur.com/mWKfk6D.png

https://i.imgur.com/K7utKpF.png

Step 8: Still in the object Warehouse, go down and select the Object Definition, and under Key again you need to copy the instance, label, and save for later.

https://i.imgur.com/pp47qtt.png

Step 9: Select the Object Catalog next and look for the “NameHash” under Common. Copy this number, label and save it for later. Save your object .package now if you hadn’t already, and you’re now welcome to close it. (Note: You may need to repeat these object steps depending on what you decide in Step 11.)

https://i.imgur.com/T5roMT2.png

Step 10: Rename and open my example .package you downloaded. Inside should be a file type called Snippet with a long custom name. This Snippet file is what Andrew’s Crafting Enabler reads, it adds your recipe to the knitting interactions through the script. Let’s ignore it for now and instead go to the top and click Tools > Extract Tuning. Wait, eventually the popup will load.

https://i.imgur.com/o5O3IVH.png

Step 11: Once it does, type recipe_knitting into the search box. It will filter to just the knitting recipes. Now before we add anything you need to decide. Do you want people to knit once to unlock all the swatches of one CAS item, or do you want people to knit each swatch like EA has it? If you only want people to knit once to get all the swatches find a recipe that has a similar theme, select and click “Add to current package”. If you want people to knit for each swatch, add the same amount of recipes as your swatches (so shift + left click and select all the same recipes that you need). If you have more swatches than the available recipe, then wait till I cover what to do below and then repeat this step to re-add the same ones.

https://i.imgur.com/LhU02On.png

Step 12: When your recipe(s) have been added you need to save, close, and re-open the package. This prevents a bug that reverts your changes. Now it’s time to give these new files a unique name, otherwise they will conflict with the original EA files. Select your Recipe Tuning file and go to the Data tab.

https://i.imgur.com/xexgrbw.png

Step 13: On the Data tab go to where it says Name and delete what’s there, now type in YourCreatorName: and make sure you include the : after your creator name otherwise this won’t work (please use your actual creator name). Continue adding specific words, like YourCreatorName:custom_MyKnittingOutfitRecipe_SwatchOne or something like that. The longer and more unique, the better. When you’re done click away, usually down below in the empty space works. You should see the Tuning ID and Instance change automatically. Your file is now unique and won’t conflict.

https://i.imgur.com/8LuCtLq.png

Step 14: Now you need to edit the SimData because they are a pair and need to always match, otherwise you can run into errors. Copy the Instance from your Recipe Tuning and click the SimData file, then paste the new number in the Instance box. Clicking away should make the file update.

https://i.imgur.com/4mzvFC8.png

Step 15: Go back to your Recipe Tuning. Copy the name you entered before, then go back to the SimData. Click on the XML tab this time. On line 4, which is near the top, there should be a name= and the original recipe name surrounded by quote marks. Carefully delete that name, but keep the quote marks, and paste yours instead in-between them. Your files should now match in both name and instance.

https://i.imgur.com/fO4YzOm.png

Step 16: Now to edit our Recipe so it knows how to reference our item and object. Go to Tools > Hash Generator and a popup will appear. Locate your Object Definition key you saved earlier and copy/paste it under Convert Number where it says Hexadecimal. The area above it called Decimal will now have a new number appear. This is the tuning ID of your object and is how the game references it. Copy the Decimal/tuning ID and leave the window open as we have another conversion to do.

https://i.imgur.com/nZLyMRE.png

Step 17: Go back to your main Recipe Tuning file. Either search (using Ctrl + F) or scroll down to around line 74 (line numbers are on the left) and look for “definition”. Once you find it, replace the number there with yours. Don’t worry about the length difference, this is normal for mods/CC. The green text next to it can be altered to whatever you want as green text has no effect on the game and is for human eyes only (don’t mess with the arrows, lines, and exclamation though <--! -->).

https://i.imgur.com/iTQUWEh.png

Step 18: Bring the hash generator back up and grab your first CAS Part Resource/swatch number. Convert it as explained before and copy it. Go back to the Recipe Tuning file and look for "stored_cas_parts" which is near the bottom, around line 171. Replace the number here with yours. Depending on the file you copied there are probably multiple, which for this recipe I copied are the different age swatches for the panda beanie recipe (so adult black/white swatch, kid black/white swatch, toddler black/white swatch). If you want people to knit once to unlock all of your swatches then this is where you would paste them, following EA’s format that you can see in the example and making sure to put each number on a new line in-between <T> and </T>. If you want people to knit each swatch individually then delete any extras you don’t need and only do one converted number per Recipe Tuning.

https://i.imgur.com/CDk4I3q.png

Step 19: The next thing to do is an icon_override. Unfortunately, a current bug that may or may not be fixed in the future, is that the game refuses to recognize our placeholder object icon and appears as a white box with a red X. So, until this is fixed we have to force the game to use it, but be aware this makes the failure/poor quality object keep your icon instead of appearing as the failure icon, so it may cause some confusion. Another thing to note is that the thought bubble that appears when completing a knit still appears as the red X. Anyhow, copy this: <T n="icon_override" p="InGame\UI\Icons\Headlines\Final\headline_microphone.png">2f7d0004:00000000:BA38D7CD09BA53A3</T>

And right above mood_list (around line 179 or so, not far from stored_cas_parts), hit enter to create a new space and then paste that code.

https://i.imgur.com/SRpeCOF.png

Step 20: Now grab your icons instance that you saved earlier when making your object. Where it says BA38D7CD09BA53A3 you need to replace it with your icons instance, be careful to not delete anything else. Ignore the rest of it, including the weird location, as you don’t need to change them.

https://i.imgur.com/t6RpGrA.png

Step 21: Go to the SimData file next. Look for icon_override on line 7. Change the long set of zeros (it’s the last one) to your icons instance. Copy this 00B2D882 and replace the first set of zero’s with it. Your icon_override in the SimData should now look similar to the image on the right.

https://i.imgur.com/xuu13fF.png

Step 22: While you’re still here, grab the NameHash you saved earlier from your object and go to the line under the icon_override (line 8) and replace the number after 0x with yours, so it should be 0xNumber.

https://i.imgur.com/sM0kB93.png

Step 23: Go back to your Recipe Tuning and down to the bottom of the file again. Around line 182 is the name you just changed in the SimData. Replace it here as well, same format of 0xNumber, and you can alter the green text too.

https://i.imgur.com/66sS0kd.png

Step 24:

Now, one thing I’m not covering is how to change the description shown in the image. This is what you see when you hover over a recipe in the selection menu in-game. EA themselves only used these 4 (or 5 if you count the typo description, lol):

0x1D523B6F

0x470DFB4E

0x580AF9C6<

0x867DC08F<

0x86E6636</T>

So I say just choose one of the above and use that, or delete that section. But if you must know how to make your own, I refer you to this timestamped Youtube tutorial. You have a string table in your placeholder object that you can use (and where your object’s name and description is stored), so open the object again when following the tutorial. You’re now done with the recipe file!

https://i.imgur.com/iBIblNx.png

Step 25: And finally, the snippet file. Go back to it and give the file a new name just like you did with the Recipe Tuning, remembering to use the Name: feature. Once that is done you need to change the interactions your recipe will appear in. Here are the available interactions, if you’re doing beanies/hats then you’re in luck since my snippet already has them listed. When you replace the listed interactions make sure to leave the Knitting_CraftingAutonomously alone since there’s only one of it, you only need to replace the two beneath it.

EA Interactions:

239529

243582

240543

243590

239797

243596

243771

243773

240540

243598

240544

243600

My Custom Category Interactions:

12751948177743051010

11850600313437246103

14816278048160049100

11070495415336857809

15276631422878947078

15655922009140949763

14836215576183933108

17547687201202144473

https://i.imgur.com/ifgVhvw.png

Step 26: The last step is to add all of your recipe tunings to the snippet’s recipe list. Just like the stored_cas_parts if you have more than one you need to copy the format and put them on a new line. To quickly get the tuning ID and the name of your recipe at the same time, look at the bottom of your snippet. You should see something called “Local Tunings”, go ahead and click on it. This should bring up a list of all your recipe names and ID’s. Now input these into your recipe list and make sure they begin with <T> and end with </T>.

https://i.imgur.com/g0I6mVr.png

Step 27: If you chose the “knit each swatch” path, then just repeat the object and recipe steps I listed since each swatch needs it’s own recipe and placeholder object. If you have a lot of swatches and want to avoid a lot of copy/pasting, I really do recommend the “knit once” approach and putting everything into one recipe and object (or split between a few recipes). And now you’re done, just make sure to merge your CAS, object, and snippet .packages so they don’t get lost in people’s folders, and make sure to test before release.

Note: If you are doing different categories (i.e hats and socks) at the same time make sure to make a new snippet with a new name, don’t put them in the same order and file, otherwise your hats and socks will appear in both categories at the same time.