We have the naginata skn file, but no body one to match it! Whatever shall we do?!

Never fear! Just rename the bodymesh we made earlier in the Bodymeshing tutorial. Rename it from xskin-b531fafit_shi-PELVIS-BODY.skn to xskin-b534fafit_shi2-PELVIS-BODY.skn and all will be right with the world.

Good enough. Let's carry on.

Now, to check out the internals of a .cmx file, you need a text editor, like Notepad, or editpad. Just open up a .cmx file form there and you are ready to go.

I find it easiest to start out with a pre-made .cmx file. You can get one anywhere. Just pull one out for a female body out of simshow. I'll use the Bwar one. And here it is, below:

// Character File. Copyright 1997, Maxis Inc.
version 300
0
1
b200fafit_bwar
0
0
1
PELVIS
xskin-b200fafit_bwar-PELVIS-BODY
0
0
0

From here, I'll be doing simple copy, paste and overwrite.

First off, I will need to change the 1 to a 2. (it's in the green writing above, below the file name) This is what tells the program how many body parts it's going to display. Right now it's set at one. So in order for it to display the body AND the naginata, I need to change it to a 2. Easy enough? If I gave her an additional head and a tail, then it would be 4, total.

// Character File. Copyright 1997, Maxis Inc.
version 300
0
1
b200fafit_bwar
0
0
2
PELVIS
xskin-b200fafit_bwar-PELVIS-BODY
0
0
0

Now to change the file name. My file name isn't b200fafit_bwar, it's b534fafit_shi2. So I will rename that part.

// Character File. Copyright 1997, Maxis Inc.
version 300
0
1
b534fafit_shi2
0
0
2
PELVIS
xskin-b200fafit_bwar-PELVIS-BODY
0
0
0

And now I need to add an extra set for my naginata. I seem to have the best luck with .cmx files if I leave the body for last and put the acessories first, so I will do that. I will copy the entire pelvis section for a base and paste it.

Now it looks like this:

// Character File. Copyright 1997, Maxis Inc.
version 300
0
1
b534fafit_shi2
0
0
2
PELVIS
xskin-b200fafit_bwar-PELVIS-BODY
0
0
0
PELVIS
xskin-b200fafit_bwar-PELVIS-BODY
0
0
0

But in the first section, I only need 2 0's (think of them as buffers), so I delete one. I also copy the file name of my naginata, except for the .skn part, and change the "PELVIS" part to "R_HAND". Then I need to change the bwar part to the shi2 part in the pelvis section. And that will come out looking like this:

// Character File. Copyright 1997, Maxis Inc.
version 300
0
1
b534fafit_shi2
0
0
2
R_HAND
xskin-b534fafit_shi2-R-HAND-NAGINATA
0
0
PELVIS
xskin-b534fafit_shi2-PELVIS-BODY
0
0
0

And it's done. Everything I changed is in blue. When you save it in your projects folder, don't save it as a text file, or it will be useless to you! Save it as .cmx with the "all files" option oped in the scroll box for files of type.

If this was a bit fuzzy, (which I wouldn't doubt, if you are brand new to this) or for more details and specifics, check out the CMX tutorial here.

Where do you want to go next?

Making the head mesh

SimShow testing

Custom Textures (swimsuits, PJ's, formal, and nudes)

What the....., take me home!