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Inventor
Original Poster
#26 Old 9th Jun 2017 at 11:24 AM Last edited by Arsil : 17th Jun 2017 at 8:03 AM.
I may have something.


Despite this sounds like a serious problem, I'm not too optimistic that fixing it will remove the crashes.
Why? Because the audio was played anyway, even "using" the wrong codec (probably the right
one was used anyway, if I have to guess). Anyway, let's try...

I tested it a bit, but since the crashes are (were?) sporadic*, this needs lots of testing.

*Am I using this term correctly? I mean that the game doesn't crash every time
a tune ends, it happens once in a while, it seems unpredictable.

I'm also interested in knowing if a tune ends with some weird - sometimes scratchy - sound.
That might be caused by the absence of silence or sound fading at the end of the audio.

EDIT: Let's try it one more time. Some tunes may have a weird scratchy sound at the start,
but I'll deal with that later, for now I'm only interested to see if the game still crashes.
Don't use headphones, some of the scratchy sounds are pretty loud.

Note: only the *_Audio package has been updated.

EDIT: attachments removed.
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Top Secret Researcher
#27 Old 9th Jun 2017 at 4:19 PM Last edited by barbarat : 9th Jun 2017 at 4:31 PM. Reason: Added Question
Arsil not looking for explanations/response. Just wanted to update the testing I've been doing. These results are from earlier tests prior to my seeing your updates. I'll put in the updates and see what happens.

Testing in Custom worlds: all music selections, sims playing solo, playing at the same time, sims playing with stero and tv on, playing on community lots:
2 households 4 YA sims in Isola No Crashing
3 households in Bridgewood - 2 Adult and 2 Teens No Crashing
3 households in Neverglade - same as above

Now for the Crashing: I do not play EA worlds but loaded a few up to see what would happen with the "official" worlds and households.
Appoloosa Plains - (Parrot Household) had two YA sims and one child pick up the flutes. Child has it in inventory but can not play which I wasn't expecting him to play just wanted to see if it went in his inventory. The two YA sims were playing Flight of the Bumblee Bee, the child was watching and half way through the music the Game Stopped Responding message popped up. Cleared script cache (again) Reloaded the game -
Barrington Diamond household. No Crashing
Went back to the Parrot Household - No Crashing

Bridgeport - 2 Adult sims - could not play in their apartment. They kept going to a door in the hall way and the routing bubble popped up over their heads. They could play outside as well as on community lots and for tips!

Sunset Valley - Bunch Household - Had all six sims pick up flutes.Same testing as above actions taken with custom and EA worlds. Also sent them all to community lots. Added a stero, drums, piano, guitar, violin. I tried every scenario I could think of trying to break the game. After about 40 minutes no crashing. No script errors generated but my ears hurt.

More often than not, so far and I know there is a lot more testing needed but I am not experiencing a lot of crashing. Is there some specific action that I could try out to see if the game will crash. I thought for sure I could blow the game up in Sunset Valley :D
Inventor
Original Poster
#28 Old 9th Jun 2017 at 6:31 PM Last edited by Arsil : 9th Jun 2017 at 8:18 PM.
I appreciate that.

The world has no consequence for testing the mod, so don't worry about where you are.

Quote:
The two YA sims were playing Flight of the Bumblee Bee, the child was watching and half way through the music the Game Stopped Responding message popped up. Cleared script cache (again) Reloaded the game


Uh? Did it crash or not? And it didn't happen at the end of the audio?

Quote:
Bridgeport - 2 Adult sims - could not play in their apartment. They kept going to a door in the hall way and the routing bubble popped up over their heads. They could play outside as well as on community lots and for tips!

Not enough room. I'm sure that if you try with the bassGuitar you'll get the same outcome
(at least when the bassGuitar is inside the inventory, maybe if it's on the ground - and on
a platform - it could work). The jig (an hidden object used to find a position with enough
space) is about 2x2 tiles (you can approximately verify it by checking the the area on the
ground where you can't click when a Sim is playing).

I can't see any pattern to trigger a crash. Just keep playing the tunes* without interrupting
them, let them end naturally because that's the time when the game may crash, oh and
keep the camera near the player so that you can actually hear it, otherwise I don't think it will crash.

*I'm sure at this point you are sick and tired of hearing them, so don't try too hard.
I'm thankful for your help.
Top Secret Researcher
#29 Old 9th Jun 2017 at 7:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Arsil
- Uh? Did it crash or not? And it didn't happen at the end of the audio?

Sorry, I was not very clear. When I mentioned the Game Stopped Responding message popped up I considered that a crash as I had to end the program.

Quote:
I can't see any pattern to trigger a crash. Just keep playing the tunes* without interrupting
them, let them end naturally because that's the time when the game may crash, oh and
keep the camera near the player so that you can actually hear it, otherwise I don't think it will crash.

I do and will continue to do so.

Quote:
I'm sure at this point you are sick and tired of hearing them, so don't try too hard.
I'm thankful for your help.

Not sick and tired of hearing them. Was j/k about my ears

Thanks for your other tips. I wasn't sure if the world played would make a difference and will check the area in the apartments. I forgot about the space issue.
Inventor
Original Poster
#30 Old 9th Jun 2017 at 8:49 PM
It's still crashing. Don't bother testing it.

I have a few ideas on how to try to fix it.

In the meantime, I found this: https://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.ph...AGE_Audio_Files
Top Secret Researcher
#31 Old 9th Jun 2017 at 8:58 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Arsil
It's still crashing. Don't bother testing it. I have a few ideas on how to try to fix it.
In the meantime, I found this: https://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.ph...AGE_Audio_Files


Ok I did play several households prior to your post and no crashing. Will hold off checking further until you want some more testing.
Inventor
Original Poster
#32 Old 10th Jun 2017 at 3:41 PM Last edited by Arsil : 10th Jun 2017 at 5:16 PM.
Let's try it one more time. Some tunes may have a weird scratchy sound at the start,
but I can deal with that later, for now I'm only interested to see if the game still crashes.
Don't use headphones, some of the scratchy sounds are pretty loud.

I've updated the _Audio file in http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...060#post5223060
Only re-download that one.
Top Secret Researcher
#33 Old 10th Jun 2017 at 5:21 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Arsil
Let's try it one more time. Some tunes may have a weird scratchy sound at the start,
but I can deal with that later, for now I'm only interested to see if the game still crashes. Don't use headphones, one of the scratchy sounds is pretty loud. I've updated the _Audio file in http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...060#post5223060
Only re-download that one.


I had two sims each play all 8 selections individually start to finish with no interruption. Camera on them and volume up.
No crashing.
Also, I did not hear any scratchy sounds however Flight of The Bumblee stutters and throws of a weird sound in the middle of playing (it always has).

Sending this for now. Will be away for awhile this afternoon. Let me know if you want me to test more sims.
Inventor
Original Poster
#34 Old 12th Jun 2017 at 10:03 AM
Quote:
however Flight of The Bumblee stutters and throws of a weird sound in the middle of playing (it always has).

If I get what you are talking about, that should be part of its normal execution.
Listen to a recording or watch a video of the song for confirmation.

I'm baffled about the weird sounds.
Over the Rainbow and Swan Theme have the scratchy ones.
Old MacDonald, Ode to Joy and Turkish Rondo also start with a weird note/noise,
but it's not as bad as the other two.

Why some tunes have them and some don't?
The presence or lack of silence at the start is not the reason.

And why you don't hear them? Am I hearing voices sounds?
That would be hardly surprising, this thing is driving me crazy.
At this point I've spent more time on the encoding than on the whole mod.
Top Secret Researcher
#35 Old 12th Jun 2017 at 2:21 PM
Quote:
I'm baffled about the weird sounds. Over the Rainbow and Swan Theme have the scratchy ones. Old MacDonald, Ode to Joy and Turkish Rondo also start with a weird note/noise, but it's not as bad as the other two.


I do not know how to respond to the weird sound issue. I am not getting the "scratchy" sounds described for any of those selections. I kept playing and testing the flute from time to time during game play yesterday with volume up and also put on the headphones to see if I could hear what you are hearing.

Flight Of The Bumblebee
Quote:
If I get what you are talking about, that should be part of its normal execution. Listen to a recording or watch a video of the song for confirmation.

The stuttering, to me seemed a little more than the normal execution. I'll do as you suggest and listen to a recording/video and see if that sheds some light.

I wish I could be of more help here but I know nothing about coding. I have played with that flute a lot and the initial goal regarding crashing appears to be a non issue; at least in my game.

You've got a great idea here and hope you don't get discouraged.
Inventor
#36 Old 13th Jun 2017 at 6:12 PM
Hi, Arsil! If you're looking for audio/music for the instruments, don't forget about TS1 music. As far as I know, TS1 music is copyright-free (of course Maxis/EA owns all the assets from the game, but they're the only owners unlike newer games). I've seen many people use TS1 music under the fair use exception to the copyright law without any problem.
In TS1 there are sax players, organ grinders, as well as snake charmers who play the flute (similar to TS3 World Adventures snake charming skill). There are also tons of copyright-"free" Similish vocal tracks for different levels of skills from TS1 Superstar in case you want to do a mic.
Here you have some of the files I just extracted from the game, in case you want to use them.
Attached files:
File Type: rar  TS1Sax.rar (9.60 MB, 21 downloads) - View custom content
File Type: rar  TS1SnakeCharmer.rar (2.10 MB, 14 downloads) - View custom content
Inventor
Original Poster
#37 Old 17th Jun 2017 at 8:06 AM Last edited by Arsil : 17th Jun 2017 at 8:19 AM.
Thanks Naus Allien.

I've removed the files in this thread, the mod is officially available again:
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=595459

The last version use a new system to define tunes, there's no more
a centralized resource, now the xml data is parsed from all resources
using a custom TypeID so you can have as many as you want.
This makes it easier to create and share new tunes without having to
update the mod itself.
Inventor
Original Poster
#38 Old 18th Jun 2017 at 5:11 PM Last edited by Arsil : 19th Jun 2017 at 7:06 AM.
It's going to be hard to make the animations for the sax.

I tried to parent the instrument to the Sim in Blender but so far no dice.

And, unfortunately, when the object is placed somewhere (instead of
being in a inventory), part of it is hidden under the ground/floor or
inside another object. This is because I can't shift or rotate the object
when it is parented to the Sim's right hand slot, so its original position
must be tailored to fit with the animations.

Since the "handle" is so tick, I may have to move the object from the x axis
(no longer centered) to avoid the clipping with the hand.

Eh... I feel guilty for ruining the mesh that mspoodle is working on (it's still an early version).
Screenshots
Inventor
#39 Old 18th Jun 2017 at 6:32 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Arsil
It's going to be hard to make the animations for the sax.

I tried to parent the instrument to the Sim in Blender but so far no dice.

And, unfortunately, when the object is placed somewhere (instead of
being in a inventory), part of it is hidden under the ground/floor or
inside another object. This is because I can't shift or rotate the object
when it is parented to the Sim's right hand slot, so its original position
must be tailored to fit with the animations.

Since the "handle" is so tick, I may have to move the object from the x axis
(no longer centered) to avoid the clipping with the hand.

Eh... I feel guilty for ruining the mesh that mrspoodle is working on (it's still an early version).


Wouldn't it be better to use two separate objects, one for the actual object you buy and place in your Sim's inventory and another one (hidden in the catalog) for the animation with the appropriate rotation, etc? I'm sure there's way to "hide" the object from the inventory when you initiate the action and then "summon" the appropriate object. I know the game mostly uses special objects for animations, very seldom the object you buy from the catalog itself (for the reasons you're mentioning).
Inventor
Original Poster
#40 Old 19th Jun 2017 at 6:10 AM Last edited by Arsil : 21st Jun 2017 at 8:18 AM. Reason: it's the offsetBone, not the transformBone
I don't like the idea of using 2 separate objects.

Usually, objects are parented to a Sims' slot using a script event in the CLIP resource.
Most of the object animations actually don't do anything (they don't alter the object,
all frames are the same), they are used to trigger sounds and events
(hide/show the object, start/stop a vfx, etc).
Something I wish I knew when I did the Japanese Low Dinner Table mod,
so I could have avoided using CASP resources for the chopsticks.
At that time I believed that the object animation was synchronized with the Sim
animation, following exactly the same motions (which would be silly, I see that now).

When the object is parented by such script, changing the settings of its
offsetBone (_RIG resource) allows to shift its position and change it's
orientation (without altering those parameters when the object is placed somewhere).
My Onigiri dried food uses that system to rotate the object for the eating animation.

But the system I'm using here (parenting the object to the Sim right hand slot
directly from the code) doesn't allow that. I know that the mesh isn't
assigned to the main joint of the object, but IIRC that's not the problem.

Maybe it was a poor design choice, but it allows to keep things simple
and works well for instruments like flute, clarinet, etc.

I'm also worried about teen animations, they might not work well...
Inventor
Original Poster
#41 Old 19th Jun 2017 at 6:59 AM Last edited by Arsil : 1st Jul 2017 at 3:10 PM.
Here's a prototype for the sax. Mesh by mspoodle1 (an early version).

Note: the object is a very early version: cloned from the flute, just changed the high def mesh
updated bounding box (VPXY), footprint and fx slot. No shadow meshes, no uv mapping, etc.

It uses a tune from the flute for testing purposes.

I was thinking about shifting the object position a bit (x going into the negative) to fix the clipping with the hand.

EDIT: Updated the Object and Animations packages.
I've also improved the drop shadow mesh.

EDIT: Attachments removed.
Top Secret Researcher
#42 Old 19th Jun 2017 at 12:10 PM
Oh WOW Arsil. Wasn't expecting this so soon. Thank you and I'll play with it today
Top Secret Researcher
#43 Old 19th Jun 2017 at 7:55 PM
@Arsil - I think I'm missing something but can not figure out what it might be and I did I look at prior threads to see if there's something I missed but need your advice.

I have installed the three files in Mods>Packages. My sim will pick it up and put it in her inventory but when I click on the saxophone the only tab options available is Show Stats.
Inventor
Original Poster
#44 Old 20th Jun 2017 at 7:12 AM
Sounds like you are not using the last version of the mod.
And remember that you need the _Audio package of the flute.

Anyway, there's not really much to test.
Site Helper
#45 Old 20th Jun 2017 at 1:23 PM
When you get around to finding saxophone music, there was someone playing the saxophone for tips about a month ago who played Amazing Grace on it. And that's one that is Public Domain. (Assuming that you can find a recording of someone playing it on the saxophone...)

Edit: I'm fighting another bout with depression, but I'm planning to help with testing when I can load my game and actually get into it before I lose interest and shut everything down.

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Test Subject
#46 Old 20th Jun 2017 at 5:39 PM
Did a little more detail and texture work on the saxophone and tested it with the current version of the mod. *No headphones* Pictures of sim picking up the sax and playing below. I think the position of the objects mouth piece needs to be closer to the sim and maybe the sims right hand (the one picking up the object) needs to move a little over. Not sure if I need to just tweak the postition of the object or that's something to be done with the animation. Let me know Arsil and I'll keep working on the objects details.
Screenshots

Honey...The cat is in the tree again!
Inventor
Original Poster
#47 Old 21st Jun 2017 at 10:08 AM Last edited by Arsil : 23rd Jun 2017 at 12:14 PM.
Changing the x coordinate (something like -0.05 tiles), moving the mesh to the left from the top view perspective,
helps with the right-hand clipping.

I may rotate the mesh (-21.5 degrees on the x coordinate from left-side view perspective seems to do the trick)
and move it up so that the "tip" of the sax is not below ground level when the instrument is placed somewhere,
but I think that would make the animations weird or anyway harder to make (the playing ones and the picking one)
and it would still be a very unnatural way for it to "stand". I may give it a try none the less.

Now I just have to improve the animations. At the very least:
- align the right hand so the sax is almost perfectly vertical (perpendicular to the ground)
- connect the left hand to the sax
- make sure that the mouth makes contact (doesn't have to be super precise because
different mouth/chin types and sliders won't allow perfect contact anyway without being
able to use IKTargets)
- check if the teen animations also works well
Other improvements (fingers, lower body, mouth/lips and other facial expressions) can come later.

@Greenplumbbob, if you want to try you are very welcome.
If you could also check if that CTRL+P thing for parenting the mesh works
(and give me step by step instructions) I'd appreciate it.
Screenshots
Inventor
Original Poster
#48 Old 21st Jun 2017 at 12:14 PM
Re-uploaded the _Object and _Animations packages for the sax (in post #41)

Still a lot of work to do, but little improvements have been made.
Test Subject
#49 Old 21st Jun 2017 at 5:22 PM
Good day everyone!

Arsil, I took the adjustments you made to the object and moved it a little down. It fits perfectly at the mouth and the hands. Looks fine with the animations.

Passing off what I have. I've added as much alto saxophone detail as I can in the keys. It's not exact but convincing enough I hope. If you need any of the working files give me a holler.
Screenshots
Attached files:
File Type: rar  Arsil_MusicalInstruments_Sax_Object_Mspoodle_V5.rar (393.8 KB, 21 downloads) - View custom content

Honey...The cat is in the tree again!
Inventor
Original Poster
#50 Old 23rd Jun 2017 at 12:48 PM Last edited by Arsil : 1st Jul 2017 at 3:10 PM.
Little update.

Object: Fixed footprint, vfx_slot position and STBLs of mspoodle V5 package
(how did the package file become 5MB? Is it the textures fault?).
EDIT: maybe because the resources aren't compressed. I just noticed that.
The thumbnail auto-generated by the game is really bad, I think we should make one.

Animations: Left arm/hand almost decent, after a dozen attempts I had to stop for exhaustion.

Audio: I'm having a hard time finding usable music.
In this update, there are 3 songs:
- L0 happy birthday to you
- L1 when the saints go marching in
- L2 Old Town
- L3 TS1 Blues
The last 2 are from TS1, but I think there's something wrong with them
(sometimes during the song the Sim get reset and the sax is destroyed).
"TS1 blues" made the game crash (at the start of the song), so I removed it.
I think the problem is not the encoding but the original files: they were .wav,
I had to turn them from mono to stereo and change the frequency.
Maybe something is gone wrong in the process.
As usual, I recommend to NOT test it using headphones for safety,
at least the first time you try a new song (the weird sounds at the start
probably are simply a problem with my system, but better be careful anyway)

EDIT: re-uploaded _Audio file.

EDIT: Attachments removed.
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