WEEK 3: Object Behavior Modification and Adding Motives

ADDING MOTIVES (continued)

The reason we linked them in this fashion is because our comfort value is stored in the Constant (4097:6). We want the game to pick up on the value of comfort and hunger before it goes to pick up how fast it increases over in Constant 4097:0.

Time To Test

Click OK to get out of this behavior, SAVE your file, and EXIT IFF. Start your game and test your chair to make sure that hunger levels increase right along with the comfort levels. Of course, this isn't exactly nifty because, what's the point of serving dinner if all you have to do is sit in the chair to satisfy hunger? But who cares. This is, after all, just a lesson. Go test and come back when you're through. Do not jump ahead in the lesson without first testing — tempting thought it might be.

How did the test go? If hunger, comfort and room score improved, then it worked and we can move on. If it did NOT work, please go back and retrace your steps. Perhaps you missed something along the way.

COMPLETING THE CHAIR

Our chair is looking pretty good except for one little detail. When the Sims view the chair for the first time, they are still not too pleased. Let's try to change that a bit more. We will be working with animations and their corresponding sounds, and we're going to do it the easy way, which means borrowing the animation and sound we need from a painting.

Note and Reminder: In hacking, there are always more than one method for accomplishing our work. The method you use is strictly up to you. In other words, whatever works best is acceptable. I will try to cover as many methods as possible during the course of our classes.

But, which painting do we use? We can't use just any old painting because not all paintings carry the "react" behavior that references our animations and sounds. Our chair has appropriate sounds for Sims who are crazy enough to think the chair is acceptable, but for the more discerning Sim, we need to try harder. The procedure we are going to employ is really quite simple — up to a point. We're going to borrow the animation and sound from a painting that we know a Sim would appreciate, and that's where the simple stops.

The arrival of the Super Star expansion pack, and once again, with our last expansion pack, Makin' Magic, dramatically changed the paintings. Things are no longer where they used to be. The paintings that carried the "react" behavior are now bare and new paintings have taken on the task. So, we will now find the paintings we need in three different places, depending on which EP's you have installed. First we'll find the correct painting for those of you who do NOT have Super Star or Makin' Magic installed, and afterward, we'll find the painting for those who DO have Super Star or Makin' Magic. However, I would like everyone to read through everything because you are bound to learn something either way. Ready?

Continued on Next Page . . .