Weather Packs for Sims 3 Worlds

These are all 8 existing EA weather profiles for Sims 3 worlds, except the basegame, which is the default. Use them like a normal mod...place them in your Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Mods\Packages folder.
These will override the original weather for all worlds that don't have weather profiles embedded in them. The EA worlds you can use these on are:

Riverview
Sunset Valley
Hidden Springs
Barnacle Bay

You can use these to change the weather on user created worlds like mine, and anyone else's that doesn't already have an embedded weather profile...if you are unsure you can just try it, as it won't harm anything...it just won't work if there is an existing weather profile in the world.
Only use one weather pack at a time. To turn it off, you can rename the file from TwinbrookWeather.package to TwinbrookWeather.page, for example. The game won't recognize or use it if the file extension is changed. Otherwise you can remove it from your mods folder when not needed.

I'll be creating my own custom weather profiles and adding them to this blog entry in the future...stay tuned.



Download Weather Packs
Last update: 04-20-2012




These were all created from my Sims 3 files using S3PE, except for Starlight Shores, which I made using files uploaded by simsample. Thanks out to him for those!



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Breakdown of EA Colour Ramps

This is for CAW users and defines the 21 bars on the colour ramps used for weather colorization in Sims 3 Worlds.
The long version can be found here...MTS

Also, I have made a tool for making custom colour ramps...
You can download it here.

Light Colors

1) Directional light and shadows...normal time cycle. This is based on the suns current position in the sky. Needs to be darkened before sunset or there is an abrupt shift in light/shadow direction when the source changes from sun to moon.

2) Ambient light...may be Bloom. Seems to be a 12 hr per color cycle & limited to 2 colors. Looks to be the main nighttime luminance in EA colour ramps.

3) Indirect/Reflected sunlight? Horizontal lighting..strong on trees, sides of building structures and steep
terrain..weak elsewhere. Not a normal time cycle. Usually pretty dark in the EA worlds.



Water Colors

4) Water color...uses a normal time cycle, so it's possible to have many color changes throughout a 24
hour period.

5) Sun & Moon Reflections on Water...normal time cycle. This pic is a yellow moon reflection...



Sun Colors

6) Sun color...normal time cycle.

7) Halo color...unverified



Sky Colors

8) SkyLight > Sky mid region...normal time cycle. Exhibits nighttime color banding problems. Strongest influence near sun. All four of these components are most prominent at sunrise/sunset.

9) HorizonLight > normal time cycle...banding. Strongest influence near sun.

10) SkyDark > Sky mid & top regions...normal time cycle..banding. Strongest influence away from sun.

11) HorizonDark > normal time cycle..banding. Strongest influence away from sun.



Cloud Colors 1

12) ColorWRTSunDark

13) ColorWRTSunLight

14) ColorWRTHorizonDark

15) ColorWRTHorizonLight

16) ColorWRTShadow




Cloud Colors 2

17) ColorWRTSunDark

18) ColorWRTSunLight

19) ColorWRTHorizonDark

20) ColorWRTHorizonLight

21) ColorWRTShadow

Miscellany...

My Mods are currently Pets(1.29) compatible...if you have Showtime installed, they may not work properly. I am slow & cautious on upgrades, but I will upgrade in time.



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~The EyePatch Camera mod~ Beta









The Sims 3 silly vanilly camera was too lame, so it be modded. Some things I changed:

1)Changed it so you can look 15 degrees higher.
2)Nipped the pitch speed slightly so the increased range wouldn't feel freakish.
3)Lowered the minimum camera height so you can go real low.
4)Raised the maximum camera height for improved overview and decreased z-fighting on elevations.
5)Increased the keyboard camera speed(arrow keys).
6)Increased the keyboard speed boost(shift).
Holding Shift + Arrow will dramatically increase camera travel speed. There is also a monster speed bonus that increases with camera height. In addition, moving the mouse in the direction of travel while pressing the right mouse button will add more speed...you can probably traverse a large map in 2-3 seconds if you avail yourself of all options.
7)Maximum zoom was increased.
8)I set the keyboard zoom(Z and X keys) to slower speeds, to render more accurate zooming for screenshots.
9) Increased mouse zoom speeds slightly.
10)Adjusted the camera spring settings to help reduce terrain slicing on high elevations.


EyePatch Camera mod
Last update: 04-01-2012


This mod may overload older or low end graphics cards. I use a midrange($110) 'Palit GeForce GT 240 GDDR5' w/ 1 Gig memory and the mod performs fine for me with almost all settings maxed.
The camera will be more likely to cut away mountainous terrain. The gains more than compensate for this, I think.

Camera flexibility is greatly improved and you will be able to take screenshots at higher and lower angles that were only possible in the distorted Freecam mode(Tab) or EIG(Create a World > edit in game) previously. More precise zooming is also available. Lots that were difficult to play due to high elevation issues should be more subdued now, and camera speed will be more robust.




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~OneNewspaper mod~

Paperboy has gone postal...he says you are a slovenly pig and that delivery is suspended until you dispose of the paper you have. He's on to you and will be watching...


OneNewspaper mod
Last update: 02-23-2012




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~SimRouting mod~

Extreme reductions in route pushing and idling.
Extreme increases in push immunity, ignoring route obstacles, and rerouting frequency.

I made this mod to fix trail routing problems in equestrian worlds. My initial experiences have been very positive...so much so that I'm confused as to why EA used the settings they did, which seem to be a bit on the game-breaking side. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time they've done that sort of thing.

Beyond that, this may prove out to be a good all around routing mod for Sims 3 worlds in general. Sims become highly motivated to get where they are going, and it seems to kill most of the toe tapping, routing tantrums, and idle time problems...at least on first impression. I would appreciate any feedback on how this mod performs for you. Keep in mind that this mod was made to comply with the 1.29 patch and 1.3x series patches may or may not conflict with this mod.

SimRouting mod
Last update: 04-01-2012




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