cricket-sims

[cricket-sims]

i like to think he has burn marks under his mask

[cricket-sims]

The Sims 2 Legacy Collection: shadow fix

The rerelease of The Sims 2 introduced a fix for the black rectangles under Sims. You may have experienced this bug in the Ultimate Collection version.

As the creator of the Sims Shadow Fix, I was curious to know how it was done. But first, I'd like to explain what the problem with Sim shadows is.

What's the cause of the shadow bug?

When the game works as intended, a Sim shadow texture is a light bluish blob on a white background. It also has transparency, but it's unused. It looks like this:

However, many modern graphics cards render the texture as plain black with transparency:

That's why black rectangles appear under the Sims.

What does my mod do?

My mod is only a workaround for the bug. It uses the transparency to recreate the shadows.

The first versions released in 2015 and 2016 were achromatic, while the original shadows were bluish. Back then I didn't even know why and how my mod worked.

On 2 January 2025 I released new versions based on my research into shaders. I also recreated the original bluish shadows.

How does the Legacy Collection fix the shadow bug?

Thanks to @ivycopur I was able to examine the code. It uses a workaround, just like my mod.

In fact, it looks almost exactly like the really not misty 0.4 version of my mod, which, ironically, is now legacy. The shader code in the Legacy Collection contains the same nonsense. And a bit more.

Code comparison

The left side is the original code extracted from the Materials.package file in The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection. The right side is my code or the Legacy Collection code:

The differences between my code and the LC code:

the debug part: I removed it from my code as players will never see it. The LC has this feature untouched.

alphaBlend srcFactor: despite the difference, it actually changes nothing. Explained later.

The identical changes:

alphaBlend dstFactor,

the same colorScalar has been added,

textureBlend.

Nonsense #1: textureBlend

The textureBlend defines how the colors of the incoming texture are transformed. The first argument is responsible for the color channels, the second – for the transparency.

Originally it's just:

textureBlend select(texture) select(texture)

And it means that the texture is taken as it is.

My and LC code transforms it though. The colorScalar is defined as a partially opaque (40%) black color. The transparency argument takes the transparency of the original texture and darkens it with the 40% factor:

multiply(colorScalar texture)

And this makes sense. The color channels argument takes the transparency part of the texture and makes it pure black, because the color scalar is black:

multiply(colorScalar texture:alphaReplicate)

It's pointless. I could go:

select(colorScalar)

instead. It would be effectively the same.

The texture after the transformations looks like this:

Nonsense #2: alphaBlend

The alphaBlend defines how to mix the source colors (in this case the transformed texture from the textureBlend step) with the destination colors (in this case, the ground under Sim's feet).

The srcFactor argument defines the source color transformations, the dstFaction – defines the destination color transformations. And then they're put together.

Originally it's:

alphaBlend srcFactor(destColor) add dstFactor(zero)

The srcFactor says that the shadow colors are darkened with the ground colors. The dstFactor doesn't really matter because it's multiplied by zero (black). Also, transparency isn't used.

If I understand correctly, you could achieve the same effect with:

alphaBlend srcFactor(zero) add dstFactor(srcColor)

And the final effect is:

My and LC code had to do it differently. The dstFactor says to darken the floor color with inverted transparency:

dstFactor(invSrcAlpha)

It sounds complicated, but the inversion actually means that black becomes white and vice versa. So the transparency texture, which is a dark gray blob on a black background, becomes a light gray blob on a white background.

The srcFactor is actually useless because the shadow texture (from the textureBlend step) is black. So it doesn't matter if you use:

srcFactor(one)

like I did, or:

srcFactor(destColor)

as in the LC code, it will always be black because you can't make black any darker. To make the intention clear, I'd personally go with:

srcFactor(zero)

instead. The final effect would always be:

It's different from the original intended effect. You can even see the difference in the official screenshots:

Source 1 | Source 2

Conclusion

It doesn't look like a coincidence. The cause of the shadow bug hasn't been fixed, and I doubt that an experienced shader creator would come up with such a workaround. There are better ways.

Before you point out that it's against my terms of use to take my code and sell it, especially without credit, hear out. It doesn't matter – EA's policy allows it. And I'm not even angry. It's just funny that they trusted such a messy code. I wouldn't be surprised to see other creators' fixes in the Legacy Collection.

The good thing is that EA has addressed the shadow issue at all. 🙃

[cricket-sims]

[cricket-sims]

love is a beautiful thing

[cricket-sims]

CC COLLECTION #27

1 Crop Top

2 Mindy Skirt

3 Flannel Top

4 Jade Jeans

5 Earthy Top

6 Noah Cargos

DOWNLOAD (SFS | PATREON)

A little caffeine boost would go a long way in keeping the sims 2 fashion world flowing. Fancy treating me to a cup? Your generosity would be the highlight of my day! 💛💛💛 Buy me a coffee ☕

Credits:

Flannel made by MadameRia

Jade Jeans made by Sentate

Earthy Top made by B0T0XBRAT

Noah Cargos made by Arethabee

Crop Top made by euno sims

Mindy Skirt v1 made by AxA

N9 Basic Leather High Boots made by Seoulsoul

Mulder Platform Boots  made by LeahLillith

[cricket-sims]

Another two graying hairs plus a bunch of normal retextures that were hanging around in my folder - including Skysims 205 and 3t2 Elegant Teardrop Maang Tikka that were requested by @masterboy269:) For graying Ade Honestly I used @keoni-chan already made retextures in Poppet v2 (that you can get here). As far as I remember, for Coolsims 108 headbands I used those that @deedee-sims made in her retextures (but I might be wrong, I made this hair quite some time ago :D) Graying hairs are only for adults and elders, and elders won’t go grey:) All hairs are binned, grey is linked to black (in these “normal retextures”, files are tooltipped, compressed, unused ages removed, meshes with previews are included:) Ade Miss Fame (graying) - converted by Martini, adult to elder, polycount: 14.5k DOWNLOAD / alternate Ade Honestly (graying) - converted by Grecadeasims, edited by Serabiet, adult to elder, polycount: 5.4k DOWNLOAD / alternate Coolsims 108 - converted by Martini, all ages, polycount: 20k blue: DOWNLOAD / alternate black: DOWNLOAD / alternate Nightcrawler Bree - converted by Ara-fusilli, child to elder, polycount: 30k DOWNLOAD / alternate Skysims 06 - all ages, polycount: 13.5k DOWNLOAD / alternate 3t2 Elegant Teardrop Maang Tikka - converted by Rented-space, all ages, polycount: 3.8k DOWNLOAD / alternate Skysims 190 - all ages, polycount: 14.8k DOWNLOAD / alternate Ade Brower - converted by Julie J, child to elder, polycount: 25.7k DOWNLOAD / alternate Skysims 205 - all ages, polycount: 17k DOWNLOAD / alternate Anto Elia - converted by Peppermint-ginger, child to elder, polycount: 7k DOWNLOAD / alternate Credits: Keoni, Deedee, Ade, Martini, Grecadea, Serabiet, Coolsims, Nightcrawler, Ara-fusilli, Skysims, Rented-space, Julie J, Anto, Peppermint-ginger, Poppet

[cricket-sims]

Stealthic Like Lust - Natural & Unnatural - Download

Mesh - Stealthic, Conversion by Martini & Fix by @rented-space Gender - Male Hair Texture - Zeusar's Ver 3 Pearl Age - Toddler - Elder Polycount - 11,644 Colour Action Used - Poppet-sims, Berrynooboo, Pooklet, Hunting Pony, Furby, Nyren, Lunacress & io

[cricket-sims]

   Requested hairs in Poppet V2 naturals and unnaturals

Anto David 4t2 by Simborg, MtF by DeeDee (recolor, all ages, ~6500 polys) 

 sfs / mega

Stealthic Aquaria by Nightingalesims / Marja, FtM by Umi (yam-em, ~10k polys)  

sfs / mega

Credits: Anto, Stealthic, Simborg, DeeDee, Nightingalesims, Marja, Umi, Poppet, Wixii

[cricket-sims]

5 Hairs in Poppet’s Textures and V2 Colours

A few more hairs because my female to male hair ratio is like 1000:1

Poppet’s Textures & V2 Colours

Grey linked to Black

Files compressed 

Meshes included

JAEKC CARL // DOWNLOAD [1.9MB] Credits: Jaekc, Poppet

KEWAIDOU TUMBLR GIFT 3T2 // DOWNLOAD [2.1MB] Credits: Kewai, Martini, Poppet Note: I’ve battled with this one, it looks a little odd but it doesn’t bother me too much.

NEWSEA BLAZER // DOWNLOAD [1.4MB] Credits: Newsea, Poppet

BUTTERFLYSIMS 057 // DOWNLOAD [2.1MB] Credits: ButterflySims, Poppet

PEGGY JUICE 69 // DOWNLOAD [1.2MB] Credits: Peggy, Poppet

Alternatively, you can download ALL FIVE RIGHT HERE in one folder [8.7MB]

I hope these are useful, and feel free to message me if I’ve messed up, I’m still getting used to this hair binning thing again!

[cricket-sims]

4t2 Trillyke - Hot Mess

Hey everyone! I came across this amazing set by Trillyke and just knew I had to bring it into my game! It’s such a joy to see progress in what I’m doing, and working on this set was so much fun. ૮₍ ´ ꒳ `₎ა

The set includes a beautiful dress and a matching top + skirt combo. I hope you’ll love it as much as I do! If you run into any issues, feel free to let me know. With so many recolors, it’s easy to lose track sometimes. ૮ ･ ﻌ･ა

4t2 Trillyke - Hot Mess  [Original]

Age: Teen | Adult Category: Everyday

Includes all morphs

30 colors (everything)

I hope you like it  :)

Download:

Supernova Dress: Mediafire

Drama Skirt: Mediafire

Drama Top: Mediafire

Credit: @trillyke

Strangetown-Models:

Julie Specter, Betsy McGaw, Elodie Beaker, Mabel Cho

[cricket-sims]

4t2 Florence set by @caio-cc

Giving the teen girlies what they deserve!

☆ Informations ☆

Tiny Bow Top with Loose Pants TF only | 4,6k poly | 6 swatches | Fat morph only | Compressed Spring Set TF only | 3,4k poly | 6 swatches | Fat morph only | Compressed Flower Dress TF only | 4,6k poly | 6 swatches | Fat morph only | Compressed Original CC HERE!

☆ Downloads ☆ SimFileShare MediaFire

[cricket-sims]

A bunch of Peggy’s hairs retextured in Poppet V2 naturals. Mostly for males. Everything is for all ages.

Peggy 04006 - sfs / mega

Peggy 04129 - sfs / mega

Peggy 04320 - sfs / mega

Peggy 04814 - sfs / mega

Peggy 04852 - sfs / mega

Peggy 05320 and 05165 - sfs / mega

Peggy 06668 - sfs / mega

Peggy 07094 and 07146 - sfs / mega

Peggy 07219 - sfs / mega

Peggy 07834 - sfs / mega

Credits: Peggy, Poppet and thanks to @deedee-sims for helping me find a mesh!

[cricket-sims]

To me, the two most ridiculous things about the Sims 2 Legacy Collection being a crashing, buggy mess are:

Charging $40 for the exact same product that was released 10 years ago FOR FREE without any fixes or updates is pure audacity

Sims 2 Super Collection for Mac has been regularly updated and maintained by Aspyr and runs beautifully on modern engines. It' was updated as recently as 3 years ago. It's received frequent bug fixes and runs as 64 bit, which means no pink flashing. (In the 4 years I've played SC I've never experienced any crashes or graphics issues myself). If Aspyr is able to frequently maintain a game they no longer have the license for, EA has no excuse imo

All in all, save your money, and download these games from a starter pack made by fans that actually care enough about these games to get them running properly instead of a greedy corporation that's trying to make a quick buck by releasing a broken game

[cricket-sims]

Wanna play The Sims 1 or The Sims 2 for free? Here you go!

The Sims 1 Starter Pack

The Starter Pack is an all-in-one source for obtaining, installing, and optimizing TS1 on modern hardware.

The Sims 2 Starter Pack

NSIS-based installer for installing & optimizing The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection. Provides the full Ultimate Collection (free Origin version from 2014 with all packs/updates) and bonus content, including fixes needed for modern systems.

[cricket-sims]

What experiments are the highly secretive and less than neighborly Loki and Circe Beaker performing on poor Nervous Subject?

[cricket-sims]

Just some reminders for my sweet swimming friends in the TS2 community:

1. Modern EA are the most talented disappointers I have ever come across. Expect little, be pleasantly surprised if there's a higher quality than that. I have been consistently let down by EA for the last 10 years and I doubt that's going to change any time soon. Hype is RARELY (dare I say never?) met 🤣

2. "Re-Release" is not the same as "Re-Master". "Optimised for Win10/11" may just mean we don't need to let Graphics Rules Maker update the GraphicsCards.sgr file with modern GPUs, maybe GRM won't have to unlock higher screen resolution, and maybe the Sim shadows won't be black boxes without DXVK or a mod. Woo 🎉

3. Let's all agree to either ignore the "Big UTuberz" playing TS2 very badly (i.e. no idea what a cheat code is) for "the nostalgia" and then promptly dropping it again, or go comment on the videos to point out the sheer stoopid 🤦🏼‍♀️

4. Sims 2 has been available to play for the last 20 years regardless of EA, and if they put it behind a paywall, it will no doubt still be available to play. (Same with TS1 for that matter) 🥸

5. Best case scenario in my head? If I "DARE to dream"? - Maybe we won't all need to continue switching to Linux to get rid of Pink Flashing. Lol. But I doubt it. 🙈

It is nice to see that Sims 1 and Sims 2 are actually being recognised for the 25th anniversary of this franchise. Better than the usual tactic of trying to pretend the games never existed. But let's all keep our heads screwed on straight here.

Now, back to building my new mega downloads folder of doom 😎

[cricket-sims]

nina ^-^