grrr bodyshop grrr

So, I'm having this problem with Bodyshop trying to extremely compress the original BMPs of clothing in the actual package file, resulting in what ought to be a perfectly good graphic turning into this pixellated crap. I'm not sure what I can do about it... I'm already trying to keep adjacent colour changes to a minimum but somehow it's managing to b0rk them up anyhow. So either I need to rework the base for the clothes to be even less shaded, or I need to go into each and every package afterwards and replace the files with cleaner versions (increasing package size considerably, naturally).

I don't know why I'm having this problem... I swear other people don't have this problem. It's the same sort of stupid dxt issues I've had before I tihnk, though (for instance I was going to switch to Hysterical Paroxysm's skins but I can't because as soon as they're loaded once the game ultra-compresses them for some bizarre reason, which leaves them really badly pixellated). I don't know if there's some hidden setting somewhere I could alter to try to fix this, or what. What's freaky is I don't have this issue in other games using DXT. AND I have the nVidia toolset, even (though not an nVidia card).

Anyhow, so the only Bodyshop thing I actually got done-done today was custom eyebrow colours for the characters with unusual hair colours. I also loaded in a bunch of object recolours (but haven't looked at them in-game yet) and made a list of everything I need to do the flashback scenes for Twilight Dreams, since I'm going to work on those first... mainly it involves making duplicates of the characters in different settings with different companion characters, and figuring out what buildings I need to make multiples of and how to put together the duplicates had to be done before I could build.

Weekend was a bust, of course

My sweetie was ill and we never did get around to doing Final Fantasy stuff, so I really didn't accomplish anything, except for redoing my custom eyes and trying 4 or 5 times to make a new version of SimMe. I'm still not 100% satisfied with the eyes I made for SimMe, actually, but I'm done playing with them, I'll deal. And the new SimMe is actually an old SimMe edited slightly (I had an old file) and done in the thin version, cuz, well, it's a fantasy game, I can be thin. :D I'll be uploading that when I upload other stuff.

Oh, I did a few other miscellaneous things, like discovering the 'shag' version of the carpet isn't looking right, so I'll leave it out. I also, surprisingly, made some makeup -- actually, just a couple extra eyeliners (including a couple Maxis things normally found in eyeshadow), a few eyeshadows, and a few face makeup recolours, the latter of which is actually for Twilight Dreams.

Today, I finished loading the painted walls and the regular tile walls. I just finished editing the mult-colour tile walls because there was a grout flaw in them, and I'll load those in (a lot fewer even with multiple versions of the half-tile, half-paint ones) along with the 20 or so aluminum sidings I have tomorrow. I also started recreating the non-shag carpet, redid one of the recurring characters for Tasogare Yume because I wanted to tweak him, and made him some custom clothing recolours.

I may finish up the carpet tonight, or go back to working on bedspreads. Not sure. Also trying to decide what else from the object-recolouring directory I want done before I start, and there's some made stuff that needs loaded into the game, too. I think I'll be able to finish the floors and walls and make a serious dent in that stuff tomorrow, unless I decide I'd rather do clothes tomorrow.

Bodyshop is quicker in BV?

Huh. I opened up my BV bodyshop and I swear it's loading custom content quicker than it used to, especially for hair but even for clothing. Still some drag time but not nearly as bad as in Seasons.

Anyhow, I made a set of 8 (4 per gender) Asianish templates. (Actually I made the four women first then cloned them for the guys and tweaked.) I'm not totally satisfied with them but they should all be recognizably Asian... I'll probably use the two of each gender I like best for the base for most Asian faces. (I say 'Asian' but I was trying for 'more Japanese than not', since it's the thing I'm most likely to add even without taking the not-so-sekrit-projekt into account.) Some of the toddler/child stages are hideously lumpy but that clears up in teen years.

Next time I open Bodyshop I should load in my eyes, and do the characters for Twilight Dreams and package them up for backup (as I did with the templates). I'm doing them in Bodyshop because, for filming reasons, I'm going to need multiple copies of some people, and I want to just go ahead and make them all easily duplicatable in case that turns out to be more characters than I thought.

My insomnia suggests I could get more done but I think I want to wait until I can have music or TV in the background without disturbing my guy, who is sleeping. (Yeah, I could wear headphones, but my headphones aren't really that comfortable.)