Newbie here getting bearings. (1 Viewer)

[Balsa Rule]

Hey. Board newb reporting for flaming and hazing.

I've played vanilla and really had fun customizing as much as I could in that. It seems like customization with the loader gives more options, so I wanted to give that a try. What are useful tutorials to look at and what would you recommend in terms of mods?

I'm interested in new positions mostly. I do alright just using human girls, but new hair and accessories ought to be cool. Learning how to do custom dialogue would be fun so I can hear more about cum than its in their eyes or throat and tastes bitter. I'm also interested if anything I download can fit on a disk so I can keep it private easier.

Thanks for your time. I hope I have a fun time here! :D

I'm doing this so I have a post and my account doesn't get deleted. Sorry if I sxxx posted... :P

Oh crap, I think I'm doing something wrong already...

 

[The Hacker Known As Snow]

Hey. Board newb reporting for flaming and hazing.

We don't haze newbies, the forum is well organized and has a search feature so when new people ask for stuff they're simple expected to find it themselves, especially when they show they've put no effort into looking.

Anyway, download the latest loader from MG's thread. Inside there is a useful Guide folder to get you started. To get new positions you need the Loader and Sby's animitools. Instructions are included in the mod. Honestly I'd recommend Vanilla mods: hair imports, clothing and dialogues used WITHOUT the loader first. My SDT folder is over 1.5GB but a lot of it is junk. I'm sure you can fit SDT on a disk if you only include what you use and keep it organized.

 

[Balsa Rule]

Thanks for the info. I wasn't certain if the search was worth using. I've been to a few boards where it wasn't useful at all. Good to know there is a good one here.

There is a difference for me between just reading a guide and actually getting info from someone, though I'm glad that everything will be there in the mod. Interesting that you recommend mods without the loader. I'd ask why, but maybe I should find out from the mod post.

Well I'm glad the community won't be a pain. I'll try not to be one myself. Thanks again for the help.

 

[stuntcock]

There is a difference for me between just reading a guide and actually getting info from someone

One word of warning: please don't ask complex questions (or seek technical support) in the Shoutbox. Post in the Help board instead (after Searching, of course).

If you post in the Help board, and someone answers your question, then the fix will be visible for future users who run into the same problem. If someone provides an answer in the Shoutbox, it will vanish after a week and the effort/knowledge is lost.

Interesting that you recommend mods without the loader.

Because they're easier to manage. A vanilla import will usually change one element of the scene (e.g. the girl's hairstyle, or the shoes that she's wearing, or the background of the scene). You can load several of them consecutively in order to "build up" a custom scene. Or you might load a single vanilla import (e.g. the hairstyle of your favorite anime character) and then spend five minutes playing "dress-up" with the standard clothing components. The only real "downside" to vanilla mods is that loading too many of them at once will diminish your FPS. But there's no harm in experimenting with them -- at any moment, you can load one of the premade girls, or "Reset" the entire scene back to its default state.

By contrast, Loader mods can be much more extensive in their effects on gameplay. They can radically alter the anatomy of the characters, change the laws of physics within the simulation, add new buttons to the GUI, and cater to new fetishes (such as group sex, bondage, or pregnancy). However, they also tend to require more effort or expertise to setup, they may be disruptive (occasionally forcing you to restart the whole game in order to "clear" an unwanted mod), and there's always a risk of conflicts or incompatibility among Loader mods. Hence, it's best to familiarize yourself with the basic gameplay and vanilla-mod features first.

Well I'm glad the community won't be a pain. I'll try not to be one myself.

"Don't be a jerk" is a good maxim, but I'd encourage you to aim higher. It really isn't very hard to contribute to the forum. Many people assume that you need to be a talented artist or programmer, but that isn't true.

There are many active threads in the Request board. If you see one that you like, try tracking down some Reference artwork for it, simply by browsing imageboards or searching Google Images. This is actually a useful service that you can provide - many Requests languish because they lack reference images.

If you're feeling ambitious, you could try to trace a Reference image into vectors. When this is done, a modder can easily use Flash to convert your work into a usable mod.

If artwork isn't your thing, then you might enjoy the challenge of writing dialogues. Or you could use Animtools (one of the fancy Loader mods mentioned above) to create inventive sexual positions and then share them with the forum. Or just combine your favorite mods into a cool screenshot and then share it.

 

[Balsa Rule]

One word of warning: please don't ask complex questions (or seek technical support) in the Shoutbox. Post in the Help board instead (after Searching, of course).

If you post in the Help board, and someone answers your question, then the fix will be visible for future users who run into the same problem. If someone provides an answer in the Shoutbox, it will vanish after a week and the effort/knowledge is lost.

Alright, thanks for that tip. I'll be certain to rely mostly on searching to get stuff done. If something really stumps me and I can't find a solution, I'll post in help then. It probably helps save server space when people don't ask the same question over and over.

Because they're easier to manage. A vanilla import will usually change one element of the scene (e.g. the girl's hairstyle, or the shoes that she's wearing, or the background of the scene). You can load several of them consecutively in order to "build up" a custom scene. Or you might load a single vanilla import (e.g. the hairstyle of your favorite anime character) and then spend five minutes playing "dress-up" with the standard clothing components. The only real "downside" to vanilla mods is that loading too many of them at once will diminish your FPS. But there's no harm in experimenting with them -- at any moment, you can load one of the premade girls, or "Reset" the entire scene back to its default state.

By contrast, Loader mods can be much more extensive in their effects on gameplay. They can radically alter the anatomy of the characters, change the laws of physics within the simulation, add new buttons to the GUI, and cater to new fetishes (such as group sex, bondage, or pregnancy). However, they also tend to require more effort or expertise to setup, they may be disruptive (occasionally forcing you to restart the whole game in order to "clear" an unwanted mod), and there's always a risk of conflicts or incompatibility among Loader mods. Hence, it's best to familiarize yourself with the basic gameplay and vanilla-mod features first.

I see. I've been having a decent enough time with all the default pieces already, so I might not need to worry about new stuff. Still, thanks for telling me that the vanilla mod methods can work just as well as the loader for simple props. Otherwise I may have overthought and tried to do everything the more complicated way.

"Don't be a jerk" is a good maxim, but I'd encourage you to aim higher. It really isn't very hard to contribute to the forum. Many people assume that you need to be a talented artist or programmer, but that isn't true.

There are many active threads in the Request board. If you see one that you like, try tracking down some Reference artwork for it, simply by browsing imageboards or searching Google Images. This is actually a useful service that you can provide - many Requests languish because they lack reference images.

If you're feeling ambitious, you could try to trace a Reference image into vectors. When this is done, a modder can easily use Flash to convert your work into a usable mod.

If artwork isn't your thing, then you might enjoy the challenge of writing dialogues. Or you could use Animtools (one of the fancy Loader mods mentioned above) to create inventive sexual positions and then share them with the forum. Or just combine your favorite mods into a cool screenshot and then share it.

Okay then. Scouting for references is definitely something I can do to help out. I might give drawing a try at some point. Will any program do for vectors? I think using something better than MS Paint might be best. It might be a while before I can make any good mods.

Thank you again. I'll keep all of the 'jerk' to myself and give what I can. :D

 

[stuntcock]

Will any program do for vectors? I think using something better than MS Paint might be best. It might be a while before I can make any good mods.

If you're interested in creating background images or "static" hairstyles then you can work in any raster-drawing program that you're comfortable using. I'd recommend upgrading to Paint.NET or GIMP, though - MSPaint is very rudimentary.

If you want to to draw a hairstyle and then animate it with "dynamic" motion, or if you want to create costumes, scene props, and bodyparts, then you'll need to use a vector-drawing application. Inkscape is recommended. It's also possible to import your reference images into Flash Professional and vector-trace them within that environment. But Flash requires a license, whereas Inkscape is freeware. So the suggested path is to trace stuff in Inkscape and then ask a modder to import it into Flash and publish it in SWF format. If you find that you enjoy the work, then you can sign up for a Flash trial (or just pay for a subscription) and begin publishing your own mods.

 

[Balsa Rule]

I feel I've been getting the hang of the program pretty well over the last month and a half. I've made a few positions in animtools and put together some decently complex dialogues to go with them. They were good times.

Unfortunately, my computer suffered a crash. Everything I put together was deleted. It was a pretty big bummer. At least it stayed hidden lol. I'm taking it in stride. I get the chance to fix some things that I think I screwed up before. I think I had some file pathways wrong because some things wouldn't load right. Now's the time to fix it.

I'll share my dialogues as soon as I can re-make them and maybe even make a hair or two. It seems like there is a good niche for some more simple mods on the level of what I can make. You were right about vanilla mods being more useful.