Overview
A guide showing you how to use prop variations in one item – This guide assumes you are familiar with creating and importing normal props.
Intro
This guide assumes you’re familiar with the process of creating and importing props – if you aren’t, then I’d recommend you check out Texturing & Asset Creation 101
The variations
The way prop variations work is it packages several props together as one and when placed it selects which one appears based on a set probability. It can be a prop using the same mesh, but different textures, like the ones I’ll use in this example, or it can be completely different meshes and textures. I’d recommend only using props which are about the same size – think of the random rooftop windows or the random industrial prop items we have in the game.
Once you have your props ready, import and save all but one like normal props (that variation will be your main prop). You’ll want to pick the category you want them to appear in (either by selecting a template in that category or changing it with a mod). If you don’t want the variations to show up with the main prop, then set the priority to 999999999 – that’ll put them at the back. I’ll do that with my prop as the variations aren’t intended to be placed individually.
After importing and saving all the variation, restart the game. This is needed for the props to show up in the next step. 🙂
The main prop
This is the prop, which will contain all the variations and the one we will see in the asset editor, when we place it on buildings. Unless you have any preferences it doesn’t really matter which variation to use here – just make sure it isn’t also included in the variation we will add. 😉
To import it select “Prop” like normal, then find a template with variation. I use “Random Large Billboard #5” since it has 9 variation (giving me 10 different props with the main prop). It doesn’t matter if you have fewer variations – the game will remove the unused slots when you save it.
You can set the number of variations with this script by Ronyx69[gist.github.com] – the maximum limit has yet to be found (Ronyx tested 23 which worked fine)
Select the prop to import like you would normally and make sure the scale is right. On the right you have the variations – simply click the … and a window will pop up with all the props you can add as variations. Remember to give them each a probability – I’ve used the same percent for mine, so each variation will appear equally often, but you can have some be more common than others.
If you’ve forgotten how to calculate percent, then just divide 100 by the amount of total variations you have (in my case 10).
Lastly you’ll need to change the category of the prop (unless you found a template in the right category ofc). I want my sign to show up in the common street props like the kiosks. I’ll do this with ModTools, but you can also use this mod. If you’re using ModTools you can find a list of prop categories here[drive.google.com]
Once that’s done you can save it and it’s done!
Testing and uploading
To test your prop make sure you remove all the variations from the asset folder – all you want left if the main prop we just made. Otherwise the game will complain about duplicates. If you have the More Beautification Mod then you can load up any save to test the prop. If not, then you’ll need to place it on a building or in a little park – note that you won’t see the different variations in the asset editor – they only show up in game.
Once you’re ready to upload the prop, you simply upload the main prop like any other normal prop. All the variations are packaged into the .crp file, so there’s no need to worry about them.