09-01-2025, 05:00 PM
At this point I might as well document my journey.
So, LADS models so precise I look at them in wonder, but then realize that in order for the mask to work, the sim underneath is someone not even their mother would love. You have to keep those proportions though, or the mask will be the one coming up distorted. But the game animations still take into account the sim underneath, it couldn't care less about the mask over it, so every animation that includes faces touching with each other is automatically off because the game believes it's smashing two normal sims together, and not one that has a mask that moves all its bones several inches back. This is only a relative problem, I can fix the distance both in game and by making poses exclusive to these models. No biggie.
But then my main issue becomes the expressions, because that mask is a block of rigid clay and doesn't react to anything. As I was mentioning in my other post, I had to liquify my way through every smile because the actual sims were stone-faced and dead-eyed. Time for a test run, I said to myself. I rip the sim with the mask on so I can put it in blender and deal with more accurate proportions and then I start poking things and rotating others to see what moves and what doesn't.
Result: the LADS boys can pretty much only open and close their mouth, open and close their eyes (with some eye movement), and register some form of eyebrow activity.
Smiling isn't a thing. Cheeks are made of botox.
This is a frame from an in-game original animation, and how it looks on Raf.
So either I keep on editing expressions in photoshop, or I only make moody scenes where they don't emote lol
Or I give up on these models altogether, but I'd rather not. I have yet to find other versions that make me go "Oh yes it's them"
So, LADS models so precise I look at them in wonder, but then realize that in order for the mask to work, the sim underneath is someone not even their mother would love. You have to keep those proportions though, or the mask will be the one coming up distorted. But the game animations still take into account the sim underneath, it couldn't care less about the mask over it, so every animation that includes faces touching with each other is automatically off because the game believes it's smashing two normal sims together, and not one that has a mask that moves all its bones several inches back. This is only a relative problem, I can fix the distance both in game and by making poses exclusive to these models. No biggie.
But then my main issue becomes the expressions, because that mask is a block of rigid clay and doesn't react to anything. As I was mentioning in my other post, I had to liquify my way through every smile because the actual sims were stone-faced and dead-eyed. Time for a test run, I said to myself. I rip the sim with the mask on so I can put it in blender and deal with more accurate proportions and then I start poking things and rotating others to see what moves and what doesn't.
Result: the LADS boys can pretty much only open and close their mouth, open and close their eyes (with some eye movement), and register some form of eyebrow activity.
Smiling isn't a thing. Cheeks are made of botox.
This is a frame from an in-game original animation, and how it looks on Raf.
So either I keep on editing expressions in photoshop, or I only make moody scenes where they don't emote lol
Or I give up on these models altogether, but I'd rather not. I have yet to find other versions that make me go "Oh yes it's them"
![[Image: abyssw-alker-v0-wx0feo9sd3yod500x100.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/LXBKwXgL/abyssw-alker-v0-wx0feo9sd3yod500x100.jpg)
Time goes by but memories rewind
