How to make prop variations

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.

[indapni]

Wow I know you're busy.. million thank yous! I made 25 variations. I think it's fine.

[Avanya]

@Yooks: I haven't noticed any difference, so I think it just sticks with the first compression. Most of the compression that happens is likely also just the greyscale images getting combined, which is more efficient than the several greyscale.

[Mother]

Great guide! It took me a while to get it working properly (I had the same problem as @BachToBaroque), but it was definitely worth it as I managed to essentially cut down asset file sizes in half (from 3 to 1.5 MB). This is probably due to the variant file containing only one snapshot, thumbnail and tooltip image.

I just hope the textures are not getting compressed the second time when they are being consolidated into a variant asset file, haven't checked it but I wouldn't be surprised knowing how badly optimized the Asset Editor is.

[Avanya]

Np! Good to hear you figured it out. :) And I guess it makes sense since the file names are kept in the data if I remember correctly. So when all was put into one asset it couldn't tell them apart. At least now we know that doesn't work with random stuff. :)

[BachToBaroque]

Ahh I found out what was wrong. In my import folder I had one .fbx and had 8 different diffuse, each time I import/save a variation prop I would overwrite the diffuse texture with another one, but kept using the same .fbx, I guess the game doesn't like this. So i did the tedious process of making copies of the .fbx for each diffuse variation.

Bascially I tried to use 1 stone to kill 8 birds, instead of using 8 stones for each bird. It's all good now, and I appreciate the help. Thanks!

[Avanya]

Yeah, that definately doesn't look right. Depending on how many variations you need, the Random Large Billboard has 9 (giving 10 in the end), which is what I used. And I just did the probabilities manually. Could be they're not right as well, since only two are showing up. I think I did it with workshop disabled, but some mods on, but that was a few patches ago now, so things might have changed.

Hopefully you'll find the problem, otherwise I'd be happy to take a look and see if I can find out what's going on. :)

[BachToBaroque]

Hmm something's definitely wrong here [i.imgur.com]

I suspect when saving the Main random prop the game did not embed all variations properly, each variation prop.crp is ~500kb, the main random prop is only ~600kb.

Well I tried using a diiferent template ('random cormercial logo') and used ronyx's scripts to add variations slots & auto-calculate probability, but the results are the same. Oh when importing the variations i laucnched the game i vanilla mode (workshop/mods disabled) which i usally do, dont know if that's causing but i doubt it.

ugh this game sometimes, sigh. Thanks for the reply, i'll keep on tinkering with it and see.

[Avanya]

@BachToBaroque: I'm not sure why some variations aren't showing up. Sometimes they're not so common, so I suggest placing tons of the random prop to see them show. For my containers sometimes one version just wouldn't show. Also make sure to check the number for how often then should show up on the main prop. Could be some are set to 0, which means they won't show.

As for the variations showing up with More Beautification, that's completely normal. The mod seems to find all props, including variations embeded in a random prop. Not much to do about that. For my containers I put them in the category that shows up last and then priority 9999999 or something. That way they're at the far end in the More Beautifications menu, but they're still there and FindIt will find them too.

[BachToBaroque]

Hey Avanya, I can't seem make my random shop signs properly. I have 9 variations in total, I imported 8 as normal props using the 'aukoo logo' as template. Restarted the game, all 8 seems fine then I make my 9th variation as the main prop using 'Large Random Billboard#5' , made sure scale was correct & started adding the variations, with probality set to '11', saved and restarted again and moved the 8.crp variations away.

Loaded up a new game & used More Beautification, saw my custom random prop, but then notice something is wrong, some of the variation props shows up in the menu! eve though I am 100% sure i moved them to another location. My random prop also has missing variations, only 3 out of 9 appeared.

uh where did i go wrong? I follwed the insructions very carefully. All prop variation uses the same mesh, a simple rectangle box, and different textures, just like your prop in this guide.

[Avanya]

@Overlord: It isn't that hard anymore, but you do need to get Blender and do a few things in it. And if you want to share it you need the creator's permission. If you want to know more this guide does take you through all the steps.