Uploading Content - Sets & Collections (The Sims 4)

Uploading Content - Sets & Collections (The Sims 4)

Uploading Sets ("Collections") for The Sims 4

Uploading a set of content in our system is a two-step process:
  1. Create a "Collection" - this represents the published set that will appear on the website.
  2. Upload individual items - this will show users what items are included in any given collection.
If you have created a set of content, such as a room full of objects, a series of matching clothes, etc, then you'll need to create a separate "Collection" to act as the complete set. In our initial uploading of some 1,500+ pieces of CC, we've found that it's easiest to create the collection first, and to then mark each individual item as being part of that collection when they are uploaded. 

What You'll Need

To get started, you'll need to make sure that you've gathered the files and have created the appropriate images.

Files

You'll need a .zip folder that contains all of the files for your set/collection. 
  1. The .zip folder only needs to contain the actual game files for your content.
    1. You do not need to include images in the .zip.
  2. The zip can be named anything you want.
  3. Users will receive this zip file when downloading, exactly as you've uploaded it. (At a later stage, collection zips are likely to be automated based on the collection contents.)

Images

You'll need all three types of images, as described in Image Types & Requirements

Gallery Image(s): These are the main preview images for your set. They should be standard HD at 1920x1080, 16:9.
Browse Image: This is the preview of your content that will show up when users are browsing the website. This image should be square 1:1, minimum size of 400x400. You can either crop this image from a main Gallery image, or you can create a separate image that is specifically formatted to the 1:1 size ratio - up to you!
Individual Item Images: These are the images that show when someone opens the set/collection contents panel. You'll need one image per item, sized 1024x768, 4:3, and they should be of your content on transparent background.

Creating A Collection (Set)

A "collection" is the term we use for any grouping of content, and the format is very modular. Collections can be created at any time, and individual items can be freely added to or removed from them at any point.  An individual item can be assigned to be part of a collection when it is uploaded, or alternatively, you can also edit a collection to add or remove items from it. However, since everything right now relies on ID numbers, we've found that it's easier to create the collection and then reference that one collection ID number within each item as they are uploaded.

To create the collection, open the "Collection Manager" from within Appsmith:


When you open this system, you'll see something like this:



To create a new collection, simply click the "New" button at the top of the page. This will first open a panel for you to provide the Name and Description for the collection. 
Note that the details of a collection are fully editable at any time, so don't worry if you have to go back and edit it!



Once you've entered your information, click the "Confirm" button. Your collection will then be added to the collections listing. Currently, new collections appear at the end of the list. 

To edit a collection, you'll simply need to click on within the Collections listing. That will open the details window:



The main tab, Details, lists several properties:
  1. Name
  2. Description
  3. CreatorID (This will eventually be locked to your ID automatically)
    1. To find your creator ID number, you can look in the Creators & Creations heading from within AppSmith, then under the "Creators" tab. The ID number is the very first "id" value:

  4. Category
  5. Meta Data
When choosing the category, note the "type" of set it is. Only choose the highest level category that will apply to all content within the set. There are no separate "set" or "collection" categories for sets. 

For example:
  1. A set of clothing could be categorized under "Create A Sim"
    1. If you have a set of clothing that contains only dresses, you could categorize that as CAS > Clothing > Outfits, since every item in the collection fits that same category.
    2. If you have a set of clothing that contains multiple types where they would each need a different category, such as shirts, pants, shorts, etc, then you simply categorize it under CAS > Clothing.   
    3. If you have a set that contains multiple types of content, such as both clothing and accessories, then you would simply leave that in "Create A Sim"
  2. A set of buy-mode content (such as a living room set etc) should be placed in the "Buy" category
    1. If you have a set of content that is all the same, such as a set of plants, then you can categorize it under Buy > Decorations > Plants.
    2. If the contents of the set need different categories, such as a living room that contains seating, surfaces, lighting, etc, then you can simply leave it in the overall "Buy" category.
  3. A set of build-mode content should be placed in the "Build" category
    1. If your set is all the same type of content, such as wallpaper, then you can place the set into the Build > Walls > Wallpaper category, since that applies to every individual item within the collection.
    2. If your set contains multiple different types of content, such as walls, floors, fences, columns, etc, then you can place it into the overall "Build" category.
The "Metadata" section contains fields for:
  1. Display Name
    1. Display Name should be a shortened version of the name of your creation - or as short as is reasonably possible. This is the title that will be used on site when a longer title does not fit on the page. 
  2. Tags
    1. Think of tags like descriptive traits of your content - colors, patterns, materials, etc.
  3. Keywords
    1. Keywords are searchable terms that you would want your content to show up for when someone searches for that term. A common use for this could be synonyms for your type of content, E.G. a couch might have keywords for "sofa" and "loveseat" as alternate things that people might search for, in which this item would still be relevant. 
  4. Filesize
    1. This will eventually be filled out automatically. You can fill this out with the total size of all of your files if you want, or you can also leave it blank for now. 

The "Associations" section controls what content is considered part of this collection. You can add individual items into a collection, if they've already been uploaded, and we're also working to make it possible to add collections into other collections! If adding individual items into a collection, you'll have to have the ID of each individual creation. (We've found it much easier to only remember one collection ID, and then put that into each creation instead.)




The "Images" section is fairly straightforward - you'll just have to be sure to select the type of image you are uploading from the Image Key menu: 


(For an overview of image types, check out Image Types & Requirements)

For collections:
Gallery is the main overall preview for your collection. We suggest adding multiple different gallery images showcasing your content! You can showcase it from different angles, in different colors, etc.
Browse is the image that will display on the browse pages, and you only need one Browse image per collection.

Spotlight images are currently only used for large collaborative projects (such as Office Sirens) and are not used by individual sets/collections or individual creations, so you can ignore this.

Once you've selected the Image Key you wish to upload, the "Upload" button will become available. This will open the upload dialog:


Note that currently the system only allows for one file to be uploaded at a time.

After an image has been uploaded, you'll see it listed in the window, along with the dimensions so you can verify that it's the correct type.
For example, here I can see this image has been uploaded as a Gallery image:


Note that if you have a specific Image Key selected, then you'll only see images that have been assigned that key. If you wish to see all of the images in an item, simply click the "X" in the Image Key menu:


So now here, for example, I can see that this collection has both a gallery and browse image:


If you notice that you've uploaded the wrong image as the wrong type, you can click the blue "X" button to remove that image from the collection. You can't change the type of an image once uploaded, but you can simply delete and reupload it as the correct type.

The "Files" section is where you will upload the actual zip for your content that users will download. 


Currently, this is a manual process. "Full Download" is the only File Key type available, which will be selected by default. As the "full download," you'll upload a .zip folder that contains all of the files for your content - note that you do not need to include any images within the zip. (At a later date, the full collection download will be automated based off the individual items that have been uploaded.)

To upload the file, make sure that "Full Download" is selected, and then there are two buttons at the bottom - Pick File and Upload. Use the "Pick File" button to select the .zip for your collection that contains all of the files, and then click the "Upload" button.

While your file is uploading, it'll display a message that says "Uploading, please wait..."

Collection ID

Once you've created your collection, chosen the category, and then added the images and collection file, check back in the main collection listing to note the collection ID number. As you move on to uploading individual items, you'll enter that ID number to add items to the collection as they are uploaded.


For this collection, the ID is 101, so we'll keep that number in mind for later.

Individual Items

Next, we need to upload each individual item that is going to be part of this collection. 
To open the content submission system for individual items, launch the "Creators & Creations" app from within Appsmith.


This section will contain entries for all items that have been uploaded, whether as single items, or as part of sets/collections.


To upload a new creation, start by clicking on the "New Creation" button at the top. This will open the "Edit Creation" panel: 


At first, the only details you'll see are the name and description.  Here you can enter the name of your item, and a description of it. 

Underneath of that, in order to get to the actual creation details, you have to click on the "Add Version" to actually add an instance of the item. This will first prompt you for a game version, and the creator ID will automatically be locked to your own artist ID.


Once you click "Confirm," the details panel will appear on the right: 



Note that if you need to edit the details of a creation after having closed that window, you can reopen the details panel by clicking on a version entry from the table at the bottom of the panel.


Under the "Details" tab, you'll have to first make sure to set the CategoryID for the item. Pay special attention to make sure that you are placing your content in the correct category, as you can only assign one category. 



Under the "Meta" section, there are a couple of areas where you can enter details for your content:


  1. The first option, "Display Name," is for a short version of the name of your creation. Display names will be used on site in places where the full title doesn't always fit. The display name should be kept as short as possible. For example, if your creation is titled something like "Alexis Halter Neck Glitter Prom Dress" then you could shorten the "Display Name" to simply be "Alexis Dress."
  2. The "Tags" section is ultimately planned to read the tags from within the package file, so you won't have to worry about those. 
  3. The "Keywords" section is for any searchable terms that you think apply to your content. For example, if you've made a couch, some other keywords you might add could be "sofa" and "loveseat." You can also add keywords for things like style, size, materials, etc. Try not to duplicate words that are already in the title of the creation, and don't add your username as a keyword.  
  4. Underneath of that, there are fields for "Polycount" and "Filesize" - you can put these in if you want, but these will also eventually be automated once we have a proper content submission system in place. 
The next section is images. In order to upload an image, you'll first have to select the type of image from the Image Key menu.



You will have to choose which type of image you are uploading before the "Upload" button becomes available. Once available, clicking "Upload will open this dialog, where you can either drag and drop an image, or you can open a file browse dialog:




Note that you can only upload one image at a time. Once you've uploaded an image, it'll show in the image listing with the type of image it is being used as. You can also check the dimensions to make sure it fits the type of image you are intending to use it as.


The type of image cannot be changed after upload - however, you can click the blue "x" button to remove an image, and then just reupload it as a different type of image if needed.
If you want to see all of the images that are attached to a project, simply click on the small "x" within the Image Key menu:



I can now see that this creation has both a browse image, and a gallery image, for example. 



Under the next tab, "Files," you'll upload the actual file for your creation.
  1. For a lot, room, or sim, this will be a .zip with your tray files.
  2. For other types of content, such as CAS and build/buy, this will generally just be a single package file.
  3. For mods, this may be a single package file, or in some cases it may also be a .zip with multiple files.

The "Files" section only contains one File Key, which will be Full Download by default. To add your file, click on the "Pick File" button at the bottom of the File tab. After selecting your file, click "Upload" - you'll see a message that says "Uploading, please wait..."



Add To Collection

Now to add the item to a collection, click on the Collections tab within your item:
 


At the top, there is an entry for "CollectionID" - simply type in the ID number for the collection your content is part of, and then click the "Add To Collection" button. 

Since our example collection had an ID of 101, that's what we'll put in, and then click on the "Add to collection" button. The collection ID you entered will then appear in the listing:


That's all it takes to add something into a collection! You simply need to add the collection ID to each individual item that you want in the collection. 

Alternate Collection Method

Alternatively, you can also add existing individual items into a collection from within the collection itself.

If you go into the Collections portion of AppSmith and open the details for a collection, there will be a tab labeled "Associations" - this shows everything that is part of this collection:


You can simply enter an item's ID number, choose whether it's a single "Creation" or an entire "Collection," and then click the "Add" button.

My test creation has an ID number of 1299, so if I enter that and click "Add," we can see that creation gets added to the collection:


You can repeat this by entering the ID number of every item you want to be in that collection/set.

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