A huge plus for The Sims 2 PC version is the versatility that players can have with their Sims. Programs like The Sims 2 Body Shop give users a chance to add personal touches to their Sims by making their own clothes and genetics. This feature is one of the reasons that The Sims has kept its popularity and hasn’t fallen by the wayside. It can be so easy to create custom content for your Sims that I?m going to show you how to create custom hair color.

My Sim with blue hair

To use The Sims 2 Body Shop is straightforward. Simply open the program and choose where to build or Sims or create parts. For customization, click create parts. Next click start new project. You will have three choices: create genetics, create facial hair, makeup and glasses, and create clothing. A good easy start is to create genetics. From here click on the hair icon, and choose a color. Click on a Sim and then click export selected textures. Name your project, and click accept project name (checkmark). At the top of the screen will be the path to where the Sims 2 Body shop saved all of the texture files associated with that hair. The next step to customize will be to open your graphics program, open each file and change the hair color to whatever you would like.

I use Paint Shop Pro. The quick and easiest way to change hair color is to create a mask layer with the color you want change the hair color to and change the opacity of the mask layer. Then copy the mask to paste on the other texture files. Then merge all layers, and click save. Do not rename the file as the Sims 2 Body Shop has already created the names of the files. There are several files that will be associated with one hair style so make sure to change all of the appropriate texture files.

You can reopen your saved project in the Sims 2 body shop to check out how it looks before importing it into the game. If you are satisfied, click import to game.

You can also share your Sims with the world by packaging your creations. To do this, close Sim bin to go to first screen of the Sims 2 Body Shop. Select build Sim and package Sims. You can either select package Sim to file or package Sim to the Sims2.com to directly send your Sim to thesims2.com website. Once a package is created you can double click to have the Sim installed into your game.

The Sims 2 Body Shop is a great free program that gives you freedom to really personalize your game playing experience. If you have problems, the program comes with both a tutorial and a manual. Have fun exploring the possibilities for your Sims with The Sims 2 Body Shop.

I have added a more in-depth tutorial on How to make blue hair for your Sims if you would like further information.

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