opening/splash screen tutorial + resources

Here's a guide on how to change the splash screen that you see when you boot up the game :-)

tools involved: Photoshop/Photopea/GIMP, DDS Converter Tool, and Sims 4 Studio

credit: thesammy58's thread for originally finding the main splash screen resource!

You can find all of my released opening screen overrides from the link below

// Base files

1. base .psd file: TS4 logo separated + language variations

2. .package & image files for these languages:

English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, English text for other languages*

• Each language above has their own unique splash screen ; you can opt to make them unique or keep the same screen/logo for everything.

  • * on the English text for other languages file, it's for other languages that didn't get a unique splash screen or uses the English text version.

  • * since it's hard to distinguish which resource is for which, I compiled them all into one package/psd file.

  • * they've already been named in such a way to make importing into S4S much quicker. Don't worry about exporting as there is a method to export them in bulk.

// Editing & replacing background and logo

All splash screen are sized at 1600 x 900 pixels, and it is recommended to keep the ratio at 16:9. Making it at other screen ratios may leave in some blank spaces.

• The logo has been remade using vectors to ensure the sharpest quality if you decide to resize the image

• Recolor the base logo or add new layer styles to further customize the logo, or remove it entirely if you so wish

• You can put in any images as the background layer

• Photopea can be used too to access the base files

Regarding the Other Language base file, detailed instructions will be in the exporting files section.

// Formatting & exporting images

In order to have the opening/splash screen work properly, they have to be exported & imported as DDS files with the DXT1 compression and without mipmaps.

There are two ways of exporting:

1. Export each image one by one as .DDS DXT1 without mipmaps using GIMP (manual / slower)

2. Export as PNG first, then convert using DDS Converter Tool (detailed tutorial & tips about file automation here) (batch export / quicker)

// option 1 : manually

1. Export each screen as PNGs first. If you use GIMP to edit, simply keep the document open. For exporting Other Languages PNGs, see the last section

2. Open the selected language's original DDS file in GIMP, then drop/copy the custom PNG file into the same document

3. Merge the layers together. Make sure you do so, otherwise the 2 layers will be counted as separate.

4. Overwrite document to export/save the image in the current DDS format/compression. Overwriting skips the manual export setup as it automatically saves in the existing DDS compression.

5. Repeat for each language variants

// option 2 : batch export

1. Export each screen as PNGs first. For exporting Other Languages PNGs, see the last section

2. With the DDS Converter Tool, drag & drop your folder into both Source and Target Folder, set the settings as follows, and let it convert

   • If you encounter weird grainy artifacts, you can check the No CUDA option to remove it.

3. That's pretty much done!

// editing & exporting Other Language base file

By utilizing the Layer Comps feature, you can simply copy and paste your custom screen to this document, then merge it to the existing layer.

• Exporting with Photoshop

  • File > Export > Layer Comps to Files

• Exporting with Photopea

  • Window > Layer Comps

  • In the Layer Comps menu, export by selecting the download button

// Importing & setting up the mod

1. Open the package file of your selected language

2. Import the custom screen DDS file and save

3. Repeat for each language variants

4. For Other Languages file:

   • Since the file names are already formatted correctly, you can just use the batch import button and select all DDS files. It will be imported to the right resources without manually importing them one by one.