• Species Creation
• Bait Creation
• Venue Creation

Peit's Bait Tutorial

Below is a tutorial aimed at simmers who want to learn how to create their own baits and to understand what the variables mean in each line. I have written this tutorial in exactly the same way as I would create a bait. If, after the tutorial you are still stuck and need further help, please do not hesitate to contact me on the forum or use my contact form to email me.

1. The bait template

View example template | Download blank template

2. The template explained

The [HEADER]:

• Bait Name: This is what you would call your bait. Please keep your bait names sensible if you are releasing them to the community. I will not add them to the downloader if they contain silly names such as DB Smelly Sock.
• Reference: A short code for your bait which should be the same as your .tkl file.
• Type: This value must be kept to 10 at all times.
• Creator: Put your name here, you made it so why not credit yourself with it?

The [BAIT]:

• Type: This line can have two values. By putting a number 1 in this line tells fishsim that this is a bait file. By putting a number 2 on this line, it is telling fishsim that this is a groundbait.
• bigGraphic: This is the line that tells fishsim to find the large graphic which is viewable when selecting your bait. This image is 200 x 100 pixels in size and must be saved in a .jpg format.
• Graphic: This is the line that tells fishsim where to find the baitbox graphic. This is the image that shows within the 8 circles on the bait selection screen. This image is 66 x 66 pixels in size and must be saved in a colour depth of 256 colours and in a .pcx format.

• Hairrig: A simple line that denotes whether the bait can be hairrigged or not. Putting a number 1 means the bait can be hairrigged and by putting a 0 tells fishsim that this bait cannot be hairrigged.
• Hookbait: This is the line that tells fishsim that the bait can be attached to the hook. As this template is also used to create groundbaits, if you are creating just a normal bait then either the hookbait, hairrig, or both lines have to have a 1 in them.
• Multi: This little line tells fishsim that you want your bait to be used along with other hookbaits. By putting a 0 on that line turns the "multi" off.
• Loosefeed: Do you want to be able to loosefeed your bait? Now remember, if you create what would be an expensive bait in the real world, fishsim lets you throw a little or hands full at a time. Leaving the value set to 1 allows you to use your bait as a loosefeed too and by placing a 0 there means your bait can not be loosefed.
• Feeder: This line allows you to use your bait in a feeder which is commonly used for baits such as casters or maggots. Think about this when creating baits, would you put XL Boilies in a standard feeder?
• Minsize: Specifies the minimum size fish you could catch with your bait. Thinking carefully about this, you wouldnt catch a Gudgeon on an XL Boilie/bait. The value entered must be set in drams, for example if you entered the value 256 the minimum sized fish, (presuming you are using the smallest size bait on the hook when fishing) would be 1lb 0oz 0dr. This will obviously change if you use more than one peice of bait on your hook or if you increase the bait size when fishing.
• Addsize: Again, entered in drams this line will add the theoretical minimum size fish you can catch based on the size of the bait you are using. For example, if you use 256 drams as in the Minsize line, and then place 256 within this line, then every adjustment of bait you make (providing you have allowed the bait to have adjustments) will make each adjustment have a theoretical minsize of 1lb 0oz 0dr for every adjustment made. Basically, using this rule of thumb would mean if you have five adjustments each at 256 drams then the minimum sized fish you could catch on maximum bait would be 5lb 0oz 0dr.
• Adjustsize: This is where you enter the value of how many steps you want your bait to graduate. If you take into account what was written in the Addsize, if you put the Adjustsize to 5 with the Minsize being 256 drams, then the smallest fish will theoretically be 5lb 0oz 0dr but if you change the minsize to 512, then the minimum sized fish caught (theoretically) based on the number 5 if you entered it in the Minsize would be 10lb 0oz 0dr.

• Dispersec: This line only works if this template is going to be used as a groundbait or if it has been setup to use in a swimfeeder. Determined by how much bait you use, adding your values on this line will tell fishsim how quickly or slowly you want the bait to disperse and gradually disintagrate.
• Weight: Depending on whether you want a floating bait or a sinking bait, by entering certain values it will do several things. For example, if you used 2.0 then the bait would sink quite fast, down to 0.1 where your bait would sink very slowly. You can also enter a negative number for example -0.1, which will make the bait float on the surface.
• Adjweight: Working in exactly the same way as the Hooksize and Addsize, entering a numerical value here affects the bait.
• Hooksize: The hooksize is used in a very similar way to the Addsize line. If you are creating a Castor or Maggot type bait then you wouldnt have a size 12 hook! so think carefully about the bait size and how big the actual bait will be based on any graduations you have. The hooksize value is also a negative number. This is because the higher the number, the smaller the hook.

The [CLASS]:

• ClassType: The classtype is a numerical input from 1 and 10. Each number represents what type of bait you have/are creating. The list of classtypes can be found HERE.



• The following lines; Protein, Starch, Carbo, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Spicy, Citrus, Blood, Fish, Fat and Hardness all have their own values from 0 to 100. By entering a specific number in each line you give your bait its unique properties. For example, if you were making a fish boilie or fish paste then you would enter the values to what you think this bait contains. The Hardness which is also set between 0 and 100 determines how hard the bait is. If you give the value 10, this will be a soft bait whilst 100 will be a hard bait. Making the baits hard will deter smaller fish and certain species.



• The Sight, Move and Smell works by adding values from 0 to 100. Defining each line makes the bait act as follows: Sight: The higher the value, the more visible the bait is to the fish making it more or less appealing. Move: Entering a value between 0 and 100 determines how this bait moves under water. The higher the value, the more the bait moves. Smell: Again, entering the value between 0 and 100 the bait will give off scent. The higher the value, the smellier the bait. This is useful when creating deadbaits as well as normal coarse baits.



• The Col line is what gives your bait its unique colour. Please note that the values are Red, Green and Blue. So for example, if you wanted to make your bait yellow, then you would enter R=255 G=255 B=0. To find out the colour codes click here. The RGB code is the 3 middle values. Please allow upto 15 seconds for page to load.



• Now your tackle file is complete, you need to save the changes and place this file inside fishsim. The location can be found as follows: fishsim2/tackle/baits

3. The bait graphics

• Now you have successfully created your bait, its now time to add your graphics/images to finish this bait off. For this part of the tutorial, you must have access to Paint Shop Pro (7 or above).



• a. Start off by finding a suitable image for your bait and make sure it is of a decent size to be scaled down.
• b. Once you have found a suitable bait image, open Paint Shop Pro and scale the graphic down to 200 x 100 pixels as shown below. Once scaled, save this bait image as a .jpg to your desktop for now!.





• c. Once you have the above image saved, its time to start with the .pcx image which is the image you see in your baitbox. To do this, firstly select the circle from the selection tools (as shown below)...




• ...Now you have selected this, you can now open the image you will use for your baitbox. With the selection tool create a circle of your image.When you are happy with the selection, copy and paste the selected area as a new layer. I found that using Ctrl + c to copy and Ctrl + v to paste it was easier. What you have now should look like the two images shown below.




• d. The final stage now is to resize your image and transform it into a 256 colour depth graphic. Firstly, you need to find out the size of the image you have just made the selection of. To do this, right click on your image (on the gray bar) and then click on the image information (right at the bottom). This will bring up an information sheet that you can view to see the size of the image. I now know that from this information, my image is 182 x 182 pixels so what I need to do now is create a new image. For this, click on file followed by new. Enter the dimensions of that image so that its exactly the same size as the one you have previously selected. You should now have something that looks like the image below.




• e. Right click on the image containing your bait and select copy, now paste that in to the new box you have created and line it up so it fits perfectly. Once you have done this you can close down your other image as this is no longer needed. You will have something that looks like the following:




• f. To complete this tutorial, click on the image tab at the top of Paint Shop Pro and decrease the colour depth to 256(8 bit) or alternatively you can hold down Ctrl + Shift and press the number 3. Now you have reduced this colour depth all you need to do now is resize the image so that it is 66 x 66 pixels and then save it onto your desktop but make sure that this image is saved with the .pcx file extension.
• g. Open your graphics folder located in fishsim. There will be another folder called baits, now all you do is place both of the images inside this folder and voila! The tutorial is complete.



• Tutorial © 2009 Created and written by Peit Leigh.