More Awesome Than You!

I've finally had my first random biting by the Contessa who bit my in-game sim and I wasn't too happy about it.  Normally there are loads of townies on the downtown lots, but this time there were none at all, just my own playable Sims and an NPC barmaid.  The Contessa was chatting to everyone in turn, I assumed while she waited for a townie or NPC to arrive.  A nanny walked by (I was shouting at the screen for her to come in, but she just walked on by; Kennedy Cox did the same thing).  Then to my amazement, the Contessa bit one of my Sims.  This Sim was originally Tosha Go, teen townie, but she's been married to a CAS Sim for 21 years since I grew her up for that purpose. 

Anyway, what I want to know is - is this 'by design' or a glitch?  If it's the former, I'm in trouble because I have LOADS of ex-townies/NPC's in play.  There are all the former teens for a start, they've all been to Uni and are in the neighbourhood now.  Then there are all the dormies who have married my Sims and are now in the neighbourhood, plus some who are still studying.  I also have several former NPC's who I know are fair game because their NPC status refuses to go away no matter how many times I change it (such as the former cow mascot, former llama mascot and former cheerleader).  Some of the former NPC's/townies have been playable almost from the start, such as Amin Sims, who's an elder not far off the end now.  Others are already dead, such as Kaylynn Langerak and Marisa Bendett.  I've definitely used a fairly large number of them one way or another.

I can cope with this insofar as it's easy enough to change them back (although I wouldn't bother if the cow mascot was 'vamped', ditto Sophie Miguel who's already a zombie), but what I am curious about is whether the number of townies to be vamped is set from the beginning, or whether it alters as the game progresses - in other words, now that I've changed Tosha back, will the game view the neighbourhood as having no townie/NPC vampires yet, or as having one already?  Will it register the fact that Tosha has been changed back?  I don't suppose anyone knows the answer to that, but I thought I'd ask it anyway.  I could end-up with none at all if every one that's nabbed is a playable Sim that I change straight back.

I've checked through Tosha's character file & memory file in SimPE and there is nothing I can see that indicates she was ever a townie, apart from a couple of dubious entries in "Extended-More", which I don't know the significance of.  I suspect something is stored somewhere else, as it is with the NPC's, in which case everyone's married-in townies/NPC's are at risk.  I suppose the best answer would be to delete them from the lots if the vampires turn-up, but we shouldn't have to do that.  I really don't think they are meant to be bitten.

According to the Prima Guide, the Grand Vampires will infect 10% of your Sim population. Always.

It's 10% of your townie population, not your entire population.  They're only supposed to bite townies & NPC's, not playable sims.  It makes no sense for them to bite playable sims, because of the effect it can have on your game apart from anything else.

hmm I am highly confused then, because I was under the assumption that the Count(ess) could not start randomly biting people until he/she bit a playable sim, so to wit if none of your playable sims ever got bit (by avoiding any contact with vampires) you could have a vampire free hood.

This happened after my first playable Sim was bitten.

The only Sim I've had bitten so far is a playable Sim I created in CAS.  She was out on a date with Count Gregory and had called a taxi to take both of them back to her place when he suddenly bit her.  Not that I minded -- they got married and have since had twins.  So if the Prima Guide is saying that they only bite townies and NPCs, then either I had a huge glitch or the guide is wrong.  (Or I don't understand exactly what you're saying ... that's another option).

Phyllis

edited for afterthought

Trubble has a link in her BBS signature with info from the Prima guide: this one (http://www.livejournal.com/community/thesims2/1284926.html).

The relevant part:

"It is possible to have an (almost) entire neighborhood of vampires but it won't happen automatically. Because Townies are not replaced when they are "vamped." the population is not affected by the number of vampires in it's midst. To completely vamp a neighborhood, however, your playable Sims will have to do most of the biting because townie vampires (including the Grand Vampires) can convert only 10 percent of the populace. Even with dilligent, nape-biting, however, you can't make every soul in the neighborhood into a vampire because anytime an NPC (e.g., Gardener or Maid) is vamped, he or she gets replaced by a living Sim. Your vampire utopia will just have to make do with a warm-blooded service sector."

I thought it stated right in the manual that came with the game that if your sim, or any sim for that matter, started a relationship with a vamp and that relationship was of adequate levels, they could get bitten.  

I guess PC sims must develop quite a relationship with Grand Vampires before they find themselves turned into vampires. However, just to limit ourselves to this board there are many reported stories about vampires biting townies/NPC's more or less at random; it appears that in those cases the above mentioned rule does not apply.

I've been trying to get another one of my Sims bitten -- in this case, Strangetown's Loki Beaker, who has a big desire to be a vampire.  He's been dating a contessa and they are quite in love, but still no bite *sigh*  I suppose all things come to those who wait (or something like that).

The first random sim to be bit in my game (after I influenced the grand vamp to bite one of my sims) was one of my payable sims that I created in CAS that was visiting a downtown lot (meaning I wasn't controlling her at the time). The majority of sims that are being bitten are NPCs and townies but my playable sims are being bitten when they happen to be on community lots.

It's a pain in the butt when I go to load one of my lots. I may have saved the game while a sim was gardening or swimming and then when I load the lot, they are doing the same thing but now they are a vampire and I have the fun of having to buy a coffin and getting them inside ASAP.  Luckily, I always pause the lot before I do a save so that gives me the chance to queue up the necessary actions.

The vampires are fun to play but I'm not liking how it's starting to run wild in my neighborhood. I have noticed that as I stopped "curing" some of my playable sims that the "infection" rate has slowed so maybe I have hit my 10% limit (see a lot of vamps tho).  I really need a VanHelsing sim that can go to the community lots and autonomously "cure" some vamps.

Okay, one more time. Vampires do not bite 10% of townies/population. This is a Prima guide myth/misedit/whatever.

Here's how vamps work:

1) Downtown starts with 4 GrandVamps (GVs).
2) A GV will not bite anyone until they get to know (70/70) one of your selectable sims.
3) A GV will then randomly bite one of those known (70/70) selectable sims and acquire the token that permits them to bite other sims.

From this point on, all vampires (except for GVs that don't have the token) work like this:

1) If the victim is selectable, they can be bit *any time*.
2) If the vampire is selectable they can bite anyone else *any time*.
3) If the vampire and the victim are not selectable, they can be bit unless there are already 10 living vampire NPCs (*not* 10%).

I have a sudden urge to see a combat mod that lets you to stake Vampires and blow the heads off Zombie Sims with a shotgun.

 - Gus

Good idea, though I'd go flamethrower.  ;) Plus, you could use the existing object.

I was wondering why only two of the four vampires were biting.  I thought that only one vampire had to bite and then they all could.   Townies and NPC's are not the only ones at risk.  Darren Dreamer has been bitten 3 times(so I think that when they are cured they might no longer count towards the 10% pop.) Dirk was bitten with no relationship with the countess.  I do have to say that they have good choices in townies(Amin and Kennedy).  Don got bitten because he picked a fight with the Count.  I let him suffer for a while for his stupidity.

LOL, Don had a fight with the Count in my game too and they're enemies now on -100/-100.  My Count is a pain in the proverbials, he goes around poking my Sims all the time and has also had a fight with Lilith Dreamer (who fancied him before that).  Both Don & Louise won the fights, probably because they're both 100% fit with full body points.  Lilith is the fittest Sim in my game, for all that she's 4 days off death.  She runs the assault course everyday when she gets back from work and is definitely NOT to be trifled with.  The Count hasn't bit anybody so far.  Last time I saw him he seemed to be after Kennedy Cox.  First he chatted with him for a while, then he followed him outside and joined him on the next swing, then went and sat down next to him and had a meal with him.  I was desperate for him to bite him, but he didn't.  Maybe he just fancies him. 

The Count has bitten Darren twice and about three townies and a NPC.  The Countess has bitten more sims.  What is funny about the Count is that he goes over to Don's house almost every day--weird.  It's like he wants to be his friend.   The first sim he bit was a romance sim that he was in love with.  They were at the end of their date--after she invited him home--well,after he bit her, he had a want for her to be cured of vampirism.  He is a pretty big wuss for a vampire.  What about the vampires that steal your newpapers and knock over the trash cans during the day--complete morons.  It's like,yeah,you better run.  I have had 5 NPC's  bitten and they become townies after but they walk around in their uniforms--I wonder why they made it so you can't add clothing to their wardrobe.  It was so easy to "plan outfit" but it doesn't add  the new outfit to the wardrobe.  Any woo, I wish my NPC and townie vamps could not look so dorky.

My count has only bitten one sim randomly.  I had him bite this lady who wanted to be a vampire when he came to visit.

 But the next time she invited him over he went into the kitchen and bit one of my teenagers,   she seemed quit pleased though,  all of my knowledge sims want to be vampires.   bleh.   ;D

I haven't tried it yet, but here's a HAck to control which sims get bitten. (Or not).

http://www.djssims.com/sims2hacks.php