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26  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Neighborhood Templates with Playables? on: 2011 April 27, 19:22:15
3) Don't change anything in the IDNO record*
*The values are adjusted accordingly when a new NH is created. The template (parent) name is P001, the UID 4; in my test NH, the newly generated subhood's (parent) name is N001, the UID 2.

When a subhood is added to a neighborhood, the game will move the subhood's (parent) name to the subname field and replace the (parent) name with the name of the primary neighborhood.  The UID is adjusted to be unique for the current set of neighborhoods and subhoods.

It's this process which SimPE attempts (and fails) to mimic when you change the Neighborhood Type.  Instead of moving the (parent) name to the subname field, it adds a 4-character long string into the record, but sets the length of the string to 0, thus corrupting the remainder of the record.

Problems occur if the UID and (parent) name of a subhood template match an existing neighborhood or subhood.  The game will confuse the two folders and will actually change your template to try to keep it in sync with your playable hood.

Since you decided to replace the Pets stealth subhood, you already had a unique UID and (parent) name.  However, your method is very specific and replaces an existing subhood; mine is more general and allows people to maintain the existing subhoods.  Otherwise, they're the same basic procedure.

4) Rename all character files and the NH file from Nxxx_[whatever].package to P001_[whatever].package**
**I didn't try with lots, but I guess it's the same procedure.

This is the standard procedure for renaming a neighborhood or subhood folder.  You need to do it for all files in the folder, including all characters and lots.
27  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Neighborhood Templates with Playables? on: 2011 April 26, 21:15:58
Here's my best guess as to how to create a stealth neighborhood (note that this isn't tested at all):
1) Create your neighborhood
2) Extract the IDNO record from an existing stealth neighborhood and replace your IDNO with that one.
3) Modify the UID and (parent) name in the IDNO.  The UID should be unique and the (parent) name should match your neighborhood folder name.
4) Move your neighborhood into C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 <EP>\TSData\Res\NeighborhoodTemplate for any EP from Pets on.

Verified that this technique works.  I used the IDNO from the Pets stealth subhood, with a new UID and (parent) name, and the sim-bin sims appeared in my neighborhood.

Just be careful not to change the Neighborhood Type in the Plugin View, since SimPE has a bug which will add extra characters into the record, corrupting it.  If you want to change the Neighborhood Type, you'll need to make the change in the Hex View.

I also verified that the subhood was added to my neighborhood when I entered it, rather than when the neighborhood was created.
28  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Neighborhood Templates with Playables? on: 2011 April 26, 16:17:38
After reading your reply, Mootilda, I initialized them using your empty-lot-method. Still, no sims in the sim bin. According to the My Documents/EA Games folder, this 'hood has no sims at all except for the paper boy and the driver (those were generated during the move-in-move-out progress).

Your procedure would have already initialized them, so my technique wouldn't help.

To make a "template" of a regular 'hood, all you need to do is make your neighbourhood as you want it, and then take a copy of the whole neighbourhood folder and put it somewhere safe.

I used this method before finding out about templates, but it has several disadvantages, like not being able to choose a terrain etc.

Exactly how are you trying to use the neighborhood template?  Are you deleting the Neighborhoods subfolder for your save game and allowing the game to regenerate all of the neighborhoods?  Or, are you creating a brand new neighborhood from a terrain?  I assumed the former and sim-bin sims work in that situation.  However, if you are using the latter technique, sim-bin sims will not work; you will definitely want a stealth subhood for that to work.

Here's my best guess as to how to create a stealth neighborhood (note that this isn't tested at all):
1) Create your neighborhood
2) Extract the IDNO record from an existing stealth neighborhood and replace your IDNO with that one.
3) Modify the UID and (parent) name in the IDNO.  The UID should be unique and the (parent) name should match your neighborhood folder name.
4) Move your neighborhood into C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 <EP>\TSData\Res\NeighborhoodTemplate for any EP from Pets on.

That's what the stealth hoods are for. Those DO copy over playables to every 'hood. I'm not quite sure how to go about making one (or safely editing one), though I could most likely find out, but I'm sure Mootilda knows?

Thanks for the confidence.  However, I'd have to do some research to figure out how to (correctly) make a stealth neighborhood.  I've only made them accidentally, because of the SimPE IDNO bug.

Also, @Mootilda: Good point, I didn't think of the IDNOs... Now I want to test putting in any combination of N001/G001/F001/E001 manually. I wonder if the game will still autocorrect it at startup? The stealth hoods aren't generated before you load the neighbourhood for the first time ingame, though, so that's not related to how the 'hood is copied.

Good to know about the stealth subhoods.  I tend to avoid them like the plague, so I'm not surprised that I was wrong about that.  I've updated my post.

I'm not sure whether it happens for all EPs, but I've seen a lot of people who have "lost" neighborhoods that they restored from backup.  This happened because the IDNO was not changed when they copied the neighborhood in, and it conflicted with an existing neighborhood.  When I had them remove the conflicting neighborhoods, their restored neighborhood "magically" appeared again:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=180053

The solution to this problem is to make the IDNO unique.  I never thought about using the in-game process to fix the problem, but I know that it works because of the conflict between the EA shipped neighborhoods.  Unfortunately, that conflict is why you lose the neighborhood story on the base game neighborhoods when you have the later EPs.  The game decides to let the neighborhoods associated with the later EPs "win" the IDNO, since they come earlier in the alphabet (E001, F001, G001).  However, the early neighborhood stories (such as N001) rely on the IDNO.  I've solved this on my own machine by changing the IDNO for the later EP neighborhoods, so that the base game hoods retain their IDNOs when a new save game is generated.
29  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: An extracted Uni vanity mesh... Is possible? on: 2011 April 25, 22:23:53
Also, an annoying thing about Uni if you don't actually play Uni is that all of your sims get an automagic bad memory about not going to college when they grow up, and IIRC the knowledge sims actually get a fear of it and then cry about it later.

There's a mod to fix that.
30  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Neighborhood Templates with Playables? on: 2011 April 25, 22:07:26
All the game does is copy the whole folder over, though, which is exactly the same as copying it over yourself from a different location. As long as the neighbourhood works correctly to begin with and the whole folder is copied correctly, with all its contents, it should work either way.

Not exactly.  When you copy the folder yourself, nothing is changed inside the folder.  When you use the standard in-game processing, it will adjust the IDNO record to resolve any conflicts with other neighborhoods.  That's how EA is able to ship two neighborhoods which conflict with each other, such as Pleasantview and Desiderata Valley.  The standard in-game processing also attaches all stealth subhoods.

sloppyhousewife, along with standard neighborhoods and subhoods, there is also the possibility of creating stealth subhoods.  Sim-bin sims in a standard neighborhood exist only in that neighborhood.  Sim-bin sims in a subhood are added to a neighborhood when you attach the subhood to it.  Sim-bin sims in a stealth subhood are added to every neighborhood.  As Tarlia explained, we really need more information about what you are trying to accomplish, as well as the method that you are using.
31  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Neighborhood Templates with Playables? on: 2011 April 25, 20:12:40
I had no problem creating a base game neighborhood template with sims in the sim bin.  Just create the neighborhood and move it to:
C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\UserData\Neighborhoods

If the neighborhood requires EPs, then put it in the TSData\Res\UserData\Neighborhoods subfolder under the Program Files folder for the latest EP.

If this is what you tried and it didn't work, you may need to ensure that the sim families are initialized before turning the neighborhood into a template.

Try this:
- Create an empty lot.
For each sim-bin family in turn:
 - Move the family into the empty lot.
 - Enter the lot and save.  This should initialize the family.
 - Return to the neighborhood view and move the family back into the sim bin.
When you've got everyone initialized:
- Remove the empty lot.
32  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Duplicate Character Stubs on: 2011 April 21, 03:37:19
Your neighborhood is now corrupt.  There's no way to fix it.  I hope that you have a backup.
33  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Changing road types on: 2011 April 18, 16:34:23
I'm afraid that's not very informative.  Perhaps if you included some pictures which would show us exactly what you want changed, it would help.
34  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Changing road types on: 2011 April 17, 23:33:31
OK.  Here is a zip file with 3 folders: Dirt, Desert, and Concrete.  Backup your neighborhood first, just in case you don't like the results.  Unzip the one that you want and use SimPE to replace the existing NGBH with the one that you selected.
35  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Changing road types on: 2011 April 13, 01:13:25
As far as I can tell there isn't any reference to the road texture in the individual lot packages, only the ground texture.

I see a Road Texture (RTEX) with Type = 0xACE46235:
http://www.simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=ACE46235

[Update:]

I just found another place where the terrain type is stored in the neighborhood package.  I have no idea why, but it's stored in the NGBH (Neighborhood/Memory) record.  The terrain type in the NGBH for Elsewhere is Desert, so this could be the problem.

Unfortunately, the terrain type in that record doesn't display in the plugin view, so you'd have to edit it in hex:
http://www.simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=NGBH

Since "Concrete" has more letters than "Desert", you would also have to change the length of the terrain string and insert characters in the correct location.

[Another Update:]

I tested this and confirmed that changing the terrain type in the NGBH record will change the terrain underneath the road (and between the road and the sidewalk).  However, I doubt that you want to change the terrain to Concrete since that clashes fairly badly with the actual terrain of Elsewhere, which is sand because of the low elevation.  I also tried Dirt, but it is also substantially darker than the sand.  I suspect that plasticbox chose Desert because it was the closest match to the actual sand terrain.

If you'd like, I can share those two versions of the NGBH with you.
36  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Changing road types on: 2011 April 12, 19:49:29
I don't have the answer.  However, I believe that you may be looking at the wrong package.  I seem to remember seeing the terrain type in the LOT package, perhaps in the Road Textures?  Also, did you check out the texture in the Lot Description in the neighborhood package?

After creating this hybrid neighborhood, what happens when you add a new empty lot?  Does it also get the desert terrain near the road?  If so, then the problem is likely in the hood package; if not, then the problem is likely in the lot package.
37  TS2: Burnination / Peasantry / Re: Clean Uberhood (Merged EAxis neighbourhoods) - NOT the same as HP's/Mixreality's on: 2011 April 08, 22:43:55
Interesting. Thank you. Then I should be able to make a downtown Belladonna Cove (seems better than a shopping district, since it's so urban). Curious: What happens if a sim gets access to a secret hobby lot or a secret witch lot in a neighbourhood that lacks the FT/AL stealth hoods?

As far as I know, access isn't a problem.  However, I would definitely avoid trying to travel to a non-existent lot or a non-existent subhood.  I've never had problems with certificates to the hobby lots, since I don't visit those lots.  I don't play with witches, so someone else will need to answer that one.

If you actually intend to use those lots, make sure that you have the stealth neighborhoods enabled when you create your primary neighborhood and everything will be fine.

However, when editing a subhood template, it's important that no subhoods (including stealth subhoods) are attached to the standalone subhood.
38  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Any way to get rid of annoying dialog box? on: 2011 April 08, 22:34:50
If it isn't OK, the creator is welcome to let us know (and hopefully give us a valid path to the real download site).
39  TS2: Burnination / Peasantry / Re: Clean Uberhood (Merged EAxis neighbourhoods) - NOT the same as HP's/Mixreality's on: 2011 April 08, 20:02:40
It's very easy to disable all stealth subhoods.  Just rename all of the TS2 NeighborhoodTemplate folders in Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 2 <EP>\TSData\Res to NeighborhoodTemplate_Stealth.  If you ever want them again, rename them back.  Done.

I almost always play with the following steath subhoods disabled: Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, FreeTime, Apartment Life.  Bon Voyage is a special case, because all of the vacation subhoods are in that folder.  In that case, I created a new NeighborhoodTemplate_Stealth folder and moved V001 into the new folder.

This is all explained in my Subhood tutorial, in the section about creating a clean environment if you can't use an empty AnyGameStarter:
http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=3322897&postcount=11
40  TS2: Burnination / Peasantry / Re: Clean Uberhood (Merged EAxis neighbourhoods) - NOT the same as HP's/Mixreality's on: 2011 April 08, 16:40:41
I notice on your site that you are considering sharing your cleaned-up versions of the pre-made neighborhoods as subhoods, so that people can easily create their own custom mega-hoods.  Great idea!  If you need any help, please let me know.
41  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Any way to get rid of annoying dialog box? on: 2011 April 08, 16:17:13
I remember seeing a mod like this as well.  I wish that I had downloaded it when I saw it, because it's hard to find now.
42  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Any way to get rid of annoying dialog box? on: 2011 April 08, 04:43:23
I know that I avoid adding unnecessary subhoods to keep my neighborhoods small and fast.
43  TS2: Burnination / Oops! You Broke It! / Re: Installation snafus on: 2011 April 01, 15:42:40
Try this to clear the registry: http://www.simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Uninstall
44  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Sims 2 and LAA on: 2011 March 03, 16:53:31
Interesting! What means LAA?

From the first post, it's pretty obvious that it means "large address aware".
45  Awesomeware / The Armory / Re: FFS Director's Cut: More Awesome Than You on: 2011 February 23, 16:40:53
Here's the list of EPs associated with each SP:
http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=1228.0
46  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Why, Fireball, Why? on: 2011 February 18, 17:08:25
You might want to try my Neighborhood Corruption Detector, to see whether it can find any problems in your neighborhood.  The program is still in development, but it doesn't change anything, so it should be fairly safe to run.  You'll need .NET installed on your machine.
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=431238

It will just tell you whether it has found any links to non-existent sims.  If you find any bad links, it may help you to figure out what went wrong.
47  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: blank icons in family tree on: 2011 February 16, 18:56:25
I agree.  As long as people are aware that the neighborhood may become unplayable at some future point, and prevent themselves from becoming too attached, these downloadable neighborhoods can be a lot of fun.
48  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Removing sims without removing links to them. on: 2011 February 09, 17:55:44
I just found a group of people who recommend using the Clean Installer to remove some of the sims packaged with a lot, without removing the memories, relationships, and family ties which link to those sims.  One person who is making this suggestion has explained that this will remove the possibility of corrupting your neighborhood, since you will no longer be installing the sim stubs which are inevitably packaged along with a family which has not been properly cleaned.
No, this will just completely fuck up your game even worse, because now instead of pointing to a stub, they point to garbagespace. Tell the person who suggested this that it is a moron.

OK, that seems very logical to me.  I have responded to both people who suggested it, telling them that this is a very bad idea.

Since cleaning the sims correctly is a major amount of work, I may change the Clean Installer so that you only have the option to install all sims on the lot or none of the sims on the lot; this should stop the worst forms of corruption.
49  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Removing sims without removing links to them. on: 2011 February 09, 04:59:00
Here's a thread which has some advice about removing corrupted resources from a neighborhood:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,4634.msg131583.html#msg131583

Cleaning up memories of met sims who are shown as unknown, just delete every single one you can find including invisible memories which are gossip.   Don't delete passed on gossip memories of the Mystery Sim, though, unless you have used the FFSdebugger to wipe mystery sim memories.  If you have such things as noaplusspam or nodeanspam, then you can delete all but the first of the actual memories (ie, Dustin got an A+ (Brandi) one memory is all you need, Dustin got an A+ (Beau) one memory likewise is all you need.  However, don't go deleting a lot of the invisible memories of this, as this is gossip and will only be added again so there's no point.)

Never delete any memory that has a token!

I hadn't considered SWAF (Sim Wants and Fears), but I suppose that should be cleaned as well.  Wants for interactions with a specific person could usually be changed to the more general version of the want.

50  TS2: Burnination / The Podium / Re: Removing sims without removing links to them. on: 2011 February 09, 02:33:22
Yes, I've been wondering whether the correct solution would be to have the Clean Installer remove all of the broken connections whenever the user deselects a sim.  I'm pretty sure that it's safe to just remove the broken family ties and relationships, but I have heard that it can be bad to remove some kinds of memories.  If this is true, then it might make sense to change (some of) the broken memories to point to the "mystery sim" instead.  If I had a list of memories which could be safely deleted and those which cannot, then it should be a fairly simple matter to delete the ones that can be deleted and change the rest.

I've also been working on a neighborhood corruption detector which may eventually have a "fix all issues found" button, which would do the same thing but on a larger scale.

I wasn't aware that the game might attempt to access invalid portions of the stub sim's data.  That may explain why these people believed that removing the stub sims was the safest option.  Can I assume that the game is smart enough to avoid accessing invalid portions of the mystery sim's data?

Can anyone confirm that there are only three things that I need to worry about: memories, family ties, and relationships?
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