It's working! Thanks so much for all the help! *happydance*

I did it a little bit different, though:

I made a Pets stealth subhood using an empty P001 template as base.

1) Create your neighborhood
2) Extract the IDNO from the Pets subhood template and replace your IDNO with that one
3) Don't change anything in the IDNO record*
4) Rename all character files and the NH file from Nxxx_[whatever].package to P001_[whatever].package**
5) Go to ...\The Sims 2 Pets\TSData\Res\NeighborhoodTemplate\P001, replace the P001_Neighborhood.package and move/copy your character files to the P001\Characters folder

*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.

**I didn't try with lots, but I guess it's the same procedure.

Fun fact: I called my neighborhood "Playable Townies". Now, while the new neighborhood is generated, I get the message "Creating Playable Townies" instead of "Creating Pets" .

Which shouldn't be much of a problem, because I'm trying to run TS2 .

According to the game compatibility list in the card's control panel, the TS2 compatibility is supposed to be "excellent", in contrast to games like Oblivion or The Witcher (compatibility is just "good"), both of which run perfectly fine with highest details.

ETA:

I've been able to fix it myself (for now). Obviously, the graphic board doesn't like the ingame anti-aliasing (or, as it's called, "smooth edges" option). The board's AA was set to "use application settings", and "smooth edges" to the least point possible. Now, AA is controlled by the board, and everything seems to be fine.

Yes, I'm using the latter method, or let's say, I'm trying to. Looks like I have to go with the stealth subhoods, then.


It doesn't matter if this method isn't tested yet, I'll try and see if it works.


I've never had problems with "lost" restored neighborhoods, because after replacing an Nxxx folder, I've always deleted the neighborhoodmanager.package, too. It gets regenerated when the game is started, and all neighborhoods are there as expected. Don't ask me, why it works, but it does.

Very good point - I never thought of the PV bin sims and them not appearing in new NHs. I don't think it's that difficult to manipulate stealth 'hoods (although I might be wrong), but it won't take too long to find out. Or to repair the damage in case I screw it up. Thanks for the hint!

I've googled the problem extensively, but couldn't find a solution (just other people with the same problem, but the only answer they got - if any - was "update your drivers"). With Windows 7, my game looks like this:




OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit / 4GB RAM
Graphic board: GeForce GTX 460 / 1024MB GDDR5

I updated the graphics driver several times (latest version: 270.61), installed the most recent DirectX, with the same results.

I tried changing the resolution and frame rate, shadows on/off, reflections on/off, details high/low, didn't help, nor did playing with various compatibility modes.

Is there any way to fix it?

You're right, I could have been more specific. What I wanted to do was to turn townies into playables and make a template out of that (because I make them playable anyway, and it gets pretty dull when you have to do this for every single new neighborhood). I should add that my base template only has the above mentioned (base game) townies, no NPCs or EAxis bin sims.

I made a CAS sim in order to move them in, created a lot, moved the first in, kicked the CAS sim out and deleted him (Deleted 2). I moved the second in, moved the first one out (sim bin), moved the third in, the second out etc. etc. until all 16 were in the sim bin.

The thus generated N001 folder went to TSData\Res\UserData\Neighborhoods (without the stealth 'hoods).

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).


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

Is there a way to make a NH template with playables? I tried to make one with several sims in the sim bin, but after creating a new game, the bin was empty. Any ideas?

I have no idea where I got it from because I've had it for ages - I *thought* it was from simlogical (although not by Inge), but I couldn't find it when I looked for it yesterday. I hope it's okay that I upload it here .

One question about selling fruits in bulk: Say, I want to sell differents kinds of packages (I intend to offer eggplants and apples as well as veggie juice packages). What about restocking? Will the restockers be able to tell them apart?

ETA: Excellent - thanks!

I know Monique's NA hacks (couldn't live without some of them), but as you say:


and I'm a bit paranoid about outdated stuff. That's why I hoped to find something else which has the AL stamp of approval already. If nothing else turns up, though, I'll give the one on MTS2 a try, as well as the old Squinge one. Thanks, Liz!

I'm looking for two hacks working with AL:

- No autonomous Punch U Punch Me
- No autonomous RPS

Any ideas where I could find them?

There's a "no autonomous socials collection" by Squinge at Insim which kills those interactions, but it also prevents sims from fighting autonomously (and who would want that ).

Thanks for the info. I *know* that I've read that it was safe before, but I couldn't find the thread, so I thought I'd better double check.

In my current neighborhood, the strays' family name is the same as one of my playable families'. This is pretty annoying, because every time I want to summon one of said playables (using Inge's cat), I have to click through a bunch of pets.
Now I'm wondering if I can change the strays' name (e.g. to "Strays" ) without messing anything up? And if so, is it enough to just change the Family Information label, or is there something else I have to do?

This, and delete the "NeighborhoodManager.package". Leaving the old one in is usually the reason why replaced neighborhoods don't show up at all. A new NeighborhoodManager.package will be generated when you start the game.

Yesterday, I had a YA stuck on a chair because of a passed out dormie right behind it. He was still unable to get up after the dormie had cleared the path, so I had to use the stuck object remover on him, which nuked him, the chair he sat on and a ceiling lamp. I saved, quit to neighborhood view and reloaded the dorm. Everything seemed okay, the YA stood at the mailbox as expected. I sent him inside to do an assignment. A few seconds later, I saw his wants reroll and noticed a copy of this YA mopping up some puddles outside (the original did his assignment as ordered). Plus, he appeared twice in the family thumbnails.
I quit without saving (which resulted in a CTD) and restarted the game. Same thing: YA at the mailbox, I sent him inside, duplicate sim appeared a few seconds later. This time, I forced an error on the impostor and deleted him. This seems to have done the trick, but I wonder if it's save to keep this YA? I have plans for him, but I'd rather Deleted 2 him than have him bork my neighborhood.

ETA: That's good news, thanks!

I never used Theo's plugin, but deleting sims with the new(er) SimPE is really easy, you don't even have to open the character files.

- Prepare sims for deletion and write down the instance number, as described by Pescado. No need to convert it to hex, though.
- Open neighborhood in SimPE

1: In the resource tree, click on Sim Description (SDSC)
2: Find the sim you want to delete in the "Instance" column. The instance number you wrote down earlier is the one in brackets. Do NOT delete the SDSC yet.
3: In plugin view, click on the "More" tab. In the drop-down menu, you can see the character file name. Write it down.



Delete the SDSC, save. Now open the Sim Creation Index (as you can see in the picture, it's right above the Sim Description in the resource tree), switch from plugin view to hex view and proceed like in Pescado's description (it still looks the same in the newer SimPE). Commit. Save. Exit SimPE. Don't forget to delete the character file(s) from your neighborhood folder afterwards.

Yes, it's called "binary search". For further details, see the FAQ.

Maybe there's a way - see this thread.

If memory serves, that's not a seperate option, but unlinked sims appear as a family under "Prepare for Deletion", conveniently named "UNLINKED".

That explains it, then. I've been wondering how nekonoai could use be used by BUY without any macro functionality. I only remembered JM saying that he recommended at least one SP for macrotastics, but I forgot why.

And it's not in the Pre-TS2U directory, so I'd say, no.

You could try this (that's what I usually do when I want to reload old 'hoods and have never had any problems):

- Rename the My Documents/EA Games directory to "EA Games_old" or whatever
- Fire up the game to generate a new, clean EA Games directory. Quit game.
- Transfer old "Downloads", "Saved Sims" etc. folders you want to keep to the new EA Games directory
- Replace new neighborhood folder "N001" with your backed up "N001" folder (for example).
- Delete "NeighborhoodManager.package" (in My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Neighborhoods)
- Profit

This will only work, of course, if your old 'hoods were NOT being played in a more recent EP "environment" than the new ones (e.g. old 'hoods up to AL and new ones only up to BV).

You're right. It was the only thing I could think of *why* those suckers won't disappear from her sim bin, but yes, you can kill them in an already existing game. My bad. So Windows 7 was the culprit? That explains a lot. Gotta love their "Users are stupid and need to be guided/protected in any possible way" approach.

The bin families are definitively stored in the stealth hood folders. I just checked on the Ramaswamis/Ottomas, they're in G002. So if you emptied the stealth hoods located in the Programs/EA Games directories, there's simply no way for them to appear in a newly generated game.
To me, it seems that you replaced the templates and than created a new, empty hood in an already existing game to see if the bin families are gone. That's not how it works. Stealth hood sims will show up in each and every new neighborhood once they got generated for the "alpha" hood (N001, usually Pleasantview). If I misunderstood what you did, I apologize.

I'd recommend the following: Rename your My Documents/EA Games folder, e.g. into _EA Games or EA Games_backup or whatever and fire up your game. A new EA Games folder will be created, with new neighborhoods based on the empty templates.

Yes, my sims only macro-eat when at home or business lots. I remember the post about not being able to macro-feed kids, but I've never had a problem with that, either.

Hm, strange. Maybe they just weren't hungry enough for the stuff they carried around. The next time I'll try lunchmeat sandwiches and a nearly starved sim - seeing that J.M. hates to waste food . Now that I know that there's just one version, I can investigate further.

It's not soo important, because usually, I let sims stay at community lots until they nearly keel over and then send them back home to let the macros take care of them. But it would be nice for YAs that spend days on downtown lots to make money and friends.