Replacing Sidewalk tiles

[Simsane]

I was reading posts at the build forum at MTS2 regarding building side garages.  Someone posted that there was a tutorial on this site by Jade Elliott called something like Street Parking.  The poster stated that in the tutorial, Jade Elliott explained how to get the sidewalk tiles that the game uses, instead of the cement tiles under "poured" flooring.  Stated that if you use the actual sidewalk tiles, this prevents lot corruption.

I have done as many searches as I can think of trying to find this tutorial.  I also followed links to some other site by Jade Elliott and have read as many posts as I can trying to find this person.  From what I am hearing, she will not respond to pm's or give out an email address.  That's fine, I respect her privacy.  And if she felt it necessary to remove the tutorial, that's her right as well.

But I was hoping perhaps that someone else at this site may know how to find the correct tiles so I can try to build a lot that will not cause corruption.

Of course, the post I read at MTS2 was really old (from sometime in 2006, if I remember correctly) and the poster was only saying that he/she thinks there was a tutorial on this site about Street Parking and using the game's sidewalk tiles.  I have no clue yet as to how accurate that information is, and would appreciate any help at all.  Even if that's to tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about.   

One other question.  I have tried to follow the side garage tutorials with ep's up to and including Seasons installed.  I could not get them to work with any expansions newer than Nightlife.  Does anyone know if you can build a garage with a side entrance in the newer expansion packs?  If so, and you know of a good tutorial, I would appreciate the link.

Thanks in advance for any help I receive.

[abelle]

That´s strange, that the tutorial is gone.

Anyway you just had to replace a line in the game files. Make sure to make a backup before you do this.

C:\ Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Catalog\Scripts and open the file called floorPatterns.txt. I don´t remember what you had to change, but I am adding my floorPatterns.txt so you can just replace yours.

This will enable the sidewalk tile to show up with the selectable floor tiles. If you want to add street parking on a lot just delete the sidewalk tile on the edge of the lot on the other side on the street. You have to have moveobjects on to do this. Until you replace the sidewalk the driveway and extensions will be turned by 90 degrees.

[Kyna]

That´s strange, that the tutorial is gone.

Not so strange.  JadeElliott souped a while back, and deleted all her useful posts when she did so.

[sloppyhousewife]

C:\ Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Catalog\Scripts and open the file called floorPatterns.txt. I don´t remember what you had to change, but I am adding my floorPatterns.txt so you can just replace yours.

I'd recommend to change the file yourself - it's better when you know what's been changed, so you can change it back if you like (as for me, I only change the file when I want to make street parking lots, because I don't want some dubious §0 floors in my catalog). It's really pretty easy. Open the floorPatterns.txt with the Editor and search for sidewalk. You'll find this:

floorPattern "sidewalk"
material "floor_sidewalk"
#catalogTextIndex 48
subsort "poured"
surfaceType "cment"
notInCatalog  # hardcoded reference to this in the game engine

Now change notInCatalog to #notInCatalog. "notInCatalog" prevents the floor from showing up in the catalog (duh). The "#" will comment this line out, which means that the game will ignore it. Save. Done.

[Simsane]

Thanks Abelle!  I really appreciate it.  I'm hoping from what was inferred in the post I read on MTS2 that if I replace the sidewalk tiles with the games actual sidewalk tiles, then this lot will not corrupt due to having the incorrect ones.

Oh, and if anyone knows whether this can still be done (side garage) in Seasons, could you let me know.  I know I tried, but I must have been doing something incorrectly as it wouldn't work.

Anyway, much appreciation!

Oh, sloppyhousewife (that should be my screenname, lol!) I hit post and then saw your post.  I still appreciate that Abelle gave me a copy of her file, but I also appreciate that you told me what to change.  I'll keep a copy of both, just in case.

Thanks again to everyone!

[pbox]

This method still works in Seasons, yes. I do it all the time =)

One thing you need to know -- and this may be why it wasn't working for you -- is that it depends on the direction of the lot which way the driveway will turn. The lot direction is hardwired into the lot at the time you place it; there is no method I know about to change it afterwards. You can see the direction by looking at the sun (every lot has its own private sun -- the direction of the light never changes no matter how you move it around in the hood). There is at least one long convlouted thread @ mt2 about it .. however here's the gist: Driveways will only turn sideways if the sun comes from the front right corner of the lot, or from the back left corner. "Front" = street side, and "left"/"right" when looking at the house from the street.

Hope this helps, have fun!


Also: it is really important to keep a backup of the floorpatterns.txt (and any other /scripts files you choose to modify), because the game is looking at the timestamps of these files when installing an EP or patch. It will puke when the timestamps are off, so you need to replace the modified files with the originals before you install. (I think you can pull backups from the game CDs as well .. just remember to do it *before* you try to install anything, it's most annoying otherwise not being able to install just because of one "#" .. argh. Been there, you know =)

[Simsample]

If I remember rightly, Jade Elliot devised her tutorial from this 'story':
http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/story_detail.php?asset_id=56394&asset_type=story

[Ambular]

Also: it is really important to keep a backup of the floorpatterns.txt (and any other /scripts files you choose to modify), because the game is looking at the timestamps of these files when installing an EP or patch. It will puke when the timestamps are off, so you need to replace the modified files with the originals before you install. (I think you can pull backups from the game CDs as well .. just remember to do it *before* you try to install anything, it's most annoying otherwise not being able to install just because of one "#" .. argh. Been there, you know =)

That's odd, I've managed to install the last couple of EP's and patches without restoring any original files except for the .exe.  And I've modified the crap out of my wall and floor and lighting files.

[seelindarun]

One thing you need to know -- and this may be why it wasn't working for you -- is that it depends on the direction of the lot which way the driveway will turn. The lot direction is hardwired into the lot at the time you place it; there is no method I know about to change it afterwards. You can see the direction by looking at the sun (every lot has its own private sun -- the direction of the light never changes no matter how you move it around in the hood). There is at least one long convlouted thread @ mt2 about it .. however here's the gist: Driveways will only turn sideways if the sun comes from the front right corner of the lot, or from the back left corner. "Front" = street side, and "left"/"right" when looking at the house from the street.

The whole sun direction thing has really irritated me because sunrooms make no sense on the north side of the house!  (South for those of you reading on the other side of the equator from me.)  Sometimes when I've dl'ed a lot, the sunroom is clearly on the wrong side.  Are you saying that the builder could have placed the room correctly, but it's only wrong in my 'hood?  Can I fix it by placing the lot a bunch of times before moving in, hoping that one of my attempts will sadorandomly put the sun on the correct side?

[Simsane]

seelindarun,

I know you were asking pbox this question, but I have read absolutely tons of threads on this and I am pretty sure I understand what pbox meant.  If I go into my game and make a lot with a sunroom and I mess up and make the sunroom on the north side of the house so that the sun is actually shining on the OTHER side, then no matter where you put my lot in your game, it's always going to be on the wrong side.  It's like it "locks" the sun into place with the lot.  I have read a few posts here where J.M. was talking about level lots and how once it's made, you cannot change it.  So, that leads me to believe that whatever I do when I make a lot, that's the way it is going to stay no matter where it's put in the neighborhood.  That's also why I always level my lots first.  :-)

pbox, are you plasticbox at MTS2, because yes I did read several of plasticbox's posts at MTS2.  Great help!  It's just that every lot I tried in Seasons just wouldn't work.  So I thought that maybe it could not be done after Nightlife.  Plus, when I went to other sites, that's what everybody was telling me -- that it only worked up to and including Nightlife but not in any newer eps.

Well, I'm already trying to make another one in Nightlife right now.  But I would love to be able to use the individual roof slope angle, so my next house will probably be with Seasons installed.

Again, I want to say thanks to everyone for all the help!

[Rascal]

As an alternative to editing the floorpatterns.txt file you can use the eyedropper tool (with moveobjects on) to select a piece of sidewalk and use that to replace the deleted bits.

[Simsane]

As an alternative to editing the floorpatterns.txt file you can use the eyedropper tool (with moveobjects on) to select a piece of sidewalk and use that to replace the deleted bits.

Thanks for the suggestion.  I thought I had already tried that and it wouldn't work, but I'll try it again to check.

[seelindarun]

Thanks for answering my side question about the sun direction.  While waiting for an answer, I tried placing one of my lots about half a dozen times before I gave up.  I'm glad I didn't spend more time on that experiment. 

I'm surprised to hear that the side garages aren't working for you.  I only recently installed BV, so I know that in my last building surge I made several lots with side garages.  In fact, I remember placing one empty lot many, many times to get a side garage in the right direction for a corner lot.  I didn't know about the correlation with sun direction then, so I will have to check that out.

[nil]

As an alternative to editing the floorpatterns.txt file you can use the eyedropper tool (with moveobjects on) to select a piece of sidewalk and use that to replace the deleted bits.

From what I've understood and read, using the original hidden floor tiles is to avoid data corruption.  Those tiles were made disabled and hidden for a reason.  They may be the roadsigns for some objects in lot.  Replacing them with other tiles may cause errors and corruptions if so.

But anyway, has anyone tried replacing the original floor tiles for a long long time and happen to have problems or any noticeable data corruption?


Simsane,

Maybe, try to use Numenor's Anygame Stater or Basegame Starter to use lower EP to build first. Say in your case NL?, just build the necessary feature first in NL? and export it and build the rest in the another EP along with NL?
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=250555
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=107015

The driveway is set to rely on the lot-rotation and road-rotation to decide which direction it can face.
Due to the way the arrays are set, the lot rotation is fixated once a lot is saved in the first time.

However, there's really at least a way to rotate lots but presently potential part(s) of the process (lot-shrinking) is still deemed as "unsafe" and may cause lot corruption.  Yet, if you're changing the lot rotation to the exact opposite direction (180 degrees/360 degrees), it can still be relatively safe to be done coz no lot-shrinking is involved.
Nevertheless , one has to be prepared to HEX-edit to mod 6 file types of a normal lot package file and a few lot reloads.

I don't see how that may help though cos normally, people want to rotate the lot by 90 degree/360degrees / a right angle.

The simplest solution is to plan ahead the sun light direction from the start before any change in the mind or change your new ideal plan.

Sotalia
Sideways driveways & shadows - problem solved
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=97102

May check out the linkage in the linked post:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showpost.php?p=761102&postcount=23

[Simsane]

Nil and everyone else who has read this post and responded with such helpful, thorough answers -- Thank You! You are all such great people!  I don't know why I even bothered to post at the other sites, when I knew from (mostly) lurking for several years that the people who come to this site are the most intelligent people in the simming community. 

I did have Numenor's Any Game Starter and I used that to make a lot with a side garage already.  But after I did, for some reason my shadows ended up being grayed out.  In the lot, not just from the neighborhood view.  I had been able to turn shadows off and on before I made the lot, but not afterwards.  I always turn them off for pictures but on for building -- so I know they were working.

I upgraded my video drivers, ran degfrag, took Norton off and put McAfee on and ran a scan; upgraded Spybot and ran it; cleaned up old files by deleting them; ran defrag again.  Etc., etc.  lol!

Finally, I uninstalled everything I had that was Sims related and then reinstalled.    Needless to say it was a very long, tedious process.  I do have Numenor's Any Game Starter back on now.  I have an Any Game with just the base game and Nightlife, and that is what I am using currently to build another house with a side garage.  But I had wondered if the reason my shadows had become unavailable was due to lot corruption, as that was the only thing I had done.  Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I always remove my downloads folder completely before I build, that way I can upload to MTS2 without the hassle of having to "clean" it all up.  So, it wasn't any custom content or hacks causing the problem either.

This house is almost finished.  When I'm done, I'm going to go into my regular game (I have base game to Season's -- minus Pets) and try to build one in it.  I really would like the feature of being able to have different roof angles.  I'm sure after reading pbox's post that I just didn't try on the correct lots.

So, again, I do appreciate everyone's helpful advice.  And thanks for not taking my lips!   

[pbox]

I've managed to install the last couple of EP's and patches without restoring any original files except for the .exe.  And I've modified the crap out of my wall and floor and lighting files.

Really? Ok, then maybe I'm being over-cautious -- I just know I did have to reinstall from scratch once, becuase I had edited some little thing and had no backup. Of course I have no idea anymore what that little thing was .. but thanks for the heads-up =)

Sometimes when I've dl'ed a lot, the sunroom is clearly on the wrong side.  Are you saying that the builder could have placed the room correctly, but it's only wrong in my 'hood?

Yes .. I mean no .. Yes as in, yes the builder could have done it right -- and no, it's not just wrong in your hood, it's the lot that's wrong, like Simsane has already pointed out. However, in defence of the builder: in RL the sun isn't always in the same place, and in my eyes it would make sense to have a sunroom in the east, for example, perhaps because there's a beautiful view there .. and it would still get sun during some of the day. The in-game conditions aren't all that realistic, I just want to say .. I tend to build my houses so that the sun comes from the back, because then they look nice in neighbourhood view.

I think Mootilda (of mts2 fame) did some research about sun direction at some point, but I don't recall what exactly -- maybe check out this enormuous thread (R+D @ mts2) if you've got some time on your hands. I mean, lots of time =).

pbox, are you plasticbox at MTS2, because yes I did read several of plasticbox's posts at MTS2.  Great help!  It's just that every lot I tried in Seasons just wouldn't work.  So I thought that maybe it could not be done after Nightlife.

Yup, I heard that too (and yes, I am plasticbox over there) -- but I can't help it, I can still build rotated driveways just fine and I've had Seasons for a long time .. I think there's even some uploads by me @ mts2 that are made in Seasons and have rotated driveways. Maybe it's some other thing, like a particular combo of EPs or patches, that makes it work/not work .. ? I just opened my game to doublecheck, yes it does work for me. Definitely.

As an alternative to editing the floorpatterns.txt file you can use the eyedropper tool (with moveobjects on) to select a piece of sidewalk and use that to replace the deleted bits.

Does that work for you .. are you sure? I've made the experience that you can *select* the sidewalk tiles just fine with an unmodded config and moveobjects on, but you can't *place* them which is kinda missing the point .. I've always had to edit the /scripts txt in order to get it to work.

[Zazazu]

pbox, are you plasticbox at MTS2, because yes I did read several of plasticbox's posts at MTS2.  Great help!  It's just that every lot I tried in Seasons just wouldn't work.  So I thought that maybe it could not be done after Nightlife.

Yup, I heard that too (and yes, I am plasticbox over there) -- but I can't help it, I can still build rotated driveways just fine and I've had Seasons for a long time .. I think there's even some uploads by me @ mts2 that are made in Seasons and have rotated driveways. Maybe it's some other thing, like a particular combo of EPs or patches, that makes it work/not work .. ? I just opened my game to doublecheck, yes it does work for me. Definitely.

I had this issue before (can't remember what thread we were discussing it in). Lots on one axis would not let me rotate the driveway pieces. Lots on the other axis would. Not sure if it started with BV or FT, because I didn't do much street parking with BV.

[pbox]

I had this issue before (can't remember what thread we were discussing it in). Lots on one axis would not let me rotate the driveway pieces. Lots on the other axis would.

Oh, but that has been the case ever since NL .. the lot direction issue has nothing to do with the EPs. I know I found out about rotating driveways in NL (from the tutorial that was posted here on MATY), and it was already like that back then.

[ingeli]

I am playing with replaced tiles in every lot in Windlebridge http://www.portal.charlamov.com/windlebridge for all the time the hood existed, and I haven't noticed any specific lot corruption.
I use the hood roads replacements found at MTS2, and the special floor tiles shipped with them to make the road look right on the lot. I need to place all garage pieces before replacing the road. An easy way to get it all back is to move the lot around, then you get the original road back quickly.

[Rascal]

As an alternative to editing the floorpatterns.txt file you can use the eyedropper tool (with moveobjects on) to select a piece of sidewalk and use that to replace the deleted bits.

Does that work for you .. are you sure? I've made the experience that you can *select* the sidewalk tiles just fine with an unmodded config and moveobjects on, but you can't *place* them which is kinda missing the point .. I've always had to edit the /scripts txt in order to get it to work.

Okay - One very red faced Rascal here.  Yes this works for me ... because I have edited the txt file.  I went and had a look at it and sure enough the 'notInCatalog' has been cancelled.  I apologise unreservedly for posting incorrect info and will accept any pointing and laughing/poking with sharp sticks for messing with game files and forgetting about it - duh.  I keep a backup copy of any files I've changed (a few) but somehow missed this one.