Clean and fixed Uber-Megahood! OUTDATED!

[Mixreality]

Awesome! I'm guilty of not using LotAdjuster :| but I definitely want to install it after reading all those great stuff about it. No time like the present!

The hard part is determining what the values should be.

Wouldn't checking the values in original Belladonna do? I could do that when I get out of slacking mode, but if you already have notes I'd like to have them, thanks! If you can't find it, that's ok.

Every kind of lot seems to require a different value range for High, Middle, and Low.  I have a few notes from my testing, but they are incomplete.  If you're interested, I could try to find them.  Alternatively, I have a program which will print out the lot class values, so I could get you a list of the original values, if you like.

What do you mean by 'kind of lot'? Like, 'apartment' and 'residential' and 'community'...or?

I suppose ALL lots in megahood (cleaned, at least, not sure about HP's, will have to check) got messed up lot value, but what difference does it actually make in non-apartment lots? In other words, is resetting ALL lot values actually needed? If that is the case, I could certainly use a list of original values, thank you

ETA - Hm, I checked original Belladonna (copied original E001 to documents) and HP's hood - Patels' lot is low and Baldwins' is middle in both (and mine too). I'm (almost) sure that's not supposed to be like that. Generating fresh hoods (with original templates in) is the actual way to check if I'm halucinating. If I am, I'm really sorry, Mootilda, for causing you so much trouble for nothing...

[Mootilda]

Wouldn't checking the values in original Belladonna do? I could do that when I get out of slacking mode, but if you already have notes I'd like to have them, thanks! If you can't find it, that's ok.

Yes, restoring the original Belladonna should restore the original values.  I just didn't know whether it would be too much work, given what you've done so far.  Since I already have a program which will print all of the lot class values and their corresponding override flags, I thought that I'd offer, in case you wanted to edit the individual lot descriptions instead.

What do you mean by 'kind of lot'? Like, 'apartment' and 'residential' and 'community'...or?

Yes, as far as I can tell, each type of lot (apartment, residential, community, dorm, greek, hotel, ...)  has a separate range of values which are considered to be high, middle, and low class.  For example, apartments need a value which is about 3 times the value of a residential lot to be considered high class.  In general, this scheme doesn't actually work very well; I've seen a really low-value house which was considered high-class because it was surrounded by low-class apartment buildings (the higher relative value of the apartments made the house high-class).  I don't think that this was EA's intention.

I suppose ALL lots in megahood (cleaned, at least, not sure about HP's, will have to check) got messed up lot value, but what difference does it actually make in non-apartment lots? In other words, is resetting ALL lot values actually needed? If that is the case, I could certainly use a list of original values, thank you

Good question.  I don't know whether the lot class values actually affect non-apartment lots (type of visitors), but the value definitely affects all apartments within a 6-tile radius of each lot.  I was researching this for someone who just wanted to set the value on various lots, so I didn't do any testing on visitors.

My memory is that most lots don't have the override flag set, so you probably don't have to edit too many lot descriptions.

ETA - Hm, I checked original Belladonna (copied original E001 to documents) and HP's hood - Patels' lot is low and Baldwins' is middle in both (and mine too). I'm (almost) sure that's not supposed to be like that. Generating fresh hoods (with original templates in) is the actual way to check if I'm halucinating. If I am, I'm really sorry, Mootilda, for causing you so much trouble for nothing...

No problem.  Let me print off those values for you, so you can see what's set.

[Mixreality]

Quick test with original Belladonna (freshly generated with original templates) proves that I was talking out of my ass. Lot values are the same as in Megahoods. Sorry, Mootilda :|

So, I'll rar it up and start uploading before I make even bigger mess. I guess there's nothing else to do with it.

[BlueSoup]

So mixreality, is this as done (and uploaded) as its going to be? I'm excited to get it, you've fixed all the things that bugged me about that hood.

[Mixreality]

It's done, but not uploaded yet. It would take a while, I'll leave it uploading overnight and hope that my connection wont snap. So, if all goes well it should be up in about 12 hours.

[BlueSoup]

Okay, I'll wait it out, thanks

[Mixreality]

Noob alert, heh.

Uhm, I think I'm having a bit of problem with Megaupload - the upload is actually finished within seconds. That shouldn't be possible at all, shouldn't it? The upload of the first version lasted for ages, as normal Between the first version and this one, Megaupload revamped the site and all, but anyway, this should not be possible. I don't know what else to do at this point except offer you a download link:

*snipped link that is no more*

So, can someone tell me what's going on?

[BlueSoup]

Is it named the same as the previous file you had there?

Also, you may know this.  If I move the Sims from the subhoods to the main hood, can I then safely delete all the extra shopping districts?

[Mixreality]

It has a new name, a new description and a new date. But how can 230 MB be uploaded in 20 seconds? It does have the N001 in archive in both cases and they're pretty similar in size, so I'm kind of afraid that it just 'updated' the name, description and date of the old file.

So, the upload finished, I figured that it actually only 'updated' the name, so I deleted the old file just in case, uploaded new file again and it was completed in a matter of seconds again. I started downloading it but will probably go to bed before it finishes and I get to check what hood is actually inside.

If anyone does that before me, the most notable difference between this one and the old one (with all the applied fixes) is the job memories in Desiderata and Belladonna - they show career icon in new version and sims' pictures in old version (except for Timoty Rilley and Isabel Baldwin). Also Bella Goth comes in the bin with extra cheesy description (not the old "ZOMG you found Bella!!11 You can has benes!" or something like that).

ETA - Ah sorry. There was a thread around here just recently that stated that deleting subhoods is safe. You shouldn't even have to evict them from their houses, they'll magically show up in the bin when their subhood is deleted. Off to look for a link. ETA - Here it is. Deleting subhoods info is scattered all over page 3. I have no idea what would happen if you delete merged hood subhoods though, but I suppose it should be the same as in non-merged hoods.

[kalina]

I played the Megahood with your fixes this weekend. Thanks!
I have a question though - I moved Bella Goth in with the Goth family. The relationship panel for both, Mortimer and Bella, showed that they are married, but they still had the option to Propose -> Marriage. Is this supposed to happen?

[Mixreality]

Crap, it shouldn't. Did you do the "Bella fix"? I suppose you did. It should take care about that little mess too. I'll check it out now with that version and with final version and get back to you.

ETA - Thanks Kalina, they do indeed have the option to propose to one another in both the old version and the supposed 'final' version which I'm uploading (downloading?) now. Back to drawing board...

[Thraxus]

I'm pretty sure the file currently on MegaUpload is still the old version. I downloaded it and looked in the archive, and the most recently updated files inside are from Feb 6th.

Edit: Also now I see that the download link is no longer valid. Did you delete the file to try and re-upload it again?

[Mixreality]

Yep, I got the file first and saw that it's old so I took it down. Plus there's this Bella problem which I'm looking into now.

ETA - Ok, I don't know what to do with Bella. They weren't set as spouses in sim relationships in SimPE, so I set them. No go. Then I did the random thing that usually works when it comes to maxian things - removed all existing relationships and family ties and made new, exact same ones  (except set as spouses) No go... I ran out of ideas. To recap, their family tree is correct, they're set as married/joined in relationship panel as Kalina said, memories are correct, but the option to propose is still there for both of them. If it makes any difference, they can't use the arch. I'm lost and I'm off to bed definitely.

[kalina]

OK, I went back into SimPE, opened Sim Relations on the left and found the relationship of Mortimer Goth towards Bella Goth to the right. I set the Relation Type to "Spouses" and unchecked Engaged and Steady. Then I found the relationship of Bella Goth towards Mortimer Goth and did the same. The option to Propose -> Marriage went away, however now Mortimer can Encourage Bella...
I rarely open SimPE and if I do I always follow instructions, so I am not sure what any of this means. I suspect that the option to Propose -> Marriage was present because the Engaged flag was on. Initially I only set the Relation Type to "Spouses" and this did not help.

Edit: Also, I deleted all business districts and the Sims from them ended up in the Bin as described earlier in the thread.

[Mixreality]

OK, I went back into SimPE, opened Sim Relations on the left and found the relationship of Mortimer Goth towards Bella Goth to the right. I set the Relation Type to "Spouses" and unchecked Engaged and Steady. Then I found the relationship of Bella Goth towards Mortimer Goth and did the same. The option to Propose -> Marriage went away, however now Mortimer can Encourage Bella...

I checked a random couple, aged one spouse to elder, he could encourage his wife, so I figured it's normal behaviour, huh? So I did the same thing you did as it's apparently normal. And that's it. Thanks for reporting and solving the problem!

Megaupload is still giving me 'upload finished' within seconds even though there's not a single file up there. I have no idea what that stupid thing does. So I resorted to splitting files and upping it to Mediafire. Will bump the thread later with a link (links?). Thanks all for your patience 

Edit: Also, I deleted all business districts and the Sims from them ended up in the Bin as described earlier in the thread.

From what I gathered, perhaps it would still be safest to leave at least one shopping district attached. But maybe that's just me being paranoid.

[BlueSoup]

From what HP said in her thread, you shouldn't add any more shopping districts.  I'm not quite sure if that would change in your cleaned up version or not, but I'd leave one just to be safe as well.

[Mixreality]

From what HP said in her thread, you shouldn't add any more shopping districts.  I'm not quite sure if that would change in your cleaned up version or not, but I'd leave one just to be safe as well.

Yes, I don't see why would it change in this one. I suppose it's the merging process that makes it so - adding another district would mess up some id numbers of existing districts. Or something.

Aaand here it is!

*snipped links to avoid confussion*

Once you download all 3 parts, open part1 and extract it to your documents/EA Games/Neighborhoods. (Check if you already have N001 in it, if you do move it somewhere safe if needed).

No fanfare or big anouncements yet, I can't write up the full description right now. I believe people who were following this thread know what's been changed and all. Please report any weirdness you might notice.

[Mixreality]

Double posting on purpose. I take that the lack of comments since yesterday means that nobody's game blew up

Uber-Mega Description:

One last time, this is a clean and fixed HystericalParoxysm's Uber-Megahood. I'm not going to keep updating it, I promise, even if there's something horribly wrong with it. As far as I'm concerned, it's as perfect as it gets. Above all, this is the only Megahood without corrupt memories (except the ones corrupted "by default").

Unfortunately, M&G STUFF PACK IS REQUIRED! If you don't have it, the hood just won't show up. I'm very sorry about that, but I haven't thought about sharing when I first started cleaning it.
Also, REQUIRES ALL EPS EXCEPT UNI AND NL! That means Pets and BV are required, as the bin families from those packs are included too* (Kat and Kim families from Occupied Lot Bin are NOT included, so you can add them yourself where you want them).  There's a possibility you could safely play this hood without those two EPs, I'm still in the process of testing it.
*You won't get any duplicate bin families no matter what templates you have installed.

No fiddling with SimPE this time, just extract the file to Neighborhoods folder and start playing!

Download:

Cleanerhood.part1.rar

Cleanerhood.part2.rar

Cleanerhood.part3.rar

Installation instructions:

If you already have a N001 folder in C:\Documents and Settings\<your name here>\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods, move it somewhere safe, if you need it. If you don't, delete it.

Once you got all 3 parts downloaded, open Cleanerhood.part1.rar and extract it to C:\Documents and Settings\<your name here>\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods. (All 3 parts will automatically extract there).

Changes made to HP's original hood:

While your files download, you can take the time to read what you're getting.

- Neighborhood is renamed back to N001, because Pescado says that cloning a neighborhood is a VBT. If you wish to play original Pleasantview and this hood at the same time, you can rename it to whatever you want (using a batch-rename utility). See Tips at the end of post.

- Around 360 random townies and NPCs are Deleted 2, along with their orphaned family instances and clothing collections! I also deleted broken duplicates of Skip Broke, Darleen Dreamer, Michael Bachelor and Nervous Subject. The only trace of unplayables left are townies/NPCs known by playable sims (Crystal Vu, Abhijeet Cho, Kaylynn Langerak, Gordon King, Meredith Lillard, Phoebe Adams and Frances McCullough). Strangetown Bella "The Clone" Goth and 5 Bluewater employees are NOT included, but I have them all extracted if anyone wants to add them. The real Bella Goth is in the sim bin, see below. All the ancestors are untouched (except above mentioned duplicates).

- All memories fixed! If you ever attempted to wipe corrupt memories with Lot Debugger in ANY Megahood, you certainly noticed that almost all of sims' memories get wiped. This is the consequence of merging process itself - somehow, characters' GUIDs change which results in wrong Memory $Subjects. In other words, the memory looks just fine (it points to right name) but in fact it isn't (it points to wrong number). In this hood, "default" corrupted memories are still present in 3 base hoods - usually 5 per adult sim (pointing to dead broken relatives - 3 toddler skills, 2 deaths). You can easily wipe them with Lot Debugger if you wish. In short, in this hood, you can wipe corrupt memories without fear that entire sim lives will get erased.
While doing all this, I figured I might as well fix the maxian stupid along the way. The examples are too numerous to list. Some well known examples would be the Broke family remembering Skip died before Beau was born, yet Skip's the father of Brandi's unborn child. Or all death memories in Riverblossom Hills are green. Or all Desideratians have one memory too much - a memory of growing up to toddler. All these are fixed, and much much more! My personal favorite are the new job memories in Desiderata Valley and Belladonna - they now correctly show career icon (instead of memory owner's picture), just like in all other hoods.

- All existing pregnancies "refreshed", because Pescado says that mega-merging hoods results in invalid pregnancy tokens (I suspect, for the same reason memories get corrupt). You won't even notice that the pregnancies has been fiddled with (unlike the previous version, preggos now have correct job levels). Additionally, you won't get the Brandi clone, cause she's really pregnant with Skip now!

- Broken Family Ties in Desiderata Valley and Belladonna Cove have been reattached! (I haven't noticed anything else wrong with Family Ties, but if you do, let me know. It can be easily fixed without me uploading the whole hood again.)

- Bella Goth is in the sim bin now, 35000$ and an extra cheesy description included. As a townie she suffers from a rather nasty memory loss (she doesn't loose all of her memories like a normal townie). I made her not remember anything after the abduction. If you don't like it, I'm sorry. The "real" Pleasantview Bella doesn't even have memories, and I believe Megahood Bella's memories are the work of SaraMK.

- All the neighborhood and family albums fixed. Unfortunately that doesn't mean they will work for you, so far it seems random. At the very least, you should get working individual family albums in 3 base hoods, which were not present in HP's hood.

- Various other small changes, not particularly important. I will make a full list of it eventually and attach it to this post...

Known Issues:
(critical ones in cursive, none so far)

- Tessa Ramirez and Oberon Gossamer have blank wants and fears. Also, Tessa has no DNA to start with. I tested extensivelly and lurked around MATY and it doesn't seem critical. Correct DNA generated for Tessa and she spawned normally. Wants and fears appear over time, as those two sims start doing things. You can accelerate this process by using Lot Debugger's "Wants > Reroll". Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong about this.

- Sarah Crittur (the dog) delivers immediately when you move her in somewhere. This is due to the way pregnancy tokens are set up (or my inability to understand how pregnancy tokens are set up ) - when I changed the token's raw data numbers to match the original, the pregnancy token turned into a gossip about a dead Veronavillian. So I figured it's best to leave it as is. She'll still have 3 puppies with Danny as the father as expected.

(Other issues from previous versions have been fixed. Please report any weirdness you might encounter. As I said, I'm NOT going to deal with this hood any more but I do mean to play it eventually and I'd like to hear your experiences, for my own sake, and for the sake of downloaders).

Some tips:

- Do not attempt to add another shopping district to this hood, EVER! You may however delete shopping districts if you want - sims living in them will appear in the bin. The lots are what actually makes this hood so big, so it might be a good idea to do this if you're on a low-end machine or you lack disk space. From what I gathered it's still best to leave at least one shopping district. Besides, where else would you move all those families. Again, you cannot add a shopping district even if you delete some. You can safely add downtowns, universities and vacation destinations, but do use empty/clean templates, 'cause hood is already huge as it is.

- I named the hood N001 on purpose. You shouldn't have cloned hoods in your Neighborhoods folder at the same time. That means, having Pleasantview and HP's Megahoods in your Neighborhoods folder simultaneously is a potential VBT. If you play original Pleasantview, or any clone of Pleasantview, (or any other hood named N001 perhaps?), but you still want this hood, I suggest getting AnyGameStarter, or playing on a different Windows account, or simply switching the folders in and out of your documents/EA Games/Neighborhoods. But it's your game and all, and if you think this is just paranoid, use a batch-renaming utility to rename N001 to a higher number (for batch-renaming I simply use Windows Commander's "File > Multi-Rename Tool"). Remember, you don't rename just the folder, but also everything in it.

- You don't really need many townies with this much playables, but some will simply have to generate. Use norespawn hacks to control the population.

Thank yous (in chronological order, I guess):

- SaraMK, who wrote the hood-merging tutorial and started the whole trend.

- HystericalParoxysm, whose hood I shamelessly stole and edited.

- My LJ friends for checking things out for me, letting me know about things I didn't know, asking me to upload this and overall being awesome. Special thanks to phoenix-daisy/Tamha and engram_au. Thank you both for providing tons of feedback and information. Bit of Tamha's work is actually included in this hood, 'cause I was unable to do it myself.

- Lots of baaas to MATYians who know all the answers and did not poke me with pointy sticks! Special thanks (and apologies) to Mootilda who I bugged for nothing, and Kalina who saved the day by discovering and resolving yet another Bella problem. The first thing I'll do when I start playing is killing the bitch. [/oscar mode]

[BlueSoup]

Baaaa.

No seriously, the hood is working good for me so far

[Tamha]

I'm glad this is finished and ready to go! Thanks for the nod, too, Mix. You did put a lot of work into this before I even heard of it (and you saved me from making my own!), so I'm glad I was able to help some towards making this cleaner and work better. 

Going to download this one last time, and start moving some stuff around for my personal backup (mostly removing some of the shopping districts, lol).

Been nice working with you on finishing this up. 

[kalina]

Thanks a lot for the hood!
Oberon's wants appeared when I sent him on a date (I tried the Lot Debugger, but for some reason it did not work). Everything else works really well. 

[Mixreality]

Yay, that's very good to hear! Thanks for the feedback and for the support, all. This is a sort of thing where stuff are likely to go wrong much afterwards, so do report any kind of bork, whenever. Hope you have fun!

[Emma]

MixReality, you ought to copy-pasta the post with the hood download in to the first post. And thanks for your hard work, although I've already told ya that 

[Tansi]

I was trying to install this, and the second part gave an error. I did try redownloading, got the same one.

Extracting N001\Lots\N001_Lot124.package    Error: CRC mismatch in file "N001\Lots\N001_Lot124.package" in the archive "C:\Users\Public\Downloads\sims\Cleanerhood_Final.part2.rar"


Help, please?

[Mixreality]

I'm sorry, I can't suggest anything other than redownloading again :| This time try deleting every trace of part2.rar you've downloaded previously. The only other thing that comes to mind is that it could be a Vista problem, of which I know nothing about. It's probably nothing anyway, 'cause nobody reported any problem with the download. Also, did you use WinRar, or 7z, or? Did you attempt to extract part1.rar only, or other parts as well?