I got 335 new characters in one day! WHY?!

[Mokuren Sim]

I know this all has been probably already discussed, so I'm sorry if I repeat some old stuff, but please, I need some quick summary.

I was following some of that talk about overpopulated neighbourhoods and so I checked my own. I have 816 character files, and 335 characters appeared out of the blue in one single day! (In two single minutes, to be correct). I suspect it has something to do with that unfortunate Sim, whom I sent to University, put into a lot and then tried to play with the rest of her family, only to find out that I couldn't, because it slowed down. Now... could someone please explain the following:

1. How could this happen? (Like what's that 335 new files about)
2. Are they permanent? (Quite afraid they are... after what I've heard so far)
3. What can I do? (I went so far as actually downloading SimPE, but I haven't touched it yet)

You know, people, I'm starting to feel very uneasy about this, since I've never ever considered a possibility of losing any hoods. I am very fond of my Sims and I tend to keep most of them immortal while having some others just for "breeding", because I really enjoy bringing up children. Now I feel really mistreated, cause yeah - I share one hood with my partner and we may have some good 150 Sims or perhaps a bit more - but isn't that still far from 816? Even if I count in all those ugly townies and dormies and whoever they are.

I'm looking for some solution that will do the least possible damage. Not much enthusiastic about using too much patches or hacks. Thanks to whoever will help.

Wife of Mokuren Sim

[simmiecal]

The slowdown on the lot and the creation of the 335 files sounds like the NPC bug. Do a search on that and you'll find a bunch of posts about it. You probably have a bunch of maids or gardners in your files. Whether or not you can delete them....I did, but I wasn't concerned about the hood blowing up. Maybe some one here can tell you if it can be done safely.

[Lythdan]

1. How could this happen? (Like what's that 335 new files about)
You couldn't play the student's family because it had slowed down? It sounds like somebody got the slowdown bug. Was a maid/repairman/gardener/delivery meant to come to your house at that time? Sounds like a portal got deleted, causing the truck to get stuck, causing it to generate lots of useless NPCs.

2. Are they permanent? (Quite afraid they are... after what I've heard so far)
You can delete them, I've done it before.

3. What can I do? (I went so far as actually downloading SimPE, but I haven't touched it yet)
There are good instructions on what you have to do onthis page. SimPE can be  little confusing at first, but for this, you don't actually have to change anything, just take note of the numbers and delete them from you characters folder.

[angelyne]

Maybe she could use that other program, can't recall the name offhand.  Sim Enhancer?  I heard it does a good job of deleting sims.  I never tried it myself though.

I am not sure just deleting the character files is a good idea.  The game will still have reference to them in the neighbourdhood file and won't that create a whole bunch of unlinked badness?

[Mokuren Sim]

You couldn't play the student's family because it had slowed down? It sounds like somebody got the slowdown bug. Was a maid/repairman/gardener/delivery meant to come to your house at that time? Sounds like a portal got deleted, causing the truck to get stuck, causing it to generate lots of useless NPCs.

Ouch! That's right! I already had the problem there with stuck delivery person, who kept reappearing and I could never get the delivery. And now I hired a repairman! Oh yes, he was to come "first thing in the morning" but somehow... I think it wasn't THAT early and he should have been there by now. So it must be it.

Geeez... so if I get it right, now I have some 335 repairmen somewhere in void? So what exactly should I do?

Wife of Mokuren Sim

[ZephyrZodiac]

Maybe she could use that other program, can't recall the name offhand.  Sim Enhancer?  I heard it does a good job of deleting sims.  I never tried it myself though.

I am not sure just deleting the character files is a good idea.  The game will still have reference to them in the neighbourdhood file and won't that create a whole bunch of unlinked badness?

If the characters haven't interacted with anyone, then there won't be any memories in Neighbourhood Memory anyway.

[angelyne]

Even deleting character files that have had no interactions leaves unlinked character data in SimPE no ?  It appears blue or red or something

[Renatus]

No, I think it gets rid of them completely. Unlinked is a different thing than deleted.

[Sleepycat]

if you use the simpe memory plugin over in Peasantry then you can "nuke all" the memories for a sim you wish to get rid of, it will remove any memorys that sim has and any memories other sims have of that sim, so you can then safely delete the sim from your characters folder (manually)

I plan to do this when I get rid of all the fugly townies and dormies I dislike.

[ZephyrZodiac]

If you simply then copy the file numbers down and remove the file from the Characters folder (which you can't do until you close simPE) then you will not have anything left of those sims.

I believe there was a problem with the original option to delete characters in the first version of the new interface, and it was removed from the next version.  I don't know if it's been corrected and restored or not.

[angelyne]

I just tried this with a character I had deleted from the bin early on.  I had never played him, so he had no memory.  I deleted his character file and he is still in SimPE, only know he shows as "unknown" with the mr. potatohead.

So I deleted him from SimPE as well.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I think that's because you deleted him from the bin.  If you'd just removed his file, it wouldn't have happened.  No file =  no data, no head of any description, potato or otherwise!

[Sagana]

I think the original poster might also need crammyboy's missing portal hack and maybe some older ones if she doesn't have NL and possibly instructions on how to fix the portal or to move the family out of the house?

I'm phrasing this like a question, because it is. I personally have never fixed a messed up portal even tho I have a neighborhood with a bunch of gardners and some other problems just sitting there until I decide if I'm going to fix it or delete it. So far I'm not deciding :)

[angelyne]

While poking around in SimPe I just realized that the nanny I use, the one that I regressed to adulthood has a potato-head as well.  Didn't concern me much, but maybe it should have.  I realized that she has a blank icon in the memory editor and that if you click on it, SimsPE generates an error.  Hmm that can't be good.  Also the file name has a .1 after it.

Guess I shouldn't use that nanny anymore in case it causes my game to implode.  What should I do.  Maybe click the I am a ghost so that she will be removed from the pool?  Too bad cause I liked that nanny.

[ZephyrZodiac]

That, or turn her into a baby - if you do that a new nanny will be generated to take her place.

[angelyne]

Pretty darn cool.  I used Theo's excellent plug in to zap her memories and deleted her from the game.

[RainbowTigress]

You have to delete all the character references in your neighborhood file for those character files.  Rebooting your computer won't help.  The references will still be there.  That's why purging your neighborhood of characters that have been a part of your neighborhood and formed relationships is so hard.  You need to follow the instructions that someone else mentioned above at the SimPE site to totally erase all links to that file.  http://ambertation.de/simpeforum/viewtopic.php?t=1731

If you don't do this, you will have a bunch of loose ends hanging around, which will cause errors to come up, such as those squiggly line memories you see when sims talk about a memory that doesn't have a valid subject.  It will cause other strange stuff to happen as well.  You must delete those Sim descriptions out of the Neighborhood and all memories of that sim.  Since these NPCs that were generated never interacted with anyone, there probably won't be any memories of them.  I would think it would be safe to delete them, but I always suggest making a backup just in case.  In the case of Sims who have interacted and created memories, the Enhanced Memory Plugin is invaluable for helping to prepare a sim to be "nuked" and clean up invalid memories.  It is in the Peasantry. 

I believe Jordi has encountered the nanny files with the .1 after their filename, and he says it has to do with using the lobonanny package from JM.  I'm not sure whether this actually hurts anything or not.  I avoid using the nannies anyway.  I use Dizzy2's Sitter mod, which is so much better than using a nanny because you can have actual family and friends come over and watch the babies.

[jrd]

The .1 nanny files are harmless. In fact these are the actual files, and the other files (without .1) could be deleted. I don't use lobonanny anymore though, I also use Dizzy2's sitter mod.


The slowdown bug Sims can all be deleted. Unfortunately deleting Sims in SimPE leaves a lot of garbage behind: the actual files, want/fears for all Sims, and relationships. Any next time you get a huge slowdown, do not save the lot but inspect your hood with a teleporter or the FFS census tool. If you see far too many Sims, go to the 'hood without saving and the extra's won't be saved.

[Mokuren Sim]

I think the original poster might also need crammyboy's missing portal hack and maybe some older ones if she doesn't have NL and possibly instructions on how to fix the portal or to move the family out of the house?

Exactly. That's how I understand it now. I will have to fix the problem and then do the cleaning up. I have Uni only and I just used official patch. So, can someone hint me how to correct the repairman problem?

(Sheesh, I DIDN'T even want to hire any, but good ole Mama who has the best mechanical skill in the family, kept on getting electrocuted on that stupid thrash compactor and when I insisted, she was killed! Reaper was a nice guy to deal with and I could keep her alive, but I sort of lost nerves and hired a professional. Here's what I get for being so soft!)

Okay, okay... so I probably need some missing portal bug fix and then I will try deleting with SimPE. I quess it would be unwise to simply manually erase all character files dated with that same fatefull day? Even if I copied them somewhere else for backup? (Just asking!) I think since no actual repairman arrived, there certainly should be no memory of him.

BTW, how about that delivery persona hanging around my door? Official patch won't handle this, or will it? Not that I mind that much, but he/she keeps on reading my newspaper and leaving it at undesirable places.

Wife of Mokuren Sim

[Karen]

I quess it would be unwise to simply manually erase all character files dated with that same fatefull day? Even if I copied them somewhere else for backup? (Just asking!) I think since no actual repairman arrived, there certainly should be no memory of him.

I wouldn't do a mass-delete of character files like that unless you are positive they are all NPC's.  You don't want to delete any of your playable Sims by accident.  Open up each of those character files in SimPE and you should be able to tell whether they are NPC's or not.  If they are, then it should be OK to delete them.  I found when I went through a similar exercise a few weeks ago that most of the NPC character files created by this bug are about 200-300K in size.  Once you've deleted the files, as others have suggested, you can use the memory deleting plugin available in Peasantry (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=2590.0) to get rid of any stray memories. 

Karen

[angelyne]

The .1 nanny files are harmless. In fact these are the actual files, and the other files (without .1) could be deleted. I don't use lobonanny anymore though, I also use Dizzy2's sitter mod.

Wasn't the .1 that bugged me so much as the fact that she had no pic (just potatohead) and I got an error when I clicked on her <blank> icon in the memory manager.  But it's good to know that the .1 is harmless

I think I tried Dizzy2's sitter mod once and it didn't work for me.  The girl came over and just acted like any guest would and completely ignored the kid.   Could it be a conflict?  I have Inge's LESS AUTONOMY BABY CARE ... and I might have JM's stufff too.  Oops.  Didn't think of removing one of the two.

[RainbowTigress]

I have JM's mods too, and the sim hired won't do anything unless something needs to be done.  I wasn't sure if the baby controller was recognizing her, but I could order her to do things for the baby.  But one time I did see the controller send her to put the toddler to bed, so it must be working.  But there really isn't that much for them to do.  They could almost stay by themselves.  I have Inge's bottomless bottle, and after they are potty trained, they can take care of themselves except when they need someone to get them in and out of the crib.  I've even tried it with the no social worker mod, and they are just fine.  They may get cranky if they get tired enough, but usually someone is home by then.

[jrd]

With the sitter mod the sitter is treated as just a controllable Sim -- so if the kid needs care, do it yourself. If you have sanity checks like FFS 'no baby harassment' and/or Ingelogical's 'LessAutonomy BabyCare' installed, they probably will leave the kid alone mostly autonomously.

[jrd]

(...) after they are potty trained, they can take care of themselves except when they need someone to get them in and out of the crib.

Try the Ingelogical 'ijCribGetOutAll'... allows any crotchdropling to get out of the crib itself. Still needs to be put to bed, though (but they usually ask for this)

[BlueSoup]

I've used the Sitter mod a lot and it worked OK for me.  I picked my own Self-Sim as the sitter, and I showed up (with my icon showing I was at work) and I could control myself (boy that sounds weird). The only problem I had was when I decided I should at least try to gain some skills while I was there and put me on macrotastics to learn.  Well, a parent came home while I was doing that and I became un-interactable.  I boolpropped my way back into being selectable and got rid of myself that way.

The entire above paragraph was just weird.