Import Strangetown and Veronaville into Pleasantville - Can it be done?

[BlueSoup]

I would clone the custom Sims with SimPE if you want to have them in a clean neighbourhood.  You can reset their relationships with each other in SimPE as well. 

As for how serious it is, well, it's up to you really.  If you're not noticing a problem, then don't worry about it.  Just don't be too brokenhearted if it does blow up.

[Chesspieceface]

I would clone the custom Sims with SimPE if you want to have them in a clean neighbourhood.  You can reset their relationships with each other in SimPE as well. 

As for how serious it is, well, it's up to you really.  If you're not noticing a problem, then don't worry about it.  Just don't be too brokenhearted if it does blow up.

k, thanks Blue.  What would 'a problem' look like? for future reference that is.

[Dark Trepie]

Well, that was more work than I bargined for.  But I'm finally finished moving every sim for all three hoods to a new custom hood.

I had a few problems though.  And it seems to be centered around Inteen.  I don't want to say for certain that it was Inteen.  In the end it actually helped solve the problem I was having.  But it could have very well caused the problem to begin with as well.

We all know how buggy some of the Strangetown sims and almost all of the Veronaville sims are, right?  Well, when I was busy spliting up all of the families on the Strangetown lot I noticed that some of the adults didn't have the option to "Find Own Place" on the computer.  They did have "Move to College" however.  But that did work since they're adults and don't have grades.  This happened with almost all of the adult/elder sims from Veronaville as well.  None of the Pleasantview sims were affected however.

I tried almost everything I could think of until I got the bright idea to make the affected sims spawn their biological clock.  And that worked.  They now had the option to move out.

So I can't be certain that Inteen caused this to begin with.  I have my suspisions because Blue told me in chat that she had none of these problems.  And I know she doesn't use Inteen.

Also.  If you plan on making Kaylyn (can never remember how her name is spelled) the maid and the townies that Circe Beaker knows as townies with Inge's teleporter shrub you will need to take Inteen out.  Those two seem to conflict.  The shrub never gave me the option to make sims into townies.  But once I took Inteen out the options came back.

Now.  I shall sit and wait patiently for the beating and flogging I'm gonna get for admitting to using the Kitten Killer.   

[jsalemi]

Also.  If you plan on making Kaylyn (can never remember how her name is spelled) the maid and the townies that Circe Beaker knows as townies with Inge's teleporter shrub you will need to take Inteen out.  Those two seem to conflict.  The shrub never gave me the option to make sims into townies.  But once I took Inteen out the options came back.

Hmm, I use the kitten killer and never had a problem also using Inge's transporter shrub.  I just used it not long ago to turn some of the binned YAs that come with Uni into townies/dormies, and no problems at all.  And I've had the OFB version of InTeen installed since the day it came out.

[syberspunk]

I vaguely recall jase mentioning somewhere how Veronaville sims had some funky sim/person data which affected InTeen. I think it was using certain fields that were assumed to be empty/unused to begin with. However, the Veronaville sims actually unexpectedly had values in these fields, which caused unexpected behaviour when using InTeen. Now I don't know if this issue was ever resolved or if there was supposed to be some kind of work around. As jordi had mentioned, it's probably because these hoods were created using some pre/alpha version of the code, and only Pleasantville was 'fixed' while the other 'hoods sim data was still in an early state of disarray.

Were you able to fix all the DNA too? Any chance you'd be willing to archive and upload it somewhere? Thanks for all the hard work btw. 
 
Ste

[ElfPuddle]

Pst, syberspunk, over here:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.net/smf/index.php?topic=1423.msg113880#msg113880
*warning, I personally have not tested yet (no time to play)*

[syberspunk]

Yeah. I've been semi watching that thread. But I saw that the latest files where only the 'hood files and not the character files. I thought you needed both? 

Ste

[shezoe]

Now.  I shall sit and wait patiently for the beating and flogging I'm gonna get for admitting to using the Kitten Killer.   

lol! well i'll join ya, then.  i just downloaded inteen last night so a teen sim whose "real life" counterpart is pregnant- coulld be pregnant. so far-MY kittens are still alive (don't know if i killed anyone elses by this act of irresponsibility  ), but the darn thing won't WORK. i spent half the night checking n re-checking files, n hunting down possible hack conflicts (which are MANY-sheeesh) having to take out hacks i consider to be "awesome" or at least "handy in a pinch", until all i had left were the baby controller n no baby harassment hacks that seemed might possibly be in conflict, n STILL it won't work(i REFUSE to play without those hacks) so God prob'ly doesn't kill kittens-that just doesn't seem like Him-prob'ly just lets it's quirkiness drive ya batty until you repent in sackcloth n ashes 

[SaraMK]

Hey... cuz I'm lazy and weary about toying with that kind of stuff in SimPE (modding BHAVs is so much easier... ) would anyone, who completes this project successfully, be willing to archive their hood and characters files and upload it somewhere for the rest of us lazy folk to just download? Pwetty pwease?  

Ste

syberspunk  and others...

There IS a way to IMPORT Strangetown and Veronaville into Pleasantview (they will both be Downtowns). It requires none of the moving-sims-into-one-lot and other problems, since you are basically going to replace the entire Downtown TEMPLATE with one neighborhood at a time.

However, I have not tested this process enough, so I'm afraid of sharing it with others in case it causes severe problems that I haven't anticipated or seen yet. In particular, I'm worried that because it involves messing with files under C:\Program Files\ people will end up having to reinstall their whole game because they failed to make a backup or don't know how to properly put the backup back. The experiment is fairly harmless to anyone who knows how to use backups. The process does involve the use of SimPE, but it is just changing one line. The main issue is just moving the files around and not getting confused and putting one where it doesn't belong. If anyone has followed my tutorial for cleaning unwanted townies/NPCs out of the default templates, you already know what to do, with some minor changes, so if that tutorial was okay for you, this one would be okay too.

Using this method, I have created a Pleasantview with Strangetown attached. All sims are properly in their own houses, no relationships severed of course, still have all their jobs, the ones in the sim bin are still there, any scenarios (Mortimer walking by Caliente lot, Calientes being burglared, etc) will still happen exactly as intended, the neighborhood terrains and deco are untouched, and basically everything in each neighborhood is exactly the way it should be in a fresh neighborhood. So far, I have played this for about two weeks and nothing has blown up, but I fully admit that I have been editing and tweaking more than actually playing. For examplem, only one baby has been born to cross-neighborhood sims and only one marriage has taken place (same sims for both, General Buzz Grunt and Brandi Broke).

If anyone truly wants the info and is willing to take all of the risks involved (because I'm trying to make it very clear that I have NO IDEA if this will cause problems in the long run), then I can see if I can write a tutorial.

I would also be willing to create an All-in-One type of neighborhood (Pleasantview with Strangetown and Veronaville attached) and make it available for download. I could also fix DNA and other crap while at it. But it would take me a while... maybe two weeks or so, since I'm fairly busy right now. I think this option is safer, but realize that the file would be extraordinarily huge. I suspect it would approach 500MB. Anyone who wanted it would also need to have all the same expansion packs as I do (which is all of them except FFS).

So... any thoughts?

[dadditude]

I would love to have you upload a fully merged hood with fixed DNA, etc. Hell, I'd even send you a blank CD and return postage if you'd just burn it on a disc for me. This is what I have wanted from day 1.

My only concern is that I have all the expansions including FFS... Would this make a difference? I noted that you said you had everything except FFS...

[SaraMK]

I would love to have you upload a fully merged hood with fixed DNA, etc. Hell, I'd even send you a blank CD and return postage if you'd just burn it on a disc for me. This is what I have wanted from day 1.

My only concern is that I have all the expansions including FFS... Would this make a difference? I noted that you said you had everything except FFS...

It wouldn't make a difference if you have an expansion pack that I don't have. You could still use my files without any problems as far as I know. It's the other way around that wouldn't work.

I'll see what I can throw together this weekend.

Do you want the neighborhoods cleaned up in any way? Like, do you want me to get rid of all the annoying townies and NPCs that just clutter things up? Or do you want them exactly as Maxis shipped them?

[ElfPuddle]

MAY THE POWERS OF YOUR CHOICE BLESS YOU IN THE MANNER OF YOUR CHOOSING!!!

I would also send you a CD & SASE. My dream would be just as Maxis built, but with the DNA cleaned up (I'm still scared of SimPE)

*hits bleating button a gazillion times*

[shanpooter]

I would absolutely love to have this as well.  I've been considering trying to combine the neighborhoods myself for awhile now, but have been a bit afraid of attempting it.  And I also would send a disk if needed for this.  Of course if it were possible (and free) to upload it somewhere that would probably be easier than burining a million CDs for people.  Perhaps the neighborhood folder could be split up for upload, and then the we could combine it into one folder after it has been downloaded?

[SaraMK]

I think I've found a problem.

Adding *one* neighborhood isn't a problem, but a second one refuses to work. The template can only be used once, and then it no longer appears on the list. I've managed to add another one, but once the neighborhood loads, there's two lots on top of each other.

I'll keep working on it.

Sorry about this. The Pleasantview-Strangetown combo worked so well that I was sure it was going to be simple to add Veronaville to it exactly the same way.

EDIT: I might be close to figuring this out. I'm pretty sure I know now what is going wrong. The idiotic templates get the same number, which makes them literally install one on top of the other. Let me see if I can figure out the numbering system, which currently makes zero sense to me.

[dadditude]

Maybe you could add one as a downtown and one as a suburb (shopping district)? Just a thought...

But, if you can't get it to work with both, I'm not sure about others, but I know I could live with just a DNA-corrected Strangetown added to Pleasantview, if I had to.

[SaraMK]

Well, the problem is that it literally only works once when done as a template. So I think I *could* use both Downtown and Business, but then you would never be able to add another neighborhood of that type. Or, I guess you could add a custom one. Maybe. Unless that also causes the one-on-top-of-another problem. I think there must be a better way.

I'm making progress getting it done a different way. I have now attached a Downtown, Strangetown, and Veronaville to Pleasantview (and all three are Downtowns). All the houses and deco made it over properly, but because of the numbering (I think I'm missing some number that needs to be changed) the sims didn't get properly linked, so they're not showing up. I think if I keep looking at this I might figure it out.

This is what I have right now... sadly Strangetown and Veronaville are completely empty when loaded.

[shanpooter]

Even if they are completely devoid of sims, it would be a help, since other methods can get all of the sims in one neighborhood, but not the terrain, decorations, and houses.  So if nothing else, we could always use another method to get the sims in there.  Unless I'm completely missing something, which is likely.  But having it all done in one swoop would definantly be easier.

[SaraMK]

I think I've done it. I'm currently fixing DNA, memories, etc., and then I will test it and hopefully it won't blow up spectacularly.

Does anyone mind minor inconsistencies such as two houses that had to be moved slightly and one that had to have the hills in the backyard flattened? I can't seem to fix that. I think Maxis did something dodgy to get them there in the first place, since: A) decorations can't go within lots, and B) lots can't hang beyond the end of roads. Here's what I'm talking about:



All the other houses imported fine with the terrains.

[Annette]

What an exciting project  I'm really interested to see the results. I can only imagine how much work you are doing. It would be way beyond my limited skills, even with the excellent tutorial Blue linked to.
I'm sure no one will mind if those houses are a little 'off'......be pretty cheeky to complain when someone is all the hard work!

[ElfPuddle]

If you hadn't pointed them out, I most likely would not have EVER noticed those tiny little things. Ditto everything Annette said.

[dadditude]

You SO completely ROCK! I agree with the others about the minor inconsistencies... I had already notivrfthe problems with the Beaker and Curious houses when I tried to place them manually, so I'm not surprised there. I look forward to the completed project. Have you got any ideas as far as where to post it online?

[SaraMK]

I haven't thought that far. I figure I'll be done editing tonight, test it out tomorrow, and if it seems okay I'll look for a place to post it. It's actually not as big as I thought... less than 190mb, and that's without zipping it up with 7zip. I'm sure that will shave at least 50mb off of it. But I need to see the final version before I can make any concrete decisions about how to share it. If anyone has ideas, that would be most welcome.

[BlueSoup]

Sara, I have a place I can put it for sharing and downloading.  Let me know when you're done and I can sort that out.

[uaintjak]

Drat.  I don't have OFB, which means I won't be able to use the combined hood. 

[SaraMK]

Drat.  I don't have OFB, which means I won't be able to use the combined hood. 

Do you have NL? I have another computer that doesn't have OFB installed... in fact it just has TS2 right now. I could remake the basic neighborhood, minus all the DNA/memory/etc editing. You would have to do that yourself. It's just too much work to redo all that. NL would still be absolutely required, of course, but it would be compatible for anyone who has NL regardless of what else they have.

... unless the newest version of SimPE chokes when it doesn't find the other expansion packs that it expects. Does anyone know if you can use the latest SimPE if you don't have all the expansions? Because some of the stuff I had to do definitely is only available in the last two or three versions.

Of course if there is big demand for a NL-only version, I would be willing to do at least some of the DNA and other correction.