Tutorial: Clean custom neighbourhoods + townie creation (updated for Seasons)

[Nadira]

Are you able to to right click on the file, select open or open with, and then choose WinRAR frmo the list? If so you should be able to check the use this program every time box and have it recognized from then on.
Odd that it is unrecognized!

Definitely unrecognized - with rightclick as well as when trying to unpack after opening winRAR (allready verified by a second tester).
Error notice by WinRAR: " Unknown format or corrupted file".
PS: WinRAR is German version. Perhaps 7z is only recognized by english WinRAR versions?

EDIT: Problem solved. Found 7Zip and downloaded - all files properly unzipped  . Thanks for helping!

[SaraMK]

I'm glad you got that straightened out. I'm guessing that what might be the problem is that your WinRAR is not associated with the .7Z file format. You can create that association under WinRAR's Settings (should be Options --> Settings --> Integration --> check the box for 7 Zip). Technically it should have still recognized it when forced to open it... I don't know. Could be a difference between versions, I guess.

[myskaal]

So rumor has it that Seasons adds another new hood full of store bought sims. Any confirmation on this yet?

[PlayLives]

Yes, Seasons installs a new hood (G001) *not subhood, and gets loaded with all NPCs, sims, etc. I will check if you can create a custom hood using the Riverblossom template.

When I installed Seasons, I changed my EP templates to what they were before but I forgot to change the N001 template in the Sims2 directory (had it named N001-bak) and I didn't have a problem installing.

[angelyne]

Yup, it installed a new 'hood.  Thankfully it doesn't seem to pollute your main hood though.   I'm going to try to delete it tonight.

I tried it out to check out the new stuff.  I had to laugh at the one household I tried. Name was McGreggor and he's sporting kilt and beard.  The funny thing is they made him a fortune sims.  A lil' dig at the Scots methink.

Unfortunately, however, the game dumps two store bought families into your hood.  One is an indian couple.  They didn't look too horrible from the familly snapshot.  However the other family looks like a bunch of inbreed hicks.  Ouch.

I'll try to see if renaming the neighbourhood template prevents this dumping of unwanted fuglies in our pristine neighbourdhoods.  I suspect this won't work and we will need to come up with a template.

[myskaal]

Good to know. I was worried it was going to be similar to Pets, adding a slew of new townies and/or NPCs to the base hood.

I suspect this won't work and we will need to come up with a template.

Most likely. Thanks to this fabulous tutorial and SaraMK's previous work with it we know how to do that now.

[SaraMK]

Unfortunately, however, the game dumps two store bought families into your hood.  One is an indian couple.  They didn't look too horrible from the familly snapshot.  However the other family looks like a bunch of inbreed hicks.  Ouch.

Are they simbin sims or sims in occupied houses?

If they are in occupied houses, they would not be with the neighborhood template.

Sorry, I don't actually have the EP yet, but if they did it like they did with the Pets housebin families and the other EP's empty houses, it should be something like: C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\***SEASONS***\TSData\Res\UserData\LotCatalog

Make a backup just in case and then delete everything in that folder. However, this will delete any empty houses that came with Seasons, so if you want to keep those you might want to poke around in SimPE to see what's what.

[angelyne]

Bah.  A bit of bad news.  I checked my neighbourdhood file and apart from the two ugly families that were generated, I appear to have a reappearance of the fuglie townies.  It's not the usual suspects, so Seasons must be generating them.

And just when you thought it was safe to start your game over ....

Edit:  No Sarah, they are not lotbinned.  Those you can delete safely I think.  I deleted them from Pets and I never saw their character files in the game.

These new ones are actually in the sim bin and have corresponding character files.

[SaraMK]

Bah.  A bit of bad news.  I checked my neighbourdhood file and apart from the two ugly families that were generated, I appear to have a reappearance of the fuglie townies.  It's not the usual suspects, so Seasons must be generating them.

And just when you thought it was safe to start your game over ....

I'll have Seasons in ... about 13 minutes. And then I'll find and kill whatever is generating any ugly townies.  We can't have that nonsense, can we?

[angelyne]

I knew I could count on you Sarah

[SaraMK]

Done! They were being dumped into our neighborhoods by way of the stealthy new subhood. The new Riverblossom neighborhood itself does not need to be modded.

Download here: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,4306.0.html

[myskaal]

Wow, fast work! Thanksandbaaah.

[Sarimar]

Does the Teleporter Shrub still work with Seasons? I'll hopefully get my copy today and I'm going through my hacks weeding out all incompatible ones.

[jrd]

Should work from what I can tell.

[mk]

With my game recently imploding, and now having seasons, I decided to have a go at making a clean custom neighbourhood.  The game imploding was my primary motivation, but as it's given me the chance to start everything fresh and new I'm considering this as positively as possible.

So far things are progressing well but slowly.  I had my neighbourhood set up with no sims at all, and have just completed my first batch of townies for my primary neighbourhood.  A few things I'm not completely clear about though.  I have multiple downtowns attached so when I make my downtownies do I have to make a set for each downtown, or does the one set get used by all?  I'm guessing I also need to make a set of townies for my OFB district when I attach it?  If so then how are these made distinct from the other townies/downtownies? 

I'm also intending to create my own custom NPC's.  I wasn't too sure if for NPC's like the mailman/paperboy etc. if I would have to create these for my main neighbourhood, and each sub-neighbourhood.  Having read what SaraMK posted earlier in the thread about NPC's being re-used I think this may be wrong, but I'm not completely certain.

As far as pets are concerned, if I leave nostrayrespawns in place then the game will create a Leader of the Pack, some wolves, and fill the adoption pool?

ps.  I was considering using the pre-made sims that came with Seasons after having modified their appearance etc. as they're completely new to me unlike all the other pre-made sims.  Is this worth it though, or are they just too horrible to bother with?

Sorry if some of this seems obvious to others, but I'm just trying to make sure I get it right first time around.   
   

[SaraMK]

I have multiple downtowns attached so when I make my downtownies do I have to make a set for each downtown, or does the one set get used by all? 

One is used by all. If you are planning to use the NPC tree to create Downtownies, don't. They will all be based on the ugly source sims. Create Townies instead and then use the teleporter shrub to make them into Downtownies.

I'm guessing I also need to make a set of townies for my OFB district when I attach it?  If so then how are these made distinct from the other townies/downtownies? 

There are no special townies for the OFB sub-hood. That was just a "special feature"  of NL.

Having read what SaraMK posted earlier in the thread about NPC's being re-used I think this may be wrong, but I'm not completely certain.

Basic NPC's like mail/paper/pizza/etc. delivery people, and maid/gardener/etc. service NPC's are used by all sub-hoods as well as the main 'hood. A University will use the same mail delivery people, for example. You SHOULD get Pescado's antiredundancy so the game won't create a billion unnecessary NPC's, since it tends to do that if allowed.

Some NPC's, however, are tied to a particular sub-hood and may or may not be able to appear in other ones. Grand vamps, Uni mascots, etc.

As far as pets are concerned, if I leave nostrayrespawns in place then the game will create a Leader of the Pack, some wolves, and fill the adoption pool?

I had the game pop up an error when it attempted to generate a stray in a neighborhood that had zero strays and had Pescado's nostrayrespawns hack installed. I don't know if this has been fixed. If it has not been fixed, I recommend creating a single stray animal using the NPC Tree.

Adoption should be fine. Leader of the Pack/wolves are NPC's and are not affected by the hack.

ps.  I was considering using the pre-made sims that came with Seasons after having modified their appearance etc. as they're completely new to me unlike all the other pre-made sims.  Is this worth it though, or are they just too horrible to bother with?

Up to you. I think all Maxis sims are ugly and wouldn't want them in any neighborhood of mine, but that is only my personal preference.

[mk]

Thanks for all the answers.

A lot more work to do on creating the neighbourhood, but at least I can now proceed with everything clearer.  I'm really looking forward to playing it when it's complete: everything new and most importantly no ugliness 

I'll make up my mind about the pre-made Seasons sims when everything else id done although if they are used then they will be having some plastic surgery first.

[miros]

Get the 5 templates Nailati has done -- she's (he's?) fixed the worst of the ugly Sims, so your Townies and Dormies will be better looking.

[jrd]

Updated for Seasons with a note on G002. Looks like no further changes are needed.

[IAmTheRad]

Batch creating STRAYS is possible, and I found out how.
You need to have a non-stray pet, and turn on the pet control cheat, and debug mode as well (the maxis debug mode...)
Shift-click on the mailbox, and under NPC there's Make NPC - Stray Pets - ALL

There you have it. Batch creating Strays.

[Fnus]

This is probably a really simple question, but how do I create the empty neighborhood package-files that i need to replace the old ones with?

[jsalemi]

This is probably a really simple question, but how do I create the empty neighborhood package-files that i need to replace the old ones with?

Don't have to -- just download the ones you want from here: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=4306.0

[miros]

Hi everyone.  I'm pretty new to the game (but not the the old Sims).  I love having my "own" stuff, but am concerned/confused as to what this all does.

What I'm looking to do is have a clean neighborhood with only the people I put in, but I don't want to have to make a bajillion poeple for service industries and the like when I add University, Business, and the Nightlife Downtown to my neighborhood.  I just wanted randomly generated individuals with no history to be in there.

If you cross reference between this tutorial and SaraMK's clean 'hood tutorial, the game will automatically generate your Townies, Downtownies and Dormies without all the ugly Maxis created ones.  If you get Jordi's betternames mod and Nailati's replacement face templates, you'll actually get some decent looking ones with interesting names (and fewer repeats).

[spikesminx]

This tutorial was really useful

But there's something I'd like to ask, when creating NPCs, you said that I could tweak them as I wish. Face, gender etc. But how can I change their clothes?

Thx

[jrd]

You can't.

The Tree only has settings for species, skintone, age, and gender -- not for outfits. If you want a fully customized neighbourhood, create your townies in CAS! and spawn default NPCs with the tree. Then use an external tool like Paladin's NPC replacer to change the NPCs as you like.

Get Paladin's tools from http://www.simwardrobe.com/ (direct links don't work on his site).

I am not familiar with the program but I hear it works well.