Can I fix this?

[Scratch]

I didn't break it but i want to fix it....

There's a vending machine at MTS2... http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=194814

I think it was a great idea... It annoys me to need a restaraunt on every community lot so your sim can stay more than a few hours. Unfortunately, even though the creator asked for testers, s/h/it doesn't want to fix the problems pointed out by the testers.

I have tried "nicely" to bring the problems to the creators attention but s/h/it doesn't care and seems to prefer to wallow in the adulation from the sheep....   

I just want the machine to "advertise" that it satisfies hunger... in my opinion that would encourage non-playable sims to use it.... I don't care if the other probs ever get fixed but i want non-playables and playables to use it atonomously (sp?).

I do understand how to open a package in SimPe... that's what the object workshop is for I assume. I tried to look at this object last night to see if i could fix it myself and then realized i'm not even close to being awesome enough to do something like that on my own.

I have no intention of ever posting this object anywhere. I'm not doing this to "steal" s/h/it's object... i just want it to work in my game like I think it should.

Is there a fairly easy fix for this?? if I were to open the package, what would i change to have it advertise hunger at 5 or 6.

Any help would be appreciated and ta

eta: sorry if this is in the wrong place..   

[Marhis]

It should be possible, yes.

A rather simple way (don't know how exactly works this object though) should be looking at pie menu resource, and alter autonomy settings (from e.g. 64 to 32) and motives.
A well detailed explaination you'll find in help text included with the editor itself (there's a help button in plugin view).

There's a bit of stuff to read, but it's very helpful, and it may worth a try.

[J. M. Pescado]

Watch as it then becomes an obsessive-compulsive thing that sims mess with constantly.

[Cyberdodo]

Yes, you can fix it.

I've been working on fixing Paco's 1st vending machine, the soda only one.
http://modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=192803
Even though I'm a complete beginner at object editing, I've cleaned up this mess of an object quite a bit.

It used to set Fun to a literal value (why, I don't know), charge $50, and summon a custom item that sets Hunger to a literal value. Yeesh. That's on top of absolutely no advertising for autonomy.

Now, my version only charges $1 and summons a plain old ordinary snack juice. Also, it advertises Hunger, but at such a low level that sims only use it as a last resort to avoid starvation. Thus, no compulsiveness over it.

While I was at it, I retextured it too. I wanted a fictional soda brand on it

[Magicmoon]

I didn't break it but i want to fix it....

There's a vending machine at MTS2... http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=194814

I have tried "nicely" to bring the problems to the creators attention but s/h/it doesn't care and seems to prefer to wallow in the adulation from the sheep....   

I noticed this too when players complained that his new vending machine was overwriting his old Coke machine. His answer was for them to go into SimPe and fix it themselves. I see now that he says he "fixed" it but did not test it and if it still doesn't work...too bad.

I don't understand it perfectly, but doesn't each item have to have a separate GUID? And aren't these Guids "assigned" by SimPe so that no 2 people are receiving the same one to keep different objects from overwriting each other? If so, wouldn't there be over 20,000 (number of vending machines downloaded)  new Guids assigned if each person fixed the problem themselves?

Later I posted that clean bots are unable to see the used cans and dispose of them and that my floor was littered with these cans. His answer? "Sims are pigs. We all have to learn to deal with it." I thought buying a clean bot WAS dealing with it.

I also learned that Sims will only place used cans on the floor or a coffee table and that if there is only one coffee table on the lot, they will navigate to it to place the can, no matter how far away it is. Cancelling the interaction is not useful. It is ignored and the Sim continues to seek out the coffee table. Once it is finally placed on a coffee table, THEN the Sim is able to pick it up and place it in a dishwasher, but not before. I'm assuming that the can must have been cloned from a coffee cup, but the Cup Mod available here doesn't affect this item. They will only place used cans on the floor if no coffee table is available.

Anyway, I also wanted to fix this to advertise Hunger and Energy and make the machine's use autonomous, and perhaps lower the amount of energy that an energy drink gives. I tried the suggestions here, and got pretty lost. Although I didn't break it, I definitely didn't fix it. I just reread his post and didn't find anything about not being allowed to make changes and share it. If any of you manage to get it working correctly, could you be kind enough to share it with me? I don't do uploads of any Sims stuff, and the object would stay with me. If you are unable to share it, could you post a pic or two about exactly how you fixed it in SimPe so we can make our own alterations? The post by Maharis, although helpful, was much too simplistic for me to understand. (...alter autonomy settings from 64 to 32). Must the numbers be multiples of 8? Is the larger number the most or least autonomy? Do you need to change anything other than the pie string menus?

I like this vending machine on comm lots but it doesn't allow anyone except for the controlled Sim to use it. I wanted to make it autonomous, but am a little concerned that it will turn out like a cigarette machine I once downloaded. It was autonomous for all, but whenever the machine charges for the item, the money is taken out of the playable Sim's money. That still wouldn't bother me too much if the price was a dollar, but at $250 a pop, a Sim could go broke paying for cigs for all the townies. Unfortunately, that item was also downloaded from a site whose unwritten rule is "Obsessive adulation only, no pointing out defects. Besides, we don't speak English well enough to understand anything other than how much you love our items."

[Cyberdodo]

Magicmoon, your understanding of GUIDs is correct. But changing this item's GUID won't solve anything, because that's not the problem. It's the meshes that are conflicting, not the whole item. I posted in that thread shortly after his 3/7 "fix" to try to talk some sense into him. Don't know if he got it.

As I posted above, I've been working on fixing his old coke machine. I'm pretty sure that, despite his good idea and his effort, he knows even less about object editing than I do, but refuses to accept the possibility that he can improve his work.

Assuming he's repeated his old mistakes in his new vending machine (likely), then the problem with clean bots not recognizing the cans is because his cans are cloned from potions, not juice or instant meals. My solution was to make the machine spawn a juice instead, rather than fuss with all the coke can's problems.

On the subject of Autonomy, the 'Autonomy' setting for the pie menu is in hexadecimal, not decimal. And no, the value doesn't need to be a multiple of 8. The value 64 forces non-autonomy, while a value 32 or below allows autonomous use. For values between 32 and 64, I don't know what would happen. Maybe autonomous only during need despiration?
Also, for a sim to use an item autonomously, it has to advertise that it satisfies one or more needs. In the current version of SimPE,  there's 2 places where Motives can be set, but I don't know which one produces advertising. In the Pie Menu Functions editor, there's a tab for Motives, where I had put a value of 4 for Hunger.  The other place is in the Object Data editor, under the Raw Data tab. There too I put a value of 4 for 'ratingHunger'.

I haven't dealt yet with the coffee table obsession. That's next on my agenda. I did see a custom BHAV for putting down the can, which is undoubtedly the culprit.

Anyway, once I've at least tried to tackle the coffee table obsession, I'm willing to share 

[Magicmoon]

On the subject of Autonomy, the 'Autonomy' setting for the pie menu is in hexadecimal, not decimal. And no, the value doesn't need to be a multiple of 8. The value 64 forces non-autonomy, while a value 32 or below allows autonomous use. For values between 32 and 64, I don't know what would happen. Maybe autonomous only during need despiration?

Just to clarify, the number 32 to 64 ARE the hexidecimal numbers, actually representing 50-100 decimal. Is that correct?

I'm going to dive back in and try again, although I'll never be able to do something cool like getting it to spawn a juice can. So far I've only changed the motives on one item, with specific directions from Two Jeffs. The item was already autonomous. I just tweaked the advertising. But I did it right! So just like a baby who has taken a first step, I'm ready to take a second one. But since most fall down at this point, I'm seeking a little something to hold on to.

Thanks for helping. I'm not at all interested in making objects, but I would like to learn to fix a few items that would be nice objects if their autonomy and advertising stats were tweaked. I notice most people make their objects either non-autonomous, or make it where it becomes an obsession, as JMP noted. Just looking for middle ground.

[Scratch]

If i knew it was going to be this easy to fix some of the flaws I would have done it months ago..... 

I'm not saying it's working just as i want.... but a lot closer...

This is what i've done so far...

Open the vending machine package and then go to "object Data", when you're there, go down the list of data and you'll see fun is at 4... I changed that to 0 and then changed hunger to 4. It actually does say "+Hunger" in the catalogue now.

Then go to the pie menu and check "visitors" on each of the objects and also uncheck "Demo Child". I also changed the attenuation to moderate.Go to the motives tab, for each object, and change Fun from 0028 to 0000 and hunger from 0000 to 0028, same column, and if i understand the help correctly then autonomous needs to just be at 32.

If i'm reading SimPe correctly then the chips, cookies, energy drink, and coke were cloned from "espresso cups"... can this be changed to "instant meal" so the simmies will dispose instead of wash?

Maybe some people didn't like my ignorant and obnoxious way of bringing the probs to the creators attention, but heaping on thank you's wasn't getting the little dorks attention either..

thanks for pointing me in the right direction Marhis and thanks to Cyberdodo for the support and info....

[Magicmoon]

What is attenuation for? Demo child?

Is it OK to also check child while checking visitors? I know the animation may be a little off because of the child's size, but as long as it doesn't crash, I'm Ok with that.

While I'm changing fun to hunger, do you think it is OK to add Energy motive? I can't remember if the Coke gives energy, but I'd rather have them go for an Energy drink than an expresso when on a comm lot. It's much quicker.

Did you have a chance to test your new version to see if visitors actually use it and whether the visitor or the playable is footing the bill?

[Scratch]

I'm going by the help and what i've seen so far...

Attenuation is how close a sim should be to want to use an object... i figured moderate would be about 1/2 a lot away... it's probably got more to do with squares away though.

Demo Child. The help says it shouldn't be checked.... sounds good to me...

I just checked visitor on each object... i think there are 6 or 7.. The childs are different heights, so, I think that's why the creator made separate ones for the childs..

The energy thing i think is built into the objects themselves not the vending machine... I haven't checked that out yet..

I did test mine and visitors use it and they aren't obsesive about it... but yeah the playable pays for everybody.. there's probably somewhere to change the price to 1 or 0...

I deleted the spam strings in... um... ? prim strings? ... don't remeber at the moment and i'm playing so i can't look at it...

How do i turn off the spam box that comes up??

[Magicmoon]

Open the vending machine package and then go to "object Data",

I don't have Object Data...

If i'm reading SimPe correctly then the chips, cookies, energy drink, and coke were cloned from "espresso cups"... can this be changed to "instant meal" so the simmies will dispose instead of wash?

I bet you are updating the older machine, while I'm updating the Energy drink machine. I have a bunch of potions listed instead of espresso cups.  But I'm updating the package from the link you gave in the 1st post. I'm confused again.  I'm editing VM 07. The older version on this page is 6.06. Are you editing one of these?

Then go to the pie menu and check "visitors" on each of the objects and also uncheck "Demo Child". I also changed the attenuation to moderate.Go to the motives tab, for each object, and change Fun from 0028 to 0000 and hunger from 0000 to 0028, same column, and if i understand the help correctly then autonomous needs to just be at 32.

Found pie menu, still can't locate object data.

Maybe some people didn't like my ignorant and obnoxious way of bringing the probs to the creators attention, but heaping on thank you's wasn't getting the little dorks attention either..

While I rarely condone rudeness, I was so exasperated by this guy's attitude that your posts made me crack up. At least you were 100% honest and expressed what I was thinking, but dared not write, less I be trampled by a herd of sheep.

I deleted the spam strings in... um... ? prim strings? ... don't remeber at the moment and i'm playing so i can't look at it...

How do i turn off the spam box that comes up??

Do you mean the stupid pop-up that presents itself when the Sim is finished drinking? If so, I want to get rid of that too. Someone once told me how to do it and I'm searching for the thread right now.

[Cyberdodo]

To get rid of the spam boxes, bypass the BHAV command lines where you found the spam text, in each of the 'Interaction - Buy ..' BHAVs. The line will look like "[prim 0x0024] Dialog (Text Notification, Message yadda yadda)". To bypass, have the line that leads to the dialog command instead poit to the line the dialog command points to.

[Magicmoon]

I understood what you said up until this point:

To bypass, have the line that leads to the dialog command instead poit to the line the dialog command points to.

I found the thread I was looking for. It was Boblishman's Water Cooler. Post 149 explained it, but of course the instructions were specific to that object. Maybe between what Cyberdodo said and that thread, I can figure it out.

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?p=1267655#post1267655

EDIT: Cyberdodo, I found the line you were talking about. There is one for each item the machine sells; interaction-Buy Coke, etc.

The line is line B and it says True C, false FFFC. On the right side of the screen where changes can be made, it says True Target: 0x00C. False Target: Error.

Now what exactly should I do at this point to bypass the dialogs?

The line before that, line A, says true B, false FFFC. So should I change it so that true=C, thereby bypassing line B that has the dialog command on it?

[Cyberdodo]

All BHAV commands, regardless of what else they do, produce a result of True or False, for determining what to do next.

In the BHAV "Interaction - Buy Coke", you will see the lines
A: [prim 0x006A] Animate Sim ("a-belch-medium")                       TRUE: B      FALSE: FFFC
B: [prim 0x0024] Dialog (Text Notification, yadda yadda)               TRUE: C      FALSE: FFFC
C: [prim 0x0002] Expression (My motive hunger := Literal 0x0028) TRUE: FFFD  FALSE: FFFC

Line A makes the sim burp. If the sim burped, the result is TRUE. Therefore, control goes to B. If the sim failed to burp, the result is FALSE. FFFC means error.
Line B will pass control to line C after it produces the spam box.

To bypass line B, make line A's TRUE result point to line C instead of line B.

[Magicmoon]

Thank you! I understood that.

Now for that Object Data that I can't find. I found Cauldron Skilled, which contains Catalog sort and Raw Data tabs. The Raw Data tab has stuff about price and motives. Is this what I am looking for or do I need to keep searching?

[Cyberdodo]

Yes, that's what you're looking for.

[Scratch]

Object Data... Down left side "resource tree" find "Object Data" click on "Cauldron - Skilled", Click on "Raw Data" tab and under motives is where you change fun to hunger...

I'm just going to try and turn off the spam... if i'm understanding this right.... i choose "Behaviour Function" from the resource tree and then choose each interaction and change true target to "return true"

I opened up each accessory (Coke, chips, cookies, energy drink) and also made them usable by visitors and sorry... my mistake... I didn't change the hunger and energy on the motives tab.. I got comfuzzed.. i thought i did but changed my mind...

I bet you are updating the older machine, while I'm updating the Energy drink machine. I have a bunch of potions listed instead of espresso cups.  But I'm updating the package from the link you gave in the 1st post. I'm confused again.  I'm editing VM 07. The older version on this page is 6.06. Are you editing one of these?

I just downloaded the latest version again, VM 07, and that's what i'm working on... If you open one of the acc with simpe it shows they were cloned from esspresso cups...

Ok... I'm a little slow...

[Magicmoon]

I noticed that there are 2 interactions for each item sold and one pertains to children and one pertains to adults/teens/elders. But the energy drink only has one interaction, pertaining to adults.

Did you click visitors on the ones that are related to children or just on the ones that pertain to adults, teens, and elders?

I'm not going to try to enable the energy drink for the children as I originally planned. I don't think there are commands that are related to children for it. If you think I'm wrong, let me know.

In the price area, there is a hexidecimal price that is 1250 dec. Sale price 05. What is sale price?

[Scratch]

Did you click visitors on the ones that are related to children or just on the ones that pertain to adults, teens, and elders?

I clicked on visitors for all... children too

In the area where you changed hunger to 28, what does the 28 represent? The higher the number the more drawn they are to the object? Wanting to know for when I need to fix other objects in the future.

From what i understand.. those columns are for the satisfaction of the sim performing the action.. on the acc the action is clean-up.. on the 3rd column it's 000B which is neat sims and 0028 is how much satisfaction or want the sim has for that action    (just a guess)... but like i said.. i made a mistake when i said i changed that because i didn't, but i'd like to know how that part works...

Attenuation Code: High=must be closer to object to interact with it or further from object?

I think the higher, the further away a sim can be to be drawn to it

In the price area, there is a hexidecimal price that is 1250 dec. Sale price 05. What is sale price?

When i was observing it yesterday... the drinks were 5 i think and the Bag of chips were 25... so maybe if the sale price was changed??

[Magicmoon]

I found the correct help page finally, you were close about the columns. First column is min amt of advertising done to the Sim. Delta is how much more is added for certain types of Sims (neat, grouchy, etc). Type is to define which type of Sim is affected. The page lists those numbers.

"Attenuation reduces the attractiveness of an interaction over a distance.  The higher the attenuation the closer the Sim will have to be before he feels like using the object."

C:\Program Files\SimPE\Plugins\pjse.coder.plugin\PJSE_Help\PieMenus.htm

In the price area, there is a hexidecimal price that is 1250 dec. Sale price 05. What is sale price?

When i was observing it yesterday... the drinks were 5 i think and the Bag of chips were 25... so maybe if the sale price was changed??

Since these numbers were on the machine itself, I'm pretty sure the $1250 was the price of the machine. But if $5 is the price of drinks, then where would the chips price be? Maybe I'll not touch price for now and test to see if this is working so far.

[Scratch]

So, if i understand what the creator did... the action to clean-up was made more attractive for neat sims.. helpful... but... 

So a low attenuation would draw sims from far away? Good to know.....

I'm just starting up the game now and set up a cafeteria type thing and see what happens..... hopefully the sim i send to the lot won't go broke while he's there..

[Magicmoon]

I changed the price on the individual items, Coke, chips, etc. to a buck. Haven't had a chance to try it out though.

[Cyberdodo]

I've finished working on the older (soda only) vending machine, insofar as fixing it goes. I'll continue to tweak it though, probably.
I haven't been able to fix the mesh conflict with the newer chip/soda/energydrink vending machine. I tried exporting the mesh and reimporting it using a different name, but the newer machine still overrides the mesh. 

Anyway, I've attached my fixed version.

[Scratch]

Thanks cyberdodo... i'm going to try it out today.... after I work on the spam msg's in the vending machine. They're still popping up and annoying me....

MagicMoon... Did you figure out where the price is stored??? I thought it should be in the vending machine itself.... i'll keep poking around...

good luck

* Scratch whacks Cyberdodo's thanks button..... 

[Cyberdodo]

I did a bit of tinkering on the chips/cookies/soda/energydrink vending machine. As I thought, it was just more of the same garbage code.

My fixed version now spawns the generic snack chips/cookies/juice instead of Paco's custom equivalents, at a cost of $1. The energy drink is still his custom drink, which now costs $10.  I cleaned up the energy drink object too, so it now increments and decrements needs, rather than setting them to hard literals. Specifically, it raises Hunger a little, raises Energy by about 1/4, lowers Comfort by about 1/4, and lowers Bladder by half.

The machine should have mild autonomy for purchace of chips, cookies, and juice. I made the energy drink selection non-autonomous.

There's still 2 outstanding problems that I have no idea how to fix. The mesh still overrides the mesh of the other vending machine, and cleanbots won't clean up the energy drink cans.

The .zip attached contains both my fixed version of the vending machine and my fixed version of the energy drink.