Okay, fine, I borked it - help with regional settings

[Zazazu]

I --uh-- "got" H&M (why?). I installed the UK version, and of course it set my time to the 24-hour clock and changed a few names. Luckily, it didn't do anything to most of my sims first names, and I was able to change the names of the living, two of whom had been given arbitrary sex changes (apparently, the UK does not recognize that sims can be named Builder Babe and Big Tool, like my construction whores were). The dead, however, I cannot figure out. My problems are three-fold.

1. 24-hour clock
2. Name changes for the dead
3. Fear of future name changes when I get the next EP and it's the US version. Because it will be.

So, I need to edit the registry to reset the region, yes? Well, I tried the handy little program JM made for Seasons changes, but no dice. Should I go ahead and uninstall/reinstall Seasons in the hope that installing a US version EP after the UK version SP will change it back to US (backing up is not too much of an issue) or is there a quick way to do the registry change myself?

[SaraMK]

Well, it's fairly simple, if you're willing to mess with the registry. Make a registry backup first, in case you somehow manage to mess it up.

From the Start Menu choose RUN and type regedit in the box. The registry will open.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES\

Expand/select The Sims 2 H M Fashion Stuff

Find Language and Locale and change to English US and en_us (double-click to change)

Now expand/select the 1.0 folder

Find Language Name and change to English US

Find Language and change from 13 to 1

Exit registry.

This should fix all three two of your problems. It won't fix the dead.

[SaraMK]

ETA: But it won't change the screwed-up names back to what they were originally. If you don't have a backup of your neighborhood, you'll have to change them in SimPE or with Lot Debugger.



EDIT: I suck. This really was supposed to be a modification and not a reply. 

[syberspunk]

EDIT: I suck. This really was supposed to be a modification and not a reply. 

* syberspunk points and laughs.

Well... you could have still edited the previous post and just deleted the 2nd reply, and no one would've been the wiser.  Except now, I've quoted you.

Ste

[Zazazu]

SimPE still shows them with the original names, just to add to the confusion. That was my initial thought. Lot Debugger works, it just doesn't work on the dead. And, apparently, Lonny Lon didn't know April (now Paul) my founder. Which is odd, since he is the All-Knowing Mime ^(tm). So no one alive can resurrect, rename, and kill her again. Unless I have Lonny resurrect Brown and Brown resurrect April. Blech.

But eh, Big Tool is much happier now that he's not named Maryann anymore.

I did back up the neighborhood, but that was eight sim days ago, and too much craziness has happened since (accidental death by fright x2, loony bin residency, puppy breeding madness, the dawn of zombie outreach, genetic research towards nanobot-assisted girl-on-girl pregnancy). Yeah. I don't want to lose all that. Only half of it was on purpose.

[SaraMK]

Well... you could have still edited the previous post and just deleted the 2nd reply

Seemed like too much work.   

SimPE still shows them with the original names, just to add to the confusion.

I'd make a backup of the neighborhood and try changing the names (to whatever) in SimPE. If the changes show up in the game, change them to what they should be. I don't know if it's possible that the game could be reading the UK text strings while SimPE is seeing your original text....

[jrd]

I don't know if it's possible that the game could be reading the UK text strings while SimPE is seeing your original text....

That is exactly what is happening. If you change your locale, the UK English text is read, and if this locale has different entries, Sim names change.
SimPE always shows the US English names by default.

If you do not save the game with the wrong names, but immediately quit and reset the locale, your original names return.

[Zazazu]

Hm. Well, I've definitely saved, multiply. But we'll see. I'll do the reg edit tomorrow and then see if maybe changing and re-changing names in SimPE works. You never know.

EDIT: Huzzah! It worked on everything, even the dead! April is April again.