TUTORIAL and HACK. Hacked neighborhood deco that goes ANYWHERE.

[SaraMK]

What It Is

It's a hack that allows all neighborhood deco to go inside lots, go on top of roads, go on land, and go on water.

For example, the palm tree groves that came with BV would refuse to go on the edge of water, screaming at you that they can only be placed on land... even though you are placing them on land. Damn game. And the lighthouse that's on a rock used to ony be allows in water, but now can be placed on land, too.

Pretty much all the deco objects are included. All the trees, rocks, buildings, BV objects, signs, etc. The ones that aren't included are things like flowers and fields, which can't be seen from inside of lots anyway, and so are useless anyway.

This REPLACES my "bonus rock hack" that's on MTS2, and you should remove that hack. It does not replace the smaller rocks, so don't remove those if you have them.

What To Download

There are several files. Basically, each EP added some nhood deco. So get the files for all the EPs you've got, as well as the base game. For example, if you have NL and BV only, you would get the base game hack, the NL hack, and the BV hack, but not the OFB or Seasons hacks.

Technical Info

There are four things that can be changed about the way nhood objects are placed.

All of them are changed in the Neighborhood Object XML (XNGB), which is located inside a file called catcanhobjects.bundle.package in C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\XXX\TSData\Res\Catalog\CANHObjects (where XXX refers to the base game or specific EP)

placementsurface refers to whether an object is allowed on water or land.
Acceptable codes are 0x00000000 (land), 0x00000001 (water), 0x00000002 (water and land).

allowedinlot refers to whether you can place an object inside of a lot.
Acceptable codes are 0x00000000 (no), 0x00000001 (yes).

allowedonroad refers to whether you can place an object on top of a road.
Acceptable codes are 0x00000000 (no), 0x00000001 (yes).

removeonlotplop VERY IMPORTANT!!! If you do not disallow this, the object will NOT be placeable inside of lots or on roads, even if you allowed it in allowedinlot and allowedonroad.
THE CODE YOU SHOULD USE IS 0x00000000. Do not use 0x00000001.

[SaraMK]

Practical Applications

You might be wondering how all this stuff can be used in the actual game.

Here are some pictures of a beach lot, where the yucky edges/seams have been disguised by rocks, and a community "pond" that is actually a disguised swimming pool. If you have ever tried to disguise a swimming pool using just plants, you know how dumb it looks to have a jungle growing around all four edges of the pool. Using the rocks gives a more natural appearance. Take note of the way the rocks extend INSIDE the swimming pool, giving the underwater sides a natural, rough look. I put this example together too hastily, so not every edge of the pool was concealled; ideally you would make the rocks extend slightly more inside the pool. Invisible fences (available on MTS2) are used to keep sims from walking through any nhood object inside the lot.

I don't have examples of other objects being used, but I think you can imagine the possibilities, such as a Dutch windmill next to your barn, or a natural forest covering part of your lot without impeding sims' movement. Other ideas include using rocks as a centerpiece in a garden, and using a barn, ancient ruins, or silo as a covering for a real house. The sand and rock peninsula looks great inside beach lots, and so do the beach boulders.

With BV, another reason for using this hack is so that you can put those damn tropical tree groves closer to the water. For some idiotic reason they don't go on the sand! What's the point if you can't put your tropical trees on the sand?! Some designer was not using his head.

[Nec]

Baaaaaaaa!!!! Very cool. The edges of the beach lots are truly ugly. I have always been annoyed by hood decoration placement.

[LadyLiberty]

Oh, Sarah, this is so incredible.  I love the research you do, all the good things you share, and the tutorials that make it so clear I can do it.  I can't wait to make my lots look more like the beaches I remember.

Wow...  what a break through.  *Loves that Sarah gets the time to dream.

[Strangel]

Awesome. I get so sick of placing trees singly when I'm trying to set up a storytelling lot that's supposed to be forested.

[Zazazu]

*presses Baa button a few million times*
My 'hood is about to get a whole lot more neighborhood decorations.

[Nepheris]

A hack that'll have a huge impact on the look of my game. Great work!

[Captain Swooptie]

With the 'hood decor subject freshly breached, I'ma ask this:

Does anyone know what governs an objects viewability from a(nother) lot? Some objects show up in the 'hood view while others don't, and I've never been able to figure out where the difference is. I originally thought it had to do with whether or not an object had its own super-low LOD model, but various things show up in 'hood view without LOD models; they simply use the high detail model (though very small). I haven't done much with the game in an age, so I can't remember what things I want to see but can't, but I seem to recall some noteworthy statues that couldn't be seen, even though they should be 'cause they're focal-pointy.

Also, what about some of the neighborhood "effects?" I'm thinking specifically of the ground-cover effects, like the farm fields, the flower patches, and the grass/dirt/desert/concrete swatches. They do a great job of varying the terrain, but they can only be seen in 'hood view, not lot view you know. They'd probably just be big blurry messes, but sometimes I feel like anything's better than the endless repeating texture. I get the idea they're some kind of texture overlay, what with how they conform to variations in terrain level, which I'm also guessing would make them impossible to transition over to lot view, but I don't know, and I won't until I do.

Thanks for the research on 'hood decor placement. I'd meant to monkey around with that, but never got around to it. Now I don't have to, and that's just delightful.

[Strangel]

I wish I could see the carousel and bridges from lots. It annoyed me to no end when I first started playing Sims 2 that I couldn't SEE half (or more) of the stuff I'd spent so long meticulously placing within view of the lots.

[SaraMK]

I wish I could see the carousel and bridges from lots. It annoyed me to no end when I first started playing Sims 2 that I couldn't SEE half (or more) of the stuff I'd spent so long meticulously placing within view of the lots.

Eh? I can see the carousel and bridges from lots. Are you sure adjusting the lot view/fade settings doesn't help?

If you really can't see the carousel, download Numenor's copy of it from MTS2, because that one you definitely can see from lots. Numenor even shows that feature in the screenshots.

With the 'hood decor subject freshly breached, I'ma ask this:

Does anyone know what governs an objects viewability from a(nother) lot? Some objects show up in the 'hood view while others don't, and I've never been able to figure out where the difference is. I originally thought it had to do with whether or not an object had its own super-low LOD model, but various things show up in 'hood view without LOD models; they simply use the high detail model (though very small). I haven't done much with the game in an age, so I can't remember what things I want to see but can't, but I seem to recall some noteworthy statues that couldn't be seen, even though they should be 'cause they're focal-pointy.

Also, what about some of the neighborhood "effects?" I'm thinking specifically of the ground-cover effects, like the farm fields, the flower patches, and the grass/dirt/desert/concrete swatches. They do a great job of varying the terrain, but they can only be seen in 'hood view, not lot view you know. They'd probably just be big blurry messes, but sometimes I feel like anything's better than the endless repeating texture. I get the idea they're some kind of texture overlay, what with how they conform to variations in terrain level, which I'm also guessing would make them impossible to transition over to lot view, but I don't know, and I won't until I do.

I've been trying ever since NL came out to make the damn "effects" viewable from within lots. I'd love to be able to see the flowers, fields, and other stuff. It's really sucky to have the neighborhood covered in pretty flowers but to see only bare ground from inside the lots. 

Sadly, I have not figured it out. I'm not into object manipulation, so there's lots of stuff I don't know how to do, and this seems like a project for one of the experts. I tinker with it occasionally when I get a new idea or read a tutorial that I think might be relevant, but nothing's worked yet.

But, they're not texture overlays. They're giant square and rectangular meshes. I don't know how they manage to follow the hills and valleys of the terrain.

As far as making normal (not nhood deco) objects viewable from nhood view, I think this link covers it: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=195136

[Strangel]

I wish I could see the carousel and bridges from lots. It annoyed me to no end when I first started playing Sims 2 that I couldn't SEE half (or more) of the stuff I'd spent so long meticulously placing within view of the lots.

Eh? I can see the carousel and bridges from lots. Are you sure adjusting the lot view/fade settings doesn't help?

If you really can't see the carousel, download Numenor's copy of it from MTS2, because that one you definitely can see from lots. Numenor even shows that feature in the screenshots.

I'll give it a shot, thanks for the head's up!

[PlayLives]

Sooo...do we have to change the values you indicated AND download the EP specific version of the hack?
thanks

[SaraMK]

Sooo...do we have to change the values you indicated AND download the EP specific version of the hack?
thanks

Nope, you just have to download the hacks. Install all hacks that match the EPs you have, not just the one for your newest EP.

The technical info is provided for those who want to edit custom nhood deco or to mess with the placement of nhood deco themselves.

[PlayLives]

*thanks*

[Emma]

This is great! Thanks

*Baa

[JadeEliott]

Sara. I thought I adored you when you brought your career pack.

I thought I deeply cared for you when you did custom collections.

But, Sara, my dearest darling Sara...I now want to marry you.

I swear it.

This is beyond awesome.

Seriously. I am going gay, for you.

:-)

I know a simple thanks would have done it, but I am feelin' suddenly poetic.

*goes off to compose a sonnet*

[Emma]

Wow, JadeElliot, long time-no see! Where the heck have you been?

[JadeEliott]

Hey Emma. Unfortunately, I died. But I am better now. Thanks for asking.

Isle of Thyme is back up. Go check it out.

http://isleofthyme.squarespace.com

It took Emma's marvelous hack to make me finally post again.

[Emma]

Hey Emma. Unfortunately, I died. But I am better now. Thanks for asking.

Isle of Thyme is back up. Go check it out.

http://isleofthyme.squarespace.com

It took Emma's marvelous hack to make me finally post again.

Someone was asking about Isle of Thyme not so long back and I had to go find all your stuffage again-made me wonder where you were. I am glad to see you have recovered from your death though Nice to see you back!

Oh, and you mean Sara's hack. I am so totally unawesome I couldn't ever do anything like this.

[JadeEliott]

Oops, yep. I mean Sara's hack. I obviously have not recovered from the aftereffects of death. I'll get over it.

[SaraMK]

This is beyond awesome.

I'm thrilled you like it! I made it especially with storytellers and moviemakers in mind, thinking about how each item might be used.

Your website always comes to mind when I think of beautifully put together neighborhoods and lots (and stories!), so I'm very glad you find this useful.

 

[ingeli]

Yes thank you so much for this, it works excellent. Now, to convince some awesome creator to make windmill wings without a mill, as a hood object? And all sorts of hood objects, for that matter, as they are sooo much more useful now

[Lorelei]

Isle of Thyme is back up. Go check it out.

YAY!

And welcome back. You were missed.

HAI U GUYZ, do go check out IoT, it was nifty. I assume it still is.

[Zazazu]

Pictoral thanks:

Notice the layering, the non-island lighthouse on the beach, the trees half in the water, the non-BV rocks jutting into the placed beach lot....and I was able to hack the cloned/recolored sign for Prospect Beach so that it can be placed anywhere.

Yay!

[witch]

Very nice!

I have a cc containing beach house that looks very similar to the bits of house in your picture. Let me know if you're interested.