Does this mean what I think it means?

[veilchen]

Yes, they do indeed drop as fast as Rainbow says they do. Come to think of it, I think it was Carrigon's hack. And true, they should drop at least some, but I kept running out of vampires. Even when I had them in a windowless house/garage etc., they almost always did something stupid and they died on me.

That sounds like a great castle witch, I was wondering when you would start building again, especially with NL out. I was watching the threads you participated in for news, or a link, or something *cough*. Anyway, Reg is trying to get something going with her New Orleans vampire quarter, although due to understandable slowdowns, it'll be a while. I can't wait for either one of you to really get going.

[maxon]

Well, I don't play the vampires, so I just wondered.......

Could you turn the nannies into vampires?  or zombies?

Cowplants will eat nannies.  It makes for satisfying viewing.

[witch]

Well...

The vampire castle is nearly ready, just have to furnish the upper storeys and make a spooky garden. It does have Shaklins elevator though to the top two floors. 6 bedroom, 8 cryptroom.

Just made a hippie commune this morning - using the caravan site link someone here provided. Three caravans, one largeish room with beds, kitchen and table, outside loos, outside/exposed showers. Swimming hole and central bonfire.

I don't know whether to upload though, when I import it into the game with the sims2 installer it's OK but renames all the custom content to strings of hex crap. When I try installing it via the cleanpack installer it won't do it. Fresh lot and all. Don't know why it's doing that.

I wanted the commune for my contribution to the shared hood, but with caravans it would have custom content. The hippie sims will be mostly higher in playfulness and niceness, lower in neat and active personalities. I plan to let them mostly cope by themselves. No smoke alarms of course.  Maybe one or two with low level jobs. Leave them running all night to see what has happened when I wake. I also want to see what happens when they start falling for each other, trying to work around almost no privacy. I'm thinking of installing LizzLoves' bed that makes sims do autonomous woohoo. Maybe with 2Jeffs' jealousy moderating hack.

Well, Veilchen, thanks for your kind query, it prompted me to take some pics for a sneak preview. I'd still like to try to do a Maxis version of each, if only to cut down file sizes, except for the elevator and the caravans of course.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. I just realised, I didn't take a picture of the swimming hole.

Castle Razmussin
Don't worry about all the roofs, they are mostly dormers added to make an interesting skyline. I've brightened some of the pictures quite a lot so they may look a little washed out.

Edit: I worked out how to get the custom content out easily. I used Delphy's multisimpack extractor to undo the packaged lot, deleted all custom content except the caravan stuff, put the lot segment in the teleport folder and voila! The lot loaded fine with maxis replacements for most things. I replaced a bit of wallpaper. 5Mb now, not 30Mb. So there's a link to the download in my signature.

[Motoki]

Could you turn the nannies into vampires?  or zombies?

Yes you can, and I have done it, of course. 

When they get turned into vamps it does make them townies, but you can forcibly move them back into the npc household.

Zombie nannies work just fine with no prompting, they're just slow as hell is all.

[veilchen]

Witch, that commune is too 'groovy'. I grew up in the 70's (okay, late 60's, early 70's, but that's all I'll concede), more or less instant flashback . I checked it out on the exchange, and I'll most definitely download it later. Right now I have the game running in another window, and I heard downloading while its running is not advisable. Anyway...gave you 5 stars to tide you over (I'm kidding, I gave you 5 stars because I like it very much)

The castle looks like a castle should look. Trust me, I know, I have one practically right in my backyard. They did have a lot of smaller, self-contained rooms, remember, no central heating back then.


Motoki, I so wish you had pictures of that one. Vampire/zombie nannies.. now if that's not all that's demonic, I don't know what is.
Put one of those in Witch's castle and you have an instant extremely creepy lot. Hollywood would turn green with envy.

[J. M. Pescado]

But to tell you a secret, I have a mod that makes the vampires immune to the sunlight dying thing. I forget where I found it, most likely one of Dizzy's thingies, he's famous for making usefull little things like that. I know it's cheating (sort of), but I got tired of my vampires dropping like flies before I was done with them.

A better way will be available shortly. The Sleep Clock is being updated to support vampires, meaning if you set the bed class to Coffin, and the user is a Vampire, the system will correctly recognize that a vampire's need to return to his coffin is not based on his energy level, but based on the time. Combine that with "Bed Time.../Max", and he'll definitely return to his grave before dawn.

[RainbowTigress]

A better way will be available shortly. The Sleep Clock is being updated to support vampires, meaning if you set the bed class to Coffin, and the user is a Vampire, the system will correctly recognize that a vampire's need to return to his coffin is not based on his energy level, but based on the time. Combine that with "Bed Time.../Max", and he'll definitely return to his grave before dawn.

Great!  I just posted something about this in the Vampire fix thread, along with the arising early and flamingo kicking problem during the day.

[AnastasiaRenai]

A better way will be available shortly. The Sleep Clock is being updated to support vampires, meaning if you set the bed class to Coffin, and the user is a Vampire, the system will correctly recognize that a vampire's need to return to his coffin is not based on his energy level, but based on the time. Combine that with "Bed Time.../Max", and he'll definitely return to his grave before dawn.

Can you make the sleep clock do this for all sims.  I hate seeing my sims (especially children) wandering around at 2:00am, after they decided to take a nap during the day, and I can't send them to sleep b/c they are not tired.

[Andygal]

the problem is that they get out of bed at dawn to cringe at the light even if you put them to bed before then.

Any chance of nixing that annoyance?

[witch]

Thanks for the appreciative comments Veilchen. I left school in '71 and instantly became a hippie, I drew from memory and experience when I made that commune. Incidentally I've just created a Maxis content family to live on that lot. I will be uploading as soon as I've finished tutuing in simpe, they'll be on a small lot, the family name is Purple Haze. Their bios tell the story.

A better way will be available shortly. The Sleep Clock is being updated to support vampires, meaning if you set the bed class to Coffin, and the user is a Vampire, the system will correctly recognize that a vampire's need to return to his coffin is not based on his energy level, but based on the time. Combine that with "Bed Time.../Max", and he'll definitely return to his grave before dawn.

Now that is really good news! I love the sleepclock, yet another bit of micromanaging I don't have to do. The hippies won''t have sleep clocks though.

Edit, JM any chance of making non-vamps stay out of the coffins?

Motoki, *ingratiating grin*, don't suppose you would consider making a zombie nannie for the castle would you?

[buddha pest]

Edit, JM any chance of making non-vamps stay out of the coffins?

Oh THIS drove me batzooie almost immediately. Even Inge's reservable bed patch doesn't stop it. I had to put the coffins in rooms with those myne dorm doors.

I didn't think Mr. Free Will Off would be bothered, but I'm surprised nobody's done anything about this yet.

[J. M. Pescado]

Now that is really good news! I love the sleepclock, yet another bit of micromanaging I don't have to do. The hippies won''t have sleep clocks though.

I'm sure we can give it an object model morph to something suitably flower-powery in appearance, if somebody wants to make a mesh for it.

[Motoki]

A better way will be available shortly. The Sleep Clock is being updated to support vampires, meaning if you set the bed class to Coffin, and the user is a Vampire, the system will correctly recognize that a vampire's need to return to his coffin is not based on his energy level, but based on the time. Combine that with "Bed Time.../Max", and he'll definitely return to his grave before dawn.

I also am hoping it will keep their stupid human family members don't sleep in their coffin. UGH, that drives me nuts!

And I think I made have to make an invisible recolor for the clock and put it on an end table with an invisible recolor. Not to be nitpicky, but I don't like the idea of an alarm clock next to a coffin. Alarm clocks are just so not goth.

Witch: I nuked the neighborhood that had Lisa the zombie nanny who was once human but died in a grilled cheese incident. You can fairly easily make a zombie nanny though. If you have the insimenator you can set any sim's life state to zombie or vampire. Or just kill a nanny off and revive her but don't spend to much. She'll come back as a zombie but moved into your house so you will have to move her back into the npc bin. The family tree sectional from the insimenator can do this, or you can do it with SimPE.

[veilchen]

And I think I made have to make an invisible recolor for the clock and put it on an end table with an invisible recolor. Not to be nitpicky, but I don't like the idea of an alarm clock next to a coffin. Alarm clocks are just so not goth.

Motoki, you wouldn't hold back on us if you make an invisible recolor would you? I mean sharing with friends is such a fulfilling thing to do...ahem. Heck, if you want me to beg, I'll even do that. A regular alarm clock next to a coffin would indeed be silly, Unless I could use the grandfather clock as an alarm clock. I have a nice recolored black one from somewhere, I think from 'sims2day'.

Got the commune Witch, absolutely lovely. I'm having fits of laughter messing with it. Flowery powery? Oh yeah. Now I'll be hunting for your hippies as well.

Andygal, Inge has some nifty fixes that will make kids sleep through the night. Go and check her stuff at www.simlogical.com you might find something you can use.

And I so agree on the non-vamps and their coffin obsession. It seems I am cancelling that one out constantly.

[RainbowTigress]

I even had to get Loki's daughter out of his coffin so he could sleep in it.  She's a child!  I don't think children should eve be allowed to sleep in coffins because they can't be vampires anyway.

[Motoki]

Oh an invisible recolor of anything is terribly easy to make. Just erase the whole texture and make the whole thing transparent and save as a png. It's probably somewhat of a waste of resources though as I suspect the game renders the mesh anyhow. :O

[veilchen]

Oh an invisible recolor of anything is terribly easy to make. Just erase the whole texture and make the whole thing transparent and save as a png. It's probably somewhat of a waste of resources though as I suspect the game renders the mesh anyhow. :O

 *dies laughing at picturing herself manipulating texture* Motoki, if I ever start erasing textures and things, I will probably manage to erase half of the eastern seaboard. Yes! I am that talented. 

[Andygal]

and if I ever tried to do something like that my computer would explode and take all of Vancouver Island with it.

[BlueSoup]

Vancouver Island?  Where do you live?  I live in Victoria...

[RainbowTigress]

It's really not that hard, hehe.  I have some basic recolors of JM's bathroomuses you, just white and black, if anyone is interested.  I wonder how that would look as an invisible recolor?  How would you know where to click on it?

[witch]

I'm sure we can give it an object model morph to something suitably flower-powery in appearance, if somebody wants to make a mesh for it.

Alarm clocks are just so not goth.

What about a candlestick? That would cover hippies and goths / vamps and old-fashioned?

Witch: I nuked the neighborhood that had Lisa the zombie nanny who was once human but died in a grilled cheese incident. You can fairly easily make a zombie nanny though. If you have the insimenator you can set any sim's life state to zombie or vampire. Or just kill a nanny off and revive her but don't spend to much. She'll come back as a zombie but moved into your house so you will have to move her back into the npc bin. The family tree sectional from the insimenator can do this, or you can do it with SimPE.

Thanks, I've never made a zombie & keep forgetting how for some reason. How do you make that nannie come to you when you hire her? Though I might just install a clone in the castle before I upload it.

Edit: well my hippies never even made it through the night. I was up briefly at 4am and they were all dead. I restarted, only one had died at 8am (realtime). I have given in and given them smoke alarms, I wish they'd fight fire autonomously. I'm going to try them with power idle tonight, see how much difference it makes.

Veilchen, something slipped under my radar last night - you have a castle in your backyard?!?
So... what do you live in? 

[Motoki]

Well making her a zombie is fairly easy. If you put her back in the npc household there's a chance you can get her as a nanny. Of course the service npcs being the way they are it can sometimes take numerous phone calls to get the one you want.

But if you already have a particular nanny scheduled for a house, IIRC, as long as you move her back to the npc bin she should continue to come post mortem

[witch]

If you put her back in the npc household there's a chance you can get her as a nanny. Of course the service npcs being the way they are it can sometimes take numerous phone calls to get the one you want.

Ah, thanks. I thought there might be a trick to it. But if I kill the currently employed one I should be fine.

[veilchen]

Well, not right in my backyard, but I grew up in the Rhine/Mosel Valley, which is loaded with castles. Castles on and in the Rhine River (which, incidently, we spell Rhein), castles on and in the Mosel River. Castles atop the vinyards, castles below the vinyards...well, you get my drift.

I was actually shocked and saddened when, after I got a little older, I found out that some regions in Germany only had one or two castles. Poor, deprived people...