Game generating crap NPCs, avoidable problem or precursor to a firey etc...

[Zukn]

 So I was rooting around with SimPE and saw in my neighbourhood that every time I go downtown it seems to generate a new barrista employee. I installed an espresso bar on a standard community lot, and everytime I send someone there it generates a new useless character.(Hey if they're going downtown to public woowoo, it's not ALLWAYS good to have them collapse on the sidewalk when they get home,just most of the time ) I have now installed the notownieregen hack hoping this will stop the accululation of drones, will it? Or should I set fire to the coffee bar? I'm fearfull of the x085 itteration problem rearing its ugly head soon. Can I elimante these fools without tracking down all the tokens in SimPE? Which I fear will be impossible with the ones already generated, I could note in future who generated each one in future and eliminate them, but removing the coffee bar and making sure my controlables go down with more energy would be easier. Anyway I ramble, any advice appreciated. I hope my lips will remain intact.

[Zukn]

 Ack I now see J. M. Pescardo  is indeed is way to freaking awesome for me, he is already experimenting with this problem.I had ignored any mod or thread with experimental in it. Burning coffee (/sigh bye bye caffiene) for now.

[ZephyrZodiac]

The NoNPCSpam works great!

[syberspunk]

Does the nonpcspam definately work for Nightlife?

And... what exactly is considered a barista? I was a bit unclear about that to begin with, but is this for ALL NPCs that pretty much are the store clerks? In other words, does this include:

clothing store, grocery store, newsstand, and electronic store clerks? coffee and juice bar clerks? and cafeteria workers? and any other NPC sellers that I might have left out?

Or does it specifically only affect coffee and juice bar workers? I usually just blindly plug in Pescado's hacks, and more particularly his fixes, since I pretty much trust his word, and if he says its broked, then I believe him. In this case, while I was testing last week, I noticed that the store clerks at the Corner Shoppe (whatever it's called) in Downtown seemed to keep changing. I notice at least 3 plus different clerks. But it took me a while to notice, so I don't know if the game rotates between existing ones, or if it always tries to generate new ones. Can anyone clue me in?

Thanks.

Ste

[ZephyrZodiac]

The mod works fine in NL or I wouldn't have recommended it.

Baristas are the espresso bar NPCs. 

Every form of NPC generates three and you can't get over that - if you take one out, the game will replace it, but with this hack in place it shouldn't make more than three.  (Nanny spam excluded, which is why I no longer use them!)

[Regina]

I noticed that the store clerks at the Corner Shoppe (whatever it's called) in Downtown seemed to keep changing. I notice at least 3 plus different clerks. But it took me a while to notice, so I don't know if the game rotates between existing ones, or if it always tries to generate new ones. Can anyone clue me in?

Thanks.

Ste

The game SHOULD either rotate between the clerks or you should see the same ones.  As ZephyrZodiac said, by default there should be no more than three of any one type of workers in a neighborhood.

However, you can get more.  When I create a new neighborhood in which I want to use service workers to become playable sims I frequently generate my own service workers in the amount of four for each service.  When one is taken from the pool a replacement is generated to keep the number at four.  However, if there are only the three default (or I generate only three), the game should only be generating a new one if one of them is taken from the pool.

I don't have Uni so coffee shops and such aren't available in my game (shoot, I can't even put an espresso machine on a community lot), so under normal playing conditions (as in a non-challenge family) if I want a sim to head to a community lot and their energy is low I use the multi-painting to fill their energy meter.  This way they're not passing out on the sidewalk when they get home or before.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Gnohmon's flamingoes are good for that too, and you don't have to remember to get all your playable sims to use it like the painting - so the whole family can go and do their own thing!  If you don't have them, Inge is hosting them at simlogical now.

[Ancient Sim]

There shouldn't be any barrista spam with Nightlife if you've installed the patch, it's supposed to stop it (or the expansion itself stops it, can't remember which).  I certainly haven't had any barrista spam since installing Nightlife.  The only time I've had more than 3 of any NPC is when one has been vamped and another has been generated to replace them.

[syberspunk]

Ahhh... ok, so then NL or the patch supposabley fixes this? So the nonpcspam issue should theoretically be resolved?

So, ther really should only be 3 npcs for each job selling type?

Is this also true if say, you generate new Uni's or new Downtowns? With the EPs, you can have more than one Uni and apparently more than one Downtown attached to a regular neighborhood. I was wondering if, each time you add a new Uni or new Downtown, does each "mini-hood" (for lack of a better word) create its own set of npcs?

In other words, is it a set of 3 per Neighborhood, regardless of the number of Uni's or Downtowns?

OR... would you have 3 npc clothing store clerks for Pleasantville, 3 for Sim State University, 3 for La Fiesta Tech, and yet another 3 for Downtown?

I hope my question makes sense and I hope someone can clarify this for me. Thanks again for all your help and advice.

Ste

[Andygal]

3 per neighbourhood regardless of subneighbourhoods.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I think you might get some duplicated townies, though.  But that's easily fixed with the new SimPE.

[syberspunk]

3 per neighbourhood regardless of subneighbourhoods.

Ahh... thanks for clarifying!

I think you might get some duplicated townies, though.  But that's easily fixed with the new SimPE.

Ok, again I need more clarification. Sorry to be such a pest. Are you saying that there are pre-set townies that are generated for each Uni? So, if you add all three Unis, then the same exact dormies will be generated for each?

I guess it's really dumb for me to assume that when dormies and downtownies are generated, that they would/should essentially be random. *sighs* I mean why should the game be at all realistic when there are pre-set templates of townies, dormies, and downtownies that the game can just clone.

I had thought that at least each separate subneighborhood would have it's own set of already generated dormies/downtownies, and that theoretically, if a new one was "needed" it would be generated randomly.

Ok, so my next question then is, how would I use SimPE to fix this? I have not heard about this previously and thus was not aware that this was a problem or that there was a fix for it. I guess I've been out of the loop, and despite lurking somewhat, I haven't been able to catch up to all the things that have been goin on. I'm still at a total loss as to the whole VS shake-up. 

Anyways, thanks again! At least I know I can rely on the good people of MATY to keep me informed and updated. 

Ste

[vector]

Does this fix do anything about those "call in sick" npcs that seem to be generated every goddamn time I have a sim call in sick to work?

I had one call in sick just as the carpool turned up, game lags away while it churns out another useless npc to take the call. I got over-excited about something and pressed the cancel button when prompted "do you want to phone in sick". Duh. Sim spins to change into work clothes, goes to run out to the carpool. No! Cancel action, return to phone, phone in sick, dammit. Chug-chug-chug. Game generates another npc to deal with the second call. Gah!

[Venusy]

Does this fix do anything about those "call in sick" npcs that seem to be generated every goddamn time I have a sim call in sick to work?

I had one call in sick just as the carpool turned up, game lags away while it churns out another useless npc to take the call. I got over-excited about something and pressed the cancel button when prompted "do you want to phone in sick". Duh. Sim spins to change into work clothes, goes to run out to the carpool. No! Cancel action, return to phone, phone in sick, dammit. Chug-chug-chug. Game generates another npc to deal with the second call. Gah!

Wasn't that fixed in the phonehack?

[jrd]

Seems like it.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Something definitely fixed it!

As for using simPE to get rid of unwanted townies or dormies, you need to download the latest version and use the NL version, not the classic SimPE.  Don't ask me to explain how - I can do it, but as to explaining it, unless I have SimPE open, I just can't remember, and since my game is running at present, I can't open it.  However, there are various threads here where it is explained far more clearly than I could do it, or maybe one of the kind people who helped me will explain the intricacies to you?

[Christianlov]

the store clerks at the Corner Shoppe (whatever it's called) in Downtown seemed to keep changing. I notice at least 3 plus different clerks. But it took me a while to notice, so I don't know if the game rotates between existing ones, or if it always tries to generate new ones. Can anyone clue me in?

Thanks.

Ste

In case of maids, gardeners, and nannies, I guess the game cares about who worked there last time. But in case of other NPCs, I guess the game just picks one among the three readily made NPCs. I mean, random.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I think you will find that the store clerks (the teenage ones) are exactly the same as in the main neighbourhood and the Uni shops.  Only if you grow them up and send them to college (which is easy to do) they will be replaced.  The same applies to the paper boys and girls.  The only new npcs generated by NL are ones needed for new jobs, like DJs, the Gypsy fortune tellers etc.