Pleasantview, Strangetown & Veronaville Project [UPDATED]

[jrd]

Olivia is not actually pregnant, she's just marked as such. Uncheck her pregnancy flags (under "other" from her entry in the Sim browser). To fix her pregnancy otherwise you would have to create a pregnancy token, which I don't know how to do.

Other problems that occur are that Sims lack memories, are not married to their spouses, missing hair meshes, garbage info ("bad townie bug"), etc..

[uaintjak]

Ok, I sort of know how to create the pregnancy token - at least, I know how to actually create it, but I don't know what info to set it for so that Claudio (or whatever his name is) is the actual father, and so Olivia shows up as the mother.  Sara, if you're still around and reading this thread, can you help a brutha out?

[SaraMK]

No idea, actually. This is the sort of thing I'd use the InSIM for. She isn't really pregnant, like Jordi said, so all you need to do is get her pregnant by any method you want.

[SaraMK]

Updated.

The new version requires only The Sims 2 and Nightlife. Also, all the DNA and other Maxis stupidities are fixed.

[Feenkitty]

WARNING: Due to the method of merging the neighborhoods, you must NEVER attempt to attach another downtown to this neighborhood. You may still attach Universities and Blue Water, but not Downtown. Doing so results in a glitch that corrupts the entire neighborhood. For this reason I have included the default Maxis Downtown as part of this neighborhood... hopefully you have no reason to want to add another downtown!

I just have a quick question.  Can I delete Veronaville, or could that cause problems also?

Thanks!

[SaraMK]

No. You would get a ton of junk files in the neighborhood due to the deleted Veronaville sims, and the neighborhood will explode in a BFBVFS.

If you don't want Veronaville, you should follow my tutorial and create your own merged neighborhood without Veronaville.

[Feenkitty]

Glad I didn't try it, but I will try the tutorial!  Thanks!

[syberspunk]

Hey SaraMK.  I wasn't sure which thread to post this request in... but since you have a knack for this sort of thing, I thought I'd try this one.  Hopefully you won't hold my taste in uber excessively cutesy games against me.

I was wondering if it's possible to convert the new Riverblossoms Hills into a sub hood?

I suppose I could actually play the different hood, but meh, I feel like I've invested so much in my one hood.

Incidentally... can someone point me to the thread(s) or somewhere where there might be a fixed Strangetown and Veronaville hoods?  With like fixed sim data and what not?  I vaguely recall reading that someone might fix em, but I never followed up on it.  I see that you had them fixed for this merged hood project, but are there fixed versions of those base hoods themselves (non-merged)?

Ste

[SaraMK]

I don't have the EP yet, so I haven't had a chance to look at it. It's just a regular neighborhood, right?

Well, it's certainly possible, but the method would differ depending on whether you want to attach it to a merged neighborhood that you are already in the process of playing, or if you are creating a merged neighborhood from scratch and just want to include the new one.

If you are starting from scratch, simply add the necessary steps to the process. All the steps would be the same, except you'rer doing more of them. So, right from the start, you would attach four Downtowns to Pleasantview rather than three.

If you want to add it to an existing merged neighborhood that has already been played, it's a little more complicated, since, remember, you cannot safely add another Downtown. Here are two methods that I  would consider using. For ANY method, please make a complete backup of your Neighborhoods folder, since this (a) Has not been tested, (b) A small mistake could destroy the neighborhood, (c) The neighborhood may spontaneously suffer the "one over the other" fatal glitch. Backups are your friends!

METHOD 1: Use a different Sub-Hood type:  You can't use Downtown anymore, but if you have the OFB expansion pack you can safely use the OFB sub-hood instead.

VARIATION 1: You do not already have the OFB sub-hood attached, but think you might want to attach it either now or in the future. It's best to attach it now and not have to worry about it again. Make a full backup of your entire Neighborhoods folder at this time. Then attach a second (custom) OFB sub-hood. Exit the game.

Rip out Number ID from the custom sub-hood's file. Delete the entire Neighborhoods folder. Put in a copy of the backup you made earlier. Remove the OFB sub-hood file temporarily (like to the Desktop).

Go to Program Files and find the OFB sub-hood template. Rip out the Number ID. Find the Riverblossom neighborhood template. Make a copy. Open the copy in SimPE and replace the Number ID with the one from the OFB sub-hood. Now swap the OFB template with Riverblossom (keep the OFB template safe, of course). You will need to use some kind of bulk-renaming program to rename all files and folders so the names match that of the original OFB template.

Run the game and attach the OFB sub-hood (which should now be Riverblossom) to your neighborhood. Exit the game.

Open the Riverblossom sub-hood and replace the Number ID with the one ripped out of the custom sub-hood you made at the beginning. Now change the number of the file from 001 to 002. Find the original sub-hood that you removed temporarily at the beginning, and put it back in.

VARIATION 2: You already have the OFB sub-hood attached. Follow the directions for Variation 1 starting with "Make a full backup."

VARIATION 3: You do not already have the OFB sub-hood attached, and you are sure that you will NEVER want to attach it. Follow the directions for Variation 1 starting with "Go to Program Files." Stop when you get to "Exit the game." That should be all you need to do.

METHOD 2: If you only have Nightlife, Method 1 is not an option. You will need to very carefully work with what you have. Caution: backups are extremely important! This method has a rather high chance of totally blowing up the neighborhood. You are basically going to take a chance on it working. The way I understand the theory of merging neighborhoods, this method should  work fine.

I will assume that you are working with the standard Pleasantview (base) + Downtown + Veronaville + Strangetown combination that my original tutorial helped you to create, or which you downloaded from me. However, if you have fewer sub-hoods attached to Pleasantview, it doesn't matter.

Remove your Neighborhoods folder (containing your merged neighborhood) and allow the game to generate a new game set. Enter Pleasantview (or any neighborhood, actually) and attach FOUR Downtowns. Exit the game. Open each Downtown (N00#_Downtown00#.package) in SimPE and rip out Number ID from each one, saving them to folders called 1, 2, 3, and 4, so you'll know where they are. Now delete the entire Neighborhoods folder.

Make a copy of the Neighborhoods folder you removed earlier (the one with the merged neighborhood). Put this copy into \My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\

Now temporarily remove all the files for the Downtown sub-hoods (N00#_Downtown00#.package. Other ones, like Universities, can stay). You can move them to the Desktop for safe keeping.

Go to Program Files. Follow the instructions (described in Method 1, above) for ripping Number ID out of the Nightlife sub-hood template, putting it into a copy of the Riverblossom template, and swapping the Nightlife template with the Riverblossom copy.

Run the game and attach a Downtown. This should be Riverblossom. Exit the game.

Find the original sub-hoods that you removed earlier. Open each one in SimPE and replace the Number ID's with those from the folders called 1, 2, 3.

Open the file for the new Riverblossom sub-hood in SimPE and replace Number ID with the one from the folder called 4. Now rename the file so that the number doesn't conflict with the other three sub-hoods. Now move those original three sub-hoods back in.



I hope this made some kind of sense. Like I said, it's a bit complicated if you have to work with an existing neighborhood, which you obviously don't want to explode in the process. The two methods above represent the safest way to do this, and the way I personally would do it. Other methods will most likely result in a catastrophe. Shortcuts are not your friends.





I think there is a thread in Peasantry with the DNA-fixed Maxis neighborhoods.

[SaraMK]

Here's the link: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,7086.0.html



Also, I want to add that you can experiment with adding Riverblossom as an additional sub-hood template to an existing one. I have read that this is possible, but have not tried it. There's a mod here somewhere that kills the gigantic Bluewater button, which you'd probably need to get if you wanted to try this. Also, I don't think adding an additional sub-hood template is as simple as dumping it into Program Files. The ID Number would need to be changed. You could do that by yanking it out of any file that represents a second sub-hood of that type added to a neighborhood. For example, if you want a second Nightlife template you would need to attach the Maxis Downtown template plus a custom Downtown, then yank ID Number out of the custom one and use it for the second template you are trying to add.

[Samethana]

I've tried your tutorial before, and it worked like a charm, but now that I'm trying to add Riverblossom, it doesn't work as it's supposed to be. I've tried it several ways, I've tried to attach it as a suburb to my original (unplayed) merged hood, I've tried from scratch using Pleasantvieuw as main hood and tried it again using Riverblossom itself as main hood. I just can't change the default templates anymore.
Is something that might have been changed with adding Seasons? Or am I a complete idiot who forgets the same step over and over again?
Has anyone else tried it yet and got it to work?

[SaraMK]

It may be a Seasons problem, although I've had two people so far say they've attached Riverblossom successfully using the method above.

I know that Pets screwed up templates a bit, but I personally never had problems... and in fact I'm not entirely sure what is supposedly screwed up.

I'll look into the problem.

[Samethana]

Thanks In the meanwhile, I've tried again a couple of times, trying to use downtown templates and suburb templates (not together), but they still won't show up. When I choose to add another downtown or subhood, I just get the list where you can make a custom one using any terrain.

[SaraMK]

Okay, well, I tested it (with all expansion packs installed), and everything works like it should.



Let's try to troubleshoot your problem.

1. Did you remove the files for existing Downtowns (or Bluewater if you are trying to replace the OFB template) before attempting to add another Downtown? This would be the most obvious reason for the only option that shows up to be the one to add a custom sub-hood and not a template.

2. Did you replace the ID Number inside the template you are trying to use as the new Downtown template? And if you did, did you use an ID Number that was ripped out of a Downtown sub-hood?

3. Did you rename EVERYTHING when you put in the new template in place of the Downtown template? Including the folder itself? For example, if you were going to use Riverblossom as a new Downtown template, you'd need to rename the folder from G001 to D001, and then ALL of the files inside it.

Other than these three, I can't think of a good reason why it isn't working.

[Samethana]

I took al those three steps (several times in fact  The last time I printed the whole tutorial out so I would be sure I did every single step but still nothing. As I said , it worked for me before Seasons, I had no trouble merging hoods using your method, but now I just can't get Riverblossom to show up as a template. I can't get any of the other hoods show up either 
Anyway, thanks for trying to help me 

[simfan]

Is the Riverblossem hood included in the download?

If so i would be VERY greatfull.

[kathyfanclub]

agrees with ^
it would be sooo amazing if you could add the RiverBlossom&families  to the download 

[SaraMK]

No, it's not included. I will add it, but not right now. Having too much fun actually playing the game. LOL

[kathyfanclub]

yay! i love you  Thankies! hehe 
Have fun with the game

[SaraMK]

I took al those three steps (several times in fact  The last time I printed the whole tutorial out so I would be sure I did every single step but still nothing. As I said , it worked for me before Seasons, I had no trouble merging hoods using your method, but now I just can't get Riverblossom to show up as a template. I can't get any of the other hoods show up either 
Anyway, thanks for trying to help me 

Someone has informed me that she had trouble also after Seasons, but managed to make it work by omitting  one of the steps.

Try NOT taking out the existing Downtown sub-hood files before trying to add a new sub-hood.

[simfan]

I don't mean to be a bug, but has anyone been able to make a template replacement for bluewater village with river blossom hills?

If so could they please put it up?

Thank you

[Samethana]

I finally figured out the problem and thought I'd put it here (although it's really stupid  ) Appearantly, it's the 'subhoods' into G001 that create the problem, once I threw them out, it showed up as a template 

[simfan]

Samethana, what step did u avoid to attach riverblossom?

[Samethana]

I didn't avoid any step, I just removed the two subhoods that were in the G001 folder

[syberspunk]

Hey Sara,

Thanks for the tut/tips btw.  I will probably attempt this sometime this weekend, if not tonight.  I had a quick question tho.  I already attempted to see if I could just stick the G001 as another template.  It didn't quite work... but the game did end up generating two sets of those Riverblossoms' families in the sim bin (the Ramaswamis and the Ottomans).

What would I have to do (either delete or replace) inside the G001 folder to prevent this from happening?

I saw in your updated empty templates thread, you have a fix for the G002 folder.  But I don't think that's what I need, is it?  From my initial botched attempt, it appears that the sim binned families reside in the G001 folder.  I want to keep the sims that come with Riverblossom (The plant sims, the viejos, etc.) but make sure that only one copy of the sim binned families (ramaswamis and ottomans) show up.

I hope that makes sense.  Please help.

Ste