Empty and Cleaned-up Templates. [UPDATED]

[maxon]

Thanks for getting the new G002 up so quickly - I couldn't believe it when I saw those bloody awful families in EVERY single neighbourhood.  Godammit.

[Shivani]

For the sake of argument... (And sure, if nobody actually knows the answer, I suppose I'll just have to be brave and test this myself.)

Assume that you've replaced the original templates with clean ones, and don't have any neighborhoods whatsoever (you've deleted the EA threesome or foursome).  That being said, the first neighborhood you create ought to be N001.  Also assume you have the noregen mods in place (at least for the creation process).

So you, the innocent simmer, decide to create in CAS a bunch of themed townies (Fairies, Potterverse, Anime, whatever) that you would like (should it be possible) to appear as defaults in any new neighborhood established.

You create them, moving a single sim onto a lot, and using that one to teleport the others out of the sim bin, and make every last one of the suckers into townies, ending with the original sim being transformed.  (One might be compelled to age certain upcoming townies down to bypass that whole nasty mess with editing relationships in SimPE that would have been necessary had you created CAS "families" with actual relationships beyond roomies such as required by including children).

You save, you exit the lot, and then exit the game.

In theory... you should have a set of N001 character files and a N001_neighborhood.package containing only what you just whipped up.  Maybe?  You then take these lovely files and drop them into the appropriate folders of the Template N001.  After launching the game again, you create a brand new neighborhood.

At that point, do you have the custom townies you dropped into the template alive and well in your new custom neighborhood? 

[jrd]

In theory? Yes. I don't know if anyone actually tested this, though.

[Shivani]

All righty.  I guess I'm going to have to work up the enthusiasm to beta test.

[SaraMK]

Yes, it's exactly like you said. You can create a new neighborhood and replace the Pleasantview one. Any townies and NPCs that are in the neighborhood will then be transfered to every custom neighborhood you create. I did that in my own game, because who wants to create townies over and over in every new neighborhood?

Playable sims will not be transfered over, and it's best to only use Townies (not Downtownies). Some things, such as LTW, turn ons/off, and careers, may not transfer over with the townies, and will instead be randomized.

[PlayLives]

Does anyone know anything about this, G001_Suburb002 file? It gets added to the G001 neighborhood folder when you install Seasons. It has nothing but Unknown sims with Family names.

[miros]

Very true! 

[SaraMK]

Does anyone know anything about this, G001_Suburb002 file? It gets added to the G001 neighborhood folder when you install Seasons. It has nothing but Unknown sims with Family names.

If you have both Pets and Seasons, each of your neighborhoods will get two "stealthy" sub-hoods. They are not real sub-hoods, in that there is no new area to visit, but they do stuff your neighborhood full of crappy new sims. This is why you need to download the empty Pets and Seasons templates in this thread. You will still get the two Suburbs files, but they will no longer drag any sims with them into your neighborhood.

[Bain]

Thank you for all this! It is much appreciated. Will you be doing a Maxis Only Seasons Template?

[SaraMK]

Thank you for all this! It is much appreciated. Will you be doing a Maxis Only Seasons Template?

Probably eventually. Right now I'm very busy IRL, so everything for the game is kind of on the back burner unless it's something that SCREAMS needing to be done.

[daistarr]

Do you have empty templates for the other two towns that are in the base game? It would be nice to have them empty too with no characters?

[SaraMK]

You mean Strangetown and Veronaville?

Edit: I do have them, as it turns out. Uploaded here: http://www.box.net/public/g4vy23xec9

[Moon]

I just wanted to say thank you for this. SimPE and my computer do not get along, so this is a lovely way for me to end up with sims that actually use my favourite set of face replacements, and not deal with all the other crap, whether it be sim surgery or properly deleting sims or whatever. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I've finally started a legacy family because of all the work you've done, something I've not bothered to do until now... and any previous attempts at DAC ended in disaster (only in "testing" 'hoods, of course). I was starting with a fresh game yet again due to a harddrive change and wanted to do it maxis fuglies free this time around.
Again, thank you, thank you, thank you.

[simfan]

Is there perhaps a cleaned up Riverblossem Hills Template?

[SaraMK]

Not yet.

[simfan]

ok, oh, i cant wait i am so excited for it to come out.

[Sagana]

I should say thank you first as I've been using your empty templates for some time and never did. So thanks very much - you've made my game much nicer

And I have a question. 2 questions really. I installed both Pets and Seasons at the same time. I haven't touched my custom neighborhood yet but I did play around with the new Seasons one, just to see how things went. Can I now use the blank templates for Pets and Seasons? It generates the pests on neighborhood load? If it doesn't work, I do have a backup from before I put seasons in, so I guess I can go back to that and try it. So this isn't so important, but...

Also, I share the game with my family - we have different user accounts but play from the same base files. All seemed fine with loading the blank templates, adding the subhoods to my game, and then putting the Maxis ones back for the others in my family (who want them). I'm just a bit worried about how this will work when there's no real subhood to load? Will putting them back just generate the Pets and Season's sims the next time I load my game? And/or will it mess up the game for the other folk who are using this computer? I think these questions are kinda related - if the first works (it's only on *first* neighborhood load that these extras are generated) then it'll be ok to put them back...

I think Any ideas? I would rather put up with the extra sims and pets (even though they're awful and annoying) than completely bork up the game and have to reinstall. But I don't mind testing if it's just going to mean putting back in a back-up If that makes any sense at all.

[SaraMK]

I installed both Pets and Seasons at the same time. I haven't touched my custom neighborhood yet but I did play around with the new Seasons one, just to see how things went. Can I now use the blank templates for Pets and Seasons? It generates the pests on neighborhood load?

Both Pets and Seasons attach a "stealth" sub-neighborhood to all of your neighborhoods. Unlike the Uni/NL/OFb sub-hoods, these are not new areas to visit, but they're still "attached" to the main neighborhood.

The attachment process happens the first time you load a neighborhood, so if you have not touched a neighborhood since installing Pets and/or Seasons, those neighborhoods don't have the two sub-hoods attached yet.

If you install the empty templates, your neighborhoods will still  get the two new sub-hoods attached to them the next time you load the neighborhoods. The only difference will be that you won't get any of the sims.

Also, I share the game with my family - we have different user accounts but play from the same base files. All seemed fine with loading the blank templates, adding the subhoods to my game, and then putting the Maxis ones back for the others in my family (who want them). I'm just a bit worried about how this will work when there's no real subhood to load? Will putting them back just generate the Pets and Season's sims the next time I load my game? And/or will it mess up the game for the other folk who are using this computer? I think these questions are kinda related - if the first works (it's only on *first* neighborhood load that these extras are generated) then it'll be ok to put them back...

The "stealth" sub-hoods are actually not very different from the ones that do give you a new area to visit, so there is no difference in that regard.

The sub-hoods are attached to the main neighborhood when that neighborhood is loaded, not when the game is loaded and not when other neighborhoods are loaded.

Once the sub-hoods are attached, the game will never attempt to attach the templates again to that neighborhood. So, if you use the empty templates and load a neighborhood, even if you re-install the original templates again, that particular neighborhood will stay the way it is and is not in danger of having any of the sims from the templates dumped into it.

Nothing will get messed up for your family members.  Again, the game will  only attempt to attach the sub-hoods one time. It does not matter if the templates are original or the empty ones. Loading the game without loading any of the neighborhoods, or loading neighborhoods on another person's account, will not cause them to be attached to your neighborhoods. Similarly, if you have several neighborhoods, loading one neighborhood will not cause them to be attached to another neighborhood that was not loaded.

I think Any ideas? I would rather put up with the extra sims and pets (even though they're awful and annoying) than completely bork up the game and have to reinstall. But I don't mind testing if it's just going to mean putting back in a back-up If that makes any sense at all.

The templates can't do anything that would make it necessary to reinstall the game itself. Obviously if the wrong templates are used, a particular neighborhood might end up with more or with fewer sims than you wanted, but that's pretty much the only potential danger.

[Sagana]

That's awesome! Thanks! no strays in my custom hood and no evil borked twin-parents either. <dances around>

[sara_dippity]

Does the townie tree let you make strays now? Will enabling testing cheats allow this?

Also, if I put in empty templates, will it only affect new custom hoods, or will it fubar my Maxian Pleasantview? I have the no regen hacks in place there already, if I changed the templates, could I take these out?

[SaraMK]

Does the townie tree let you make strays now? Will enabling testing cheats allow this?

Also, if I put in empty templates, will it only affect new custom hoods, or will it fubar my Maxian Pleasantview? I have the no regen hacks in place there already, if I changed the templates, could I take these out?

The NPC tree makes strays.

Existing neighborhoods are not affected by empty templates. Unless, of course, you add more sub-hoods to them after installing the empty templates.

You still need all the noregen hacks, because otherwise the game will start generating ugly NPCs and townies left and right.

[Sleepycat]

You still need all the noregen hacks, because otherwise the game will start generating ugly NPCs and townies left and right.

unless of course you use default face replacements   

Thank you so much SaraMK for doing these empty templates. I love using the empty templates and letting townies and dormies spawn using the default face replacements I have. It's so nice to have decent looking townies and dormies that my sims can be friends with and/or breed with 

[syberspunk]

Hi Sara,

You have empty templates for the original Maxis EA default hoods, but do you have "Clean" templates?  I scanned briefly, but I couldn't find them in this thread.   Were those accidentally edited out too? Or they never existed?

You have "Clean" templates for the other subhoods (Uni, Downtown, Pets, and OFB).  Did you ever have "Clean" ones for Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Veronaville?  If so, do they already include the DNA fixes?


If not, then can I use Dea's templates with the DNA fixes?  In your tutorial to clean up neighborhoods as linked here, you mention a list of sims for each basehood (Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Veronaville).  I am assuming these are the sims we want to keep and all other numbers we should delete.  Is there a complete guide to cleanly delete these sims?  Would I have to follow the Deleted 2: Electric Boogaloo guide?

Just so I understand properly, a "Clean" template would contain the Maxis pre-made sims... and any other townies/npcs/etc that they have interacted with or have relationships with, right?

Ste

[SaraMK]

You have empty templates for the original Maxis EA default hoods, but do you have "Clean" templates?  I scanned briefly, but I couldn't find them in this thread.   Were those accidentally edited out too? Or they never existed?

You have "Clean" templates for the other subhoods (Uni, Downtown, Pets, and OFB).  Did you ever have "Clean" ones for Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Veronaville?  If so, do they already include the DNA fixes?


If not, then can I use Dea's templates with the DNA fixes?  In your tutorial to clean up neighborhoods as linked here, you mention a list of sims for each basehood (Pleasantview, Strangetown, and Veronaville).  I am assuming these are the sims we want to keep and all other numbers we should delete.  Is there a complete guide to cleanly delete these sims?  Would I have to follow the Deleted 2: Electric Boogaloo guide?

I'll have to look. I may have copies of the Maxis neighborhoods left over from my merger project that are basically clean and DNA-fixed versions.

You could use my tutorial (the one you linked) with Dea's fixes. My tutorial just tells you which character files to delete from the Characters folder, to leave just the Maxis sims. So, you could do that with Dea's fixed neighborhoods just as well as you could with the original neighborhoods.

Using my method, you would delete the files from the Characters folder, then open the neighborhood file and delete all the unknowns, then clean up Wants/Fears and other dangling crap using the remaining sims' instance numbers to determine what should be kept and what should be deleted. You could, of course, use other methods for deleting them.

Anyway, I'll look for the files. I doubt I would have deleted them on purpose.

[syberspunk]

I'll have to look. I may have copies of the Maxis neighborhoods left over from my merger project that are basically clean and DNA-fixed versions.

That we be totally awesome.  I would greatly appreciate it if you managed to find it.  I don't want to seem totally lazy and greedy and demandy.  Heheh.  But I'm sure you could understand not wanting to go through all of the work if you managed to do this already.

You could use my tutorial (the one you linked) with Dea's fixes. My tutorial just tells you which character files to delete from the Characters folder, to leave just the Maxis sims. So, you could do that with Dea's fixed neighborhoods just as well as you could with the original neighborhoods.

Using my method, you would delete the files from the Characters folder, then open the neighborhood file and delete all the unknowns, then clean up Wants/Fears and other dangling crap using the remaining sims' instance numbers to determine what should be kept and what should be deleted. You could, of course, use other methods for deleting them.

At least I know I can do it this way if necessary.  I have never deleted sims before (ever since I found out it was a VBT to do ) so I'm very weary about attempting to do it cuz I'm afraid I would majorly screw something up or forget to delete something or delete the wrong thing.  If I have to do this, then I think I would be inclined to follow Pescado's tutorial if that seems to be the safest method.  But then that would require having to create "fresh" hoods, using Dea's fixed version.  Then, I would go into the game and follow the tutorial.  After cleaning them up, then I would have to go back and use the cleaned neighborhoods as the templates now.  Right?


Finally, just to be completely clear about things, in the linked tutorial it says:

Pleasantview (N001)
NOTE: This is a version that has about ten townies. I think the ones included are Komei, Benjamin, Jan, Meadow, Brandi... ugh, I can't recall the rest.
00000 through 00072, 00081, 00086, 00090, 00101, 00126, 00127, 00137, 00140, 00142, 00147, 00151, 00155 through 00157, 00162 through 00170.
A total of 95 files.

Strangetown (N002)
00001, 00003 through 00018, 00026, 00035, 00036, 00041, 00046, 00058 through 00060, 00062, 00064 through 00072, 00076, 00077, 00079 through 00085, 00089, 00109, 00132 through 00134, 00152 through 00155, 00170 through 00177, 00181, 00182, 00183, 00185 through 00189, 00191 through 00212.
A total of 91 files.

Veronaville (N003)
00000 through 00004, 00009 through 00020, 00022, 00023, 00025 through 00032, 00034, 00035, 00111, 00112, 00116 through 00119, 00122, 00125 through 00129, 00132 through 00134, 00139, 00141 through 00146, 00152, 00154, 00155, 00158 through 00166, 00169 through 00199.
A total of 93 files.

These are the files I have to keep, right?  And all other files that you don't list here are the ones I delete.  Now, to do this using Pescado's method, I would actually have to go into the Neighborhood file first, and looking at the ones I should delete, I should make a list of their names, since I think the FFS Lot Debugger lists sims by names, not by instance number.

In anycase, if you do happen to find your cleaned up hoods, that would be awesome.  I'll hold off for now, but at least it's good to know how to do it the proper way.

Thanks again

Ste