NPC's

[ChibyMethos]

I have a house with 2 families living in it and I would like to make one of the families NPC's. Is there a way to do this?

Note: I have all the games execpt OFB. I do have and am enjoying FFS though

[akatonbo]

You mean townies (non-playable Sims who don't have any specific role in the game except providing extra population)?

You can do that with (among other things) the Simlogical teleporter plus shrub, available at http://www.nectere.net/smf/ or there are versions with extra features in the Peasantry section here.

If you mean actual NPCs (non-playable Sims who have specific tasks in the game, such as maid, paper boy, shop cashier in a non-owned store, etc.), as far as I know that can't be done.

[BlueSoup]

If you mean actual NPCs (non-playable Sims who have specific tasks in the game, such as maid, paper boy, shop cashier in a non-owned store, etc.), as far as I know that can't be done.

I really wish that could be done.  When I merged my Strangetown and Pleasantview hoods, I had to send Gordon King, Meredith Lillard and Kaylynn Langerak out to be townies, which is now just weird to see them walking around in their various uniforms.

[ChibyMethos]

I don't want them to leave the lot, I just don't want to control them anymore.

[jsalemi]

I don't want them to leave the lot, I just don't want to control them anymore.

That's not possible.  If you change them to townies, they will leave of their own accord at the usual times visiting townies leave.

If you don't want to control them anymore, you could just have them accidentally die, and then they'll hang around as ghosts.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Or simply just don't play that lot.  Start a new family!

[ChibyMethos]

I still want to play one of the 2 families that are there. What if i cange the status to a dorm lot, would that help?

The dormies don't leave, but you can't control them

[ZephyrZodiac]

I doubt it, you'd probably find yourself with those moving out and othe dormies moving in, or something equally wierd.  Why not simply move out the family you want to play to another lot?  You might even find that by splitting them up, you want to start playing the ones you left behind again later on.

[MissDoh]

Why not simply move-out the members you don't want to play anymore.  They will stay in the family bin until you are ready or interested in playing them again.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Unless they have mobiles phones, though, the ones that remain will lose their relationships with them.

[dadditude]

You can always use boolprop testingcheatsenabled true (entered into the cheat window, of course) and then shift-click on the family members you don't want to actively control anymore and select 'make unselectable'. I believe that will accomplish what you want to do, but I'm not 100% sure.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Should do, but sims being what they are, if they aren't proper dormies, they won't have a defence against exhaustion except for drinking espresso and napping - they have to be told to go to bed.  I don't know whether installing the sleepclock before making them unselectable would still call them to bed at a set time.  Also, since they are not dormies, they will still age and go to class and final exams just as the controllable sims will, but if they lack the necessary skill points, they will do badly as they will not be able to fill their meter up.

[akatonbo]

There is probably no way to make some of the Sims that live on a lot uncontrollable and have them continue to live on the lot. If you want them to still live on the same lot, but you don't want to issue any commands to them, then just make sure free will is turned on for that lot and then DON'T ISSUE ANY COMMANDS TO THEM. Their behaviour will be the same if you choose not to control them as it would be if you were unable to control them.

Otherwise you can make them into townies or move them out and onto another lot, and they'll still be available in the neighborhood, but not on the same lot except as visitors.

[Meska]

there is a non-awesome hack at MtS2 that gives you individual free-will. Just leave free-will off for the sims you do want to play and free-will on for those you want to just run amuck. *nods*

bah... as I was in the process of looking up the link to give you MtS2 went offline for maintenance. If I remember I'll try and look it up later and edit it in.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Trouble is, though, if you leave them on the same lot and they start to fail in their course work, or look like dropping dead, you'd probably end up having to do something about it!

[Ness]

Best thing to do would be to install macrotastics and stick the ones you don't want to have to deal with on permanent power idle.  They'll then quite intelligently take care of their own needs so they won't die.  They'll still be selectable, but I don't think you have any choice on that.

The other best option would be to give them cell phones, move them out and leave them in the family bin.  You'll still be able to contact them, but they won't be taking up space in the house.

[ZephyrZodiac]

They still wouldn't get any skills they need, though, or do assignments etc.  I would think you would have to intervene to set macro skillinator or college rampage.

[Ness]

What the original user said about not wanting to control them leaves me thinking that they don't really care about skill gain and such. 

[ZephyrZodiac]

True, but they might feel differently later, when it's too late.

I often have students I "go off" for a bit, but then I make myself rotate through each house and don't let myself ignore any of them.

[Ness]

Where does it say they are students?

If they are students, you can use an ingelogical shrub to make them townies and they end up in the dormie pool.  There is no way to guarantee that they will move into a dorm, though.

If this is a uni situation we are dealing with - if you change the lot zoning, you will need to have enough myne doors to cause enough dormies to move in.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I still want to play one of the 2 families that are there. What if i cange the status to a dorm lot, would that help?

The dormies don't leave, but you can't control them

I assumed from this that they are students.

[Ness]

Possible, I guess...  I'm not convinced though.

I wonder what effect zoning something as a dorm would have in the main neighbourhood...

[ZephyrZodiac]

I think it's been tried, but I don't know the outcome.

[miaokitty]

If they are students, you can use an ingelogical shrub to make them townies and they end up in the dormie pool.  There is no way to guarantee that they will move into a dorm, though.

Actually, I've been able to hand select dormies by teleporting in the desired dormie, making them selectable, and telling them to claim a door.  They behave like normal dormies after this.  The only problem I've noticed is that if you don't unselect them before they actually claim the door, the objects in their room won't be hidden.

[ZephyrZodiac]

And then you can see that they don't actually use the bed!