Undefined Transition

[Jelenedra]

Well, you can save individual lots, in the neighborhood folder there is a file for each lot. Good luck identifying which one you want to save though....

[ZephyrZodiac]

You can clone all the sims you want to save.

[croiduire]

Cloning would be fine except what I'm worried about is reintroducing problems. I don't want to inadvertently preserve the corrupt code that's causing the meltdown. But is it safe to just send the houses to the bin?

One more thought. I tried Halle's TS2 Enhancer until the trial period expired (I was thinking about buying it--I loved his stuff in Sims 1) to change several characters. However, I didn't alter either of the characters throwing errors. Still, could that have had any impact?

And while I'm asking questions, I hate the genetics, especially how Maxis has set trait dominance and periodicity in random generation. I know the formula I'd like to implement, but have no clue how to do it: dark skin can only have black hair and brown eyes, medium skin can only have black or brown hair and brown eyes, tan skin can have any hair color, brown, grey or green eyes, light skin can have any hair or eye color. If I want a sim that diverges from real world average genetic phenotypes, I'll do it in CAS. Is there a way to change that?

Also, while I'm starting fresh, is there a way to eliminate alien skin and eyes entirely? The standard default tan skin and brown eyes would be great.

[ZephyrZodiac]

When I was teaching I taught quite a few children from Pakistan, quite a few of whom had medium/dark skin and black hair - and brilliant blue or green eyes!  One family of three boys all had blue eyes.

[Jelenedra]

Get the Vanity and give them makeovers. =p

If you don't like the trait, don't breed it.

[croiduire]

And those are the sims to generate in CAS. Do you remember the gorgeous Afghanistani girl with the incredible green eyes on the cover of the National Geographic back in the 80's? Certainly exceptions exist, but they are just that--exceptions. I think that NPCs should represent the--perhaps stereotypical--average.

[RainbowTigress]

You can download an Alien replacement skin or make your own.  You can also download or make replacement Alien eyes.  I like Laverwinkle Sims default replacements made by Dylan, but if you want a normal skin tone, there are tutorials on how to do that using SimPE at MTS2.

There really isn't a way that I know of to set up the kind of genetics that you are talking about because the game engine does not have the ability to genetically link hair, eye, and skin color. 

[croiduire]

Anyway, this is getting more philosophical than practical. I'm resigned to having to reinstall my game (AGAIN!) but would like to preserve certain houses, even knowing I'll have to recreate the families. Can I just send them to the bin and then move that to the desktop while reinstalling? Where is that folder located? Do I need to do a clean uninstall/reinstall to make sure the problems are eliminated?

The flames are spreading...

[RainbowTigress]

You can package UNoccupied houses.  I forget the folder name, but it will usually tell you when it's finished packaging.  You can save these somewhere on your computer or the desktop.  The game will allow you to package occupied lots, but this is not recommended as it can cause problems and lead to a BFBVFS. 

I found some instructions on how to make a new copy of the default neighborhoods without affecting any of your current ones, i.e. if you just want to replace Strangetown and leave Pleasantview and Veronaville as you have them.  It's at the BBS, but it originally came from N99.  I don't usually find much useful stuff at the BBS, but this was around when the game first came out.  I've tried it myself, and it works great.

http://bbs.thesims2.ea.com/community/bbs/messages.php?&openItemID=&threadID=464012da819ff6fe51285b1b687adffa&directoryID=44&startRow=1#6b834abb6fd0b763574b5bb8a71226e5

[croiduire]

Checking my other neighborhoods, I realize I'm at critical meltdown. It's almost pretty...I have never before appreciated Maestro Pescado's description so much as I do right now, as I watch my game blaze up, lot but lot, and merge into a glorious conflagration while I sit here, as if from space, and try and rescue what little I can. I have reached a state of peaceful, fatalistic acceptance of the inevitable.

All I need to know now is where the house bin folder is located so I can pull it to my desktop, along with saved sims, collections, and downloads, and whether I need to uninstall and then reinstall everything just to be safe.

Oh, and if I kill off all the characters per the cheat code, does that get rid of the default families as well? Because I don't want that to happen.

[RainbowTigress]

You mean "deleteallcharacters"?  Yeah, it does, actually, delete "all" characters.  Including the ones in the bin. 

I think the folder LotCatalog in your "My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\" folder is the one that contains the houses in your houses bin.  However, I would recommend packaging them up if you can.  These are found in "Packaged Lots."  All the other folders you are looking for are here too, "Collections," "Downloads," and "SavedSims."  The "Neighborhoods" folder is the one that actually holds all your game files.  I back up this entire folder on a semi-regular basis.

I am very sorry for your loss.   

[croiduire]

Thanks. Silly, I suppose, but I was looking forward to seeing how the new babies would turn out.

Is there a "delete obnoxious townies" option anywhere that can be implemented before starting play?

[RainbowTigress]

I know what you mean about wanting to see what the babies would look like.  I don't think it's silly. 

Unfortunately, there isn't such a command.  You have to either do some editing in SimPE making sure you delete them entirely including all existing relationships and memories (which is a lot easier now with the new Memory editor, thanks to Theo), or do what others have done, engage in Townie-killing via cowplant and other methods. 

I think someone wrote a tutorial on how to use 'deleteallcharacters' to start a fresh hood.  If you were so inclined, you could clone all of the characters in the hood of your choice, back up all the houses, then start a fresh custom hood with deleteallcharacters, then recreate all the sims using CAS and recreate their relationships.  This would require SimPE to set family ties and such.  I know others have done it.  It takes a bit of work, but the advantage would be not having any townies to deal with or the scripted scenarios Maxis set up in the beginning, or worse, the messed up DNA.

Ah, I just found this in the Peasantry.  Maybe it will help:

Tutorial: Deleting, Creating, and Generating Townies OFB and pre-OFB

[croiduire]

Well, that blasted squeamish cowplant WON'T EAT CHILDREN!!! Believe me, I have tried. Stupid plant! Doesn't it realize that veal or lamb or caviar or sprouts or the young of any species is considered a delicacy? *grumble*

I developed a severe aversion to townie children back when I was playing Sims 2 for the first time (no expansions--this was before my computer fried and I was sim-less for a year). The grandchildren of my first sims were bringing home the same "children" that their elders had played with. "Puck Everlasting" is only fun for a little while. I want a clock to start ticking the first time a child sim is initialized (i.e., appears on a lot anywhere and interacts with a playable sim) and every game day of play with that known sim ages the NPC an equal amount. I suppose that's another thing the game engine isn't capable of doing, but it sure would be a lovely hack if anyone can manage it.

[RainbowTigress]

Well, there are hacks you can use to move in townie children and grow them up.  You can make them teens and send them to Uni or move them in with one of your playables.  Pinhead's hack at MTS2 lets you ask all ages to move in, including children.  You could then make them townies again or you could have your playables adopt them or just let them be part of the household.  I successfully grew up Marsha Bruenig, and she is quite pretty.  I have notownieregen, and I think I am down to about 3 children left.  I think there are only 5 townie children by default.  At least I was down to 5, but now with NL and OFB, I think some more snuck in there somewhere, but at least they are new faces and not the same ol' same ol'.  I don't make a habit of killing townies myself, and I have only fed two sims to the cowplant, so I forgot that it wouldn't eat children, hehe.  That's Maxis for you. 

[J. M. Pescado]

I don't make a habit of killing townies myself, and I have only fed two sims to the cowplant, so I forgot that it wouldn't eat children, hehe.  That's Maxis for you.

Yeah, dammit. Shouldn't cowplants go for the equivalent of veal, the taste of ultimate suffering?

[VyeOlin]

There was a buyable cowplant on MTS2 that would eat all ages. I'll see if I can find it.

Edit: My bad, it was on simslice and is a pay object. 

http://www.simslice.com/thesims2/ts2objects-pg7.htm

[ElfPuddle]

Hmm...I thought I'd found that for free somewhere. Oh well.

Nope. Most assuredly not free. But is was released when I still had my sub there.
It's quite fun in-game....I once had an evil little scientist who drank Marsha and then promptly got the flu and died. Coincidence? I think not.

[VyeOlin]

Might have been on MTS2 at one time.  Oh well, would have been a nice addition.  Maxis gave us evil toys, they should have given us exploding kicky bags for the sheer entertainment value, but I presume that would empty a neighborhood fairly quickly.