You can't just copy and rename the folder. You have to rename every single file inside from N001 to N004 otherwise it won't work proper. If you rename every file it'll make a proper duplicate, i did it once before.
Its quick if you got a mass renaming program. I got one called Better File Rename, all i'd need to do is set it up to replace N001 with N004 hit done and it'd be finished in a few seconds.
Oh...okay.
*gets rewriting*
I found this but I had no idea how to do the stuff in bold so I gave up.
Author: AquariaJade - Rank: Overmodest Orator - View MySimPage Profile
Date: Oct-03-04 02:42 PM PST
Subject:
Re: Resetting Pleasantview?
This is from NP99 forums:
By the way, if you want to play a neighborhood, but you don't want to mess up one of the original three, you CAN make a copy of a neighborhood.
To make a copy of Pleasantview, for example, copy everything in "My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods\N001" to "My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods\N004". (first unused neighborhood)
The files in a neighborhood directory have the neighborhood number in the filename so a rename the files will be necessary.
Open a command prompt window and change directory to "My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods\N004". The main N004 directory and all subdirectories (Characters, Thumbnails, and Lots) run the following DOS command from the command line to change the filenames.
ren N001* N004*
(Don't forget the asterisks or it won't work. Also, I am using XP/2000 so if you have Windows ME,98,95,3.1,3.0 or earlier, your mileage may vary because I can't remember whether the rename command works this way in those versions)
Start up the game. You will be able to click on the arrow to go to a second page of neighborhoods and your new neighborhood will be there and it will be called Pleasantview. Click on the name of the Neighborhood and enter a new name. Press ENTER to save the name. I had to go back to the original Pleasantview because the game does not allow duplicate names and rename it from Pleasantview0 to Pleasantview.
All your Sims will be intact, including relationships and family, they will not have their ages damaged or mucked with, and the new neighborhood will be indistinguishable from the original (until you play it). The sims are distinct and different, like with neighborhoods in Sims 1.
You can make as many copies of a neighborhood as you desire and never spoil the original one.
The "master copy" of the neighborhoods are stored in this directory:
Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\UserData\Neighborhoods
N001 = Pleasantview
N002 = Strangetown
N003 = Veronaville
If you delete the corresponding directory from your My Documents directory and copy the one from the Program Files directory, you should restore the original neighborhood.
Author