Swapping Out Hoods Questions
 

THE PROBLEM :

I don't like the way in which the 3 original Hoods (Pleasantview, Strangetown & Veronaville) have evolved after I got my game back to an up-to-Pets install.

THE PURPOSED SOLUTION :

I happen to have an up-to-NightLife backup file that I absolutely love & would like to roll back my game to it's up-to-NightLife state long enough so I can swap out the 3 original Hood files for ones I am happy with.

THE POSSIBLE BFBVFS :

That lovely up-to-NightLife save of mine also contains several "test" Hoods that I am not interested in reviving. So I am wondering about the NeighborhoodManager.package file from that save; I'm afraid that if I replace the "fresh" file with my NL one, the game will freak when I don't have those other Base Hoods installed...but I'm also afraid that if I just swap the 3 Base Hood files without swapping the "Manager" one that those Hoods will not be "imported" quite right.

THE QUESTION :

Just what all does that NeighborhoodManager.package do, & is it safe for me to swap to a new Hood configuration without changing it out too?

-ZW

~My very best blank stare~

I have no idea. :thinking:

DamnedifIknow!

I took a peek in there. I found what I suspect is the "next available hood" number, the version number of the game (Seasons in my case) and two resouces full of not-meaningful hex digitis.

What I'd do:
Rename the "The Sims 2" folder inside My Documents/EA Games to something else.
Run the game and regenerate it.
Delete the base hoods unless you've use the scorched earth approach of "No Stupid Ugly Townies with Dumb Names."
Quit the game.
Restore from your backup, including Neighborhood Manager.
Run the game and delete the test hoods, leaving the Maxis hoods that you want.
Quit the game.

The following advice assumes you don't have any other hoods in your current game! If you do, stop here and tell me!

Inside your renamed The Sims 2 folder, delete the Neighborhoods folder.
Drag your backup Neighborhood folder from the new, emptish The Sims 2 folder into your renamed folder.
Delete the new The Sims 2 folder.
Rename your renamed folder folder back to "The Sims 2."

No, there are no other Hoods to worry about.

Okay, sounds like a plan!

I'll let you know how (if) things turn out shortly...

-ZW

It should work!

YES!

Looks like everything worked just slick! (No BFBVFS, anyway!)

Had a minor case of "Jump Bug Syndrome" at first, but that was quickly traced down to a "Pets Only" mod I forgot to get out of my Downloads folder.:p

I am currently back up to an OFB install & this still look great!

I'm soooo glad this worked! I did NOT want to redo everything again...

-ZW

Hooray! :)