How to prevent ugly townies in new hoods! - Page 8

Zirconia Wolf · 04-07-2008, 03:48 PM

Actually there are several pretty cool (pardon the impending pun) mods for the weather in Seasons. Some change the "intensity" of weather experienced, the default length of the Seasons or even whether a particular form of weather is experienced at all!

I'm a fan of the more-snow-in-winter/hotter-summers mod myself. I even managed to make my own 7 day season length mod (the Maxis default is 5 days) since I thought the 9 day one was a titch too long.

Getting (sort of) back to the Default Townie topic:

If I decide to use the No-Townie-Regeneration type mods, can I still make Townies/Downtownies in game, say either via Inge's magical bush or the "testingcheat" mass-townie-creation method? (I'm just looking for a way to have uber control over when/if the game creates it's own peeps.)

Sita · 04-07-2008, 04:10 PM

Followed the tut you gave Miros... do I need to make new vampires or will the game create them from scratch?

Miros1 · 04-07-2008, 05:22 PM

Zirconia: Yes. I hate the low population until you've played for a generation or so. The mass creation trick is a good idea, since it's just using the standard game creator repeatedly.

BTW, I'm going to incorporate your research into the Pet Adoption Pool into the first post. I managed to have a new, empty hood with a nice selection of puppies and kittens to adopt!

Sita: No, the game will create one the first time you go to a Downtown lot. MikeD told me that his game created vampire was too busy dancing and eating lobster to bite anyone!

Zirconia Wolf · 04-07-2008, 10:07 PM

That's good news! (About the no-regeneration mods being "over ridable" by in-game Methods Of Mass Construction, as it were.)

Once I stumbled onto the mass-creation instructions, I was sold; no more waiting for generations (like you said) for other Sims to interact with!

Wow; my research into stray pet prevention (a.k.a having no real life) will soon make me almost semi-famous! Yipee!

Does the mass-creation trick also work with Dormies, or is it just for Townies/Downtownies?

Miros1 · 04-07-2008, 10:45 PM

Stray Pet Prevention: Yep, I used just the adoption pool pets with no stray regen, and had a nice selection of adoptees. I just need to figure out what to call that option...

Mass Creating Dormies: You'd have to use the trick on a University lot, because the Dormies are actually Young Adult Townies. I should try that; I never get 3 lightning bolt relationships the slow way.

Someone read through the first post and tell me if I said anything incomprehensible...

Kaylyn · 04-08-2008, 01:50 AM

(OT)

Zirconia: Think you could post that 7 day season hack? I think I'd like that in my game!

Zirconia Wolf · 04-08-2008, 05:31 AM

No problem!

(Now, let me remember how the heck I attach zip files to a post again...)

Miros: the first page instructions are quite clear & concise, at least IMHO!

Kaylyn · 04-08-2008, 06:09 AM

Woo thanks! I downloaded it and I will install it after my first SimCity round is over. Since I'm only a few families into it, I want to keep them aged at the same rate, so since they're already through that first fall on the first day of winter, I want to wait till I start on the new round and they'll have 7 days of winter.

Sita · 04-08-2008, 08:28 AM

And what about the University lots? I like to have a Secret Society but are the SS members created by their Lot?

So far my game hasn't exploded but I'm being very careful.

Greg · 04-08-2008, 11:22 AM

I'm pretty sure that the SS members are selected from the pool of NPC college students that are created whenever you create a new university neighborhood.

Miros1 · 04-08-2008, 06:23 PM

Yes, either the Secret Society members are "drafted" from the available Dormies or, if necessary, new Dormies are created and immediately made members when a playable is initiated. You might want to make sure the Secret Society lot is in place when you add the University sub-hood.

Zirconia Wolf · 04-08-2008, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaylyn

Since I'm only a few families into it, I want to keep them aged at the same rate, so since they're already through that first fall on the first day of winter, I want to wait till I start on the new round and they'll have 7 days of winter.

Oh lord, you sound like you're almost as...er...particular as I am when it comes to playing The Sims! I am actually considering doing an up-to-Pets install just so I can first get all my lots set to "Monday", so that when I add Seasons things will "sync up" better in both the weather & day-of-the-week departments.

Since new lots start on the last day of Summer in all hoods but Riverblossom Hills, I thought this might actually work pretty good! (Have no idea what the lots in Desiderata Valley are set to yet though. Of course, by playing around with the Weathernaught reward object, I could still sync up any hood...eventually...

Kaylyn · 04-08-2008, 10:26 PM

There's a cheat to set the day of the week, as well as it being available in both boolprop testingcheats and InSim I believe. There's also a hack floating around that does it too, I believe, but you'll have to google for it as I can't say more because of all the drama lately. If I need to change the season (happens when importing a house already set in a different season than summer), I have been using the Weathernaught (and giving the Sims free aspiration points and platinum status to keep it from backfiring).

Only reason I'm being so particular is due to the nature of this self-imposed challenge...to expand upon the story of the playables that come with the game starting with the earliest known ancestors in their family trees, and in order to do that the families need to age together. Wouldn't make sense for Victor Goth to still be alive when his great-granddaughter Cassandra is having kids of her own! And Cassandra needs to be an adult at the same time, say, Beau Broke is a toddler. Can't have him growing up older than her, now, can we?

Zirconia Wolf · 04-09-2008, 01:07 AM

I'll have to look for the day of the week hack.

Last time I looked the only option for that was InSIM & that was strictly temporary as it always "reverted" at midnight to whatever day it was "supposed" to be. I know there's an in-game "set hour" cheat, but have not yet found a permanent day of the week solution.

I know what you mean about the "generations game"! I think one of the features I am most looking forward to in Free Time is the ability to finally age Townie/Downtownie Sims! I was too creepy having generation after generation of Sims all know the same little boy when they were in grade school! (Cue the scarey music!)

Greg · 04-09-2008, 01:39 AM

Those static townies have always bothered me, too. There are much more clever ways to program the game, such as having NPC's mirror their best player-character friends. Age when they do; get married when they do; even have kids when they do.

You can use the Insimenator to age townies if you want to. Just make 'em selectable and then use the Temporal Adjustor to change their ages.

Miros1 · 04-09-2008, 03:27 AM

My Sims invite their friends to their birthday parties and ask them to Grow Up (Syberspunk's hack that I helped test and debug). I've had childhood friends go to college with my Sims. Unfortunately, I seem to forget to graduate them (also in the hack), so they stay Dormies forever...

Greg · 04-09-2008, 12:28 PM

That's another one you could do with the Insimenator if you were so inclined. You could bring in a townie, make him selectable, and then subtract days in age until he's ready to grow up.

I don't know about using the birthday cake, though. You might have to wait until 6:00 PM and just let it happen.

Rose, does that hack let you send a townie to college and have the townie remain a townie? Or do you have to change them to playable charcters?

Miros1 · 04-09-2008, 01:59 PM

Yep, they stay non-playable Dormies so you don't need to worry about their grades in college, just invite them over for frequent woohoo. When your playable moves back to town (by graduating or dropping out), they invite their Dormie friend to visit, ask them to GrowUp and can actually choose if the Dormie should drop out, graduate without honors, or graduate with either of the Latin honors. The Dormie is now an Adult Townie with a college education!

BTW, the Maxis "grow up" for Dormie-to-Adult-Townie is bugged (as of the time Syberspunk wrote GrowUp when I was comparing the results of the hack with the Maxis results)! Although the Sim becomes a playable adult and nominally has the same drop out/graduation status as the friend, you have to use TwoJeffs' college adjuster to fix the want slots and lock count, and the memories are messed up.

Zirconia Wolf · 04-09-2008, 02:55 PM

Yikes!

So I'm assuming that Syberspunk's Grow Up mod has none of those problems, right? Now, to see if it's in a Free Time Friendly version...or maybe Free Time actually fixed this little glitch??? (hope hope hope...)

I'm actually trying to "whittle down" my hack selection to stuff I really "need" instead of just want...but things that fix Maxian Strangness are always welcome in my Downloads folder!

I'm still in the possess of tracking down a permanent way to fiddle with the weekday settings. Was kind of hoping it was something that the TS2 Enhancer would do (since it has several other Lot Options) but no dice.

Greg · 04-09-2008, 11:06 PM

A weekday hack would be convenient! At least then I wouldn't have to worry about four dozens teens suddenly wanting to run off to the school bus!

04-07-2008, 03:48 PM	#141
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Actually there are several pretty cool (pardon the impending pun) mods for the weather in Seasons. Some change the "intensity" of weather experienced, the default length of the Seasons or even whether a particular form of weather is experienced at all! I'm a fan of the more-snow-in-winter/hotter-summers mod myself. I even managed to make my own 7 day season length mod (the Maxis default is 5 days) since I thought the 9 day one was a titch too long. Getting (sort of) back to the Default Townie topic: If I decide to use the No-Townie-Regeneration type mods, can I still make Townies/Downtownies in game, say either via Inge's magical bush or the "testingcheat" mass-townie-creation method? (I'm just looking for a way to have uber control over when/if the game creates it's own peeps.) __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

04-07-2008, 10:07 PM	#144
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	That's good news! (About the no-regeneration mods being "over ridable" by in-game Methods Of Mass Construction, as it were.) Once I stumbled onto the mass-creation instructions, I was sold; no more waiting for generations (like you said) for other Sims to interact with! Wow; my research into stray pet prevention (a.k.a having no real life) will soon make me almost semi-famous! Yipee! Does the mass-creation trick also work with Dormies, or is it just for Townies/Downtownies? __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

04-07-2008, 10:45 PM	#145
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Stray Pet Prevention: Yep, I used just the adoption pool pets with no stray regen, and had a nice selection of adoptees. I just need to figure out what to call that option... Mass Creating Dormies: You'd have to use the trick on a University lot, because the Dormies are actually Young Adult Townies. I should try that; I never get 3 lightning bolt relationships the slow way. Someone read through the first post and tell me if I said anything incomprehensible... Last edited by Miros1 : 04-07-2008 at 11:34 PM.

04-08-2008, 11:22 AM	#150
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	I'm pretty sure that the SS members are selected from the pool of NPC college students that are created whenever you create a new university neighborhood. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

04-08-2008, 10:26 PM	#153
Kaylyn Rescuer of Kittens Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Shreveport/Bossier City, LA Posts: 125	There's a cheat to set the day of the week, as well as it being available in both boolprop testingcheats and InSim I believe. There's also a hack floating around that does it too, I believe, but you'll have to google for it as I can't say more because of all the drama lately. If I need to change the season (happens when importing a house already set in a different season than summer), I have been using the Weathernaught (and giving the Sims free aspiration points and platinum status to keep it from backfiring). Only reason I'm being so particular is due to the nature of this self-imposed challenge...to expand upon the story of the playables that come with the game starting with the earliest known ancestors in their family trees, and in order to do that the families need to age together. Wouldn't make sense for Victor Goth to still be alive when his great-granddaughter Cassandra is having kids of her own! And Cassandra needs to be an adult at the same time, say, Beau Broke is a toddler. Can't have him growing up older than her, now, can we? Last edited by Kaylyn : 04-08-2008 at 10:31 PM. Reason: forgot something

04-07-2008, 04:10 PM	#142
Sita Solar Max Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: England Posts: 371	Followed the tut you gave Miros... do I need to make new vampires or will the game create them from scratch?

04-07-2008, 05:22 PM	#143
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Zirconia: Yes. I hate the low population until you've played for a generation or so. The mass creation trick is a good idea, since it's just using the standard game creator repeatedly. BTW, I'm going to incorporate your research into the Pet Adoption Pool into the first post. I managed to have a new, empty hood with a nice selection of puppies and kittens to adopt! Sita: No, the game will create one the first time you go to a Downtown lot. MikeD told me that his game created vampire was too busy dancing and eating lobster to bite anyone!

04-08-2008, 01:50 AM	#146
Kaylyn Rescuer of Kittens Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Shreveport/Bossier City, LA Posts: 125	(OT) Zirconia: Think you could post that 7 day season hack? I think I'd like that in my game!

04-08-2008, 06:09 AM	#148
Kaylyn Rescuer of Kittens Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Shreveport/Bossier City, LA Posts: 125	Woo thanks! I downloaded it and I will install it after my first SimCity round is over. Since I'm only a few families into it, I want to keep them aged at the same rate, so since they're already through that first fall on the first day of winter, I want to wait till I start on the new round and they'll have 7 days of winter.

04-08-2008, 08:28 AM	#149
Sita Solar Max Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: England Posts: 371	And what about the University lots? I like to have a Secret Society but are the SS members created by their Lot? So far my game hasn't exploded but I'm being very careful.

04-08-2008, 06:23 PM	#151
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Yes, either the Secret Society members are "drafted" from the available Dormies or, if necessary, new Dormies are created and immediately made members when a playable is initiated. You might want to make sure the Secret Society lot is in place when you add the University sub-hood.

04-09-2008, 01:07 AM	#154
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	I'll have to look for the day of the week hack. Last time I looked the only option for that was InSIM & that was strictly temporary as it always "reverted" at midnight to whatever day it was "supposed" to be. I know there's an in-game "set hour" cheat, but have not yet found a permanent day of the week solution. I know what you mean about the "generations game"! I think one of the features I am most looking forward to in Free Time is the ability to finally age Townie/Downtownie Sims! I was too creepy having generation after generation of Sims all know the same little boy when they were in grade school! (Cue the scarey music!) __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

04-09-2008, 01:39 AM	#155
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Those static townies have always bothered me, too. There are much more clever ways to program the game, such as having NPC's mirror their best player-character friends. Age when they do; get married when they do; even have kids when they do. You can use the Insimenator to age townies if you want to. Just make 'em selectable and then use the Temporal Adjustor to change their ages. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

04-09-2008, 03:27 AM	#156
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	My Sims invite their friends to their birthday parties and ask them to Grow Up (Syberspunk's hack that I helped test and debug). I've had childhood friends go to college with my Sims. Unfortunately, I seem to forget to graduate them (also in the hack), so they stay Dormies forever...

04-09-2008, 12:28 PM	#157
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	That's another one you could do with the Insimenator if you were so inclined. You could bring in a townie, make him selectable, and then subtract days in age until he's ready to grow up. I don't know about using the birthday cake, though. You might have to wait until 6:00 PM and just let it happen. Rose, does that hack let you send a townie to college and have the townie remain a townie? Or do you have to change them to playable charcters? __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

04-09-2008, 01:59 PM	#158
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Yep, they stay non-playable Dormies so you don't need to worry about their grades in college, just invite them over for frequent woohoo. When your playable moves back to town (by graduating or dropping out), they invite their Dormie friend to visit, ask them to GrowUp and can actually choose if the Dormie should drop out, graduate without honors, or graduate with either of the Latin honors. The Dormie is now an Adult Townie with a college education! BTW, the Maxis "grow up" for Dormie-to-Adult-Townie is bugged (as of the time Syberspunk wrote GrowUp when I was comparing the results of the hack with the Maxis results)! Although the Sim becomes a playable adult and nominally has the same drop out/graduation status as the friend, you have to use TwoJeffs' college adjuster to fix the want slots and lock count, and the memories are messed up. Last edited by Miros1 : 04-09-2008 at 02:06 PM.

04-09-2008, 02:55 PM	#159
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Yikes! So I'm assuming that Syberspunk's Grow Up mod has none of those problems, right? Now, to see if it's in a Free Time Friendly version...or maybe Free Time actually fixed this little glitch??? (hope hope hope...) I'm actually trying to "whittle down" my hack selection to stuff I really "need" instead of just want...but things that fix Maxian Strangness are always welcome in my Downloads folder! I'm still in the possess of tracking down a permanent way to fiddle with the weekday settings. Was kind of hoping it was something that the TS2 Enhancer would do (since it has several other Lot Options) but no dice. __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

04-09-2008, 11:06 PM	#160
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	A weekday hack would be convenient! At least then I wouldn't have to worry about four dozens teens suddenly wanting to run off to the school bus! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?