PostUpdate patches Attn JMP So, have you tested the "no cheering hack" yet? Any problems? One day and I'm already sick of it (although it doesn't seem to last as long as it used to.) (Looking forward to the security system, btw.) Also, is there any chance of a hack to get rid of non-service NPCs (the just plain old Townies)?
No cheering functions correctly under 1.0p1. The removal of the offending townie non-violently can be accomplished through deleting his character file, if you're really that squeamish, but really, eradication by death is the "clean" way of doing it: Otherwise you leave dangling memory references to the now absent townie. The Security System is available on MTS2, but I'll have it reposted here. It may be updated with some new features soon, though. You can play with it right now, if you want, over here: http://forums.worldsims.org/showthread.php?t=3772
Thanks, JM. I like the idea of the Security System. I have some rooms (like the master bedrooms and their bathrooms) that I'd like to have "off limit" to guests, and it sounds like that would work well for that. So, if all I have to do is to delete their character file, that sounds great. I don't like "killing" them (although I've contemplated it so that I could have at least one of my Sims fulfill their "see a ghost" want.) I don't mind memory references to them (as there are already memories that are "unattached" such as the "mystery Sim" you get if you make a single parent in CAS.) I just don't want to crash my system. (So, I hope that the "townie nonreg" hack also works under the update.)
It does. I use it, mostly because of a second issue I've recently discovered with townies: They all have the same personality. Once you expire the existing batch of townies, either by death or removal from townie pool through marriage, the ONLY townies that will EVER generate afterwards will be 58633 Aries. You can also notice this in CAS, where the first sim you ever generate in TS2 on a cold start will have 58633 Aries as their personality. Townies will thus exhibit the exact same problem if the townie regenerates as the first sim created, which is highly likely.
But if you use the no Townie regen hack, that should prevent new Townies, which is the aim of deleting them in the first place, right?
If you're eliminating all townies from the neighborhood forever, then yes, the issue is somewhat moot, but if you were just squashing child townies, or just interested, the fact that all townies generate the same in a seemingly nonrandom pattern is something worth noticing.
OK, so I've looked at SimPE (well, all the tutorials, FAQs and the like) and I can't find any instructions on how to look at the character files to figure out which numbers are the dratted townies. (I may have to find that burning square yet. Grrr. I wanted a more peaceful way to rid myself of them.) Until I can get my connection to stay up long enough to download the .NET Framework 1.1, I can't actually get SimPE going to just play with (although I made my back up so that I could do it today. Durn.) So, could you please give me some sort of instructions so that I can figure this out. (Thanks in advance.)
Well, there's a new approach that works rather well now: 1. Make sure no townies are instanced on any of your families' lots. Delete them with move_objects and save to make sure. Quit TS2 and fire up SimPE. 2. Go into the neighborhood memory section. For every Sim you see that is a townie you want exterminated, add a new memory to him, the "I am dead" token. Commit. Save. 3. Then go into the Sim Description section. Scroll through. For every townie you killed above, check him as "I am a ghost". Commit each townie and when you're finished, save. 4. Finally, go the family list, instance 0x7FFE, often the "Bendett" family in a custom neighborhood. Kick all of the now-dead townies out of the family. Feel free to rename the family to something like the "Townie" family instead for future reference. Commit and save. 5. Rejoice in the fact that you have now non-visibly killed many simulated people out of the game, because you were too squeamish to kill them IN the game. Don't you feel better knowing that no matter what you do, their virtual blood will always be upon your hands?
Thanks, JM. LOL. (At least I don't have to see them die. Watching a Sim die from drowning, fire, being walled up, etc is not a pleasant thing to wait through. Much better this way!) Now I just have to get the .NET Framework Version 1.1 to download. (I got all the way to 39% and it seems to be picking up where it left off. But it's a pain that it's that big.)
Ooh. Your cup runneth over with goodness, JM. I have recently started a new neighborhood -- intended to be my serious long term playground and I have been freely using SimPe to engineer my founding dynasties (and get them off to a good start). So far I am doing more building than playing. If I follow your instructions to kill off all the useless NPC's and then play the game with no re-spawn hack will this guarantee that my sims will no longer come home from work/school with a NoPointCritter?
That's right. I have other goodies pertaining to friends from work as well, such as making them no longer inappropriately dressed for their actual rank and station. You can dig through most of my crap at MTS2 in the beta forums, until such time as somebody offers me a proper site to put all my crap in one place.
