Neighborhood Shuffling...?

[sne888]

I hope this is where this question would go...

I downloaded a neighborhood from here that I really love. So much, that I'd like some of my exsisting sims to move into it. Is there a way to make my neighborhood download into one of the shopping districts in my current neigborhood?

If this is not the place to post this question, please help with some guidance. Thanks! :help:

[plasticbox]

You mean you want to add it as a shopping district, yes?

See the discussion in this thread: http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=319898
Post #165 and following (kremesch73, mangaroo, Mootilda).


This isn't a Build mode question, moving to general Help.

[StarboardParoxysm]

I didn't see a solution posted there (in a quick skim) but it definitely is possible, just a pain in the ass.

http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Tutorials:Combining_Maxis_Neighborhoods

I did a not-quite-finished tutorial on adding Maxis neighborhoods as downtowns or shopping districts. It can work for custom neighborhoods - you just use the custom neighborhood in place of one of the Maxis templates. The not-quite-finished part only applies if the neighborhood you're wanting to combine has sims living in apartments.

[plasticbox]

mangaroo and kremesch both posted solutions -- mangaroo did it along the lines of the MATY tutorial they mention (tricking the game into thinking the new nhood is the business district template), kremesch by making a new subhood and replacing that.

I suppose the OP is talking about an uninhabited nhood, which makes things much easier.

[StarboardParoxysm]

Ah, okay. Well, I'd just did a CTRL-F for those names and didn't see it - my reading comprehension fails sometimes. But anyway - the tutorial I did is basically the same as that MATY tutorial, just explained in more depth as I'd done the MATY tutorial for my megahoods and found it extremely confusing and frustrating. ;)

[plasticbox]

I just tested this and updated this post (http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?p=2128586#post2128586) accordingly -- if you only want to do this once, and with an uninhabited nhood that doesn't have any bells and whistles (story, etc) then you don't need to touch the templates at all. Make a random new subhood, copy the terrain/roads/deco, copy the lots.

[sne888]

Funny!! This is the exact neighborhood I want to add as a shopping district for Belladonna Cove! Although, I don't see a discussion thread there. Am I looking in the right place?

[sne888]

http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=319898

[plasticbox]

Click on "Comments". Post #47 has the instructions, posts #165 ff the discussion. Be aware that this requires basic SimPE literacy (but so does the templates-replacing method that HP linked to).

[sne888]

I'm trying out the first one you suggested above and I think my brain is bleeding!! LOL

[sne888]

Oh... problem in part 3: " The last six suburb files, 004-009, are those that I made in Part 2." I only made one but have 004-006. What are the other two? Which is which?? Maybe I should stop now? LOL

[plasticbox]

Please don't doublepost =) you can edit your posts.


ETA: actually .. this doesn't belong in Help either. Your game isn't broken, after all. Moving again, sorry for any inconvenience =).

[J. M. Pescado]

Be advised that trying to use a complex, pre-played neighborhood as a subhood template can cause major problems, as tokens which contain local NIDs will be invalid if moved to a new neighborhood using this method. If all you REALLY want is simply to extract a downloaded neighborhood terrain you like and make it either your CURRENT neighborhood with ALL your sims and houses intact, or to make it a subhood, try the "Neighborhood Terrain Surgery" technique instead, which will allow you to copy the roadmap, terrain, and decorations of another neighborhood onto an existing neighborhood or subhood, without screwing up Sim NIDs or existing houses. You may need to perform the process twice if houses end up embedded in terrain pits or jacked up on plateaus to correct deformed terrain.

The solution proposed by HP is a really BAD idea for someone of your apparent technical expertise and understanding, and will most likely end with screwing up your neighborhood and game in horrid and unspeakable ways. If you've already tried doing it, reload your backup. If you have no backup, you're SOL. :P

[plasticbox]

JMP, the nhood she wants to attach is as empty as it can be -- if she only just downloaded it, then it has never been played.

But I agree that copying just the terrain and lots would be more straightforward in this case. HoodReplace does the same as "Neighborhood Terrain Surgery" btw.

[sne888]

ok, correction needed. "SHE" is a "HE"... that's me! :rolleyes: Next, I got all the way to step 9 but can't even do this because there is no .sc4 file with Elsewhere. ARRRRGG!! :cry:

[plasticbox]

What would you need an .sc4 file for? HP says there's no mention of .sc4 in her tutorial ..

[sne888]

When I'm on part 7, #9, I go to add my first shopping district, and the only option is "add custom neighborhood". It then brings up the .sc4 files to choose from. Since I'm not making Strangetown or any of the other already made neighborhoods into my shopping district, I'm using "Elsewhere", it doesn't know what .sc4 file to use.

[mangaroo]

sne888, if you're following HP's tutorial and not seeing the option to add "Bluewater Village" (now Elsewhere) as a subhood, then you either skipped part 6, step 2 (moving Bluewater Village from your neighborhood folder) or you skipped part 7, step 8, where you modify Elsewhere's ID Number in SimPE to trick the game into thinking Elsewhere is the default shopping district template.

[StarboardParoxysm]

I think something must have gone wrong, sne, because on part 7, step 9, you shouldn't have to choose a list of SC4 files. You should see basically what the screenshot shows there for Strangetown, only for your custom 'hood. Did you remember to do part 6, where you remove the default sub-hood temporarily? If you don't do that, it won't let you attach more "defaults" - also double-check that the ID number part was done right in part 7 as if it's not seeing it with the proper ID, it won't let you attach it.

[J. M. Pescado]

Was this downloaded neighborhood packed as a .SC4, or an NXXX? If it was a .SC4, choose it. If not, pick any SC4, it doesn't matter, then use Terrain Surgery to splice.

[plasticbox]

JMP, I believe you're mixing up two things here (thus confusing the poor OP even more): there are TWO ways to acheive the desired result -- either by tricking the game into accepting the complete NXXX as a template, or by attaching any random subhood and only copying the terrain and lots from NXXX. There's no reason on earth to do *both*. The OP is currently trying to do it the first way (via the template).

The neighbourhood in question is a NXXX, with lots. There is no .sc4.

[sne888]

I did do part 6, step 2. But let me ask this... In Part 7 - Add Strangetown as a Sub-Hood, am I really adding strangetown or Elsewhere? I did it using Elsewhere.

[mangaroo]

You should be adding Elsewhere (the set of files you dumped into Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Open For Business\TSData\Res\NeighborhoodTemplate\B001). The game thinks this is Bluewater Village, but if you've replaced the files with the contents of pb's N515 and altered the Neighborhood ID in SimPE with the ID you extracted from the real Bluewater in 7.3, you should see Elsewhere's preview pic.

ETA: This presumes that you only want to add Elsewhere as a subhood and not Elsewhere + every Maxis hood. If you're adding Elsewhere and Strangetown and Veronaville, etc., then the hood you're adding simply depends on the order you choose to do it.

[J. M. Pescado]

JMP, I believe you're mixing up two things here (thus confusing the poor OP even more): there are TWO ways to acheive the desired result -- either by tricking the game into accepting the complete NXXX as a template, or by attaching any random subhood and only copying the terrain and lots from NXXX.Turning an NXXX into a template and copying it that way will import a LOT of cruft into your neighborhood file. This is basically the wrong way to do it. Unless a neighborhood was specifically prepped for use as a template or you are prepared to do so yourself, you should always perform it by terrain surgery, not by templation.