Uber-Megahood: All Maxis Neighborhoods in One (Megahood + Belladonna Cove)

This version of the uberhood is now 7 years old, and since it was made we have learned a lot about corruption. That means that this neighbourhood, although it is less corrupted than the EA originals, is not the safest version available. MTS staff therefore recommend that you use MeetMe's clean basegame subhoods instead of this uberhood.

What is this for?

Ever wanted to play the Maxis neighborhoods, but couldn't choose just one? Ever wanted sims from Strangetown to meet sims from Pleasantview, but didn't want to move them over in the method that creates a Big Fiery Ball Visible From Space? Loved my Megahood, but wanted Belladonna Cove too? If so, this neighborhood is for you!

This is a new Pleasantview, with six shopping districts: Bluewater Village, Strangetown, Veronaville, Riverblossom Hills, Desiderata Valley, and Belladonna Cove - i.e. Pleasantview with all of the other Maxis neighborhoods attached as shopping districts. If you already have a Pleasantview or already have my Megahood Pleasantview, this will not overwrite or replace your existing Pleasantview(s).

This is basically the same thing as my Megahood, only it has Apartment Life's Belladonna Cove included too.


This is NOT a Megahood Addon!

This is a completely standalone neighborhood and is NOT an addon to the existing Megahood!

It is -not- possible for me to just give you some files you can toss in your Neighborhood folders and use as an addon to the Megahood you've already downloaded and been playing with. I wish I could, but due to the way this is had to be made, I can't!

If it bothers you that it's not an addon:

• Want to move sims from the existing Megahood into the Uber-Megahood? Do NOT move sims from any existing neighborhoods or the Megahood into the Uber-Megahood unless you do it properly! Moving sims from one neighborhood to another is a Very Bad Thing under most circumstances! If you just must move sims into the Uber-Megahood, do it properly, with these instructions: Game Help - Moving Sims. You will have to wait until SimPE is updated for Apartment Life (or get the QA version) to do so!
  
  
• Want to make Belladonna Cove a part of the existing Megahood yourself? No, you really, REALLY don't. Just trust me on this. This took me about a week to get right and it's a GIANT pain in the ass - more than making the Megahood was originally. If for some reason you still want to do it, you'll need the QA version of SimPE, SaraMK's original tutorial, and my tips. Doing so is difficult, complicated, and a HUGE pain in the ass and I will not be providing help or support on doing so in this thread whatsoever.

Maxis Sims:

I created the Uber-Megahood using the Cleaned Up Templates so you'll have all of the Maxis playables, their memories, relationships, etc.

You will also have all of the sim-bin families from the base game and required EPs (including the ones that were missing with the Megahood) available as well. Simbin sims from Pets, Bon Voyage, University, or Nightlife will not be included as this was not made with any of those EPs - I don't even have them installed!

There may be some additional quirks involved due to the use of those templates (like Pleasantview's Bella Goth - the real one - being alive and well). These quirks are not my doing, and if you have any questions on why certain sims are missing/alive/dead/blonde, please ask on the Cleaned Up Templates Thread at MATY. I have personally done -no- fiddling with any of the sims involved, any of their genetics, relationships, or anything like that... it all comes from those templates, so I won't know the answer if you ask me if someone has something fixed.

No Goopy Gilscarbo, no Meadow Thayer, and no Joe Carr (and similar sims). There are -some- stupidly-named townies, but that's kinda unavoidable.


Expansion Packs Required:

The Uber-Megahood REQUIRES ALL of the following listed EPs!

If you do not have all of the following expansions, you cannot use it! Each expansion changes the way the game data works, thus all of these ARE required - I actually uninstalled the other unneeded EPs so it wouldn't require more (couldn't wait for the AnyGameStarter), but this is the minimum you need to use this!

• Open for Business (for shopping districts)
• Seasons (for Riverblossom Hills)
• Free Time (for Desiderata Valley)
• Apartment Life (for Belladonna Cove)

If you do not have the required EPs:

• No Apartment Life? If you do not have Apartment Life but have OfB, Seasons, and Free Time, get my Megahood.
  
  
• Nightlife Only? If you only have the base game and Nightlife, you can get SaraMK's Pleasantview, Strangetown & Veronaville Project which has the two other original 'hoods as downtowns of Pleasantview.
  
  
• Other Combinations: No, I will NOT make any other versions - it is a time consuming and painfully boring process that I do not wish to repeat. If you want some other combination of sub-hoods/expansion packs, then you will have to either follow SaraMK's Tutorial on Combining Maxis Neighborhoods and do it yourself as I did when I couldn't find what I wanted already made!

Known Issues:

None so far. I've done some basic testing and everything seems to be fine. No issues with Gustav's Grocery in this one.

I make no guarantees, so please test this neighborhood for me and let me know if there are any major issues. Use at your own risk. Your mileage may vary. Not to be used for the other use. Remove nutmeats from shell before eating. Caution, contents will be hot after heating. This product not intended for use as a dental drill. Has been found to cause cancer in laboratory mice. Not intended for highway use. Do not insert into anus.


If you have problems while using the Uber-Megahood:

If you have problems, I would appreciate detailed reports so I can fix them. However, I don't want to waste time tracking down issues that are not due to my Uber-Megahood, but other custom content, etc., you may have installed - just because you're having a glitch in my Uber-Megahood does not mean it is a problem with the Uber-Megahood!

I really do appreciate reports, but "Halp it don't work!" or "Stuff is messing up!" will not help me fix anything.

If you are having problems with my Uber-Megahood, please test the problem properly so that you can give me a useful report so I can fix it. This means that you MUST go through each and every step, in order, of The Game Problem FAQ before reporting the issue to me, to make sure it's not a problem on your end!

If you have an issue to report, you MUST state you have gone through each step of the Game Problem FAQ and tried everything there (please list what you tried), as well as a detailed description of the problem - exactly what happened, what you'd been doing before that, etc.... If you do not do this, your report may be ignored till you go through and do as I ask so I can properly identify problems.


If you downloaded the previously-uploaded Uber-Megahood:[/header1]

I posted a version of the Uber-Megahood on 08 September 2008 - please DELETE that previous version and download the new version. I'm very sorry for the problems as I know this is a big download, but that version was broken.


[size=4][color=indigo][b]Installation Instructions:[/header1]

1. [b]Download: Download the 6 files (N373.part01, part02, etc). Save them somewhere you can find them (like a folder on your desktop). This is 270 mb total - yes, I know it's huge, but that's just the way it is.

2. Extract from RAR: Simply right-click on the "N373.part01.rar" file and choose "Extract Here." All of the parts should extract.[/indent].

3. Move Folder: Cut and paste N373 to your My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods folder. Because it is N373 it should not interfere with any existing neighborhoods - including existing copies of Pleasantview or any other neighborhoods - even the old Megahood.

4. Play: Now you can begin playing with the combined hood. If you already have a Pleasantview, it will be the second Pleasantview listed. If you already have my Megahood and a regular Pleasantview, it will be the third Pleasantview listed. You can play them all separately just fine.


[size=4][color=indigo]Very Important Information (MUST READ!):[/header1]


I have already included a default Bluewater Village shopping district. You may NOT add additional custom shopping districts!

If you attempt to add another shopping district to this neighborhood it will completely ruin the entire neighborhood and the only thing you can do at that point is delete it! There is -no- fix if you accidentally add a new shopping district!

You MAY safely add Downtowns, Universities, and Vacation Destinations but NEVER shopping districts!

It does appear you can -delete- the included shopping districts if there's one you don't want, but I offer no guarantee that this will work without ruining the neighborhood - I tried it briefly and it seems to go fine but I didn't do a deep test. If you -do- decide to delete included shopping districts and you've already played with the Uber-Megahood, make a copy of it first!


[size=4][color=indigo][b]Recommended Additional Files:[/header1]

• To prevent any newly created townies and NPCs from having stupid names, I strongly recommend my Modified NPC and Townie Names mod
• Get yourself a set of default replacement face templates. Here's some, with links there to more. This will keep newly created townies and NPCs from being Maxis fugly.
• Pescado's antiredundancy.zip, to prevent unneeded NPCs from spawning.

[size=4][color=indigo][b]Thanks to:[/header1]

• SaraMK, for her tutorial on this, and for the cleaned-up templates.
• IAmTheRad, for the Clean Hobbies Template.
• Whoever uploaded the empty Magic and Weather templates there too - my apologies, my brain is already leaking out my ears so I can't find names to credit on the thread.
• Quaxi, and everyone who has contributed to the development of SimPE.
• Delphy, for hugging me and listening to me blubber about how I couldn't get this stupid thing working the first several tries.