Vampire Wants v0.30 Beta (Upd. Oct. 22 2005)

Greetings All!

I haven't been able to figure out the best way to do this by creating a separate package. So, be warned that if you decide to use this mod, you will either be replacing one of your main game data files, or you will be following simple, step by step instructions to edit a main game file yourself. If you back up the file we're going to change, it's easy to go back to the original version of the game, but bear in mind that the process isn't as easy as deleting a package from your download folder. The process WILL be explained below, so if you are into what this mod does, you shouldn't have much trouble installing it (and knowing how to go back to your old version without trouble).

That said, let's begin:

The Mod: Vampire Wants

BACKGROUND:
I don't like the way that only the knowledge sims get all the interest in the off-the-wall stuff in the game like Aliens and Ghosts and, now, Vampires. Granted, I guess it sort of makes sense for Aliens and Ghosts that Knowledge Sims would be the only ones into it. But vampires are a different story.

To me, Vampires are about sex and power, not knowledge. So, after a few days of play, I found myself getting bored with only having my knowledge sims being into being vamps. Basically, I like playing vamps, but I don't like the fact that all my vamps ever want to do is gain skill points. Being a vampire is, as I said, more about sex and power so it made sense to me that Wealth and Romance sims would have the same desires to be vampires and convert others into vampires as the knowledge sims.

WHAT THIS MOD DOES:
It modifies the want tree for the basic vampire actions so that your Romance and Wealth Sims will get the same vampire wants/fears as your Knowledge Sims. They'll want to become vampires, they'll want their friends and lovers to become vampires, and they'll fear having themselves and their friends/lovers being turned back from being vampires.

New v0.30 Beta
The core system is relatively unchanged, but it has been updated to use the Nightlife Patch version of the WantsTrees.package. You Should Patch Your Game Before Installing this! And, of course, you should make a new backup of your patched/original wantstree.package so that you can uninstall it and/or apply future patches/updates!!!!!!

There are a bunch of new "inner conflict" type things going on in this update. Romance, Wealth, and Knowledge sims will fairly well adapt to being a vampire. Family, Popularity, and Pleasure sims, though, will get a bit weird once they've been turned. As always, they will fear having their friends and family turned, but the may also (if the sims are on the lot and their relationship is high) actually WANT to turn friends and fam at the same time.

Going on dates seems to trigger the "bloodlust" a lot better in this version, as well. It's also now more likely that a vamp will want to "turn" their date as much (or maybe slightly more than) as bite them.

Installation Choices:
I'm offering two choices for installing this. I only know of one other mod that alters the actual "Wants" files within the game itself - and it hasn't been updated since before University came out - so it's not compatible with nightlife, anyway. There may be other ones out there that I'm not aware of, though - and there may be some others forthcoming. So, I want to be as flexible as possible.

No Matter Which Option You Choose - Step Number One is to Make a copy of your EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Wants\WantTrees.package file and put it somewhere safe!

For sake of simplicity, I'll be using the default install locations for the game. If you have used another location, you'll have to change the file paths accordingly.

For Version 0.30 I'm only releasing option #1. The reason for this is because a lot of sections were changed and most of the advertising levels (or possibly the entire set of changes) aren't right, at this point. So, there's no real need for the piecework one. If you want to use the second option, you can download the latest version and extract the appropriate sections and import them into your own want trees file. (TurboAzn and others looking to change the various aspirations this affects - please have a look at this post...)

Installation Option#1: Quick Copy (Best option for most users). If you are certain that you don't have any other mods that have actually altered the wants within the game, then you can use this option. It's quick and easy and you don't need any tools.

Step1: Go to C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Wants and copy the "WantTrees.package" file and paste a copy of it somewhere safe - maybe even on your desktop. Being able to find this file again is the ONLY way you will have of going back to your original setup without needing to do a reinstall!

Step2: Download the "VampWantTrees.zip" (or VampWantTrees0.??.zip for the newer version) file below and extract that WantTrees.package file into the C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Wants folder. (It'll overwrite the original, so that's why we want a backup of it!!!)

That's it!

Installation Option#2: Only for the original version at this point! Use SimPE and Edit Just the Pertinent Data in the WantTrees.package file. This option is a little more advanced, but will be necessary if you are using multiple want modifications in your game. If you have a general knowledge of SimPE though, it's easy enough to do.

Step1: Go to C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Wants and copy the "WantTrees.package" file and paste a copy of it somewhere safe - maybe even on your desktop. Being able to find this file again is the ONLY way you will have of going back to your original setup without needing to do a reinstall!

Step2: Download VampWantTreesXML.zip below and extract it to a temporary folder where you will be able to find the two files again.

Step3: Load SimPE and open up C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Wants\WantTrees.package

Step4: When the list of "Want Tree Item" entries shows up, click the "Instance" column header to sort by those numbers. This will put the instances in order.

Step5: Scroll down and find the instance named: 0x8fe04166 (a little more than halfway down - along with others that start with 0x8 and just a few before the ones that start with 0xA.

Step6: Right click on that item and select "Replace...". Find the files you just extracted and select:
!VampWants-6D814AFE-00000000-4DD1CDC4-8FE04166.xml.xml <-Notice the double "xml.xml" at the end of the name - that's the only difference between the filenames!

Step7: Save it and close SimPE.

Uninstalling This Mod

Copy the original "WantTrees.package" that we backed up in step one over on top of the one we overwrote or edited for installation.

IMPORTANT: Adding Game Updates/Patches/New Expansion Packs Because this modifies an actual game file, when adding a patch from Maxis, a new Expansion Pack, or generally updating your game, you should UNINSTALL this mod and replace the original WantTrees.package BEFORE you do the upgrade!

Variations On This Mod
v0.10 With Pleasure Aspirations, too. (by TurboJAzn) Watch that post for updates to include newer options...

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Revision History:

v0.20 - October 9, 2005
Increases chances of a vampire's desire to bite another sim (and not necessarily turn them - useful for those using Shaklin's Vampire Options mod!) These chances are most noticable during dates, though they should (maybe) trigger sometimes during other romantic/sexual type interactions. The Instances affected by this mod are: 0x2ff0847a, 0x2ff1ad3d, 0x8fe04166 (Primary Vamp Wants Tree), 0xcfeec0ca, 0xEDE49546, 0xEDEAEC3C. The last two will likely be changed very shortly since they are either advertising too low, or they just aren't working the way I thought they did...

v0.10 - October 4, 2005. Original Release.
Mod Simply allows Wealth and Romance Sims to have the same basic vampiric desires as Knowledge Sims.

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Lemme know if there are bugs or problems!

X.

PS - PLEASE DO NOT send me PM's with specific requests or problems with this mod. I can try to handle everything people come up with on a group level, but I really don't have time to handle situations and requests on a one-by-one basis - that just makes me spend all my time answering the same questions over and over again and is the primary reason why I abandoned my Body Types project - I was spending more than half my allotted time each day answering the same requests over and over again and it just left no time to actually do anything. But, if it's out in public, here, it avoids the repetitiveness and I can handle the load.

Thanks!