Hey hey anyone reading this

So if any of you guys play Sims 2, you'll have heard about fixed templates- they're versions of the maxis neighborhoods that've had various glitches, mistakes, and bits of corruption made by EA cleaned up, making for a less janky playing experience. I was wondering if anyone more experienced with modding would know if it were possible to do something similar for the sims 3 worlds- I'm not talking about Ellacharmed's routing fixes (although ideally I would include those in the fixed templates if I were able to make them.) But, for example, in a base Sunset Valley, Agnes Crumplebottom and Erik Darling don't know each other at all, despite lore saying that she is his widow. In the game's eyes, Agnes's is just keeping some random stranger's grave on her lawn. I'd like to fix that, and make them recognize each other as ex-spouses. Or, look at all the dead sims in Twinbrook, who, even though they look like and have the same last names as some of the residents, are completely unrelated to them. Now, what makes me think this might be impossible is two things; one, that I've heard CAW does not play nice with worlds with premade dead sims, which would be a big problem, considering that a lot of the fixes I'm planning would involve tweaks with the dead sims, and two, just the fact that no one has already done this. I'd just like someone who's more experienced with modding to tell me if this is possible and what it would entail. Thanks!

The easiest way is probably to start a fresh save in Sunset Valley, fix those things that bother you with the help of NRAAS Master Controller, and then use this save as a starting point for all future adventures you want to take in Sunset Valley (or other worlds you feel need fixing).

I have templates I update for both 3 and 4. I still need to go back and grab some things from some of the worlds/saves if can find to update the 3 one more, but I have the 4 totally up to date now as much as can do.

Sunset Valley and Riverview is a bit unique, but for other worlds there is a CharacterImport xml in their. .world file. I've never edit it but if it's successful it will be easier to achieve.

Sorry for the LATE reply, but now that I've become a published modder, and am seriously considering releasing these fixed templates by changing things in the CharacterImport xml, I've now got to ask... if Sunset Valley and Riverview don't have that xml, where is there character data stored??? Like, is it in the core files? Or is it in their .world files, but just in a less readable format? Or do we just... not know at all?

We did some testing with the characterimport file after A gave us the files to compile SuperCAW.
https://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=466283
As you can see, none of us managed to make it work well, so any discoveries you make would be welcome information.

Oh dear! It's possible I've gotten myself in over my head! Well, no matter, I'll have to keep trucking on. I've already managed to assign celebrity status to two Twinbrook residents (and it even worked in-game!), so that's first of what's sure to be many steps.

Not at all, I'm sure you'll figure things out better than I ever did if you experiment; it already sounds like you're doing well! Please do doument what you find if you can, I'm sure others would love to know how to use the character import.

Well, the good news is that I don't seem to be running into the main issue that prior experiments with the character import had, which is to say any changes I make to the file dutifully take effect when I next load up a new game to test the changes. The bad news is that I've run into my first major snag: I've been trying to make Pattina Knack start out as an interior designer, like her bio suggests she's supposed to be, but I haven't been able to get that to work. I'm using the correct career name (I think,) and properly clearing out her career performance and career location data since I noticed that the premade performers in Starlight Shores don't have those, but still whenever I load up a new game, she starts out unemployed. If the character import can't set sims as part of the Ambitions professions, I suppose that answers the question of why there are no Twinbrook premades with professions, despite them being the main selling point of the pack

EDIT: So, it seems that the character import is unable to parse setting someone's job as any of the non-Showtime professions. The showtime professions DO work- I mean, about a quarter of everyone in Starlight Shores starts in one of them, and I've personally tested it for myself. But none of the others do; not even private eye, which I hoped might work since it was similar to the showtime professions in that it doesn't have a fixed location or hours, but alas. All I can think is that EA just never set the character import up to be able to read most profession data, but even then I can't really imagine why EA didn't do that; I mean, why not show off Ambitions' selling point by having a couple of firefighters or stylists living in Twinbrook???