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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 17th Sep 2021 at 8:09 PM Last edited by Dina Landgraab : 17th Sep 2021 at 9:02 PM.

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life
Default Where does SimPE pull the instances for Sims from?
I made a version of Strangetown with townies and NPCs but no playables, and noticed that in SimPE, the Sims don't show up in the same order as they do in Maxis's Strangetown. It appears what's affecting the order is the "Instance" (I circled it in the screenshot).

I tried renaming the "N002_UserXXXX" files found in the Characters subfolder of my Strangetown's neighborhood folder, but this didn't change the order of the Sims. I'm assuming this instance is affected by something else. I looked through the Sims' Character Files in SimPE and couldn't find anything.

Does anyone know what determines a Sim's "Instance" in SimPE? This is sort of a weird question but thanks for any help.

EDIT: I found the instance can be changed in the Sim Description. I redid all of my Sims' instances but their order didn't change. I tried copying the original GUIDs from Maxis's Strangetown to mine, but it makes Sims show up as "Unknown" in SimPE. I think I'll just leave it at that.

I often look at the Fandom pages for The Sims 2 and they have the Sims ordered as they show up in SimPE for Maxis's neighborhoods. It would've been convenient having them automatically come up in the correct order in my neighborhood, but I can live with it.
Screenshots
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 17th Sep 2021 at 9:53 PM
The order in SimPE is affected by whatever item you click at the top. If you click "name" it sorts after name (first name, I think). If you click "Instance" it sorts after instance numbers (Hex). If you sort after household, it sorts after household first (and probably some other category, maybe instance, after). Looks like the "N00X" filenames are at the end there.
Field Researcher
#3 Old 17th Sep 2021 at 10:19 PM Last edited by clsve : 17th Sep 2021 at 10:22 PM. Reason: Ninjad.
You can sort every column in the SimBrowser by clicking in the column-head. You can sort on Name, Household, Lifestage, Kind, Uni, Instance and so on. Ninjad by simmer22.
Field Researcher
#4 Old 18th Sep 2021 at 2:53 AM
I'm kinda confused, isn't the question "what determines instance number"? Not "how do you sort by instance"?
Mad Poster
#5 Old 18th Sep 2021 at 2:59 AM
I think the instance is just based on the order that the sims are generated in, although sometimes it skips instance numbers for some reason.
Mad Poster
#6 Old 18th Sep 2021 at 3:07 AM
I read it as an issue with the order of how sims appear in SimPE.

If the instance numbers are the same for each batch of sims (maxis VS edited), then it's a matter of sorting, which can be done by clicking the category you want to sort after. Filename is one of them (N00X).

Not sure what OP means what the difference between the Maxis hood and the edited one is, though. Are the instances different from sim to sim? If so, these are probably assigned in turn after availability.
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