Yay! Now I don't have the option of being lazy and not making any Sims and then getting bored and stop playing... :3

so i want to install this but does this mean it will get rid of stray pets? i love the stray pets i just wanna get rid of the bin families thats all

Yes, you'll get rid of those stray pets.
If you really want them, copy them as new pet breeds and recreate them in CAS and move them into a family.
After that, you can use the SimTeleporter by Inge Jones to change those pets into strays.

if i use this and get rid of stray pets, will new ones spawn up? or will there be no strays what so ever. that's what i meant to say but i think i worded it wrong

Yes, the game will spawn new strays.

It did not work, I followed all the instructions on the page and my computer freaked out at me. ACCESS DENIED!! I am the only user and Administrator of my Windows 7 laptop and it refused to let me install this.

I replaced the default neighborhood templates with these (Only the specified ones), but I still see townies running around in a neighborhood created AFTER doing this.

@Lady Starr, Do you have "The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection"?

@TurboShojo, You have to download and install the notownieregen mod to prevent new townies to be generated.
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/ffs/

My templates only remove the Maxis NPCs and townies and of course the bin families.

Sorry, if that is a stupid question, but I'm confused. If I have only to rename the "NeighborhoodTemplate" folder to get rid of the townies and NPC's why do I need your clean templates? What's the difference between changing the templates or renaming the folder?

If you want to attach a new downtown/suburb/university/vacation destination without Maxis sims, then you have to rename the "NeighborhoodTemplate" folder to something else.
You can rename it back to "NeighborhoodTemplate" after you have created your downtowns/suburbs/universities/vacation destinations.
But this only works for downtowns/suburbs/universities/vacation destinations and primary neighborhoods.

As for the stealth neighbourhoods (ex. Weather), you have to install my templates to get rid of the Maxis sims.
If you just rename "NeighborhoodTemplate" to something else and create the neighbourhood (without my stealth hoods) and rename it back, then the game will add the missing stealth hoods, that's why you'll see the Ottomas family etc. then.
If you don't want any stealth sims then you have to replace Maxis templates with my templates.
After you have created the neighborhood and its subhoods, then you can rename "Neigborhood" back and the ones for the subhoods too.

But stealth hoods can't be renamed to something else and after renamed back...The game will generate them.
As said, to avoid that, you have to download my templates and replace Maxis' templates.

Thank you for your quick answer. Now I got it and I'm ready to try your templates with a fresh installation of the game.

Thank you for putting the effort into making these. I'm glad you kept the hobby and magic lots, too. Those are about the only things I value in a stealth hood.

I didn't see this question asked before so I'm going to go ahead and ask it. I have the Ultimate Collection - where should I install these files, or can I install these files at all?

Thank you so much, so good to see no bin families in my neighborhoods.
But is it possible to only get rid of the bin families and keep the maxis NPC's like garden club members and hobby instructors and so on?

No @Biara25, you won't have any NPCs if you download those templates but your game generates new garden club members and hobby instructors if they are needed.
Instead of having always the same garden club members and hobby instructors you will now have unique garden club members and hobby instructors for each neighborhood.
But there's a method to get them back without having the bin families but it can take some time.

If you really want EAs townies back, then you can create a new neighborhood without my templates, then use SimPE to clone EAs townie sims, which you would like to see in your neighborhood.
If you have done that, then you have to load your actual neighborhood and delete that neighborhood which you only used to clone the townie sims. In CAS, you can create a family with those cloned sims. Just leave them in your family bin. Don't worry, they won't be there forever. Now exit the game and open SimPe, there you can change them into garden club members, hobby instructors or whatever. Don't forget to save. Now you can close SimPE and start your game and load your neighborhood. If you have done everything correctly, then you won't see the townie families in your bin BUT in your neighborhood as garden club members or hobby instructors, of course.

By default, you will find a folder called 'NeighborhoodTemplate' in

Pets = C:\Program Files\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Fun with Pets\EP4\TSData\Res
Seasons = C:\Program Files\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Seasons\TSData\Res
Bon Voyage = C:\Program Files\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Bon Voyage\TSData\Res
Free Time = C:\Program Files\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Free Time\TSData\Res
Apartment Life = C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Apartment Life\TSData\Res

Just rename each 'NeighborhoodTemplate' to 'NeighborhoodTemplate_orig' and create a new 'NeighborhoodTemplate' folder in each path.

By the way, I have updated the download page.

Thank you.

I downloaded the files, but it didn't change anything. I still see sim families in the sim bin. I don't know what I did wrong

@shadowgirl303 please look at the custom install instructions for this upload. These are default replacements. It shouldn't be in the Downloads folder, nor the Neighborhoods folder. Be sure to backup the existing templates first. You may miss the families and would like to restore it from backup.

This is exactly what I did. I put them where I was supposed to put them and they still show up

These templates unfortunately don't affect your current neighborhoods. If you would create a new neighborhood, you won't have any families but the default NPCs from Pleasantview.
You CAN disable those NPCs by just renaming C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Die Sims 2\TSData\Res\UserData\Neighborhoods to anything else. e.g to NeighborhoodsDisabled

As for your current neighborhood...
You can create a new neighborhood with my templates and clone the sims from your old neighborhood and recreate them in the new neighborhood.

I have created a new neighborhood with the files in the correct folders and the sims in the sim bin are still there

It seems like you didn't delete Maxis templates first and just replaced them with mine. You have to delete Maxis templates or move it into another folder (or desktop) before you put my emptied templates.
Go to C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Pets\TSData\Res\NeighborhoodTemplate\P001\Characters and look if there are any characters in the folder. If yes, then delete P001 folder and redownload my empty templates.
Then repeat this with the other stealth hood templates.

If there aren't any characters in that folder... Create a new neighborhood and look if there are any bin families.

Just checked. Folders are empty and the families are still in the family bin when I create a new neighborhood