#1
6th Dec 2022 at 5:40 AM
Last edited by Acrylonitrile : 6th Dec 2022 at
6:52 AM.
This user has the following games installed:
Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life
A Few Questions About SimPE and Character Files
I've been working on setting up a custom neighborhood, creating residents and townies and whatnot. For special NPCs like the grand vampire and head witches, I generated them with the Townie Gun and overwrote their appearances with Sim Surgery (using the addon that allows you to select an archetype directly from a saved sim file instead of having to create the archetype in-game).
So all that has been alright, I think, but when checking on the character files in SimPE, I've noticed a couple concerning things.
First: the grand vampire has a red background on her portrait and is marked in the Sim Browser as having no character file; however, she does in fact have not one but two character files—one ending in User00020 and the other in User00020.1. Could that be what's causing
SimPE to mark her as having no character file? Is there something wrong with her file/data that I should be concerned about?
I did do one thing with her that may have been bad, but I'm not sure: I have a default replacement vampire overlay, and when I performed the Sim Surgery, her overlay was removed. I wanted her to keep it, so I cured her vampirism and immediately made her a vampire again so she would regain the overlay.
Second: There are 9 Unknown sims with no character files or data listed in SimPE. I'm pretty sure 4 of them are my PT replacements, but I don't know about the other 5; they don't show up in Hood Checker, while the PTs do. I am not 100% sure, but I think I may have been messing around with the Townie Gun, trying to generate NPCs and using the "kill" option until I got a decent spawn. If I saved after doing this, those "killed" sims may have ended up as these Unknowns. Again, not 100% sure, as I can't seem to find clear and consistent information on how the Townie Gun actually works with regard to creating (or not creating) character files. I don't believe I have any mods that would be generating NPCs, but I guess I'd have to do a deep dive to be sure.
So basically, is there any way to figure out what the deal is with these Unknown sims? Is there anything I can/should do about them? Is the Townie Gun safe to use or does it generate junk character files? From now on I think I'll be using the cat statue instead (can't remember what the mod is called off the top of my head); the only reason I didn't use it this time is because I forgot it existed, as it's located in the decor section and not misc/misc with all the other mod objects I use for setting up neighborhoods, and I haven't done this in a while.
Oh! One last question: Is it safe to change a Sim's name in SimPE? I feel like I remember reading somewhere that you shouldn't do this as it doesn't properly update all references to their name, and that you should use a mod instead. I do have the Last Name Copier, but the reason I haven't used it in this case is because I want to change the grand vampire's name but I was worried it won't let me keep the Contessa prefix as I believe there is a character limit when setting names in-game. Again, could be wrong about that or misrembering.