I created a custom neighborhood, and after building some lots, I checked the Characters folder and noticed that the game automatically added NPCs. Two of them also have split character files.
When checking these files in SimPe, they're identified as NPCs such as baristas, bartenders, etc.
I haven't played in Live Mode yet, and based on how this happened; I'm guessing it was caused by the game crashing while entering a community lot.
I couldn't find a tutorial on how to delete NPCs and their split character files, especially when there isn't a playable Sim.
How can I safely delete all of these Sims?

Why do you want to delete them? They are necessary for playing the game. You can always just summon them to a lot, make them playable, and then delete them from the bin, but as soon as you enter another context where NPCs are needed, the game will just generate more of them.

I would prefer the game to create new ones, since split characters aren't normal.

The game did create these townies. Split character files are perfectly normal in the game, especially for NPCs, since they typically have a lot of functions in their character files, which leads to them being larger and needing to be split more often.

So about character files... if you use certain mods some character files will be split no matter what you do, unless you stop using those mods
Epi tried to compile a list of mods that do this: https://episims.tumblr.com/post/759...character-files


That said, if you ever wanted to turn a service NPC into regular sim, you definitely can do that, by marrying them or moving them in, then using http://www.cyjon.net/node/148 to remove NPC type behaviour [clear my NPC type].

I imagine you could also go into SimPE and change their NPC type into a normal sim https://modthesims.info/t/688641 [the opposite of this instruction, or rather in step 4 select normal sim, not an NPC type]. You really only need steps 4-5 of this instruction.

Then you could probably just summon them, add to your family [with sim blender] and kill them off... though I know it doesn't delete a character file, but it gets rid of them in a way, if that's what you want to do... Olive Specter [just kidding]



To prevent any similar 'issues' like this you might have in the future, I suggest you back up your game regularly [copy the whole neighbourhood folder somewhere, like your desktop] - then you could just come back to the point before those NPC-s were ever created... but if you use a mod that splits their character files by default, they will be split anyway, so... like kestrellyn said, it's unavoidable sometimes!

Thank you for the advice.
I guess I have no choice but to ignore them, since I assume the files of deceased Sims are still in the folder, and I want them gone... 🙁
I'm pretty sure it's the result of two NPC mods, and I removed them to test this out.

Bartenders pretty much always have split character files, regardless of any mods. There's no reason to do anything about it, because it's not a problem. If you want to keep deleting your bartenders and creating new ones just because they have split character files, I guess you can do that, but your neighborhood will just fill up with bartender character files if you do that.

I'm pretty sure the split character files didn't happen before I installed the mod. I checked an older neighborhood where I had already played with the NPC mod, and it shows the same issue. Only bartenders and burglars are affected, which makes it obvious to me that the last two mods that modify these NPCs behavior are the cause.

Don't worry. It's rare for split files to cause problems. Just ignore them.

I would avoid deleting characters if you don't need to.

It's also true that split character files generally won't cause an issue. In my testing they always occurred as a result of a modified BHAV. New characters will typically only have the modified BHAVs in the first package (E.g, N001_User1000.package and the 'original' data within N001_User1000.1.package) to start out with.

If you open up the first file in SimPE you can usually find out which BHAV's have been modified and are causing the split. (You'll also see the duplicate BHAV in the .1.package file, this will usually be the unmodified BHAV from the game along with other character data.)

If you catch it early enough and the N001_User1000.package (for example) only contains modified BHAVs and no other data, you can safely delete N001_User1000.package and rename N001_User1000.1.package to N001_User1000.package - thus resolving any issues you may have otherwise had that can be caused by split character files. (Do keep a backup.. just in case.)

If you haven't used live mode yet, the chances are high that first file will still only have the modified BHAVs in it. However, when you play the game and the character is used more both files will begin to contain various data as the game will simply use either file to add the data to when saving. They can be merged after that too, but you have to be very careful and precise when doing so.

Do you know what happens if the mod that changes the behavior is removed from the game?
I assume only these NPCs will be affected.

It should revert the NPC to default behaviour, much like removing any other mod. The exception being entirely custom NPCs (New NPC types, not simple overrides.).

My gut tells me this is why Maxis made the game split the files. They may have thought that this way the new NPCs have both the new BHAVs/BCONs and the originals, so if the new BHAV/BCON no longer applies, then it can revert to default easily.

So, even NPCs with split character files should revert to default behaviour when/if you remove the mods which made the file split.

Don't worry, your game will be fine!

That makes sense. This is my first time seeing split characters files, and honestly it made me feel a bit paranoid. 😅
Thank you for your help!