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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 24th Jan 2018 at 4:28 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life
Default No character data
Hey there, fellow simmers. Guess who is scared stiff once again after opening SimPE? Oh yeah, ME.

So, here is my concern: if you have had the enormous displeasure of reading some of my ramblings, you should know I am addicted to pre-mades, but that does not mean I dislike custom 'hoods. For the past months, in my spare time, I have been playing both my megahood and my own stories, which are currently developing here http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=577152

I made my first family, played for a while, added plenty of houses and community lots. Here started the first weird thing, but reading through some old threads, I foolishly decided to ignore it. With SimPE, I modified some memories generated while testing new interactions, and I noticed for the first time that this family which consisted of six sims showed up with a red background in SimPE. Now, red usually reads as alarming. I searched and came across answers akin to 'potatoes and red backgrounds sometimes happen, it is not a big deal', and with my little knowledge about the matter, I went on playing. After all, I did not have problems with that household.

I created more families, decided I wanted custom townies, so I created several and used the Teleporter to politely kick them out the house. The neighborhood grew, now with over fifty townies and five playable families. Only at this point, I noticed that the pattern apparently kept repeating.

Yesterday, I open SimPE in order to change a couple of sims' DNA and appearances, which I had not open ever since the last time stated above. I was more than disturbed to find that the whole red background issue had spread through all my payables, save Britney, a baby born a couple of minutes before I saved the game and stopped playing. She has seven siblings, also with red backgrounds, and two of them were going to be subjected to eye colour change. As you may have assumed, I am not an expert when it comes to SimPE, but I was not able to change the siblings eye colour, since Age Data was missing in the sims' character file. It was not the case with Britney, for I changed her hair colour an almost her eyes too, and of course, she is the only playable with a grey background... for now.

I checked on other sims, including my custom townies, and unfortunately a few of them also have red background. I ended up confirming there is an issue when in Sim Browser, these characters with red backgrounds read 'no character data.' Seems impossible, because I have been playing with them for weeks and I practically got no errors. But I know for a fact that corruption, or at least 'hood corruption, can take years to show up or merely days. I can carry on playing, but what if today I am playing, and tomorrow the 'hood is gone? I have been making backups, but this issue has been present since my FIRST family. I mean, it is like a Maxis neighbourhood, damn it.

Besides, what does SimPE mean by no character data? Clearly, there must be character data. Otherwise, how would I be playing these sims? I do have some issues with their appearances. Plenty of them, actually. There were both invisible and blue faces (are these the infamous 'headless sims?') that I fixed with the batbox or a mirror. I am almost certain this relates to their appearances possibly missing from their character files, according to SimPE. Could it be? Hard to tell.

Anyway, does anyone know what could be causing this? It certainly cannot be good, but this is all I have been doing. I am sure it is my mistake, but I fail to see what I might have done wrong. My game is heavily modded. In fact, I am waiting for an opportunity to clean my downloads folder before it is too late. But if it is something I am unconsciously doing wrong, then I need to track the mistake. I can start this neighbourhood again if need be, but first I must detect the cause.

No sense in trying again if I am going to get the same results, right?

Please, all answers will be appreciated.
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 24th Jan 2018 at 7:16 PM
It sounds like you did something in SimPE that you should not have done and corrupted this hood.

Try and run Mootilda's "HoodChecker 1.0.3 - Neighborhood Corruption Detector" http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=456523 and see what it comes up with.

All my Beginning Hoods here at MTS. http://www.modthesims.info/member.php?u=7749491
All my Beginning Hoods as Shopping Districts plus Old Town. http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=523417
MooVille, a tribute to Mootilda and her fabulous lots http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=534158
Mad Poster
#3 Old 24th Jan 2018 at 8:27 PM
Normally a red background means the sim has no character data, but in that case you shouldn't be able to play them. So that bit's weird. Running the hoodchecker should at least tell you whether they have character data or not.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#4 Old 24th Jan 2018 at 8:54 PM
Sorry, I forgot to mention this. I run the HoodChecker frequently, and it only removes invalid self-relationships. There are a few, probably five or six 'sim has no character data', but I checked and they were those 'unknown' characters that you usually find in regular neighbourhoods.

I doubt I have messed up with SimPE because all I did when starting this 'hood was deleting three memories. I have done this plenty of times in the past, so I am discarding that as a possible cause.

Another strange behaviour I am recalling is that when townies offer blind dates (network), they usually try to pair me up with Santa Klaus... Obviously, I always decline.

I am trying to remember all of my actions, but honesty, I did nothing I have not done before...
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#5 Old 24th Jan 2018 at 10:09 PM
Might be a memory issue with SimPE, try loading the object workshop before you open your 'hood.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#6 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 1:15 AM
Okay, I did that... It loaded... That was supposed to happen, right?
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#7 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 1:39 AM
All right, guys, sorry to double-post.

I went into the characters folders because I noticed something else. In SimPE, next to the option Open Character File, there is a name for these sims. Let's take Emma Mills as an example. N015_User00332 should be the way SimPE should show her to me, but here, she is N015_User00332.1. These .1 are happening to all these red background sims. I checked this in the characters folder, and those are indeed their file names... But there also are common names, with no .1 at the end, and the sizes of these files, which should be the original ones, range from 1 KB to 85 KB. Some are bigger, around 250 KB. There are all sorts of numbers there...

I am really concerned about this. It sounds like... shreded pieces of data. Any ideas? Is there a way to even fix it? Which actions could have led me to this situation?
Scholar
#8 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 2:26 AM
In regards to character files ending in ".1", it's most likely data used Sims who are waiters. They carry both files with the ".1" having the Sim's information, and the regular file being 1KB large. Here's what I have as an example. It's normal, not shredded files:



In regards to unknown character data that you mentioned, being that there's 5 or 6 files, yes that's normal. You can research what their GUIDs are being going to "Tools" -> "PJSE" -> "Simantics Resource Finder...". So as an example, Here's one of 5 unknown character files in my neighborhood:



After running the search (you may have to expand the window downward to show you the results), you can see what it is and where it is located. So in that GUID's case, it's an "NPC - Bird":



So for those unknown files, check it out the make sure it's from either the game's program folders. If not, then see if it's from your Downloads folder.

Check out my latest version of Superman's Classic Uniform for The Sims 2.
See what images I have posted on DeviantArt as well related to The Sims 2 and designs.
Also check out My Website to see my superhero uniform creations for The Sims 2. THANKS!!!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#9 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 2:59 AM
I checked the unknown files, they are okay.

However, those .1 files exist only in this 'hood, and they belong to playables, not waiters.

I would love to open the files from the characters folders with SimPE, but for some reason, I have not been able to open any of my downloads or game files with SimPE for a while now. Do not know what happened there. Besides, according to SimPE, this 'hood's population is 300 sims, but I have 500 files in the characters folder... This is not the case in my Pleasantview, for instance. Sorry if it sounds like I am reaching, but I understand nothing at this point.
Scholar
#10 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 5:12 AM Last edited by d_dgjdhh : 26th Jan 2018 at 2:18 AM.
So 300 Sims according to SimPE, but 500 character files....do you happen to have 200 character files that are around 1 KB in size (I'm presuming not, but I figured I'd ask)?

EDIT: So I downloaded that neighborhood Sion, and it seems that the zip file was missing lots of folders. There's 21 unknown character files. If you placed N015 in your Neighborhoods folder, and started off with that, then I think the corruption began instantly from N015's first playing. So basically no matter what precautions you took, the neighborhood was doomed from the start.

The first 3 character data files are Sims that the creator of the neighborhood removed. The other 18 character files were probably taken from other neighborhood folders (like Downtowns, Vacations, etc.) and thrown together, since after looking at each Sim ID (sorry, I mentioned GUID even though each Sim Description contains a Sim ID).

EDIT (1/25/2018): The striken out part above was incorrect, the 18 NPC files did not get thrown together from other parts of the neighborhood. They are part of the main neighborhood file.

0x2D7EB2DC = NPC - Template - EP6 - Hula Dancer
0x2E17B9FC = NPC - Unique(Just DNA) - Pollination Technician
0x84EC24A8 = NPC - Unique - Grim Reaper
0x2C996F9C = NPC - Remote Control Car
0x4D9530C6 = NPC - Unique - Therapist - AspirationFailure
0x13269F2D = NPC - Template - EP6 - Bigfoot
0xB38590EB = NPC - Template - EP6 - WitchDoctor
0x341FB0E2 = NPC - Unique - Genie
0x745B11D1 = NPC - Unique - Rod Humble 2
0xF51A5E5B = NPC - Unique - Magical Assistant
0xD55EF625 = E001_User00359 - Good Witch
0x0F67E576 = NPC_Unique_MissesCrumpleBottom - Mrs. CrumpleBottom
0x50596292 = NPC - Robot
0x71B85E0D = NPCSkunkSkin
0x31946C3B = NPC - Bird
0x51BFB2CD = NPC - Unique - Skunk
0x7250E297 = NPC - Penguin
0x724CD298 = N001_User00406 - ideal

Check out my latest version of Superman's Classic Uniform for The Sims 2.
See what images I have posted on DeviantArt as well related to The Sims 2 and designs.
Also check out My Website to see my superhero uniform creations for The Sims 2. THANKS!!!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#11 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 6:15 AM
Oh... But are you sure the problem has been the neighbourhood the whole time? Not that I doubt you, you certainly posses more experience and knowledge than me when it comes to SimPE and the information it displays, but it is hard to believe that a picked upload could be doomed from the beginning.

May I ask for another brief explanation? Does this mean that all playables in this particular hood will become corrupted no matter what? Because that is literally what has been happening, probably. I would like to know how all these details affected my own creations... It is something I was not familiar with.

As for the 1 KB files, well, there sure are not 200, but there are quite a few. Around 30, maybe?

I think I understood, but I have plenty of questions...

I played the 'hood for a while and someone proposed to my sim a date with Santa Klaus again. Not certain if I should just delete the 'hood or keep on playing until it explodes. Would I even be able to extract appearances to start again? They clearly are missing data if I cannot change anything related to their physical features, such as their eye or hair colour.
Scholar
#12 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 1:21 PM
I have learned the hard way that if you have a mod that overrides part of the sim template (including NPCs) all new sims made from the template are made in two parts like that. The main character is usually in the '.1' part with just the override in the character file making the problem almost unrepairable later. If you keep the 'hood you'll need to keep the mod(s) that cause it and it should not give any trouble in game, it's just difficult for SimPE to handle, if you decide to scrap and restart the 'hood you'll need to find and remove the mod(s) first.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#13 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 2:42 PM Last edited by Annorah : 31st Jan 2018 at 6:12 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Chris Hatch
I have learned the hard way that if you have a mod that overrides part of the sim template (including NPCs) all new sims made from the template are made in two parts like that.


Aaaaah, Chris Hatch! Hi :lovestruc

Pardon my question, but this got my attention. So the problem could also be something that I downloaded... Okay, makes a lot of sense since my mod folders is over 7 GB in size. It is an old folder, one that I used to play with five years ago, when I downloaded everything that appealed to me without reading or completely understanding what the mod in question exactly did (my bad, if I could meet my fifteen-year-old-self face to face, I would slap her). That said, I have to ask for an example of 'a mod that overrides part of a sim template', so I can know what I am looking for and finally delete it. I would rather start again, because yes, characters in two parts must be hard to handle for SimPE, and even if there are no problems in-game, I feel the 'hood is no longer safe to play...
Scholar
#14 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 3:06 PM
Probably something that alters the way an NPC behaves.
It would be unlikely but not unthinkable that anyone would mod the 'playable' sim template because there's very little in it, almost everything comes from the 'person globals' which are OK to override. The NPC templates contain everything that makes them different to a normal sim so they are inclined to get modded.

One sure fire (but complicated) way is if you can determine from the 'split' character files which NPC template is effected, extract and package the entire template (unchanged) and temporarily put that in your download folder. Run the Hack Conflict Detector and whatever is in conflict with that package is the likely culprit.

The 'hood is safe, it's not going to hurt you. If you think it's going to collapse anyway then have a bit of fun doing silly things with it first.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#15 Old 25th Jan 2018 at 6:27 PM
Of course corruption will not hurt me. It will hurt my sims, which is ten times worse

All right then, I will try that when I go home, but I suppose I will first see how much this 'hood can endure

Thanks a lot for all your answers!
Scholar
#16 Old 26th Jan 2018 at 2:12 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Annorah
(...), but it is hard to believe that a picked upload could be doomed from the beginning.

May I ask for another brief explanation? Does this mean that all playables in this particular hood will become corrupted no matter what? Because that is literally what has been happening, probably. I would like to know how all these details affected my own creations... It is something I was not familiar with.(...)
So what I meant is, it's doomed from the start because the creator should not have removed the references of the original files that the characters were linked to (the 3 creator's Sims). Their references will linger in some way in the neighborhood's directory (there's no 100% foolproof way to delete Sims from existence after being created. I guess the best you can do is have the Sim killed and move their tombstone to a cemetary). Other things that might happen include those 3 Sims being spread in gossip between Sims in that neighborhood, maybe something with memories can be problematic. There's stuff with the game we have no idea what spreads too (since the source code for the game wasn't released for anyone to see and study). It could cause errors or crashes without warning.

So all we can do is practice safe procedures when dealing with our Sims (such as not deleting/trashing Sims after they've been created in CAS from the Sim Bin on the neighborhood's UI). Not deleting tombstones. Not playing as NPCs (but interacting with them in the way the game designed them to do, yes). Etc. Etc. (you probably already read the Wiki).

I double-checked the GUIDs for the NPCs, and they're the same I have, so I'm guessing references to them should be okay after loading up that Sion neighborhood (I haven't opened up the neighborhood in my game to see if those unknown GUIDs reference the object files). I amended my previous reply to strike out my concern with the 18 other unknown files.

In regards to giving the neighborhood a Picked Upload, the site staff can't really spend time auditing, inspecting, and using each thing that's uploaded into the website. It was probably a case of how nice looking the neighborhood was, and then a star was added. Sometimes the most complex upload may not get a star. Sometimes the simplest looking thing gets a star. I think it's more about the look, the description of the downloads, but not really if an upload is working perfectly. It's a "Buyer Beware" type of situation (except you're not spending money on anything), nothing is guaranteed, it's provided as-is, at your own risk, blah, blah, blah, add-boilerplate-terms-and-conditions-warning.

Check out my latest version of Superman's Classic Uniform for The Sims 2.
See what images I have posted on DeviantArt as well related to The Sims 2 and designs.
Also check out My Website to see my superhero uniform creations for The Sims 2. THANKS!!!
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#17 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 5:53 PM
Oh, no, I do not expect the site staff to test uploads before the 'picked upload' title. It seemed weird to me that no one had pointed out the missing sims, that is all. I suppose not everyone is aware of corruption, or simply do not care about its consequences. Deleted characters are not easy to detect, anyway. Not all simmers use SimPE.

So, remember I said I would see how much this neighbourhood could endure? Yeah, well, I played it twice after that, and today I tried to play the very first household ever created in Sion, and the game crashes
They are the only ones I cannot play, and whenever they appear in community lots, this happens too. Also if I try moving them through other sims. They cannot even spawn! Well then, good bye Sion! Your mentally twisted sims will be terribly missed. Now, time to track the cause of split character data. Wish me good luck! And thanks for your answers
Mad Poster
#18 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 6:20 PM
You could always extract the mentally twisted sim's appearance using SimPE's sim surgery...cloning them in Bodyshop and...keep a bit of it.

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#19 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 6:37 PM Last edited by Annorah : 31st Jan 2018 at 8:10 PM.
Certainly, I can. And I will extract a bunch, but not all of them because many were born in game. They had plenty of memories and I love big families, so their appearances are not the only thing I want back. I will extract starters, though, and see what else I get afterwards.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 31st Jan 2018 at 7:10 PM
Totally agree.

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#21 Old 1st Feb 2018 at 9:30 PM
Just FYI - the star 'picked' uploads are just things we personally like. It's why they're called picked uploads - we pick 'em. There's no criteria for it. Presumably someone really liked that neighbourhood. I'm concerned to hear it seems to be pre-corrupted though the good news is it will only be the neighbourhood that is corrupted, not your game.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Test Subject
#22 Old 20th Aug 2019 at 10:02 PM Last edited by Helder : 20th Aug 2019 at 10:21 PM. Reason: Forgot
Hey guys is the other way to bring Bob newbie and Betty to life because ive seen a vídeo and he shows Bob old here. https://youtu.be/fHmal3fMvlQ or a mod can bring back life all dead sims in base game neigborhoods ?
Forum Resident
#23 Old 24th Aug 2019 at 12:57 AM
@Helder Probably best to start your own thread about that---you'd only want to resurrect (heh) a recently unposted-to thread like this if your issue was exactly the same as the OP's rather distinct one. It sounds like you have a pretty different question, though!

Anyway, back on topic...

Even though I know this thread was last properly posted to a year and a half ago), I was really excited to see this discussion, because I hadn't been able to find such a good, solid, calming explanation for this issue, which I have also been having in my UC game.

I have still been playing that hood once I figured out that *every one* of my born-in-game sims shows as having No Character Data in SimPE...even though they have normal wants and fears and really just generally normal behavior in all gameplay always---and HoodChecker shows up consistently fairly clean, nothing amiss (now 12 seasons in, lol). So I figured it *must* be OK, but I've always wanted to know why SimPE shows them that way.

So thanks (as ever) to Chris Hatch, now I do. And...I suspect it's this Aaroneous mod that's doing it, since it's the only one I have that changes templates in any way! At some point I may see about pulling out the mod altogether and seeing if my born-in-game sims beyond that show up as normal in SimPE; will update if I get around to that.

*Ongoing TS2 informational projects (come on by to contribute, get info, or spectate!): (1) the SimPE Preservation Project and (2) Conflict Tracking for the 3t2 Traits Project Mods
*Need a Pescado mod? Use his hack directory: in the first post, find the link for your latest EP, then go in hacks/
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