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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 10:58 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life
Default How to create a custom neighborhood with no townies- just core NPCs?
I was just wondering if it's possible to create a custom neighborhood- or more preferably, modify an already-created custom neighborhood so that there are no townies- just the core NPCs that need to be there. (Mailman, firefighters, service workers, et cetera.)

I only ask because I have a town filled with custom characters, and want them to be among the only Sims that will be visible on various lots around the town instead of the Maxis townies always getting in the way. I remember seeing a tutorial about replacing the Pleasantview townies with different townies, but I don't think it allowed for the removal of all townies altogether. Also, if possible, I would like to stop townies from moving into apartments after a player Sim moves in- leaving them vacant. For reference, I have Ultimate Collection through Origin.
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Lab Assistant
#2 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 11:23 AM Last edited by Mechanon : 21st Aug 2014 at 11:23 AM. Reason: Spelling
On an existing neighbourhood the only method I know of is following the how to safely delete sims tutorial on the wiki after downloading the notownieregen, nossrespawn, nostrayrespawn, and antiredundancy hacks at MATY (that's a link to download directory because each hack has separate threads and I can't be bothered to find each of them).

On a new neighbourhood follow the method for installing clean neighbourhoods, the tutorial you saw, and the same hacks as above before creating your hood. With this method you will generate the default NPCs, a mailman/woman, newsboy/girl, nanny (if you use them) as they are required for the game to function but no townies. I would suggest using this method as it is easier and less likely to cause corruption.
Theorist
#3 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 12:00 PM
This one: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s...ic,10798.0.html

It's better to never have the sims created in the first place than to mess around trying to get rid of them once they're created.

esmeiolanthe's Live Journal and Tumblr
Most recent story update: Fuchs That! on 2/21/15
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 1:44 PM
Quote: Originally posted by esmeiolanthe
This one: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s...ic,10798.0.html

It's better to never have the sims created in the first place than to mess around trying to get rid of them once they're created.


All right! After a little bit of troubleshooting, I managed to create a town with the Characters folder remaining empty. Will core NPCs (Mailman, firefighters, etc.) still generate as normal, even though I cleared out every expansion pack's Characters folder and renamed the base game's N001 folder?
Mad Poster
#5 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 2:34 PM
For the best way is to get these: " Clean And Empty Stealth Hood Templates " by Jawusa http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=520751

Then get this program: AnyGameStarter v. 2.1.1 by Numenor http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=250555
Create a game with no Maxis Content.

Just as long as you don't have the last 3 Tri packs or the UC then this is by far the easiest way to do it.

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
Field Researcher
#6 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 2:58 PM
I was reading and commenting on this topic in another thread so I'm really interested in this method. I've already installed the MATY empty neighborhood versions on my computer, and I've been playing my game for several months now after painfully recreating everything. I'm not using the default neighborhoods at all. I deleted all of them except Pleasantview, and it's just sitting there. However, I have a pretty elaborate custom neighborhood already populated with townies, downtownies, my families, three subhoods, a downtown and a university, all with custom terrains, lots, NPCs, everything. I don't want to create it all over again, desperately do not want to do it. How 'unsafe' is unsafe? I back up all the time and I run Hoodchecker. When I first installed the game with the empty neighborhoods, Hoodchecker found a number of errors but said it removed them. Since then no errors have been reported. Should I go ahead and quit now?
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#7 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 3:08 PM
Quote: Originally posted by eliset
I was reading and commenting on this topic in another thread so I'm really interested in this method. I've already installed the MATY empty neighborhood versions on my computer, and I've been playing my game for several months now after painfully recreating everything. I'm not using the default neighborhoods at all. I deleted all of them except Pleasantview, and it's just sitting there. However, I have a pretty elaborate custom neighborhood already populated with townies, downtownies, my families, three subhoods, a downtown and a university, all with custom terrains, lots, NPCs, everything. I don't want to create it all over again, desperately do not want to do it. How 'unsafe' is unsafe? I back up all the time and I run Hoodchecker. When I first installed the game with the empty neighborhoods, Hoodchecker found a number of errors but said it removed them. Since then no errors have been reported. Should I go ahead and quit now?


I'm not sure. I managed to create a new town with no townies or the like after following the steps provided above, and everything works just lovely. Mechanon mentioned above that there might be a way to do it with an existing town, but I would imagine that you would have to go through and delete every townie, dormie, and any other character you don't want in your neighborhood the proper way before going through the steps to ensure the game doesn't spawn any more. I'd imagine it would lead to an unstable and possibly corrupt town if anything went wrong during those steps.

It would be a painstakingly long process, but I wonder if you could install the hack to stop townies from spawning, and just shift-click using testingcheats to kill every townie you come across through the "Death by Flies" command.
Top Secret Researcher
#8 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 4:17 PM
The thing is, dead or alive, the sims are there and burden the neighbourhood.

Concerning your question about service NPC's, maid, mailman, and so forth, they will always be generated when needed, even with anti-proliferation mods.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#9 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 4:20 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Lili975
The thing is, dead or alive, the sims are there and burden the neighbourhood.

Concerning your question about service NPC's, maid, mailman, and so forth, they will always be generated when needed, even with anti-proliferation mods.


Ah, lovely. The only issue I see now is that performing all those steps to be rid of the townies did not stop them from spawning when my Sim moved into an apartment complex. Is there any conceivable way to stop townies from invading an apartment complex once a player Sim moves in, or is it a scripted thing we can't really do anything about?
Field Researcher
#10 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 4:23 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Simsguy981
I'm not sure. I managed to create a new town with no townies or the like after following the steps provided above, and everything works just lovely. Mechanon mentioned above that there might be a way to do it with an existing town, but I would imagine that you would have to go through and delete every townie, dormie, and any other character you don't want in your neighborhood the proper way before going through the steps to ensure the game doesn't spawn any more. I'd imagine it would lead to an unstable and possibly corrupt town if anything went wrong during those steps.

It would be a painstakingly long process, but I wonder if you could install the hack to stop townies from spawning, and just shift-click using testingcheats to kill every townie you come across through the "Death by Flies" command.


I have all the noregen mods.

Before I installed the empty neighborhoods, I tried killing off all the townies and all the bin people with the tombstone and a Kill Lot. I ran into a lot of problems and eventually my neighborhood blew up. Townies wouldn't die. Dormies wouldn't move out of dorms. Faces warped. Sims lost their eyes. Other neighborhoods were fine. I reinstalled the game with the empty neighborhoods, recreated all my families, created townies from scratch, redid lots, etc etc. Since installing the empty neighborhoods, my game runs much more smoothly, almost no lag, and no crashes. Killing townies and bin people may have had no connection with the neighborhood corruption, but the empty neighborhoods definitely improved my game performance. If the risk is reasonable, considering the game seems doomed to corruption at some point anyway, I'd rather take the risk.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#11 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 4:27 PM
Quote: Originally posted by eliset
I have all the noregen mods.

Before I installed the empty neighborhoods, I tried killing off all the townies and all the bin people with the tombstone and a Kill Lot. I ran into a lot of problems and eventually my neighborhood blew up. Townies wouldn't die. Dormies wouldn't move out of dorms. Faces warped. Sims lost their eyes. Other neighborhoods were fine. I reinstalled the game with the empty neighborhoods, recreated all my families, created townies from scratch, redid lots, etc etc. Since installing the empty neighborhoods, my game runs much more smoothly, almost no lag, and no crashes. Killing townies and bin people may have had no connection with the neighborhood corruption, but the empty neighborhoods definitely improved my game performance. If the risk is reasonable, considering the game seems doomed to corruption at some point anyway, I'd rather take the risk.


I can certainly agree with you on that! Since inserting those empty neighborhood files, my game loads extremely quickly!
Lab Assistant
#12 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 4:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Simsguy981
Ah, lovely. The only issue I see now is that performing all those steps to be rid of the townies did not stop them from spawning when my Sim moved into an apartment complex. Is there any conceivable way to stop townies from invading an apartment complex once a player Sim moves in, or is it a scripted thing we can't really do anything about?


I think those are Social Groups. Sorry I'm a mac user so don't have Apartment Life and had forgottten they are a problem.

You have, after googling, three possible solutions which might work best in combination:
  1. Townie Apartment Residents a mod by Cyjon that makes you non existent townies the spare residents the game uses when you have empty apartments.
  2. The welcome wagon hack for AL which possibly stop social groups from generating it defiantly stops them showing up in the welcome wagon.
  3. No more social groups by squinge which I'm struggling to find.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#13 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 5:03 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Mechanon
I think those are Social Groups. Sorry I'm a mac user so don't have Apartment Life and had forgottten they are a problem.

You have, after googling, three possible solutions which might work best in combination:
  1. Townie Apartment Residents a mod by Cyjon that makes you non existent townies the spare residents the game uses when you have empty apartments.
  2. The welcome wagon hack for AL which possibly stop social groups from generating it defiantly stops them showing up in the welcome wagon.
  3. No more social groups by squinge which I'm struggling to find.


Townie Apartment Residents seems like the best approach, providing it doesn't try to generate some townies (or something weird) upon realizing there isn't any in my game. I'll give it a shot and report back!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#14 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 5:24 PM
Apparently I already had Townie Apartment Residents installed, so it must generate a select bunch of Townies for the apartment rooms that aren't filled. I guess that's out of the question.
Top Secret Researcher
#15 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 6:02 PM Last edited by Lili975 : 21st Aug 2014 at 6:12 PM.
So you want the other apartments to remain empty, in fact? I don't think it's possible, the game too abhors a vacuum, and will probably try to fill any unclaimed flat. Unless a mod exists against that?
Maybe you could test replacing the apartment doors with regular doors, or just remove the doors completely o the units you want unoccupied? But then you would see inside those "fake" apartments when the walls are down :/


Edit.: a mod exists indeed, see next post
Mad Poster
#16 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 6:04 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Simsguy981
Ah, lovely. The only issue I see now is that performing all those steps to be rid of the townies did not stop them from spawning when my Sim moved into an apartment complex. Is there any conceivable way to stop townies from invading an apartment complex once a player Sim moves in, or is it a scripted thing we can't really do anything about?


There is one mod http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=511564, but I have not tried it, so I do not know if it works.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#17 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 9:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Annaminna
There is one mod http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=511564, but I have not tried it, so I do not know if it works.


I'll give it a shot!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#18 Old 21st Aug 2014 at 10:07 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Annaminna
There is one mod http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=511564, but I have not tried it, so I do not know if it works.


It worked perfectly. Thanks to everybody for your help!
Test Subject
#19 Old 20th Jun 2018 at 2:06 PM
I know this thread is dead I'm sorry but I've tried all the steps with the mods and the townies still show up. Do the mods (antiredundancy etc) go into the downloads folder? Idk what I'm doing wrong.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 20th Jun 2018 at 7:16 PM
Yes, all the mods that prevent spawning will go into your Downloads folder just like any other mod. To completely prevent townies from spawning, you'll need clean templates like Tarlia's in the link below. Clean stealth neighborhoods will prevent the spawning of stray pets, EP bin sims (the Travelers, the Newson family, etc.), BV Tourists and AL Social Groupies.

https://meetme2theriver.livejournal.com/63030.html
Mad Poster
#21 Old 20th Jun 2018 at 7:46 PM
The mods go into your Downloads, but the empty templates go into the Programs folder rather than anywhere in My Documents. That's where most people get confused.

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.)
Lab Assistant
#22 Old 1st May 2022 at 8:07 AM
One question? Do I need to do this when uploading neighborhood (or sub-neighborhood)? The guidelines show something like that. I just don't want to use that
Forum Resident
#23 Old 2nd May 2022 at 8:34 AM
Jawusa created some clean templates for all the Maxis and stealth hoods since this thread: https://modthesims.info/download.php?t=520751 and https://modthesims.info/d/615468/cl...-templates.html . You can just use those. They also get rid of all the families that were added with the expansion packs.

For an uploaded neighborhood, I would definitely expect the Maxis townies to either not exist or to have been given a complete makeover. They're already in most of my hoods, I don't need to download them! And even if I get rid of them or block them with the Visitor Controller, that's a lot of useless character files.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 2nd May 2022 at 9:46 PM
I would advise anybody wanting to be able to use apartments without the game filling all of the empty aparmtents with uselesss NPC neighbors who often start fighting each other or fighting with the landlord I'd go HERE and download the file there before installing which I did shortly after installing UC on my current computer.
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