Did you install Gunmod's radiance system with it? It might be that conflicting with hacks/mods you have. Either that or it might have been a light I guess.

The Scriptorium itself basically creates some sub-folders in your game files, adds one line to the in-game script files for walls, stairs and fireplaces (saying make sure you (the game) read these folders when you load) and some shortcuts to your Downloads folder. Nothing at all to do with lights and this is what you have to do manually if you install custom stairs/walls/fireplaces and don't use the Scriptorium for it. This is what Numenor said on the Scriptorim thread:

the Installer creates three special folders named "Scriptorium_ModularStairs", "Scriptorium_Fireplaces" and "Scriptorium_Walls" in the folder (gamedir)\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Catalog\Scripts.
Then appends one single line to the game files "modularstairs.txt", "fireplaces.txt" and "walls.txt": wildInclude Scriptorium_Fireplaces\*.*
These two simple steps ensure the needed support for the custom content.

I think it's more likely to be the CC you had at the time than the Scriptorium.

@ihatemandatoryregister If you mean giving tokens to sims when ACR is first installed, it will automatically give one to any sim eligible for a token that doesn't have one at 8:30 am and pm.

Is it absolutely necessary to have the pets, seasons, exotic destinations, magic and hobby subhoods attached to your main hood? I don't plan on using the hobby or magic lots, and all of my subhoods are set up to have no character files.
Will generating a hood without them break anything?

No. I've got empty templates, and it doesn't bother the game one whit. If you don't have those, you will spawn all the subhoods

You don't want to do it without the empty templates.

However, the magic lots automatically generate anyway-there's no way to avoid them. They're hidden lots, and not subject to any template shenanigans..

Thanks, I do have empty templates because I wanted to make my own vacation destinations
When do the magic lots generate? I have several hoods I created that have no lots at all...

If you can't/don't want to use empty templates, there's also Tarlia's method of disabling the stealth hoods. It's what simmers do if they want to create completely empty neighborhoods, especially if they want to share them.

I think that is the method I used, and that must be why I have no magic lots.

This seems now to me mostly "the vomit" thread, so I won't keep talking about adoption. I've discovered lots of stuff about:
Squinge's "adopt teen", the Ogre non-adoption. Sim Blender, Sim Manipulator, Teleporter Cat
Don't know if I should start an Adoption thread, or if it's been done/updated, or if anyone cares

ON loading the hood for the first time - empty templates actually don't prevent the sub-hoods being added, it's just that what gets added is empty. With my Polgannon, I made that without sub-hoods. When you put it in your game, your game will add them all on first loading. Basically that's what happens - the game checks to see if they are there. If they are, it carries on loading, if they're not, it adds them.

loading order.
when game loads the Downloads folder; is it sub-folders first then files or files first then sub-folders? or is the order by keyboard character regardless of file or folder?
and similar with each level of sub-folder?

I find disabling stealth hoods to be risky. If you open up your game accidentally with them enabled or somehow enable them accidentally you can wind up with them being added accidentally when you didn't want them to be. I even ended up with two copies of each in one of mine, which was weird.

It makes sense for creating hoods for download, because that's a very specific set of circumstances you'd probably be extra careful around and make several backups of the hood in various stages.

I see the empty stealth hoods as being like a "vaccination" against populated stealth hoods getting added.

BTW, you don't need empty templates for vacation hoods, uni hoods, downtowns or shopping districts, in order to add custom ones. When you go to add these, you always have the option of adding a totally custom one rather than one of the defaults. It's only the stealth (invisible) hoods; Weather, Magic, Hobbies and Pets, which need disabling in order to avoid the sim bin clones in every hood. Be aware that you probably actually want these subhoods for certain gameplay options; Weather adds the garden club NPCs, Magic adds the secret witch lots, Hobbies add the secret Hobby lots. Pets... I don't know if that adds anything. I think stray spawning is handled by another process. The "empty" versions do allow the special sims/lots to spawn and be accessed but disable the sim bin families.

I know trashcan rummaging/dumpster diving is a thing in Sims 3 and 4, but I can't figure out if it's possible in The Sims 2. Is it an hidden interaction or do I need a mod?

It's done autonomously by extremely sloppy sims but if you want to to do it yourself, here you go.

I had the suspect it had to deal with the sloppiness of a sim, but I hoped it was going to be easier to access. Props.

I seem to remember being allowed to direct extremely sloppy sims to "salvage" from garbage cans right from day one, back before I ever installed any mods.

Sloppy sims with 0-1 point can rummage through the trash, sometimes finding a small random object that disappears while they gain a small amount of cash.

What is the invisible GraveMarker, and is it safe to use the stuck object remover on it?

In Patrizio Monty's house (Tarlia's subhood version), there are two urns. The other day I had moved them outside. Today I decided to enlarge the house and the spot inside where they used to sit is now in the courtyard. I tried to build a pool over that spot but couldn't as the game insists there is something there. I saved, then tried the stuck object remover on those tiles. The message came up as "GraveMarker has been burninated!" I exited the lot without saving, and then went back in. The sims can walk through that spot, and objects can be placed on those tiles, but the game still won't allow a pool. The visible gravestones are outside, and still have the options to mourn and move gravestones. If I move the gravestones around outside, I can build pools on those spots.

I have nounlinkedondelete. I have not had ghosts spawn on this lot yet.

If I have a CC item in my game (as in, placed on a lot) and then change that object's GUID in SimPE, will the object still be there? Will doing this break anything?

the item will be whatever the fallback guid was.

Ah, thank you. That's good to know.

@stitching, is that the shipped version of the hood, or a cleaned/fixed version?

It's Tarlia's cleaned business district version. I opened up the cleaned regular 'hood version as well and the same thing happened there when I moved the urns.

Is there any functional difference between setting a Sims' gender preference to both genders as 200 rather than a relatively low number?

They won't go from bi to straight or gay so easily? I can't see any other use for that.

Is there anything toddlers can build body skill with?

Someone made a hack for the bouncy rider thing to give body skill but I don't remember where it is.