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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 22nd May 2012 at 7:30 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life
Default Positioning Lots without roads
I have run into an issue with Plasticbox's Elsewhere Hood (which is fabulous, by the way). The comments thread for the download is not very active and Plasticbox has not logged on for a while according to the site. My question is also more general, so I hope posting here is okay.

My general query is how do I "force placement" of a lot that was built without roads? I am trying to put it back in exactly the space it came from, so terrain elevation shouldn't be an issue. I work on a Mac and can't use all of Mootilda's fancy tools, so I'm a bit in the dark as to whether this is even fixable.

My "House on Hammerhead Bay" got all messed up once snow tried to settle on the ground. Suddenly "play mode" wasn't visible, but buy, build, story, and save were okay. Once I switched to buy I could switch back to play but the screen stayed looking like buy mode. I could find the pause/play buttons and set things in motion despite not having the right screen. When I'd toggle back to buy mode the screen would now reflect the changes in actions of the characters that had been invisible. My first question is has anybody ever encountered this with snow on this lot?

From the hood screen I moved the family out and then back in. The problem persisted. I moved them to a new home and deleted House on Hammerhead. This is not happening on any other lot in the Hood or with this family in their new lot, fyi. I still love the lot though and wanted a replacement. I downloaded from someone's livejournal a combo (megahood) of all 3 of Plasticbox's hoods. I went to Elsewhere in the combo hood and moved a brand new (never occupied) House on Hamerhead Bay into the lots and houses bin. I was unable to replace it where it had just come from on the map. I am also unable to place it in my other (stand alone) Elsewhere. I almost certain it has to do with the fact there is not road on this lot.

So does anybody have an in-game way to force placement of special lots such as these?
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Site Helper
#2 Old 22nd May 2012 at 8:06 PM Last edited by Mootilda : 22nd May 2012 at 8:39 PM.
There is no way to place a roadless lot in the game. To do this, you will need SimPE and an original copy of the Elsewhere neighborhood. SimPE should work on the MAC if you use the techniques in this thread:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=366580

Alternatively, you can ask a friend who has Windows to fix this for you. I would be willing to do this if you'd like.

In SimPE, open the original Elsewhere neighborhood and extract the Lot Description and Text List for the lot.
Open the played Elsewhere neighborhood and add the Lot Description and Text List extracted above.
Copy the lot package from the original Elsewhere to the played Elsewhere Lots subfolder.
Voila!

If you'd like me to do this for you, I probably just need your neighborhood package, zipped. Be sure to backup your game and avoid playing until you get the fixed neighborhood back.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#3 Old 22nd May 2012 at 9:05 PM
You have always been so helpful to me. I am very grateful. I was going to PM you about this issue, but then read about why that wasn't okay and thought better of it. I got your last reply before you edited and downloaded and installed the Mono Framework (One of the Mac walkarounds that Plasticbox suggested as able to run your LotAdjuster). I also downloaded your LotAdjuster. From there I could not get your LotAdjuster to run through Mono though. I do wish Plasticbox was still around to help me navigate.

In the meantime you've edited. Thanks for the generous offer to help me fix my mess. If you can get the lot back to how it was, I will never let snow accumulate again! I'll just use a hack to prevent it on that lot because I'm pretty certain that's what borked it (unless that makes no sense to you).

So if I understand right, you need my played Neighbourhood file zipped and sent to you? The said Lot (Hammerhead) now exists only in the "Lots & Houses Bin." Is this a problem? Do you need a clean version of Elsewhere sent to you too? Or can you get it off of here?
Site Helper
#4 Old 22nd May 2012 at 9:28 PM
I can get the lot from my downloaded copy of the Elsewhere neighborhood, which means that I should just need your neighborhood package and nothing else. Is Elsewhere your primary neighborhood, or did you attach it as a subhood?

My only concern with having just the one hood package is that we need to make sure that we have a valid lot number for the new lot. However, if Elsewhere is your primary neighborhood, then I should be able to just reuse the original lot number. Once I have the package, I'll just check with you to make sure that you don't have a lot package with the number that I intend to use.

Of course, you could always attach your entire neighborhood folder (including all subfolders). However, I think that's really overkill for this fairly simple edit.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#5 Old 22nd May 2012 at 9:50 PM
Elsewhere is the main hood, yes. It is renamed "Rocky Point" in my game if that matters. I have not changed the Lot numbers of anything. There is an attached Uni (St. Croix) and Mountain vacation spot (Isle St. Croix).

Okay so my whole hood file (N515) zipped is 169.7 MB. Is there a way to send this to you other than attached here (10 MB limit)? Or what do you actually need from inside it?
Site Helper
#6 Old 22nd May 2012 at 10:17 PM
I knew that the entire neighborhood folder would be huge; that's why I was suggesting that you just give me the one neighborhood package. Specifically, how big is N515_Neighborhood.package, zipped? That should be all that I need to make the change.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#7 Old 22nd May 2012 at 10:27 PM
515 kb! Here you go.
Attached files:
File Type: zip  N515_Neighborhood.package.zip (543.4 KB, 10 downloads) - View custom content
Site Helper
#8 Old 22nd May 2012 at 10:42 PM
The original lot is N515_Lot181.package. Could you just check your Lots subfolder and make sure that you don't already have a package with that name?

Here is the fix. To use it:
1) backup your existing N515, just in case.
2) Replace the N515_Neighborhood.package with the fixed version.
3) Copy Lots\N515_Lot181.package to your Lots subfolder.
4) Run the game and let me know how it goes.

If you already have a lot with that name, let me know a number that I can use instead. Just pick the first lot number which isn't being used.
Attached files:
File Type: zip  N515_Neighborhood_Fixed.zip (712.6 KB, 2 downloads) - View custom content
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#9 Old 23rd May 2012 at 1:16 AM
Mootilda, you're the greatest! Seems to have worked fine. I did not already have a lot with that name/number. I was able to load the hood, enter the lot, make some buy mode additions, and save. I have yet to put my family back in (Captain Saltzman and the baby he found abandoned and named Junior), but I don't anticipate any issues.

I wish there was more I could do to thank you other than just saying it on here. If I knew you IRL then a beer or some lunch would be in order! I really appeciate the time and care you have taken. You're very generous.

One last thing. Is there any reason you could see, given your genius for lots operating as the game was never intended, that this lot might become unstable in a snow situation? Is this something obvious I should understand about how lots are rendered snowy? Or is the glitch a mystery? I think just to be on the safe side I'll avoid snow (weather controller), but do you think I should avoid winter totally on this lot?
Site Helper
#10 Old 23rd May 2012 at 2:31 AM
I'm sorry, I don't believe that I can help you with the snow issue. I honestly hate weather and always have it turned off.

I know that several different people tested the neighborhood before it was released, and at least one of those people had Seasons, but I don't know the details about how the lots were tested with weather.

I'm glad that I could help with the lot. It only took a moment, so no special thanks is necessary.
Site Helper
#11 Old 23rd May 2012 at 4:23 PM
One other thing that I should mention:

Whenever you have problems with one of these special lots that cannot be easily added back to your neighborhood, you may be able to solve the problem by replacing the bad lot package with the original lot package. This is preferable to deleting the lot and then trying to add it back to your neighborhood.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#12 Old 24th May 2012 at 5:03 AM
Good to know, and thank you again for all your help, time, and caring.
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