Use a summoner to get the prospective employee there, perform enough positive interactions between your business owner and the prospective employee to get the prospective employee to accept a job. The AL greetings work really well for this as they're always positive and never rejected.

This is how I always get Gilbert Jacquet to hire the usual troubled uberhood teens he helps out under the guise of employment at his bakery.

I use hire more employees http://www.insimenator.org/index.php?topic=7472.0 Then I think the whole neighbourhood will show up on the selecting window.

Hood-building question...I keep getting a few character files in my completely sim-free hoods. They appear to be NPCs, and I saw somewhere that these can be generated by the game in the instant of saving a lot from build mode. Even though this hood has never been in live mode, and there are no sims at all.

The question is, can I get rid of them safely?

To date, my method has been to check for them periodically, and if any have appeared, it means I have to ditch that version of the hood and restart from a fresh map. I can plop a finished lot in from the catalog without issue, so once the lot is completely finalized,that's okay. But it would be nice not to have to set everything up again, especially as in the current hood I am working on, I have to re-mould the terrain every time, as placing lots in some spots plays havoc with the slope of the roads.

I do not see this option in the computer. How exactly do you do this?

I've never seen a job add, sounds like a mod.

It's not a mod - it never uses the phrase job ad, but that's how I've understood what's happening. The option is found by clicking a phone/computer/the active sim if they have a cellphone and selecting Business > Hire Employees > For This Lot (if at the business) or Business > Hire Employees > For A Community Lot Business (if trying to hire employees for a community lot business while at home).

Oh that, I call that 'hire employees' that's why I suggested the Squinge mod above.

@suzymarie64, also get Squinge's More Employees For Hire: http://www.insimenator.org/showthre...=employees+hire. The one Jo linked to above (Hire More Employees) lets you hire more than 8 sims per business. More Employees for Hire is the one that lists everyone in the hire employees window. I use both in my my game.

Make a backup every time you make changes in your hood. Then if something goes wrong, you'll never have to set everything up again, just restore the backup and redo only what you did in that session.

Grim, the PT, the mechanical car, etc., are always in your hood because your hood exists in the game and these sims are part of the game files. You'll never make a neighborhood if you try to make it without them. They do not, however, appear in your Characters folder, only in SimPE (and possibly other editing tools).

If you're building community lots with items that generate NPCs, such as bars, coffee stands, and chef stoves, the game will sometimes generate them when you open them in build mode. Usually you can see them. If you leave your Characters file for the neighborhood open in another tab, you can double-check by opening the lot and then checking the Characters folder, either by tabbing over or by building in Windowed mode with the windows positioned so that you can see if a character file is generated. If a file appears, close the lot without saving. The character file should disappear. Some OS's on some machines don't update the view reliably, but you can fix that by switching to another folder and then getting right back into the characters folder, which should update it. As long as it remains empty, you're cool.

And always remember the first rule of simming: Back Up Your hoods!

I wonder if there's an easier way, though, cuz I see a few simmers trying to build empty hoods mention this problem every now and then.

First, could Hood Replacer be used, so simmers don't have to keep recreating their hood from scratch? I don't have/use the program, so idk for sure.

Next, maybe @aelflaed, you should be building in a dummy hood--it could be the exact same layout as your final hood, if that helps. But just have two copies, one for building and one for (eventually) playing. That way you can build without fear and just let the game do it's thing. Then when you are done with a building, make a copy, clean it of sim references, and put it down in the final hood.

...That should allow you to build without creating new characters, right? Maybe you should even wait to place buildings in the final hood until after you have created your npcs & service sims. That way you know the game doesn't need to generate any.

I use Christianlov's "Easy Computer" for that. Unfortunately, this bypasses Pescado's nolamehires mod, so it will list ALL available sims in the neighborhood (playables, vacation locals, hobby leaders, etc.). I don't think there's anything wrong with hiring those sims, I just don't think they should be on the list of available hires. I don't think I've ever seen it list any NPCs so you won't have to worry about accidentally hiring the grim reaper or Mrs. Crumplebottom.

http://www.modthesims.info/d/289244...ter-080629.html

I do build in a dummy hood, as Phantomknight suggests, but things get muddled at times anyway. And I do make frequent backups, which saves me sometimes, if I notice the new files fast enough..

I can try Peni Griffin's approach to see immediately when NPC files are created. I thought it happened when saving, so, AFTER I've worked on the lot. Peni, you believe it happens on opening the lot? That would make a difference. I build in windowed mode anyway, so could easily have the characters folder open.

HoodReplace is useful in getting the hood deco transferred (thank goodness - so many tiny trees!), but I still have to place the lots again, which messes up the road tweaking. Hoodreplace does not transfer the lots, for me, although it looks like it should. Maybe I am doing it wrong.

Sounds like there isn't a tool to clean out those character files, though, so onwards we go! Thanks for your suggestions.

Accidentally? The only scenario that comes to mind is if your cat suddenly jump onto your keyboard, select that NPC with one paw, and click OK with another...and you went to get coffee.

There's a number of programs that can lockdown the keyboard in case of a cat that likes to jump on keyboard or somebody who likes to type random gibberish while sleepwalking. I use Anti-Shaya. Or just alt-tab out of the window before walking away.

Oh I just move my keyboard upright and put my pencil holder against it. My cats have yet to learn how to type like that...I am getting good though.

A silly question, is there a fish net in the game? I need the mesh...

There's a fishnet stocking...:P

hehehe yeah, I know. But I think i am getting there in MilkShape now.

Think I'll post this here as it's bothersome... but not necessarily a game- breaker :
In my (re-booted and lesser Character Files) Strangetown... this error message occasionally pops up at some lots I'd downloaded :
" Object Error --- An error occurred in object "Controller Climate" # 229, Error: Too many iterations. The Stack Trace is saved in "C:/Users/Owner. owner-PC/Documents/EA Games/The sims 2/Logs/object Error_N002t5.txt"

Is this a problem or should I ignore it ?
The last time I placed a playable in his new lot... this message appeared, and I couldn't get rid of it until I selected "delete". I try to choose "reset". But it didn't work this time.

This is a lot I am loving ... from "Garden of Shadows".
It comes with a car I haven't seen before, and this car doesn't show up in my driveable vehicle section; but I figured ...why not let my sim use it ?

Does the left or right tower look better? (Obviously neither is finished, but I want matching towers, and I'm torn between these two)

"Agree" for Left, "Love" for Right.

Sadie seems to be pregnant until I use her biologic clock. When I was done playing her rotation, she was 90 days pregnant. The time before that, I decided it was enough at 111 days. besides that, the pregnance goes on normally. They are about to move as I must build them a bigger house. Do you think moving them to a new lot will help? or maybe someone knows what is happening.
The only new mods added to my game are :
-MTS_Lord_Darcy_912492_Targas_SupaFridge-LargerCapacity-FT
-MTS_[Black_Spirit]_792188_LBFMoreGenieLamp100

Many of us have Targas fridge, I've used it for years. I have not used or heard of the Genie lamp mod so I would be more inclined to look at that. Before that though I would move her to another lot as often that is all a pregnant sim needs to be reset.

@Zarathustra - I see two lots

HELL no! Haha, I've wanted to do a cathedral lot for a long time, and have been working and tweaking at this one for years now... I'm usually interested in form over function with most of my lots, but with this one I'm taking it up to eleven (I mean, I just spent close to $100,000 on those little stone floor and ceiling moldings, which hardly anyone ever bothers to use AT ALL!), so I can guarantee I won't have the patience to make two of them!

No blasphemy in the cathedral!

I am downloading either - or both