I installed a semi-global BCON mod. I don't like what it did, so I removed it. But the effects did not go away. Best as I can figure out, a semi-global BCON mod overwrites something and makes a permanent change.

Mod: ExpensiveNPCs from the MATY site.
What it did: Turned my $10 plus $15 an hour nanny into a money-grubbing $50 plus $90 a hour nanny and now my Sim-Mommy can't afford to go to her < $500 a day job.
My SimPE skills: On a range from 0 to 10, I'm somewhere around .5 (yep, 1/2 a point).

Is there any EASY (non-techie) way to revert back to the original, pre-download behavior?
Would installing a backup of my neighborhood prior to expensiveNPCs get rid of the mod's effect?
Is my best bet to uninstall and reinstall my game (Sims 2 Double Deluxe & the expansion packs) and start fresh?

BTW, unlike some MTS members, I'm not heavily invested into my neighborhoods. In fact, I recently wiped out everything and started a custom neighborhood from scratch. I have only two families, both with first generation parents. So, if the answer is delete it all and start all over, I'm OK with that -- except that installing all the discs is time consuming and boring.

Removing a mod should revert the behavior. Did you delete your cache files? Delete that and perhaps the neighbourhood manager. Restart.

You only ever reinstall from your disks if you have somehow corrupted your installation files on C drive or you are moving to a new computer not for other reasons. You can start over with a new hood at anytime, just click new hood. Or you can make a new sims 2 folder, simply rename your old one and run the game.

What Jo said, plus if the services were scheduled, I'd try to fire the nanny and rehire.
Maybe it's like you've signed a contract on certain conditions, and they persist as long as the contract is in effect. Maybe you need to break the arrangement and make a new one. It's a guess though.

I deleted my cache files and the neighborhood manager (never done either before) three times, restarting my Sims and finally my computer after each attempt. It didn't work for this problem but now I know where to find them for future issues that come up.

I ended up deleting my neighborhood and installing the backup version in its place--also a first for me. For some reason, that worked when nothing else did.

I've played Sims 2 on and off for the past six or seven years. It's helped me stay sane after a couple surgeries, a broken leg and an employment layoff. It was only a couple years ago that I discovered custom content. I was instantly in love with all the clothing, hair, decor items and furniture that I could add. Then I discovered gardening mods (SimWardrobes packing stations and gardening controllers), and I thought I was in SimHeaven.

And yet, all these years of playing, I never learned anything about the internal workings of the game. If it got glitchy or I got bored with my neighborhood, I'd uninstall, reinstall and start fresh. Last week, after learning about empty neighborhoods and the ability to clear those ugly Maxis Sims, I took the plunge and cleared almost everything Sim related off my hard drive -- even a few folders of things I wanted to keep. (Oh well, this time I'll be more selective about what I download.) This time, I plan to add things in more slowly, keeping track (as best as possible) of what works, what doesn't, removing things that don't show up properly, etc. I also hope to learn the basics of SimPE. I was thrilled when I found a tutorial that showed me how to change the traits and skills of my newly-created townie Sims. Funny thing, I dropped in the recommended no regerate mods for townies, dormies and pets and still ended up with more than 90 Sim files after a few plays. All I created was 35 CAS-made townies/downtownies and a single playable Sim. Not sure why Maxis thinks I need an additional 60 NPCs. (shrugs)

I have to say that I am completely in awe of the brilliant and wonderfully talented Sims fans who have created mods, clothing, furniture and other custom content for this game!

I never even got that far into the game. Every time I called to hire the nanny, I'd see the info window telling me how much she was going to charge and I'd hit the "never mind" button. :-)

I did read somewhere on MTS that if someone knew what they were doing with SimPE, they could go in and change the dollar amounts the NPCs required. Maybe next year I'll know enough about SimPE to add the mod back in and make the changes because I do like the idea of making the game just a tad more difficult--but I don't want my single moms to lose all their children or starve to death in the process.

Was this a mod that went into your Download folder, it seems very strange that it has changed your games behavior once removed. I am guessing this is an older mod? It pays to read over the thread on mods not in common use and sometimes even then.

Reinstalling when there is nothing wrong in your installation files is like digging a huge hole in your backyard then filling it all back in- a huge waste of time.

Can you link to the mod? Are you sure you removed all the files? Does the game still do this if you remove your entire download folder?

You can change the amounts on the mod itself, I have no idea about the game amounts, but my guess is they are all set to normal.

Have you tried calling on another lot, it might be the lot is borked.

When the Nanny is initialized for the first time the cost values (from the BCON) are saved in the Nanny's semi attributes 0x9 and 0xA. They are then used to calculate the costs for each Nanny session. So if your Sim hires the same Nanny the cost-values remain the same regardless of any changes in the BCON.

I have ExpensiveNPCs and find prices a bit too high as well, so I opened up SimPE and modded the mod. It's pretty easy - all values are clearly labeled and make sense (like 'Nanny', 'Initial Cost', 'Cost per hour') so you know where to click and what numbers to change.

As for your experience, I was the same way myself. When I didn't know how to fix things and didn't even know where to look and who to ask, I'd delete the whole thing and start over. Many times. Once I discovered the forums, I learned to do so much more (and much more efficient), it's like a completely new different game

So did this mod make a permanent change to her game? I'm glad you and a few other modders are still around.

I'm not terribly surprised if the mod did do that, jo. If I recall correctly, MATY also has an anti-Humble mod which permanently removes Rod Humble from your game even if you delete the mod later.

The mod don't change the game - the procedure is normal game behaviour. Saving the cost-values in semi-attributes simplifies the code and make it more efficient. The "old" values only applies to lots/families who already have hired a certain Nanny and want to keep her. All other get the changed/new values. The mod is quite simple as it only changes some constant values and don't do anything with the code.

So on removing the mod her game should have returned to vanilla settings?

Yes but a Nanny that already has got the old settings will keep them.

clsve, thank you for the explanation. At least I know that it was normal game behavior. I kept second guessing myself, wondering if I did this wrong or that wrong.

When I reinstalled the backup neighborhood, I had my Sim call the nanny. A different nanny answered, and she was the $10 plus $15 an hour nanny. It will be interesting to see if the first nanny will cycle through and return later in my game with her costly fee.

That's what I call a permanent change to the game.

Well, for that nanny in that neighbourhood