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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 29th Dec 2014 at 7:34 AM
Default Mod Help! How would I go about doing this?
So, I've been working with this since before Christmas, and I really wanted to have it figured out by, but I guess that's not going to work. The mod that I'm trying to create is a 'Santa Claus' mod. The way it works is that you place the Christmas tree (I'm thinking the one from EA since I don't have the skills to create one and I don't want to use someone else's b/c copyright) and it would create an interaction for an NPC to come and place a gift pile from seasons into the home overnight.

For this mod to work I would have to:

- edit the .package file for the tree
- add a custom interaction to the tree
- create a custom NPC
- find a way to make the interaction include a command for the NPC to place the gift pile

I have several questions that I would really like answered.

Is this what I would need to do?
How would I go about creating a custom NPC?
Is there a NPC file that I can bum off of?
Would this mod actually be possible?

I don't know, I just thought it would be pretty awesome. Thanks for any help.

"Forget cigarettes, forget alcohol. Sims is the hardest addiction to break. The thing is, there's no true way to break it." ~Unknown
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Inventor
#2 Old 29th Dec 2014 at 9:26 AM
Hello. Is the Christmas tree you are talking about an object that comes with Seasons EP?

This is an interesting "problem", at the moment I don't have a good solution but I think
a mod like this is definitely possible.

I'm not sure if adding an interaction to the tree is necessary, unless you also want a
selectable sim to be able to act as Santa. The only thing that comes to my mind right
now is to initialize an AlarmHandler when you place the tree, so when the time comes
(midnight of the 24/25 december) it triggers an event that takes care of the gift placing.

Are you thinking about spawning a Santa for each tree or a Santa that visits every
house with a tree (if the town is big can be a problem)?

About the NPC, you could simply create a new homeless sim when the event starts and
destroy him when it's over. Or maybe create a service NPC (like in some douglasveiga's
mods) but I'm no sure how they work (do they age?).
Instructor
#3 Old 29th Dec 2014 at 11:24 AM
http://modthesims.info/m/showthread.php?p=4373491

Hope this helps.
From what you have wrote, it seems you doesn't really have coding skills (sorry to say so, just my guess). That's not a problem, but if you want to succeed in making this package, you'll need to bear in mind some principles:
- Coding things can't work by copy-and-paste.
- There's little to no possibiliy of "referencing" or "bumming off" (so as you say) other's work. In fact, even though DouglasVeiga has made an NPC, his code is still difficult to interpret.

This is probably possible, but you really need to have a clear, and logical mind. And don't expect you'll go on a straight track. The first thing is that it can probably take you up a whole year (so you're actually welcoming the next Christmas lol) or even longer. And the second thing, and probably the most important, is that you can get stuck. It isn't quite like copying a really really really long passage. It's more like composing. And the worst thing is that you just can't slur off here and there. Once a code causes mistakes, the whole thing can suck immediately. Almost everything can stop working.

But don't get frightened by my speech: once you know how to overcome those obstacles, you really find it WONDERFUL. I mean it.

So, be ready. I do mean it. Perhaps I am a bit mean to say so, but it does take time for me to investigate into the matter. In fact, I plan to work on this as well. I can help you with the actual technical stuff and the coding, but that costs my brainpower as well, you know.
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