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Theorist
Original Poster
#1 Old 6th Jun 2020 at 7:28 PM Last edited by topp : 6th Jun 2020 at 7:42 PM.
Default Testers needed for a resurrection tutorial - tombstone behavior - AGS/Base game only
Hello!

This thread is a bit atypical for this forum, because there it isn't about an upload, but rather about a tutorial. I wrote one on resurrecting Sims the manual way. It was written 7 years ago, and since then, I've found better ways of resurrecting Sims. The tutorial is of use only for people who have base game only installed, because by having at least one expansion pack, they can use a CC cheat object to resurrect their Sims faster and easier.

My main concern over the tutorial is how the game would handle tombstones of Sims who have been resurrected. When at least one expansion pack is installed, the game realizes that Sims are resurrected, and displays "Sim has been resurrected on another lot!" message if you load a lot that has a grave of a Sim, but the Sim themselves don't have flags that mark them as dead. I am uncertain what happens if this scenario occurs in just the base game, before the ability to resurrect Sims was supported.

Here are all the steps you have to do. In case you don't understand something, please write back and I'll explain it further.

Things required:
Important note: if you have the Ultimate Collection installed, then I'm afraid you cannot participate in testing. This tutorial is for users who own strictly the base game and no additional packs, or have CD/DVD versions of expansion/stuff packs installed. The AGS for Ultimate Collection cannot properly instantiate an environment with just the base game - any game configuration made with AGS for UC will have at least two games: base game, and Mansion & Garden Stuff.

  1. Setting up an AnyGame

    Note: if you have only the base game installed, and no expansion or stuff packs, go straight to step 2.

    Create an AnyGame with only base game. Create an "empty game" to speed up loading times. If you're having trouble setting up AnyGameStarter, follow this snippet of a larger tutorial made by Mootilda. In step 1B, make sure you select no expansion or stuff packs.

  2. Creating test Sims

    Load the game. Create a neighborhood. Create two households. Name the first household First, and create the following Sims:
    - Annie, female adult
    - Bonnie, female adult

    The second household, Second:
    - Clyde, male adult
    - Darren, male child, Clyde's son

    The Third household:
    - Evan, male adult

  3. Killing Sims

    In neighborhood view, type in the cheat: boolProp testingCheatsEnabled true

    Move the First household to a lot. SHIFT+click on a Sim and select:
    Spawn... > Rodney's Death Creator, and then SHIFT+click again and select:
    Spawn... > Tombstone of Life and Death.

    Select Annie to be the controlled Sim, and use Rodney's Death Creator to kill her by fire. You can tell the two objects apart by paying attention to the order you spawn them and where they appear. If you get them confused, Rodney's object has fewer interactions than the L&D tombstone, and all of the interactions on Rodney's object start with "Die by," or "Death by."

    Once Grim Reaper leaves and her tombstone appears, save lot.

    Move the Second household to another lot. Spawn just Rodney's Death Creator. Kill Darren by fire. Save lot once the ritual is completed, and exit the game.

  4. Clearing ghost flags and tokens

    Open SimPE, click CTRL+O, and navigate to the AnyGame folder:
    C:\Users\[username]\Documents\AnyGameStarter\AnyGame1\

    If you didn't follow step 1 because you only have base game, navigate to:
    C:\Users\[username]\Documents.

    Then, under EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods\Nxxx, open Nxxx_Neighborhood.package. Open the highest numbered Nxxx, because that's the most recently created neighborhood.

    Under Resource tree, select Sim Description (SDSC). Under Resource list, find Annie. In Plugin view, you should see Annie's data and her character portrait. Under remaining days, enter value 5. Then, switch to Other tab above, and under Ghost flags, untick all checkmarks (set no ticks under Is Ghost, all three Can Pass Through, and Ignore Traversal Costs). Commit changes by clicking the button in the upper-right corner of plugin view.

    Repeat this same process with Darren. Don't forget to commit.

    Next, under Resource tree, select Neighborhood/Memory (NGBH), and under Resource list, Neighborhood/Memory. Find Annie and click on her picture. On the right hand-side of plugin view, you'll see a list of her memories, tokens, and any gossip she might know about other Sims. Find the following tokens:
    [invisible] Token - I Am Dead
    [invisible] Token - I Am Dead { }

    Note: it is ok if the Sim only has one of these.

    Right click on the token, and select Cascade Delete Selection. Do it for the other token if they have it. Commit changes.

    Do the same thing with Darren. Commit again.

    Press CTRL+S to save the neighborhood package.

  5. Finishing up resurrection and testing in-game

    Run the game, and load the First household.

    Is the grave still there? If it is, wait for 3 Sim hours. Does the grave disappear within that time?

    Have Bonnie click on the Tombstone of Life & Death and select Add Neighbor To Family. Select Annie from the list. By tutorial, the Sim is now resurrected.

    If the grave hadn't disappeared, does it disappear once Annie was added to the household?

    Save the lot, and exit to neighborhood view. Activate the cheat again:
    boolProp testingCheatsEnabled true

    Move the Third household in to a brand new lot. Purchase a phone. Spawn Tombstone of Life and Death. Click on it, select Add Neighbor To Family, and choose Darren from the list.

    Check Darren's grades. First, is he even enrolled to school? Does he have a C, or an F? Did the Social Worker show up moments after adding Darren to the household?

    Save the lot, and load the Second household.

    Did Darren's grave disappear? If not, does it disappear within 3 Sim hours? If the grave's still there, purchase a phone, and have Clyde call Darren to invite him over. Make sure you're calling after 3 pm, because Darren would be considered to be at school during that time. If, instead, Darren had been taken away by the Social Worker over at the Third household, spawn Tombstone of L&D and add Darren to family. Does the grave disappear immediately or 3 hours within Darren's arrival/move in, or does it not disappear at all?
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