Tutorial: Blank Templates, or, No More Premade Townies
Joandsarah77 asked me for clarification and details of the method I originally described in this thread for making sure that custom 'hoods don't all have the same townies. It's really, really simple, but I thought a little tutorial might be helpful because it seems that most people don't do things the way I do.
Before we get to the really simple part, though, I want to be sure that everyone understands what I'm talking about and the exact result this method will produce. Yes, it's pretty talky for a little while here.
Definitions
I've never been 100% clear on the differences between clean and empty templates, and I use a third method, so I thought it would be best to describe how I understand and use these terms. If I am way off base, please let me know and I will correct the tutorial!
Templates are what tell your game what each hood looks like. They're what makes sure that every Pleasantview or Bluewater Village is exactly like every other Pleasantview or Bluewater Village when they are first opened.
Clean templates or fixed templates are templates that have all the Maxis everything: lots, sims, houses, hood deco, the whole nine yards. What they do not have is all the corruption and errors that shipped with the game.
Empty templates are templates that have all the Maxis lots and houses and hood deco, but none of the Sims.
Blank templates is my own term for what I used to use in the slightly harder (obsolete) version of my own method. Using these will mean that the Maxis hood/subhood in question does not appear at all. (This does not affect any hoods you have already created. Only new ones.)
Desired effects
Now let's look at the different effect you can get with these different methods.
I want Maxis hoods with sims, lots, hood deco, and everything -- just no corruption, please. You want clean templates. I have heard nothing but good things about Tarlia/meetme2theriver's cleaned templates, and if what you want is Maxis everything with no corruption, I recommend getting her clean templates here.
I want Maxis hoods with lots and hood decorations exactly as they were shipped, but none of those horrible Maxis sims. You want empty templates. There are lots of versions out there. I'm afraid I can't recommend any myself, but Googling and asking around might find you some, or there are tutorials on how to make your own. WARNING: I have heard that if empty templates are made incorrectly, any hood made using those templates will be corrupted and will eventually turn into a BFBVFS. I can neither confirm nor deny this.
If you would like empty templates just for the stealth hoods (for example, E002 or V001), I can recommend Jawusa's empty templates here. See the next bolded section for descriptions of E002 or V001.
I don't care if I have the Maxis hoods or not, I just don't want Goopy Gilscarbo in every single custom hood I make. My "blank template" method might be for you. Read on!
Which template is which?
N001 (Pleasantview) -- this has Goopy Gilscarbo, Komei Tellerman, Sandy Bruty, and the rest of the usual suspects.
U001, U002, and U003 (Sim State, Academie La Tour, and La Fiesta Tech, but I'm not sure which is which) -- this has dormies, professors, mascots, bin sims, and cooks, one set per template.
B001 (Bluewater Village) -- this has Malcom Landgraab, Florence Delarosa, and the rest of the Bluewater Village crew, as well as bin sims.
D001 (Downtown) -- this has downtownies, Grand Vampires, Mr. Big, the Diva, and Slobs, as well as bin sims. The game will automatically make any special sims as they are needed, even if you take this out, so you will still have a Grand Vampire, just not the same one you always get.
P001 (Pets) -- this contains bin sims and strays.
G002 (Seasons) -- this contains Garden Club sims and bin sims. The game will make automatically make Garden Club sims as they are needed, so you will still be able to earn a wishing well, but you will have different people come to inspect your garden before awarding it.
A001 (Takemizu Village from Bon Voyage) -- this has the Wise Old Man. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have him in a custom hood.
M001 (Three Lakes from Bon Voyage) -- this has Bigfoot. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have him in a custom hood.
T001 (Twikki Island from Bon Voyage) -- this has the Witch Doctor. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have him in a custom hood.
V001 (Bon Voyage tourists and Sim Bin sims not tied to a particular place).
F002 (Free Time) -- this has the hobby lots and hobby leaders. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have them in a custom hood.
E002 (Apartment Life) -- this has the witches, social groups, and witch lots. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have them in a custom hood.
Where do I find these templates?
It will be a little different depending on what operating system you use. I use Windows 7 (64-bit), and my path to Bluewater Village is here:
C drive > Program Files (x86) folder > EA GAMES folder > The Sims 2 Open For Business folder > TS Data folder > Res folder > Neighborhood Template folder > B001 folder > B001_Neighborhood.package file
For Seasons, you'd go to C drive > Program Files (x86) folder > EA GAMES folder > The Sims 2 Seasons folder > TS Data folder > Res folder > Neighborhood Template folder > G002 folder > G002_Neighborhood.package file. For Bon Voyage, you'd go to C drive > Program Files (x86) folder > EA GAMES folder > The Sims 2 Bon Voyage folder > TS Data folder > Res folder > Neighborhood Template folder > V001 folder > V001_Neighborhood.package file. And so on.
To find out the number of the template you're looking for, use the list above.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There does not appear to be a template for Pleasantview in the logical spot. To stop Pleasantview townies from generating, I use the method described here. To disable N001, you go to: C drive > Program Files (x86) folder > EA GAMES folder > The Sims 2 folder > TS Data folder > Res folder > Neighborhood Template folder > N001 folder. You will still get Pleasantview if you boot the game once before you rename the folder, but the Pleasantview townies will not show up in any 'hood you make after you rename the folder. If you delete Pleasantview, there is not a way that I am aware of to get it back using that EA Games folder, but if you generate a new EA Games folder (perhaps by renaming your old one), then Pleasantview will be back in all its soap-opera glory.
The method
The way my method works is by completely removing the template that the game uses to create sims/lots/hoods with hood deco. Here is how you do it.
1. Back up your current game. (Generally good practice whenever you're fiddling around with anything.)
2. Make a new folder somewhere that's not your EA Games folder. (Mine is on the desktop, but you can put yours anywhere you'd like.)
3. Find the template you want to remove.
4. Move that template to the new folder you made.
5. Create a new hood and enjoy the lack of Maxis sims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this method dangerous?
I've never had any problems with it, and Mootilda (who was an expert on corruption) found no potential danger in it, so it's probably pretty safe. However, I can't 100% guarantee anything, which is why Step 1 is "Back up your current game." You can see Mootilda's comments on my method in this thread on MTS.
Will this mess up hoods I've already created?
No. The game only looks for these templates the very first time you make a hood/add a subhood, so anything that's already up and running will be unchanged.
Can I get the original templates back if I don't like not having them/decide I want something back/change my mind?
Sure. You just moved them to a different folder. Put them back where they belong, and everything will return to normal when you make a new hood. However, any hood you make using my method will still have no Maxis townies.
Do I have to remove all the templates?
Nope. You can remove all of them, remove one of them, or remove some but leave others alone. Personally, I have removed N001, U001, U002, U003, B001, P001, G001, and V001. Everything else I left right where it was.
Does this mean that I won't have any NPCs?
No. The game will make NPCs as needed. They just won't be the same ones you always get.
What happens when you attach a downtown/Uni/shopping district?
When I make a hood using my method and attach a downtown, nothing in particular happens. If I want townies and downtownies, I have to use the townie gun that came with the game to create them, but I don't get Goopy Gilscarbo and the Tricou kids -- I get different, random sims.
If I attach a Uni, I get two professors per major, but no dormies until I have a dorm I need to fill. (Cyjon's "There Can Be Only One (Professor)" will give me one professor per major.) I can also force creation of dormies using the townie gun if I want to. Both the professors and the dormies will be different than the standard ones.
If I attach a shopping district, nothing in particular happens because there are no sims that are restricted to a shopping district. Any townies I generate will show up in the shopping district the same as in the main 'hood.
If I replace all the vacation 'hoods, the Maxis destinations are not available to attach to any new 'hoods -- no Three Lakes, no Twikki Island, no Takemizu Village. I could build my own and populate them using the townie gun, but the secret lots (the Witch Doctor, Wise Old Man, and Bigfoot) would not work. There is a terribly complicated way to force them to work again, but I usually leave those three subhoods alone. However, the Travellers and other vacationers are in a different template which I can and do replace with my own version.
Pets has an "invisible" subhood, and if you replace it, you will not get the bin sims -- but you will also not get any stray animals. You can force create some with the townie gun, and they might be different than the usual ones. (I have never done a careful analysis of the strays.)
Free Time has an "invisible" subhood, and if you replace it, you will have no hobby lots and no hobby leaders. I have left that alone, since I'm not sick of them yet. It does mean that I am stuck with the Sim Bin sims that came with FT. There may be a complicated way to force creation of different lots/hobby leaders, but I don't know what it is.
Apartment Life has an "invisible" subhood, and if you replace it, you will not have Grand Witches, the social groups (Gearheads, Jocks, etc.), or the witch lots. I have left that alone, since I'm not sick of them yet. It does mean that I am stuck with the Sim Bin sims that came with AL. There may be a complicated way to force creation of different lots/witches/social groups, but I don't know what it is.
What happens if you have a custom template in, perhaps Mootilda's Brainania University? Will I get dormies then? Will they be the same ones?
I have never played with custom templates like Brainania University, but I would guess that you will get whatver the template has. If the template was created with dormies, then you will probably get the dormies it was made with. If the template was made without dormies, then the game will generate some as necessary, and they won't be the same Maxis ones you always get.
What is the harder version of your method?
It goes like this:
1. Copy the original template (For example, B001_Neighborhood)
2. Open the copy in your favorite Notepad-type program
3. Highlight all the gibberish you see
4. Delete it
5. Save the copy of the template with the same name as the original template, but in a different spot (I used a folder on my desktop)
6. Move the original template somewhere safe (I used a different folder on my desktop)
7. Take your completely blank copy of the template and put it where the original was
8. Create a new hood and enjoy the lack of Maxis sims
As you can see, it has extra steps that aren't necessary at all. Just removing the template will have the same effect. But you can do this if you want to.
Please let me know if you have questions or if something is not clear, and I will do my best to fix it!
Before we get to the really simple part, though, I want to be sure that everyone understands what I'm talking about and the exact result this method will produce. Yes, it's pretty talky for a little while here.
Definitions
I've never been 100% clear on the differences between clean and empty templates, and I use a third method, so I thought it would be best to describe how I understand and use these terms. If I am way off base, please let me know and I will correct the tutorial!
Templates are what tell your game what each hood looks like. They're what makes sure that every Pleasantview or Bluewater Village is exactly like every other Pleasantview or Bluewater Village when they are first opened.
Clean templates or fixed templates are templates that have all the Maxis everything: lots, sims, houses, hood deco, the whole nine yards. What they do not have is all the corruption and errors that shipped with the game.
Empty templates are templates that have all the Maxis lots and houses and hood deco, but none of the Sims.
Blank templates is my own term for what I used to use in the slightly harder (obsolete) version of my own method. Using these will mean that the Maxis hood/subhood in question does not appear at all. (This does not affect any hoods you have already created. Only new ones.)
Desired effects
Now let's look at the different effect you can get with these different methods.
I want Maxis hoods with sims, lots, hood deco, and everything -- just no corruption, please. You want clean templates. I have heard nothing but good things about Tarlia/meetme2theriver's cleaned templates, and if what you want is Maxis everything with no corruption, I recommend getting her clean templates here.
I want Maxis hoods with lots and hood decorations exactly as they were shipped, but none of those horrible Maxis sims. You want empty templates. There are lots of versions out there. I'm afraid I can't recommend any myself, but Googling and asking around might find you some, or there are tutorials on how to make your own. WARNING: I have heard that if empty templates are made incorrectly, any hood made using those templates will be corrupted and will eventually turn into a BFBVFS. I can neither confirm nor deny this.
If you would like empty templates just for the stealth hoods (for example, E002 or V001), I can recommend Jawusa's empty templates here. See the next bolded section for descriptions of E002 or V001.
I don't care if I have the Maxis hoods or not, I just don't want Goopy Gilscarbo in every single custom hood I make. My "blank template" method might be for you. Read on!
Which template is which?
N001 (Pleasantview) -- this has Goopy Gilscarbo, Komei Tellerman, Sandy Bruty, and the rest of the usual suspects.
U001, U002, and U003 (Sim State, Academie La Tour, and La Fiesta Tech, but I'm not sure which is which) -- this has dormies, professors, mascots, bin sims, and cooks, one set per template.
B001 (Bluewater Village) -- this has Malcom Landgraab, Florence Delarosa, and the rest of the Bluewater Village crew, as well as bin sims.
D001 (Downtown) -- this has downtownies, Grand Vampires, Mr. Big, the Diva, and Slobs, as well as bin sims. The game will automatically make any special sims as they are needed, even if you take this out, so you will still have a Grand Vampire, just not the same one you always get.
P001 (Pets) -- this contains bin sims and strays.
G002 (Seasons) -- this contains Garden Club sims and bin sims. The game will make automatically make Garden Club sims as they are needed, so you will still be able to earn a wishing well, but you will have different people come to inspect your garden before awarding it.
A001 (Takemizu Village from Bon Voyage) -- this has the Wise Old Man. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have him in a custom hood.
M001 (Three Lakes from Bon Voyage) -- this has Bigfoot. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have him in a custom hood.
T001 (Twikki Island from Bon Voyage) -- this has the Witch Doctor. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have him in a custom hood.
V001 (Bon Voyage tourists and Sim Bin sims not tied to a particular place).
F002 (Free Time) -- this has the hobby lots and hobby leaders. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have them in a custom hood.
E002 (Apartment Life) -- this has the witches, social groups, and witch lots. Remove this template, and it is very complicated (if not impossible) to have them in a custom hood.
Where do I find these templates?
It will be a little different depending on what operating system you use. I use Windows 7 (64-bit), and my path to Bluewater Village is here:
C drive > Program Files (x86) folder > EA GAMES folder > The Sims 2 Open For Business folder > TS Data folder > Res folder > Neighborhood Template folder > B001 folder > B001_Neighborhood.package file
For Seasons, you'd go to C drive > Program Files (x86) folder > EA GAMES folder > The Sims 2 Seasons folder > TS Data folder > Res folder > Neighborhood Template folder > G002 folder > G002_Neighborhood.package file. For Bon Voyage, you'd go to C drive > Program Files (x86) folder > EA GAMES folder > The Sims 2 Bon Voyage folder > TS Data folder > Res folder > Neighborhood Template folder > V001 folder > V001_Neighborhood.package file. And so on.
To find out the number of the template you're looking for, use the list above.
IMPORTANT NOTE: There does not appear to be a template for Pleasantview in the logical spot. To stop Pleasantview townies from generating, I use the method described here. To disable N001, you go to: C drive > Program Files (x86) folder > EA GAMES folder > The Sims 2 folder > TS Data folder > Res folder > Neighborhood Template folder > N001 folder. You will still get Pleasantview if you boot the game once before you rename the folder, but the Pleasantview townies will not show up in any 'hood you make after you rename the folder. If you delete Pleasantview, there is not a way that I am aware of to get it back using that EA Games folder, but if you generate a new EA Games folder (perhaps by renaming your old one), then Pleasantview will be back in all its soap-opera glory.
The method
The way my method works is by completely removing the template that the game uses to create sims/lots/hoods with hood deco. Here is how you do it.
1. Back up your current game. (Generally good practice whenever you're fiddling around with anything.)
2. Make a new folder somewhere that's not your EA Games folder. (Mine is on the desktop, but you can put yours anywhere you'd like.)
3. Find the template you want to remove.
4. Move that template to the new folder you made.
5. Create a new hood and enjoy the lack of Maxis sims.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this method dangerous?
I've never had any problems with it, and Mootilda (who was an expert on corruption) found no potential danger in it, so it's probably pretty safe. However, I can't 100% guarantee anything, which is why Step 1 is "Back up your current game." You can see Mootilda's comments on my method in this thread on MTS.
Will this mess up hoods I've already created?
No. The game only looks for these templates the very first time you make a hood/add a subhood, so anything that's already up and running will be unchanged.
Can I get the original templates back if I don't like not having them/decide I want something back/change my mind?
Sure. You just moved them to a different folder. Put them back where they belong, and everything will return to normal when you make a new hood. However, any hood you make using my method will still have no Maxis townies.
Do I have to remove all the templates?
Nope. You can remove all of them, remove one of them, or remove some but leave others alone. Personally, I have removed N001, U001, U002, U003, B001, P001, G001, and V001. Everything else I left right where it was.
Does this mean that I won't have any NPCs?
No. The game will make NPCs as needed. They just won't be the same ones you always get.
What happens when you attach a downtown/Uni/shopping district?
When I make a hood using my method and attach a downtown, nothing in particular happens. If I want townies and downtownies, I have to use the townie gun that came with the game to create them, but I don't get Goopy Gilscarbo and the Tricou kids -- I get different, random sims.
If I attach a Uni, I get two professors per major, but no dormies until I have a dorm I need to fill. (Cyjon's "There Can Be Only One (Professor)" will give me one professor per major.) I can also force creation of dormies using the townie gun if I want to. Both the professors and the dormies will be different than the standard ones.
If I attach a shopping district, nothing in particular happens because there are no sims that are restricted to a shopping district. Any townies I generate will show up in the shopping district the same as in the main 'hood.
If I replace all the vacation 'hoods, the Maxis destinations are not available to attach to any new 'hoods -- no Three Lakes, no Twikki Island, no Takemizu Village. I could build my own and populate them using the townie gun, but the secret lots (the Witch Doctor, Wise Old Man, and Bigfoot) would not work. There is a terribly complicated way to force them to work again, but I usually leave those three subhoods alone. However, the Travellers and other vacationers are in a different template which I can and do replace with my own version.
Pets has an "invisible" subhood, and if you replace it, you will not get the bin sims -- but you will also not get any stray animals. You can force create some with the townie gun, and they might be different than the usual ones. (I have never done a careful analysis of the strays.)
Free Time has an "invisible" subhood, and if you replace it, you will have no hobby lots and no hobby leaders. I have left that alone, since I'm not sick of them yet. It does mean that I am stuck with the Sim Bin sims that came with FT. There may be a complicated way to force creation of different lots/hobby leaders, but I don't know what it is.
Apartment Life has an "invisible" subhood, and if you replace it, you will not have Grand Witches, the social groups (Gearheads, Jocks, etc.), or the witch lots. I have left that alone, since I'm not sick of them yet. It does mean that I am stuck with the Sim Bin sims that came with AL. There may be a complicated way to force creation of different lots/witches/social groups, but I don't know what it is.
What happens if you have a custom template in, perhaps Mootilda's Brainania University? Will I get dormies then? Will they be the same ones?
I have never played with custom templates like Brainania University, but I would guess that you will get whatver the template has. If the template was created with dormies, then you will probably get the dormies it was made with. If the template was made without dormies, then the game will generate some as necessary, and they won't be the same Maxis ones you always get.
What is the harder version of your method?
It goes like this:
1. Copy the original template (For example, B001_Neighborhood)
2. Open the copy in your favorite Notepad-type program
3. Highlight all the gibberish you see
4. Delete it
5. Save the copy of the template with the same name as the original template, but in a different spot (I used a folder on my desktop)
6. Move the original template somewhere safe (I used a different folder on my desktop)
7. Take your completely blank copy of the template and put it where the original was
8. Create a new hood and enjoy the lack of Maxis sims
As you can see, it has extra steps that aren't necessary at all. Just removing the template will have the same effect. But you can do this if you want to.
Please let me know if you have questions or if something is not clear, and I will do my best to fix it!