Chatterbox French Pets Having Human Children?!

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theapoo
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Post by theapoo » December 14th, 2017, 6:23 am

^Btw I understand if nobody wants to read all of this because it is extremely long. But I wanted to be detailed and thorough because the different issues across the different files gets very confusing otherwise (I got very confused several times doing all this testing).

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igazor
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Post by igazor » December 14th, 2017, 9:36 am

Okay phew, I'm going to need a nap after getting through all of that. :)

1 - Your explanation is not too long or detailed. It's just what we need to hear (read) to be able to assist in any way that we can.

2 - Sorry, but your methodology is still a little flawed. Now I am even more certain that the TravelDB is the source of the problem only not exactly the way each time in which we thought before. We can indeed insert nhd files from one game save into another game save that has never had the world in question in play before. We cannot replace existing nhd files in an ongoing save with that of another for precisely the reason you have discovered. There is then no way to merge the two TravelDB files properly, the one you already have plus the one where the incoming replacement nhd files was from.

Again, if you could, think in terms of database elements. The TravelDB dictates that, for example, sim number 106 (I'm simplifying this) is some kid's parent. In an original untouched game, sim number 106 is actually the sim's father. If you replace the nhd but keep the TravelDB in play, then sim number 106 might randomly be a dog. Or a baby across town. Or a Bonehilda or someone/something else entirely. But the TravelDB still says, for purposes of the family tree, that no, the parent has to be number 106 even though whoever or whatever it is at the end of that pointer is now someone or something completely different.

The reason you are getting some elements of randomness is that when you arrive in a foreign world after not having been there a while, not only are changes that are pending in the TravelDB resolved, or attempted to be resolved, but some elements of progression will be forced upon the world in which you are arriving to make it look like some time has passed. I believe the game itself does this even when Traveler is not managing the process. And those elements of progression are somewhat random in that they won't always be the same each time even if you keep replaying the same game session. If the sims being called upon to suddenly have produced offspring turn out to be...uh, not human after all, then yes I can see this being a source of the blacked out appearances because it would then, in those cases, be impossible for genetics to transfer and blend properly.

3 - And, after all that, the conclusion that your corruption is really localized to a household here and there but not so much spread throughout your entire game does sound very plausible.

But I still do not think there is any solution for repeatedly swapping out existing foreign world nhds with other existing foreign world nhds since the TravelDB (removed or intact) will not contain data element changes that make sense in their new context any longer.

theapoo
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Post by theapoo » December 14th, 2017, 12:40 pm

Thank you Igazor!!! I didn't know I had written so much until I posted it and then I was shocked that I had written an essay. I don't blame you, I needed naps after writing the whole thing and in between hours of testing/staring at the screen trying to figure out what is going on. And potato chips. Lots of chips.

So it sounds like my swapping existing NHD files of the same foreign world has corrupted the TravelDB file, which has caused the black Sims and messed up family trees. Your explanation of how the TravelDB is corrupted makes sense. And the randomness makes sense. If you don't mind, I have some followup questions:

1. Why is it that sometimes the affected Sims didn't exist at all? They just disappeared?

2. So I can avoid the corruption if I just play one France/China/Egypt/Sims University at a time (because the townies get pregnant in all my subhoods). Could I, for example, play a French world with one particular household until they die or until I am finished playing France with them, then delete the nhd file and start a fresh France with a different household in the same save? So in that case I would have one existing France at a time within one save. Would that cause corruption?

-- I guess the main question is, what happens to the data pointers in TravelDB if the sims they were pointing to cease to exist??

3. So I did some research and apparently there is an Unlimited Adventures mod which lets people play tomb adventures over and over. And then people can reset tombs to their original unopened state by going into edit town and replacing the tomb lots. I would like to replay both the adventures AND the tombs. If my sim got the same tomb adventure again, but the original tomb lot connected to that adventure has been replaced, wouldn't replacing the tomb lot disconnect the lot from its corresponding adventure? I don't know if that makes sense.

4. Would the corruption problem be solved if I swapped the .nhd files like I normally do BUT I disallow the townies from having babies and getting pets? After all, I'm not there for them, I'm only there for the skills, collectibles, and adventures. In that case, would the TravelDB be pointing to the same generic townies that are in every hood, regardless of which France file in active?

Thanks again and enjoy your nap!

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igazor
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Post by igazor » December 14th, 2017, 1:11 pm

1 - Just guessing, but after a certain point it seems to me that the sim would be too corrupt to exist and ErrorTrap would have to say something like that's enough, you're not even really a sim anymore.

2 - "Starting a fresh France" sounds very different all of a sudden than moving in an already progressed, to some extent, France from another save as before. Seems to me, subject to correction from Chain I suppose, that allowing a whole new instance of France to spawn should be fine if that's what you want to work with.

3 - Just looked for it, this is Shimrod's mod? Not really familiar with it and am not actually experienced enough with starting adventures over to be able to say but sounds like it would be worth a try to see what happens. At the very least, that kind of manipulation doesn't sound like it would be prone to spawn cathumandogbonehilda babies. :)

4 - This I can't say for sure, but it sounds awfully risky and reminiscent of where we were just before. Maybe Chain or one of the others could weigh in here?

5 - ZZzzzz...

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Post by theapoo » December 14th, 2017, 5:11 pm

I'm not going to keep swapping .nhd files. While this level of corruption is tolerable for me, it is always better to have as little corruption as possible. So I think I will resort to just having one active .nhd file per foreign world in an ongoing save game. I have one family in France right now. I think that once they come home, I'll set aside their .nhd file and just stick with the other one until I'm done with it....but the current family just bought a really nice house! And started a nice garden! *sigh*ifonlyididn'tlovethisgamesomuch*cough*

Yes, it's Shimrod's.

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igazor
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Post by igazor » December 14th, 2017, 6:44 pm

I guess one of the reasons I never faced this decision in my own long-running game is that while some of my sims were adventuring in the WA worlds (not that I'm a hearty tomb player, back in the beginning I found much of the tombs and opp portions of play to be a bit boring but I know that's just me), one of my sims chose a different set of "adventures" instead and has around 20 illegitimate children in these worlds. Mostly in France. Of course I can't ever remove or futz around with that nhd file or all of those "kids," some of whom should be demanding to go to Uni soon and/or having kids of their own, will disappear. Maybe we should put this unusual...uhh style of play (?) into an FAQ or something. :D

Anyway, glad we seem to have resolution here and at least nailed down what seems to have been the cause of the strange looking issue.

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Post by theapoo » December 15th, 2017, 12:30 pm

@ Igazor: 20?! Oui, oui...LOLOLOLLOL

@ Chain: Could you please offer your perspective on what I'm planning on doing here? Just having one .nhd file per foreign world at a time in the same save?

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