Is there any way to change some Dream Pod settings?

No one knows everything this mod can do. Did you know you can tune the size of your sims nostrils with this mod? I'm kidding.
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Kassinora
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Is there any way to change some Dream Pod settings?

Post by Kassinora » February 27th, 2019, 6:59 pm

I just recently started playing with Into the Future expansion pack and like the features of dream pod in general. However, some dream options seem a little overpowered to me, like "dream about a happy life" or "dream about waking up". Is there a way to disable these options from the list of dreams?

I first tried looking at the settings on dream pod itself, but I can only modify whether sims are allowed to "dream" at all. Then I considered changing the level of advanced technology skill required for certain dreams, thinking if I set, say, level 11 required to dream, then no one will be able to reach that level, thus eliminating the possibility to dream. I remember seeing such settings for witch spells, but didn't find any for advanced technology. There is also no setting related in the "skill" section.

So is there such a function at all to edit the list (whether using Retuner or other mods)? I would really love to know.

Also, this is a question not related to the title but somewhat related to Retuner too so I thought I'd add it here: I started using GoHere and love the routing convenience, but I'm not used to using the new interactions like "Go Here And..." and "Go Jogging". I've been able to disable most of the other options from showing using Retuner (set "Allow User Directed" to False), but cannot disable the aforementioned two options. Is there any way I can do it using Retuner or GoHere itself?

TLDR: Can I edit the dream pod dream list? Can I disable options from GoHere Mod "Go Jogging" and "Go Here And..." from showing?

Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

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TreyNutz
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Is there any way to change some Dream Pod settings?

Post by TreyNutz » March 2nd, 2019, 9:36 pm

As far as I can tell, the list of dream pod dreams isn't reachable by Retuner. You'd need to make your own tuning mod of the DreamPodDreams xml to remove specific dreams from the list. Making a tuning mod isn't that hard, but there is a learning curve. You'll need S3PE and I recommend Notepad++ to automatically color code the xml file to make things easier to find. I started with this tutorial.

If you go this route, to hide specific dreams you could try a number of things: change the required AT skill level (your suggestion to change it to 11 might work), change the ages allow to maybe restrict those dreams to elders or children, or restrict those dreams to a specific trait you never use.

I don't know if it's possible to hide those 2 GoHere interactions. I've learned to ignore them.

Kassinora
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Is there any way to change some Dream Pod settings?

Post by Kassinora » March 3rd, 2019, 8:01 am

Thank you so much TreyNutz! I went through the tutorial and found it very helpful. The tuning files function much like Retuner fields.

Changing the skill requirement to level 11 crashed my game, so I guess the setting requires the level to be not greater than 10. So I changed the "AgeSpeciesAvailability" field to allow toddlers only (since they don't use dream pods anyway) to disable "Dream about Waking Up", and I edited the "lifetime happiness earned" to 0 for the three outcomes from "Dream about A Happy Life". It worked out fine.

Now that I've learned a little about this traditional method of tuning, I was wondering about whether I should put more of my preferred tuning into these .package files. My game lags for about 30 seconds after I load the game probably because of Retuner. Will this lag be shorter if I store more of the settings in other .package files and just alter a few fields through Retuner? Does this approach help the game's stability or speed in any way?

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Sarah_Sims
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Is there any way to change some Dream Pod settings?

Post by Sarah_Sims » March 3rd, 2019, 8:18 am

Kassinora wrote:
March 3rd, 2019, 8:01 am
Now that I've learned a little about this traditional method of tuning, I was wondering about whether I should put more of my preferred tuning into these .package files. My game lags for about 30 seconds after I load the game probably because of Retuner. Will this lag be shorter if I store more of the settings in other .package files and just alter a few fields through Retuner? Does this approach help the game's stability or speed in any way?

We have a Retuner FAQ to answer this. :-) You can read it here: What are the advantages and disadvantages of tuning using this mod?

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TreyNutz
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Is there any way to change some Dream Pod settings?

Post by TreyNutz » March 3rd, 2019, 12:42 pm

Kassinora wrote:
March 3rd, 2019, 8:01 am
Now that I've learned a little about this traditional method of tuning, I was wondering about whether I should put more of my preferred tuning into these .package files. My game lags for about 30 seconds after I load the game probably because of Retuner. Will this lag be shorter if I store more of the settings in other .package files and just alter a few fields through Retuner? Does this approach help the game's stability or speed in any way?
I use a mix of package tuning mods and Retuner. I don't think there is a stability difference. About the 10-30 second lag after leading a save game: I get that too but have been using Retuner so long I guess I've gotten used to it. I haven't noticed that initial lag getting longer as I change more and more Retuner settings. I haven't noticed any difference is game speed (i.e. general gameplay) using Retuner.

I use package tuning mods for changes I want implemented for all my save games, or for xml files which Retuner can't reach (table-based tuning xmls like the dream pod dreams xml, traits, moodlets (buffs xml), plants, etc). I use Retuner for settings I prefer to change on the fly while I play and for settings that may be different from one game to the next (alien abduction chances, for example).

Also, refer to point number 2 under 'downsides' in the link Sarah_Sims posted. Some settings (for example, the initial visit by the UL mascot in a new game) need a package based tuning mod to change those settings early enough to have an effect.

Lastly, you can use Overwatch to save Retuner settings from one game and import those settings into another game. You'll need to save and reload after doing so.

Kassinora
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Is there any way to change some Dream Pod settings?

Post by Kassinora » March 5th, 2019, 11:44 am

Thank you all so much for the helpful answers! I have read the part of the FAQ of Retuner explaining the lag, but was just wondering whether that has anything to do with my occasional game crashes. Since the performance of the game does not seem to be affected, I will use a mix of tuning mods and Retuner depending on how "global" I want the tunings to be. It feels good knowing I could change some things myself even if no mod online could satisfy my need :)

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