View Full Version : Strangers in the Sim Bin
Now I'm wondering what I've done to myself. I cleaned out all ALL the files from SavedSims, but there are still a couple of dozen sims showing up in my CAS catalog.
Where the heck could they be coming from?
Peake Preusse
04-08-2007, 04:06 AM
They're colonists from Neu Rheinland. j/k
Miros1
04-08-2007, 03:22 PM
Do they have the Nightlife symbol? Nightlife includes a bunch that aren't in SavedSims.
I can find out where they're hidden if you want them to go away...
:weg: Sounds like intruders in the Download folder sneaking in amongst the crowd. You need a sniper to go in and blast those babies out. Then clear your thumbnails from your thumbnail folder and any of those extra files hanging around outside of the folders and your intruders should be history.
Peake Preusse
04-09-2007, 02:26 AM
As the Consul of the Neu Rheinland Consulate in Happy Valley, I take grave offense at the comment of shooting any citizens of the Bundesreich, Bloo. j/k
Miros1
04-09-2007, 11:04 AM
Well, before we take any serious action, we need to find out if they're Maxis (NL or whatever) or custom Sims (with the asterisk)...
:weg: Sounds like intruders in the Download folder sneaking in amongst the crowd. You need a sniper to go in and blast those babies out. Then clear your thumbnails from your thumbnail folder and any of those extra files hanging around outside of the folders and your intruders should be history.
That must be it. I try to keep my Downloads folder organized, but that just means that there are all that many more folders to search through.
I was unaware of the Thumbnail folder! That might explain why I have so many thumbnails showing up that aren't the sims they point to! I'll clean that out and see if things improve. :D
Rose, no, the folks who are sneaking in are custom sims. I was trying to clean them out by moving the to a Free Parking directory so that it doesn't take a half hour for Body Shop and the CAS screen to load. Even though, I fear that the amount of custom content for makeup and accessories will still slow down the game.
Miros1
04-10-2007, 01:27 PM
Ah, that's a nasty job... In most cases, you're looking for files with file names of the form 8 hex digits, an underscore, and 8 more hex digits.
Aha! Yup! I found 18 files just like that in my Downloads folder and pulled them all out.
I also took the file CASThumbnails.package out of \Thumbnails to see if this will cause the game to regerate it properly.
Miros1
04-11-2007, 12:07 AM
So they've all been sent to Sim-Siberia.
Well, actually, to a folder outside my Sims 2 path called "Sim Bin Free Parking".
But hey, speaking of Siberia, I was just chuckling over the latest news. Some bright boy figures that the evergreen trees in Siberia are too dark. They soak up too much sunlight, and this is contributing to global warming. His solution is to cut down all the trees! http://hullabaloo.simshost.com/forum/images/smiles/rofl-yim.gif
An alternative body of opinion believes that the real solution is to send this guy back to Golgafrincham.
Rats. I cleaned out all those folks and I'm still finding folks in the sim bin. I actually recognize them--these are sims that I downloaded and installed--but now I can't find the bally files.
Miros1
04-12-2007, 04:48 AM
Lemme experiment a bit...
I'm wondering if they're hiding among all the alphabet-soup files.
Miros1
04-12-2007, 04:56 AM
Shouldn't be. The ones packaged by BodyShop and installed by the Sims2Pack installer are normally of the form hhhhhhhh_hhhhhhhh.package, and you thought you'd sent them to Sim-Siberia already.
The alphabet soup files are things that hid inside packaged houses.
I'm thinking the creator renamed the package file before packing it up, so they're named something like "Joe's SimSelf.package"
You can also get a lot of alphabet soup from installing downloaded sims. I used to just remove all those files from my game until I discovered that it messed up my sims.
Now I'm day-dreaming about a really reliable installer and conflict checker. We need a program that will maintain an indexed database of all the GUID's you have in the game already and then check every new installation against that database. It also ought to give you full information about filenames, internal filenames, what's in each file, and everything.
Meanwhile, I still haven't found the strangers.
Miros1
04-13-2007, 03:37 AM
Well, those are "parts," not the facial geometries that I'm after when I download a Sim.
I'm kind of working on an installer for Sims2Skin files that will simply rip a file apart and leave all the bits in one folder with the original file names, not the stupid Maxis "alphabet soup" names, so you can pick through and install what you want. Yep, the original names are inside the files, just like a Sims2Pack, Maxis just chose to ignore them when they built the installer.
I tried a couple different strategies (Windows searches, debug filenames on, etc.) to find the odd named Sims, but no luck yet.
The one thing I haven't tried is the SimPE scanner...
Miros1
04-16-2007, 04:18 AM
Yes, the SimPE "Scan Folders" function will find them. You'll probably want to scan each subfolders of Downloads, because scanning a large Downloads folder will cause an "out of memory" error and the scan will stop prematurely.
Start with the folders you think most likely to contain the "strangers," such as InSim.
B'b'but... the SimPE "Scan Folders" function takes hours!
Miros1
04-16-2007, 10:37 AM
Not if you scan one site at a time. Poking around by hand is gonna take hours too!
Zirconia Wolf
04-16-2007, 01:38 PM
Now I'm day-dreaming about a really reliable installer and conflict checker. We need a program that will maintain an indexed database of all the GUID's you have in the game already and then check every new installation against that database. It also ought to give you full information about filenames, internal filenames, what's in each file,....
Do etheir of these help? "Sciptorium" sounds more like an auto installer thing (which I really despise) but Delphy's Download Organizer has me very curious!
Sciptorium http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=192613
Delphy's Download Organizer http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=227925
-ZW
Miros1
04-16-2007, 02:03 PM
"Scriptorium" is to easily add text files for custom stairs and such. It adds an "include" statement to each of the Maxis files and a sub-folder for each. Then it adds a shortcut to the Downloads directory so you can drag and drop the text file.
Will check out Delphy's program; haven't seen that yet.
Zirconia Wolf
04-16-2007, 02:10 PM
Well I just downloaded (installed & ran) Delphy's Download Organizer and can only say "WOW!"
I pointed it toward my Downloads folder & let it go. It scanned every package file in there (including the sub-folders! ) in just under a minute or so. No small feat as it says I have 6,879 of those things!
It's really nice to finally know exactly what 184527295635372 (or whathaveyou) actually IS!
I'm hooked!
-ZW
Miros1
04-16-2007, 03:06 PM
I've downloaded it, but haven't installed yet. I'm impressed from your info! Guess I won't have to write one myself now.
Miros1
04-16-2007, 03:52 PM
Crap, bad archive. This is why I use GetRight. <bites Greg just for fun> Trying again...
Miros1
04-16-2007, 04:34 PM
Got the good file; ran the proggie. Sooooooooooooo neat!
Do etheir of these help? "Sciptorium" sounds more like an auto installer thing (which I really despise) but Delphy's Download Organizer has me very curious!
Sciptorium http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=192613
Delphy's Download Organizer http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=227925
-ZW
Wow! Ask and ye shall receive! :imnotworthy-1:
This looks great! I'm letting it do its first run now. It found 10,471 files in my Downloads folder.
Scan done! Five minutes, 17 seconds; 34 files per second. Extreme wowness here!
Now to see what I can do with it!
Aha! Suspicions confirmed! It found a bazillion sims in my Downloads folder and about half of them have long hexadecimal file names!
Miros1
04-17-2007, 03:04 AM
Now for the special features... in the File menu, there's options to "Scan for Duplicate" and "Scan for Orphans." The first finds duplicate files with different names. The second one finds textures without meshes and meshes without textures, for skins and objects.
This is really neat! Delphy's notes say that if you find a lot of orphans, they probably aren't all orphans. It found more than 300 orphans in my Downloads directory, mostly meshes without textures; and there were definitely a few on the list that I know work correctly in my game.
So it isn't perfect, but it's infinitely better than nothing!
homerette
04-17-2007, 07:43 AM
I had about 500 plus, and only a small fraction were actual orphans for me as well.
But, if I'm using the sucker correctly, once you check for orphans once and you don't remove the offenders, they don't register as orphans in subsequent scans. Of course, I sequestered all of the offenders and checked them out before replacing the good ones, having read Delphy's warning.
Yeah, I think I'll have to read and fiddle some more before I've learned all the tricks you can do with this thing.
I really like the feature that gives you a complete list of all the hacks; wish there were an option to export the list to a csv file. That would make it easier to keep track of all the hacks I have installed.
Miros1
04-17-2007, 09:04 AM
Yeah, I'd like that too! Make it easier to track down what's missing, if you could copy from a spreadsheet...
Also the ability to disable, rather than delete!
I did post the feature suggestions on MTS2.
Miros1
04-17-2007, 01:25 PM
Delphy sez hack the XML file yourself... It's right in the directory with the executable. Maybe I'll write a report generator...
There's also a post saying he's working on the false positives in orphan detection. I know I got several because I had a mesh and a texture in one skin file, and the proggie only saw the texture, so that skin and all the recolors of it were marked orphans.
I'm reading the Wiki page now.... http://www.sims2wiki.info/DDO
Oh neat! A wiki! That's yet another toy I have no hope of being able to keep up with!
Miros1
04-18-2007, 02:12 PM
I only go there when I need info. Most Sims2 hacking info is there somewhere.
Miros1
04-18-2007, 02:27 PM
Woohoo! Update to Download Organizer!
Downloading and installing now... Make sure you do a Full Rescan first thing!
Miros1
04-18-2007, 08:00 PM
Bad news... it fixes some non-orphans, but claims an additional 400 files are orphans now. I've sent both orphan lists to Delphy, maybe he can figure out what's going on... Marvine is having similar problems too!
homerette
04-19-2007, 02:43 AM
I've noticed if you have a mesh, say for a hair, that if you remove the original textures that came with it, but still use another creator's re-textures, they tend to be classified as orphans.
Miros1
04-19-2007, 03:21 AM
Well, I have one mesh that has a texture in the same file -- not only does the mesh come up as an orphan (with the older version), but any skins based on it do too! I think that particular one is fixed...
Hope the rest are soon.
Miros1
04-20-2007, 12:29 AM
New version up!
BTW, there's a newer version of Warlokk's meshes, so I posted on the original Kosmos thread asking which to use.
I looked, but I can't find a new Warlokk high-heels bottoms separates file. Can you give me a link to the download topic?
Miros1
04-20-2007, 08:05 AM
It's Ronnie's top that I'm concerned about. That mesh is one of the things coming up as an orphan even with the latest fixes, so I'm not sure if I've got the right things or not.
Now I'm really lost! Somehow we transitioned from the Kosmos outfit to a top hat.
Miros1
04-28-2007, 10:29 AM
Lol, your eye jumped over the t! That was It's Ronnie's top that I'm concerned about
The files that you created that currently show as orphans are:
pstftop_kosmos_dcup.package
pstfbottom_kosmos_lghip.package
psaftop_warlokk_34cn.package
psaftop_squinge_34cn.package
Which meshes do I need?
Ack! How did I overlook that t?
Insim is being cantankerous at the moment so I can't look 'em up for sure, but here's my best guess. Note that the first two are teen outfits.
pstftop_kosmos_dcup.package -- MESH_tfTopNaked_Hi_D.package
pstfbottom_kosmos_lghip.package -- MESH_tfBottomNaked_Lg.package*
psaftop_warlokk_34cn.package -- MESH_afTop_34Cn_Tshirt.package
psaftop_squinge_34cn.package -- MESH_afTop_34Cn_Tshirt.package
*Did I only put the teen version on Insim? I don't see it at the ol' Baloo. There might be a teen mesh with high heels, but if so, I don't see it in my downloads folder.
Oh, here's the teen at the Hullabaloo. Notes about the required meshes are in that thread:
http://hullabaloo.simshost.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7330
Miros1
04-29-2007, 03:46 PM
Well, they're in my game and seem to work, but Delphy's silly proggie thinks they're recolors!
I've told him about it, but don't hold out much hope for a fix. I hope he at least fixes the catagorization of skintones that were coming up as orphans.
Miros1
04-29-2007, 04:18 PM
Ahah! Here's the info about which "new" meshes to use in place of the older meshes.
http://www.insimadult.net/showthread.php?t=11421
Ahah! Here's the info about which "new" meshes to use in place of the older meshes.
http://www.insimadult.net/showthread.php?t=11421
Yup. If you have Warlokk's...
OLD: MESH_Warlokk_tfBottomNaked_Large.package (12/10/2005 12:13 PM)
... in your game, you want to delete it and install...
NEW: MESH_tfBottomNaked_Lg.package (4/30/2006 2:41 PM)
... which is included in the file BodyShapes_Bottom_Set-HiResNudes.rar, which you can download from the thread on InsimAdult referenced above.
Note that the new version uses "Lg" in place of "Large" in the file name.
Erm... I think. There's also a Warlokk_tfBottom_Lg_Nude.package in that same .rar file. I don't know for sure how it's different from MESH_tfBottomNaked_Lg.package, but I suspect that Warlokk_tfBottom_Lg_Nude is the defintion of the integrated nude bottom, and references both the texture and the mesh for the nude skin.
Miros1
04-29-2007, 06:25 PM
All you need for your particular skin is the MESH_ file; the one that starts with Warlokk_ is some sort of recolor, or as you said, is connecting the mesh with a nude skin.
Still looking for the 34Cn top mesh, preferably on InSim Adult; i can't get into Insim itself for some reason.
All you need for your particular skin is the MESH_ file; the one that starts with Warlokk_ is some sort of recolor, or as you said, is connecting the mesh with a nude skin.
Still looking for the 34Cn top mesh, preferably on InSim Adult; i can't get into Insim itself for some reason.
It's on Insim:
Warlokk's Hi-Res Bodyshapes - 34C Enh/Nat Tops Separates Collection (http://www.insimenator.net/showthread.php?t=16933)
Miros1
04-29-2007, 06:52 PM
Cool! That should fix all my Warlokk orphans.
Oh, somewhere in my cleanup, I overachieved... there are no faces in my "complete faces" screen in CAS! Well, I didn't like them anyhow; maybe I'll pop some downloaded Sims in there.
Got any idea how you got rid of the Maxian faces?
Miros1
04-30-2007, 09:23 AM
Nope. I don't think I did anything but the stuff in the "no more ugly townies" thread, and I think I had complete faces at that point. Not 100% sure, because that's about when I started making my Sims with the better tools in BodyShop and loading them in CAS. Since the Sim was basically "finished," I just skipped from #1 to #5 to pick the clothes.
Today, I made a couple Sims from scratch in CAS to have examples of Sims with custom hair and skin to try to convince Delphy to put some of the information from the custom genetics into the XML output file from DDO. The dialog in step #2 was blank, completely blank! No great loss in my opinion!
Remember all the fun you had trying to find the merco files with Gregsim and Sheba's eyes?
BTW, for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to set a Sim's eye color in CAS! Is this impossible, or am I having an eye- or brain-fart?
That could be it. "No more ugly townies" might be overriding whatever the Maxian defaults are, wherever they might be lurking.
To set a sim's eye color in CAS you choose the genetics part of it and click on the eye icon. I think it's the 3rd thing down. I'll see if I can get a screen shot the next time I start up my game.
Miros1
05-01-2007, 11:52 AM
There it is! It's actually "Hair and Faces," then "Eyes." No custom color button tho. Guess I'll just have to make my Sims in BodyShop (there's more settings in there anyhow).
There it is! It's actually "Hair and Faces," then "Eyes." No custom color button tho. Guess I'll just have to make my Sims in BodyShop (there's more settings in there anyhow).
http://www.sunsims.com/thesims2/images/tutorial/cas_eyes.jpg
Miros1
05-03-2007, 11:58 AM
Lol, that's what I get for checking in my build installation with no custom eyes. Silly me assumed there was going to be a * for custom eyes!
:lol:
Yup, it's always easier to find the custom eye colors when there are some custom eye colors to find! :D
We need to find a GD&RLH smilie. We really do. This is a needful thing.
vBulletin® v3.6.5, Copyright ©2000-2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.