Plumbob Replacements w/EPs?

Zirconia Wolf · 10-31-2007, 12:24 AM

I'm looking for a "less intrusive" replacement for the in-game plumbob that works with EPs.

I found a very cool one on MTS2 here...

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=253985

...but it just won't work in my (currently up-to-Pets) game, so I'm guessing that it's "base game only".

Any thoughts? Actually, I would even be interested in making my own replacement, but not until I find one that works!

(I don't really want to do away totally with plumbobs, since I tend to lose track of who I'm controlling in a large family without them. Hense my desire to find a less visible/annoying replacement rather than rely on the pumbobtoggle cheat.)

Greg · 10-31-2007, 05:36 PM

Interesting. I was unaware that you *could* fiddle with plumbbobs.

Is it possible to turn them off in the neighborhood view?

Zirconia Wolf · 11-04-2007, 03:52 PM

Not sure yet. Though that would be cool too!

I'm still trying to understand why I couldn't get the plumbbob replacement to work in my up-to-Pets game. Apparently it's working for other people, so maybe I have somekind of mod conflict, but I don't think so.

I've just got back to my majorly-modded Seasons/Celebrations state, & am hoping that it may work now. I'll be testing it later & post my findings.

*** UPDATE, 5:15 pm ***

The plot thickens!

Now that I have my game up to Seasons/Celebrations & heavily modded, the replacement Plumbbob mod is:

WORKING for everyone in Veronaville.
WORKING for everyone in Strangetown.
WORKING for everyone in Pleasantview except the Cyd & Porthos that live there.
NOT WORKING AT ALL in Riverblossom Hills.

(FYI, there is a Cyd/Porthos in each hood...)

Looks like I need to do some more poking around!

Greg · 11-05-2007, 01:18 AM

Strangeness. It's working for almost all the sims in all the Maxis Neighborhoods but not at all in a custom neighborhood.

Miros1 · 11-05-2007, 03:55 AM

"Riverblossom Hills" and "Cyd & Porthos" are Maxis made. They came with Seasons.

Too bad you didn't create a test hood before you installed Seasons! I'd make one now and move Cyd and Porthos in, as well as making a new family, to see what happens...

Zirconia Wolf · 11-05-2007, 12:23 PM

Actually, I do have a pre-Seasons test hood!

On this last round of re-installation I decided to shake things up a bit in the area of lessening the pre-made character files & decided not to stick the Maxis default Downtown in Pleasantview like I normally have. Hense the birth of N004, known as Sample City. (Hey, it was just meant to be a dumping ground for the default Downtownies; no reason to name it something cooler!)

Sample City was born back when I had only up to Nightlife installed & has no residents except the default Downtownies & Pets characters. (According to SimPE, their are currently only 155 Character files in Sample City right now.)

I'll move the hapless Cyd & his faithful Porthos in & see what happens.

Will report back later.

*** UPDATE, 6:26 am ***

WOOHOO! I fixed it! Cyd & Porthos (Sample City incarnation) moved in & had the default Plumbbobs. In a rare moment of smartness, I turned on the moveobjects cheat & deleted the plumbbob from Cyd.

POOF!

The minute I went back into Live mode, the default plumbbob disappeared & in it's place was the less intrusive replacement one! Same story with Riverblossom Hills.

It nice to figure stuff out without game-melting consequences!

Miros1 · 11-05-2007, 03:25 PM

Darn! I'd never have thought to delete the default plumbbob!

Now we're down to Greg's question about the 'hood view...

Greg · 11-05-2007, 05:08 PM

There's a thought. If the neighborhood view uses a different object for its plumbbobs, it might be possible to just make the object invisible.

Zirconia Wolf · 11-05-2007, 08:47 PM

Sounds logical enough.

From what I understand (from another thread that featured Plumbbob replacements) the Plumbbob mesh can be found via SimPE (object edit thingy) in the Misc section. As long as you don't change the GUID #, whatever you do will override the original.

I do not know if there is any difference in the Sim & Neighborhood Plumbbobs or not. The only replacements I've seen are the "point of light" (that I'm now using) a star & a sphere, all of which are pictured/described as Sim Plumbbob overrides.

Greg · 11-05-2007, 11:51 PM

If they override the sim plumbbob while the neighborhood plumbbobs still appear as green jewels, then we might conclude that they are different objects.

Zirconia Wolf · 11-06-2007, 12:17 AM

Yes, except that I had to "kick start" the good people of Riverblossom Hills (and two Cyd incarnations) in order for their new Sim-bobs to "take" correctly.

So it's possible that the House-bobs would "update" too if I could just find a way to delete one but, so far as I know that's not possible via the Neighborhood screen.

If it is a different mesh, I wonder what it would be called since "Plumbbob" is already taken?

Hmmm....you know, I just got to thinking; the override I am using is just the regular Plumbbob but without any mesh so that just the "glow" is there. I wonder if that would explain why deleting the Plumbbob worked for me; I was in effect just removing the mesh so the glow would show through. If I had instead chosen an override that altered rather than removed the mesh, I wonder if things might have worked smoother...

Greg · 11-06-2007, 02:01 AM

Hmm... color me clueless. I'm only just beginning to understand how these things are put together.

10-31-2007, 12:24 AM	#1
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Plumbob Replacements w/EPs? I'm looking for a "less intrusive" replacement for the in-game plumbob that works with EPs. I found a very cool one on MTS2 here... http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=253985 ...but it just won't work in my (currently up-to-Pets) game, so I'm guessing that it's "base game only". Any thoughts? Actually, I would even be interested in making my own replacement, but not until I find one that works! (I don't really want to do away totally with plumbobs, since I tend to lose track of who I'm controlling in a large family without them. Hense my desire to find a less visible/annoying replacement rather than rely on the pumbobtoggle cheat.) __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

10-31-2007, 05:36 PM	#2
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Interesting. I was unaware that you could fiddle with plumbbobs. Is it possible to turn them off in the neighborhood view? __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-04-2007, 03:52 PM	#3
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Not sure yet. Though that would be cool too! I'm still trying to understand why I couldn't get the plumbbob replacement to work in my up-to-Pets game. Apparently it's working for other people, so maybe I have somekind of mod conflict, but I don't think so. I've just got back to my majorly-modded Seasons/Celebrations state, & am hoping that it may work now. I'll be testing it later & post my findings. * UPDATE, 5:15 pm * The plot thickens! Now that I have my game up to Seasons/Celebrations & heavily modded, the replacement Plumbbob mod is: WORKING for everyone in Veronaville. WORKING for everyone in Strangetown. WORKING for everyone in Pleasantview except the Cyd & Porthos that live there. NOT WORKING AT ALL in Riverblossom Hills. (FYI, there is a Cyd/Porthos in each hood...) Looks like I need to do some more poking around! __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution! Last edited by Zirconia Wolf : 11-05-2007 at 12:21 AM.

11-05-2007, 01:18 AM	#4
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Strangeness. It's working for almost all the sims in all the Maxis Neighborhoods but not at all in a custom neighborhood. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-05-2007, 12:23 PM	#6
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Actually, I do have a pre-Seasons test hood! On this last round of re-installation I decided to shake things up a bit in the area of lessening the pre-made character files & decided not to stick the Maxis default Downtown in Pleasantview like I normally have. Hense the birth of N004, known as Sample City. (Hey, it was just meant to be a dumping ground for the default Downtownies; no reason to name it something cooler!) Sample City was born back when I had only up to Nightlife installed & has no residents except the default Downtownies & Pets characters. (According to SimPE, their are currently only 155 Character files in Sample City right now.) I'll move the hapless Cyd & his faithful Porthos in & see what happens. Will report back later. * UPDATE, 6:26 am * WOOHOO! I fixed it! Cyd & Porthos (Sample City incarnation) moved in & had the default Plumbbobs. In a rare moment of smartness, I turned on the moveobjects cheat & deleted the plumbbob from Cyd. POOF! The minute I went back into Live mode, the default plumbbob disappeared & in it's place was the less intrusive replacement one! Same story with Riverblossom Hills. It nice to figure stuff out without game-melting consequences! __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution! Last edited by Zirconia Wolf : 11-05-2007 at 01:32 PM.

11-05-2007, 03:55 AM	#5
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	"Riverblossom Hills" and "Cyd & Porthos" are Maxis made. They came with Seasons. Too bad you didn't create a test hood before you installed Seasons! I'd make one now and move Cyd and Porthos in, as well as making a new family, to see what happens...

11-05-2007, 03:25 PM	#7
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Darn! I'd never have thought to delete the default plumbbob! Now we're down to Greg's question about the 'hood view...

11-05-2007, 05:08 PM	#8
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	There's a thought. If the neighborhood view uses a different object for its plumbbobs, it might be possible to just make the object invisible. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-05-2007, 08:47 PM	#9
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Sounds logical enough. From what I understand (from another thread that featured Plumbbob replacements) the Plumbbob mesh can be found via SimPE (object edit thingy) in the Misc section. As long as you don't change the GUID #, whatever you do will override the original. I do not know if there is any difference in the Sim & Neighborhood Plumbbobs or not. The only replacements I've seen are the "point of light" (that I'm now using) a star & a sphere, all of which are pictured/described as Sim Plumbbob overrides. __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

11-05-2007, 11:51 PM	#10
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	If they override the sim plumbbob while the neighborhood plumbbobs still appear as green jewels, then we might conclude that they are different objects. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

11-06-2007, 12:17 AM	#11
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Yes, except that I had to "kick start" the good people of Riverblossom Hills (and two Cyd incarnations) in order for their new Sim-bobs to "take" correctly. So it's possible that the House-bobs would "update" too if I could just find a way to delete one but, so far as I know that's not possible via the Neighborhood screen. If it is a different mesh, I wonder what it would be called since "Plumbbob" is already taken? Hmmm....you know, I just got to thinking; the override I am using is just the regular Plumbbob but without any mesh so that just the "glow" is there. I wonder if that would explain why deleting the Plumbbob worked for me; I was in effect just removing the mesh so the glow would show through. If I had instead chosen an override that altered rather than removed the mesh, I wonder if things might have worked smoother... __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution! Last edited by Zirconia Wolf : 11-06-2007 at 12:24 AM. Reason: added last pharagraph

11-06-2007, 02:01 AM	#12
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Hmm... color me clueless. I'm only just beginning to understand how these things are put together. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?