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Alchemist
Original Poster
#1 Old 9th Mar 2019 at 9:04 AM
Default SimPE - create Lot Description
I am having some trouble with lots disappearing from my hoods. I don't know why it is happening, but I have discovered that while SimPE shows the missing lot in the catalog correctly, there is no LTXT for that lot in the corresponding neighborhood.package.

If I put a new copy of the missing lot into the hood, it just disappears again next time the hood is opened.

I found this post which indicates I can fix it manually:
Mootilda's suggestion

I am not very confident with SimPE, so can someone give me clear instructions on how to add the LTXT correctly?
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Scholar
#2 Old 10th Mar 2019 at 2:57 PM
You are very unlikely to get away just making up all of the required values. You probably should go with the method of copying the lot file into your LotCatalog folder and placing it into a temporary 'hood and extracting the LTXT from that 'hood to put back into the 'hood it belongs in. If/when you do it must have an instance value that matches the number in lot's file name in decimal (SimPe shows the decimal instance in brackets). Then the Instance: value in the lot must match that instance in hex.
Screenshots
Alchemist
Original Poster
#3 Old 10th Mar 2019 at 8:46 PM Last edited by aelflaed : 10th Mar 2019 at 9:54 PM.
Thanks, Chris, I will have a go at that. Crossing fingers...

...okay, I have extracted the LTXT and 'add'-ed it to the correct neighborhood. How do I get the right instance number? It should be Lot83, but I don't know how to make that in hex.

And does it matter that the hood terrain is incorrect? The extracted info is desert, but it should be dirt. Can I just change that?

EDIT - found a converter, hex should be 53. But changing the instance where you had it circled, commit and save does not change the resource list. And I cannot find where that instance is within the lot file, either. (At least I now know that the bracketed number is the decimal bit, thanks!)

EDIT: - I think I found it, under the Resource tab, not in Plugin View. Or both?

EDIT: something is not working. The lot does not appear in the hood. What am I missing? I am adding the resource, then changing the instance number in both Plugin and Resource tabs.
Scholar
#4 Old 11th Mar 2019 at 2:52 PM
The instance value must match in both (hex 0x00000053), if done correctly SimPE should find and display a thumbnail of the lot after you commit.
Alchemist
Original Poster
#5 Old 11th Mar 2019 at 8:40 PM Last edited by aelflaed : 11th Mar 2019 at 8:59 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Chris Hatch
The instance value must match in both (hex 0x00000053), if done correctly SimPE should find and display a thumbnail of the lot after you commit.

I believe it is correct - checked that I have the right number of 0s, just in case. The file contains the right number of LTXTs now when opened, but the lot doesn't turn up in-game. Where should the thumbnail be? Do you mean it will be displayed as a popup?

One thing - when I open the file the added entry in the list is black, while the rest are in blue text. Attaching pics as well. Must be something I am missing.
Screenshots
Scholar
#6 Old 12th Mar 2019 at 12:50 PM
Blue means the entry is compressed, black just means it hasn't been compressed yet, nothing to worry about.
Look at the screenshot I added above, the thumbnail is in the top, left corner. That part is still blank in yours so SimPE hasn't found the lot.
What you have done looks correct, the lot file must be OK if you were able to place it into your LotCatalog folder then add it to another 'hood so I don't know what the problem is.
Is the lot in your primary Neighbourhood or in a sub-hood? If it is in a sub-hood are you looking/editing in the correct sub-hood file? Is the only thing that comes to mind. I often add lots from other neighbourhoods this way so I know it should work.
Alchemist
Original Poster
#7 Old 12th Mar 2019 at 9:20 PM Last edited by aelflaed : 12th Mar 2019 at 10:08 PM.
Oh...I did look at other lots in my list to see where the thumbnail might be. None of them have one.

The hood is a uni template, currently being edited in the Anygamestarter. If you haven't done that, the hood is created as a normal primary, then made into the correct subhood type. When finished, it can be put into the correct template folder and function like any other subhood. I recently made a vacation hood the same way - in fact, you helped fix the secret lot which had gone wrong.

EDIT: - there are no thumbnails in any of the hood.packages I just opened, primary or subhoods. Not in the Anygame, not in the full game. Do I have a different SimPE? Mine is QA 0.73, which I thought was the last version. Maybe there is a 'turn on thumbnails' button I have not pressed.

I can try putting the lot in again, in-game, I have been holding off, because that will presumably create an extra instance of it, and it sounded like the lot should just appear in the right place once SimPE had the information.

EDIT: - re-placed the lot in-game. As expected, this created a new lot - Lot85 - in the Lots folder, but nothing in the LTXTs. When I restart the game, the new lot is sitting there correctly. Once I move the hood in with the Uni Templates, the lot is missing again in both the building version and the 'real' version, attached to a primary hood.

Got any more ideas? Or is it time to rebuild the hood yet again, hoping nothing goes missing this time?
Scholar
#8 Old 13th Mar 2019 at 3:54 PM
No real idea, I guess it may have something to do with Anygamestarter, something I have never used because of the damage it does to Windows Registry, perhaps the lot has the wrong EP version but I haven't known that to be a problem until you enter the lot. I'm using the same version of SimPE as you and thumbnails of all lots should display, there is nothing that I know of to switch on for that.
I have had extreme peculiarity's like this when trying to edit T&A's Red Light District without removing the original from T&A first, the game loads and saves parts to the sub-hood in T&A instead of the one in the neighbourhood folder so changes appear to exist in game but not in SimPe. The sub-hood in T&A is a suburb (type 4) while the one for editing is a primary (type 1) and they both have different ID numbers but that doesn't make any difference, it's because they both have the same prefix X001 that the game muddles them up.
Alchemist
Original Poster
#9 Old 13th Mar 2019 at 9:02 PM
I do think the problem is somehow to do with the AGS - or the way I am using it of course. The old AGS was very stable for me, never had any trouble, but the UC version is giving me lots of grief. I've sworn off it several times already, but I do want to do these projects that need it!

Sounds like I will have to reassemble the hood and hope nothing goes awry this time. At least It's only reassembling - HoodReplace will do the hood deco, the lots are all saved, and I believe everything is in its final version now.

Thanks for all your advice. It has been very helpful.
Alchemist
Original Poster
#10 Old 17th Mar 2019 at 1:52 AM
Default Disappearing lots in AnyGame subhood
Update on my disappearing lots...I think I found a workaround. Posting here so others may be able to search and find in the future...

When working on the subhood template in AnyGameStarter, disable the corresponding Templates folder in your Program Files.

I do this by renaming the folder temporarily. This seems to have worked for my Uni subhood, allowing me to replace lots with their later versions and keep SimPE properly updated. Probably the same technique applies to other types of template/subhood as well.

So I don't know why we were not able to fix the lots once they had disappeared, but it seems I now can prevent it happening in the future.
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