Caution using MCCC mod
-Edited to clarify intent-
Bottom line: Be careful when adding the Master Controller Command Center (MCCC) mod (or any other mod). The MCCC mod in particular is really complex and may change your game in ways that you don't expect. Just by adding the mod to your game, the default settings will begin altering the population settings; NPCs moving into lots, getting married, etc. Before adding any mods, be sure you save your game and test out the features in a separate save. This way, you can learn how the mod actually works without potentially harming the saves you care about.
Based on the comments to my original post, I decided I should clarify that my intent is to caution players about using MCCC in particular. I realized my OP came across as whining that MCCC broke my game. It didn't break anything. However, it did make a lot of changes by simply adding it. I've seen a lot of articles praising the advantages of using the mod and I've even seen people on AHQ recommend MCCC to fix issues without explaining what the mod will do to their games. I'm not denying the mod's usefulness. I simply wanted to post my own experience as a cautionary tale because when I researched MCCC, I didn't see any of that. Even the Pro and Expert users who replied to this post mentioned having some trouble in the beginning and said it took them a long time to understand how it works. If you're going to use it (or any mod), do your own research, learn how the mod works, preserve your game.
I'm including the text of my original post in the "spoiler tag" below for context.
First, let me say I'm well aware EA does not support mods and I know we use them at our own risk. I'm not asking for help fixing anything. This post is to caution players who may be thinking about using the Master Controller Command Center (MCCC) mod. I've seen a lot of posts that lead me to believe there are many who live and die by it. It's quite popular and I hope my dissenting opinion doesn't garner any death threats. It's just that when I added it to my game, I noticed some things that I didn't like at all.
I initially got MCCC because I was curious about controlling offspring gender. That turned out to be more complicated than I expected and I quickly realized it was ultimately more effort than it was worth. There are so many things this mod can control, most of which are cheats that are basically presented through quick access in-game menus. Although finding the one you want can be as difficult as figuring out how to fulfill in-game career tasks. One of the things I was also excited about didn't even work. The MC Tuner promises to find autonomous actions and, in turn, allows players to disable. While it's true this function listed many actions, it did not list the one I most wanted to disable which was "Make a Mess" for my toddlers. Those little snots throw their plates even though they're still hungry and all the parents do is "Give a talking to"!
The thing that bothered me most is, after adding MCCC, I noticed two of my created characters had vanished; not the entire household, just two sims within it. Poof ... gone! Then I noticed almost all my empty lots are filled now in direct opposition to my settings to not fill empty lots. One of these included a family with Simeon Silversweater. First of all, I like my Practical Magic Mage "homeless" and wandering here and there. Secondly, I purposely have my game set to not fill empty lots for when I decide to create new families or move existing ones. I don't want to delete or evict families and steal their homes. I did not change any of the population settings when I added MCCC. I can only assume all of these things happened through the mod's default settings.
If you like the story progression aspect and want your NPCs to get married, have babies, etc. on their own, you may like MCCC. If you like more convenient ways to cheat a great deal of things such as sims' physique, household bills, seasons, autonomous actions etc. you may like MCCC. I would just caution there are a great many levels to MCCC of which you should be aware. Perhaps some day I will change my mind and devote several hours to exploring the multitude of possibilities. For now, though, I'm removing MCCC. I also wonder if there are others who feel the same way. Has anyone else been put off by the changes that MCCC made to their games? Someone please tell me I'm not the only one! ;-)