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EgonVM's avatar
EgonVM
Seasoned Ace
4 months ago

EgonVM's Ultimate NPC Making Guide 2.0

So yeah, due to how these forums work with the spoilers, the original guide is somewhat messed up and updating it would result in loss of information.

So, after some consideration, I've decided to make a V2.0 thread on it, using the similar approach to the List of Traits with link trees and each pack being in its own post (so it is collapsible). This thread will have two main posts under which I'll post the info. Please do not reply under them. You may reply to this post or other replies (including mine).

Links to important replies:

But how does it all work?

Basically, if you ever wanted to make custom NPC sims, good news is that most of them can be done without any mods. The main cheats you are going to require are those:

testingcheats on
traits.equip_trait [trait_codename]
careers.add_career [career_codename]

 

In the guide, there are 5 types of "difficulties" I'm going to use (and emojis I'm using with it):

  • 🔷Played-Friendly - These ones, usually traits, can not only also be taken from sims the Played Households, switching to the household the sim is in won't make them lose their NPC status.
  • 📝Simply Assign a Career/Trait - These will lose their NPC status when you play with them. The usual way of making those is by making these sims, equipping them with the required traits and/or careers, then evicting them.
  • 🏙Location-Based Career - Unfortunately, this is where the career location matters, and it is the venue they'll be working at. As to my knowledge, there isn't any way to set a career location to a sim without mods, the best bet here is to modify sims already working there or make one of the custom sim unplayed and hope they'll appear in that role.
  • 🔻Must Be Unplayed - You may assign a required career and/or trait, but they'll won't appear in the role until you set the household to be unplayed.
  • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦Out of Control - Welp, these sims are chosen randomly from a broad selection. No way to influence the game to pick the sim you want...

    And in addition, these emojis represent the following:
    • ✅️ Must have, meaning that your sim must have that skill, trait, career etc to appear in this role.
    • 🟡 Optional, meaning that your sim can have it for the game to consider them more for the role, but they don't need to have it. Sometimes used in sub-types.
    • ❌️ Mustn't have, meaning if your sim has the skill, trait, career etc, the game will never place them in the role even when all other conditions are met.
    • ❕ Splits into sub-types, meaning that for the sim to appear in the role, they must meet at least one of the requirements in the following list below for the game to consider them.

Ghosts and sims that are currently at work are usually excluded. In addition, this list shows the sims that will be excluded from the most of the roles:

Mostly Excluded NPC Sims
  • Grim Reaper
  • Challenge Event NPC (Jasmine Holiday for example)
  • Alien Pollinator
  • Police Station Criminals (the ones in jail)
  • Service Skeletons
  • Temple Skeletons
  • Scarecrows
  • Flower Bunny
  • Baby Ariel
  • Night Wraith
  • Sage of Mischief Magic
  • Sage of Practical Magic
  • Sage of Untamed Magic
  • University Professor NPCs
  • Batuu NPCs
  • Yamachan
  • Tempearance
  • Greg the Werewolf
  • Mysterious Rancher
  • Horse Trainer
  • The Ring Bear

I've also decided to bring out templates too. These are not important when making NPC sims, but are rather some interesting side-info on how sims are generated for the role by the game.

So yeah, look at the list and have fun making your own NPC sims!

  • EgonVM's avatar
    EgonVM
    Seasoned Ace

    Life and Death NPC guide ready and available here!

    No new NPC career this time. Yep, Inheritance Lawyer is a random sim...

    I did rush somewhat and didn't look deep into templates this time. Schoolwork has taken my energy away... If you notice any issues, let me know!

  • After getting L&D, I tried visiting the cemetery at night and looking at how it works.

    When I found many roles in the lot, I immediately thought about this thread. You will have many interesting information to explore in this pack. This EP has so many things, have fun digging it! 


    ----
    Edit - I removed the information after rethinking that it may spoil your gameplay if you want to explore yourself. So sorry that I add information here without asking you first.

    I back up my text and wait until you already made the NPC list of this pack. And I will reply later if there is something I can add.
    (Or if you don't mind about spoiling, I will comment here next time)

    • EgonVM's avatar
      EgonVM
      Seasoned Ace

      That is interesting...

      Don't worry about spoiling my gameplay. Share this text. I had a few moments to explore it and I'd like to keep the guide up to date too.

      • coloncocon's avatar
        coloncocon
        Seasoned Ace

        Okay, I'm glad that you don't mind reading. So, here you are!

        I want to point out something I am interested in and wait for you to make the NPC list as you did in previous packs when you can.

        From what I saw in the cemetery. there are the roles that have red font over the name such as...

        Mourner - (I found 2) It is assigned from random sims such as townies who never have relatives. (So, it's not limited to people who have relatives' tombstones on the lot.)

        Cemetery Keeper - 1 Random sim (and not the NPC career), but this role has a unique situation outfit (So we don't have to worry about out-of-character costumes appearing here). I would like to know if the lot will assign a different sim every time I revisit or not.

        Lounger - Like park sleeper in Base Game but this role doesn't need to be Erratic. And they wear messy color tank tops as park sleepers even I use a mod to disable the outfit, so I think it's a different role.

        Jogger - 1 Random sim, appears in Athletic Outfit. Jogging around the lot and inside the building (?).

        There are more unique roles that are premade sims that I don't mention here (Ex. Mysterious Merchant). The rest are ghosts that choose from existing ghosts randomly. (Or the game may generate a new ghost if without mods)

        ----

        -Side note-

        • It seems that Ravenhood isn't regionally restricted like Tomarang. Sims from every world can visit this world. The game even gives the cemetery role to Sims outside Ravenwood. 
        • I haven't tested this, but I believe that Ravenwood will have random ghosts from every world visiting without having to set ghost-related traditions in the Seasons EP holiday.
        • Important unique ghost NPCs are in "Hidden Household".
        • While Bernard and Mimsy aren't available here. Trying to edit them in CAS with MCCC leads to never-finish loading. (I can reach CAS a few years ago, I am not sure if EA changed something)

         

        These are what I found in an hour of playtest. I believe there are many more lol.

  • effemar2004's avatar
    effemar2004
    Seasoned Newcomer

    This list is so helpful, I was looking into filling some NPC roles in my save file to prevent at least some of the game's natural random generation. A few questions:

    1. Do the NPC careers operate differently to the user-selected careers? For example, if I load a sim from my gallery that has a normal career, can I also assign them the NPC career? As far as I know, sims retain user selected careers even when they're categorized as 'unplayed'.
    2. Can a sim have multiple NPC careers?
    • EgonVM's avatar
      EgonVM
      Seasoned Ace

      NPC careers operate similarly to user-selected careers with 2 differences:

      • It has weird work times.
      • If the sim with the career is in the active household after the loading screen, it'll be removed.

      So, you can assign an NPC career to a sim downloaded from the Gallery, but they'll lose their normal career. Of course the exception comes when no career is required, only a trait.

      Sims cannot have multiple NPC careers unfortunately. One at the time. Again, if there are roles that only require the trait, they are allowed to appear in that role.

  • Another small but quite effective NPC role-assigning rule I found...

    (Note that I don't use Get Famous EP, I'm not sure if it is related.)

    Discover University EP has many roles related to the university such as organizations. Most of them need to be in the "Other Household" category (Not "My Household") to be assigned and spawned in the related events.

    For example, I always move all sims to "My household" to prevent culling, but then I notice that all of the new student sims (that move to My Household) don't appear as organization members. The game keeps adding new sims to fill the role. But when I move existing sims to the "Other Household", existing sims can appear in the role again.

    This rule is used for other roles in DU such as The Secret Society members and Utili-Bot Contest Judge who is Foxbury Professor.

    General students and professors can appear in the lot even being in "My Household"

    ---

    That made me leave my original university sims in "Other Household" to let them do roles properly. And, weirdly, only this EP has this unique rule. No other packs have this criteria.

    P.S. If Get Famous is enabled, new university students and organization members are picked from existing sims (such as premade sims) in the save file.

    • EgonVM's avatar
      EgonVM
      Seasoned Ace

      Interesting... Looking at the files, the non-playerfacing organization filters have the following:

      <L n="additional_conform_terms">
      <V t="sim_info_lod">
      <U n="sim_info_lod">
      <T n="invert_score">True</T>
      <E n="sim_lod_value">FULL</E>
      </U>
      </V>
      <V t="sim_info_lod">
      <U n="sim_info_lod">
      <T n="invert_score">True</T>
      <E n="sim_lod_value">ACTIVE</E>
      </U>
      </V>
      </L>

      What is sim_lod_value and what do Active and Full mean? I know that that there's one separate for checking if the sim is in an unplayed household (has_household_ever_been_played), so I don't think it can be that. The fact that Active and Full invert the score (excluding the sims from appearing in the role) could indeed mean that they have to be in the Other Households...

      • coloncocon's avatar
        coloncocon
        Seasoned Ace

        I don't know about the meaning of the codes unless you explain them here, so this factor is interesting. If the score (is it the term score?) is related to My/Other households, it would be the factor.

        This makes me think about the Milestone system from "Growing Together". Households that are in Other Households can't keep many specific Milestone memories.

        For example, I moved my active university sims to other households after I changed the active family (to make these sims active as university NPC roles). Later, I found that some milestones were lost such as "Won Lottery", and "Revived from Death".

        I heard that the game removed some memory data from "Other Households" to keep better performance. There might be something to divide the data managing rules of two categories of households.

        **From this, I have to remind myself not to move the important family to Other Households because they will lose milestones permanently. (unplayed sims can keep the milestones if it's still in My Households)

    • coloncocon's avatar
      coloncocon
      Seasoned Ace

      Moreover, I found that students in Other Households can continue the new terms and gradually graduate autonomously. While students in My Household that I haven't played for a long time will get an F and probation overtime.

      So, I believe there are some rules to separate "My Household" and "Other Household" sims. The reason may be about making background university students come and graduate overtime without playing.

      That means if I leave them in "Other Household" for too long, every current student will graduate and I have to make a whole new set of university students after a year passed.

      (Fortunately, I saved them in time and found that MCCC can freeze university progress, so I can leave them there without worrying.)

      • EgonVM's avatar
        EgonVM
        Seasoned Ace

        Oh hey. SimGurus also shared that on Twitter. Yes, Unplayed Households will re-enroll on their own and eventually graduate while Played Households will wait for the player to return in order to re-enroll.

        Played sims failing a term on their own seems like a bug somewhat. Sometimes they do fine on their own, at other times they fail everything. This is the main reason why I'm thinking of replacing University Housing with Residential Rental (as University Housing will kick your sim out when they don't re-enroll or even become too pregnant).

        It also seems like unplayed students take 3 courses per term...

  • I want to add some NPC role information I found while playing in Tomarang.

    Tomarang is the most "local exclusive" world. It's not just making the game create many locals. Tomarang is the only world (for now) that allows only Tomarani locals to work as Service NPCs.

    I found that in my main save after the game spawned a new local mailman to walk in the town even though I have 2 of them in other worlds. Not only mailman but pizza delivery man is spawned too.

    This is new because I haven't seen this level of hard filter in other worlds. Even in the jungle city of Selvadorada, San Myshuno's local mailman can come to send the mail. But in Tomarang, all services NPC are local. I tested only 2 services but I believe that the other service would have the same rule.

    From my long observation, while Tomarani service workers can visit other worlds, only Tomarani service can walk or work in Tomarang.

    Besides service sims, Tomarang prefers using local for spawning in most cases. At the lounge, if you don't have enough elders, the game will create new elders to spawn even if you have plenty of elders in other worlds.

    ---

    Strangely, the "Tomarang Vendor" has an exception to this rule. Tomarang vendors can be created as the other world local but they need to have "trait_Hidden_EP15_Local"

    I found this thing because I saw one of the new Tomarang vendors has Chestnut Ridge's local name and I already confirmed their region by MCCC. I also found that this Sim has both "trait_Hidden_EP14_Local" and "trait_Hidden_EP15_Local" in the same person.

    I guess that the system of generating vendors for Tomarang is to give "trait_Hidden_EP15_Local" to them.

    If my theory is true, when I give existing vendors from other worlds to have "trait_Hidden_EP15_Local", they can come to work in Tomarang. I will test it another time. (It may be like the person who has two country passport.)

    ---

    Regarding tourists, Tomarang doesn't have tourists with unique outfits like in Selvadorada or San Myshuno. But the game sometimes spawns one outsider to walk in the night market. After around 4-5 visits, I think I haven't seen more than 1 (or 2) outsiders in Tomarang in the same time if not counting active family who visit.

    ---

    Finally, this makes Tomarang one of the most exotic worlds in terms of locals. Previously I thought Selvarorada was the most local exclusive, but the service sims case makes Tomarang more local exclusive.

    Note: This is mainly the test of the save that disable EP06. I will test more with EP06 in the future. But if you want to test it yourself. Try to use the old save that already has the service worker before For Rent and try to hire it. (The easiest way is ordering pizza.)

    • EgonVM's avatar
      EgonVM
      Seasoned Ace

      Oh wow. I had to check it out in my game too. Here's what results I got for each role (from the game I've made custom NPC sims):

      • Firefighter - Existing one
      • Butler - New one
      • Pizza Deliverer - New one
      • Adoption Agent - Existing one
      • Nanny - New one
      • Repair Service - New one
      • Ranch Hand - New one
      • Eco Inspector - Existing one
      • Maid - New one

       

      So, only a few roles will use existing sims while the other ones use the new ones. That's a great discovery!

      Do test it out. I'll see if I can find something related to that in The Sims Studio (through tuning files). Perhaps I could make a full list of those NPCs who have Tomarang specific sim requirement.

      • EgonVM's avatar
        EgonVM
        Seasoned Ace

        Ok... So then, I checked out the tuning files and found this interesting part:

        locationBasedFilterTerm

        The following worlds have this:

        • Sulani
        • Glimmerbrook
        • Mt. Komorebi
        • Henford-on-Bagley
        • Moonwood Mill
        • Chestnut Ridge
        • Tomarang

        However, Tomarang is the only one with the minimum filter score of 0. I wonder what that means. Yet (almost) every filter term requires the sim to live or be evicted from there. So, I'm guessing simply equipping the local trait won't work...

        I tried to order a pizza in every world mentioned. Here's the result:

        • Sulani - Existing one
        • Glimmerbrook - Existing one
        • Mt. Komorebi - Existing one
        • Henford-on-Bagley - Existing one
        • Moonwood Mill - Existing one
        • Chestnut Ridge - Existing one
        • Tomarang - New one

        I'm guessing that the worlds mentioned there prefer sims who live or are evicted from that world and if there are none available, they resort to existing ones. Yet Tomarang will have zero-tolerance to non-Tomarani service sims, making the game generate a new one instead.

        Yet what makes Firefighters, Adoption Agents, and Eco Inspectors different? I don't know.

        Firefighter and Adoption Agents have this line:

        <V n="career_location" t="none"/>

        Yet Eco Inspector doesn't. They have this line:

        <V t="in_compatible_region"/>

        This can be the Get Famous effect you've described in another thread though...

        I have to look into it deeper...

  • EgonVM's avatar
    EgonVM
    Seasoned Ace

    I am happy to report that as of now, this thread is completed.

    While the original thread was mostly copied over (with some fixes), I have also included:

    • Lovestruck roles
    • City Living apartment event neighbor filters
    • Discover University student templates
    • Eco Lifestyle Community Closeness event filters
    • Growing Together Stay-Over proposal filters

    The guide still needs some work though...

    Enjoy!

  • EgonVM's avatar
    EgonVM
    Seasoned Ace

    Hmm... It seems like I'm having a little trouble sharing the lists... Let's see if I can simply split them up or something...

    • EgonVM's avatar
      EgonVM
      Seasoned Ace

      Ok. I think I've found a way...

      I have formatted the base game roles that way. Any feedback is appreciated!

      • coloncocon's avatar
        coloncocon
        Seasoned Ace

        I don't know if it is only a problem from my side or the forum's bug, but the link brings me to the blank page every time. I can only scroll to look at each comment manually. "See more" is so hard to load as well. It's much more difficult to use than the old forum.

        It's not your fault because I think your format is so neat. I have been a fan of your guides since the previous forum. (but I can't sign up to the old forum due to EA account problem, so I can't reply at that time)

        I want to cheer you up to keep updated on this. It's very useful, especially for me who wants to set all of my population.

    • EgonVM's avatar
      EgonVM
      Seasoned Ace

      Adding Location-Based Roles

      If modifying an existing generated sim is really out of question, here are ways to assign location-based roles to sims.

      I will have to split it into two sections though:

      • Vanilla (without mods)
      • Mods (with mods)
      • EgonVM's avatar
        EgonVM
        Seasoned Ace

        Vanilla

        The Gallery/My Library Method

        When a sim with location-based career is uploaded to My Library, they'll not only keep the career, but also the location they were working in. The only thing is getting them to the location.

        Wait for The Game to Consider

        If you have your sim unplayed, unemployed, and living in/evicted from the same world as the lot is in, the game may eventually take them for the role if you wait long enough. This is a viable option for the following roles:

        • Bartender*
        • Gym Trainer
        • Spa Massage Therapist
        • Spa Reflexologist
        • Yoga Instructor
        • Restaurant Chef
        • Restaurant Server
        • Restaurant Host

        *Does not include Moonwood Mill's bartender, aka bartender_wolftown.

        The other location-based roles will resort to generating a new sim from the template.

        Own the Business, Hire Them

        You can also go ahead and get the NPC sims to the role through the business gameplay. It involves luck, but it's possible. This is a viable option for the following roles:

        • Retail Store Employee
        • Restaurant Chef
        • Restaurant Server
        • Restaurant Host
        • Veterinarian


        Check the Potential X roles for reference to make the sims appear in the potential employee pool more often.

        Feel free to combine the first method with the other methods. Finally got the massage therapist you wanted? Save them to the Gallery and share it with your other saves (provided that the spa is on the same lot).

    • EgonVM's avatar
      EgonVM
      Seasoned Ace

      Setting Skills

      To set the skills, you can use this cheat:

      stats.set_skill_level [skill_code] [value]

      You'll need to replace [skill_code] with the desired skill and [value] with the desired skill level. Not all share the same naming as in-game text (Horse Riding is EquestrianSkill in code for example). So here's the list of skills and their value range:

      Base Game:

      • Charisma: Skill_AdultMajor_Charisma 1-10
      • Comedy: Skill_AdultMajor_Comedy 1-10
      • (Homestyle) Cooking: Skill_AdultMajor_HomestyleCooking 1-10
      • Fishing: Skill_AdultMajor_Fishing 1-10
      • Fitness: Skill_Fitness 1-10
      • Gardening: Skill_AdultMajor_Gardening 1-10
      • Gourmet Cooking: Skill_AdultMajor_GourmetCooking 1-10
      • Guitar: Skill_AdultMajor_Guitar 1-10
      • Handiness: Skill_AdultMajor_Handiness 1-10
      • Logic: Skill_AdultMajor_Logic 1-10
      • Mischief: Skill_AdultMajor_Mischief 1-10
      • Mixology: Skill_AdultMajor_Bartending 1-10
      • Painting: Skill_AdultMajor_Painting 1-10
      • Programming: Skill_AdultMajor_Programming 1-10
      • Piano: Skill_AdultMajor_Piano 1-10
      • Photography: Skill_AdultMajor_Photography 1-5
      • Rocket Science: Skill_AdultMajor_RocketScience 1-10
      • Video Gaming: Skill_AdultMajor_VideoGaming 1-10
      • Violin: Skill_AdultMajor_Violin 1-10
      • Writing: Skill_AdultMajor_Writing 1-10
      • Creativity: Skill_Child_Creativity 1-10
      • Mental: Skill_Child_Mental 1-10
      • Motor: Skill_Child_Motor 1-10
      • Social: Skill_Child_Social 1-10
      • Communication: Skill_Toddler_Communication 1-5
      • Imagination: Skill_Toddler_Imagination 1-5
      • Movement: Skill_Toddler_Movement 1-5
      • Potty: Skill_Toddler_Potty 1-5
      • Thinking: Skill_Toddler_Thinking 1-5

      Outdoor Retreat:

      • Herbalism: Skill_AdultMajor_Herbalism 1-10

      Get to Work:

      • Baking: Skill_AdultMajor_Baking 1-10
      • Maintenance: Skill_Retail_Maintenance 1-5
      • Sales: Skill_Retail_Sales 1-5
      • Work Ethic: Skill_Retail_WorkEthic 1-5

      Spa Day:

      • Wellness: Skill_AdultMajor_Wellness 1-10

      Get Together:

      • Dancing: Skill_AdultMinor_Dancing 1-5
      • DJ Mixing: Skill_AdultMajor_DJMixing 1-10

      City Living:

      • Singing: Skill_AdultMajor_Singing 1-10

      Vampires:

      • Pipe Organ: Skill_AdultMajor_PipeOrgan 1-10
      • Vampire Lore: Skill_Hidden_VampireLore 1-15

      Bowling Night Stuff:

      • Bowling: Skill_Bowling 1-5

      Parenthood:

      • Parenting: Skill_AdultMajor_Parenting 1-10

      Fitness Stuff:

      • Rock Climbing Wall Hidden skill: Skill_Hidden_TreadMill_Rock_ClimbingWall_Climb 1-5

      Cats & Dogs:

      • Pet Training: Skill_DogTraining 1-5
      • Veterinarian: Skill_AdultMajor_Veterinarian 1-10

      Jungle Adventure:

      • Archaeology: Skill_AdultMajor_Archaeology 1-10
      • Selvadoradian Culture: Skill_AdultMinor_LocalCulture 1-5

      Seasons:

      • Flower Arranging: Skill_AdultMajor_FlowerArranging 1-10
      • Skating hidden skill: Skill_Hidden_Skating 1-10

      Get Famous:

      • Acting: Skill_AdultMajor_Acting 1-10
      • Media Production: Skill_AdultMinor_MediaProduction 1-5

      Discover University:

      • Research & Debate: Skill_AdultMajor_ResearchDebate 1-10
      • Robotics: Skill_AdultMajor_Robotics 1-10
      • Ping Pong hidden skill: Skill_AdultMinor_PingPong 1-5
      • Juice Pong hidden skill: Skill_AdultMinor_JuicePong 1-5

      Eco Lifestyle:

      • Fabrication: Skill_AdultMajor_Fabrication 1-10
      • Juice Fizzing: Skill_AdultMinor_JuiceFizzing 1-5

      Nifty Knitting Stuff:

      • Knitting: Skill_AdultMajor_Knitting 1-10

      Snowy Escape:

      • Rock Climbing: Skill_AdultMajor_RockClimbing 1-10
      • Skiing: Skill_AdultMajor_Skiing 1-10
      • Snowboarding: Skill_AdultMajor_Snowboarding 1-10

      Paranormal Stuff:

      • Medium: Skill_AdultMinor_Medium 1-5

      Cottage Living:

      • Cross-stitch: Skill_CrossStitch 1-5

      High School Years:

      • Entrepeneur: Skill_AdultMinor_Entrepreneur 1-5

      Horse Ranch:

      • Riding: Skill_AdultMajor_EquestrianSkill 1-10
      • Agility: Skill_Horse_Agility 1-10
      • Endurance: Skill_Horse_Endurance 1-10
      • Jumping: Skill_Horse_Jumping 1-10
      • Temperament: Skill_Horse_Temperament 1-10
      • Nectar Making: Skill_AdultMinor_RanchNectar 1-5

      Crystal Creations Stuff:

      • Gemology: Skill_AdultMajor_Gemology 1-10

      Lovestruck:

      • Romance: Skill_AdultMajor_Romance 1-10

      Life & Death:

      • Thanatology: Skill_AdultMinor_Thanatology 1-5
  • EgonVM's avatar
    EgonVM
    Seasoned Ace

    NPC Making List

    These are listed by pack. Each pack will also have two sub-replies: for service sims (those that appear when hired or to fill a role) and for background sims (those mostly non-important sims to liven the air).

    I will also include a list of NPC roles within the links too. If you'd like to find them, for now, I'd suggest Control+F as I don't know how to link them for now.