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coloncocon's avatar
coloncocon
Seasoned Hotshot
8 days ago

Maximum population in the save file before sim culling?

Last month, I faced my first "auto-culling" experience in my save file.

I noticed some sims in "other household" are missing without a notification pop-up. 10 sims are missing! I went to check in "MCCC_GetPop" but there isn't any number of "Total Culled/Netherworld Sims".

Fortunately, I have the backup file and lost only the nighttime progress. However, I started feeling unsafe to play the game until I knew who was missing and what's pattern of how the game chose someone to be culled. I replayed that save a few times then I could collect the information.

*I knew there was information about the culling system somewhere a long time ago. But I don't find any recent topic about that, so I have to start a new one. If there are any, please tell me.

 

This is what I found in my case...

- Removed sims in my test sessions always 3 Secret Society members, all stray pets (6), and Erwin Pries! (Total 10)

  1. Culling progress starts when all active sims sleep, not the day-changing.
  2. Culling progress is triggered when the population number ("Total Sims" in MCCC_GetPop) exceeds 670. (The Sims count in-game is around 615. This might not count the hidden sims.)
  3. Non-hidden Sims who are removed are in the "Other Household". All of them are "Secret Society (from DU EP)" who are homeless. Other homeless sims are still saved but I'm not sure if they will be next. I guessed that the game chooses to remove unimportant sims first.
  4. Hidden Sims who are removed are...
    1. Stray pets... all of them (6 sims)
    2. Erwin Pries (He's a hidden sim but seems not necessary to have?)

 

I tried to find ways to avoid culling without using mods but finally gave up. I'm glad that MCCC can prevent sim culling, but I don't sure about how many sims I can have in one save file without breaking the game.

I want to start a topic about "sharing your population data in your save file" as well. But I'm more curious about unwarned "sim-culling" right now. 

---

Side note - I play the game without "Get Famous EP", so my population number grows faster because the game has to generate new NPC despite using the existing one.

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  • SheriSim's avatar
    SheriSim
    New Adventurer
    7 days ago

    I don’t use mods.  Sometimes they would cull townies I had.  But, some time ago they made it where if one of your played sims had a strong relationship with another sim (very high in friendship, enemy, or love ), that it would keep them from being culled.  I’m not sure if it is still that way, but I assume it is. But, if you don’t play and keep up those relationships, they will dwindle over time.   Also, if I really want someone saved I will put them in a house, apartment etc.  so far I haven’t had people I have put in homes or apartments culled.  Also, if you go in and make over a townie, I found they are more likely to stay around.  I have lost mail people, service people, and waitresses.  If you particularly like some of those people you might want to build up and keep a high relationship with them.  I sometimes will cull people myself, but be careful, you may get clumsy waitresses or not so good cooks, etc.

    • coloncocon's avatar
      coloncocon
      Seasoned Hotshot
      7 days ago

      I also think a strong relationship with another sim, especially an active family matter. I read the information about the culling system a long time ago.

      I didn't have the auto-culling before because I keep almost sims in "My household". Even an NPC who doesn't have any friends is still safe. But maybe it is because my population has reached the limit already.

      When I visit that save next time, I will try your suggested method such as moving them into the house. I may try to move Erwin Pries (Strangerville NPC in the hidden household) to some lot and check if this can help him not be culled.

      About restaurants, I usually make my playable sims own the lot, hire and improve their skills to avoid low-quality service. The auto-assigned employees mostly start with low skills and do badly like you said.

  • GalacticGal's avatar
    GalacticGal
    Seasoned Ace
    8 days ago

    If you go into Manage Households, you can click on the Heart to make each household you wish to protect a favorite. Favorited aren't supposed to fall prey to Culling. Hope this helps.

    • coloncocon's avatar
      coloncocon
      Seasoned Hotshot
      7 days ago

      Thank you so much! I will do this even though I have MCCC to prevent culling for safety.

      There are some sims I have to let them in "other household" to make it function (ex. University organization NPCs) but I can check them easier if they are missing.

  • coloncocon's avatar
    coloncocon
    Seasoned Hotshot
    8 days ago

    I know that the sim culling reason is for game performance. But what makes me feel unsafe to play the game without mods is because I can't control or avoid the game deleting or editing people without my consent.

    My play style is to take care of every sim including NPC, If I don't like some, I can delete them manually. I don't like how the game secretly does something like this.

    Most of my mods are about to control the damage of unwanted progress that can't opt-out. 😂

  • coloncocon's avatar
    coloncocon
    Seasoned Hotshot
    8 days ago

    About population increasing

    From my experience, there are some places and situations where the game will create a lot of new Sims. For example...

    1. Visiting some exotic worlds that have local traits (Ex. Selvadorada, Mt.Komorebi, Tomarang etc.)
    2. Visiting the university lots. (If you have Get Famous, the game may pick existing sims instead of making new)
    3. Visiting Sixam or Magic Realm. (Other occult worlds didn't spawn as many new sims as those two)

    As I don't want to see any new random sims during my playing sessions (for screenshot health), I always let the game add the required sims to the point that they don't need more (and I will fix their appearance before I play that world).

    However, some worlds are too needy. In Tomarang, it even needs local vendors. I have to let the game have 2 sets of vendors (2x4) to prevent the new random sims from appearing during the playing session.

    I don't mind much about random sims (I can fix it) but it's not convenient (or possible) to enter CAS while playing the story.

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