Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well
This is only my second post on this site and I need a bit of your help guys.

I've created a custom populated NBHD called The Island of Secrets and I want to upload it here once I manage to make it all function by the rules of an upload on MTS

I think I've reached one of the final steps in the whole process, but any feedback is welcome!
So the biggest issue I am facing right now is that I have 400+ character files in my NBHD due to the Sims 2 townies.
In the past few days I have learned about the clean NBHD templates but I see they only work in those future NBHDs you make after you install them - which I did, so at least in the future I won't be facing this problem!
Now I was wondering if I could paste the download link here? I will paste it after I get the permission to if it is allowed so I can get more feedback from you guys!

Basically the last thing I need to do (I think) is remove all the townies and unnecessary sims files from the NBHD file so everyone's game can be more enjoyable! I was wondering if there was a way to do that and if someone would like to help.
I was examining the issue and found about SimPE and batbox but I still don't know how these work and what should I do.

Thank you so much in advance!

As far as I know, there is no way to get rid of the townies at all after the hood is done.

You can upload it, but 400 sounds like a lot of townies, and many players may not want that. You will have to make it very clear in your upload that there are (exact number) townies present.

There is a hood here that states the townies from Pleasantview is present:

https://modthesims.info/d/527700/ja...ighborhood.html

The better option (sorry) is to start over with empty hoods, and without any premade townies in it. If it helps, you are probably not the first person to do this, I am reasonably sure it happened to others as well

Note: As far as I know, there is no way to get rid of the townies at all after the hood is done.
A: Thank you so much for the info! Is there a way to copy my Sims and Lots into another empty hood at least? So I don't have to start everything from the scratch once I decide to create a new hood.

Note: The better option (sorry) is to start over with empty hoods, and without any premade townies in it. If it helps, you are probably not the first person to do this, I am reasonably sure it happened to others as well
A: Too bad, I wish we could fix this somehow :/

Thank you once again for all the info^^

I don't think you can copy your lots/sims into another empty hood. You can ask other people who knows more than me, but imo:

You can save your lots (normally, make sure they are empty of sims, package them, place them in an empty hood - use the compressor to make sure they are clean of any sim references).

Your sims - if you have saved them, you may be able to use them, but you will still have to start from scratch as far as the hood and the story go.

(I have only made 2 hoods without sims. Paternoster somehow still generated some NPC's, there were no way to get rid of them without starting over. Clarence did not, and I still don't know why the one generated NPC's and the other one did not .

Please make sure that your hood is indeed empty. You should disable the stealth hoods and there are a couple of other things. I know there are some newer tutorials (Katkatty , I think, who made a number of custom hoods) - but also look at the ones on MTS.

Ask if you struggle or unsure, I am sure you will get help from other players who know more than me as well

Thank you so much for all of your answers , support and kindness, I really appreciate it so much!^^
I will think about restarting the hood, maybe I'll even be crazy enough to do it, you never know... haha

Oh Gosh I know exactly what are you talking about when you mention clean hoods and there are still NPCs! I think maybe they must generate at least a few? I have watched The Pleasant Sim tutorial and I still have about 20 NPCs in my Character files but I think that is completely fine!
But when I loaded the game and spawned an NPC some of them appeared - but still with a very low nuber of Character files thanks God.

Once again thank you so much about letting me know about all that info!
Wish you a great day!^^

I think you can clean the lots, but you have to do it correctly so that there are no sim references or character files or strange things, there are several tutorials. You can create several test neighborhoods until you see that the lots are really clean. Once you have the hood with everything, add the extracted sims and create their relationships, biographies and photos...

Regarding the generation of npc and townies, there are different mods to prevent them from spawning, so you are probably missing some. In any case, NPCs and townies are necessary to give life to the neighborhood, just keep an eye on their creation and add and remove mods when you need them.

Thank you so much for replying me! I'll do my best to clean the hood so I can upload it on MTS as well^^

Using this method from Mootilda using the Hood Replace program would give the best results:
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=468987
Then you can clone the playable sims and remake them in the new copy of the hood.
Using mods to prevent NPC and townie regeneration would help with this process:
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=532696

Thank you so much for the info and all the help through the process, I hope I'll make something out of it!

Good luck, let us know how you're getting on and of course, if you need any help.

Ah, there we are - I completely forgot about copying over the lots using SimPE.
That will make it easier, I think

Thank you so much, I'll keep you guys updated if I manage to succeed on my mission! haha
And thank you for offering your help, I really appreciate it and also the fact that you helped me earlier!

If only I was enthusiastic about the programming part as much as I was about the creating the hood :')
Thank you so much for your help and kindness!^^

@paralelizam Cloning the hood and lots using the method I linked doesn't take too long at all- I've done it many times. After an hour or so you'll have a nice, empty replica of your neighbourhood, complete with lots. Cloning and adding back the sims might take a little longer, but I thing that part can be quite fun too.

I think I'll try to do it these days and I hope it will work. Thank you once again^^

I've just attempted to copy the hoods following the instructions but for some reason the "Copy" button is unavailable for me (like unclickable, I think you know what I mean)... and also I can't use the application for creating a clean hood because I've got the Ultimate collection but I guess that ain't a big problem since I have these clean templates now and only like 20 NPCs when I check out the new NBHD files.
Sooo, I'm stuck at this part again, don't know if I'll ever make it eh...

Update: I've overlooked the version for Ultimate Collection only so now I'll se how it goes!

I hope you succeed, I would first focus on using hoodreplace to copy all the decoration of the neighborhood and roads, making sure that the new neighborhood folder has 0 character files. Once you have it, go back to the neighborhood where you have the houses, empty them of sims and problematic objects such as personalized paintings, food, garbage, newspapers, and use the tutorial to clean lots with simpe. Then take the lots to a clean neighborhood without Sims, clean the lots again just in case, and there you can save them to add them to the final neighborhood. When you have all that done, you can add the new sims, always making backup copies and controlling the characters folder.

Thank you so much dear! You're so kind and supportive^^

Unfortunately I was unlucky at the second attempt as well, switched all of my game files into TS2 Ultimate Collection and almost got a heart attack, thinking I lost it all when I entered the game and saw empty Pleasentview without any sims in it haha

Sooo this part seems impossible to solve at this very moment despite all of the help and tutorials, but oh well...
(I can't believe how "lucky" I can be that I couldn't even use the hood replacer because of that "unclickable" copy button, wish I knew why it's not working, I know the app is okay, but I'm wondering what have I done wrong)

I have no idea what it means to change the files to ultimate collection, so I can't help you on that.

It may be some detail that you overlooked. If you really can't do it as we tell you, you can always do it manually. As they said before, you will not be the first nor the last, I myself had to redo everything many times because I did not have clean templates and hidden hoods xD I also ended up following the PleasantSims tutorials and they went very well.

To remake the houses I took a screenshot of each floor from above in build mode, as if it were an architect's plan, then I followed the grids and copied everything almost without thinking. It will take a while to redecorate the neighborhood and rebuild the houses, but you can always see it as a way to improve what you already had.

Note: I have no idea what it means to change the files to ultimate collection, so I can't help you on that.

A: Tell me about it, I didn't even know that could happen haha 😂

Note: It may be some detail that you overlooked.

A: Yes, I also think that's it!

Note: If you really can't do it as we tell you, you can always do it manually. As they said before, you will not be the first nor the last, I myself had to redo everything many times because I did not have clean templates and hidden hoods xD I also ended up following the PleasantSims tutorials and they went very well.
(...)

A: I'm wondering how much time that would take but that would be my last hope I think. I love that advice to take screenshots and just copy everything, and the one to look at it as a chance to improve something 😊
Oh Goood, it must have taken a lot of your time, I've seen your NBHD the Service Area and you did so much lots, sims, bios and details! It is an amazing work (everything you did) and I can't imagine how much time it would take to redo all of that!
But even if it wasn't the Service Area I suggest this is your creation style and whichever you redid I think it had to be a lot of work!

I also followed her tutorial and everything turned out great!
But now I'm wondering one thing, after I created a new "test" hood to check out if the templates work I had like 20 character files after I made my first family that contained 1 sims just to check out the files. Is that okay or it should be 0 for the upload on MTS and only count the sims you created (families and townies)?

This is how I understood it - you need an empty version - only hood and empty lots, no families in the family bin and 0 character files. And the other version is populated - but should it start at 0 character files or 20 is okay?
If I got it right.

First of all, check where all those 20 sims come from, if they come from some hidden neighborhood that you may have missed.

If you check that they are npc, that's fine, but the automatic creation of sims will mean that when you finish you will have 200 sims again, so you should check if you are missing mods for the generation of the different types of npc and townies.

After having all that clear with your "tests" and being sure that in the next test the game will not start creating characters just because.. You can now create the neighborhood where you are going to rebuild everything, and try not to create sims or enter live mode until you have everything really decorated and built. If you manage to clean lots, clean them several times until you put them in your clean neighborhood without people, and when you put them in, check that no characters are added and the folder is at zero having entered all the lots in build mode.

When you really feel like you have your neighborhood really done with all the house decorations and everything, that's when you can start adding characters drawn from your old neighborhood.

Tips, every time you enter live mode there are chances that npc and townies will be created, especially the more time you spend in live mode. In community lots there are many more possibilities for npc and townies to be created.

Keeping the homes at 7:00 and not letting them spend that hour editing memories and relationships with mods and simple is a good idea to keep the neighborhood free of character creation.

Note: First of all, check where all those 20 sims come from, if they come from some hidden neighborhood that you may have missed.
If you check that they are npc, that's fine, but the automatic creation of sims will mean that when you finish you will have 200 sims again, so you should check if you are missing mods for the generation of the different types of npc and townies.

A: Okaaay, I've just created a new test hood and I have 0 NPCs so I guess that's how it should be! :D
Also I think this was mentioned before but for some reason not even the hoodchecker works for me Geez

Note: After having all that clear with your "tests" and being sure that in the next test the game will not start creating characters just because.. You can now create the neighborhood where you are going to rebuild everything, and try not to create sims or enter live mode until you have everything really decorated and built.

A: Yes, I was planning to do that (create sims after everything is done and first save the hood with lots and decorations of the hood only)^^

Note: If you manage to clean lots, clean them several times until you put them in your clean neighborhood without people, and when you put them in, check that no characters are added and the folder is at zero having entered all the lots in build mode.

A: What do you exactly refer to when you tell me "clean lots and clean them several times"? Clean them from what? (sorry, I'm still unfamiliar with some of these things but you guys really help me a lot every time you reply^^)
I'll def check the character files after I finish the decorating part!

Note: Tips, every time you enter live mode there are chances that npc and townies will be created, especially the more time you spend in live mode. In community lots there are many more possibilities for npc and townies to be created. Keeping the homes at 7:00 and not letting them spend that hour editing memories and relationships with mods and simple is a good idea to keep the neighborhood free of character creation.

A: Oh snap, okay, I didn't know that. I knew they were generating but I didn't know they generate all the time and more with as the time passes by oh God. Thank you for letting me know this^^

You cannot use lots where Sims have lived or visited in another neighborhood, since these have references from Sims who have lived or been there and that can cause corruption in your new neighborhood. There is a SimPE tutorial that explains how to clean homes where Sims have lived of references and make them look as if no Sim had ever lived. But you have to do it correctly without missing any steps or you could corrupt your new neighborhood.

This is another reason why it is good to have the character folder at 0, so you can check that when you move the clean house to the new neighborhood it is not carrying character files. It is also advisable to clean houses several times in different empty neighborhoods to ensure that you do not bring any corruption to your new neighborhood.

Here is a tutorial for lot cleaning:
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=609188