[Ň€€ĐŞ ƗŇƤỮŦ] [SV] Editing StrangerVille NPCs in CAS causes new ones to spawn [ Edited ]

[EngineerDaisho]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Often (50% - 99%)
What is your current game version number? 1.51.77.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? City Living, Get Together, StrangerVille, Outdoor Retreat, Laundry Day SP, Toddler SP, Vintage Glamour SP, Holiday Celebration
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Travel to StrangerVille Information Center [library lot], wait for game to spawn a batch of StrangerVille Scientist and Conspiracy Theorist NPCs. Access these spawned sims in Household Management -- Create a Sim, change their outfits, place back in Unplayed Households. Travel to StrangerVille Information Center again.
What happens when the bug occurs? The game will spawn an entirely new batch of StrangerVille Scientist and Conspiracy Theorist NPCs. The previously spawned edited NPCs still have the traits but will almost never be automatically called to the lot and will never wear career outfits [be at work] while on the lot.
What do you expect to see? The same StrangerVille Scientist and Conspiracy Theorist NPCs, or at least fewer newly spawned NPCs in those roles.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure 

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Summary: I've purchased and been playing through the StrangerVille Mystery. I also have this habit of periodically going into Household Management to edit any/all of the game-spawned NPCs' non-career clothing choices and to add notes about who they are/their assigned roles. Editing StrangerVille Scientist and Conspiracy Theorist NPCs in particular causes the game to stop recognizing them in their roles. Instead, the game spawns an entirely new batch of NPCs with those roles every time I return to the StrangerVille Information Center [library] lot.

It's not breaking the game, but it does make it more difficult to meet / get to know / make friends with these groups of people, which is rather useful in plot/story progression. In my original game playthrough, I'm somewhere over 30 Scientists and an untold number of Conspiracy Theorists...

I've already done some experimenting to try and find the problem:  My original post on the Game Information board here

I have not yet tested to see whether the Military NPCs have the same issue. 

[EngineerDaisho]

I wasn't sure whether this falls under 'Feedback' or 'Really Is a Bug', so I thought I would err on the side of caution and start here. 

I've been playing through the StrangerVille Mystery, which (of course) requires multiple visits to the StrangerVille Information Center [library] since that lot is set to have both StrangerVille Scientists and Conspiracy Theorists. I'm noticing that each of my visits to this lot triggers the game to spawn an entirely new set of NPC townies in these roles; I almost never see the ones my sims have previously met there and gotten to know. This is making it difficult to build up friendships/rapport with any of them, unless I specifically invite them over either to this lot or another lot. I've also been there so often that my Other Households tab is starting to get overwhelmed with all of these new NPCs...

I'm not using any mods/cc. However, I have been going in to Household Management periodically to edit any/all of the game-spawned NPCs' non-career clothing choices and to add notes about who they are/assigned roles. I wouldn't think this would affect this set of NPCs, but perhaps it does? 

[crinrict]

HI @EngineerDaisho 

It is possible that editing Sims can affect them in their roles. They should keep their tags that identifies them in their roles but maybe it triggers the creation of new ones.

Could you try what happens if you don't edit them ?

[EngineerDaisho]

Hi @crinrict 

That's possible, which is why I mentioned it. Editing the librarians seems to have had no effect, at least - the same ones have been showing up for their job as expected. 

I'll start a couple of new games to experiment, and will report back with my results. Thanks! 

[EngineerDaisho]

Hi @crinrict 

I've run some tests, and the short answer is that it does appear that editing the StrangerVille Scientist and Conspiracy Theorist NPCs is interfering to some degree with whatever it is in the code that calls them to the StrangerVille Information Center lot.

Findings:

Experiment #1: Started totally vanilla game, added/changed/removed absolutely nothing, used previously unplayed Maxis-created Sim (Bjorn Tu'Rock). Started StrangerVille Mystery. New Scientist and Conspiracy Theorist NPCs spawned on in-game days 1 and 2. By day 3, all of the same NPCs from the previous days were appearing and continued to do through day 6. However, beginning on day 5, a small number of each type were no longer wearing their career outfits while there. (Also, on day 6, one military NPC dropped by the library to play on the computer.)

Experiment #2: Made a copy of the save of Experiment #1 on in-game day 6, changed the outfits of 6 Scientists and 6 Conspiracy Theorists through Household Management->CAS, resumed play. Over the course of the next two in-game days, the game spawned a total of 5 new Scientists and 6 Conspiracy Theorists. However, 2 of the outfit-changed Scientists and 4 of the outfit-changed Conspiracy Theorists were also called to the lot, albeit in their new everyday outfits. 

Experiment #3: Saved a random assortment of previously outfit-changed Scientists and Conspiracy Theorists from my original game into My Library. Started totally vanilla game, used previously unplayed Maxis-created Sim (Bjorn Tu'Rock), immediately went to Manage Worlds and dropped the saved NPCs into the game. Started StrangerVille Mystery. The game still spawned new Scientists and Conspiracy Theorists on going to the library for the first time, but it also called a few of the ones I dropped into the game to the lot; those ones were wearing their everyday outfits rather than career outfits. 

Interestingly, the tags do still appear to be on the clothing-changed NPC sims, and I have seen a couple of them wandering the neighborhoods in their career outfits...just not at the library. 

[crinrict]

They keep their tags even if you move them into your household so that seems to be pretty resistant.

The scientist do have quite a few hidden traits so maybe you can add a mod called SimsInfo (found at MTS) to your game and check some of their hidden traits to see if they change when you edit the Sims.

Thanks for all your testing.

[crinrict]

Hi again @EngineerDaisho 

could you file a bug report for this in the bug forum: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/bd-p/The-Sims-4-Bugs

Thank you.

[EngineerDaisho]

Sure thing, @crinrict .

(I am still poking at it, incidentally. As you suggested, I've downloaded and installed a "show sim info mod" to have a look at the NPCs' traits. So far I haven't found any differences, though. My inexpert opinion is that whatever is causing this is happening elsewhere.)

[crinrict]

I merged your post into the new bug report.

I needed the form filled out which is why you had to made a new thread.

Thanks for all the info.

[manzana0807]

I've seen this too, and for me, I've found that using MC Command Center to flag the Strangerville NPCs to freeze their careers, helps a lot as long as I don't delete any from Manage Households.

There are an excessive amount generated though, which I know could be considered feedback, but it's more Sims being generated than I've ever seen in my game before, so I feel it's something that should really be toned down.

It's also difficult because with so many Sims being generated that it's hard to find the same Sims in the bar or library, or even walking the square all the time to build up relationships with them, which is necessary for parts of the story.