New Uses for WA Tomb Building Tools

[Seabody]

I was thinking that would be a good way to create ghosts for a custom graveyard.  I know that you can place graves with cheats, but do those headstones have ghosts?  But even if they did, you couldn't control what they looked like.

If you use buydebug to put down graves, you're terribly limited to your options. You can change the type of death. All that does is alter the insignia on the tombstone. Graves with buydebug are simply labelled "remains", so they shouldn't spawn ghosts. I think (note the think) that a grave has to be named to spawn a ghost. After all, would the system work if Tragic Clown's grave spawned Kitty Landgraab ?

EDIT:
How about this: A couple of traps to "deal with" the Paparazzi! Like dart traps! Lets see how they like it when they pass out in public...

[Ausette]

I just read your burglar post, Hosfac. I didn't think I'd want to use traps for that myself because like you said, the holes take time, but linking it to the lighting is genius! Perhaps you could design a house with a little foyer where you could put the traps and a burglar alarm to summon police? You'd be pretty much guaranteed not to lose anything from inside the house. Or maybe a fenced-off area with plaques saying "WARNING: TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT". You know, I might just have to use this security systems for some of my evil/insane/Mad Scientist Sims. 

As for the traps themselves: I've done tons of exploring and I'm not sure they're actually lethal at all, so I don't know about the ghost idea. Spawned "remains" don't produce ghosts either, although you can get them specidic to each kind of death (eg. you can put some starvation graves in a cave, etc). Killing the Sims yourself makes for a much better effect, especially if you give them punny names. 

Oh, and sorry I forgot to mention it earlier, but I just love mtglady's security light idea. Very realistic and very cool  .

[Hosfac]

...but linking it to the lighting is genius!

Well, it's about time some of your genius started rubbing off on me lol.  It took long enough didn't it? 

One of my thoughts was putting a trap in an air-lock style foyer, and setting the doors to lock when someone went in.  While I know this can be done, I just need to figure out the exact process for getting it to happen and resetting it later.  Now that I know how it's done, it's just a matter of fiddling with it a bit.  But even though the doors are locked, burglars have been known to bypass them anyways, so it's anyone's guess if it will work or not.

My plan for increasing the lethality was to have a rug covering the trap so that the rug catches on fire, too.  So the trap scorches them, and the rug continues the process while they're locked inside an inferno room.  I know a burning rug is lethal, as this is one way I liquidate sims without using cheats.  But what I don't know is if the trap will catch the rug on fire, or if the trap will even work with a rug on it. 

So far, I haven't found a house with an acceptable foyer yet, so I think this test might require a custom build.

[Ausette]

Ha ha, thanks Hosfac. Inspiring people makes me happy.  

Here's an idea that I forgot to mention earlier (I don't know why, since it was the first I ever used ingame): Short messages on description plaques. Yeah, yeah, I know it's not any different from their original purpose, but it could still add a touch of realism or serve as a funny Easter Egg in certain builds. For example, on an old town building you could place a plaque saying "Founded in 1823 by William Landgraab", or in a Simbot Recharging Station you could have a "WARNING! 100,000 VOLTS!" sign. On the other hand, you can hide plaques in tricky places and write something like "Hosfac is a legend!" if you want something fun. Just a little idea, but I think it's cute leaving little messages for players to find.  

[mtglady]

Here's an idea that I forgot to mention earlier (I don't know why, since it was the first I ever used ingame): Short messages on description plaques.

I actually use these plaques next to the doors of the rooms deep in the basements with my Sims names on them.  In these rooms I keep their plaques and any pictures taken or painted of them, as well as any special awards they may have received during their careers.  I paint the walls their favorite color too.  This way, as I get to my 5Th or 6Th generation I can remember who was who.  My youngest Simmies love to visit these remembrance rooms of their ancestors .

I also use the plaques above treasure chests to let me know what is in them as I am very forgetful . 

[Hosfac]

The plaques are a very good idea, and it's a pity that the buydebug menu is off limits in Dynasty games.  But I've learned to work around it by using photographs and adding short titles.  But it's not strictly off limits for a legacy, since the only cheats that are banned are mood and money cheats.

I mentioned something in the Building and Construction Showboat thread about houses and lots with "little surprises," and they would be a great tool to help inspire other players to discover these surprises.  You could use them to give other players hints on how to find them.

[mtglady]

The plaques are a very good idea, and it's a pity that the buydebug menu is off limits in Dynasty games.  But I've learned to work around it by using photographs and adding short titles.  But it's not strictly off limits for a legacy, since the only cheats that are banned are mood and money cheats.

I mentioned something in the Building and Construction Showboat thread about houses and lots with "little surprises," and they would be a great tool to help inspire other players to discover these surprises.  You could use them to give other players hints on how to find them.

My use of the plaques is purely for my game enjoyment.  I like to take my Simmies to as many generations as I can until I get tired of playing them.  Your use of photographs with titles is a good idea.  I will jot it down in my notes to use for my next full game. 

I have a habit of reading all plaques in the tombs my Sims visit so I would enjoy coming across ones that lead my Sim to "little surprises" in other creations.  I think my Simmies would enjoy it too !

[A126]

You could make a castle lounge with an escape route.

[Seabody]

That sounds like a fantastic Idea, A126!

Welcome to the forum!

[PolarBair]

Here's my situation, My backyard is completely walled in with no gates so the only way into the back yard is through the house and out the back door so no burglars or paparazzi can get to the backdoor. The front door which  of course is set as front door is locked for everyone and all the sims in the household come and go through the attached garage. This prevents any of the sims in my household from accidentally setting off the trap.

Now I have 1 electrical trap set right outside the front door and it's initial state is armed and hidden.

I'm using a hidden floor panel as the trigger and once I get that set up to trigger the trap I move it and place it right over the trap. So when any NPC (which always seem to head straight for what ever is set as the front door) steps on it they get zapped.

Now what I want to do is surround the trap with five more hidden floor panels that when stepped on will reset the trap back to armed and hidden. But I can't seem to figure out how to link a second trigger to the trap.

A littler help please?

[Hosfac]

Linking triggers is a simple process of cascading causality:  you program the action and then the reaction.

You set the trap to the state you want it, as you've done.  You place the switches where you want them and then you have to click on the switch to select the action (step on).  Once you do that, you click on the trap and select the reaction (reset to armed and hidden state).  You will have to do this with every switch you place individually.

Keep in mind that your Sim will seek out the shortest path to their destination, and if that leads out the door that is trapped, they'll trigger it too.  You'll need a way to disarm the traps so that they can enter and leave the house.  But...if you set up the hidden pressure switches around the trap that arms it, the trap will be armed every time someone walks on them.  That includes when they go to leave.

There has been a great deal of experimentation with WA tomb building objects done here, with a lot of creative successes and some less successful attempts.  I even attempted to make a burglar deterrent system that worked, but had some problems.  You can find the bulk of this research here.

[PolarBair]

You place the switches where you want them and then you have to click on the switch to select the action (step on).

I think it's worth noting that the Floor Switch and the Hidden Floor Panel are two entirely different Tomb Objects.

The Floor Switch has the Step On interaction which requires a player controlled sim to be ordered by the player to Step On the switch which would not work for my purposes since I'm intending on having fun torturing paparazzis.

The Hidden Floor Panel does not have any such Step On interaction in it's set up options and isn't required as any sim NPC or player controlled walking across it will trigger it. This is the Tomb object I am using as triggers.

You can find the bulk of this research here.

Yes, I've red all the way through that thread and while there are many posts from people telling of interesting uses they've found for tomb objects (Simbot charging station being one of my favorites) but few have explained in detail the process of setting up those interesting uses. Too bad really. That would have been extremely helpful.

[Hosfac]

I think it's worth noting that the Floor Switch and the Hidden Floor Panel are two entirely different Tomb Objects.

The Floor Switch has the Step On interaction which requires a player controlled sim to be ordered by the player to Step On the switch which would not work for my purposes since I'm intending on having fun torturing paparazzis.

The Hidden Floor Panel does not have any such Step On interaction in it's set up options and isn't required as any sim NPC or player controlled walking across it will trigger it. This is the Tomb object I am using as triggers.

Yes, I'm aware of what the hidden switches do and understand how they function.  I use them on occasion, although due to their nature, they're difficult to work with.  This is the point I was trying to illustrate to you:  if those switches set the traps to arm, it will arm the traps every time any sim walks on them...even yours.  So if they leave the house to go to work or go to a lot, it will arm the traps they're linked to and your sims will trigger them when they try to enter the house again.

Despite the fact that they function in different ways, their purpose is identical and the way they are set up is the same as well.

Yes, I've red all the way through that thread and while there are many posts from people telling of interesting uses they've found for tomb objects (Simbot charging station being one of my favorites) but few have explained in detail the process of setting up those interesting uses. Too bad really. That would have been extremely helpful.

Ausette explains the process in the second post in the thread quite completely.  There is literally nothing more to it than that.  It doesn't matter if you're using a torch lever, a floor switch, a hidden switch or a buy mode lamp, the process is exactly the same.  You set the Link Trigger, then you link the trigger to the activated behavior.  And you're done.  It's a cascading process.

This same process has to be followed with each switch you place, and has to be repeated for each trap that you want each individual switch to have an effect on.

[PolarBair]

Yes, I'm aware of what the hidden switches do and understand how they function.  I use them on occasion, although due to their nature, they're difficult to work with.  This is the point I was trying to illustrate to you:  if those switches set the traps to arm, it will arm the traps every time any sim walks on them...even yours.  So if they leave the house to go to work or go to a lot, it will arm the traps they're linked to and your sims will trigger them when they try to enter the house again.

This is why I said in my original post that I had the front door set to "locked for all" and the garage door left open so all the sims in the household come and go through the garage so they avoid the trap.

[PolarBair]

Okay I decided to torture one of my own sims to do some testing.

The option I was looking for under under Link Triggers on the Hidden trigger panel is Hidden Trigger NOT Step On.

Any way the problem I have now is that I want the hidden Trigger panel to set the traps state back to Armed and hidden.

There is no Hide option under Link to Activated Behaviors... so I don't know how to get the trap to go back to an Armed and Hidden state.