Modding Guides + Vandalizing City Items + Rewatch Tuesday’s Stream!
Happy Friyay, everyone! Chloe here for this new Patreon post. Today, I will be talking about modding in Paralives and the guides we are making for it, and as a little bonus, I will showcase some items that you can now vandalize in town. This Patreon post is for patrons only, so please do not share it. Thank you!
Watch: Q&A Discord Stream!
Rina saying hi for a sec! On Tuesday, I was joined by Axel and Gab for a very informative Q&A stream! We got to answer some of your most-asked questions, so thank you so much for participating 🤩
⬆️ Watch the video at the top of this post for the replay!
Modding in Paralives
As you may know, we have been putting a big emphasis on Paralives being moddable. For the most part, the tools we devs use are the same as the ones modders will use! For the past few weeks, some of us (the less busy team members 😛) have been hard at work preparing documentation and guides for modders.
We have quickly realised that despite us making lots of guides, there are a looooot of things that can be modded that we will barely tackle in the many guides we will be offering! We will be hosting the guides on a Wiki which allows community collaboration: we are confident that the modding community will be able to pick up what’s missing and create additional guides!
A little sneak peek at one of the guides that are available.
Some guides are already publicly available, and are accessible at https://paralives.wiki.gg/wiki/Portal:Modding_guides (shout out to ladyteruki for her work on the Paralives wiki and her help!)
In addition to creating guides for the community, we have also been testing modding systems more thoroughly. As I said above, our tools are the same as what modders will use; however, by doing the changes on a mod rather than the core game, little bugs were happening. By testing the modding systems from a game build and uploading mods on Steam, we were able to find bugs and tackle them immediately.
While we were testing the modding tools, some of us also created mods. Which means players will have some content to download as mods when the game releases on May 25th. Here’s a look at two mods I have created that will be available on day one:
A mod that includes traditional Japanese items: I even made it so you can sit around the kotatsu (it’s considered a coffee table and cannot be used to eat) and sit on the floor seats. The wall and floors are part of a separate mod pack I’ve made 👀.
Since mods are technically optional, I took it as an opportunity to create more complex and performance-heavy (still, nothing too crazy, though) items with this Rococo Bedroom Items mod. I looooove creating more ornamental items.
I hope players will have fun discovering the mods the team created at the game’s launch, and that it will entice players to check out the Steam workshop for new mods!
Vandalism in Paralives
You heard that right: items will sometimes be vandalized in Paralives. Not only that, YOU, the player, can vandalize them too. As a last push of content before the Early Access release, the team decided to focus on bringing more chaos to the game: one of these new features is vandalism 😈.
Let’s take a look at the different city items your Para will be able to vandalize, and by extension, repair!
Officer, I swear, it wasn’t me!... but benches are no match for my crowbar.
It seems like someone really wanted the latest issue of the New Paper.
Bing bonk! The snacks have been set free.
The newly unveiled bus stops are not safe from vandalism either!
You can make a mess by vandalizing the town’s trash bins.
No, not in front of Mr. ShakeyDancey! Telephone booths can also be the victim of vandalism.
There is also another little act of vandalism in the game; however, it is perpetrated by an anonymous bandit and cannot be done by players:
Oh, it’s getting messyyyyy. Players will occasionally be able to find graffiti around town that hint at some ongoing drama…
That’s it for today’s Patreon post. Will your Paras be up to no good and cause mischief in town?
This is also my last post (for real, for real!). I want to thank you all again for tuning in to my Patreon posts, and I hope you have enjoyed them for the past few years! See you on the Steam Workshop! 💪
Chloé
Comments (94)
It would be cool if fixing or breaking an item gave you a reputation, like if you fix something you get a positive reputation, maybe in the future it could be used against a job in politics, like a town mayor or something like that, like a public figure or just be seen by other Paras as a good person! (or bad person to avoid)
ooooh, i love the vandalism, makes me want a run down grafitti'd town that I can slowly clean up and work on
I think it would be weird to have the name of the town be the same name of the game. The reason being it could get confusing to search for on the internet and confusing to talk about. So I think it's good that you didn't go with it in the end.
Ok, vandalizing? Love that! Graffitis are goooood. Will we be able to adjust the chances for it to happen?
My favorite thing to do in these type of games is build my own town from scratch. Will I be able to do that? Can you show us how to place an empty lot to build on.
I will say... if y'all ever add pet rats to the game and give the option for Paras to not just interact with them in the cage, but to also ride them around on their shoulders, you will get major bonus points from me. :D
Also question. Will I be able to cheat skill levels ?? My typical game play loop for the Sims is make a girl play with her get her a job and skills typically get them pretty high or maxed and once she's had a fulfilling life I have her settle down get a partner and they have a kid. But the partner is generally made in CAS and I cheat all their skills to imply a similarly fulfilling life. So would I be able to cheat skill like that ??
I know I'm late to this, but the skill breaks down like broad categories with specific skills. It's kind of crazy and it honestly feels very in depth and allowed for so much for potential expansion
I'm not that savvy about modding but I have a question about the "GUID", it says on the wiki that this is "Number that is randomly generated and that is automatically assigned to any asset imported into the game. It allows the game to track down the asset through the project." I'm wondering though, if this is assigned with modded content, is it possible that in the process of creating a modded item, two mod creators could make an object with the same GUID by accident through random chance? If this happens and someone downloads both mods, will one GUID be changed to compensate or will they stay the same? what happens in that case? sorry this might be common sense and I'm overthinking, just curious!
Great question! The limit to assigned GUID numbers is huge... so you'd have an approximately 1 in 18 quintillion (yes, quintillion!!) chance of accidentally using the same GUID as someone else. In the rare, impossible case this does happen, you should probably buy a lotto ticket 😆!
so so cool guys! however, Repair feels too narrow as a top-level category. A broader skill like "Handiness" could support clear branches like say, Repair (restore), Crafting (create), and Handling (operate/interact with tools and objects), making the system more intuitive and much easier to expand without overlap! ((Please consider it, it would really help future modders))
Once cars and bikes are introduced, a more flexible Handiness system would be a big deal for supporting those mechanics. :DD
Is anyone planning on making a translation mod? I would like to try my hand at translating the game into basic Irish (to help me learn the langauge). Would love to chat with folks as we learn how to mod this together.
Let me know if you need any help! Would love to help create a translation mod for it. :)
Oh my gosh, the "CHEATER!" stuff combined with mod-able cards could make for some amazing challenges/playthroughs! Also, oh my gosh, more downloadable stuff without having to buy Stuff Kits? Somebody pinch me! :3
Seeing the newspaper box vandalized and then the new bus stop, actually made me react, like Aww, that's sad. I wasn't expecting such a thing to be honest, but I like it, lol! Also its sad that this is Chloé last post, why does it have to be, what about after Early Access? Meaning, will she be around afterwards? Also I just can't use EA for Early Access, it reminds of that which shell not be named too much. Oh I enjoyed the video, Rina is such a goof, with whatever those things were creeping up, about the pets question, lol! I have a question myself, something many have wondered about, but I haven't seen answered or maybe no one has asked it directly, but some of us were wondering, when we first start a game, will we be able to go straight to the world map, like in The Sims 1, 2 and 3, or will we be sent to PAM to create a Para first? I and others would like to be able to play premade townies starting out or at least in a future save. And The Sims 4 has us start out in CAS, and so does InZOI, in watch ever they call their create a character area. And everyone is thinking that is what all games like these will do, no matter what, but I am hoping not really. I mean I hate having to create a random Sim in CAS in TS4 every time I want to play a new game, so then I have this Sim in my game that I have no interest in playing with, but is now stuck there, unless I want to delete them, once I choose a premade townie Sim. Which I actually don't really like having to do, it bothers me for some reason, even though I'm not using them and probably didn't put a lot of work into making them. So I do hope we will be able to at least have a choice of whether we want to go to the map or to PAM to create a household. Also I just realized while checking out the pictures here again, that the Para with a crowbar, is the same one that was in the photos for the Japanese Living Room Items, well well well!
The CHEATER! graffiti made my jaw drop! So dramatic and funny! Love that it's related to real in game drama too. A bad reputation leading to vandalism by your neighbors is incredible for lore and world building in save files.
Will there be an option to be able to have more than 1 lot loaded at a time? Like your home lot AND somewhere else?
Yes, your household lot is always loaded! So, when you visit another lot in town, your home lot and that lot you're visiting will both be loaded :) -Gab
If you walk around town and happen to find a vandalized vending machine, do you have the option to steal free snacks? Or is it just that the object is unusable?
Is it possible to catch NPCs vandalizing items? And if so, can we scold/stop them (or... join them, ha ha)?
I have a suggestion for something else we could have in the world for our paras to vandalize: a few ATM. Maybe they could be used for your paras to pay their bills (in addition to being able to do it over the computer or the phone) and to send money to other paras' households.
yeees, bring the chaos!! <3
For more events for the game that includes babies + toddlers I was thinking a first time parent club. And this club can help new player (or people who are new to the life sim genre in general) on how to take care of babies and toddlers, and help them with their needs. And a fun perk is that maybe you will develop a parenting skill (like what was included in Parenthood in the sims 4). As well as you can bond with other struggling parents and maybe your child and their child could become life time friends, as an scenario.
omg that’s such a cute ideaaa
A summer camp would be amazing for kids. Or even pre-teens and teens paras. Art will have writing skill?
We love chaos and drama 😂
This is the first time in a while that my jaw literally drops when reading an update. This is such a small but exciting detail! I hope we'll also be able to graffiti in the future, that would definitely add some insane drama!!!
Oooh vandalism!
The modding tools and steam workshop is SO freaking cool! I love that you prepopulated some content into the workshop too!! Are you guys concreted on the release date in May? Im hoping there wont be any last minute delays, I think that would break me 😂
No delay in the plans, we are confident with the May 25 release date! We tackled all the big points we wanted to since December, and are focusing on game stability and bug fixing until then
I hope that angry Paras can get a want to "break something", or if there's a feeling mischievous emotion that a vandalism want pops up!
I LOVE that things can look more gritty with damage. ♥️♥️
Chloe I have enjoyed your posts and will miss them. So my para teen went around and caused damage...will I be able to punish them? Can they lie to my face and say that it wasn't them? Did my neighbor tell me that they saw my teen para vandalize that trash can?
In TS3, it was luck-based, which was really lame (especially when I went out of my way to avoid being seen).
I have some ideas for the town's name, like Paraville or Paratopia. I'm curious about what you've come up with. I also love the mods you've created, especially the pink bedroom, and that you can even destroy things in the town as well. Keep up the great work. I love you all. You're such a sweet team of passionate people who seem to really love the game you've created and I have supported you since 2021 and I'm so glad I did. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Your comment prompts me to ask: will we be able to change the name of the town, if we're so inclined?
I can't wait to play it! Thanks!🙏💕💕💕
I'm getting more and more excited for this game's release!😺
Social skills would be great!
Thank you for today's post 👍 About the Vandalism. It was positively surprising that you added some Chaos to the game and LOVE that. I'm a little curious if there are consequences for vandalism (if not on EA are there plans for the future like a law system or you get caught red handed and the police gives you a warning... Something like that?). Also how often/autonomous could Vandalism happen in the Game ? Are vandalised objects still usable ? Can you repair vandalised objects/ can it generally be repaired? Have a lovely weekend everybody (knock on wood for the next weeks ✊👊🪵)
1) At the moment there isn't really consequences to your Para's misbehaving, except that if you vandalize everything, the down will be in disrepair ahah! We will probably look into this more in depth after the Early Access release :) 2) I am not sure of the exact odds, but every day at midnight, there is a chance for any item to break around town. 3) The vandalized objects are not usable, and they can be repaired by the player!
I always thought the town would have a pun name similar to other puns in the game like paradimes. My guess would have been "Paradise Bay" 😁 Am I way off?
I actually love this name for the town! Or Paradise Cove! Anything to allude to the beach/lighthouse. Alluding to the castle would be cool too but then I don't know if you can still use the Paradise pun.
OMG, you really listen to the community, I love it. Bringing some chaos to public spaces is definitely interesting and more real, Paras dont live just in the fairytale 🤭
The progress of the game is amazing, full of small details. Congrats to the whole team! And special thanks to Axel, Chloé, Gab, and Rina for bringing us this update—you rock!
A wiki! And the modding tools allow for uploading straight to Steam?!?! AMAZING
Re the lot loading how does it work if I am playing with several paras at a time and they are all in different lots but I can only have one lot loaded at a time?
My question as well! Excited to hear how this will work.
Loving everything that you’ve been adding since the delay. You’ve really used this time to give the game some polish and it really shows. I’m aware there’s still a long way to go but I can’t wait to try this in early access!!
I love the vandalism idea! I imagine that I would explore that with a mischievous teen para! Also, that bedroom set is amazing! Definitely downloading that on day one!
Thank you devs so much! I appreciate all the love and work you guys have put into this game, kept us updated along the way and will continue to do so 🥹💖 you'll forever have my love and support and I cannot wait to get my hands on this game❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much Chloe, for this update! The vandalism makes the paras and the city seem more real and less perfect. Much appreciated! I just wanted to make a small suggestion regarding phone use: when Camille entered the antique shop, all the paras present (it's great that there are characters inside the shops:)) were holding their phones. Would it be possible to limit cell phone use in the future? Occasional use is fine, but having the paras constantly attached to their phones is perhaps a bit excessive :) Thanks again Chloe and team <3
Yeaah we are aware that Paras are a bit too hooked to their phones! It's something I believe the team is looking into.
Hi just a further question on lot loading. In the situation of the video, one para left the house and went to the museum which I believe was the only loaded lot. Say the other para is still at home. If I had directed the para at home to perform a set of tasks would they perform those tasks while the other lot was loaded, eg do homework. Play piano, eat.
The home lot is always loaded, even when you visit and load other lots! That means that Paras in your household that are still at home will still be visible in the house, so yes they will still be performing whatever you asked of them!
Oh I love this! i hope there is some kind of law system. Maybe not right away in early access but it would be cool if you could get fined for property damage if you got caught. I love it when there is consequences to my actions. Like stealing, if caught stealing it could just be a day or two in jail, plus a fine. I feel it's better if you wanted to play a criminal to just have the actions to do it and there being consequences for those actions if caught.
We won't have this for Early Access release, but a reputation system is considered!
I'm not a modder but am super excited to see what the community comes up with! What I loved seeing in Live Mode is the purple 'warning sign' of the game being in early access, and not all features being available yet - this makes it so clear to players what stage the game is in and where you are planning for development. I think this will help immensely to accustom newer players to the concept of early access 💜 so thoughtful!
I would freaking love an “Early Access ! Please Do Not Swim” sign by the water xDD
The fact that vandalism (and some chaos) were added in, just proves again how much the devs are listening to feedback and figuring out innovate ways to answer to them! ❤️ I LOVE the graffiti idea and that it’s tied in with ongoing drama at the town, I hope that we can puzzle together on what’s happening when we catch the graffiti’s. Oh the lore!! Does anyone receive anything for fixing what has been vandalized? Hope there will be some sort of police force job. Police, firefighters, detectives 🕵️♀️ those could be fun! Can I just ask if there’s been some “chaotic” gameplay added to the paras personalities? 😈 or for rebellious teenagers specifically (other than the vandalism)? Great job as always, thank you for all your posts 🥰
I cannot disclose the other chaotic elements that were added, but maybe some Patreon posts will before release! 👀
Thank you Chloé for this last post, and all the ones before. It's crazy to think there's only a few weeks left ! And thank you to the team for the shoutout, and for trusting the Paralives Wiki with this bountiful modding information ! I appreciate it ^_^ Quick note for future mod devs and players of the community : feel free to reach out to me on the PaWi (my user page : https://paralives.wiki.gg/wiki/User:Ladyteruki ) if you need help getting started with the wiki ! I'll be happy to assist and/or provide links to existing ressources, so that we can share more and more sourced and reliable information as a community. If you don't have time/energy/ability/ideas to contribute, feel free to explore the Paralives Wiki and give feedback as a user, too ! https://paralives.wiki.gg/wiki/Meta:Community_portal There's lots of information there already, even though of course a lot of it is still in flux because the game is not out yet. There's even some surprises if you know where to look (*wink* Category:Icons *wink*) Also, yes, there WILL be pages about secrets, as soon as we get our hands on them ! In fact I have already set up a page for Lore that will happily become a hub for all this spoiler-y information later XD paralives.wiki.gg/wiki/Lore I'm excited for the modding opportunities, and fully intend on modding more narrative-oriented mechanics myself, brain permetting. I have so many questions about how some things are going to work ! Can I upload a mod that depends on someone else's mod ? I know Steam allows it, but does the game ? Like if someone makes a "writing" Skill, can I create a work upgrade that boosts that Skill ? If someone makes an asset for a sculpture, can I add a Goal that includes looking at that sculpture ? (actually there's several questions in that one sentence XD ) Are books going to be part of the "book club" system Alejandro mentioned for the distant future ? Similarly to the New Paper system (yaaaay !!!), I'd love to be able to add a book with a custom title/genre/status effect/skill boost/etc. I guess what it boils down to is : is there going to be someone on the Parateam who is the mod devs' liaison ? I know some bigger teams can afford to have someone dedicated part or fulltime to support modders, getting feedback from them, finetune Modding tools in response to it, etc. That might be a bit ambitious especially while everyone will be working on Early Access updates, but I'm asking just in case. I'm so happy we'll keep seeing regular Dev Blogs (or devblog-like) posts after release. Fridays already feel so empty without Dev Chats, I don't think I'd survive having to do without the weekly Patreon post ! Regarding the post itself, the vandalism is a FANTASTIC idea. I really love that it's both negative/chaotic gameplay, AND it changes the environment in tangible ways. It's also cool that it isn't focused on one area of town, but can happen in all kinds of places ; the graffitti part is also hilarious. Plus it creates an incentive to work on Repair Skills (...well, Skill, for now) without just grinding books or whatever other games do. And I like the idea that if I decide NOT to fix the town, it could fall into severe disrepair, too. (oh no, that bus stop was brand new ! that's going to raise our local taxes FOR SURE)
Thank you for your work on the wiki!! I just started exploring it and I'll probably do that until early access release❤️✨
What fun! 🤭 A mystery is affoot! More graffiti clues, please! 🔎 I'm looking forward to trying out the modding tools, too. And I love the Rococo rug! Your posts have been a delight Chloe and I'll miss reading them. Thank you for all you do! ❤️
Thank you tey! :)
I missed it when it was live but at 7:57 in the video😲 Is that one of the fabled...? ✨secrets✨ Pet rocks maybe???👀
By the looks of it it's definitely pet rocks. The hardest and yet easiest pet to keep !
Nooo, last Chloe post?! We're getting sooo close to release. I can't wait!
Yeah, chaos and drama ♥️ I also very much appreciate how inclusive you are with the modding documentation. As a software developer I am used to openly available documentation and was quite surprised that Sims modding resources are so scarce.
The way I chuckled at that Cheater graffiti 😂😂 Ohhh, let the chaos ensue!!! 😎 Thank you so much for all you've done, Chloé 💕💕 (Also, for one who's thought of trying her hand at modding this year, thank you for all the guidelines you've set in place thus far, I can't wait to try it!)
Thank you 🙏. My question, and I apologize in advance if you have already answered this, but will there be size sliders for creating dogs and cats? Because there’s a large amount of size differences in dogs, and cats as well. There are even sizes in horses.
Dogs, cats etc won't get be added until later in early access. So I imagine they've not fully locked in how those will work. A slider like this is a good suggestion though!
vandalism is such a great idea, hopefully this is something that teens can do, if so, they are definitely going to be up to no good 😂
The mod items are so beautiful, but I hope you'll add different types of furniture and things into the game not as mods too in the future. Thank you for the lovely (and also menacing) post, Chloe 🩷
After the Early Access release, new items will for sure be added to the game, to make sure players have new content to play with once in a while :)
Since the patent for the loading screen minigames expired in 2015, did you consider including them in the game? I think it would be a nice touch✨
Not at the moment, but that would be fun!
Thank you for another really interesting post! I'm curious will there be consequences for your para if they are caught vandalising? I hope so!
you are impossible, I can't wait!
Devs: Vandalism is an option in Paralives. Everyone: Take my money!
Reading “this is my last post” makes me realize how close we are to the release.
AAAHHHH!! VANDALISM!?!🤩🥳 I never expected it or even thought about it for Paralives, and yet I'm so happy to hear it's now part of the game!!! And the cheater accusation!✨ This feels like such a realistic and dramatic addition!🙌
Oh y'all are angels I swear 😭😭😭 I cannot express in words just how excited I am for this release!!! I am so excited to start modding as a hobby and already wrote down and made mood boards for ideas lol the fact that you set down and already created guides for those of us new to modding (and also everyone else) is so cool! I love that there's an entire extra space for this hhhhhhj rhdvdgsgs Also yay for more chaotic gameplay! I love the vandalism so much :D I love chaotic gameplay so I am happy with any addition. I am hoping for maybe some more chaos in the personality system, wants and maybe even jobs at some point 👉👈 but damn I am so happy lol There is so much else here and I am just super excited!!! You guys are somehow single handedly making my dreams come true Okay wait edit: I just thought of this while looking at the vandalism photos and what if someone could rip the air noodle thingys? Sorry I am getting so many ideas 😭 ahhhh why am I so excited
Noooo no harm can come to Mr.ShakeyDancey! 😭 Although maybe it is something that can be modded, ahah!
I can't wait to make a mess out of the town lmao
samee, I'm so exited😭😭
So 👏 work can't wait 2 months to go yay
Dang is metal made of jelly in this town? Especially that trash can the way its all tangled like that
We needed the items to be *really* busted so we would be able to tell from afar a normal item versus one that has been vandalized! The vandalizers either are very strong, or have a lot of anger to let out, ahah!
Vandalism is such a good idea! I'm so excited to get my hands on this
Thank you, Chloé, for all the work and the posts!!! The vandalism feature sounds pretty fun for storytelling 👀👀
I love vandalism. Not in real life but in a self contained safe space! Thank you for creating the game. I really cannot wait for it!
Had a day off and was ready just for another amazing post!! 🤩 Thankyou devs and Thankyou so much for all your amazingness Chloè!! ✨💕 (also… VANDALISING!? 👀 🔥)