If I use the SimPE simsurgery plugin in order to change a sim's face, will the changes be genetic or do i have to do something else so he can pass on the changed features to his descendants?

The changes are not genetic, you most likely will have to follow something like this tutorial to make them genetic: http://modthesims.info/t/494394

Does anybody even use the discs anymore or am I just the lone dinosaur?

I use a no disk mod, because using your disks will wear them out, but yes my game is installed from each disk and each one is separate-nocollection packs. It makes any reinstalling take a Very.Long.Time.

If you buy a restaurant and set up its menu, then sell it back to the community, does it keep its menu?
Also, if you send a sim out for a jog, does all the neighborhood deco play a part in the environment score? I just thought and haven't noticed.

I also use the disc version of TS2, with all EPs and SPs. Like Jo I use a no disc mod to make the M&G disc last longer, but just to be safe I bought a second M&G disc.

Do objects placed with the "snapobjectstogrid" cheat remain in their correct places if the lot is put up for download?

can I have a link to that no disc mod and how does it work?

Can children be abducted? I'm assuming the answer is no, but figured I'd ask anyway,

Is it natural for a sim to suddenly be a demon in their eyes even if they had blue normal eyes before that? I noticed it sometimes happens. It's not that I have anything against it if it's a game bug. I would actually love if it was a game big because then I can make stories about demons...

?? If your sims eyes are randomly changing to red I would look to your cc.

It's not only red and it also only happens to males. But I just noticed. I may have to many eye colors installed? (Like 100 or something >_>)

Yes, they do. Same if you use the quarter-tile cheat or the 45-degree-angle cheat.



It's not a mod, it's cracking the game, which is what must be done if you are, for instance, using a "pirated" game so that you don't have disks. As such, the rules here are that we can't link you to them. Google it. You'll find plenty of sites that have cracks for pretty much any game out there, and most of them will tell you how to install them. Just make sure your antivirus/antimalware is all updated before you do, scan whatever you download, and then re-scan after you install. (Just to be safe. I'm not saying you're likely to get anything, but such sites do tend to be places that can spread viruses. Just like torrenting sites can be. That said, I downloaded the one I use online and had/have no problems.) Just make sure you crack your latest EP, the one the game uses to start. If you have all EPs/SPs, that'd be M&G. Then you can stop worrying about losing or damaging your disk(s). I only ever touch mine when I need to install the game on a new machine.



No, they can't be. Just teens and up. Unless you have the Freetime version of the hacked telescope that's here on MTS. If it happens with that, though, nothing really happens except a "stuck spaceship" is generated that prevents any future "legitimate" abductees from being returned until the stuck spaceship is cleared. I had to fiddle with that telescope to stop children from being abducted for that reason. I'm guessing it happens because there's no coding for children to be abducted.



No, it's not natural for anyone to be a demon. I have literally thousands of custom eyes in my game and I've never seen that happen. I'll get the accessories flashing blue thing sometimes, but never red eyes. Does it clear up if you use a mirror to change their appearance? As for why it's happening...no idea. It could be CC, maybe one of your eye downloads is weird. Problem is, you can't take out custom eyes without messing up Sims who are wearing them, and if you test in a game without custom eyes, and the problem is custom eyes, then you won't be able to replicate the issue.

So...Yeah, that's a toughie. You could try taking out stuff besides eyes, though, and see if that fixes it. If it does, you'll need to narrow down the cause by putting CC back in in small batches until the problem happens again and then you'll have a clue as to which thing is causing it.

Saying no cd mod is nicer than saying 'crack' because crack is associated with pirating, none of what most of us here do or certainly I don't. My disks were bought all new off the shelf as they came out adding up to a lot of dollars, I do not plan to let my disks get scratched or broken when they cannot easily be replaced.

Still, a crack is a crack. Whether you use it on a legitimately-purchased game (as I do as well) in order to protect your disks, or on a pirated one because you don't have a disk, you're still bypassing the mechanism that EA devised to make sure that people had a physical disk (and therefore a legitimate copy of the game) in order to start the game. (Before the whole Origin thing, that is.) If it makes you feel better about it to call it a mod, that's fine, but that doesn't help people looking for one because then they'll look in the wrong place. You won't find cracks on sites offering mods and CC for the game (because I'm sure EA, back in the day, would've had something to say about that; I'm sure that's why we're not supposed to link to them here); you'll find them on shady sites where people post cracks for games.

I know it's word semantics, but I would rather not be thought of as a pirate since I'm not one. I've had mine saved for years. I was given it it similar fashion so never used any shady sites, I don't trust them not to give me a virus or browser hijacker (had one once, nasty thing)

Took me a minute to realize you meant alien abduction.

A rose by any other name... No, I get it and I understand. Like I said, it just doesn't help people who might want to acquire one to call it something that it really isn't. Also, it probably shouldn't be made to sound innocuous when it isn't. I'm quite certain that cracks are used by lots of people who own the game legitimately, to avoid fiddling around with disks when you want to play a game you legitimately own as well as to avoid damaging disks that will become increasingly hard to replace as time passes as well as to avoid subjecting your CD/DVD drive to, IMO, completely unnecessary wear and tear. But it is what it is. No matter where or how you acquired it, a crack is something that was developed by hackers and, as such, there are dangers involved because, you know, hackers. Folks should know that going into it and that should factor into their decision as to whether or not to use one. Calling cracks "mods" might make them seem, to the uninformed, like something no more risky than installing ACR in your game when that's really not the case at all.

In a moment of stupidity, I deleted the Lot Catalog in My Documents instead of an old Packaged Lots folder. I replaced the Lot Catalog folder with my backup copy, so the dates are a little different (only a couple of days). I have not yet fired up my game. This version is the one reflecting the lots currently in the game I am using. I have not added or deleted any, so nothing has been overridden. I haven't even properly played the game yet! I am trying to rebuild my custom lots and downloads after a game mishap, and unfortunately, the poison goes a few months back, so I have to resort to a late-April version of my game. The next step was SUPPOSED to be integrating my newer custom lots with the lots in the game. Obviously, that's not what I did!

Did I just do a VBT Moment of Stupid, or just an embarrassing one?

And as for no-CD cracks ... there is a very popular site out there for those. Be careful of it. Recently, they're ad-flyed it to the point one can't even get to the file without downloading the crapware. There is an alternative site people use. I have no idea whether it is better. I'd rather limit my dealings with both sites, thanks. There are places where you can find the names of these two sites. And I agree with Icad ... these sites are to be approached extremely cautiously.

While Origin is a thorn in my side sometimes, there is the advantage of not having to worry about such things with the UC. But Origin has its own pros and cons.

This is the best I can write here, and even now, I might be dangerously close to breaking forum rules.

I think the problem with no-CD cracks is that many people use it for shady purposes. Unfortunately, that ruins it for people who do not use it for sketchy reasons. They're kind of lumped in the same group.

...I'm curious. Can zombies get children?

@gazania
At worst, you'll lose lots that didn't exist in the Lot Catalog when you last backed up. Otherwise, the lot catalog has no connection to anything in a particular neighborhood. (Unlike Sims in the Sim bin.) It is, quite literally, just an archive. Whenever you pull a lot out of it, you're pulling a copy of it, not the actual lot that's in the bin. So, you can delete lots out of it or delete the whole catalog with impunity.

As for cracks...Wow, Ad-fly? Major suckage. I got my crack long before that existed. IMO, the issue of "piracy" when it comes to TS2...is no longer an issue. TS2 is no longer sold by EA. It is a dead game and, for EA, no longer a revenue stream. Given that they themselves give away the entire game for free (in exchange for putting or keeping Origin on your machine, through which they can spam you with ads and stuff), even to people who might have only ever purchased a used copy of the game (Which is not, technically speaking, a legitimate game purchase according to the EULA, as the license can't be transferred between end users), I highly doubt they care one whit about people pirating it and/or cracking it anymore. And since they're the only ones who can fully legitimately make money from TS2...Well, there we are.

@OnayaW
No, zombies can't have children, at least not in a vanilla game. They can't become pregnant and they can't impregnate anyone. They could adopt, though. Or, if you use the Sim Blender or some other such hacked object, you can manually make them pregnant or use their genes to impregnate another Sim.

@iCad I had forgotten my sim ha been in bed with the woman before he died. he died right after of starvation xD

I wonder if it was stupid of me to delete the preinstalled neighborhoods. They filled a lot and I hated them, but now the black box below the character have turned up. Me don't like, but on the other side it can be the graphics because i turned them up to get a better picture quality

@OnayaW http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=569585

As indicated I have mine saved to box, just so people know-which is all I am saying here.

how do people take those good screnshots? Like I have an Acer aspire and drive the game on a full screen... but the biggest I can take for picture is a poor quality photo even when I have set up the game camera on the highest quality and so with the gameplay...

Many people use (free) software to take better/larger pictures of their games, instead of using the in-game camera. There are various options available and different people have different preferences - I use Fraps.

@lauratje86 okay because my acer can't even figure out when I try to turn the furniture 45 degrees xD (honestly I tried and all it want to is move the screenpicture -_- no off bottom. yay...)

I notice that EA has SC4 and other games oldrr than Sims 2 still available on their origin store. It's like Sims 2 never existed. With the amount of people asking for Sims 2UC or Super Collection it would be more profitable to resell the game.

Ohh wait that have these things what are the called? Ah yes Sims-without-lots-and-lots-of-loading-screens and Sims-that-even-youtubers-find-boring. Sims 3 and 4 respectively

I think that's a bit subjective but hey, we wouldn't be in the TS2 section if we didn't think it wasn't the best entry in the series.

As far as them not publicly offering TS2, that's simple. Because it'd take away sales from TS4, their current cash cow.

and that's why I still have the games I lend on the library. None really lend them and the library "forgot" (Well they told me to take them home...) that I have them.

That's said I sometimes go down to my local store there sell old games despite I need to pay a lot. I am still buying as a back-up even though I have all games installed.
I love sims 2, and i kinda - only kinda, loved the open world in sims 3 where you suddenly could do a lot more than before, but as TS4 came did I begin to get bored. Everything was premade for you. Like my little cousin never ask me to build houses anymore because she is like: "If i click here and here and now they have a home" and I think the characters looks... cartoony ene sorry if it hurts. But the times I played TS4 have been very boring. There rarely happened anything >n<

business owning.
are there any limits on how many businesses a sim/household could own?
can multiple businesses be ran on the same lot? if so, how many and what combinations of business types?
without cheats/hacks/mods on both questions.

If you're asking about multiple businesses in the sense of having a restaurant, store, venue, etc. on the same lot, all owned by the same Sim, you can do that without cheats. If you want different owners to own the same lot though, (kind of the same way multiple households can live on the same lot in an apartment) that's impossible without cheats, and may even be impossible with them (at least I haven't heard of any).

While we're on the subject of businesses-I'm thinking of building a community lot called "The Sears Store" where anyone can come in and buy what is displayed. My question is: does it have to be owned in order for the items to be sold?
Because I want it to be just the store without any owners, (because nobody can afford to own this lot, yet) and perhaps just an auto-purchase register. Things like a bookcase, or toys, etc. Will it work?

No. Those things can only be set for sale in an owned business. The only things you can buy in an unowned business are from the various sale appliances - grocery bins, clothes racks; magazine, game, jewelry, cologne, and souvenir stands; small electronics from the kiosk; and so on. Individual items can only be sold if set for sale by the lot owner.

You might as well turn me in to the authorities. Remind me not to ask you for help when I need to hide a body!

Brb, going on the lam. They smell my fear.

I need a favour of someone who's registered at PBK. Please PM me if willing.

Is there a list anywhere of what bin sims go with what neighborhood?

Here is the best info on that http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sims_2 @WildIrishBanshee and it is best to use a pop-up add blocker or you wont beable to see the site.

Scroll down some to the Hoods and click on the ones you want to know about.
Just remember that EP's that add bin sims will add them to ever hood you open for the first time unless you have clean and empty templates installed.

Thanks! I do have empty templates, but I have bin sims in my Uberhood - and I forgot they came with it until they all sat in my bin.

Is SimCity4 compatible with Windows 10? I wanted to get it so I could make my own terrains (and maybe play a really fun game too) but I'm worried that it won't work.

I believe so, you can purchase it from origin and either way even if it doesn't work they have a guarantee for money back within two days I believe. I did this just the other day with SC4 because I'd rather have cities skylines than that.

I was going to buy the cd secondhand for cheap...but you gave me the GREAT idea of downloading SimCity4 for two days to test it/make the terrain I want and then getting my money back. At least than I'll know if I want it or not! Thanks!!

I bought it recently new, it was only about $5

LMAO! That's what I did...I just didnt want it to sound shallow. I bought it, made my SC4 terrain, then returned it.

Does anyone else have sims that stay sleeping in a tent so long they wake up and immediately starve to death? It's happened a few times in my ToT hood and is driving me insane.

Just cancel sleep and make them get up and eat.

Is there a mod for less motive drainage during pregnancy, or ideally something to make the drainage worse as the pregnancy progresses, but not that bad in the first stage? My sims are so useless while pregnant even with all the aspiration need benefits. I like the realism of the later stages (2nd and 3rd bumps) but not the first.

What happens if an employee in an owned OFB business misses work? Especially if the employee and the business owner have a great personal relationship. (e.g. If the reason they missed work was because they were having woohoo with their employer?) For Sims in ordinary careers I use the Sim Manipulator to give them extra vacation days, but OFB employees don't seem to get vacation days.

Just put down the institution sign (well maybe it you can't Andrew, don't know what EP it requires) If you have no sign out and they miss work they get the normal you missed work the boss isn't too happy about that message, just like a regular job.

Bubblebeam, you could always maxmotives if you feel it's needed. I would say check they have a really good bed, ready to grab meals in the fridge and a bubble bath. I really don't expect pregnant sims to do anything but take care of themselves.

I find this very funny even though I don't know what you have to do!

OFB employees DO get vacation days - it just doesn't show on the UI. Which is a PITA. I found that out when I had YA's employed at my business. Not sure how you would find out if any have accrued, but you could always give them one when needed.

Jo, I do use the institution sign, but currently the only place I use it is my school. I am thinking about places where I normally would want my Sims to go to work, but occasionally want them to take the day off. I suppose I could keep an institution sign in inventory and just get it out when my Sims want the day off. Pity they don't get paid like they would with a vacation day. The other situation is one that takes me by surprise. A Sim is visiting another Sim, and, to control things better, I make the visiting Sim (who may e a townie or another playable) controllable, completely forgetting that the visitor ought to be at work - until I get the warning that they have missed work. To avoid this happening, I have given a lot of my Sims, especially townies, extra vacation days. So instead of getting a warning, the first I know is when my Sims get the visitor's pay for the day, and the visitor has used up a vacation day. The problem is of course that I can't give vacation days to OFB employees. There aren't many of these in my game yet, but their number is likely to increase as more owned businesses get established.

Justpetro, the Sims I'm thinking of are Liam O'Donnell and Aidan Jamieson, townies who got to know each other at (Simlogical) school, fell in love (in a typically New Desconian non-exclusive way) and went steady. When they left school, still as teens, Aidan bought a little timber cabin near the sea (basically a version of the Maxis Ranch Retreat on a 2X1 lot), and invited Liam to move into it with him. Then Liam set up a nightclub business on a little 1x1 (since increased to 1x2) lot nearby. The nightclub is called "Anything Goes", so you can guess what it's like. Even by New Desconian standards it's really wild. Although the club is in Liam's name, and the house is in Aidan's, they really do things together, so I used a couple of hacks (I think they're by Squinge) to make Aidan an employee. With 9 creative points, he's an excellent and popular DJ, though Liam, with 8 creative points, is pretty good too. I haven't made Aidan manager as I want both of them there when other Sims visit. They also employ two Sims, George Rawlinson (a townie) and Justin Forster (a playable) as exotic (erotic) dancers. The idea is for one to relieve the other when they get tired. Although they have specific tasks to perform, employees are encouraged to give customers, all Romance Sims like themselves, whatever they want. Liam won't complain if one of his dancers is making out with a customer instead of dancing. Keeping the customers satisfied is what makes the business a success. For this to work all the workers in the club must get on well with each other, so employees are often invited round to the owners' house for "staff bonding" sessions. And do they bond?!! Liam and Aidan like to keep relationships with their staff always in the high 90's. Always with Love and Crush tags. So it is not all that unlikely that an employee might miss work while woohooing with the boss. But I can't imagine that Liam would sack him for it. Especially not Aidan, in whose house he lives!

So I wonder if the game mechanics would go so far as to sack an employee for repeatedly missing work. Well, if it does, I suppose the employer is just going to have to invite the sacked worker round for coffee and woohoo. . . And then give them their job back! Maybe with a pay rise!

[EDIT]
I've just seen your post. That is helpful to know. Thanks!

I think I'll now give Liam's employees about 10 days each. I trust I can use the Sim Manipulator. I'll also have a look in SimPE too to see if I can see them there. Thanks again!

How can I change a pets physical appearance i.e. it's tail, ears etc? So far everything I check doesn't include pets for plastic surgery.

There is an option on mirrors to change pet's appearance.

Yeah, it does. I'm pretty sure that it's two missed days in a row and you're out.

Having a manager doesn't mean the owner won't be there when visiting with other Sims, so there's no reason not to make him a manager if you want him to be one.

Okay so I had the son of the Kim's marry a Servo (And made him hot for Chrome) he's also a Romance Sim..... So it's easy to get him to go out and do stuff. I was curious though, What happens if I have him eventually Try for baby with a Townie and Downtownie, Do they go through all or the pregnancy off screen or would they be perpetually Preggers unless I moved them into His and the Servo's household?

You won't even get the option. A sim can only get pregnant when her own lot is active.

If you make her selectable with the testingcheats or a mod, you can fool the game into thinking she's on her own lot and get her pregnant then; but time will freeze for her. Her pregnancy will only advance if you make her playable.

I know ghosts get upset and cry if you relocate their urnstone, but what if you only turn it 90 or 180 degrees without moving it even one square over? I've been trying to watch for the newly-dead to emerge for the first time but so far, I keep missing it. And some of them have the courtesy to die facing the right way anyway. :p

I have a poor Sim who really wants to become the Law, but the career option for it never comes up (I know there are mods for choosing...). What makes it worse is that only three career options show up on the computer and sometimes only 2 in the newspaper, just for this particular household. I've tried replacing the computer but there are always only 3 options not 5. Why would that be?

There may be some normal reason for that krud, but while waiting to see if anyone knows, I'd make a backup of my game and pull all downloads to see if it's being caused by cc or the game. Then after you are done testing, replace save files from backup so there are no adverse reactions from the temporary lack of cc.

Did they go to college? The college jobs won't show up (at least in my game) if the person searching hasn't gone to college.

I've had a look in SimPE, and, a bit to my surprise, it doesn't show the number of vacation days a Sim has, not even for Sims in Maxis careers. (Or, if it does show it somewhere, I can't find it!) So, I think I'll try to use the Institution Sign, but give my Sims extra vacation days anyway (using the Sim Manipulator) for the times I forget to put out the sign. And I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult to re-employ them if the game did sack them. "Well, let that be a warning to you! Now, come on and give me a kiss, and you can have your job back."

Interesting. I thought the point of having a manager was they'd run the business for you, and you'd only have to go in occasionally to check up on it. I don't know if there's any point in making Aidan a manager. As a household member he is able to direct other employees anyway. Possibly the only advantage would be the prestige of having the word "Manager" in his job title. I'll think about it though. Aidan seems happy enough with the present situation -- I reckon he knows the business is really half his. And the house is in his name.

Well Maxis, you could have done that better!! You could have written some sort of algorithm that let the employer decide, based on his/her character and the relationship with the employee. Or just put the decision to the player, who should be in a good position to know what her/his Sim is likely to do. Anyway, thanks for letting me know. It should be easy enough to re-hire the employee if they do get sacked. In a slightly different situation, you could turn it into a drama where the sacked employee takes the boss to an industrial tribunal claiming unfair dismissal. It is fairly monstrous for an employer to have "woohoo" with an employee, and then sack them for missing work, but I'm pretty sure such horrible bosses do exist, in Real Life as well as in The Sims.

Two stupid questions:

Most people want their hypotheses proved correct. I want this one to be wrong.

I'm still trying to figure out why a freshly-placed hood would corrupt quickly. I replaced it with another copy, So far, Hoodchecker isn't coming up with the odd crap it came up with in the last hood version.

i know I've done none of the VBTs on the Wiki list that most of us know and love ... errr ... hate.

One thing I can think of that could vaguely have caused it was that I downloaded Sophie-David's mod that makes career and aspiration rewards buyable. I had put them all on one community lot to test. I thought nothing of it. Nothing in the Wiki mentions this is a bad thing. I know. I've pored over it five times already. I removed what I thought were all the items and bulldozed the lot. That is the ONLY thing I did out of the ordinary.

Only hours after that, when I checked Hoodchecker, I got the crap in the Sim Wants and Memories category. Almost two dozen different items. Strange IDs that apparently are objects having memories. Three Sim IDs that I don't have in my game, and never had had in the game (I don't have a Downtown and no Maxis shopping district, so a wide range of numbers are missing in my IDs. These three numbers were in this range.) My Cassandra also had frozen blue want slots that could not be removed by the usual means. (There was one more-unusual one I didn't try.)

I have sinned no more, and check Hoodchecker each time I play now. So far, so good. No strange Sim IDs. Cassandra is doing her usual Cassandra things, and her want slots (which for some reason, reverted to four in the previous version) is now back to six and doing fine.

Are any aspiration or career rewards NPCs?

This hypothesis is so far-fetched that I hesitate to post it. But it may be important in future lots. Right now, I'm wary about using any of them unless I back up my hood first and check each household later to make sure the residents are going about their usual business.

Also ... in my custom hood, I also found other weirdness in the Hoodchecker. (I didn't use buyable objects in this one.) Stuff about skunk skins and Santa in the general block of stuff that always reappears because ... Maxis. I don't have my Sims go near the skunk, and I do not believe I ever used Santa in this hood. I was shocked. I used Hoodchecker to clean them, and so far, they haven't come back.

Is it safe enough to assume that if Hoodchecker fixes a file that doesn't resurface, that file is fixed, and I can continue to enjoy my hood?

I just went through some pretty weird glitching in my game.
Some examples:
If a Sim phones another Sim, phoned Sim will stand next to him, talking on the phone, and vanishes as soon as you say good-bye (Yes, I know they are actually on the lot, but in full pixel glory?)
Pregnant Sims show up at community lots in their normal, casual wear, doing the preggies walk
On moving one couple to another house, Sim stand their in the nude at the postal box, wife is dressed, though.
These were all quite funny, but I did not appreciate it all that much.

I know I did not do any VBT's, I did not download any mods, but I did download some default clothing. So, instead of going 50/50, I just removed all the default clothing (and now I am officially done with default clothing, from now until the end of eternity). All the weirdness stopped.

Then, of course, I can remind you about that kitchen counter which buggered up my previous hood.... but I won't.

So my advice, Gazania - 50/50 first, before even starting the hoodchecker

The reversion to four want slots seems to be a result of the SWAFs getting wiped, Gazania. It probably also screwed up her LTW. Unfortunately knowing that doesn't help, as I don't know anybody who's found a reason for it. I know it happened to me before I ever downloaded any buyable career rewards.

I hope you're wrong about them being the problem, too. Those things are useful for creators.

I honestly don't think the buyable career rewards do any harm - those have been in my game a long time. I don't use them that much, though - except when I forget to pack up the real career reward when moving Sims - and then the military one is used in my parks in the military hood. So I have never tried them all on one lot! I have to say that I find the mods by Sophie David not only useful, but also working really well (which is not always true of other mods).

As for the reverting back to four slots - I have seen that here and there, but I have not seen that for some time in my game. It happened in some of my hoods, and I - well, being less concerned about corruption and more concerned about playing - just ignored it and played on

I may also add that downloading lots has also at times had a negative effect on my game - and I honestly sometimes don't know why. Not always, though. Maybe it is using UC, although the percentage seems to be rather tiny.

I have another hypothesis, too. Just formed one last night. This one involves the xml file that you need to remove to get the game to run with a new video card. It could be that maybe while yanking and replacing my game with my backup (I had to do it a few times because of various complications). I forgot to put in backup hoods after I removed that file, or ran the game while the old file was still in there, realized my mistake, then deleted the file and played my hoods. I read somewhere that not replacing the hoods with backups before running the game might cause hood problems. I don't know if that is true or not, but it would make sense in my situation.

Of course, I found the thread discussing this file and hoods anywhere (I saw this crop up only once or twice, at best), and can't find it again! Perhaps I'm imagining it.

If that is the case, going with backup hoods again after the file was deleted was the right thing to do (ding ding), and hopefully, things can progress. If those career or aspiration items do cause problems if you remove them from a lot, whether you have the buyable rewards or not, that COULD be a pain. I doubt if it's all the items, though, if this caused the problems. Perhaps just one in particular.

I know I've removed stuff creators made here based on the aspiration/career rewards (the ballet barre here, various CC based on the podium, etc.) without incident. I can't see why removing the Maxis originals to many of these items would be that much of a hassle.

Could it be that not handling the xml file properly can also corrupt or mess up hoods? If so, did I find still another obscure way to do this? (I found another one just a few days ago. My expertise at this is amazing. )

One thing I should mention, though ... the blank want slots were in no way caused by custom content. I know that much. That surprised me too, since I thought this would be like the blank Uni student UI issue I had before .... CC-related. (I no longer have the affected hoods in my game. The Uni problem was a CC download that was also a hood-killer. I had to roll back a few months, before I used the download.)

EDIT ... Well, I saw this mentioned here: http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...hlight=xml+file . But that refers to entire hoods, and doesn't mention possible corruption. It seems that only Cassandra was the only Sim directly affected in my hood. But still ... maybe?

rotating a grave marker any degree I would guess would not make any difference in the ghost's behavior if all the coordinates are the same as before rotating; and maybe also as before entering any of the catalogs (Build/Buy, rewards, etc).
though the only way to make sure would be to test it.

You can turn and move the grave where ever you like on the lot.

All my Sims go to college.

Yeah, it only happens in this one house that I downloaded, so I figure that's part of the problem.

It is probably the whole problem - it it just happens in one downloaded lot, I would move the Sims out and get rid of the lot myself.

Please excuse my repeating this question. I know Peni answered it adequately. But after the freaky and/or alarming game incidents of the last week or so, I'm getting a little spooked. I just want to make sure I am not going to do something I will regret later.

According to Peni, it's perfectly OK for me to delete a Maxis Uni and put my custom one in. Right now, I'm trying my hand at laying out a small uni, college town area, small dorms (can't stand large ones) and 1x2 and 2x1 collages for rent in a test hood to see how I can fit everything in the way I want it. I've decided M.M.A.A.'s Fisher Island terrain is the most closely suited for what I want. Once I arrange my buildings, I will take lots of pictures and try to replicate it in a good hood.

Again ... if I delete the Maxis Uni and put in my custom one, those Maxis characters, such as the Frat and Sorority members, won't leave me with a nasty corruption present, correct? Since I had to roll back three months, none of my current Sims are even in Uni yet. Do the Frat and Sorority members wind up in the bin too, or will they just disappear without a trace and not remind me of my folly?

Thank you for your patience.

It is indeed perfectly safe. All playables end up in the student bin if you delete all the Maxi universities (except if you use clean templates, of course, in which case there won't be any to end up anywhere). Secret Society members will generate, and, I assume, dormies, if and when they are needed.

Just remember that if you back up your 'hoods, you can always revert if you do manage to screw up.

I've worked on that basis ever since I started using HoodChecker. I remember my horror the first time I used it on Veronaville, and got 16 pages of errors. Fortunately the great Mootilda was still around to hold my hand. She assured me that you get the same with all the Maxis 'hoods. The HoodChecker successfully removed all but 6 if the errors. (I eventually removed the other 6 with the batbox and SimPE.) The errors never returned and I'm still playing the 'hood. I know you've had a lot of bad luck with corruption, but I think, if HoodChecker finds nothing wrong and everything looks ok when you play, you really have to assume that it is ok and try to enjoy the game. I'd still take plenty of backups though, so you can always go back to something recent if something does go wrong.

I wouldn't quite agree with that. I'd only do a 50/50 if I thought something was wrong, but I routinely run HoodChecker every time I make a backup, which is almost every time I play.

Now my own stupid question:
I know that Sims can fall out of love because several of mine fear falling out of love. But I can't recall any love affairs ending, except in dramatic circumstances when their lover catches them kissing or flirting with another Sim. So may I ask:
How do Sims fall out of love? Is it always a dramatic affair, being caught cheating on a lover, or can they simply drift apart in a similar way to the way Sims can lose their best friends?

They would need to be caught cheating.

I had one couple who drifted apart. Their relationship was at 0/0 for both short and long term, but the love heart was still there. I brought them together and made them argue and that killed it.

So they really have to actively dislike each other to end their love. I'm impressed by the strength of Sims' love, but sometimes I'd like an old crush to just disappear. I've made it worse for myself by having the mod so that teens keep their loves when they become adults. So if I ever want Sims to end a relationship amicably (which I agree is hard to do in Real Life) I've really got to delete the love and crush tags manually. I think I'll have to do that for Jamie Siddons and Juliette Capp, because, while the idea of her marrying both him and Romeo and having them both live at Capp Manor is undoubtedly funny, I know that in his heart Jamie would hate it. He really only meant to be Juliette's friend -- he never meant to fall in love with her. Yes, Jamie I agree; hormones can be horrible!

It would be rather hard to get a couple of sims living together to reach 0/0 They would have to spend a lot of time not interacting and having bad conversations.

There's a break up anytime mod: http://www.drealm.info/simlogical/s...s2_Relating.htm

Pescado also has a mod in the director's cut called drop old loves. That automatically removes the crush&love tags on a sim when they get married.

They don't have to drop all the way to 0/0, they just have to drop below the level where love becomes a possibility (I forget exactly what that is). I think it works just like friends/best friends. If two sims don't see each other for awhile and the relationship drops far enough, then the next time they talk they lose love or friendship or whatever. I think I once even saw sims lose their enemy status with each other that way. Their relationship rose far enough through chatting, etc. that the next time they talked the enemy status dropped.

When creating an Empty Game with AGS, will the hood have stealth subhoods, or will it be completely empty?

It should be completely empty if you did everything right.

The only time I ever tried to do an All EPs AGS I had a problem with the first load being empty and the second load adding the stealth hoods, which may be due to something I did wrong. I never got my act together enough to troubleshoot it or find out what that was. So I recommend making a backup after your first successful session, in case you did the same thing wrong. But it's good to make regular backups anyway.

If you make a limited EP empty hood, and add it to a full game that does not have the stealth hoods disabled, the game will discern that the neighborhood was made without some EPs, and will add the stealth hoods, if any, for those EPs. So if you load Widespot, which was made as a BG-only hood, into a full game, you'll get all the Family Bin sims and social group townies from the later EPs, but you still won't have Pleasantview townies.

I cannot seem to click on the food judging table. The food judge does show up but neither they nor the table are clickable. Does anybody know why this might happen? It is on an non-owned community lot.

Does your sim already have meal specially made for food contest in inventory? Without that meal it is impossible to start contest.

Is there a consensus on whether Sims 2 works in Windows 10? I don't have Sims 2 installed on the machine I would upgrade, but would like to eventually.

Yes, it does work. Either it works directly or you need to run it in compability mode.

about falling out of Love; base game Prima Guide tells Lifetime going below 70 and there be a direct Lifetime decrease either after or during that.
similar with Crush; Daily going below 70 and there be a direct Daily decrease either after or during that.
direct meaning it being through some Social interaction instead of through Decay/Normalization.
either sim being caught cheating by the other is one way to accomplish both with both sims.

Friend, Daily going below 50 through any means; Best Friend, Lifetime going below 50 through any means.

This is going to sound dumb, but... How do you instruct a Sim to ask a friend/family member to watch their kids? I can't remember where you find the option in the pie menu. Also, for context, I have the mod where it's enabled for both residential and apartment lots, and the family I'm playing right now lives in an apartment.

Click on the friend and 'watch kids' will be there somewhere. If it's gone you might want to check you still have it or run the HCU and see if some other mod is conflicting with it.

easel.
do all paintings take up the same amount of time to complete?
how many different paintings possible through just "Paint" (or "Practice Painting")? not through "Still Life"/"Portrait".

Related to the 'watch my kids' mod, I found that if the "babysitter" leaves the lot without being first dismissed that the option will no longer show up for that lot. One way that I found to fix it is to move the household out and then back in. There might be other ways, but I have just made it a habit to make sure that I always dismiss them every time that I use them so that I don't have that problem again.

The same time I think. 12 different paintings. You can see them here on the default replacement http://modthesims.info/d/82329

In regards to losing love tags, I recall playing the Goodies a few times where this happened. Herbert seems to enjoy jumping right into telling a dirty joke, which Faith doesn't like and triggers the loss. So it seems the negative social interaction doesn't have to be extremely negative, like an argument.

What do i need to make a cooking contest on a community lot? I guess the table and then ovens and what not so that they can cook something and also how do you start up a dancing contest?

You need the special table that spawns the food judge. Sims can enter a cooking contest so long as they have food in their inventory. A kitchen would allow them to make food there.
For a dance contest you need someone on the DJ booth and the option should be there. I've only done it on an owned lot. I forget if it was just one of the booths that had that option since the game has two.

It's only the Freetime DJ booth.

For any kind of contest, the scenario will just hang up till enough sims gather to compete, so wait to start the contest till there's several people on the lot.