We need to kidnap him.... *plots*

Hey, he's not alone if he's got us, right?

I know a lot of nice folk. Most of them live in Veronaville.

And, seriously Ather, I do appreciate all the good friends I have here on the MTS Sims 2 forum. Ever since I joined, I've found this forum very welcoming.

Can anyone explain what the flying pig balloon is, and why it's always floating around my neighborhoods?

It's funny.
And I believe it's generated by the water tower hood deco, so if you disagree about its funniness, delete/replace the water tower.

Reminds me of spiderpig from The Simpsons

Several times I've seen the pig balloon clip right through the terrain. Many laughs to be had.

What does the "dump happy log" boolprop tce option do? I was trying to reset a pet (turns out it didn't really need resetting, whoops) and after the force error thing didn't work, I tried the DHL... Just making sure I didn't ruin the game or anything.

Also wondering this. Maybe it is a code name for something?

Pretty sure that is not something you should select.

the Encourage Socials; do they change expressed personality, genetic personality, or both?

Expressed personality. Genetic personality stays the same, so you can look and see what life's done to them.

Ghost questions. Has anyone ever noticed a ghost can 'shoo' sims from their chair? At the cemetery, I always have chess and chairs along the pathway and near grave sites to give sims a better chance at seeing a ghost. This one table, and one particular chair with it, seems to be possessed. Every time a ghost jumps into that table, if sims are playing, one sim gets up and then the other does. Their queue icon says 'move', sometimes it's only one sim that gets up and it's the same chair. I've had a sim get up, another sim walk over and try to sit there, but I've already made the sim sit back down, so the 2nd one gets annoyed. Sometimes the ghost will pop up and scare one of the players, but they aren't being told to move at that time. I've been watching this over and over and can't figure it out. The only thing that's different from other cemeteries is that I used that cheap plastic chair, usually I use a decent comfort level one. I'm not suggesting it's the chair, just that I can't seem to find any difference that would explain a ghost making them move.

in response to post #613; some other possibilities::
-ghost's personality
-ghost's Mood and/or Needs
-means of death
-ghost's relationship with the sims
those last 2 are only guesses.

Only two ghosts there, died in fire and they don't know any of the sims visiting the cemetery. Hmm, don't remember the personality of either.

Thanks to all for the removal-of-multi-PT mods advice.

Also, yes any and all may call me kid or kidh, inc BoilingOil.

After installing a sky mod in my Downloads folder, I've come to the conclusion that while it's great for pictures and looks very pretty, I don't know if I want it in my game all the time, and my Downloads folder is plump enough without files I won't use except in special occasions. Removing any sort of sky mods, whether hood-wide or in-lot, should be perfectly safe, correct? I can't see where it wouldn't be ... it's rather like an overlay.

I also installed it, decided that I did not want it and removed it (without any negative effects, it seems - it was a while ago).

I have two questions, both of which may be more appropriate in the Help section but I'll pose one here. I downloaded a watch accessory (http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=66132) that shows up but only for the right arm. I opened the file in SimPE but don't see any obvious value to change. The photo for the download shows the watch on the left arm which is also confusing. Is there a way to change it from the right arm to the left arm or to make it available for either arm the way it looks in the photo? It's a very old download.

The info in this post might be helpful. It's actually for converting pre-BV jewelry to actual jewelry but the information also comes in handy when you want to bin existing jewelry differently.

Thanks! I made the changes including binning it as a bracelet for the left arm. I'm going into CAS to see if it worked. Crossing my fingers!

ETA: Unfortunately it doesn't show up in the BV jewelry bin at all for either wrist and now doesn't show up as an accessory either, which is ok since I can't use it on the wrong arm. I used to have a watch accessory, can't find it now, but I can use the Maxis one and pretend the guy lost his dress watch and absolutely had to wear one so he used his hiking watch - it could happen. Thank you for the suggestion and the link! I'm going to use the info to bin accessory jewelry I could not successfully bin using the Wardrobe Wrangler.

Thank you, justpetro.

Unfortunately for my Downloads folder, I found Raynuss' wonderful more-recent creations. Lilacs! Forsythia! So I was a little distracted there.

Egads. My apologies to you, Downloads folder. You WERE thinner there for about five minutes.

(And since I should be polite: http://rdnussimaginethat.blogspot.com/ )

Yes. Raynuss has sabotaged my downloads folder, but the lilies in the gardens look fantastic!!!

I guess I'm just going to have to avoid these threads if you guys are going to enable me downloading more CC

Probably just as well I already knew about those pages lol.

More of a 'just wondering' sort of question... but why does my camera go weird whenever I play a lot that's in front of a mountain? Same thing happens if I play on the higher floors of a 2+ storey house. It's like the camera jumps around and it's difficult to zoom in directly on something. It doesn't happen on lots that are on flat ground, but stick a mountain in the background, and the camera is all over the place. It's hard to explain. It's really a minor irritation, I've tried using different camera mods but it still happens. If anyone (a) knows what I'm talking about and (b) has any ideas how to get rid of it, I'd be really appreciative. Otherwise, I guess I'll just keep on playing anyways.

You'll see the same thing on really tall lots, even if there's no terrain height variation anywhere nearby... The camera seems to want to have a constant height above the floor at each zoom level, so when you have skyscrapers or very hilly lots or neighborhoods, there can be a lot of variety in where the "floor" is, for camera purposes. I've run into it a lot with my skyscraper builds, and the best advice I can offer is to use higher zoom levels (closer in to the action, as it were)... that seems to help at least a little bit.

Thanks, Zarathustra. Yeah, I've noticed it on really tall lots, too - I now tend to avoid playing them because the constant camera-swooping becomes really annoying and takes me out of the game. I'll try more close-up zooming!

My worst one is a park in a shallow valley, where most of the park is a bit below road level. I can't get the in-game camera down to give the Sim's eyelevel view that I like. I just get the tops of their heads, or worse still, their plumbbobs. I posted about it a couple of years ago in the forerunner of this thread. I think I could do a bit better now as I now know how to use the tab "freecam" camera, but it 's still not really satisfactory. I wonder if a camera mod might help.

Does CoEG 's tooltip thingie works with W8.1?
I can't figure out how to use it after several trials.

Can you clarify what you mean with "how to use it"? Can you not open it? Can you open it but not do anything? Can you use it but no changes are made?

None of these, I'm afraid. I think I need to do a little more testing.

Anyone else craving cut content from Sims 2?
It seems EA really cut some of the interesting things, such as the Boss scenario. And fashion shows? Sounds cool!

When a Sim becomes BFFs with another Sim, does the "forever" there actually mean "forever?" Like, if I had a couple of immortal Sims (say, two vampires) become BFFs and then never speak again, would they still count as friends for things like job requirements even if both daily and lifetime relationships dwindled to zero?

I think the BFF should last through that - yes!

They can lose the regular friend/best friend symbol but the BFF remains. Not sure on the job front if that counts or not. it's quite easy to get a BFF who has lost friend status back to friend status.

Apparently the Boss scenario was just a reworking of the Headmaster scenario.

You can get fashion shows from www.simwardrobe.com, under Other Objects.

I don't, actually (but I'm not the "disagreer", for the record ). I feel there's more than enough service NPCs and scenarios, with all the EPs and SPs. In fact there's a lot of stuff I still have never tried, even though I've been playing this game so much.

The Boss is basically the Headmaster, like Charity said, and I wouldn't care to have runway scenarios, I think. The contests that are in the game are not all that riveting (cooking, dancing,... is that it?), and confirm that's it's probably not possible to integrate a satisfying fashion show in a life simulation game. The closest thing I can think of is the dog show in Pet Stories (no offence to models^^), in terms of being the most developed form of show, and even that I wouldn't enjoy replaying over and over (and most of it is made of cut-scenes).

But you could probably stage your own fashion show better than the game would be able to do it in free play mode*, and take awesome pictures/videos of it

*(I'm saying in free play mode because there is some kind of private fashion show in the scenario of the Life Stories, where a sim tries on several outfits to show to another sim. It's nothing to write home about and it's probably the best that can be programmed within the game mechanics.)

Exactly! Here are a few things I still need to try:

• So far, I've only ever sent my sims on vacations to the Far East. None have ever been to the Mountains or the Islands.
• I've done all kinds of businesses... Except for Pet Shops, Art Galeries and Restaurants.
• Death: I've killed one sim for a story, and a few annoying townies just for kicks. But I've never allowed myself to suffer the loss of any of my favorite sims from old age.

I'm certain there are other things I still need to try. I don't need any of the cut materials just yet...

Yeah I still haven't had the nerve to play the "leave restaurant without paying and try to avoid the staff" scenario :p

Haven't had a sim turn into a plantsim.
Haven't created a zombie. I've never actually seen a zombie in the game, since the game doesn't offer premade zombies like we have premade plantsims in Riveblossom Hills.
Have never seen Santa (and never will since I uninstalled that SP).

And countless other stuff I can't think of, or am not even aware exist! And it's good to still have things to discover

How do you even leave the restaurant without paying? Whenever I've tried it, it just deducts the bill amount from the household.

You have to select leave without paying and then you have to get away with it,random chance and mostly they get caught. Easier to walk in, steal a plate of food, they don't care about that. My homeless guy did that all the time.

Klapaucius, I don't know, like you I don't even see the option. Maybe it was removed by a recent EP? I never took the time to investigate this, honestly.

Edit: The wiki doesn't explain where and when to click to start the scenario either. (But at least it doesn't say that it's been removed from the game so I'm good, I can keep it on my list of things to do^^)

No, I have all Eps. I'll have to see if ic an get a screenshot of it.

Jo I didn't read your previous message right: I don't think it's random actually, the wiki confirms you have to stay far enough of the restaurant staff. I've seen sims get away with it most of the times in other players' journals. It helps if there is more than one exit apparently. I guess if you're trapped in a single little room with the waiter you're toast :D

One time a sim didn't receive their food after ordering and there's no way to correct that when it happens. I had the sim get up without paying and leave the lot, the game still 'kaching-ed' the money from him. It's odd how customers can complain in an owned business, but playables can't complain about bad services.

What are the rules for using other people's content when they don't have a terms of use? I have some boots I shoe swapped from one skirt to another and their creator has no policy. Can you use them or not without explicit permission?

If the person is still in the community, you should ask them if it's okay. If they don't respond in a couple of weeks, go ahead and use them, with credit and a note that you'll take them down if asked.

Is there a way to guarantee a Sim will have a certain preferred hobby?

No, but there are a couple of ways to make their hobby one that you prefer-the Simblender or SimWardrobes "Hobby Adjuster".

Or else go into SimPE to change it. Any of those will work.

I'd say no unless you set it with a mod like the Simblender or the Batbox.

You can set it with the simblender/batbox, but...
Check out my Character Creation Notes. I made it for a few friends, so it's not as well-organized as it could be. But there's a section there on how personality and such factors into the predestined hobbies, and after a while you can pretty accurately guess what the OTH will be. I'd paste it directly but it's in a table.

Batbox > Info > One True Hobby. Click on the one you want your sim to have. I do it this way all the time. I like for their hobbies to match up with their interests whenever possible. (How can your One True Hobby be Cuisine??? You have no interest in Food!!!)

Yeah, my observations is that it's more determined by personality points than anything - neat/lazy sims like cuisine. I usually just randomize it if it seems terribly off, or change it to something specific if I have a certain image in mind for that sim.

As for my Sims, the more hobbies they have, the better - -then they can talk to about any Sim about their hobby - and they do love talking about that! No interest in food? You will develop one

sim memories
positive ones would correspond to what could appear in the sim's Wants and negative ones to what could appear in the sim's Fears?
yet the memories given to Create-A-Family sims seem to always be positive.

They don't have to be in the wants and fear panel at the time though. Certain things are always negative or positive depending on the aspiration of the sim.

Hmm, they last logged in 12 Jan 2008, so I suspect that they've left the community. Thanks.

Is there a way to sew separates tops and bottoms parts with the FT sewing machine? I found out that I could only sew dresses and I am so disappointed!

You can only sew full outfits, but they don't have to be dresses.

I seem to have at least two residential lots with invisible karaoke machines. I didn't know they were there until I saw someone wander outside and start singing. Hovering the cursor around the area where the machine supposedly is doesn't register anything to click on. I've tried locating these things in Buy and Build modes, and with moveobjects on - still nothing. I don't recall anyone delivering a karaoke machine as a post-date gift either - they've just appeared out of nowhere, though appeared is possibly not the word since I can't see them.

Can anyone explain this? And how might I get rid of them?

Stuck object remover. Place it down where the are, make sure nothing else is next to it and click play. It will tell you what it destroyed.
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s...hp?topic=1609.0

Yes sorry, I meant full outfits.. is there an hack to sew separate parts?

Not that I have ever seen and I have all the extra sew pieces from here, bears, pot holders and quilts.

Thanks joandsarah, I hoped that there was a hack or something..

Yes, give them the according personality/zodiac sign.

I've always hated the sims gossip and think it's under control now. It's the kids with their tell a secret that's annoying now. One girl does this almost constantly, with a bunch of kids around, it's difficult to get them to do stuff with this option and it can be canceled but they don't stop until finished. I searched and can't find any way to stop it.
Simon would like a stop to these hurtful gossips, please . . (:

@Duine: I take it that Simon is the kid watching them bitches talk about him, right?

Yes, and he seems to be the brunt of most gossip, along with a dead sim who can't defend himself. (: The blond pigtailed girl is the worst gossiper too. She's very close to moving into a small 'room' at the cemetery. jk

It's pretty amusing to see what sometimes comes up for gossip, though. I remember one of my Sims got rejected for a kiss and not 15 sim-minutes later his sister was gossiping about it. In front of him.

I love seeing what they gossip about too. Even when it's silly stuff, like burned mac and cheese becoming the scandal of the century.

When they gossip about toilet training is when it gets me. It's like they are all Freuds.

Aha! Didn't even know this existed. Thank you, Jo, I'll give it a try once I get round to one of the houses in question.

I haven't played the game today as I've been searching for some info posted recently and can't find it. I even wrote it down for those unexpected moments and can't find where I wrote it. Some of my sims stand around with their arms folded as if they're locked from doing things on their own. They do some things but act clueless about what to do next. I'm pretty sure it was Peni who explained the problem and have been reading all sorts of posts to no avail. I've reread the batbox options and don't see anything related, also used the simanipulator and blender and don't see any options on them. For some reason, it seems it's one of those things you might right click the mailbox, but don't like using that cheat unless I know what to do first. Does anyone know what this is and how to fix it?

@Duine: Sometimes it's a mod that causes indecisiveness. One of my mods has seen a version that did, as well. I fixed that, but there could be others that cause similar problems. Problem is, it's hard to pin down. The only way I can think of, is to do the 50-50 dance.

For those who don't yet know how to do that:

• load the game with one half of the mods, see if the problem exists.
• - if so, remove half of that set, and repeat
• - if not, the problem is in the last batch of mods that you took out. Switch around and repeat

You'll be able to identify the culprit among roughly a thousand mods, in about ten or eleven attempts. If you have a lot of CC, and loading the game takes a long time, you might start a test hood with no CC for such a project. Once the culprit mod is found, some modder might be able to figure out why that mod does this, and how to fix it.

Very handy yellow box, I detonate footpath out of stock sales with it all the time.

Can Bodyshapes be genetic? If I have a sim with an androgynous shape, could her child possibly inherit that bodyshape?

Bad news I have a child in Coral Bay with a LTW. :/ I ran Hood checker then I opened simpe and it said LTW grow up, so I clicked it to be sure, committed and saved but in game it still says 50 first dates. I'm worried it came from a dorm, when I installed it and went in there were well known dormie pictures on the doors *sigh* Is there anyway to remove this LTW and how come it shows grow up in simpe. I'm at a loss how to fix this.

post #677; according to the base game Prima Guide, facial features can be inherited. for brow, nose, jaw; a male's has 66% chance of being dominant, and a female's 50%. eyes/mouth, it is the other way; 50% for male, 66% for female.
I guess those would be the sim's expressed gender.

post #678; some things to try::
-copy the neighborhood to AnyGameStarter; also any custom content the neighborhood has.
-open relevant custom content in Clean Installer (one at a time) and check if they have anything that might cause it.

How would looking at my custom content in clean installer show me if cc was causing the LTW? I suspect that dorm and all the broken sim references it must have brought. Or do you mean because it doesn't show in simpe that it's simply graphical from some mod?

Does anybody know why moving my cursor over a bar would cause my sims to jump? Even interacting with the bar causes them to jump. The drink for a moment and then jump/reset. It even changes their profile picture (I think it is called this?). My guess is that it is mod related as it is happening on bars that came with the game.

The jump signals that the object is throwing an error, which the game is solving by resetting the Sim. If you had testingcheatsenabled on, it would show you the error. Almost certainly a CC problem. Back up your hoods, and do a good old 50/50. Once you found the problem, replace your neighbourhoods from backup to make sure the lack of CC did not botch something.

I think running the Hack Conflict Detection Utility may help narrow it down, possibly.

It's worth a shot, definitely I don't know many bar-related mods, so that's why I assumed it's more likely to be either faulty CC or CC that isn't correctly updated to current game engine, rather than a conflict between two mods.

Pescado's OFB hacks, will cause glitches with custom bars, I don't remember if it glitched Maxis bars. It nearly drove me nuts trying to understand what the hell was happening when I had that problem.

I also recommend checking your latest Error Log. It can give you more information about what happened i.e what happened at the time of the error.

Might it be the fix that lets you assign a playable as bartender?

it was on a business lot and I don't quite remember what happened. I just couldn't run the restaurant properly and eventually tracked it down to his OFB hacks.

I think I have that (I think it is called Bartending.package). Not sure how to use the conflict detector with UC though. I'll try to get rid of it and see what happens.

EDIT: The bartending.package was actually a part of a career download pack. For some reason, taking it out caused the sim to disable and live mode to be disabled when i moved the cursor over the bar. I think I'll put it back in and see what happens. I probably should have realized something was wrong when there was no bartender on the lot as per usual (the lot has a bar).

To use the conflict detector with UC - make a copy of your The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection folder (Inside My Documents/EA Games) - rename it to The Sims 2. Leave both files there and run the HCDU - you can delete the copy after.

Is there a way to get sims to dance in front of the DJ booth as opposed to around the sides or even behind it?

There is the dance positioner. That's by pescado.

Thanks, just downloaded it. (after a fashion) :D

If I really care, I just tell them to "Go here" before telling them to dance. Even though I'm a bit of a control freak, I usually let them decide for themselves where they dance. Usually they choose the dance floor!

In the "My Muse: Music & Dance Studio" hobby lot, the whole room around the DJ Booth is a dance floor! But I'ma hunt for that mod now... sure makes sense to me.

Edit, oh no, I can't. Because helpful as you are, you didn't add a link And google isn't likely to help me ever. If I type "Pescado dance positioner", it will no doubt simply give me a link to this thread!!!

Is it okay to use Rebecah's rideable horses since they're NPCs? How would I delete them from the game?

Here: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/f...ir=al%2Ftest%2F

Thank you, @Mr_Valentine90 !!! Very good, indeed!

Make sure you want them, and make sure you keep them in your download folder. You can get the sim to sell them when you no longer want to play them any more. I use them all the time, but am safe because there's no way I'm removing them from my game.

So when I'm ready to get rid of them, sell them. And if I want to remove them from the downloads folder, make sure none are in game first?

I can definitely do that!