To fight the box madness, I often start off with a box, and then knock out walls to extend or bring them in a little. For example, instead of using the OFB bay window I'll make one with walls and windows, add a stage, and decorate. Or add room(s) extending behind or in front. Entryways vary: sometimes they're in the middle, sometimes they're off-center, sometimes they're on the end. I try to make hallways that are not just straight lines, though that works in a narrow home. If all the bedrooms start looking like they're the same shape and size, I fiddle around until there are differences.

Honestly, though, most of the stuff I've picked up has been from studying others' work. I download houses and see if what they did is playable. If so, then I might try it next time I'm building or remodeling. If not, I might try to incorporate the idea, but change it to fit my play style. I also study the color schemes. Last month I remarked on witch's use of a colorful roof, so this month I tried one. Do I think it looks great on my house? Meh... but I tried, and by the time I realized I wouldn't get it to work, I wasn't about to start over.

In short, my advice is simply to look at what others are doing, experiment, and take your time. A lot of players aren't into building, though. No shame in that. And honestly? Sims like boxes. The boxier, the better.

Yes to the beard, and it freaked me out! I quit and reloaded, and it was fine.

Normal, if you've edited them in SimPE. Zazazu beat me to the punch. But if they're old and you have other backups, it should be safe to delete them.

I remember posting about the 1KB .1 character files a long time ago. This is a normal result of using couple Pescado hacks that modify NPC BHAVs. lobonanny and restaurantbarfix are two I know of. I see the .1 files for nannies, bartenders, and perhaps a couple other NPC types.

Ness, did you see Doc Doofus' testing mod in Peasantry to slow down LTA accumulation? Here's a link to the thread.

Have you tried running HCDU to see if you've got a conflict?

But I've also noticed that sometimes with multiple spawn, the adults get a little ADD about which spawn to care for first. Let's say three babies need a diaper change. Both parents will go for the same baby, one parent gets there first, but he just stands there. I cancel that parent's queued action, so the other parent handles the first baby, and after a moment the first parent goes to the second or third baby.

I think it's a case of too many competing priorities. Given enough time they will sort things out, but if it goes on for too long I click Emergency Stop and intervene manually, like you. Most of the time now with more than two babies in a household, I just use the warning box and process things manually.

What I really wish for would be a way to mark caregivers in the household. If I already have a stay-at-home parent, I want that parent to be prioritized for processing babies and toddlers. Some kind of inventory token would be cool. But, Pescado will tell me that it is inefficient, and therefore I suck. Ah, well, I can always dream...

And here, unless the creator specifically states to replace the object.

Pretty much. Maybe it gives a higher boost to enthusiasm than other food activities, but darned if I care enough to figure it out.    Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be as attractive as a regular bar, though. Oh, I forgot to mention before that it probably decreases the bladder motive as well. This is TS2, after all.

I like the island-only seating in the kitchen, and I love that the top floor is a fun kids' area. I'll probably just take out the bed up there and plonk down the activity table. Very nice!

Agreed, Zazazu's will make a stellar addition to Three Lakes! I like the little outdoor dining patio. Did you do what Amber did last month, shrinking the first floor to foundation height?

Me, too. I tuned out of the thread after witch's entry until I was ready to upload mine. But it was HARD to resist peeking.

I think buddha pest was asking about the new nectar bar object that came with FreeTime. It serves a few different types of nectar, like peach-grape, but I haven't played with it enough to figure out if it has any benefit besides a boost to the hunger motive and Food & Dining hobby enthusiasm.

Oh, right... I always forget that part, since I play on an Admin account.

And the window height fix, so the sills don't intersect with the counters... 

So many questions! Fortunately, I had couple glasses of wine with dinner, so I'm in the mood to help.

Uninstallation/reinstallation is not required. Skip straight to removal of SecuROM, download CD crack, then run the game using the crack.

Mirror does not matter. I just pick a random one, and it's fine.

SecuROM does not install until you RUN the game from the original executable file. The "install the game" note is just for the people that think that all they need to play the game is the cracked executable.

That has to be the longest question I've ever seen. But in short, you don't need to uninstall anything. If your most recent expansion is FreeTime, that's the crack you choose.


Ah, damn, skye already responded. But to reiterate skye's statement, since you have not applied any patches, use * The Sims 2: Freetime v1.0 [MULTI16] No-DVD/Fixed EXE

It's funny, I spent some time working on this and then never did anything with it. 

Here, I'll attach a simple Excel file that I put together to organize random events by lifestage. Many of the scenarios were pulled from Jade's, but I think the yellow highlighted ones are ones I thought up on my own, or ideas from others in this thread.

Should be pretty self-explanatory. The idea was to sort by audience (each lifestage and household), and then input it into a text file to use with Hook's Randomizer. I just never got around to it. Maybe someone else interested in this concept will find it useful?

Very interesting. Next time I get in a playing rut I'll have to experiment further.

I remember there was a counter set on MTS2 by Numenor and Marylou that had a lot more options, but I chucked it during one of my CC purges. I remember sometimes I felt there were too many options, and couldn't make up my mind how to configure things.

(Reminds me of when I was a vegetarian and went to vegetarian restaurants. It would take me forever to decide what to order; there were just too many things to choose from. Or when I stopped being a vegetarian... "you mean, I can order anything?")

Well, there was the experimental 'realistic sickness' mod that was posted for testing in Peasantry some time ago. Caused a lot of deaths, from what I read.

ACR can cause a lot of random cheating, too, especially when playable sims appear on community lots while you're playing other sims...

You're welcome! Glad it wasn't a more serious problem, like a FUBAR neighborhood...

myskaal, are you sure that your sims have friends at a STR/LTR level that autoyak will detect them as requiring routine maintenance? Because autoyak won't call friends if those friends are in an 'LTR cooking' phase. It'll harass the 98 STR/100 LTR friends, but ignore the 75/35 friends.

Also, only certain situations seem to trigger 'targets': job friends required, greek house not at level 6. I don't know them all, but I know that 'targets' just doesn't always appear. Even meeting someone new won't always trigger it.

(Sorry if you know all this already. These are just common misunderstandings about this mod, from what I've seen.)

Maybe try with *just* autoyak? What about regenerating your The Sims 2 folder and testing in a fresh neighborhood?

Really? I have noticed that some counters and islands connect just fine at a corner, but others (the most expensive base game ones... Chez Moi Country I think they are called) do not.

On the rare occasions I use islands, I will try to position them like this, for example:

I C C C
I

I think I've even tried:

C C C C
I
I

But the junction between I and C never seems to connect properly. What's infuriating is that sometimes a stove will connect when a counter won't. What am I doing wrong?

Not sure if it works with non-playables, but you could try Inge's Get in Sea Patch.

On the original topic, I dunno. I spent all that friggin' time and effort to edit mine, that I am trying to use them at least occasionally. I just wish there was more tangible benefit from hobby enthusiasm aside from the 'Max Enthusiasm in X' power want and charging the LTA meter. If you enter a sim in a cooking contest, what matters is his cooking skill, not his enthusiasm in food and beverage.

I love these challenges! So many great entries so far.

Following one entry with another, here is mine. Since it already had an indoor pool (which we are not allowed to remove...), I thought Harmonious Haven would make a nice home venue business. The business is located on the ground floor only; living quarters are located on the first and second floors. My aim in the living decor was modern and (I hope) tasteful contrast. I generally used bright colors, but off-set them with neutrals. If you do not like red and yellow, well, you know how to use the design tool. Click to enlarge pictures.



Price: 82,102 (depreciated with Magic Wand, it was about 140,000 at full price)
3BR / 4BA
Expansion/Stuff packs required - all. Much usage of H&M, K&B and IKEA packs throughout.
Mostly AwesomeSpec. Front anti-pest perimeter, lockable kitchen, lockable stairwell to living quarters. However, baths are not quite up to AwesomeSpec; nursery would need room dividers and a fridge; The One Desk is a hike from the curb.


Ground Floor - designed with home venue business in mind, or a great party area. For home business, just add a ticket machine near the front door. Pool extended; divided space for a separate hot tub area. Also added sauna and half-bath. Outdoors, the patio now holds a seating area and keg fruit punch barrel. Raised terrain for a chess table, covered with awning.



First Floor - Sizable TV/idle area, and plenty of floor space for navigation. Kitchen has all appliances and plenty of counter space. It's very bright, but hey, I like bright kitchens. Dining area has seating for six and contains caffeination station. Study is small, but with some rearranging of furniture/walls more seating could be added. The piano can be partitioned off with room dividers to reduce cheering. One bath located on this floor.



Second Floor - spacious hallway. First BR is set up as a boy's room: small, but functional. Second BR is set up as nursery: again, add a fridge and room dividers between the cribs for best functionality. Master BR is clean and simple. Two baths located on this floor.



More pictures available for your viewing pleasure here.

Download here.

Hmmm. I only ARR the stories games for a brief distraction from the real game. But I seem to recall that while you are playing in story mode, cheats do not work. Some cheats worked in free play, but I don't think I ever played long enough to try a userstartup.cheat file.

ETA: Search is your friend.

There's some Eaxian lag, IIRC. Try waiting until the top of the hour.

Kyna and Ness, mark me down as another player who has relaxed her iron fist. I also played all sims the same way, and then wondered why I found it boring. So I macro some, but I give all the households some actual free will, and I am playing more to wants. I'm also enjoying Uni again... recently played a Romance sim who barely passed a semester with a 3.1 GPA because he spent all his time cruisin' for conquests. He might become my first sim ever to get on probation or even fail out.

However, I still have wfsanity, and I don't plan on taking it out. I like to know that when they get the puppy/kitten/pet want, it's because they are actually *interested* in animals, etc.

I really like the way you expanded at the front of the house, twooflower. And the way you did the exteriors, it looks like the brick part was the 'original' house, and the part with the siding looks like a recent addition. Looks very much like a real-life house I'd see in an older neighborhood. Great job!