Updating Telescopes

Attached updated resources for telescopes. You must pick the correct type (cheap/expensive). Read RTFM for instruction on updating CRES.
I'm afraid flashlight beam for Summon Aliens interaction won't show up, as it requires editing of animated mesh. But it only affects appearance, and has nothing to do with telescope functions. Sims still can use updated telescope to summon aliens.

For custom telescopes cloned from Maxis cheap telescope, edit main OBJD (the one without top/bottom/left/right) like this:

Main Object Data > RAW Data > Select Decimal > 07. Resource cross-refs > Interaction Table ID 131 -> 129. Commit and Save.


Updating Mirrors

And as for this PM I just received:


I have no idea why people send PMs when an active discussion is going on the very topic. Why not post on the existing topic, so that other people can benefit from shared information, instead of treating me as your personal tech support?

Download jfade's Pets Custom Content Updater here. Mirrors were not changed since Pets, so it will still work.
Don't forget to download additional resources for Mirrors here, otherwise pets will reset out of the mirrors.

She is using H&M disc to run the game, so Securom must be active for her, unlike most of players who used Pets or Seasons disc until BV came out. Although it is possible that the version shipped with H&M is tad more benign than the one shipped with BV.

Attached updated telescope. All new FT functions are enabled, and enthusiasm can be gained correctly.
The original telescope seems to be b0rked in the first place, as it threw out Invalid Constant error even for Stargaze and Look Through interactions. I also fixed b0rked Catalog Description. Not sure why it was borked, but it was edited by Sims 2 Categorizer. Removed useless duplicate shadow texture.
I couldn't add the flashlight beam for Summon Aliens interaction, as it requires editing animated mesh and I'm a total n00b at 3D meshing.

ETA: Found out how to fix clickable area in boned objects. Now clickable area is correctly assigned.
Flashlight beam mesh was added for Summon Aliens interaction. It's still a bit off, but it's the best that I could do. I hope a more experienced mesher could improve it.

Fixed pie menu strings in all non-English languages. Now "Watch for UFOs" will be correctly translated into all non-English languages.


I looked into your cheap Maxis telescope clone. Did you extract/replace STR#s from your clone? You have to uncheck "Pull Animations" at Object Workshop, otherwise STR#s will be linked to cloned custom animation files. I wasn't clear on this point in my directions, sorry for the confusion.

And thanks for reminding me Caravan stuff. I have some of their stuff, but apparently I missed this telescope. Looks very nice, though poly count is on the high side. Might be useful for medieval scientist Sims.

Not quite so, I think. Teen and K&B seem to be based on Pets engine, as they are using 0x54 TTAB format which was introduced by Pets. Stuff packs up to H&M are based on OFB engine, except for Happy Holiday Stuff.

If your newest EP is only up to OFB, the game will run from the newest SP engine, superseding OFB engine. (Except for Happy Holiday Stuff) So if your friend has NL+GLS+H&M, the game will run from H&M executable, not from NL executable. If you want to make sure, you can ask her which executable her game runs from, H&M or NL. If her game runs from H&M engine, as I expect, tell her to get OFB hacks.

Lazy EAxis never bothered to update 3 base game bars ever since Uni came out. In addition to all pre-OFB custom bars, any custom bars cloned from these 3 base game bars lack NL/OFB features as well, even if they were cloned from the latest EP. I posted a fix for 3 base game bars here.

Updating custom bars is possible, but somewhat complicated. Like tubs, you have to update CRES, which is unique in each object.
I can't provide universal updater package that can be simply added/replaced with no editing involved.

This is the closest that I can get to the universal updater package.

============================================================
Download attached updater package.


[BCON / OBJf / SLOT / STR# / TTAB / TTAs]

Add missing resources, and replace existing resources as usual.


[BHAV]

As there are 35 BHAVs to add, it's faster to delete all existing BHAVs and add package.xml in BHAV folder, instead of adding all 35 BHAVs one by one.
Select all existing BHAVs and right-click to Delete. You have to set the file type to "All Files (*.*)" to add package.xml.


[OBJD]

Object Data (OBJD) -> Select the one with (0,0) at the end of Filename -> Raw Data -> Select Decimal

 06. Mesh & Graphics -> 0x004D: footprint mask -> change 257 to -1
 09. Data Space -> 0x003B: number of object arrays -> change 0 to 1
 11. Miscellaneous -> 0x004C: Select Sub-Category -> change 1 to 106

Select the one with (1, 0) at the end of Filename (Decimal)

 06. Mesh & Graphics -> 0x004D: footprint mask -> change 257 to -1
 07. Resource cross-refs -> 0x0014: slots id -> change 128 to 129
 11. Miscellaneous -> 0x004C: Select Sub-Category -> change 1 to 106

Select the main OBJD

11. Miscellaneous -> 0x004C: Select Sub-Category -> change 1 to 106 (Decimal)

Commit and Save.


[CRES]

CRES is unique in each object, so you have to edit template CRES yourself before you extract it.

1. Open your custom bar in one SimPE, and open Bar_CRES.package in another SimPE.
2. Select Resource Node (CRES) in each SImPE.
3. In custom bar SimPE, copy Filename under the Blocklist.
4. Switch to Bar_CRES, and paste Filename so that it matches your custom bar. Commit.
5. Select Content - cObjectGraphNode tab in each SimPE.
6. Edit the Filename of Bar_CRES to match your custom bar. Commit.
7. Select Reference tab in each SimPE. Select Shape line in each SimPE.
8. Edit Sub Type, Group and Instance of Bar_CRES to match your custom bar. Commit.
9. Extract edited CRES from Bar_CRES, and replace CRES in your custom bar with extracted resource.

Edit: This package can only be applied to the custom bars with only one SHPE. If there are two SHPEs or references to Lights, you should not apply this package.

Fixed the wrongly assigned slot problem in OBJD.

Ever wondered why some bars don't spawn bartenders in community lots, or you can't assign a bartender to those bars when you're running a bar/restaurant business? Nothing shows up but useless "Juggle Tumblers" in pie menu?

The 3 bars from the base game lack NL/OFB feature, because lazy EAxis didn't bother to update them. They've been neglected ever since Uni came out. This bug remains unfixed all the way through 7 subsequent EPs. All custom bars cloned from these 3 base game bars lack NL/OFB feature as well, even if they were cloned from the latest EP.

This fix updates 3 base game bars to OFB. All NL/OFB functions are now enabled.

• In community lots, bartenders are now spawned normally, so Sims can order drinks.
• In business lots, you can assign employees to tend the bar.
• Sims can use those 3 bars as eating surfaces.

List of objects fixed by this mod:

• Bachman Busbar (Bar - Value)
• Retro Lounge "High Liquidity" Juice Bar (Bar - Art Nouveau)
• Black Lacquer Bar Counter (Bar - Expensive)

Required EP: OFB, or all later EPs up to AL. Also works if you have at least one SP. (Except for Happy Holiday Stuff) I think no new interaction was added to bars since OFB.

Known issue: If you want to remove this fix from your game for some reason, make sure to clear up all dishes from the base game bars before you remove the fix. Otherwise you will experience errors the next time you load the lot where you left dishes on these bars, as eating slots are now non-existent.


If you want to clone base game bars with my fix integrated, select this fix in the Extra - Preferences - FileTable - Advanced Settings in the same way you manually select CEP files.




Installation:

 Place in your My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads folder.
 (Or in a subfolder of Downloads folder.)


Changelog:

 v1.0: Initial release.
 v1.01: Fixed the wrongly assigned slot id and missing tabletop sound. (2008/09/09)

AFAIR, this happens when all dorm residents were born ingame. Move one CAS YA into the dorm, and the bill will arrive as usual.

Updated resources for AL are now available here.

======================================================

Attached updated resources for TVs. You have to pick the right type, depending on the Maxis TV from which your custom TV is cloned.
Also fixed the EAxian error which disabled watching while lounging on sofas for Elders in 2-tiled TVs.

• Television - Floor - Expensive: 2-tiled Floor TV
• Television - Floor - Moderate: 1-tiled Floor TV
• Television - Wall: 2-tiled Wall TV
• Television - Wall - Tavern: 1-tiled Wall TV (NL)

How to remove "Pull Out" animations in custom TVs cloned from 2-tiled Floor TV

Sometimes the "Pull Out" animation of 2-tiled Floor TVs may not be suitable for custom TVs, resulting in wonky animation or misplaced TV after reparing/tinkering.

TVs have a line in "Function - Init" BHAV to determine whether they need to be pulled out for maintenance. I believe it's line 0x2. You need to change the value from 0x0000 ("Requires Pull Out") to 0x0001 ("No Pull Out").

Then you have to remove Anims - Adult (0x81) and Anims - Object (0x86) from Text Lists to keep the game from calling animations for pulling out TVs.

You have to sell and rebuy TV for it to pick up the change.


Also, you need this global mod to correct repair/tinker animation for all custom 2-tiled floor TVs that need to be pulled out for maintenance.
Repair Animation Fix for 2-tiled Floor TVs - Sims hold the screwdriver correctly

Christianlov posted updated version of Sim Boutique Clothingrack.

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=284411

InTeen is not the only mod that enables romance interactions between teens and older age groups though. Try Jenflower's WooHoo Teens or dizzy's hack.

Carrigon has No Budget Transaction Sound over at Sims2Workshop.

Yes. Unlike skins, objects always bear Star of Shame when they are placed in Downloads. Same goes for hacks containing OBJD of Maxis objects. To avoid custom star, objects and hacks containing OBJD (like nohumble) should go here.

C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 [Your Latest Expansion Pack]\TSData\Res\Catalog\Bins *

(or the corresponding folder on your system if your game is not installed in C:\Program Files)

I made several subfolders in Bins and put all preorder objects/hacks to there.

* This location may not work for SP objects later than Celebration for pre-FT games, or even for unpatched FT.

2008-05-04: Added all 3 Happy Holiday Stuff preorders.

Is ths elf ear an accessory? AFAIK there is no permanent fix for this problem.

http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Flashing_Blue_Accessories

Lot Debugger's "Fix Flashing Blue" is the same as Change Appearance in mirror. It only lasts for the playing session.
There are several old threads about this same issue. Search for flashing blue accessories for more info.

Townies have no family wardrobe. They own only the outfit on their back. If you're running an owned business, you can manually "Suggest Outfit" to actually change townies' clothes. They change to newly suggested outfit after they check out at register. When townies are purchasing clothing on their own without being suggested by playables, they are not buying real outfit. They're buying "fake token" for outfits.

Or you can use SimPE to manually change townies' clothing. It's rather complicated though, and can make the game crash if you don't exactly know what you're doing.
Use Scan Folders in SimPE to find out the custom outfit file you want to assign to a townie. Only check Thumbnail Scanner and Clothing Scanner in Scanner Setting.
Scan Downloads folder, select the outfit you want to use, and open the outfit file (you can open it from the Folder Scanner). Copy/paste Group and Instance of Property Set into notepad.
Open townies' character file with SimPE, and find the line for everyday clothes in 3IDR. (In case there are multiple lines for everyday outfit, choose the last one.) Change the Group/Instance to those of custom outfit.


Wardrobe Cleaner

Jfade made Less Bubble Blower Obsession.



antiweatherreaction and warmthfixes are essential for preserving your sanity.
Numenor's Invisible Water from Sprinkles and antigardenlag to avoid insane lags from garden sprinklers and ladybug houses.
fishandharvestfix is useful if you're planning a home business with gardening and fishing.
eggjuicememfix (in DC only) for avoiding false "maximized XXX skill" memories when drinking eggplant juice.
Juice tray mods by mike_1102. I'm using all except for NeverBecomeSpoiled, and haven't experienced problem so far.

No. Unlike Baby Blue Tuxedo, I didn't remove the gown mesh from preorder package. The blue gown mesh is slightly different from the wedding ball gown mesh included in Celebration. It will work standalone without Celebration pack.

2008-05-02: Added all 3 Double Deluxe preorders + 100 Million Sold Download outfit in the first post. Also added link to Deluxe preorder Jukebox updated by Havelock.


Argon removed useless duplicate resources from some of Exchange objects.
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,6075.0.html
Note that they're from 2006, so some objects may be outdated, like Teddy Bear or SpaceChair. And they're not recolorable. Exchange skins are not included.

4 of 5 Exchange topiaries were updated to Seasons by Havelock.
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,9997.0.html



While I appreciate your thanks, this forum is neither InSim nor MTS2. "Thanks" posts without any meaningful feedback are highly annoying for other people who watch this thread for my update. Just pressing Thanks button is enough. When in Rome, do as Romans do.

Pets is just all about pets. I agree with SimWitch, it really depends on your preference. I like the futuristic furniture set and floor dividers (I believe it's from Pets), but that's about it. No new clothes at all. Custom painting option will be carried onto later EPs, so if you get Seasons you'll get it as well.

Until I acquired subsequent SPs, I didn't realize that GLS was actually a decent SP by comparison. None of later SPs is up to GLS IMO. They're too specialized. For example, if you don't care about wedding parties, you would not find much use for Celebration. As for Teen pack, the so-called "Elite" theme is more suitable for nursery IMO. I have little use for stupid GothEmo stuff. Teen hairs are quite nice though. As for K&B, Holy Simoly's donation sets totally PWN it, both in quality and quantity. Seriously, only 3 similar black shades for the new shower, which is near identical clone of base game shower in itself?

Go look at official homepage for items and screenshots. WYSIWYG. Nothing more.

If I have to pick just one SP, I'd choose Celebration. Before Celebration, I hardly bothered with wedding parties. Now I find myself throwing wedding parties more often.

I looked into SimWardrobe's Fish Packing Station with SimPE. The reason it's so bloated is that it contains too many redundant texture files. Each package contains identical texture for box, and identical clone of each fish texture. File size could have been considerably smaller if Repository technique was used, and it pulled fish textures from the game file itself.

I still love this station, especially for OFB fish market business. But it's not quite the same as Fruitbowl. Sometimes I want to chuck all fishes in just one click without going through packing animation.

Your food was shot to hell. This happens every time the game resets, like installing a new EP or a new patch. Some hacks also reset the game. You can't resume cooking, despite what the pie menu says. You have to get rid of all affected dishes.


Get dontshootfood included in FT Director's Cut. I always keep this hack in my downloads folder to prevent ruined food.

It wasn't other people's retextures that were posted on MTS2. I got mine from booty, so it should be safe.
I also got some free Raon hairs from their own website. So far, Kaspersky hasn't reported infected files.

I think custom-binned recolors was newly broken by FT.

Prior to FT, I binned lots of weird recolors (like pink and green) of the same mesh to custom bin, with the same family value as 4 natural colors. They all worked fine before FT, but stopped working after installing FT. When I give a Sim one of those custom-binned hairs, only thumbnail picture is updated. His hair reverts to one of 4 natural colors which share the same family value as custom-binned ones.

I solved it by giving a new family value to custom-binned hairs. It doesn't have to be unique for each custom-binned hair. It only needs to be different from 4 natural colors.

FYI, the hair in question was one of Raonjena male hair.

I wish "Pantry of Awesomeness" for fishes. Unlike fruits, however, there is no existing animation for taking out fishes from fridge, so it may not be possible.

You have to buy converted jewelry again from jewelry rack, even if Sims already have been wearing them.

Edited for typo.