More Awesome Than You!

 ??? I don't have InSim in my game so it can't be that . I felt for sure it would have been the maintenance free aquarium hack of TwoJeff's because the aquarium fish and pond fish seem related in that those who can't see the aquarium fish in their game also can't see the pond fish and therefore those who can see both etc . I took it out and it wasn't that though so I'm at a complete loss as to why any other sort of hack should prevent fishing . I would try the trial and error method of taking hacks out if I had an inkling what sort of type of hack I was looking for as the culprit . But I have tons of hacks in my game and none of them look remotely like they should stop fishing so due to not getting time to play the game much as it is I may as well forget about playing the game altogether for weeks on end if I were to try testing each hack one by one to see if it's having this undesirable effect . It would take me an eternity because I don't have a clue what's doing it  :(

Insim's the only hack I know of that fer sure can mess with fishing, but to test don't do each hack one-by-one. Narrow it down by halving your hacks folder. Put in one half, see if fishing works. If it doesn't, halve the half and see which one works so you know which 'pile' the broken hack is in. Keep going until you've narrowed it so far you're testing one by one. Still tedious but a bit faster.

Much faster than finding updates for all the hacks you're using for a new EP (and taking our or carefully testing any not updated) which really you should do. Any ones you don't feel like it's worth updating, or don't really miss when you remove them to test the EP, just leave out and your folder will get a bit more manageable :)

 :) Thanks for your help . Even though that would undoubtedly be a bit quicker though it would still mean me spending more time for weeks actually just testing rather than playing the game ( I have over 100 hacks in my game ) because I only get a session or two a week to play the game because of work anyway . I was just hoping someone might have a vague idea what sort of hack could be the culprit because none of the hacks I have scream out and say ' a possible suspect ' None of them look remotely like they should effect fishing and like I said the one that looked like the prime suspect turned out to be a red herring  :-\ ( no pun intended  ;D )

you just need a clever algorithm. Asuming it is a single hack. Just take out half of them. If fishing is no possible you cleared half you hacks, go test half of the rest. Thats what I do, but maybee im just weird ;-)

 :) Thanks Trudy . But like I said to Sagana , that method would still take me absolutely ages because I don't get chance to play the game very often . I know you guys on here are pretty smart so I was hoping I could find at least what sort of area or type of hack I might be looking for to cut down the possibilities a fair bit otherwise I'd end up testing the game for several weeks to come and never actually get the chance to play it  :(

I was using Monique's teleport here .. could not fish. Took it out and things are fine and last night she uploaded her Seasons teleport hack at MTS2.

I have tried to track down problems and the first thing I did was take out all my hacks and run the game and made sure a hack was the problem. I could not get my poker table to work and was going insane...found out the problem was I forgot to put 4 chairs at the table....haha

Bruce Banner, stop whining that you won't get to play for weeks and take the very good advice you have been given about how to test your hacks in an optimal way. Have you even read and understood what the posters are saying?

Alternatively take out all your hacks and play to your heart's content.

Sheesh.

I don't think you quite understand the math underlying a binary search. Binary searches are HELLAFAST. If you had 30000 hacks, you would have it pinned down to *ONE* within 16 restarts. If you do a proper binary search, you will find it FAST.

 ??? Binary search . I have no idea what a binary search is to be honest Pes . I'll definitely try it if I have a f*****g clue what you're supposed to do  :D . Thanks for the advice Pes  :) And thanks for your help twink . And Witch , all I have done is ask for help in cutting the massive options down . I'll ignore the rude , snarky comments from you seeing as I haven't been rude to anyone in this thread and I've thanked everyone that's tried to help me . I'm not telling anyone to pinpoint the problem hack for me . I'm just asking for help to try and reduce the haystack in which I'm looking for the needle that's all  >:(

Take all your hacks. Divide them into two groups. Put one group in the game. Test the game. If fishing came back, you know that those hacks are NOT responsible. Divide the OTHER hacks in half and test. Divide in half again. And again. Until there is ONE left.

If you have 100 hacks, you can narrow it down to 1 hack in seven restarts of the game:

50
25
12
6
3
2
1

The last steps can be compacted a bit more once you know what you are doing.

No you just ignored, whined, ignored and whined. People politely helped you over and over again. You were given the help you required to manage your haystack, you weren't even willing to try the method.

Please don't ignore my rudeness, it was intentional.

 :) Thanks for explaining it Sara . I'm shocked it would only take 6 restarts . I thought it would still take me several weeks down the line to find any problem . I guess that's what Pescado meant by by Binary uh . I thought he was talking some computer code jargon being the tech head that he is  :D Thanks , I'll do that . And when I find the problem hack I'll post here to say what it is so the rest of you guys immediately know the problem if you can't fish ( and you don't have InSim installed )  :)

Here's Pescado's 30,000 hack example. I didn't totally believe it myself... but as usual he's right, it is 16 restarts.   :-[

30,000
15,000
7,500
3,700
1,875
937
468
234
117
58
29
14
7
3 (or 4, works both ways)
2
1

 >:( I didn't ignore anyone . I just didn't understand it that's all and didn't realise it would only take 6 attempts . I thought it would still take me weeks . I wasn't rude to anyone either . Just you were the one who came in with all guns blazing , so take your gun and stick it up yer arse . In the years I've been in the Sims community I've found that the biggest pains in the ass are those who think having a big post count gives someone the right to trample on and diss people . I used to let that effect me when I first started foruming in this community because the Sims community is well known for it's bullying attitude against so-called newbies ( everyone was a 'newb ' when they first started remember ) . I'm more of an old relic in this community now though so I've got wise to the arrogant bullshit from people who think they have power and let it corrupt them  >:(

Oh ye of little faith. When will you learn that I AM AWESOME?

Hah! Weeks. Try 15 minutes, assuming it takes you about a minute to load the game and a minute to load a testlot and click and see if fishing is back.

Well , it takes my game about 15 minutes to load . But yeah , 6 times is pretty good . Much better than the weeks I thought it was going to be . Thanks for your help Pes  :)

The only power I have, I give myself. If you'd like to give me some post-count-power too, well thanks. I called you on your whining, guess I pushed those buttons.  ;D

WHY?

You never want to test hacks while having all your custom stuff installed. Take everything but the hacks out. There is no computer in existence, as far as I know, that can play Sims 2 and yet takes 15 minutes to load it when there is no custom content installed.

That's overhead related to the amount of crap in your game. It will load faster when the crap in your game is reduced by half.

 :-\ I've never loaded a lot yet to be honest without having custom content enabled . Thats why when I install a new expansion I always load the game up again after it gets to the Maxis warning bit , rather than loading up a lot  :-\

 :) Thanks , I'll try it without custom content on a bare lot then  :)

You don´t even need to use a bare lot. Just don´t save after you tested on one of your lots. When you are finished troubleshooting and your content is back in downloads, your lot will still have all the cc, as you didn´t save it without it.