Yep and yep.  But I have to do it every time I start iTunes, because it adds itself right back and enables its services again.  Grr.  It seems a little more efficient at ripping CDs that Winamp, but I'm getting to the 'fuck it' point.  At least Winamp doesn't go behind my back to do sneaky shit.

Wow, I didn't know NL was so bad.  But come to think of it, I got the base game, then a friend gave me a copy of Glamour Life stuff.  Later on, I installed NL, but IIRC, the game still ran on the GL engine.  I guess that gave me a break from the NL fuck-upped-ness. 

That's still the only SP I have; I won't pay for crap-packs, and nobody has given me another one.  I must talk to Santa.

That would aggravate me so much.  I'm on the verge of uninstalling iTunes because every time I start it --which is rare, I only use it for ripping CDs to my computer-- it adds its services (or whatever) back to the startup.

I'm looking into the one JerseyGirl0000 mentioned, though, thanks.

Third party content is necessary to run the game properly.

Other third party content is necessary to play the game without experiencing random bouts of rage.  Exactly which hacks you need to prevent rage is a matter of which stupid sim behavior drives you nuts.  

Hacks that have not been updated in some time have not needed to be updated or modified.  They are still fine the way they are. Pescado doesn't fix (or re-fix) things that aren't broken.

When there's a real problem with a Pescado hack, if you report it properly --after you have tested your game without hacks to make sure it's not an EAxis problem, after you have checked with the Hack Detection tool--  in other words, after you've made sure that's it's a FFS problem, it will be fixed within days. Pescado doesn't drag ass.

I don't use the entire director's cut, but I use most of it.  I delete dailygardener, no20Khandout, sleepclock.  On the other hand, there are features that I won't play without, like abortbedmaking and nobathroomdishes.

I never had an EP kill a neighborhood, either, not even NL.

I've been using Zone Alarm, which works just fine, except that program 'updates' are in the neighborhood of 45MB.  That takes five to six hours to download on my shitty dial up connection.

Any recommendations for other free firewalls, which are reliable and, above all, small?  Or at least smaller than 45MB. I've been looking around, but opinions from people who have used other programs can be helpful.

Stucco? I like stucco, I've done a half-dozen recolors of the Maxis stucco with quoining and I use them all the time, and the other game stuccos, that have more texture, I love those, and I'm still looking for a nice bluey-greyish stucco that isn't too dark, the ones I've done were too dark or too greenish in game, I should give it another try ...

Oh. Um. Yeah. Spam.  And lots of it.  If he/she is really driven to offer them, why not stuff them all in a nice mega-wall-pack?

I nominate anybody who has created and uploaded fifty-gazillion recolors of a plain paint or plain carpet, on the grounds of product of a deranged, obsessive-compulsive mind.  Danikat on MTS2 comes to mind, http://www.modthesims2.com/browse.php?f=38&page=1&u=171973&showType=1&showAll=1

I mean, it's plain, flat-paint.  How many shades of yellow paint does anybody need?  I'll download fifteen different colors of trailer siding because that it beyond my skills, but even I can make flat paint walls or make new colors of the in-game carpet tiles.  Learn a new trick already.

With nothing in downloads except the latest version of phonehack, I get scared to death at the sight of my sims in Maxis hair...

But I still have nothing but Set Ringer.  No custom phones, no replacement cellphones.  The only thing I have that effects phones is mixmugs telephone recolors from MTS2 (and those were pulled, too.)  Cellphone use is unaffected in my game.

Selling the microwaves might make it worthwhile to have a dog, but I bet it was the InSim sectional something controller and hence only worth $1.

But I don't think that's it.  I've been playing the Seasons version of InSim for ages and always had puddles.  Puddles only stopped after I downloaded the Director's Cut from here about a week ago, so I should have the latest yellowpee.  I still only have Uni, NL, OFB and SSNS, no later expansion.

Cow mascot->fire sprinkler prank also no longer produces puddles, which is kind of nice.  But I can't help wondering where the puddles went.

I'm still getting no option except Set Ringer with latest Phone Hack.  uni, nl, ofb, ssns, gls.

I've been using an older version, 'cause I'd hate to live without this.   

My game does weird shit? Lovely...

Three errors on the same sim, Darcy. All three are similar. What are the odds that he's borked?  He's not the only one, just the first.  Similar errors turning up in other lots, now.

Macro-clean and Set Ringer problems still exist.

Log attached.  I've got two more like it from the same sim in power idle, if you want more.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Uni, NL, OFB, SNS, GLS only.  Macro-clean is borked.  Clicking Macro-clean results only in trash being taken out.  Showers, terlets and sinks are completely ignored.  I seem to remember dirty dishes possibly being ignored as well, though as a rule my sims don't get a lot of opportunities to leave dirty dishes around (I make 'em clean them up.)

I removed all BUY controllers, on the off chance.  Same Macro-clean results--trash out, no cleaning of dirty plumbing objects.  Sold the Macrotastics controller and replaced it; still no go.

Also got an error message on a sim who was power idling, resulting in him and other sims on power idle being kicked out of power idle.  Can post error log, if you want it.

Also, ('cause I'd rather not spam every thread) the phone controller isn't working properly.  The only option on any phone is Set Ringer.

Hack detector doesn't find any conflicts.

Thanks for clearing that up. Duh, me.

But any idea what has happened to puddles?  When I removed the Downloads folder, went into the game and broke a toilet, I got puddles.  So, what mod is preventing puddling?

Edit for clarity.

Only the founder was a graduate.  He's dead now.  No one else has been near a campus.

I keep having problems with jobs in the newspaper and on the computer, on one lot.  Other lots in the neighborhood and in other neighborhoods are not effected. 

When I direct anyone on the lot to Find a Job, either in the paper or on the computer, it's completely unpredictable how many jobs will actually be offered.  Sometimes they get the announcement that there are no more jobs on the computer after seeing two jobs.  Sometimes three. Sometimes there's only one job in the paper.  I've had sims pick up the paper to Find a Job, sit, unfold the paper, fold the paper and put it down, with no jobs offered at all.  Sometimes they actually get offered three in the paper, five on the computer, but at this point, only a fool would bet on it.

Another lot in the neighborhood created in the same play session has no problems at all.  This is an Apocalypse, so I wasn't supposed to be looking past the first job in the paper, but when sims only went through the motions, then put down the paper with no jobs displayed at all, I tried repeating on the paper and computer, thus discovering the problem. Was not resolved by removing CC.  Again, this hasn't happened on any other lot.

Any idea what's up with this lot?  Should I just scrap the lot and move the family?

ETA: ...'cause I just remembered it.  It's nice, I'm not terribly upset about it--but I have no indoor puddles, no matter how long a sink leaks.  The only puddle I've had recently is when a toddler was allowed to play in the terlet for an undetermined (longish) time.  WTF the puddles went?

You don't have to do anything special for the first child of a family, just for rest of the spawn.

You can randomize by hitting the random button in CAS, but that means you must enter CAS every time you start the game.  The Lot Debugger gives you another option in case you forget to do that when you start and then somebody gets pregnant. You have to randomize before the baby is born.

I think all aliens are related.

I wondered where the hell it came from. Thanks for the wheels! 

It was the 11K sports car, whatever the catalog name is.  They had a red one and a black one; the one that turned up was yellow.

msalwaysright, in the pics of your central open floor plan room (where your sim lady is playing chess)--I think that's the only use of that particular stone floor I've ever seen that makes that tile look good.   

*sigh*

I seem to be having a problem with it, too, now that I test it.  I'll post a new .zip and edit the post when I've changed it. Thanks for letting me know.

New .zip file added to previous post.

I decided to try this one because I've always hated that house, and I figured anything I did to it would have to be an improvement. 
This is nothing so cool as others have posted, and I didn't expand too much on the original size.  I'm no ball of fire on interior decor, but I did add a few things, and stuffed the old stupid entry way with plants and crap. This house is intended for a small family with no babies or toddlers.

Built with Uni, NL, GLS, OFB, SSNS. No custom content. I used the flat lot posted up-thread. $102,589.

http://www.box.net/shared/5ikhnh12cs

Features:
Southwestern-n-stucco theme.
Two bedrooms, three sinkless baths.
Visitor-access controllable kitchen, sleeping area and balcony. Balcony suitable for alien-ogling and peeping-tommery.
Animal defense barrier (for you Pets people) may also serve as visitor control barricade.
Basement rec room is visitor accessable.
The One Desk! (However, house is not recommended for families with more than two school-age spawn.)
Fish pond and starter garden (lack of greenhouse down to the fact that I am on dial up and the file was going to be big enough without it. DIY.)
Note lack of sinks! Sinks are irrelevant to the simish way of life! Shit-n-shower! You need no sink! (Counters available in upstairs toidies for your sink-adding convenience.)
Note lack of dish-washer/trash compactor. Don't waste valuable waste! Compost!

Exterior. Fence across old entry way leaves it 'outdoors', allowing more light into entry/living area.


First floor.

Second floor.

Basement rec room.


A couple shots of my lame interior decorating.





Sorry there are no detail shots of second floor rooms; getting half-way decent screen shots up there defeated me.

New .zip file added in place of first fubared .zip.

My mother has green eyes, brown hair, my father has blue eyes, light brown hair. Between them, they produced three brunettes, three blondes (hair remains blonde in adulthood), one redhead, and two ash blondes.  All of us except the redhead started out with blonde hair as kids.

Amongus are seven with blue eyes, one with green eyes, and one with brown eyes--and she's one of the colorfast blondes.

So it can happen that two people with 'recessive color' eyes can have a brown eyed kid. But they only managed it one in nine.

I usually take what the game sticks them with, too, except for Active; I encouragificate for more active all the time. I hate those damned slowpoke sims.

A lot of times I add a 2x2 'bath closet' to the nursery and stick a tub in it; if a sim gets an irresistible urge to bathe a toddler, they'll usually go for that one instead of dragging the kid all over the lot.