Yeah, so I haven't quite updated all my hacks for FT.  And I haven't even started any updates for AL either.  I've been putting it all off, partially due to my unplanned hiatus but I kinda needed a mental break from all things Sims.  But, because of that, I've also forgotten a lot of things, and I'm very bad at taking notes.  lol   So, these updates will probably take a bit longer than usual.

I know, excuses, excuses on top of that, others in life have just been distracting me.  Plus, even though I had planned to start doing some quick updates last week, a vacation I had planned sorta snuck up on me, and I just wasn't able to get around to it.  Anyways, I'm hoping to find some time, relatively soon, to start poking around in SimPE again and doing some updates.  Thanks for your patience everyone.


Ste

Wait... just to clarify:

1)  So... limited activations include... if you ever have to re-install?  i.e. if I ever have to reformat, it will count as one of the 3 time only activations?


2)  I can understand how the cracked version would allow you to circumvent SecuROM... but does it actually let you re-install multiple times?  I mean... wouldn't you still need a serial/activation #?  I would imagine that each serial/activation # still only has 3 time only activations.  Unless the cracked .exe actually does something to prevent the activation from counting?

OR... does it only NOT count if you DON'T play online.  in other words... you can activate and re-activate, whether you use your valid paid for serial/activation # or whether you use a cracked/key-gen'd one, so long as you NEVER go online?


Ste

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuump for updateyness.  Crappy, yes, but read re-read the first post.


Ste

Thanks.  I'll try and take a look at the error logs this weekend when if I can find the time.  Btw, what EPs do you have installed?

As for this:


I vaguely recall how it works... but I think the game generates a fixed set of jobs and only those jobs for that day.  They don't change until some fixed time, I forget when now.  Probably 6:00 PM or whatever the time is when the game "thinks" it's the next day.  I think then, if a sim is not qualified for the job, it will not offer other options.  I played around this this a bit, and I vaguely recall running into this issue.  So, in the case that, if a sim is not qualified for 3 out of 5 jobs, I think they will only get 2 offers available.

I really should take notes about these things.   It's always a problem whenever I have to update for a new EP, and I forget how things work.  I kinda just mod/update on the fly just to get things to work again, and then I forget it all over again. Lol. 


Ste

Sure.  I'll have to check out his changes and compare.  I've just been so busy doing other things, and this weekend is kinda hectic.  But I'll most likely update. 


Ste

Updated to fix minor bug.  Thanks for the reports!


Ste

No Party Research v1.01 for TS2FT v1.0p0
Made by: syberspunk

This hack is somewhat complementary to my nopartyassignment (Less Autonomous College Assignment) hack.  It does similar things but for research, as follows:

Any type of sims can autonomously do/join research on Comm lots.
YAs who live at the current Dorm lot can autonmously do/join research.
If a sim's grade meter is full, they will not autonomously do/join research.

INSTALLATION:
This MUST be in your Downloads folder, typically found under:

C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\My Documents\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\Downloads

:!!: Note: You can use subfolders, however, be aware of 'benign' conflicts that depend on the load order of hacks.


Compatibility:

Obviously this requires Nightlife.  It theoretically should be compatible with NL and later.

This hack is compatible with asprechargehack by FFS (but just in case, make sure this hack loads last).

This hack is compatible with most, if not all mods by MATY crew (Pescado, TJ, and CBoy), dizzy, and probably more. Again, up to you to help me determine any possible conflicts.

REMINDER and fine print (to cover my ass ) :
Remember to ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DATA BEFORE INSTALLING NEW HACKS. By using this hack, you agree to absolve me of any responsibility or liability for any potential loss of or damage to your data. You have been warned.

HOW TO REPORT: Conflicts, problems, or errors
I would appreciate any constructive criticism and feedback that is actually helpful. With that in mind, it would be helpful, when reporting any conflicts or issues, that you include the following:

1) thorough but reasonably brief description of what you were doing
2) clear, comprehendible explanation of your problem
3) list of hacks that may be related aging, moving in sims, or inheritance
4) archived (.rar or .zip) of log produced by error

HOW TO PRODUCE AN ERROR LOG:
1) Open the cheat menu - Ctrl + Shift + C
2) Enable the debug mode - Type: boolprop testingcheatsenabled true
3) Hit Enter
4) Play as normal until an error occurs. If an error dialog box pops up, note the location of the error log and choose Reset. If the error pops up repeatedly, choose Delete and exit WITHOUT SAVING!
5) Post your error log here, preferably as a .zip or .rar archive.

Posts which do not include a clear description of what your problem is will be pretty much ignored. (i.e. posts such as "This does not work! I am taking it out! You suck! Nice try! etc.") I can't and won't help you if you don't explain what's wrong.

Please be nice when trying to explain your problem and I might be nice and help you.

Finally, my Thank Yous go to:

J.M. Pescado, twojeffs, dizzy2, and jase439 for being excellent tutors and providing excellent models in their mods. As always, thanks to those creators who've put out some excellent modding tutorials, Quaxi and co for SimPE, and dizzy2 for disaSim2, and the finally letters T and S, and the number 2, all of whom, without which this mod would not be possible.

Version History:
v0.02 - Tweaked exit code based on Aspiration.
v0.03 - Fixed undefined transition error.
v1.00 - Updated for Free Time
v1.01 - fixed minor bug

Hey Crammyboy, curious, does this do the same thing or conflict with Twojeff's fix?


Ste

Lol.  I must have had something else on my mind...

Um yeah.  Fixed now.


Ste

Update - 6/4/2008

So... the ironical thing is... I finally managed to stabilize my playing PC.  That is, the game that hosts my actual game data.  I have BV installed.  I still have not installed FT.

The thing that is ironical is... my modding PC is now acting up.  I keep all my moddy stuff on my older PC, just because it was more stable (at the time at least ), where I kept copies of my hacks and my notes, etc., etc.

But now, it has kinda crapped out on me and I haven't quite figured out yet what I'm gonna do about it.   I'm gonna try to salvage it as much as I can.  There's a possibility that I can recover most, if not all of the data, and put it onto my new PC.  But I just haven't had the time to do so.  I keep meaning to, but I find myself wanting to actually play other video games than have to "work" on my PC.  Ugh.

However... I did want to reiterate, that I haven't completely abandoned the Sims yet.  In fact, funnily enough, I ended up checking out the wiki on TS2 today, and apparently there is yet another EP coming out this fall.  Unfortunately, it isn't the Superstar remake that I was hoping for.   And it seems like EAxis is somewhat breaking away from its formula of remake in the fall, "new" idea in the spring.   "Apartment Life" could be interesting tho.  *shrugs*  Maybe this will be enough of a spark to renew my interest and actually get my shit together and ensure all my hacks are updated.


Update - 3/6/2008

I've slowly started to update my hacks.  My compy appears to be stable... for now.




I'm hoping to find time to work on them.  In the meantime, please sit tight.  I've already put up a compatibility thread over here.  Watch it for further updates.  As always, please report any hacks that have bugs, especially ones that should be clean or updated.  It definitely helps to have error logs and/or screenshots.  Remember, any hacks that haven't been cleared or updated, use at your own risk.  Don't say I didn't warn ya.



Hai fellow Matyvillains.

I r eventually gonna get to generating a compatibility list, and hopefully find some time on updating my hacks for FreeTime.  However, I r currently experiencing technical difficulties with my main 'puter.  BSODs and the like, and now having BSODs that aren't quite so Blue, but rather starting to show up in a few other colors.

I have just ordered a new fan/heatsink combo, which will hopefully arrive this weekend.  After I manage to get it installed, hopefully my 'puter will be stable enough.  However... I fear that the processor itself might be semi fried and fuxxored.  If that turns out to be the case, then I will need to order a new processor.  Which again will take a bit more time to deal with.  I didn't wanna order a new chip now as I am hoping that I wouldn't have to shell out the extra loot if I can salvage what I already got.

Sorry it's taking so long, but I am also coping with finally being forced to be all growed up and no longer live a complacent manchild life that I was previously accustomed to, what with living at home still.  Mommy and Daddy have flown the coop, literally, and have retired to the mothaland.  Leaving the lil' sis and I to take care of the bills and the house.  So now we gotta cook and clean for ourselves and I have less time to be lazy and nap.

Well, enough of my sob story.  I know it's no excuse.  Especially for you ravenous lot.  Back you savages, back!  *pokes with broom handle*  Lol.

I can probably generate a list sometime this week, and hopefully start updating once I deal with the 'puter problems.  Until then, sit tight.  And fear not, even though I haven't been on MATY as much lately, I have not abandoned the Sims 2, modding, or the community. 


Ste

You are on the way to destruction.  You have no chance to survive make your time.  HA HA HA HA ....


Ste

A ha!  I got it!  There was a misunderstanding on my part...


I see now.  The problem was, in my haste, upon reading your original post, when you said that "Tourists" wasn't being used, I thought you were referring to the last set of numbers you mentioned (which were the "Actual Tourists").  But with this current reply, and re-reading your original, I see my mistake.



Well, to explain a bit... in my growuptownies mod, I was specifically testing to see if the sim was in the 7FFE family.  Hence the name of the mod.   But, after play testing, and some requests (I think), I ended up adding downtownies as well.  This seemed all well and good, until someone noticed that the options were not showing up for these tourist and local type "npc" sims.  So, if I want to enable the option for these types of sims, then I assume I will have to test for asia, mountains, tropics, and all 12 of those "actual tourists" families in that range.  Right?

Thanks for the clarification.  Looks like I'll have to make another update then.


Ste

"will" use?  As in... currently not being used?

I are confused.  I can has clarification?

i.e. should I bother testing for this group to make sure that I also include this group as potential "townie"/NPC types?

What is the difference between "actual tourists" and tourists (0x7FF4)?
And why are there two groups (ox7FE5 and 0x7FF0)?  Is there any difference between them?



Ste

Hi pioupiou.  Thanks for the update.  I hadn't been checking my mods forum as actively, so it took me awhile to even noticed that you updated your msg.  Sorry about the late/delayed response.  I found a bit of time and looked into this.  Again, I made a stupid little typo/error.  It should be fixed now (the randomize option for choosing the GPA), so please test it out and let me know if you're still having any problems.  I'm glad the memory problem was fixed.

Cheers!

Ste

Please test the latest version.  I haven't tried it out yet myself (still kinda struggling wiht my compy ), but I added the new family ids from BV.  So, hopefully the option should at least show up for them, and I don't think the interaction itself was restricted, so it should work.  Let me know.


Also, please note:

I don't remember if I mentioned this somewhere, but I have now consolidated all the different controllers into the growuptowniescontrollers.zip file.  This file contains all the different controllers.  Inside this file, you will find 4 folders: noage, norel, notype, and reg (which contains the regular controller).  Choose only one controlller.  The growuptownies.zip file contains the regular controller by default.


FYI, you would only need to update if you use the regular/default controller or the noage controller, since the other two controllers don't even check type... so those should still work (I think ).

Ste

Ok, so for the family IDs, the BCON is global 0x13A.  This is what I have for my notes:

Line	Hex	Type
0x0	7FFF	NPC
0x1	7FFE	Townie (and Dormies)
0x2	7FFD	Adoption Pool
0x3	7FFC	Downtownie
0x4	7FEE	? ? ? Reserved ID Min
0x5	7FFB	? ? ? Bob the Builder
0x6	7FFA	pets strays
0x7	7FF9	pets orphans
0x8	7FF8	pets display pets - available
0x9	7FF7	pets display pets - in use
0xA	7FF6	seasons - garden club
0XB	7FF5	? ? ? Goopy
0XC	7FF4	bon voyage - tourists
0XD	7FF3	bon voyage - asia
0XE	7FF2	bon voyage - mountains
0XF	7FF1	bon voyage - tropics

What is the BCON for the "Actual Tourists"?  Has it been confirmed that this family isn't being used?

ETA:  Btw, does anyone know what 7FF5 is?

Thanks Inge.

Ste

I wasn't sure if I should post this in the Oops section or RL   But, I figured the Podium might get more exposure and I may get more advice this way, despite me being all Retardo about PC hardware.


So, I am thinking of possibly reformatting/rebuilding my computer this weekend.

Ever since I put it together, it had been stable for some time, but then... and I'm not sure exactly when, I started to get random BSODs.  I suspected that it may have been video card related... but I have never been able to exactly pinpoint the cause.  I used to get that dreaded IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL driver error.  But, I am pretty sure I hadn't installed any new hardware.  The only actual hardware connected was the graphics card and the DVD-ROM.  Hardly anything new or remarkably funky.  *shrugs*  I have plugged in various USB type external drives and my iPod... but that's about it.

I would also get reboots whenever I was using roxio software to convert TiVO files to iPod format.  I would also get BSODs while playing The Sims 2... but only sometimes, and it was never really consistent.  The game is supposedly CPU intensive rather than graphic card intensive anyways.  Still, this coupled with the roxio issue also seemed to indicate that it might be video card related... but still, haven't figured out a way to truly test for that.

I did run a ram test.  I let it go overnight, and I'm pretty sure it went through like 17 cycles or so, with no errors/complaints.

For the past few months, it kinda behaved ok... but I would still get the odd BSOD or two (I stopped using roxio on that machine though And I stopped playing the Sims 2 just because it annoyed me that I would have to save so often, for fear that I would lose a lot of playtime if it BSODed in the middle of a play session :rolleyes:).


Anyhew... the past couple of days, I have also been getting CPU temp overheat issues.  So... here comes my request for advice to any PC experts out there:


Would it be worth it to get:

1) a separate cooling fan?  One that attaches internally and I can just point it to the CPU/RAM or whatever else might be potentially overheating.

2) a totally new/bigger/stronger/better CPU fan, and just chuck the "old" one that came with my processor?

3) a better case that is like cooling specific or whatever.

Or a combo?  Or... is overheating not even really an issue at all.  Is there any way to test if it is a bad mobo or processor?  Short of buying a completely new one and comparing?

I am also wondering if it might possibly be related to the fact that I use Avast.  I find that sometimes, my PC freezes or BSODs, and when I reboot, I get a msg saying that Avast's virus database has been updated.  Mind you, again, this doesn't always consistently occur when Avast updates.  I have had plenty occasions where it updated fine.  And it is probably crazy for me to attribute BSODs to an anti virus program, but teh hubby also built his PC with essentially the same parts.  He also had a few BSODs, but had since reformatted and no longer uses Avast.  I know this is spurious evidence at best... but I'm wondering if it might be possible...

If that is the case, can anyone recommend an alternative, but free antivirus program?


Finally, one sort of problem is... my PC is kind of close to the radiator in my room.  Due to the layout of my room, I'm unfortunately kinda stuck with where it is atm.  But... the odd thing is, I've had moments in my room where it is has been crazy hot, and I was using my PC extensively, and it didn't reboot... so I really don't think the CPU has been overheating because of that.  Plus... I recently turned the valve off anyways, so my radiator hasn't actually been on at all this week.  So really, I don't know why the CPU has been overheating.  This has been happening while I had left the PC idle overnight, the past two times it froze/BSODed.


FYI - I pretty much stuck to the specs/parts I posted in this thread, in case you were wondering.


As always, I'd appreciate some expert advice.  Thanks.


Ste

Thanks for letting me know.  When I find time, I'll take a look at the hack.  Hopefully it will be easy to figure out and implement his way, rather than the cumbersome way I have to do it now.  I would definitely prefer to do something that wouldn't have to impact the wanttree as a whole.  I imagine, however, this is probably something that only works with these later games (Pets and later, probably)?

If it turns out to be really easy to follow what Pes did, hopefully it won't take too long for me to do.  Otherwise, I may end up doing it the old way first, and then taking time to figure out this new method.  I most likely won't have time this weekend (lots of family holiday crap and obligations with teh hubby ).  But hopefully next weekend, I can find the time to check it out.  (Again, no promises )


Ste

Sorries.  My weekends have just been crazy occupied lately.  And my week nights are like the only time I get to myself to kind of not think about work related things.

But, I will have some free time coming up during the holidays.  I won't make any promises, but I will probably get around to it about that time.  I will have to take a look at the Teen Style Stuff Pack as well.  It probably won't have any major differences.  But I will take a look just to see.  I also have to reformat my compy, which I have been putting off.    So... uh, no definite time frame.  Only a vague-ish, maybe the weekend before New Year's.

Ste

Interesting.  This may be due to the fact that vacation sims might have their own group type.  I will have to look into this sometime this week, and post an update when I can.  Thanks for letting me know.


Ste

My amateur, totally non informed advice.  Try running a chkdsk on your hard drive.  Seems like something coulda got fux0red.  Worse case scenario, you may have to reformat (or if you're drive is really fucked, have to buy a new HD altogether).


Ste

Hrm... that is very odd joe.  I'll skim the code again, but I'm pretty certain that all I do is just enable pregnancy for regular woohoo.  Basically, in most cases, I just add the same code that's in the Try For Baby interactions to the regular Woohoo actions.  But then, I change the % for the pregnancy.  So... any age checks should still be in place.  When I looked at the Can We Get Pregnant and Am I Young Enough bhavs, they both seem to have age checks in them.  And, afaik, I don't think I override any of these.  Teen Woohoo might... but I'm not sure...

I have an update I need to post... maybe tonight if I remember.  And I haven't updated all my hacks (from other people yet) either.  I need to grab the BV update of Teen woohoo myself... but I doubt that would be the cause.  Maybe I'll make/post a test hack that sets the change to 100% and so we can see if Elders always get pregnant.


Ste

One of those funky edge cases... but it can happen.  Afaik, this is not a bug.



And it probably wasn't risky woohoo.  Depends on what are the 'strange things' that were happening... to whom, when, and where.  Just because you have a quirky birth, doesn't mean that 'bugs' will propagate throughout the rest of your game.  Hacks hardly ever work like that.  Most hacks change a single function or specific things.  They don't just end up causing all sorts of random and unrelated problems.


Ste

Whoops.    I guess I hadn't checked this forum in a long whiles.  Sorry about that.  I'll take a look at this sometime this when I get the chance (if not tonight).  I kinda just threw those new ones together and it's possible that I might not have checked for age. Doh!

ETA: Ok, so I looked at the code and I don't see anything specific about the Sauna hack that should permit an Elder to get pregnant.  The only thing I added was two lines which just basically enable risky woohoo.  Afaik, I don't modify anything that should change age checks.  There should be two levels of checking anyways.  There is a "Can we get pregnant" check, which checks if the couple is a valid combo, and then, the sim it tries to get pregnant is run through a "Am I Young Enough?" check as well.  So... unless you have hacks that modify these BHAVs (like InTeen or Teen Woohoo), then theoretically, Elder pregnancy shouldn't happen...

Since you're using twojeffs' ACR... I'm assuming these interactions were autonomous? So, that would mean he added those interactions... so they must be separate.  I don't know if he uses his own age checking, or if he relies on the original EAxis code.  But... since it's his own autonomous interactions, doesn't he code in his own riskiness? i.e. if this is happening autonomously... then it shouldn't be calling the code that I changed, it would be using twojeffs custom code.


Ste

So... what's the verdict?

Anyone know if it comes packed with SecuROM?

For convenience, can you point me to a source without it? (I would be ever so grateful )


Do we know if it contains the BV patch?


Ste


ETA: Hrm... apparently Skadi already posted a link here.  I'll have to try it when I get home.