I'm not an expert, but here's my understanding.  Those are "social townies" and there's no way to stop the game from generating them.  Different types are generated in different areas.  You're seeing "steampunk" ones, because that's what spawns in that area.  If you go to a different area, you may start seeing prepies or other types.

I believe you can change their clothes and hair.  I would suggest Pescado's clothing tool, or Christianlov's clothing rack.  Make them fit your theme, then ignore them.

Sorry I don't have better news.  I was very annoyed by them as well.  A radical solution you could experiment with is changing them to toddlers with SimPe.  It's possible this will keep them from visiting other lots, and keep new ones from spawning.  Proceed with caution, however, I don't think anyone has tried this.

Try this. 

1 -> ctrl-shift-c, enter "boolprop testingCheatsEnabled true"
2 -> shift-click on any Sim on the lot
3 -> click Spawn...
4 -> click More...
5 -> click Break Suppressor
6 -> ctrl-shift-c, enter "boolprop testingCheatsEnabled false"

My computer can't run Sims 3, but I was very intrigued by it and read all the threads.  Then something happened.  Someone mentioned picking up the paper to get a job, and a little bit of me died inside.

I got tired of sims heading off to work in Sims 1.  I got even more tired of it with Sims 2.  OFB revitalized the game for me.  It gave me something really different to try.  I don't think I could go back to the regular jobs, even with the little challenges and things EA added.

I fear that the Sims 3 doesn't offer enough that's fresh and different for me.  The jump from Sims 1 to 2 was huge.  Sims could change their hairstyles!  Remember how amazing that was?  A dress made for a whilte sim could also be worn by a black sim!  The camera could zoom in and out.  Children grew up. 

Sims 3 just doesn't seem to have that wow factor.  The seemless neighborhood is the only big "wow" I can think of, and that may not be enough for me. 

What I think might have worked for me is very dramatic story progression.  From the very beginning I've had the impulse to sit back and watch the game, like it's a soap opera.  If the sims would autonomously fall in love, get married in a big ceremony, cheat, divorce, reunite, and on and on...I think I could fall in love with that.  But there would have to be an off switch, for people who prefer sandbox play.  And in my fantasy game, the off switch would work!!!

Does it not work at all?  It should eliminate almost all the conversation bubbles.  If this isn't happening, try typing the cheat other ways.  Such as "ShowHeadlines Off" or "showheadlines off."

Also try it as "boolprop showheadlines off"

I can't vouch for this, but saw it on another message board:

'Try using "boolProp useEffects false". That eliminates all cartoony effects, so I'm sure the floating hearts are included. BUT it also gets rid of the sky.'

You can also try Inge's "No balloons patch."  She hasn't updated it in a while, because she felt the cheat worked better.

http://www.simlogical.com/sl/Sims2Pages/Sims2_MiscHacks.htm

I doubt this is possible.  Would it help to put their titles in the sim bio box?  It's not as convenient, but it's something.

rufio - Thanks for pointing the way to the Chalice.  (I thought I had already posted that, but it seems my post got eaten.  Maybe I hit Preview instead of Post.)

The main effect this glitch has in my game is unintentional income.  I'll buy a table for the birthday cake, then when I sell it back, profit! 

Yes, I noticed that.  I was quite startled.  I suspect it wasn't supposed to work that way. 

By the way, what is that "Chalice of Days?"  Is it a deco object?  Somehow I've never seen it. 

Making adult jewelry available to teens would probably mean resizing the mesh.  I imagine that's a lot more work than you wanted to do.

So far as just recoloring, is there any simple way to move things from the jewelry category to the "glasses" category?  Then it would be simple to recolor them.  I know jfade was moving things from the glasses category to the jewelry category, so it should be possible to go the other way.

Wow, thanks for the heads-up.  Those are wonderful!  I wonder if the no-spoiled-food hack works on them?  They would look wonderful in a bakery.

I also wonder how hard it would be to modify them so they work any time, not just for a short time after the wedding?  I had a double wedding, and had multiple cake cuttings.  I spent so long on it, I passed the time window and they couldn't cut cakes any more.

Thanks!  Which cakes are broken?  I've only used one or two of the Celebrations cakes.

I believe the Pronupsims cakes worked when they were new.  I vaguely remember one of the EPs breaking them. 

You don't have to repurchase the games.  I have Vista, and my old copies work fine.  I bought the base game the day it came out.  So that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm sorry I can't be more help.  Reinstalling everything is worth a try.

You used the Bodyshop under Mansions and Gardens?  It's a long shot, but try using the one under Apartment Life.  M&G is in a grey area between stuff pack and expansion pack, so maybe the AL Bodyshop will work for you.

Ah, thanks for the warning.  I guess I'll ask her to repackage the lot again.

I'm having the exact same problem.  Five people sent me occupied lots.  One lot didn't work.  I had the person repackage and resend - it still doesn't work.  I'm going to ask her to send me the character folder.  I should be able to extract sims from there.  I'll let you know if it works.

The fastest way to get a working "Downloads" folder is to download one of the official EAxis downloads from their site.  Like the stuffed bunny.  This will create the folder.

On my Vista computer it's C:Users/Main/Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Downloads.  From the start menu, it's just Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Downloads.

Vista works fine for me, and even better with "Readyboost."  I got a nice 16 Gig flash drive for Christmas, so I could finally try it out.  It makes moving around the neighborhood less laggy.

I'm interested in this, too.  Here's an error log for Pronupsims wedding cake #3.  (The pink one.)  Link is http://www.pronupsims.fr.st/ - under Objects - Cakes.

[attachment deleted by admin]

What you need is an invisible mailbox recolor, and deco mailboxes.  There is an invisible mailbox recolor here - http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=200674

I haven't seen one for the special apartment mailbox.  I know I've seen decorative mailboxes over the years, though I don't know where.  Maybe you could ask in the "you fail at google" thread

Edited to add - I fail at google.  There's a deco box on the same site, duh.  http://www.modthesims2.com/download.php?t=153293

Ok, it turned out to be my own mistake.  I put a floor across the whole second floor, but there are no walls anywhere.  In my mind that means the ground is "outside."  It seems the game doesn't agree.  This finally dawned on me, and I removed some floor tiles.  Underneath that area, they can now bird watch.

*Sigh*  It's always something.  I don't think this is important, but I'm curious if it's happened to anyone else.

I have one residential lot where the sims can't bird watch.  Other lots are fine.  I checked and I have Jase's (probably) outdated teen bird watch hack.  Possibly that's a problem? 

Aha, this explains a problem I had.  I changed an apartment to residential, edited, then made it an apartment again.  I moved two sims into one of the apartments.  One day one of them wandered off the lot and never came back!  Even though the other sim was still there, a townie moved into their old apartment.  Very weird stuff.

Is there a good guide to apartment building somewhere?  Does anyone have a handy list of what NOT to do?

Thanks so much!  I did that, then saved.  I edited again, changing all gender from 1 to 3.  Now the bouquet works for men and women!  Don't know if I'll ever use it, but I like having the option.

Pronupsims wedding bouquet works for females, but males get eyeglasses.  Ideally I'd like to fix it so males can also have a bouquet.  At the very least, I'd like to remove the male data so I don't have useless glasses cluttering things up.



Any suggestions?  I've attached the files, if anyone wants to look at it.

Thanks so much for the help.  I'll get that update, and pass word along to the other person having the problem.

I thought my cornices were flashing blue because of a CC conflict.  Then I shared some lots, and someone else had the same problem.  However, she only had the corner pieces flash, I have the flat pieces flashing as well.

I also wondered about the weird textures.  Is this normal?  Here is what the EA textures look like in my game.



Inner corner:



Has anyone else noticed this?  Does anyone even use the cornices?