Total hang-up when trying to play a community lot.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I apologise if this has been answered elsewhere, but I did search and couldn't find anything relevant to Seasons.

This problem, I remember, started with Pets (the EALink version) and then my hard drives got fried, I lost everything, and forgot about it.  Spent the best part of 12 months just trying to get some new hoods going, getting upgrades done etc., and finally got around to having a sim visit a comm lot again - and the same thing happens.  The loading screen gets past the first bit where the lights move across the top, then it just hangs, the hourglass keeps going round, and I can hear the comm lot music playing whenever there's a break in the load screen music - but no matter how long I wait, nothing happens and I have to alt-tab to close the game.

I have no problems entering comm lots in Build Mode, and this latest one is a Maxis Uni lot, the Swimming Pool from La Fiesta transported into a custom campus.

Has anyone else had problems like this, and if so, did they manage to find a solution?  I'd be very grateful for some advice on this, I don't bother a lot with comm lots as a rule these days, but I hate it when I CAN'T use them!

[J. M. Pescado]

Does Debug Mode say anything? Endless community lot load is usually some kind of initialization error.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Can I use debug mode while I'm still in the load screen?  Or should I go into debug mode before starting out?

[J. M. Pescado]

Can I use debug mode while I'm still in the load screen?  Or should I go into debug mode before starting out?

Before starting. In fact, you should generally always try to repeat the event in debug mode if you see something weird.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I'll do that - but what exactly do I do when the game hangs to generate a log file?  Or will it do it automatically?  Never mind, I worked it out, and sent my sim off in a cab this time, and the same thing happened, but I got the log file and will upload it now.

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[ZephyrZodiac]

OK, update.  After reading the above log, I thought it might be worth trying without antiredundancy, so I took that out and sent Damien off to the grocery store.  This time, he arrived fine, and then the error message appeared, a different one this time.  So I deleted the message as resetting and cancelling did not work, and had Damien spawn the ACR and Visitor Controller adjusters, and that was fine too.  The requisite bar person and shop assistant were there, and Damien was able to buy groceries, only he had to buy 600 simoleons' worth, and his fridge is nearly new, he lives alone, and no way was the fridge empty.  So then I had him work as bartender to recoup some of this losses, and this worked fine too, then he called a cab and went home, again no problems.

So, now I need to know, even though I allowed playables and townies, why no sims at all visited the lot.  He arrived before midnight and stayed until 8.00 am, and there were no visitors at all.
Posting log.

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[Zazazu]

Did you try this without the Visitor Controller? To my uneducated eye it looks like the culprit. Try updating it (I'm using the Seasons beta version and it's fantastic...just wants to allow servos despite my wishes), then removing it.

[Hegelian]

Have you considered removing any community-lot-related hacks? What about removing all hacks, and putting them back a few at a time?

[ZephyrZodiac]

Did you try this without the Visitor Controller? To my uneducated eye it looks like the culprit. Try updating it (I'm using the Seasons beta version and it's fantastic...just wants to allow servos despite my wishes), then removing it.

Thanks, I'll check and see if I have the beta.  When I had the problem before with just Pets, I too put it down to the VC, then of course it was the Lady in Red stuff, but found all lots had the problem, not just ones I'd built or revamped.  So then I decided it was my game that was mucked up, but then I had the HD incineration and forgot all about it.

The VC spawned normally, and the options were all there as normal, in this second attempt, but just no visitors came.  Maybe I should have allowed professors?

Have you considered removing any community-lot-related hacks? What about removing all hacks, and putting them back a few at a time?

As a last resort, I have considered it, but I didn't want my game spawning loads of unwanted characters if I could avoid it.  I have very few community-related hacks, but on the first lot I had put my old favourite, Gnomon's flamingo of contentment, so I wondered if it was that, so on the second lot, the grocery, I didn't initially put anything in, not even the debugger, and the lot did load ok, although debug mode did show the error log I posted, and as I said, although Damien was able to function normally, he did have to buy 600 simoleons' worth of groceries for an econocool fridge which wasn't even anywhere near empty.  But he left and went home without problems, having earned back the money he lost with not a problem at all.

So, in the first instance, I think removing the antiredundancy meant the game was able to spawn the shop-assistant and the bar-tender, but something else is stopping my playables from visiting the lot as visitors.  So I think I will have to remove all my hacks, though it goes against the grain after the hours I've spent setting up this hood and all the VCs and ACRs and then having to do it all again!

[pioupiou]

although Damien was able to function normally, he did have to buy 600 simoleons' worth of groceries for an econocool fridge which wasn't even anywhere near empty.

Do you mean you could not choose the quantity of food, or do you mean that the scale was 600 ? If it is the latter it is unfortunately normal since OFB I think, where the scale no longer take into account the fridge you have at home and how empty it is. If you mean the former, I don't know...

[ZephyrZodiac]

The quantity scale was there, but I could not it filled right up to 600.  I hadn't realised that was broken, I never really use the shopping trip these days when they have the cheap fridge, since it's as cheap to buy a new fridge as it is to buy groceries, and cheaper than ordering them for delivery.  It was just that, since he was there, I thought I'd see if the buy groceries was working.

But he still can't get into the swimming baths, and I've removed all the hacked objects I'd put there....but it may be that it's still trying to generate sims.  It's probably because it's Uni, and I've had all the Uni NPCs banned from lots except the streaker, so there's a lot of them to generate - so I'll have another try when Damien's recovered.....

[MissDoh]

and Damien was able to buy groceries, only he had to buy 600 simoleons' worth, and his fridge is nearly new, he lives alone, and no way was the fridge empty

This has been happening since OFB and it is a Maxis bug.  I mention that a long time ago and so far it has not been fix by Maxis.  It only happens on community lots, using the delivery/phone system will show the appropriate amount of food you need to buy to fill your fridge.

Since OFB too, the price of meal in restaurant are reverse.  For example, you will pay something close to 20$ for a bowl of mac and cheese and 4$ for lobster therminador.

I am hoping one day this will be fix since I find it a bit annoying.

[ZephyrZodiac]

That's an annoyance - having uni lots you can't get to is a pain in the posterior!  And even when my sims can get to them although everything seems to be working within the lot, there are no other sims there apart from the bartender etc.  Maybe I need to send a sim back to the same lot where the Visitor Controller has been set up and maybe the other playables will then appear - but that means two visits to set up each lot - and I shall have to ditch the La Fiesta swimming baths I transferred over and build a new one as this lot just will not load!

[MissDoh]

Zephyr, to save you fomr a lot of setting and headaches I also strongly suggest you consider using the beta version of TJ visitor controller.

Way easier to set the lots since now, it will save the settings you do and you can do them when you send a sim on community lots.  No more needs of painting.  You should take a peek at how it is working now.

You want to change something, easy, just make the controller reappear on the lot, make modification and they will take place immediatly.

Been using it for awhile and did not experience any problems with it, it is a change for good not worst. 

[ZephyrZodiac]

Oh, is that the beta?  I've been using it for months!  I've set it as soon as my sim arrives on the lot, after spawning ACR, but no other sims show up.  I've rtfm'd and it makes no mention of an issue meaning you need to leave and then go back again, so I think something else must be causing the problem.  Maybe I need to remove nodormieregen too - but I don't want any dormies, dammit!

[MissDoh]

I would try to remove that indeed in case it is the problem and any other no regen mod you have temporarily to see if it helps.

I remember having a similar problem in the past and it was caused by a noregen mod simply because the lot needed one specific npc but the mod would not allow it to be created so it was going in a loop.  Once one was created I think it was ok but I am not quite sure.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I don't think it's NPCs as I took out noredundancy, I think it's trying to create dormies and so my playables don't get a chance to enter the lot.  I know it isn't professors, I have the full contingent of those, there is one streaker, one llama mascot - so maybe it's hung up on the darned cow!

[MissDoh]

Then it could be a secret society member.

Anyhow, I think these mods are more meant to be used once a few are created so you won't get them replace if one die are is moved in.  But you need to at least let the game create a few before you put it.

EDIT:  I am not sure if these no regen mods were tested in a totally empty hood, it works fine in a hood with all the NPC created but it always gave me bugs like yours if I put them in a virgin hood.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Probably so, I just didn't check - I just put in the mods I normally use.  I'll try taking out nodormieregen and nossregen and just stay at the comm lot long enough for the game to create one or two, but not long enough to create the normal half a billion!

[Zazazu]

Since OFB too, the price of meal in restaurant are reverse.  For example, you will pay something close to 20$ for a bowl of mac and cheese and 4$ for lobster therminador.

If anyone *hinthint* would ever like to fix this, I'd be eternally grateful. I had Ghetto Superstar teen take their current sugar mommy out last night. He drank water, she got an omelette. Coffers were at $41. Bill was $72. For an omelette. Needless to say, I did a little cheat to give him enough to cover it an leave him with the amount he should have cleared, because no way was I ruining a date by making them do the hidey-dance when it wasn't there dang fault the waitress didn't add.

In other news, I just learned that both my friend and I were overcharged by over $10 by a very ritzy restaurant we've been going to occasionally for the past nine years just this weekend. Despite the fact that I signed a receipt for a $53.00 charge, I was charged $63.60. Someone's going down. 

[ZephyrZodiac]

Bring back real money!