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Lab Assistant
#76 Old 29th Mar 2010 at 8:09 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Kailacat
Sorry if this has already been mentioned:
-Moving out (L&H Bin) houses that have been previously lived in (without objects)?
-Moving out apartments that have been previously lived in?
Are these okay?


Binning houses that have no sims or urnstones in them, regardless of history, is perfectly safe.
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#77 Old 29th Mar 2010 at 8:20 PM
I remember that in Sims *1* it was important to install expansions in the correct order [though I do not recall what might happen if one didn`t], but I`ve never seen any indication that it is at all important for Sims *2* [nor do I recall seeing anything like that about Sims 3, for that matter]. I have always just installed my "next" Sims 2 expansion alongside the existing expansions *WITH* all of my custom content in-place, and have never had any issues that I could trace to the out-of-sequence installation.

This is probably not NONintitive for many, but it bears repeating anyway, as some people still don`t know better: PATCH, PATCH, PATCH! Always patch ALL of your expansions [and base-game, if you don`t have a pre-patched base-game like Double Deluxe provides], even if you are intending to install another expansion almost immediately. The "patches" that apparently come with the game ["Making sure that your existing instalation is up-to-date"] seem to be insufficient. If anyone can [and cares to] explain WHY those patches are not good enough, I`d be interested in reading the explanation.

Edit: Sacred Nym, there is one caveat to your statement: While your statement is true as-is, there can be occasional "off-world loiterers" that would get binned with the house and cause havoc later. Just because there are no Sims KNOWN to be on the lot doesn`t mean that there are none at all on the lot. Fortunately, Sims loitering "off-world" are relatively rare, and tools to eliminate them do exist. Unfortunately, the only such tool that *I* know of requires a resident Sim to operate it, and it is possible [though highly unlikely indeed] that another off-world loiterer will materialize between evicting them and evicting the resident Sim.

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Scholar
#78 Old 29th Mar 2010 at 9:31 PM
I never had in problems in TS1 with expansions being installed in order :/
I had that game and played it for years before I played TS2 (Seriously, I was playing TS1 until 2008 XD)

As GeneralOperationsDirector said though, you need to be sure to nuke all the off-world loiterers and things that are attached to that lot, or you're on your way to a BFBVFS, you need the batbox. It is basically an essential. Though there is the lingering problem of off-world loiterers after eviction. :/
But, to be completely honest here, I don't think one will be generated unless you've got scheduled sim controllers, and all that stuff. (Scheduled sim meaning a service NPC you've hired, but haven't technically fired.)
Mad Poster
#79 Old 29th Mar 2010 at 9:55 PM
Same here, I got TS2 only in like 2006-7, Because my dad decided to upgrade my computer :lovestruc

Here is what I learned from this thread:

-DO NOT REMOVE SIMS FROM FAMILY BIN!!!!!! Killing is better option and just make a graveyard.
-Smashing urn is bad too.
-Maxis hoods are bugged and will explode down the line anyways. By not doing those above you slow the process
-it is bad idea to move sims from one hood to another.
-AL and M&G is bugged o_O
-Installing games not in order, is fine, because I do that all the time. I forget what order I bought them anyways besides half of them were given to me as gifts.
Lab Assistant
#80 Old 29th Mar 2010 at 11:05 PM
Right, off-world loiterers. Normally that doesn't happen unless the neighborhood resets and a sim on the lot was on the phone. Schedukled service controllers, I would think would be deleted in the move-out process, though if you're using Inge's Stay-things shrub that would turn into an issue unto itself.

Oh yes, other bad thing. Saving with sims on the phone. Winds up creating off-world loiterers.
Scholar
#81 Old 29th Mar 2010 at 11:15 PM
I doubt any off-world loiterer got binned, as I moved a family in by mistake and immediately took it right back out, then binned the house...

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."
- Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
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Scholar
#82 Old 30th Mar 2010 at 12:16 AM
I've never had an issue with saving while a sim is on the phone, so I don't think that can be considered a vbt.
Lab Assistant
#83 Old 30th Mar 2010 at 1:54 AM
It's not terribly bad, but if there's a hood reset you wind up with loiterers, which are bad. I posted that up as a warning, though it's one of the more fixable issues.

Also, the way that was worded sounds just like the "I've bin deleted sims and not had any problems" excuse. No offense, I just thought it sounded odd.
Scholar
#84 Old 30th Mar 2010 at 5:24 AM
The more I think about this stuff the more convinced I am that the game should NOT come with the ability to delete Sims or urn stones. This seems to be the biggest no-no of all time and once done your hood has started the countdown to armageddon.

Seriously the base game and every EP should have a big warning on the front "Danger do not delete Sims!!!".

*sigh* I guess ranting about it doesn't help.
Mad Poster
#85 Old 30th Mar 2010 at 5:56 AM
Clashfan:I know how you feel..I had to restart my Veronaville, when I finally managed to get so far(my furthest as to send every one to college) Now I have to start all over again, luckily, Tyb's future spouse spawned identical tot he last one o_O Lucky me
Top Secret Researcher
#86 Old 30th Mar 2010 at 11:06 AM
Off-world loiters can get stuck in a lot, so to speak, whether you know it or not. Lot A had had three Sims and no pets. Two of them died, their tombstones were moved to Downtown by the game's suggested process. The 3rd Sim was asked to moved into his brother's house. The interesting part is that if I package the lot and then open it with Clean Installer there are two pets there, although the family in question had never had any pets at all. They are apparently passing by pets, either leaving or coming. Another of my inhabited lots, when looked into, through SimPE, reveals there is also a cat, although the family living there has had no pets either. So...
Instructor
#87 Old 30th Mar 2010 at 12:56 PM
What I know is that i am having to reinstall all again.

I am Brazilian but I live in Switzerland!!!!
Call me Paula if you want :)
My Tumblr =)
Scholar
#88 Old 30th Mar 2010 at 7:09 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Nalia
Off-world loiters can get stuck in a lot, so to speak, whether you know it or not. Lot A had had three Sims and no pets. Two of them died, their tombstones were moved to Downtown by the game's suggested process. The 3rd Sim was asked to moved into his brother's house. The interesting part is that if I package the lot and then open it with Clean Installer there are two pets there, although the family in question had never had any pets at all. They are apparently passing by pets, either leaving or coming. Another of my inhabited lots, when looked into, through SimPE, reveals there is also a cat, although the family living there has had no pets either. So...


Which is why I regularly nuke off-world loiterers.
Lab Assistant
#89 Old 9th Apr 2010 at 1:08 AM
I'm thankful to everyone in this thread, now I do know why I had so many problems before last reinstalation.
Now, I have some questions: this time when I reinstalled the game (all EPs and SPs) i didn't even go to any of the pre-made hoods: I just deleted them when I first started the game. Is this dangerous?
And is it bad to delete empty lots from the lot bin?
If I deleted the families from the bin in my hood, and then I delete that hood and start a new one, would it save the game from corruption?
Scholar
#90 Old 9th Apr 2010 at 2:55 AM
Elvie: No, the neighborhoods are not related, they're like different universes. (Which is why moving people=BAD.) And to your second Q, no also.

Amora: You don't have to reinstall, just delete the corrupted neighborhoods, right? That's what I did. Unless they're all corrupted.

Nalia: Wonder how pets can use the phone?

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."
- Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
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Instructor
#91 Old 9th Apr 2010 at 11:02 AM
Quote: Originally posted by GeneralOperationsDirector
This is probably not NONintitive for many, but it bears repeating anyway, as some people still don`t know better: PATCH, PATCH, PATCH! Always patch ALL of your expansions


Stupid question but how can I quickly find out if all my EPs have been patched? I know I downloaded all the patches at some point but I don't remember if I patched them ALL.
Scholar
#92 Old 9th Apr 2010 at 1:36 PM
Good question, I'd like to know too!
Field Researcher
#93 Old 9th Apr 2010 at 2:04 PM
Just go to the EA games site for the patches, and it'll tell you when you try to download if you already have it.
#94 Old 9th Apr 2010 at 5:25 PM
I would have said just try to install the patch, and it will tell you when you try to install if you already have it installed. I don`t know how the downloader would know if the file you`re downloading is a copy of something that`s already installed, unless you`re using EA`s software to download the patch, which I would no longer trust.

Elvie, to the best of my knowlege, deleting entire neighborhoods is perfectly safe, as is deleting UNOCCUPIED houses from the Lot Bin. Please note that off-world loiterers are irrelavent when deleting lots, as they are not *resident* on that lot. Also, deleting corrupted neighborhoods destroys any corruption in that neighborhood, along with the neighborhood itself, and unless EA is even stupider than we believe, corruption in one neighborhood will not spread to another without the help of the user or the help of a really *major* crash.

As for moving *occupied* houses out of the Lot Bin, I don`t know of anything bad that happens if you move the EA-supplied occupied houses into a neighborhood, but it *should* be safe to delete THOSE from the Lot Bin, as the Sims therein haven`t had any opportunity to interact with the Sims in *ANY* neighborhood. Occupied houses you put there *yourself* are an entirely different matter, however. It is known to be unsafe to restore them to any neighborhood but the one they were taken from, and *may* be unstafe to restore them to the same neighborhood as well. It is better to just never place occupied houses in the Lot Bin period. Oh, please note that I said "neighborhood", not "SUBneighborhood"; moving an occupied house from one map to another within the same neighborhood is apparently neither more nor less dangerous than moving the same house to another place on the same map by way of the Occupied Lot Bin.

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Mad Poster
#95 Old 9th Apr 2010 at 5:50 PM
Whew ... I'm glad that deleting neighborhoods doesn't cause problems. Often, I used to add a new terrain, look at it in-game, and think, "No ... not what I'm looking for." I then deleted the terrain (no houses).

I have deleted old default neighborhoods, though, and replaced them with new ones, years back. I'm starting to wonder if that's a no-no, too. I SEEMED to get all the townies and NPCs back, so I don't THINK there is any problem. And this was two or three years ago. But if there is ... I've reset Pleasantview. I was so reluctant to do so, but I survived. And it wasn't so bad. I was free of the consequence of many of my old stupid newbie mistakes now. Pixel life goes on. I'll just have to reset the neighborhood in question if the neighborhood starts doing what my Pleasantview did. Until then, I'll enjoy my pixel dollies while I can.

"Maxis hoods are bugged and will explode down the line anyways. By not doing those above you slow the process ."

Yup. This is what I concluded, KyletheArtist. Even if you TRY to do the right things, somewhere along the line, either you, the game or your computer will mess up, and your Maxis hood or hoods will do something odd. I bought Sims 2 back in 2006, too, by the way. The idea, I think, is to avoid wiping out your neighborhood for as long as possible.

Amora, I agree with others here that resetting might be the answer, rather than reinstalling. It's the far easiest of the "drastic" solutions.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Scholar
#96 Old 9th Apr 2010 at 11:56 PM
I used to think the point of playing Sims 2 was to have fun and create buildings and families... now it's a challenge whether you can keep your hoods safe.

I wish there was just a package file in each neighborhood labelled "Corruption" and if you just deleted it your neighborhoods wouldn't be corrupted anymore!

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."
- Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
tumblr
Mad Poster
#97 Old 10th Apr 2010 at 11:33 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Kailacat
I used to think the point of playing Sims 2 was to have fun and create buildings and families... now it's a challenge whether you can keep your hoods safe.


Sometimes, it certainly can be! It would be nice if EA itself came out with warnings such as "Caution! Don't ever delete Sims from the Sim Bin!" Or "Be careful about overpopulation!" I doubt if they would include that last one, though, because it's generally EA that does the overpopulating when you first load the neighborhood!

BTW, I certainly don't want to scare off newbies to this game by agreeing that the default neighborhoods can explode at any time. Sims 2, for me, provided five years of (mostly) fun times. I had to stick in "mostly" because quite truthfully, if I had a dollar for every time I cursed at the game over the last five years, I could probably have bought a new EP. Maybe two. The game DOES like to test your patience from time to time ... and sometimes, your computer's as well!

However, I had my Pleasantivew for four years before it did odd things that caused me to reset the game. That's a long time to stick with a neighborhood! The fun times far, far outnumbered the problems until then.

Perhaps if I didn't delete from the Sim Bin, or watched my population figures a bit more carefully, I might have been able to enjoy Pleasantview for five years. Or six. Or seven. And who knows? Sims 4 might be out by then. (I have no interest in Sims 3 ... sorry.)

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Lab Assistant
#98 Old 10th Apr 2010 at 11:11 PM
Thanks to all who answered my questions. I've started a new NH and now read different guides and instructions in order not to do anything stupid again. As for subhoods, I think I can well do without that Downtown and Bluewater Willage (businesses can be ran, and nightclubs/restaurants, other places to have fun can be built in the main hood, and I don't need vimpyres, neither am I willing to meet Mrs. Crumplerbottom). I'll have only BV destinations, and my custom Uni (I used to play Academie de la Tour, or how it's spelled, but I'm tired of it; other unis are not that good) - so, this can slightly help in minimizing the number of townies.

Another thing I heard to be bad: NHs should be created with the Downloads folder extracted, or the CC disabled, otherwise there will be problems with visiting secret lots (you know, those that came with freetime, like Gardening Club, osv.).What happens: sims can't visit those lots, you just have that loading screen hanging forever.
Lab Assistant
#99 Old 11th Apr 2010 at 5:58 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Elvie
Another thing I heard to be bad: NHs should be created with the Downloads folder extracted, or the CC disabled, otherwise there will be problems with visiting secret lots (you know, those that came with freetime, like Gardening Club, osv.).What happens: sims can't visit those lots, you just have that loading screen hanging forever.


This is news to me. Then again, I've never had any problem with this. Are you sure you don't just have a bad/out of date hack?
Scholar
#100 Old 11th Apr 2010 at 6:20 AM
That's news to me as well, then again I don't have FT so maybe that is the case.
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