Out of the blue my Freetime started acting wacky. I did not download any new custom content or change any computer/game settings. I had been playing freetime successfully for a few months now, no problems at all (aside from getting the replacement exe file from securom in the beginning)

Things I've noticed so far:

No wants or fears - just blue boxes. Mousing over does not give a "tool tip" type description. I've let the sims go on for over 24 hours without any change in this glitch.

"jumpy" sims - sims seem to "jump" to their correct placement, they will walk to approx where they are supposed to be then they just "jump" the final few steps.

no physical interactions between sims - I've attemped to make them kiss, flirt, hug - all with nothing. I will get a jump in the animation, sometimes hear a sound that is associated with the action, but never actually see the action.

public lot takes me to build mode?!?! - following the suggestion of another forum I took my sim to a public lot to see if the wants would roll over, the loading lot screen apeared with the taxi, but when the public lot loaded it was in build mode! my sim was gone, no townies, nothing.

I'm sure there are lots of other things going on but I didn't even check, I gave up.

What I've tried - removed all custom content, uninstalled freetime, uninstalled ALL of my eps and the base game. reinstalled ALL my eps and basegame, including freetime - same results. I have also tried installations with and without the updated freetime patch. And ALSO tried running freetime with and without the replacement exe file from securom.

My latest ep other than freetime (seasons) is working fine. all subsequent installations of freetime yield the same results.

Other than the base game I am running university, OFB, nightlife, pets, glamour life sp, family fun stuff sp, and seasons.

I am running Windows Vista, other specs available, but my machine is fully capable of running the program.

Any help is appreciated! Thanks!!!!

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This is a system generated message

Did you test with a clean Sims 2 folder? I've seen these kinds of issues in a hood that had deleteallcharacters used on it. Are you using 'clean' hood templates, the standard Maxis hoods or a custom hood?

I'm in the process of getting my machine specs together.

About the clean hood - I've only ever played maxis hoods, and am doing all my tests on them. After re-installing the games I fire up Pleasentville to see if it's working.

I've ran a few more tests in the meantime, deleting all registry info (yet again), uninstalling all the games (yet again), deleting all files on my machine that are even sims related, uninstalling all things (including cep, & clean installer) And even doing a system rollback/restore to a point where the game was working correctly. Installing just the base game through seasons all work fine, all actions & wants/fears are normal, but I still get the same glitches after installing Freetime.

It just urks me because it played just fine for a while, and then this?

Just to check- do you mean you are testing on your existing neighbourhoods? You'll need to generate a completely fresh set of userdata files, as outlined in the Wiki Game Problem guide.

I have deleted the entire ea games folder and let it generate, quite a few times. I meant when I reinstall freetime I test it in a base game lot.

Okay here are my quick system specs. Should I run the Everest spec too?

operating system: windows vista home premium (6.0 build 6000)
processor: amd athlon 64 x2 dual core processor 5600+ (2 cpus) 2.8GHz
memory: 2942 MB Ram
page file: 1100 MB used - 4989 MB available
directx version: directx 10
computer model: HP Pavillion GX614AA-ABA a6330f


Display specs:

Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
Approx. Total Memory: 1336 MB
Main Driver: nvd3dum.dll
Version: 7.15.001.6222 (English)

Sound specs:

Name: Speakers (Realtek high definition audio)

The only thing I can really think of in this case is to try a local install of Freetime, by copying the disc contents to the hard drive:
http://support.ea.com/cgi-bin/ea.cf...li=&p_topview=1
Also try cleaning the disc before copying the files:
http://www.modthesims2.com/wiki.php...me_Help:Install
Make sure also that you delete any remaining registry keys for Freetime and also any files left in Program File/ EA Games/ The Sims 2 Freetime. If the game works fine with all EPs except Freetime, and the issues only befin with Freetime then I think the only possibility is that the Freetime Install is problematic, as we've ruled out dodgy Userdata being a cause too.

I did the local install of Freetime today, made sure my disk was nice and clean beforehand, there are no scratches or flaws on the disk at all. But, same results. Before the installed I cleaned my registry, userdata files, and the old porgrams/ea/freetime files as well.

Is there any hope? LOL If not it looks like I have a nice doorstop or maybe something to prop my window open with.

Are you running from the executable, or from the launcher? try running the executable. Just to check- you are on an administrator Windows account, and you're not running a no CD crack or any emulation software? And, you deleted your Documents/ EA Games/ Sims 2 folder and allowed the game to create a new one? If all else fails, your only option would be to return your disc to EA to exchange for a fresh one, but this costs money and I've never heard of a faulty disc causing these issues before. Is your disc original, or a burned copy?

I havn't tried the executable, I saw it in the help section on mds2 so i'll give that a whirl a little later (been loading from the launcher)

I am running admisitrator, no no-cd crack or anything like that (have all the original disks) I've let the game create all new ea folders - multiple times. And all my disks are 100% original from the store legit non-burned.

It's possible the modified anti-SecuROM exe is causing trouble... but I've seen this bug before, either associated with outdated custom content (particularly the InSim) or... gah, something else, but I don't remember what. I shall return when I'm not in a rush, and search! .

I've tried it with the replacement Securom exe and without. I've removed all my custom content and re-installed freetime, and all the other games for that matter, over and over again with the same results. Each time I cleared anything sims related in the registry, program files, and ea/sims2 documents before installing.

Tomorrow i'll install it on my husband's computer and see what happens, i suppose that'll tell me if it's a disk related issue.

So I found another really fun Freetime glitch today! I got Kitchen & Bath stuff, and thought I'd pop Freetime on once more to see if it was going to work, went into CAS, made a random sim (Jaun Valdez) and when I left the CAS screen it went to the "Loading Valdez family" screen, stayed there, music kept playing, then I was treated to a nice thunderstorm in the background. The game wouldn't move past the loading screen, so I just ended the program. I'm having my husband install it on his machine to see what happens. Oi, how I miss my Freetime :-(

Okay husband installed on his computer and it works just fine and dandy, so I think that rules out any disk problems.

Has it crashed at CAS more than once? Sometimes random crashes do occur, and they usually don't reoccur.

I can't find the damn thread I referred to earlier... I know it exists, but searches yield nothing. :/

This is the first time I've ever ran CAS since I started having problems, so I can't really say, but the entire game is so extremely buggy, it's hard to tell what's going to happen next. This is the first time it has actually froze, but I havn't let it go all that far before (before getting pissed off and shutting it down) I searched for "yield nothing" and it only pulled up my thread

I had the same problem, and followed all the suggestions above, and still nothing; but then I played under another user account, and found there was no problem.

So the problem is actually with the account you're playing under and not the actual game. So either play under a different account, or delete your existing account and create a new one.

Good suggestion, xhyleh. Also, mizzamylee, it's worth noting the differences in software between the computer that the game works on and the one on which it does not. For example, what programs do you have installed on one that is not on the other? Maybe there is some software that is 'hiding' some game files or otherwise interfering with the securom.

IT WORKED! Thankyou soooooo much! I had given up hope, but now my sims have their hobbies back! YAY!!!!!!!!!

That means that there is a program/process running in the background which is interfering with your game. It would have to be a program you installed under you account that isn’t on the new account.

I would first try disabling your anti-virus protection while you're playing.

You can try cleaning up unnecessary programs and processes too…Start menu -> type 'msconfig' into the search bar at the bottom. -> Everything on the startup tab can be disabled, by unchecking the boxes. None of these have anything to do with your computer running properly. It's still important though that you know what you're disabling. This list contains programs which are automatically set to start with your computer. Some you may want to start, like your anti-virus, but again there's no actual harm in disabling any above that. If you find unchecking something stops something you didn't want to, then you can always go back in and recheck the box. If you’re unsure what the processes are, run a google search on them.
Next go to the services tab. Check the box at the bottom left which says “Hide all Microsoft services”. Everything left can be unchecked just like the startup tab, with the same heads up. Make sure you don’t disable something you want. When you're done unchecking boxes click apply and then ok. It will prompt you for restart.

Also, what's getting in the way would be something you’ve installed or changed since the problem started. That may be a help in narrowing it down. Of course you could always just play on the other account. Up to you.. glad you have a fix for now though!