I recently installed J.M. Pescado's Director's Cut for FT on my computer. When first playing the game after doing this, I noticed some glitches in the game play: actions would not remain queued when adding new actions to some players (the sim to which I was attempting to enque additional actions would jump like a force error reset, and any previously queued actions would disappear); sims could not read from hobby magazines (they will take one look and close the magazine); and finally, the glitch mentioned in this thread's topic header - the same sim always being brought home.

None of these three glitches existed prior to installing Pescado's DC zip so I know it's a CC issue from the DC (or a problem with conflicting hacks which I think I am unable to check on my computer). I was able to get rid of the most serious glitch affecting gameplay, i.e., the bug where actions would not stay queued, by using the 50/50 method described in the default article before posting. This brought the size of the DC folder down to about 35% of its original size and took me about 3 hours of game play cycles and cc editing. The other two glitches remain. I imagine that I would eventually be able to find what mods were causing the remaining glitches by continuing the process on the 60 files that remain in the DC folder.

However, I am not so much worried about the inability to read hobby mags, since interest in hobbies can be augmented other ways, and the mags make good compost fodder anyway. And I am hoping some knowledgable player here (or at MTS where I'm also posting) can save me several hours by identifying any suspect mods.

Posted below is a filelisting of the pertinent CC folder:
Volume in drive E is Data partition
Volume Serial Number is 3CF9-D342

Directory of E:\My Stuff\EA Games\The SimsT 2 Double Deluxe\Downloads\MATY_DC

04/27/2012 03:39 PM <DIR> .
04/27/2012 03:39 PM <DIR> ..
03/09/2005 01:48 PM 986 abortbedmaking.package
05/10/2005 04:47 AM 909 antibabylecture.package
06/10/2007 03:48 AM 241 antidateflowers.package
03/04/2008 10:40 AM 2,006 antiprankhack.package
06/11/2007 06:36 PM 520 antiweatherreaction.package
12/21/2008 09:00 AM 16,351 asprechargetweak.package
04/29/2009 04:53 PM 19,571 authorized_personnel_only.package
04/18/2012 03:06 PM 50,193 autosoc.package
04/24/2009 09:40 PM 167,253 babycontrol.package
03/03/2008 11:00 AM 1,090 bughuntnoqueuestomp.package
03/05/2008 05:37 AM 2,236 bvchildanimfix.package
10/22/2006 06:07 AM 1,876 callover.package
10/18/2006 07:21 AM 641 carpoolfix.package
01/31/2011 03:30 AM 10,959 clothingtool.package
09/06/2008 01:52 AM 951 clothingtool-globals.package
04/03/2009 11:10 AM 8,033 collegeclock.package
10/21/2008 06:13 AM 3,153 comm-skilling.package
10/17/2011 04:09 AM 27,200 creaturefixes.package
02/09/2009 01:24 PM 954 dailygardener.package
01/18/2006 07:12 AM 380 darwincowplant.package
11/19/2008 11:40 AM 689 dontshootfood.package
05/24/2007 01:40 PM 1,043 doorbell-quieter.package
05/05/2007 12:58 AM 848 evilsimseviltoys.package
03/08/2006 01:06 PM 1,872 fasterbuyclothes.package
04/10/2012 08:34 AM 63,445 ffsdebugger.package
10/30/2006 05:03 PM 240 fitness4all.package
10/09/2008 11:52 PM 942 interestlosshack.package
08/27/2008 06:32 AM 1,239 lesswhiny.package
09/05/2007 09:27 AM 506 lobonanny.package
05/07/2009 05:44 PM 143,559 macrotastics.package
03/31/2005 01:37 AM 376 noaplusspam.package
05/06/2007 05:41 AM 380 noassignmentlitter.package
10/20/2006 07:17 PM 470 noautopetbuy.package
11/12/2008 05:45 AM 4,605 nobabyharassment.package
03/26/2007 01:01 PM 408 nobathroomdishes.package
03/30/2005 11:07 AM 518 nobogartingswings.package
11/11/2008 05:45 AM 608 nobuskers.package
02/25/2008 12:05 PM 895 nocorruptdeath.package
11/18/2005 02:47 PM 979 nocrybabies.package
04/05/2005 02:40 AM 265 nodroptiredbaby.package
09/12/2007 07:07 AM 992 nodupegradmems.package
06/29/2008 03:05 AM 1,518 noeatcrap.package
10/25/2008 02:58 AM 1,962 nohobbyspam.package
08/26/2008 06:18 PM 220 noservochores.package
07/12/2005 01:07 AM 585 noshockforoutgoing.package
12/15/2006 03:58 PM 949 notelepathy.package
06/10/2007 02:52 AM 444 nournhaunting.package
02/29/2008 11:30 AM 2,069 relevantwages.package
02/21/2009 01:54 AM 3,794 restaurantbarfix.package
10/23/2008 01:47 PM 414 runtoclass.package
09/24/2005 09:11 PM 9,889 savethetrees.package
03/14/2009 06:25 PM 133,017 skillinator.package
05/09/2009 07:24 PM 18,689 sleepclock.package
03/09/2006 01:37 PM 194 smartercashier.package
10/28/2006 08:46 AM 840 snapdragonpets.package
06/16/2007 09:42 AM 7,091 snseldercareeroutfitfix.package
12/30/2010 01:37 AM 1,894 sshack.package
04/24/2005 09:38 PM 334 togafix.package
10/18/2006 07:00 AM 655 tombstonemovefix.package
05/13/2007 04:39 AM 707 woohooltwfix.package
04/27/2012 03:39 PM 0 filelisting.txt
61 File(s) 725,647 bytes
2 Dir(s) 1,855,756,869,632 bytes free


*NOTE: When installing The Sims 2 University Life on my PC, Origin did not add content to "The Sims 2" folder in the default My Documents folder, but created a "The Sims™ 2 Double Deluxe" directory (if this does not display properly in my post, like in the filelsiting.txt generated displays improperly, after "The Sims" and before the "2" is a superscripted 'TM' special character) which, btw, has been problematic for finding conflicting mods using Paladin's utility, rendering that utility useless on my configuration. So after installing ULCollection, I moved the existing downloads folder from "The Sims 2" to "The Sims™ 2 Double Deluxe". All subsequent EPs added the neighborhoods and other content there as well. At this point, I'll point out that I have all of the EP's except Al installed, and all of the Stuff packs except the holiday stuff pack.

Other than Pescado's mods, I have very little CC... some things grabbed from The exchange, like cars, shrubs, etc, and some clothing and stuff I've grabbed at other sites (nothing listed as a hack by Clean Installer) prior to JMP's DC, so I doubt if there are any conflicts anyway.

So, has anybody seen this before? All my searches came up empty of useful info. Is there a mod known to cause this for some people? Considering how long it took to narrow the DC folder down to where I have it now, I am not looking forward to the long and tedious process of conting the procedure to find what's causing the problem with the same sims always being brought home from work. And, btw, the two lots I've played since i noticed this where it is happening, it is only happening to the popularity sims on the lots. Any other sims do not bring anybody home from work.

Finally, I Would have like to post this question at MATY where a direct reply from the hack master himself would be likely, but I haven't had any luck registering.

_____
Edit: A final word of explanation - my base game is TS2DD, which I initially installed from a DVD. After the install of ULC from Origin, I uninstalled everything and started from scratch, since I was doing a format of a new HD and a fresh installation of Windows anyway, buying DD from Origin, and then every Collector's pack since in the order of release. I have purchased AL, but not D/L'd and installed yet. BTW, in case anybody is wondering, Origin does indeed install SecuROM.

Last edited by php3vv7th11 : 27th Apr 2012 at 09:14 PM.

Can we assume that you have FreeTime, but not Apartment Life, Mansion and Garden, or the Store Edition? If you have the Store Edition, then we need to know whether it's up-to-date. If you have AL, M&G or the up-to-date SE, then you're using the wrong version of the mods, you'll need to use the Apartment Life version. In addition, the mods will not work correctly with MG but without AL. If you want to use Pescado's mods with MG, you'll need to install AL and use the AL version of the mods.

There are several things that you can do to find mod conflicts. You can do the Game_Help:Game_Problem^wiki FAQ. You can try the Hack Conflict Detection Utility from http://www.simwardrobe.com/ If you can't scan your downloads folder in a special folder, try moving all of your CC to the location that the HCDU actually scans.

If neither of those work, then you'll have to register with MATY to get support. We cannot support third party mods. Of course, MATY will expect that you are using the correct version of the mods and have removed all non-MATY CC. If you actually do both of those things, your problems will probably disappear.

Last edited by Mootilda : 27th Apr 2012 at 11:45 PM.

All of the EP's I have are what's available at the Origin store (but not the store edition. I am not sure what that is, but I've heard it is problematic, and it's not available at Origin, AFAIK). I do have M&G, but it was installed out of order (it was included with the Fun With Pets Collection. The only EP I have not installed is AL (though I've bought it), and I also lack the Holiday Stuff pack which is not available at Origin. I have to confess, I am confused how my game could be running the AL engine if it's not installed, but a couple of people at Simbology also said I should use the AL DC. So that's the overwhelming consensus and it's what I'll do.

What I am going to do is remove the FT DC CC folder, then download and install AL from Origin, and then slowly add the mods from Pescado's AL Director's Cut in to my CC folder. BTW, I did read that Game Help Wiki article. It's why my current FT DC folder is about a third of its full size (I decided not to add content back in if I didn't know what it did, and I still have some rtfm research to do... LOL) The 50-50 method described in the Wiki article is a very time consuming procedure, and now that I am down to 60 files, the odds of each cycle containing the problematic mod are decreased. I was just hoping to save many hours of tedium if possible, and the constant stopping and starting of the game since it is so time consuming on my computer. I considered doing what you suggest before running Paladin's utility, but doubted that it would work. I'll give that a go too if the problems persist post-AL..

Finally, I wish I could register at MATY. I've tried many times, but am unable to get past his 2nd security question. I'd love to get a direct answer from Mr. Pescado, but it looks like that won't be possible unless he sees one of my posts here or at Simbology and tells me explicitly what to use as the answer for the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow.

The Mansion & Gardens stuff pack is based off the Apartment Life engine, so since you do have M&G installed, you need the AL versions of his hacks.

Additionally, I believe one of the mods is that your sims only bring home coworkers from the same career level, so that's probably working as intended, and not a bug. You should really read the RTFM's before you install something.

Like I said, I read the manuals of everything of the DC that is still in my CC folder (with the exception of 2 0r 3 I have been unable to find). None of them deal with whom the sims bring home from work. And to be honest, I rather doubt that Pescado wrote a hack to have a sim bring the same exact sim home from work every day. So I doubt that the other 140 or so DC mods that are not presently in my CC folder would do this even if they were there.

Believe me, Pescado will not help you unless you are running the correct version of the mods, and unless you are using his mods and no other CC. Therefore, this is the absolute minimum that you need to do before posting at MATY. It's pretty clear that you haven't done either yet. Once you have Apartment Life installed and the correct version of the mods installed, and once you have removed all of your other CC, I suspect that your problem will disappear.

The difficult signup procedure is designed to keep people off of the site, unless they are able to prove a certain level of skill at searching for answers to questions. A quick google gives the obvious answer to your question (hint: Monty Python). However, if you are unable to figure that out yourself, you won't do well posting at MATY. They are vicious.

Last edited by Mootilda : 28th Apr 2012 at 01:45 AM.

Thanks for the reply, Mootilda. I am indeed planning on deleting the FT DC folder and using the AL Director's Cut, or rather, just adding the content from that back in slowly after I've installed AL from Origin. My reply about the manuals was directed toward a poster whose answer was less than helpful. It's not like I'm not doing the research. I admit, I'm a know-nothing noob, but we're one of the reasons these boards are here, right? At least I'd like to think so. Your FAQs and what-not have brought me a long way and helped me out a lot.

I really don't have much CC besides Pescado's stuff, and I understand that what one mod creator makes may conflict with what another makes, so if it comes down to me having to give up non MATY stuff, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I doubt though that there are any conflicts since I followed the advice given in the Clean Installer tutorial; also, it listed no non-MATY hacks . Most CC was simply recolors.

Again, I would love to be able to get J.M. Pescado's direct feedback, but, as I said, I cannot register. Please do not insult my intelligence. I tried the full text of King Arthur's reply, as well as simply "African or European" and many variants in between. I also tried some techy-geek answers in mph and m/s... nothing worked.

Which Clean Installer tutorial? Link?

http://sims2pack.modthesims2.com/index.php?page=4