Hello! So when I was a newbie to TS2, and was not careful at all with boolprop. I turned it on, spawned the Sim Modder (the thing that looks like a baby), then turned it off. I used the sim modder to max my sims needs. This was before I knew about "maxMotives".

So I saved and exited my game, and I played that family for about a week before I moved on to another one. This was a few months ago, and I just realized the the modder is STILL on the lot. Would it do any damage if I don't go to the lot and delete it?

As far as I know, the Sim Modder is a 'safe' item to use, and should be fine regardless of whether you delete it or simply leave it be. No options I can see are really game breaking, although I'm not sure on aging a sim with an aspiration down to an age stage which only has the 'grow up' aspiration.

Also, as a reference: the cheat is referred to as 'testing cheats' as 'boolprop' is a shortened version of 'boolean property' (basically one of two options, yes/no or true/false) and there are more boolprop cheats than just that one available. In and of itself, testing cheats won't damage your game, but it's not advisable to mess about with it unless you're cautious or know what you're doing, as it does give you the options to do things you really, really shouldn't.

Thanks so much! Yeah, I don't use it at all anymore, I'm too scared of it

Don't blame you there. There are plenty of things EAxis put in the game that will wreck your data (such as deleting Sims from the Sim Bin).

I have never had a problem with the sim modder. I didn't spawn it, though. I got it on this site.

As far as I know, certain cheat codes simply make you shake your head at your carelessness when you realize you forgot to turn them off (but do little more than that, and you can fix the problem easily enough), and some will fry your game. And no ... because Maxis/EA gives you the resources to use these codes doesn't mean they're safe. So a bit of caution is always advisable, though I wouldn't exactly be scared of every cheat code out there.

For instance, I've left "move_objects on" to move decor and forgotten to turn it off. No problems so far. I've used it to unstick Sims and to clean up "shady babies" (I've had a few ones that turned dark gray, for some reason .... the code/deletion fixed 'em up, and they're perfectly fine now) Still harmless enough.

It's when you get a little too adventurous with cheats you haven't researched that can get you into trouble, such as deleting the mailbox with the move_objects cheat. (I read that was a very bad thing, anyway ... I'm not about to try it!) Or use modded objects that use cheat codes without reading the FAQs and comments concerning the object.

For instance, there is a certain very popular modded object that lots of people use to call up cheat codes. I use it. Many people here do. But if you did not read the instructions carefully, and you decided to mess around with one or two menu items that the creator has cautioned people about in his mod description, really bad things can happen.

No need to be terrified about using cheats and modded objects that call up cheats ... but do know what you're doing before you try them! Most of the cheats and modded objects are pretty safe here, BTW, though I found I had a content conflict with one of them. I do admit to being a coward and not trying most cheat objects until they have been around for a few months first.

But why is it dangerous to delete the mailbox?

Because you delete the lot portals attached to it.

The lot portals are where the sims travel off the lots to the community lots, etc. If the lot portals are not there, the sims, from what I know, will not be able to travel to another lot.

I've used 'testingcheats" constantly since the game started, mostly for the "make selectable" function. I've never figured out why people bother downloading stuff like insim, since testingcheats does everything insim does with less hassle. For one thing you didn't have to wait for a new version every time a new EP came out. Only problem I've ever had is with getting annoying error messages. If it's something like a Sim being blocked from viewing something I just turn "testingcheats" off.

When the game first came out, and someone from Maxis mentioned the boolprop testingcheatsenabled true, anyone who used it and had a problem with their game, no matter what it was would get on the official boards and scream "boolprop messed up my game." When, in fact, it had nothing to do with it and couldn't possibly have. (Either deleting the mailbox or using deleteallcharacters" was the usual culprit, as well as EAXIS own stupid errors.) So the myth that boolprop and its components are dangerous and will corrupt your game has been passed down since almost day one.

A similar myth started after AL came out. I have been repeatedly told that you should never use the floor strips--the Great Divide strips--that came with an earlier EP if you have AL. Actually they're only a problem if you use them in an apartment and don't leave a gap. Yes, that causes a problem. But if you use it anywhere else, or leave a one tile gap in it somewhere there' is no problem. However, the story still gets passed on....

I love myths, but only if they're over 1000 years old and involve hunky gods in short tunics....

Last edited by Lerf1950 : 6th May 2012 at 01:48 PM. Reason: too tired to type it right

I'm sure meant that the other way around, but the way you actually typed it is what I agree with. I don't use InSim, but I do use the SimBlender. I find it "less hassle" than the Sim Modder, because the SimBlender doesn't have to be spawned. Of course, I could spawn a Sim Modder once with no more effort than it takes to place a SimBlender once, but the Sim Modder is not an object I want to continually see on my lots. The SimBlender (plant) is a whole lot more decorative, and thus easier to access since I don't have to shove it in a basement or attic to keep it out of sight.

Besides, I tend to trust third-party mods created by reputable modders over what the developers created, in general. I've never actually heard of issues with using the Sim Modder or the Tombstone of Life and Death, but I still prefer the SimBlender for all my sim editing needs. With the Tombstone, especially, there are pie menu items one definitely should NOT click, and not using it means I'm less likely to inadvertently do so.

Minor quibbles all, admittedly, but there you have it.

mhmm - I guess the point about InSim and other objects is that they don't just do "virtually everything testingscheats does" but they are, in fact, simply testingcheats activated on an object. There's nothing particularly mysterious about any of those mods and being third-party doesn't make them any safer. Still, one uses them in the manner one prefers and if you like using testingcheats on an object, that's your preference and that's fine.

The sim blender is much more photogenic when you don't have a convenient basement to stuff it in. Take Don Lothario's lot--where are you going to put ugly tools on that lot? Build a shed, I guess. But you can stick a sim blender in shrub form in the garden, or in potted plant form just about anywhere, and it just blends in. That's the one thing I dislike about Pescado's objects, they're ugly. (But I understand that to be considered a feature.)

I think somebody did a tutorial on changing Pescado's lot sync timer into a vase of flowers, but I have no idea where it was. I'd love to be able to change that thing and the batbox, too. OTOH, after all these years I'd probably never find them again if I did.

Thank TJ for the "zoom to adjuster" function in ACR....

Actually, if you are providing your lot sync timer with a new appearance, you might as well add that function too - you'd only need to export it from ACR and import it into the timer and then make a new option for the pie menu.

You're probably thinking about Lord Darcy's tutorial, but it's for the batbox, not the lot sync timer. http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s...b&topic=10943.0

You're probably right. It was a long time ago, and all I can remember is thinking "That's useful" and doing nothing about it. But then I'm not particularly adept with SimPe...