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Gain creativity skill points extremely fast with Magic Easel - Update SSN info

by CtfG Posted 30th Sep 2006 at 10:21 PM - Updated 1st Apr 2008 at 9:51 AM by CtfG : Update FREETIME info
 
33 Comments / Replies (Who?) - 32 Feedback Posts
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Field Researcher
#2 Old 30th Sep 2006 at 11:04 PM
Know my sims can do masterpieces earlier. Good job

I'm going to stop modding the sims 2.
Test Subject
#3 Old 30th Sep 2006 at 11:25 PM
Sweetness, now my simmies can work 4 times without the thinking cap and a teacher Thank you!
Test Subject
#4 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 1:01 AM
this is great, but in your post it says there are 2 files needed but there is only one to download? Where can I find the other one or is it not needed?
Instructor
#5 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 1:54 AM
Kyrakev, the required files are contained in the zip file you download.
Test Subject
#6 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 2:05 AM
in your post you said requires only the original game does that mean it wont work with the EP's
Field Researcher
#7 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 3:36 AM
This'll be perfect for my Sims who want to be wealthy! Thanks!
Test Subject
#8 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 4:59 AM
where is the q-express link?
Lab Assistant
#9 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 5:53 AM
This object is currently marked DND for Do Not Download!It is hacked and as I have seen myself...hacks ruin your game! Paint twice as fast or prevent re-buying&re-installing?
Instructor
#10 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 6:06 AM
Quote: Originally posted by uniquename
This object is currently marked DND for Do Not Download!It is hacked and as I have seen myself...hacks ruin your game! Paint twice as fast or prevent re-buying&re-installing?


What are you talking about? I don't see anything saying not to download it. If the Admins didn't want people downloading it, I would think that they would just delete it. Also I use a lot of hacks in my game and have never had any serious problems and certainly have never had a problem reinstalling.
Forum Resident
#11 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 6:28 AM
Quote: Originally posted by uniquename
This object is currently marked DND for Do Not Download!It is hacked and as I have seen myself...hacks ruin your game! Paint twice as fast or prevent re-buying&re-installing?


I have plenty of hacks in my game and I have no problems whatsoever with my game. Everytime there comes a new EP I remove my download folder, intalled the new, run the game once. Add my download folder and I am back in hack world.. LOL

Anyways, great object.
Thank you for sharing,
Makai

Live Well
Laugh Often
Love Much

"If you don't live for something...You'll die for nothing.."
Test Subject
#12 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 6:39 AM
Thank a lot for sharing, it's very useful !!!

---Every modder likes to take at least some credits for his/her work, and pretending that you created this mod from scratch will be very bad for your reputation and karma, and it will also have a negative affect on your christmas gifts.---> LOL, nice one
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#13 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 9:54 AM
@Smonaff: Thanks for answering Kyrakev's question

@mad sim: "does that mean it wont work with the EP's?" - The hack needs only the original game, but it will work with Uni, NL and OfB. I can't say if there are conflicts with FFS and Glamour since I don't have these, but I do think there won't be any problems.

@elliotw2: I will add a Q-Express link immediately. Thanks for pointing me to this

@uniquename: True, hacks may ruin your game, but only if you have two or more hacks for the same goal (like installing TeenWoohoo and InTeenimater at the same time, which will lead to conflicts), or if the modder overwrites important game functions. To avoid the latter, I created a stand-alone mod with a registered ID, so there will be no conflict. Maxis' original easel will still work the way it used to work, it will still cost the same amount as before, you will still need about 10 or 11 paintings to max out your creativity skill, and you can still sell the finished paintings for ~450 to 1,000. No conflict, no ruined game, no worries
Test Subject
#14 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 3:58 PM
I coulda sworn that there's already such a canvas. I know I have one that lets you paint faster, but I don't think it gives you faster creativity points. I can't seem to find the one I'm talking about, but I'm pretty sure I got it here on MTS2.
Instructor
#15 Old 1st Oct 2006 at 9:35 PM
*tucks it away so she's not tempted to use it on her Legacy Challenge sims*

Contemplating making Golden Sun stuff for TS2.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#16 Old 2nd Oct 2006 at 12:59 AM
Quote: Originally posted by neshcom
I coulda sworn that there's already such a canvas. I know I have one that lets you paint faster, but I don't think it gives you faster creativity points. I can't seem to find the one I'm talking about, but I'm pretty sure I got it here on MTS2.


Actually, the painting itself is not accelerated. It still takes ~6.5 ingame hours to complete a painting. But with my mod, when you have finished the very first painting, your sim will have about 6 to 7 skill points on creativity, and as soon as the 10 points are full, there's a big bonus on the sale price Adding both - faster painting AND faster skill points - would be a bit too much, so I just added the faster skill gain. I also set the price for the object very high, so newly created sims who have just bought a house will most probably have no money to buy this one. It is intended to be bought when the household has already achieved some money.

But if my mod is duplicate to any other on this site (with all the features mentioned), please tell me, and I'll pull back this one.
Field Researcher
#17 Old 2nd Oct 2006 at 4:55 PM
Quote: Originally posted by neshcom
I coulda sworn that there's already such a canvas. I know I have one that lets you paint faster, but I don't think it gives you faster creativity points. I can't seem to find the one I'm talking about, but I'm pretty sure I got it here on MTS2.


There is one. You do skill faster as well. I THINK its by Eddie66... i'm going to get this one anyway. Seems faster and I like having a different look. :-) Please don't pull yours though. There is room for all.

Thanks so much!
Test Subject
#18 Old 2nd Oct 2006 at 9:57 PM
I installed both files and it does work wonderfully, getting the skill points faster has been a big help. Except... that for some reason, every time my sim has to interrupt their painting, (to go to work etc) the item becomes unusable. I cannot go back to it, I cannot select it or move it. I have to use the moveobjects cheat to get rid of it. And then i have to buy a new one, which works fine, untill the sim gets interrupted...

Anyway I know you said you have no problems in your testing and I do understand that we download things at our own risk. However, if you can look into and fix it? that would make the item that much cooler. And if anyone else has encountered this, pleas e speak up =)
Alchemist
#19 Old 2nd Oct 2006 at 10:10 PM
Quote: Originally posted by asiashamecca
There is one. You do skill faster as well. I THINK its by Eddie66... i'm going to get this one anyway. Seems faster and I like having a different look. :-) Please don't pull yours though. There is room for all.


eddief66 removed his hacked painting here.

Update: July 2009-I am back now to make invisible and tranparent recolors again in sims 2. You can pm me if you want your objects to be invisible and transparent from now.
Instructor
#20 Old 2nd Oct 2006 at 11:14 PM Last edited by Smonaff : 2nd Oct 2006 at 11:20 PM.
The problem is occuring when the easel tests to see whether a particular option is available, such as Continue Practice. What is causing the problem is the node version of all the Add/Change the Action String commands is set to 0x02 when it should be set to 0x00, this is causing a Missing Action String in table error. It's possible that OFB uses node version 0x02, which could be the reason CtfG didn't detect an error when testing it, however EPs prior to OFB only accept values of 0 or 1 for node version and from my tests only accept 0 as the node version for Add/Change the Action String. Another potential problem is people who only have the base game or Uni may receive a Bad Gosub Tree error, this is caused by a Behavior Function that uses the 8009 format, which wasn't introduced until NL.

To Fix the problem the Add/Change the Action String commands need to be set to node version 0x00 in the following Behavior Functions:
-Interaction - Paint Abstract - TEST
-Interaction - Paint Portrait - TEST
-Interaction - Paint Still Life - TEST
-Interaction - Practice Painting - TEST
-Interaction - Sell for $ - TEST

And the string id# needs to be transferred from the 15th operand to the 5th operand.
Screenshots
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#21 Old 3rd Oct 2006 at 8:55 AM Last edited by CtfG : 3rd Oct 2006 at 12:30 PM.
@LadyMarisa: I had the same problems when I started this hack, and that was the reason why I also had to clone the painting. Both objects (painting and easel) interact through the GUID, and after I modified both, everything worked fine. I'll have a look into it, though.

@Smonaff: Thanks a million for your information! That's an invaluable help (especially since I haven't had any coffee yet *lol*). From LadyMarisa's profile I could see, that she has NL installed, so the problem must be with the OfB formats. I'll check it. Thanks again!
--------------

Just uploaded the fixed version. Again, my tests showed no problems so I have to rely on others who do not have all EP's installed. Please don't hesitate to post here if you encounter a problem. Thanks for all the input!

CtfG
Lab Assistant
#22 Old 6th Oct 2006 at 7:31 AM
thanx thats kewl

astro;zombie;;<3
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#23 Old 25th Oct 2006 at 10:30 AM
IMPORTANT INFORMATION!

Problem found, but not solved!

I found a document which describes why objects do not show up in Buy mode. The problem is caused solely on my side: I have University, Nightlife and Open for Business installed, and even if I clone an object from the base game, the cloning process adds ... let's say: certain particles of the installed Extension Packs to the clone file. The base game cannot handle these particles, and thus the object is ignored and not shown in Buy mode.

Well, that's the explanation. How to solve it?

I cannot solve it. To make modded objects that perfectly match *ONLY* the original game or *ONLY* University or *ONLY* Nightlife or *ONLY* Open for Business or *ONLY" Uni + NL and so on, I would need to partition my harddrive, run several installations of The Sims 2 with all combinations of EP's plus several development environments. Let's make a quick check how much that would be:
- TS2
- TS2 + Uni
- TS2 + NL
- TS2 + OfB
- TS2 + Pets
- TS2 + Uni + NL
- TS2 + Uni + OfB
- TS2 + Uni + Pets
- TS2 + NL + OfB
... and so on and so on. You get the picture, I hope. For each combination I would need a separate partition on my harddrive, and for every possible combination I would then need to boot from a different partition. In addition, every new EP would then require a number of new partitions, namely for all new combinations that result from this.

This is not an impossible thing to do, but it's highly ineffective.

Therefore I decided to let the objects be as they are. My most sincere apologies go to all who do not have all EP's and thus cannot use my objects. I am as sad about this situation as you will probably be, but there is a limit of what effort is reasonable and what effort is simply crazy. I firmly believe that splitting my harddrive into a dozen partitions *is* crazy.

All my pages here on MTS2 will be updated immediately and show from now on that *ALL* EP's are required to use my objects. My only excuse for this is: I'm quite new to modding TS2, and modding TS2 is a lot more complicated then I am used to and than I anticipated. I am firm in several program languages, but SimAntics is not among them. Changing the requirements is the only way out of this mess for me right now.

I am very sorry for this.

CtfG


Affected objects: CtfG_PC01, Magic Candy Factory, Magic Easel, Magic Exerciser, Magic Investigator, Magic Mirror, Magic Surgery, Magic Telescope, ResetAgeDuration
Instructor
#24 Old 26th Oct 2006 at 5:32 AM
Ctfg, you should check out Numenor's post on how to create base game compatible objects.

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=193642
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#25 Old 26th Oct 2006 at 7:32 AM
Smonaff,

I did that. It wouldn't be any problem to alter the includes in SimPE. No, the problem on my side is the testing. How shall I test objects for NL when I have OfB and therefore cannot exactly say if the mod works in games without OfB? I loath to give out objects without testing. Sure, I still make faults, but these are errors I produced and which I can fix. But how can I fix something deep in the file structure which I cannot see or influence?

That's my concern. One player who dl'ed my Magic Mirror stated that the mirror can't be moved around or used, but the Magic Easel works for him/her. S/he does not have OfB, only NL. How would I fix this problem?

I hope to get a second, bigger harddrive until the end of this year to make two partitions. One will have the base game without any additions, the other will be the "work" partition. After that, I'll be able to offer objects for the base game again. At least this I can try. But I really have no idea how to seperate NL from OfB / NL from Pets / OfB from Pets during testing. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your hint
CtfG
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