Apartment Life Borkiness, or how i ended the world in 1 hour.

[Faizah]

Because you don't have to buy the apartment. A house is much more expensive in the short term, but cheaper in the long term. (Especially over several generations.) Everyone gets bills, homeowners and renters, everyone has to keep the power on and water running, but renters also have to pay rent. That's kind of the whole point.

[jsalemi]

Right -- if you do the math, it would take 10 sim weeks for an apartment to cost the same as the initial outlay for the average house.  Since the adult stage doesn't last 70 sim days, the apartment works out cheaper in the long run.  Of course, the cheaper cost does come with the disadvantage of not being able to change or expand the amount of space you have, making houses better for multi-generation and constantly expanding families.

[SharonSims]

Well, I didnt got any monsterus bugs... but the whole expansion pack is lame! I mean, the concept is good, but the gameplay sucks! dissapering poor toy dogs, grand witches spam on community lots, extremely useless Belladonna cove, if it really was their last expansion, they should have paid more attention to it! those darn bi**hes from EAxis!

[leaths]

I recall from some L&P that the alleyway neighborhood decorations are intended to impact the rent cost in nearby apartment lots. Trashy ones would lower rent, while fancy brick ones raise it. However, I've not tested it. Has anyone here played around with this yet?

I haven't noticed it changing the rent, but it will change the lot class.

I'll check out those links Mootilda posted too.

[Mootilda]

I haven't noticed [alleyway neighborhood decorations] changing the rent, but it will change the lot class.

My understanding is that the lot class does affect the rental price, so the effect would be indirect.  I also believe that the effect of the surrounding community on price may only occur when the rental rates are set... this might be when the lot is changed to an apartment, or it may be when a sim moves onto the lot.  In any case, changing the surrounding community after an apartment is occupied may have no effect on existing rental rates.

There seems to be a bug with the changeLotClassification cheat, though.  The new value (low/middle/high) doesn't actually "stick" to the lot.  We're looking into it here:
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?p=2025348#post2025348

[Alex]

Hell, it doesn't appear to work for me at all.

[Mootilda]

Hell, it doesn't appear to work for me at all.

Hmmm... rather ambiguous.  What's not working?  The changeLotClassification cheat?  Or, creating apartments?  Or, the entire Apartment Life EP?

Assuming that you are talking about the lot class or the changeLotClassification cheat...

If you look at the work that I've done on MTS2, you'll see that there are actually two stored values for the Lot Class: the value and the override flag.  If the override flag is set, then (I believe that) the changeLotClassification cheat won't do anything.  You need to use the clearLotClassValue cheat to clear the override flag, then use the changeLotClassification cheat to set the new value.  However, because the override flag is now clear, the game will try to recalculate the Lot Class Value at some point, so you can't expect the new value to stick around.  Silly EA!

The only way that I know of to actually set the Lot Class permanently is to use SimPE to change the override flag to 1 and then set the value to what you want.

Or, let the game work the way that it's supposed to: clear the override flag and allow the game to calculate the lot class as you make modifications to the surrounding area.

[Alex]

Hell, it doesn't appear to work for me at all.

Hmmm... rather ambiguous.  What's not working?  The changeLotClassification cheat?  Or, creating apartments?  Or, the entire Apartment Life EP?

Well yes, all of it really.

Assuming that you are talking about the lot class or the changeLotClassification cheat...

If you look at the work that I've done on MTS2, you'll see that there are actually two stored values for the Lot Class: the value and the override flag.  If the override flag is set, then (I believe that) the changeLotClassification cheat won't do anything.  You need to use the clearLotClassValue cheat to clear the override flag, then use the changeLotClassification cheat to set the new value.  However, because the override flag is now clear, the game will try to recalculate the Lot Class Value at some point, so you can't expect the new value to stick around.  Silly EA!

The only way that I know of to actually set the Lot Class permanently is to use SimPE to change the override flag to 1 and then set the value to what you want.

Or, let the game work the way that it's supposed to: clear the override flag and allow the game to calculate the lot class as you make modifications to the surrounding area.

Okay that's really interesting, thanks. I'll have to try that and see what happens.

[Mootilda]

It's possible that you could move an occupied apartment lot by using SimPE to modify the Top and Left fields in the Lot Description for every one of the clones.  Of course, you should backup before trying this and be sure to change Top and Left to the same value for all copies of the lot.

Just wanted people to know that I verified that this will work; just change the Top and Left values in the Lot Description for the apartment base and all sublots.  If you need to rotate the lot, change the Orientation field.

[fway]

This makes me go "huh?"  Do adults normally want toys? Forgot to add that his secondary aspiration is pleasure. Lemonade stands don't satisfy the want at all.

Click for a more detailed view

Also, what's with apartments resetting themselves? I usually save around 2AM (bad idea) and so I have to NOW save when everybody is up, which is hard because the parents work at night. Very borky.

[aubreylaraine]

toy wants for pleasure sims are normal. i usually buy a teddy bear and stick it under some table.

[fway]

toy wants for pleasure sims are normal.

I had no idea of this, I mean, what would a grown sim want with toys that they can not even use, because they're marked for toddlers/children; although, pleasure sims are supposed to be big kids anyhow. *shrugs* The only usuable toys that they can use, though are the lemonade stand and teddy bear. Ugh, EAxis has no logic at all. Well, I suppose I could buy a teddy bear and put it on the tv or someplace they would shut up about. Now all I have to check out are the reasons why the whole lot resets itself, and the issue where the lemonade stand doesn't satisfy the toy want.

[talysman]

toy wants for pleasure sims are normal.

I had no idea of this, I mean, what would a grown sim want with toys that they can't even use, because they're marked for toddlers/children; although, pleasure sims are supposed to be big kids anyhow. *shrugs* The only usuable toys that they can use, though are the lemonade stand and teddy bear. Ugh, EAxis has no logic at all. Well, I suppose I could buy a teddy bear and put it on the tv or someplace they'd shut up about. Now all I have to check out are the reasons why the whole lot resets itself, and the issue where the lemonade stand doesn't satisfy the toy want.

They can use the teddy bear via the Talk Through interaction. Unfortunately, that's annoying, because they keep leaving the teddy bear in unusable positions that sometimes block other items.

I never knew the lemonade stand was considered a toy.

[GayJohnScarritt]

   I don't think it isr, as newly transitioned kids always roll up the lemonade stand, then roll up another toy (besides electronics and game=for me anyway).

[fway]

toy wants for pleasure sims are normal.

I never knew the lemonade stand was considered a toy.

I never said that the lemonade stand was a toy. I should have said, that the lemonade stand was in the toys section, but it does not have the fulfillment of the "get a toy" want. Otherwise, the lemonade stand should be in a completely different section. That being said, I still hope that my apartment lot doesn't reset again. I am still wondering if anyone else's lots have reset on their own... *cough cough cough*

[sloppyhousewife]

I should have said, that the lemonade stand was in the toys section, but doesn't have the fulfillment of the "get a toy" want.

Isn't it the "children" section rather than the "toys" section? I mean, I wouldn't call highchairs or cribs toys, either.

As for the strange wants: I choose "familiy" as the second aspiration for one of my knowledge sims, and she instantly rolled to want to "Buy a statue". Seems like yet another 2nd aspiration borkage.

[SJActress]

I should have said, that the lemonade stand was in the toys section, but doesn't have the fulfillment of the "get a toy" want.

Isn't it the "children" section rather than the "toys" section? I mean, I wouldn't call highchairs or cribs toys, either.

As for the strange wants: I choose "familiy" as the second aspiration for one of my knowledge sims, and she instantly rolled to want to "Buy a statue". Seems like yet another 2nd aspiration borkage.

What is her One True Hobby?  Would that have a bearing on wanting a statue?

[sloppyhousewife]

What is her One True Hobby?  Would that have a bearing on wanting a statue?

Not really - it's "Sports" . But I think you have a point there: She's about to max "Arts & Crafts", so the want actually makes sense.

[Assmitten]

Also, she never, ever used a bed even though there was one available.  I thought it was a bork but it seems that people in this thread have problems with their roomies using the wrong bed, but not one with a roomie not using a bed at all. 

I am having this now with a roomie. HIs "I don't sleep, I wait" routine was making me nuts so I trashed his energy using the Sim Blender. Response? "Let's go swimming! Tiredly." And then he ran out to do errands at 4 a.m. I reckon he is currently asleep under a clothing rack at SimMart. Other complaints include making meals for no reason and throwing out perfectly good food that could be put back in the fridge.

I gave him a room with an unlocked, EAxis-standard door with a bed and a lamp. I claimed the other beds in the joint using sleep clock. What am I doing wrong?

ETA: Also, I can't seem to get more than one roommate. I have another empty bedroom. I was hoping to rent it out as well.

[Mootilda]

ETA: Also, I can't seem to get more than one roommate. I have another empty bedroom. I was hoping to rent it out as well.

My understanding is that you are only allowed to have one roommate at a time.

[Crash]

Dunno if this has already been said, but it seems the new bathroom cabinets don't work on foundations. At least not on residential lots.

[Assmitten]

ETA: Also, I can't seem to get more than one roommate. I have another empty bedroom. I was hoping to rent it out as well.

My understanding is that you are only allowed to have one roommate at a time.

Thanks, after fooling with it, I figured this was a "feature." Anyone seen a work around? Seems silly to have an arbitrary cap of one roomie.

[Crash]

Update: bathroom cabinets don't work on residential lots at all for me. Anyone having the same problem? None of the cabinet specific options are there - the mirror cabinet only has the mirror options, and the other cabinet doesn't have any options to click it at all. Weird.

[jsalemi]

Hack or mod or other cc conflict -- you have something in your game keeping them from working.  They work fine in my game.

[Crash]

Okay, I ended up removing everything in my downloads folder - I even removed some overrides files from Lord Darcy in the AL overrides folder - the cabinets still don't work.    I don't get this. I used the Roth family as testsubjects, and I removed the .cache file. The only thing I didn't remove was the CEP. Could that do this? Although I figure everybody has it, so then more would have this problem.

I can't remember that I ever tried the cabinets on residential lots before I found out about this. I do remember them working on an apartment lot though. I haven't tried in an apartment yet though, but this is still too weird.