The Good, the Bad, and the Randomly @Toaded

[blackcat]

The game also drops down to three sometimes when I choose four, even though I usually choose this when my Sims are at work or sleeping.

This is intended behavior.  I don't think speed 4 is even faster then 3. It just goes on until sim finishes his current task, then it automatically goes on 1 (or maybe the previous speed). It helps if you don't want to watch sim sleep or task closely, but don't want to miss something later.

[Insanity Prelude]

Familyfunds -does not- work, however, the cheats that do work - motherlode, kaching, moveobjects on/off, snapobjectstogrid on/off and testingcheatseneabled on/off.  For builders, we were told there would not be a floorelevation cheat - we were told wrong - however, there is some lighting issues that make hiding the deformed walls much more difficult.  However, it is usable, and not -super- noticeable.

typing in "help" to get a list of some of the cheats works. I really want to know what enableLlamas does.

[DigiGekko]

Nothing. It's just a joke cheat.

[Kyna]

With that "we're locking this down so you can't mod it, nyah nyah" attitude it sounds like they really wanted to turn this into a game instead of a toy.  The thing is, the section of the market that they are now going after aren't likely to play the Sims no matter what EA do to it.  Just look at the reviews in the game magazines - they'll usually feature a comment like "I don't play it myself, but my mother / sister / gf does".

Oh yeah, said the suits at EA, let's ignore what made this franchise so popular and go after the stereotypical "real gamers", who would never play what they perceive as a chick-game in a million years.  This time around EA aren't just ignoring what their long-term customers want from the game, they've deliberately removed some of the elements that made the Sims franchise so popular with its playerbase.  Talk about killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

It was the ability to turn the game into whatever we wanted by mixing mods from different modders and the wide availability of high quality, free CC that made the game so popular and long-lasting.  If we'd only ever had the opportunity to play it unmodded and with only EAxis content, the game would have died years ago.

And this "you can't mod it" stuff causes problems with bugs.  We've been relying on modders like Pescado for bug fixes ever since TS2 base game, because EA aren't exactly fast at releasing patches - and sometimes their patches have added as many problems as they fixed.

[maxon]

With that "we're locking this down so you can't mod it, nyah nyah" attitude it sounds like they really wanted to turn this into a game instead of a toy.  The thing is, the section of the market that they are now going after aren't likely to play the Sims no matter what EA do to it.  Just look at the reviews in the game magazines - they'll usually feature a comment like "I don't play it myself, but my mother / sister / gf does".

Absolutely, the last one I read trotted out the 'it's not a real game anyway' line and would only be interesting to anal, compulsive gamer 'completists' (whatever that might be). 

[Thraxus]

The game also drops down to three sometimes when I choose four, even though I usually choose this when my Sims are at work or sleeping.

This is intended behavior.  I don't think speed 4 is even faster then 3. It just goes on until sim finishes his current task, then it automatically goes on 1 (or maybe the previous speed). It helps if you don't want to watch sim sleep or task closely, but don't want to miss something later.

It's not faster than 3, in fact it's not a new speed at all. If you read the tutorial lessons (feel free to P&L) it says that the Fast Forward option (i.e. 4) just sets the time to 3 until the current action is completed, then reverts back to normal speed again. It's just a convenience feature to skip through boring but lengthy actions. Hardly a ground breaking feature, but comes in handy.

[Papercut]

Just look at the reviews in the game magazines - they'll usually feature a comment like "I don't play it myself, but my mother / sister / gf does".

Just on that, I am so sick of reviewers and their multiple disclaimers of "not that me and my gonads would ever actually choose to play the sims". I mean, how fucking insecure - just review the damn thing and stfu about your Y chromosome, or give the job to someone who does choose to play the game.

On mods, well ... for me that's the dealbreaker. I lost interest in the EAxis vision and borkiness around OFB. Discovering awesomeware brought me back into the fold and sustained me through the rest of the EPs. I can't see myself getting very far with TS3 without it. I had sort of suspected that TS3 might make third party CC and mods more problematic, what with the ghey store concept and all. Screw EA. If I win the lottery I'll commission my own sims game ... with blackjack, and hookers.

[J. M. Pescado]

Can they actually take any legal action against him for distributing mods?  But yeah, like she said, I totally understand if you don't think it's worth it.

They could try, but I intentionally cultivate non-existence on the Internet, precisely to avoid this sort of nonsense. I am not kidding when I tell you that I kill anyone who makes an attempt to find me. If you think you see me on the street, you're probably wrong, but don't make any sudden moves and do not under any circumstances act like you might know me. Or you die. No witnesses.

[Chain_Reaction]

With that "we're locking this down so you can't mod it, nyah nyah" attitude it sounds like they really wanted to turn this into a game instead of a toy. 

I think another thing they got annoyed by was the sheeps distributing hacks in uploads and unsuspecting sheep getting them then a new EP came out and "OMFG BUGZ WILL GIVE BENES 4 FIX!!" flooded the boards because they 1) Didn't know they had them or 2) Were too stupid to update them. They probably wasted a lot of time sorting through tons of bug reports only to have 50% of them be the result of a hack.

[gethane]

I guess their dumb packager/installer program shouldn't have done than then.

[Kyna]

With that "we're locking this down so you can't mod it, nyah nyah" attitude it sounds like they really wanted to turn this into a game instead of a toy. 

I think another thing they got annoyed by was the sheeps distributing hacks in uploads and unsuspecting sheep getting them then a new EP came out and "OMFG BUGZ WILL GIVE BENES 4 FIX!!" flooded the boards because they 1) Didn't know they had them or 2) Were too stupid to update them. They probably wasted a lot of time sorting through tons of bug reports only to have 50% of them be the result of a hack.

The problems there aren't caused by the hacks or by the modders or by responsible users of the hacks.  The causes of those types of problems are:

- sheeple who either didn't realise that they needed to clean lots before uploading them, or had heard it was a good idea but didn't know how to.
- shitty EAxis coding that meant that hacks are packaged along with a ton of other garbage that will corrupt your game and shouldn't be part of a packaged lot.
- sheeple who didn't realise they needed to use something that works, such as Clean Installer, to install downloads, rather than anything provided by EA (see previous point regarding the quality of EAxis coding).

True, there's not much they could do about the sheeple, but the biggest cause was the EAxis coding.  Fix that and the related sheeple problem becomes much, much smaller.

If they'd fixed their coding issues with packaged lots then they wouldn't have needed to rip out the very thing that made the Sims franchise work for so long for so many people - the ability to customise it and turn it into something we want to play, in whatever playing style we choose.

[Faizah]

With that "we're locking this down so you can't mod it, nyah nyah" attitude it sounds like they really wanted to turn this into a game instead of a toy.  The thing is, the section of the market that they are now going after aren't likely to play the Sims no matter what EA do to it.  Just look at the reviews in the game magazines - they'll usually feature a comment like "I don't play it myself, but my mother / sister / gf does".

Absolutely, the last one I read trotted out the 'it's not a real game anyway' line and would only be interesting to anal, compulsive gamer 'completists' (whatever that might be). 

You know, those people (like myself) who've been there since the Sims 1, no bloody A, B, C, or D expansion packs, and have to get them all. Completists. Of course, I'm quite happy to be a pirate cat completist, especially since my issues with BV and SecuRom. It doesn't matter how I get them, or even if I like them, I just have this compulsive need to have them. It's stupid, but there it is.

[kiki]

Faizah I'm the same way...if I start a series of something, I have to complete it even if I don't necessarily like it. My OCD, let me sho u it.

[Inge]

They could try, but I intentionally cultivate non-existence on the Internet, precisely to avoid this sort of nonsense. I am not kidding when I tell you that I kill anyone who makes an attempt to find me. If you think you see me on the street, you're probably wrong, but don't make any sudden moves and do not under any circumstances act like you might know me. Or you die. No witnesses.

So I need to stop reminding people you are L** J*****s?

[jolrei]

They could try, but I intentionally cultivate non-existence on the Internet, precisely to avoid this sort of nonsense. I am not kidding when I tell you that I kill anyone who makes an attempt to find me. If you think you see me on the street, you're probably wrong, but don't make any sudden moves and do not under any circumstances act like you might know me. Or you die. No witnesses.

So I need to stop reminding people you are L** J*****s?

I have two working hypotheses about this:
1) You are still alive; therefore you must be wrong.
2) You wear a tinfoil hat under the teacosy on your head and your obvious eccentricities make anything you say highly suspect.  Therefore you pose no real threat as regards "outing" Pescado.

1 has simplicity and elegance on its side, while 2 is more fun.

[Inge]

That reminds me, I need to change my sig...

[J. M. Pescado]

I have two working hypotheses about this:
1) You are still alive; therefore you must be wrong.
2) You wear a tinfoil hat under the teacosy on your head and your obvious eccentricities make anything you say highly suspect.  Therefore you pose no real threat as regards "outing" Pescado.

1 has simplicity and elegance on its side, while 2 is more fun.

There is no reason that both cannot be simultaneously correct.

[Frankenbeasley]

So I need to stop reminding people you are L** J*****s?

This has already been denied vociferously both here and there. There is no reason to suspect that just because someone is a fat, obstreperous jerk that they must also be a stupid, evil bastard, chinwear not withstanding.

[Inge]

My take on it is why would he have bothered to deny it, from both online accounts too, if it were not true?

[snowluv]

Insanity Prelude:

My guess is that they want to be able to monopolize all CC and charge for them themselves. If they block all third party content then all the sheeple will have to go and get all their shtuff at the Sims 3 Store. Kaching!

I won't be downloading anything from that Sims 3 Store....ever. I will simply uninstall the game and continue playing The Sims 2 until it no longer amuses me. EA has effectively ruined The Sims experience for me with their SecuROM and their hands poking about in my purse looking to take every dime they can.  And now, after reading what Pes has to say about the modding limitations, well, suck my big toe, EA.   The modders and CC artists made The Sims franchise what it is today, and if EA can't see that, they don't deserve any loyalty from the fans.

[ladyangua]

 :-\Well that has completely squashed the little curiosity I had left. I will save my money and build a new Hood instead.

[jolrei]

My take on it is why would he have bothered to deny it, from both online accounts too, if it were not true?

Ah, only the true messiah denies his divinity?

[Soggy Fox]

But what if we already know you, but don't know you're Pes online?  I mean, what if you're uncle Fred down the road, but we don't know that uncle Fred =Pescado?

[Uncle Fred is, in this case, a fictional character - none of my uncles are named Fred, and I don't really know them anyway.]

[racerua]

My English is pretty bad. So as far as I understood, custom content such as new objects and clothing is very difficult or impossible to be made for TS3. Am I right?

[SciBirg]

My English is pretty bad. So as far as I understood, custom content such as new objects and clothing is very difficult or impossible to be made for TS3. Am I right?

It's early days yet and Inge and Peter already have a rudimentary TS3 file viewer done and if they are optimistic regarding the modding, I wouldn't worry about it.