Late Night bugs & annoyances

[jwaas]

So I sent one of my Sims to The Grind to fulfill the dance-for-3-hours opportunity, only to find it was Take Your Sprog To Work Day for the mixologist.  Since I know the way it works around here is Pics Or It Didn't Happen:


Is that a garter, or a skintone fail?  I'm not sure which I'm hoping for more at this point.

In any case, I'm calling this a bug, and possibly also a good time for Child Protection Services to show up.

ETA:  Sorry about that, I should have made it clearer that I am mainly concerned about the mixologist bringing her toddler to work (though I appreciate the heads-up about the garters, which I had missed).  Her loud clothes also reminded me of the comments about male mixologists wearing Hawaiian shirts.  Either way, my Sim did his three hours of booty-shaking and hightailed it home.

[Moryrie]

Its a garter. Loads of them came with LN if you look under Sleepwear (and I think Formal).

Edit:I answered the bit about the garter because I knew how to answer it. Not because it looked 'more important'. I haven't experienced a mixologist bringing a kid to work /yet/. But I've also never seen a female one at The Grind.

[ciane]

Have you tried saving, exiting and reloading the game?  It looks like the EAxian bloom bug, which often occurs after placing new objects and/or moving existing objects, which often resets after a restart.  What do you expect from EAxis?

I bulldozed the lot and still had the glowing orbs there (floating in space at third floor level), so I went to the main menu and loaded the earlier save of the game and then placed the library version on the lot. The library version didn't have the glow bug, so I didn't have to restart the game. Yeah, I don't expect much.

[Magwitch]

I've been having troubles with groups and vampires. I'm wondering if anyone else is having the same problem, so...

Several of my sims are friends with or dating vampires. If they invite the vampire to their home lot, a group is automatically formed. Then, the second that the vampire arrives at the lot, he/she decides that they are incredibly bored and very literally turns right around and leaves. Even if I have my sim out on the sidewalk waiting for them, I don't have time to interact with them.

This never happens with non-vampires when they are invited over, or if I invite a vampire out. However, it's incredibly annoying.

I've had this happen to me several times, but with non-vamps. It is indeed incredibly annoying.

Further to a couple of posts a few pages back, I've also been having an issue with sounds not shutting off as they should. A couple of times, I've gone into build/buy mode briefly and then returned to live mode only to find the build/buy music is still playing, along with the normal sounds. Saving, quitting to desktop and reloading fixes the issue, so it's not the end of the world, but it's still rather irritating.

[Mekare]

I've been having troubles with groups and vampires. I'm wondering if anyone else is having the same problem, so...

Several of my sims are friends with or dating vampires. If they invite the vampire to their home lot, a group is automatically formed. Then, the second that the vampire arrives at the lot, he/she decides that they are incredibly bored and very literally turns right around and leaves. Even if I have my sim out on the sidewalk waiting for them, I don't have time to interact with them.

This never happens with non-vampires when they are invited over, or if I invite a vampire out. However, it's incredibly annoying.

I've had this happen to me several times, but with non-vamps. It is indeed incredibly annoying.

Further to a couple of posts a few pages back, I've also been having an issue with sounds not shutting off as they should. A couple of times, I've gone into build/buy mode briefly and then returned to live mode only to find the build/buy music is still playing, along with the normal sounds. Saving, quitting to desktop and reloading fixes the issue, so it's not the end of the world, but it's still rather irritating.

I've experience both those bugs as well... very annoying. I especially hat ethe grouping up. Just because you invite someone over doesnt mean its an outing... i wish we could zap groups forever, they were stupid in TS2, and they've reached a new low in TS3.

[jwaas]

The only thing I find groups useful for would be getting an entire household to a venue with one command -- such as my four-person band living under the same roof.  Once there, generally I have one of them disband the group.  This way, they can go their separate ways after a gig, for example.

Speaking of gigs, I finally managed to get my band as many as six gigs.  It did take a while, though.  My game was on Epic lifespan, and again I'm running base+LN only, without AM.

Gig #1:  Day 15, Waylon's Haunt
Gig #2:  Day 19, Waylon's Haunt
Gig #3:  Day 19, Waylon's Haunt
Gig #4:  Day 23, Eugi's
Gig #5:  Day 26, Eugi's
Gig #6:  Day 26, Bridgeport Sports Zone

These were the days that the call came offering the gig, so each of course took place two days later.  As you can see, my band twice got two gigs in one day.

Strictly from observation, it looks to me like getting gigs requires a combination of patience and celebrity stars.  I didn't go out of my way to have my Sims befriend other celebrities, but I did do things like inviting in paparazzi to snap all the photos they wanted.  Without knowledge of the code or how to read it, I can't make any statements that are more definitive.  In any case, this was the longest I've been able to keep the game going with this configuration, without breaking at least one of my Sims.

I remain rather disappointed with the bands in general, as I know a lot of you are too.  I was hoping that a gig would consist of my band playing, you know, songs.  Instead it seems to be an endless loop of any of four chord progressions (Jam, Blues, Rock, or Jazz).  Granted this may be the limit of what the game can accomplish, given different skill levels on the instruments, which do cause noticeable changes in the way the musicians improvise over any given chord progression.

Still, I wish there were some way to relate songs learned via sheet music to songs performed at gigs.  Even more so, I want to see a vocalist up front.  But even without my being a computer programmer by any stretch, it seems to me that with three different voice types for each gender, plus somehow relating instrument skill level (to say nothing of as-yet nonexistent vocal skill level) to the details of how a given song is played, it may be too much to ask.

[NutBoii]

Has anyone tried moving a sim from Bridgeport to Sunset Valley who has any of the new skills? I have two sims, one with Bass, Drums, Guitar, and Piano maxed, the other with Mixologist maxed, and when I moved the whole family to Sunset Valley, they lost those skills.

[Klinn]

I have two sims, one with Bass, Drums, Guitar, and Piano maxed, the other with Mixologist maxed, and when I moved the whole family to Sunset Valley, they lost those skills.

I'm not sure if it would make a difference, but did the Sunset Valley you moved them to have at least one of the new venues? A dive bar, lounge, or dance club? If there is no officially-sanctioned location use those skills in the neighborhood, perhaps when importing the sims the game zeroes them out.

[Moryrie]

But you can play a guitar without a club, so there shouldn't be such restrictions on any of the other instruments.

[Klinn]

But you can play a guitar without a club, so there shouldn't be such restrictions on any of the other instruments.

Quite true, and sims can use the mixology skill on a bar at home. That's what I meant by referring to "officially-sanctioned" venues, that if none of those lots are present in the neighborhood, perhaps the game does some cleaning up on import even though sims could in fact use those skills elsewhere.

[Moryrie]

I doubt the glitch is that complicated. If anything it would relate more to the 'city type' and 'suburb type' switch more than, 'You don't have this lot!'

But its more likely something lame like the glitch that used to duplicate all the songs a sim had learned on the guitar when they were moved.

[Claeric]

Celebrity rules are ridiculous.

I decided to try and play a sim to get celebrity status. So Sim A and Sim B are hanging out. NEITHER has ANY celebrity status.

Sim A impresses a celebrity. Sim A now has one star. That's reasonable. Sim A asks Sim B to go steady- getting into a relationship is a big thing for a celebrity, and he gains YET ANOTHER celebrity star because of it. Sim B, in the meantime, jumps from 0 stars to 2 stars, because of dating a celebrity.

Sim A proposes marriage. Sim A gets yet another star.

I understand that celebrity romances travel fast and it's big news, but is it really enough for someone to become a 3 star celebrity simply from KNOWING a celebrity and getting married? Maybe a few points towards getting another star, sure, but two full stars just from going steady and getting married? He's more than halfway to 5 stars and it hasn't even been a week in game. Hell, he's still at the first level of the film career.

[spockblock]

[snip]

Hell, he's still at the first level of the film career.

Maybe he's Kim Kardashian.

[MissKitty]

He's more than halfway to 5 stars and it hasn't even been a week in game. Hell, he's still at the first level of the film career.

Whereas my sim has been stuck on 4 stars for AAAGES. And he's at the top of the film career too, and I do nothing but head shots and celebrity opportunities all the time. Of course, my 'hood only has one single 5 star celebrity that I imported, and then there's my sim (4 stars), his wife (3 stars) and their two children (afair 2 or 3 stars each). It seems like the only time the progress bar goes up is when they breed another star for him to interact with. Eh. O.o

[Claeric]

Keep in mind the situation I posted is also with Awesomemod (test version for new patch), which I believe makes celebrity status harder to get. Maybe these events (impressing a celeb, dating as a celebrity, engagement as a celebrity) are hard-coded 1-star events.

[wizard_merlin]

But you can play a guitar without a club, so there shouldn't be such restrictions on any of the other instruments.

Quite true, and sims can use the mixology skill on a bar at home. That's what I meant by referring to "officially-sanctioned" venues, that if none of those lots are present in the neighborhood, perhaps the game does some cleaning up on import even though sims could in fact use those skills elsewhere.

Given that you can take classes and learn the drum, piano and bass skills at the theatre, it wouldn't make sense that you would need another "officially-sanctioned" venue to learn, keep or use the skill set.

It sounds more like a bork/glitch introduced by EAxis, rather than anything else.  Given that moving sims between neighbourhoods like that isn't always considered good, or safe, due to the potential for corruption of a sim's data, it seems more likely to be an EAxis glitch than anything else, such as missing venues.  Usually the simplest reason is the best or right option, don't over think the problem, afterall, it is EAxis we're talking about.

[Klinn]

Usually the simplest reason is the best or right option, don't over think the problem, afterall, it is EAxis we're talking about.

True enough. I was sufficiently curious that I just tried it myself. Moved a family into a brand new Sunset Valley and all three sims kept their drum, piano, and bass skills. This was the current style Sunset Valley that has the Ambitions buildings added to it, but I doubt that makes a difference.
 
So Nutboii, there must be some other glitch that caused your sims' problems. For the record, I'm not using AM, only mods are the NRaas MasterController, OverWatch, and Decensor plus some of my own.

[NutBoii]

Usually the simplest reason is the best or right option, don't over think the problem, afterall, it is EAxis we're talking about.

True enough. I was sufficiently curious that I just tried it myself. Moved a family into a brand new Sunset Valley and all three sims kept their drum, piano, and bass skills. This was the current style Sunset Valley that has the Ambitions buildings added to it, but I doubt that makes a difference.
 
So Nutboii, there must be some other glitch that caused your sims' problems. For the record, I'm not using AM, only mods are the NRaas MasterController, OverWatch, and Decensor plus some of my own.

Yeah, I was afraid it was something else. The neighborhood they moved into was Sunset Valley with no LN buildings, straight from scratch. I'm using AM, Nraas Woohooer, and probably too many other mods. When I'm less lazy (and more moved into my new place with some time on my hands), I'll narrow it down to the culprit. Thanks for testing though!

[Claeric]

Could sheer NPC count be bogging down Bridgeport?

My bridgeport apparently houses 179 sims. Sunset Valley has 70, Twinbrook has 75. I've never had a town with over 90.

Awesomemod lets you limit the population cap, but that means that a TON of space is dedicated to NPCs, and the rest of the town is a complete ghost town.

Edit: I used aweconf to limit the population to 75. I then used SpawnMoreOverlords on an empty world. The game is running much faster, but like I though, NPCs are included in the population count and no longer spawn- no bartenders, no bouncers. But the game IS doing much better capped at 75...

[mom]

Late Night Schmate Night, I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what's wrong with this game. Some days, more time trying to fix it than playing. Recently reinstalled the Sims 3, all exp packs and stuff packs in the order they were put out by EA. I figured maybe I had done something wrong by installing them in the wrong order, but now my game is more borked than before. It's an EA glitch that makes the game hang at 8 am. But if it hangs at 8 am on a Sunday and you skip past the time that paychecks are handed out for writing novels, then you miss out on your paycheck. Same thing on Mondays if the game hangs and you skip past the time that you you can collect money on purchased properties. After I installed all the stuff, new install!!!!, my Sims could no longer get jobs for Architect or Stylist. I'm screaming  bad words at EA for this effed up s**t. Today someone at a party at my Sims house got stuck on an elevator and all the party guests stood at the door for days. My household could not use the elevator. I teleported them around, but using 'resetsim Mimi Amour' (the sim stuck on the elevator) did no good whatsoever, and, yes, I spelled her name right. In Build Mode I could not delete the elevator with her on it, not even with "moveobjects on". I could however put the elevator in the middle of the lawn and replace the unit in the house with a new elevator unit. That's what I did. My sims now have a lovely elevator in the middle of their lawn containing one of their dearest friends.

[Sigmund]

It's an EA glitch that makes the game hang at 8 am. But if it hangs at 8 am on a Sunday and you skip past the time that paychecks are handed out for writing novels, then you miss out on your paycheck. Same thing on Mondays if the game hangs and you skip past the time that you you can collect money on purchased properties.

I haven't experienced any noticeable hang at 8 am, other than the general lagginess in Bridgeport as a whole. Are you playing with AM?

[freckles]

Before this new patch I had the late night trash chute and mailbox,from MTS website.

 Now after the patch the mailbox wont show up in the buydebug mode section,I have also reinstalled late night without the new patch and downloaded the mod from MTS,but still the mailbox wont show up.

[Freezerburn]

I teleported them around, but using 'resetsim Mimi Amour' (the sim stuck on the elevator) did no good whatsoever, and, yes, I spelled her name right. In Build Mode I could not delete the elevator with her on it, not even with "moveobjects on".

It's hard to quote when you're typing like that, next time, try to type in paragraphs Anyway, have you tried to zoom the elevator until inside of it? Maybe you will find the stucked sim and then grab her out using moveobjects on. Idk... this just popped in my mind just now.

[ciane]

Before this new patch I had the late night trash chute and mailbox,from MTS website.

 Now after the patch the mailbox wont show up in the buydebug mode section,I have also reinstalled late night without the new patch and downloaded the mod from MTS,but still the mailbox wont show up.

I got that mod as well and removed it when I patched. I thought that the patch would fix the issue, but couldn't find the community mailbox when building new apartments (though the pre-patch apartments I had built still retained the mailboxes I had placed in them even without the mod loaded). So, I put HugeLunatic's mod back in my packages folder and find the community mailbox in the buydebug "?" section. Maybe you just overlooked it? Otherwise, just clear caches and try again because sometimes voodoo and EA are just unpredictable.

[freckles]

Before this new patch I had the late night trash chute and mailbox,from MTS website.

 Now after the patch the mailbox wont show up in the buydebug mode section,I have also reinstalled late night without the new patch and downloaded the mod from MTS,but still the mailbox wont show up.

I got that mod as well and removed it when I patched. I thought that the patch would fix the issue, but couldn't find the community mailbox when building new apartments (though the pre-patch apartments I had built still retained the mailboxes I had placed in them even without the mod loaded). So, I put HugeLunatic's mod back in my packages folder and find the community mailbox in the buydebug "?" section. Maybe you just overlooked it? Otherwise, just clear caches and try again because sometimes voodoo and EA are just unpredictable.

I did take the mod out,also I had to do a clean install of the sims 3 and late night before I could patch my game with the new patch,and then I put the mod back in and now it just wont work.

 I have looked in the debug "?" section,but there is no mailbox in there,the trash one is there though,so I think that my game has the new patch,even though it still says that there is a new patch for my game.  (After I installed late night I didn't let the launcher update,so I don't know how it managed to update without my say so.)

I also don't have any apartments that were made by me in my game,as I always delete them as I don't think they are that good. 

Anyway,thank you for the reply,and the suggestions. I will give it a try and see if it helps.