I'm new and need guidance!

[siggylove]

Hi, this is my first time to this site, I decided to drop in and register after having so many problems with the official Sims2 site. I'm still finding the navigation of this site a bit bewildering and the terms used to describe the topics/threads are a bit arcane to me so I'm not sure if I have posted in the correct place?

Anyway - I have both EP's and since installing Uni I have had the blank icons bug which after some investigation I found was due in part to the evil remote control car.  I removed the car from all lots but still got fed up with all the glitches so stopped playing until Nightlife was released.  I uninstalled Sims2 and Uni and then reloaded (what a nightmare trying to reload Sims2 - but that's another story) again this time with Nightlife.  The bug was gone!  I had also downloaded the latest patch from Maxis (pre Xmas Party Pack) and thought my troubles were over, are they hell!

I have the missing wants icons again!  Orlando Centawski who recently graduated from Uni now has his avatar icons blanked out - he looks like he's been dipped in flour. I have quite a lot of other quirky goings-on too like the gardeners sitting on the swing all day that started after I married Leo Depiesse off to one of my sims, sometimes two or three gardeners show up, it's driving me crazy!

I can get no useful information from the Sims2 site - can anyone direct me to some relevant topics so I can hopefully cure my game?  Many thanks!

[ZephyrZodiac]

I think there are several threads regarding Blank Wants slots, but you might actually do better if you just asked specific questions in this thread, and people with experience of the problem will probably read it as it's a new thread and then you'd get an answer without having to wade through three or four pages of discussion before the solution was found.

The gardener problem is definitely wierd.  Do you by any chance have the Daily Gardener hack in your game?  If so, you need to end services of the original gardener and then re-hire, or you will get problems like gardener spam etc.

[siggylove]

Hi ZephyrZodiac, I have indeed been wading through pages of similar posts but no-one seems to have been experiencing this problem as recently as I have.  Things were going well until I downloaded the latest patch and then installed Xmas Party Pack?

I don't download anything other than Maxis stuff so I'm thinking that the gardener problem stemmed from me marrying him off to Brandi Broke.  I had him quit his job but he still turns up at the neighbours houses when I load them and he just sits there watching TV or playing on the swing.

Another strange thing happened to Orlando Centawski when he was swimming, he stood on the water and played his handheld - very biblical!

This whole thing is driving me nuts - I'm unfortunately pretty much PC illiterate so feel like I am banging my head against a brick wall!  Is this the right forum for this sort of post by the way?

[ZephyrZodiac]

Hi!

Yes, your post is appearing in the Podium, which means that people will see it.  I can only suggest that if this is happening since you got the Party Pack, that that TOO is glitched!  (What a surprise!)  Have you tried uninstalling it?

[Hairfish]

Another strange thing happened to Orlando Centawski when he was swimming, he stood on the water and played his handheld - very biblical!

I have two Neighborhood lots next to each other where that happens frequently. The only peculiar thing about them is that the pool is one tile away from the edge of the lot on both. Not only do Sims walk and talk on water on both lots, but I can see the pool next door through the wall of the lot I'm playing on. Having pools that close together was never a problem before Nightlife, so I chalked it up to neighboring lots being somewhat more "active" now ~ clickable, visible, etc. Oh...I also cannot remove or alter either pool. 

I also have one Community lot where Sims occasionally stand on the pool water and talk; the pool there is also one tile away from the edge of the lot, but the lot next to it is unoccupied. So I think that's the common factor, at least in my game: Pool walls too close to the edge, so the game gets confused whether it's a pool wall, or a regular wall, or something.

Any of that sound familiar to your situation?

[Marg]

 I thought that sims standing on water and playing with their handhelds was a bug in one of the previous eps
that had been fixed with a patch.      I know I had that one in my game and actually I think it was in the original game itself. 
 
 
 

[C.S.]

I don't download anything other than Maxis stuff so I'm thinking that the gardener problem stemmed from me marrying him off to Brandi Broke.  I had him quit his job but he still turns up at the neighbours houses when I load them and he just sits there watching TV or playing on the swing.

What ZephyrZodiac said, have you tried ending the gardening services on lots that former-gardener Leo services? I had a similar problem with Kaylynn the maid, I have to say it was a long time ago though, so I don't know if it'll still happen; I had made her into a playable sim without checking she wasn't on maid service on other lots, then when i went to play those lots, she was doing visitor stuffs instead of cleaning the house, can't remember if she was still wearing her maid outfit, don't think there was an option to fire her anymore but anyway, I had a resident say goodbye to her and come the next day, I had a new maid (Remington) showing up at 10a.m. I haven't hired any domestic help nor made any NPCs into playable characters since starting on a fresh game after a hard disk crash (waiting till I've moved all the pre-mades into houses i built myself), but maybe the same thing will work for former-gardener Leo?

[siggylove]

Afternoon!

Thanks ZephyrZodiac I am going to unload the Party Pack tonight and see what happens - fingers crossed it will work, such a shame but if I'm honest I'm not overly impressed with it so it's no great loss.

[siggylove]

Another strange thing happened to Orlando Centawski when he was swimming, he stood on the water and played his handheld - very biblical!

I have two Neighborhood lots next to each other where that happens frequently. The only peculiar thing about them is that the pool is one tile away from the edge of the lot on both. Not only do Sims walk and talk on water on both lots, but I can see the pool next door through the wall of the lot I'm playing on. Having pools that close together was never a problem before Nightlife, so I chalked it up to neighboring lots being somewhat more "active" now ~ clickable, visible, etc. Oh...I also cannot remove or alter either pool. 

I also have one Community lot where Sims occasionally stand on the pool water and talk; the pool there is also one tile away from the edge of the lot, but the lot next to it is unoccupied. So I think that's the common factor, at least in my game: Pool walls too close to the edge, so the game gets confused whether it's a pool wall, or a regular wall, or something.

Any of that sound familiar to your situation?

I'll check it out - so far he's the only one on the lot who has done this but I hadn't thought to think it could be where the pool was positioned - good advice, thanks!

[siggylove]

I don't download anything other than Maxis stuff so I'm thinking that the gardener problem stemmed from me marrying him off to Brandi Broke.  I had him quit his job but he still turns up at the neighbours houses when I load them and he just sits there watching TV or playing on the swing.

What ZephyrZodiac said, have you tried ending the gardening services on lots that former-gardener Leo services? I had a similar problem with Kaylynn the maid, I have to say it was a long time ago though, so I don't know if it'll still happen; I had made her into a playable sim without checking she wasn't on maid service on other lots, then when i went to play those lots, she was doing visitor stuffs instead of cleaning the house, can't remember if she was still wearing her maid outfit, don't think there was an option to fire her anymore but anyway, I had a resident say goodbye to her and come the next day, I had a new maid (Remington) showing up at 10a.m. I haven't hired any domestic help nor made any NPCs into playable characters since starting on a fresh game after a hard disk crash (waiting till I've moved all the pre-mades into houses i built myself), but maybe the same thing will work for former-gardener Leo?

Actually, I feel a bit foolish to admit that no I didn't check to see if he was in service elsewhere - doh!  That must be it - this will be the last NPC I convert to a playable character, it seems to upset the balance.  Incidentally, all my blank icon problems seemed to start after making Orlando marry Adrea Hogan (Townie).  Someone on the Sims2 site suggested it could be caused by the reindeer or the snowman in the new Xmas Party Pack - guess we'll have to wait and see if any others out there are experiencing these problems?

Thanks for the advice on my gardener!

[ZephyrZodiac]

I only ever once moved an NPC into my game, when Daniel had Kaylynn move in (while Mary-Sue was still living in the house!) but that was just the base game.  I never had any problems over it, but I did move everyone except Daniel out eventually, all leaving in various states of anger or frustration, and the game just generated a new maid.  Evenually Kaylynn ended up for a good while in the bin, so maybe that's why she didn't keep bugging other lots?