Expansion effects on regular play

[Dark Trepie]

What's your reasoning?  Groups?

That, and the simple fact that YA's are no longer confined to the Uni campus when you want to go to a community lot.  I felt such a sense of freedom when I installed NL.  Back in the TS2 + Uni days the only real way for Adult sims to meet YA sims was to chat on a computer.  And that was hit or miss.  Now the YA's can just go to a downtown lot and hang out with the adult sims.  Or meet them through the Matchmaker NPC.

Of course, its not perfect.  Adult sims can't go and visit a Uni community lot unless invited by a YA. 

[Nepheris]

The thing I like best about Pets, strangely enough, is the new loading music. I hated the previous, semi-electric, annoyingly boppy ones.

Pets for me personally is the best expansion yet. I don't play TS2 that much, but I do like to fiddle around with some of its more interesting aspects, like trying to make custom content, models, and now pets. You probably have to be as wacky as me to love the fantastic amount of customising you can put into your pets. I've spent hours just seeing what I can do with all the options.

[Gus Smedstad]

Back in the TS2 + Uni days the only real way for Adult sims to meet YA sims was to chat on a computer.  And that was hit or miss.  Now the YA's can just go to a downtown lot and hang out with the adult sims.

That hadn't crossed my radar.  In my games, I've only tried to get my YA sims to meet other YA sims.  Though I do end up with relationships between adults and YAs when the adults graduate and I don't bother to play Uni for a while.

 - Gus

[Ness]

I've been using squinge's hack for uni LTWs for a while now...  I've also installed both stuff packs with it still in and encountered no problems...  maybe just lucky, but it's not really been an issue for me.  I've also tended to install over the top of my neighbourhood camera mod with no problems as well... I tend to forget that it's in until I go to play and discover it gone.

[jrd]

You likely won't run into problems, he knows what he's doing. But since it necessitates changing a core game file the sheeple will probably end up destroying their game, and you tend to run into problems patching.
Not Squinge's fault, but still one reason I hesitate recommending this mod to newbies.

[cwykes]

I added OFB to base game - it was the first one that looked to me like the gameplay was going to be interesting.  It has been so far, but getting one to level 10 is a big chore, never mind 5.  Career wants are much easier!  Adding OFB to base game only affected my basic non-business gameplay seriously in a couple of ways; inventory and LTWs.    LTWs are a mixed blessing because I didn't get the full set of LTWs and because many of my sims were well down the track in the "wrong" career, so most of my adults are stuck with career wants for another career unless I cheat and re-roll and most of my elders are stuck with unattainable or no wants depending on whether Saner LTW hack is in or out of my game.    I've only got 1 sim to Permaplat, but I know it's going to make life too easy.  I also got inventory and attraction.  Influence isn't much use unless you have a large unkempt garden and influence wants are just irritating.  Attraction doesn't make a big difference as you can make any two sims fall in love anyway.

Snapdragons are a huge cheat, but given how irritating running a business can be, I don't feel too bad using them in a shop.  I've only had one family use them - single dad + 4 kids & teen created in CAS.  I found them in his inventory and couldn't resist... - the homework pile was getting too big!

Wasn't the game engine reworked in Nightlife?  I read that here somewhere way back when NL came out. Anyway I appreciated the improvement when I added OFB to base game. 

re the monorail in Strangetown - I have another use for that space - I made a string of of 3+1 buinesses to fit in the middle of that main road instead.  Rather downmarket places like Bertha's bedding plants, Benny's Bar, Hero's Hair etc etc 

It doesn't help that starting a business is expensive enough that by the time I can afford it, I don't care about money anymore.

Starting a business on a community lot isn't expensive - buy a small empty lot and start from there.  take stuff from home in your inventory like chairs, the expresso machine etc and improve the lot itself when you can afford it.  A virtually barren lot won't earn a good review, never mind win a best of the best award, but it works just fine at making money and you can get one up to level 10.  I have made a lot of starter businesses - the desert versions went into my Sedona default hood.  I've got green versions of some of them, but they aren't uploaded anywhere yet.

[jrd]

NL brought some huge improvements, such as the visible neighbours....

[cwykes]

I really like the visible neighbours.  My willow walk neighbourhood has a nice feel to it now, even if the "river" doesn't join up from lot to lot. 

Inventory made a big difference to me - was that Uni or NL?

[jrd]

Nightlife.

NL also gave us the new taxi destination menu, in base game and base+uni you would be returned to the neighbourhood screen and then click on a lot to visit (like in TS1). Now we get the list.

[Orikes]

The menu makes load times much saner when visiting community/downtown lots, but at the same time, I sometimes miss the neighborhood view. I'm very visual, so sometimes it's easier to see what the place looks like rather than try and remember based on the name.

[J. M. Pescado]

Starting a business on a community lot isn't expensive - buy a small empty lot and start from there.  take stuff from home in your inventory like chairs, the expresso machine etc and improve the lot itself when you can afford it.  A virtually barren lot won't earn a good review, never mind win a best of the best award, but it works just fine at making money and you can get one up to level 10.  I have made a lot of starter businesses - the desert versions went into my Sedona default hood.  I've got green versions of some of them, but they aren't uploaded anywhere yet.

Winning best of the best is easy. There's a simple, formulaic way of practically guaranteeing it. Get a lot with one item. Price it at "beyond ridiculously expensive", so that it won't sell. Then show it to the reporter, and when he begins browsing that, start spamming hard sell on him repeatedly. As long he accepts it, just keep hammering and raking in stars. When you hit 5 stars, let him go. Voila. Best of the best. Like napalming fish in a barrel.

[Gwill]

The menu makes load times much saner when visiting community/downtown lots, but at the same time, I sometimes miss the neighborhood view. I'm very visual, so sometimes it's easier to see what the place looks like rather than try and remember based on the name.

I'm not sure about this, but I seem to remember not selecting a target on the menu once, just selecting neigbourhood and clicking check, and then getting the old neigbourhood "pick a lot" screen.

[jrd]

Yup, pre-NL worked that way.

[Dark Trepie]

The menu makes load times much saner when visiting community/downtown lots, but at the same time, I sometimes miss the neighborhood view. I'm very visual, so sometimes it's easier to see what the place looks like rather than try and remember based on the name.

I'm not sure about this, but I seem to remember not selecting a target on the menu once, just selecting neigbourhood and clicking check, and then getting the old neigbourhood "pick a lot" screen.

That must be what I did a couple of weeks ago then.  Its been so long since I've seen that screen.  And it was so bizarre I took a shot of it.



I'm pretty certain this was post Petz too.

[Gwill]

I had to test it: It does work.
If you don't pick a lot, just the neigbourhood from the menu, you get the old style map.

I took this screenshot just now, with all EPs installed.

[jrd]

Cool! I did not know that... thanks a million.

[Orikes]

Wow! That is cool. I didn't realize that, so thanks guys.

[Morague]

Hi

I just wanted to say thanks for the suggestions about harderjobs & Squinge's extra lifetime wants. I've installed harderjobs & it's much, much better! I hated it when they came home from wotk the first day with $20,000 because of the bonuses - it took the challenge of "starting out' out of the game. Now they have to suffer YAY!

Haven't got the LTW wants installed yet, but I'll be doing that too.

Thanks!

[cwykes]

I've got two options on my phone menu - transport and taxi.  One of them always takes me to the hood screen to choose, the other lets me pick a lot and go straight there.  That's with OFB.  don't they both still exist with Pets?

[jsalemi]

I've got two options on my phone menu - transport and taxi.  One of them always takes me to the hood screen to choose, the other lets me pick a lot and go straight there.  That's with OFB.  don't they both still exist with Pets?

Never saw that in NL, OFB or since, so it might be something hack-related (either in your game or mine ).  I've always seen the list regardless of which taxi item was chosen.

[miros]

I think one of those is coming from an old version of the phonehack, so you might want to back up your copy and try a new one.

[syberspunk]

I'm late to this but:

Do the game creators care in any way if a LTW is fulfillable?
I've had a family Servo who wanted to celebrate his Golden Anniversary.  Is that possible for someone who will never be an elder?

Hrm... and this isn't taken care of by the ltwvariety hack? If not, I think a small update would be appreciated. In that case, vampire, zombies, servos (and werewolves?) shouldn't roll up wants that depend on aging to elder. How do those all work anyways? If a sim dies and gets resurrected as a zombie or if they get turned into a vamp or werewolf, do they still age? Or are they stuck at the age that they became a zombie, vamp, or werewolf?

I assume all servos are at the "adult" life stage permanently. I think vamps and zombies probably don't age? I wasn't sure about werewolves, but I imagine in typical fantasy/horror lore, werewolves still age, but I don't know if Maxis EA sticks to that.

I don't mind taking several steps to put a hack in, but I am concerned about the process of updating the EP. The removal and clean up prior to updating the EP seems to require multiple steps and probably needs concentration.

Actually... I vaguely recall, the first time I installed ZOMGPETZ, I forgot to remove my hacked Wants folder and I'm pretty sure the EP installed without complaining about it. Heh. Sure there's an extra step with regard to maintenance and updating/compatability, but I think the Uni Enabled LTW hack is essential. At least for my game. I really wish Maxis EA would just get off their damned lazy ass butts and fix this so we can have them without a hack. Obviously, if a modder was able to enable this, it should be really easy for them to just include it already. As has been pointed out, there are already several other situations where sims can get stuck with an unfulfillable LTW. I actually think that is pretty realistic, since in real life, there are many lifetime goals that some people never achieve. Life sucks, then you get raped by wild boars, and then you die. No shiny platinum grave for you.

Anyhew... the ironical thing is... even with the Uni Enabled LTWs, I think ltwvariety seems to force all of my sims to have the same generic LTWs. All of my Knowledge sims tend to get the Maximize 7 Skills, and all of my Romance sims get the have 20 lovers or woohoo with 20 lovers, and all my Popularity sims get the have 20 best friends LTWs. I guess my sims all just sadorandomly happen to have limited interests such that they tend to not get career related LTWs. I know I could easily re-roll the LTWs, but I feel that should come at some kind of cost to my sim. It would have been nice if the Renuyu Orb thingy had an option to just re-roll the LTW without necessarily changing Aspiration. Actually... now that I think of it... I guess I could use it to change aspiration and then just pick the same aspiration. Does it even allow you to do that? Heh, I don't remember... hrm... maybe next time I'll try it.

Also... thanks all for the info about the choose neighborhood transportation thingie. I also missed that from TS1 and I am also very visual. I can't just remember what lot has what, especially the Downtown lots, just by name. So this will be very helpful.

Ste

[seelindarun]

I also think the extra Uni career LTWs are essential, but mainly my issue revolves around my own housekeeping.  I don't think I'm alone in this, judging by the number of posts involving forgotten hacks.  I have many essential hacks, and the best are, of course, transparent.  So transparent that I forget I have them in my game.  Most of my hacks are from MATY, not because I'm such a fangirl (in fact, my play-style tends to chafe at JMPs military efficiency), but because his military efficiency demands hacks that play nice together, and are easy to maintain.  When I update an EP, I back up, and go to 2 or 3 sites to update my hacks.  I would notice that I have a hack by Squinge, but I probably wouldn't remember that it requires special treatment.  Until of course, I have a problem, and then we all know what a pain it is to sift through CC.

I don't have a lot of time to play, so I put a penalty on hacks and CC that add to my time managing/troubleshooting them.

If a sim dies and gets resurrected as a zombie or if they get turned into a vamp or werewolf, do they still age? Or are they stuck at the age that they became a zombie, vamp, or werewolf?

I assume all servos are at the "adult" life stage permanently. I think vamps and zombies probably don't age?

Yup, except for teens who can be aged to YA and then adult, by sending them to college and bringing them back.

[Soylent Sim]

It would have been nice if the Renuyu Orb thingy had an option to just re-roll the LTW without necessarily changing Aspiration. Actually... now that I think of it... I guess I could use it to change aspiration and then just pick the same aspiration. Does it even allow you to do that? Heh, I don't remember... hrm... maybe next time I'll try it.

Unfortunately, not changing aspiration when you use the orb doesn't do a thing to your LTW.  In fact, not changing anything with it doesn't even suck out a charge.  (I'm not sure how this would work with a cheese sim getting another failure, but I do know it allows you to chain-renu a red or green sim until they're properly cheesified.)  I used to use the orb to change out and back as an aspiration reroll, but that quickly devolved into memory spam.  If you're really looking for a temporary workaround, buy a cheap something like the money tree and delete it for each lot debugger reroll you use.

A button to re-randomize your LTW without other effects of the orb would be nice.  (As would uni-enabled LTW's, more generic LTW's in general, and a whole host of other features.)  But doing so would require EA to actually tinker with concepts from older EP's, which doesn't seem like something they seem interested in doing.

[V]

Anyhew... the ironical thing is... even with the Uni Enabled LTWs, I think ltwvariety seems to force all of my sims to have the same generic LTWs. All of my Knowledge sims tend to get the Maximize 7 Skills, and all of my Romance sims get the have 20 lovers or woohoo with 20 lovers, and all my Popularity sims get the have 20 best friends LTWs. I guess my sims all just sadorandomly happen to have limited interests such that they tend to not get career related LTWs.

I have noticed this also. My Knowledge sims almost exclusively roll "max 7 skills" or "be mad scientist". I cannot remember the last time someone actually wanted to be a doctor or anything else. I use the "batman box" to cycle through LTWs, but still get only those two for Knowledge and only rarely get a career want for a pop, romance or family sim. I have used the "aspiration adjustor" to try to get something different, but I usually only use that to change turn ons/off.

I would notice that I have a hack by Squinge, but I probably wouldn't remember that it requires special treatment.  Until of course, I have a problem, and then we all know what a pain it is to sift through CC.

That is just what I am worried about too. I am going to have to think and worry about this a great deal to have any assurance that I will remember that it requires special treatment when the time comes. Until I have burned this idea into my daily thoughts I don't want to risk it... But I do take courage from Ste when he said,

Actually... I vaguely recall, the first time I installed ZOMGPETZ, I forgot to remove my hacked Wants folder and I'm pretty sure the EP installed without complaining about it.

But I am still going to have to think about this for quite a while before I am willing to take the chance. I really want my sims to be able to pursue careers in the uni fields, but... I am going to have to make this a long-term memory before I actually commit to it.

A button to re-randomize your LTW without other effects of the orb would be nice. 

This would be covered by the ltw variety hack that I use along with macrotastics. It is very useful under most circumstances.

BTW, is the link to the Squinge hack for Uni LTWs in this thread somewhere?