things are so much harder after OFB!

[bluecatvon]

is this a new feature? cause i don't like it.

1. it's almost impossible to build relationship via telephone. their relationship never goes up, it plummets steadily instead, -1 everytime. There are few exceptions, but too few to be happy with.

2. grades are harder to keep. they've done their homework, went to school everyday, but still their grades can plummet to a C. It's a roller coaster ride.

this is something extra. a house of university students i never finished playing with before installing NL and OFB, now has their grades (progress?  i forgot what it's called. it's that bar that you want to fill by doing assignments and going to class) cut until the lowest mark. i mean, it usually has 3 marks right? with each relevant skill learnt, the bar goes higher. my kids have met all the requirements, but it's still in the red. luckily they have passed their final exams. I am perplexed by that also.

ah forgot to mention. even after they've graduated, they're still on the lot, invisible. Good thing I used the Lot Debugger and found 4 of my sims stuck. I deleted them before they had the chance to die. bah...headache...

[maxon]

this is something extra. a house of university students i never finished playing with before installing NL and OFB, now has their grades (progress?  i forgot what it's called. it's that bar that you want to fill by doing assignments and going to class) cut until the lowest mark. i mean, it usually has 3 marks right? with each relevant skill learnt, the bar goes higher. my kids have met all the requirements, but it's still in the red. luckily they have passed their final exams. I am perplexed by that also.

This is a known bug with OFB - wasn't it fixed in the patch?

Also are you sure you don't have harder grades installed?

[Gwill]

This is a known bug with OFB - wasn't it fixed in the patch?

It can also be caused by some no-CD cracks.  It's purely graphical, it doesn't affect the actual grades.

[LynnMar]

my CD is not cracked but my uni lot is all messed up.   I had to delete some of the houses and universities when I installed Pets because when I clicked on them my game would crash  and  the weirdest thing is,  I can not delete any of the pre made uni dorms that are in the houses and lots bin.   

  When I click on them the trash can disposer is whited out.   

[ZiggyDoodle]

While I never had the phone/grades issues you raise, you can remedy the problems by using the  Phone Hack v8.1b: ZOMG PETS EDITION! (10/23/06) which also works with OFB, and TwoJeff's college adjuster.

[bluecatvon]

maxon, which patch was it? must have missed it. and no, i don't have harder grades installed.

ooh!! i'm using daemon tools to prevent wear and tear on my cds, so that must be it. thanks Gwill! They do graduate with good scores, if not full scores.

ah, forgot to ask, does having phonehack, moveoutbugfix have anything to do with it?

ZiggyDoodle, thanks! i'll try them straight away!

[jrd]

Daemon is NOT the cause (as it does not modify the code in any way), "fixed exe" nocd patches are. I think one of the no censorship mods can also cause it (not quaxis).

[J. M. Pescado]

Sometimes the grade thing also just happens for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

[Insanity Prelude]

Huh... I have OFB and haven't had any of those problems.

[bluecatvon]

wha..? so you're telling me no one else has ever had problems with the phone? the relationships only goes down, never up for most of my sims. only way to work around it is inviting the friends over and have other interactions with them

can someone also tell me where to find the "have phone" option in SimPE? i'm tired of phoning townies and getting the message they don't have a phone.

[bluecatvon]

ah! so i've found the reason to question no 1. I found it only refers to townies (townies, downtown townies, university townies) not sure with NPC yet. My playable Sims are fine. yesterday i was looking for the "have phone" option (which by the way, i still haven't found, typing in google didn't show up any answers too) and saw that their interests are ZERO. nothing is of any interest to them. WTF? no wonder any talk interactions result in negatives...

so, i guess i found a remedy. i'm gonna 1. tweak their interests using SimPE, and/or 2. make my sims share interest with them. The thought of adding in EVERY townies' interest is daunting...and as soon as someone can help me with the "have phone" option in SimPE, my game is good to go! thanks in advance!

EDIT: forgot to mention i also found the answer for question no 2. I think. it seems like every lot will be the same: kids will have C, the starting grade; everyone will be in the house, regardless whether or not they've been sent to school or work. They'll be wearing their school and work uniforms. it's annoying. kids will lose their grade while adults miss a work day.

[miros]

When Sims first move into an empty lot, it's always 8am.  This is too late for the school bus to come or any car pools for Sims that work at 8 or 9.  Sometimes the later car pools come, sometimes they don't.

If you have NL and a car, you can have one adult take all the kids to school.  Then at least one adult can get to work, probably late, but there.

[jrd]

Or use the time warp on the lot sync timer to set the time to some time before 7 am.

bluecatvon: wether or not some household has a phone is in the family (household) data, not the Sim data. Townies are all in the same family which includes young adults (downtownies are all in another family), and this family has both a phone and a computer.

[bluecatvon]

miros: but i've played my family for a very long time, it's not an empty lot. my only guess is that because i upgrade the game till OFB from Uni, they have to reset likewise. it's an annoyance, but not a real problem. the time remains the time i last saved the lot, which means if I last saved at 9:00 am, then the family will all gather together in the house, at 9:00 am, as if no car or bus has come for them.if it's 7:00 pm I last saved, then i'm lucky, most of them won't miss a work day, and the kids definately will not miss a school day.

bluecatvon: thanks. i'll try to look it up again. i saw the "no phone on downtownies" thread in this forum, but it was an old post and no mention of where i can find the option (i'm SimPE illiterate, but i'm learning!)

[jsalemi]

miros: but i've played my family for a very long time, it's not an empty lot. my only guess is that because i upgrade the game till OFB from Uni, they have to reset likewise. it's an annoyance, but not a real problem. the time remains the time i last saved the lot, which means if I last saved at 9:00 am, then the family will all gather together in the house, at 9:00 am, as if no car or bus has come for them.if it's 7:00 pm I last saved, then i'm lucky, most of them won't miss a work day, and the kids definately will not miss a school day.

Adding an EP, patch or SP with a game engine (like Glamor Life) will reset all the sims. That's why most of us try to save a lot when everyone is asleep, so at worst case they're all just standing by their beds when you go in after a reset. The latest version of Macrotastics has an after-patch fix option that gets them back to bed if there's enough time, or keeps them awake if it's close to morning.  There's also a 'work state' fix on the   lot debugger that clears up some of the problems with sims missing work due to moving into a new lot or a reset.

[bluecatvon]

thanks for the advice!

by the way, cute dog there. reminds me of my own dog.

[Process Denied]

I was having a lot of crashing probs and whatnot after Pets so I moved my Greek houses to smaller houses and with every move, there was always one sim that had a stuck grade bar.  It's simple to fix if you have the InSIMinator-delete them than restore family--they come back with a normal grade bar with the need to pee.

[J. M. Pescado]

1. it's almost impossible to build relationship via telephone. their relationship never goes up, it plummets steadily instead, -1 everytime. There are few exceptions, but too few to be happy with.

OFB changes nothing about telephones or conversation. Perhaps your sims have lost all their interests in an unrelated issue and are now pulling Lythdans.

2. grades are harder to keep. they've done their homework, went to school everyday, but still their grades can plummet to a C. It's a roller coaster ride.

OFB changes nothing about grades. Perhaps you're using Syberspunkian "harder grades"?

this is something extra. a house of university students i never finished playing with before installing NL and OFB, now has their grades (progress?  i forgot what it's called. it's that bar that you want to fill by doing assignments and going to class) cut until the lowest mark. i mean, it usually has 3 marks right? with each relevant skill learnt, the bar goes higher. my kids have met all the requirements, but it's still in the red. luckily they have passed their final exams. I am perplexed by that also.

Graphical glitch only. Has no effect.

ah forgot to mention. even after they've graduated, they're still on the lot, invisible. Good thing I used the Lot Debugger and found 4 of my sims stuck. I deleted them before they had the chance to die. bah...headache...

Known issue. It appears to be self-resolving when you reload the lot. The sims affected don't actually appear to die, since they're offworld. Nuking them in the lot debugger has been known to produce odd effects.

[bluecatvon]

I thought I've answered some of the questions? 

It's the Bendett family that has zero interest. I posted this in another thread because even using SimPE, their interests are still 0. With 0 interest, the chat interaction has no meaning.

I don't have the harder grades hack. And I believe this problem is not really a problem, because someone told me everyone will reset after an upgrade. Their grades too. One thing that bugs me is private school students are no longer private school students, even though they have the memory. Stupid sims.

Thanks again though!

[J. M. Pescado]

It's the Bendett family that has zero interest. I posted this in another thread because even using SimPE, their interests are still 0. With 0 interest, the chat interaction has no meaning.

You mean the townie family? Something must have wiped out their interests, then. There's supposed to be something in the game to reseed them, but not sure why it's not triggering.

I don't have the harder grades hack. And I believe this problem is not really a problem, because someone told me everyone will reset after an upgrade. Their grades too. One thing that bugs me is private school students are no longer private school students, even though they have the memory. Stupid sims.

That is not supposed to happen, unless you did something odd with third-party school hacks.

[miros]

<snip>this is something extra. a house of university students i never finished playing with before installing NL and OFB, now has their grades (progress?  i forgot what it's called. it's that bar that you want to fill by doing assignments and going to class) cut until the lowest mark. i mean, it usually has 3 marks right? with each relevant skill learnt, the bar goes higher. my kids have met all the requirements, but it's still in the red. luckily they have passed their final exams. I am perplexed by that also.<snip>

1) Visually check to make sure they've got the skills.
2) College->Rampage is your friend.  When they stop Rampaging and the option isn't available anymore, you know the bar is actually full and you can send them to finals.

[vcline]

2) College->Rampage is your friend.  When they stop Rampaging and the option isn't available anymore, you know the bar is actually full and you can send them to finals.

Actually the bar doesn't have to be completely full.  I send my sims to their finals when there's still a little bit left empty and they still get the highest grade.

[bluecatvon]

I guess it might have something to do with me using a noCD crack.

Where can I get this college->rampage thing? I'm sure they've got the skills

[Ness]

It's part of macrotastics - look in Pescado's section and make sure you RTFM and grab all the other required bits and pieces.

[witch]

I guess it might have something to do with me using a noCD crack.

In fact, in the thread about images and mounting them, Jordi told you the no CD crack would affect your UNI UI.