More Awesome Than You!

I was wondering how stuff packs affected uploaded houses. I figure that if a house was built in a configuration containing stuff packs, the house would not work on the computers of those without said stuff packs, whether or not it contained items from said packs. However, the other day I saw a post on a house in the EAxis House of Fail challenges stating that the house the poster had uploaded was made with stuff packs installed, but were not necessary on the client computer as long as the clean pack installer was used to install it.

I ask because I'm planning on, erm, acquiring some stuff packs, but would rather not if it involves making my houses incompatible with everyone but a niche market. Does anyone know anything about compatibility? Are they completely incompatible, compatible if one does not use any stuff pack items, or totally compatible (as in, the items get replaced with another one/disappear like absent CC)?

I think if you upload a house with stuff pack things in it, if the downloader doesn't have that pack, the objects just won't show up for them.

I think.

I think you can also suggest that downloaders use the Clean Pack Installer to install the houses. Or there's that Any Game starter deal at MTS2.

EA has not been consistent with stuff packs, so it's difficult to give an answer.  In general, if you have an EP which is equal to or later than the latest one used to create a lot, then the game will be able to load the lot.  EPs are always backwards compatible, but rarely forwards compatible.

The exception: Family Fun and Glamour Life contain updated game engines, so they can be treated as EPs for the statement above.  IE, if you use EPs and SPs up to GLS, then people will need EPs or SPs from GLS on to load the lot.  After GLS, EA got a bit smarter and used the Pets game engine for all SPs...  up until Mansions and Gardens.  M&G has an updated game engine;  we don't know yet whether things created with M&G (but not containing any objects from M&G) will work with Apartment life.

Sometimes, the Clean Installer can help to load a lot which will not otherwise load.  That's because the game marks a lot package with all of the EPs and SPs which were used to create the lot, and will not allow you to load the lot unless you have every one of those EPs and SPs.  The Clean Installer just removes the list of EPs and SPs so that the game doesn't know which ones are required; it does nothing else to ensure compatibility.

As mentioned above, it's a good idea to use the BaseGame Starter or AnyGame Starter to restrict the EPs and SPs used to create any lot that you intend to share.  That way, you can create lots with mimimum requirements.

I'd also point out that mac users don't have much of an alternative to the EAxis installer.  Clean Installer isn't available in OS X, and jfade's MacUnpac doesn't handle file sizes that are too large.  Given that there are next to no SPs and the last 3 EPs are MIA for macs, it pretty much means that all mac users will be unable to use lots made with later EPs/SPs.

And this... this is what we get for buying from Aspyr. The best solution for any Mac user is to partition; install WindowsXP via Bootcamp; and just treat the Windows partition as a dedicated gaming partition. (I work and make money on the Mac -- I use Windows for games.)

<sigh> I know.  I even have one of those partitions, and yet I can't bear to take my oldest and most developed 'hoods over to the other side.  I think it's because I lack toolz.  I'd have to leave behind all my picture-taking, editing, writing, hyperlinked family-tree-sim-bio mac toolz... </sigh>
At least we'll always have pbox houses. :)

Can't you play TS2 in the window partition and then transfer files over to use your tools on the mac?

The way I currently play is to take pics, and notes to build my story as I go along.  I can see what pics I'll need because the story is laid out simultaneously in another application.  Major photo-editing tasks are done later anyway, but I would detest having to enter my notes twice, and being without the storyboard would be a handicap.  I've yet to figure out how to transfer that task flow (in whole or part) to windows.  Consequently, the windows side has had just the shell of a neighbourhood for a month now, with a few lots and little inspiration. :-\

Ahh, thank you, Mootilda! Seeing as I probably couldn't go without some AL things anyway, I guess all Pre-M&G stuff packs are safe, considering that all houses I make would require AL.


Ah, good ol' CPI. AnyGameStarter is made of bloat and hard-drive usurp. Do not want.


There is a thread in the Peasantry, I believe, with many good Windows tools that could help you. SimSheet is a good one for dedicated trackers; I just use a desktop Wiki. You could have the files from the Wiki on a flash drive, too, allowing you to use it on both the Mac and the Windows partitions. Of course, I don't know this for sure, but it seems logical.

Just what tools are you referring to?

I use the usual suspects for pictures (built-in screencap, aperture, photoshop), pages and iweb to layout the story and publish (nicely integrated to require a minimum of effort), notebook for the storyboard.  Notebook also holds the family trees, and it's where I do most of my character sketches in advance of the meat of the writing.  I'll likely use simsheet on the windows side (thanks rufio, and PirateFaafy!), but it looks like it's basically a spreadsheet intended as a reference.

My family tree is graphical, with a small thumbnail-type photo, and the names linked to a bio page for each sim.  Some bios have just a skeleton of basic facts and maybe a single portrait photo.  Others have a much more extensive description of the sim, important event(s), plus additional scattered photos, if that sim figured in a story.  I don't write stories about the entire 'hood, family, or even the whole life of any sim.  I write much shorter stories about events that generally stand alone, when the mood or idea strikes.  The only sense in which the stories are chronological is that some figures re-appear.

It's possible to export the storyboard in pdf, so at least I'll be able to remind myself what pictures need to be taken.  It will be a pain not to be able to move sequences around, but better than nothing.  I'll just have to live with re-entering notes, that would normally attach to a character sketch.

An essential tool I must have though, is something that will do differential backups.  I'm too lazy to do a full backup every time I play; I'd much rather do a smaller,  shorter(!) differential backup of just the files that were changed, maybe a complete backup once a week, or month.  What's good to use in windows?

I like Syncback and have been using it for several years now. In expert mode it is quite configurable.