More Awesome Than You!

At the not inconsiderable risk of getting zapped into a small yet difficult-to-remove greasy smudge I'm bravely going to ask a question of you scary folks.
I'm playing a legacy challenge (yes I know BAAAAA I'm woolly, have all the brainpower of George Bush and go nicely with mint sauce) and have a problem with the computer randomly selecting bizarre outfits for my legacy sims. So far I have had a sim who defauts to a pink  Social Bunny outfit (minus head) whenever she whoohoos, a bloke who works out in a fireman outfit, a Mad Scientist who goes to work in a maid outfit and now one who swims and hot-tubs in a mailcarrier uniform.
I'm aware that bringing an NPC into a player-family adds all the available NPC outfits to the dresser but the computer does seem to be a touch confused here!. The bug is easily fixed by selecting a less ludicrous choice from the dresser and that is fine until the bug randomly pops up again a few generations on.
For your convienience and comfort I only have the base game, have no hacks but some custom content  and.....oh dear you thought it couldn't get any worse....am a mac-user.
Any advice/mockery/public stoning to death gratefully accepted

Most people here do not zap newcomers. As long as they are polite. And not trolls. Okay, some people here will, but not most.

Nothing wrong with playing a legacy. Lots of folks here do that. Most play with modified rules, but everyone should play their game how they choose.

I have never seen this particular glitch. Other than a hack (which you say you don't have) conflict, I don't know what it could be. Have you ever downloaded lots? Have you used clean installer to see if unknown cc somehow snuck into your game? If not, I don't have a clue. But, I wanted to reply to you anyway, in the hopes that I could reassure you about us big bad scary folks.

Since it may be a Mac-specific problem and you couldn't, I think, use the clean Installer could I suggest that there is a Mac expert over at SimFreaks Forum with his own sub-Forum?  If no-one here comes up with a solution, you could certainly ask over there.

Have you left all your downloads loose in the Downloads folder?  If so, and you only have a few, and have kept a copy of everything, could I suggest that you scrap it, and start again.  This time, put all your objects into one folder (with subfolders as and when you wish) and the same for Walls and Floors.  You can't do it with skins until you get Nightlife, but they can go into Saved Sims where they will work fine.  Then, having done that, if you did inadvertently download anything with a house, it will be GONE, and if you have it happen again in the future, it will be easy to spot the problem files as they will be the only ones in Downloads.

Another thing you can do which might clear the problem up, is to delete your Groups Cache file which is in the Sims2 folder , then when your game loads up again, it will generate a new one which will have none of the data saved into the old one, and which could include something which is causing this to happen.

I wonder if perhaps a lot had a all clothing tool in in that was downloaded/

Peers out carefully from behind mac...yup, no mobs with pitchforks in sight. I think but am not certain that the problem may be mac-only. I used to play Sims 1 and macs seem to be predisposed to minor skinning errors. I have always had difficulty with downloaded skins and problems with meshes. I think that the machine is just failing to recognise the clothing categories.

I don't think it's a Mac specific problem, it's happened to me to in a family that Kaylynn the maid moved into. Her kids, when growing up into adults, would have the social bunny outfits as a default for their work-out gear, formal and swimming outfits, at least. Imagine the embarrassment when they turned up at a wedding in pink and yellow bunny outfits! I think I have a picture of that somewhere... here:

(http://www.thirdnipples.com/helena/images/sims/BunnyWedding1.jpg)

And then the son also decided to take a dip in the swimming pool:

(http://www.thirdnipples.com/helena/images/sims/BunnyWedding3.jpg)

For his workout gear, he chose the blue bunny outfit:

(http://www.thirdnipples.com/helena/images/sims/BunnyYoga.jpg)

The trouble is, all those long file names make it impossible to see what you've got, but Macs also work diffently than PCs in that I think you have to rename a lot of files anyway, so it might depend on what the uploader had renamed them to in their game as to whether they would be recognisable.   And I'm pretty sure you can't use SimPE on a Mac, and I don't know what the equivalent programme is.

I think, IB, since you say it's happened in your game, that you are right and the problem is not Mac-specific, but you may need Mac specific tools to help solve it.

I'm pretty sure that I've read about a Mac compatible version of SimPE someplace.

Great pics! And I have to say that this sentence reminds me of playing MadLibs:  :D

Perhaps they've adapted it now.  I could nip over to SF and ask Peter, I'm sure he'd know if they had, and where you can get it, but I don't know when he'll have the opportunity to get back to me.

Nice to know it isn't just a mac problem! I asked this on the BBS and got a whole bunch of "LOL that is SOOOOOOO funny" responses but nothing useful.

I can't find anything about a Mac version in the SimPE release news, so maybe I was just dreaming. In a post from October at the SimPE forum Quaxi says it's not fully compatible, but I don't know if anything has happened since then.

Well, I just popped over to SF and posted a request in the Mac section there and as soon as I get a response I'll get back with any information I get.

Avie, the link to the thread is:

 http://forum.simfreaks.com/index.php?showtopic=4501 (http://forum.simfreaks.com/index.php?showtopic=4501)

Thank you all for your quick responses and useful information...or to put it another way You is Gr8 plz tell me if TwinzRcute workz benes!!!

I understood the english part of your post, Avie, but I can't understand this!  I certainly couldn't write in DoubleBBSSpeakDutch! ;D

As I said, I don't know how long it will be before I get a reply.

Erm how to put this? I was extracting the urine?

Wha???

Well, I think I knew that - but I'm still amazed at the language skill involved in being able to do it!

I kno M8 soz if my Ntsk woz shite
Eat spag for twinz

Uhh Avie this isnt the BBS no bene's here

I think Avie knows that!  She came here for our wit and wisdom, obviously goes there to learn BBSSpeak so she can take the piss out of them! ;D

Well spotted ZephyrZodiac. You is g8 . But plz  I want PETZ

My eyes! My eyes!

I thought it was Pescado's eyes you were concerned about, Brynne!

yep thats it all right after he tortured Sim Brynne

Yeah, poor sim Brynne. Always peeing. Sheesh.

makes me glad he doesnt have Sim Bangelnuts as far as I Know anyway he would probably code me to puke all over the place

Don't give him ideas, Bangel.  ;)

He probably already has that idea for someone elses Self Sim :P most likely for one he wants and hasnt gotten yet

Have you thought of cloning half a dozen Pescado toddlers and relating them all to him in SimPE, then moving him in as the lone adult with all these toddlers?  And they could all wear blusher!

ZZ that is pure BRILLIANCE!

now there's a good Idea ;DI have the adult Pescado in My Sim Bin I think I will put him in the game in a bunker with 7 toddlers link the elder grouch as Daddy to his adult version and grandpa to seven toddlers all wearing Blush and put him in the Bunker with the 8 other pescado's already there. Reggikkos Bunker will be perfect for that.

And the toddlers could all have potties, but you could do the Email challenge for JM!

Potties? Christ on a BIKE folk...

Well, you'd need them so Pescado could do all that potty training!

OK ZZ and Brynne I present to you J.M. Pescado  his Son James and J.M. Pescado's 7 Grandchildren.Note they are filling up his qeue rapidly ;D the boys have on self tanner .the 3 girls Healthy glow.(http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d76/Bangelnuts/ScreenShot005.jpg)

Awesome, Bangel LOL

Brynne as you can see I have red hair for the toddler girls that you use on your toddlers where did you get the other colors?glad you like the Pescado family JM was no sooner Moved in than all four Toddler Boys started demanding his attention the bunker is Reggikko's from Laverwinkle so life is about to get pretty Cramped in that bunker with 7 toddlers ;D

Welcome to More Awesome Than You, Avie - the forum populated by insane simmers with ADHD, OCD and a whole load of other psychiatric conditions, and who cannot stay on-topic for more than 2 posts at a time :D. You rang?

Seriously, this is what happens when we have no idea what's going on in your game. Keep watching the thread, and eventually someone will come up with the answer. Eventually. After we've waffled about all kinds of other things (the toddler blusher thing should really be in another thread entirely, but never mind, eh?).

Honestly Avie if we had a clue why you and others are getting this oddity we would all be happy to give you assistance.the only thing I can suggest is running your downloads folder through SimPE health scanner and make sure your downloaded custom clothing meshes etc are ok. and run a cleanpack scan make sure you dont have any empty packages causing a problem. as the game will often substitue some odd choices when a mesh is present but no corresponding skins

Avie, I have no idea how to solve your problem, but I wanted to say welcome. You don't seem sheep-like at all to me. In fact, judging by your sarcasm, I'd say you'd fit in quite nicely here.  :D

Are you an Aussie by any chance Avie?  :)

Avie, PeterG has posted a reply to my question.  It appears there is a program available for looking into downloads.

.

If you need more help, then he really is the guy to ask.  (Remember Travels with Buddha?)

And it seems it could be a while yet before there's a SimPE for Mac.

Since moving an NPC into the family adds all the NPC outfits into the wardrobe, it doesn't surprise me that sims in the family get those outfits when they grow up. When the bunny outfit thing happened to me several months ago, I didn't have any custom meshes and very little custom content in my game otherwise, so I doubt it has anything to do with those. But, of course I can't know for sure. Just seems like a sort of a bug in the game (that the outfits show up in all the clothing categories).

If you are a sheep for playing the Legacy Challenge, then that makes me a Shepherd, as I co-own a Yahoo Group for the Legacy Challenge. 

If you haven't had your fill, feel free to join us sometime if you haven't already ;) 

Yahoo Legacy Challenge Group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TS2ClassicLegacy/)

Happy Simming,
:) :) :)
Ivy

HI Avie,

Don't worry we only burninate people for being throughlly retarded and annoying, since you have so far been neither you are probably safe. well except from Pescado but he makes fun of everybody.

And if you do happen to annoy us too much we'll just kick you to Retardo Land.

I agree, IB that you would get the wardrobe - but NPCs don't swim in their work clothes, the maids for starters all have their own bikinis!  So something could be interfering with the normal working of the wardrobe functions (like a hack) causing things like swimming in the social bunny's outfit,

The NPCs themselves, I'd imagine, have assigned outfits for those categories already, while the sims that are born and grow up get an outfit randomly selected. If you go to the wardrobe in a family like that, all the NPC outfits show up in every category of clothing, if I remember correctly. This was, I'm pretty sure, before I had any hacks in the game, a couple of weeks after I'd started playing the game last January.

OH, well, I only ever moved one NPC into the game, but I don't remember the Pleasant family wardrobe being thus encumbered!  And I can't see why they would show up in all catefories!  Pity, since there's an option in the wardrobe to Change for Work, they didn't just have a Work Clothes section which would have meant all uniforms etc. could have been in their own section and less annoying.

Thanks Zephyr I'll certainly look into that and it was very kind of you to look into it on my behalf.
One of the mac forums I posted to suggested this may be a problem with file extensions as macs have a filename limitation built into the OS. That was known to be the cause of skinning errors in Sims 1 and various shrinker programmes were available to shorten filenames and make skins useable on the platform.
Once again thanks to everyone for your input.
The words "Chocolate" and "Fireguard" tend to spring to mind when considering the usefulness of the BBS responses I got.

Well, next time you have a problem, don't forget, PeterG at Simfreaks is really the best person to ask, he's very knowledgeable about anything related to Macs and Sims2.  And did you get the downloads from Atelier Quebec while you were there?  the walls in particular look really good in game.

I hope you hang around Avie, yer a real hoot :)

Thanks for the tip ZZ. It is very useful to know for us certified computing-outcasts of the passingly rare genus "Maccus Gamericus". You have to wear a big plumbob sewn to your clothing you know. This identifies us to the wider mac-using community of soap-avoiding UNIX programmers, scary Gollum-crating graphics experts and geeks who actually know what the hell Toast is.

But can they make toasted cheese sandwiches?

Nope. They all have the "Avoid soap" aspiration

I got tired of waiting for the user-creator stuff on the mac for sims1 - that's the reason I got a "game pc" when sims2 came out. (nevermind that "computer for the kids" thing...)


peers at that... are you saying knowing what toast is makes me a geek? and here, I'd just been an honorary geek all this time and I coulda had my 'papers' all along?

I too have a "game-only" PC for playing Sims2, as I sit here posting to the board on my PowerBook!

Yay for macs!

Hmmm...must have LOTS of money to have a S2-capable PC as well as a mac. I certainly cannot afford a luxury PC on top of the macs. I am still paying for this dual-processor G5 that I bought specifically for S2 and can't afford a PC as well

I couldn't afford a Mac!  My PC was built by a friend who has a computer business, and I got everything at cost with no labour charge, or I'd be struggling on my laptop!

Tell me about it my decison was to upgrade the PC I already have rather than buy a new PC. its cheaper to upgrade

No offence meant. I in no way meant to to dismiss any machine that anyone uses. I was just saying that I cannot afford to run a PC as a pure gaming machine alongside the macs.

I dont think anyone took Offense we were just making observations

Good! cause I sure cannot afford an Alienware and if Maxis up the ante very nuch more you are looking at a mainframe...

I cant afford an alienware either.Hopefully Maxis will keep future EPS at Nightlife levels as far as specs required

LOL Yeah right, Bangel.  Maxis hasn't really thought of the average user in any of their decisions thus far.  I don't expect them to start any time soon.

I dont expect it either but I can dream right ;D

Oh one can always dream.

Avie, welcome to the board.  Please keep your hands inside the cart at all times, lest a Retardo Lander mistake you for a sheep.  ;)

The tech specs are getting out of hand

they are quite good at that in RL ;D

*Looks at dinosaur that I play, post, shop etc on*  :'( My pc is nearly as old as Pescado I think ;D I'd love a brand spanking new one-I don't think Santa will bring me one this year though as I have been a bad girl...

Welcome to the boards Avie!

Oh dear I suppose I OUGHT to ask about TwinxRzCute???

Aww I had a whole set of instructions posted about how to get alien twins, but they were deleted from the BBS. What a pity.

Must have left you sobbing in anguish

Totally heartbroken.

Totally. Must still be lost in a profound griief

my favorite thing to do is point a BBS'r the right direction for a Mod and get myself banned in the process from the BBS for 3 days

Must be heading for that honourable distinction

I head there quite often ;D

Bangel, I think you're making a habit of being banned!!!!

Alien twins are a cinch - just get your pregnant sim abducted again, nearly always works!

Ah yes-just like woohooing twice after eating cookies and spaghetti ;D

only on the BBS I am overly helpful the wrong direction according to the moderators there.you arent supposed to guide bbs'ers to censor removals ,hacks or mods that fix the maxis bugginess to do so is a violation of TOS there and will buy you a  72 hour suspension

I don't believe in spaghetti - used to be macaroni and cheese - but I know that a double abduction very frequently results in twins.  But maybe it's a feature of the always abduct telescope.

I dunno I dont use the hacked telescope as I dont want alien babies in my custom hood. and BBS'rs in spite of being told numerous times by Maxoids that there are no cheat codes fo twins refuse to believe it

So spaghetti is just a culinary conspiracy?  (Quote paraphrased from Rozencrants and Guildenstern are Dead (http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0100519/combined))

if your looking for twins it is   ;D

I think twins often result from double woohoo, so double abduction makes sense and doesn't involve cheat codes as such, but I think it happens before the sim shows signs of being pregnant, so you have to be quick!

You're the first person I have ever seen quote/paraphrase that play. Finally someone recognizes the genius.

Back on topic.....

heh heh, back on topic you say?

ok, I have the base game only and an old Legacy family lingering in the shadows, generation 6 or so. The family includes a mailman, a townie, fireman, maid, gardener, exterminator and pizza guy.
Though one poor kid (second generation, they were quite poor) transitioned into the mailman suit,  nobody else has ever worn any of the NPC clothing. Even Pao's son wore the mailman suit only as everyday, not while working out or at any other time. It could just be a mac thing.

Yes, it's like the Pleasant Family have the Llama constume in their wardrobe, i one of my games where I gave Mary Sue her wish and let her get a job in the Athletic career track so there was a female version available, but neither Angela or Lilith grew up with that for their everyday or workout gear (it was in both).  Sounds to me a bit as though there's some coding error in the Mac version where the game doesn't recognise these outfits as being unavailable to ordinary sims.

it's not just a MAC version issue, I've had the same problem on my PC, it drove me freakin nuts!! I think I ended up killing off the family it happened to...

Im glad Ive never had the issue

Me too, but there' s always JM's clothing Tool!

Worst hazard for a legacy is the fugly freaks you get from unwisely marrying NPC's. You just want to see the jowly nightmare I'm forced to play as the current heir.
This abomination makes the Elephant Man look like Brad Pitt.

What is your BBS name and are you doing a story on your Legacy?  I have a feeling I'd love to read it.  :D

Sorry no I never uploaded it. Take my word for it you DO NOT want to look at this bloke. Your eyeballs would explode.

The Uni plastic surgery table will at least let you change their face, but not what they pass on to their kids.

I'm a mac-user.  I do not even have University never mind Nightlife

I know, Avie, but when you get Uni, you will be able to change their ugly mugs!  I do it all the time now (I have a hacked collection of all the career rewards, but really that's the only one I use that hasn't been earned.)

Sounds more British to me.  Probably from Yorkshire, or somewhere else up North. 

Well spotted Ancient Sim...you were bang on the money. I'm from York by eck!

incase you don't know
Sims 2 University For Mac to Ship Dec 14!

http://www.macobserver.com/gamingnews/2005/12/13.1.shtml

so it looks like you'll be able to get it

The release date has been put back to 4th January. I bet there is some SERIOUS arse-kicking going on at Aspyr for missing the Christmas deadline.
I've had the wretched thing on pre-order from Amazon for nearly a month. Seriously, I'm losing the will to live.