More Awesome Than You!

What is that creepy flying pig beside my water tower? Where did it came from? Is that a neighborhood decoration? Why is it there? Do you already saw this thing? It looks like a pink pig flying with baloons inside.

Looks like a BIG sheep in my game.  ::)

I think it's drawn by the water tower.  Anyway, it's almost certainly a Pink Floyd reference. They used to have a big inflatable pig as a prop, and while shooting the cover for an album (where they started using the pig actually), it got loose and flew all over the UK.

Ahh so pigs can fly LOL

There's a reason why it appears, Maxis have said that.  As far as I know, so far no one has worked out why.  Maxis actually said during the last official chat that they were waiting for the first person to work it out.  Maybe there's a prize ...

There's discussion of it in this thread: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=3633.msg105119#msg105119.

One thing I have noticed is that I have one or two flying pigs on my OFB neighbourhood loading screen (it varies), but none on the main neighbourhood.  I've yet to check my orginal Pleasantview to see if there are any there, but as there is no business neighbourhood attached to it, somehow I doubt there will be. 

I have pigs downtown as well...  not a clue what has caused that to happen!

When I saw a flying pig I hoped it wasn't a metaphor for the game performance.

I read (and you know the old saying ) so take it for what it's worth.  On a Maxis chat someone asked when a pets ep was coming out.  Maxis replied "When pigs fly".  I read the thing about Pink Floyd with the flying pig landing in a farmer's field and the name of the album was Animals.  So if you put together It could mean the next ep is a farming one with animals which every farm needs cats and dogs.  Just my opinion hey I could be wrong.

I was just about to say it probably contained a clue for the next ep. You beat me to it!

I reckon you should be claiming that there prize. ;)

Toriamos what you said makes sense but I sure hope you are wrong.  Like many others, I don't want a pet ep.  They will have to throw in something really interesting in it besides pets for me to buy it.

Hey we are taking about Maxis here, I could be way off, this might just be a little to deep for them. ;D

*jump up and down, stomps feet and demands a "down on the farm ep"*

I must admit after seeing simmiecal's working farm lot, I'm really keen on the idea.

I have to say that this makes sense and I think you may well be right.  Although I do like the sound of the farming angle (I enjoyed being able to buy and sell produce with Unleashed and I also use the objects simmiecal uses - pity they pay so little), I am not at all keen on the idea of pets and never have been.  I get very bored training toddlers (I cheat most of the time) and the thought of having to do the same with cats & dogs is NOT appealing.  It would also presumably reduce the number of Sims in the family even more (bad enough that Servo does it) and as the mod I had to allow more than 8 members isn't working since OFB, this would be a VERY BAD THING in my book.  Even more of a VERY BAD THING would be (presumably) all the extra character files - I am assuming that if a robot has a character file, a pet will also have one. 

Personally, if they must reproduce the old TS1 EP's (which they seem to be doing with alternate EP's, so we're due for one next time), I'd much rather it was Makin' Magic.  I really miss that and it's time we could create potions and cast spells again.  Who doesn't want to turn Goopy into a frog???  (Actually, that could work great in the game - lots of frogs hopping around that can only become human again if kissed by a princess ...).

All the signs point to a pets expansion, the constant begging, the confirmation of it coming eventually, "when pigs fly", the alternation of new/old ideas for the expansion.  Chances are, they'll throw farming with it and have it be almost a remake of Unleashed without the benefit that most of us used it for, the addition of 30 lots.  Sure, we'll probably get an "Old Towne" region or something but it just won't have the effect on expansion like Unleashed or even Nightlife had.

If you didn't already know, I hate the idea for a pets expansion.  I mean, they'll just mess it up again like they did with Unleashed by unleashing a bunch of strays on the neighborhood and make them family members.  They'll need to put some general features in there or else I'm not buying.  However, I'm guessing the special creature will be a werewolf if there is one.

Werewolves I would go for, yes, although wouldn't that mean they would have to introduce moons and moon phases?  Does that suggest they might have finally cracked the problem with weather, because I can't see how they could have moon stuff without weather, it wouldn't seem right somehow. 

I still say they need a health expansion (incorporating, of course, the MIDDLE-AGE LIFESPAN) and even more so now we have OFB.  Sims could go to the chemist to buy medications and stuff like that - they could even introduce new careers with it, such as dentist, pharmacist and so on.  This would certainly be better than pets in my book, but I suppose we have to accept that we're going to get pets because of all the sheep who want them. 

I had unleashed and like it the strays didn't really upset me, but me being a pet(s) owner it's no big deal.  I rather take in a stray pet in the sims 2 than one of those awful townies.

Already, on some nights there are two moons in the sim sky. I don't know if it's random or what.

I don't really care about weather. I like it sunny all the time, good for the serotonin levels. I even dislike it when night-time comes for the sims. The extent of my hatred for darkness runs that deep.

Hmm, I had the vamp household with 11 members but don't think I've tried to make more sim babies since OFB. Dammit, I like that hack.

A farm ep would be more than welcome but not an ep centered on cats and dogs...  ::)

Which one are you using, and do you have the most recent version? The one I'm using works just fine.

I took out the one I had when it was listed as no longer compatible - unfortunately, I can't remember who made it or where I got it from (MTS2 I think, but not sure).  If anyone knows, perhaps they could point me in the right direction?!

I've been using this one in OFB without problems
http://forums.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=101362&highlight=Doc+Doofus

I have been useing the same one sleepycat uses and have no problems with it.

When the pig flew over my shopping district, I just presumed it was a runaway from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. 

After all, you can see the ropes hanging below it... 8)

I'm not thrilled with the idea of pets either. God I hope the strays won't be as annoying as they were in Unleased :P I'm sure I'll be in the minority here but I hope they won't be controllable. I'd rather have them just running around doing their own thing and not have to spend time sending them to the litterbox. I didn't want cars either and I like them now, so maybe I'll be the same way with the pets. It could be okay depending on how they do it.

If the pets can open doors and let themselves in, if pets take up a family slot, if it's not more realistic than Unleashed, I won't buy it either. Period.

I think if they make pets, the will end up allowing you to have more sims on the lot, probably 16.

You're a dreamer, you are.

/me hiss at sun!

I dunno what this nonsense about "seratonin levels" is, but I *HATE* sunlight! IT BURNS!

Personally, I love darkness and hate light, being a Night Owl.  As a true Scorp, I would truly love to live in a cellar with no natural light whatsoever.  I can understand JM and his bunker, him being a Scorp as well.  It's definitely a Scorpio thing.  Pluto is a very dark planet, I think (Scorpio's ruling planet for those who are going "Eh?  Y'what?  Ain't he a dog?").   

Thanks for the link btw, Sleepycat, I will try that one out.  The one I was using was called LotFullOfSims, but I couldn't find it anywhere when I searched.  I'm sure the description is the same, but the file name isn't.  I have no idea if it does work, but I remember everyone saying it didn't once OFB came out so I pulled it.  Maybe it would work, I don't know, but I will try this other one anyway.

Ignore that last paragraph.  For some strange reason, the zip file has a totally different name to the file inside it, which is called ... wait for it ... LotFullOfSims.  May as well put my old one back in then.  Sigh.

It still works great in my game with OFB. I currently have a family of 24(huge house) and growing larger by the day.

I'm a Sagittarius, and my ruling planet is Jupiter. I know not what this means, but it's keen to know. I googled it.

I can't wait until next year when Daylight Savings starts lasting a month longer.

*hugs self with glee*

i'm one of those with the really unpopular opinion that farms with sculptures for animals is just sad. i'd like to have "for real" animals on my farms. >>duckin' the rotten tomatoes i expect to be thrown-LOL!<<

speaking of werewolves-does it bug anyone else that they put vampires, zombies n ghosts in the game that nobody is scared of? Where's the fun in a haunted house or a vampires castle if they play kicky bag n "hang out" like everyone else, and the ghosts just look like their sim self only they float?  The sims just walk past 'em like they are no biggie most of the time. Prob'ly be the same with were wolves-which misses the point seems like  :-\

this mod is working in my game

Lol, shouldn't this thread be in the Myths and Urban Legends section?  ;)

It's weird how rumors get started, I just read something similar on the BBS.  To clear a few things up, there's no contest to figure out what spawns the flying pig.  MaxoidHunter just stated in the chat that he was waiting for us to figure it out.

I don't ever recall Maxis ever saying "when pigs fly" to someone bitching about when we were going to get pets.  It's pretty moot as they've stated time and time again that we will get pets in an ep, it's just a matter of when and not if.  Yet the "hey, i've got a great idea!  how about pets?" threads on the Suggest an Idea board keep piling up.

My guess is the pig balloon is either a Pink Floyd reference or just a "when pigs fly" reference and has nothing to do with any future farm-themed expansion pack.  I could be wrong but mostly I think people are reading waaay too much into this whole flying pig thing.  Pigs are the new Bella, I guess.

Maybe since this is an ep about business the pig blimps are symbols of corporate greed. ;)

After reading their chat it sounds like something in-game causes the pig -

mrsarmybrat (Mar 16, 2006 3:07:40 PM)
are there any hidden things in ofb that might take a while to find?

MaxisHunter! (Mar 16, 2006 3:07:40 PM)
I'm waiting to find out when you guys figure out what makes the flying pig show up. :)

Now I am curious why I don't have a pig  :-[

So we're going to get a Dick Cheney expansion?

I've got a feeling that the pig appearing is completely random since no one has found an actual cause yet.  Maybe they threw this in the game since they actually made a twin cheat and want people to make crazy theories on why it appears.  "OMG! If you have a pregnant sim eat 5 bags of cookies, enter in 'boolprop pigappear true' in the cheat box, and have them woohoo 10 times after the pregnant sim gives birth to a boy then the Pig will appear!  I've had this work 2 times out of the 15 times I tried it so this must be the method!"

 The only two things that I have added to a completely clean new neighbourhood for decoration is a windmill and a water tower.    I have a flying pig now.    I am positive it must be either one of those or maybe it requires both of them to activate our porcine friend.    Try it and see.


edit
  No business establishments have been set up yet and I have no families yet.    All that is there is about 6 empty
  houses, a water tower and a windmill.     I haven't started playing this neighbourhood yet, I am still just setting it up.

Most people on the BBS seem to think it's the water tower that causes them to appear, but there are still some players with pigs and no water towers.  The fact that I have one pig (sometimes two) in Bluewater Village but none in the main Pleasantview it's attached to must mean something.  Maybe it's one pig for every 3 businesses or something equally boring.

nope, I had two show up right after installing OFB before I did anything in it so I had no businesses

The pig first appeared for me in Pleasantview after I built a new house, with the idea of having a storefront business in it.  I hadn't put in the cash register yet, but I did put the Open/Close Business Sign in there, and when I exited that pig was right in my face!  Freaked me out, hehe! I wonder if it's reference isn't something simple like a 'capitalist pig' reference?  If the next EP is about animals, I don't think I would buy it, but farm animals and farming would be very cool -- or I should say could be cool, depending on how many bugs they manage to work out before releasing it..

Max

I'm working on a completely clean custom neighborhood that only has a water tower and a radio antenna for decor so far.  The flying pig is already present floating over my mostly empty 'hood.

I have never seen the pig yet :(
and I play a lot.

I haven't seen the pig, but I haven't really looked either. Anyway, the idea of the next expansion being farming/pets sounds reasonable. Since Maxis didn't hint as to what the next exp. is... which makes me think (like someone has said before) that saying it was going to be pets might possibly take away from OFB and the family pack, etc. I did not like all the strays either, but I remember finding a hacked sign you could put in your yard that would keep them away. Someone also made a litter box hack where your pet would go in it on their own when their needs were low and it would refresh everything.

I guess we'll find out... someday.

Ok, I had the water tower no flying pigs.  Someone mention windmills nope had those before the water tower.  On the other thread  about this (there is a link above) SimSherry said about the pet bricks, so I got a pet brick trained it and went to the neighborhood screen (this neighborhood I made not maxis) and sure enough the pig was floating around the water tower.  So if this is a clue to the next ep and go as I think I have to give Maxis credit for doing this way it's kinda of fun, because All in All Were Just Another Brick in the Wall.  Or I just really need to get a life.  ;)

So if you don't have any flying pigs put a water tower in and go train a brick.




 

You're on to something with the bricks.  The flying pig is associated with Pink Floyd, as it Brick in the Wall.  And if we're going to get really obscure - Pink Floyd/Pets Farming (same initials).  Obscure, but I think like that when I've got 'flu.

It's probably just random and you're all reaching for ridiculous conclusions. Plus it has no effects whatsoever, so who cares, anyway?

LOL! it's wierd how the flu does that, huh? Makes ya ponder the meaning of life n flyin' pigs n stuff. even if it was just a dumb joke on their part-least it gives us sumpin' to do while we have the flu  :P  Maybe i should work the pig into my current "sim story", although considering how it went with the ghosts that kept disappearing without startling a single person-the pig'd prob'ly juz disappear to. i hate it when the game won't mind!

Hmmmm...

It's been reported that some Maxoid said, we'll get a pets expansion when pigs fly. We have flying pig balloon neighborhood decorations which have been reported to be linked to the presence of trained "pet bricks.'

Maybe OFB IS the pets expansion! That should make everyone happy. The pet lovers get pets (maybe not with all the options they'd like) and the rest of us don't have to mess with them.  ;D

(Okay, too much wishful thinking.)

I believe we will get pets next, which would explain the lack of next EP info in the box to keep the Sheep Baaa-ing.  But, I think we will get more instruments, seeing as Pink Floyd is a band.  (Whoo, go me!)

I finally got a pig in Bluewater Village yesterday.  I don't have any trained pet bricks though.  When I noticed was after I left Chester and Florence's house.  They had just got married and had twins.  I wish I would have checked when I used the firstborn randomizer while she was pregnant but I didn't even look before I went back in to finish the pregnancy.


Today when I went back it was gone.  It probably is just random and Maxis has bets on how long we will try to figure it out  ::)

so... has anybody tried training these bricks past the once.? I saw my sim doing it autonomously, thought WTF & checked their icon in the queue. Train bricks I thought? Not while I'm God. So my sims haven't done it since. Does anything change after repeated efforts?

Once the brick is fully trained the sim can show off their trained brick to their friends. It still won't do anything and the other sim will either smile embarrassedly or mock the poor deluded sim depending on how nice they are. So, pick a sim you don't like, make him train a brick, then show it off to all the mean sims you can find until his little sim spirit is broken.

Hegelian's son to Brandi trained a brick and he keeps showing it to everybody.  He's only a kid though, so nobody has made fun of him yet.  He's very attached to his little brick.

The pet brick isn't a trigger, because I saw the pig (mentioned above) over Pleasantview in a fresh install -- no businesses (yet), no pet bricks.  There is a water tower there, though.  Maybe JM's right -- it is just random, like Ness appearing when you went into your Neighbourhood in Sims1.   :P 
Whether or not I'd see the pig in my regular overcrowded, overloaded, sluggish hood is something I've yet to investigate.

Max