More Awesome Than You!

I received Nightlife early (Play.com) and am glad it's not shite like University. There are several nice objects and walls/floors (and the Grilled Cheese aspiration rocks), although the lack of and quality of hairstyles still stink. None of my hacks work any more -- not they conflict with the game, the game just ignores them regardless of whether Custom Content is set to on or off. So I'm back to square one with sims autonomously reading books, molesting babies, and no manual navigation. The only things that seem to work are recolours of objects and Bodyshop edited stuff. I think this is really disrespectful of Maxis, after good people like Pescado and TwoJeffs have spent time making hacks to fix the issues that they are too stupid and lazy to fix, to make an ep that negates all the hacks and means they have to remake them. That's just obnoxious and rude.

Also, the cars seem to be bugged. I got Loki Beaker to take his kids bowling, and he got into the driving seat and one of the kids got into the passenger seat, and then he got out and locked it and waved at her. The car was unselectable until I exited to the neighbourhood and came back, and then I managed to get him and the other child into the car and to drive off. At the community area the first child was missing, and upon return to the house was not recovered. The child was still missing after exiting and reloading (the thumbnail was still there but right clicking on it produced no result, and commands to interact with other objects dropped from the queue). I can only assume that the child has ceased to exist as a physical object and is stuck in limbo, where she will presumably starve to death if I continue to play this house. Okay, maybe this is what happens if you try to get three people in a sports car, but then the game shouldn't let you put three people in a sports car.

The new expansion pack also introduces several bugs that University introduced. Having removed University as a result of being sick of the enormous bloated turd of a bug it was (if this had ended up on my computer without me paying for it, I would have called it a virus) and the way it clogged up want slots with useless influence wants and wishes to buy gadgets and musical instruments in order to incessantly busk in their own houses, this is annoying. The problem with random stuff being added to the wardrobe on age transition has been reintroduced and that loathsome Prank interaction which no hacks seemed to be able to fix is back.

This caused me to laugh so violently that I think I have hurt myself. You will be hearing from my lawyers! ;)

There have been reports on this site made by others who have NL already and claim that many of their hacks are working fine. I do not know what the problem is in your game (I don't have NL yet and could not begin to guess what happened).

As for the mmissing child, maybe you could try Merola's Mind Control Mirror to check to see if s/he is somewhere on the lot, or Inge's Teleporter Plus to summon him/her (assuming these work with NL, I don't know).

Good Luck.

Thomas Riordan says he's been using the teleporter plus without problems.

If you can select the missing child, you could also try teleporting her to the mailbox using the testingcheats code.  That usually seems to solve "missing sim" problems, but only if you are able to select her as an active character.

Just shift click on the mailbox and choose "teleport here" after typing in the code. :)

I don't have NL yet, but I did read on one of the boards that if your hacks aren't working, take them out of the subfolders and put them directly into downloads and that should fix the ones that do work.  For some reason, hacks in subfolders aren't working for some people now with NL.

Hacks in subfolders should work fine.  What's probably happening is the user is quitting the game, moving the files and restarting.  Restarting the game is what is doing it--if you change the option to enable/disable custom objects/hacks, you *need* to restart the game for it to take effect.

Arghhhh, There I threw to the trash 60$! If the hacks don't work, I can't install NL, period...:). But if Carrigon and  Inge say that their hacks work (but they are objects, not fixes as nohomework, or nocheering) - perhaps JMP and TJ will overcome the obstacles.

I saw a post in Merola's forum that his mirror and painting still works...

I keep telling it to enable my custom content but it doesn't somehow, hmm I guess I have to read up on all this and what hacks I can and can't use (and I BETTER be able too use no cheering for those kids with A+ >:( )

Apparently, you have to "restart" the game.  To me, "restart" means that you already have the game running, quit, then start it back up again.  So when you disable/enable, do you have to have the game running?  It's a little unclear.

It's unclear to me also, I had some hacks that were working but when I started the game up again, it said  to disable the maxi made objects, the fru fru lion and the cherub statue, so then when I started the game again, the hacked objects were missing and I downloaded the car that I got with my code and it never did show up in any folder.

  I unistalled NL already, I can live without any hacks but JT's phone hack, that dam phone started ringing of the hook and I couldn't take it anymore.  I will reinstall it later, in a few weeks when everything is figured out.   :-\

I remember reading on a SM's webpage (I forget which) that the eternal A+ dance will be fixed in NL, which will negate the need for the hack.  Did this turn out to be true, people who already have NL?

I'm picking up my copy this afternoon so I'll start looking into it tonight :)

Motoki, try quitting the game and re-loading - custom content seems to be not showing up for people the first time they run the game, even if it is in the right folder and enabled. Mine wasn't there when I first played, but I quit and loaded it back up and it was all there.

Yes, it is disabled by default on the first run (the informational text should indicate this)--it has to be enabled at that point and the game restarted.

So even if it is disabled by default, should we still physically remove all hacks before installing?  Or will merely disabling them work just as well?

It is a "safe mode" so that Nightlife runs the shipping code--the game will essentially run as if the files are not there.  I would recommend you remove the global/semiglobal hacks until there are Nightlife compatible ones.  Then you could re-enable custom content objects and have all your custom objects, compatible hacks, etc. back again.

Cool--Thanks!

Tom: Can you PLEASE request that a turn the ringer off feature be added to the home and cell phones in some patch? I'm really tired of having to ditch the phone hack every time a new episode comes out and listen to that phone ringing off the hook and the cell waking up sleeping sims until J.M. can update the phone hack.

Motoki:  I second that!!!

I agree 100% Motoki, I don't keep phones in the house now for that reason.

A sim's cellphone going off when they are sleeping should be fixed.  However, another sim's cellphone may go off.

As for the ringer bit, that sounds like an interesting idea.  I can mention it, but I don't think we have the text budget  (localization for all languages) for it in the patch.  It also sounds like something that could cause problems if the user forgets that it is on.  Anyhow, I can mention it.

I'm sure a 4th is redundant, but before the phone hack I would buy a phone if someone needed to make a call and delete it immediately afterwards.

Set ringer... call display (without a hack) would be an awesome addition too

That would be great.  Have an option to turn off the ringer, but still display a Caller ID screen for the user so you can choose to have your sim answer or not.  If the cell phone could automatically be silenced when s/he is asleep, that would be good.  When two sims are sleeping in a bed and one's cell phone ring, it wakes up both of them, from what I recall (before JM's phone hack fixed that).

I'm finding now they can stash phones in their inventory too. A cellphone in a sim's inventory will still go off, but a wall or desk phone won't. And you can take a cellphone out of your inventory and stash it on the ground somewhere, so when they are sleeping you can stick it out in the backyard or something lol.

Not quite as handy as a ringer off switch, but it's another alternative to selling a rebuying, which doesn't do any good for cellphones anyhow because if you sell the wall phone the cell will still go off.

having cell phones turn off when the sim is sleeping!

you took the words right out of my mouth!

please, can we have this?!

Ness

I have the phone hack in now and it works fine.
So does the pay at the box. testing other as I go through.
All my objects and meshes show fine, just a couple of flashing blue items until I reselect the texture (it was still there)
Its going well so far.  ;D

Excellent!  Some others may not agree with this, but I think it's a great move on Maxis' part.

And welcome to the forum, MaxoidTom. :)

Hook

Skadi: the phone hack appears to work okay at first, but it doesn't work properly with new Nightlife features like groups and asking sims out on a date.

I use the online computer from MTS2 which has a function that disables cellphones when Sims are sleeping.  Mine never go off anymore for sleeping Sims.  Amazing what a difference it makes to the game.  What I would really love to see though is the removal of that stupid "calling people to ask why they haven't called" scenario.  I mainly use the phone hack for that, but because of it I miss other things I actually enjoyed (such as parents coming over when you called their kids, I found that hilarious because they always looked like peeping toms).  That calling thing really should be removed, because it totally spoils the game.  I had reached the stage where I never let mine answer the phone, because I knew what was coming.  No way was I going to get them all set-up learning a skill or training a toddler, to be disturbed by a stupid call like that.  It really does need to be removed, it's not funny, it's totally pointless and ruins the game.

An answerphone would be excellent and then your sims would be able to use the phone properly whenever they want and not either have to answer the constantly ringing phone and tell the calling sim to 'sod off and stop calling me' and then pick it up quick before it rings again or wait forever till the bloody thing stops ringing.

Yes, yes, yes. Please! This is THE reason I cannot play this game without JM's phone hack, and makes me seriously wonder if anyone even played this game (all the way to the base game) before it was released, long enough to actually build up any relationships between households--because I don't think it's possible to do more than play a single sim with no friends, without seeing how UNBELIEVABLY annoying and pointless this is.

I'm home right now anxiously awaiting UPS with my copy of Nightlife, but seriously, I'm not going to play it (beyond playing around with a clean neighborhood, not screwing up my real one) until JM's new phone hack is out. This is too bad, because I start graduate school next week and will not have time anymore--but this little "feature" makes the game UNPLAYABLE.

I've found that I can avoid those phone calls by ensuring that the DR score between friends never slips down towards 50. LTR deteriorates by 2 points per Sim day - so if you get the relationship score up to 100/100, it should be about 3 Sim weeks before that friendship gets down to 60/60, at which point those phone calls are likely to start. So I find it best to put in the effort while the friendship is new, do lots of Appreciating, Hugging and Busting of Moves, and eventually your Sim will only need to boost that friendship once every couple of weeks in order to prevent those phone calls.

Bleh. I'm stuck here without NL. Gimme gimme gimme. Etc.

I installed NL, and forgot to remove any hacks (aside from those I'd already disabled).  It wouldn't finish the installation.  So I removed my downloads folder and dumped it on the desktop, and remembered the DMA live-in NPCs.  I had to go through and uninstall every package of them.

Stupid me for paying for the expanded version, I never even use the NPCs in it, it's just the teleport/caller ID/pregnancy info object I kept it for.  So at the moment I'm playing 'clean', but will start putting downloads (and a few hacks) back tomorrow (am actually having a social life tonight so won't be playing).

Or just use Pescado's "autoyak" (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=207.0) and save yourself the hassle.  It's working fine with NL.

Karen

Me too, I find the caller id invaluable and the pregnancy info is so handy. I've also found use for sleepy all, though there are other ways to do that I suppose.

Yep yep yep. The A+ dance has been removed. Now they just quietly walk into the house and put there homework down.

I am having trouble going back to the illogical pre-romance mod way of thinking. That is the mod I am most waiting for! I have a married couple living with their male sims two sons by another sim (he's romance) and his "step-son", who is the son of his half-siblings' mother. I was having a nice little karaoke party, and Josh and Meadow Thayer (his current wife) slow danced. The stepson began having a fit and their relationship score dropped drastically. And I'm not even going to try another romance sim date after Justin Goth's disaster of a date with Dina Caliente. The whole neighborhood is pissed at him now. It was kind of funny when he got home, though. He was talking to his brother, then got a flaming thought bubble of one of the female sims who had slapped him silly.

Please, please  more awesome than me or anybody else on the planet,  please make my phone stop ringing.   I know it will take a while to get all the new hacks out but please do the phone first and I will  forever  bow at your feet, most awesome one.       :-*    :-*                   thanks. 

So many people with NL... Don't sound too hot at the mo so I think I'll wait till J.M. has it all figured out and running smoothly.

Where is he, by the way? I miss his meaness.  :'(

He claims it will be 6-8 weeks before he gets it. And judging by how long it took him to get University I don't think he's bullshitting either.

But, he was modding for Uni before he got it, so one can hope and pray to whomever that he can do the same again.  I didn't realize just how dependent I was on the phone hack till now... >:(

Where the hell did he order from, that it takes 6-8 weeks! I've seen places with free shipping, or even the lowest paid shipping where it would only be 5-7 business days, or something. Motoki, you weren't kidding about the Pony Express! Maybe he could at least upgrade to the Thoroughbred Express.

In one of the NL threads, Mr. Maxoid was offered a highly populated neighbourhood to test, but declined saying "we can generate high population NHs ourselves" (or something similar). I bet that those Maxis HQ neighbourhoods aren't the same as one that has been played to that size. It wouldn't take long for them to realise the constant phone ringing is a royal pain in the ass. Especially when you get "why haven't you called? CLICK" and think "OK I'll ring you back and talk if that's what you want" only to get "so and so is at work unlike someone I know". WTF? Then gimmee his work number, dammit! If he can ring me from work with a crank call he can accept a call from me! I'd bet a million simoleons that if Maxis had played a neighbourhood to a decent size they would have spotted the jump bug a bit sooner, too.

Free shipping is highly insecure. My shipping has to go through a secure process of blind drops and screenings to make sure that the EA tracking number has become thoroughly disconnected from its previous buyer. It doesn't help that one of the regions it will be passing through is currently a warzone, so that may cause delays.

well, I think that maxi should send you a free one before it comes out to the public, considering you have to fix everything that they mess up.

I saw a cute post in another forum the other day, it said  "how many hacks do you think it wil take JM to make miss Crumplebotton work right? "   and another person said  "I heard that JM was Miss Crumplebottom"     ;D

Unless she has a flame thrower in her inventory that's probably not the case...  ;)

They work fine in my game.  I've tested both.  :)

As soon as J.M. says "all is well, idiots", then I shall rush (saunter, possibly) to buy NL. Until such time, I can't be arsed. Too much fecking hassle.

Exactly, I shall await the power far more awesome than me to tell me it's safe.

After all, with the new coding in the game, whatever we think is safe may just as well be creating a fiery ball of our game and I am just getting mine how I want it.

I'm with Zeljka and laeshanin and the others.  Zeljka, didn't you just get Uni installed?  How is that going?

My Uni is running smoothly, with all the hacks I need (not many, but the important ones). I just enjoy playing the game now. I have already fourth generation in PleasantView (Dustin is about to become elder), and so far no trouble at all.
I buldozed all the pre-made houses, moved to the family bin all the sims I don't want to play with (mainly Don, Dreamer, and the Calientes - I don't have the heart to kill them, lol), and already resurrected Mortie twice...:).
So far I have about 370 sims in the neighbourhood - still far from the dangerous 800.

Actually, I bought them both tonight but just found out I have to leave town for the week so they're still in the bag.
I have to finish cleaning out my neighbourhoods ( 4 or 5 customs that are fairly extensive) and will install University when I get back.  I'm hoping that by the time I get tired of it (or tired of all the new things I can download with it), everything will be updated for Nightlife and I can just throw it on then.

Exactly what I did, bought them both at the same time.  8)

My NL box is well hidden from my children so they can't nag me to install it...operating with your theory that when I'm bored with the newness of Uni stuff, NL updates will be ready.

(Don't expect I can show the same discipline about the Business expansion though. I can't wait for that one.  )

You're all too disciplined for me.  As soon as Uni was out, I went and got it, installed and played it.  Did the same with NL.  I just work around the bugs.  There's always gonna be some bugs out there.  If not, JM would be bored.

I agree, that one interests me a heck of a lot more than the first 2, which seem more like the obligatory crappy first two add-ons that don't change a heck of a lot (ie Livin' Large & House Party).

I love business sims.  From Lemonade Stand on the Apple 2, Cartels & Cutthroats, Capitalism 1 and 2 and Plus, Free Enterprise, probably some I'm forgetting.  I can't wait for a combination business simulation and Sims 2.

I figure I'll buy all the expansion packs as soon as they're available.  At least I'll be able to help test for new bugs that way.

Uni was quite different from the original game, and Nightlife seems to have added a few new features, not as many as Uni tho.  I don't regret buying either of them.

Hook

Hook, if you like so much business games, can I recommend you two awesome games, issued by a smal company, Jowood: "Hotel Giant - Maximum Capacity", and "Restaurant Empire". I have them both, and played them about a year, instead of buying the EPs of TS1.

http://www.jowood.com/gamers/?lang=en&site=2&GameID=hotelgiant&pfid=PC

Scroll at the left column (more games) and you'll find also many business games. There are also "sims" (your clients), and different scenarios which you have to win.
Most of us, the ex-simmers, passed to play these games, and we didn't regret it at all.

I've got a copy of Industry Giant that I got free because I worked at iMagic.  As I recall, it wasn't that good.  I suspect Hotel Giant and Restaurant Giant would be much better.  I got two of the Capitalism games free the same way. :)

These games seem to be more resource management games (as is Sims 2) instead of business sims, where you have to consider the laws of supply and demand.

Hook

If you're into Alien, Vampire & Zombie story lines the first couple EPs give you a shot at those....not my thing.  The part of NL that sounds cool to me is adding more complexity to the interpersonal relations in stories...but I know I'm gonna need some kind of hack to keep everybody from hating everybody else.  I don't kill Sims off (unless they are townies *angel*) and I'm not turned on by stockpiling enemies.

Building businesses that can be passed on through the generations, now that lights my chandelier.  I haven't played a ton of business games, but most of them burn out after not a long while...and I haven't played one that let you get immersed in the lives of the characters while playing business strategy.

Hope the strategy isn't lame.  Want tough strategy.

*fingers crossed, foot tapping for the next EP*