More Awesome Than You!

Ok, I just have to get this off my chest because it's been driving me crazy ever since Nightlife came out.

They seem to have added more conversation during meals involving more than one sim.  I understand this... if you are on a date you want the sims to actually talk.  The only problem is, when you have a family of four sitting down for a meal together, it shouldn't take 4-5 hours for everyone to get full!  They talk so friggin much that the hunger motive goes down only slightly less than it goes up.  It's so annoying that I've had to start staggering my sims so each one eats alone.

They should have disabled all the extra talking if you aren't on a community or downtown lot.  Hopefully someone will make a hack.

I would have to agree with this.

I thought it took too long before NL, but now it's just pure torture. I sent a couple of Sims on a date and couldn't increase the date meter beyond "good" because it took the entire time allotment to eat (neat Sim + endless yakking = 4 hour meal). Whenever possible, I make sure my Sims eat alone now so they can get to work and school before the end of the day.

While it's nice for dates and group outings, for a family to sit down and interrupt each other like that is just rude.

I'm waiting for one of my sims to die from starvation because they're in hunger desperation but would rather talk than live.

Its gonna happen, its inevitable.

This doesn't bug me like it seems to with others, I like watching my family communicating during meals, but having said that I did laugh at Trepie's post  :D

Just a few more gripes... nothing to do with food.  The music that came with Nightlife sucks, especially the one with a chorus of people singing "bah buh buh bah" over and over.  Also, I thought I read somewhere that if you had a car, you could take your kids to school.  Unless I'm missing something, you can't.  And only one sim can take the car to work?  They also said you get an extra hour if you have a car.  Job starts at 9 am, carpool arrived at 8 am.  With a car, instead of the carpool they get a notice saying they have to be at work in an hour, and they autonomously hop in the car and leave.  Where's my extra hour??

You can leave for work late with a car, maybe they're counting that. If it were logical, it would affect your job preformance. You can take kids to school, when it's an hour before school an option comes up on the car. Since the bus shows up anyway, the only reason to would be either the very tiny motive boosts of a car or if you just move into a house (at 8am on monday with no bus showing up), you can get rid of the kids by taking them to school. Or if they miss the buss I guess.

It would have been pretty cool if the cars came with an option to set as "mode of transportation" for work and outings (but not school because someone would always have to be available).

On a side note, personally I hope that Maxis considers a "SimZone" pack at some point, because I really don't see any purpose in having a "downtown" neighborhood when you can incorporate those features in your main neighborhood. By the same token it would be nice if you could designate areas of your main neighborhood as downtown, college, residential and eventually business, just like in Sim City. So rather than having to load essentially an entirely different neighborhood you could simply use your base neighborhood to house all those features by use of zoning. Granted this would require a lot of tweaking to the current engine and so forth, and it would require the base game to be absolutely stable, but I still think it's doable in the long run. Of course you would have to up the iterations exponentially but hey, I can dream cant I?

actually i liked the NL music a lot!! especially the one that is remixed neighborhood music.

as for the extra hour, you can hop in your car after the carpool would have left . so if carpool waits untill 9am, you can get in the car to go to work untill 10am

I was able to have a sim drive his son to school after missing the bus.
I wish there was a way to get rid of the carpool if two or more sims in the household are in the same career at the same level. I have 2 brothers and a father living together, all are Hall of Famers (I planned it that way before NL to decrease the number of carpools to the lot), and, although there is the option for the sim who owns the car to "carpool to work with all eligible sims", I have to click that option daily and it only shows up when the carpool is already on the lot. Kind of pointless.

Actually, you can go to work HOURS late.  I think the result of being late though is the same as missing a day of work, you get the same pop up about your job performance.  I'm guessing, that if you're late two days in a row you get fired just like if you miss two days of work in a row. 

Incidentally, I agree totally about the slow eating because of all the talking.  And the "ba ba ba ba" music.  I like all the rest of the NL music except that, it drives me bats! 

Another thing, how in the world do you call somebody to as them to go downtown if it's just a friend - apparently "DATE" is always a romantic thing.  Last night I wanted a guy to call his mother and ask her downtown for lunch.  I couldn't figure out how to do this except to call a taxi with "invite Sim to a community lot", but I didn't want that, I wanted him to drive his own car.  The only possible way I could come up with was to pick up the phone, "manage groups", and create a group of just her.  It worked but that seems rather ridiculous, why can't you just "ask sim on an outing" the same way you can "ask sim on a date"? 

you can. When clicking on a sim, in the Ask option you will see the "ask to form a group outing" option. This will make that sim join you in a outing. then you get in the car and go downtown

Is there this option on the car? i have never seen it. it only shows up when the carpool is aready on the lot?
i will test it out later today, however for what you have said, i think i understand that. "eligible sims" must be sims wich have less than 1 hour to get to work or that have already passed their work start hour.

So if you have 2 sims that have to go to work in the same time, one of them will be owning the car, so no carpool for him, and the other one will have the carpool waiting for him. however you can send them both in the car if you wish. and the carpool will be wasted.

However if you have 2 cars and each of those sims own one, no carpool will come, however you will still be able to send them both to work in one car only, and the other one will be avaiable.

But yeah, someone should make a hack that will disable the carpool for all sims that will go to work at the same time, if there is a sim who owns the car

Pearl, have your sim go downtown and use his mobile to invite his mother there, this works like a charm for me.

According to the Prima guide, if a sim is late for work three days in a row they get demoted. It's hardly the most trustworthy source, but seen as I don't have the game the guide is my only source of NL info.

HAHAHA, this quote is kid of weird pearl. thats funny, i didn't realized it was actually your answer.. hahaha

calling a a sim from the downtown with your mobile is actually a good idea...   ...unless the target rejects to go there.. hehe

the manage group option on the phone is a great feature, however they didn't thought it through when they made it, and that's why it's annoying using it: WHy the hell does the selected sim has to go over to the phone and dial, for the dialog window to show? and in that dialog the area where the names are listed is too small, and you can't sort them by relationship level or by turn on, making it a drag to search for the names in there...

The endless table conversation is my biggest annoyance so far as well.

Thought it was kinda neat the first time.  My three Blue brothers were eating and having a great conversation.  So far, so good.  But it got to the point where they were talking more than eating, and they still had homework to do and their needs were dropping like crazy!  So they all had to s**t, shower, etc., and do their homework, and got to bed about 1 am.  Then get up and eat again because they were hungry enough to need something before they went out the door.  Talk, talk, talk, almost miss the bus because they are not eating.

But I also had a toddler that refreshed her energy level by drinking a bottle or playing with the charisma bunny.  She'd get just low enough to need someone to put her in the crib, then the energy level just started going back up until it was full if she got a bottle or played with the bunny.  (I have a few toddlers in this hood, she's the only one it happened to so far.)

So, turn it off. All the music in the game is optional.

It was cute to see them sitting there babbeling away and drinking  at first but then I looked at their hunger bar and had a bad chineese take out flash back.
I seriously had sims die of starvation while eatting that stuff.
Now I feel like I have to feed them at home first then send them out for conversation and nibbles.

I really like the new chatting at the table options.  I used to find it very irritating when they could no longer chat once they'd eaten the last morsel of food, especially if the main reason I sent them to eat was to get social and then the other person finished eating as they sat down.  Also, they really appear to be chatting like PEOPLE now, instead of like Sims, if that makes sense.  What I don't like is the way single Sims out for a meal are sat at separate tables, I'd rather they were put with someone else, or even better asked "Do you want to dine alone, or with other Sims?"  That way if they needed social, or to meet people, they'd have the chance.  Even sillier is married couples.  Last night Castor Nova and his live-in fiancee Allegra Gorey were both on a restaurant lot.  Castor sat down to eat and Allegra stood next to his table the entire time listening to her MP3 player.  I knew she was probably hungry as she's pregnant and sure enough, as soon as he got up and walked off, she sat down to eat at the same table!  Would be so much more realistic if established couples were to arrive together and go have a meal.  

I get mine seated together by using the form casual group just for fun trick before leaving home.
Look under ask in their socials.

I don't know what happened with that quote. LOL 

the thing that would improve the talking and eating was if sims would just talk with their mouths full, honestly. Like we care if they have manners.

Theoretically, at least. I haven't been able to get the original game music to shut off. Probably just need to restart the game before it sticks.

But... no, thats not right, that's not after NL. My sims always chatted at the table, even if they had already finished their meal. I know it because once i forgot the Headmaster was coming to dinner and had already made the family eat, then when he arrived, i served a plate of food for him, and told my sim to sit down at the table, and they chatted normally.

Mine didn't.  Sometimes they would stay sat down if they needed more comfort, but they never spoke to anyone else at the table.  They would sometimes do so if they were standing next to the table, but once they'd finished eating, the conversation also stopped. 

But if you direct your sim to sit in an empty chair at the table after they finished eating and got up to leave, they will start chatting with the other sim who is eating after a moment.

yes, my sims always chatted when sitting, whathever is they are doing. in my game the dining table is in the living room, and theres a sofa in the living room.
so far i have seen sims chatting while doing these:

on of them reading a book on the sofa, the other just sitting.
one drinking coffe on the table, the other eating on the table
one eating on the table, and the other just sitting at the table.

however i don't think i have ever seen sims waching television chatting with sims that are NOT waching television.

No, seems they always have to ask them to join first.

I did.  It still plays as the main theme when loading, so I just mute the sound until I'm in a neighborhood. :)  Yes... the sims chatted before, but it wasn't so involved that it took them hours to eat a meal together.

The bottom line is: eating is a social event.

It helps maintain our relationships in real life and in sim life. I appreciate the fact that they talk more, it helps maintain friendships and fulfils at least three needs when they eat: social, comfort and hunger while at the same time building new and existing relationships.

This is true.  The family that eats together stays together!  :)

Lilith Pleasant and her fiance are having lunch in their dorm cafeteria and she begins talking about this other college guy she finds attractive, and from the balloons that pop up from her fiance (a toy with an "X" through it, then a wedding ring), I gather he is reminding her that she shouldn't play around because she is engaged :D, to which she then smiles and shakes her head as if in agreement.

The other bottom line is that it can be detremental to a sims health.  Especially if they're pregnate and getting close to hunger desperation.  Last night my sim insisted on sitting down at the table with his pregnate wife and interupt her dinner.  She began eating so slowly that her hunger meter didn't go up, but still edged down a little.

I fully expect a hack to change the way they talk at the table back to the way they used to do it. 

Just pretend they are Italian.

Someone already suggested forming a casual group before leaving home. What I have done a few times is form a casual group on the spot, in the restaurant (though of course people you have never met are unlikely to accept).

The other thing is -- I think that is what the option "Be seated at counter" is for. I say "I think" because I haven't actually had a chance to test it yet, but I think it means that you will have a chance of socializing with other Sims who are sitting at the counter, either eating or drinking. (I'll test it next time I get a chance...)

I just had a sim child get rejected from private school because the headmaster took too long to eat his meal with all the chatting, so food points stayed at zero. When I had him back over I made him eat alone.   :-\

Still haven't got Nightlife, but I'm guessing "Be seated at counter" means meeting new people, the way sims do when they sat the bar (e.g. the University Way community lot in Uni) and there are already other sims on the bar stools?

The reason I ask is that I don't want my sims to know and befriend too many people at once. I usually have my sims concentrate on macro-skillinating on weekdays and call friends on a Saturday to maintain friendships. With autoyak and about 30 friends, it takes about one whole day from the moment it is light till late into the night before they've repaired the slides in the daily relationship meters over the week. And thank goodness for cellphones!

It'd be great if talking to a stranger sim doesn't automatically mean a memory of having "Met so-&-so" and instant exchange of phone numbers until they've been (self-)introduced. It shouldn't count as having met someone until there's a handshake or somebody's been greeted, or something to that effect, but oh well, it's Merola's Mind Control Mirror to the rescue in the meantime....

So, can someone verify this please? Many thanks in advance.

I'm betting a lot of money J.M. is not going to tolerate well the inefficiency of this taking-hours-to-eat business.

Family meals are quaint and all, but it's pretty obvious why everybody's sims are falling asleep face first in their plates so often.

I've come close to falling asleep on my keyboard waiting for my Sims to finish eating, I don't blame them one bit for passing out in their pasta.

They get memories of meeting everyone (including all the service NPCs like the person who shows them to their seat when dining etc).  When I have sims downtown, my other neighbourhood sims are there chatting away to any and everyone - a couple have made new friends I have had nothing to do with. 

Indeed, one particular sim (Kim) seems determined to win back her ex-husband (Ryan) entirely behind my back.  He hates her, but they keep meeting in town when I am not in control of either of them and chatting their way back to a positive relationship.  If Ryan hadn't already remarried I might just let her win... but she doesn't deserve him!

I've had one of my sims get into a fight with a strange woman while I was on the lot with a different sim. When I played that sim's lot next, the sim was furious at the sim he'd fought with, although I have no idea why they'd gotten into a fight in the first place, since he's happily married, and she was a complete stranger. ::)

Maybe she was one of those downtown slob townies who do nothing but walk around in their pjs and fart while sims are dining. 

Welcome to Nightlife.  :P

In my game there's this one old lady downtownie who absolutely despises this other downtownie guy who wears a bowling shirt. She's kicked the poor guy's ass several times too and everyone in town keeps gossiping about it. It seems like it never fails that every time I got to a lot those to are there and that old bag jumps him and kicks his ass. I have no idea what started it or why, all I know is since NL if a sim looks at another sim the wrong way it ends up in a knock down drag out fight.

The eating/talking only bothers me with big outings.  I have trouble making them fun in general, but letting them dine together is a sure killer.  The meter runs out before they're halfway through.   All that chatting doesn't seem to help the score.

:D I haven't seen the downtownies get into a fight yet.. although they did have a poking match where the guy got so mad he walked off the lot. miss crumplebottom sure is an alcoholic on my lots...

Sims sure do talk a lot at the dinner table... but it's mostly annoying when you're trying to get them off to work/school and their hunger meter isn't going up very fast.... they seem to giggle at nothing too at times  ??? (no one farted or burped)
I didn't realise till I had an open kitchen/living room sims eating can still talk to sims reading a book or sitting down elsewhere.  :)

LOL yep, I noticed that. She also likes to gamble and bowl on my lots as well. She may act like a prude, but she's got her vices too. I'd love to see the old bag try karoke sometime though. ;)

I hate the gossip insteed of eating had more then once visitors of my family wet there Pants while missing the toilet by excessive chatting. And my Sims kick the Townys and my other Sims always when i visit the Downtown. I have a Female Sim seen lurk on another Sim with the hearts over the had at one moment the next i have seen her fight him.

Okay, this is the topic that is driving me out of lurkerdom. This eating thing is driving me crazy! I am finding it IMPOSSIBLE to get children into private school now because of the zero food points thing.

Do you not get points if dinner takes too long? Has anyone found a strategy to deal with this crap? My Sim kids are coming home with their fun meter in the toilet, and I can't get them into ps, and it takes them so long to eat that there is less time for fun...so running a large house is a nightmare now, and pretty boring, too.

There, I feel a little better now.

Like dusty, I have the headmaster eat alone. You'll lose out on the potential schmooze points for the dinner conversation, but those are easy to make up (if you even need them). The 30-40 points you get for dinner are pretty much essential and if the timer runs out before he finishes, you're SOL.

I actually make everyone eat alone unless their social is also getting low. with 5-8 Sims in a house at a time, it's just too time-consuming to have everyone enjoy a family meal together.

Thank you. Can I ask you a couple of other questions? Do you have the headmaster eat right away, and then house tour, and then schmooze? What works best?

Also, I used to get bonus points for serving espresso, but now the hm won't touch it, which is odd. I know I sound like a clueless rube here, but any help would be appreciated.

ETA: Thank you gynarchy and gillies!

I personally start with the tour (dinner is usually still being made when the headmaster arrives), then immediately after the tour is finished I call him for dinner. If for some reason I didn't get the 90 points for dinner and the tour, then I start schmoozing as soon as he's done eating. I never ever let him wander off on his own because he always chooses things that I can't get him out of, like the hot tub or Myshuno. I have only used espresso once because schmoozing just wasn't doing the trick, so I don't know if that's a bug or what.

Usually I give him the tour then get every family member to talk to him, you can usually get 20-30 shmooze points this way. I used to get them to eat together but since installing Nightlife I only let one sim eat with him on the one occassion that called for a headmaster so far, and that was because they needed to eat badly. This generally only gets you 90-95 points but that is enough.

Incidentally I have seen a headmaster eat a full meal and still got zero points for it a couple of times - I don't know why that happened but I suspect someone ate some of the food on the plate he picked when called for dinner, though I have also seen him eat an almost finished plate and give something like 3-5 points, so I am not entirely convinced that this is why it happened.

One of my romance sims fell head over heals for the Red-head Kimberly slob townie.  Blech!   :D  I'm gonna break her slobby little heart when my romance sim dumps her like yesterday's trash.

C

Crammyboy has a new hack at MTS2 called Eat MoreTalk Less:

http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=94886

Thanks for that, Dog!   8)  This chatty stuff was driving me nuts too.

Max

With the headmaster, I usually wait for the dialogue that tells me he is hungry. If I call for dinner before that, he often won't eat and I lose the option to call for dinner again.

Where are the headmistresses?!?

PS Thanks U_Dog_U for the link to the hack. Most welcome!

I didn't mind the chatter too much (in my 8 person house, they're all on different schedules so usually only 2-4 of them ate together and it wasn't that bad) until I noticed they lose pts in hunger while they talk... having a meal and getting hungrier? no wonder it's like chinese take out.

And I'm totally infuriated that a food fight is a romantic interaction. The only way to keep that long table stuff from being boring is to add social activities to it and *none* of them work as a "friends and family" thing. Why in the world is throwing food at someone romantic?