More Awesome Than You!

I got given TS2 for Christmas and now have all the expansions and stuff packs (although I haven't played the most recent three much as they were omly installed recently).  I've never used downloads before (although I have now downloaded a small number of things from this site so I'll be trying them out soon).  I have spent the last couple of days reading various posts and threads on this site to try and further my understanding of the game (but I will obviously have failed to find the precise ones I need to answer my questions).  I found a lot of it very difficult to follow but I assume it will gradually get clearer as I read and play more.  Rather more worryingly I have discovered that the delightful makers of the game do not take the trouble to warn buyers about things that can make your game explode; I have just been reading a couple of threads dealing with deleting families from the bin, something which I have been doing without realising that it will cause problems.

I was wondering if someone with more experience than me (i.e. pretty much anyone) could help me with the following:

1.  Are there any other really important things I need to know that I must not / must do in order to protect the integrity of my game? It would be good if you could point me to any relevent topic threads.

2.  What are the most important tools/hacks that I would find useful to start with?  In particular to address significant issues rather than just slanting the game play slightly.

3.  What is SimPE?

1) The big three don'ts:

Never put a lot with Sims in it in the lot bin (package lot),
Never put Sims or occupied lots from the Exchange in your game,
Never delete a Sim from the Simbin

2) Anything labelled critical or higher here. Look in the hack threads for the "terror scale" images.

3) The editor. If you're a newbie, stay far away from it. You can easily destroy your game with it.

If you want, you can get the Director's Cut (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/ffs/seasons/moreawesomethanyou-seasons.zip) which should include all the necessary fixes as well as some pretty helpful features. You may want to look at the RTFM file for macrotastics before you install that, though.

SimPE (http://sims.ambertation.de/) isn't really that bad, as long as you don't screw with stuff that you have no comprehension about. I wouldn't go about downloading it until you want to edit some kind of download, personally. SimPE is possibly the biggest tool out there for the game, as well.

 

I don't think that the Maxoids actually know that doing certain things will make the game explode.

For hacks, hmmm. I think this is a personal thing. If you've installed Seasons, definitely install the warmthfix, indoorplantfix, and antiweatherreaction from  Pescado's files (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/ffs/seasons/hacks/). Those fix bugs that Maxis hasn't gotten around to patching yet. Other than that, as you play, you'll figure out which things really annoy you, and chances are, if it annoys you, it's annoyed someone else, and there's a hack here to stop the behavior.  :) But some of the things most of us have "fixed" in our games are useful, at first, for learning how Sims act and what their weaknesses are. But then, I played for the longest time (almost 2 years!) with only twojeff's college adjuster installed, and then eventually the dailygardener, and that was it.

Thanks for these.  I shall go on a hack hunting expedition.

Luckily I have never used the Exchange or packaged a lot so that's knocks a couple of things off my "learn to do" list.

In the longer run I think I will have to start understanding things like SimPE - at some point I want to rid myself of the wretched Ottomas family (ugly! ugly! ugly!) and from reading the thread on this it looks like I might need it (and lot debugger, deleted 2 and other stuff I don't understand).  However they are not in the hood I'm currently playing so I think I can leave that a while.  There are also a few god-ugly townies that I would like to put out of their suffering.

With pre-made families you don't want, or ugly townies, it might be easier to start a new hood than to remove them from your present one. I don't know if you've seen it but there's a good tutorial here on how to make all those pre-made families not come with your new neighbourhoods, and how to customise your townies.

However, my hoods don't normally last long because I find something new I want to implement from the start :P I think I'm just about done with things like that now, though, so maybe this one will last more than 4 generations. XD So in your case it might be easier to get face template replacements and delete the townies you don't want (but properly, through the deleting tutorial), it just depends on your neighbourhood(s) and the size and age.

I recommend you start using the empty templates by SaraMK, found in peasantry.
They prevent your game from spawning the same old townies, too many NPC's, strays, unwanted families, etc. Very useful.

the most important rule of simming:

Never, EVER touch ANYTHING if you don't know what it does.

the ONLY exception is anything that appears in a vanilla (non-hacked) game with no cheat codes turned on. And then, use sparingly.

RTFM for the win!

Honestly, learn to play with the Maxis families for a bit, but then trash the neighborhoods and create your own custom ones. Make sure to use SaraMK's clean templates. There's a decent recent thread here (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,7952.0.html) with someone who was looking to create a custom hood and wanted advice.

In my opinion, having your own unique hood and playing it from the dark ages is a million times better than some icky crowded Maxis hood. Shameless plug here: see the linky in my signature? Check it out, as well as the links to other custom face templates listed there. Some of the Maxis defaults are really scary.

With SimPE, it's a great tool, but keep to just messing with aspiration, skill level, and personality point changes for a long time, and read up before attempting anything else. Always attempt new things with that program on a dedicated testing neighborhood, that way you don't accidentally bomb the main one you play.

Another thing to avoid as much as possible is marrying or moving in NPC's such  as college professors, college mascots, the private school headmaster, and few others. The problem with them is that even when they become playable sims, they keep some of their NPC code, and you will get odd things like a former mascot showing up on community lots in his mascot costume. This does not necessarily destroy the game, but it can be very annoying.

Some NPC's, such as maids, gardeners, delivery people, clerks, and bartenders, are safe to move in or marry.


Here's a great rule to follow: If a glitch occurs, leave the lot without saving. Especially if you think the glitch is caused by a hack or by using debug mode.


One more thing you should do as soon as possible is to go to the Program Files\EA Games directory and make all your objects.package files Read Only. Every once in a while the game will decide to corrupt these files, making your game unplayable.

And finally... if your game or Bodyshop stops loading or hangs on loading, it may help to delete Groups.cache which is located in C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2 

Being more of a lurker then a participant, I can safely tell you that you've come to the right place to learn about the game.  Follow their advise and you should do ok.
One thing no one mentioned is to make backup copies of your game, especially prior to downloading hacks.  I've created a folder just for hacks, each creator has their own folder it makes it easier when a new EP comes out and you have to update your hacks.
SaraMK's cleaned up hoods are great.  I downloaded the hoods that have the cleaned up Maxis families in it the first time, so I could experiment with that hood.  Then I started creating my own.

Good luck and have fun.
Gail

This is all very helpful, Thanks.  I had worked some things out already and yes, I had spotted the deleting/customising townies tutorial - I put it on my "things to do when I'm feeling a bit more confident list" - I tend to find every fifth word of any computer related instructions incomprehensible (didn't understand the Deleted 2 instructions at all!).

On blank templates - are these only for some of the possible landscapes or all of them?

I've never actually played any of the main Maxi hoods, I made up my own right from the start (don't quite know why) but I am playing the standard downtown, bluewater, uni ones.  I'd rather not start a new hood just yet as I'm quite attached to the current one and I haven't really played very far in time (I have made far too many playable characters and its taking ages - I need to start killing the dull ones).  I will use the suggested advice when I do get round to a new hood.

Saw the thing about Groups.cache elsewhere on the site and did it (although who knows whether I will remember to do it again in the future - memory not what it once was!).

On the objects.package files - sorry to be dim but what am I looking for? went to the EA games directory - it has folders for each of the EPs but not sure what I'm looking for inside these.  Also when I've found them, how do I make them read-only?  Is it a standrad right-click function?

I also recommend backing up your game regularly.  I play each lot in sequence one day at a time and I backup the Neighborhoods and Downloads directories at the end of every game day.

Never save the game with anyone talking on a cell phone (I assume that bug wasn't fixed in Pets or Seasons).  That lot will be corrupted and unplayable, though there is a fiddly way to fix it.  I save each lot only at 6 am as everyone is waking up so no one is on the phone.

I would definitely take the advice about installing hacks sparingly to learn how awesome they are. I discovered the FOJ because I was at my wits' end with the goddam homework cheering in the base game. I was a little nervous about it (you know, popping my hack cherry, as it were), but oh, the sweet relief.

I would advise against installing the director's cut right away because of its very awesomeness. Take a bit of time to learn what really bugs you about the game, but also about how things work. Have fun.

Also, read some stories.

The empty templates work for any neighborhood terrain (I think that's what you mean by landscape).

The Pleasantview one prevents the Pleasantview townies and NPC's (http://thesims2.ea.com/exchange/story_detail.php?asset_id=34891) from being dumped into every custom neighborhood you create. The empty sub-neighborhood templates (Uni, Downtown, etc.) prevent sims from those sub-neighborhoods from being dumped into your neighborhood when you attach that type of sub-neighborhood. It doesn't matter if you use the pre-made Maxis sub-neighborhoods or if you create a new one from scratch using a custom terrain.

If you ever intend to play the Maxis neighborhoods, then I really recommend that you insall the fixed Maxis neighborhoods that I linked to before. These fix various glitches, like DNA mistakes and memory problems, AND the Pleasantview one still prevents ugly sims from being dumped into custom neighborhoods. If you install the empty Pleasantview, all the Maxis playable sims will also be deleted and you basically won't be able to play Pleasantview (because it will be completely empty).


Go to Program Files\EA Games and then do a search for objects.package. Select everything that comes up in the seach, right-click and choose Properties. Toward the bottom of the window that will pop up is a checkbox that says Read-only. Check the box (if already checked, uncheck and then check again) and click the Apply button, then the Okay button. You need to remember to do this every time you install a new patch or expansion pack.

Primary thing is to take everything here with a grain of salt.  If you spend much time here you'll get the impression that turning on your game will make it explode. 

Thanks for the explanation of the empty and fixed neighbourhoods.

Do I make a file called SPObjects.package read only as well?

Yes.

heh, it wasn't until I started a brothel with OFB that I found out that the mascot I moved in to his own place 2-3 generations ago is black O.o

Hmm, the link goes to a deleted thread with a "stolen content" message...

Oh good lord. Apparently one of the templates looked a whole lot like one of linuslover's. He let me know that people were saying I stole his sim....which I didn't. I told him I hadn't but I'd be happy to change it if he thought it looked too similar. He said not to, he just wanted to let me know in case I had any angry PMs. Well, now it's been removed by HystericalParoxysm with no advance warning and a clear message not to PM them back.

Whatever. I just thought I'd share them since I'd taken so much time making them for myself. If they want to jump to conclusions and assume that because one has a slight resemblance to one of 20,000 (number pulled out of my nether regions) of uploaded sims that it's stolen, their loss. That's just a lovely way to treat a new contributor. I'll be sure to keep my lots and such to myself from now on, since I won't deal with TSR anymore.

It was just there yesterday too, damn. I was on the other computer so didn't download it.  ::) MTS2 keeps getting worse and worse every minute.   ::)

Zazazu, you should upload your stuff here.

We'd be more than happy to delete it for being stolen have it.

Zazazu can't upload it here.  The file would be way too large for the 640k file limit. 

However, she could upload it to a filehosting site and link to it here.

That'd be nice.  Then we could e-mail them to delete the stolen file download it!

Now, don't let HP's silliness get you down.  Upload them at a smaller site with less draconian policies and you should be fine.

Sorry to divert your thread, Sooze.  Welcome aboard, and don't hesitate to ask for help or information if you need it.  :)