Never had a kid at Uni before this, but I did have an odd glitch with the graduation of the last batch; finally threw a party at graduation for once and invited the Sim's younger brother and sister, who are children. I had a bunch of Sims graduating without saves, and so of course the Nuke Stuck Graduation option came up, similar to when you pay the bills but they haven't been picked up yet, and I used it, thinking it was stuck The Sims who'd already graduated appeared by the box, which was in an inaccessible place, and a few of them had passed out or wet themselves by the time I noticed and set them free.

Anyway, for some reason the child guests at the party were there too, and once their brother had graduated they ended up in the lot bin with him. Luckily I was plopping them all back at home anyway...

I've only gotten the 'random household object' icon in place of a Sim icon when someone invites a friend over via the computer.

I actually haven't had any family reunion memories at all... I think I have a hack in that suppresses them, though I would like some now and again, but considering the way Maxis spams memories and how related my Sims are, I think I'll just leave it in.

There's also the fact that the 'never went to college' memory comes up in a Sim's memories as 'completed freshman year'... so I'm not surprised some other memory is messed up, too. For something that can screw a game up so easily, memories sure are kinda buggy.

I had that happen in my dorm of twelve playables - two Family Sims, risky woohoo, freshman year, and it was her first woohoo, too. Maan. (I love it too, but it's a little more risky than the old risky hacks, apparently, so I have to change my playing style again.) I'm not sure what to do now, though, as I was playing normal time/speed, but the kid's a toddler now and they're sophomores, and with each semester lasting three days, the kid will practically be a teenager by the time I get them all through their "four years". Nor am I fond of the idea of keeping the kid a toddler or child for longer than any other Sim was, but I may just have to, because I'm having too much fun with that huge dorm to suddenly throw everyone into 'college on speed' mode.

Just to chime in also, I too had a glut of twins right after NL - five sets in a row, and none since. I'd taken out all my birth-affecting hacks because I wanted it to be more rare and more of a surprise, so it struck me as really odd.

The Risky Woohoo seems particularly risky lately also, but that could be because I'm using the InTeen version now whereas I was using either the 5% or 35% earlier (took that one out too once it got too common). It's almost like I'm -having- them Try, it works so well If it keeps up I'll have to see if there's some other way to get pregnancies without having to Try; I want surprises but I also don't want sooo many Sims clogging everything up.

Heh, well, if that's what it takes. I will use it anyway, though (after backing up, of course). If that assignable gravestone I used to have pre-NL still works with NL, all the better, then the decimated dead can have their tombstones too...

Would it be possible to add a 'nuke orphan sound effects' option to the debugger? I have one house in particular where the SSX3 sounds come up for no reason, and it's driving me batty. I deleted the video game player, the computer is no autonomy, but the sound still plays. Also, it happens with sinks sometimes, they'll finish but the water running sound still goes. That's not as annoying as the other, though, since you can delete the sink but I have no way to get rid of whatever's creating that sound...

Heh, maybe if I had the Maxis skin on my zombie he'd be less disturbing... I hadn't had any before I downloaded a default replacement from MTS2. It's a great horror skin but considering this Sim died accidentally, I didn't know I couldn't revert him, and he's also a Romance Sim (and I'm not gonna let him date)... I think it's time for him to become the First Cowplant Victim as well. I overplayed his actress aunt and she needs a little youthening to get back into line with the rest of the family, considering she's the youngest of ten but third closest to elder. *smirk*

I've been using the no-autonomy instruments too and they've been fine, since they're still around to use if I want them to, but the visitors won't be all over them...


I haven't noticed that with the swings, but there's one teen female voice that says something all excited when they're into a conversation, and once I decided it sounded like 'birthday-poo', I can't hear anything else and I can't stand it At least they grow up and get a new voice, maaan.

I believe there's a hack to prevent moving out after breaking up? I could have sworn I had it, too, but after one of my Romance Sims got caught cheating by the hubby and he broke up with her, off she walked. I just dumped her back into the house from the bin, though. Hah, no escaping for you!

I found my old Sims 2 preview disc that came with Makin' Magic (though it wasn't the one I'd seen the tattle-on-cheating thing) - and they weren't actual game movies of course, but I noticed that just about all those promo animations mixed in with the game footage featured someone sitting with a baby or toddler. Soo unfair, Maxis. As much as I love what we can do in TS2 that I had to beg for hacks for in TS1 ("Do you want to have a baby" with a visitor!), some things make it all too apparent that it's a matter of 'docking' and 'object interaction' instead of a feeling of personality and life.

I've found that the cheater doesn't get furious at the cheatee if you can intercept the slapfest before it starts. *grin* They don't get mad for getting caught, but they do when they're smacked for it.

Make sure you don't have notowniechildrenregen in, too... that was the culprit for my long lot loadtime, especially downtown. The other noregens seem to work okay. No idea if that's the problem, but since it was for me, I figured I'd mention it.

Oh yes, something else - Inge's shower kit you can stick anywhere is also enabled for visitor use. I have a house where, despite the controller, some visiting Sims (kids I think) can use it without a problem. Mostly, however, visitors will get stuck where they are stinky and want to use that shower, but unless I control them and let them use it, the bathroom controller keeps kicking them out. They won't go off and do something else, though, they just stand by the bathroom and continually try to run in again.

I was waiting till one of the fortune Sims wanted a maid, but since they didn't I finally got them one. I'll have to see now if they'll start getting bills, since don't the maids charge when they leave?

Without any dormies anymore, I've been using the llama mascot in particular to write term papers for the Sims who have the want to influence someone to do so. I guess there's a little use for them, heh. I've also noticed that a few Sims that I've stuck in another dorm but haven't played yet walk by the large dorm all the time, since there's no one else to walk by. Good thing they're playables and I want to interact with them, unlike the dormies...

Interesting... I don't often send my Sims to community lots anymore anyway, since I never had more than some stolen Pleasantview lots (never was very interested in making them), and just send them downtown instead, but it's good to know that they're generally the same, heh. I wonder, do comm lots get the gypsy walkby, too? I'll have to check that out also...

Since NL, but before now, I had been playing Uni on speed mode to get them through it and done, so I don't think I even left the Sims in the dorms long enough to get bills. However, playing normally now for once, I've noticed I haven't been getting bills either. It's a Maxis dorm, so there are definitely lots of doors, but no dormies as I nuked them all. Last time the mailman came by I watched him pause in front of the box and then continue on. I was interested to see how much the bills would be for that large a dorm, but eh, if they don't want to, I won't argue. I have this fix in regardless, though.

One issue I've had with this hack, which otherwise has been very useful, is when someone blocks the dishwasher, which the Sims prefer to use first, then other Sims will take dirty plates to the bathroom sink. I'm playing in the large 16-room dorm in Fiesta Tech with 13 playables and some are quite neat, so they will constantly be taking plates to wash into the bathroom and I can't cancel them out all the time. The controller will inevitably nab them to be used and I'll get a huge stack of stinky plates sitting in the bathroom. This happens of course in houses too. I wish the controller would just let them wash the plates. I've noticed the cafeteria worker can take them in and clean them just fine, likely because he never has to pee?

I had an odd headmaster bug last night too, when I opened a lot for the first time in a while. The headmaster showed up in his car randomly one day without being called, and with the kids already being in private school. I got the usual 'show him around' type message, but since they were already in the school I didn't want to bother, so I just had someone say goodbye. I didn't give it time to give me the scoring popup, so I don't know if there was going to actually be one or not. He gave me a snitty 'This isn't the kind of family we want associated with our institution' and walked off-lot like any visitor.

I'm curious - what about testing it at night? I've had some Sims spend all day at the neighborhood rec center, after I'd outfitted it with espresso and showers of course, and at night there are no Sims around at all. My controllable Sim was way in the orange in social and I resorted to having her chat it up with the clerk just to keep from social bunnying. Anyway, yeah, downtown, however, there always seem to be more Sims hanging out late at night. Is that the difference?

Using the Maxis diseases would seem to be the easiest, to me, and you can immunize your favorite Sims from dying that way with the various hacks that do that. I suppose stopping it once it's gotten would be the hard part, and of course you wouldn't lose babies and toddlers except to the social worker, hmm. I ended up keeping an Insim health monitor on almost every lot to nuke my last annoying disease roundabout since I got bored of not having visitors over while trying to get -everyone- better...

I haven't had any actually die of the disease after they get it when I'm playing their lot, though I've had two die as visitors on other lots and one die after I returned to the house. I have a lot of families and try not to play one too often so the Sims had the disease for a long time as visitors, and visitors' motives can get really low sometimes.

Ah, like the vampires, yes! Something that supposedly also stops after a certain percentage, too, because although I want to cull the herd, I -would- like to play with the ones that are left. *grin*

Ooh, I'll have to look at those. My newest one is "In the Wake of the Plague" - lots of interesting stuff. Like the Black Death may have been bubonic plague and anthrax at the same time - and if you have an ancestor who survived it, you may be immune to HIV...

Anyway, hmm, there are some ideas... I mean, yeah, the every tenth Sim thing... unless I totally closed my eyes or something, I'd end up lining them up so as to magically avoid certain Sims and, well, plague isn't choosy between your favorites  Though I suppose if it was a thing based on a disease, you could give certain ones immunity if you just -had- to, and then the NPCs would be immune too which would prevent more useless respawning. I don't have any townies except a few I made myself.

I have the scissors, too, but I've never seen them use them by themselves, they just kinda lay there.

I had an epidemic of the flu going around in my neighborhood for a while because I couldn't be bothered to keep visitors away and play each house till everyone was cured. A couple Sims did drop dead because they'd been visitors everywhere, and a couple were pleaded back and the other's mother failed to rescue him. He's my zombie now and I'm gonna cowplant him soon because he's depressing. Otherwise I just haven't had any random deaths, and I've tried - I've sent low Mechanial Sims to fix washers and trash compactors - a few shocks, but no deaths. The satellite is really rare and making them go cloud-watch is like selecting them to die, too.

I guess I just wish for random, out of my hands deaths, otherwise I may as well just kill all the more boring Sims in a mundane way and pretend I didn't choose

Semi-random thought/idea/request...

Well, I'm a fan of post-apocalyptic stories, writing and reading them, and also a medieval history buff, owning several books on the Black Death. So I had a thought about the Sims, and namely when the neighborhood starts getting big and unwieldy.

I was wondering if it was possible at all to create a Hack of the Apocalypse - namely, some hack which, when activated, will kill off a set percentage of your Sims at random. Even better to be able to choose between several percentages, if possible. Sure, you can fabricate this with current death hacks, but having to choose which Sims die is no fun - at least for me. There's some Sims I'd hate to lose, but if it makes the story of the survivors any more interesting... eh, I'd go for it. Obviously not a hack you'd use every day, but I think it'd make things interesting in a failing 'hood. *grin*

Not sure how it could be implemented, as the diseases in-game aren't very deadly unless you leave a Sim-uncured for a long time as a visitor, or if it even can at all... which is why I'm asking the experts. Heh heh.

R-r-rational discussion of a volatile subject? On the internet?! What sort of alternate reality have I stepped into?

Wow, this is what I like about this place, seriously...