Apartment Life Borkiness, or how i ended the world in 1 hour.

[Inge]

When you invite her over her needs probably need filling so she just leaves right away.

No, I made an apartment NPC controllable and what is happening is that a controller keeps pushing an action that looks like a big brown block onto his queue and it forces him to go back and stand behind the door of his apartment. 

[Kyna]

Has anyone else noticed their sim's portrait changing EVERY time they change clothes? I mean everytime they take a bath or change to pj's the portrait changes.  Before AL it only changed when I used the mirror!

I don't like the feature.  Some of those poses are atrocious, particularly for some age groups.  For some reason, female children in my game like to get the pose I think of as "broken neck" pose, where their head is angled so far back and to one side that it looks like their neck has snapped.

When a sim age-transitions in my game I spend some time regenerating their portraits on the batbox or clothing tool to make sure they don't have the worst of the poses.  Now I may as well not bother, because they'll probably get one of the awful poses the next time they shower.

[HystericalParoxysm]

Also, I am dying over some of the LULZy borks described, you guys. But there are no pictures! Please post pictures. INVISIBLE BURNING TREE? HP's magical INVISIBLE LIVING ROOM?

POAST LOLSIMS PIX PLZ NAO.

The magical invisible living room: http://www.modyourpanties.com/hosting/3090_080829052038wtf.jpg

This was with some architecture that I now know fucks things up - an additional entrance in front fenced only with that little edging fence and also used to divide the living room from dining room... but what the hell?!

I think I'm going to have to redo the whole fracking lot and change some of the architecture.  Which pisses me off as it's based on a real life place.

Aside: The "rent furnished" option on apartment doors in debug mode just falls out of the queue when I try to use it.

[Alex]

Are the Nightlife hood-deco buildings missing from the catalog now, or did I screw something up? I could have sworn they were on the last tab where the new AL deco buildings are, but they're not showing up for me. As near as I can tell, all other objects from NL *are* showing up though.

The Nightlife high-rise decorative that looked like an apartment building or hotel seems to be replaced by the shiny mid-rise Apartment Life building with the "H" feature on the roof (the second unselected icon in this menu.)  I tried adding the default Downtown to a neighborhood and the newer AL building is there a few times, clipping through Club Lulu and a park.

Oh no! How could they be so stupid? Now my Downtown is going to have giant square buildings clipping through everything. Argh!  

The 24 hour clock issue can be resolved by going into the globals file and changing "false" to "true" (or vice versa if that's how you want it). EAxis were too stupid to make that option actually save.

Yeah, I finally figured out what's causing the annoying portrait changes. I think EAxis changed it so the portrait automatically regenerates when you change a sim's everyday outfit (so you don't need to use the mirror, I read this as a "feature"), but instead it regenerates every time your sim changes into their everyday/maternity outfit. Phail (and Kyna, nice to know I'm not the only one that spends time trying to get decent poses).

[IAmTheRad]

Yet ANOTHER bug found.

AL broke vacations. The locals will NOT gesture at all, instead they do the 'greet' which is the handshake which crushes your queue.

Also, tourists don't show up except in rare situations...

So, EAxis broke BV with AL.

[Chain_Reaction]

So if you put a playable into an apartment you had furnished in case an NPC moved in, and then you move them out, do you have to refurnish it ready for the next NPC? 

That's a very good question I'd like the answer to. I'm assuming you do because it would be asking way too much for them to code it smart so it saves where you had things both before you move someone in, then when you refurnish it after it deletes everything.

Also... using the rent furnished option, does anyone know if the game raises the rent through the roof because of the additional stuff or is it clueless and only counts the things it normally would such as the bathroom objects, etc?

Let's hear it for EAXis!

I had a feeling THIS was going to happen:
[snip]

Were you trying to use apartments on college lots or something?

Yet ANOTHER bug found.

AL broke vacations. The locals will NOT gesture at all, instead they do the 'greet' which is the handshake which crushes your queue.

Also, tourists don't show up except in rare situations...

So, EAxis broke BV with AL.

Whoa that's a pretty major bug, bravo to them. So I guess they manged to install BV and find out that beach lots don't work with apartments but ended the testing there. I don't really understand why apartments don't work on beach lots though... I mean its still a building, why on earth would it make the water and things go wacky like it does?

[Alex]

Just out of curiosity, do the descriptions for the spells in the spellbook have linebreaks? I mean, does each sentence appear on a different line? Every localisation bar EngUK (surprise surprise) has linebreaks, but I don't know if they actually appear/work in the game. EngUK just squashes all the text together.

I notice they didn't include a name or description for the tech column.

[fway]

Let's hear it for EAXis!

I had a feeling THIS was going to happen:
[snip]

Were you trying to use apartments on college lots or something?

Absolutely not. I just wanted to use that stove because it had an industrial feel to it.  Alas, I realized that since they just "borrow" from every other expansion pack, that this wouldn't work at all.

[DiscoNinja]

i cant wait til some of this borked shit is fixed until then i think im just going to stay the hell away from apartments. Grr!

[Giggy]

Well, I've run into a big problem into community lots, apparently they now refuse to load meaning the loading screen freezes halfway thru.
Great, thanks a fucking lot eaxis, now I have to wave the fucking magic wand on every lot to fix it.

Edit: Another annoyance, pets respawn, DO.NOT.WANT!
They make my lot buggy

[Lonesome Dove]

The 24 hour clock issue can be resolved by going into the globals file and changing "false" to "true" (or vice versa if that's how you want it). EAxis were too stupid to make that option actually save.

Please explain the procedure, this has been driving me nuts. What globals file and where is it?

Yeah, I finally figured out what's causing the annoying portrait changes. I think EAxis changed it so the portrait automatically regenerates when you change a sim's everyday outfit (so you don't need to use the mirror, I read this as a "feature"), but instead it regenerates every time your sim changes into their everyday/maternity outfit. Phail (and Kyna, nice to know I'm not the only one that spends time trying to get decent poses).

I like that their portraits change when they change their everyday clothes. I wish they'd included this feature sooner. Hope they don't switch it back with the inevitable patch, but also hope a hack comes along to satisfy those who don't like changing portraits.

[notveryawesome]

I will definitely be waiting until all necessary fixes, hack-updates, and official patches are completed before installing this EP. I was all psyched about it, and had decided to actually install it nao, instead of  waiting, like I normally do,  but after reading this thread, I'll take my usual 'watch and wait' approach. FFS, can't EA get anything right the first time round? Eh, I already know the answer to that. Never mind.

[Alex]

Go to [Drive]:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Apartment Life\TSData\Res\Config and open the "globalProps" file in Notepad. Near the bottom it should say  "<AnyBoolean key="force12HrTime" type="0xcba908e1">false</AnyBoolean>". Change "false" to "true" to permanently enable the 12 Hour Clock. Change "true" to "false" to get 24 hour time. Save and close the file. There's all kinds of options in there, but I recommend not tinkering with anything else unless you know what you're doing (not that it will particularly do bad things to your game, but still). Changing this particular option is completely safe however.

[Grugly]

Funny how quickly it goes from "Oh well I'll install this one FFS hack that fixes something that annoys me" to "I'll download them all but leave out the ones I don't like" to "I won't even try to play the new EP until Pescado's updated all the old hacks and fired off a dozen new ones."

I think this is the point where you have to admit your multi-million dollar entertainment franchise has failed. Except that it hasn't... the BBS is full of people angrily shouting down bug reports, saying "You have to take it with a grain of salt" and implying the bug reporters are either whiny or stupid. I always go there with the intent of enjoying a good argument, and I always close the window five minutes later shaking with rage.

Next time I want to buy an EA game I'll just donate the damn money here instead. At least that way it's going to someone whose stuff always works, who fixes it when it doesn't, and who supports it until it becomes completely outdated.

[Rissa]

Well Belladonna isn't flat like I initially thought. One more useless hood to be added to the list.
*removed pic*

I have the same problem, but with the Downtown. Is this a known bug? Never had this happen before...
I have downloaded a lot of Plasticbox' fake row houses from MTS2 and put them into Downtown. I then entered the lots, made the necessary changes (removing back entrance etc.), change the lot zoning, saved, left the lot, reentered, left again. Until now everything is fine.
Now that I move in a family I see this happen:
click and click
Looks as if the whole lot sinks in a bit, and the other lots which are built directly next to this lot are floating...

Will need to test it in other hoods, but it really isn't fun to play that way.

[fway]

it's too bad that modifyneighborhoodterrain can't be used when there's a lot that you want to fix.

You all may want to try this though and see what happens:

1. Move the lot somewhere
2. use the cheat modifyneighborhoodterrain on
3. Level the terrain by dragging your cursor across the borked land (I believe ] is the key to level it).
4. Move the lot back onto where you want it back

I haven't done it myself, but I was thinking about putting that cheat to use.

[Lord Darcy]

I've been looking into the SP objects that EAxis "updated" in AL.

1) EAxis fixed K&B Trash Compactor in FT p2, but break it again in AL, by throwing "Compost Contents" function out of the window.
2) Teens and Elders cannot change/plan outfits in H&M clothing booth, because the idiots forgot to enable those functions for certain age groups.
3) Borked translations for almost all K&B appliances.

More borks may lurk somewhere, I haven't finished updating my fixes yet.
For God's sake leave SP objects alone, I'd rather use my own SP object fixes than resorting to this poor excuse of an update, kthxbi.

As AL is probably the last EP, I guess it's time to make an ultimate SP object fix for AL, rolling all my past SP fixes into one.

[Alex]

Well Belladonna isn't flat like I initially thought. One more useless hood to be added to the list.
*removed pic*

I have the same problem, but with the Downtown. Is this a known bug? Never had this happen before...

This has happened to me as well, in Strangetown. The house next to the Grunt's house is sunken a bit and there's a huge gap between the two houses. I figure simply moving the house and moving it back will fix it, but I can't be bothered to try it yet.

Fortunately there will be no more expansion packs. Although, apparently there's a new stuff pack called "Mansion & Garden Stuff".

[Hejira]

I think this is the point where you have to admit your multi-million dollar entertainment franchise has failed. Except that it hasn't... the BBS is full of people angrily shouting down bug reports, saying "You have to take it with a grain of salt" and implying the bug reporters are either whiny or stupid. I always go there with the intent of enjoying a good argument, and I always close the window five minutes later shaking with rage.

It's not the sheep at the BBS that piss me off. It's the Maxoids.

I think the problem with each new expansion pack is EAxis' superiority complex. A feeling that they can do no wrong and any glitch or oopsie is the fault of the consumer. For example, I think the fact that people are pissed about not having a CD version means they're aware of what drive they've got in their computer, kthx.

Could Maxoid_Hydra possibly be anymore condescending? "We are aware that some people in this community aren't professional computer programmers, like us, so we've dumbed down every put the technical process of playing our game into plain English so everyone can understand.

"First, look at that box that may look like it does nothing. It's actually very important, believe it or not. Push the button that has a drawing on it that looks like an upside-down lollipop. If the TV next to the important box doesn't start showing pretty pictures, it should also have an upside-down lollipop somewhere. Press it.

"Now we wait for Mr. Computer to ask you for your login details. Hopefully you've remembered them..."

[Lonesome Dove]

Go to [Drive]:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Apartment Life\TSData\Res\Config and open the "globalProps" file in Notepad. Near the bottom it should say  "<AnyBoolean key="force12HrTime" type="0xcba908e1">false</AnyBoolean>". Change "false" to "true" to permanently enable the 12 Hour Clock. Change "true" to "false" to get 24 hour time. Save and close the file. There's all kinds of options in there, but I recommend not tinkering with anything else unless you know what you're doing (not that it will particularly do bad things to your game, but still). Changing this particular option is completely safe however.

Thank you very much!

[Roux]

Noticed a few more bugs. A text error. In this pic, the sim was talking with one of the social group townies named Solveig. The text string has the wrong name.


The new medicine cabinets aren't fully functioning in apartments for me. When used in an apartment, only "brush teeth" and "wash face" are appearing on the menu. In regular residences, all the normal mirror functions were also appearing (practice speech, change appearance, etc.). Anyone else noticing this, or is it just my game?


Also, some nanny weirdness. Nanny prepared meal and placed it on the counter. Then the nanny got in a continuous loop of picking up the platter and serving it. Meanwhile, the sim kid couldn't grab a plate because it hadn't been served, I guess. After several loops, the nanny finally completed the serve interaction and the sim kid was able to grab a plate.

[Aner-Dyfan]

Roux there are 2 medicine cabinets. One with a mirror and one without, that caught me out initially.

[Sigmund]

Well Belladonna isn't flat like I initially thought. One more useless hood to be added to the list.
*removed pic*

I have the same problem, but with the Downtown. Is this a known bug? Never had this happen before...

This has happened to me as well, in Strangetown. The house next to the Grunt's house is sunken a bit and there's a huge gap between the two houses. I figure simply moving the house and moving it back will fix it, but I can't be bothered to try it yet.

I also had this same problem pre-AL, with the same house in Strangetown. I tried moving different families in and out several times,and never did manage to make that gap go away.

[Roux]

Roux there are 2 medicine cabinets. One with a mirror and one without, that caught me out initially.

Grumble. That's silly, but then again, they have two varieties of enclosed closets: one with mirror, one without, and only 1 simolean difference in price. Thanks for clarifying. Lemme guess, one's in mirrors, the other's in wall hangings or miscellaneous or somesuch nonsense?

[Zazazu]

it's too bad that modifyneighborhoodterrain can't be used when there's a lot that you want to fix.

You all may want to try this though and see what happens:

1. Move the lot somewhere
2. use the cheat modifyneighborhoodterrain on
3. Level the terrain by dragging your cursor across the borked land (I believe ] is the key to level it).
4. Move the lot back onto where you want it back

I haven't done it myself, but I was thinking about putting that cheat to use.

I highly doubt it would work, unless they majorly changed the way the game works. Uneven lots bork terrain. You move it and flatten the area you moved it from, all that's going to happen is that the area is going to go back to it's funked up state when you replace the lot, plus you'll have a new uneven spot where you temporarily placed the lot (granted, fixable with the cheat). My solution has been to use LotAdjuster to expand the lot, go in and flatten terrain, then use Lot Adjuster to change it back to its original dimensions. I haven't tried using LotAdjuster yet, as it's not officially ok for Apartment Life. I suspect it'll choke on load due to the new formats.

The 24 hour clock issue can be resolved by going into the globals file and changing "false" to "true" (or vice versa if that's how you want it). EAxis were too stupid to make that option actually save.

Please explain the procedure, this has been driving me nuts. What globals file and where is it?

Yeah, I finally figured out what's causing the annoying portrait changes. I think EAxis changed it so the portrait automatically regenerates when you change a sim's everyday outfit (so you don't need to use the mirror, I read this as a "feature"), but instead it regenerates every time your sim changes into their everyday/maternity outfit. Phail (and Kyna, nice to know I'm not the only one that spends time trying to get decent poses).

I like that their portraits change when they change their everyday clothes. I wish they'd included this feature sooner. Hope they don't switch it back with the inevitable patch, but also hope a hack comes along to satisfy those who don't like changing portraits.

Thing is, they don't only change when they change clothes. They change all the time. Pet icons change. Even on my rig, this causes a split-second lag. I agree with others, this feature needs to die.

I had a couple new bugs last night that I took the requested photos for but then forgot to upload them. Will do when I get home. Remember the occasional issue with invisible dormies? Well, now we can have semi-transparent flashing neighbors!