What hacks/fixes are absolutely necessary

[kazebird]

I like to keep my downloads at a minimum, and am not sure what fixes are necessary to play the game properly. So tell me what you always have in your downloads folder, and why. I am trying to say that I am not sure which fixes here are critical to preventing BFBVFS, and want you guy's input.

[kutto]

Hacks (at least from here) are so small compared to other forms of CC, that it is basically negligible. Go for the gold and get them all.

[kazebird]

Well another thing, is some of pescado's hacks in the directory that are supposed to be for AL look outdated, because they say they were tested with NL p0, like nocorruptdeath for example.

[kutto]

If they are in the directory, they are updated. He just never updates the RTFM.

[Gastfyr]

Well, you don't need to get them all.  Some of the hacks are "features" meaning they do things that are not nessacary but may add fun to your game or may just be annoying if they go against your play style.  I always read carefully what a hack does before I download it.

A very helpful thing Pez does is the hack rating thing with the colours at the top of each hack thread.  It tells you if the hack is meant to fix something (e.g. doorjamfix), elimiate an annoyance (e.g. coffeecuphack), or add a feature (e.g. fitness4all).  I do recomend getting all the fixes, since Maxis left so much stuff broken your game can slowly spiral into a BFBVFS simply by playing it unhackedfixed.

[Gwill]

The whole of the DC is 1.1 MB.  That's about the size of one badly made CC outfit.
If it's the size of the downloads folder you're worried about, you're starting in the wrong end.

[Zazazu]

Yeah, I'd just say to download the whole DC. Then weed through and see if there are any you don't really want. I don't use noinstantlove, authorizedpersonnelonly, babycontrol, bathroomusesyou, and noroadpillows. I think that's it. One of the good things about MATY hacks is that you can usually get a good idea of what they do from the name.

[Mandapotpie]

At the very least, I would make sure to have any hack that includes "fix" in the name of the file.

[kutto]

Yeah, I'd just say to download the whole DC. Then weed through and see if there are any you don't really want. I don't use noinstantlove, authorizedpersonnelonly, babycontrol, bathroomusesyou, and noroadpillows. I think that's it. One of the good things about MATY hacks is that you can usually get a good idea of what they do from the name.

You don't use BUY? How do you live?

[funkilla]

I don't use BUY either. My Sims don't really lurk in bathrooms and only go in to use to potty or shower or if I direct them to. I've never had an issue where I needed BUY.

[Zazazu]

Yeah, I'd just say to download the whole DC. Then weed through and see if there are any you don't really want. I don't use noinstantlove, authorizedpersonnelonly, babycontrol, bathroomusesyou, and noroadpillows. I think that's it. One of the good things about MATY hacks is that you can usually get a good idea of what they do from the name.

You don't use BUY? How do you live?

I haven't had issues with bathroom traffic since basegame. Even in my ridiculously sim-heavy households. I don't really understand why so many people seem to have trouble. Make potty-shower paths clear (a 2x3 is definitely enough room) and keep to a 2 sim/bathroom ratio.

[bubbs]

I don't use BUY either.  I normally have a ratio of 1 bathroom to 1.5 sims. 

[Marhis]

Ditto; never had the need to use BUY. It's very rare, also, that I need to tell them to go pee or bath, they do it all by themselves. The only one that peed its pants so far was because it remained stuck in a corner between the sofa and the coffee table, and I wasn't aware of that.

[BrokenRobot]

The hacks are already categorized and color coded by level of importance.  What more do you want?

I use all of the bug fixes and most of the annoyance fixes, but I don't think I use any of the feature hacks.

[kazebird]

What I am worried about is downloading hacks that are no longer needed, and I don't fully trust downloads in general. I think that I should not rely on third party content unless it is absolutely necessary to run the game properly.

[kutto]

What I am worried about is downloading hacks that are no longer needed, and I don't fully trust downloads in general. I think that I should not rely on third party content unless it is absolutely necessary to run the game properly.

I can't fully express how dumb you sound right now. The hacks in the directory are needed. If they are obsolete, they are removed. Why don't you trust downloads? Been eating too much BBullShit? And the hacks are necessary to run the game properly! Without them, you are guaranteed to get a BFBVFS.

[kazebird]

But if you think about it, most game problems are caused by tight pants.

[kazebird]

I never said I don't download fixes, I just meant I am very choosy on what I download. Also I did not mean to humble the great pescado.

[bubbs]

I never said I don't download fixes, I just meant I am very choosy on what I download. Also I did not mean to humble the great pescado.

The only fixes I use are Pescado's.  I don't even use the patches since they break more than they fix.

[cascaneda]

I don't use all fixes just because they exist or fix something.

I do like some bugs in the game and after some years I 'm used to live with them. Example : I never used any phone fix or hack, and I'm still alive, even with some sims having more than 40 buddies. It was a major annoyance when I had no experience with the game but at this time there was no fix for it and I learnt how to play with this issue.

I even removed some hacks or fixes jut to get back the good old bugs, like the noeatcrap. I perfer them to eat crap and get disease if they are stupid enough to do this. The sims are not supposed to be very smart, if they act like idiots then it's their own business
I keep only the ones I need and the ones I think are critical. I don't care if my romance sim get the right memory for 20 wooohoos or a golden tombstone because he died in platinum. But I care about real bugs able to crash the game for good. It makes a big difference

And since the basegame, fix or not, I never had a game not ending in a BFBVFS. Do you really still use the same NB you created the first time you installed the basegame ?

[sloppyhousewife]

And since the basegame, fix or not, I never had a game not ending in a BFBVFS.

I wonder why

[notovny]

And since the basegame, fix or not, I never had a game not ending in a BFBVFS. Do you really still use the same NB you created the first time you installed the basegame ?

I do. I've played, almost daily, in Pleasantview since October, 2004. I install fixes when they become available, and usually install patches, as well.

[J. M. Pescado]

I don't use BUY either. My Sims don't really lurk in bathrooms and only go in to use to potty or shower or if I direct them to. I've never had an issue where I needed BUY.

The problem tends to be that they don't GTFO afterwards. Then some other sim decides to telepathically seek them, and pretty soon everyone is piled up in this one tiny room and no one can use it. This problem may actually be slightly reduced due to other hacks that nerf the psychic-seeking behavior, but traffic management remains an issue.

[cascaneda]

And since the basegame, fix or not, I never had a game not ending in a BFBVFS. Do you really still use the same NB you created the first time you installed the basegame ?

I do. I've played, almost daily, in Pleasantview since October, 2004. I install fixes when they become available, and usually install patches, as well.

Really ? Well, I must admit since 2004 my computers or hard drives ended more often in a BFBVFS than the games. Perhaps it is a curse or I am really careless, I can't keep any computer working for more than 2 years, not to mention the hard drives with an average lifespan of 1 year.
I can't tell for sure but I remember the installation of nightlife was fatal to all previoulsy played neighborhoods, the best fixes came too late to save them as they were already corrupted just by installing the expansion. You probably did not get all the Eps as soon as they were released because of course patches and fixes come later than the game itself and then could prevent the corruption but not repair it afterwards.
The next major step was the installation of Freetime. I lost the previous neighborhoods here as well (lot didappearances and character corruption) Too much work to repair, It was faster to create a new neighborhood using the custom template than to repair the old ones
The oldest neighborhood I have now is a generic template I made, 2 computers ago  in november 2006. As it is a template I don't really played it, I just use it as a base neighborhood

[notovny]

I can't tell for sure but I remember the installation of nightlife was fatal to all previoulsy played neighborhoods, the best fixes came too late to save them as they were already corrupted just by installing the expansion. You probably did not get all the Eps as soon as they were released because of course patches and fixes come later than the game itself and then could prevent the corruption but not repair it afterwards.

You guess incorrectly. I've gotten every expansion that's come out either the day it was available, or within a few days.  Nightlife didn't destroy my neighborhood, and if you ask around, you'll probably find it didn't kill most people's neighborhoods.

I have been using Pescado's hacks since his fix for the base game's  "jump bug" manifested in my neighborhood, and the only time I've absolutely needed to reinstall was when I installed University, but I'd backed up my game like the manual mentioned, and the reinstall went smoothly.

And I've done some rather damaging things to this neighborhood, before I knew they were bad.  If I hadn't known about the hacks, and put them in as news about them became available, I don't think I'd still be playing the same neighborhood now.