On getting rid of duplicate Maxis Bin people and Ottomas...

[Writin_Reg]

would it bork my game if I used the "agesimscheat" and aged the sims down to child age and had the social worker come take them away?

Thanks to a Pet Sitter I had staying with my cats, I came back from the hospital to discover she had been playing my Sims game on my pc and sent 4 years of playing my hoods down the drain by not only putting Securom back on my pc, she uninstalled/reinstalled all the games. I had backed up files for all my custom hoods on a different HD, but after removing Securom and reinstalling with the crack, are now stuck with all those bin people. Someone mentioned if I just deleted them, it'd cause problems with the hoods. Right now after dealing with all the Securom and reinstalling, I'm just not up to copng with anything much more mind boggling than healing right now, so I would really appreciate your advice.

 I have all the packs but Holiday. Thanks in advance for any and all advice.

[rufio]

I just used Inge's teleporter to make them all into townies.

Except for the Ottomas, who are mostly buried in other people's backyards at this point.

[Writin_Reg]

That means I need to play the dreaded Ottomas? I was trying to avoid it if at all possible as a few people seem to think just having them in the game glitches the hood unless the patch for that pack fixed that problem. Is her hack on this site?

Alright I went and found the Teleporter - the Top one says updated for Apartment life, will that one cause any problems as I have M & G and use the crack for M & G? I'm sorry for sounding like a royal pain in the arse, but after spending all morning getting my pc Securom free and everything reinstalled ( a 7 hour project) all with only 1 somewhat blurry eye to use (my right eye was operated on and I've got a lovely patch). Needless to say I make the world's worse partially blind person. My cordination stinks. That aside so that I do not foul what little success I've managed today - please advise. Thank you.

[SnootCB]

Thanks to a Pet Sitter I had staying with my cats, I came back from the hospital to discover she had been playing my Sims game on my pc and sent 4 years of playing my hoods down the drain by not only putting Securom back on my pc, she uninstalled/reinstalled all the games.

That is grounds for a cowplanting.

[Writin_Reg]

Believe me, she is lucky I don't have one. Her only saving grace is she kept very good care of my 13 cats - one of which is old and ill - hence the reason I needed a cat sitter. She is my vets neice.

[phyllis_p]

Hi, Reg.  If you'll trust an old "foe" -- some patch along the line fixed the Ottomas' genetic glitch, so you should be okay.  Even when the genetics were glitched, it was fine as long as the father of the twins didn't turn out to be a pet. There's nothing inherently buggy about the Ottomas family outside of that - at least not that I've ever been aware of -- except that their offspring are generally Ugly with a capital U.  If I'm wrong, someone here will jump out and point and laugh at me 

You can get Inge's stuff at simlogical.

P.S. Hope you recover soon.

[rufio]

I don't think there's anything wrong with having the Ottomas in your hood - my sims just really didn't like them, for some reason.  The glitch with them was that Samantha Ottomas' twins would turn out of be the children of some random townie rather than her husband, and yes, the Seasons patch fixed that.

Ninja'd by phyllis.

[jolrei]

There's nothing inherently buggy about the Ottomas family outside of that - at least not that I've ever been aware of -- except that their offspring are generally Ugly with a capital U.  If I'm wrong, someone here will jump out and point and laugh at me 

Nope - spot on.  They're ugly. 

I just townified them in my game.  I needed a family of townies with kids (some socialization of my playable simsproggs is desirable at times).  I don't plan to ever let them "marry in".

[Zazazu]

Believe me, she is lucky I don't have one. Her only saving grace is she kept very good care of my 13 cats - one of which is old and ill - hence the reason I needed a cat sitter. She is my vets neice.

Note for the future: password-protect your PC, even if you live by yourself. I usually hide my major electronics if I know that service personnel would be coming in. I did when I had a cat sitter, and she was someone I completely trusted as she had been a long-time assistant of my mom. I can't believe the audacity...why would she think she had any right to touch your computer, much less make changes to it?

Personally, I would kill and Deleted 2 the Ottomas clan.

[Nova]

Personally, I would kill and Deleted 2 the Ottomas clan pet sitter.

[Writin_Reg]

(Phyllis - I don't hold grudges - you were just doing your job and I know and respect that. I thank everyone for the help - I feel so utterly inadequate today. I believe in letting bygones be bygones, and do not see you - here - in the same vein as the you who was on the BBS. It appears there are no more SM's on the BBS anyway.)

Actually I did have my pc passworded, "showing refaced stupidity" I erred in judgment, and had phailed at reinabling it after hubby did some work on my pc during the weekend. I was not concerned, as the "girl" is at least 23 and she brought a laptop with her. She had asked permission to use my desk and my internet which I had no problem with. I did not say don't touch my pc, as who would think it was necessary. Adding insult to injury is the fact I paid her well, tipping her over her asking fee.

But no sense in dwelling. I just need to get my stuff back up and functioning and I really appreciate all the advice. So as far as the Ottoma's then I should be all set - as I have all the patches and installed them with their respective packs. After I put in the M & G no dvd I started the game and all is functioning properly and the settings are set to my normal. I have not installed my own custom hoods yet, as I want to deal with all those stupid duplicates in the bins first in the Maxis hoods, as they just annoy me sitting there in the bin. Now I have the teleporter - I downloaded the top one on the page that says it was updated for AL. Is there going to be any problem with that as I have M & G and the crack for same?

[keirra]

I don't have any problems using the AL cat with M&G.

[miros]

I zipped up all the stupid ugly Maxis people and pets and most of the Maxis 'hoods (except the Vacation 'hoods and the Hobby 'hood) and deleted them.  As long as you don't reset the Sim Index, everything is fine. 

The only thing I left was the pitifully few puppies and kittens in the adoption pool.  However, I might delete them too, since I now have a fix (Christianlv's Puppy/Kitten Generator, then call the officer for a large pick up).

[J. M. Pescado]

The original messed-up Ottomas WILL inflict carnage upon the order of your game files. While not particularly irreparable (you can just deleted-2 the entire mess and they are gone, messed up genetics and family-tree disasters included), you DO have to do something about it.

Also, in the future, always not only back up your computer and lock it, but physically remove the hard drives and rig the computer to explode if tampered with. That's what I do. As you've clearly learned from this example, it's not paranoia when they really ARE out to get you! My habit of distrust and paranoia has never failed me. A little trust goes a long way: The less you use, the farther you go. People who have visited me in the past have learned NEVER TO TOUCH ANYTHING or IT WILL EXPLODE. Even the most trivial of things is warded against possible theft with extreme measures. I have bolted paper plates and plastic sporks to the furniture with explosive bolts to discourage theft. While it is unclear to me why someone would WANT to steal that, it NEVER HURTS to send a strong message in advance!

[maxon]

Wait - you have visitors?   

[Kyna]

Also, in the future, always not only back up your computer and lock it, but physically remove the hard drives and rig the computer to explode if tampered with. That's what I do. As you've clearly learned from this example, it's not paranoia when they really ARE out to get you! My habit of distrust and paranoia has never failed me. A little trust goes a long way: The less you use, the farther you go. People who have visited me in the past have learned NEVER TO TOUCH ANYTHING or IT WILL EXPLODE. Even the most trivial of things is warded against possible theft with extreme measures. I have bolted paper plates and plastic sporks to the furniture with explosive bolts to discourage theft. While it is unclear to me why someone would WANT to steal that, it NEVER HURTS to send a strong message in advance!

This needs to go in the FAQ and/or wikka, so that it can be easily quoted the next time some tard tries the "my speshul sister was posting on my account" excuse.

[Marhis]

Wait - you have visitors?   

He apparently had at least 1 visitor. Once. For a very short time. 

This needs to go in the FAQ and/or wikka, so that it can be easily quoted the next time some tard tries the "my speshul sister was posting on my account" excuse.

Wholeheartedly agree; maybe better if it's FAQ, more official.

[FourCats]

* Wonders if he feeds his visitors, and how they eat if the paper plate and plastic spork are bolted down

[dragoness]

Of course he doesn't feed his visitors. Pescado hates the very concept of food, he says so all the time. I suspect he'll be offended that you suggested such a thing.

[phyllis_p]

I was thinking he made them fight for their meal, and whoever survives also gets the privilege of going home after eating.

[witch]

I remember he once talked about having a D&D type session at his place where something exploded unexpectedly.  Apparently he convinced the visitors it was their fault for touching something.

[maxon]

I was thinking he made them eat the paper plate and the fork. 

[DrNerd]

To the OP:
Theo's made a plugin for SimPE that cleanly deletes Sims.  It's a little more user-friendly than Deleted 2; I've used it and there are no traces of the deleted Sims left that I could find.

And as long as your game's patched for Seasons, there's nothing wrong with letting Samantha Ottomas have her twins, except for the oogly.

[J. M. Pescado]

To the OP:
Theo's made a plugin for SimPE that cleanly deletes Sims.  It's a little more user-friendly than Deleted 2; I've used it and there are no traces of the deleted Sims left that I could find.

TheoPlugin is not "more friendly" than Deleted 2, TheoPlugin is PART of Deleted 2. You cannot use one without the other. If you don't perform the in-game aspect of Deleted 2, then deleting from TheoPlugin will leave dangling references and other assorted detritus in the game. If you don't perform the TheoPlugin element, the deleted elements are not actually deleted! The SimPE side of Deleted 2 was written before the existence of TheoPlugin. TheoPlugin can replace the part about finding the SDSCs, SWAFs, and character file. TheoPlugin does NOT do the in-game cleanup and if you don't run the Debugger's Prep For Delete, you will leave dangling references and FUBAR your game files.

[DrNerd]

To the OP:
Theo's made a plugin for SimPE that cleanly deletes Sims.  It's a little more user-friendly than Deleted 2; I've used it and there are no traces of the deleted Sims left that I could find.

TheoPlugin is not "more friendly" than Deleted 2, TheoPlugin is PART of Deleted 2. You cannot use one without the other. If you don't perform the in-game aspect of Deleted 2, then deleting from TheoPlugin will leave dangling references and other assorted detritus in the game. If you don't perform the TheoPlugin element, the deleted elements are not actually deleted! The SimPE side of Deleted 2 was written before the existence of TheoPlugin. TheoPlugin can replace the part about finding the SDSCs, SWAFs, and character file. TheoPlugin does NOT do the in-game cleanup and if you don't run the Debugger's Prep For Delete, you will leave dangling references and FUBAR your game files.

Huh.  I did not know that.  Actually, I've been thinking about trashing that neighborhood again anyway, and getting a clean template, so I guess now's the time to bin the lots I've already built and start fresh.