Name your top 5 Must Haves....

[Sandilou]

I've used a new user account to start a brand new neighbourhood for all the Maty sims.  I want my game to run as fast as possible so I've limiting the number of downloads to the bare minimum and I'm using only 5 Must Have hacks/mos/fixes.  For me in no particular order  its... (drumroll).......
1. The Insimenator
2. The Inteeminator
3. MoreAwesomeThanYou (minus the killing Russian Toilet and the anti-family baby controller)
4. Monique's computer
5. Default nude meshes.

Everything else from my humungous 3.54 GB download folder is staying on my usual user account.   

Here is where I'd like your help. Have I unknowingly missed out on the best fix/mod/hack of all time?   What do you consider to be the top 5  Must Have hacks/fixes/mods in your game? 

[J. M. Pescado]

If the bathroom controller kills you, you must be doing something really wrong. And how is the Baby control anti-family? A productive family is a happy family.

[Kyna]

1. Pescado's Director's Cut - with the exception of the dormie killing no-uni-invulnerability for dormies.  Except when I want to kill the dormies :big evil grin: 
And I usually take out the LTW Variety mod when I play new 'hoods, and put it back in when the 'hood has a few generations.
2. Twojeffs' fixes and mods
3. Crammyboy's portal fixes and portal problem prevention mods.  And his fishy pillows.
4. Inge's teleporter plus shrub and days left shrub
5. A three-way tie between Motoki's adult clothes for elders mod, Merola's painting (I'm unawesome, I know) and Lizzlove's gender preference kite.

[BlueSoup]

1.  The More Awesome Than You director's cut.  Nothing left out.

2.  Twojeffs folder

3.  Crammyboy folder.

4.  Motoki's Elder Clothing mod.

5.  Either Merola's painting or Inge's teleporter shrub.

[J. M. Pescado]

I'd definitely take the shrub. The teleporter shrub is useful for testing and debugging. The painting does nothing I can't do with finer control in debug mode.

[bloodstainedkisses]

1) Two Jeff's gay friendly hacks. =) And his formal wedding hack!

2) Inge's cribgetoutall, and toddlersleepthroughnight

3) For custom content, I must have things from www.pronupsims.net so, that is included in TJ's formal wedding hack.

4) Anything from www.simlogical.com

5) TJ's college adjuster. Not to mention JM's college clock.
(I play with free will off, so it eliminates alot of the hacks, and mods, I have... ^^)

[Emma]

1-Risky Woohoo mod
2-Increased odds on abduction and satellite death
3-Community Lot skilling
4-Triplets and Quads hack
5-Quieter doorbell

They are my favourites from all the mods I have

[buddha pest]

1. clothing tool

2. college clock or TJ college adjuster

3. phone hack

4. manual navigation

5. Inge's No Autonomy Fridge


I could just say MATY Director's Cut sans this or that, but that's too easy.

And so my Top 5 is such a lie because all five of these would be tied for #1 along with no baby harrassment, and less whiny, and all the no crap wants hacks, and the no toddlers in the toilets, and the no autonomy instruments patch I got from I forget where, and the no autonomy napping, and Inge's assignable bed patch, and TJ ghost hack (update for NL pretty please?) and, and, and....

You know how that goes. I feel spoiled to death.

[gali]

1) InSimenator
2) Inge's telepoter (or shrub)
3) Merola's Multi-Painting
4) Comm-skilling
5) Merola's Mind Control Mirror

All the rest are add-ons.

[agcons]

1.  FFS Lot Debugger:  Without fixing the AWOL Headmaster with this my game would schlepp along like mourners at a funeral.
2.  Phone hack:  If I couldn't set the phone ringer I would be in a padded room.
3.  No whatsthis:  Without this I would have to kiil sims towards whom I wouldn't otherwise harbour ill feelings.
4.  No baby harassment:  As for #3.
5.  Daily gardener:  On lots that have more than just a few shrubs and flowers it prevents everything from looking tatty.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I'd find it hard to live without any of mine!  But here goes:

Phone Hack + Autoyak  (I think they rather belong together)

Flamingo of Contentment

College Clock

Nowhat'sthis

TJ's Electronics tree

But my whole hacks folder is only 6.86MB - I have one custom skintone that's this big - so really, having the whole lot in won't slow the game down one iota!

[skandelouslala]

1.  The Insiminator..some may claim it's evil..but I love it.
2.  Phone Hack
3.  Pescado's critical fixes ...game would have been FUBAR'd a long time ago w/o them
4. TJ's Casual Romance
5.  Inge's  assignable crib (a must have for twins)s and toddlers sleep through the night

[skandelouslala]

Oh yeah..must add a #6...Crammy's portal fixes...made the game playable as it should be with Uni and I am taking no chances with the juggling thing with NL

[syberspunk]

Hrm... if I had to pick, going by individual mods only, my top 5 would be:

1) JenFlower's Teen Woohoo
2) J.M. Pescado's romancemod (at least when it gets officially released for NL )
3) Crammyboy's Cock mod
4) Crammyboy's Nudist mod
5) TwoJeff's Trips & Quads (Random Only version)

Risky Woohoo, TwoJeff's Increased Alien Abduction, and dizzy's smart serve are honorable mentions.

These are for my must have mods that I consider improve upon gameplay by making it more realistic.

However... my must have mods that I consider to be essential fixes are:

1) J.M. Pescado's phonehack
2) Crammyboy's portal deletion mods
3) J.M. Pescado's norandomcrush fix
4) Apology Fix
5) TwoJeff's Age Transition - Teens Keep Love fix

It's actually tougher to think of which fixes are absolutely essential. For the most part, I never experienced many of these bugs first hand, but if pressed, these are the hacks that I really can't stand to live without.

I obviously use a lot of Pescado's, TJ's, CBoy's and dizzy's hacks, and it is very difficult to rank them because they are all really More Awesome Than me, and they just improve gameplay for me so much that I cannot bear to play the game without them. If it weren't for mods, the game would probably be unplayable for me, or I'd probably just get bored of it much faster and/or just be generally disastisfied by the imposed limitations of the default game.

Oh... and just because I've mentioned CBoy's cock and nudist mods, doesn't mean that I actually use them all the time. It's not like I constantly have my sims woohoo naked all the time. I mean, it can be fun and funny to watch, but in actuality, I just really like them because of the realism. It actually disturbs me more to see ken and barbie dolls rather than anatomically correct sims. Personally, to me, it is more creepy to see them without genitlia. And though it really is for only brief moments, I just feel that I am an adult, and mature enough to handle nudity and "adult situations" in the game. In fact, it is actually a lot more innocuous to have nude sims casually in the background, rather than the barbie and ken doll sims with no genitalia and big distracting blurs walking around. I feel that just draws more attention to them and makes it rather annoying.

But, as I've always said, I just love mods that make the game a lot more realistic, like the romancemod, and risky woohoo and trips & quads, where my sims are supsceptible to sudden surprises. Those types of things are kinda cool, because I like unexpected events happening, and that I don't always have absolute control over their lives. That kind of randomness makes things a lot more interesting.

Ste

PS. Oooh, forgot to mention Casual Romance, that's also a good one. Well, I didn't mention a lot of them; if I did, I'd be here forever. Oh... like all the macrostatic related mods, which make the game a lot less tedious to play, but I suppose aren't Totally essential in that I can still sorta play the game without them, but it just makes it more of a pain because of all the clicking. So, they actually Are essential, but the game is still playable I suppose. It just takes longer.

[ElviraGoth]

1. quaxi_nl_censor_v1.package
2. ffsdebugger.package
3. mondayfix.package
4. phonehack.package
5. InSIMenator (UV) v2.2 OBJ Edition.package

1. The censor blur is just plain annoying.
2. Must have for just about anything!
3. I have too many Mad Scientists not to have this one!
4. The constant phone ringing drives me nuts!
5. I use this all the time to check on stats for my sims - pregnancy stats, ind. stats - and to let my same sex couples have their own children.

I have others, but these 5 would be essential for me!

[angelyne]

Oh... and just because I've mentioned CBoy's cock and nudist mods, doesn't mean that I actually use them all the time. It's not like I constantly have my sims woohoo naked all the time. I mean, it can be fun and funny to watch, but in actuality, I just really like them because of the realism. It actually disturbs me more to see ken and barbie dolls rather than anatomically correct sims. Personally, to me, it is more creepy to see them without genitlia. And though it really is for only brief moments, I just feel that I am an adult, and I mature enough to handle nudity and "adult situations" in the game. In fact, it is actually a lot more innocuous to have nude sims casually in the background, rather than the barbie and ken doll sims with no genitalia and big distracting blurs walking around. I feel that just draws more attention to them and makes it rather annoying.

It's always amazing when someone expresses your thoughts so exactly they might have plucked it straight out of your head.  Except you said it so much better than me. 

It's hard to get an essential list.  I've played with hacks so long, I probably forgot about most of the worst annoyances of the game.  I think trying to play with an almost empty hack folder will quckly reveal what is absolutely essential and what is not.

This being said, i would start my game with these three absolutely essential hacks (for me)

1. no censor blur
2.  CEP3 package (which is only essential if you use custom content really)
3. Then I'd add all the critical fixes that were implemented by our excellent modders here, although I think they belong in a different category of non-optional hacks. 
4. no dormie regen and no townie regen as  I'm keeping a tight leash on my dormie/townie population.

5.  Then I'd just add hacks, as I become exasperated by the game.  Less whiny would make it back into my game pretty fast, as would the non-autonomous fridge, babies sleep through the night.  Not sure about the rest since as I've played with them so long, I forgot how annoying the base game can be!

[nectere]

Top 5 Must Haves (in singular form)
1. Nowhatsthis
2. Lesswhiney
3. Toddlersleepnight
4. Eldersleepnight
5. Nocongrats

Thats difficult, I am not sure I would be happy with just those five, theres another five that I would greatly miss

Skillinator
Homeworkinbedroom
Dohomework
Collegeclock
Nocheering/welcomehome/Noaplusspam

Who am I kidding? Take all my custom content, just leave my mods alone.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Who am I kidding? Take all my custom content, just leave my mods alone.

Let's face it, if one has to reinstall everything, what's the first folder to go back into one's game?

[IcemanTO]

1. The InSimenator v.2.2 Sim Edition. (Absolutely a Must for me. It's the "Cybernetich God for the Sims' World")
2. TJ Visitor controller.
3. Cboy nudist hack (off course, this includes the quaxi no-censor btw).
4. Inge's security system (doors, tokens and so on).
5. Dizzy2's smart lights system.

BUT........

These are the "hacks" I prefere to use.
Meanwhile, ALL JM's, TJ's and Cboy's "fixes" are ABSOLUTELY NEEDED, because without them the game would be unplayable.

So, I'm here to declare the bigger THANK to all You Great Guys/Gals for your excellent work!

and finally....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ice

[Sandilou]

Posted by: J. M. Pescado

If the bathroom controller kills you, you must be doing something really wrong.

I haven't used the Nightlife edition of the Russian toilet.  The old one used to override my instructions to the point where it was starting to feel Maxian.  If you have only one tiny terlet (ie four to six squares) and more than two sims needed to go, then all three would get trapped in the terlet.   Even cancelling out the controller symbol made no difference, it simply reappeared.  The only way to set them free was to use move_objects on to delete the toilet roll.   On two separate occasions two visiting sims starved to death because other sims wouldn't let them get in or out of the loo.  Visitors are more vulnerable because you don't always know what level their needs are at: your first clue (if you ignore all other whining)  is the arrival of Grimmie.  When you discussed this before, you stated quite clearly that the Russian toilet was designed to be used with more than one bathroom, so I do take that on board.

Posted by: J. M. Pescado

And how is the Baby control anti-family? A productive family is a happy family.

Many of the baby sims in my neighbourhood do not live with their (ahem) real fathers - or mothers.  Maxian programming helps here - the errant parent will always seek out and hold their newborn when they arrive on a visit.  Its sweet, and it allows for some sort of relationship later.  Your controller doesn't allow this to happen, so this time around, I've given it a miss.  I  like the IQ feature on the Baby Controller which you've also included on the Lot Timer, so I've not installed it yet.  However, the Baby Controller is a must for any households that have to use a nanny.

Just a reminder that the MoreAwesomeThanYou Director's Cut includes all of JM's mods and fixes, so by naming the package I've carried over more than five mods.  CrammyBoy's portal fix is a critical fix and as such doesn't need to be counted in your top five.  All critical fixes are compulsory - atleast for me they are.

I must confess that I also took TJ's Triplets and Quads hack and Dr Doofus's NoFamilySizeLimit hack with me...and the Toddler Mirror, along with the default toddler and kiddie hairmeshes for the maxian hairstyles.  And a small number of nubian hairstyles...but that really was all of my Must Haves!

[Ancient Sim]

Without meaning to seem overly-fussy (it's my Virgo ascendant), you can't choose MoreAwesomeThanYou or the Director's Cut as just one mod, because there are loads in both.  You can only choose one out of them!  I haven't a clue what five I would choose, mainly because I'd have to play the game to work out which I miss the most.  I know I'd have to keep the LotDebugger and the Insimenator, because I use them all the time.  I'd hate to be without the option to teleport my Sims all over the place as I'm so used to it now, ditto being able to select other Sims with ease and various other things.  I suppose in a sense both of those could be classed as more than one mod insofar as they both perform lots of different functions that are unrelated to each other, which is why they're good choices in the first place.

[IgnorantBliss]

1. CEP (must have my color options, also essential in creating custom objects)
2. Quaxi's blur patch (the few days I had to play without a blur remover after getting NL are something I never want to relive again  . I absolutely can't stand the blur. )
3. JMP's coffee cup hack
4. JMP's abortable bed making hack
5. Twojeffs' toddlers playing with toilets fix

[simmiecal]

While reading thru this thread, I started thinking what would be the 5 hacks I would use. By the time I got to the bottom, I realized that there is no way I would limit myself to only five hacks. But there are certain hacks that I use/prefer more than others. Some of the critical fixes you never even think about because they sit nicely in your downloads folder and prevent a major screw-up in your game.

That being said, I don't think I could do without anything that adds more realism to the game. That would include: nude skins, censor blur removal, crammyboy's nudist and cock mods, inteen (don't tell me teenagers don't have sex and sometimes get knocked up). For control purposes, I love Inge's doors and security system - and just because I think the animnation is sooo cute-cribgetoutall. I hate using Maxis sims so notownie/dormie regen is a must.

Also, depending on the neighborhood, no20khandouts in conjunction with Monique's computer (with all the banking functions).

[Sandilou]

Posted by: Ancient Sim

Without meaning to seem overly-fussy (it's my Virgo ascendant), you can't choose MoreAwesomeThanYou or the Director's Cut as just one mod, because there are loads in both.  You can only choose one out of them!

Ahem, JM has it all in one package...so it's one download...if you split them up they get lonely....  It's a Must Have.  I can't be asked to choose them separately, even if I choose not to use a couple, the majority Have to remain in my game.  Some of JM's critical fixes are included in there, like the nomemory spams, notownie/npc regen, the baristas fix etc.  Others are sanitychecks, like nowhatsthis, nowhiny, nocheering etc.  I can't play the game without the whole Director's Cut, because TS2 without it is just crap.

[MaximilianPS]

that  are my Must 2 have

1) InSIMenator (Dest Edition)
1) Quaxi's blur patch
2) Auto Lateral Phone Calls (By dizzy2)
3) smart-lights2
4) Turn off the TV when stop watching (from bed, too) (by  Numenor)
5) apologizefix
5) j.m. nostrangerdance 
 

ps..
why i can't use number 3 on my nick ?
i'm Max3D everyware
www.max3d.it/SimSite