New Patches for OFB and FFS

[MutantBunny]

"The oven portion of the restaurant stove cannot be used after food on it has caught on fire"

What? Is this a bug that wasn't fixed or did they intentionally leave the oven broken after a fire??

[Qwiggles]

I'm having a brain fart or could be because FFS' status as an EP or not EP was never clear to me --  SO, do I install both OFB & FFS if I have both?  OR just FFS?  I am SOOO not awesome.

Now that I've read all the fixes, I guess I only need FFS.  They've included everything from OFB patch.

"Single serving desserts no longer disappear from owner's inventory upon restock."

Well, does that mean we can remove Crammyboy's restock fix.  Will the patch prevent the whole meal plates from disappearing?

"Moveobject cheat can now be used to manipulate and place objects in out of bounds tiles."

Someone at MTS2 made a hack so we can place objects on the street.  Does the above feature in the patch now make it so that we can remove that hack?

[staroverthebay]

Y'know, I coulda sworn they said that FFS was just a bunch of new items (clothing and objects), not any real changes to gameplay at all.

Otherwise why are we not calling it an expansion pack?

So, if it's just a bunch of clothing/genetics meshes and objects, why does it need a patch? Nevermind two patches!

[DoomPuppy]

I'm having a brain fart or could be because FFS' status as an EP or not EP was never clear to me --  SO, do I install both OFB & FFS if I have both?  OR just FFS?  I am SOOO not awesome.

Just the FFS patch..don't try installing the OFB patch or you'll get errors  

[J. M. Pescado]

"The oven portion of the restaurant stove cannot be used after food on it has caught on fire"

Dunno. Apparently the oven did not include a "get ye food" option when it burns. So it was just permanently jammed by a burnt whatever. Dunno if they fixed it or not.

[akatonbo]

Y'know, I coulda sworn they said that FFS was just a bunch of new items (clothing and objects), not any real changes to gameplay at all.

Otherwise why are we not calling it an expansion pack?

So, if it's just a bunch of clothing/genetics meshes and objects, why does it need a patch? Nevermind two patches!

It doesn't contain any real changes to gameplay if you already have OFB, and it doesn't contain any significant changes to gameplay if you already have Nightlife, but for people who don't have either of those EPs it does contain a lot of changes that were originally introduced with a particular EP but were deemed by Maxis not to be exclusive to that EP, such as personal inventory, the attraction system, etc. (I wouldn't be surprised if it also included LTWs, but I'm not sure.)

Because it contains all that code and behaves like an EP in certain technological respects, it's capable of having more serious bugs. Most of the issues addressed in the FF patch are actually OFB codebase fixes, however, since FF contains large chunks of the OFB code, and everyone who has FF will be using the FF copy of that code, and thus the bugs need to be fixed in a patch for FF users, just like there are issues resolved in patches for other EPs that aren't specific to that EP.

[momtogirls]

I was thinking the other day, if any other item was shipped with as many problems as TS2 (et al) is, the company would be out of business, with recalls and other such nonsense.

I am as guilty as alot, because I buy the expansions when they come out, and I don't boycott or refuse to buy because it isn't perfect.  Quite a racket Maxis/EA has, their beta testers have to pay THEM.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, I installed the patch and have just played a house.  Yes, unfortunately, JM, it does reset everything so sims who should be going to bed are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!  I put most of my hacks back in, left out those that were definitely OFB-related, and so far I haven't noticed that any of them are broken, or that they've broken anything.  I did notice that the skillinator is not always selecting the appropriate easel, though, and is sending sims to an unused one in preference to the painting they've already begun.  Solved that by locking bedroom doors.  Also, for the first time since installing plumbingbreaksless, I had a flood in the kitchen!  But since I installed pbl at about the same time as OFB, I don't know which caused the lack of floods!

[MutantBunny]

Momtogirl-- that's just it. With software, you never know f it's gonna be ok or not. And then in the US we have an opened software no return policy. irt really does give the software companies all the power and then some. It's totally wrong. Priacy or not--'everyone is not a thief, suck it up big boys' is what I think.



EDIT: YOU NEVER KNOW IF A SOFTWARE IS GOING TO  BE EITHER JUST BUGGY OR WORK ON YOUR SYSTEM UNTIL AFTER YOU OPEN IT AND LOAD IT.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, I think if you opened your software and found a big scratch across the disc, that should be considered a fair reason for getting an exchange, but as to being able to take a game back because it isn't faultless is another matter, and if such a policy were implemented the price would no doubt go up, and a lot of the more adventurous (programming-wise) games just wouldn't happen!

[syberspunk]

Well. depending on where you buy it, some stores will accept returns. Usually you can return things within 30 days. I think that's law for all retail stores. Along time ago, when I first got my PS2, I bought a couple of games that ended up being crappity. So, I went to the store to exchange them, thinking that I would only get partial credit since they were already open. I was happily shocked and surprised that the store not only accepted them, but gave me full credit and allowed me to exchange it for a completely different, new game.

Getting back on topic, it looks like there are a number of fixes that might affect a few hacks I have. Ugh. And just when I had gotten my game to the point where I actually wanted to play, I now have to make sure all my hacks are updated again. And then worry about any new broken stuff.

Ste

[ZephyrZodiac]

I felt like that, too, but I've put most of my hacks back except things I thought might be affected by the patch and I've not noticed anything wierd yet.

[neriana]

Retail stores will accept exchanges. I think the bigger the store is, the more problems you might have exchanging something. Moral: always buy your games at a game store, the extra hassle at other types of stores isn't worth the $1.17.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Trouble is, with a game like The Sims 2, you wouldn't probably have realised till quite a few hours of playing time, that there were so many faults in the game.  And the worst one in the base game, the Jump Bug, would have taken quite a long time to manifest itself!  It's not like you buy a book, open it, and discover on flipping through, that several pages are blank, or ripped, or otherwise unreadable.

[LK]

Personally, I'm waiting for the patch for the patch.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Well, eventually I think there'll be more patches than original material!  Like a very old pair of jeans!

[LK]

Very true.  I also tend to look at the entirety of TS2 as just a 6+ GB patch for the original game.

[ZephyrZodiac]

 

[momtogirls]

I'm not expecting a game to be faultless, it would be unrealistic to expect that.  What would be nice is some evidence that the game was playtested, or at least the code proofread.  I am not a coder, and I won't claim that I know what goes into programming anything, but it seems that there are things that modders like JMP, TJ, Crammyboy, etc are putting out that fixes error in code.  If these talented people can fix the errors post production, then why can't Maxis do it, before it gets to mass production.

My main point, was that QA in most other industries is a bit tighter. (of course, you can't download a patch that fixes a brake problem in your car, so I guess that their testing is more rigerous out of necessity)

[ZephyrZodiac]

I would think self-interest plays a large part there too - brake failure - crash - death - lawsuits!

PC game fault - game crashes - player tears hair out when it happens for the umpteenth time - lawsuit laughed out of court!

[momtogirls]

"But Your Honor....I have the RIGHT to a bug-free game"

yeah, don't see that being a legitimate lawsuit.

[ZephyrZodiac]

"Look, your honour, I have bald patches from tearing my hair out over this game!"

"I thought you had alopecia!"

[nocomment]

Try looking at it this way:

"Your honor, I expected the product to do what is described on the package."

I've read that in Europe, the law says software that does not work properly can be returned for a full refund.  It seems that many people returned University because of the bugs.

You have to consider all the people who buy a program and don't have internet access.  They can't download a patch, and they don't even know a patch is available.  If the program doesn't work out of the box, many people are stuck with a faulty product.

[J. M. Pescado]

Well. depending on where you buy it, some stores will accept returns. Usually you can return things within 30 days. I think that's law for all retail stores. Along time ago, when I first got my PS2, I bought a couple of games that ended up being crappity. So, I went to the store to exchange them, thinking that I would only get partial credit since they were already open. I was happily shocked and surprised that the store not only accepted them, but gave me full credit and allowed me to exchange it for a completely different, new game.

That's because nobody has a serious fear of console piracy. The prevailing belief is that to pirate and use pirated console games requires a level of technical proficiency that would preclude the need to *BUY* them in the first place. Of course, strictly speaking, the same is largely true of PC games as well, but that's not as well-known a fact.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Try looking at it this way:

"Your honor, I expected the product to do what is described on the package."

I've read that in Europe, the law says software that does not work properly can be returned for a full refund.  It seems that many people returned University because of the bugs.

You have to consider all the people who buy a program and don't have internet access.  They can't download a patch, and they don't even know a patch is available.  If the program doesn't work out of the box, many people are stuck with a faulty product.

Well, consumer protection laws over here are generally fairly good, although enforcing them can be another matter!  But we pay for the protection in higher prices for very nearly everything!